Portland, Oregon: After making a second trip to our motorhome storage garage Monday afternoon to fetch the remainder of our belongings, and food from the fridge/freezer, we are now busy emptying plastic crates and sorting-out our belongings. It takes takes DT ten minutes to unpack. It takes me two days.
I must sort through my clothing (remember, I am on a 2018 no-buying protocol) and shoes. Re-position everything of the "office" category, reorganize the pantry, bring the refrigerator up to speed, and in my spare time, feed us two or three meals a day.
One nice thing: I get to see this view into the forest every morning - from the master bedroom. Rhododendrons are in full bloom:
DT is making good use of our home gym, happy to be on the exercise bike instead of walking as he has been forced to do on our trip home. On the other hand, I am forced back to the dreadmill (versus driving somewhere to walk, or walking straight uphill from our house). As much as I dislike time on the exercise machine, I can't take the time to drive somewhere to walk, plus the pedometer steps really add up when living in a house instead of a 45 foot motorhome.Monday night I made a meal planned for one night on the road back to Oregon, but one I never cooked. Chicken Parmesan Pappardelle from Food52 is a great recipe to have in your reserves. It requires a few cloves of garlic, ground chicken (I had in the freezer), a jar of marinara sauce, dried herbs and shredded parmesan and mozzarella (that I always seem to have on-hand), tossed with pasta. I'm going to say this recipe is super easy, fast, and family-friendly... assuming your family eats chicken. I'm also going to say, if you didn't feel all that cheese (1 cup shredded parm and 1 cup shredded mozz) is really necessary, this recipe will be as good as your choice of jarred marinara. Drizzle a bit of cheese on top instead. I only used half the sauce Monday, froze the other half, so have another dinner ready-to-roll in the future.
Dave started outside chores this morning. Using the hose to wash decks and porches, tidying, and using the electric blower to make our outdoor spaces usable. The only one using our lower deck this afternoon was a raccoon the size of a Buick. A bird has made a nest on top of a porch light (EVERY. DANG. YEAR.) above the deck, and the raccoon is either trying to figure out a way to scale the wall to reach the nest, or is waiting for a bird/egg to fall.
Not on our watch.
If you live in the country, you will learn to dislike raccoons and squirrels. Very much.
Maybe even if you live in the suburbs. Or city?
We have arrived home in time to see our gorgeous dogwood tree in bloom. Kathy and Woody gave us this tree as a housewarming gift in 1994. It was a twig in 1994. Isn't she just magnificent now? Completely covered in blooms!
We both stopped working/organizing at 6p to enjoy another "leftover" meal. Potstickers from the freezer, that we made last month when friends came to our casita to learn how to stuff the dumplings, and noodle soup using a broth I made from a Taiwanese-style chicken I roasted in January.
Waste nothing!
I have finished my closet organization. Tomorrow, my office.Until my next update, I remain, your tidy correspondent.