Littlesister

My dilemma is that my endo doctor wants me to eat bacon and eggs for breakfast every morning which is not going to happen. And my new heart doctor said do not eat bacon at all. So, which is it? Can't have it both ways. So, cutting down on bacon which I don't eat every morning anyway and I haven't eating at all this whole week. But I will figure it out. I like that recipe also. And I love cabbage but have never canned it either. Might be something that would be worth a try.

Inspection went well. But now I need to gather some info for the loan to give to the loan officer. Just not into getting that all together right now. Will work on it this evening. My yard man came and cut grass today also. So, we talked about him taking over the yard full time. It is just more work than I can handle right now, and I just can't haul mulch with my neck and hands any longer. He is going to give me a quote later on all of that. But right now, he is getting ready for a hunting trip in the mountains with his buddies. So that is fine. Jeepers when all is said and done the only bill, I will have will be my health insurance, life insurance, utilities and car insurance, etc. So, it will be just the house payment which I will be working on getting that paid off as fast as I can. This loan will give me flexibility that I haven't had in a couple of years. I will no longer use the charge cards even though I can get cash back on one of them. I am now going to try hard to go cash only from now on. I haven't made enough cash back on my one card to make it worth it as they changed how they do that, and the other two cards are just points to buy things that cost more than I can just buy outright. I don't see a new car in my future at this point in time. So hopefully all will be good there. Though I did forget about the Amazon Prime which I do order from there once in a while but if I order I will put a cap on what I spend. And yes, it too will get paid off when bill comes in. But I am working on no cards if possible. I still want an upright freezer and still thinking along those lines.

I can definitely say you will love the new generator. It does come in handy. I have never used the CBD gummies nor the THC oils. I have heard of them but that's about it. Praying for safe travels Necie. I am hoping next spring to get a new fire pit. I wore my old one slam out. Yep, the bottom finally rusted out. And that was with a cover on it. But then I had it for 15 years or more. So, it was a good. one. The home inspector will be here at 1:00. Hope it is quick and she is out fast. Just some pictures and that is it and the loan should be done. I will be putting half the money in another account for emergency only then the rest I will be using to either repair some things around here and maybe some other things I need done. New outside lights are a must as those are so old, they have rusted to a point I can't get into them to change a light bulb. So new outside lights all the way around. I am thinking about an electrician to change out some garage outlets as those are as old as the house and when they found 3 cracked ones in the house, I want them all checked out. Might have electrical run to the one shed I store things in. The garden one is fine with no electric. Also want a couple of outlets on the outside of house. I want to put a small window air conditioner in the one shed. I hope I am not making a mistake on the home equity loan. But it pays off all my credit cards, taxes, and anything else I have. GS did put me in a bad spot trying to help him, but he is now on a sink or swim situation. I told him I am not paying anymore of his bills. So, he best be looking really hard for a new job and to keep his temper out of the workplace. Do not talk to anyone about your religion, politics or anything else. Only talk if. it has something to do with the job. Maybe if he will listen this time he can hold on to a job. After the inspector leaves, I am going to start back on cleaning out garage again. I want to get that finished while the weather during day is still in 70's. Then hoping to at least start cleaning out the one shed or maybe part of it. Gave the house a good cleaning yesterday. And just straightened up this morning. So, all is ready for inspection now.

I always check my cans like that to make sure they are ok. The chicken I can is all breast meat, no skin or anything. So, there is no fat residue in the jars. It comes out looking a bit like the canned chicken you buy in the store. I do have some but very little of the fat so that does not bother me. And now I am wanting some cabbage and corn beef for dinner. Not happening tonight though. This is left over night.

Mt. Rider, jeepers is right. I didn't think about it getting dark earlier now. It is starting to get dark here about 6:30 now. That could very well be a lot of the issue with your mom. Got both bathrooms cleaned today and floors mopped. Kitchen is clean and GS moved things in garage we had all over the place going through it out the way for the attic steps to be pulled down. I will be glad when they are done and out of here. I really don't believe this lady is going up into an attic nor under the house. It's my house and I won't go under the crawl space. All I can say is good luck with that. And yes, the attic is a hot mess as well. Next thing on the list to get dumped. Was going to do that this past summer but was way too hot to go up there. So that is on my winter list. Once I get the attic emptied, I will be backing the car up to garage door and putting a lot more stuff in there for Goodwill. I really wish the Salvation Army was close by or even CHKD but that is just too far to go with the amount of things I am getting rid of.

Hello Necie. Glad to see you are back. The coffee is on and a big bowl of chocolate as well as cake, ice cream and lots of hot chocolate. As well as all around.

Thank you Jeepers, I have some little smokies in the freezer. I will try that when I get back to canning again. It sounds good. I am getting a little antsy to get back to canning and getting the freezers emptied as I don't want to get caught with no current and a freezer full of food.

I agree Mt. Rider, find out about her meds and see what has changed. Is she still getting out with anyone? She shouldn't be just sitting in an apartment for a couple of weeks at a time. Getting out with a friend for lunch or dinner and just doing things together will help. Will keep her and you and your brother in prayer. Been working on house today. GS not here yet and I want him to move things we haven't gone through yet out of the way of attic. The inspection is tomorrow afternoon and she said she needs access to the attic and crawl space. They didn't do that last time. But it is what it is. GD and her DH messed everything up in attic when they were here, and I left it for a winter job. So, they will see that mess up there as well. Timing couldn't be at the worse time, but I got a deal on the refinance that I couldn't pass up. So, it is what it is. Deep cleaning bathrooms today. Kitchen is cleaned up until GS gets here and makes his mess again. Yes, he still is not good at cleaning up behind himself. But at least he tries now. Still need to mop kitchen and den floor and I will be hopefully done till dinner tonight. Leftovers just need warming up and I am done after kitchen is cleaned up from dinner.

Got my insurance straightened out now. That was turning out to be a nightmare. Got transferred 4 times before I got someone to help me. So was on phone most of the morning and early afternoon. Seems Medicare part D has two options. first one is standard, and you have to pay a $565 deductible before they pay for RX's the second option is plus and cost a few dollars more but there is no deductible. Since I have one RX that is name brand only, I chose the plus. That for me was the better option. So now I am set for next year for medical and RX. Glad to have that behind me. Normally it just stays the same, but Medicare will no longer recognize DH's place of work for the RX portion of the insurance and if I didn't find a new RX program, they would penalize me. It does cost but still was cheaper than the one with DH's workplace. Been trying to get house cleaned up today. But didn't get to finish cleaning. Seems every time I want to get things done something is going to interfere. But at least my insurance is straight.

Canning is a long-drawn-out process but that is what makes it so satisfying. And the food is so much cheaper and fresher when you take it from garden to canning and then table. Jeepers, I have canned about everything you mentioned above except the one with sausage. I also can veg. beef soup and beef stew. I have dehydrated mixed frozen veggies, and they came out really well. I have used some of them in my vegetable soup. Need to dehydrate more of them. I think I will start dehydrating frozen peas to see how those turn out as well. I would love to have one of those freeze dryers but is beyond my pay scale. Maybe one day in my dreams.

I haven't looked at canning jar prices in a few months now. Like Jeepers, I loaded up on them while the price was low and before it got hard to find them. I should be good for a while. I to need to get back to dehydrating veggies. Just too much going on right now. But I need to finish getting that freezer emptied. I will get there if other things stop popping up. It's been one of those years. Looking forward to next year being better as GS should by then be in coast guard. He will be out of my way then and I will be able to get so much more done. Though he has finally learned if you want your bills paid while looking for a job and to eat then you best be doing a lot of work around the house. So, he is learning a lesson. I hope. If you want something bad enough you have to work for it. And if you want to buy something you want then to learn to save money for it. Not spend money on junk. I am in the process of moving all my empty canning jars to the shelving unit I moved to other side of garage. I have the top shelf full and still a lot more of them in the shed. Hope to get them moved later in week. Jeepers, you did really well to get that much canning done while in Indy. Good start. I don't plant peas as it just takes too much space to have enough to can. But maybe for dehydrating would be better than canning.

Jeepers, those are push in ones. You push them in and then turn as needed till they are flat with wall. I have to do that as well to my keyring holder. I forgot to use one and it finally fell off wall. Just haven't gotten around to it yet. If you do find you need a hammer. Use a tack hammer and very lightly tap it in. Mt. Rider, I hope you get your energy and strength back soon. I know how that can be. Talked with next door neighbor yesterday. We are going to plan to go out together for things like lunch and hitting the secondhand stores at times. Not sure how long she will be able to get out as her husband is not well at all. But she does things in the mornings as he sleeps all morning. Then she is home by the time he gets out of bed. Though he does seem to be getting stronger again. Been cleaning up and catching up on housework. I put it off way to long and only doing what had to be done. Working on garage for 2 weeks is getting old and now I am down to the nitty gritty of things as what to do with it. But I will get there. Hoping I will have car in garage before the real cold weather hits. Just got call for my health insurance reenrollment. They are no longer offering the RX portion of the insurance as Medicare will no longer recognize it as being one of their providers or whatever. But it saves me $85 a month in that respect but I now have to get Medicare part D. Not thrilled about having to stop everything to take care of business. But it is what it is. Now to do some research on it. Plus, I need to call Anthem about a couple of things as well.

I agree. You did really well. I have that same rack. I love it. I can put it over half of the sink to dry dishes on it like a draining board. It has a lot of uses. Canning frozen peas and corn is a great idea. I don't plant those two things as I really don't have enough garden room to do it. So might just try that myself. I am starting to use the 1/2 pints for veggies as it is just me now. But on the soups, I will still use the quarts as I just eat the other half for lunch the next day. I am thinking of making the spaghetti sauce in the half pints as well and just a few in pint jars for when GS is here. He loves spaghetti.

Momo, we must have been typing at the same time. I think we both lost our DH's just a few months apart from each other. I do agree it is very hard to focus on things now, but I find it helps to just stay busy. That was one of the reasons after my DH passed, I started construction on the house. We had talked about it for a while but never did get around to get it done. Now I am just focusing on downsizing and getting rid of a lot of stuff that basically had been stored everywhere. It's hard but is rewarding and I have to look at it that way. Yes, it is hard to move on, but we must do it for our DH's if nothing else. Yes, I have cried a few tears along the way, but it has gotten my mind off of things. You will get there with lots of prayer.

Jeepers, glad you are back home safe and sound. I know you are tired out from the drive. Hope your back feels better soon. But the main thing is you got to enjoy your GS. And yes, they do grow up to fast. My youngest the one I have been trying to help will be 22 next month. He best get his act together soon. I told him I can no longer pay any of his bills as I am on a fixed income, and he has about drained me. So, we are done in that since. I talked with the people I took the home equity loan out with, and I am increasing that amount. I can have it all paid off in less than 10 years or sooner. So not an ideal time to do that. I still got a good deal doing it and all my bills will be paid off through it and I will again have both a savings and emergency fund again. GS will be looking much harder now to find a job. He will be homeless next month as I told him I will not and cannot pay his rent or other bills any longer. Once the home equity loan goes through, I will be debt free again except for the unwanted house payment. Told GS my charge cards have been frozen so they will no longer be usable. Yep, I put them in a zip lock bag and put in the freezer and wrote only for dire emergencies only. New name for frozen accounts. If I can't pay cash only, then I don't need it. I will not let another Grandchild put me in this predicament again. I should have been watching my funds more carefully while helping him. The rent was a bit much after paying his car insurance, car payment, cell phone some smaller doctor bills, etc. All that on top of my insurances, utilities, etc. that I have of my own. So was not able to save any money to build up my savings account. Then having to replace the hot water tank did me under. But on the other hand, I now will have something to claim on taxes as they got me last year and had to pay the IRS about $2000. That was a killer. Not enough to itemize in other things. So hopefully with Goodwill, taxes and the house, I will get at least a little bit of money back instead of the surprise you owe us. Went to the new heart doctor this morning. Yep, he increased my B/p meds but still on the same one. My family doctor that is about to get the boot said it could not be increased and did nothing for my B/p. Just another reason to change family doctors. The funny part was when he saw I was on actos for diabetes. He saw my ankles were swollen and wants me to have the endo doctor change it to something else stating that causes swollen ankles and legs. So will talk to him when I go back in Feb. Getting ready now to call for appointment for new family doctor. I think now I will have it so none of the appointments will be on top of each other. On the 31st I have to go have a stress test and echocardiogram. He wants that done because of the high B/p. Guess it is a good call. So tomorrow I was planning on getting back to work on garage but really need to clean house. So might be just cleaning house all day tomorrow. I really got behind in that, but the garage is coming together. Family is coming in Saturday, and I will be going to GD house to see the new baby.

Poor Peanut, to many issues but you have it under control which is good that it has been helping. I do Halloween at church. We have a fall festival on Halloween night. Lots of candy, hotdogs and drinks. Other things as well for the kids to do. Lots of fun. Though now we have kids back in the neighborhood, I don't dare leave candy on porch with a note that states only 2 pieces or whatever for each child. Issues with a child that took the whole bowl before. So, I just keep the lights off and head to church now. Mt. Rider, I know how it can be with the fall fatigue thing. Hope it does get better and not last too long. You have had a busy week. Hope you don't have any more issues with your legs. But at least you had someone that could help you get home. GS and I have started working a little on the shed. I had some plastic totes out there full of both DH's clothes and some of mine. I put all of DH's clothes in plastic bags but kept out some of his tee shirts for me to wear. Good yard working shirts. It was a hard moment for me, getting rid of his clothes but it has been almost 3 years now and needed to go to someone that could use them. We loaded up the car with a lot of stuff for Goodwill as well. So that is now gone. Moved a medal cabinet into the shed from garage that will house the overflow of canning jars and things. Then worked on garage some more. Got a lot done but I am totally exhausted. Shoulder is hurting as I think I over did it helping GS move the cabinet. Wasn't as easy as I hoped it would be. But it's done and that was the last of the hard stuff to get done. Got some things I had stored in corner of dining room out there as well. Some paper products that I wanted on the top shelve of the shelving units. That worked out great. Still a lot of cleaners and things to go through that most will be going in trash, but the can is now full. So will have to bag it and wait till next week to put in can or use my neighbors can if she has room. GS got a message from the recruiting office about his liver enzymes. They want to know why it was high on his labs and he needs to get the results from doctor and the reason and treatment for it. It was because of mono and doctor did nothing for that. So, I put him on milk Thistle. But don't know what the levels are now. So, all he can do is get the lab work and records from doctor and let them know he was taking milk thistle for it. I hope after that is done; they will call him in to coast guard. I think he is ready to get in there and get boot camp behind him. If it is soon, at least it wasn't till all the hard work in garage was done. I am now at a point I can handle it if he does get called in soon, but I still think it will be at least another month before he goes to boot camp. He still has to take the test and physical first. Then once he passes all of that he is on his way to boot camp shortly after. Have doctor appointment with the cardiologist tomorrow morning. New doctor. Hope I can get in and out fast. This is just to get established with a heart doctor before I really need one. Don't want to need one and get stuck with whomever they choose in an ER. But hope I never have any issues. He came highly recommended so hoping he will be a good one. The Endocrinologist turned out to be a good one. So, hoping the same for this one as well. Then that just leaves the family doctor to set up appointment for. That should have everyone stretched out enough that I won't be going to doctor appointments all at once.

Stay safe Annarchy. Jeepers, not sure when you will be heading back to Ohio but stay safe also. Went to church this morning and then came home and paid bills. Ment to do that yesterday but was busy and forgot. Wanted to get them in the mail tomorrow. Taking today off and not doing anything else today. Just having a relaxing day. It has been a very busy couple of weeks with working on garage and other things. Will be starting into garage and shed both tomorrow and will be doing that all week weather permitting. DD and SIL will be here next Saturday. So, will be going to GD house to see the baby and visit with family. Not sure DD will be stopping by here or not yet. But will see them at my DGD's house. GGB will be 2 weeks old tomorrow. Hard to believe it was just 2 weeks ago she was born.

Becca Anne glad you are about finished with the tool project. I still have a bit more in garage to get done. We worked on it all day today also. Almost filled the trash can up again and the car with things to take to Goodwill. There was a lot of things that DH had out there. Some types of cleaning items that I had no idea what they were for. Might have been a lot of things for the lawnmower and stuff that we no longer have. So dumped that. Found 3 oil filters and 10 gals of oil for my car that I didn't know I had. So that was good. Though I will need more oil. I will deal with that later. I didn't realize how much junk was out there. But it is all coming together now, and GS wants to start working on one of the sheds next week. If weather holds, we will start that project on Monday. I need a day to myself. So, tomorrow is church and just a rest day for me. I am really tired. Shoulder is sore and I still need to be careful with it. But it is better till next time I move it the wrong way. Mt. Rider, I hope you get passed the wintertime blues soon. I hate those dreary days. They make me tired, and I have to push myself to do things.

Miki, praying all goes well for your DH. Becca Anne, glad your review went well. Working on garage again today. GS had gotten some things organized yesterday and we will be getting all of that put up on shelving unit today. Late start today. My shoulder was hurting last night, and I couldn't sleep. So was on couch with heating pad watching TV. It's still sore but not hurting as bad. So, will be easy on it today. We just finished lunch not long ago. So, time to go work off lunch.

Got a few things done in garage early this morning and now waiting for GS to get here in a bit to help move a very heavy worktable between the 2 windows. That is where I want to set up a bigger garden using the grow lights. Just hope my plan works out for that. Still a lot to go through and get rid of but I will get there eventually. I'm slow but I'm old what can I say. Watched some of the news but most is on Iseral and Gaza. We still don't have a speaker of the house yet. They are voting for 3ed time about noon today. Need to get curtain rods up on bathroom windows and hang curtains in there as well as in the office. Lots of little things that keep getting pushed back to get the bigger stuff done. Hoping to have it all finished by 1st of month. I just have to keep hacking at it. But at least GS is now helping out where when he was living here, he just hung around and laid on couch all day. I guess when you are hungry and no money for food it makes a difference. No work no food is working out great at least for me anyway.

Happy Birthday Pixie.

Miki, sounds like you had a nice relaxing day. Worked on garage again after GS got here. We emptied and defrosted freezer and then moved it to other side of garage after it was defrosted. Then we got everything back into it. Things are coming together out there but still a way to go. Hoping it will be finished either by tomorrow evening or Friday Evening. I will be working on it in morning before GS gets here. All freezers are full. So next week I hope this time I can start in on making soups to can. I had more veggies in freezer than meat. But That is a good thing. Will use that up for soups.

Ok, thank you Ambergris, I missed the part about the zucchini somehow. Went to store for eggs and cereal. Picked up a few sale items I was low on. GS still not here but is on the way. So, we will be working in garage again today. Made good progress yesterday. So, getting a late start today. But should get a lot done. Things will be much better organized once we get it all finished and then I can start back on house to finish up some things in there. Need to clean out both sheds and I am thinking they will be an almost total dump. Dropped off a carload at Good Will on the way to store this morning.

Ambergris, if you are talking about the wheat berries, I do freeze them before storing for long term. I also do that with my rice.

I know what you mean making a mess to get things organized. I am going through that now. GS will be here in a bit, and we are going to be working on garage all week. We will be moving some heavy things out there. But needs to be done. Yes, he is doing better right now. But who knows when the next ball will drop. But he can only come here to work for food. He is still looking for a job. Hope he finds one soon. Gave him a break yesterday and made him go to store with me. He hates that but it's a learning process for him. when I say let's go, I will not listen to I don't want to go and try to stay here while I am gone. So, he goes and then he will help me with groceries. Getting them in house and put away. I want to make a trip to Greens Market soon. Hoping they still sell wheat berries. I have some stored away from several years ago in mylar bags and O2 absorbers. I used some. to make bread as I wanted to learn to do that. But it has been a few years ago since I made any bread. Need to get a yeast starter going again as well. I see where some of you have done that, and I did that a long time ago as well. So, need to get one started again. Kappy, glad you are getting so much done around your place. I knew about the waterglass for eggs but can't get fresh eggs from anywhere around here. I was going to look into getting some chickens, but I will need help getting a coop and things set up for it. So not sure at this point if I can do it or not. Been looking into plans for one for a long time now. But things keep popping up to stop me. I really need to finish getting house back together first. Hoping to get the bathroom curtains made and put-up end of this week after the garage is finished. Mt. Rider, hope you get passed this winter blues soon. Will Vit. C and D help that? Might be worth a try if you are not taking it already. Also, those Sun lamps might help as well. Glad you were able to get some new baby chicks. I am heading out later today to pick up eggs at the store. And I want to go to Driver to find some more pickled eggs. I need to put some up myself also.