Whatcha doing today?

[Mt_Rider]

7 hours ago, kappydell said:

My doc asked last time I was there what I did for exercise....well....pull weeds, pick garden produce, stretch fences, chase and catch critters, tow brush and stack wood when Chainsaw Mary cuts trees, etc.  Even the American Heart Assc. says that yard work counts as heart healthy "moderate" exercise.   We sleep very well after a yard work day.

 

 

Yeah, I've been very much wanting to retain my core strength and muscles of arms/legs ....hard won while sorting/packing/emptying Mom's house this summer.  But my usual walk a mile down road with Big Dogs.....not such a good idea anymore.  Can't walk far enough to even have a cardio workout.  And if I walk too far.....away from the house and have trouble  [heat or fatigue meltdown....or twist an ankle....or have a wildlife encounter w/o my HUGE livestock guardian breed dog......]      Happy dog is 80# of eager, sniffing, glee.    At the sight of bear, coyote, cougar....    I have no idea how she'd react.  I might have to do the defending while dog rips my arm outta the socket trying to exit the situation.  Good choice but not helpful for me.  Just didn't feel right any more.   

 

So I'm climbing the hillside right near the house....or at least I can cross over the top and end up in the parking area in front of the house.  Some days can't do the HILL.  Sometimes takes 2-3 Gotta-Have-Air breaks before I reach the top.  But for now, that's my workout....while "walking the dog".  Actually, she's doing laps around me the whole time. 

 

My doc was mostly pleased during my annual physical today.  Couple possible issues, but probably not.  Have another round of steroids but will only take them if something goes sideways on my trip back to Iowa.  Otherwise I'll probably need them when I return and need to calm down inflammation again. 

 

THEN.....I'll stay home for a while, hopefully. 

 

MtRider  ....WHAT a year this has been!   

[Jeepers]

Oh yes Annarchy, I'm very familiar with the 'S' (senior) card. I highly recommend it. I am proud of you girl!

 

I use it often. It can be twice as effective if you can pull that vacant confused look. Pretty easy for me.   And if you can muster up a little extra moisture in your eyes like you are going to break down and cry on them, you are golden!   Not to brag or anything, but I can even quiver my lower lip on demand.   

 

Once you get to my age it even works over the phone.  

 

App? What's an app Hon? You mean an appetizer? Don't mind if I do.  

[Becca_Anne]

Everyone has been busy! Annarchy so sorry about your toe that sounds ouchie! 

 

Kitchen is done except the moving of the stove and fridge and DH got the rolling appliance parts today so we can move them after work tonight. Then I will have a usable kitchen, just a few minor items like installing the vent hood fan which will have to wait until I find the funds. But ceilings are 11 feet and there wasn't one in the old kitchen and we did fine so should be ok until I can get around to that. I am so happy with the way it turned out. Now to tackle the pantry and re-organize it so that I have more room for food. All the china I'm storing in there will go in the wall cabinet behind the glass doors

[euphrasyne]

Becca Anne, I'm so jealous.  Your kitchen looks amazing.  We really need to get off our rear ends and redo ours.  

[snapshotmiki]

i love the kitchen, Becca Anne!

And Jeepers,I also kind of feel like sewing now.  LOL

Annarchy, I hope your toe is feeling a little better!

I know I think and feel like I am busy most of the time, but you are busy all the time Kappy!  I'm so glad that your ideas and efforts are paying off!

 

Yesterday, took DH to doc appt. in the morning after walking.
Had a business meeting at church last night.

 

Walked this morning and walked dogs.
Set up DH's pills for the month.
Next will be canning figs this afternoon.
Bible study this evening.

[Jeepers]

Becca_Anne, your new kitchen is so beautiful! You did a magnificent job of designing it.  

 

I had blue cabinets at the first house we bought. Except they were a darker blue so not nearly as pretty as yours. The 'farmhouse' look is just my style. 

 

Euphraysne, I'm suffering a little bit from kitchen envy too. But there isn't much I can do with my little galley kitchen. That plus a lack of designer's imagination.   I have a big pass-thru going from the kitchen to the great room. It's an eyesore and could easily become a catch all. 

[Mt_Rider]

might try getting to sleep before 6:30am   .....sleeping til 1:30pm   

 

 

MtRider   ...getting worse, not better.      Just try again.  G'nite.

[snapshotmiki]

Slept midnight until 6:45. not straight through, of course, but still better for me!  i hope you get straightened out soon, Mt Rider!

 

Already walked.
Next, I will make labels and put away figs that were canned yesterday.
Then, prune roses and pull a few weeds around some herbs out front.
DH is taking little dog to vet for nail trim.
I ordered a 4 foot Christmas tree (white and pre-lit) from Amazon, so I need to set that up and make sure it works. Don't want to wait until I can't send it back. I will keep it in my bedroom until November at least.

[Mt_Rider]

        

[Annarchy]

Went to a new Dr.  He’s extremely concerned.. more tests…. 
 

Dinner tonight is homemade Subway type sandwiches. 

 

I’m too upset to eat……

 

Our/his kid is here, giving us moral support…. God knows…. 

[Jeepers]

Annarchy, sending prayers heaven bound for better test results and for the doctor's wisdom.  

 

[Becca_Anne]

Thank you everyone we are extremely happy with how it turned out and I look forward to preserving a lot of food there 

Sending prayers Annarchy!  I am sure you are very worried but glad the new specialist is taking it seriously!

[out_of_the_ordinary]

Annarchy, 

[Mt_Rider]

  for Annarchys    For decent medical care and God's extraordinary love and care on top of that!

 

Rode horse today....gorgeous day.  I didn't drop energy after the first 2/3 of ride like previous weeks.     But I did nap from 3-6.  Couldn't stay awake and it's part of my late bedtimes.   

 

I'm definitely feeling more normal.  Still short on energy but improving. 

 

Looking forward to the trip to IA. 

 

MtRider    

[snapshotmiki]

Praying for Annarchy and family!  Intelligent and reliable health care is hard to come by these days.  

 

Walked first yesterday and walked dogs.
Handyman came and fixed leaky toilet. Yay!
I made oatmeal for a few breakfasts.
Pulled Jerusalem artichokes, dug sweet potatoes and disassembled small garden area. 
That's about it. Messed with the Christmas tree in bedroom some more. At least when I bring it out, it will be all ready!

 

Didn't have enough of a harvest with sweet potatoes or sunchokes to do them next year at least in the semi shaded area they were in this year. I got everything dug up, the fence down and border bricks picked up and moved. Big job for me, but I am so glad it is done.

Today will be Church first.
Walk dogs.
Prune roses and herbs, etc. in front.
Make "nice" cream for popsicles.
I'm doing a Liver cleanse today, so no dinner.

[euphrasyne]

Prayers for Annarchy.

 

Yesterday, DD14 and I went out to Once Upon A Child (2nd hand kids clothes) and got a cold weather wardrobe for DD2.   They outgrow everything so fast at that age that it isn't much worth buying expensive stuff unless it is super cute.  We spent $100 and got 6 dresses, 3 pair of pants, 1 shirt/pants outfit, 3 pair pajama tops & pants, 1 heavy coat, 1 light coat, 1 knit cardigan, 1 denim jacket, and a butterfly Halloween costume with dress, leggings, wings, and headband doodlebobbers.  I was happy with the prices and items. 

 

Next we went to the Asian grocery and stocked up on a few needed items.  Prices were up and they were higher for some things than the regular grocery.  I was very unhappy and will only go back for very specialty items like rice paper for raw spring rolls.  

 

Lunch was at the Indian place near where we were.  It was good, but it wasn't as good as the one in Suffolk.   Rajput is just amazing and I haven't found better in any place.  

 

Lastly, we went to the Indian grocery.  Some of the prices were high, others were very reasonable.  The spices were extremely reasonable.  I got several bags 14oz-16oz for the price I would normally pay for a jar.  Some seeds, some ground.   They also had rice flour and besan flour very reasonably (chickpea or gram do not confuse with graham which is a type of wheat).  Luckily DD14 helped me carry it inside and I didn't have to explain to DH why I bought 10 pounds of spices and more flour.  

 

Today was DD2's 2nd birthday.   I ran out to Kroger this morning to pick up a cake because I didn't manage to make one yesterday because I was too tired.   While I was there I did some grocery shopping.  O>  MY> Goodness>  I haven't been there in quite some time.  I've been ordering pickup online, shopping at Aldi, and eating down all the meat in my freezer.   Sticker shock.  Almost everything was much more expensive than it was last year.  Chicken last year was 1.79 and has been for at least 5 years.  1.49 on sale.  Today it was 2.49 and the name brand chicken was 4.59.  Loaves of Italian bread have gone for $1 forever are now $2 each.   Tonitos Pizzas used to be .99 and went up to 1.25 about 2 years ago.  Now 1.99 each.  My green tea used to be 4.99 for 12 and is now 6.49.  The whole store was like that.   There was 1 open register with a checker and a bagger.   There were 8 open self checkouts with 2 monitors for them.  I did see lots of workers going around with all the carts gathering pick up orders.   I will most likely not shop there anymore.    Also, the shelves were fronted with only a few items and nothing behind them, fewer choices, many brands no longer carried.  

 

After the shopping trip, I put everything away, took everyone to the Park to celebrate the birthday, ate lunch out, and came home for a nap, cake, and presents in that order.   It worked out well.   She loved the park and climbed the steps to slide dozens of times.   The flower blocks we bought were as big a hit as we had hoped.  She is in heaven.  

 

 

[Becca_Anne]

Precious <3 So glad the toy was a hit

 

Yes food prices have skyrocketed. I have been meal planning really  carefully to stretch my budget.

Today I got a lot done unpacked some more boxes and finally got our breakfast room set up with the board games and puzzles and moved my desk in there as well. Spaces are starting to come together now. Feels great!

[Mt_Rider]

Euphrasyne......SOOOOO CUTE!!     

 

Listened to our pastor on computer.  DH went to his temporary job and I went to sleep.  Sheesh.  Slept last nite 2:30am to 11am.  Then nap 2pm to 4pm.  Will it never be enough?    

 

 

Really, I'm feeling much improved but .....soon I'll have to get in gear about packing for Iowa again.  I finally found my prescription muscle relaxants.  Knew I'd seen them IN the house after moving back from Mom's.  SLOWLY a few things find a place to be in this packed N stacked cabin.   

 

Getting pretty CHILLY    up here in high country at night.  In the upper 30's.  But can get up to 80's in the sunshine.  MUST find a spot in the window for Mom's peace plant....before I leave.  Must find a better and EASIER night/frost cover for my pots of pansies before I leave or DH won't cover them.  He does uncover them in the mornings....but it involves a lot of sheets, rug, plastic.....and clothes pins.  LOL   Gotta find a large quilt or something he can just toss over the plant stand. 

 

MtRider  ....all that sleep and  I'm TIRED!     

 

 

[Beryl]

Arthritis flareup so not much........

 

Cold weather. Plan to cook large pot of beef and roots veg onions stew for 2 maybe 3 days food.

 

DD her care package is near full to be mailed... thinking what small items to put in it.

[snapshotmiki]

Such a little sweetheart, @euphrasyne!

We are having another heat wave, @Mt_Rider.  90 plus during the days.

 

Liver cleanse complete. Yay!

Will walk first.
laundry.
Cut carrots for dog treats.
Make Cajun seasoning for future use.
Thaw and de-stem elderberries to can syrup from, tomorrow. I still have one gallon of figs left. Might can them too and then finished for now, at least with everything harvested.

[Jeepers]

Aw, look at that little face! She sure is concentrating hard on that flower. Good call on that gift. 

And yeah on the cost of food. We are all feeling the crunch at the grocery store. Not looking forward to the heating bills this winter too.

 

Beryl, hope your arthritis flair up calms down soon! Colder weather sure doesn't help.  

[Annarchy]

Drama, I so dislike drama, but it is what it is.  It happens even when we try our hardest to avoid it.  
 

So…. Here’s a ‘short story’. Ha! Or book, lol

 

 

So, a bit of history….  Some of you might remember…… I’ve been here over 60 years.  The house across the street, east of us,  belonged to a school teacher, retired, turned realtor.  She lived there a couple years, decided to rent it.  The guy that rented it, was…. well, IDK…. He had Grrrr.  He called him Barney.  He used to try to take him for walks, Barney would lay down and roll over… pulled by a choke chain….  He’d give up and leave him.  We would go over & give him food & water, even tho he had a hole dug under the swamp cooler.  Then, the guy died.  I drove past, going to the market, no biggie…, coming home, I saw the medical examiners truck there, stopped & asked, what’s up.  The examiner, who knew my family, 30 years back, informed me, the man had passed.  I asked, what was going to happen to the dog?  Animal control.  They have a 3 day waiting period, then euthanasia.  I told the examiner, we could take him, temporarily, until the family came to claim his estate.  NP. So, ‘Barney’ came into our yard.  2 weeks later, family came, walked through, looked over at the dog, and left.  They wanted nothing to do with the belongings or the dog.  
 

We contacted the police.  They said the man was a hoarder, the place was crammed with stuff and they abandoned the dog. Absolutely no dog food, except 2 cans of moist food, which they gave to us.  NP, he loved Dog chow & actually gorged himself on it, but he was 30 lbs under weight, according to or vet, plus, no one had any shot records for him.  Anyway…..

 

Because, every time anyone drove past that house, he would growl, we named him Grrrr.   Appropriate.  He became our best friend and very protective and loved to go for walks…. PD said, his owner tried to kill him, when he knew he was dying…missed, he had a bare scalped area on his head when we got him, but his hair eventually covered that area, hence, Grrrr was extremely afraid of guns.  Poor baby.  But we understood!  
 

So, fast forward, 3-4 years…. Vacant house, transients, started the bed on fire, threw it out the bedroom window, but, not before catching the house on fire.  The guy ran away, PD wasn’t able to catch him.  The house on fire, fire dept didn’t show up for about an hour.  Adobe, internally it was trashed, but the outside structure still stood.  Several companies came in to try to clean it up.  2 quit, due to asbestos contamination.  We, of course, we’re picking up garbage blowing across the street into our yard.  Yuck..

 

OK, fast forward, to, 2020.  A couple, from Canada, bought the lot, with a baby girl came, rented a garbage dumpster, & a smallish backhoe.  Demolished the building, flattened the lot & had all the debris hauled away.  We welcomed them to the neighborhood, chatted several times, played with the child, and encouraged them in their endeavors to build a home for their family…. They were extremely excited, working on their citizenship, and couldn’t wait to build their new “home” here.
 

OK, fast forward to 2 years ago….  Covid hit.  They can’t leave Canada…. Trash has been piling up in the lot!  We know, for a fact, it’s not the Lady that owns the beauty Salon, or her next door neighbor, who is a fun friend to chat with, or the next neighbor closest to us, across the block… he’s older and very environmentally conscious!  So….

 

2 years ago, another, long time friend of my mom & dad, rented the ‘historical’ house to a guy in need….  Good grief…. He gets a visitor…. when they leave, he’s outside screaming, at the top of his lungs, for 10 min., “Don’t leave, come back”.  No big deal, IDC, just leave us alone.  He pounds on the walls of the house, at all hours, we call him “Thumper”.    However, he never ever, ever, as long as he has been there, puts out a roll off, with garbage….. free…city paid…..  the dude, throws it in the vacant lot!!!  He rents the house, has told his neighbors he owns both lots..  definitely not!  
 

Our little town will issue warnings to keep your property clean.  Several of our other neighbors have ‘cleaned’ up the weeds.  But, that lot is trashed with restaurant fast food boxes.  The owners of the lot, in Canada, had to have a professional company clean it up, twice!  Guess what?  It’s trashed.  Again!  I called the police, again, because I’m tired of that crap blowing into my yard!  DH called a couple of weeks ago, the PD talked with him & left….nothing has changed, except more trash…
 

Talked with my friend, who lives across the street from him, asking if she knew why the PD was there the other day.  Yup.  He apparently saw her outside, early in the morning, and flashed her…wearing girl panties!!!!!    
 

So, I called the PD today, because I had to pick up a bunch of his trash, again, out of my yard.  The PD are going to put up a trail cam, to catch him….  
 

Drama….  God knows I don’t want it!
 

 

[Becca_Anne]

Eep so sorry you're dealing with neighbor issues. I hope the new owners can eventually claim their property and build there so you don't have that issue ongoing forever. If not might be worth seeing if they'd sell it to you and then make it fenced in so only you can access it. We thought about doing that with our next door property which is for sale but don't have the funds to buy it right now (our house next door is vacant and there is a bunch of junk that still needs to be disposed of in their carport area) I worry there will be squatters moving in if someone doesn't buy it soon. We looked at it but it's too far gone for us to tackle (needs new roof, furnace and electric and plumbing so at least 80k to get it even rentable).

[Jeepers]

Oh brother. No, you certainly don't need that drama! It sounds like some sort of legal action needs to be filed against the owners of the property. It is their responsibility to make sure the property is maintained. If they can't do that, or they can't move into it, then perhaps they need to sell it. Usually, not always though, a sternly written letter from an attorney will do the trick. Especially if it's from another country. If the other neighbors are in agreement, a letter from an attorney stating they represent families A,B,C and D would probably get more action. Also, all of the families could pitch in for the lawyers fee.

 

I was flashed twice. Ugh it was awful. My guys weren't wearing any panties. I'm nor sure which is worse...

 

I remember Grrrr. I didn't know he had such a bad start though.    Glad he found you though.  

 

 

Becca_Anne, the same recourse might help you. An eyesore and menace to the community or safety hazard. Devaluing surrounding property owners maybe? 

[Annarchy]

Thanks Jeeps, but I would definitely prefer the couple & their family to live there.  There is another lot between their lot & his rental.  Historically, the house he is renting, was one of the original people who founded our town.  Back in the mid 1800’s. The next 2  lots over, towards our house, we’re her maids & field workers quarters.  She passed, the next lot was her maids quarters, then, the maid passed, with no heirs.  In 1994, the city plowed it over & removed everything.  The house was full of her belongings.  Everything was bulldozed down & trashed.  It’s been a vacant lot ever since.  IDK, if the historical society has a hand in it.  Land that had historical buildings, originally, have to be built by the historical manner.  That lot is still for sale, but for much more than any realtor wants to pay.  Plus, they can only rebuild on it, in the manor it was originally built in the late 1800’s.  The house my parents rented a couple of months, was the field workers dwelling, back in the 1930’s. That’s the one that burned down.  
 

Honestly, I hope that person goes away.  I don’t care how, just go away..  he’s mental…and not in a good way….  I won’t even say what he’s yelled at me, when I’m working in my yard…..