Littlesister

Thank you Jeepers and as soon as I get my lab results next week, I will let you all know how well this medicine worked.  I am praying that it does work because it gives us all another option for meds we must take for rest of our lives.  

Looking into something I read about mothers vinegar.  It was stating that for type 2 diabetics, taking two tablesoons each night and with meals will bring your sugar levels down to where you won't need meds. DH and I are both type 2 diabetics. Though I will not try it on him and am going to try it for myself to see if it is true. But first want to reseach it a bit more.  I do know it does good for a lot of things but have not heard about the diabitics.  If it does work then we have another option to keep our sugar levels down.   that it works. 

Yes Mt. Rider step by step is the only way to go and thank you all for the prayers for DH.

Miki,  Glad you got the mortgage thing straight.

Mt. Rider,  Glad to see the doctor worked out for you.  Tell your DH that as a now retired nurse myself that at his age there are 4 shots I highly recommend.  One is the tetanus which you said he was getting, the other ones are flu, pneumonia which is only every 5 years or longer depending on age. and the shingles which is a one time deal.  These for older folks is very important.  DH and I have already gotten ours.  Glad this new doctor is working out so far. 

DH's skin cancer is a basal cell and is set up to be removed on the 5th of December.  Then he has a consult with the gastro doctor to find out for sure if his bleeding was from a popped blood vessel. He's been on blood thinners for so long that it can thin the vessels. But doing colonoscopy as a precaution.  Better safe than sorry.  Fluid pills are not working well and he has fluid in rt. lung and his stomach swells so bad he can't bend over without loosing his breath.  Not to mention his feet and legs swelling bad.  Plus he has a bad sinus infection which are chronic and fluid in both ears.  So on antibiotic for 10 days.  He has good days and bad days. Right now it is 3:30 in afternoon and he went to bed for a while.  So he is not feeling all that well right now. 

He cooked collards for market this morning and I went to church to help out with the food ministry.  

But for an 82 year old, with a bad medical history, he hasn't done bad.  We will get through this also.  God is great. 

Hello Daniel,  Welcome to the forum.  Great place to be at.

So sorry for your loss Annarchy.  Doing rescue is so rewarding and can be lots of fun at the same time.  I know my daughter has 7 ferrets now and they are all about the same age. She said the life span of ferrets are about 7 to 8 years, so she will be in a sad situation as well in a few years as they will start to leave this world one behind the other.   And loosing love ones both family members and friends is tough as well. But you know they are singing in heaven and having the time of their life.  That always brings comfort to the heart.  

Never seen that brand around here but will keep my eye out for it so I don't buy it.  We don't eat out as I cannot control salt levels from restraunts for DH. Only place I buy take out is his cousin's market as they will fix him no salt food. 

I had labs done this morning, so next week I will find out how my thyroid levels are.  Have been taking the Bovine thyroid now for about 3 weeks. I really hope this is going to work out.  I will then be able to have a good supply of thyroid meds just in case as soon as I can find out the shelf life of the Bovine.  Though I now have 120 days of the synthroid. So I do have a good start in case of a SHTF situation. I have noticed that since I started the adrenal meds about 2 weeks maybe a bit less time, but have already noticed a difference in how I feel. Some days the energy is not there but I can still get things done. Just slower at doing it. That is better than my energy going down and getting nothing at all done. So still need more time on that.  Also I have lost about 6 lbs since I started this medication. That is a good thing as loosing weight will lower BP and sugar. 

Mt. Rider, Hope all goes well with the new doctor. Prayers going out. It's hard to find good doctors anymore.  Hope you get your energy back soon. I know how that can be.  I have no energy this afternoon after having to take DH to doctor, then pick up RX, and do a little grocery shopping.  Now I am done for. 

The WE2's  That is a nice roof DH is putting on. I like the metal roofs. Just stay safe. 

DH has a full blown sinus infection so on antibiotic. Fluid in ears as well.  Also working on this other problem he has and so is on a liquid diet today and tomorrow and is to resume his blood thinner tomorrow. They think he may have popped a small vessel in lower part stomach most likely from being on both asprin and blood thinner for many years. But they are going to check it out. Also his dermotologist called and his biopsy showed a basil cell carcanoma. So off to see the surgon for removal. It is on his cheek. Small so shouldn't be to bad.  He has been mostly sleeping since got back from his family doctor. He also got an injection for fluid as he has fluid in his right lung. No wonder he has had problems with his breathing. The fluid pills had not been working very well. Gotta love generics. 

Went to market with him yesterday to help him cook the 6 bushels of collards for them to cover for the Thanksgiving orders. They have frozen quarts of them over the past 2 months to make sure they have enough,  but he will still be cooking right up to 2 days before Thanksgiving.  They usually sell about 800 or more quarts for the Thanksgiving holidays and then at Christmas and New Years as well. So need to get him back in good health for all this cooking.  I got to watch the manager cooking brunswick stew. He has a pot that holds about 80 gals.  He cooks up a batch three times a week.  He gets anywhere from 100 to 128 quarts in one batch. That is a lot of stew that goes out of there. It is so good.

Busy day today.  Took DH to dermotology today and he had a biopsy on side of face for skin cancer.  Then when he came home his balance got worse. Seems he is bleeding from somewhere so now a trip to family doctor and then just take it from there. Hope nothing serious. He's been through enough. But I know there will be test coming. They are adding more test to his labs on Wed.  Prayers needed as his health is not good.   Also, came home from doctor and got all the clothes, sheets and towels all washed up. So that is done and now I hope to get back to getting things cleaned up around here. I feel I am finally making some headway on storage. Got all my spices out of the big box in closet and in the cubbie in office.  Just need to make the small curtains for each of the 4 areas that I have them in to keep them in a darker space.  What I really need is a hidding room for all the stuff that I have stored for hard times. But it is what it is. Just really don't want people coming in and seeing just how much I do have. But when you know you will be feeding a family of 10 down the road, it does add up. 

All you guys with doggies make me miss mine.  We used to have 2 dogs and 2 cats. But after the last kitty passed at age 21, we decided not to get anymore dogs and cats. But we do have grand dogs, cats and farretts. Does that count?

Well off to get a few more things done and then off to bed.  Need to be up by 5 am to go with DH to market to help him cook collards. He has had a hard time last 2 times he cooked handling those large pots. So I am going to go help him tomorrow. 

Thanks for the maintance Annarchy. You do a great job. 

Homesteader,  I love those doors.  Wish I had a place in this house to convert somewhere for a pantry.  But it is what it is. 

Thanks to all of you about my question on the food in den bookcase.  I kept it in the small bedroom. Went through all the cookbooks and don't ask how I ended up with so many. I packed up the ones I really don't use and put the ones I do use along with all my canning books back in the bookcase, but in much better order. I have my nick nacks placed on the shelves in different places as well. I had so much room left over that I took the books that I am reading and moved them from bookcase in office to the bookcase in den. Now I have a place to store my spices. going to make a curtain to go on the bookcase like I did for the 2 bookcases in small bedroom that house a lot of my canned goods.  I use top sheets to make the curtains and it works out really great. Keeps the food hidden and in a dark cool area. Under my 2 beds are already full of canned food. I did a great deal of canning last summer but a bit less this summer. I was thinking about not canning next year other than meat as I really don't have enough of that canned. But with the way this country is going I may rethink that idea. Only because I know I will have family members coming here to stay. Things would be much better with more than just DH and myself.  Safety in numbers. 

Mt. Rider, I hope things turn around for you soon and you will be feeling much better. One of my neighbors has MS. Good days and bad days. 

DH has been disabled for several years. Haven't had any gov't interference yet. Right now he is in bed asleep. The conjestive heart failure I fear is getting a bit worse. Going to see doctor next week. He went to market to cook collards for them and he needed help. He can't lift the 35 gal. pot they cook them in to put it on the burner. Nor could he bend over to pick up the collards to get them to the sinks. This has happened the last 2 times. He looses his breath so easy when he bends over due to the fluid that keeps building around his stomach. Plus his feet swell up so bad his shoes don't fit.  As it is I have to now put his shoes and socks on him. I am really starting to get very concerned about him. 

Sometimes I wonder why we are trying to prep, if that is what you want to call it.  I sort of call it keeping ahead of inflation. I think I am just getting tired out and need a break.  It's funny that my daughter wants to sell her house and down size. She still has two kids at home though one is 24 and still in college plus works full time and has a dog sitting business. The youngest just turned 18 yesterday and was over here earlier today helping me a bit.  My house is small and I don't have enough room. I think it is the way the house was built. No flow to it. But the house came with DH as he already had this house when I met him 38 years ago. And it is paid for. So not going anywhere.  I will make it work and find solutions to the storage problems and next spring start going through a lot more stuff to get rid of.  I think we have just acumalated a great deal over the years and it is time for it to all go. Spring cleaning in a few months and daughter and I can have a nice big yard sale. 

Ambergris, hoping you as well will be doing much better.   

I know how it is to having those down days.  Right now my back and neck is hurting.  Guess I was lugging to many books at one time. Think I need to have a yard sale next spring. 

Thank you both for the input on this. So I will just leave the canned foods in back bedroom. I do have a lot under the bed in that room and can't get another jar under there.  I was only going to put out the oldest to use first but after what the two of you said, I will just keep bookcase for cook books and nick nacks. Though more than half of those books are going to get packed up. I have several I don't use like I used to. I guess old age and changes in diet due to salt restrictions and diabitics. But still don't want to get rid of them either. I am thinking of passing them on to all the grandkids to go through and pick out what they want at a later date. 

I have a question and need to know what would you do.   My kitchen and den are one room. There is a wall between the fridge and the book case that is on the den side of kitchen.  I just got through pulling all the nick nacks and I swear over a 100 cook books that I am going through and pack up a great many of them. Just keep out my canning books and the few that I use all the time. 

So I am thinking of taking a lot of the food I canned and putting it in that book shelf. Though everyone that comes to house would see it.  Not that it matters, but I know my granddaughter that lives in another state would be here and pack a big box to take back with her. I don't mind her doing that, but she is getting ready to get transfered across the other side of the state and I won't be getting my canning jars back. Which half the time I don't get them back anyway. And her DH threw away some of my tattle lids. GD found it out and fussed at him. So can't afford for that to happen again.  So what would you do. Store your food you canned on book shelf where everyone coming in would see it or leave it in bedroom in closet and underbeds?

thank you ahead of time on help with this issue.

Kappy, we are having the same problem with canning jars as well.  I am beginning to think that because so many people have either gone back to canning and gardening as well as learning to do the lost art of canning that the demand has increased. Also I think either ball or one of the other companies that make them come out of China. So could be a tarriff issue. We are paying for those tarriffs through increased pricing.  I agree with Homesteader. Check out yardsales as well as charity places. I am going to head to CHKD which is the Children's hospital.  They have a large one about a 30 minute drive from us. And I can check out other places while I am in that area. 

They haven't had the dented can sales here in ages.  I think they are now giving it to the food banks.  Right now we have a huge sale on turkeys but limited. Just to get 3, I need to go to 2 different stores. One for 27 cents with a fourty dollar purchase and the other one for 28  cents limit of 2.  I am getting some to can. So I think if I get 3 of them, I will be canning for the next 2 to 3 days. Not sure I will do it as Thanksgiving is just 10 days away and then Christmas and I am still trying to get a lot of heavy cleaning done. Though I did finish the kitchen. That was the worse. So now I am working on the den.  So turkeys may or may not wait. I am watching on that one and trying to figure out a plan. maybe only get one to can.  Fresh fruit and veggies are up around here as well. But sweet potatoes should be going on sale here soon.  I am going to get some of those to can as well. When I went to pick up my RX, which is inside Harris Teeter, I went through the store to see if I could find any bargans. The shelves were picked clean. Don't know if it is because of Thanksgiving or they just haven't gotten a delivery.  But it just seems strange that these stores are always having so many bare shelves. I have a bad feeling that the USA is about to feel the pinch of the wild fires, flooding, to much rain, extreme hot weather, and now freezing temps. Other countries are already feeling the pinch and I fear we are about to as well. 

Kappy, keeping you in prayer that your surgery goes well with no issues. 

Grandson's 18th birthday today. So going to daughter's tomorrow evening for his party.  Haven't done a whole lot today. Went to store to pick up an RX.  Then came home and started pulling everything off book shelves in den to get everything dusted. I really need to go through cook books. I have way to many. Those are one thing that's hard to part with. So will see how it goes. Maybe just box up some that I don't use as much and put on shelf in garage where I can get to them if need be.   

My 2 butane stoves came today.. They are nice.  Hope to get to try them out in the next week or so. Waiting on the butane now. It will be coming in a few days.  I think these will work out good for what I want. 

Mt Rider, sorry you are having deer problems with keeping your garden to yourself. Guess they like to eat to.  We had planted cabbage one time and the rabbits would get in and eat half a head and leave the other side.  So nice of the rabbits to leave us just a little bit of our cabbage.  We only got one head that year.  

This is an old one, but with what I am reading from this for 2011, has anyone noticed the prices today of food. Gas right now is down though at 2.19 a gal. to 2.29 depending on where you go.  I have been noticing some price hikes on mayo, peanut butter, flour, meats, mostly pork, and even can goods.  I help out and buy food for our church food ministry as well. and I have been using kraft mac and cheese for a price watch at lidel's. They are about the same as Aldi's.  They started off with a price of .25 cents, then up to 45 cents and now 69 cents.  That is just a refence as to what is happening around here.  their can goods use to be anywhere from 27 cents to 45 cents and now creeping up into the 60 cents and above price range.  

How are things going where you guys live?

Not canning yet today, but we have 2 stores with turkeys on sale. One is 27 cents a lb. with a 40 dollar purchase. Limit of one.  The other has them for 28 cents a lb with a limit of 2.  Looks like I might have some canning in the very near future. Will have to time it as I have no room in my freezer for even one turkey right now. So will have to buy and can within a couple of days. 

Jeepers I will have to give canning chili a try.  And as for ketchup,  I have always added that to my chilli. Gives it a much better taste. 

Kappy, that is good to know about all the different fish. Though some of them I might not be able to get around here.   My youngest grandson lives for fish.

Seems I will need to make a Habor Freight trip.  Lots you can do with those blankets. 

Kappy,   in order for you to feel better. 

I have been putting food such as oatmeal, grits, pancake mix, etc. in mylar bags with O2 absorbers. At least it will keep a couple of years if not longer past the due date. My gut feeling of adding more food and working harder to get things I needed turned out to be to just take the food I got and get it into mylar bags and the buckets. That feeling is gone now. 

Though I have been thinking about how I could cook indoors if things went south and we lost current for more that the 2 weeks we were without. Did fine for 2 weeks.  but an EMP type of thing is another story. Have lots of ways to cook outside but inside was the issue. Was on Amazon this morning for a bit and found 2 butane burners.  One is Camp chef mountain series one burner stove and the other one is Gas one GS-1000. 7,650 BTU portable butane burner.  First one was 16.95 and the second one was about 39.00  On sale. Also got 12 Butane fuel canisters on sale for 24.79..  When all was said and done,  All came to 80.74 plus tax and free shipping.  I used my prime points that have been building up and got it all for 23.00.  That was to good to pass up.  the stoves both had high ratings but we will see when I try them out. Then it was back to stuffing mylar bags.

Yep, that explains it.  Good one. 

Kappydell, the only fish I find that can be canned is tuna and salmon.  Both great for tuna salad and fried salmon cakes.  I don't know of any other fish that can be canned without being mushy.  Maybe mackel. You can also make mackel cakes as well. these are alot like making crab cakes and done the same way. 

The We2, how do you make your chilli to can?  That is one thing I have never canned.  I always make it the day we are going to have it for dinner. 

I am going to dig into canning everything in my freezer after the 1st of year.  Also going to buy a much frozen veggies on sale as I can and deydrate them.  I am going to start to do more deydrating next year as well. 

I am having this bad feeling again today that I need to get more and more done and stock more food and non food items. Normally I can shake it off, but something has been nagging at me all day.  Need to go pray about it as to what I need to be doing.  When I get like this, I feel a need to be praying about it.  Hopefully my answer will come.  Though I cannot afford to do much till after the first of year due to the driveway and walkway.  But glad it is behind me.  But the fireplace is now next on the list of needs. So saving up now to get that done. 

Kappydale, I have never heard of anyone canning leftovers.  I wish we had turkeys for 69 cent a pound. So far only ones on sale is 99 cents a pound. DH does not want me to get any to can, but I have 3 turkey breast and 2 hams in freezer I am going to can after first of year when I have more time.  The only thing I can think of for leftovers is making Turkey soup and canning it. Would be great to know what they do. Interesting. 

Kappydale, I did not know you were having a lot of medical issues.  Will be keeping you in my prayers.  My DH is on elequis.  It is one of the only two that if you are injured they have something to stop the bleeding.  If you have surgery, you will have to come off of it for 5 to 7 days. That will give it time to get out of your system.  It is a good blood thinner.  Don't be afraid to take it. Only thing is that a small scratch will bleed like you really cut yourself.  If you go to the drug store just look for the bleed stop. I keep a lot of it here. So far only had to use it about three times over the years DH has been on the blood thinners

I posted earlier in another section while readling up on the economic collaspe that the Deep state Dems. don't get Trump impeached, they will collaspe the country to keep him from winning a second term.. Also got an e-mail from USA alerts that Tel Aviv Israel is under rocket attack following IDF killing of Islamic Jihad Commander Baha Abu El-ata. Public bomb shelters are open. This is surly the end of days as the Bible predicts. Israel may deem this as an all out war.  The Bible says keep your eye on Israel. So just watching for the signs of the end times and trying to prepare as best I can. But I always try to follow God's will as to how I should prep. More long term food that I am looking at but cannot buy till after first of year.  And looking at ways to cook without gas nor electric indoors. That one is harder than I though it would be.  I did buy some sterno cans a few days ago. So that is a start but need to head to Sam's club and BJs wholesale club soon as well.  I like BJ's as they take any coupon with their coupons and I can coupon them to death. Big savings when I do that. 

Looks like we are going to get our first bout of really cold weather.  They are saying we could get some snow but ground to warm for it to stick. Glad of that.  Got the outside faucets covered so they won't freeze this winter and since we had to disconnet the well pump for the new driveway to be put in as it is just outside of the garage door. I am not going to hook it back up till early spring. 

I have been thinking about a bigger canner than the one I have, but would be to tall for stove because of vent hood. I can only can 7 quarts or 8 pints at one time.  I am thinking about getting out the outside propane burner to use it on and sort of setting up a small outdoor kitchen just for canning. But could only use it during the summer months.  Winter time I could only can indoors. I really want to make sure that old burner still works. Might have to get DH to clean it up for me and check it out.

Jeepers,  I agree with everyone here. You need to get moved and soon. One floor is all you need. No steps. 

those goose neck faucets are great. I have one on my kitchen sink.. Also having a sprayer on the sink will help in filling up those large pots.  I use that a lot when canning.  I can just set the large pot on counter next to sink and use the spayer. Much easier getting the pan of water to stove than lifting it out of the sink each time.

I have been really busy with kitchen still. Got all the cabnets cleaned out with new shelve paper down.  Got clothes washed today and cleaned more of the cement dust out of garage. Now I am 3/4 of the way done with getting that cleaned up. It is a two car gargage and full of cleaning items and DH tools and such, plus our huge freezer, washer and dryer also is out there. So it has been a hard mess to clean up.  Will be cleaning down the outside of the cabnet doors in kitchen tomorrow and washing the kitchen curtains.  Will be glad when that is all done and I can get into the bathrooms to give them a good scrubbing. Wish I had the speed I used to have. Old age is not for sissies. Have really slowed down a lot in the last 3 or 4 years. And my back is killing me right now from all the cleaning but must keep going.  

I am beginning to wonder if this has anything to do with the fact, they want to do away with us eating meat because cows,  polute the air.  So they say. I say bull on that one. Might be why they are coming out with soy meat. Or as I call it fake meat.  I can't eat soy products nor can anyone with Thyroid issues.