Whatcha doing today?

[kappydell]

Hello ladies, sorry for not being online for a while.  I am still sick with something or other....bad bronchitis, pneumonia, or the big C...?  Doc has tests ordered & I got them awaiting call on results.  In meantime taking prednisone and horse pills from doc.  She was funny....I had an appointment with her and came in wearing a nasty heavy mask so I would not (at least try not) make anyone else sick whith whatever it is.  Felt like very bad sinus infection

Dos saw me and ordered tests, pills, and the like.  I was due to see her 2 days later, so when I went to sleep clinic I stayed in car.  Could not breathe in mask easily with our heavy humidity.  Doc saw Mary waiting inside to tell me when to come in and told her I was out in the car because I could breathe easier without the mask. (Also did not want to alarm other patients with ny constant hacking & coughing.)  Doc came out to car to check me over, ordered me to go HOME and take those meds AT ONCE and that the other (CPAP) appointment could wait.  And if the pills did not work call right away.  (I dont think she understands that we don't want to waste her time with constant minor complaints, so we wait until I'm certain I am sick before we come in.  But she is known as best doc in town and we like her.  She is worth the long waiting room waits.)  We gifted her with cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbages, green peppers and new potatoes from garden as she loves fresh veggies and has no time to garden.

 

So now I am voluntarily staying home (as if I had energy to go anywhere much in hot humid temps while masked).  The garden is slowing down, kicking out smaller amounts of things, but still putting out decently.  I don't have energy for huge canning sessions right now, even doing the dishes took all day.  But we can still get things done, just not very fast.  Cant get enough together to fill a canner so I am dehdrating the smaller pickings instead.  I am also slowly tackling the spring cleaning that kept getting set aside for garden, flowers, and outdoor "helping mary" chores.  Slowly, but at least its getting done.

 

Two families in our area got evicted (one for selling drugs, one for nonpayment of rent) and they had chickens.  So now chickens are running round the neighborhood.  One of our other neighbors has been finding them, and eggs, in his yard.  He wants to keep 1 hen, I guess we are getting the rest.  So we ordered a medium (3-4 regular size bird or 6-8 bantam size) coop.  It has nice features including an enclosed chicken yard area (which we will reinforce to keep some of our local predators out.  We dont expect regular "chicken wire" to be any protection, and will put up woven wire on all sides and top.  

I asked Mary what kind of chickens they were but she did not see them when the neighbor asked if we wanted some.  

We discussed kinds of birds, and when I described bantams (she never heard of them) she said those appealed to her most.  This morning she caught sight of the wandering chickens and said they looked like banties (little half-size birds).  I told her eggs would be smaller, but she has no problems with that.  I told her I would handle the rooster and any of the chicks that turn out to be males if she wanted, as sexing fluffballs is HARD.  She says it is OK if I butcher and can the meat, as then she cant tell the meat source, LOL.  So we will be getting ready for our "free" chickens as soon as that coop arrives.

 

 

Fireworks (if it does not rain) tomight!   

Edited July 4, 2022 by kappydell

[Becca_Anne]

Kappy feel better soon and take it easy! Congrats on the chickens!

 

Miki sounds like a useful cookbook. I don't have too many leftovers either but good to have ideas to use when I do. Let us know if the recipes are any good.

 

We celebrated the 4th by having hot dogs, corn on the cob, watermelon, and  ice cream sandwiches and watching the parade in front of our house. Then off to watch Fireworks at a local winery which turned out to be a spectacular show. Rivaled what I have seen in larger cities! So now we know what to do here for the 4th!

[Littlesister]

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July.

 

Kappy, hope you feel better soon and glad you can get some of those free chickens. That is a plus.

 

Grandson had to work on the 4th, so we celebrated on Sat. DD and her DH came in and GS cooked ribs on the grill. We had a great time. Then on Sunday after Church service we had a church gathering with a cookout of hotdogs and hamburgers after the service. Had a great time there as well. 

The 4th was quiet as GS had to work but watched the fireworks from a neighbor across from me doing some powerful fireworks in her back yard. I had to pull all the hoses and turn water on to be ready. The embers were blowing all over my roof and car. What a mess. And to make matters worse, my neighbor's dog managed to get out of house running from fireworks as she doesn't like the sound and got scared. Unfortunately, she got up on highway and got killed.  So, when people do fireworks that close to the neighbors houses it does have consequences. That neighbor that lost his dog lives right next door to her. She had some powerful fireworks. Very loud and more like what they use at the parades. I had to wash car this morning to get all the ash off the windshield and stuff. It is all over the roof of house as well. 

Still trying to get things back together. No contractors again today. He says he is still waiting on the fan to come in. He is just putting me off as he ordered both fans at same time. They are the same fan just one with light and one without. He has contractors working on the other 3 houses he just took on a week or so ago and using the fan to hold me off till they get those houses going before he starts doing to them what he is doing with the other 6 houses. A little at this house then off to do a little at another house, etc. Nothing gets finished in a timely minor. 

 

[Mother]

Little Sister,  our GD lives in your state and her husband is a certified pyrotech. He sat up an awesome fireworks display for us here last night.   I believe he said Virginia requires permits to set fireworks off.  Your neighbors might be made responsible for any damage they caused.  

[Momo]

I hope your 4th was great.

 

We finally got some rain yesterday. It wasn't alot but it had been about 2 weeks without any. Way too dry for this part of the country. Only had one neighbor about half a mile away do firecrackers this year.  He always has a big one. I am glad that my pony is gone.  It really bothered him and I was  always scared he would run thru the fence.

 

I only have one tomato plant this year and it looks pathetic.  Six big half red tomatoes on  a few skinny, bare branches. I did pick one yesterday (my first of the season) and it tasted great.  Since DH died and I am handicapped I really cut back on the veggies this year.  It's good that I did because it has been so dry and hot.

 

I will be glad when the weather breaks. It has been very hot but at least the humidity hasn't been as bad as usual.  My a/c in the car went out but at least my home is cool! I dread getting the electric bill.

 

I hope those of you travelling have safe travels!

[snapshotmiki]

Praying for your recovery, Kappy!

That's so sad about your neighbor's dog, Littlesister.

I still have 2 lick tubs with tomatoes, but that's all Momo.  Darn rat!

 

Walked first. A fellow I speak to on my walks offered for me to pick as many pears as I want from his tree. Will do that tomorrow and give them a couple of jars.
Walked dogs.
Pulled up tomato plants. Tired of feeding the rat and they were almost over anyway.
Did one load of laundry.
Still to do: put together water filter system.
ebay photos.
Cut carrots for dog treats.
Cut watermelon for my treats!
Dehydrate some frozen corn as an experiment.
That's it for the day.

[out_of_the_ordinary]

Postage stamps are going up to 60 cents each starting Sunday.   Current price is 58 cents.    I'll have to remind DH to buy some this week.

[snapshotmiki]

Had to go into town, yesterday. Walmart was surprisingly well stocked, even looking down the aisles I don't go to.

Haven't walked yet today. Am in slow motion.
Will walk dogs after I walk.
Take ebay photos.
Maybe dehydrate corn kernels.
Bible study tonight.

[Becca_Anne]

Feeling really blah today. I have to learn not to take staycations. I just end up feeling disappointed and like it's a big waste. I am going to try to salvage what's left of it. Back to work Monday. I did freeze some berries today as I bought a big bunch of blueberries from Costco and no one was eating them so froze most of them flat and will bag them. Also a flat of raspberries and some grapes so it will go nice in smoothies and the grapes are a good frozen treat instead of ice cream for me.

[Jayceef]

Becca Anne I thought you were taking a vacation and going somewhere or did I miss that? I haven’t been on here checking regularly though. 
 

Lille sister so sorry about the neighbors dog. Yikes!

 

Kappydell that’s awesome about the chickens! 
 

I got my smaller solar cooker and while I like it, I wish I would have splurged on the go sun brand. The tray on this one is pretty shallow. I also ordered a hard case for my noco battery charger. We had another derecho sweep through on Tuesday. Both my kids were at camp in the city I work in. No text to come get them early it was an email🙄 Luckily DH saw it and called me right away. I took off work and went and got them and brought them back to my office. No place safer than a 100+ old penitentiary😉 we waited it out until it passed and then took the highway home as there were a lot of downed semis on the interstate. I need to keep a few self heating meals and some snacks in my office. Also need to call about having a water powered sump pump backup put in. We are going to do a whole house generator switch with a shed as well. Wish I could get more of my family on board with taking care of themselves. My DMIL keeps telling me she knows we will just take care of her. Well we might not always be able too. I wish she would at least get a jackery or something! 

[Becca_Anne]

Jayceef I took 10 days off but not going anywhere. It always sounds like a nice idea to have a lot of time to relax at home, and in some ways it's been great- sleeping in every day, not having to do or go anywhere but I have a hard time not working on home projects when I'm home which makes me anxious they aren't getting done and it's really hard for me to relax. I do better when we go away and I'm not responsible for anything. Oh well live and learn and the budget didn't really have a big trip in it this year anyways. I did have some fun but should have gotten out a bit more. I will try to spread some fun out over the next few weekends to make up for it.

[Littlesister]

Beca Anne, When DH and I were still working, there were times we just stayed home and relaxed. DH was doing a garden at that time, but it didn't get large until he had to retire. We just did things together and enjoyed each other's company and did small things around house. Mostly outside yard work that we didn't have time to do otherwise. Watched movies at home and went to the movies if something was playing, we wanted to see. Just have to turn away from house cleaning other than what has to be done during that time and read books and watch movies. Lots of rest.

OOTO, thank you about the stamps going up. I didn't hear about that so went to post office this afternoon and bought 2 rolls of stamps. Your message came through on my e-mail and I saw it. 2 rolls will last me a long time. 

The construction guys came yesterday and finished up the shoe molding, so the only thing left are the 2 ceiling fans and hooking up exhaust fans in both bathrooms. No one came today and I went off on the owner. So, he claims they will be here at 7 am tomorrow morning. They have never gotten here before 8:30 to 9:30 and I don't expect them to be here before that time. But someone had better be here to finish up the job. The fireplace still has not been started yet and he contracted that out to a chimney company. He didn't like that I knew what I was talking about on the pipe going up into the chimney. But I am paying for it, and I want it done right. I win. This guy tries to cut corners and use cheaper material. He thinks he will make more money off his clients that way. But he wasn't getting away with it here. NO cutting corners and NO using cheap materials. I checked out everything before it could be installed. If not right, it went back. That is why the ceiling fans aren't in yet. One has been here, and they could have put that one in but the other one was not what I had him order and it had to go back to be reordered. So, he wouldn't let them come back till the other fan came in. But when they did come, they still didn't get fans up as it took all day to get the shoe molding down. Lots of doors and heat registers to cut around. But at least that part is done. We are now going into 7 months of this construction job. It should have been finished by now. 

Garden is starting to come in now but not enough of anything to can. I have 5 zucchini to shred tomorrow morning and get into freezer. Only 2 squash and a hand full of green beans. Those I will cook up tomorrow for dinner. Might have a couple of more squash that might be ready tomorrow. Will check the green beans again also. Watching one cucumber and some more green peppers that might need picking tomorrow as well. I have some now I will be getting ready for freezer as well. The Roma tomatoes are loaded but none have ripened yet. That looks like they will be ripening almost all at one time which is what I am hoping for. Then I can get soups made to can, canned tomatoes and spaghetti sauce made up to can. Might make salsa to can if I have enough tomatoes for it. Today I unpacked more boxes and got what I could get put away up. Dressers will be here on Sat. finally. It has only been 14 months waiting on them. Then I can really start into cleaning up and getting the sawdust out of the front bedroom and moving things back where they need to go. Then I can work on small bedroom as I am turning that into a large pantry. Have 2 more shelving units that I will get GS to help me put together once I am ready to do that. Then I can organize the food better. But don't think that will all get done before the canning from garden begins. 

[out_of_the_ordinary]

15 hours ago, Littlesister said:

OOTO, thank you about the stamps going up. I didn't hear about that so went to post office this afternoon and bought 2 rolls of stamps. Your message came through on my e-mail and I saw it. 2 rolls will last me a long time. 

 

LittleSister, I want to let you know that I haven't sent you (or anyone else here) any messages nor emails. 

 

If anyone has received any messages or email saying that they are from me, someone is scamming or something. 

[snapshotmiki]

So sorry about your neighbor's dog, Littlesister!  I am glad that your house is getting completed and you can move forward on some fronts!

I hope you have a fun weekend Becca Anne!

 

Walked first and picked up some pears while out there.
Went back and collected the pears to bring home and stopped at local grocery.
Still need to weed eat in the garden--that's how you know the weeds are winning. LOL
Going to learn to use my vacuum sealer on jars, today. I have always just sealed in bags.
Will water garden this evening if it doesn't rain.

[Littlesister]

OOTO, I should have explained better. The e-mails I get are not from anyone person but from Mrs. S. I get a notification on some of the topics when someone post. The e-mail was not from you directly but from the forum. Hope that explains it better. I get post on some topics but not all. It helps me to keep up a little when I can't be on for days at a time. I can quickly read a post from time to time without having to log in when I know someone has posted.

 

Other than the fireplace and a little bit of touchup paint, the house is now done. I am now able to get the deep cleaning done and finish getting the boxes unpacked and everything put away. The dressers will be here tomorrow afternoon. So hopefully in about a week my GS will have a bedroom. Lots of sawdust and just regular dust in there that I could not get to because of all the mess piled up in that bedroom. Have already started to empty that room, but need to get the curtains down and washed, clean windows and blinds also. Then get the floor mopped and everything ready for GS. Yes, I went after the owner and let him know this is a dire situation and my GS does not need to be sleeping in a living room on a couch. He works nights and sleeps during the day and needs a bedroom not a couch. And that he best stop playing around with pulling his guys off one job to do another job Before they can finish up what they are doing on the one job. That is not how construction works. And if he wanted to start getting paid again then he best be getting this job done. Now we will see how long it takes to get the fireplace done. That is the only thing left to do. But at least now I can get GS into a bedroom and out of the living room. 

 

Put on a pot roast in slow cooker this morning as GS is off and we can sit down together to have dinner.  He is off on Friday and Saturday and is the only time we can sit down to a meal together. 

Might not be on here as often as I will be really busy putting this house back together. Got the curtain rods all up and curtains are hung. Master bedroom floor is now clean and just waiting for it to dry so I can get bed back into place and vacuum mattress and box springs really well and then make bed. Once dressers get here tomorrow, I will be putting my clothes away in the new dressers and have them out of boxes. Living from boxes has been a real challenge. My food pantry which is going to be the small bedroom will be the last room done as I have to get a dresser out of that room and a desk. Then I can get the other 2 shelving units put up and start sorting through the food and getting it all organized. But will try to get on when I can. 

Hoping that Mt. Rider is doing well, and all is good with her mother. I am sure she is still there helping her mother out as I think she said she is in her 90's. So, I am sure she is in much need of some help. Keeping her and her mother in prayer. 

[Becca_Anne]

Littlesister celebrating that work on your house is so close to done 

 

Nothing got done on my house this week but at least cabinet guy says he was able to get the cabinet doors to work so they are now in the process of getting finished. That's one step closer! Then once they are installed we can get the plumbing and electrical put in and countertops ordered! The day it's all done I'm having a party

 

Miki let us know how the jar sealing goes I've never tried mine on them and I'm curious if they stay sealed well

[snapshotmiki]

Walked first, but had to make myself get going.
Walked dogs.
Next will harvest in garden, mostly okra and a few peppers.
And I have no idea what I will do the rest of the day. Was going to prune and weed eat around in yard, but it is getting up to 95 and with the humidity, it is too much today.

I'm sure I can find something to get into.
Will update tomorrow!

16 hours ago, Becca_Anne said:

let us know how the jar sealing goes

It sealed the jar great.  I think I expected it to pull air out of the jar first and it didn't.  I do have a set of 3 Foodsaver containers that will do that, but haven't tried that part yet.  I have a widemouth jar sealer so I ordered a regular size one yesterday.  I think I will use them for some of the dehydrating and storage.  Can't see using too many mason jars for that purpose as it would cost too much.

[Midnightmom]

4 hours ago, snapshotmiki said:

I have a widemouth jar sealer so I ordered a regular size one yesterday.

Heads up! Lots of people have reported that the lid doesn't stay on the jar when you remove the jar sealer. They say that if you use 2 lids - one right side to the jar, and the second one upside down - you can avoid that issue. I don't have one that size so I don't know from experience how true it is, but lots of people have posted that that is the way they solved that problem. Another way to make the sealer attachment "let go" more easily is to remove the hose from it before trying to remove it as it breaks the suction hold and makes removal easier. 

[snapshotmiki]

I picked it up  by the  lid. I didn't  know  about  using  2 lids. Thanks!

[kappydell]

Our chicken coop came, it is cute and quite strong for the price.  Ordered another to separate the roosters from the pullets.  It came today.  Mary found the box on the fornt porch, in the rain, so we wresteled it inside.  We would build it in here, but it would not fit out the door, so we are waiting for a break in the rain.

 

Mary took me to Tractor Supply "to look" at chicken stuff.  I should know better by now....they had bantam chicks in stock so we now have peeps in the bathtub.  Cute littlethings.  They could not tell us what they would look like grown, but thats OK.  We got 2 black and 2 yellow ones.  They are scooting around the tub, digging in the wood chips, eating, drinking, and even chasing (and occasionally catching!) flies.  We did have to put a screen up across the bathroom door and another fence section across the top of the tub just in case the cats get curious.  So far they could care less.  That is good. 

 

The rain is pretty constant here now....rain, hot and humid as hell, rain again.  Repeat ad infinitum.  So everybody has cabin fever, though we try to work thru the rain pauses to get them outside to take care of business and stretch their legs.  Last nights storm was a little stronger than usual and we woke to find a big black cable across our lawn, draped on our shed, and over the greenhouses.  We did not lose power, but we called to have it checked (we do not mess with high voltage).  It is not a power line.  So I have been calloing around to all the assorted phone carriers in the area (and there are a lot of them) to determine the owner and have them come pick it up again. 

 

Somehow I think there would be a lot of bitching if we just cut it and threw it in the ditch, even if we could cut it, LOL. I have ended up texting numerous chat lines (NOBODY seems to have live people anymore except as sales force.)  As soon as they find out I am not a customer and do not plan on being one, the computer switches me to the chat.  I think I may have found the carrier (5th try) but they are "not sure" and are sending someone out, one of these days, to look at it and decide if it is theirs.  (You would think folks would want to know if their lines were down but there is a total lack of enthusiasm  from customer service.)  And the wait times on hold are CRAZY.

Edited July 9, 2022 by kappydell

[Becca_Anne]

Miki thanks for the update on how the lid sealing went. Midnightmom I'll keep that in mind if I ever get a sealer again and try it. I think mine didn't make it in the move. I'm at the stage in my unpacking I'm wondering what I still own LOL. Put a lot in the closets to sort through "later" but haven't yet gotten around to them yet. Just working on daily functional stuff still.

 

Wow you'd think they'd want to know about their line being down for sure and send someone right away Kappy! Good luck with your chicks 

 

Today I went to quilt guild and out for lunch with 2 of the ladies from that. Starting to make some connections here. Really got nothing else done except reading which is exactly what I wanted to do today. Tomorrow is the last day of my vacation, then it's back to the usual.

[snapshotmiki]

I went to a different Church this morning. Probably where I will attend when the building sells.
Walked dogs.
Put a turkey in the oven. only has about 30 minutes left to cook.
Aside from packaging, slicing and putting it away, won't be doing much else.
Restful day!

[Jayceef]

I finally finished up the work I took home. Ugh! I was so tired yesterday for some reason. I finished up half of what I needed to do and then went to bed. The kids took it easy as they went full throttle all week at camp. I needed to finish up what I didn't get done yesterday, so I kicked them out today and made them go to the pool for a while. Now I'm all done and need to clean up the house and swing by the grocery store for tonights supper. I put the call into the company regarding my sump pump. I'm sure it was because it was Friday and everyone has been busy as I didn't get a call back. I will call again next week if I don't hear anything. Well I better get to it. This cleaning and shopping will not do itself. 

[Jeepers]

Midnightmom, sometimes I've had to use two lids to get a seal too. I always remove the hose to make sure there isn't any suction left too. 

[snapshotmiki]

Walked pretty early this morning.
Harvested okra, peppers and eggplants in garden.
Did 2 loads of laundry.
Pruned all around property. Darn it's hot out there. Glad to be done outside!
Called usps and ordered envelopes.
Called Social security and left a message.
I think I get to mess around the rest of the day!