Busy week…

By my count, using a 5 gallon bucket, pulled 300 gallons of weeds from around and in my yard….bagged & placed out for bulk pickup today.  I’m excited, they finally replaced our broken crushed roll off dumpster.  It’s so pretty and clean…I don’t want to throw garbage in it. 
 

Yesterday, God gave MIL 2 beautiful roses, camomile for garnish and a purple iris for her flowers, by her bed.    
 

Raked the front yard, spread more grass seed, raked & watered…. Found a baby juniper…. It will be transplanted, when it gets older.

Turned the soil, with mulch, planted the cucumbers…..

Need to harvest & preserve the turnips for my friend in NM, when I take MIL home.  Also need to do the same with the beets & carrots ….They are beginning to seed..  

Cayenne finally sprouted, and the thyme seems to be growing….hoping…. Potato eyes are planted, we shall see…. I guess I missed a seed… it’s growing too…. Lol

Trying to keep the net from crashing while she watches her TX local news, has been a challenge.  I can’t be on line, or it interrupts her programs…. Such is life….

Dr. Tomorrow for DH…God WILLING, he can quit the crappy meds they have him on.  Bruising any where he barely touches, his BP is normal now…etc…..

We shall see…

Poor Peanut, Miki, I hope it’s something simple.  Puppy woes are so heartbreaking.  
 

Jeepers, the spices were dried, crushed and in ziplock bags…. Stupid thieves..  Maybe they ate well for a while..  

Jeepers, I sent a package to my brother, full of hard to find/get spices, growing in my yard….someone stole it!  He keeps begging for me to send more. Lol

Sorry about your doc dropping the ball..  seems like that’s the way it is anymore.  I’m hoping, next weeks visit to his heart Dr, he can quit taking the meds that cost $400+ each month! Sigh.

So…for me, I’m pulling waist high spring weeds… 200+ gallons, so far…5 gallon buckets, 2 fill a garbage bag…. They say, my roll off dumpster will be replaced tomorrow… it got stuck on the truck clamps, & we had to pull it off…he had to try to empty it again, because it was still 1/2 full, it’s that broken… lol.  We’ve been waiting 2 weeks on back order.

Tonight, was Smitty’s pulled pork sandwiches.  BBQ’ed ribs, shredded, spicy sauce & onions, with dill pickles…minus the seeds…because mom has diverticulitis and can’t/won’t eat seeds or nuts….

Tomorrow, God willing, I will be able to finish the weeds in the alley, maybe get the few in the front yard, rake the front lawn and re-plant more grass seed….we shall see….

(((((Littlesister)))))

Long day here.  Rainy this morning.  My little brother came to visit, because his semi load had him in Yuma yesterday, heading back to MI.  His truck trailer broke, waited all day for the repair.  Pups played a few minutes before they all got spazed…racing, barking, stealing each other’s toys…  Sarge is a 2 year old GSD, young and extremely excitable.  
 

I made beef, potato & green chili burritos….  Everyone had enough, including my brother and still ended up freezing 6.  

Yikes, after having the unit people out yesterday, it wasn’t heating this morning.  They were back again today… found several issues… got the heat working, but have to come back…. I’m so very tired of the issues!

Made white bean & hambone soup, with Mexican cornbread….tired, sore from doing too much... 

Too busy today…

Mowed, edged & blew off the back yard & porch, re-adjusted the porch swing, because the legs had fallen off the bricks. Mowed the front but couldn’t edge, because the neighbors are having central cooling & heating installed.

Called the city, because the dumpster truck broke our roll off badly… rolloffs are on back order.

 Called the AC people…explained, the brand new unit has had over 7 service calls, leaking in the house, flooding the porch, they cut a hole in my ceiling to create a new intake, but I had to finish the crap they left.  DH had called while I was in TX, because it wasn’t heating…at all. Set at 75, the house was 65 blowing cold air.  Yesterday morning we woke up because it wasn’t heating again!  Our warranty says…2 year replacement….  I was not too kind.  We’ve had them out, 7- 8 times, leaks, water pouring from the unit, leaking - flooding into our house!  I thought it was the roofers, they came out and said, absolutely not.  The AC ppl never sealed it.  Plus it is leaking inside the unit!
 

So, I pulled our original paperwork and told them, they either fix it or replace it, we are still within warranty. If it doesn’t work this time, I’m getting a lawyer.  They should be here tomorrow…”free of charges”.  DH said they were sending a proposal for the repairs for it…I got it this morning …. $2,500!  I freaked out!  No way!  Not with a service warranty etc!  They heard me rant & rave……

Washed laundry, because it’s supposed to rain. Folded & put away.

Cut & put up (vacuum sealed) meat I got in TX. 10 lbs of 90% lean hmb…1 lb pkgs, @ $2.50/lb.  New York steaks, made 12 packages, avg. $2 for 2 ppl.  Rib eye was the most expensive.  Made 11 packages, 2 each package, at an average $12/package of 2…. Our local stores, $20/one steak. 
 

Then, BBQ’d some pork loin for dinner, a salad & beef rice-a-roni…

Then turned on the News for MIL…. I am bushed…

God willing, I will have time tomorrow to catch up on reading all the posts I’ve missed.  
 

 For everyone… God knows….

Sigh… I’m seeing so many new posts & topics…. Time to sit down and read…but life is challenging, at the moment…. God willing I will have time in a few days…. 
 

Yesterday’s drive home….

Las Cruces…. I checked behind me & passed a semi, glancing up at the rear view, I see a pickup approaching FAST!  Turned on my blinker to get out of it’s way, but as I am checking if it was clear, it’s already trying to pass on the right, I tried to adjust, but it had already tried to adjust also!  However, the car behind him was going as fast, which blocked his maneuver. He missed us by inches , passing on the right side embankment…. I shook for several minutes.  Mom & I thanked God, we weren’t hit.  
 

Then…..  just entering the Tucson area, right lane was traveling 50-55 mph.  Speed limit, in that area is 65.  I moved into the left lane, keeping up with traffic…(DH had mentioned, the day before, “..keep your distance…”.). I was….I think our speed was about 70, I wasn’t looking at the speedometer, instead, just maintaining proper distancing. Cars behind me weren’t happy, but, I was going the same speed as the vehicles in front….  Then it happened….  The vehicles in front of me stopped abruptly!  I stopped inches behind the vehicle in front of me.  So did the driver behind me, but the pickup with the trailer of off road vehicles, used the left easement to miss us and ended up inches away from my door….his lady was wide eyed & grasping the dashboard….  Glancing at the rear view mirror, I watched a horrific accident take place!  The next few were banged into each other, the next car, front end was pushed into the drivers area, the one it hit was in the medium, then, a semi truck jackknifed, trying to avoid the crushed cars and I could tell vehicle’s we’re hitting the semi, by the way it was shuttering….  Mom & I continued, slowly, traffic in front was going 20 mph…..  thanking God…. Shaking like a leaf in a wind storm…. I didn’t calm down until hours after I parked in my driveway at home.  
 

So…the moral to my story…. Thank God for every moment you have…thank Him for protecting & providing for you, thank Him for every little thing, because, we never know what might happen….

Quick, in/out… I will try to read up on everything when I get home….

In TX, got the veh. serviced, all good, went to the store got meats, rib eye, uncut 15 lbs, New York steaks uncut & hmb 90/10% for 1/2 the price at home…DH fixed stuff at home… major….door handle broke & heater quit… he’s such a sweetheart…will be bringing MIL with me, tomorrow morning, going home, for a month or two.  Hopefully, we will miss the weather….keeping a positive attitude….

Thank you Jeepers, so very very much!  I was able to get a few!

Kindle reading time….

 Shalendra, 

Sounds like you know your Kava.  DH & I drink different kinds…..

Zzelle!   Back!  I’ve missed you.  I do like “Orchid”.
 

PM me if yo want your old account back……

I use the National Center for my recipes…
 

https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_05/chicken_rabbit.html

Quote

Selecting, Preparing and Canning Meat

Chicken or Rabbit 

Please read Using Pressure Canners before beginning. If this is your first time canning, it is recommended that you read Principles of Home Canning.

Procedure: Choose freshly killed and dressed, heathy animals. Large chickens are more flavorful than fryers. Dressed chicken should be chilled for 6 to 12 hours before canning. Dressed rabbits should be soaked 1 hour in water containing 1 tablespoon of salt per quart, and then rinsed. Remove excess fat. Cut the chicken or rabbit into its suitable size parts for fitting into your jars leaving required headspace. Can with or without bones. The hot pack is preferred for best liquid cover and quality during storage. Natural poultry fat and juices are usually not enough to cover the meat in raw packs.

Hot pack – Boil, steam or bake meat until about two-thirds done. Add 1 teaspoon salt per quart to the jar, if desired. Fill jars with pieces and hot broth, leaving 1-1/4 inch headspace.

Raw pack – Add 1 teaspoon salt per quart, if desired. Fill jars loosely with raw meat pieces, leaving 1-1/4 inch headspace. Do not add liquid.

Adjust lids and process following the recommendations in Table 1 or Table 2according to the canning method used.

Go to the link above for the time tables and altitude variances.

40 minutes ago, maymayms said:

I use OPI  

OPI is a very good product.  I used it for years.  But prepping your hands first, is the #1 thing to do.  I learned that from my salon, when I used to use them.  Once a week…. But it got expensive…. $30, each week to have them done.  It’s up above $40/week now, plus a tip…..  

Also, if you have soft nails, put a layer of nail strengthening polish on top of the base coat & use it as a top coat.

Hope that helps.  It did for me.  I have very thin, soft, brittle nails.

Base coat, two layers of color and a top coat.  Make sure you wash your nails, with a degreaser type soap first & let them dry completely before you put on the base coat.  Don’t touch anything with body oils, hair, skin, etc.  I used to do my nails, but, with age, and all the work I do in the yard & house, it’s not very productive anymore.  
 

Even when I was using acrylic nails, there’s a product you prep the clean nails with that helps the material stay on your nails.  I can’t remember the name or brand, but there are a lot various products available.  

Thanks everyone.  I don’t consider it an issue anymore.  It is what it is.  I was just trying to warn anybody with a life insurance policy.  Just the SS# can get info on line. Laws have made it so they have to respond…all the companies were/are making bank, not having to pay death benefits.  So they get the premiums and never have to pay any beneficiary.

Today, brushed the dogs again, after yesterday’s bath.  Did laundry, and sent DH off with one of our board of directors to site in a new “toy”.  Worked on MIL’s room, my office, clearing stuff out and organizing it.  Worked on the pastel, because it has the be hung on the wall, so it doesn’t get touched, before it’s framed.  I’m finally down to the silhouettes of the buildings & trees.  🙄 I’m hoping to get more done, possibly finish it before I go and bring her here.  God willing.

You can only imagine how much hair has been removed from the dogs!  Gunner is short haired, but has as much shedding as Storm does.  Yikes!

Put my seeds for the garden out.  Need to harvest turnip greens, dig up the area, mulch & plant fava beans…may have to wait until after I bring mom back.  
 

Pulled more weeds, fed the birds, slow watered the pomegranate tree, watered the lawns, and re-covered the washer & dryer.  Supposed to be warmer tomorrow, but, more rain coming next week.  IDK, 

Time to call it a day….  

On 3/7/2023 at 2:24 PM, Midnightmom said:

we will raw pack some of those drumsticks into the pint & 1/2 jars

I have had to cut the leg bones, with a meat cleaver, to fit my jars.  

Food for thought….

If you have a life insurance policy, please, make sure the beneficiaries have your Soc sec # and are aware of the Company the policy is with.  
 

My dad didn’t…. only my sister got anything, (a lot!) because she got cancer & he made sure she got her share, before she passed.. he told his sister, my aunt, all the kids were covered as beneficiaries, but no one, of 4 children, living in his city,  went to the effort of finding out what insurance company, or even trying to get his SS#. My brother, who lives here in AZ,  & I, hit every road block, trying to prove I was his daughter & he was his son, just to get the death certificate.   We still haven’t received it….  We finally gave up after fighting for over a year…..    His current wife,  took everything, saying it was hers, estate sale pictures, shows the will on their bed, (I zoomed in on the pic, put on line by the estate ppl, and you could clearly read, “Will”, but she claimed he didn’t have one),  and she got a restraining order against all his family, sold all my grandparents heirlooms, (which I had real hard copy pics of), and she moved away, to live with her daughter in CO.

DH thinks he got a “spicy fly”. A honey bee sting.  No swelling, but a lot of the similar reactions.  IDk … just very concerned…
 

Gunner got one, when we were at the lake, his whole side of his face swelled up, I found the stinger and pulled it out….. He runs from bees now.  
 

Beautiful quilt…

Trying to get stuff done before I go to TX next week & bring MIL back.  Phone calls, for preparing for her to come.

Pulled/cut weeds…. 20 gallons, before the garbage pickup…

The gravel we had put in our driveway, seems to be working, I’m not driving through a foot deep+ mud hole..  thank God.. cost a bit, but is worth it.

Put ironite and grass seed in the lawns…. Neighbor sprayed his weeds with poison…. Storm barked at him, an hour later, I thought he was going to die!!!  He couldn’t walk, barely breathing, falling over…..  we did first aid…. Washed his face and feet, gave him something to drink, held him…. He was shaking and almost convulsing….  Thankfully, he recovered….  IDK…. All I know is it scared me…!!!!!

Snow…

Storm hit hard, last night.  DH went out to check the water in the driveway, coming back into the yard, neon glowing stuff on the porch?  Flashlight revealed it was earthworms, he had stepped on!

When I go up at 4am, he made me go out to see.  I took a couple pictures, not the best night pics, but I didn’t want to kill more, just for a pic.

That’s one above I stepped on. Of course in the dark you can’t see them traveling along. 
 

Snow all over the state, Superstition Mtns are covered.  20 year average, normal. 
 

Yesterday…

Wow!

He bought some dried coconut, pineapple & banana chips, big bags.  I went to the hwd store and got 12 1/2 gallon Ball jars. Heard the sirens, in a desert area, ignored it & got my jars. Came home, cops all over our neighborhood. Caught one trying to hide next to DH’s truck, I hear them yelling at the SO’s house next door, trying to get into their house.  An illegal smuggler dumped them behind the other neighbors house and they ran towards our house.  They got the 6 but were still looking for the driver, tow truck took the vehicle. 
Drama….

Happy Birthday!!!!!  

Hope you had a Blessed day!

Jeepers, your house reminds me of those remodeling shows on TV.

Our neighbors house, needed their drain cleared out.  Plumber came… oh my! The cast iron main sewer line, that goes from the house to the road, was crushed… so bad that it was under the city’s main sewer system.  They dug up the front yard, and the city, dug up the road in front of our house, because, as they got down to it, they discovered the main system was separated in several places… (might explain why we had several issues through the years in our house.). Because the pipes were old 1950’s, all drains in their house, had to be replaced, kitchen & 2 bathrooms… as they began digging under the cement floors, removing all the tiling, they ran into asbestos…. Walls and flooring…. Their house looked like some of your pictures…. They have water and pipes, now, but the contractors are still working on replacing the shower, kitchen, sink, cabinets and floors.  It’s been a couple of months now.

Yikes…packed up DH, MIL’s frozen bean soups, and sent him off around 10 am.  Got a call at 1pm.  He was stuck… traffic inching along on the south side of Tucson.  Tucson is only an hour away from home!?!  
 

A truck crashed early on the 14th… hazardous material, driver deceased, overcome by the chemicals ….“Shelter in place” issued for a mile radius….
 

However, according to the CB scanner, another accident happened further down the road with a 5 hour wait…. He turned around and came home.  I called MIL. He will try again tomorrow…..  I guess he won’t be going to the CoC meeting tomorrow…..