WHATCHA DOING TODAY?

[Mt_Rider]

Did so much yesterday....I'm flattened today. DH works so I'll have to feed.

 

MtRider

[The WE2's]

Hauled more leaves to the homestead today, did a little grocery shopping and then played hooky right here at home the rest of the evening. Oh...I did go ahead and make our tooth powder into a paste. Mr. says he prefers the paste...even if it is brown it rinses out of ones mouth!

Edited December 5, 2016 by The WE2's

[Annarchy]

Cleaned up the porch yesterday. Walked to the PO with DH. Then, BBQ'd. Basically a quiet day.

[Jeepers]

Ducking a HUGE horse fly. I hate those things. It should be dead by now. Wonder where it came from. It keeps buzzing around the light which is right beside me. I keep waiting for the big old thing to fall on me. I think it's taunting me now. If it lands on the wall...it's mine.

 

Later this evening I'm going to go dump off some trash and empty the paper recycle box. I need to stop off and get some Christmas cards. They are starting to roll in and I don't want to shame myself again this year by being late. Need to pick up some photo paper to make copies of pics of 'you know who' to insert in the cards. I'd better get the lead out this year and get a move on.

[Mt_Rider]

Sweeping snow........from EVERYWHERE. I hate snow/ice/subzero....

 

My muscles are shaking...

 

...but van got me down and BACK UP the mountain for feeding tonite when it was ZERO degrees. It complained a bit but it started both times.

 

MtRider

[Annarchy]

Getting ready to go sit at motor vehicle....

[sassenach]

Bought tacks for plastic for windows when I went to go get money order for rent. Going shopping soon.

[The WE2's]

A full day...even though neither of us are quite up to standard...the fluish/cold? thing is nearly over with. I plugged in the humidifier and filled it's twin tubs with water and a dab of eucayptus oil. We both found great benefit from using our little "inhaler" machine that we bought severa years ago so figured it was time to put the big boy to use again. Keeping mucous membranes moist and soothed does wonders. Went to DMV and got tags for one of Mr's work trailers, stopped at Aldi's for a few things, dumped off 12 more bags of leaves at the homestead (we picked them up yesterday afternoon), picked up a birthday card for a friend's party on Sunday, and then $Tree for a large foil pan. A bunch of us friends are getting together shortly for a Christmas party and I'm making facciaccia bread. The host is making white chili and boy does she doe a bang-up job!

[Jeepers]

23 degrees here today. I got some errands run and stopped off at the grocery store for some fruit. It's little Clementine orange time. I love those little devils. I got all of the pictures scanned and printed and got my Christmas cards ready for the mail box.

 

This evening I watched a movie from the library. It was season 1 of Home Fires. Season 2 will be out sometime next April. I didn't know they were making another season. It was very good. About the time leading up to WWll in England and what the women were doing to prepare for it. Two women at odds = drama. I highly recommend it especially if you can get it free from your library. Season 2 should be even better because the war will have been underway. I don't remember any graphic sex or F-bombs but you all know my short term memory. Sigh. I should mention there is one brief scene of two women kissing. Also a couple romping in the hay...literally

[Annarchy]

I was #1 at motor vehicle! That has never happened before. In and out in less than 5 minutes.

 

I took the locking mechanism off the washer in order to be able to check the water level and re-arrange any off set load. Seems to be working. Still takes an hour to wash a single load. humph.

 

DH ordered wood for the BBQ, hickory and apple. We have been barbecuing every evening this week. Nom nom nom....

 

DH & I have been walking the 1/2 mile to the PO and back after walking up Main St. (He said he needs to get active again for his health. He had a birthday and I guess, age is getting on his nerves. I am seriously concerned about how he has been feeling, but he won't go to the doctor. Sigh) The other day we stopped into one of the new thrift shops and they had a 60" x 48" vinyl window blind for $3.50. Picked it up, to replace the one we have in the kitchen. Last time I opened it completely, the string showed some fraying up in the mechanism.

 

House cleaning today....

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful day.

[Jeepers]

Ugh, I'm going to have to go out to Wal-Mart today. I'm waiting until later so hopefully they won't be too crowded. The battery for my garage door opener has finally died. Dang. I couldn't even figure out how to open the remote control thing to get to the battery. I had to Youtube it. Then they said when you change the battery sometimes you have to reset the garage door opener. Crimony, I don't know how to do that either. Plus I'll have to get up on a ladder to push the buttons on the opener to reset it. I'll have to Youtube that again and write down the instructions. And it's 24 degrees out there. I'm hoping I won't have to reset the opener or at the very least I'm able to figure it out.

 

Last night I pulled the Jeep out in the driveway and went back in the garage and hit the button on the wall and tried to run out before the door closed. Uh, I have a safety laser beam on mine so when I tripped it the door stopped and went back up. Duh. That's why I do things around here after dark. I can be a spectacle at times.

 

I finally got more gas inside the tractor than all over the outside. Everything made now days seems to be geared toward young strong men and not made for old women. Guess I'm gonna have too go get me one of those too.

[Mt_Rider]

LOL Jeepers. I'm envisioning you dashing to the finish line and vaulting over the red laser light with a no-handed flip...then squoooshing under the closing door just in time. Too many spy movies? :darth duck:

 

 

Annarchy..... Has anyone in the world every been out of DMV in FIVE MINUTES? That's an hour or more that you didn't have to waste!

 

Was in town today. Visit my folks. Few errands afterwards. Stopped by Burger King...... Ah, it's been so very long since I've had fast food... It surely wasn't very good. Told DH to remind me to go to Subway next time. Since I do fast food about once every 1-2 yrs.....I keep forgetting that it's not gonna taste like I think. But I didn't have to cook.

 

 

MtRider ....eating mints...

Edited December 11, 2016 by Mt_Rider

[The WE2's]

Weather was a bit warmer, and Mr was glad. He got the breaker box trimmed and sanded for the camera before it got too dark. I worked in the homestead apartment, and then he came inside too and we set him up a space so he could spray paint the box and the camera. Wood floors already damaged by previous wall painters, but spray didn't over-spray anyway. While he was cuting and sanding outside earlier, I scrubbed, spray painte, and then applied shelf liner to the little pantry area of the upstairs kitchen. While he was spray painting inside, I carried a lot of my canning equipment (what I don't keep here) up and started putting them in the new little storage area. I started working on the "pie safe" (ie micorwave cabinet?) getting it emptied of the "previous" junk. I'll get it emptied completely then get it cleaned up and shelf liner put in it. It will be a good place for my juicer and other misc. kitchen appliances. It will be nice to have it all upstairs in one place and not in the main house kitchen. I'll go up and get what I need when I need it...guess that's on my way to de-cluttering at the homestead! Abby-girl did her "frantic run" all over the yard and then made a flying dive right into the middle of the bags of leaves that we pitched into the small side yard. She's such a hoot sometimes :-) When we're at the park, Mr kicks the leaves and she leaps into the air trying to grab the leaves. We took some videos with our camera a few years ago and she still loves to do it.

[sassenach]

I need to unpack some big boxes. More bathroom stuff, like my blow dryer would be nice now that sometimes I need to get ready a lot faster to do stuff.

Snow boots would be a plus! More of my clothes!

Other extraneous stuff, and probably sorting out more kitchen boxes and putting it up on shelves in the multipurpose craft room. Because it has two sets of shelves and I Have to wait to buy some decent shelves for the kitchen for a while but at least I would have access to this extra stuff.

I completely forgot to get a weighted gauge ..... I think I Left the 15lb increment in old apartment kitchen drawer. Well, I can order one next month,I won't be canning this month. Went up in elevation when I moved.

 

Yesterday I ended up knitting on my sock.

 

I need to write a letter to Christy tonight.

 

I need to do my other big extra chores before I sit to knit or I get absorbed in knitting and time goes by too far to do the other chores.

[Jeepers]

I got the battery changed in the garage remote control changed. It was a bear getting the thing opened. It doesn't work. I guess I'm going to have to figure out how to reset it with the garage opener. I figured just changing the battery would be too easy. Sigh. Why do 'they' have to make things so difficult. I'll have to get the ladder out and take the cover off of the opener box and try to figure it out from there. I can't find the manual. Maybe it's online.

 

I'm going to visit grandson this Thursday. Maybe I'll wait until I come back home to get it figured out. I'll be in a better mood then.

[Ambergris]

Added a few inches to the scarf I'm knitting for DS2. About half of it's dark brown, and the rest is dark brown with bits of green and buff. Sometimes the yarn forms stripes as I knit, sometimes it doesn't. He planted me a row of daylilies today. He's been coming by once a week to do these little projects, putting something together (my post-concussion brain can't make any sense of those diagrams) or doing something ground/floor level (which would wreck my back). It's really nice.

DS1 made a luscious pork roast today and checked all the outlets to make a list of the dead ones. We were going to bring a plumber and an electrician through on this paycheck, but stuff happened. That's now scheduled for January.

[The WE2's]

Finished up the laundry & all is put away. Unpacked several bags of chicken breasts from the deep freeze. I'll be canning tomorrow. They've been frozen longer than I wanted, so it's time. Picked up a couple dozen pint jars from homestead house. I'll need to get them all washed up in the morning. The chicken is defrosting on top of the deep freeze on and under a towel. Put a beef tenderloin roast in my 7 qt. pressure "cooker" , added some potatoes, onions, celery and a few spices and made a loaf of bread...for supper! Twas tastey! Got everything cleaned up so I'll have a fresh start after breakfast, to do the canning.

[The WE2's]

BEWARE...graphic video, so if you're squeemish, don't click on the video.

I know we all love pets and I'm not trying to put a damper on anything, but I watched a youtube video put up by Tommy Alderman, of Alderman Farm, only a few days after he was attacked and nearly killed by his Anatolian, and then his border collar joined in the fray. If it hadn't been for God's hand and Tommy's son's ability to shoot without hesitation this man would probably be dead. We all need to remember that no matter how much we love them, they are animals.

 

[Jeepers]

I got my laundry all finished up today too. Will probably pack my suitcase tonight for Thursday. Might as well get it ready. I'm probably coming back Sunday. The weather is supposed to get bad while I'm gone. I'm going trash dumping and grocery shopping tomorrow so when I get home I won't have to go out for awhile unless I just want to.

 

I might pick up some videos from the library to have here too. I just finished season 1-2-3 of Vera. Very good Brit Detective series. I can recommend it! I usually don't like that genre but this is a woman in her 60's solving murder mysteries. She's very likeable (not cutsie) no nonsense and smart.

 

D-ex just called. Lawsy help us. He's out there toy shopping with camera in hand ready to send me pics of his haul so we don't duplicate. First time grandparents are a breed of their own.

[The WE2's]

Jeepers...I'm betting the "new" will never wear off no matter how many grandbabies you get to love on!

[The WE2's]

Been canning for 2 days :-)

[Daylily]

We have to go to a funeral this morning. 11 am. DH is doing the eulogy and we will sing two songs. Then church and Christmas program and dinner at church tomorrow. Then another funeral Sunday. It's 11 degrees right now at 7:11 am.

[Mt_Rider]

Hoping to bring home more hay.....

 

MtRider all goes smoothly.....and we can still walk upright by the end of this day...

[Mt_Rider]

Ah yesSSSSS! Mission Accomplished.

 

2...minor injuries: A bale twisted-bounced oddly. I had a hay hook embedded into the bale and the point smacked into my knee. OW! Small skin puncture but I might even bruise. And DH slightly twisted his bad knee [he has two bad knees] trying to wedge a bale into place.

 

1...vehicle didn't start after we finished unloading BUT I'd just mentioned to DH as we got ready to do this thing.....that I ALWAYS try to park in such a way that another vehicle can pass by. We've got so many hills that passing next to another car on the driveway is very hard. But he remembered on our second trip back and squeezed over to one side. And he was able to bring the truck along side the dead van and jump the battery. Same thing happened last time the van hauled hay....something is not right but ....at least a jump fixes it.

 

1....vehicle on the battery charger after just barely making it up the hill to the house. Died again about in the middle of SMALL parking area, but I was able to squeeze the truck up here too. {I am SO tired of tiny little flat spaces to maneuver in ....mountain terrain can be a pain!}

 

32....more bales stacked into our small hay shed

 

2...determined horses who felt they NEEDED to do a quality control check on this new hay.....and finally found their nosey selves locked out of the way in the paddock!

 

1...exuberant doggie who thinks running down the same stretch of road back and forth; back and forth is EXCITING! And....wanted some of our PB&J FORTIFICATION sandwiches! Her still-energetic self helped drag me up the steps at the end of this long, arduous day.

 

2...people getting older by the minute on this arduous day....

 

3....hours of warm weather and wind....taking my sweatshirt off. Overheating in the truck and can't find the right controls in DH's truck to give me COOL air...cuz the road is like a snake and I can't take my eyes off it long enough. Driver's window mechanism doesn't work. In desperation, I opened the driver's door [only going 20 mph on gravel road] and let in cool air that way. FINALLY got a straight stretch and found the COOL air buttons.

 

3...hours of gettin'-cooler-by-the-minute ....and shoot, it's snowing! By this time we're back with the 2nd load and the first load was dumped out quickly next to the driveway. All bales have to be dragged on a plastic sled about 100' over to the hay shed. [Note to self: Build the stupid hay shed NEXT TO THE DRIVEWAY!!!] Did I mention that the path to barn is OF COURSE on the side of a hill so sometimes the bale rolls off the sled.... Then as soon as we got all bales inside, we had to get all the other barn stuff we took out of the way; put that back inside. And park the horse trailer....after jumping the van...and then get all the stuff that lives in the horse trailer back inside and covered with tarp. AND run up to get horse/duck food/water and take care of all the animals...walk the dog for her business in the snow and dark......

 

2 .....showers after shaking the hay out of sox, pants, boots, coats, gloves, hair, ....and everywhere else imaginable and unimaginable!

 

1...crockpot of pork and 1 of rice already made last nite in preparation for this long and arduous day.

 

MtRider ..still have more than fifty bale to move but ...it won't be any time soon. No real hurry to remove them from our friend's barn. Thankfully!

Edited December 17, 2016 by Mt_Rider

[The WE2's]

Got the taxes paid :-( Praying things will be easier next year after we divested ourselves of two properties. A little bit of moisture off and on during day but nothing stuck. Just COLD! Hauled some more canning jars back from the homestead. I'll do some more canning next week. Emptying out the freezer :-) Put a couple of sandbags in the back of truck bed...it's that time of year. Found the front gate of Abby's yard at the homestead open again. We were there earlier, left for about 2 hours, came back and it was open. Noticed the two dogs from across the road were in another neighbors yard...gate open. So we put some wire through the latch. I know it may be "tin foil hat" but we're thinking the lab from across the road has figured out how he can lift and push gates open...his (which we noticed was wide open), the other neighbors (which was wide open) and ours, which was wide open. If we have no further incidents I guess we'll have figured it out. We're tucked in, safe, warm, well fed and happy...and they say we may get 1-3" of the white stuff by tomorrow night.