Annarchy

Wow! Everyone has been so busy… nice to see you all are hanging in there, & making due… Me too… Haven’t been on line much, check to see if we are still here, then, off to get stuff done around here. So much to do… so little time… working on it… DH caught me sleep walking again…. I have no idea why…. Poor Storm probably can’t figure out what’s up… lol. He sleeps with me every night, at the foot of the bed…. Beginning to prep for Thanksgiving at MIL’s…. Still need to make pies, breads, turkey, etc., before…. ”One day at a time..”….."…

DH got me a smoker bbq, 30+ years ago, for $100.00…it’s still working… still producing a massive amount of food. BBQ, breads, basic baking, etc. l use it as an oven, when it’s way to hot to cook indoors… like, 110° + outside. Lol. Since we got the new AC… I can cook inside now. Our electric company sent a report on our usage, saying we are using 11% less than other houses our size… the unit is paying for itself…. Electric used to be $450-$500 per month, it’s down to under $200 per month!!! PTL!!! Amen!

Yes indeed, Mother, ‘waste not, want not’. And, I still need to smoke and process another turkey for MIL…… I need more jars, lids & rings…..🙄

Oh, & out of all that, we had turkey salad sandwiches and I had a cup of broth, this morning for my breakfast.

I got a 14 lb. turkey for .98¢/lb. MIL wanted turkey this Thanksgiving. Our little Mkt, said he had leftovers from last year, gave me an 18 lb. one for free. Yikes! So…. I hickory smoked it for 5 hours. Took 1/2 the breast and one thigh, sliced, back to them. Packaged, vac sealed, about 12 lbs, 1 pound per pkg, and set aside the bones, etc. Pressure cooked all the bones, etc, 2 hours, let it cool naturally, added more water, and pressure cooked another hour (or 2). Let it cool, while I cooked dinner. Poured it into my WB canner pot, adding more water, to fill the pot, strained out most of the ‘debris’, putting the carrots, onion, & celery, back into the WB pot. Simmered, another hour or so, and let it cool. Refriged it overnight. Broke the thick bones in 1/2 & dropped them in the pot. Skimmed off the fat, then, while I was cleaning up and preparing the jars, let it simmer …strained it thru cheesecloth. The puppies absolutely loved the skimmings and the fat… 😁 Canned, 7 quarts & 2 pints of turkey bone broth… so, now, we have ‘flavored’ water in our stock…. I’m tired….

Snowmom,if I can figure out a design, I will join. I’m really struggling with that this year…. And my computer is really messing with me!!! It changes my typing and deletes all my text!!! You don’t wanna know how many times I had to type this message and edit it!!!

Dee, can you can them like squash? Seems like a long term solution for how many you have. I got 16 pints out of one pumpkin. Puppies and DH will enjoy the results. Puppy biscuits, made with oatmeal, honey and a touch of flour, salt and egg. Good for their tummies.. He wants a pumpkin cheesecake….!??!

Seeing how many you got is amazing. I’m canning pumpkin, this morning and thought of your squash…

Andrea, I was actually thinking of you the other day!!!

Whew. I slept 12 hours, waking occasionally, dizzy, fatigued, and aching. DH had a high fever, aching, fatigued and over all feeling terrible. We started meds and vitamins. Feeling better now. Thank you all for the prayers. God knows. We will keep to our schedule, stay home and trusting God, to get over what we got. Extremely grateful, I didn’t stop at my friends house on the way home, as usual, from TX. I’d never forgive myself if she’d gotten sick, because of me. Spent the day sewing the misc. mending stack. A few more items to mend, and I will be done. Then, see if I can find a design, I like, for the Christmas ornament exchange. I’m actually struggling with that this year…. IDK if I can do it….

Home safe. Praying…. This morning as I was loading up the car, MIL came out & said her neighbor has covid. She visited Mom on Tuesday, not feeling well. Then, why!!! did she hug mom?!? If you are not feeling well why hug a 90+ old lady!???! Sigh. The other neighbor called to tell her, she got tested on Wed, positive. But, didn’t tell Mom?? “ she didn’t want to worry her”. The other neighbor called & told her this morning, trying to make me stay the 2 week quarantine. Not going to happen. I was packed and ready to go. So, being exposed, I didn’t stop at my friends house, told DH as soon as I got home. We will initiate meds, if I start to have any symptoms. All of them, have been vaxed. So…. If they are vaxed, why did she get it??? More proof, the vax doesn’t work, period!

I have an app that ID’s leaves & fruit. The pic of the ‘fruit’ isn’t clear enough to ID. But that leaf keeps coming up as a variety of winter squash, related to the pumpkin. IDK…. I will keep looking… I’m very curious… and curiosity killed the cat….

Dee, I found this… https://garden.org/thread/view/53206/Summer-squash-variety/

@David Austin You said you are almost done with your first mortgage. Congratulations!!! Many people don’t make it there. My suggestion, but, I am definitely not an expert. First, consider what improvements you want to make. I would suggest, go to your local hardware/home improvement store, and compare prices, for what you are considering on improving. Make a list, noting the approximate prices you learned from your research. Then, contact a builder/contractor, and ask questions about prices, labor costs, and, if possible, ask them to give you estimates. Once, you have gotten, an estimated idea of your costs, please, consider extra costs, for unexpected repairs, like plumbing, wiring, structural, etc., it seems most older homes need updates to meet current building codes. Then, you will have an idea of how much you should ask for, to get your next mortgage. Also, if you find, you have extra money left over, you can apply it back to your mortgage payments, reducing the interest payments. Please keep us updated on how it goes…. Looking forward to hearing how you make out.

Music in town, we can hear it. I don’t mind country music, if it is the old stuff, like, Sons of the Pioneers. But, this cross over music, modern, I can’t understand. Our town is over run, with out of town people, the poor market, they will need to restock daily! DH said their shelves were scarce! Typical small town. Lol. Burgers tonight. He’s making ‘Western bacon cheeseburgers’ (Carl’sJr. type), mine are just a simple bacon cheeseburger. Puppies will get the grease mixed into their food as a treat. Tomorrow is house cleaning, again. Between the massive dust storm and de-oh-geeze running through the sprinkler mud… yeah, it needs to be cleaned, again…. Lol. Preparing to go to Mom’s house next week. Visit a friend, and… pick up some more beef… if it isn’t too expensive. God willing, it will be within our budget.

Yikes! DH said he found me sleep walking last night! I do NOT remember, at all. He said I was holding up the wall, saying my water bottle needed to be filled. Sigh, I haven’t done that since I was a teenager! WM run, most everything was stocked. Low on paper towels, but we have enough for now. Ducked & dodged a slew of people for Country Thunder. You can tell, when their carts are full of beer, ice, water, ice chests BBQ stuff and folding chairs, oh and blankets.

Home from visiting my little brother, in Lake Havasu City. Saw the London Bridge, which is celebrating it's 50th year anniversary. Interesting tourist type town.... big city! Today, is house cleaning, book work, laundry, and other ToDo's. Laundry is going to take longer. The day before, I left, a very, very strong gust of wind knocked over our ladder into a window. Sent glass all the way across the room, bed, pillows, etc. Quickly called the glass company, removed the window, swept up most of the shattered pieces, broke out the remaining glass and rushed it over to replace the glass, then, re-installed the window.

So sorry for your loss of puppy wags, Mt_Rider. Here at my, eldest, younger brothers house. Not used to a different guidance system. My phone system wouldn’t connect. Had to use the vehicle guidance. Sign. He called me “old” because I stopped in the road, then, pulled into someone’s driveway to let the cars behind me go around…he saw. Brat! Guidance system, told me to ‘keep right’ when I needed to stay on I-10. Stupid system! Had to make a U turn and get back on. Tired of driving… will go back home & go back to TX next week. Such is life…

I’ve seen medical & scientific reports saying that’s true. I use it, limited, now. Sigh. It is a nice tool to keep baking pans clean. But after seeing the reports, I don’t mind scrubbing my dishes. Might be why I have a tremendous amount of memory loss. Used it constantly for over 40 years….before I read the reports.

Interesting article…

Busy week. DH had company visit, cooked up BBQ pork sandwiches. The next day, DH took me out to the cattle range, to get ‘old’ poo for the yard & garden. Got some good deadfall mesquite, for our BBQ. Coming back in town, one flyer had said they were having a chili cook off. Turned out to be a barbecue cook off. Main Street was closed…. We chatted with a few vendors/contestants, then, went home. They were all just beginning to prep for Saturday’s judging. Ribs, brisket & pulled pork were the items to be judged. Most of the people were using pellet Q’s and those tank type Q’s you can see in the pic. Only 2 real wood barbecue pits. Sat. morning, everything outside smelled like BBQ. By the time we got there Sat. 4pm, they were done & cleaning up. No food to be found. We came back home & I made BBQ chicken for us. Planning to make chicken salad sandwiches with the leftovers.

I write in cursive, all the time, because, ‘they’ said the younger generations can’t read it. All my envelopes are hand written in cursive, all my letters are also, and the checks I write & send, I even spell out the cents, just to be ornery. We spent hours upon hours, writing line by line, pages and pages of cursive lettering. That’s the same way they taught us shorthand. Grandmother would say, “A refined lady knows how to write properly.” I have a tote full of refillable pens, and a few collectible Cross pen sets, with extra cartridges. A helpful hint, spray hair spray on clothing ink spots, then wash.