Saturday Meanderings

Happy Saturday! I must say that slowing down has really made each day this week more fulfilling and memorable. Surprisingly, I am more focused and checking many things off of my To Do list. It is time for another Saturday Meanderings where we chat about all good things this week.

Final Clean Up

Ninety-nine percent of the holiday decorations are put away. I love the way I did it this year~room by room. That way I had at least one or two rooms perfectly clean before starting another take down project. It felt organized, orderly and purposeful.

Wondering where all this stuff goes? A few years ago, I wrote a post about where holidays decorations are stored. You can peek into my Christmas room in the basement here.

New Big Project

With our daughter moving away to college (again), renovating the guest cottage will be the next big project. The exterior is in dire need of a fresh coat of paint (painters are arriving next week). I will be assessing what needs to be done to the interior, but I am sure it will include cleaning carpets, painting walls and adding a few new pieces of furniture. If you would like to see the guest cottage interior (when it was tidy), click here.

January Reset

For the last few years, January is my month to reset my body. I had such fun eating and drinking whatever I wanted over the holidays, but that overindulgence can only go on for so long. Being back in balance is the goal and small changes can have a big impact.

My husband and I are following the Fast Metabolism by Haylie Pomroy, a nutritionist and wellness consultant. I’m not fond of the word diet, because this plan is much more than that. Haylie explains the physiology of food consumption and how it processes in your body. Even though it is a bit restrictive (no alcohol, no dairy, no caffeine), the food and recipes are delicious. You don’t count calories or carbs, instead you rotate what you eat throughout the week to induce a faster metabolism.

This plan is also supposed to help your cholesterol drop, blood sugar stabilize, energy increase, sleep improve and stress melt away. It’s a 28 day plan and so far, we are nearly 2 weeks into it. I am enjoying making some new meals as well as learning how the liver, mitochondria and thyroid function.

Do you change your eating/drinking habits in January?

Love this Product

My hair is rather fine and straight. After I wash and blow dry it, the volume and style is full and clean. Since I don’t wash my hair every day (generally wash it every third day), after sleeping on it, it gets flat. This product has such a pleasant scent and takes care of oil absorption, while providing additional volume. It is NOT a hair spray.

You can find Bumble and Bumble Prêt-à-Powder Très Invisible Dry Shampoo on Amazon or maybe your hair salon has it in stock. I love how it helps extend the time between hair washings.

Making a Fresh Lemon Wreath

Here is something I have never considered….making a wreath using fresh lemons. We are in the middle of citrus season here in Phoenix. Our trees are abundant with fruit, as well as many of our neighbors. It’s a fun time of year to share~one neighbor has excellent tangelos, another has Meyer lemons, etc.

I may try my hand at this because I am looking for a wreath that I can hang in between Christmas and Valentines Day. And I love anything lemon! Wendy (she is one clever gal) from WM Designs shares a tutorial on how to make a fresh lemon wreath. You can see it here.

Cool Idea-Creating Fake Windows

I am not on TikTok, however, I did receive information from Apartment Therapy about this cool idea. It’s hard to describe so please click on the link. Using dimmable flat light panels, a homeowner added “light” to a windowless dining room alcove. What a great idea if you have a room that needs more windows, but you don’t want to go to the expense.

See the article here. Watch the video and you will see the before and after pictures. What a difference!

Comfort Food

Growing up, my mother would make tapioca pudding. It is truly one of my favorites, however, guess how many times I’ve made tapioca pudding? Maybe once?Twice? In searching the cabinet for another item, I find a package of tapioca (may be very old). But for some reason, I’ve had tapioca on my mind all week.

Well, this week I stumbled upon a blog post about an old fashioned tapioca pudding recipe from Rachelle at My Hubbard Home. Granted I cannot make it until we finished our reset eating program (so February).

Did you know one of the earliest mentions of tapioca pudding can be found in Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management from 1861?

Here’s Rachelle recipe and blog post on an old fashioned tapioca pudding. I cannot wait to make it! Did you have tapioca pudding in your childhood? Have you made it?

Why are Egg Prices so High?

We are fortunate to have our own chickens, but I recently heard that a dozen eggs is $8.99? What? My go-to person for all things chickens (and eggs) is Lisa from Fresh Eggs Daily. If you are curious as to the reasons egg prices are soaring, check out her blog post, 9 Reasons Why Egg Prices are So High. Such an interesting post and you will be very well educated during your next dinner party when the price of eggs becomes the topic of conversation.

Unfortunately, our chickens’ output tends to slow down over the winter, so we aren’t getting as many eggs. But when they are in full production, we sell our extra eggs for $5.00 per dozen.

Let’s hope the reasons for the significant price increase start to change for the better.

Well that’s a wrap for Saturday Meanderings. This week I did complete a fun, unexpected project and will share that with you next week on Tuesday. Until then, enjoy the rest of your weekend and stay safe out there.