The WE2's

If I remember right, the CDC said they were not tracking "seasonal" flu...only CV19. 

Jeepers, in response to my grandson...Craig's did what they could for him.  Teaching him how to get himself in and out of his bed, in and out of a vehicle, how to maneuver his custom wheelchair etc.  Generally learning to care for himself as much as possible.  They are now back at their home.  He'll be paralyzed from the waist down permanently.  The bullet shattered one vertabrae and sent fragments in every direction.  It rickocheted off one other vertabrae and messed it up beyond repair.  They did have to go in and remove the bullet fragment a few weeks after his initial surgery. 

As for us...we're doing fine.  Hubby quit his part time job delivering flowers.  One of the owners, their daughter and her husband all tested positive and had to go into quarantine.  They all worked in the florist shop, but not near hubby, but he just needed to not be around any of it.  The dollars were so useful, but...God will provide.

Another of his customers tested positive and had to quarantine...him in their basement so she just stayed upstairs as a precaution.  Took them a quart of my homemade chili with some crackers and a couple packets of hot chocolate.  They're all out of their isolation so all is well.

Hubby's been working hard trying to get the homestead's bathroom functional.  Thought everything was cool until today, noticed water on the floor under the toilet tank.  Yuck!  I guess he had used a package of tank assembly that he had bought a year or better ago.  Probably the washer was dried out?  Anyway...off to Menards tomorrow to get a complete new tank assembly.  The mirrored 3-panel vanity chest that we bought at the Restore was much to long, so we made a trip to Menards to buy one a lot smaller...it will work.  Just have so many inches to work with.  The new one is the white finish (which the other was not) so he won't have to do any painting.  Located the light bar that will go over the chest and it also is white.  Everything is white except the walls and flooring.  That's works for me!

My step mum messaged me yesterday and said she found her brother deceased in his home.  He lived just up the road from her.  With this "junk" going around (and she's VERY at risk...breast cancer survivor) it's a tough time for her.  I don't think she has any other siblings nor parents still living.  She knows we stand ready if needed.

We got a "dusting" of snow last night but most of it's already melted off.  Abby-girl didn't even seem to notice! 

A couple of days ago we pulled 4 packages of Italian seasoned ground turkey from the meat freezer, defrosted it and I jarred it up...gorilla style.

Today brought 18 pounds of ground beef home and am defrosting part of it so I can jar that up too.  Just regular hamburger.

Trying to get the big upright "meat freezer" empty so we can move it to it's appointed place in the homestead's kitchen.  Hopefully it won't be long until I have a kitchen and bathroom there so we can go ahead and start moving in.  There will still be tons of stuff that we'll need to do, but we'll "live around it" and work that way.  We've been wall-to-wall here for years trying to get out properties sorted out so doing it there will not make any difference except we have more square footage downstairs and lots more storage in the upstairs apartment turned library etc.

The hardest part will be having a much smaller bedroom.  I'll be placing my antique oak dresser and armoir (?) in the dining room.  I'll put dishes etc., on top as a display so nobody will know it's hiding my clothes in the drawers! LOL  It's 8' long and I love it.  The armoir is also solid oak with doors that close over the drawers, so again...it won't hurt a thing sitting in the dining room.  After all...we're the ones who live there! LOL

I guess I've pretty much touched base with everybody and wanted to say hello!  Take care and stay safe!

On 12/6/2020 at 7:06 AM, TheCG said:

vacuum seal in smaller packages

I vacuum sealed my coffee beans etc., in jars.

Been enjoying our four day Thanksgiving in the woods.  Set up the "room" and put our canvas chairs inside, so during the day when it was warm enough we sat in there and Abby was a good girl about not trying to go under the bottom.  We didn't push the issue by leaving her in it while we were cooking outside on the picnic table...LOL

Loved cooking on the Blackstone.  For breakfast, put a couple of potato patty's, some sausage and eggs...breakfast was done shortly.  Even fixed cheese burgers and grilled the buns all at the same time.  Thanksgiving meal was thick slices of turkey breast grilled on the Blackstone.  We dug out our ancient Turbo Cooker and took it with us.  So used one of it's grates on the Blackstone, fixed the green bean casserole in a foil pan and put the "dome" over it.  Mashed potatoes and gravy came from the microwave though! LOL  Pumpkin pie was dessert.  When the weather turned off too cool to eat outside, I just cooked the meal and we ate inside the camper. We have a single burner electric hot plate that is resident in the van, so I just set it on top of the camper's stove and used it to boil water for our oatmeal. 

We were really surprised at the number of campers that were at the campground!  Lots of family units with children.  One was a Mennonite family in a huge bus.  They were having a ball riding their bicycles etc.  Other's were double sites with both rigs parked side by side, and had children.  There were a few "loners" like us but everybody just said "hi...good morning" and kept on walking.  The vault toilets are pretty cold!   But we used our portable potty in the van at night.  We're winterized so didn't use any inside water other than what we had in jugs and when a jug went dry, hubby went to the frost free and re-filled it.  For us we took and drank bottled water for cooking etc.  Hubby turned the passenger seat around and grabbed his book, Abby-girl found her bed between the front seats quit comfy when she could tuck her nose under her human daddy's fuzzy flannel pj's!  Me...I was very comfy on the bed, with a body pillow for a back rest...and my Kindle reader.  Did have to start the van's engine a couple of times to re-charge the house battery, but that only took about 10 minutes or so.  We ran a lot of our lighting that was not 110.  Came home, unloaded the camper and yes...it felt good to be back home!  Now it's catch up time with laundry etc.

Was very disappointed though that our camera went toes up and we lost all of the pictures except these three. 

Hubby's still delivering flowers (except they closed for the Thanksgiving holiday) and the weather hasn't been to formidable.  It's not been warm enough for me to wash and hang out clothes for a couple of days, so hubby does the ritual...hauls the basket over to the homestead when he goes there to work...and hauls them back here. 

Today I vacuum sealed more of my summer t's and un-vacuum my sweat shirts...yep...I found them! LOL

Hubby's putting down the bathroom floor molding at the homestead and then he'll set the toilet.  Then hang the chest mirror and lights over the vanity and we can live with it while he finishes towel racks etc.  

Been browsing through all the posts, and it sounds like everybody's got the lives in some sort of control.  Blessings to each of you.  Stay safe, stay healthy and stay warm!

We keep enough to take us through the winter and into next harvest season.  What we put back is our business and nobody elses...other than what I share here and on Suttons Daze.  Just sayin...

Looks like the weather is going to be great for our Thanksgiving In The Woods...don't have to worry about masking etc., since there probably won't be too many campers other than ourselves and we usually pretty much stay to ourselves.  We'll social distance if there are others. 

Put up six pints of apples that needed to be used up.  Just used my little apple cutter (?) that cuts the apple in 8ths (?) and leaves the core in the middle...when you press down.  Put them in my electric pressure cooker, mashed them down with a potato masher and into the water bath canner.  I'm loving the one piece canning lids that we bought at the Amish store.  You tighten them just like you would a two piece (finger tight) and when you pull them out and set them on your mat, you hear the lovely "plunk".  I did some research on them so I am comfortable using them...for our household.  I have lots of Tattler's and the metal 2 piece's for meats, but these are great for other foods.  I did some green beans earlier this year and they are holding their seal just fine.  I keep them where I can keep an eye on them.  The Amish use them a lot, and the jarred up foods that you buy that are from the Amish are jarred up with the same "button top" lids.  They must be the "button top" lids though.

The nice thing is that they are re-useable as long as you don't damage the gasket sealing compound that's on the inside of the lid.

Rained most of the day, but that's okay...flushes out our rain barrels (had to open the spikets for winter drainage) for this year.  It's been beautiful weather for the past several days but today turned off really cool.

Did some last minute shopping when hubby got home for doing some work for a customer.  Removed a gas stove that the oven had quit working and put in another one.  He kept the old one for metal/salvage.  We'll keep the grates and the grill that was on the top.  They'll make good camp fire, rocket stove or ??? grates.  Didn't care for the crowds when we went shopping, but knew it would only get worse as this next week starts.  The only "real" thing I needed was dried onions...LOL  But had several other items on my shopping list so went ahead and got it all done...eye drops, sneeze guards, paper towels, tp, face tissue, eggs and one of those hair trimmers that we saw advertised.  I cut hubby's hair and have since we married, but this will work great for the sides and around the ears and back lower part and neck.  I do the top of his hair with scissors anyway.  

On 11/15/2020 at 2:05 AM, Mt_Rider said:

the family cloth

We bought two Diaper Genie's at yard sales several years ago.  I collect every piece of flannel I can find at yard sales etc., and all of hubby's old T-shirts I cut into large squares.  Been using them off and on for some some...for the #1 so far and save the tp for the duce's.  Hubby also has the part to put in a hand held "bidet" in the new bathroom...using a sink sprayer.  My clothes I just wash them with my whites with bleach.  I don't care if they lose their fancy colors! LOL

On 11/14/2020 at 8:54 PM, Littlesister said:

WE2, which one is best. to use.  There are so many different brake bleeders out there, I'm not sure which one to buy.

We chose to buy ours at Harbor Freight because it's made of metal, the hose is included, the tip is included and the appliance has a psi gauge so you can see the amount of pressure.  You just hold the tip into the top of your cannister lid, hold the appliance against the edge of your counter, and pump that way.  Check out Heidi at Rain Country on youtube...she uses about the same type.

On 11/9/2020 at 9:32 PM, Littlesister said:

brake bleeders

We bought ours at Harbor Freight.

On 11/12/2020 at 5:42 PM, Littlesister said:

Tooth is doing better today

Xylitol (sp?) makes a wonderful mouth wash.  We use it for that but also brush with it at lease once a day.

Been pressure canning...literally all day.  So far I've got 11 quarts of chili on the counter "pinging" and 3 quarts of pinto bean in tomato sauce.  Now I have 8 pints of the pinto's in the last canner for today.  But...we'll enjoy them this winter.  Had some left overs so I just put them in canning jars, let them cool and put them in the frig.  We ate about a pint for supper and there's a quart and a pint in the frig. We'll eat those first.

Hubby didn't have to work today so he worked on the bathroom project's light switches.  Tired of fumbling around flipping switches that didn't have face plates on them! I wouldn't, so he always had to come in with his flashlight and grab the toggle and flip it for me!  Now it's "right" by me! :-)

I've still got a lot of canning to do but not tomorrow!  I just can't do it two days in a row.  

Rained pretty good in our area most of the day yesterday so my Comfrey, Wooly Lambs Ear, Cat Nip and Mullein got a good watering.  Temp went to 32 last night so not sure that did them any good!  

Last week of October I started a Mullein tincture and then last week started an Elderberry tincture.  Next will be Echinacea, Peppermint, Catnip and who knows what else!  Tinctures are so easy to make and very strong.  Just takes a bit of "aging".  I'll probably need to buy some more brown bottles with dropper lids though.  I've used several of the ones I had, and don't want to run low on them.

Made a day trip Thursday in Miss B to the city and visited Half Price Books...they ordered in from another outlet the first book Harbinger.  Said it should arrive in about 2 weeks and they'll call me to come pick it up.  Also visited Cargo Largo and found a few things for hubby's collection of tools! LOL 

Today hubby mudded the screws in the new bathroom underlay's and then sanded what was already dry from last week.  Then comes the new vinyl.

Took out the screened room we bought late last summer to use with Miss B when camping.  Set it up and then took it down...to make sure we know what we're doing when "hopefully" we get to do our Thanksgiving In The Woods.  It's a 13x9 so plenty of room for our chairs, small table for our drinks and books etc., and a small table to eat on (with our little table chairs we've had for years).  That way we can leave the bed made inside. 

We did take a fall foliage trip and spent a night camped outside a friends house and then mosied on home.  Our travel trailer is great for extended stays but for small stays or going into tight places, Miss B is a must.

The weather has been gorgeous for quite some time.  I did have to machine dry clothes for a day or two, but now am back to hanging the laundry on my lines.  Hubby also bought the materials to build me clotheslines at the homestead.  I showed him where I wanted them so he'll run them for me, probably about 4 lines that are 20 ft. long or so.  That way I can hang more than just one load at a time or have room for sheets and pillow cases.

On 11/5/2020 at 4:56 PM, Jeepers said:

pick up a brake bleeder to seal some canning jars

I love mine...quick to take care of small jobs!  Even found the old one so now I have a back up.

20 hours ago, Littlesister said:

Went through the summer and winter clothes today and changed them out

Got most of that done around here too...except I can't find the space bag that contains my sweat shirts!  They're somewhere...I just don't know where right now! 

On 10/28/2020 at 4:08 AM, Jeepers said:

with the fan

We sleep with the ceiling fan going nearly all year...so we both get "dusted" if there's any fairy dust going around!

Started a tincture of Mullein Leaf several days ago and it's aging very well.  That stuff is so good for thinning mucus from allergies or ???  When I think it's aged enough I'll strain it and add some honey to it.

Also brought another quart of Elderberry juice from the homestead.  Sure glad I jarred up a case of it!  I still have plenty of dried ones that I can make more when I get ready. Since I got all the turkey's jarred up, I'm zoned out of pressure canning for awhile! 

I did pull out my favorite small pressure cooker (works as good as an electric one) and we had mixed bean soup for lunch.  Hopefully we won't have any dueling flatulina fairies tonight!   If so we'll have to aim in different directions and absolutely NO DUTCH OVEN'S! 

Was a wintery mix all day yesterday, but hubby did okay delivering flowers...until their van wouldn't start when he made a potty stop.  So one of the owners had to come jump start him.  He finished his routes and then left the van running for them so they'd be able to use it for afternoon delivery...if they dared!

I just took care of some things around here.

Today was about the same.  Hubby did the screwing down of the underlayment and then started putting the "putty"? over the screw tops.  So anxious to get the flooring down.  That will be the last of the really hard stuff.  Then in will go the toilet and vanity.

He also (may have mentioned this) put the last of the LED shop lights in the extended pantry.  Boy does that make a difference when I step in and switch on the lights!

We have the windows bubble wrapped, plywood cut to fit and covered, moving blanket stapled over and then fleece blanket over that...NO light except the overheads!

We have the heat/air vents partially closed off so we are able to control the temp in there.  The door to that room is off the kitchen so when the door is shut nobody is able to see a thing.

Grandson is making a lot of progress.  Learning transfers from wheelchair to toilet, from toilet to wheel chair, from wheelchair to bed and from bed to wheelchair.  But he's a trooper and is making great progress.

I'm taking Vit D3 and Zinc faithfully since I'm not getting out much and also there's no sunshine to speak of, even if I did.  Especially since it's slick.  I haven't taken a spill for a long time and this last one wasn't even in slick weather!  I'll stay at home thank you...unless I have a perfect reason to get out and have hubby's arm!

None of us bounce as good as we used to! 

LittleSister...that's exactly why we  checked around town and found a dentist of "old school" and in a small, private practice.  Took out hubby's wisdom tooth that was cracked for under 200$!  The "new guys" wanted to do all the prep work and then send him to a surgeon...you know the drill.  Anyway, we're so glad we did.  His wife is also a dentist and practices with him.  They are both very understanding and don't try to push us to have things done.  They just make us a list (for me there isn't one) for hubby and we call when we have the funds.  We're waiting now for an opening to have his 2nd quadrant taken care of.  

On 10/26/2020 at 7:12 PM, Jeepers said:

two week quarantine

Have a friend who is wanting his daughter and grandchild to move in with him from NYC.  They told him that "when" they load up they have 24 hours to get out of town or they'll quarantine them in the first town they stop in.  He rented a U-haul van and they rented one the same type and size, and they met just outside of NY...then unloaded theirs into his.  Then he returned and rented a storage unit to put their stuff in.  Now I guess she's wanting to work as long as her job will allow her to.  Personally...I'd be out so fast it would make their heads swirl!

On 10/26/2020 at 12:58 PM, kappydell said:

canine "bodyguard

Had to chuckle.  We call Abby-girl our "Nanny Dog".  When it's time for momma to prepare for the night, she follows everywhere I go as if to say "come on...it's time to go to bed".  Then when I get up about 7 to have some quiet time, she seems to read the digital clock for 8 am and wakes hubby up...as if to say "time to rise and shine pops...gotta go to work"!  Doggie's are the bestest!

Both of us slept in this morning...8am! LOL  Anyway I fixed a "Sunday" breakfast...biscuits (I just made some drop type) in my toaster oven, sausage gravy, hashbrowns, one egg each, 1/3 cup of granola with yogurt on top, a tablespoon of Elderberry juice in our Orange/Mango juice and then...I had my second cup of coffee.  Went with hubby to the homestead so he could get the underlayment cut (which he did) because he has to cut outside and starting the wee hours, we're supposed to get some ice/snow.  It won't accumulate I don't think because the temp won't be below 34...there may be some slick spots so he'll have to be careful delivery flowers.  While he was working outside I put some of the foods that I have canned into the pantry and took the foods that I had vacuum sealed, upstairs and got them put away in a temporary spot.  He worked upstairs yesterday for quite awhile (it was raining) making room.  The "used to be" living room has a closet, so he cleared the area we had blocked when we leaned the twin bed and mattress up against the wall etc.  The he put a lot of the stuff in that closet.  Made much more room for us to re-arrange things.  Moving forward to being able to get the shelving units up there and the totes onto them.  I've got totes for all of our excess blankets, sheets, towels, Nitrile gloves, summer clothes, and other things we've put back for "just in case" times.  We'll have to put the clear bubble wrap back up because it has slipped, and then we'll put a moving blanket over the windows (two side by side) and then a fleece.  We did that downstairs and it really cuts the cost of heating or cooling!  It's dark but we've not living there yet and we have plenty of lights and lamps. A few trips up and down the steps gave me plenty of exercise!  We've got a wonderful wrap around front porch in front with two comfy chairs and a swing that we can sit on and in the back we have our patio table (on ground cover so no grass) and comfy chairs with an umbrella that we can sit at...and if we want sun we just don't need to put up the umbrella.  This afternoon he went back with a container of hot chocolate and finished putting the underlayment down and I cleaned out the frig and put the dish mats on the shelves.  Fixed supper and now I'm done!  The dishes have been rinsed off and I'll put them in the sink with hot soapy water along with our breakfast dishes. 

I have a goal for tomorrow morning to clear off the top of my old dishwasher.  I've used the top for sitting things on (little counter space) and it's accumulated quite a collection.  Also fixed my coffee machine for morning coffee...nice to have it nice and hot when I sit down to watch some of my "God stuff"...music and Bible being read to me while I sit and relax.  

13 hours ago, Annarchy said:

strongly recommended everyone stay home

Do they not realize that not getting any fresh air, no sunshine and little exercise is not good for anyone!?  Just my opinion.