Homesteader

Good point! My grandparents brushed their teeth with baking soda. Their teeth were much whiter than ours.

We are taking precautions when out in public. Still hugged our friends yesterday in church. It will be a LONG time before we give up koinonia. Excellent YouTube video on how China comes up with all these animal to human viruses. It's worth the watch. We always shopped at "wet" markets in SE Asia and Africa. They cut up the live gator or monkey right in front of you and give you a slice of meat. The Chinese wet markets are the worst. When you see the economic downturns and starvation when the markets are closed, it's no wonder they do whatever they can to have a meal. Scary stuff that will continue to come our way in the years to come.

I joined the health club last week and have been going 3-4 times a week. Discouraging how much muscle mass I've lost in 3 years after our move. Was told about the Indian Reservation health club. Military veterans get a big discount. Visited, got a 7-day free pass, and then joined. What a HUGE place. It's considered govt owned. This particular Indian nation is very wealthy due to the casino nearby. First class in everything. Haven't tracked my miles yet, though.

I am curious about your usage of Nido. I discovered it in the Hispanic section several years ago. It was MUCH cheaper than the regular American brands. Do you prepare it any different than American milk recipes?

On it's way.

We stayed with the closed-handled pulls on the new ones. We're flying around the kitchen so much in cargo shorts in the summer time that we're always catching our clothing on the open-handled design we have right now. Old age changes, I guess.

I spent a summer with my cousins on Oahu. My uncle taught at the University. Cousins kept trying to teach me Hawaiian and eat dried squid for treats. The squid was good. I only remember Mele Kalikimaka a hau'oli makahiki hou I went to an all-day conference for caretakers last year. The state director of Alzheimer's was one of the main speakers. Someone asked what he was going to do when he retired the following year. He was quick to respond that he was going to learn a new language. It was one of the best ways to keep the brain active. I've never forgotten that.

I'm not sure about the durability yet. All the different stone countertops have their own problems. Since there was only two of us, we chose the lighter countertop. We didn't have 6 other guys available to carry the countertop into the kitchen with us. We also didn't have to reinforce the lower cabinets for the heavier stone tops. I hate dark kitchens, especially since I spend most of my time in one. I also hate dark countertops because I can't see the dirt and crumbs. Must be my military OCD. With the four new windows and door, I can see about 10 acres of our property. I can't ask for more. My DH is awesome and a saint for spending the last year rebuilding the lower level after the flood.

I had the book "Where there is no Doctor". We used to take it with us on trips. It was recommended by survival sites around the y2k era. I didn't buy the ones from Rachel Weaver.

The countertop is a high resolution laminate. They're pretty awesome these days. Marble or quartz wouldn't work in this country neighborhood. We would never recoup our investment. Enjoy your time with your mom. I just got back home from taking my mom to have some teeth pulled and her retainer enlarged. Felt sorry for her because they refit the retainers within 24 hours after surgery. Was tough on her but we ate soft foods together for several days.

I'm still not sure where anything is in the kitchen. I've had to move everything several times, the last being when the new countertops came. DH had to drill holes in the lower cabinet tops to reach the butterfly hinges that hold the various countertop sections together. It was a great idea from our carpenter friend. DH installed the sink while I was gone taking care of Mom. He was really proud that we now have two functional double-bowl sinks in the kitchen. He wanted to remove the older counter/sink today, but I suggested that we install the dishwasher first. I can't have my hands in water, so the dishwasher is far more important to me.

So happy you see the end very close at the rehab facility. When DH had his knee replacement, it took a year before he was really glad he had it done. The ROM was slow in coming back, but the PT staff knew they had a tiger by the tail. We've been remodeling this past year from a "100 year" flood, and he's been crawling around on the floor with the knee replacement. We're hoping to get a break soon so he can rest his joints. Over doing it can all be a no-no. Enjoy your freedom this week!! And be sure to have Chainsaw Mary be a frequent poster around here.

Had that with my mom yesterday. I brought her home from her first PT eval for her shoulder. She tossed the exercises to the side and starting looking for her TV remote. She wonders why I get so frustrated at her rapid decline. You can take the horse to the water trough ..... Welcome back to the land of the living. It's an exciting life if you make it exciting.

We feel your pain! A long LONG time ago, I worked for a village building department. The inspector was a retired contractor. He kept drilling me about doing inspections on EVERY aspect of remodel and new build. Many times, the work had to be ripped out as it wasn't up to code. Back then, he had to be more careful with the contractors. The homeowners were generally more consciousness about their own work. Now I know why he was so adamant about having the job done right.

We had the same problem when we moved to Indiana 18 years ago. They were such stinkers on EVERYTHING. We finally went with Teacher's Credit Union. I found an officer who was reasonable. I usually don't raise my voice, but they knew I was extremely irritated. They didn't want our money, I told them. In the end, it worked out for the good. They followed us all over the world with exchange rates and new $100 bills. It took one person and a lot of communicating to make it happen. She ended up a great friend in the end. Even when she came down with cancer, we'd take her flowers to her workplace during her chemo times. Kindness can show great rewards. It sure worked for us, and God worked it all out for the good.

We're exhausted, and our carpenter friend finished his work last night. There's still lots to do but he has major surgery tomorrow. We had him for the last four weeks on time-and-material, and we thought we'd died and gone to heaven. He's not fast, but he's a master carpenter and he's backlogged over a year most times. He can also create from nothing like my DH which comes in handy when project plans aren't in writing. We all sit at the dining room table at lunch time each day and laugh about the decades we've known each other and all the adventures we've survived at church. Growing old together with dear friends, is the best. BTW - This morning, on the way to the woodburner and coffee pot, I came downstairs and automatically ducked my head near the last floor joist. It's not there anymore.

DH and our carpenter friend changed out four floor joists in an attempt to raise the head-knocker joists on the newly expanded stairwell. I have a few joist brackets to take back to Home Depot. Can't afford to have the carpenter standing around scratching his head on how to accomplish that tight squeeze. I have some drywall repairs to make after the kitchen is done. Not a biggie. I just buy the drywall mud in the dry form, by the bag. I'm using either the 20-minute, the 45-minute or 90-minute depending on which project they want me to fix. It's not easy staying ahead of them. The kitchen will be far enough along the end of this week to start cooking again. I'm surprised I still have my sanity after all these months. Our carpenter only has two days left and then he goes in for major surgery. He's such a sweetie to give us six days a week to make sure our sanity will return while he's away. It worked great for all of us. He didn't have any work at the end of the year, and we certainly needed help. Usually we have to schedule a year ahead to get his help. God is good. Our friend can feed his family and we can stay out of jail from not killing each other.

Doc found lumps in DH's thyroid also ... just before the knee replacement. Ultrasound verified them. Then biopsy with needles showed one as 'questionable'. After a long story, the surgeon eventually took one side of the thyroid out. Benign. DH wanted his thyroid back! It took about a year before his internal thermometer readjusted to the missing organ. It was funny watching him throw off the covers at night, like a woman in menopause. After two years, he has settled in to a 'new normal', without medication. And, the knee replacement was a great success!! Lots of prayer going up for you on upcoming back surgery.

We had plans to do some remodeling, so offered less than they wanted. Got it! We also gave them three months of free rent if they stayed in the house while we finished remodeling ours in Indiana and listed it on the market. They were happy for the offer. Since they built the place, we knew it was a win-win deal. After making some electrical changes, we realized the former owner/builder wasn't up to code regs, even 45 years ago. Alas, the 16" of rain came about a year ago, and some of it came into the lower level. Not much damage but was a good excuse to tear into walls and redo the kitchen/dining/family room. I think it was when I asked for three LARGE windows in the concrete block exposed foundation, and having the wall torn out between the kitchen/dining that started the whole snowball rolling downhill. Our carpenter friend arrived before we needed him for kitchen cabinets, so DH put him to work on redesigning (structural subflooring changes) and reinstalling the staircase. It's been two weeks and almost done. The kitchen cabinets have arrived and stored in a covered trailer. Ss soon as I tape and paint the kitchen/dining rooms, they can begin installing the cabinets. The new stove arrived on Tuesday. Deadlines keep us going. As soon as this project is complete, it will be time to start hundreds of seedlings/cuttings for the gardens and orchard.

WE2's - I feel your pain. Currently we have drywall blocking the laundry room so no clean clothes this week. We've taken out and moved three floor joists in order to stop knocking our heads against the joists in the floor above. It was major work and lots of my ceiling drywall (from a previous project) had to be cut out in order to access the floor joists. DH told the carpenter that I can fix just about anything with a splash of mud. Between the torn up kitchen and the stairway, we're so thankful we don't sleep-walk at night. We're in this forced PT program at the moment, not to mention the vacuuming of the floors and furniture with a Shop-Vac. As my dad used to say when we were overwhelmed with years of building out the cellular sites around the Midwest ... "This too shall pass." I need to sand a bit more this morning and slap two coats of paint on the kitchen walls so that DH and friend can install the kitchen cabinets this afternoon. We had a major slowdown when trying to take up the old Linoleum floor, yesterday, The former owner/builder must have owned stock in a floor glue factory.

Retirement is supposed to bring long nights of sleep and lazy days around the homestead. Trust me, retirement overrated. While DH and hired carpenter friend continue to tear into the staircase, I've been ordering and goffering for them. Somewhere in the mix, the kitchen is still torn apart as they work on the stairs. DH did pick up the new kitchen cabinets and the guys will measure the walls today so I can order the countertop before Menard's 11% off expires, which will be during the snowstorm tomorrow. Nighttime is generally running down to the board store for supplies for the next day. Since I'm the veteran, I have to be present to get the 10% off the supplies. I also run the vacuum cleaner regularly as the sawdust is getting deep around here. Much of it is swept up with a broom and deposited in the garden to help with the incredible sandy soil. Happy 2020 everyone.

Famous last words for us. We're running out of energy on this last project and SWEAR this is the last place for us. We called in reinforcements last week, a finish carpenter from church. We've hired him before and love his work. He and DH just tore out the stairs to the second floor so we can build an open staircase for the woodburner heat to rise. We don't have forced air so any air movement helps. We've both fallen down the stairs in the three years we've lived here, so the old steep ones are gone. To add depth to the stair treads and build a larger landing, the guys had to cut into the second floor structure. The wood floor has been stripped back and we now climb into bed at night via an aluminum ladder. Reminds me of 40 years ago when we built a garage first and lived out of it while we built the house. Some things never change.

Your place sounds like ours. I do let the breadmaker do all the work. We're building walls and ceilings around the stove and don't need the extra heat right now. The woodstove about cooks us out in the lower level right now. We send the heat upstairs and open the kitchen door for fresh air. December in Wisconsin is SO WARM. I love it. Right now we're sweeping and vacuuming daily. It's that bad.

We used to buy all the bulk supplies from the local Amish store in Indiana. Sure miss the great prices.

Our BIL worked maintenance during the bombing. My DH joined during the 80's and kept the place warm and cold from the Charter Street heating station. It's now natural gas rather than coal. The coal-fired boilers burned super clean due to the scrubbers in the chimney. Natural gas prices will kill them. Can't talk sense to over-educated idiots.