dogmom4

Love it!

Hey everyone! I just spent the last hour catching up....haven’t read posts on this thread since May. So many things happening in everyone’s lives. Ann, so sorry to hear about Grrr. And MtRider...sorry to hear about your goat. Its really interesting to read how lives are changing for the core group on here. I turned 59 today and I am feeling it on some days. I have decided one more year teaching and I’m done. I just hope I have the stamina to make it one more year. I have a much smaller garden and I was looking at my canner and realized I haven’t pulled it out in over two years! If I do any preserving it’s only small batch water bath or dehydrating....heavy things are getting harder to handle and I can’t do any long hours of preserving. I am harvesting daily from my garden...but I just don’t have the energy to do anything ‘big’ anymore, ya know? I’ve been on summer vacation for 3 weeks and enjoying our unseasonably cooler weather. People in my area (Northern Ca) had pool waves from the 7.1 quake down south. I didn’t feel anything that day...but this morning I had vertigo while laying in bed...this has happened to me before....usually not while in bed...but if my feet are on the ground. I really hope there isn’t another bigger one. My mom is going in for hip replacement surgery on Tuesday...after 8 different appointments over the past two weeks...I was beginning to wonder if it was a good idea with all of the tests they did on her because she is higher risk at 84. But...her pain is so bad even while sitting that I hope this will help her. After she comes out of rehab her doctor will be trying a med to see if it will help with confusion...I think I said something about it a few months back....I was getting 10 or more calls a day (and night!) where she was trying to find or was seeing dead family members or thought my kids were little and lost....then found out she was calling others too. Her doctor has tried changing some meds and she had a UTI...it helped a bit...but she seems to get lost more everyday. And some days she just snaps...my mom never yelled at me...now once or twice a week she just goes off over something I said or did. It’s difficult to stay calm, ya know? Anyways, I know I don’t post a lot but I do try to keep up. I wish we could all live closer so we could age in place together...

Happy belated birthday!!

I got the Social Security voicemail on my cell last week. I get robo voicemails in Chinese regularly as well....

Good luck zzelle!

You have a hilarious sense of humor...

Pretty much everything is being grown in pots or growbags here. The soil is like brick. I put in a small grapevine when we moved in two years ago and it’s just now starting to take off...I add as much compost as I can around it. Things are just now beginning to take off because we’ve had abnormally cool weather for us...we just started getting into the 80’s and 90’s about two weeks ago and still have some mornings in the 50’s. My cabbages and broccoli all bolted at the same time so they have been pulled up. I dried the leaves and made them into a powder to be added to soups or whatever. We only got a small harvest of peas so they were just eaten fresh. Strawberries are beginning to happen and my first tomato showed up on a plant that I overwintered. Sunflowers have been a huge disappointment because we got so much rain this year that there are slugs everywhere. I usually put seeds along the fence and get a bunch....every single plant (planted close to a hundred) were wiped out by slugs as soon as they popped up. I have two that are coming up in the middle of the yard that were probably dropped by birds. I’m trying growing them in pots to see if I can transplant when they’re bigger.

Thank you dear. I wasn’t able to use that image...but was able to figure out a different one.

I’m in love with my Instant Pot...it’s made life so much easier. My mom got me one of these for Christmas...I asked for an air fryer and got a NuWave oven. I wasn’t sure about it but it’s the best little appliance I’ve ever had. Everything I’ve made in it has come out good and I can plug it in outside when it’s hot and use it like an oven.

That’s ok. I want a Princess Tiana one. Maybe I’ll figured it out someday.

Welcome back!

I’ve never heard of the Crazy House series before. Will have to check it out. I love reading but admit I don’t read as much as I used to. I had cataract surgery several years ago....they fixed my eyes so I only need to use the cheap readers for up close reading...but it seems like my eyes get tired just a little faster than usual. I put stories on my tablet so I can make the font bigger and not have to wear the glasses. So....if y’all are writing stories do you have any plans to post them? Hint, hint...

I’d forgotten about using Walmart bags! I remember seeing a video years ago about using them. He puts more plants in his bags than I’ve tried before. I might have to push the envelope to see what I can grow.

No thank you very much....

I have some cyber sea salt chocolate caramels just for you Mother. There are a lot of people who do feel the unrest around us. They just talk about the issues in different venues now. Facebook has many ‘groups’ on self reliance. I’m part of a good sized one on Facebook and it’s nice to see younger people who want to learn homesteading and self reliance skills. I do wish folks could see that this forum has a wealth of information on it....

If you can see the bags in the middle of this picture....they are ten gallon size. The one behind the small (IKEA) table is 15 gallon.

Jeepers, the size of the bag depends on what you’re planting. One tomato plant will do fine in a ten gallon bag. I have some bigger ones where I have planted more than one thing. I do suggest you get ones with handles because they can be moved. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B013JM3J9E/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Hi mother! It’s so nice to hear from you! The site has definitely slowed down but it’s nice when folks come back and check in.

I have transitioned to mostly grow bags. It gets too hot where I am and the roots of the plants were basically baking in plastic pots. How often you water depends on what your high temps are during the summer. We sometimes get strings of over 100 degree days and I have to water every morning. Drip systems come in handy if you have a larger garden.

Thank you for doing that Ann!

Ambergris and Zzelle where did you get the Disney princess pics for your profile pic?

Welcome back zzelle!

Hi folks! My store is having a good sale on pork ribs and I’d like to try to can them. This will be a first for me so what I’m looking for is a recipe with all of the how to’s from start to finish on canning them. I googled it but am only getting one for beef ribs and I’m not sure if you do it the same way. Anyone have a good one?

Hey! Good to hear from you again!