Necie

At the farm. In the camper. Munching on sunflower seeds. Again. Repeat of last Thursday. 😂 Saturday weenie roast and Sunday Fun Day at the farm went well last week. We had quite the crowd and went through 20# of chicken leg quarters on Sunday (4 leg quarters left over). I’ll post some pics. Market was pretty normal this week. A bit slow. What was abnormal was NO rain during market hours!! 😳 Well... it started raining at 3:45 on Tuesday, but we close at 4:00, so I say that doesn’t count!! Was going to pick up DS1 and come to the farm yesterday after market, but found out my niece, her DH, 10 yr old son and 2 of his friends were going to be here camping for the night. THREE 10 yr old boys???— no thanks!! 😂😂 So I stayed at the cabin and we came up today. I did figure out at the cabin that my Bluetti power station will not run the little kurig I have there. But it will run the little regular coffee pot that I have here. So... gonna switch them. DS1 got potatoes weeded/hoed today. I cleaned out a section of the back room (market storage) in the farmhouse to make room for a freezer that my mom wants to put in there. She got a new 24cf, so we’re going to use her old smaller one here. I might see if DGD(13) wants to spend the night in the cabin tomorrow and work on the loft. Weather should be perfect for it. Last time we tried, it was wayyyyy to hot! 🥵 If not, I’ll probably just go home and see what I can get done this weekend. 😀 and Necie

At the farm. Sitting in the camper. Snacking on sunflower seeds. 🤤 A couple weeks ago, my uncle moved the camper for me and I’m really liking it’s new spot. I can see the campfire from the bedroom window. This weekend is our family camping-Sunday funday-dinner at the farm. We’ll see how much I like it being surrounded by a bunch of 20 and 30-somethings, a couple of teens, and a bunch of little rugrats when I’m trying to sleep. 😂 Shouldn’t really be much different than when I camped in my van. Let’s see... got soaps wrapped and lotions made on Monday. Then picked up the DGkids. They spent Monday and Tuesday nights with me and DH and went to market with me Tuesday and Wednesday. Long days for the littles (7 and 5). But we all had fun. They got to eat a lot of junk food and candy , walk around and look and shop with DGD(13) when I was busy and all together when I wasn’t, go play with the puppies that are for sale (yes... Amish puppy mills... but they have their kennel licenses, so it’s *legal*). But a lot of sitting and coloring and playing with toys cuz there’s only so much to do and 8 hrs of market. They did surprisingly well and behaved themselves pretty good. DGD(13) had a bonus on Wednesday... her Nana and stepsister(15) came in the morning and she got to walk around with them, then unexpectedly 3 friends from school (with one of their moms) showed up in the afternoon and she got to go walk around with them. She’s been going to market with me since she was 2, so she knows it like the back of her hand. I think she enjoyed showing her friends where the best boutiques were. 👗 👠 She was really surprised when I took them home Wednesday and gave her $100. She said— But I didn’t work at market. I said— It’s for helping so much with the littles. She said— But that’s not work... that’s what you do when you have siblings. 🥰 God I love that kid!! Ya gotta remember that the littles mom and DS2 have only been going out for 2 yrs and living together for 1 yr. Her being an only child and ALWAYS having her dad to herself, she has really impressed me with her acceptance of them. Tomorrow, DS1 and I are doing yard and garden work in the morning and then mom is coming over about noon and we’re gonna work in the house to have a sale next weekend. Not sure if anyone will show up tomorrow to camp and hang out. Not expecting any til Saturday afternoon for weenie roast/s’mores, corn hole and camping. pic of grandkids hanging out in front of building across from our building. That vendor wasn’t there this week— THANK GOD!!— cuz it would’ve been crazy crowded to have all 3 of them in our building with me and my mom. 🥴

Yesterday (Saturday), went to Farmer’s Market to help mom pack/load up. I think she’s about done with farmer’s market. It’s a lot of work for very little money. She likes to go more for getting out and visiting, but the people there seem to be particularly snotty lately. More than usual. I could think of a lot of other things to do to get out and be social that aren’t as difficult. I told her that any week that she doesn’t want to go, or if she just doesn’t want to do it at all anymore, that it’s fine with me. She’s not going for the next 3 weeks, so she may decide to just be done with it. After market, I went yard-saling. Found a couple things for market. But the big thing seemed to be RUGS!! I got 5 at 3 different sales. 😳 A while back I was thinking to get area rugs and put them in the lofts at the cabin. Fit them together to *carpet* the whole areas... kinda like a crazy quilt. lol Today, I went to mom’s to work on getting our flea market inventory in her barn organized. It’a a disaster. And we are polar opposites with organizing. And my sister has been hauling some of her stuff in there and is the same as mom with just tossing $hit everywhere. I have been extremely frustrated trying to figure out what is what, what is where, and what is who’s every time we need to find certain items for market. So I spent 3 hrs sweating, trying to make isles and hauled 2 golf cart loads out to her trailer. DS1 got home from camping yesterday, so he helped me unload the rugs into the cabin. And he brought me home some smoked whitefish. 🥰 Stopped at DS2’s and picked up the hams and bacon from the hog I got from him. He’d just picked them up yesterday. We also decided that I’d pick up all 3 grandkids tomorrow night and they’re going to market with me this week and I’ll drop them back off Wednesday... maybe. Tomorrow, I gotta make 3 batches of lotion and wrap 45 bars of soap for a wholesale order. Need to wrap the soap early (upstairs) before it gets hot. Making lotion (basement) will be nice, as it’s always cool down there. The weather tomorrow is supposed to be absolutely miserable. 🥵 and Necie

@themartianchick, I love your descriptions of your dad’s house/yard. It puts me in mind of a secret garden... with a hidden fortress. Trying to clean things up to find what’s supposed to be there and putting it back in order. I’m sure it’s not that *enchanting* in reality and a lot of work. Let’s see... went to town yesterday. Mom didn’t go with me— she ended up stuck at the bank for 2 hrs. Still working on settling dad’s estate. I went to Rural King... got 10 cases of water— 7 for home, 3 for the farm. Got DH shop towels, charcoal, and pepper spray (for on his bicycle—dogs!! 😡). Stopped at WM to exchange a battery/rechargeable weather radio—display didn’t work. Picked up some *bathroom* items to add to preps and more lp cylinders for Coleman stoves/lanterns. Today... went to the farm. Mom brought trailer of wood that DS1 and DS2 loaded on Monday, and I unloaded it while she cleaned up the house a bit. Then I loaded junk in my van for market next week. Then helped her straighten up the house some— trying to get things ready for our family fun weekend next week. We’re also thinking about having a sale there the next weekend (26th/27th). We didn’t have one there at all last year. Before that, we’d have a sale once a month. I checked the rain gauge in the big garden— 6”!!! All thanks to H. Beryl. I haven’t had to water the gardens at all this year. Stopped at a couple yard sales on the way to the farm. Mostly market stuff. Did get me a few new kitchen utensils—wooden! .25c each. and Necie

@Jeepers and @Becca_Anne, glad your trips went well and safe. Jeepers, your grandson is a cutie!! 🥰 @Mother and @blessedhomemaker71, continued prayers for healing and good health. 🧎 @euphrasyne, how is your wrist doing? 🙏 Sounds like @Littlesister and @snapshotmiki are busy, busy. 😀 Monday I did absolutely NOTHING. 😂 Sat in my chair and played grandkids’ games on my phone. ALL DAY. Never got dressed. Ate chips and dip for dinner. lol Tue/Wed was flea market. It rained. A LOT!! Thank you H. Beryl. We did surprisingly well, despite the rain. About 1/4 of the vendors didn’t show up or left early Tuesday. Over half of them didn’t even show up Wednesday. Rain and wind is just aggravating at market. We have a lot of stuff that we set up in front of our building every morning, and when it rains we can’t do that, so it’s all stuck in the building in the aisles. We keep *announcing*.. “If you need help getting to something, please ask.”... but... people. We end up with more clattering and clanging and broken stuff on rainy days. Nerve wracking. DS2 went back to work yesterday. They put him on a cushy job with his regular pay. He’s happy as a lark!! I think that his doc was a little leery, and even his work probably thinks it’s a little soon. I think they gave him an easy job so he doesn’t re-injure his shoulder/ribs and have to take more time off. 😉 DS1 and his dad went up north yesterday. Not sure when they’ll be back. When I asked DX, all he said was: “Whenever we get sick of camping and fishing.” Ummmm... so NEVER??? 😂 Gotta run to town today. Mom might go with me. Waiting for her to call when she gets done at the bank this morning.

Well, sheesh. I thought I had posted about the upright freezer, but I guess I hadn’t... We had market last week Tue/Wed/Thur. After market on Thursday, I picked up DS1 and we went to the farm Thursday evening and stayed Friday, came home Saturday afternoon. Friday at about noon DH called... “Ummm... we have a problem.” The door on the upright hadn’t been shut all the way. Dripping. TONS of frost/ice. I told him to just see if he could figure out kinda what was thawed and what all might still be frozen, get the door shut, and I’d deal with it when I got home. We had no idea exactly how long it was open. I’d went down Tuesday night and got out venison burger for Wednesday’s dinner and had moved most of the meats and cheeses from the upright to the chest. He had went up to DG Thursday evening and got a couple pot pies and put them in the chest to have for lunch on Friday. He didn’t notice it open/dripping on Thursday. Noticed it Friday when he went back down to get the pot pies out for lunch. No idea. But when I got home Saturday, it was a mess. 🥴

I think they decided on the Pinching Pennies forum.

Got the stand up freezer emptied and it’s thawing. Fit everything that wouldn’t fit in the chest freezer into 2 coolers and a small tote. Busted off the major *ice flows* and tossed them into a big pot, along with a few things that had obviously not made it— kiwi, some hot peppers, a bag of goat milk... Relaxing on the patio for a bit. It’s only 72* out right now, but it’s MUGGY!! 💦

Am home. 😀 Worked in the garden at the farm this morning. Sprayed weeds in the potatoes. Cockleburrs. I HATE cockleburrs. My most least favorite weed EVER!! Then loaded up 4 boxes of junk to take to market this week. On the way to drop DS1 off, we stopped at a couple yard sales. He spent more than I did!! 😳 Clothes ($23), Cabelas coat ($25), and a NEW fishing pole ($50). I spent about $30. Mostly stuff for market. Got DS1 home, dropped off a few things at cabin, loaded up a couple more boxes of junk out of mom’s barn, and raided her lotions for farmer’s market to take for ones that I’ve sold at flea market. Stopped at local meat market and got Hawaiian pork burgers and brats for grilling tomorrow. Kids are coming down for fireworks. No grandkids. 😢 The littles’ dad picks them up at 6 tomorrow and, of course, the teen has MUCH better things to do than hang out with us old fogies. Worked on getting the upright freezer emptied when I got home. Managed to get any meat and cheese and such into the chest freezer. Will put the rest— mostly fruits/veggies and breads— into coolers in the morning and get it defrosted. It’s a MESS!! 🥴 Hope everyone is having a good weekend. 💥 and Necie

WOW!! 47,000 is amazing!! My minivan is a 2013 and it has 170,000. I drive too much. Sooo... my mom has this friend. Amish lady (we’ll call her Al— for “Amish lady” 😆). Mom picks her up every Wednesday morning (mom drives right past her house) on the way to market to go to the antique auction and then takes her home. They are about the same age (mid-70s) and get along splendidly... as long as mom doesn’t let Al take advantage. Anyhow, a couple weeks ago, Al heard from one of the ladies at market that she was having a yard sale. So after market, mom and Al went. My mother should not be allowed to go to yard sales!! She always gets stuff that we don’t need... and pays too much for it. Well, she bought me YARN!! I do NOT need yarn. I have half my upstairs full of yarn. I will not even post pics of it anymore, cuz I posted on a FB group asking for any ideas or suggestions on organizing it (it was a disaster), and a couple of members called me a HOARDER!! Said I should give away/donate all but 2 yrs worth... ummm, I have about 10 yrs worth and had been doing market over 10 years at the time— what am I supposed to do when 2 yrs worth runs out??... buy more??? Idiots!! Anyhow (again), mom bought yarn— 2 boxes full— $1/skein!! I never pay over .25c a skein! Heck, I usually get most free that someone just wants out of their way! So this week... Al goes to auction. Guess what they have?? YARN! Al thinks that I need it since Mom just bought me some. Yup— she got it. About $1/skein again. I paid her for it and thanked her, but told Mom later to make sure to let Al know that I now have PLENTY of yarn. So, now I have 3 boxes sitting in my dining room that I need to sort and organize and haul upstairs and try to fit in with the rest of the HOARD. Still at the farm. Busy all day, but didn’t do anything in the gardens. DS1 got the push mowing done, then his dad picked him up to take him to the doctor for some poison ivy he got into. They’re leaving to go up north on Tuesday, so DX figured he better get him in and get it taken care of or DS1 would be miserable on vacation. He got 2 shots (steroid and benedryl), prednisone pills and some kind of cream. DS1 is gonna have to do weedwacking in the morning cuz he didn’t get it done after they got back. I got a bunch of metal siding pulled out of one section of the yard and into the barn. DS2 is using it to do the ends of the barn... which got put on hold due to busting up his shoulder and ribs. Then I got about half the yard raked of sticks and stuff. Looking much better. We’re having our “Family Sunday Funday at the Farm” in two weeks and I figured I’d better get busy since DS1 will be gone next week and I won’t have help. Mom, all my sisters, nieces/nephews, their spouses and kids come. A few will camp for the weekend. Swimming and fishing in the pond. And we have a huge dinner on Sunday. It’s nerve wracking getting ready for... but a BLAST when we all get together. pic of stupid expensive yarn that I didn’t need. lol

Canned venison and noodles on the camp stove. DS1 said they’re the best he’s had with store bought noodles. Told him to toss in a stick of unsalted butter next time he makes them. And, why YES, that IS Polish china being used while camping.

Last weekend while we were at the farm, DS1 grilled a pork tenderloin over open fire and I made butter noodles on the Coleman camp stove. It was a hit!! We didn’t even need knives to cut it.

At the farm. My uncle got the camper moved for me and DS1 and I worked on getting it leveled up enough for me to sleep in it. Bit more to do, but it’s good enough for tonight. Market was pretty miserable this week. Seems to be a trend. Hot, hot, hot,... and then rain. I think it’s rained every week so far. It just kills sales. Not that sales are great anyhow. Economy, inflation, election year. People just aren’t spending. Pic of camper’s new location.

At the farm with DS1. Weed killer worked and DD is coming over tomorrow, so we’ll see how much we can get done. DGD(13) was with us last weekend. I’d picked her up on Friday and we stayed in the cabin. Then came to the farm Saturday, home Sunday evening. Lazy day at home on Monday— the day I went through tackle boxes. Then she went to flea market with me on Tue/Wed. We had a doozy of a storm come through Tuesday morning and kept ourselves shut in the building pretty much from 9 until just after noon. It was a pretty cruddy week for sales. Took her home after market on Wednesday. A 13 yr old can really wear ya out!! New news... DS2 and DDIL are getting MARRIED!!! So she’ll officially be DDIL, even though she already is since she’s been like a daughter to me for over 10 yrs since she is one of DD’s best friends (DDIL and DS2 have been together for 2 yrs). They’d went on vacation last weekend and DS2 proposed. TOTAL SHOCKER!! They’re planning for a small wedding next summer up by Lake Superior somewhere. Camping and a wedding! Should be a BLAST!! and Necie