Jump to content
MrsSurvival Discussion Forums

Vic303

Moderators
  • Posts

    2,980
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Vic303

  1. Wow, it really has been a while since I looked in on this little blog! I meant to write in the intervening months, but somehow never got around to it. Well, we have celebrated 2 Monkey birthdays since my last post, had one heck of a hot summer, and it isn't even August yet, and dealt with nagging health issues for DH. Oh, and my mom visited this month for a few days--her first trip here, since Dad died. We had a nice visit, and my jam making adventures during her visit, have inspired her to try apple jelly today. Sold some stuff and bought other things preps related. Been working with DH to pay down debt, and 'to go all Dave Ramsey' on other debts...Still worried about the potential for a work strike against DH's employer. The contract offers & negotiations have, well, simply sucked. The last couple days have been much cooler, only into the 90's here in DFW. Rain too, has come along. That's nice as it means I don't have to water as much, though it makes for killer humidity. -Vic
  2. this is a test of the blog system
  3. Sounds to me like the guy was either pulling your leg, OR...is a product of a poor edjumakation!
  4. Ok, so here is my moment to whine... Back on June 10, my Monkey 3 came down with high fever, sore thrroat--Hand Foot & Mouth disease. Then when she was just well enough to go to VBS, Monkey2 caught the same virus! 3 days later, just as he was going off to the last 2 days of VBS, Monkey 1 came down with HF&M. So I was relieved when it SEEMED that everyone was done getting sick...that was 2 wks ago this coming Saturday...so on Monday June 22, Monkey 3 (my little Plague Vector) came down with viral gastroenteritis. Puke puke puke, no food for 5 days, puke puke puke...and everyone is just barely well enough to enjoy cake on the 26th for Monkey 2's birthday...and Monkey 1 gets sick the next day...Sunday, and today is the first solid food she has eaten and kept down...Wed she puked 5x and I had to resort to ice cubes to keep on top of the hydration. So today to celebrate (since we had to cancel our trip to Alabama this week to visit my sister for my neice's wedding) something positive, we went out to a pair of empty play parks just to get out of the house and such. And of course, on our way in the door when we got back, Monkey2 blew his lunch and soda all over my shoes and the front porch! And DH has to go out of town this weekend...so I will likely be stuck at home with yet another barfing child who will be wholly miserable and probably will be sick for the next 5 days! I swear, I am gonna cook me a Ribeye steak and have a Bloody Mary tomorrow I think!
  5. A2N, I have nodules in my thyroid. I've had the ultrasound, and the biopsy (2x). I hated the biopsy, but all turned out benign. I've had 2 knee surgeries, one involving the meniscus removal. You can & will recover. Time will heal things, as do your PT like they tell you. If your insurance provides for it, go to a professional physical therapist--it will help a lot to motivate you and make sure you are doing the exercises properly. Hang in there!
  6. Vic303

    Growing Grins!

    Wow, Stephanie...you have really done the Lord's work here. What beautiful smiles!
  7. Hey Stephanie, just always remember the Preppers Adage: Store What You Eat; Eat What You Store. That way you will constantly rotate what you have stored. It's how I keep my stock in reasonable rotation.
  8. Why oh why, HSMom, are you giving up God's Gift of caffeine? I don't have much, (usually 1 cup of coffe a day) but I am not happy when I don't get that 1 cup!
  9. Looks nice! What are you doing for watering?
  10. It's Memorial Day, that long almost-summer weekend where we remember and honor veterans lost, and those family we too have lost. Some of you may know I lost my father this year...I wrote the following about a year or so before he died. My goal today when we went to the range to shoot, was to be sure to take the Enfield. My dad, I miss him. The Enfield. I read somewhere that it was a ‘sultry Saturday’ yesterday, and they were right. It was warm in the low 90’s, overcast, and humid enough to cut with a knife--to say nothing of the chance of pop-up thunderstorms… Not exactly the finest of weather to head out to do something I have wanted/dreamed/longed to do for nigh on 40 years. But it was what was available. We loaded up the kids and our friend SS into the vehicles and took off north. We were bound for Ralph’s place, about an hour NE of home, with plans for lunch afterward, or maybe it was an early dinner? We got there and got set up. First off, the kids earned some cold hard cash by helping police up the scrap metal and burn off some energy just being kids. I set out a tarp to reduce the chance of fire ants, and the kids were bundled off to safety behind the firing line. See, Ralph has a range, a shooting range, a shooting range open to the public in his back yard! God, I love Texas! I’d been wanting to shoot lately, and long guns at that…but there was something special going on besides just a trip to the range. Last year my dear aged father, at last gifted me with his old ‘wallhangers’. Both of which, I have loved since I can remember. I have always thought of them as ‘mine’, something my good sister has never desired to contest. They mean nothing to her, and so much to me. Dad was born English. Dad served in WWII in the Royal Merchant Navy. After the war, Dad became an American. Dad used to tell me of shooting at box kites flying off the stern of the ships with an Enfield rifle. I used to think that would be easy to hit…until I grew up and learned that shooting moving objects was a lot harder than you saw on TV. I have it now—that wallhanger Enfield. No, it’s not his old service rifle—but it is an Enfield, it is correct for the war and oh my, time has not been cruel to it. I have longed to take it out and shoot it, for as long as I can remember. Dad remembers things too, sometimes. Snippets, a bit of song, or images from a trip across the Pond from before I was even born…but simple things—the crossword puzzle, clothing, a clock, the TV remote, and sometimes people, fail to register true to him now. It tears my heart out. That old rifle is cared for now, loved in its own way, for what it means to me. I couldn’t wait to shoot it yesterday. It was the first one out. You know, it shot pretty good for an old SMLE! The range is too short to wring out the flip up rear sight, so I made do with the large rear peep sight instead. It was better than minute-of-torso accurate with some factory ammo, and if I had been shooting better, the groups would’ve been tighter. The brass came out in perfect condition too, so there are no chamber or headspace problems. Not that I expected any really, since I doubt it’s been fired since it was FTR in ’49. Not too shabby for a 65 year old battle rifle! The rest of the day didn’t matter…despite my good scoped rifle being way off target, despite having fits with another rifle, and the downpour that started before we were done for the day... for I had fulfilled a near lifelong dream. I had finally taken Dad’s old wallhanger out shooting. It is a wallhanger no more!
  11. The sheep in a van is priceless! BTW have you ever read the childrens books Sheep in a...series? Sheep on a ship, Sheep in the shop, Sheep in a Jeep...etc. Adorable books.
  12. then why did I plant six of them?? Yes folks, about 4 yrs ago I decided to plant 6 Nanking Bush cherries. Despite the best efforts of both Texas weather & the Monkeys, all 6 survived. The first year they fruited, the Monkeys picked most of them whilst still too green, the next year the mockingbirds ate them all. Last year, we got a goodly number and the Monkeys enjoyed eating them. These are small, marble sized fruits with a pit of course, and they tend on the tart side, unless you wait until they are super-ripe. This year however....God apparently wants me to have cherries all year! Goodness have we been blessed with a bumper crop! I have started giving some away, as my free space in the chest freezer is rapidly filling with frozen cherries! One bush is nearing crop-end this year and is very sweet. Another two are just coming into full ripeness, two more are about a week behind, and the last did not set a good crop (5 of 6 set good crops). I will try to get some pics up eventually too. A friend even told me a recipe for....well, uh, cherry whiskey liqueur. 2c cherries whole, a fifth of cheap whiskey and 2c sugar, all placed in a large sealable glass jar and left alone for a month to work its magic. Haven't tried it yet, but ya never know! Vic The row of bushes: Pics of the crop: The bushes not yet ripe: See? Life IS a bush of cherries! This I picked this morning...
  13. Thank you for sharing! What a wonderful time & family!
  14. Vic303

    Adjustments

    Steph, I know what you mean by chaos at home.. . We have only 3, and 2 big noisy dogs, but they sure manage to make a wreck of the house at any given moment! Vic PS: How's the puppy?
  15. Haven't kept up with this little blog for a while, as there have been lots of things going on around here. We have some apples on our two little apple trees! A lot more got pollinated than the little things can support, so I noticed they have been self-culling. Saves me the mental anguish of culling them myself I guess. I hate thinning plants or culling fruit! We (DH & I) also successfully taught Monkey1 how to ride a bicycle! This was a major goal, as DH & I both love to ride, and the Monkeys have put a serious crimp in our riding. We hope to get the other two graduated to a no-training-wheels situation maybe even later this summer, provided we can get enough time to ride in our church's parking lot. It's big and empty during most days, and has a slight slope to help, and islands to navigate around too. DH has also gotten a fair bit of OT from work, which is nice as it lets us have a little bit of spending money. We've been trying to pay down stuff as his union still is working without a contract...I only hope they don't get totally reamed if/when they sign a new contract. Healthcare has been the biggest sticking point. Lastly, we got rid of some accumulated 'stuff' thru the church garage sale (which is tomorrow). We want to go early, to see if there is anything worth buying, but the challenge will be to keep the Monkeys from buying back all the stuff we donated!
  16. I eventually made a total of 3 batches so I hope to have enough to last this year. The sale has ended now, so I willhave to consider the next fruit to go on sale...perhaps strawberries!
  17. Try a little corn syrup (clear not brown kind) for your sweetner, and I agree the salt sounds like a good idea.
  18. Vic303

    Anatolians

    Funny, Westie! Those 'rules" I have known for about 7 yrs now, but as the Toddlers Rules of Possession.
  19. I was looking through the grocery store flyers and spotted a nice sale at Sprouts Market (sort of a health food/Organic ) grocery. They had fresh blackberries for 88 cents /6oz box. I figured it was worth a road trip to the next town over, to visit the place. About 20$ of berries later, I have managed to make jam! Do you have any idea how long it has been since I made jam? Literally about 8-9 yrs, and before that, more like 20 yrs. Yes this is only the 3rd time I have ever made jam. And I gotta say, it is tasty! I'm just waiting on the jars to cool and test the seals, but the 5 pts look good, and the scraps in the fridge taste yummy! I'm stoked! --Vic
  20. Vic303

    Pantry Diving

    I've always heard about subbing applesauce in recipes for the oil content, but never Dream Whip...Hmm...might have to find some and store it.
  21. Handsome looking boy! Hoping he grows into all you desire & dream he can be!
  22. So, yesterday I felt rather like death warmed over...the cold I thought was gone, came back and I felt awful all day. Managed even to sleep a good part of the afternoon, thanks to DH watching the Monkeys. I tried hitting the sack early, but it didn't really happen, but I wasn't up any later than normal I guess. Early this morning, after a pleasant wake-up with DH, I snuggled back into the pile of blankets, seeking another hour or more before the Monkeys awoke. Suddenly, I hear a wee "CHIRRUP" noise. Now, I had replaced 2 smoke detector batteries earlier this month, so I waited to see if I heard it again. Blast it! "CHIRRUP". Again...about every 30 seconds. I couldn't tell exactly which of the half dozen of the things it was, but it sounded somewhat fainter than last time, so I was guessing it was in a Monkey bedroom. Suddenly, after the latest CHIRRUP, there was a whining, frantic cold wet nose stuffed in my face, followed shortly after by a pair of paws on my head! Much spluttering aside, I shoved the offending mutt off the bed, whereupon he promptly did it again after the next CHIRRUP. Shoved off again, I realized dimly that he was shaking like a leaf--terrified of the CHIRRUP. Now, this is a large Rhodesian Ridgeback...3 times or more he tried to crawl into my bed (not permitted). He tried hiding under the bed--I even let him into the warm bathroom with the 2nd RR, and DH, where he sat shook & whined most piteously. He even managed to get the old RR to pick up on the fear and start shaking and wandering about... It wasn't until DH found the dying detector and replaced the battery, that the poor hound settled down! BCR...Big Chicken Ridgeback (the brindle one on the left...)
  23. Well it has finally rained in North Texas. Somewhere in excess of 4" this week, all of it slow-falling and soaking in well, but all of it MUCH needed too! Though it does mean that the grass is going to need mowing. Supposedly it will be sunny tomorrow, but I won't believe it until I see it. Yesterday I decided I was tired of buying store-bought bread. I haven't been able to make bread from my stored wheat since 1/8 and my surgery. I don't have a mixer--I AM the mixer & kneader of the 10C dough ball...and the shoulder I had rebuilt is my dominant arm, so there was no way I was going to stir anything! Still, now that I've started PT, I decided to see how badly it pained me to make a 3 loaf batch. Well, Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition! It didn't hurt much at all! I turned out 3 suitably tasty loaves, and now know I don't have to spend #1.30/loaf on cheap sandwich bread any more! I was even able to stockpile some decent meat yesterday at the store--rump roasts on sale for $1.99/#, and country pork ribs (bone in) for $0.99/#. DH has been out in the rain & cold all week (highs in the upper 20's all week) and asked for potroast, taters, carrots & gravy (a true comfort food for him, and with a rump roast I was able to concoct a very tasty dinner last night, to the point that his reply was "You can shoot me, and I'll die happy!". I told him the insurance money wasn't enough to keep me in the style I was accustomed to!
  24. Gosh, after last week's 80deg temps, the last couple of days have been downright frigid! Sub-freezing temps, mucho wind, and the sunshine just didn't help warm stuff up enough. So why am I feeling grouchy? I'm on the downhill side of the monthly thing, so that's not it. DH has been in a good mood, so that's not it. Stress? Yeah, I suppose so, and some odd dreams, but......maybe I'm suddenly feeling old. I think that's a big part of it. So much to do and so little time to do it. Preps are mostly ok, though the diet might get a bit boring. We would survive. Storm season is coming, literally, not just figuratively, and I need to get the shelter re-worked. After the canned goods explosion, I need to restock some stuff & reorganize down there a bit. I just don't seem to have the enthusiasm needed to actually get it done. I guess this post is a bit pointless, and uninteresting, but I will go ahead and post it. Hope everyone's week is better than last week. -- Vic
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.