WHATCHA DOING TODAY?

[The WE2's]

On 6/13/2020 at 7:58 PM, The WE2's said:

Fiesta Salad

 

Forgot that she also had cherry tomatoes in the salad!

[The WE2's]

9 hours ago, Homesteader said:

Why doesn't life slow down after retirement

 

We work harder now than we ever have!  I think it's because we are governors of our time! LOL

[The WE2's]

Put down the ground cover this morning and moved the patio table and chairs over on it.  We put one side of it right up to side of the raised beds with the potato plants.  That way there's no mowing there!  We'll lay down another strip maybe two and leave just a "mower" width that runs in front of our rain catchment barrels.  So not much mowing in that whole area.  I plan to also run a strip down between the two rows of tubs so there will be no mowing there either...just a bit of weed eating around the outer perimeters of the tubs, on three sides. 

It doesn't look like we'll get any pole beans or Okra in this year.  Just two many irons in the fire. June is about the last month we'd want to plant the beans and Okra for them to make.

Watched an almost awful video from Deep South Homestead on what he's found out about a chemical nearly all farmers spray on their fields for hay etc.  I think he called it "Graze-On"...anyway...when you feed it to your farm animals, then then use their manure in your compost piles...your plants die out for no reason.  He is really spreading the word...and says that "grass fed beef" is a joke and pretty much a lie because they use this stuff on the "grass" the animals eat.  So friends...it may not be your seeds or plants at all!  It may be the compost or manure you're using in your gardens!

We're planning to take a couple of days off the last part of this month to go spend some time with a friend.  Our 11th anniversary is coming up in July but we'll celebrate it early because his cousin is going to be in that area for their vacation and we seldom get to see them...they live in Texas.  So coming to our state is a treat for them and for us...IF we can get things together with them.  We're pretty flexible but haven't heard back from them on any specific day or time we might be able to share a meal and then continue on our way to our friends place where we can park our Miss B.  When we're there we only sleep in Miss B because she and I cook the meals (we take food) inside etc. and visit etc.

 

[Mt_Rider]

2 hours ago, Ambergris said:

supposed to wash your mouth and throat out after using some of the inhalers,

 

Is it just some.....Albuterol Sulfate?  Course except when I have bronchitis, I'm only using very infrequently.    

 

DH went off to work today/tonite.  So far he says it hasn't been busy.  Meaning he might have trouble making CO minimum wage for his time and gas.  We'll see how this goes.  I think he might have been a bit bored during the lock down, but not seriously.  He WILL get bored there if he doesn't have anything to do.  Restaurant is sparkling clean now.   .....maybe there will be less cases of norovirus, etc after all this.

 

I did walk with dog tonite.  Had to start up my truck.....so it took a while to get it "warmed up".   Took a drive but it's still running rough.  ??

 

MtRider  

Edited June 16, 2020 by Mt_Rider

[Ambergris]

The ones with the steroids definitely, but probably some others they don't have enough data to make accusations on.

I really don't know any more about it.

[Jeepers]

We2, I saw that video too. I felt bad for Danny. They work so hard for everything they have and try to do the right things. I liked his take on grass fed beef too. 

 

In one of his videos this year he talked about how nothing is really organic. Junk comes from the soil, water and the air. A lot of it is just a ploy to get your money. Wish I would have saved it. It was good.

[kappydell]

washed the canning jars before labeling them.  Got 5 qts of "steak cubes" from T bones & ny strip steaks in the freezer from last year.  None were freezer burned. (Yay!) Put the trimmings into the crock pot for 14 hrs, it is cooling in the refrig. now so I can skim off fat & boil down to double strength tomorrow.  Then I will can up a load of 'double strength stock - I get 10 pints to the canner load, most will probably be chicken since that is what I had the most remains to make stock with (bones & skin).  Our dear friends & prepper pals' freezer came today, in the rain, of course.  "only" $400 with shipping - prices on freezers are crazy, but their old one died and they needed something to work with and were happy with a little one so we fronted them the money until payday.  At least the wait time was reasonable - only 2 weeks instead of that open ended time span we had with the Sears debacle.   

 

The garden is finally kicking out tomatoes - so far a couple a day - tonight we had our first plate load of vine-ripened tomatoes with our steaks & baked 'taters.  Nothing else needed to complete our favorite summertime feast, but we had cheesecake on hand, so even dessert was decadent.  If I had remembered that I would have picked some of our volunteer black raspberries for a sauce/topping.  I think I will have to start picking & freezing some of them for when we want something a little different on ice cream.  That has me wondering now - I never raised blueberries before.  Do the ripen all at once or do I need to keep them picked so they make more?  Such a delightful quandry.  I think they are ripening now.   Along with tomatoes, our "now picking" list includes green peppers, and summer squash.  I even have some zucchinis to grate up for zucchini bread (the only way DM will eat it).I have recipes for the yellow summer squash too, but cant keep up with it since I have to use a cut down recipes.  But it does give me the chance to use my cut little blue ceramic 3 cup casserole.  Guess I'll have to freeze it.  Have to look around and find out if I can freeze the casseroles, or if it is better done separately.

 

The coyotes are moving around at night here lately.  Either it is breeding season or the lumber company has disturbed their habitat by cutting in a new area.  Now I have to go armed to feed the kitties.  The first promise our neighbors extracted from us was an agreement to shoot coyotes on sight, as they kill pets around here.  Id use my trapper training and put out traps, but too many dogs get loose and I would not harm a neighbors pet for the world.  Oh well.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[snapshotmiki]

We were going to lunch today for 30th anniversary, but decided not to with DH being high risk.

 

I will be going to town to pick up my lab results from last week's blood work, Walmart for a couple of things, day old bread store for my low calorie bread, thrift store and then pick up pizza on the way home.

 

As of now, will go for walk when I quit messing around here and get the day started.

[TheCG]

On 5/28/2020 at 7:05 PM, Mt_Rider said:

   .....I don't think they make enough of those devices to "tag" all the things he loses.....   

 

Then again, I've only lost my Kindle ONCE.....and I'm considering that a miracle!    

 

MtRider  ....he did find the keys....on his desk; not hidden.   

There's one on Dad's keys.  It said they were at the house, so they were going nuts trying to find them.  They finally did...on TOP of something tall enough they couldn't see them, out in the garage.  Why he put them there in the first place, we'll never know.

[TheCG]

 

On 5/30/2020 at 8:41 PM, Jeepers said:

Went to the grocery store to get my prescriptions filled. I didn't need any food but I did do a quick look through. Every thing was still well stocked except for those little bitty cans of baked beans. I would have bought some of those. I still have plenty but sometimes I like to eat a can of them for a snack. They are small. Maybe a larger store has them. 

No small cans here either, at least not of the Bush beans.  

 

On 6/1/2020 at 8:56 PM, The WE2's said:

As for making ground turkey taste like hamburger...I use Montreal Steak Seasoning, a couple of drops of liquid smoke, a pinch of Cumin, a pinch of Smoked Paprika and let it "rest" for about an hour in the frig.  Then mix up really good, and pull out what I need for the meal and freeze the rest.  

I might have to see how well that works (and not tell hubby that there's cumin in it).

[Mt_Rider]

Whatcha doing today?

 

......took 2 hr nap after another bad night  

 

.......armed with good Duct tape and scissors, went out again during WIND to repair splits in greenhouse skin and to tighten/tuck in everything for less flapping about.   Sheeeeesh, is this even going to last long enough for one tomato? 

 

........trying not to overheat.    Got gel/ice pack on head and wrote note on mirror:  AC in kit window!

 

......trying not to let much smoke    from Far-Away Gunnison's wildfire get inside.....[see above about overheating]

 

......keeping eye on neighbor's "rodeo"  ....cows got out.....   Koa has been very enthralled by this Doggie TV channel! 

 

MtRider     already.....didja send it our way, Annarchy?

Edited June 17, 2020 by Mt_Rider

[The WE2's]

On 6/15/2020 at 9:01 PM, Jeepers said:

I saw that video too

 

Watched another video today from another gardener that doesn't even live near Danny...and his garden plants began to shrivel up and die also...from the same issue.  Using the hay and straw from fields sprayed with GrazOn, but also mentioned two other's that are well known...just can't remember which two now.

[The WE2's]

Went with hubby to run some errands and then picked up our "free lunch" of turkey casserole, green beans, fruit medley and a sweet bread.  The "tv" dinner was chicken nuggets, corn, and fruit.  Having this "Kitchen" serving hot meals etc., is so wonderful.  We see a lot of other's enjoying the service as well.  I don't feel badly.  We work hard and when I don't have to cook or clean up it's an EZ on the cook day...and let's our local restaurants know we're enjoying their donations of GOOD food...especially Panera!  LOL

After lunch hubby went to finish up the drywall work at his customer's toy shed and then finished the mowing at the homestead.

I did a couple of loads of laundry and hung them up on my "under the carport" clothes lines (I now have 4) to dry.  

Hubby's still fighting with the poison ivy, but we may have found a prescription strength medication (that we had and keep stored) and he says it's really made a difference.  Because it's prescription strength and only available by prescription I can't mention it here. 

Would you all believe we have another kitty that's showed up on our front porch here?  Seems to be fairly young and looked awfully scrubby and gaunt, so yes...I fed it and it let me give it some lovin!  Really enjoyed my petting and couldn't pry itself away from my leg! LOL  It can stay, but I won't feed it on a regular basis.  If it stays it has to hunt.

Dremeled Abby's toe nails tonight and gave her monthly heart worm pill and then put the liquid flea and tick down her back so she's doing a "mohawk".  The chewable pills for flea and tick are absolutely riduculously priced!  Twice the price of the heart worm pill!

Guess this weekend we'll clean up the van and get ready for our "mini vacation" toward the end of this month.

 

[Annarchy]

Good Morning Everyone.  
 

Heading for TX today.  
 

Heat, hot, 110°+. Wild fires burning, getting bigger, one is over 64,000 acres.  One is less than 20 miles from town.  Stay @ home was released and thoughtless people were careless.  We live in the 🌵 desert....    
 

Time to finish packing..... see you all tonight.  

[snapshotmiki]

Hope that fire stays away @Annarchy!

 

No walk today, just video as apparently, riding 160 miles in car aggravated my hip Monday.

Laundry is already started, next I will weed in front garden and harvest some okra and squash.
Then grill chicken and corn on the cob, finish laundry and relax some

[Jeepers]

Safe travels Annarchy! 

[Mt_Rider]

    Too hot today for me to go out.  Yeah, all of 85* ..... Annarchy would be chilly!     DH and I installed small A/C unit in the kitchen/living room window.  Rooms too small to be separate...LOL.  Whooooeeee, that was nice.  SUMMER arrived on Tuesday.  With a BANG.  More hot WIND today and brought the soot/ash from wildfire far away.  Thankful it isn't OUR neighborhood for the fire but having our air BLUE is too much for my bronchials.     Am I never going to get rid of this crud? 

 

Shuffling stuff in the freezers.  Blessing of meat right now.  Kids sent some for Father's Day.   

 

Pondering if dog and I will walk tonite.  Sun going down soon so should be cool  on the road....in the shadow of the ridge.  OTOH...I barely made it back to truck last nite.    Can't. Do. Heat.   HOW will I survive Maui???   

 

MtRider  ....mebbe I'll try to walk a ways.... 

[Annarchy]

Lol, Mt_Rider, 85°, I could get a lot more done outside.  It is terrible you are bothered by the heat, like you are.  We’ve been up to 116° so far this year.    At that temp, my glasses are almost too hot to wear.  But, what do ya do?  (Stay inside in the AC).

 

Sooo..... yesterday was an adventure.  Got up early to process the tomatoes.  Blanched, pealed & quartered them, then, jarred & pressure canned 4 pints.  

Gave the hens the skins & cores, they definitely enjoyed them.  We got 2 eggs for the effort.  As I was preparing for my trip, I heard the neighbor kids chattering with excitement, close to the house.  Then, I heard a loud pop, almost like a pellet gun or fire cracker, looking out the kitchen window, I saw the kids, in the alley beside our back yard.  One had a stick in his hand, while the others were gathered near.  I couldn’t quite see what they were doing.  Then, they got back on their bikes and rode off.  I went out and looked, there was a very large desert toad, on it’s back.... and... it’s tummy had exploded from the heat, or from the kids poking it with the stick.    Then, the boys came back, with their little sister to show her.    She stood back saying, “ewwwww”, while the boys laughed.  
 

Then, UPS delivered our bed frame for MIL.  I cleaned dog mines, fed & watered the hens, dead headed the roses, did a couple loads of laundry, until DH got up.  When he woke up, he said he had an adventurous night.  (OK, what?)

 

He walked in the kitchen and heard a ‘sploosh’ in the dogs water dish.  He turned on the light, and discovered a large desert toad in their dish.  How it got into the house is beyond me.  It jumped out and went under the freezer.  He said it took him quite a while, to capture the critter, and he threw it over the back fence.  Apparently, desert toads can’t fly......     EEEWwwwwwwww!!!!  I can’t count how many I’ve captured and removed from out yard this year.  The poor puppies get the pukes from them.

The bed frame, some assembly required....  yeah right!  Slats, boards, screws, etc.  we assembled the bed frame, moving furniture, boxes and such, in my office, to assemble it, then, opened the box with the mattress, and ‘poof’ it un-rolled onto the bed frame.  72 hours to decompress, but DH couldn’t wait.  He said, it’s going to be his ‘reading’ couch.  So much for my office.  Then again, it’ll only be while I’m sleeping, because we “hot cot”.  I crash around 8 pm, he crashes when I get up around 4 am-5 am.  24 hour surveillance in our house.  Lol.  He’s never been able to get off the midnight shift, while I have never gotten off the morning shift.  I tossed a sheet on the mattress, because DH kept laying on it, and I had to box a shipment out, and didn’t want it to get dirty.  Then, pulled out the extra pillows, from storage, and made it look a bit more welcoming, until I wash all the pillow cases & set it up nice.  
Jeeeze, I didn’t realize how bad it looked after DH getting on it over & over.....  
 

,

Then, I made stir fry for dinner, because I needed to use the mung bean sprouts, that took an extra day to sprout.

 

Monday, I transferred all the food stored in plastic Sterilite containers, into 1/2 gal. Ball mason jars.  Sadly, some had gone bad.  You know that smell.... not good.  But, it was amazing the jars fit perfectly on the shelves, on their sides.  When I get back home I will finish, just a few more to get done.  
 

 

Sooo.. that was my adventure so far, this week... now, MIL has a “ToDo” list for me.

Cut & color her hair, fill in her nails, fix the sprinkler system, pull weeds, do some house cleaning and on & on.
 

 

[Mt_Rider]

OOOooooooo!  I want some shelves like that.  Trying to put canned goods on the plastic garage-size shelving units is crazy difficult. 

 

MtRider  .....thinking ....now WHERE could I fit in a shelf like that?  Pffft, it would have to hang from the ceiling!   

[Jeepers]

Toads...yuck. I thought you were going to say one of the boys shot your hen. Glad your bed finally arrived. Has mom said any more about coming over? It's so hard to leave your own home. 

 

I love your shelving too! I really need one with narrow shelves like that for canning jars. That is a perfect size. 

 

I lulled around most of the day. I'm going through the Kindle and deleting a bunch of books. I'm becoming more selective. If some of the mystery books haven't had a sequel within the last three years they are out. I'm not going to invest my time in an unfinished book. Same with the ones 100 pages or less. I want books not rushed stories. I worked on that one section nearly all day and got rid of over 300 books. Yeah me. I'll try to finish it up tomorrow. Then start on some of the other sections that will be easier. It's an 'active' OCD week so the Kindle has been bothering me to get rid of the fluff and to get all of the books in their proper collection folder thing and straightened out. Over 2,000 books.

 

My back has me nearly doubled over from aching so this was a good day to ride the recliner and whittle down the Kindle.

[TheCG]

15 hours ago, Annarchy said:

Lol, Mt_Rider, 85°, I could get a lot more done outside.  It is terrible you are bothered by the heat, like you are.  We’ve been up to 116° so far this year.    At that temp, my glasses are almost too hot to wear.  But, what do ya do?  (Stay inside in the AC).

 

At a cousin's wedding in Phoenix, I had to take my belt off because every time my arm touched it, I'd get another burn.

 

We're only up to 102F today!

[Annarchy]

Well darn, The CG.   I’m in TX and I won’t be home until Sunday afternoon. 
I would have tried to meet up with you.  But it’s a dry heat!  

 

 

[TheCG]

37 minutes ago, Annarchy said:

Well darn, The CG.   I’m in TX and I won’t be home until Sunday afternoon. 
I would have tried to meet up with you.  But it’s a dry heat!  

 

 

That was years ago.  I'm home in Midland until the weekend of July 4, I believe.

[Annarchy]

4 hours ago, TheCG said:

That was years ago.  I'm home in Midland until the weekend of July 4, I believe.

Oops, I thought you meant you were there now.  Sorry.

 

The road to Sam’s is under construction, it is a mess, so, I’m skipping that trip this time.  Might go to Albertsons, we shall see.  
 

Fixed MIL’s sprinkles, she’s happy.  Tomorrow is ‘spa’ day for her.  Nails & hair.

[TheCG]

Cleaned out a kitchen cabinet.  Have a box of stuff to get rid of, and a bunch of cleaning supplies that need a new place to live in the house.

 

Bought leeks for the first time.  I have them simmering in a bit of bone broth and water.  Smells delicious, we'll see how that turns out.

 

Have to go into town for work this afternoon.  I'm working more and more AT work instead of home, and I'm not sure I like it....but I did at least get my standing desk set up at work yesterday.