WHATCHA DOING TODAY?

[Jeepers]

Poor Mt.Rider. You've had such a time with your skillets. I smiled just a little because that is so something I would do. 

[Annarchy]

Keeping everyone wrapped in 

We went out target practicing yesterday, with “Luna’s” parents. She’s gained some weight and has mellowed out. Got lots of love & kisses from her.   
 

Luna’s parents both work for major hospitals in Phoenix.  They are both tired of hearing everyone panic.  “Just wash your hands & don’t touch your face..”. They said the virus only spreads through the mucus membranes.  Mentioned one of the nurses in the hospital was telling people she had a Covid patient, but tests proved it was just the flu.  That nurse is going to be fired for causing panic.  They also mentioned, people are stealing the masks, gloves & hand sanitizers from the hospitals.  Including the whole dispensers off the walls!  Wow.  
 

Saturday & Sunday, the town had a music festival at the city park.  Loud enough, we could hear it from our house.  Sat. was older rock music & Sun. was country.  When we drove by, I couldn’t believe how many people were there, motor homes, tents, and hundreds of cars, then, when we passed the bar-n-grill, on the highway, there had to be over 200 people there.  People were even parked along the road.  
 

DH said TPTB have cancelled Country Thunder.  Sorry, that event messes our town up, every year.  The one road north, gets so crowded, it takes hours to drive 3 miles. Only one road into the event. The people aren’t allowed into town to purchase anything, they are supposed to buy it from the vendors at the event, but it doesn’t stop them from trying.  Drunks everywhere, and, we’ve seen people stealing barbecue grills and other stuff, from yards, here in town.  Last year, someone tried to take our next door neighbors camping trailer, until they were unable to get the padlock off the hitch & saw me walk out front to investigate.    So we won’t have 100,000+ people driving in this year.  
 

Today is house cleaning day.  And, it is a mess.  We had 3 days of rain last week and the boys left their marks on all the floors.  There is just so much you can do, to keep their feet cleaned off.  We’ve had to do the floors a couple of times already.  Lol.  
 

Well, the woodpecker just reminded me I need to fill the hummingbird feeders, again.  The hummers, woodpeckers, house finches, honey bees, & wasps, empty them in 3 days.  I will wash the feeders with bleach, again, this time around, it seems to detour the bees for a few days.  
 

My garden is volunteering plants this year, beets & tomatillos.    I still need to finish turning some of the soil and plant something, but I haven’t had a lot of energy to get it done, yet.  God willing, this week sometime.
 

[Midnightmom]

On 3/15/2020 at 8:00 AM, Jeepers said:

I wanted to order an extra gasket for it but couldn't figure out which one to get. I have two extra ones so I can get another one when I figure it out. It's probably in the instruction manual. Worse case scenario I can pick one up at Lehman's.

 

Our Ace Hardware store carries gaskets and pressure plugs. Have you tried any of yours?

[Littlesister]

If you have the model number of the pressure cooker you can order on line with that model number. That is how I order mine.

 

Today, I ran out and got the eggs I was looking for yesterday. Got 3 doz. So that should hold us a couple of weeks maybe more.  Came home and started packing the food to ship out to granddaughter.  Then had my coffee and jumped on computer for a few minutes. got laundry started and then started cleaning house. Temps are going to be around 80* Friday and Sat. I think, so going to get rest of yard work done. Need to find someone to cut grass as well. Other wise I will be using a push mower and it will take me a week to cut grass like that. We never replaced the riding more after engine blew. It was 22 years old. Had left overs for dinner, and tomorrow I start cooking from scratch again. So now and then it is left overs for dinner. But it gives me a break from cooking full meal. Leftovers make for fast dinners.

[Jeepers]

I was looking on Amazon but I didn't see one that matched the canner number. I wanted to order all at once. It's just like my other canner but the instruction book is in Indiana. Amazon usually suggests items to buy along with something but didn't this time. I got my last ones at Lehman's. I have extra ones...In Indiana. Sigh. I had my first canner, Mirro, since the 1970's and I've only replaced the gasket twice. I used the canner for canning and cooking. Still have it. In Indiana. 

[Littlesister]

5 minutes ago, Jeepers said:

I was looking on Amazon but I didn't see one that matched the canner number. I wanted to order all at once. It's just like my other canner but the instruction book is in Indiana. Amazon usually suggests items to buy along with something but didn't this time. I got my last ones at Lehman's. I have extra ones...In Indiana. Sigh. I had my first canner, Mirro, since the 1970's and I've only replaced the gasket twice. I used the canner for canning and cooking. Still have it. In Indiana. 

What brand canner do you  have. You might be able to get it through the company. Mine is a mirro and I have to go through them to get my gasket as no one carries that brand anymore.  Just saw where yours is also a mirro. You should be able to get model from bottom of canner and use that to get one through the company itself. 

Edited March 17, 2020 by Littlesister

[Jeepers]

The canner arrives this Wednesday and I can get the numbers then. I don't NEED the extra gasket. I just want to have one here in case. Don't want to get a canner full then then need to replace the gasket. It's never happened to me but that dosen't mean it won't. 

 

I also ordered an extra round shelf thing (can't think of the name) so I can stack pints in the canner. 

[Littlesister]

1 minute ago, Jeepers said:

The canner arrives this Wednesday and I can get the numbers then. I don't NEED the extra gasket. I just want to have one here in case. Don't want to get a canner full then then need to replace the gasket. It's never happened to me but that dosen't mean it won't. 

 

I also ordered an extra round shelf thing (can't think of the name) so I can stack pints in the canner. 

Jeepers, It is good to have extras. I have one as well but need to get an extra pressure valve. You never know when one of those might cut loose or in my case go bad. So need to get that done. Having extra is part of being prepared. Just don't forget to keep it oiled now and then to keep the extra one from drying out. 

[The WE2's]

On 3/15/2020 at 10:00 AM, Jeepers said:

All American would be way too heavy for me.

 

They take a lot longer to bring up to temp and a lot longer to cool!

[The WE2's]

On 3/15/2020 at 10:00 AM, Jeepers said:

off brand jars

 

I think the only real concern is that you only get one canning session from them...after that first canning you may face breakage etc.  Old timers used mayo jars with much success ya know!?

 

[Littlesister]

Most of my jars are ball jars. I do have some Kerr and golden harvest that was bought from a garage sale. But on those I did have a couple to break. But when buying from yard sales you really don't know what the jars were used for and for how long they were used In canning.  they say that over many years of use they weaken over time and that is when they could break.  Don't know to much about the off brands other than golden harvest.  I have a few very old ones with one being a etching of a church on it. That one when I checked it out is about 100 years old. I won't use it. found it in a yard sale and liked it. 

[The WE2's]

30 minutes ago, Jeepers said:

round shelf thing

Trivette my dear, Trivette!

[The WE2's]

Well...I'll try this again!  Hit the wrong button and off into lala land went my post! 

Has been raining off an on for last couple of days and supposed to start again tomorrow night...no...we didn't get our rain barrels hooked up.  Just too many things going on.

Fried up a nice big chicken for supper last night and put the carcass etc., into my slow cooker.  This morning I got 2 quarts of beautiful stock and 4 quarts of water...LOL

Got some more canning to do tomorrow, but the food is safe in our 5-day cooler...3 cuts of beef that I needed to get taken care of and it would take too long to try and do it this afternoon.  I was up until 11:00 last night re-canning some frozen mixed vegetables.  I use so much of those beautiful things!  Soups, stews, pasta's with sauce, lots and lots of different dishes.  It's just the two of us and if I take a whole pint of carrots, a pint of green beans, a pint of potatoes etc...it's just too much for us for one meal.  This way we get all the goodies..in one pint...LOL

Hubby's still working on his customer's family room but other than that, we're home bound.  Just not worth taking a chance any more than necessary.  Our state now had several popups of the "bad thing" that are less than 100 miles (several are more than that) from our county.  

We're just amazed at the amount of people still eating out in restaurants, hanging out in bars and other clubs etc.  My sis is included in those.  Her and her husband just don't see any issues.  

All of us here knew times would come...we just didn't think it would be a pandemic!  At least we didn't.  We thought it would be a slowly collapsing economy.  Well...it may be both now.

 

[Homesteader]

34 minutes ago, The WE2's said:

 Our state now had several popups of the "bad thing" that are less than 100 miles (several are more than that) from our county.  

We're just amazed at the amount of people still eating out in restaurants, hanging out in bars and other clubs etc. 

 

Yesterday was the last day for our church to meet. We found out that a virus patient was admitted into the hospital about a mile away.    I was down at my mom's retirement center today. They were going into a lock-down tonight and my mom was scared and needed many things done for her. I hate going to the big city right now but she needed help. Stress really revs up dementia and depression in her. We had a great time, I got all of her meds and groceries and did some cleaning. The staff said if I passed their strict shake-down, I could come back once a week and care for her, the meds, bathing, and laundry. I can't go anywhere else in the building. Since she has most of her meals delivered, I considered myself blessed. 

[Littlesister]

Our Church is closed for 2 weeks and a lot of business or either changing store hours to keep up with supply and demand so they can restock, and clean.  Many places are closed and fast foods I think are drive through only as well as eat in restaurants. Take out, or delivery only. I think that will stop soon as well. 

 

This morning I dropped off the boxes of food for granddaughter then came home and did some work around house. Got the fridge cleaned out as well. Been trying to get to that for a while. 

Best be getting off of here and fixing dinner, I just looked at the clock.  Later guys.

[Littlesister]

Dinner done, kitchen cleaned up and quick walk around the yard and house.  I can now sit back and relax a bit.  Granddaughter called said they are now in the house but furniture will not get there for a few days. They bought an air mattress to sleep on.  Better than a $100 a night hotel room.  They went out and was able to find some meat and more can goods.  She got a few other things as well. Said with what we are sending they should be ok for about 3 weeks.  Glad to have them situated now.  I was not thrilled with them having to go out not knowing who might be walking around carrying that virus. They followed the proto calls and kept hands washed and use sanitizer and wipes to open doors and wipe down baskets. Then came home and took showers and have clothes in bag to be washed until they get their washer and drier. 

 

WE2,  I am going to start canning some water tomorrow. Got everything ready to go.  I have 48 qt. jars of water now but going to do more as we will need it for both cooking and drinking. And I make a pot of coffee every morning. That is about 12 cups of water. I put it in a thermos and drink some all during the day.  

[snapshotmiki]

Got the potatoes canned yesterday. A 5# bag made 5 quarts and a pint.

Helped an older lady with some organizing this morning and brought her some dog food for her strays. Dry, not the home canned food. Will be cutting up my old potatoes for starts tomorrow and leaving them until the fellow comes to till up the plot. I have a sprouted onion to plant and maybe start a few seeds. Should be a relaxing home day. I will walk since we are not quarantined yet and I don't get close to anyone early in the morning.

Might stop on my walk and buy some sweet potato starts!  Guess I will have to get close enough to the cashier to pay.

[The WE2's]

I'm still staying put.  Hubby is still working for his customer but being very careful about washing his hands and using sanitizer. There are more and more positives popping up around our state...but so far still not closer than 60 miles from us.

Did pull the beef out and got 24 half pints jarred up for the extended pantry, plus one nice size chunk for a pot roast in the freezer here.  I just haven't done a lot of beef because of the prices, but really needed some more to prevent food fatigue if this thing continues on, or the prices get so high we can't afford to buy it.

Supposed to get more rain sometime in the wee hours.  This weekend hopefully we will get the rain barrels hooked up.  With me staying here and him working, we don't have the time to get it done.  He's tuckered out when he gets home and it would be dark before we got it done. 

 

[Mt_Rider]

I think DH is going to miss the library while it's closed....for their DVD's.  Now that he's home!  But he has quite a stash of used one's he's collected thru the years.  And we're both book people.  LOTS of real and ebooks. 

 

And he likes to cook when he's not worn out.  Cooking from scratch will make our food go further.  We've been focused on clearing leftovers and the fridge.    He's making pizza right now. 

 

MtRider 

[TheCG]

I have a pressure canner coming from Amazon.  I'm hoping it'll still make it here on Thursday.

 

My ButcherBox has shipped, so I should be good on meat.  I plan to figure out how to can ground beef.  It'll be a learning process.

 

I also need to figure out how to dehydrate greens, and how they'll blend back up afterwards.  Doing LOTS of green smoothies right now, but a bit worried about what happens if I can't get more greens at the store.

[Jeepers]

Pressure canner and 6 cases of half pint jars due to arrive today. I just ordered 4 more cases of pint jars. Wal-Mart seems to have the best prices on canning jars in my area. 

 

$10.4? A case of Kerr wide mouth pint jars with free delivery of over $35.00. I think I'm pretty well stocked up on canning supplies now. I have some quarts but only use them for tomato sauce etc. 

 

I fear they might become scarce this summer. We only have a Salvation Army store in my area and I've never seen canning jars there. 

 

I'm afraid some of my older jars might be on their last legs. I didn't know you weren't supposed to microwave them. I used to heat up soups in the microwave and eat right from the jar. Perks of living alone .   Now I've heard it can weaken the jar .  I'll continue to use them before I open up the new ones. I'm not sure which jars I zapped and which ones I didnt. 

 

I wonder if Lehman's is still open for business? Suppose I should call first. I'd like to pick up another sleeve of jar lids. 

 

Now if I can just find something to can this spring. I dreamed all night last night about asperagus. Must be about time for it to be ready. I'm pretty sure it will be out of my budget though. 

 

I'm headed out to the ATM machine (redundant M. I know) to get my daily allotment. I can't remember the last time I was out. Hope the car starts. 

[out_of_the_ordinary]

I don't know if you can order online from them (what am I talking about, most places you can order online), but some of the other places that carry jars --Lowes, Tractor Supply, some hardware stores,  Giant Eagle even used to carry them last year.

[out_of_the_ordinary]

1 hour ago, Jeepers said:

Pressure canner and 6 cases of half pint jars due to arrive today. I just ordered 4 more cases of pint jars. Wal-Mart seems to have the best prices on canning jars in my area. 

 

$10.4? A case of Kerr wide mouth pint jars with free delivery of over $35.00. I think I'm pretty well stocked up on canning supplies now. I have some quarts but only use them for tomato sauce etc. 

 

I fear they might become scarce this summer. We only have a Salvation Army store in my area and I've never seen canning jars there. 

 

I'm afraid some of my older jars might be on their last legs. I didn't know you weren't supposed to microwave them. I used to heat up soups in the microwave and eat right from the jar. Perks of living alone .   Now I've heard it can weaken the jar .  I'll continue to use them before I open up the new ones. I'm not sure which jars I zapped and which ones I didnt. 

 

I wonder if Lehman's is still open for business? Suppose I should call first. I'd like to pick up another sleeve of jar lids. 

 

Now if I can just find something to can this spring. I dreamed all night last night about asperagus. Must be about time for it to be ready. I'm pretty sure it will be out of my budget though. 

 

I'm headed out to the ATM machine (redundant M. I know) to get my daily allotment. I can't remember the last time I was out. Hope the car starts. 

Looks like Lehmans is for now

https://www.lehmans.com/blog/dear-friend/#more-34764

 

Looks like they're out of stock of most lids.

Edited March 18, 2020 by out_of_the_ordinary

[Jeepers]

Thank OOTO! I was at a drug store today (Discount Drug Mart) and they had lots of them. Surprised me. I could probably order from Lehman's but they are so heavy it would probably cost a lot to mail them. I still have plenty here...for now. 

[Jeepers]

I ventured out today. It's eerie out there with all of the parking lots at restaurants empty. I went to the grocery store. Probably the last time for awhile. It was normal busy. The fruit and veggies looked great. Very plentiful. I topped off everything I wanted except for bread. None anywhere. 

 

I wanted to do some looking around but started feeling dizzy again so I left. I'm okay sitting down. Upright is an issue. So I didn't check out the frozen food like I wanted too. Bleach was gone along with hand sanitizer, aloe gel, alcohol and peroxide. I forgot vinegar. Bar soap was hit or miss. I wanted to pick up some Irish Spring but they were out. I got some Dove beauty bars.    I got quite a lot but I didn't empty any shelves. Didn't have to. There was plenty. Oh, no flour but plenty of sugar. And instant rice but no bags of long grain rice. All in all a productive trip. 

 

I went to the ATM for my limit. Then over to Walgreens. I was looking for one of those scan thermometers. They didn't have any. I wasn't surprised. I picked up a couple of packs of cheese crackers and vitamin suppliments. I have Zinc but wanted to stock up an extra bottle. None anywhere. Plenty of others including vitamin C. I went to check out and their charge card thingy was down. There went most of my cash. 

 

Filled up the Jeep. Regular gas is $1.74 here. Nice. I heard on the radio that all the rest areas on the Ohio toll road are closed now except for gas. But you can use a port-a-potty.  The toll booths will be unmanned. You'll have to use the auto change thing. 

 

Stopped at another drug store on the way home to see about a scanner thermometer. No thermometers of any kind. Guess I'll have to stick with my old mercury one. I have an ear one. Guess where? Indiana. 

 

I got home and my canner etc. was delivered. It wasn't in a packing box! Just a box like you'd see in the store. So there it sat on the front porch for the entire neighborhood to see.  

 

The Jeep hesitated a little when I first cranked it up. The battery is brand new. So a reminder to everyone that if you are staying home for any length of time, start your vehicles every so often. Even drive them around the block a few times. Assuming we will be allowed out. 

 

Oh, and all the time I was out and all the places I was, not one person had on a mask. Not one. Only the cashier at the grocery store wore gloves.