Littlesister

Just turned the pressure canner off a few minutes ago. So, waiting for pressure to go down. Taking a break tomorrow as I need to get some Christmas boxes back into the shed. Then on Tuesday I make my phone calls. Gas leak (but not too bad) around the dryer, calling the well guy and the plumber I hope can do the gas leak and the garage sink. Once those 3 things are done and out of the way I can start on clearing out the rest of the boxes in house and shed and getting rid of a lot more stuff. Can't wait to get all of that behind me. Then it will be off to the sewing machine if nothing else comes up. Just sewing and canning for a while.

Got the chicken canned after DGD left. She and the baby were here for about 3 hours. So, I played with the baby the whole time. Isn't that what great grandmas are supposed to do. Spoil them rotten and give them back to mama. Can't believe she will be 3 months old on the 9th. She has started rolling over now. So, after they left, I got the chicken in the canner. I just turned it off. So now waiting on the pressure to go down. Got the beef canned yesterday. Tomorrow I might take a break and then on Tuesday after I call the well guy, a plumber for both the garage sink and gas leak, I will make that unstuffed peppers and can it. I am trying to get on a roll now. I have about 15 1 gal. bags of green peppers. So, I will use about half of them for the unstuffed peppers. I think the recipe called for 6 cups. So that should get a lot of them out of freezer. I do have one corn beef brisket in freezer but not sure if that will be enough to do anything with yet. Might have to buy one or two more of those.

Jeepers, I know what you meant. But at least I could stay at my house while everything was going on. And I guess you could count my GS moving here from Washington in the middle of the construction. Yep, group therapy for all that has been having issues. I think we all need that sometimes. But here's to a new year and hopefully things will go better. (Just Kidding) The list of shortages for next year is bad. Meat, rice, sugar, canned goods, it just doesn't end. Get those gardens going this spring and keep the pressure cookers going. Things are going to heat up. But still, we can make this a great New Year despite all the issues that lay ahead. Stay positive and keep Jesus in the plans.

Mt. Rider, glad you were able to ride this morning. And that it helped you. Hope things continue to improve. GD called this morning, and her DH is on duty. She's coming over to visit with the baby in a little bit. So, canning is on hold for a while. I will do the chicken later. Gotta play with GGD of course. Woke up this morning with shoulder killing me. I must have slept on it wrong. It has been giving me issues for a long while, but this morning was crazy. So didn't make it to church. It's bad enough I can't turn my head from side to side very well without pain, but the shoulder clinched it. Not driving today.

I too have thought about you and hoping your family is doing well. Seems we are all going through things right now. Hopefully everyone will get well and we all have a good 2024.

Don't you know it. Your issues are because of the broken pipes and moving and mine is just the construction and remodeling I had done. I think you have it worse because you are moving from one state to another and not just packing for construction.

I know what you mean about an orderly home. Right now, my bedroom, the bedroom I turned into an office/sewing room/craft room is a disaster. Took things that was in living room and piled it all into that bedroom. Some of my kitchen appliances are now sitting in the pantry bedroom. Needed the counter space for the food for Christmas so cleared that off. So, 3 bedrooms that I need to go through, organize and pitch out anything I can't use. I need to start making baby clothes for the baby and use up that material. I want to make a few more baby blankets as well. I have 6 doz. cloth diapers that I was going to make burp cloths with but now thinking might need those for diapers down the line. So, for now will just hold on to those. I was also going to make baby bibs from them as well. I also have a lot of things for incase of EMP or something that is scattered everywhere. flashlights, batteries, solar chargers, etc. Some of that stuff is in a metal can I made up for a faraday cage. My emergency radios are also in there. But other things are scattered all over the place. I need to get it all together and organize it all and have a central location for all of it. Won't even go there on my bedroom closet. Can't get into it right now. I have no idea what all is in there as I had just boxed stuff up and put in there before the construction started and haven't been able to get back to cleaning it out. But I did buy some organizer stuff to get things together and properly put away. Between wanting to do some DIY projects, sewing, gardening, canning, and also getting the house back in order, I think I will be too busy to care what is going on in the world. But I want it all done by middle of next year.

Jeepers, if you are ever back in VA again, you will have to come to my house in Suffolk. You would flip out if you saw my pantry. It is overflowing but not all of it is food right now. but there are 5 8ft racks of food in there. I will be eating from the pantry all of next year. And only canning up when the garden comes in. I should be done with canning what's in the freezers long before harvest time. Just need to reorganize now. After church tomorrow I am going to can up some chicken thighs that were in freezer. I just went ahead and pulled those out. Maybe will get 6 pints out of those. Then I am going to on Monday make that unstuffed pepper soup that I watched on Sutton Daze. I wrote down the recipe as I can't print anything right now. I am loaded with green peppers in freezer, and I have the hamburger and everything I need right here to make it. It sounds really good and easy to make.

Got the steaks canned and are on counter still. Will put them away after church tomorrow. I am going to can some chicken thighs that I found in the outside freezer to the old fridge. So, will those after church tomorrow. Those are now in fridge to thaw. I want to do something different with them but not sure what yet. Going to try that recipe from Sutton Daze. Unstuffed pepper soup. I checked and I already have everything I need to make it. I still have a huge load of green peppers in freezer. So now that will give me something to do with them and get them out of the freezer. Just cook up some rice when I am ready to heat it up for a meal and done. I am not going to add anything to my preps next year. Just use up what I have in the way of canning everything from freezer. So, back to not grocery shopping other than for bread, milk and eggs. I have enough meat canned now and with what I will be canning from freezer to last me a couple of years and then I can take it from there. Going to spend time practicing on skills and such. Learning new skills and organizing what I have and then from there I can add to what I don't have or am very low on. I think prices are going to get really bad next year as well as gas.

Got 8 jars of steak canned. It was Angus chuck tender steak. Cut in packs of small no bone steaks. I sauteed onions and used garlic, meat tenderizer, and a beef flavoring and marinaded the steaks in Red cooking wine and a bit of Worcestershire sauce. Then lightly browned the steaks on each side. Then put in jars to can with beef broth. Got 2 steaks in 6 jars and 3 of the smaller ones in 2 jars. I used pint jars for them. I have done it this way before, and they turned out really good. Great with gravy and mashed potatoes or rice.

I keep Mucinex on hand for the mucus issues. It does help to break it up and dry it up depending on which one of them you use. Otherwise maybe Vicks vapor rub to help break it up as well as help with the cough. Got the canners going and more jars in the dishwasher. I bought the ones in from the shed, so all needed to be washed. Canning the little bit of beef, I was able to buy the other day. Then getting things ready to start emptying the freezers. I still want to get an upright freezer for other things. Once the big freezer is empty. I will use that for the things that I want to can but can't get to right away or for huge sales that I can stock up things on. The upright freezer I want for making readymade meals like the TV dinners you see in the stores. I like to make up my own TV dinners and freeze them. But the chest freezer doesn't work as well for things like that. I also want to start freezing eggs but again I need an upright freezer for that as well. Not easy to dig down into a chest freezer to get what you need.

I didn't think of it either. I have a huge pot I steam can in but something smaller would also be nice. When I can food, I go big as the garden most years puts out enough food that will last me a year when canned. In some cases, it will last longer. I still have green beans I am using up from 2018. Those were the only things that was a bumper crop that year. But I have put a huge dent in those. I think I will have to replant those in 2025 if I am still able to garden then.

That is a cute puppy. I like the name Amber. And poor Ruby might be a bit jealous right now. But she will get past it. I really need to step up my game around here. So much to do, go through and have things done a little at a time on the outside lights, well will be the first thing, and new storm doors and hinges for the front door. Speaking of hinges, I need to find where I put them. Then an electrician to run electric to the shed. Once I do that, I will be looking to get a small air conditioner for it. Then I can store things in it that I won't have to worry about it being too hot. The garden shed doesn't get that hot but this newer one does for some reason. Might be because it is at the end of driveway and the sun blares down on it in the afternoon. Got the dishes put away this morning and did some other things that I needed to get done. Got all the Christmas boxes in the living room. So, will be working on getting all the Christmas stuff packed away between other things I am doing tomorrow. I forgot to ask GS to get the water and wood pellets out of trunk of car. I will get him to do that in the morning. I think he said he is off work tomorrow and going to DMV and somewhere else. But I forgot where else he said. Need to get the rest of the canning jars out of the shed. I want to use those first before using what is set up in garage storage.

I wouldn't mine the steam canner either. I can't go any higher on a canner because of clearance on stove. Sutton Daze was using the same canner I have. I have 2 of those. I have a freezer full of green peppers so I will be trying out this unstuffed pepper soup. That was perfect timing to get the peppers in freezer used up. Will be getting some things together in the morning to start on freezer canning.

Getting ready to start a huge canning week shortly after the first of year. Was looking through the freezer a few days ago and making a list of everything I need to can. Making a huge pot of veg. beef soup to can, then chicken soup, navy beans and ham, beef stew, frozen corn, (I have 3 huge bags of those), great northern beans and ham, and some other types of beans as well. Going to can the beef I bought yesterday. But going to do that differently this time. Going to cook it but not cook it through and season it as well. Then will can it. I am thinking beef that you can just eat out of the jar if you want. Already seasoned cooked and ready to go. Usually, I raw pack my beef. But it is not seasoned with anything other than a small amount of salt. So, getting things together tomorrow to get the canning going next week. Pulling out a lot of jars to sit on bar in kitchen. Going to try to get a lot more of frozen veggies also to both can and dehydrate. Going to dehydrate more celery, green peppers and onions.

Just trying to get it together this morning. Can't wake up and get moving. Going to bring in all the Christmas boxes and get ready to put away all the Christmas decorations. Swept the kitchen and den floor this morning and put away some dishes that I had to hand wash. Still need to empty the dishwasher. Also need to get the bottled water and wood pellets out of car. Will wait for GS to get up and let him do that for me. Then move the last pack of water to garage fridge to put in there. Need to balance the check book also. Now that all the charge cards are paid off and put away. Though I now have to pay off my groceries no thinks to the bank blocking my checking account. Need to go to bank and take out more cash. Plus going to buy a visa gift card that is refillable for the computer when I need to order something instead of using my debit card. Jeepers, hope you are feeling better today. Praying for you to get well fast. Ambergris, also hoping you are not too sore today, and that no infection is starting. Mother, also hoping you are doing better from your fall and you, and your DH don't end up with covid. Hope your DD is doing much better from that. All of you are in my prayers.

Jeepers, you were not supposed to get covid. Try to get some rest as much as you can. I know you need to get your stuff out of the hotel room and not having insurance calling you back is an issue. I think I would just move back into the house. It sounds like you can live in it now. If you have a microwave, you can use that till they get the stove hooked up. When I was at Harris Teeter, I did get 2 huge bags of charcoal pellets. They were on clearance. So, I jumped on them. 25lb bag for 3.99. They were regular 15.99 each. I should have bought the other one. They only had 2 bags. I can use those in my Pizza oven.

My DH used that one and another one. We always got 3 months' supply and I still have his. They have not been opened and I don't use them but kept them for incase they would come in handy for trade or something. But don't know if they will lose potency as they go out of date. Right now, they are still in date but not for much longer.

Went to Harris Teeter to pick up one of my RX's and then went over to the meat section. Not much in the beef at all. Hamberger that was on sale had already sold out. Though I did get some beef. But not much. It was on sale, and they only had a couple of packs so took both of them. Chicken looked bad. Not fresh at all. Picked up a few more things and went to check out just to find out my debit card was frozen. I used it yesterday online and they took it to be a fraud charge and locked my account and didn't call me or nothing. Anyway, I told the story in Winter survival I think that was the one. Got that straight. And by then it was too late to head out to Lidle's. So will go there tomorrow morning. The bank had my blood boiling. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. A man came into the bank complaining of his card. He was using it in Walmart, and they declined it. I know they are trying to protect us, but they also need to notify us when they think it is a fraudulent charge. I really do hate this bank anyway and I need to transfer to another bank. I am over this one. Since they merged with another bank, it has been a nightmare to say the least. It was in the black swan event that I talked about the card not in Winter survival.

Just doing some cleaning up from Christmas. Got all of GS's things put away as he wouldn't do it. So, clothes in his suitcase and his books boxed up in corner of living room. And out of my way. He had stuff scattered all over the den floor. Dirty socks and all. But being Christmas I didn't say anything till yesterday but he didn't get his stuff put up before leaving for work. All done now. He's still in car asleep. Didn't get home till after 1 am this morning. I forgot to but trash on curb for pickup last night as I was thinking we were on holiday hours. So, I have an almost full can get emptied till next Thursday. But I will make do. Thinking of going to Lidle's in a little bit. They are having a sale or something, so I have heard. But will check it out to see what they have. Maybe pick up some meat as well. Was talking to one of my neighbors yesterday. Her father-in-law has just been put in hospice. He is the one I would go stay with when that neighbor had to be somewhere. Really nice man. He is on end stage of Alzheimer's now. He has gone down really fast. Also, my next-door neighbor, he is still in hospital, but they let him come home for Christmas. Something crazy is going on with him. While in hospital he talks with everyone and walks around room and hall. But when he comes home, he can't talk and refuses to eat and just lays in the bed and he can't get up. We all thought he wasn't going to make it this time either, but he always seems to bounce back until he goes home again. Something just isn't right with him. Sounds to me like depression. But then again, I could be wrong on that. He is very lazy and always has been. So maybe that has something to do with it. Hard to tell with that one. Tomorrow I will put all the Christmas decorations away and start working on house again. Need to go through more boxes and get things organized. I have stuff piled up in office right now so I could put Christmas decorations out. So as soon as all that is cleared out, I can put my Aero gardens back up in living room and start some lettuce and such again. Yeah, all that has taken over my office. I do have a path though. to get to most things. Time to clean up and put away stuff.

Sorry about that Jeepers but it does increase your appetite. Hope you feel better soon. You don't need to come down with anything. But sounds like something is starting to take hold of you. I am just sitting here thinking about what all I need to do around here. Just wish I had some real help for some of what I need to do or at least want to do. I will get there. GS doesn't know how to do certain things I want to do but is willing to help me figure it out. But it never works out like I want. Guess I really need someone that knows how to do those things I am working on getting done. GS can't drive a nail in wood straight. But he does try. Don't think wood working is his thing.

Got the turkey soup and navy bean and ham done. Just need to finish cleaning up kitchen from the mess I made. Washed clothes and then just laid back while the pressure cookers were going. Not much else today but the canning was enough. Tired now. Might go to bed early tonight and get an early start tomorrow. Might get the Christmas decorations put away so I can set my aero gardens back up. I want some fresh lettuce and not that mess in the stores. Wondering if it's too late to start a cherry tomato plant indoors in a 5 gal. bucket. Might try it.

The medical system is going to get much worse if someone higher up doesn't step in soon. No more good doctors. Prescriptions are getting harder to get and that is going to get worse if this war keeps up. Since most of our meds or the ingredients to make them keep coming from China, it will turn out bad for this country. There is a shortage of both doctors and nurses. Not sure how that is going to pan out in the future as those start to retire, good or bad ones. It will make the situation much worse. I really need to get on the stick and get myself back on track. Though right now my knuckles are very swollen and painful this evening. They said I need to have knuckle replacement, but I haven't heard anything about the outcome from anyone that has had it done. Not sure of the outcome but need to do something.

We do what we have to do as things in this country get worse. After all we are just going with the flow. If our meds are getting harder to get filled, we get very stingy. We do what we have to survive. Don't even ask me what I have done. As I haven't figured out some of it. But I can say my supply is looking good for RX's.

Jeepers, it said that Medicare was going to be $174.70. I think it was around $168 to 170. So up a few dollars. I am getting both my earnings and my DH's after he passed. I didn't think I would get to keep mine since his was more than mine, but they said you don't lose that when a spouse dies. But this increase did not keep up with inflation. Not much help at all. Harris Teeter called and said one of my RX's is on back order. Not sure which one though. Need to call them tomorrow to find out. It does feel good to have those cards paid off again. Big load off of my shoulders. I started using mine again with the construction on house. I also had to pay for some things out of pocket, then helping GS with his bills when he first moved here and had to pay for the 2 window replacements. Seems that lifetime warranty is only for 20 years. So why call it lifetime if it is only 20 years. My windows were replaced 27 years ago. Then I had to pay for having them put in. So, all went on the cards. No longer helping GS with his bills job or no job. Most of his medical bills are now in collections. He won't do what we all told him. Pay $5 a month on each one if that is all you can afford but don't Ignore them. Yep, he chose to ignore them. So that is on him. They will just garnish his wages. He will learn the hard way.