Jeepers

Thanks. That's my favorite room. Except for the table and chairs, I have been collecting everything in there for up to 50 years. One piece at a time. Even the pottery was bought 1-2 pieces at a time over the years in Pennsylvania. It probably took 10 years to get the hats I wanted. They are all different and I remember where I got each one of them. Lots of memories in that room. Another Amish story. I always wanted a brown bonnet because there is only one place where the women wear the brown ones. I took a few trips over there and I looked all over to find one. Finally, I was in a little Amish quilt store and I asked a woman where I could possibly buy one. She asked a couple of girls in the shop and they had no idea either. So, I told the woman that I'd gladly buy hers. I told her the truth. It was because I collected bonnets from other states and areas but I couldn't find a brown one. She was concerned because hers was old and used. I told her I'd pay her what ever it was worth to her. She didn't want to say. Finally she sort of whispered $10.00? I knew what new bonnets cost in stores at the time. I gave her $30.00 and we were both very happy. It's the one in the lower picture kind of under the picture sitting on the little cabinet. When I get a bigger stand I'll move it over to the honey hutch where the black Indiana bonnet is. BTW, the rest of the house doesn't look like that. I will be about 2 hours from Shipshewana. But it won't be the same. Over here there are more and better Amish stores and I have a couple of Amish friends down there that I visit. Sigh. And I won't be able to make it to Pennsylvania in one day. I don't romanticize about the Amish. I know their dirt from infidelity, alcoholism, drugs and even murder. I took a picture for my cousin of my half finished music area. I'm moving my grandpa's flag over to an end table and putting my stereo there. And when I can pry my guitar from my son's house, it will sit in the stand.

Not any meds to cause this. The last time I looked it up on line it said if it didn't clear up in about 6 months it probably wouldn't. It's been a year for me. I haven't checked lately though. I will do that tomorrow. It's that long haul covid stuff.

All of the rooms are small except for my bedroom. And the great room which is one big open room.

I took three out of the freezer in Indy and brought them over here and put them in the freezer right away at the house. They were still frozen but not as solid. So, I have three meals over here. My taste buds are still messed up from covid and since I've had whatever this crud is, they have gotten worse. Now my sense of smell is going bad too. Next time I see my doctor I'm going to tell him that if there is a test program (can't think what it's called) for this, then sign me up. It's pretty bad. My luck there will be one...in downtown Cleveland.

I finally got two pictures off the phone. My new phone takes lousy pictures! Everything is so dark. The floor isn't nearly that dark and neither is the table. The table has one leaf in it and another one in the garage. I think I might need another chair or two. Much later. Other than curtains, the dining room is mostly done. I need to get a quilt on the quilt rack by the window yet. That thing in the corner is a quilt stand for a quilt to loop in. But, the hat and shawl fit nicely on it so I'm just going to leave it that way. And I'm running out of walls. The thing behind the spinning wheel is fake cotton bolls. I have a basket of real cotton, some thread spindles and a little shelf sitting lamb for that corner...someplace. Looking the other direction. I'm not sold on the way those bonnets look up there. Sigh. Probably more holes in the wall I'll need to fix. I'm debating on whether to hang that picture up over the bench in the foyer or to hang a quilt on that wall. I'm leaning toward the picture because I'm running out of walls.

That looks so good Annarchy! That is on one of my to-do lists too.

I don't think of them as really long term food storage. My plan is to eat them over the course of a year. Purely convenience food for me. Cooking for one isn't always easy. When I do cook, I tend to over do it. Freezer cooking for me is like canning. I'd rather do a lot at one time than a little bit, often. In other words, I'm a lazy cook. Do it once and get it over with.

Usually when you see the Amish out like that they are traveling someplace quite a distance away. Especially when you see them in a group. There were 4-5 more ladies behind me. They hire vans to take them places. Sometimes funerals and this time of year...weddings. I imagine the driver had to stop for gas and potty breaks. I was on the toll road but I don't remember if I was in Ohio or Indiana. The first rest stop I came to after leaving Indiana is called Knute Rockne. Anyway, that isn't important. I mention it because there were flashing signs when approaching it that said. "The diesel pumps are down. Please find an alternative route." Glad I wasn't a trucker. I assume they were helping each other out on their CB's to find diesel. I don't know if the pumps were frozen or if they were out of diesel. Not good either way. At least I wasn't seeing the "Limited food" signs like I saw all last summer. Also coming back I noticed gas signs. Someplace in Indiana closer to Ohio, I saw a gas sign as I was going east. It said regular $2.99. Right directly across the road going west it said regular $3.39. Right across the road.

I think it's going to take me longer to get caught back up than I thought. I'm really not ignoring anyone! I tried to load a couple of pictures of my dinning room from the phone but since it's new, it says I need to 'update my devise settings' and I don't know how to do that. I hate new things. I did happen to find this one so I think I'm getting close to finding the others. The Amish seem to follow me everywhere. I spotted a herd them in a rest stop. I think I was in Ohio.

MT3B I'd like to get a small garden shed to store flammables in too. Mine are in a second garage that is a mere 5-ish feet from the house. I'd like that stuff a little farther away from my bedroom. And lists...I haz em: To-Do now, To-Do soon. To-Do later, To-Do sometime, To-Do this summer, To-Do by a handyman, To-Think about. To-Do canning, To-Do freezer cooking. To-Do breathing. Plus that never ending To-Do shopping list. That reminds me, I need to start looking at the garden centers around here for some seeds. Mine got wet. It's okay though. I didn't have a lot and I can start with new ones again. I need to make a list of must haves soon. It's still early up here though. Littlesister, it was hard for me to get rid of some stuff too. At least most of mine was ruined so I didn't have to think about it too much. But the good stuff I pitched was a hard decision. But I found after I donated it all, I never really thought about it again. Out of sight, out of mind really was a thing. I've never missed it. Truth be told, right now I can't even remember what most of it was.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOTHER Hope you are having a great day!

Thanks everyone! I reported back in the winter vortex thread. It was a good trip with no real issues. I'm glad to be back though! On the way back a cousin texted me that the wife of one of our other cousin's had died today. It reminded me that it was this time of year that my mom died (Jan. 21st.) and it isn't easy having a funeral in this weather. It sleeted through my mom's funeral (Jan. 24th.) and it was a mess trying to walk around the cemetery. Fortunately the pastor had the sense to keep the graveside part of the service short. It was pretty, but also treacherous.

Actually more like I'm His co-pilot. He seems to know a little more than I do.

Yes, I did turn the water off. Fortunately, I had my project manager show me how about 3 months ago. A little valve in the basement. I also turned up the heat 78 to keep the house as warm as possible for as long as possible. My gas bill will be outrageous next month but it will be worth if 'something' goes wrong. I'll be back in 3-4 days so it won't be for long. I suppose as long as I have that house, I'll worry about it in the winter.

Miki, I might be facing that issue in Indiana too. Went to the house today. I got the Jeep loaded down as well as I could. There is just a little room left. I kept reminding myself that I'm going to have to unload it all when I get over there. Ugh. I'm just going to stick it all in the garage and be done with it. I'm not having son come over to help. Not with my cooties. Most of the kitchen is done. I got everything put away but I didn't get the cabinets lined. It takes so much time that I don't see any progress. Now, I'll just move the stuff, put the liner down and reload. At least everything has a home now. I'm going light and so far, half of the cabinets are still empty. I also went cheap so if I don't want to move anything it won't matter. I still want it to look nice though. I think I have everything I need at the house for the kitchen and bathrooms except I need aluminum foil, plastic wrap and salt/pepper shakers. Will hit the Dollar Tree when I get back. I thought all of my food would fit in the little kitchen pantry but I forgot about spaghetti and sauce. I need to buy some of that too. Next week I'll work on getting some window covers up. I need a bottle of Old English scratch cover for the woodwork around the windows too. I have a never ending list. And that stuff you put under a rug to hold it down. Tape? I have throw rugs at the front and garage door to protect the floor from dirt and scratches but they don't lie perfectly flat. All I have to do in the morning is swing in Dunkin Donuts up the street for a traveling latte and fill up the gas tank on the way to the toll road entrance. I have a nice blanket, boots, hat, mittens and extra socks packed. In the front seat are a couple of bottles of Gator Ade and some water. Some snack crackers and two apples. Also I'll take my leftover mandarin oranges. I bought a turkey, bacon, ranch sandwich today at Arby's and didn't eat it so I'll take that along too. I have 2 of the medicine reminders full. I think that's it. One good thing about when we have to get rerouted in an emergency, is the state police give us an escort through the whole trip. Especially when on the toll road. BTDT twice. So I'm not worried about getting lost. I'll fill the gas tank back up then I hit the Indy boarder. That's half way. The wind will probably wreak havoc on the gas milage. The house is good to live in right now. I'm only staying at the hotel for my own convenience. But it will be nice to be able to move back in with it all set up. Except for cleaning.... Men are messy pigs. The house was warm and cozy.

I can't take licorice. It's the kiss of death for people with high blood pressure. I think I have Kennel Cough. I have heard about the mystery disease going around with dogs. To be honest, I didn't give it a lot of thought because I don't have a dog and I'm not around any presently. I thought I was a little better protected because I have been vaxed for pneumonia and recently for RSV. Whatever I have seems to be cycling. I think I'm starting to feel a little better then I'm right back to square one again. I've never ever been a cougher. Now I sound like a heavy smoker. The episode in Meijers was kind of scary because I was afraid I was going to throw up from the throat tickle. Ricola helped pretty fast. But I ate four of them at once. I've been avoiding 'that' clinic for a number of reasons but when I get back to Ohio I'm going in. If it becomes worse I will go to the clinic son's use over there. I just want this trip over with. The timing is lousy. I ordered the furniture about four months ago and this is the week they decide to deliver.

The prescription finally came in. It is the Vitamin D-3. I know it's a new year and there are deductibles to meet, but 90 pills cost me $8.40. Yikes. I can get 180 of them from Amazon for $14.29 next day delivery.

I'm not saying I have one more day until the kitchen is done at the house again. It never works out that way. I keep bringing stuff in and rearranging it. I like to organize things. Today I went to Meijers and did a little bit more stocking up. Not a lot but I needed drinks and I filled up the freezer with fast freezer meals. First thing I did was to pick up some Ricola cough drops. Then finished my shopping. I got kinda sick while I was waiting in line to check out. I started coughing really badly. I think my throat went dry and it kept triggering a cough and a gag reflex. I left the line and hid out in the card section and dug through the cart for the cough drops. Of course they were on the bottom. But I ate 4 of them and it really helped with the cough enough to get myself through the store. I didn't want to just leave the cart because I had a lot of fridge/freezer stuff in it. People probably thought I had the plague. A couple of days ago I thought I was doing better. But it has come back with a vengeance. Now I'm back to the cough, sneezing, chills and stuffed up head. My nose is so stuffed up, I'm actually having trouble breathing. Dang. When I get back I'm planning to go to a walk in clinic unless dr will do a phone conference. I'm done. But I spent the day getting the little pantry in the kitchen all organized. I'm lovin' that little pantry! I'm keeping all of my food in it instead of the big one in the hall. I can keep it manageable that way and not go over board. In theory. I put the shelves in then didn't like it, then moved them around again and again. I can waste more time doing little piddly things like that. But now it's done. Next will be the refrigerator. None of the shelves are in it and none of the door compartments either. Hope I can figure it out. I need to figure out how to get ice from the maker too. I got half of the Jeep loaded up. It started snowing really hard so I left. The wind was getting bad too. The furniture guy called. I expressed my concern with the weather. He thinks they will run but will call me on Monday if they can't make it. Kinda too late for me though because I'm leaving here on Sunday. I talked to son about the weather. He is going to keep me updated too. He is calling Sunday morning to advise me on the weather over there. I heard on the radio that they have banned large trucks and empty semis on the toll road because of high winds. If this delivery doesn't pan out then DIL will do the next one. At the time they are supposed to deliver this Tuesday, she will be taking G-son to school 30 miles away from my house. If there is a next time, we will schedule around her time allowance. I told son I wasn't coming around them at all this time. After hearing me coughing, he agreed. So, I plan to be in and out over there. While I was at Meijers one of my items I scanned didn't take. The screen said I needed to wait for help. It was just a box of tea. So the assistant came over and did something to the machine and it ran a video of me actually trying to scan the box to prove I wasn't doing something shady. Seeing myself scanning my products was creepy. I assumed they had cameras but this one was up close and personal.

Miki, I went to National Tire and Battery (NTB) to get the battery. They were very nice with a really big waiting area. They had three sections divided off (one huge room) each with a TV going and a free coffee bar. I took a sweet tea in with me so I didn't want coffee. They also had a big play table with toys on it for kids. It looked like the waiting area was set up with covid in mind. Spread out. It took them about an hour to change the battery but I didn't have an appointment. I just went in and told them my battery was low and cranking hard and I was afraid it wouldn't start in the upcoming cold front coming through. He tested the battery and agreed before they changed it. It was on it's last leg. It probably wouldn't have made it next week without a jump start. Or two. Then I went to a drive thru lube shop called Valvoline. I started going there when our Jiffy Lubes closed down. I stayed with them because they do all kinds of things like changing light bulbs etc. that some lube shops don't do. At that time my head light was out and I didn't know where to go other than a repair shop $$$. It was expensive but I really got the works. Interior light fixed, air filter, oil filter, wiper blades, radiator flush (new antifreeze) something called a differential and all of the fluids either changed out or topped off. All of that and I never left the Jeep and was out in about a half an hour. It never dawns on me to ask for a senior discount or coupons. I later learned Valvoline does batteries too. They also do tire rotations. While I'm at it, I always go to a Conrads to get my brake jobs done and my tires. I have had appointments there and I've done a walk in. Depends on if they are busy or not at the time I go in. I always just wait there for them to do the job. Usually about an hour. One time I went in thinking I needed a brake job and when they took the tires off they discovered that I didn't need one after all. The pads were fine. I appreciated that. One time I limped in with a flat tire and they got me two new ones right away and sent me on my way. I go to Rad Air to get minor repairs done to the Jeep like when my window came off the tract and when I needed new hydraulic things that hold the back window up. My local Siril's does my body work. Sometimes it's hard being a woman alone, to know where to go. Over the years I got it figured out. I'm going to miss Ohio shopping.

Cat, you are so much loved and missed here! It's just so good to see you.

Thank you Mt. Rider. I think I've prepped the Jeep as best as I know how. If I get into trouble I won't hesitate to get a hotel room along the way. I'm pretty sure they won't be delivering furniture in a horse and buggy. Wouldn't that be a sight! I think the owner will be driving the van with a couple of Amish helpers. That's the way it was the last time. I also ordered an extra piece for my bedroom so that room will be totally furnished too. It was nice to be able to buy the furniture a little at a time and still be a matching set. I only have one more bedroom to furnish but will probably do it on the cheap. Maybe even with a daybed. That's way farther in the future. The last name of the owner I work with is named 'Beigle' (Beagle) so I already took a shine to him right away. LOL His number is in my phone so I can call if I need too. Good idea! It just now dawned on me that I think the furniture making shop is down south of the Shipshewana area. Either there or the Elkhart area. I forget which. But that could be a problem. One of my inside lights was out on the Jeep and I didn't even realize it. Just a light bulb was an easy fix for that though. And I noticed my "no passenger air bag' light was on tonight too. The air conditioner is broken along with the CD player. I think it's going to need a brake job soon. It feels like they are starting to grab. And there is still the bumper issue. I see trouble ahead in the next year or two for old BOB. Stay warm and safe everyone!

I do know how to turn the water off now. And I'm going to! I can turn off the toilets and under sinks too. Thanks for that reminder. I'm also going to turn up the heat to about 78 to help keep it warm as long as possible in there. The worst damage was in the ceiling between the first and second floor. Second was in the walls. Burst pipes are no joke. Oh crap Necie. That sounds just like last year. That's the route I'll be traveling. Straight across the state on the toll road. I'm planning to leave either Saturday or Sunday. Probably Sunday. Clean house and have supper with sons on Monday. Furniture delivered Tuesday and home on Wednesday. I'm going to be monitoring Cleveland on iHeart radio on my phone. But I just thought that son can get Cleveland TV on their Superbox so he can help monitor too. I have supplies in the Jeep incase I get stuck someplace. I always have the Jeep loaded to the gills when I go over so there will be plenty of weight in it. This evening I went and got a new battery for the Jeep. I knew it was struggling to start even in 40-50 degree temps so I figured I'd have issues with it next week. It was 60% dead. It was time. It was nice that they took me as a walk in with no appointment. Then I went and got it lubed and oil changed and the radiator flushed. It was past time for that too. One light was out that I didn't even know about. And my tires were only at 20 psi. They filled them up to 35psi. So the Jeep is as good as I can make it. It was fun at the lube place. The guys were all joking around and singing. One asked me if I had a coupon. I didn't so he took my phone and punched one in. That was good for $10.00 off. Nice. He mentioned some other ones then said it's too bad I'm not a senior. Hold the phone Malik. I am a senior. He didn't believe me. He made me get out my drivers license to prove it! Wow, carded at 71. That hasn't happened in...forever. One guy asked me where I got my fake ID. Indiana. LOL So I got another 10% off of the final bill. It was a good day. Tomorrow I'll go back to the house and finish up the kitchen and start getting the Jeep loaded up.

Still coughing my fool head off. I'm taking Mucinex expectorant but it isn't helping. I cancelled my doctor appointment for the 15th. and rescheduled for the 26th. That was the next available one they had. It's just a blood pressure check. She takes my BP and tells me it's too high and that's pretty much it. I have a real doctor appointment on Mar. 12th. So, I'm making plans to go to Indiana this weekend. I don't want to go. I'm sick and don't want to be around the family with this crud. They are just going to have to understand that I'm only going to be there about 2 days and I'm not hanging around. I might see them one time. I owe them some money and I'll either take it to them or else leave it at the house for them to pick up. I really need to be there to get the furniture. It's been put off long enough and they made special arrangements to get it delivered for me. And I owe them money too. They will only take a downpayment when you order from them. It will be nice to get my dining room fixed up though. I think that is going to be my favorite room in the house. Amish pictures on the walls, hats and crap treasures etc. My happy place. I'll tell you what though, I'm scared to death to go over right now. We are getting a bad winter storm at that same time and we know what happened the last time I left the house alone during a winter blast. At least my furnace is new this time. I just can't wait to get over there and back over here again. I'm going to be nervous the entire time I'm gone. I have local iHeart radio stations loaded in an app on my phone so I can check up on the weather. I hope there is no snow over there or else son will have to shovel out the driveway for the delivery guys. He's gonna love that. Not.

Mine only text me when they are filled and ready for pick up. This is the first time they have ever alerted me that they are on back order.

Mt.Rider, do they have auto refill at your pharmacy? That way they can automatically refill them and then alert you when they are ready for pickup. I take so many different pills that I'd never remember when they need refilled. And they don't all come due at the same time. I still haven't heard back from the pharmacy concerning the vitamin refills.