WHATCHA DOING TODAY?

[The WE2's]

Wintry mix today.  Hubby waited until things melted a bit before going to homestead to work.  I spent all day vacuum sealing our Amish grocery haul.  Only have a couple more things to do, then it will be back to buttuh!

Step mum notified us that her son-in-law and grand daughter came down with CV, and being treated at home by her daughter...so the daughter will probably have it shortly.  So...step mum is isolating also because they were at her home Christmas eve. Only took 3 days to rear it's ugly head! But she started prepping up several months ago and is okay.  She's got her vitamins, elderberry syrup and oregano oil.  I suggested she double up on things....and she will.

We take A LOT of stuff every morning and have for several months.  We take any flu seriously and have for several years. 

 

Edited December 30, 2020 by The WE2's

[Mt_Rider]

Snow.  No snow.  Snow.  No snow.    

 

VERRRRRY COLD TONITE!  Nearly MINUS 10 degrees already. 

 

I hate/fear subzero weather!  A log in this cabin made a LOUD noise near my bed earlier.  This house shifts a lot.  It was only ZERO when that happened. 

 

New tires on car/allignment.....ready for winter.

 

MtRider    

[TheCG]

They’re talking about 2-10 inches in west Texas, depending on exactly where you’re at, elevation, etc.  Delaying a trip until Friday so we’re not driving in it.

[snapshotmiki]

Walked this morning, feels like Spring today!  Apparently, that is not happening everywhere!
Dehydrated a bag of apples in the oven.
Called in DH's prescriptions.
Made a couple of phone calls.
Getting ready to slice and blanch turnips to freeze.

[Littlesister]

WE2, so sorry to hear about your DH's cousin's husband. I do hope and pray he comes through this. And right after loosing his wife. That just makes it harder. Prayers for him and your family that is coming down with this virus. Hope it will not be to bad on them. 

 

Had an easier day today. Started going through a few things and getting it put away where it belongs. Need to get that done so I can start going through the 2 bedrooms and getting things out that we don't need. I need to get the small bedroom cleaned up by March as my granddaughter and her husband will be here for her sister's wedding and are going to stay with us. Though that room is also my pantry, that is also where the other bed is. But they know about my food storage as they used to shop for groceries at my house when they still lived here, trying to get on their feet. Military wasn't paying at first. They are doing much better now as both of them are working and her DH is now either an E5 or 6. I forget which. He is the one working at the Naval Hosp. in the Navy.

[Mt_Rider]

 I'm going to go visit Miki where it's springtime....  .....  Cuz no....springtime isn't here.   

 

It's zero here again tonite.  It got down to minus 12 last nite.  But today was an alleged 30* above ....  Got snow cover all over so any breeze is chilled.  Sunny or not.  Had S come to plow the driveway.  UPS got up successfully before S came....the new driver knows to use chains now. 

 

MtRider     with my down comforter!!!  Brrrrr... 

 

 

[mommato3boys]

23 hours ago, TheCG said:

They’re talking about 2-10 inches in west Texas, depending on exactly where you’re at, elevation, etc.  Delaying a trip until Friday so we’re not driving in it.

Here in the panhandle, which technically is West Texas, go fugue, we are to get snow tonight and the rest of the weekend. I don't like snow. But I will take moisture any way I can get it. So be safe in your travels.

[TheCG]

1 hour ago, mommato3boys said:

Here in the panhandle, which technically is West Texas, go fugue, we are to get snow tonight and the rest of the weekend. I don't like snow. But I will take moisture any way I can get it. So be safe in your travels.

We have a light dusting this morning.  We had more yesterday, but it melted.  I'm heading into work in a few.  My assistant came back from Christmas with the news that someone she had dinner with has now tested positive, so I'm going to be working my butt off to try to get everything that both of us normally do done today.

[Littlesister]

Wow!  Snow for you guys. Be careful out there traveling and such.  The CG, take the precautions needed, we don't want you  to get this virus. Stay safe.

 

We woke up to a light rain this morning. Think it will be off and on all day. Temp. right now is 47*.  So not to bad. We have already had below freezing 31 and 32*  during night with a quick warmup during day to the 40''s and 50's.  

 

There is going to be a New Year's party at neighbor's house right behind us tonight. it starts at 8 pm. We were invited, but no way we can go with DH. Also there are going to be around 50 people that have said they are coming.  That is to many for me to take chances with DH's health issues. We have been to  them before but not with this many people. It would have given us a chance to meet some of the new neighbors that will be there, but not this year. 

[Dee]

I agree Mt. Rider, Miki's is the place to be.  Let's all meet at her house.  No snow and warm enough to walk outside, can't be beat!.  However, we're actually 19 above this morning.  

[Jeepers]

Woo-Hoo! Road trip to Miki's house. I'm in. Plenty of room in the Jeep for more passengers. Be sure to bring all of your pets. Miki loves having strange pets stay at her house!  

 

It's 49 degrees with rain here. Since all the snow is gone I might get my mailbox upright again. I'll wait until after midnight though. If neighbor sees I've been fixing it he is liable to knock it back over. They go out front at midnight and set off fireworks so they would see it. I hate fireworks but this year passing is something to celebrate. 

 

I'm FINALLY headed out to Wal-Mart. My list is pretty long now. Hopefully Subway will be open so I can get a sandwich for tomorrow. They were closed on Christmas Eve so I didn't get one for Christmas. Might even get one for supper tonight. Then drive through McD's for a hot carmel  'mock-e-auto' can't spell it. 

 

I've had a 25 pound bag of rice in the Jeep for a couple of weeks chilling. No room in the freezer. It should be bug free now. We had some 20 degree nights. So, I'm going to try to carry it in and get it in some Food Saver bags. I might have to empty some of it out in a pot and carry in a portion at a time. Getting it out of the Jeep, through the maze in the garage, up 2 1/2 steps, through the kitchen, and up on the countertop will be a chore for sure. 

[snapshotmiki]

7 hours ago, Dee said:

I agree Mt. Rider, Miki's is the place to be.  Let's all meet at her house.  No snow and warm enough to walk outside, can't be beat!.  However, we're actually 19 above this morning.  

 

I wore a t- shirt and shorts when walking this morning at 8 am!  You are all welcome but it is raining pretty good all afternoon and this evening, supposedly.

 

Did dog chores after walk.
Ran to town for sodas for DH and some meat specials.
Went to the Verizon store to re-activate my old phone and reset new one to return. It stays hot all the time and won't hold a charge.
Mailed off returned phone for a refund.

I came home and found that my next door neighbor had passed on in the middle of the night. We were pretty close and did things together often. I will miss her a lot!

I packaged my turnips for the freezer that I blanched last night. Blanched the turnips, not the freezer!

We will probably say Happy New Year to each other and then go to bed around 8 pm. LOL

Happy New Year, Family!!!

[Littlesister]

Been raining on and off here all day.  Got up to 58* but didn't feel like it. felt more like maybe 54* because it has been so damp. It has been a cold rain.  We are staying home and having a nice quiet evening at home. With DH, can't go anywhere anyway.  Usually we watch the fireworks from our back porch, but not sure if there will be any yet with the rain. But if they do manage it. We will be watching for it from our patio door. 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE AND PRAYING FOR A MUCH BETTER 2021. 

[mommato3boys]

8 hours ago, Dee said:

I agree Mt. Rider, Miki's is the place to be.  Let's all meet at her house.  No snow and warm enough to walk outside, can't be beat!.  However, we're actually 19 above this morning.  

 Let's go, I am so ready for flip flop weather

[Jeepers]

I went to Wal-Mart. They weren't busy at all. The shelves were pretty well stocked up except for the canned meat and the lunch meat. Toilet paper was very lean and the only paper towels were the Sparkle brand. 

 

Surprisingly, the cough and cold aisle was pretty good but the bandages type stuff was pretty empty. I now think the shortages aren't from people hoarding as much as it is from lack of shipments. Plenty of flu stuff but no bandaids? Wish I could have shopped around a little longer but I was getting too weak. They were out of the shelf paper I wanted and also heating pads. Mine still works but it's getting old and has plenty of miles on it. I don't want to be without one. 

 

I got two pair of jammies and two pair of sweat pants. All are pretty thin. They sure don't make clothes like they used to. I'd hate to have to depend on them alone to stay warm. I got an oversize flannel shirt to wear over my tee shirts. Also another case of half gallon canning jars. They have about six more cases left. Those were the only canning jars they had. No lids. And three more packs of Brussel sprouts. 

 

I heard on the radio that my county is still in the red zone concerning Covid and our curfew was extended until January 21st. Don't know how the New Years Eve party goers will cope. Also anyone coming into Ohio is supposed to self quarantine for two weeks now. I'm so glad the holidays are over. 

 

While I was out I drove past McDonald's and they were closed at 6:30 pm. Don't know if they were even open today. I noticed Starbucks was closed too. So, I went in the grocery store and got some carmel fappuccino, put it through the microwave and called it a 'mock-e-auto'. LOL. 

 

Driving past the Olive Garden and Red Lobster I noticed their parking lots were full. They had to be over regulated capacity judging by the cars. Target parking lot was full too. 

 

The only thing I can't find is chicken Stove Top Stuffing. I wanted to put some away in my extended pantry. I wanted some in the round can to make individual servings. I can't even find it in the regular boxes. Everyone around here has been out since Thanksgiving. 

 

I got a little tub of ghee to try. I've never had it. If I like it I'll make some. If not I'll can up some butter in half pint jars. Good size for one. 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

[TheCG]

Luckily, my assistant hadn't come into the office before she was told.  We think she's probably safe, but waiting on test results to be sure.  I'm enjoying my coffee before everybody else gets up and it's time to load up the camper so we can leave once the roads thaw.

[snapshotmiki]

My diet started the day after Christmas. Started at 169.6 and today am 163.0. I know it will slow down and that is ok. I do one meal a day with maybe a beef stick or slice of turkey and cheese stick in the morning and evening. End date for diet is April 26th and then maintain wherever I am at for a year or two like I have done so far.

 

Today, going to help a friend, actually the next two days. Lots of visiting!
Have a great day, friends!

[Littlesister]

Finishing up a book I had started reading before Christmas. Two more chapters to go.  Then I will start on some of the new ones I have.  Got the Christmas tree and other things put away and back in shed today. Been a bit warmer today at 61*.  Walked outside for a bit. Tomorrow will be cold and rain again. DH had a good day today and hoping for many more good days. Going to be getting his therapy set back up on Monday.  SIL is bringing his motorcycle over tomorrow to park. Till after the 11th.  They will be bringing the fish tank and flowers as well till they get settled and then will come back to get them. Don't know where they will park that monster camper while living in an appt. till they find a house. Unless they are going to keep it at SIL's place of work. That would be where the trucks park I am thinking. If so, at least it will be behind a fence. 

Going to take the next 2 months easy. That will give me time to build back the emergency fund and to think about what we really need to doing to prep. DH's eating habits have changed and he won't eat much when he does eat. So going to take that 2 months and rethink my canning options. I already know I need to make some more tomato soup for him. He went through the 14 pints I had fast. So going to double or triple that amount next time. My gut feeling says there are going to be some big changes happening for 2021.  We have a CD that just came due and I am going to cash that out to put with my emergency fund. Then I am going to close out the savings account, also to put in the emergency fund. Making no interest on the new CD''s and nothing on the checking account. My gut feeling says to start removing money now. So will be working on that next week. From there I will be doing some canning from freezer and making the tomato soup, then just sit back and relax for the next 2 months. Not going to stores or nothing during that time other than to pick up RX;s milk and eggs. I could use powdered milk and eggs, but I already have that set up for long term and don't want to go into anymore of it yet. Got to new flannel sheet blankets for Christmas that I don't need to use right now, but think I will go ahead and get them washed up and put away. Wanting to make some new bathroom curtains, the old ones are showing their age now and need replacing.  When I say old, I mean they are like 30 plus years old. Time for a change. Going to enjoy the next two months of just doing things I want to do, such as sewing and other projects I have started that I want to finish up.  At least they will be relaxing things to do.  i feel I need that right now. Just relax and enjoy life. 

[Daylily]

Littlesister, I hope you can do some fun projects! That's important to do for one's sanity.

 

I'm working on an order of strawberry and asparagus plants. We got the area ready and it's covered with black plastic which we hope will smother out the grass and some of the weeds by May when we would plant them. I'm having a hard time deciding on which varieties of strawberries to get. I have a list of best varieties for VA but the mountains are so different that the piedmont or the coastal areas and the list doesn't really distinguish between them. 

We have ordered most of the garden seeds we need so we need to check our inventory again and see what's left to order. We need to start some things indoors mid-late January like lettuce, spinach, some flowers and herbs. Part of me is crying "No! I'm not ready to garden yet!" it was 63 deg here today and sunny. After church and lunch, I went for a birding walk and really enjoyed it. Tomorrow the high is supposed to be 44 and 40% chance of rain.

 

My bedtime of 9:30 is fast approaching. Take care everyone.

[Littlesister]

Dee, My family is from Lynchburg and Madison heights area. My grandparents and 2  of my uncles had homesteads and planted a lot of things. i used to stay with my grandparents during the summer months growing up.  I loved it there on that old homestead. Now that most of my family has passed on and the old homestead has gone commercial, it is up for sale and has been for a long time now. I was thinking of buying it but with being commercial and so much business has built up around it like where we are now. I decided not to buy it. i want to be in the country not back in a town. I don't remember the type of strawberries they grew there. But I know they did grow them.

[Daylily]

I think it's kind of sad to see old homesteads be swallowed up by commercial interests.  All the strawberries are supposed to be "the best"! Lol I need to do more research. 

[Jeepers]

Littlesister, I did that with a CD a couple of years back too. I got more interest in parking it in my checking account rather than in a CD. I'm responsible enough not to spend it just because it's there though. Hope you get some pressure and relaxation you deserve this new year. 

 

Sons electricity went out again. It's always going out over there. So, he went out and bought a generator. Woo-hoo! Someone in the family finally has a generator. He is just running the fridge, a couple of lights, the fish tank and TV. I think that's all. Probably a heater. Their power usually doesn't stay off too long but he's had enough. Every time I go over there I can tell my power has been off by the flashing clocks. And we are on different power companies. In my case, no electricity= no water. 

[snapshotmiki]

Going to do my exercise video shortly.
Church.
Start thawing some chicken and ribs to grill on Tuesday.
Dehydrate last bag of apples.
Ladies group? Not sure whether we will be meeting today or not.
Easy day!

[Littlesister]

Haven't done a lot today. Just taken it easy.  Though I did get the weather stripping taken care of in the patio door. That was a must.  Can already feel a big difference in the den. Much warmer.  DD and SIL came over and spent most of the day with us. They bought the fish tank and got it set back up. We will be keeping it till they find a house. Then they will be back down to pick it up and to granddaughter's to pick up the last 3 ferrets, if they are still living. They are all just about 7 years old now and that is about their life span. They had 8 of them and they are slowly passing on.  SIL was going to bring his motorcycle over to store here till they got a house, but it has rained all day off and on. So he will bring that next week end as he will be in NC tomorrow morning to start his job. DD and grandson will be here till the 11th. He said they have the camper stored already. The moving company has taken that on down to where they will have everything stored while they are in temp. housing. 

[kappydell]

thank you midnight mom for the muzzle info.  We are making progress with Jack, keeping him separated from the dogs he has issues with.  Hopefully we can work on his reactivity, but it is hampered by other dogs' jealousy when we pay "too much" attention to Jack.  That is part of the issue, so we try to work with him one on one, separately.  He is a lover, and that chin rest training is right up his alley.  His calming thing is a chest rub - I can feel him just relax into it.  

Good riddance to 2020.  It ended sadly with two of our long time pets passing on the day after Christmas.  It was a sad time.    Now we are  getting ready to take in Christmas lights - we had cars stopping to take pictures, so we consider our yard a success.  But I will be glad to be able to use the dishwasher again, with the Christmas lights on using it blew fuses, LOL.  

We scored some cheap hams and pork loin roasts.  With the freezers all full, I am canning up pork loin and ham today.  I think I'll try to can up some pints of navy bean & ham soup with the bits from the ham bones.  Maybe split pea?  Are we still allowed to can that or is it "too dense"?  Thats OK, the split peas cook up so quick I usually make that fresh when I want it so canning it is a little redundant.  That Navy bean, on the other hand is a very long cooking soup.  I found some beautiful yellow eyed peas at my local southern grocery (it even carries hog jowls and chitterlings year around!) they are delicious and are used like navy beans.  I'll use those in the soup.  

Time to go out to the garden to give the cabbage heads a twist to snap some of their roots so they don't split from all the rain we are getting.  Besides, my pets are getting quite obnoxious - they are jealous of my computer time - the cats and dogs alike want to climb on the keyboard and MESS THINGS UP!!  So I think its time to stops typing and go do something.  Outside. while it is still light.....

Edited January 3, 2021 by kappydell