Littlesister

Kappy, glad those dogs couldn't get to the chickens. And glad they didn't turn on you and Mary. It's good to know the police knew who those dogs belonged to. Sounds like someone else has been complaining. Hope whoever owns them will now contain them and keep them home. Glad you found some good sales on meat. That will help a lot this winter.

Jeepers there is no excuse for how that insurance company is treating you. It's bad enough you have a bank holding your money. You may be having to get a lawyer before this is over. Baby shower was great. We had a wonderful time. DD and SIL are staying there again tonight but I don't think they are going over to GS's apartment to help him to finish getting apartment set up. The love seat is still here, and his dad has no plans to help him get it over to him. So that will have to wait till another weekend unless we can figure another way to get it to him. After GS and I left when party was over, we went to his apartment to get things put away and get him set up. Got bed made up. And all the linens put in linen closet and then he worked on his game room/office while I worked on kitchen. It is a very small kitchen, so was hard to figure things out. But we are getting there. Will be going back tomorrow to help him hang curtains and such. Or at least I hope we can do that. His mother took some old curtain rods over there and just dropped them. I don't think those are going to work on those windows. But will see what we can do. Otherwise, will have to buy new curtain rods. I found an extra foot stool that I am going to give him. He's going to need it as the closet shelves are high up. He has 2 huge closets in each bedroom. A lot of what his mother gave him is useless and gave him a bunch of huge pots instead of just pots he can cook for one person with. He's not going to use those pots to cook big meals with. I might just buy him the pots he needs a little later. Hoping we can finish getting him set up tomorrow. I am beat and my knee and shoulder are both killing me. GS bought me back home and I saw his car was half full, so I filled his car up and then we went and got something to eat. He is staying at apartment for first time tonight. He is really excited about having his own place now.

Will be leaving in an hour or so to head to baby shower. Then after will be going with GS to his apartment to help him finish getting settled in. Only piece of furniture he couldn't get on truck was the love seat, but he does have a recliner that his mother gave him. So, he has that till he and his dad can get couch to him. He can make do till then. I am looking at everything I will need to do as soon as the rest of GS's stuff is out of house. Not sure where I want to start yet, but might just deep clean main bathroom, den, kitchen and my bedroom now that all the baby things are out of my bedroom and in car. It will be easier to clean floors and dust now. Then get that bedroom painted and all the sewing, desk, etc. back into the front bedroom and get it all set up. Then clean-living room and get the hall and living room painted. By then it should be cooler weather enough to tackle the garage. Lots to do in there. Lots to give to Goodwill as well. Downsizing will soon be in full force. Jeepers, I hope everything at your house will be fine. Just glad they are going to be starting full force on your house soon. That must have been some storm. I'm sure the rain was needed but not the rest of it. I am going to have a long tiring weekend, DD and SIL will be leaving Sunday evening. Then come Monday my work begins. Can't wait to get started on house. It's been a long time coming.

Right now, I am home and DD, SIL and GS are still at apartment. While they went to unload two cars a truck and a trailer, I took tables and chairs over to GD's house for the baby shower. So, I got lucky this time. It was my first time going to GD's new house. They just moved in not long ago. They are still working on house and trying to finish unpacking. Her friend and her DH came over to start setting up for the party. GS is staying with me tonight as he is going to baby shower with me tomorrow. So easier for him to spend tonight here than coming all the way from Norfolk. And he doesn't know where the house is yet either. It is a farmhouse type of house and though they are renting it is huge and so cute. I really liked it. It is 3 stories. Third floor is nothing, but a bedroom and they are using that for the guest room. Huge yard also. So, she hopes to put in a small garden next spring. We were able to get everything in cars, truck and trailer except the couch and GS's food. He has a chair for now. So will have to hold out on couch till next weekend unless SIL decides to take it on Sunday. Not sure yet. Everything else will go into GS's car. Yeah, I have a hole in the living room floor now. I can see it. And I no longer have a path to front door. There was a foyer under all that mess. And as for the garage, yes, I can now turn around in it. Now to paint the front bedroom and get my desk, sewing machine table and all the craft stuff in there and out of living room. That will totally empty the living room. It is going to be so nice to have my house back again. I'm not going to know how to act. DD has to do some shopping for GS tomorrow afternoon as she decided to hold out on mops and things till, they found out if he had carpet or hardwood floors. Turns out it is all hardwood floors. No microwave so she is buying him one of those tomorrow as well. She said his apartment is really cute. I really do hope this will work out for him, and he grows up a lot more from living on his own. I have loaned him my transponder for the toll through tunnels. When he gets back, I am going to add him to my account. Till he can get his transponder. Without one of those he would be paying more than double to go through the tunnel. So that account will take about 2 weeks to get set up but will have mine for the time being.

GS just found out when he went online to get his key code for apartment that he can't move in till 4pm. That is the craziest thing I have ever heard of. It's an apartment not a hotel. So, DD and SIL will be here within the hour and GS is on phone with the people from the apartment complex trying to get them to let him in by noon. I hope he wins. This is going to be a hard one for me. Having to wait till 4pm and spend half the night moving his stuff and then helping him to get set up enough to be able to stay there and then on Saturday having to go to a baby shower at 12 noon. We will all be worn out. And me with a bum knee and then if that isn't bad enough, I split my thumb open on that wire shelving when I was moving it out of the way. I am not getting stitches. I have other ways to deal with that. Slap a steri strip on it and bandage it and move on. Took 2 band aids to keep it from bleeding through. Just what I needed to start my day. 4pm move in and cutting myself. This day is going great. But on the good side, I have more time to get more organized for the move with the help of the kids. I will be putting them to work.

Jeepers, when you buy the sinks, make sure to keep those receipts just in case. Glad things are starting to move there now, and they have the permits. That means they should be starting the work soon. I know you can't wait to have it all behind you and the house sold. Hope it sales fast. Been busy getting the rest of GS's things packed up. Got the TP, paper towels, Kleenex, and some coat hangers packed up for him. I also went to store and bought him cooler to take food back to apartment in. I have plenty of ice for it. He can keep the cooler as it is just a Styrofoam one. But for him that is all he needs right now. He may not use it for a long while but will fill it with meat and such to help him get started in his apartment. Got all the cleaning supplies he will need packed up also. Bought the other 2 chairs to kitchen table up from back of garage to the garage door. He has more stuff in this house than I do it seems. Or it is just that it is all over my house and garage. I have over done it with my knee. Been on heating pad and Advil as well. Jeepers I hope you don't have any back issues carrying all that salt. That stuff is heavy. Yes, glad you decided to take Advil and use heating pad just in case. DD and SIL will be leaving their house about 7 am to head here. Truck and trailer are loaded she said. So, they should be here around 10 am to pick up GS and go empty the truck and trailer then come back here to reload his stuff from here. I am hoping they can get it from here in one trip. I am thinking with both the truck and trailer that they should be able to do it. GS will pack his computer and stuff in his car to carry over as well as the food. It is a second story apartment and no elevator. So not sure I will go to help carry anything up the stairs or not. Depends on my knee. Also, I found a new doctor. He came highly recommended. So, I will finish up with this doctor on Monday and get my referrals and then that will be the last time seeing him. then I will make appointment to see the new doctor after a few weeks. I don't want to have back-to-back appointments with a GP. And I want to see the specialist first also. After that I will make the appointment with new GP. Now that GS will be in his own place, I will have more freedom to get out and get my health back together while I still can get some good doctors. It has taken a long while to get things together, but it is now starting to fall into place. And then just getting rest of house painted and things back in order again. Then I can fully relax and do things I want to do.

Yes, lots of winter fast foods for meals. Sounds great. It is just me now so will just be single serve meals for freezer. If I am going somewhere for the day, I can pull something out to put in fridge to defrost and when I get home just pop in microwave and Walas. Dinner is served. I will have to look for some recipes to share later when house is back together.

Dee, I think that is a great idea. I have been thinking that as soon as I can get the freezer foods canned after getting house back together, I will start doing things like that. I want to make fast freezer meals also for dinners and breakfast for the freezer. Gee, does that sound like I might be getting my life back together again? I sure hope so.

Had bought cleaning supplies for GS a while back. Got those boxed up for GS this morning. Need to go into attic for paper products. TP, paper towels, etc. Cooler day today but looks like rain. I should have been weeding out the flower beds but can wait. Still hurts to get up and down on that knee. Hopefully that will get done next week after things calm down around here. It will be a crazy weekend as it is. Very busy one. GS will be leaving for work in a couple of hours. He has gotten things settled at work and boss and another worker has apologize to him. So, things are much better now. He stopped the pot again. He needs to stop using that as a crutch when things get tough. I guess that will be a hard knock for him later in life. But he will learn. The hard way but will learn. Hope everyone is doing well. And that Mt. Rider is doing ok. Still in my prayers for her and family. I know this has been a shock to say the least. I just hope their jobs were not affected as I have heard some jobs are no longer there in Maui do to the fires.

Happy Birthday, hope your day is a great one.

Annarchy, sounds like the cardiologist is a good one. Glad you both have a good heart doctor. As for the MD he sounds like mine. No one is there any longer to be seen. Waiting room was empty when I got there for labs. Usually, it is full of patients. I will see what happens next Monday when I go in to see him. Referrals are coming. Hope your DH starts doing better soon. Praying for both of you for better health. Becca Anne, sounds like you are getting into some really hot weather. Wish I had room for apple trees, but it is what it is. I can get apples from one of the churches as they sell them by the bushel every year. I want to make some apple jelly and apple sauce this fall. Hope I get the chance to do it this year. If not, then next year for sure. One more day and grandson is on his own. He is getting excited now. Said he thinks he will like living on his own and learning how it's all done. Just hope he learns he has to pay those medical bills also. I gave up. Washed sheets this morning and went out and checked the garden. It is now about ready to pull up everything and get garden area cleaned up. If not to hot tomorrow I will try to start working on it depending on how my knee is doing. Might be able to get some of it done anyway. then need to get all the boxes I have packed up for GS to the front of garage. I have pots out there and other things packed up that need to be taken up to front door of garage. Coffee and end tables are already at the door. The Tromboncino squash has gone crazy. Picked 4 more this morning. Gave 2 to neighbor and 2 for me. We are both looking for different recipes to use it with. Neither of us has finished the other 4 we each have. And it is true, even if you cut some off just set it on counter and it is good to go for next time. And the plants are still going strong and still full of squash not yet ready to pick yet. Might just leave those on for the winter squash. It is definitely a learning process. But a fun one. Miki, I know your DH feels much better now that the midline is out. Hope he is doing much better now.

Got everything I needed do today and I am so tired. My knee is killing me. It has been 5 days now, so I have done something. Thinking it might have been from painting the closet. I was on knees painting the trim at bottom and I couldn't do the roller on ceiling so was up and down on ladder using a paint brush to paint it. So, thinking I have just aggravated it. If not better by next Monday, I will just tell doctor to give me a referral for orthopedic doctor also. I think the knee is tiring me out more than usual. Wanted to move the kitchen table into the den from living room so it would be easier to take out to truck Friday, but the box springs is blocking the door I need to take it through. So, it will just stay put till Friday. I will move everything else tomorrow that I can move to the Den. At least that will be closer to the back door and easier to get out of the house. 3 more days and counting and then the last one is on his own. Just praying he makes it and does well. He wants to get a part time job after he moves. So will see how that goes.

Checked garden this morning. Cucumbers are taking off again. Only picked 1 this morning but 3 the other day. 4 more on the vines now but not ready to pick. Rest of garden with the exception of the Tromboncino is about finished. Still getting a few tomatoes and will pick those this evening when it cools down a bit. Hot day today. In 90's with humidity. Packed up all the food GS had all over the living room floor. He has the EPP card, so he buys most of his food. But it was all over the living room floor along with his trash. So packed up all his food except for what he is taken for lunches at work. And then cleaned up all his trash and swept floor or I should say the path I have in the living room. Cleaned off my desk and went though some papers and got those where they needed to go in my file drawer. I am thinking about measuring the desk and getting a piece of glass to go over it to protect it. That will happen after I get it moved back into my office which is the front bedroom. Once I get what I have in place and give house a thorough cleaning, I will start looking for both den and living room furniture. Might also buy a small island for kitchen. I have plenty of room for one and it would give me the much-needed counter space I need as well. Annarchy, I am praying for your DH. I know what congestive heart failure is like all too well. And also praying for your health as your DH will need your help at times. I know exactly what you mean about bad health care. That is what happened to my DH. Second time to the hospital a PA came into room screaming at him for coming back that nothing could be done for him. You don't want to know what I had to say about her comment. But he ended up in Norfolk Gen. to have mitral valve clamped. They knew about it leaking the first time and sent him home with no care or fixing the issue after his deliberator went off. What happened too good care is beyond me. Well, he did live a year after that incident. But not from good care from any doctor as he never could get home health, nor any follow up lab and doctor appointments. So, I am praying for you to stay strong as you are going to be wanting to tell the doctors off at some point. I am going through that now with my family doctor and he won't be my doctor for much longer. Just waiting till next week for those referrals. I fired one heart doctor and if it wasn't for covid I would have switched doctors when DH was in hospital the second time. No excuse for the care all of us are getting these days. We are now in full socialized medicine, and I am seeing the results from my neighbors here as well. Just don't know how we can get around it right now. Jeepers, I haven't heard about the new vaccine either nor being forced to wear mask again. But it doesn't surprise me either. I am wondering if we don't take the new vaccine if we will even be allowed to see a doctor unless we do take it. I never got the first one and never had covid. Doesn't mean I might not ever get it. But I do pray that the Lord will take care of me. And so far, I have been fortunate that I have not gotten it. I feel the Lord has answered my prayer to keep me safe from these diseases. And NO, I will not be getting the new one either no matter what they try to do to force it on us. And that will be coming. I will be doing more prepping in that area as soon as I can get house back together. But some things will be hard to get in medical area. Becca Anne I also am glad you have air condition. I have to keep both air condition and the ceiling fans going. But then I keep my air condition on 74* day and night. But at night I might have to start raising it a bit as I get cold at night. Miki, I am glad you are not having any pain with the stones. And when you go in on the 7th for them to break them up to pass, I hope you won't have any pain from that also and that you heal fast. GS's stone was jagged and tore him up inside. Lots of blood in urine from that. Just hope and pray you don't go through that.

Please don't pass kidney stones over to me. I know how painful they are just seeing how my grandson was. Severe pain and vomiting. Miki, I really hope you pass those stones soon. Sept. 7th is a long wait when you have those. Annarchy Glad you are back home safe and sound even though that restaurant wasn't too good. I am sure when Mt. Rider is ready, she will be back and doing ok. I am sure this mess with Maui has taken its toll on her family. Jeepers, I have Amazon Prime TV for now and it includes Freevee, Tubi and a few other free ones. I have never heard of Superbox but might check it out. All are on my TV, computer and my amazon fire. VA I also will be living alone again when my GS moves out this coming Friday. For what short time I had by myself I also kept the TV on during the day. I think it is just for the noise more so than anything else. Sometimes I will put on CDs to listen to while I am cleaning house or canning. My DH loved having the music on when we got together to can. I guess I picked up that habit but it's a good habit and reminds me of all the things we used to do together. You never know how much you miss those moments till you start doing things you did together before. All good memories for sure. This weekend is going to be a crazy time. GS moving out on Friday, baby shower on Sat. and then helping GS on Sunday getting his apartment together. Hanging curtains, getting him organized mostly. This is his first real time on his own. I just hope and pray he does well. Just sitting here watching war movies now as GS is at work. So, nothing to do tonight but take it easy and get off that leg. Will be seeing Doctor on Monday morning so will more than likely have x-rays of both knee and shoulder. And I will be getting my referrals also. Then will start checking out that new list of doctors in hopes I find one that will work for me. Went in for labs this morning and usually the waiting room is packed. No one in there this morning. So not sure what is going on right now. Usually, he wants 5 tubes of blood and urinalysis. Nope not this time only 3 tubes and done. I just want my referrals and then I am out of there. Just got a message that a wildfire burned through Camden and Burlington counties, NJ Sunday night. Don't know any more than that. Also, CA is bracing for more flooding. Seems our weather has gone crazy, Heat waves, wildfires, floods, hurricanes, and they don't even mention the earthquakes anymore.

Miki, I agree. Mt. Rider has gone silent. I just hope all her family in Maui are doing well. I know they are having a hard time of it, knowing how the fires affected their family and friends. I just hope it is nothing more than them trying to help out family and friends and that they are doing ok physically. I know Mt. Rider's DH has back issues and I thought Mt. Rider was doing much better in that since. But I am sure when she is ready, she will let us know they are all doing well. Keeping them in prayer. Went to doctor this morning for lab work. Then came home and started laundry and working to get front bedroom ready for painters. Then started packing up things for GS. Paid bills cleaned kitchen and now I am tired. Knee still bothering me but not as bad. I think I might have just strained it. More than likely when I was painting the closet. Now that I can get into my pantry and see what I have, I can start moving some things around in there. Working on making just a bit more room for the canning I will be doing in a couple of weeks when I have the house to myself again. I hate having to clean up behind people when I have things I want to start doing in the early morning. Just seems to mess my day up when I have to start late. But Friday is coming.

Pears are one thing I have not canned, Thinks for the info. I printed it out. I would like to can some pairs if I can find some fresh ones other than the stores.

Not doing a lot today. knee is still hurting to walk. Just wish I knew what I did for it to start causing me issues. Cleaning out the rest of the front bedroom to get it ready for painting. I am back and forth on me painting it and trying to do the trim work or just spend the money and let a painter do the job. Right now, I am leaning on hiring a painter. Just don't want to spend the money on one. But painting at the baseboard requires me being on my knees and I don't think my knee is going to be happy. Put an icepack in freezer and going to try cold instead of heat. Hopefully that will help. Starting to move things out of living room to get to the kitchen table and then getting GS to help move it to the den before Friday. Friday is moving day for him. It is going to be hard because he has to be at work Friday at 4pm. So, he won't get much sleep. He is going to stay at my house Friday night to ride with me to GD's house for baby shower on Saturday. Just hope he will get up in time. Don't know why they have the hours from 12:00 to 3:00. But it is what it is. At least I am not the one this time doing a shower for someone. Don't have the energy for that anymore. GD and I are going out to lunch either Wednesday or Thursday. She is checking her work schedule for her day off. Otherwise just a slow day. Hoping to get back to church next month on a more regular bases once things calm down around here. Need to get back on my Schule instead of everyone else's Schule. Then maybe I can finish getting house back together and not having to be quiet for GS to sleep during the day. Working nights suck to say the least. He has no life to get out and do things when working nights like he is. But it is by his choice on the night work.

Been really busy today. GS helped me get that last shelving unit up in the front bedroom. That is the one I will use for my craft and sewing stuff. Thought I better put it together now as GS moves into his apartment next Friday. With gas now at $3.79 and climbing and him living in Norfolk, I didn't want to wait to get the help to put it up with gas being that high. Best to do it while he is still living here. So that is the last of 6 shelving units I have up and using now. 5 being in my makeshift pantry. All has worked really well for what I needed. Been moving boxes of things into the proper place and have everything almost organized and all together like it needed to be. Got the squash I canned a couple of days ago in pantry now and put away. Much needed break and some ice water to drink. My knee is doing better but still hurts to get up and down. Might be looking at a cortisone injection. Not looking forward to that. But it is what it is.

You are right Jeepers. Peaches in store are hard and just don't taste as good. Hoping to find a farm market that sells them. Or I can just go to the huge market in NC to buy them. Those are the biggest, sweetest peaches around. It's on the way to Nags Head and I want to make a trip there next year, so will definitely be buying peaches and other produce on the way back home.

Jeepers at least something is starting to happen. Even though they are waiting on permits there are still things they can do. I just took a much-needed break. GS gone to work, and I got that bookcase out of pantry and into the closet in the front bedroom. I love when a plan comes together. That is now out of the way and no longer going to sit in the hallway in front of that bedroom door. Been going through the books and getting those back into the bookcase. I forgot how tiresome moving books can be. I am halfway there moving books from one room to another. Will finish up after dinner. That is in oven. GS loves chicken so chicken it is. Haven't fixed rice in a long while so think I will do that as well. Not sure what else I want with it yet. But at least I can get into my pantry now to look around.

I haven't canned peaches in years. But they were not the white fleshed ones. I have been thinking about canning fruit again so glad to know about this. Right now, the only fruit I have for back up is freeze dried and dehydrated fruit. I do have some unsweetened store-bought fruit, but it has gotten so expensive now. It's sort of hard to pay over $2.00 for a can of fruit when I was buying it for 50 cents a can at one point. So, will be starting back at some point canning fruit again.

GS got the shelves put up in the closet for me. So now I just need to clean the floor and then I can start putting things away. Did something to my knee that is making it hard to walk. Used blue emu on it and have a brace on it now as well. Still hurts to bend it or walk but can walk better than I was. I have no idea what I did. Going to store to get bananas for GS as they were out of them when I went the other day. Hopefully they should have them in again now. Then will come home and get started on that bedroom. I want to clear it totally out and get it ready to paint. Got the squash canned yesterday evening. 12 quarts and all sealed. So just need to clean up the jars, label them and get them into the pantry. Glad I got that out of the way. Will wash clothes as I missed getting that done other than towels last week and here it is Friday. But not going to wait till Monday as that is when I usually wash my clothes. It's going to be a busy week getting things together in one place for grandson. He moves into his apartment next Friday. I pray it all works out for him. As he seems to do better living on his own. That When I kicked him out the end of May, and he was living on his own in a hotel for a week and then with a friend. He seemed to have grown up a bit. And the people he works with are much more mature than he is, and I think that is helping him learn as well. I must say he has been much more pleasant to be around since he moved back in after the kidney stone issue.

I checked up on the Tromboncino squash. If you are in a zone that does not have frost, you can plant in winter otherwise early spring. I was watching U-tube called Gardening in the North. She said if you plant the seeds in the early fall giving them a good start then you can plant them outside in winter. But they need that early start in pots first. She used some good size pots for starting them. They are both summer and winter squash. For summer pick them at about 2 to 3 ft. long. For winter pick at 4 to 6 ft long. For planting in spring plant in pots 4 weeks before last frost. Also, she talked a little about another squash called Boston Marrow squash. Also, in the Butternut family. They get big but rounder and fatter. I am canning squash now. Late start but didn't want to wake GS as he is working tonight. Yeah! the 25th isn't getting here fast enough. I think that is what is wearing me down. Trying to get things done in the afternoon instead of the mornings. But I am not making him comfortable so he would want to stay.

Miki, you must have been typing when I was. The plants that were given to me we had to plant early spring. I am not sure about planting in fall. Will look that up to see. I know they are both summer and winter plants. My plants are still going strong. I will check my sources and let you know if you can plant them in fall. I will say one thing. You will need a good strong trellis as they grow all over the place. I have never seen anything like it. Had to remove my small greenhouse as the plants were taking it over. Squash was growing behind it as well.

Prayers going out for Mt. Rider and her family and friends from Maui. Becca Anne, prayers for your FIL and for your family. I know it is hard to go through. But God has this. Kappy, that Tromboncino is something else. I have 4 of them sitting on my dining room table and gave 4 of them to my neighbor. The 2 vines are still loaded. I might be having to pick more this evening. Getting a slow start this morning. Just tired today and can't seem to get it together. Will be canning the squash later after GS wakes up. Will have it already to go as soon as he is up and getting ready for work. He sleeps on couch in den and the kitchen is right there. So don't want to wake him up. Only a week and a half left, and I have my house back and I can get things done in the mornings instead of the afternoon. Might be the reason I am so tired. House is a mess. Going to get all of GS's stuff together this weekend into one place so it will be ready to load on the truck on the 25th. I love my grandchildren, but they are high maintenance. Especially my GS. He moved in here with a lot of issues but has done well to work through them and move on now. And he got a much-needed raise at work. That couldn't have come at a better time.