WHATCHA DOING TODAY?

[Mt_Rider]

Vet tentatively suggested a cone.     DH just laughed. 

 

BITTER seems to be working tho.  After she licks it, it looks like she's trying to spit her tongue out! 

 

MtRider

[Jeepers]

They have a device now that looks like a big padded collar they can use. Think backward neck brace for humans. Also really big padded donut shaped circles that go around the neck. Most cones are clear now so they can see out of them. 

 

Hopefully the bitter will do the trick and she won't have to get blinged out with any new necklaces! 

[The WE2's]

How about cutting the top out of an old cowboy hat and let her "go in style"! LOL

[The WE2's]

Sort of heart wrenching day for me.  Friend is going to have to take one of her dogs to the vet...for the last time.  Diagnosed about a month ago with a malignant tumor in it's colon and she's been feeding him baby food...but now he only pitches up what he eats.  Everything's blocked now.  Her hubby is out of state on a fishing trip so her son and friend are going to go with her...probably tomorrow.  

Then...today...while we were putting gas in the truck at WM, I heard this pitiful crying sound.  Looked over to one of the bays and a kitten had been run over by somebody pulling away from the pump.  It was dragging it's back legs but I couldn't get to it fast enough before it disappeared "somewhere".  I told the cashier and she came out and we looked but it was no where to be seen.  Bothered me for a long time.  I just hope God is or was merciful...wherever it went to hid in it's terror and pain... How in the world would it get there...in such a large open parking lot, in a gas lane? Was it hiding under somebody's hood?  Just sad. 

[The WE2's]

Last night was another stout thunderstorm, but our girl did good.  Valerian and daddy's shoes with her camper bed on top...

[The WE2's]

Guess I'll be dragging out the canners again.  Our farm friend called and said "I'm sick of this garden"...so she's got bell peppers, okra, tomatoes, sweet peppers, cucumbers and some squash.  Also, we'll go pick up some hedge apples to put in the cellar at the homestead place. Spiders like to hide in there...

 

[The WE2's]

Drove down and spent a couple of hours with step mum.  She needs her little covered front porch repaired.  My dad built it and a carpenter he was not.  Hubby will need to replace the decking with treated wood, scrape and paint the rails, reinforce the posts (daddy used two pieces to make one post...not good), and then caulk every little hidy hole where wasps have taken up residence.  She and her friend have tried to seal some parts with "foam" and it's dried up and awful looking and the wasp just go to another location.  She's petrified of them....I am too.  I've never been stung by anything but a mosquito, but I react so badly to them I don't want to think about bees or wasp.  I usually just tell them "You go your way and I'll go mine...if you don't I'm gonna do ya in!"

[The WE2's]

Making plans (hopefully they're God's too) to do some camping in October and November.  It's been several years since we did our "Thanksgiving in the Woods" and we'd like to resume that as our "tradition".  Mother was not well so I cooked and took plates to her and my son for several years.  Hopefully, God willing and the weather isn't frigid, we'll get to go.

[The WE2's]

Heads up ladies...Aldis has cast iron, enamel covered sauce pans, casserole dishes, roasters etc., by Crofton (?) ... anyway...they're gorgeous.  I needed a smaller saucepan and a casserole dish that wasn't aluminum etc.  All my sauce pans are 2 qt. stainless steel (and they're wonderful) but awfully big for a small amount of my instant gravy. I made a new batch of thermos yogurt in the new one tonight.  I needed the casserole pan 10x14? because all mine were aluminum.  None of my corning ware is that big.  So...other than needing a couple of cast iron loaf pans and a big cast iron skillet I'm set for cast iron etc.  Yippee!

[Jeepers]

I get those wasp nest or what ever they are too. The best thing I found to get rid of them is a can of Raid for wasps, yellow jackets and hornets etc. I'm not sure of the correct name but it comes in a black can with a funny looking nozzle. I get mine at Wal-Mart. It kills them but the best thing about it is it shoots out a jet stream a few yards away. That way you stand back, spray and get out of Dodge before they know what hit. Best to do it in the late evening when they are all in the nest and slowing down.

 

I changed out most of my aluminum cookware too. I have either stainless, glass or glazed crock ware stuff. I got two big S.S. soup pots last week.

 

I just now thought about my baking pans. Cookie sheet, muffin pans, lasagna pan and cake pans are all aluminum. I'm not trading out my lasagna pan. It has three individual chambers (for lack of a better word) that lift out for easy slicing. Oh and my pan that makes nine individual cornbread squares. Dang. I love those pans.  

[Ambergris]

I went out for lunch with a friend and ate a chowder that didn't taste right.

 

Don't do that.

[Jeepers]

Uh-oh Ambergris. Stay close to a bathroom. Very close. 

[Jeepers]

I was going to go shopping today but saw it was 90 degrees out there so decided to wait until in the morning. There is a strip of road about a half an hour or so from me that has all of the stores I want to shop at. Route 18 and Route 77. 

 

I want to stop at Barns and Noble to check out their prep books and magazines. I'd like to get about three new magazines for my bathroom. My grocery store got rid of their magazine section when they remodeled two months ago. Not that I buy many anyway. Usually a quilt or garden one every year or so. Joann fabric is there because I want another bobbin box. Michael's is there so I can pick up another couple of tee shirts that I've ruined. Over to Pet Smart to try to find a shower sprayer that hooks onto the bathtub faucet for my hair. Over to Bed Bath and Beyond for a bathtub tray to go across the tub for 'you know whos' tub toys. Next door to the Dollar Tree to finally get that other set of readers and a paper towel holder. Up to Wal-Mart...because it's there.

 

And finally to Sam's Club where I really want to go. I'm on the hunt for one of those big rectangle slow cookers. I checked out Wal-Mart but all of theirs were pretty shallow. Sam's should have some taller ones. This next year I want to make my own broths with chickens, beef and ham. Separately... not all together. I've been watching YouTube's again and they look so good. Especially The Kneady Homestead smoked ham broth. I can do that! Olive Garden's soup and salad is right there too. Zuppa Toscana is drool worthy.

 

If you can believe it, that and a whole lot more is right there all within about a mile radius. Barns and Joann on one side of the road and all the rest in a little square shopping plaza with Olive Garden between them. 

 

I might stop in the Old World Market just to look around. I'm not sure I've ever been in one. It's next to Joann's. Same with a Trader Joes. Never been in one of them either. Or maybe it's Whole Foods. Pffft. I'll check em out. 

[Homesteader]

It seems that remodeling will continue in this house until the Lord returns.  We've worked our way around the dining room and into the kitchen. Lots of 'temporary' changes as DH works on electrical and plumbing. He's given me a break to complete some canning before tearing into the walls and cabinets.    I've been watching WE2's canning potatoes and figured it's time to try it myself.    I've always hated canned taters from the store. They taste like the tin cans they live in.   This week has been chili, green beans and potatoes in the canner. I've got about 100 pounds of taters in the ground and about 100 pounds of squash on the vines. The nights temps keep going down so it's only a matter of time before the big frost marathon into the garage.    Today is dehydrating green pepper day. Only left enough on the vines for freezing and stuffed green peppers. Off to mom's tomorrow so the rest of the week is on-hold in the kitchen.   

[Jeepers]

I like home canned potatoes fried in bacon drippings. Especially with some onion thrown in. Good eatin' buddy!

[Jeepers]

I had a good shopping day today. But boy am I beat. Back, legs, knees, shoulders, hips etc. But...I don't have a migraine. So it could be worse. I even practiced a lot of restraint today. First stop was Barns and Noble. I got some magazines. One quilting, an Everyday Garden Projects, Mother Earth News, Grit, Cappers Farmer, Handyman and Readers Digest. It was a magazine lovers paradise in there. Enough to last me the rest of my life. Probably. I also got a Grow Vegetables book from the $5.00 bin. Its over 350 pages with a lot of illustrations etc. I DID NOT go upstairs where the toys, games and children's books are.

 

Went to Joann's and picked up my bobbin box. In and out fast.

 

Went across the road to Michaels and their tee's were 3/$9.00. I got six. Also a big tin map of the USA with all the states outlined. Its really big about 3ft. long and was on sale for $12.00. I'll hang it up in the play room.

 

I read where The Guitar Store was going out of business and thought about stopping in. I didn't see any sale signs in the windows so I drove on by. Whew, that was a close one. I'd like to learn to play. I have one that is 40+ years old and I know about 3 cords. I have enough stuff to do first before starting a new project. Like packing!  

 

Went over to Pet Smart to try to find a sprayer hose for the bath tub. They didn't have anything. She told me to try Wal-Mart.

 

Stopped in at the Dollar Tree and got 2 paper towel holders for my canning jar bands. For $1.00 each I got one for wide mouth and one for regular mouth. Nice metal ones. Thank you We2 for the idea!

 

Next door was Bed Bath and Beyond. They didn't have any bathtub trays so I'll look at Amazon. They did have a heavy marble mortar pestle set. I've always wanted one so I picked it up. At the check out she asked me if I had a coupon. I didn't. The lady behind me said, "I do!" So she gave me a $5.00 off coupon and I got the set for $10.00. They had the paper towel holders that were the same style only maybe a little thicker and they looked shorter. They were $10.00 each. And when did those knife sets that come in the butcher block type slot holders become so expensive?! Sheesh, in the $200.00 range. I saw one butcher knife (not a cleaver) for over $260.00. I got out of that aisle fast. Outta my league.

 

Next Door to that was Sam's Club. I showed restraint there too. I had some junk food in the cart and wheeled it around for awhile and then put it all back. I got a nice set of graduated stainless steel mixing bowls with lids. I think there are six of them for $29.00. I'm taking the ones I got at Old Time Pottery back. Sam's Club was cheaper for more bowls plus the lids. Then I found what I was really looking for. The slow cooker. It's a big un. An Oster 20 quart stainless steel beauty. $39.98. I thought it would be a lot more.

 

Then across the parking lot to Wal-Mart. They didn't have the kind of sprayer I wanted either. I want one that fits on the bath tub nozzle and not the shower head. We had one when I was little and was great for rinsing out the tub or washing the hair. I'll probably never find one. Maybe Amazon...again. I did get some ginger snaps there. Said they are made with 'real molasses'. I'm gonna can them up with the vacuum sealer.

 

Then I spied a Hobby Lobby. I didn't know that was there. Or maybe I forgot. That place is huge. About the size of a Wal-Mart. A lot of nice things but I was really too tired to look and not in the mood for home décor. It was just handy. I walked past a mirror in there and was shocked. Who was that old tubby woman? Crimony.

 

Then back down the road to Olive Garden. I brought the soup and salad home for later. I pulled in my drive way and it started to  pour down rain. I just made it. There was a message from my Dr. about my x-ray. I called back and they said arthritis. But not much change from Aug. of 2018. Hummm. This is the first time I've ever had my lower back X-rayed. I had the neck done but not the lower back. I'm too tired to argue. Wouldn't do any good anyway. I'll start all over in Indiana next year with new doctors.

 

I'm pooped or as my son used to say when he was little, "I'm poofed".

[Mt_Rider]

Whole lotta "poofed" going on here too.  I've been absolutely wiped out for a week.  Then today it dawned on me:  CO has been is a SUPER Jet Stream these past days.  Aspen leaves are stripped from any tree that turned golden before it started.  WIND knocks me out....way over stimulates my nervous system.  And the lurking wildfire danger....  Sheeeeesh!  And the smoke from a couple of fires that were far away but the wind delivered nasty smoke anyway.  It's just been a barrage.  I feel dreadful today....  We need to take my mom out; missed last week cuz she wasn't feeling well.  But then, I didn't feel like hitting Walmart [and Walgreens since my lovely readers broke in half]   So I still haven't been there. 

 

MtRider 

[out_of_the_ordinary]

Mt. Rider and Amber , I hope you are feeling better soon.

 

Jeepers, Sam's Club has nice discounts on their magazines.   I used to pick up Mother Earth News there, but it seems like they keep recycling the stories.   If you buy the Farmers Almanac with the yellow cover, that's discounted, too.   I had to switch to the ones with the orange cover (which I ended up liking better, anyway).   The yellow cover ones had full page ads (with pics!) showing male "help" products  that I don't want my little one to see. 

 

It's humid here and was near 90 today.       I'm ready for cooler weather.

[Ambergris]

Trader Joe's is Aldi's, if you've been there.  

 

The list for today was to pack a few more small boxes, clear up a paperwork matter at the bank and pull out a bit of cash to pay a bill,  call the place I bought this nonfunctional used elliptical to have it hauled off, lunch, pay for the tag on the Chevy (a bit overdue, but it's not being driven), pick up the 30-day eviction paperwork to have served tomorrow,  get a haircut, have the pre-op meetings with the physician's assistant, have lunch with my  beau who was using his day off to drive me around, and check the dog pound for my missing barn cat. 

Of course, this was not all going to get done, but I hoped to get half of it done.   

However. 

First I had to take three showers because I kept forgetting and applying deodorant.  Had to step back in and scrub it off once I remembered (after getting dressed) that tomorrow's central errand is yet another follow-up mammogram.  This stuff is supposed to be active for two days, so I can't assume tomorrow's shower will remove all traces of it.  Especially since I have so much trouble getting that right armpit rinsed properly.

The pre-op meeting turned into two, the second being with the lady who coordinates for the surgical center, who said I needed one more blood test.  I had specifically arranged to take all my blood tests on the 13th of last month.  Called all my doctors and said I was going to be at X place and to call in whatever tests they wanted for all my upcoming appointments and overdue what-evers.  Man, did that cause a lot of blood to get drawn.  But something fell through the cracks. 

Because I couldn't get online to notify the surgical center of all my medications, and because HIPAA won't let the doctor tell the surgical center what I am taking, they didn't know I was taking something they have to keep an eye on. Because people are known to take more than they are prescribed.  And because not knowing the precise amount in the bloodstream of the patient can cause wonky results under anesthesia.  This is a very good reason to test my blood level of the stuff.  But it meant I had to sit in line an extra half hour at the one place while they checked whether I'd had it tested, and what anesthesia was planned, and then I had to go to another place, which took time for travel, and sit another hour waiting in a phone-free zone,  and blah blah blah.

My cat was not in the dog pound.  That was the only other errand that got done.

Bank, tag office, and haircut tomorrow, maybe, fitting somehow around the followup mammogram (supposedly the last followup, but I've heard that before) if one of them doesn't turn into a couple of hours of side trips.

DDIL, aka DS2's girlfriend, will be my driver tomorrow.  I will be taking her and one of the other housemates to lunch.

 

This is one of the links I was sent:

 

http://www.stvincentssportsmed.com.au/pdf/Living-with-a-sling-after-surgery.pdf#targetText=Avoid clothing with small buttons,-on%2C easy fitting shoes.

[Ambergris]

In other news, I'm down 56.6 pounds since mid-December, and my blood pressure is 107 over 75.

[The WE2's]

On 9/29/2019 at 10:55 PM, Jeepers said:

shoots out a jet stream a few yards away.

 

She has a postage-stamp sized front yard and her Yorkie goes out there.  It's the only part of the property that's fenced.  So Canola oil, Dawn and water it is.  Works...just turn your spray nozzle to stream.  It will be good until everything's caulked.

[The WE2's]

Boxed up 14 half pints of sweet peppers and 12 will go to the homestead.  I'll keep 2 here.  Had half of the green beans tonight and oh were they tasty!  Used my electric pressure cooker, put in a chicken breast and beans beside it...and cooked it on the pork setting. I put some tomato jam on my chicken :-)  And mashed potatoes of course!  Then used my VitaMix and pureed the tomatoes, boiled them and they're on the fruit leathers on my dehydrator...on the enclosed back porch.  Keeps all the dehydrating odors out there.  I still have some of the Anaheim (?) not hot, that I'll pressure can tomorrow so we can have Poblano-type peppers for Chili Rellano.  

[The WE2's]

I know you'll all ask...OK...here goes...1) I spray the bottom of my casserole pan with vegetable spray. 2) I cook egg noodles (or some other type of pasta) until it's just starting to get soft. 3) I mix a bowl of 2 cups of cottage cheese and 4 whole eggs...beat them VERY well. 4) Pour mixture over the pasta. 5) this layer is sausage crumbles. 6) this layer is 2 small cans of diced chilis (or leaves of poblano peppers). 7) Place in oven at 375 until the eggs mixture is completely done...toothpick will pull out clean. 8) Sprinkle Mozzerella cheese over top and place back in oven until cheese is brown. That's it ladies!

[The WE2's]

The peppers are in their transport box and the 'maters are smelling up the entire back porch! 

 

[Jeepers]

OOTO, I didn't notice magazines at Sam's but I wasn't really looking since I went to B&N first. They did have some discounted books. I've never read any of the magazines I bought so they will all be new to me. I think the best place to buy books is Ollies. They are really deeply

discounted. Especially cookbooks. B&N had tons and tons of cookbooks but I didn't see one book on canning. Neither in the cooking nor the outdoor section. Probably wouldn't have bought any but still.

 

I know exactly what you mean about the adult ads. I get them all the time in sales magazines I get. Big colorful pictures of both male and female "health care" needs. They aren't "that" kind of catalogs either. Usually for senior citizen or handicap/health care safety products. Since I'm a senior I get them sent here. They appear everywhere now days. I'm looking at canes and walkers, bathtub grab bars and compression hose and the next couple of pages...Surprise. Stuff like that coming in the mail unsolicited. Burns me up. It's offensive. I've tried to stop the catalogs but they keep coming. I can't imagine having a child see those. In a Farmers Almanac of all things.   

 

Gees Ambergris, you were certainly clean today. Grin. Yep, deodorant and also powder can effect a mammogram. X-ray can pick them up and look like a "spot" of something you don't want there. Sorry you had to go through all that rigamarole,  (hee-hee Kindle doesn't know what to do with that word. Keeps wanting to change it to rigor mortis.) Seems like the health care system just keeps failing at their jobs. Those bathing and dressing instructions sound brutal. Believe I'd just stay in a snap front house coat. Looks like a rough 6 weeks but I'm sure it will be worth it in the long run.  DO YOU NEED ANYTHING AT ALL?

 

Oh My We2, everything looks so delicious. Those peppers remind me of the pickled porcini peppers Subway uses. I think that's what they are called. They are yummy.

 

Mt. Rider, I hope you get to feeling better really soon. You've had your strength zapped too long this time. I remember earlier you were having a time of it with that little dog that kept getting lost. I'm sure that didn't help either.

 

I need to get my hair chopped off. Its way down my back and hot. Locks of Love will get it. I probably have 12-13 inches that can go. And if I get a ticket for not having a turn signal, well then I deserve it!