WHATCHA DOING TODAY?

[Jeepers]

She was on here a few minutes ago. Will definitely send prayers her way!  

[Jeepers]

Catmint was what I was thinking of. Some of it is bluish and some is more purple.

I think it is so pretty but it is 'Cat Crack' and would be too close to where the garden is.

 

[snapshotmiki]

I'm glad your mom's back is feeling better, Mt. Rider!

 

I was at O'Reilley's at 7:15 yesterday to pick up headlight assemblies for my jeep.
Then Walmart for some dairy and produce.
Then veterinarian to schedule Peanut Butter's dental visit.
Got home, fed dogs.
Took my walk and then walked dogs.
Ordered shipping supplies from usps.
Used food processor to slice carrots for dog treats and then sweet potatoes to dehydrate in oven for dog treats.
Cooked some turkey sausage for my breakfasts and that's it!

 

Will do a video this morning after feeding dogs.
Going to add some Spring color fake flowers to my hanging fake flower baskets. LOL
I'm going to have to find things to do today. Very little on list.
Maybe grill some chicken thighs.

 

Praying for Littlesister!  Hope everyone has a good day!

[kappydell]

Jeepers, for purple flowers I replanted some wild heal-all (prunella vulgaris)  It grows, well, like a weed and the purple flower spikes are quite large - 2 inches in my wild area - plus it is a well known herbal remedy for quite a few ailments....  I was just tickled to find it growing wild in my yard, so transplanted some to my wild herb area lest the lawn mower get them!   On the physical body it acts as an astringent, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, mild antiseptic, detoxifier, diuretic, hemostatic and vulnerary (a substance used to help heal external wounds). It is also used for mouth and throat ulcers, sore throat, and internal bleeding.  See why I was so glad to find it?  And pretty too.  Yes you can buy seeds.  

 

Our activities were intense yesterday.  We decided we had better put in the Air Copnditioner we bought because last year we went from pleasant spring weather to triple digit heat very suddenly.    The only thing was, we had bought a large, LARGE  one 15,000 BTU with somne of our last stimulus money because our bu8ult in air conditioner freezes up and stops working after about 30 minutes of use.  Not terribly effective.  (We did find out that the parts are waranteed, and got the company name from our realtor who carries the warantee, but we still have to pay for parts.  Right now we are saving to try to get back to Wisconsin for Mary's class reunion (50th....we are old....mine is next year).   So paying for some tech to diagnose the unit is not in the budget; the unit was on sale, reasonably priced, and we had a stimulus check....well....done deal.  

 

So we put it in, and what a circus.  First you have to take it apart.  Take off the face plate, filters, thermostadt, then slide the innards out of the outside 'cabinet' (?)  Then we put the cabinet in the window.  It took up the whole thing, didn't have to use those little side wings.  Since we were worried about excessive weight on our mobile home window frame (who knows what is underneath the vinyl) we had agreed top put additional support legs on the outermost part to equalize the weight.  We did call the man who assembles the mobile homes, and he did assure us the windows were framed with 2x4s, so the inner part was OK.  The 'legs' of the unit are 14 feet high.  Mary kept trying to screw the top in while I held them.  What a laugh! I can barely stand straight yet, and kept using the leg to help me stand up.  Mary kept yelling down "stop wobbling, hold it still" and I tried but no way could I keep the wobbles away (or the giggles, when I realized how silly it looked!)  Finally we fastened them from the top, then secured the bottom on concrete pads. The AC cabinet  bottom (which is open for air flow) had screwq holes its entire length for the provided (rather puny looking) brackets and for screwing it onto a 2x4 frame for through the wall installation, so at least finding a place to fasten our supports was easy.  

 

 

Then slide that unwielding and heavy thing ono the shipping cardboard over to the window, and  (as the directions ordered) "team lift" and slide the innards into the outards.  Very heavy and unwieldy but at least the doggone thing slid in on the first heave-ho.  Then re-assemble in reverse order-

thermostadt, filters, front face plate.   Plug it in, and try the remote control....nothing.  Put in batteries the right way ...try again.  SUCCESS!

 

 

 

It took us all day.  But worth it.  We were tired, but around 10:30 PM little Mamma Mia (a VERY pregnant outdoor kitty we were feeding inside to make sure she got enough food) started meowing LOUDLY.  She was laying around all day like her back hurt...not surprising since she looked like she was carrying a bowling ball inside!  She is a 'talker'  and friendly.  Comes over to 'talk' when we sit outdoors, jumps up for scratches, tells us about her day, then wanders off.  Not last night....around 10:30 she started complaining.  Then bitching in earnest....and having contractions.  She is a first time momma so she was scared and did not know what to do with this "thing" coming out of her.  Picture this (if you are not squeamish) she is yelling, running around with a half-born kitten hanging out of her, in a panic.  Fortunately her trust in me helped.  I got her a nice clean tote, slapped in a towel, scooped her up and put her in there.  Told her not to worry about crapping on the floor when the contractions started (she tried to clean it up, sweet baby).  And showed her how to brace her legs during contractions.  The first one took a while, but once born she took care of him well.  Second one was faster (and less noisy) and by the time #3 showed up she has handling things like a pro, and it was 3AM so I went to bed.  This morning, we had five kittens.  She was cudding and feeding them, but lets us look and accepts scritches, scratches and treats.  We gotta get the name of the cheaper neutering clinic from our vet and take the outdoor males in to get snipped.  We love her but $30 versus $120  makes quite a difference when you have multiple males.  

 

Today, all I had to do was go to therapy, but I was still tired, so only worked at 70% masimum effort instead of 80%.  Then home for a steak and cauliflower dinner.  And a comfy chair.  (Mamma Mia says hello.)  

 

These are the babies born a little over  a week ago

 

Last nights dinner:  low carb shake and bake on pork chop with butter braised cabbage....about 4 net carbs for the meal.  Mmmm.

 

Time for a couple "slow days" when all we do is garden...mow the lawn...and fishing.  I gotta take some pics of the garden, it is coming along beautifully.

Edited April 23, 2021 by kappydell

[Jeepers]

Ohhh, those are pretty Kappy. I like purple and yellow flowers together.

Your pictures didn't show up. Or is it just me. 

[kappydell]

 

I loaded them a way I dont usually do....back to basics and hope this works (it is stormy here, internet is gimpy)

TH

 

Lets try again.  Last time I hit send and the internet went down & it was gone.  

#1   ghreenhouse #1 - summer squash in front, then blooming pepper plants, spectacular lettuce at the far end.

#2  2nd greenhouse, this one has vcabbages in front, then some seeded areas, blooming tomatoes, and at the far end....collards.

#3  carport babies, about 10 days old.  Mama moved them somewhere, hope she picked a dry spot!

#4  Our big honkjing AC that we get to reposition tomorrow because we dont have enough tilt on it to shed rain.  

#5  Ouside raised best east of greenhouses.  Collards in front (dont know if you can see the radishes nearby that we just thinned.  Then a space for sweet potatoes, and irish potatoes at the far end.

#6  Lettuce...romaine

#7   Lettuce again....bibb.  One head of each fills a grocery bag.

Tomorrow job #1 is to fix the AC.  If I get a chance then I will try to find where I put the rooting hormone to propagate some rose bushes from the neighbors bushes.  She is selling her place, I want the roses as they are colors and forms I do not have.  Lovely.  

 

Edited April 25, 2021 by kappydell

[Jeepers]

Got them this time. Thanks for sharing. Your garden always looks lovely!

 

Those kitties are the sweetest little things ever. If we were neighbors I'd take that little cinnamon colored one off of your hands. I'd call her Cindy. Unless it's a boy. In that case I probably created a 'gender identity' crisis for them.  

 

That is one big honkin' air conditioner. Hope it keeps you chillin' all summer long.

[Homesteader]

It's been a long journey but the garden shed finally arrived and is set on the new gravel pad. DH has his arm in a cast from surgery so the alternative was to purchase a pre-made shed. We've purchased these before and really like the quality of workmanship. The prices are through the roof this year though. We had to purchase off-the-sales-lot because of the months of back-order. The surcharge was $725 because the cost of lumber increases every day. Our carpenter friends said that we couldn't build the shed for what we paid for it, so we bit the bullet and had it delivered and set-up by the mfg. Glad that painful purchase is done and the garage can be emptied out and the vehicles have a place to live this coming winter. 

[Mt_Rider]

Thanks for getting the pics to show, Kappy.  Love looking at your bounty!      Awww...I want a kitten too!  I miss having a cat.  They're different from say......an XXL shedding dog, for instance.     For one thing, they sit calmly on your lap.....instead of drooling on it.   

 

NICE shed, Homesteader!  My niece got a small goat barn and larger horse barn delivered like this.  They get them Amish-built out east.  Horrible about the price INCREASE in lumber.   Anyone hear exactly WHY that has increased in price?  Can't just be the COVID lock-down home improvement projects.      

 

MtRider  .....and I DID RIDE yesterday.  But    today.     This too shall pass.....  

[Jeepers]

I got up early today and went to Wal-Mart. I haven't been in a long time. I kept putting it off. I miss K-Mart and I forget about Target. 

 

I didn't do any food shopping except I looked for some Salt Sense and they didn't have any. None of the brand of brussel sprouts I like either. There was plenty of cleaning supplies though. Both Clorox and Lysol and plenty of paper products and laundry soaps too. 

 

Some of the household items were pretty sparse though. I had a list of things to get but a lot of it was sold out. They didn't have a pancake flipper or a turkey baster. The kitchen utensil stuff was nearly empty. The only thing in the canning section was one Presto canner and some left over Mrs. Wages salsa mix. 

 

I've noticed a lot of things are locked up now. I needed a pair of nail clippers. Mine keep disappearing. They had some but they were locked up and it wasn't worth my time trying to hunt someone down to unlock the case for a pair of clippers. They didn't have any blood pressure monitors or butterfly bandages. 

 

No cupcake liners, Aveeno bath soak, Ivory bar soap, magnifying glass or phone batteries. Their bedding is nearly empty and so is the bath linen. I wanted to stock up on some wash cloths but was out of luck there too. I like the medium thickness. Not the real thick or the real thin ones. They didn't have any at all. Glad I didn't really need any. I can't think of what else they didn't have. I only checked for salt, sprouts and cupcake papers in the food section. Also, no 4-packs of frappuccino. 

 

UGH, IT POSTED TOO SOON AGAIN

 

Anyway, what they did have in stock was two packs of undies and one pack of crew socks. The socks were one size larger but I think they will work because sometimes my socks feel a little tight. They had some regular gloves. Not the latex or nitrile gloves but I can save my nitrile gloves for med things and use these others for messy work. I stocked up on panty liners and baby wipes. Got a couple more long forks and skewers in the camping section for outdoor cooking too. That was my mission this trip. To stock up on non food items from my Master List.

 

Then I dropped in the grocery store and got some Ivory soap and some Irish Spring. I use body wash but will be glad for bar soap...whenever. I found the cupcake liners, nail clippers, frapuccinos and a baster. The baster is for the garage to remove any hard to reach liquids from a motor etc. And no Salt Sense.

 

The drugstore was in the way home so I picked up a blood pressure monitor. Mine broke too long ago. 

 

So, all things considered, I had a pretty good day. Unusual for me because I can barely make it through one store without giving out. Bet I pay for it tomorrow. 

 

Edited April 25, 2021 by Jeepers
Posted Too Soon

[snapshotmiki]

Rough few days.

Thursday eve, my stepdaughter either had a stroke or has the same rare neurological genetic disease as my DH. She is having problems talking and with vision but is walking ok and hospital did not find any evidence of stroke. We are not near her so it is difficult waiting for updates.
That is where I am gong to visit in about a month.

 

I am slacking today.
No video-- at least not yet.
Went to Sunday School and Church.
Came home and made tuna salad.
Got on this site to catch up and that may be it.

[Mt_Rider]

  for Miki's stepdaughter.  Hard....not knowing what is really going on. 

 

Good haul, Jeepers.  Hope you don't have to pay for the long day with exhaustion.   

 

I had a long day yesterday.  Went RIDING.      After missing a week, I've had terrible leg/hip cramps when sleeping.  I was expecting the ride to be really rough....having lost some ground with the 2 week interim.  But it wasn't bad.  The proprioception was long gone (knowing where my body is) but my stamina is increasing.  Only began to struggle for the last 15 minutes of the ride.  I'm getting stronger.     

 

DH took my dad to Walmart while I rode.  Brought him back with his new set of shelves.  Then he brought my mom out to pick me up.  She was glad to see this place and watch our ride come in to the corral and dismount.  I was nearly glued to the saddle.....legs stiff and not responding well.  DH always comes up the ramp to help me off.  After walking around a bit with my mom, I'm able to loosen up again.  She was admiring the beauty of this ranch and it's mountain views!

 

The three of us stopped for gas, and fast food for late lunch back at their house.  Then DH went out again to grocery shop for us, pick up my mom's 'script [she forgot to have him get one for my dad] , and drop something at UPS for my mom.  I helped her figure out an error in her 500 pc puzzle....and put together my dad's "puzzle" ...his new shelves.  Had that done when DH came back to pick me up.  A long day but good. 

 

Today.....woke with terrible cramping muscles from low back to my toes on R side.  OW!  Eased off as I walked around house with assist of 2 canes.  Gotta love the results of 'Physical Therapy', right?  This too shall pass.....and improve!!  I keep that hope in mind cuz today....I can't do much of anything.    Just taking it as I can. 

 

MtRider  .....hope for the future gain but enduring present pain!   

[kappydell]

OW MtRider!  I have had pain plus since stepping up the PT.  They always wake up muscles I did not know I had.  And cramping, too.  One of my docs suggested I drink some quinine water (also known as tonic water) for those and it helps greatly.  Then add in that we always save the more physically active chores around here for days I am not going to PT and I have been pretty sore lately.  Waking up is easy, moving around after waking....not.  But I see progress with the PT so I keep going even when my body says, "oh, no, not again".  When I cant get pt orders anymore, Im off to the gym to keep going.  I have decided this is the year I do a "Dick Clark" and age backwards.

The low carb diet is part of it as are the mega vitamins.  My docs all say my lab work is wonderful, just minor tweaks needed, so I seem to be on the right track.  Now if I could find something to lift my sags and iron my wrinkles....Oh well, I'll be a muscular old biddie if not a spring chicken.  Gotta make the flesh stronger to match the will, ya know.  I'd rather spit in the one eyed jack's eye than talk to his belt buckle.  The nice thing is that when I lift weights I muscle up fast, but it does not show like on a man.  I want the extra advantage of looking weak and being strong, just in case of thuggery.  Its getting pretty wierd in the world lately.

 

Today we re-positioned "Holy Hernia" our name for the huge AC unit we put in.  We needed to angle it for better run off of water.  It only took us two hours of huffing and puffing.  Went looking for the outdoor mamas kittens (she moved them).  No luck.  But she is a sharp cookie.  Took the new soon to be transplants out of the car where we put them to protect in the storms, and back on their eastern exposure outdoor shelf ( plants love it there).  Mary and I were wondering....how come its always Sunday when we end up doing hard physical stuff?  Simple...no PT on Sunday, LOL. 

 

Stovetop burgers tonight for dinner.  Much like swiss steaks, Mary likes them better than plain burgers because they stay nice and moist.  Green beans and mushrooms with, to keep those carbs down.  Tomorrow is the  BIG DAY...I will pick some of that lettuce, mix up some low carb ranch dressing and dip and chomp leaf by leaf.  That to me is the height of decadence.    

Edited April 25, 2021 by kappydell

[Mt_Rider]

4 hours ago, kappydell said:

Gotta make the flesh stronger to match the will, ya know.

 

I LOVE that!!! 

 

MtRider     

[Homesteader]

4 hours ago, kappydell said:

They always wake up muscles I did not know I had.  And cramping, too.  One of my docs suggested I drink some quinine water (also known as tonic water) for those and it helps greatly. 

We wrote to Schwepps years ago and they had almost no quinine in in their tonic water anymore. Maybe it's because quinine can't be bought with a script in the USA and more. Tell your doc to write a script for quinine on paper and I will give you the address of the Canadian pharmacy that fills them. Most of the capsules come from England as quinine is still used in Africa. 

[snapshotmiki]

Good morning!

 

Yesterday, Walked first and walked dogs.
Ran to Kroger for local sales, then bank, then Walgreens. Trying to get the last photo printed that my little brother texted me before he passed. Not having luck yet. Actually stopped at Bath and Bodyworks for sale.
DH had a telephone doc appt. in the afternoon.
Didn't do too much else.

 

Today, walked first, then fed dogs.
Kroger was out of chocolate milk and so far today, the milk delivery fellow hasn't gotten there.
I will get 6-8 half gallons at 88 cents each to pressure can. The fellow in the dairy dept. is setting them aside for me.
Laundry is already started.
I finally got the Spring fake flowers in the hanging baskets so it looks like Spring on the front porch
Hopefully, will be PCing chocolate milk soon and maybe doing eBay photos.
Should be about it.

[Mt_Rider]

Lightning.....and Thunder......and Graupel .....and Snow....or, is it Rain?????   Good Grief!   

 

BUT....it's moisture!   

 

Haven't heard thunder in 6 months.  Good thing DH got home just as this started.  Graupel is SLICK on the roads.  He'd gone off to bring my dad to P.O. to pick up a package.  Then they brought home pizza.  Then he used the new floor cleaner machine and finally got my mom's kitchen floor cleaned.  She's SO pleased.  He said it did a good job but was quite a challenge to handle it. 

 

I'm holding down the fort here.  Dog wants in....dog wants out the back....dog wants in....dog wants out the front to bark at the 'babies'  [aka:  a herd of deer]   Sheeesh. 

 

Heard frost and snow is damaging a LOT of the southern midwest grape vines.  Happening at the wrong time, after buds/leaves are out already.    

 

Hmmm....looks like    out there right now on our pine trees.....   But it will melt and that's MOISTURE!   

 

Sorted/cleared out 2 square feet of space today.     Found my hyperthermia-prevention vest.  Soak it and cause cooling affect for one's torso.  Going to try it while horse-riding on Sat.  Cuz....   .....it's supposed to be in the 70's or more by then.  I think currently, 68* in the sun is my maximum tolerance.  Otherwise    I might have to do a full wet sweatshirt....I used to ride at 7AM with that.  Long ago.....  I won't be riding at 7AM tho at this facility.  Their earliest ride it 10AM.   

 

Yeah.....talking about hyper-thermia as the snow/graupel falls.     Springtime in the Rockies. 

 

MtRider  ....might have to wear shorts too...   

[TheCG]

We got a bit of moisture today, but not much.  Supposed to still be some more tonight, unless they've changed the forecast.

[Annarchy]

Very light sprinkling at 4am.... by 5 another light shower.  Looked out at 6 a nice light rain.  By 8 off &on light sprinkles and rain, I gathered my laundry load, uncovered the washer, dumped in the load, recovered the washer and ran inside..soaked.  Lol. Managed to get the laundry done between showers.  
 

By noon, the skies were cleared and most of the clouds were headed for Mt_Rider.   

[Jeepers]

From Annarchy to Mt. Rider on over to me.  Expecting rain here tomorrow. Please no snow with it though. I'll send what's left on over to OOTO. 

 

We got up in the 80's today. That was a pleasant surprise. 

 

I was lazy today. I did get all the boxes off of the porch and into the garage. Except for one. It's too big and heavy. I think it's the last order I made of wheat last month. Yeah, it's been there awhile. I think they put the two buckets in one big box. It was all I could do to push, pull, scoot and slide the single bucket boxes in the garage. Later tonight I'm going to open the box and take one bucket out at a time. Assuming that's what's in there. I can't imagine anything else it could be. 

 

Tomorrow I want to get some more boxes broken down and recycled out of here. If we get the rain it will be nice to sit out in the garage and do that. I like to listen to the rain as long as there is no lightning involved. 

 

[TheCG]

We did get more rain during the night.  Yay!

[Homesteader]

We've been scrounging around for pallets in our area for weeks. Since we haven't lived here very long, our resource contacts are few. However, we hit a bonanza at a flooring store we used to shop at when we built our first home back in the 1980's. They're still in business!  They told us to take whatever we wanted. The next day we pulled up with our truck and trailer. It was interesting watching DH trying to help me load the pallets with just one arm. The other one is still in a cast from his thumb surgery. It's so hard for a man to work without the use of a thumb. He tells me that he needs 'an extra pincher' when I have to tie his boots. We forget how much pinching and pulling we do with our thumbs.

 

The photo below isn't our set-up yet, but is a good representation of what we'll have by next week.     I've got 5 acres of grass/dry leaves that I can mow and stuff into the first bin (and maybe add more bins in the future). The old black square bin has done it's job but living in sand makes it impossible to keep up with compost needs in the garden and orchard. 

[snapshotmiki]

Glad you found pallets, Homesteader!  We have to pay here.

 

Walked early and then walked dogs.
Made rice for dogs.
Have first batch of chocolate milk in PC cooling down and will start 2nd in a few minutes. I have 2 PCs just didn't think ahead and had to sterilize the 2nd 7 quarts before starting them.
Will do eBay photos and take it easy the rest of the day.

 

My jeep is at the shop. Dies at inconvenient times. Already replace the crank and cam sensors. Glad we have two jeeps!

[Mt_Rider]

Wellllll, it's definitely SNOW, not graupel today.  Let it pour....so many drought warnings.   

 

We're sitting right on 32*  .....it could rain.  But snow melts into the ground quietly....without all that flooding drama.   

 

Can't figure if I will need to wear a down coat or gear to keep from overheating on Saturday to ride......      It switches that fast.

 

Glad you got some moisture in AZ, Annarchy! 

 

Need some energy to wash hair today.  Maybe....I can get it cut tomorrow.  It's 6 inches longer again.  Just cut it in late Oct. 

 

MtRider  .....CO had small tornadoes/land spouts in our eastern plains yesterday    

[Annarchy]

Mt_Rider sent the weather back to me.    swirling around the state all day.  Clearing out now, with a forecast of nearly 100°F by Saturday?!?  Means high winds for the temp change.  Mid 60’s today.  
 

Still waiting on the replacement window I broke while using the weed eater.  Broke my heart like it broke the glass.... click...click..tinkle, tinkle ....... sigh.
 

Didn’t do much today, with the weather.  Tomorrow, I need to do my list, we shall see what I get done.  I’ve got two weeks to get prepped to take her home & go to Montana to visit my baby brother.  
 

MIL lost her BFF 2 days ago.  She’s taking it hard.  But it’s understandable, he was under 50, heart problems and had been diagnosed with leukemia. Sigh.  He was a really kind and great friend to her. Always there for her, calling several times a day.  We’ve known the whole family, relatives, for over 50 years.  Such a sadness.  
 

God willing, tomorrow, I’ll make Belgian waffles, for mom, then process & cann the tomatillos and tomatoes.... mom wants to see how it’s done, then, vacuum seal leftovers, and, if I have time, pull, process and can the beets....  unless she wants to go visit her friend who just moved to Phoenix....  we shall see what God allows.....