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Oh my. Hope your DH is okay and didn't get a concussion! Ice is horrible. There isn't a thing you can do whether you are driving or walking. I like to drive in the snow especially with the Jeep but even I stay home when there is ice.

 

Some times you just have to go out in it though. I really busted it a couple of years ago trying to walk down the flat iced up driveway to get the mail. Long story short, now I either skip a day or two getting it or I drive down the driveway to get it. It looks lazy. Pfffff. If I see the neighbors out I'll just drive around the block like I had some place really important to go to.

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:)

 

Frustrated. I worked hard turning my soil to prepare my garden, working a truck load of new "healthy" dirt and straw compost into it. Carefully filled cups with some of the soil, planted a bunch of seeds and watered them with only rain water I had collected. Nothing came up except some thyme. I replanted the other seeds, thinking the seeds were not any good. Still, nothing else has sprouted. Then, after 2 weeks, overnight, the tiny little sprouts of thyme fell over and died. :sigh:

 

I spread 1,000's of radish seeds in one of my plots, lining the outside with onion, garlic, onion, garlic.... That plot seems to be growing well, so far.

 

I did some reading to see if I could figure out why, ... "dig 6" down and look for creatures"... I'm lucky to find a worm in my whole yard, let alone in my garden. Ants, plenty. White fly, plenty. Other destructive insects, plenty. :sigh: From what I've read, my soil is high pH, (burns my fingers in a couple of hours), and clay, (I've mixed a ton of sand in it). My neighbor joked with me, "...adding straw to the clay should give me a wonderful garden of adobe brick...." Hahahaha..... :shakinghead:

 

I will keep trying, for now. I'm thinking about giving up gardening completely, all that work, water and cost for nothing? If, :smiley_shitfan:​ I'd starve.

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Poor Annarchy. :hug3: I KNOW what you mean. In our Western arid, alkaline soils, few garden crops do well. You might consider [non-porus] container gardening with totally imported soil/compost. Don't use clay pots that haven't been glazed....the air will suck all moisture from the soil thru the pot. ....unless you stand the unglazed clay pot in water regularly. Are you mulching...with something other than wood chips? Not with materials that will draw moisture up form the soil either.

 

If you are growing ANYTHING in soil that doesn't support worms......you are doing very well. It's just that simple. I'd suggest growing fragile herbs inside....unless your furry pals will mess with them. :lol:

 

 

I'd like to know what is different where/how Gunplumber gardens. He's had some very good results.

 

Up here, without definitive DROUGHT and the VOLES, we certainly can grow several classifications of things. We do not have the HEAT that you have.....but do have the arid air. Last year we had flooding instead of drought. But....there was still the dratted voles eating EVERYTHING!

 

MtRider :(

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Had a rather eventful weekend. Yesterday dh got a phone call saying there might be a kidney available. The process is the 1st person is called and 2 people are put 'on deck'. If the 1st person doesn't accept or doesn't pass the battery of tests then the next person in line gets tested. Dh was 1st on deck. Well, the 1st person accepted. But we had a two hour period where we were waiting to see if dh might get called. They kept calling him back with health questions then called to say the first person had accepted the kidney.We got a call this morning to let us know the transplant was successful.

 

That was an emotional roller coaster...I feel bad that I had a minute of hoping the first guy wouldn't qualify :blush: ...but, I'm feeling that it was just his time. The good news is it made us realize how high on the list dh is. Has me ramping up how much I'm cleaning and getting ready for this.

 

Also got a text this morning that the new owners (as of Friday) of the house we're renting wanted to introduce themselves and do a quick walk through of the house. Got to spend a few hours making the place presentable. They're nice enough people....

Edited by dogmom4
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:hug3: Well......that IS pressure! First on deck means.....your dh is next? :pray: for a match and renewed life for MrDogmom!!!

 

 

.......which month do you have to leave?

 

 

I'm thinking about how soooon May might get here. :runcirclsmiley2:

 

MtRider :pc_coffee:

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I am going to listen for ,phone call, text message, or email..that there is some news of my car. No I am still without a car. It has bettors be fixed. I am on the lookout for another one.

I have sewing to do, the stove to feed,..it is 17 now up from 4..

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Not 100% sure if he is next...but because of his blood type he is a universal recipient. He can get a kidney from anyone. In the beginning they told us that because of his blood type he has the shortest wait time....1-2 years.

 

We have until August 31 to move. It feels like it's coming fast. Do you have to be out in May??

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Been hanging around the house today. Somewhere in the past week or so MrWE2 picked up a dandy of a head cold :fever: Rummaged the home remedies yesterday and he seems to be feeling a bit better. Put in an extra dropper of thieves oil in the diffuser/candle warmer, chugging VitC, some mucous chest relief tabs and mentolatum rub on neck and under ears. Broke down and gave him a couple of aspirin for fever and it seems to have went away. We've been around several "batches" of people these past 2 weeks so it's hard telling. Didn't notice anybody huffing and blowing, but they could have been on the onset before symptoms, and contagious :-( I've been oil pulling every morning (instead of twice a week) and taking Vit C myself...to get ahead of this since we're in such "close contact"...LOL Cooked up a big pot of home made chicken noodle soup, so we each had a bowl of that, with some oranges & trail mix for dessert. Had enough leftover to put in frig for another meal. He was supposed to go to work today for a major company here but had to beg off until "hopefully" tomorrow. :pray: We really need the work.

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I'd like to know what is different where/how Gunplumber gardens. He's had some very good results.

 

MtRider :(

 

IDK what is going on with my soil. My neighbor made a garden across the alley from my garden. His flourished while mine produced miniature plants and fruit. LOL We both had some good laughs that year.

 

Today, I am encouraged. The pot with the beefsteak tomato seeds is sprouting. The tiny thyme sprouts must have had to rest, because they are standing up again with no sign that they had withered, unless it is some of the other seeds that sprouted, I did put quite a few seeds in the cup. I have no idea what happened. It's a mystery I am not pursuing. :scratchhead:

 

Got most of the tax forms and instructions down loaded and will start reading, and reading tomorrow when I finish up some of the reports I need.

 

Had an appointment to get sized for a new bridge. The old bridge was a constant irritant and making me ill. Since it was removed, I can smell again and I feel better. I still need more dental work, including, "oral surgery" on my whole lower jaw. :sigh: That has to wait for me to save up enough. In the mean time, I am doing one little thing at a time.

 

Our little fuzzy faces can not get up on things in our house. All the years of rescuing ferrets has taught us how to "ferret proof" our entire house. Even our furniture is ferret proof. No recliners allowed, ferrets get pinched in the mechanisms. Never leave your shoes on the floor or they will remove the soles and chew them up. Every once in a while, I will forget to push my chair (a kneeling chair) away from my desk and they LOVE to use it as a spring board to get on my desk and make sure gravity works. They are extremely curious. They love to steal things and hide them. Uriah loves to help me clean every day and as soon as I set the paper towel roll down, he takes it and stuffs it near their cages, then, Temperance will attempt to unroll it.

 

:pray: for your and your DH, dogmom4.

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Yes...May, if we're not gonna pay a MUCH higher rent. :sigh:

 

 

Our soil is too alkaline tho, Ambergris. :scratchhead: ....forgot which additives lower pH?

 

 

Aiiiiiiiieeeeee, what a DAY I've had!

 

Slept from 5am to 11:30am. <_<

 

DH had the stack of pellet stove pellets slide sideways and knock over a bunch more stuff in basement.

 

DH did not notice the kitchen sink pipes had separated again this morning....and when I poured out the big pot of water I'd boiled taters in last nite, the mixing bowl we keep under there [just in case til it's repaired] was already nearly full. Fortunately I DID notice the flood. :buttercup: Fortunately the layers of newspapers under the bowl soaked up the flood. We're back to dumping water in the bathroom. Doable but awkward.

 

Then just as DH left for work, we lost power. Fortunately it was a fairly warm day.....40 degrees in sunshine. Unfortunately I was heading for a load of laundry AND filling the horse water tank at peak-daily-warmth ....2:00pm. It stayed off 2 hrs. I had phone [no cell here] but I called 12 neighbors to see if it was our place only or the neighborhood. NO ONE WAS HOME.....or they only had electric-dependent cordless phones??? Finally had DH run over from work to their office.....wondering if anyone there on MLK day? They were and it was finally FIXED and back on. Hate talking ONLY to computer: "In 30 seconds, give your name, address, phone # ....blah blah blah.... " :blink: What?

 

After power [as in.....the well pump for water..] came back on, I did the horse tank tho temperature was dropping. Fortunately, water came thru hundreds of feet of hose fine...sun had warmed hose anyway. UNfortunately, there is another leak we've got to get repair parts for. Tied a plastic grocery bag around the leak and ....it didn't blow....yet.

 

Fortunately, some of the dirt/grit was available to toss on the BAAAD ice patches of the driveway and walkways. All my dirt/grit has been frozen down solid. Heaved a lot of dirt/grit today.

 

Came inside again...oops, went back down stairs to put in the laundry load. Back up to get phone. When I hung up, noticed the phone said "No line". Took about an hour of messing with the cordless phone to reset the electronic 'brain' ....get phone working. My old "princess" type phone works tho. :sigh:

 

Unfortunately when I was putting the insulated stuff in window to close it up for the night, I cracked the side of my heel on a sharp corner of the hefty coffee table. OWWWWW! Limped for 2 hrs. Better but tender now. Sheeeeesh!

 

DH not having easy time at work. Coworker is upset due to auto accident earlier...... :runcirclsmiley2:

 

:behindsofa: I'm trying to stay in bed on computer and not have anything else happen. :behindsofa:

 

 

.....did I mention we lose all 3 methods of heating w/o electricity? :frozen: But all is well again, furnace and pellet stove both running. :amen: AND....since I called the property manager to see when the repair to kit sink is scheduled....they're coming tomorrow morning.

 

 

MtRider ...wow, fridge works, heat works, and soon plumbing will work again. Can I stop being a pioneer now? :grinning-smiley-044: :grinning-smiley-044: :grinning-smiley-044:

Edited by Mt_Rider
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MrWE2's head cold is on the run :-) Was able to go to work project today. Getting laundry done today because I didn't get it done yesterday (I usually try to do laundry on Monday's) so I'm a bit behind schedule, but it really don't matter when you're retired and it's cold outside :-) Planning to dehydrate some tomatoes tomorrow. We bought a few #10 cans of diced tomatoes and I'll get them dehydrated. Linda's Pantry showed how she does it and I'm gonna do it to :-) I just used the last half pint of my powdered tomatoes that I put back in 2013. I really enjoy having both the dehydrated diced, dehydrated sliced and the powdered. The weather prediction was 1-4 inches of snow this morning beginning at 9 am, but it's waited until now to start. It's not a heavy blizzard type snow, and the wind is blowing it almost sideways. I'm thinking it's probably more of a sleet right now than snow :-( Glad MrWE2 doesn't have far to drive to get home, but he'll still need to clean off his windshield. Abby-girl is curled up on her blanky just waiting for MrWE2 to come home. She goes nuts! Even though he ignores her when he first comes in, she don't care. She's still got that butt & tail going 90 miles as hour and sticks her head in his lap the absolute second he sits down :-) She'd be in his lap if he didn't correct her. I've let her up in my chair with me a time or two but she just can't lay still so I have to make her get down. If she'd just lay down and be still I'd love to share my chair with her :-) Got our taxes mailed off today, glad that's done with. Ours are very simple and I'm able to do them online.

Edited by The WE2's
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Wow Mt. Rider your days are...interesting.

 

Hope Mr. WE2's cold is coming to an end! I saw that video of Linda's pantry too. Also one where she (I think it was her) dried canned peaches too. I saw one (not her) that dried cherry tomatoes that I'm going to try this summer.

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Well here's another chapter in the book of MtRider's weird life. :sassing:

 

You know what happened here yesterday.... power out 2 hrs, kitchen sink drain pipes separated/leaked. Then later cordless phone messed up from power outage and FINALLY got it working again. Smacked my heel on sharp corner of coffee table.....aiieee!

 

If yesterday was LIVE-LIKE-PIONEER DAY.....TODAY was Catastrophe Day!

 

DH fell on the ice AGAIN today. Was carrying 9 duck eggs...they broke. Hurt his weak knee somewhat. We had a mere dusting of snow and .....not thinking, he traipsed along the lower driveway. Not a good idea. Hit a patch of sheer ice cuz it was hiding under the thin layer of snow. :( That was the minor catastrophe.

 

Our property manager couple came 10:30 am to fix the pipes under kitchen sink. She didn't tell me they also planned to re-caulk the shower [DH had to do without today] and attempt to find the receiver in the HUGE, HEAVY ceiling fan/light. The fan works. The light does not. It sends the signal from remote only...but sending or receiving is not working for the light function. Receiver is a small part within the whole big device.

 

All three of us [DH went to work] happened to be standing near when the whole danged fan flew down from the ceiling. B was up higher on a small ladder and it hit him in the side of the head!!!!!! We're still trying to figure out if a bolt came loose.....and WHERE it might be? B had done NOTHING that should have made it fall. So....was it so precarious that it could have fallen on any of us at any time? {gasp} :unsure::shrug:

 

Immediately, J and I, as well as a stunned B, grabbed the heavy thing....like an octopus with all the long fan blades. Electric cords still attached up at top. We looked at each other in shock. I kept asking B if he was alright. He kept saying yes but was shaking his head ...as in getting the cobwebs out. He finally said, 'I have to get a bigger ladder to put it back up.'

 

I told them to hold the fan and I went down and brought up my larger step ladder. He got up on it at various angles. J asked 'What do you need?" I answered: A bigger ladder! So we positioned the fan on top of my step ladder. They went home and ate and got the extension ladder. Then we still had some maneuvering with all three of us. I was sooooo tired from all that yesterday that I kept laying down on the couch between times when they needed me. He was finally able to undo all the electric cords [i shut off that breaker...poor man did not need to add electrocution to head-bashing!] and we lowered it the rest of the way to the floor. By that time we were using all THREE ladders. If we hadn't caught it after knocking B's head, it would have snapped the electrical cords and crashed to the floor.

 

Thank YOU, God! :amen: That all could have been MUCH worse! A pretty direct hit dropping on one side of his head. A center hit might have killed him with the apparatus for the light fixture poking down. That missed him.

 

They finished the shower stall, the sink [but I think it's still dripping ...tho he had to go twice for parts cuz of OLD fixtures and new parts]....and they took the fan [minus the glass for the light and the fan blades] home with them. Fortunately I'd save the paperwork when the guy installed that fan almost 10 yrs ago. [we found the date Nov 2016] So they can figure out parts numbers ....IF they can get them. Then it will be ....er, INTERESTING.....to figure out how to get the dumb thing back up there. It's a peaked ceiling. He might have to call in his 'muscle guy' to help...instead of J on the small ladder and me standing on a desk!

 

I'm beyond exhausted! :0327: Two days in a row is toooo much!

 

I think I'm ready for a REST AND CALM DAY! Pray that B really IS alright. That was quite a knock he got!

 

 

MtRider ..... all I can say is :rolleyes: and :amen: the fan didn't kill anyone!

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Didn't hardly get any snow, just a bit of freezy stuff that didn't accumulate on the roads. The grass is still poking through much of it, but you still have to watch your step if your going to be out on it. MrWE2 is feeling MUCH better and sounds better too :-) So far I'm feeling fine, but still taking precautionary measures. We got a REAL surprise this morning when MrWE2 left for work...Ugly has a bunk mate :-) or :-( Anyway the long haired grey & white cat was in his house with him. Guess with this cold, damp & snowy weather they decided to warm each other up. There's so many other places either one of them could shelter, but they prefer our carport...which only has lattice sides...figure? The "other" cat skiddadles the moment we come out the back door, so it's pretty wild and doesn't even give us any opportunity to approach. Not even close enough to get a picture of it. That's good I guess if you're wanting a mousing cat. Just hope Ugly and "other" aren't a male and female planning on making a family :-( When "other" fled, Ugly just stayed in his house, laid back and staying warm :-) Rinsed my sprout jar again this morning. They'll be ready for the frig by tomorrow I think. Made a really big batch of them this time (in my big sprouting jar...rather than the small tray system) because we enjoy them so much on sandwiches and in our scrambled eggs etc. Friend gave us a bag of "zesty, organic sprouting seeds" so we'll see what they taste like :-) Just 1/4 cup of them has made a huge bunch of sprouts for us. I've still got two bags of organic lentils (red and green) that I'll sprout some after I've put the zesty ones in the frig. Guess I'll go clean some work surfaces and my dehydrator trays and get the tomatoes on. It'll help put some heat in the house too :-) We're keeping the temp at 60 and dressing warm, so canning or dehydrating adds a bit more warmth and we might as well enjoy it. We talked a bit last night about getting some of our friends together this spring and having a "emergency" practice. Practice fire starting, building emergency shelters and cooking from emergency-type foods. We'll see what they think :-) We normally just have target practice and a crockpot type meal, so who knows? LOL Still got a couple of loads of laundry that didn't get done yesterday but that won't take long...thankfully I have a washer and dryer. Wouldn't be fun if I had to use the Wonder Wash or my Bucket Washers :-( And in this cold weather getting them dry wouldn't happen. They'd be "walking" clothes without any way to dry them ... ie: no power shtf. MrWE2's getting allergic skin reactions to the 2nd batch of thieves oil, so we've stopped using it on him. The first batch didn't bother him, but I used a different recipe. I'll use up what I have on myself, and hopefully he'll allow me to use the previous recipe on him??? Comment from him "I've survive without it for years"...:-( One thing I know I've learned with him having this cold is how quickly something like that can come on and how having several home remedies and other OTC things made a big financial difference because he avoided complications and having to visit our doctor's office. In the past he's been very susceptible to pneumonia so we have to be really careful when he gets a cold etc., and get on it quick. He's had the 2nd pneumonia shot when he turned 60. You're only supposed to need two in your lifetime. My first husband died from pneumonia, his health was so compromised that he couldn't take any type of vaccines. When the flu hit...it took him down and pneumonia was the result. Nothing to mess with, and often not successfully cured off grid. Later!

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:woohoo:

 

:cele: I found earth worms!!!!! :hapydancsmil:

 

I began digging up a completely different area to prepare the soil for my tomatoes, and WOW!!! There they were, barely moving, but alive!!! I should be able to plant 4 tomato plants in that area. I am so excited! :hapydancsmil:

 

DH suggested that area for the tomatoes, because several years ago, we had one plant there and it did well, until our temps got over 105.

 

So far today, did my studies, worked on the pastel, replaced the straw in the hen house, put the soiled straw in the mulch bin, dug and mulched the tomato area and mulched the purple iris, played with the dog, cleaned the ferret room, gave them their porridge, played with them a while, balanced my check book, paid bills, and now need to go do errands.

 

Note to self: Remember to shake out my pant cuffs after working in the dirt, I left piles of dirt behind me as I was cleaning their room. :grinning-smiley-044: When I got to the end of my cleaning circuit and turned around, there was a trail of dirt all around the room. Which explains why the fuzzy faces were hyper active, dancing around and sniffing my jeans. They had effectively scattered the trail of dirt all around. Silly ferrets love to play in the dirt.

 

WE2, my neighbor has been without electricity since a week before Christmas. He said he is going back to the basics like when he was a child. Definitely has me pondering about all the electricity we use in our house.

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:cheer: Hooray for WORMS!!! :wormie2: [yeah, hooray for our Wormie too] :P

 

 

We've just had a visit from the UP HILL neighbors' new dog. Koa aaaannnnnounced him! He's confused about the collar....that is for the 'electronic fence' ....not for barking where he previously was. So he's intimidated and won't play cuz he only barks when he plays. So he wasn't wearing the fence collar and decided to pay us a visit. :lol:

 

I called up .....as they have called down at various times when Koa has slipped away...esp when she was a pup. They loaded up with boots to slither down the steep snowy hillside to collect him I'd put him in Koa's big "playpen" cuz Koa was going NUTS in the cab of the truck.

 

INVADER! :runcirclsmiley2:INVADER! :animal0017:INVADER! :darth duck:

 

 

Cute, lovable "invader" :lol:

 

MtRider ....still not quite resting..... :rolleyes:

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Glad MrWE2 is doing better and can even go off to work again. :thumbs:

 

I keep forgetting about sprouts....the perfect fresh food for winter. :lois:

 

MtRider ....PLANNING to take it easy today.... :rolleyes: We'll see. Warm(ish) and sunny.

 

Yep, just washed the sprouts, patted them dry a bit and put them in a baggie in the frig :-) I'll start another batch in another 3 or 4 days or so.

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Sprouts are drained, patted dry & in their baggie in the frig. Laundry is just about done (the dark/work clothes etc.). They always take the longest because I don't wash but 3 pair of his work pants and 3 of his shirts at a time. Took the few minutes in between chores to bake another loaf of bread for the next 2 or 3 days, and decided that since the oven was hot I'd bake a fruit cocktail cake. The house is nice and warm, and smelling like bread, cake & tomatoes! :24:

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