Littlesister

wleuphrasyne, my prayers are with you. You will get through this. Keeping busy does help. That marmalade looks good. And your DD is really doing great with the sewing and such. She's going to be a great help down the road when things start really getting tough. She can help make clothes for the baby at that rate. Watched U tube for a bit this morning while GS was sleeping. Cooked a small turkey breast for sandwiches. Cheaper than lunch meat for the time that I bought it. But now can't find a turkey. Food Lion is out of them, and I haven't checked other stores yet. I don't need one, but our church is hoping to get them for the food ministry. Went through a couple more boxes and then GS was up and helped me get one of the shelving units up in pantry. Couldn't use both of them. So, one will have to do the job. Now I can get that pantry finished all the way and get started on another project. Need to go through all my OTC meds and get them set up to see what I have and what I need. They will be moved out of the boxes onto the hall closet that used to be a small pantry. That closet is long, so will be great for first aid and OTC meds. I can set them up so I can find what I need right then. Now I just need to think back to the days I worked in a Pharmacy as to how they set things up in the pharmacy section. want to try to set up similar to that. Very easy to spot what you want that way. Wow telling on myself the pharmacy days goes back well over 45 plus years ago.

Love the Duck tails. Seems I had seen something about either Jeeps or Truckers and the ducks a long time ago. but can't remember if it was for the same reason or not. That was years ago.

Dee, Always love your stories. I love hearing how you are doing on your homestead and the things you are doing.

My daughter would love that. She just released 10 squirrels' last weekend. She's a wildlife rehabber. She has one squirrel that she cannot ever release due to brain injury. He can't grasp nuts, nor can he climb. I will have to send that one to her. She would get a kick out of it.

Euphrasyne, so sorry to hear about your father. But at least he is in a much better place with the Lord and that we can have peace about. And yes, you are having to many falls. Hope everything is ok and no more broken bones. You are too young to be having that many falls. And from what I can tell in the picture, it wouldn't be hard to put a handrail up at the steps. Is your white kitty mad about the other kitty taken up lap space. Looks like she's about to pounce or attack. I don't know where all those boxes are coming from, but I emptied 5 more of them and got all that stuff in its place. Shouldn't be much left but do have one in den and a few in my bedroom to go through. Been mostly sorting papers and throwing out a lot of old papers and such. More stuff in box for Good Will. House is getting back together but is slow going. Not as fast as I used to be, but it is getting done. GS is going to help me Sat. to get the other 2 shelving units put together and then I can finish up in pantry bedroom. Just some organizing and getting spices out of box and on the shelves so I can see what I have. I do have a lot of spices with some that I dried in jars as well. Need to get the chandelier cleaned again. It is really dirty from the construction dust. And then get back to washing windows, curtains, blinds and screens. Going to start working on den, living room, kitchen and dining room more so than the rest of house as Christmas is coming fast and it will be at my house this year. Need to get all that part of house fully cleaned up first. Went out and got wood up to house for the wood stove, got it all covered and ready to go. Hasn't been cold enough to use stove yet but it is going to get there before long. Nights are starting to get colder, but days are back up in 70's. Though the last 2 nights have been a bit warmer.

Just what you didn't need Jeepers. But just another issue of owning a house. Always something to go bad. I have an extra hot water heater in my shed. So, when the old one goes bad, at least I have the extra one and my SIL can put that in for me.

I need freezer room before I can do that. My freezers are full to the brim. Hoping after the Holidays are over and right after the first of year, I can get back into canning full swing. I have a lot in those freezers to both can and dehydrate as well. I want to try freezing some fresh eggs as well.

Glad to see you back Jeepers. Seems you did have a productive trip even if you didn't get everything done. I know about getting shelving and stuff up. Sometimes it takes 4 hands to get things done. GS is going to help me get the last 2 shelving units up this Sat. You did great on free pork chops and then someone paying for your items in the other store. They do that here but only at fast food places. It's one of those pass it on good deed things. As for the pork chops, we have a Smithfield food, and they are opening up a Meijers store on the other side of Suffolk from me. I need to check to see if it has opened up yet. I think it is in the old Lowe's store that closed down years ago. Went to one of the banks I use and had them change some things for me as I don't use that bank as much. More of a savings account than a checking account. Then stopped off at Lidl's to pick up a few things for the church food pantry. Came home had lunch and then took flowers to DH's grave side to put fall flowers in vase and today was DH's 85th birthday. Sad day for me but I just keep busy. Ordered garden seeds that Amazon had on sell and then I got a $7.00 off on them with the sale price and had enough points that bought the price way down on top of that. They are 135 varieties of fruit, veggies and herbs and good for 25 years. Though they will get used before then. But not before I use up the seeds I already have. So, hoping I will be good on garden seeds for a very long time. These seeds come in an ammo can and package for the longer term. They had a 5-star rating with good reviews so hoping I don't go wrong on those. All Non-GMO and everything. Went to Food Lion right after GS left for work. He wanted donuts. So picked up a few items there that I needed. Checked on the Turkeys and no turkeys. They only had one frozen turkey breast and I grabbed it to can. That is in fridge now and I will can it after it thaws. Still have those 4 whole turkeys in freezer and DD will let me know when they come down on the 19th next month if she found one for Thanksgiving. If not, she will take one of mine home as we are going to her house for Thanksgiving this year. This has been my day today and nothing got done in house today, but tomorrow is another day.

Don't think it would be worth the price if I don't use it enough to warrant that price. It's a no go for me.

I to have looked into the freeze dryers, and they are too pricey for being just one person. Don't think I would get my money's worth from one. I do use my dehydrator a lot though. I also heard they draw a lot of electricity to run. So, I would check that out also. i do have a whole house generator that runs on natural gas. I am saving up for a solar generator to run if natural gas for some reason is cut off. My house is mostly natural gas. Stove, clothes dryer, heat, and hot water. So, looking into a solar generator for all of that that will not be connected to the grid.

Mt. Rider, prayers that your energy will return soon. Speaking of energy, I was tired yesterday and thought I would be back to par today, but no energy. But I think this time it is more of a mental strain with everything going on in the world and the thought of running out of time to get preps in order and just getting it all together on what else I need to get done. Not easy at this point. But I am getting a few things done today. Just not everything I wanted to get done. Might go ahead and get those last 2 shelving units up after GS wakes up. He should be up in about 30 minutes or so to get ready for work. Those shelving units are small, and I can get them up with no help. They are already in the small bedroom so it's just getting them together. Then I can get my spices out and get those together to see what I have and what I need to fill in. All my spices are still packed up in closet in a big box. So just another box to unpack shortly. Getting down to the end of this mess and just cleaning up and dusting. Still need to finish washing windows, blinds and curtains but hopefully tomorrow I can get at least the dining room window done. Hopefully by first of next week I can start moving all my canning supplies back to house from shed and put in small bedroom. I have a shelf just for canning supplies. Mt. Rider, your post reminded me about all the paperwork I need to go through. I have a fireproof bag for all my important papers I need to move from safe to that bag to be able to grab with my go to bag. I have made copies of everything also that will stay in the safe. Hoping and praying I will not have to leave home in a SHTF situation, but now that things in the world are getting much worse, I am no longer sure of what will happen. Do or stay or do I leave.

Midnightmom, that must have been an omen, us talking about out-of-town kids and your DD shows up. That is a very nice surprise. And great that you and she can spend some time together. I like when my daughter or a grandchild shows up unannounced, but they are on a time schedule and if I am not home then I end up missing them because I did not know they were coming so I could be sure to change my plans to be there to see them. Most of the time when they come down it is only for the day as they have to be back for work. But at least right now I know who is doing what for the rest of year. GS and I will be going to DD's house for Thanksgiving on Friday as GS has to work on Thanksgiving Day. So, we are going up together on Friday for Thanksgiving. GD and her DH will be there also from SC. 4 hours from DD's house. Then Christmas DD and her DH will be coming here for Christmas. GD and her DH will be in New Orleans for Christmas this year as his grandfather is not doing well. So, they would like to spend some time with him this Christmas. Hoping that GD and her DH in Washinton State can get here Christmas, but weather will predict that. Never know what snow will do. She was not able to get here for her grandfather's funeral as the snow caused airports to shut down and she could not get a flight in. Police even had her street blocked off and no one could get in or out. Though she was able to get here in March of 2021 after the snow issues were resolved. So just can't be sure about rather she can come or not. That is a wait and see situation. But at least we are getting our plans together now. Went to Church this morning and yes, our new pastor is doing a really great job. It has been a long time since we had a pastor and not just an interim pastor till a new one could be found. So, all is good and getting things back to normal little by little since this covid mess started. Thinking about getting back into the food ministry again. DH and I were a big part in that before Covid hit. I am still strongly supporting it but have not gotten back into going in to help out with giving out the food to the needy. Just taking it easy today as I am still tired from all the work, I have been doing around house this past week. Going to just sit down and read Bible for a while and think about what I should be doing to prepare through the Lord's help. I can only store so much water as well as having the well fixed. Not sure what else I can do at this time. Other than feeling a need for buying more blankets and another cord of wood for stove, I just don't feel anything else I should be doing at this time for prepping. I think that now that I am getting my food supplies organized and set up where I can see what I really have and what holes I need to fill, I just can't think of anything else I can do to prepare for the mess in this world. But that is what I will be focusing on today. So, for now until the first of the year, I will just hold off on prepping. And praying nothing else happens between now and the first of year. I do feel that next year will be a much worse year and I will set my focus on what is happening at that time and prepare from a fresh point of view on being prepared for whatever else hits us.

DD and SIL left a little over an hour ago. We got most of the pictures back up on wall. And a few other things done. Though SIL had to go to his parents' house to do some things for them. They refused to go to store to buy groceries, so he had to go do their grocery shopping. He said store prices were a shock. So, DD and I got the lighter weight pictures on wall and when SIL got back he put up the heavy ones and fixed my curtain rod over the patio door. Still a lot to get finished but at least most of the pictures and some other things are off the floor and I can get more done now that those are out of way. DD and SIL will be back down for GS's birthday next month. He will be 21 and they want to take him to dinner. She bought a big box of his clothes back from her house that he really needed along with his other shoes. So that will help a lot. He needed those clothes in a bad way. So now I will be helping him get all that put away. The other shelving units are now in the small bedroom that I have turned into a pantry. They still have to be put together, but GS and I can do that this week. DD couldn't believe how much better all the food being on the shelving units turned out. She said wow you can find things now. And of course, SIL spotted the canned beef stew I canned and had to take one home with him. He loves that stuff.

Wish they would sell a 12 pack of just the lids. They are not cheap. But looks like the reviews are pretty good. Something to think about. Need to inventory what I have as soon as I finish up in pantry. Will be putting all my canning supplies in there so I can see what I have and what I really need. Trying to reduce the number of trips to stores too once a month. So having everything organized, I can see just what I need to fill in and not play guessing games like I have had to do for almost a year because of construction. Yeah! couldn't find things I needed because of so much having to be packed up, so would just go out and buy what I needed. Now things will be so much better. Jeepers turning a bedroom into a full-blown pantry was the best idea I had. Working out great. Two more smaller shelving units will be put up tomorrow. And I will be going through my spices and get them on one of those shelves. Plus, a lot my canning supplies will be on there.

Midnightmom, my DD and all the grandkids have a key. But DD and SIL are coming to help me get some things done that I can't do by myself. So, I need to be here so they will know what I need help with. But she did text and said they will be here early tomorrow morning. Guess I better have the coffee on. SIL looks forward to a pot of coffee. So now I know Sunday won't be an issue. I have never heard of a bluetti generator. Might have to check that out. I haven't really thought about a solar one as I have a whole house natural gas generator, but who knows what will happen if we lose natural gas. Might be a good idea to check into a backup Just finished giving kitchen a good cleaning and mopped floor. So that job is done. Knew I wouldn't have time tomorrow to get it done. .

Midnightmom if I can only get them in a 50 pack then I won't be buying them. Haven't checked on them yet. But I only wanted enough to try.

Started cleaning windows and washing curtains and blinds. Ran to store this morning for milk and Pepsi for SIL. Nope he will not drink diet soda. Finished getting things off floor in small bedroom and will be cleaning floor in there later today. Got the window, blind and curtains done and back up. But still need to wash the screens. Those I clean outside so might do that at a later date as I want to get all of them done at one time. As soon as I get the boxed food set up to see what I have and what I need to set up for longer term, I am going to be starting a new itemized list of what I have. During construction I wasn't able to keep up with everything. Kept that door closed as much as possible. Mt. Rider, I know what you mean about unusual year. It has been really hard on me the past 3 years with DH so sick and then passing, then a year later the construction began and then GD and her DH moves in for 4 months and now GS. But GS plans to be moved out by end of year. I am thinking with holidays coming up, his BD and stuff it will be after the first of the year. He has been looking around online for Apts. But he really needs to get out and go look at some of the apt. complexes. There are a lot of them around here and they are still building. I really need to go to church this Sunday as I have food for the church fall festival that I need to get there. But DD still hasn't told me if she is coming in for the whole weekend, or Sat. or Sunday. Might just say you are on your own till I get back from Church if she can't give me a time of when she will be here. Gotta love out of town kids. They just show up whenever. But at least I know she is coming this time.

I have been buying up the reusable tattler lids and have had great results with them. I am still using up the other lids but now buying up tattler lids for reuse. Over time you might need to replace the rubber gasket, and I have been buying several boxes of those for when I do need to replace a gasket but so far, I have reused some of those lids about 6 or 7 times and the gaskets are still holding. We have had issues before not being able to find lids and they are still hard to find around here. Food Lion has stopped carrying both the jars and the lids. I have seen some in a few places but still not many. So, I think I am going to stick with the reusable tattler lids but might order a few of those ForJars brand to see how they do.

Getting colder here as well. My walking is usually in middle of day now, but been too busy the past few days to get some walking in. Made a lot of progress today. Though I was not feeling well for past two days and couldn't figure out why. Realized I had not been checking my sugar levels and yes, I checked it today and it was high. So took an extra Diabetic pill to get it back down. Feeling a bit better tonight though I am very tired from cleaning all day. Cleaned out the upper kitchen cabinets as dust was back in those from them working on the wood stove. Got all that taken care of and even had more room for things I needed to get back into those cabinets that was in the small bedroom packed up. Now I can get back to the small bedroom and finish up in there. It is almost finished. DD and SIL are coming into town this weekend. So, hoping they will be able to help me with some things I can't do by myself, and GS doesn't know how to do. He left for work at 4 pm and won't be home before 3 or 4 in morning. He will be in bed asleep when I get up, so he really isn't much help except on Sat. He cleaned the bathrooms and kitchen last Sat. So, hoping he will do that again this Sat. so I can get other things done. But will see how it all goes. Mt. Rider glad you are sleeping better. Hope you will be back up and running soon. You have been through a lot the past several months and need that rest.

Back is doing better today. Went to bed with Ben Gay. that stuff gets hot, but it works. Took a couple of Advil as well. Still a bit sore but not hurting like it was yesterday. Got clothes washed, and then started back on pantry. I have more stuff in that room than I thought. But it is coming along. Will be mopping the floor in there and washing the window, blinds and curtains to get back up in there. It's going down into the 40's tonight but keeping the window in there cracked as I want that room to be as cool as possible. Still haven't had to turn heat back on so hoping I won't need to tonight. Been sleeping much better with the cooler air. Hoping to be ready to put the other shelving units up by tomorrow evening. Then I can finish up that room and move on to another room. Still have more pictures to hang as well. Just can't decide how I want to do that yet. Cooked dinner a while ago and GS will just heat his up when he gets home from work around 3 am. Mt. Rider, I hope you are doing better today. You have had a hard time of it lately. EmeraldCat, I have a bread machine that I have to hunt down. I packed a lot of that stuff up for construction and haven't gotten to all that yet. I really want to finish the pantry before unpacking more boxes. Not a lot left but those won't take long to unpack. Kappydale, hope you find out soon what food is bothering you so you can eliminate it. My GD in Washington State is having to keep a food diary. She has been having migraines and Doctor thinks it is being triggered by something she is eating.

I have never tried to freeze American cheese before but will now try to do that. I don't use a lot of that, but I do like to make grilled cheese sandwiches sometimes. And yes, GS will not eat a grilled cheese sandwich. That boy is too picky for me. Just don't know what to feed him anymore. He was always picky but never this picky. It has gotten worse. So, I will only freeze maybe 4 or 5 packs of the cheese since I will be the only one eating it. I do freeze a lot of the shredded cheese though.

Mt. Rider. I really thought you would be doing better by now. Sorry that you are having more MS issues with the meds tapering off now. Hopefully it will get better very soon, and you can start back horseback riding again. Hopefully the horseback riding will get you going again as soon as you are able to do that again. Keeping you in prayer for a fast recovery. Didn't make it to Church this morning as I pulled a muscle in the small of my back again. Guess I am trying to do too much heavy lifting. But I really need to get this house back together. So just taking it easy today. Though I did get almost all the canned goods wiped down and on the shelves. So now will be working on boxed items and moving all of that as I need to get them set up for long term storage. Need to move some things from pantry area so GS can help me get another shelving unit put up in there. I have 2 that need to go up and they are smaller ones. So, hoping I will be able to use both in there. I want to get all my spices set up on a couple of those shelfs and then boxed items that I need to go through and get set up for long term will be on a couple of the shelfs temporarily till I get the time to put them in mylar bags in buckets or in jars and sealed for longer term. Took all the canned food that I did have in a cabinet in kitchen and those had that cement dust on them. So got all those wiped down and in pantry now. I need that kitchen cabinet for dishes more so now than for the food. My makeshift pantry is going to work out really well and I can find things I need so much easier. Hoping my back will hold out this week as I also must get started on washing windows, blinds and curtains. Getting that done might help with keeping that dust down as the dust is all over the windows and blinds. Have a friend from church that had some remodeling done in her house and she said the same thing. Dust is in everything, and she is still trying to get rid of the dust. Said they got paint all over her stove and she is still trying to get that off. She said they didn't cover the stove while they were working in there. That is what I went through. Said they were going to put plastic over doors to keep dust out but never did. Seems it's taking forever to get this house back together. Doing it mostly by myself is taking much longer than I hoped for. But this to will get done hopefully before Thanksgiving. Though I still haven't heard from DD if they are coming here or if GS and I are heading to NC to their house yet. She needs to let me know soon, though I will be ready I hope either way.

Was hoping to do the Christmas ornament exchange this year but still so busy. I haven't even gotten my craft stuff unpacked yet. Stil working on all that as well. Hoping next year will be a much better year as there won't be 8 months of construction and then cleaning up all the mess they left. Not to mention the unpacking of everything I had to pack up in 4 rooms. It has been a rough past couple of years but working through it. I know next year will be much better.

Becca Anne that is looking nice. I'm still working on mine makeshift small bedroom pantry but getting closer to being done. Was gifted a big bag of kale couple of hours ago and have been getting that ready for freezer. opened all the windows in house this morning and aired the whole house out. will keep the bathroom windows and pantry windows cracked all night for the cooler air and continue to air out house. All the dust from construction and grandson and his vaping just smelled all over the house. And yes, grandson is no longer aloud to have that pipe in house any longer. Seems those things leak. That was why the smell was making me sick. Very strong smell. But much better now. GS got up this morning and cleaned house for me while I worked on pantry. Got all his clothes washed as well. So went to market and bought fried chicken and some banana pudding for him. Got things together for church in morning. Candy for the fall Halloween festival end of month and some things needed for the food pantry as well as the Samaritans purse Christmas shoe boxes I have ready to take back to church in morning. So that much is done for now. Need to get started next week on the windows. They need washing along with blinds and curtains. I kept putting it off and now I need to get started on that. Don't want the really cold weather to hit and still not having that done. Next week should be good weather for that. Mt. Rider, glad you had a great time at your reunion and came back in good shape. Glad you are sleeping better also. Jayceef, hope you learn a lot from that class. Classes like that will come in handy to know. Emerald Cat glad you have joined in. We need all the good advice we can get these days. Sometimes I feel our time is just running out to get prepared for whatever comes our way. With GS working nights and sleeping days he's not a lot of help to me. But did chip in today which is his day off and cleaned house so I could spend more time in pantry getting that all straight. That has been a struggle with having to wipe down every single jar of food in there. That dust from construction went everywhere. I am cleaning out the top kitchen cabinets and the canned food in there is even dusty. So, cleaning out everything. Still a lot of organizing to do and going through things I am going to get rid of. But it is coming along.

My DD put oldest granddaughter in a private school for 1st through 3ed grade because she was both dyslexic and ADHD. She was in the Beca reading program, and she learned to comprehend and read much better. Now she reads a lot. Though she is now 30 years old, that program helped her a lot. Today was another busy day. went to store this morning to buy things for the Samaritan's purse Christmas shoeboxes. Our Church does this every year. I always do one for a girl and one for a boy. So have that out of the way now. Came home and started working on the pantry. Got a lot more done. Moved a small table out of there as well. So now I have a place for my metal trash can that houses all my sugar. Still going through a lot of things but house is getting closer to being done. Want to try out my new wood burning stove but hasn't been cold enough yet. Fixed tacos for GS for dinner when he gets home in the early morning hours. He just has to heat up the meat and it's ready to go. Might work on pantry for a bit after I finish drinking my tea. needed a break. Got almost all the boxes gone through now. But still have pictures to put up. It's slow going but I'm getting there.