WHATCHA DOING TODAY?

[snapshotmiki]

Will walk and walk dogs a little later this morning. It was 32 when I got up.
Doing our personal filing from '21 today.
Making Ham and scalloped potatoes all from the pantry and freezer.
Church tonight for 30 minutes of prayer.

[Annarchy]

I’m too busy for my taste….  Haven’t even been on-line, other to check & make sure MrsS was still working…Typical for this time of year.

 

Finished most of the necessary paperwork…

 

A close friend, co-worker of DH’s, had “mandatory” vax , 3 times, is now down & out with the “C” crud… 4 days after being here.  He got exposed at work, a couple days earlier…..     

 

Spent all day yesterday, bleaching, lysol’ing, scrubbing & washing, furniture, floors, walls, & ceilings…. 

 

Finishing today, what I wasn’t able to complete yesterday…..

 

Need to make puppy biscuits and DH wants oatmeal raisin cookies too…

[snapshotmiki]

I sure hope you all don't get it!  At least, you can house clean and sanitize at the same time.  Stay well!

[The WE2's]

Hello friends!  Jeepers checked in on me and I promised I would post an update.

Believe it or not, we are still trying to get everything moved, emptied, sorted and pitched while still living here at the homestead.

Hubby is working part time for our Pastor.  He manages some rental properties for an out of state owner, and just cannot find reliable workers...figure that!

Any way...I am absolutely loving our home.  We went ahead and put down some temporary Berger carpet in the living room to hid the hardwood floor defects and subsequently decided we liked the warmer floors with the carpet.  We still have a lot of finishing to do, but it's not going to happen this year.  

I've been doing a lot of baking in my gas stove.  Love the thing!  We are doing a "sort of" pantry challenge of not buying anything from the stores...and started in December when we had to pay all our RE taxes and personal property taxes...on 3 properties. 

The "other place" isn't really hurting us now other than utilities, and we did a lot of toning down on the heat etc., to keep things lower.  Pretty much the same thing we've done for years at the Roost! LOL  We'll be selling the othe4r place and eventually finishing the remodel at the Roost to rent it out for additional income.

Hubby tackled a massive winterization project here, to close up all the gaps, holes etc., to keep the head in and the cold out.  What a job!  BUT...the laundry room that used to need heat nearly all the time, now only stays about 40 or so with a small amount of heat kicking in once in awhile.  We sealed off the stair way to upstairs and I use that for "cold" storage! LOL  Also sealed off the spice/oil room and keep an Eden Pur in there to keep it warm.

It was nightmare getting our internet and land line switched over, but we finally got it done (may have mentioned that already) and things seem to be running smoother in that area.  

Yesterday hubby emptied about 20 5 gallon long term storage buckets down to the basement now that he's got that area sealed up pretty good, but still needs the sump pump to keep things dryer.  Hoping to get the "bucket" room emptied for other things we need to do in there.  It's a large room off our extended pantry.

The dining room is "stuffed" with the boxes we move here gradually, and unpack and put away.  I need to keep home running smoothing ya know!

Abby girl is totally enjoying her spaces both inside and out!  She's got her usual youth mattress etc., on my side, then her "thunder pad" on hubby's side and then a comfy bed in front of the loveseat! LOL  She "sleep around"! LOL

I washed some laundry this morning and hung it out to dry, so I need to go bring it in.  It's after 4.  I use the dryer when it's too cold or wet, but I still enjoy hanging my laundry outside when I can.  Gives me some additional Vit.D!

I'll pop back in here much sooner!

[Jeepers]

We2! So glad to see you posting and that you guys are doing so well. I really understand about the moving part. I'm still in Ohio but I do go to Indy to work on that place often enough. Things aren't as easy as they used to be when we were a little bit younger, huh? Like 40 years younger. 

 

I've been wondering how my favorite red head was. Sad to hear she has been sleeping around though. Little hussy. What a dog.  .

 

Take care and don't be a stranger.

 

 

P.S.

For those who don't know, That red head is We2's chocolate lab, Abby-girl, who really looks red. And I adore her!  

[Jeepers]

Went to Meijers today. Some shelves were empty and some were...not so empty. Their meat and water and frozen foods were limited to two each and canned fruit was a limit of four. Chef Boyardee was nearly empty but they were having a 10 for $10.00 sale. Same as my grocery store last week. The cereal aisle was very low since the last time I was there. Cereal was on sale for $2.50 a box but the boxes were very small. There is still T.P. but not a lot of each brand. Maybe 5-6 packages of each. 

 

Plenty of dog food but the cat food was another story. I heard it was getting scarce but it was worse than I thought. Part of the problem might be with the store though. The tiny cans (I think 3 oz.) were on sale. If you buy 50 of them you got $8.00 off. They were $1.00 a can. A couple of people could empty the shelf pretty fast I'd think.  The cough and cold aisle was getting emptier. 

 

They had everything I went for except I didn't buy their car snow brush. All they had were the expensive fancy ones and I don't need that. Especially not for $20.00. They finally had the little bottles of Gatorade but the rest of the juice aisle was pretty empty. Meijers gas was $3.02. Figures I'd have a full tank. I don't know if you have to have a customer card or not. One of my charge cards never works at that store. Strange. Good thing I carry two. One cashier was working today. Woo-Hoo.

 

I got all of my library books on CD's returned. I listen to them on the trip to Indy. Drove by the recycle bin and it is still over flowing. Some yahoo's don't break down their boxes causing the bins to over flow ruining it for everyone. They ought to take their address off of the box and fine them.  The bins are outside the drug store so I went in there. They have the best fresh garden salads around. Sounds odd but true. And their potato salad tastes just mine. 

 

Swung by the car wash. January 12th. and it was 45 degrees. So I was able to get all the salt and crud off of it. A few other people had the same idea so I had to wait for a bay to empty. 

 

The car window part is supposed to arrive tomorrow. If it does, I'm supposed to take it in Friday morning. The last time they gave me loaner car so I didn't have to wait there. Hopefully the same will happen this time. Or maybe they will bring me home. I'm close by. Of course now the window is latching every time. I know what will happen if I cancel the appointment though.  BTDT. 

 

Still haven't heard from the brake guys. I just remembered that there is another Conrad's about 5 miles in the other direction. I sort of wanted to stick with that company because I got my tires there and they will rotate and align etc. them for free. If one doesn't call by Monday I'll go to the other one. 

 

Drove through McDonald's for a hot macchiato and home for the rest of the night. 

[Jeepers]

Just an FYI:

 

I forgot to mention that Meijers had some Ball canning jar lids both wide mouth and regular but you had to buy them with the bands.

 

Also the drug store I went to, Discount Drug Mart, had a lot of Country Classic lids. China made. I've never heard of those. I looked them up and they had a poor quality rating. I'd only buy them if I was out of lids and was desperate. Maybe for vacuum sealing to save the Ball/Kerr lids. At least with vacuum sealing you wouldn't have to worry about over processing the food if you had to redo it. 

[TheCG]

Walmart had Kerr and Ball regular mouth lids, just lids, but no wide mouth. 

Edited January 13, 2022 by TheCG

[Mt_Rider]

I picked up a case of qt jars WITH LIDS at our hardware store about a month ago.  This hardware store has a variety of things.  Household stuff.  Yard stuff.  No wide mouth tho.

 

MtRider   

[Mt_Rider]

Well, I've been having a sleep-over at my mom's again.  Supposed to Sat - Tues but then a meeting came up on Wed so I stayed til DH could pick me up today.  Pray for his back tomorrow.  He's been working an extra client for 3 wks til they found a permanent person to help her.  His last day of double duty is tomorrow.  The extra driving has flared up his back injury......40 minutes on rough, gravel road.  AND traveling to the town to get her groceries, etc. and the other direction to pick up her mail.  Then he also had to pick me up today. 

 

My mom and I had a great time.  I am concerned tho.  I had to encourage her to go lay down and sleep extra in the late morning.  She's still of the belief that you are up and doing things during the day.  How can I get her to retire???     While she slept each day, I packed up all the Christmas stuff and hauled it to the storage closet.  Today when DH came, we took the lights off the tree    .....was putting that off til the last minute and enjoying the lit tree every day.     He carried the box of lights and I carried the tree down stairs in 3 pieces.  Oooph!  Really bad news when the person with MS loses the contest of last person standing/working/hauling...  My mom in her 90's and DH too much spasm in his back to risk carrying awkward Christmas tree.  Well, it's done now.  

 

..........and we had one of those REALLLLY SCARY CLOSE-CALL EVENTS today.   

 

My mom wanted to go out to eat and treat us for all the help.  We had a fine time for lunch and were walking out into the tiny parking area.  DH was on my left

and my mom was on my right.  I had my cane.  This all happened very fast.  The car we were walking behind on DH's side began backing up into him....and in sheer reflex he jumped forward.  Driver didn't see us.  At the same time I caught sight of the rear of car moving into us ...only inches away and SHRIEKED!  {probably REALLY LOUD!}  I was already holding my mom's arm cuz she's been so unsteady.  She also had the sun in her eyes and got very confused but saw FRIGHT on my face as I'm dragging both of us forward quickly. 

 

I think they guy must have heard me cuz he stopped.  We all hustled over to our car...a few steps away.  DH yelled something like "STUPID" at him thru the window and he backed out and left.   We all stood at the car shaking and trying to gather our shredded wits.  Fortunate that none of us fell.  Fortunate that my mom didn't go into one of her spells....cuz we had not brought her O2 concentrater along. Hmm....gotta remember that.

 

All's well that ends well....[Ma Ingalls]

 

MtRider ....have a feeling my energy expenditure was so high that I'll be paying back with interest for the next few days.   

[Jayceef]

Worked from home today. Weather was pretty crappy. Just finished up not too long ago. Just wrote a couple. of check to pay some bills. Now I am going to go pick up one prescription and our mail and drop these bills off. I also put an order in to LDS for macaroni noodles and one order of milk.  DH didn't want me buying anymore from them, but I can't help it. Even if the UPS guy knows about my noodles. I would rather have them than not. I would like to put an order in for some freeze dried meats. Man are they expensive though. As soon as I know what my tax bill and my sons bill from having a tooth extracted will cost, I am going to order from Costco. They sell nutristore brand freeze dried foods. Then I will have to cool it for awhile. I will probably just add a thing or two here and there. DH is starting to get a little crabby with how much we have. I feel like we don't have nearly enough. I really need to do an inventory. 

[Jeepers]

I had a very busy day. I went to the car place and got my back window fixed. I didn't know it but there are actually two of those hydraulic things that work the back window. I forgot what he called them. The waiting area was small but they had comfy chairs, a TV and one of those little electric fire place things going on. It was really nice especially for a tiny auto repair shop. I might think about one of those little fireplace things. There was a real fire in it. It was purdy. He had a little bowl of assorted candy on the counter. I spied some Smarties, one of my favorites, in it and told him I was stealing one. He gave me a hand full and a little bag of Famous Amos complimentary cookies. Free lunch! He applied a discount coupon which really helped. About 45 minutes total and I was out the door. I asked him about the motor oil either being synthetic or a blend and he said that's the way it comes now and was safe for the Jeep. In fact even better. Good to know. I don't get out much. 

 

I got home and the tire place had called. They said I could bring it in any time. So I did. They checked the brakes and they said they were in perfect condition. The issue was the tires. He said they were getting in pretty bad condition. They should probably be good til the end of winter. I didn't realize it but they were 13 years old! Yikes. I heard 'probably' and thought of all the trips to Indiana alone and since I didn't need to pay for a brake job, I decided to bite the bullet and get new tires. One hitch...they didn't have any to fit the Jeep. They are bigger than a regular car tire. But he could get them from another shop in a few hours if I wanted. I did. I could have left it there but I didn't have a ride and wasn't staying that long. No comfy chairs, TV or fire place. I had become spoiled over the last hour.  

 

To kill some time I went to Wal-Mart and plugged up a few holes in my prep gap. Between them and Meijers I've been pretty lucky finding some of my missing items. I swung by the garden store for some more bundles of fire wood. The guy was nice and put them in the back of the Jeep for me. He opened the back of the Jeep cargo door and that window flew up. LOL. It caught him off guard and I told him I just had it repaired. He finished and said he'd let me close it. It works like a dream now. I should have done that a long time ago. 

 

Came home for a quick lunch and back to the tire store. I told him that since they were taking the tires off anyway to go ahead and change the brake pads. He said they really were in perfect condition and would take me back to look at them. Like I would know what I was looking at. I said I trusted him and went to wait for the tires. At least he wasn't trying to sell me something I didn't need. It took nearly 2 hours. At first the chairs were all taken so I sat on the window ledge. Ugh, it was sharp and narrow. Finally a chair opened up. As I waited and read my Kindle I started dozing off. I should have stayed on that window ledge. At least it kept me alert. Lawsy, a few times I actually nodded off. I can only guess what I looked like. The final straw came when I went into full sleep mode and my purse fell off of my lap and the Kindle went sliding across the floor. Loudly. I looked at the man across from me and he gave a knowing smile with a wink and a nod. I have become one of those old people who nod off during the day in public. Anyway, I finally paid for the tires and talked to the guy behind the counter about shortages. Specifically tires. He said the shortages were real. They were backed ordered on the many tires for 6-8 weeks...if lucky. That reinforced my decision to go ahead and do the tires now. I asked him to check my spare tire. It was down 8 pounds! I sort of figured that. My own fault. Don't want to talk about that bright idea I had. But I knew.

 

I finally got home for a proper nap (messed up my sleep pattern again) and a whole lot poorer. But at least the Jeep is safe now. And I'll get bonus money back from the charge card to use at Amazon. Justifying. 

 

BTW, Wal-Mart had big 5 pound bags of frozen mixed vegetables on sale for $5.98. I'm going to dig out the dehydrator next week and start filling up jars of dried food again. They also had Ball canning jar lids! Both regular and wide mouth. I found a snow shovel but no cheapy snow brush for the car. It stays in the garage so I only need it when I'm out and about and it snows. Not paying $20.00 for that. Mine seem to go missing every. single. year. Maybe Dollar General, Family Dollar or Big Lots. 

 

Now I have a car full of prep items in the back seat and a trunk full of fire wood that needs to be carried in...next week. 

[euphrasyne]

I went to see the neurologist about my memory issues since the accident.  It was a complete waste of my time.  He wanted to treat my migraines, but not my memory because 'there isn't a pill for that'.   Freaking pill-pushers.  Modern medicine is a JOKE where they are much more concerned with making money than understanding a problem.  

 

DH went to get his inspection sticker on his truck, but the airbag chip was not coding properly so we had to get that fixed.  We got that fixed LAST YEAR at a different place.   They charged us $830 to fix it...again.  Yea inspection sticker. 

 

I broke down and bought myself a new flat cast iron pan.   I wanted it mostly to make biscuits and small pizzas.  

 

Amazon.com: Lodge Cast Iron Griddle, Round, 10.5 Inch : Everything Else

 

I got it because it is what my favorite internet cook uses for biscuits.  She is a lady from Alabama who uses the old biscuit bowl method as well as some great old Timey Alabama recipes.   My papaw was from there and he is the one who taught me to love cooking.  DH bought me her cookbook for christmas.  

Cooking with Brenda Gantt | Facebook

 

Friends & family in MS are posting FB pics of empty Walmart/Kroger shelves.   Mainstream News is citing shortages of Chicken, Cream cheese, hot cheetos, & potatoes.   We buy all those things so I am inventorying my pantry and checking prices for those.  If they have gone up significantly we will not buy.   If I am low but prices are still reasonable, we will stock a bit more.  Otherwise we will ration the pantry or substitute something else.  Farmer's cheese can be used instead of cream cheese and it can be made from powdered milk if needed.  I have enough canned chicken & frozen chicken to withstand whatever.  I have a great deal of dehydrated & canned potatoes; rice is a good substitute in most situations.  As for the hot cheetos.....they will just have to sprinkle cayenne (I have quarts) on some popcorn or eat cheese straws or something.   I am going to stock up on Lipton diet green tea citrus; I've noticed that it is harder to find lately.  It has 5 calories and I drink about 5 bottles a day.  Not the best habit, but it is better for me than sugary soda, coffee, or sweet tea.  

 

DH got a booster shot Wednesday (3rd shot.)  He is feeling pretty bad.  His arm hurts a lot where he got it and that shoulder also.   He has been laying around for 2 days.   We are living pretty complacently and happily where he gets the shot for work purposes and I do not get it.   I think all these people I read about cutting out friends & family for getting/not getting it are crazy.  

 

I got sick of the standard table topics (how was your day, what is your favorite food, etc.) prompts for dinner.  I found some middle school essay topics, formated them into excel and printed them & cut out.  We draw one or two and hold an opinion share (not a debate, no one is wrong).  These have been much more interesting and thought provoking for everyone.  

Middle School Topics.xlsx

[Jayceef]

8 minutes ago, euphrasyne said:

I went to see the neurologist about my memory issues since the accident.  It was a complete waste of my time.  He wanted to treat my migraines, but not my memory because 'there isn't a pill for that'.   Freaking pill-pushers.  Modern medicine is a JOKE where they are much more concerned with making money than understanding a problem.  

 

DH went to get his inspection sticker on his truck, but the airbag chip was not coding properly so we had to get that fixed.  We got that fixed LAST YEAR at a different place.   They charged us $830 to fix it...again.  Yea inspection sticker. 

 

I broke down and bought myself a new flat cast iron pan.   I wanted it mostly to make biscuits and small pizzas.  

 

Amazon.com: Lodge Cast Iron Griddle, Round, 10.5 Inch : Everything Else

 

I got it because it is what my favorite internet cook uses for biscuits.  She is a lady from Alabama who uses the old biscuit bowl method as well as some great old Timey Alabama recipes.   My papaw was from there and he is the one who taught me to love cooking.  DH bought me her cookbook for christmas.  

Cooking with Brenda Gantt | Facebook

 

Friends & family in MS are posting FB pics of empty Walmart/Kroger shelves.   Mainstream News is citing shortages of Chicken, Cream cheese, hot cheetos, & potatoes.   We buy all those things so I am inventorying my pantry and checking prices for those.  If they have gone up significantly we will not buy.   If I am low but prices are still reasonable, we will stock a bit more.  Otherwise we will ration the pantry or substitute something else.  Farmer's cheese can be used instead of cream cheese and it can be made from powdered milk if needed.  I have enough canned chicken & frozen chicken to withstand whatever.  I have a great deal of dehydrated & canned potatoes; rice is a good substitute in most situations.  As for the hot cheetos.....they will just have to sprinkle cayenne (I have quarts) on some popcorn or eat cheese straws or something.   I am going to stock up on Lipton diet green tea citrus; I've noticed that it is harder to find lately.  It has 5 calories and I drink about 5 bottles a day.  Not the best habit, but it is better for me than sugary soda, coffee, or sweet tea.  

 

DH got a booster shot Wednesday (3rd shot.)  He is feeling pretty bad.  His arm hurts a lot where he got it and that shoulder also.   He has been laying around for 2 days.   We are living pretty complacently and happily where he gets the shot for work purposes and I do not get it.   I think all these people I read about cutting out friends & family for getting/not getting it are crazy.  

 

I got sick of the standard table topics (how was your day, what is your favorite food, etc.) prompts for dinner.  I found some middle school essay topics, formated them into excel and printed them & cut out.  We draw one or two and hold an opinion share (not a debate, no one is wrong).  These have been much more interesting and thought provoking for everyone.  

Middle School Topics.xlsx 11.7 kB · 1 download

My sister bought my boys that same cookbook Euphrsyne! They aren’t too interested in it, but I’ve found quite a few recipes I want to try. Like I bought canned Asparagus and peas last year. We don’t eat them often, but she has a recipe using both and it sounds yummy. 

[Littlesister]

Jeepers sent me a message as I haven't been on in a while. I am still here, just been very busy. 

Granddaughter and her DH moved in with my DD. Things were not working out for them here. So they left last Sunday to move to NC with DD and her DH.  Seems granddaughter's DH thought after about 2 weeks he would take over the house. That was not going to happen. He quit his job for a risky job trying to sell solar panels which didn't pan out for him. He let his friends talk him into it saying it was fast and easy money. As the saying goes, if it sounds to good to be good, it usually is. Granddaughter quit her job when they had to start wearing a mask. She was waitressing at a restaurant and they were not taking precautions till some customer's complained. She refused to wear a mask. So neither of them were working. The whole reason for their staying here was to save money for down payment on a house. So it just didn't work out. He stayed on his computer day and all night playing games and talking to his friends. I had a lot of sleepless nights because he would be so loud, it would keep me up at night. I was getting so tired. After 2 weeks they stopped helping me pack things up and getting ready for the construction. I took pictures off walls and packed them up and a lot of other things that had to be moved from both bathrooms and kitchen and den. No help from either of them. I took the cabinets down from over the toilets in both bathrooms and GD's DH watched me take them to garage and no offer of helping with them.  I was cleaning the kitchen all the time and one time I cleaned up the mess GD's DH would make during the night eating and then mopped floor while GD sat on couch and watched me and then after I was finished, she asked if I wanted any help. Nope, I already finished. So it didn't turn out like I hoped it would. Never again will I let a family member move in with me like that. I never thought my GD would be like that, but I think she was learning from her DH.  So now they have been living with DD and no jobs. They are according to my DD looking for jobs now though. I love them both, but I could not wait on them like that and constant cleaning up behind them. They didn't take any precautions against covid. Would not wash hands nor use hand sanitizer. Neither of them have the vac. But no precautions of any kind. He acted like he wouldn't get it and she just followed in his footsteps.  And that is only part of it.  He would take meat out of my freezer that I bought, put it in fridge to eat as all he would eat for the most part was meat. But then he would only cook and eat one piece and then the rest would go bad and he would throw it in trash. I am talking about a weeks' worth steaks and pork just dumped in trash and yes I had something to say about that.  Guess he didn't like it. 

So it didn't work out at all.  They were all talk about helping me around here and then not cleaning up behind themselves either was just to much for me.  I got so tired from all of that. 

So hoping maybe they will do better at her mom's house. I sort of think he thought because I now live alone that he could just live here and do what he wanted. Guess he found out I don't work like that. My house my rules. 

 

Hope everyone is doing well as I have not read many post at all.  I know there has been a lot of bad weather, etc. But hope everyone here is doing good.  Will come back on when I have more time.  But things for me right now is much better and I still will be busy when the construction begins.  

[Midnightmom]

Since granny wasn't quite the soft touch they may have been expecting, they are moving on to greener pastures, but I doubt they will "do better" at her MOM's house since mom is pretty much the "reason" she is the way she is.

 

Don't get sucked into helping her mom help her - keep your sovereignty over yourself and your decisions, tough as it may be. And keep making progress on getting your house ready for what is to come.

 

(I am a tad bit confused. If they are living with HER mom wouldn't that be your daughter? Or was there a second/marriage second/family somewhere along the line?)

 

Your husband would be very proud of how you handled this and did not let yourself get taken advantage of. 

[Mt_Rider]

On 1/14/2022 at 4:14 PM, Jayceef said:

Even if the UPS guy knows about my noodles.

 

Some of the LDS sites will send products in plain boxes....no labels.

 

Been shoveling snow.  Good for our fire danger but after shoveling today, I changed into shorts and tank top...bare feet.  Sat out on the porch in the 62* sunshine for 45 min.  Soak up Vit D    It's January.....9,000' elevation.   Half a foot of snow dripping from everywhere...  and I'm sunbathing. 

 

MtRider  ....been a long time since CO has done that trick.  Nice tho.   

[Jeepers]

Glad to see you post Littlesister. I was thinking you and your grand daughter were having a nice time and helping each other out. Darn. Can't say I'm too surprised though. It seems to happen all the time. Especially with close family members. They come closer to using you than they would a stranger. That must have been very stressful on you. That meat situation would have sent me over the edge. As much as I love my son, I know we could never live together unless it was an emergency. He would try to take over and I'd buck up and hurt feelings would happen. Usually the hardest lessons are the ones we learn the most from. Hopefully they are learning one now. 

 

Hope your construction crew works out better. My cousin-in-law (married to my cousin before she died) has been trying to have a house built for over 2 years now. He sold the house in the Baltimore area and rented a condo in Delaware before the ground even broke in Florida. I asked why he didn't move on down to Florida. He was afraid of covid. This was in 2019 at the very beginning of this mess when Florida was being hard hit and no vaccines yet. He was waiting for it to blow over before moving down there. When the condo lease expired they moved on down to Florida into another rental. Because of the house delays but promises of soon, they were only renting a condo for six months at a time. They have had to move 5-6 times since selling their house in Maryland. All this time they are paying for the storage of their furniture in Md. They should have had the movers store their stuff in Fl. instead of Md. so it would be closer to them. That will be another transportation payment and possible delay. I tried to tell him to not be so eager too sell his house until the new build was nearly finished. And wasting a year in Delaware was silly. I warned him about running through all of the profit from selling his house too soon and paying for storage and condo rent. That money could have gone into the new house. Initially, I suggested buying a newer already built home. But no, they had to have brand new. So, after two and a half years, they just had to renew a condo lease and another month of storage fees again. Last month they told them the house was just about move in ready. Now they are waiting on kitchen cabinets. It's been sickness, no help and no supplies because of the virus for over 2 years. Next will probably be a hurricane. They are both retired in their early 70's and are not preppers. It's been a learning experience for them too. Hindsight is 20/20.

 

BTW. I know it's confusing. He was married to my dear cousin who died. And now has a live-in-girlfriend who happens to be very nice. That is that is the 'they' I'm talking about. But we still consider him family. 

[Jeepers]

Euphrasyne, I've been watching lots of videos about empty shelves and taking notice of my stores too. Kinda scary sometimes but it has given me a very much needed kick start about getting my own house in order. I became complacent. 

 

 I understand about doctors these days. If they don't know the answer they will just move on. Or tell you it's your imagination. 

 

We have to get our vehicles inspected every other year and the smokers pay for it with the tobacco tax. I think they are only tested for emissions. I know my vehicle will pass but every time I hold my breath a little thinking I'm going to have to pay for something to be fixed. 

 

Most people don't bother me about the big V.  I'm old, they figure old granny has complied. 

 

 

Mt. Rider, we had 45 degrees the other day. Felt like summer. I even washed the Jeep. Reality set back in though. Supposed to be in the teens at the end of the week. The Jeep sure looks nice though. 

 

 

Jayceef, I know what you mean about the UPS driver. He has probably got my house tagged as a prepper house. I can only imagine what the neighbors think. Personally, I don't consider it wasteful if it's something you use on the regular anyway. Plus saving money before inflation hits it. I'd like to have some dried bacon but I can't find any. I'd like just a little to add to a salad from time to time. All I see is the soy protein kind. I want the real stuff. 

[euphrasyne]

It has been my experience that friends and strangers treat you and your house better than family.   When my MIL lived with us  .....  oy!  it was bad.  

[Littlesister]

14 hours ago, Midnightmom said:

Since granny wasn't quite the soft touch they may have been expecting, they are moving on to greener pastures, but I doubt they will "do better" at her MOM's house since mom is pretty much the "reason" she is the way she is.

 

Don't get sucked into helping her mom help her - keep your sovereignty over yourself and your decisions, tough as it may be. And keep making progress on getting your house ready for what is to come.

 

(I am a tad bit confused. If they are living with HER mom wouldn't that be your daughter? Or was there a second/marriage second/family somewhere along the line?)

 

Your husband would be very proud of how you handled this and did not let yourself get taken advantage of. 

Yes, they moved in with my daughter in NC.  At one point I questioned rather my DH would have even let them move in, in the first place. I never dreamed my granddaughter would be like that. But I have only known her DH for a short time. I think it was mostly him and she just followed along with what he wanted. Hope that doesn't stay like that, she might grow to reqret that.

[Littlesister]

Taking a good long break today.  Need the rest. Tomorrow is another day.  It got up to 39* today with rain. Nasty weather.  Don't think we will have snow here but will see what tomorrow's weather will bring. We are supposed to have sleet though. I hope not. 

I almost have everything in my bedroom ready for the work on bathroom and painting of my bedroom. Just have to remove the sheets from my bed and move it all the way back against the wall. They will be covering up everything in there. Though I am still waiting for my dressers to come as now it will be March before I can get them. So just moving TV stand and bed against wall away from where the bathroom door is to give them room to gut the bathroom. They need space to take stuff in and out of room. I have all the pictures and stuff out of the den. It looks empty in there now. Still have to empty the bottom kitchen cabinets out for them to replace the kitchen sink and countertop. The kitchen sink is a one piece built into the countertop. So only way to replace the sink is to replace the whole counter. Not going to be put in like that again. This time I am having a farm sink put in. the old sink would not hold water any longer and was leaking under sink. DH had replaced parts more than once when he was able. So now it's time to just replace it. That sink was not the best. Corian sink and countertop. Though the countertop has a couple of cracks in it now. So I am replacing with quartz countertops.  I am going to have a countertop bar this time as well giving me a much deeper counter on the bar side of kitchen. So I will need to buy 4 bar stools. Just hope I can get those faster than the dressers. Come March it will be 8 months waiting on them. 

I see I have a lot of catching up on, so will just do a bit of reading for now. 

Take care everyone and stay safe. This country is not looking to great right now with seeing what is going on in other countries.  Watching to much Fox news.

[snapshotmiki]

I'm glad you kept your independence, @Littlesister!  I have a small concern about that for DH or I alone.

 

Got 8.5 hours sleep last night. That's like a miracle for me.
Sunday School and Church this morning.
Thawing chicken, hamburgers, pork chops and turkey sausage to grill tomorrow.
Printed up a list of Churches with addresses for the Church secretary to send letters with. Starting our senior club back up (hopefully).
Set up my vitamins for the month.
Will go back to church for short prayer meeting. That will be done on the 21st!

[Mt_Rider]

DH was sick yesterday.  Seems like he was just washed out from taking on a second client [40 minute drive with his injured back].  It was M & F for 3 wks til they got someone else for her.  She neeeeeds a care giver.  Extra $ is nice but not if it's so hard on him.  Today he's much better.  No illness; just still tired.   

 

I spent the afternoon reconfiguring a big new tarp that shields the garage overflow of STUFF.  It's under the upstairs porch but snow always blows in under there if it's from the S or W....or if it's just blizzard-swirling everywhere.  Our recent 5" is still on the driveway except where I shoveled streaks to open it up to the power of sunshine.     Today was colder than yesterday.  I spent 2-3 hrs on this project....climbing up and down ladder and rigging tie-downs in all sorts of ways.  Using some bungie cords ....love those.  Need to buy a big new package of them.  Several of them are old enough; exposed to weather for years....they are breaking down.  BUT....I'm quite pleased with my final result.  Lots easier to get the blown snow off ....before it melts on the next sunny day.....and melt water trickles into things I'm TRYING to keep dry! 

 

Washing clothes at the same time.  Laundry is in "basement" on ground level where I was rigging the tarp.  Did 3 loads today, counting the two car blankets that HappyDog is supposed to be tramping her muddy feet on.  She's such a busy girl that the blankets end up bunched up and doing no good.  Probably just need some washable seatcovers.   

 

Talked on the phone to life-long friend.  Growing up in the same community, we can understand things....Things specific to our micro-culture of German Farming community.  I knew her whole family and she knows mine.    Was good to talk.....for three hours!  Good thing "long-distance" charges are a thing of the past.

 

MtRider  ......   

[TheCG]

I now have TWO tiny closets for the pantry, instead of one and half the other.  I need to do a full kitchen purge and reset before too long.

 

Hubby believes in stocking up on ammo, but not on food.  I need to at least start buying some of the canned food we eat a lot of at Sam’s, where it comes in a case, so he doesn’t ask why I bought 8 cans of green beans instead of just 2.