WHATCHA DOING TODAY?

[Jeepers]

As my granny used to say, " I rode the bed all day. " I don't know why, but it means I stayed in bed all day. Same saying with,  "riding the couch". As in, "grandma rode the couch all day. " She was born in 1898 so...who knows.  She was funny though. Son and D-ex say it too. 

 

Anyway, long about noon my sciatic nerve decided to flare up big time. That happened not too long ago if I remember correctly. This time on both sides. Darn it hurts. Nothing really relieves it. Heating pad and Advil sort of take the edge off...a little. So, my heating pad and I rode the bed all day.  I thought about trying that pain cream. Votaran I think it's called. Butt smearing it on both cheeks and having to stand around while it soaked in didn't appeal to me. Crimony, I'd need a vat of the stuff. I only have 6 tubes left.  

 

I wasn't idle though. I got my laptop all updated and copied to the external drive and to a thumb drive. It took all day because my computer is so slow. Which is another reason I needed to do it. I'm hoping it will last until the end of the year. 

 

Also, I got some books loaded into the Kindle Fires. They are all loaded into the readers but when we had the power outage I realized they were stored somewhere in that elusive Cloud  on the Kindle Fires and with no electricity and no internet I couldn't access them. If the readers hadn't been charged up I would have been out of luck. I really need a solar charger. 

 

If I'm still butt hurt tomorrow I'll start going through my DVD's and pitching them. I didn't save the cases so I can't donate them. There's a lot of them.  

 

[snapshotmiki]

Hope you feel better soon, Jeepers!  I hate sciatica pain!

[The WE2's]

Weather was the pits when we got up so we stayed inside again today...hubby's feeling pretty good but still didn't want any relapses.  Taking the Elderberry twice a day and the dose of aspirin and allergy tab once a day.  We did manage to vacuum seal some more stuff into jars.  Also had a bucket with a dozen boxes of complete pancake/waffle mix so we put them in zippered mylar bags and then back into the bucket for transport to the homestead pantry.  I like the mixes that we only have to add water...for storage.  Otherwise, I just make my own from scratch.  

[Mt_Rider]

My friend with new hip did go home.  Got brief email...said last nite was rough.    Keep praying for her recovery.

 

DH and I are having a contest to see which of us can have the most zero-brain moments.  So far...it's a tie.  Between leaving doors wide open...leaving the oven on.....forgetting his eye glasses or going upstairs X2 to remember his coat....  Yikes, we are certainly having a Senior moment SEASON!

 

MtRider 

[The WE2's]

We loaded up in the truck today and went gallavanting around town to do a bit of shopping.  Needed some more soda pop, a couple more pizza's for the freezer, chips, eggs (6 dozen because they were priced at Aldi's for 58 cents a dozen), some heavy whipping cream, some sour cream, some refried beans, another pound of northern beans, a pound of pinto beans, a package of yellow rice, 2 pounds of white rice, some vegetable medley's, several big bags of egg noodles (for our soups) some Splash breakfast juice and a few other items from $Tree.  Then to the homestead to rotate some things and bring home a couple more half pints of Elderberry syrup...I'll tell you a funny in my next post!  Brought home another smoked ham to thaw, and some more pink salt.  Needed to stock in some stuff since we've got another winter snow storm due in Saturday night through most of Sunday...and if we get the 6+ of snow we won't be going anyplace.  Would you believe we've sheltered in place 15 days of the 28 in February!

Edited March 2, 2019 by The WE2's

[The WE2's]

Just now, The WE2's said:

I'll tell you a funny in my next post! 

 

I had put the two half pints of Elderberry syrup in a heavy bag along with the ham and a jar of chocolate candies.  Hubby didn't tie the bag shut so we had two half pints of Elderberry syrup rolling around in the back of the pickup for about 5 hours.  THEY DID NOT LOSE THEIR SEAL!  How's that for a canning job!   I did have to wash the jars though.  Didn't even realize they were back there until I wanted us to take an evening dose and needed to get it in the frig.  Well, needless to say, it was plenty cold so into the frig anyway.  

[The WE2's]

Tomorrow we're planning to head out early to Mennonite country.  Need to pick up a couple more bags of stir fry vegetables and mixed vegetables.  We love our soups and stir fried and buying in bulk really saves us $$. Want to get that done before the bad weather comes in.

[Mt_Rider]

Today I was digging/maintaining the 'Erie Canal' of meltwater....

 

Tomorrow we'll be in the 'Yukon' again.....  

 

We are not amused. 

 

MtRider    for strength and endurance .....and that the groundhog was right!  

[Jeepers]

My list of things to pick up at Wal-Mart just keeps getting longer. It seems like forever since I've done any shopping other than needs like Rx etc. and Amazon. And not counting the sale linen I got at K-Marts closing for g'sons room. Plus my days and nights are turned around again. 

 

Speaking of shopping, our K-Mart is all closed up now and unbeknownst to me our CVS is now gone. Both good sources of tax revenue for our town. There goes people's taxes again. 

 

I read where Pennys is going to close 27 more stores this year. The article didn't say where though. Also Kohls is closing a lot of stores that are around the bigger malls. I can't remember the last time I was in our mall. I'm sure it was for something specific or else I wouldn't have been there. 

 

I'll miss K-Mart. It was about a mile from me. I still miss Borders bookstore for special items and to just browse around to get book ideas. I also miss Toys R Us for idea shopping too. Nothing like going into a real store and actually seeing and touching what you are buying. I suppose this next generation will be doing ' virtual reality' shopping.

[Homesteader]

6 hours ago, Jeepers said:

 

I read where Pennys is going to close 27 more stores this year. The article didn't say where though. Also Kohls is closing a lot of stores that are around the bigger malls. I can't remember the last time I was in our mall. I'm sure it was for something specific or else I wouldn't have been there.  

 

 

 

Before my widow friend died, I used to wheel her around the Penny store at the local mall in Indiana. Then one day the floor layout changed and the clothing was sorted by mfg. The spaces between the clothes racks narrowed and I could hardly get her through. We were BOTH fuming. It was no longer senior citizen friendly. The company also changed their weekly flier to something that looked like from outer space. I told DH that the Marketing VP ought to be fired!!    He eventually was fired. Their stock tanked and the CEO was also fired. They destroyed themselves. With a degree in Marketing, I don't understand how STUPID this younger generation has become. 

[Ambergris]

Sambucol.

[Jeepers]

I know Homesteader. I can't hardly get a shopping cart around the clothing aisles at Wal-Mart without knocking things off the racks. I wanted to look at the sleep ware a couple of months ago. I got about half way down the aisle and gave up. Even if I could have maneuvered the cart around pulling things off of the rack wouldn't have been worth the aggrevation. 

 

One time I was shopping around there and they had all of the hangers on the night gowns turned around backwards. You couldn't even pull one off of the rack to see the sizes or style without being a contortionist. 

[Ambergris]

I didn't get anything significant done today, but I napped some and got an idea.  I have surveyor's tape in a bright green color;  I can tie it around a branch of each of the wild plums that are blooming right now.  I never could identify those except when they bloom or have fruit. 

 

I had ordered new hives (my chiropractor will be so pleased) and left them on the front porch for the hired hands to assemble tomorrow.  

 

I found my favorite yarn, with 20% lambswool and 80% acrylic, on sale for  $3--1/3 the normal price--on eBay, and bought a little too much.  I figure I won't be able to afford it once I retire. 

 

I'm studying botany on my telephone now.

[snapshotmiki]

I took my walk around town this morning as they were setting up for the local Mardi Gras Parade and festival. Stopped to visit a little. After home chores, got dressed and went to funeral at Church, then helped serve meal to family afterwards. Came home and hard boiled eggs for me for the week. Cleaned in kitchen a little and haven't done much else but watch tv with DH.

[The WE2's]

Made our planned day trip to Mennonite country to re-stock a few of the things we've rotated out this past 3 months.  The weather was cold, cloudy and a bit windy so we bundled up.  There's supposed to be another storm front moving into the area but I didn't see anything on the radar map that would indicate it's coming "when" they say it's coming.  You all know how that works doncha!  Raided the homestead's meat freezer yesterday and let it thaw so we put the meat slicer to work when we got home.  Paid $14 for the  smoked, boneless ham and got 9 packages/12 slices each package that we then vacuum sealed except one in the frig for sandwiches.  Also picked up several more bags of mixed veggies and several bags of bell pepper and onion mixes.  Also picked up two packages of frozen sliced onion...so EZ to dump into a stew or soup without the agony of slicing and storing what I don't use.  Picked up a huge bag of Vermicelli noodles.  I use them when I jar up my chicken noodle soup.  Used them 2 years ago and we ate a quart last week and it was so good!  As long as I only use a small amount they don't have the density problems that regular noodles would have.  But as always...do your own research.  I'll vacuum seal them in quart jars tomorrow so keep them until I need to use them.  Also picked up more soup bases of ham, chicken and beef.  Also picked up several one pound turkey burger that I'm going to cook up for Abby-girl's addition to her kibbles.  Still have quite a few carrots that I pitch into her bowl.  Made a bowl of rice for her also.  I'll mix it all together and she'll think she's walking in doggie heaven!  Also was able to pick up a 25 pound bag of Blue Diamond Chicken and Rice adult dog kibble for less than 20$ so she's set. We're trying to get her on a half kibble half raw food diet.  After all ... she is a dog! 

[Jeepers]

When I had to have a few trees cut down the guy went around with me and tied bright yellow tape around the ones I wanted removed. When utility crews mark the area for buried lines they spray paint the grass. Or sometimes they put out little flags. Each company has their own color I THINK red is for gas, yellow is for electric and blue is for water. Or something like that. 

 

I like the ease of having veggies canned or dehydrated too. A couple of days of work makes the rest of the year so much easier. I'm going to try the noodle soup too. I've got a package of those very very thin noodles like (can't think of her name) uses. Just a small pinch. Also chicken and rice soup. Not recommended but as you said do your own research. And did you just call my Abby girl a dog!? I'm telling. 

[Mt_Rider]

Remembered in time to pour water thru feeeeet of hose and got horse water tank filled before the sun went on vacation.     Moved my vehicle down to barnyard....to get it out of the way up here.  DH's is back way into the side near steps.  If W comes early to snow plow, we've given him room to maneuver. 

 

Depends on how long this area keeps spawning BLUE on the Doppler.    Only a few inches so far.  This was supposed to be bands of snow....meaning they haven't a CLUE how much we'll really get....or when it will be completely done.  We've been trying to go out to eat with my folks.  Maybe mid-week?

 

MtRider   

 

 

 

[Ambergris]

Angel hair?

Showed the hired guy how to put together the hive and frames.  His dad was a carpenter, so he is pretty good with nailing, but these things don't come with great instructions, and sometimes (like today) have a missing part or two.  It helps to have someone (me) who's done this before.  I sent the others home with him so he can assemble them while watching TV or something.  And not necessarily burning my daylight. 

Tomorrow evening, if it's not raining, DH1 and I will be going out to plant stakes and label each with the plant that goes there.

This morning's rain put the kibosh on all the wild plum blossoms.  Went through the woods marking possibly plum trees "keep" instead of "plum."  I did find enough plum blossoms under one to mark it "plum."   The others have either similar leaves or similar bark or similar twig patterns, but not all three.  I hope I get a whole lot better at tree identification before ignorance costs me something I really wanted. 

I asked for Tuesday off, to do the planting that had been planned for today (and for last week...) but I don't know if my boss will allow it.  I took off a lot of time in February to get this all done, and it's not done.

[The WE2's]

21 hours ago, Jeepers said:

thin noodles like (can't think of her name) uses. Just a small pinch. Also chicken and rice soup

 

The Mennonite store just labels them as "Fine Noodles"  They may even be called Vermicelli (?) by some.  Either way they're great for canning soups, but also great for other dishes.  When I make up my soups I use about 1/3 cup to a quart of soup.  They expand but not too much.  Also, they are a bit "delicate" when you re-heat so I don't do a lot of stirring.

[The WE2's]

Today we sheltered in place...again.  We managed to get between 2 and 3 inches of snow but the blowing made it almost invisible while it was coming down...just ask Abby-girl!  Didn't take her long to find "her corner"...since it drifted to about 6 inches on most of her yard.

So...what did we do?  Well we got the super duper smoked ham sliced up, vacuum sealed and 10 packages with 12 slices in each, in the freezer.  Paid 14$ or so for it.  Kept one out for sandwiches and the odds and end pieces in the freezer for ham & potato soup or beans.  Then I vacuum sealed all those Mennonite "tiny noodles" into quart jars and got ten of them (paid $11.43 for the bag).  FYI ladies...in a life changing event, all you have to do is pour some boiling water over them, let them sit, and they're done in about 10 minutes.  I'm going to buy another bag later on and make some "meals in a jar" but I'll have to dehydrate some mixed veggies and open up some of my freeze dried chicken.  

I also made up 2 quarts of "Abby food" in my electric pressure cooker.  Got 2 quarts...rice, ground turkey and mixed veggies.  She'll get that as a supplement to the kibbles.  She's also got one more package of liver that she'll be working on for a few days.  The quarts are pressure sealed so they'll be after the liver is gone.  

Probably could have found other stuff to do but it's Sunday and I just wanted to pittle around.  Believe it or not...both of us took a 2 hour nap...something we almost never do! I usually hit the sack about 11:00 pm and am up about 7:00 am...he's a night owl and usually comes to bed around 1 or 2 in the morning and sleeps until about 8.  Nice being retired...no alarms unless we have something "special" we plan or need to do.

 

[snapshotmiki]

Walked around town at 6:30 this morning as it will be too cold for me until Friday morning to do that again, although I may walk during the day once or twice. At Church to make soup and heat other foods at 8:30 this morning. Set up, cooked, served and then cleaned up. Didn't leave until close to 2:00 pm. Had 10,000 steps in at 2 pm. Came home and haven't done much since.

[Jeepers]

Janie. Her name is Janie. The channel is something like ' Our Half Acre Homestead' or something like that. Husband John and a husky dog. She says she is a chef and a builder. She preaches sometimes. In northern Indiana. My memory seems to come and go. 

 

Love looking at your pictures We2. Those look like the same noodles that I have. My package is MUCH smaller though. Would you believe I have the same meat slicer! Only difference is my motor is a silver color and not tan. My mother in law bought it for me in the 1970's. Same year they bought us a freezer. They were poor but we were poorer. 

 

Some of the younger generation don't know how hard it was getting in the 1970's. Carter told us of we were cold to just put on a sweater. So we did. Then added a blanket. Lots of people that I knew were using oil lamps to save on electric bills. Food was on everyones mind and you couldn't find canning jar lids anywhere. Of course back then there were no Super Wal-Marts and no Amazon to shop at. 

 

My D-MIL taught me a lot. Although I would not use her canning methods today!  She only canned green beans and made jelly. But she didn't pressure can her beans. Just water bathed them for four hours and then had D-FIL come and cranked the lids down when they finally came out of the canner. Then boiled them for a half hour before serving. Those poor beans. Yep...there was a fair amount of spoilage. We also used Gulf sealing wax over our jelly to keep it from molding. When it didn't work we just scraped off the mold. Hummm.That might explain a few things today. 

 

[Homesteader]

8 hours ago, Jeepers said:

 

My D-MIL taught me a lot. Although I would not use her canning methods today!  She only canned green beans and made jelly. But she didn't pressure can her beans. Just water bathed them for four hours and then had D-FIL come and cranked the lids down when they finally came out of the canner. Then boiled them for a half hour before serving. Those poor beans. Yep...there was a fair amount of spoilage. We also used Gulf sealing wax over our jelly to keep it from molding. When it didn't work we just scraped off the mold.

 

 

My granny canned the same way. Always afraid of pressure canners. My mom did about the same. When we homesteaded in the 70-80's I bought a double-decker pressure canner and left the waterbath in the closet.  

 

WE2's - I used to buy those noodles from the Amish in Indiana. We were surrounded by wonderful folks and lots of bulk food. Miss those days but I've still got plenty of buckets left to last a few more years. 

 

Sunrise the other day was spectacular. This pic is out my front window where my computer resides. I couldn't have asked for a better blessing from God than this. 

 

[Jeepers]

Lovely picture of God's work. 

 

I want to hit up the Amish stores here and 'bulk up' before I leave too. I have a running list. I'd like to have one last fling before I move and take in all of the shopping and touristy spots again. It's only just under 2 hours from here so I can do day trips easy enough. They have tons of bulk food stores, cheese factories, health food stores and Lehmans down there. 

 

I want to take a week off and spend it in Pennsylvania too.That's my favorite idea of a vacation. I haven't been in a few years. I can drive there in one day from Ohio but from Indiana I'd have to spend the night once on the way. It would be about 14 hours straight driving time. Eight is about my limit.  Sigh.

 

 <-------- Jeepers idea of 'bulking up'. 

[Homesteader]

1 hour ago, Jeepers said:

Lovely picture of God's work. 

 

They have tons of bulk food stores, cheese factories, health food stores and Lehmans down there. 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a cellular install project in Ohio a few years back (abt 20) and stopped at Lehmans. Had a great time walking through the place and dreaming. We're pretty independent out here in the Wisconsin country and I like it that way. We've made friends with the neighbors since moving back to cheesehand several years ago, so feel very comfortable where we're planted. Having folks over for dinners and BBQ's makes for great relationships. My boss's wife in Scotland taught me that.