Ambergris

I've been off line for several days after accidentally hitting a link I was trying not to hit (twitchy/clumsy fingers) and having my computer go haywire. Took a few days to get it scrubbed, and then a few more to figure out the reason I could not get back on this site. I had to list it as an exception on my new antivirus. But I'm back. Yay.

Sometimes. It pays to do your research, because some trainers are in it for the money, and some are not. https://epilepsyfoundation.org.au/understanding-epilepsy/epilepsy-and-seizure-management-tools/seizure-alert-dogs/ Most people can't tell I'm having a seizure. My friend in Texas notices them because she was trained to spot them in a juvenile relative and in her brain-injured husband. I knew something was going on from about 2017 but didn't get a real heads-up until 2019. Then I had four EEGs that showed nothing before one this month that showed plenty. Between 2019 and this month, they didn't know if I was having seizures or pseudo seizures. Now they know. Not that it's changed the medication or anything. I can't drive because I never get six months past the last seizure. I sometimes fall, too, but it's not as bad as yours because sometimes I go months or even more than a year between falls. Just know you're not alone, and the more you know, the better off you are.

Juneau version: https://www.healthycanning.com/wp-content/uploads/2014-Alaska-Class-Handout-Soups-Sauces.pdf

It looks like that link goes to a file on your personal computer. For the Fairbanks version, try this https://cespubs.uaf.edu/index.php/download_file/1566/

Is his name Jimmy? I guess Jimmy Crack Corn isn't sung anymore. Uncracked corn would store a lot longer.

I'm buying broken corn and grinding it in my Corona mill, coarser for the chickens and finer for the cuy and for me. It's much easier to grind if it's already broken. The "six" bag is six kilos, roughly ten pounds, and is not that hard to carry the few blocks to the taxi stand. By law, corn here is non-GMO. The wheat I can get is not dehulled.

Excess sourdough starter is like excess money. Who in the world has that? Unless maybe you're on a temporary fast?

I don't know how many people your mom feeds, but one problem with freezer food is the quantity. You want effectively a TV dinner, and there's all these big chunks of ice that overwhelm. I would look more at a snack sized zip lock bag of yellow rice or the rice-a-roni sized egg noodles and a snack bag of blanched or frozen french-cut green beans, (with slivered almonds if that's how you eat them) together in a pint bag. If you don't think she's up to adding the butter and spices herself, by all means add those too. Also a baggie of starch with riced or grated carrots. Also macaroni and cheese, tailored to them. Seriously, pint-sized ziplock bags of converted rice, cooked, ready to heat and eat. Ditto egg noodles. When I was sick, I wanted those so badly. Also soups, real soups, cream and clear and chunky, in a portion she would eat herself or would serve to him without having to deal with leftovers. You could freeze them in bags inside mugs if she's patient enough to microwave them on "thaw" instead of trying to "cook" them and getting a dangerous geyser. If you're not sure, freeze in flat baggies.

Azalea can be deadly too.

It's raining and I really don't want to walk down the hill to town, but I have things to do that have been waiting for the end of Carnival. First, though, I can spend some time drinking coffee and setting up the slow cooker for black garlic. I've been watching videos on this, and the point is to keep garlic at 130 degrees or so for three to four weeks solid. People buy a separate appliance to do this, or use proofing cabinets, or use slow cookers, or use rice cookers, or set them tightly wrapped in foil (to maintain moisture) in a cabinet dehydrator. I was going to blacken garlic in the Excalibur, but the owner of the appliance objected because running it that long might burn out the motor. So I dehydrated all that garlic plain, and continued my research. I don't want to be without my slow cooker for a month, as I use it a couple of days a week now. But here's this--I can move the garlic to the Excalibur when I need to use the slow cooker, and that will keep it at the same steady temperature. That way, if I burn out an appliance, it won't be someone else's $400 appliance. One use of black garlic paste is to replace the bouillon cube that makes me so ill. It's semi-shelf stable, like cheese, and (like cheese) lasts a very long time in the fridge.

If you don't have time to pet him for an hour, grab him by the legs and swing him back and forth until he goes limp. This is a temporary fix, lasting a few hours to a day, while the petting him into submission fix lasts much longer (eventually becoming permanent).

You have to get your locks changed out after that many people touch them anyway, just as a matter of course. This is basic operational security. You're a step ahead, is all.

Electricity off and on all day. Off all but a couple of minutes at a time until noon. I don't know what's going on in town, but before dawn the town had some lights (with large dark patches) when I had nothing. Got about two hours of electricity right after noon, when the housekeeper arrived, so she and I agreed it was back for good. (Nope.) We got some housework done. When it went off again, we got some yard work done, and then some more floor-cleaning and things that didn't need electricity. Among other things, we Found The Smell, which turned out to be a half-eaten, moldy can of cat food that somehow got abandoned behind a sliding-glass door curtain. Eew. We (meaning she) also scraped clean the cuy cage, which needed cleaning, and hung/calibrated the hanging scale. Around two, the electricity came on again, and hasn't so much as flickered in the past two and a half hours. Now, of course, it's raining. Turns out my bigger red flowers are gerberas, which don't like full sun. We moved them to an area with bright indirect light and they perked up within hours. Put in seeds for oil-seed sunflowers and red nasturtiums (the latter courtesy of PuppyMama) to replace them as eye-catchers for anyone admiring the view of my yard from the terraces above.

I'm having hummus (and tortillas) for brunch today too. Was going to have an avocado too, but some critter broke in to the kitchen (the door doesn't fully close) and ate a good quarter of my ripe avocado overnight. The chickens haven't discovered the rest of it in the lawn yet, but they will. Probably having eggs and tomato-cracker salad for supper. This afternoon I plan to plant the red flowers bought earlier this week, prettying up some planters along my retaining wall, and bury the expensive-but-moldy loaf of bread I bought. The chickens won't eat it, turns out, but it should make decent compost.

When my house burned, the insurance dragged me out forever,,,or rather for two years. I finally walked away with them owing me over $40,000 based on my receipts that they didn't refuse to pay but somehow never paid. The adjuster kept whining about how overworked he was. I maxed out all my credit cards and took out loans to pay for things they were to reimburse me for, that they never, ever reimbursed me for. I should have gotten the lawyer, but my husband dove into the bottle and the marriage was breaking up and my kids were crashing and I was generally not doing well. Don't let them being nice fool you. The moment they refuse to pay a bill or sidestep paying a bill, get a lawyer.

https://www.echocommunity.org/en/resources/49954b28-cefb-46f3-9c46-ffd1723c329b This is how to adapt a bicycle pump and use other items to evacuate the air from packages.

It worked. Made two coffee mugs full, so about 20 oz.

The housekeeper came by to check on me and was not happy. She rousted me out of the bed, made it, and boiled a quartered apple. She told me to drink the resulting "tea," which I suppose is pectin water with a little sugar and maybe some malic acid in it from the apple, once it cooled some, and to add the juice of half a sour lime (Mexican/Key lime) and a level spoonful of bicarb if needed after. I never heard of this treatment, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

It's not too much. It's an investment. Seed prices never go down. I've been in bed all day. I ate some fruit from the market without the usual thorough vinegar/water wash several days ago, and got the squirts. Haven't been able to shake this and have been getting weaker and weaker. Usually I don't go for the pink liquid because I want stuff ejected from my system, but four days is enough. I took the pink stuff today and stayed in bed. Things have been getting behind (no pun) over the last few days, and I need to get over this before the critters get out of hand too.

I have a sourdough sponge going on in the kitchen right now, and today I'm doing something that I hope will end up as a vinegar (as opposed to aromatic compost like my recent ginger bug). I also have trays of fodder going on for the critters, although they're not technically in the kitchen. One is three days old, one two days old, one is from yesterday, and I'm going to start another today. They need to grow about seven to eight days to be useful. (Actually I think one is four days old, and I skipped a day, not that it will matter in the long run.) If I gather the oompf to walk back to town this afternoon, I plan to pick up onions for the dehydrator and garlic for a black-garlic project, although the priority is paying a bill.

Note that people relying on a solar still are advised to cut up vegetation to put under the plastic to increase the amount of liquid condensing on the plastic. Also note that what he calls a quarter cup might be a bit more.

I once bought a $130 hot plate that advertised it was good for canning. It had a dial for heat, infinitely adjustable, and was very strong/heavy. I did a good bit of canning on it before it disappeared.

I want to do this because it's only one shelf of the dehydrator, and I can do onions or other savories on other shelves for the 4-8 weeks as the garlic simmers along.

GenZ with ADHD and an obsession.