kappydell

Finally went back to church. Hadnt been in a month due to the covid, and I wasnt about to share THAT with my fellow choir members! New music now, fortunately I read music so was up to speed with only 1 run thru. It felt SO good to be back, although I was keeping up with the scriptural readings and such and watching on the live stream, it just is not the same. Then a quick stop by Walmart, then Kroger. Got the frozen bread dough that is Marys fave, and some garlic bread to go with our super bowl lasagna dinner. I have been working in the kitchen, putting Christmas baking things away, tossing nuts that are too old to store any longer, and generally doing cleaning & tidying. WE HAVE AN ISLAND AGAIN! I forgot how big it was. Next job is to tackle the "tupperware cupboard" . All the margarine containers I have neatly stacked can be cut back drastically....I doubt I will need 150 of them at one time, LOL. Besides it will make room for the screw top plastic jars I use to hold my home made shake and bake, and other mixes (gravy mix, baking mixes) I use on a nearly daily basis. The granola recipe I am trying suggested storing the granola back in the cardboard oatmeal container to store....NOT! It will hold it volume wise but nnot weight wise - honey coated oats are heavier than plain ones, if anybody had thought to check on such things. So into those plastic screw top jars it goes.(The dollar store had tbem in 2, 3, and 4 qt sizes). After finding some NO SUGAR ADDED peanut butter it even comes in a slightly larger jar, which is nice. The mayo jars nest nicely inside to save space. (Ooooo. How little it takes to inpress this chickie!) The other thing I just gotta toss is my surplus spice shaker jars. I dont make that many seasoning mixes, just a sugar free taco shaker and a ranch flavor shaker, a sugar shaker and a cinnamon-sugar shaker = fot toast - are what I use most, otherwise my spices go in singly. I even save the cleaned out parmesan cheese shaker jar to put flour in to flour the board for kneading or rolling out baking items. So far I've managed to keep the plastic cake covers (CM likes to buy red velvet cakes now and again) down to 6 as they exactly fit over our dinner plates to keep winged creatures away in the summer. But 6 is enough, already. So I want to keep going the momentum while I seem to be in the mood to thin things out. It does not happen often.

well thats a new one. for some time now odd charges have been creeping on to our bills to hide the fact that they are charging more. some examples I have run across... 1. after asking people to "round up" their power bill so other people could get electricity the power company quit asking. They went to congress (in WI) and just got permission to add on a percentage surcharge to "keep Wisconsin Warm" or some such name. Sneaky way to subsidize them for govt mandated "free" heat during the cold months after athey were forbidden to turn off non-payers' electric during cold months. Not voluntary anymore. Needless to say when I found that on my bill I told them they could stick their voluntary begging for rounding up to help "the poor". GRRRR 2. Trash pickup charges in many olaces have been added on to tax bills....they USED to be covered in regular taxes but the politicos did not want to "raise taxes" so they took the sneaky way and called it something else. No discussion, no debate, no citizen input. Ditto 'snow removal'.....'water line maintenance'.... 3. How bout the folks that are required to pay a "minimum" electric bill even though they are off grid or have reduced their electric usage far below the norm? God forbid the electric company does not get its bite from every household, so a minimum fee was calculated based on average electric bills. No way can you get away without paying your "fiar share" even though you choose not to use as much power, if any. Pretty high handed methinks. 4. Heck hospitals have been charging $10 or more for a tylenol after forbidding patients from bringing any meds from home. They call it a safety issue, but that is excessive. Not to mention all the extra charges I keep finding when I check my insurance bills. My insurance company loves me because I catch those...the medical billing dept not so much. I hear them gritting their teeth when I point out their er, mistakes. We are all just geese to be plucked. Politicians been doing it for years. Then big business got into it. Now anyone tries it that thinks they can get away with it...and they usually do. (*sigh*) But once in a while I can get some of the more egregious charged dropped, or reduced, at least once. Is it any wonder I yell at the TV every time one of those ads comes on telling people to call in to get their "free" stuff because they soimehow magically "deserve" more and more stuff? (Whatta bunch of poverty pimps. No wonder politicos think we are stupid and need to be wearing chains.) I bet you ladies know of even more greedy moves...

follow the money......

Years ago i had a dial gauge canner I got at resale shop tested at my local county extension office. Only place I ever heard of that did it.

Nasty ugly weather all over the country lately! Today was relatively normal for winter, so out to check the garden we went. Most things survived the unusual cold, in fact some of the cabbage is getting ready to bolt so we picked those 3 heads. Mustard greens (Florida Giant) are HUGE - one leaf makes a serving. Also picked some collards. The collards are gorgeous, so is the kale. No problems with the sub freezing nights we had at all. The broccoli has small heads but we are hoping they will start growing as it warms a little. Brussels sprouts are always a gamble - they are very short but are making heads just the same. Apparently they stay short in the cold. The lettuce in the greenhouse did very well - it is done nowo though, we picked it and ate it. The surprise today was the green onions we put in. They grew HUGE, and they look like mini leeks with long white heads, and flat leaves. Not your average scallions, and thats "fer shure" Meanwhile, at our Walmart there is a dearth of pet foods, and people foods are in short supply. We dont mind that so much, our freezers are full, and so is our pantry. BUT we are checking the cat and dog food aisles every time we get near a Walmart in case they stocked. When they do stock, they are gone in a matter of an hour or two. Fortunately we find enough on our travels so far to keep the pets fed. When Mary drove to the VA to get her all clear covid test, we stopped by the walmart there and scored 6 cases of cat food (SCOOOORE!!) Not that we would normally drive that 90 minutes solely for that, but we figured we'd check as long as we were passing by. Christmas lights are now down, we are putting away the special baking and decorating items, and getting ready for spring. Trying to get some spring cleaning in early, before we hit the garden again. We would like to expand the raised beds and put in a third one; I can then convert the small raised bed (3x4 feet) to walking onions and another one to walking garlic (I did not know garlic came that way, it should be interesting.) One of our neighbors wants to put some tomatoes & lettuce in our garden, and Mary told her it was OK, so part of the new bed will be for her. On our flower plans, I finally found a source for the TALL chrysanthemums that I remember from my childhood. They make spectacular bouquets, and I love them, but have only seen "cushion" mums otherwise. So I will be ordering half a dozen of the tall ones. This spring I will be scoping out the wooded area to plan out wild medicinal herb plantings. First I need to catalog what we HAVE though. Then judiciously supplement with edible & medicinal "wild plantings" to let them get a good head start before we (heaven forbid) have to depend on them due to medicine shortages. Next week I see my doc to get a clearance physical to get my cataracts fixed (FINALLY!!! ). I look forward to seeing the lab results on cholesterol since taking a raw clove of garlic daily. Im actually getting to enjoy the taste, and I suspect that is why my covid was so much less than Marys. Hot stuff, but that "bite" lets me know its working. Just call me a garlic-head, LOL.

TY for the good wishes and happy times. Chainsaw Mary caught covid; gave me a very mild case but we weathered things and are all covid free now. Nasty stuff. I told Mqry not to feel bad she was just tuning up our natural immunity, LOL.

I am sorry for your loss Joyfilled but happy that you will see her again in heaven. Prayers to you and your family for coping and consolation.

Had a plkeasant thanksgiving here, too. Just Mary and I. All our family is gone or scattered. Turkey thighs (we only cooked our favorite cuts) stuffing & green bean casserole. Mary had mashed potatoes & gravy too. Tried a sugar free, crustless pumjpkin "pie" but did not like it. The spice mix I had had too much cloves in it and I loathe cloves in pumpkin pie. Guess I'll make my own blend and use that next time. Lit up our christmas lights last night. Passing cars slowed down to look. One neighbor called as we were turning things off, asking us to turn it back on again for her children. Glad Mary took that call. She said "come by tomorrow night, they will be on again nightly until Christmas. It looks good. We finally have enough room to do justice to the larger sie blow up decorations Mary likes best = 10 feet tall is not unusual. Lots of lights. adding tweaks as we find room for improvements - a solar light inside the pop up tent at Santas HO HO HO Resort, to light it up from the inside. Solar floodlights to light up the signage, things like that. I also got some photo sensor light sockets forfront and back porch lights because I keep forgetting to turn them on or off. Maybe we can save a few pennies on the electric bill. Mary thought our water heater was leaking, as there was water on the floor near where it is built in, but fortunately not, it was a milk bottle filled with water that had sprung a leak. An easy fix, toss it out and replace it with another. We keep a couple gallons of water near the back door for the dogs dish. I did get an unexpected early Christmas present today. A phone call from the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Officer Association (I have lifetime membership since retiring). They had a raffle...$40 per ticket to sign up for 30 days worth of drawings for firearms or various kinds. Winning entries are put back in the kitty for later drawings, so theoretically one can win multiple times. Better odds than the lottery, and I like the associations scholarship programs and free (for members) campground. So I sent in two just for fun. Well I won a varmint rifle - a Thompson Center Compass bolt action rifle. MSRP $400. They will sent me the certificate, and I will get it shipped to my local shop here in GA. What a nice surprise! I was just wondering yesterday whether to look up their web site and see who was winning what and today they call. Maybe I should get a lottery ticket, LOL.

Salmon (most fish( cans beautifully. I have even canned catfish which many dont like because it gets very soft in texture almost like a spread. I dont mind since I usually use it in sandwiches anyway or in patties, Either way fish mush works fine for those and since I add seasonings to the jars I get flavored fish pates! Smoke flavor and jalapeno are my favorites so far. As far as ground beef I add "Minnesota mix' to it after browning and pressure can it with the meat at beef pressure and time for a meat sauce. Minnesota Mix is tomato-celery-green pepper-onion combination uually waterbathed as a sauce base, chili base, casserole sauce base, or as a side dish like stewed tomatoes. https://extension.umn.edu/preserving-and-preparing/canning-minnesota-tomato-mixture

mikki, winteer veggies can survive colder temps than 32 degrees F... https://www.sustainablemarketfarming.com/2021/04/14/winter-kill-temperatures-of-cold-hardy-vegetables-2021/ Winter-Kill Temperatures of Cold-Hardy Vegetables 2021 The winter 2020-2021 was mild, with our lowest temperature being a single late January night at 10°F (-12°C). We had one night at 11°F (-12°C) one at 17°F (-8°C), three at 18°F (-8°C also) and one at 19°F (-7°C). very little snow or ice. Similar to temperatures in the 2019-2020 winter. The winter of 2018-2019 had lowest temperatures of 6°F (-14°C) in late January 2019, 8°F (-13°C) in December 2018 and a couple of 11°F (-12°C). In early January 2018, we had some extremely cold temperatures of -8°F and -9°F (-22°C and -23°C). Averaging our winter low over those four winters 2017-2021 gives 4.8°F (-15°C), within the zone 7a range. Georgia Cabbage Collards, good down to 20F (-7C) I’ve added in some temperatures for collard varieties (Georgia Cabbage collards, McCormack’s Green Glaze, variegated collards) from the Heirloom Collards Project, and also gained some info on spinach (Long Standing Bloomsdale), kales (Rainbow Mix Lacinato) and mustards (Chinese Thick-Stem) from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. I’ve added in their suggestions on cold-tolerant early spring lettuces, Crawford, Simpson Elite, Susan’s Red Bibb and Swordleaf. My results from other years still hold up. Using the List Unless otherwise stated, these are killing temperatures of crops outdoors without any rowcover. All greens do a lot better with protection against cold drying winds. Note that repeated cold temperatures can kill crops that can survive a single dip to a low temperature, and that cold winds, or cold wet weather can destroy plants quicker than simple cold. Crops get more damage when the weather switches suddenly from warm to cold. If the temperature drops 5 or more Fahrenheit degrees (about 3 C degrees) from recent temperatures, there can be cold damage. The weatherman in Raleigh, NC says it needs 3 hours at the critical temperature to do damage. Your own experience with your soils, microclimates and rain levels may lead you to use different temperatures in your crop planning. Reflect spinach in the open got damaged but not killed at -9F. Outdoor killing temperatures of crops (unprotected unless stated) 35°F (2°C): Basil. 32°F (0°C): Bush beans, some cauliflower curds, corn, cowpeas, cucumbers, eggplant, limas, melons, okra, some pak choy, peanuts, peppers, potato vines, squash vines, sweet potato vines, tomatoes. 27°F (-3°C): Many cabbage varieties, Sugarloaf chicory (takes only light frosts). 25°F (-4°C): Some cabbage, chervil, Belgian Witloof chicory roots for chicons, and hearts, Chinese Napa cabbage (Blues), dill (Fernleaf), some fava beans (Windsor), annual fennel, some mustards (Red Giant, Southern Curled) and Asian greens (Maruba Santoh, mizuna, most pak choy, Tokyo Bekana), onion scallions (some are much more hardy), radicchio, rhubarb stems and leaves. 22°F (-6°C): Some arugula (some varieties are hardier), Bright Lights chard, endive (Escarole may be a little more frost-hardy than Frisée), large leaves of lettuce (protected hearts and small plants will survive colder temperatures). 20°F (-7°C): Some beets (Bulls Blood, Chioggia,), broccoli heads (maybe OK to 15°F (-9.5°C)), some Brussels sprouts, some cabbages (the insides may still be good even if the outer leaves are damaged), some cauliflower varieties, celeriac, celtuce (stem lettuce), some collards (Georgia Cabbage Collards, variegated collards), some head lettuce, some mustards/Asian greens (Tendergreen, Tyfon Holland greens), flat leaf parsley, radicchio (both Treviso and Chioggia), radishes (Cherry Belle), most turnips (Noir d’Hiver is the most cold-tolerant variety). Large oat plants will get serious cold damage. Oats seedlings die at 17°F (-8°C) Canadian (spring) field peas are hardy to 10-20°F (-12 to -7°C). Ruby chard, good down to 15°F (-9.5°C). hardier than Bright Lights, but less hardy than green chard varieties. 15°F (-9.5°C): Some beets (Albina Verduna, Lutz Winterkeeper), beet leaves, some broccoli and cauliflower leaves, some cabbage (Kaitlin, Tribute), covered celery (Ventura), red chard, cilantro, fava beans (Aquadulce Claudia), Red Russian and White Russian kales, kohlrabi, some lettuce, especially medium-sized plants with 4-10 leaves (Marvel of Four Seasons, Olga, Rouge d’hiver, Tango, Winter Density), curly leaf parsley, rutabagas (American Purple Top Yellow, Laurentian), broad leaf sorrel, most covered turnips, winter cress. 12°F (-11°C): Some beets (Cylindra,), some broccoli perhaps, some Brussels sprouts, some cabbage (January King, Savoy types), carrots (Danvers, Oxheart), most collards, some fava beans (mostly cover crop varieties), garlic tops if fairly large, Koji greens, most fall or summer varieties of leeks (Lincoln, King Richard), large tops of potato onions, covered rutabagas, some turnips (Purple Top). 10°F (-12°C): Covered beets, Purple Sprouting broccoli for spring harvest, a few cabbages (Deadon), chard (green chard is hardier than multi-colored types), some collards (Morris Heading can survive at least one night at 10°F), Belle Isle upland cress, some endive (Perfect, President), young Bronze fennel, Blue Ridge kale, probably Komatsuna, some leeks (American Flag (Broad London), Jaune du Poiteau), some covered lettuce (Pirat, Red Salad Bowl, Salad Bowl, Sylvesta, Winter Marvel), Chinese Thick-Stem Mustard may survive down to 6°F (-14°C), covered winter radish (Daikon, China Rose, Shunkyo Semi-Long survive 10°F/-12°C), Senposai leaves (the core of the plant may survive 8°F/-13°C), large leaves of savoyed spinach (more hardy than smooth-leafed varieties), Tatsoi, Yukina Savoy. Oats cover crop of a medium size die around 10°F (-12°C). Large oat plants will die completely at 6°F (-17°C) or even milder than that. Garlic shoots poking through the mulch in January. Survive down to 5°F (-15°C), and if killed, will regrow from underground. 5°F (-15°C): Garlic tops even if small, some kale (Winterbor, Westland Winter), some leeks (Bulgarian Giant, Laura), some bulb onions, potato onions and other multiplier onions, smaller leaves of savoy spinach and broad leaf sorrel. Many of the Even’ Star Ice Bred greens varieties and the Ice-Bred White Egg turnip are hardy down to 6°F (-14°C), a few unprotected lettuces if small (Winter Marvel, Tango, North Pole, Green Forest). 0°F (-18°C): Chives, some collards (Blue Max, Winner, McCormack’s Green Glaze), corn salad (mâche), garlic, horseradish, Jerusalem artichokes, Even’ Star Ice-Bred Smooth Leaf kale, a few leeks (Alaska, Durabel, Tadorna); some bulb onions, yellow potato onions, some onion scallions, (Evergreen Winter Hardy White, White Lisbon), parsnips (probably even colder), salad burnet, salsify (?), some spinach (Bloomsdale Savoy, Long Standing Bloomsdale, Olympia). Walla Walla onions sown in late summer are said to be hardy down to -10°F (-23°C), but I don’t trust below 0°F (-18°C) Crimson clover is hardy down to 0°F (-18°C) or perhaps as cold as -10°F (-23°C) -5°F (-19°C): Leaves of overwintering varieties of cauliflower, Vates kale survives although some leaves may be too damaged to use. Lacinato Rainbow Mix kale may survive this temperature. A cover crop mix of winter rye, hairy vetch and crimson clover. Credit Kathryn Simmons -10°F (-23°C) Austrian Winter Field Peas and Crimson clover (used as cover crops). -15°F (-26°C) Hairy vetch cover crop – some say down to -30°F (-34°C) -20°F (-29°C) Dutch White clover cover crops – or even -30°F (-34°C) -30°F to -40°F (-34°C to -40°C): Narrow leaf sorrel, Claytonia and some cabbage are said to be hardy in zone 3. I have no personal experience of this. -40°F (-40°C) Winter wheat and winter rye (cover crops). Hoophouse Notes Winter crops snug in our hoophouse in a December snowstorm. Photo Pam Dawling Our double-plastic hoophouse keeps night time temperatures about 8F (4.5C) degrees warmer than outdoors, sometimes 10F (5.5C) degrees warmer. Plus, plants tolerate lower temperatures inside a hoophouse. The soil stays warmer; the plants recover in the warmer daytime conditions (it seems to be the night+day average temperature that counts); In the hoophouse (8F (4.5C) degrees warmer than outside) plants without extra rowcover can survive 14F (7.7C) degrees colder than they could survive outside; with thick rowcover (1.25oz Typar/Xavan) at least 21F (11.6C) degrees colder than outside. For example, salad greens in our hoophouse can survive nights with outdoor lows of 14°F (-10°C). Russian kales, lettuce, mizuna, senposai, spinach, tatsoi, turnips, Yukina Savoy survived a hoophouse temperature of 10.4°F (-12°C) without rowcover, -2.2°F (-19°C) with. Bright Lights chard got frozen leaf stems. Lettuce Notes Lettuce varieties for a solar-heated winter greenhouse or hoophouse in zone 7a: (hardiest are in bold) Buckley, Ezrilla, Green Forest, Green Star, Hampton, Hyper Red Rumpled Wave, Marvel of Four Seasons, Merlot, New Red Fire, North Pole, Oscarde, Outredgeous, Pirat, Red Cross, Red Sails, Red Salad Bowl, Red Tinged Winter, Revolution, Rouge d’Hiver, Salad Bowl, Sylvesta, Tango, Winter Marvel, Winter Wonderland. Cold-tolerant early spring lettuces include Buckley, Crawford, Green Forest, Hampton, Merlot, New Red Fire, Revolution, Simpson Elite, Susan’s Red Bibb and Swordleaf. Notes on Chicories and Endives Verona Red radicchio, hardy to about 20°F (-7°C). Photo Southern Exposure Seed Exchange Chicories and endives fall into two groups, but they are confusing because the common names sometimes suggest the opposite group than they are botanically. Here’s the best info I have. Cichorium intybus, commonly called chicories, are mostly heading crops. The group includes radicchio, both Treviso and Chioggia – hardy to about 20°F (-7°C). Belgian Witloof endive (the kind for forcing chicons) is also a chicory. It dies at 25°F (-4°C). Sugarloaf chicory is the least hardy chicory, and dies at 27°F (-3°C). Cichorium endivia, commonly called endives, are mostly loose-leaf crops, less cold-hardy than intybus types (chicories). This group includes Frisée types and escaroles, which are also known as Batavian endives. They generally survive down to 22°F (-6°C), although Perfect and President endives can survive down to 10°F (-12°C) – can anyone confirm or deny this? . I planted last winter using her data as guide and had a wonderful winter garden - better than summer as all the usual pests were either dormant or dead. Collards are wonderfully sweetened, like kale, by below freezing temps. They took quite a few hard freezes last year and kept going and growing. Since I pick the outer leaves and leave the growing inner ones, they just kept getting taller, and taller....and 6 plants kept me and several other people well supplied all winter. The January King Cabbage also kept all winter, as if in a root cellar....even in last winters' 25-28 degree temps. Thats dang cold for down South! If you like experimenting, there are some European veggies specifically bread for wintering over - Marvel of 4 Seasons lettuce, Winter King Cabbage, for example, are more cold tolerant than most. Some of the Asian greens are also very cold tolerant...not bok choy though (unfortunately). I picked all of mine after it got frost nipped at 30 degrees. Our cold-grown radishes were much milder than those grown in warmer temps. I can heartily recommend experimenting with cold weather gardens!

Social security payday so we took care of a few things. 1) Mary had no quilt for her bed and her room gets cold for sleeping (yes I know, not cold for some, but we are used to the warmer climate now, so she shivers). Found a quilt and sheet-pillowcase combination on sale at Walmart in her favorite color. A nice surprise, and an early Christmas present. Also some cute warm jammies. 2) One of the local stores ("the best meat in town" is their claim and it is true) had a good meat sale. So when we got home we had to play "refrigerator tetris" to get it kept cold until we get a minute to divvy it up and pack it for the freezer. Steaks, pork steaks, a whole pork loin (soon to be 1 roast and about 8 thick chops), two 5-lb bags of chicken drumsticks and one of thighs, and THREE spiral sliced hams (those from Wal Mart we like Sams Choice). So we will pack and freeze tomorrow. 3) Then off to fill the truck gas tank with the gas points from the last months meat sales....we got $1 a gallon off 20 gallons. Todays points are good for a month, we will save them until Dec and see how much we can get off per gallon. They cap it at $1 a gallon, but that is mighty nice anyway. 4) Then to Walmart for baking supplies....candied cherries, nuts, extra flour and real butter....after all Christmas only comes once a year. When we are done doing Christmas lights we will move on toi holiuday baking Marys' mothers old world German specialities. Kuchen, stollen, and such things we only do once a year. And, of course, gallons of Chex mix, LOL. Someone cut the plug cord on one of our new strings of lights out in the yard, so we also got some video cameras so we can check on what is going on when the dog starts barking. I had hoped all that nonsense was behind us, but I guess there are destructive twits everywhere. Sad when they feel compelled to break Christmas displays though.

I go to see my doc tomorrow, and I can hardly wait to see if my now daily dose of raw garlic for breakfast has lowered my cholesterol like the drugs have been unable to do. Then I'll be asking my doc to cut the meds back and finally out. i can see cholesterol being used to demonize red meats. My ancestors were all very long lived on diets with plenty of lard and fats eaten daily. But they were very active all their lives. I suspect it is inactivity, not fat, that kills. But then again, I'm not one of those that follows the science (blindly) without some real life field tests.

I always grumbled about throwing away the excess home made shake and bake crumbs after making chicken. Now I make Jo-jo potatoes with them, and they are a favorite at my house. Plus the homemade shake and bake is a great way to use up old bread before it goes moldy (as homemade bread is wont to do without all the additives, LOL,) HOMEMADE SHAKE AND BAKE for CHICKEN, PORK, AND JO-JO POTATOES 3 c dry bread crumbs (from old bread dried in oven and tossed in blender to make crumbs) 1 TB salt 1 TB paprika 2 tsp sugar 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp pepper 4 TB vegetable oil Mix until oil is incorporated into crumbs evenly. Store in jar. To use, pour some (I use about 3/4 cup) in a plastic bag, add a piece of chicken or pork, and shake away until coated. (You may need to dampen pork with some water, shaking off excess). Place on nonstick oven sheet and bake. Chicken bakes at 400 F, bone in for 45b min, boned 20 min. Pork chops bake at 425 F. for 15-20 min, I do pork steaks for 30 min. Potatoes: slice in 1/4 inch strips for crispier fries, slice in 1/8 potato wedges for mealier/larger steak fries. Place potato pieces in a plastic bag, pour in 1 TB or so of vegetable oil (of choice) and work the bag to coat all the potato pieces, then remove them and shake a handful at a time in some of the "shake and bake" crumbs left from shaking the chicken or pork (if you over estimate like I do) or adding a little more to suit your needs. Coat the potatoes, spread out in a single layer on a nonstick sheet, and bake alongside the chicken or pork at the same temperature and time. For the two of us I only need to use one baking sheet, half for the meat, half for the single cut up potato. Ta=da! A one pan oven dinner. Add a salad if you want and you are good to go. This makes a nice crispy, baked crumb crust and is modified from the "wise woman's diet" or "prudent diet" from the 1960s. (Yes, I know.... I'm old....).

Poor Chainsaew Mary had to put up with my crabbiness today. Went to eye doc today, after carefully putting eyedrops in 6 times a day for glaucoma for the last 4 weeks. Eye pressure was nice and low. BUT doc said nothing about cataract removal. Just "come back in 3 months" and by the way, no driving. Bleeah. I am so weary of feeling like a sack of potatoes being schlepped from place to place. I am tired of feeling like I have to beg for a ride to a place where Mary does not normally go. She is good about it, but I also feel guilty putting her out to take me to church, since she just sits outside to wait for me. Choir practice is a no go, forget it, I wont keep her there an extra hour for that. Its bad enough I committed to sing at midnight mass! I deeply feel the loss of independence. I never felt disabled, until now, and I am hating it. I sure hope I can get back to "normal" in three months. I hate hate HATE feeling helpless. Thanks for letting me vent. I'm better now. (At least until the next time I mislay my specs and cant see well enough to find them) Today we dug sweet potatoes. Sizes were all over the place and grubs had bored holes in many of them. I don't mind, just cut off the holey part and cook the rest, but we cant share holey spuds. Mary dug, I grubbed, and we got the spot cleared for winter plantings. I have kale waiting to go in, and want to sow some lettuce, more greens, radishes and carrots. I am ordering two kinds of topset onions and a topset garlictomorrow (payday) for planting in a small extra raised bed. And I have been researching deer proof (ie thorny) plants for medicinal plantings, as well as for a front hedge. The cats should not bother those, and many are quite attractive, especially the shrub roses, firethorn and barberry. The b eautyberry is not deer resistant, but if I plant it between some thorny ones, it should help the deer to stay away. I want to try those mosquito repelling leaves...the USDA tested them and said they work better than DEET! That plus edible berries? I gotta try it. I am finally starting to write down the tunes that float thru my head before I forget them. That is a first for me. Today I wrote a complete mass, of all things, but the music just kept flowing thru my head so I wrote it down. Maybe I will get brave enough to share with the choir mistress....maybe after I swear her to secrecy. I dont know if it is good or not, as I am biased. It felt right to write it down for a change. That way I won't feel like singing something and start wondering "Now how did that one go that I thought of the other day?...Duh...maybe my mom was nudging me. She always said I should write the stuff down. (Miss ya, Mom.) Tomorrow I see my internist. I will be interested in seeing if eating that raw clove of garlic every morning did anything for my cholesterol. If nothing else, I can claim moral points for effort, LOL. That stuff is spiceeeeeey especially since you have to cut it or chew it to release the medicinal factors....and eat it raw, of course. I'm actually developing a taste for it. How wierd is that? (Cue the twilight zone music....duh duh duh da, duh duh duh da....

Yes on social security payday we will be going to the store that has the meat sales we like and using our fuel points to get $1 off per gallon. They limit that to 20 gallons, but every bit helps. Then off to swap our propane grill tanks for full ones, since I imagine propane will go sky high too. Now Im glad we have so much old dry wood lying around! We may end up heating food up on over our fire pit then wrapping them well to slow cook. That way we can stretch that wood. But first thigns first, Mary plikes her propane grill so we will try to keep those spare propane bottles topped up. Yesterday was a busy one. Finished putting lights on the shed...we have geometric light designs on all 4 sides instead of a ring of lights on the roof. On the way to physical therapy I was still wearing my sun hat ( I hate getting sun in my eyes, and my straw hats are far cooler and give far better coverage than baseball caps favored by many folks around here.) Anyway once i got in the car I put the hat on to shield my eyes (( had taken it off while we tested lights under a shade tree). I felt something on my face, and thinking it was one of the pesky flies that bug us in the cooler fall weather, gave my face a swish with the had. Hey, it was NOT a fly, it was a daddy long legs spider up on my face. Swished it off, then released it out the door. No problem. But I did have a moment of giggles thinking how our prep friend would have reacted (she is scared to death of spiders). They would have heard her shriek in Cleveland! Maybe even Alaska! And she is not the shrieking kind, except for spiders. So glad it was me, not her. As long as they are not the poisonous breed I care not one hoot about bugs, snakes or other varmints. They all have a place in the natural order of things, so I let it be. Today we started working on the main house rooftop. We have big old fashioned size C-9 bulbs on the roof. we have already laid out the lights marking our "SANTAS RESORT" display, and the airplane runway display. We noiw have three large display areas....HO HO HO LOGISTICS (santas workshop area with the mailbos and order dept, a shipping and receiving area with rail, airk and overland freight divisions, and Grinch's complaint dept of course. The north pole police car parks at the entrance with a "dead" deer by the deer crossing sign, writing up the crash and ticketing the snowman in a racing car. The airport runway holds 4 fixed wing and two helicopters belonging to the air freight division. The campground is new...we have 3 campers and a couple of tents, along with displays of characters roasting marshmallow, fishing, and even Santa in a bass boat! Its a start...when the Jan sales hit we will get additional things for the campground area as its a little sparse compared to the workshop area. Now you can understand why we started already. There is lots to do and we are slower than we used to be. Its fun though. Mary got a box to play carols and make the lights dance, too, so that will add to the wow factor. I get lots of extra exercise helping.

We are now progressing to hanging our Christmas lights. Mary did the dog pen yesterday, today we did our tool shed. I had several geometric designs worked out (we do more than outline the roofline and windows, LOL) but the one for the side facing the road looked much better on paper than in acuality. So I drew up a simpler design, saving several light strings from the total wattage as well. Now we can do with ONE extention cord out there instead of two. I will be sore for physical therapy tomorrow due to all the bending and reaching to measure, screw in the cup hooks and hangining the lights. Mary is handy with tools but has trouble figuring out my diagrams sometimes. My short cuts can be intelligible to someone else. Planted the last herb plants into their new home tubs; hopefully they will overwinter there comfortably, The rosemary multiplied from two spindly little plants to a 2 foot diameter tub of nice bushy plants. Im glad it is such a useful herb, there is way too much there for merely culinary use, no matter how much I like rosemary chicken! Im mentioned making a rosemary tincture to try as insect repellent (supposedly works on mosquitos) to a student nurse, and she was quite interested in how to make tinctures. She says she always learns something interesting from us, be it from Mary who told her about using tampons for puncture wounds or my telling her how I make tinctures using vodka and fresh herbs. She will be quite the resource person if SHTF occurs with her fresh new medical education.

Yep.

LOL. I follow a modified diabetic diet (keeping my carbs WAAAAAY low, below by critical carb level which is 30 g per day.) Thats why I look it a a low carb diet as well. The diabetic exchanges are useful in menu planning, I just leave out the higher carb choices. Ironically when medical folks ask me what diet I use I say ":the diabetic exchange diet" then their next question is " how long have you been diabetic" or "You didnt tell me you are diabetic"...sigh. Then I have to explain reactive hypoglycemia to them and reiterate that I use that diet because it is very user friendly and easy to adapt to my needs. Well, slap me silly for not being...."average"... deal with it. My doc also says it is the healthiest diet out there.

once you believe in relativism you are so easily misled by the dark side....what fools they be. We are not MEANT to live forever the way THEY mean. Obviously they do not consider souls in their machinations, I mean equations. (Well, that would make it easy to sell your soul to you know who. Probably at a discount because they think it is not necessary.) And the soul is the most critical part of being human. That is the part that lives forever without any help from them. What they will end up with wont be...human. How come I am reminded of the Tower of Babel? They are cruisin' for a bruisin' from the Big Guy upstairs.

the transhuman goals do much to explain many of the questions. No way, Jose. I googled it. No way do I want to physically interface with computers or any machines for that matter. Franken-science strikes again. The claim is that we will get to live forever, since they consider "life" to be your memories and experiences and they claim to be developing ways to transfer that into another creature, or machine, or.....????? Guess I'll be opting out of living forever then. Now I need an emoji for "shudder"....

LOL Mt_Rider at the GPS dependent drivers! For months after we moved to this little corner of rural Ga, even UPS could not find us! They kept telling us our address did not exist, because their GPS system did not show it. So we had to have things ordered sent to a friend until they figured out that yes, we do live on a real road and our address was for real. I try to look at the bright side....we wont be inundated with people fleeing the cities if they are afraid of the 'wild animals' in the un-street-lighted dark of the real countryside and cant find us in the rural wilderness. Today we did Christmas light inventory. Three HUGE totes of lights, checked to see if they worked. Most, fortunately did, especially as we would be hard pressed to replace 14 sets of net lights and I-dont-know how many strings of lights. Mary put in the posts to hold our light strings off the ground high enough so the cats would not get tangled in them at night, necessary to delineate the HO HO HO Resort we are putting up for our display this year, in addition to HO HO HO Logistics in the upper acre. Mary discovered today that the temp garage we put up last spring was 80% filled with Christmas stuff....well, thats why we put it up. It works well to give us more room to store out garden tractor and such in the other shed & carport. The garden is basically in, that is the transplants we planted for fall. Only a couple small beds remain which will hold some herbs. I'm trying to establish one perennial and one annual herb bed of the most useful medicinal and culinary herbs for us, but its still a learning curve. Once we dig the sweet potatoes we will throw in some seeds for winter growing. (Hmm, I wonder if it is too late to get some walking onions? I'll have to call the Southern Exposure seed company and ask. I could make room for a onion and garlic bed on the side.) After Christmas we will need to lay out trellises for the muscadine grapes, they are growing fast and will need pruning and trellising to optimize their potential. The pomegranate is flourishing near the apple trees, the elderberry I brought from Wisconsin is growing larger but we will probably put in some more blueberries near the apple trees, as the ones we planted in the sunny spot do not like THAT much sun! And we may get an apple or two next year. It is not as big an orchard as I dreamed of, but then again, we are not feeding the neighborhood, just enough for us two and to put some up. I still want a tea bush, a bay laurel bush (that I can pot and keep trimmed), wild plums and a hawthorne tree or two in my "wild" area. Unfortunately Moringa does not grow here, its a tropical tree, or I would grow one of those (talk about useful!). But slowly I can keep adding native (and adapted) "wild" plants. Oh yes, I need to prune the blackberries, they are thorny as all get out. But with both berries and leaves being useful I certainly dont want to waste my volunteer landcaping plants. Its an ongoing process...thats why I love gardening. Its dynamic and always something new. The bougainvilla plant we tried was a success, it was very pretty. The person we bought it from said in mexico where he got them, they are used for fencing/hedges as they are thorny. And deer dont eat them. Something to be said for thorns, they keep out the riff raff, LOL. Have any of you ladies ever grown tobacco? It might be nice to know how and have some growing in case the health police decide to outlaw tobacco. Mary looks cool smoking a corncob pipe, and quite a few folks around here 'chaw' so it would be a viable barter item. Oh yes, for insecticide as well (us old folks know about that trick!) But it been years since I knew anyone who raised it. Hafta hit the books...I think Foxfire had quite a bit on tobacco back in the day.

So is the firing of one of our ER doctors because he would not take the shot. Ane he is the last person who is generally anti-vax....but he is concerned with the side effects and refuses. So he was fired. He went to another state where they have no vax mandate. We will see more of that stuff Im afraid. Then I hear on the V that employment numbers are much lower than anticipated....my laughter was not happy, more like rueful. The elephant is in the room, but nobody is acknowledging it. Im hearing scare stories about social security being denied to anyone with another income source (like a private pension or investments). I suspect that one is just to scare folks into demanding their congress reps vote for that bloated budget though, politics as usual. Its turning into the twilight zone...... Midnightmom, I tracked down that video and watched the whole thing. I scares me, but does not surprise me. Of course the vaccine morphs into our worst nightmare....how else could they lie to us and say there is nothing in it to be alarmed about? Nothing as long as you keep it refrigerated, of course....nothing-burgers for lunch again, get in line folks, step lively..... I need a gagging emoji....

my sister has developed severe short term memory loss issues after getting the covid shot. After considerable digging I discovered other "anecdotal" reports of the same thing from other victims of the covid clan. Of all things, this was totally unexpected...my poor scared to death sister. Prayers please. Dont know if it is permanent or not.

got quite a shock today. My sister was on the phone and said she was having short term memory loss big time. Came on suddenly, and she is scared, naturally, since Mom had Altzheimers. Mary & I just looked at each other and thought the same thing....covid shot reaction? Did considerable digging, and found out that other people have had the same thing happen to them after getting covid injections. Memory loss....cant remember what they went into a room for....one was asked by a co worker if he was drumk after he e mailed her a memo at work, his typing and thinking were so fuzzy. Of course, this is all denied by the powers that be. Funny thing, a world renowned virologist in India is suddenly a consipiracy theorist when he predicted such problems. My heart aches for my sister. She was so insistent I get the shot that she cried and told me she was frightened to death for me because I did not get the shot. I blieve she was, she sounded scared spitless. Now I am hurting for her and worried about my brother that did take the shot. I do not know if I will tell her or not....it wont help now, and I want to help her get thru this, not say "I told you so". I will have to sit down and cry and get it out of my system tonight then pick up and carry on. we are putting in the winter garden, and there is no time to sit around. Our freezers are refilled with meat as we broke the budget replacing our meat supplies. We can now coast for quite a while if things get wierd. or should I say wierd-ER? That high ropes course looks like FUN! Im strong albeit crooked....love to try such a thing. Instead we shall just start clearing out some of our wooded parcel and put in a shooting range instead. Noiser, but still satisfying.

We love our oven fried chicken especially with my home made low sodium shake and bake. Lately after putting the chicken on the pan I had extra crumbs left so I made potato wedges and tossed the on in a baggie with a little oil. After massaging them to coat with oil I tossed them with the extra shake and bake. The crumbs stuck nicely and all I had to do was toss them on the other end of the sheet pan and bake along with the chicken for around 25 min or so. Just like carry out but less salt, spices the way we like them on the mild side and crispy coated. A new family fave was born that is fancy enough for company.