WHATCHA DOING TODAY?

[kappydell]

9 hours ago, TheCG said:

Or people who can prove they have 7 kids, including a few teenagers, at home.  A friend of mine is in that category, and she was having tons of fun trying to keep everybody fed when a bag of flour really only covers baking for a day or 3.

Mary & I go in separately & make several trips when they have good sales (rarely).  Its the only way we can get enough to share with folks who cant get there while the supplies are there.  We also use the self check out to avoid questions.  So far so good.....our latest mission is to find Lysol disinfectant with bleach or hydrogen peroxide for my MD who says she cant find it at all.  (Our last gift to her was 2 gallons of alcohol based sanitizer - and 4 qts of hydrogen peroxide.  (She is still using that stuff which is good, as the supplies of it are even scarcer than when we found that batch.)  Limits are ONE for sanitizer at Krogers, even less than at Walmart at the smaller town where supplies are slightly more plentiful.  I will be going out in the wee hours tomorrow (granny hours are back to 5-7 AM again) to try to score some Lysol stuff.  

At least bleach is plentiful - many folks have bought into the idea that it is "too" corrosive to use...I just take the usual precautions, no problems.  I like its versatility and to me, nothing smells as 'clean' as bleach!  

[snapshotmiki]

Did short video this morning.  I would have walked today, but got up late and it was already hot.  Glad my hip is doing so much better! 

 

Did laundry including sheets, blankets and rugs--all done and put up now.

 

Put flea meds on dogs, went to store for bananas--Saw that Dollar General was closed today- no explanation, but heard a rumor that some employees tested positive. I rarely ever go to that store as it is chaotic.

 

Made sweet and sour salad dressing for DH, made butternut squash sugar free pudding, made salads, cut up cheese for dog treats, and in a bit will make veggie omelets for dinner.

 

Seems like I've been running all day- just getting here to read! Hope you all have a good evening!

[Mt_Rider]

11 hours ago, Ambergris said:

They ought to have an exception to the limits for elderly people who might only be able to get a ride to the store once a month or so.

 

Yes!  And the large families.  And DH would have had trouble if our stores were more rigid.  Also, he knows employees cuz he worked there previously.  But he was hauling two carts - one for my folks.  Paid separate bills/receipts.  So they didn't even have to BE IN the stores!!  It really did/does make a difference by store policy or by area. 

 

MtRider   

[Mt_Rider]

7 hours ago, Annarchy said:

DH wants me to update our BOB, JIC.

 

Good Grief, Annarchy.    ... for a tropical storm to wander over your way with a load of Pacific moisture!  Need a good deal of rain to shut that down!  Yes, BOBs and BOVs too!  I SOOO hate living with one-foot-out-the-door!    Don't forget doggie vet records, pictures, etc.  [I suppose that can all be on phones now...]

 

The highways usually make good fire lines but I see it's jumped the highway in one spot.  Hope they can at least hold at the river to the south.  Have you been given any info on WHICH LOCATION is your .....whatsitcalled?  The trigger point that would trip an EVAC for your location?  They like to give areas a 5 hour notice.....NOT 5 minutes. 

 

Is it under Federal Incident Command?  Our region has found them to be very organized.....as long as they have updated local maps/population data AND are clued in to specific regional ...uh, abnormalities.  Like how the wind completely switches direction 3X in as many hours.   

 

We've been so fortunate so far in June.  It's raining again right now.  Not a damaging downpour...just RAIN.     Enough that a lightning strike would not probably set off anything.  After all these years in arid climate, I think I could go back to rain forest....the cooler side of Maui.  Someday.

 

Cute.....the MIL bed!   

 

MtRider   

[Annarchy]

Glad you are getting things done Miki.

kappydell, I keep bleach on hand, but, I’m allergic to the smell, it doesn’t stop me from using it, with a mask.    

 

My baby brother picked up a singer treadle sewIng machine, for $50.!  Lucky brat!  Military, from Europe. It needs a little re-finishing, but he’s a house husband, ought to keep him busy for a bit.   Lol. 
 

Mt_Rider, yeah, wind changes, and all bets are off.  Because, we are only a block from the desert, and there is a lot of young kids & teens in the area now, just the right conditions, and we’d need to bug out within 5 minutes.  No pre warnings... just like, we had 10 minutes warning, when the Gila river flooded, back in ‘81.  Thankfully, it subsided a block from our house.  50 year flood, lol, BTDT.

 

BTW, DH got to see the cougar.  He said it’s about the size of Gunny. It has probably changed its territory, because, of the fires we have had.  The closest one, was less 10 miles from our house.  Thank God, they were able to contain it and put it out.  Meh, it is what it is, kitty cat looking for food & water.  My water dishes, for the birds, is almost empty every morning, now.

 

The garden is faltering in our heat.  It’s been over 105°F for the last week and an half.  Typical summer in the desert.  If, we can keep it growing, until the weather cools off, or, we get some rain, maybe it will survive.  DH made a shade screen, using a pallet, to shade one of the tomato plants, that has begun to fry in the heat.  Lost a dozen tomatoes.  Small & sunburnt.  The chickens enjoyed them. Lol.  Zucchini is barely surviving, can’t see the garlic or potatoes anymore, the onion stalks are yellow.  Butternut, probably won’t survive.  Fava beans, I got one pod with one seed, before they shriveled up & dehydrated.  Only the tomatillos are still producing, barely.  I should have planted in October. Oh, and the two cabbage plants I didn’t pull are busy making heads !??!  
 

Oh, and, I was given the .243 that I short the 1,000 yard target!  Payment for DH’s services.    I’ll post a picture down in the Edge later.   
 

 

 

 

[kappydell]

Today was my Social Security payday, so I got up for the new granny shopping hours - 5 AM to 7 AM.  It was important to get up that early to bag some meat at decent prices....Kroger was having a sale....ground chuck in 5 lb chub for $3.99/lb; pork tenderloins $2.99/lb; NY strip half loin $6.99/lb; fresh peaches 78 cents/lb; I spend was was left after bills on this stuff.  By way of comparison, Walmart prices (the only comperable game in town around here) runs ground chuck at $4.52/lb; pork tenderloin $4.36/lb; NY strip (steaks) $11.97/lb (yikes).  Heck yes, I blew the budget!  Wish I had more money, there were no limits on these meats.  Those half-the-normal-price-price peaches will taste good on ice cream, too....

I do love it when the sale hits the same time the money does.  Now to put a lock on the freezers.....

Edited June 24, 2020 by kappydell

[Ambergris]

Great deals!

[snapshotmiki]

Did long video this morning because of rain.

 

Been making phone calls bout homeowner's insurance (paid) and new driver's license (no answer and no one knows who to call).

 

Harvested okra, cucumbers and tomatoes in between rain. Will make dill pickles this afternoon. And dust house.

[Ambergris]

Have taken off the afternoon to try to arrange my new housemate's transportation and room.  She's getting DS1's computer room, I'm getting DS1's bedroom, she and I will share the library, which will be her sewing room, she and I will share the big bathroom, and DS1 will take the master bedroom suite.  I had to order a new twin mattress to fit his bed because my bed is too large for his bedroom (and, actually, too large for me).  He will take my queen bed with its mattress -- rather an upgrade from the worn-out thing he's been sleeping on -- and make the best of it (martyred sigh).  Her new room is almost fully cleaned out. Boxes of his lesser-used belongings are stacked on top of boxes of my lesser-used belongings in the "master retreat" room I wasn't ever using anyway.  

I'm really looking forward to this.  

[kathy003]

I worked in the garden today. My husband was at work so decided to weed my garden. This year he put the sprinkler on a timer so I didn't have to worry about watering the garden. I forgot, and was standing right by the sprinkler when it started!     Once I got over my shock, I thought it was pretty funny. I also put up my tomato cages, I'm so glad that is done. 

 

 

[Ambergris]

Might as well laugh, if you're already wet!  

[TheCG]

Weeds are normally easier to pull when the ground is wet, right?

 

I was working most of today, but I got in a new type of tea.  I ordered the 100-pack on Amazon because it was only a bit more than twice as much as the 18-pack.  Can I just say, I *love* chocolate tea?  This one is called Christmas in Paris from Stash (the other reason I was ordering from Amazon - it's seasonal and out of stock everywhere!), and it's fabulous.  

[Annarchy]

kathy003, nice to see you again.  My DH wants me to put the sprinkler system back up in the back yard, but, I need more hoses to do it right. 

[kappydell]

Good news and bad news....I cant figure out why anyone would say retirement is 'boring'.  AFter I schlepped in my meat finds this morning, a prepper friend called us and sent us links from the Wisconsin TV news.  It seems our old hometown is now having demonstrations, and the staging area just happens to be the (closed) motel where we were planning on staying at in a few weeks.  As usual the peaceful demonstrations ceased shortly after they started and they morphed into nasty ones.  15 miles down the road in the state capitol, one of the state legislators had a run in with demonstrators and they beat him up (yes pbysically) quite badly.  Covid rebounding has just caused more states to close their borders, Illinois is not letting non residents enter the state supposedly, and that could make going thru there pretty awkward if not impossible.  The IL motel we had planned an overnight stop over in (we always stopped there before) is also closed and in the middle of more demonstrations.  We decided to postpone our trip....so disappointing to all the folks we were going to bring cheese back for when we told them due to covid and civil unrest, the cheese was "back-ordered" until we could get north safely.  In our county the national guard is here, supposedly for covid hospital operations for when the covid numbers shoot up again (they are starting to climb) or to aid LEOs with protesters (they are attacking war memorials, statues, religious statues, whatever apparently strikes their fancy and assaulting anyone who objects).  The sheriffs dept has advised people there is a surge in burglaries and other crimes as well.  We would rather stay home, uninfected, and keep an eye on our property and help our neighbors keep an eye on theirs (we all know each other).  

 

The good news?  We went and got another batch of that sale meat (3 more ny strip loins,  four more 5-lb hamburger chubs, and 3 more pork tenderloins) with the money we had planned to spend on gas.  We do not know if we will see those sale prices again, or if another covid spike will cause shortages, and we have room in the freezer and empty canning jars to fill thanks to my canning up the freezer meat that was due to rotate.  Mary said to go ahead and can up some of the new stuff too - I will probably do a load of pre-cooked hamburger crumbles, and some more steak cubes over the week end.    

 

I scored some Lysol spray and wipes for my doctor, who had lamented she cannot find it (it disappears from stores here by 6:30 AM).  She runs her own medical offices (has two) and purchases supplies herself, so she does not have the resources of a chain medical operation.  We do not expect her to shop at 5 am on the possibility of finding what she wants..that is one of the advantages of retirement is that I can do that extra mile.  Her independence is one of the reasons we like her...she will go against the tide of corporate medicine, will work out financing with patients, and we suspect, if the mark of the beast becomes required for medical care she will work under the table.  What makes us think so?  Her reaction when we told her we would not accept repayment for any of the disinfecting supplies we took her.  The exchange went something like this:  "I want to pay"  "No".  "I insist"  "No" "I will take if off your co-pay next time you come in"  "I don't have a co-pay for clinic visits"  "Shoot!"  CM then says "tell ya what doc, if I get a boo-boo you can fix it up for me".  "Don't you think I wont do just that!"  "Deal". 

I just love a doc that will barter.  Besides if that covid "bump" occurs (and she believes as we do, it will) it wont get any easier to find that stuff.  So we get it now, when we find it, while we can afford it.  She also confirmed (in front of Mary, so now I will never live it down) that she considers me extremely high risk due to my medical history.  ("Keep wearing those masks and using sanitizer" she admonishes us, "and stay home!" )  So we will stay home, strengthen our personal infrastructure, and watch what happens.  I think we are actually seeing that old curse "may you live in interesting times" occurring before our eyes.  We will remain home...tend our garden....feed our critters....go fishing....and keep shopping those granny hours (5 to 7 AM) to keep our larders full. 

 

We finally got some rain tonight, enough to actually soak in a bit.  Tomorrow we will pick the garden again before the sun gets high, then move indoors to process that pile of meat into manageable packages.  'I will start fortifying our perimeters with sacramentals (talked to CM about it to see if she thought I had slipped my trolley....she said to go ahead, it makes sense).  I did not want her wondering if I was nuts or not, so I'm glad to see she agrees with my plans.    Our AC actually froze up today so we have started turning it off long enough to thaw out on a schedule.  This is no time to lose our AC but we have backup plans from the last time it happened ready in the wings.  Life goes on, and we are more grateful than ever that we are where we are.  

 

 

 

Edited June 25, 2020 by kappydell

[Ambergris]

You might even want another four, to bury at the halfway marks on the perimeters to make a cross.  But I suppose you have already considered that and made your decisions. 

[snapshotmiki]

8 hours ago, kappydell said:

Life goes on, and we are more grateful than ever that we are where we are.  

 

We feel the same way!  SW Small town MS is great for us!

 

Yesterday, I slowed down and never got to the pickles, so that is today along with the dusting.

 

I received new food processor from Walmart/ Fed Ex yesterday.  Didn't even get it completely unwrapped.  Repackaged and took it back to Walmart for a credit.  Much smaller than I thought.  Re-ordered largest one I could find and should have it in another week or so.  I use mine 2 or 3 times a week and more in this season.

Also, picked up my recent lab work from doc, which stayed about the same so that is good.

I did do my long video and then walked around the block, but still not up to doing longer regular walk.

[snapshotmiki]

Going to walk in a few minutes! Yay, I've missed getting out!

 

Canned 10 pints of dill pickles yesterday using dill I grew, dried and forgot about before we moved into town.

 

Used my slow cooker as a smoker yesterday, for the first time. Worked great! Just cooked a long time.

 

After I feed the pups, I am going to pick up a case of mangoes at a local market for $3.40. What a sale! I know they are a bit of work to peel and cut and am trying to talk myself out of getting 2 cases for that reason. They are 3 for $1 and that is a great deal anyway!

 

Need to dust and clean baths today and then take it easy.  And my new and heavier duty food processor should be here today!  Very fast turnaround time from Walmart!  Just ordered it yesterday and returned the little one.  Both delivered to home for free.

[kappydell]

On 6/25/2020 at 8:05 AM, Ambergris said:

You might even want another four, to bury at the halfway marks on the perimeters to make a cross.  But I suppose you have already considered that and made your decisions. 

Im going all out....St Peters Palms (protects from storms, as I can attest) St Benedict medals (protect from evil & demonic influences) on all 4 corner of property plus driveway entrance, with a border of exorcised salt all around (the devil flees salt, which is one reason Christ called us "salt of the earth").  The cross is a great idea, I will do that too.  More on each building inside and out.  I buy in bulk and have them blessed upon arrival, since invariably someone else wants some I like to have extras to give away.

 

Today our refrigerator looks empty - the space I cleared out of the freezers is now re-filled with "new" meat.  After we made our 2nd trip we cut up 35 lb of steaks, 25 lb of ground chuck, and 6 pork tenderloins.  We shared more with our prep team partners to help them fill their new freezer.  And now....the press is starting to make noises about the return of covid....i guess they got tired of talking about demonstrations (or folks were getting too angry about the rioting) so they had to find something new to talk about.  We figured something was up when the National Guard started setting up a field hospital in one of the county's larger empty buildings.  

[Mt_Rider]

On 6/25/2020 at 1:21 AM, kappydell said:

until we could get north safely.

 

Sheeeeesh!  That phrase raised the hair on the back of my neck.  Sounded like the fiction books about the Civil War days.      And yes,    the evil side is quite delighted these days......     

 

We've been blessed with RAIN all this month.  The thunderstorms with it but as long as we're wet, the lightning strikes won't be as apt to ignite.  Without horses/goats to eat all the pasture greens, it could get problematic later as the season dehydrates.   

 

Yesterday was weird....and painful.  I'd just got to thinking:  What am I doing differently?  No Dairy???   I have only had one headache, that I remember, in a very long while.  Usually they're close to once a week.  THEN YESTERDAY EARLY.....

 

WOKE SUDDENLY  to the dog BARKING HER HEAD OFF.....and FIGHTER JETS GOING LOW OVERHEAD.   Haven't been in their flight pattern for a while either.    Then I noticed that I had a rather strong headache so   got up and began to get something in my stomach....took Nuprin.  This headache did not produce super light-sensitivity like most of mine.  A neck muscle headache then.  Got DH to adjust me and after a bit of resting, took a Tylenol.  Tried later to just shut curtains and off lights and nap.  DOG BARKING was due to our neighbor having fun throwing lead at the hillside.  Earlier he'd been clearing pasture varmints but Koa still decided to announce his activity.    After about 3 rounds of barking, I gave up any more nap.  STILLLLLL had headache pressure.  Not pain, exactly but weirds out my eyes and is not pleasant.  Like headache-impending.  Yanno?  That thing did not fully leave me alone till I woke up this morning!  Sheeesh!  

 

So today I'm kinda droopy....  Lost power for a few seconds during today's thunderstorms marching across CO.  Rain     

 

MtRider  ....would take a nap if the thunder wasn't going to say: CRASH-BOOM! 

[TheCG]

Protestors are supposed to be in our area this weekend.  The cops are down a whole dayshift because they're quarantined - someone has coronavirus, and I don't know how many or any other info.  They basically have everybody available on call for this weekend.  

 

Y'know, I think after the farmer's market tomorrow morning, it might be a good time to kind of hunker down.

[snapshotmiki]

Good morning, folks!

First thing this morning, had to go out and pick up branches from storm a couple of days ago as lawn mower fellow was on his way. He said tomorrow but changed his mind.

Fed dogs and did long exercise video. It is so humid and warm, I don't want to walk right now.

Going to do eBay photos in a few minutes and then use new processor to shred zucchini for bread and what is left to pressure can.

Don't know what else the day will bring. DH is watching original King Kong on TV.

[Ambergris]

Mt Rider, if you are not used to vascular headaches and get one like this again, try treating it with a cup of caffeine.  No chocolate--avoid chocolate.  Chocolate makes any vascular headache "four times worse," in the words of a nurse-practitioner friend.

[Ambergris]

Got back from North Carolina this morning just at daybreak.  The trip had a few adventures, and I am probably going to lose a couple of these toenails, but we are home safe.  Her belongings were scattered over three locations, one of which was a non-weather-tight shed down an overgrown pathway, in boxes that are falling apart.  After five hours at the shed, I convinced her to call in some guys, who took an hour to arrive but then to finished the other half of the loading in maybe twenty-five minutes.  Right now DS1 and a friend of his are helping her unload, and I am basically collapsed in this chair.

She's upset at how much she's going to have to sort through and then throw away, after having gone through the trouble of moving it.  That choice between stuff and space, you know?  But here she can make the choices indoors, at leisure, not bent over in somebody's shed with a flashlight.

[Midnightmom]

On 6/26/2020 at 8:21 AM, kappydell said:

And now....the press is starting to make noises about the return of covid....i guess they got tired of talking about demonstrations (or folks were getting too angry about the rioting) so they had to find something new to talk about.  We figured something was up when the National Guard started setting up a field hospital in one of the county's larger empty buildings.  

 

You are not alone in your opinion/assessment.

 

[Mt_Rider]

Thanks, Ambergris.......but.....what caffeine is there that is not {BLECH!} ... coffee?   I did, of course, have chocolate that day.  That's caffeine too, isn't it?     .....hope your toes are going to be alright. 

 

Today is Second Day after the headache day.  As usual per MS-policy, I'm flattened.  Sheeesh!  Can't get anything done lately.   

 

MtRider  ....hmph, don't think I've even been out on the porch today.  This too, shall pass.