Watcha doing today?

[Littlesister]

Didn't get some things I was hoping to get done yet today. Knee is giving me a fit today. Rained last night and was looking like rain early this morning. So maybe the arthritis was acting up. I have the brace on, but the knee is still sore and stiff.  Tomorrow is another day for getting that rug down.  

DGD and baby came by for a visit. She loves the way I set up the front of house. And things the dining room table makes more since in the den. She suggested instead of buying a farmhouse table to keep the table I have and buy 2 farmhouse chairs and a couple of benches for the sides of it and also buy the buffet cabinet. that would be in white as my other taller cabinet that's in the new dining room is also white. I really just want to get the couch first as I don't want to spend all my money at once on furniture. Need to keep building up on that. So, DGD and I are going furniture shopping maybe next week. Yep, she loves to furniture shop. We are going to Newport News first and if I don't find what I want then we will head to VA Beach on another day. They have some good size furniture stores in Newport News but not an Ikea. That store I would love to go check out. 

Plumber came and lit the furnace for me and gave me instructions on how to light it. These are the guys that worked with DH at the gas co. though they did not work for the gas co. They worked alongside of the gas company and is how they knew my DH. They are good honest plumbing company, and I would recommend them to anyone needing a plumber. 

 

I think I found someone that will set up my raised bed garden. I wanted to save money and do it myself but with my hands like they are and my Bumb knee, I gave in and going to get an estimate. This company came highly recommended so will see how things go price wise. I already know it won't be cheap, but I can't get it done on my own.

 

[euphrasyne]

So, I'd just gotten out of the hospital from the emergency gallbladder surgery.  I was doing pretty good and started PT back up on the broken wrist.  PT guy said "you've met every goal I have for you.  Here are some things you can continue to do at home, but you don't really need me anymore.  Good job."  I was really happy about that.  Saturday, I didn't feel so good.  I started dry heaving and dry heaved every 2-3 minutes for 10 hours straight.  Pain, fever, and a few other symptoms.  Back to the ER with us.   I was admitted with complications to the gallbladder surgery late Saturday night.   Monday they put in a port/drain because I have an internal abscess.  I finally got discharged today.    

 

NO MORE HOSPITALS!   This is becoming ridiculous.  

[Midnightmom]

 

2 hours ago, euphrasyne said:

NO MORE HOSPITALS!   This is becoming ridiculous.  

A loooooooooooooong time ago, people were afraid to go to the hospital because that is where you went to die! Seems like the care people are receiving now has brought back that idea/attitude.   Is it because "health care" is becoming more socialized - even for those with private insurance???

[Becca_Anne]

((((Euphrasyne))) so sorry you ended up needing intervention but hopefully this time it will lead to full healing. Infections are rough glad you got it checked out.

[euphrasyne]

For me, its because A) I'm very agoraphobic and being at the hospital makes my blood pressure around 200/90 and freaks out all the nurses and doctors the whole time I am there.  (It actually hit 239/95 this time which is a record for me.)  Its fine when I'm at home.   and B ) nurses fall into 2 categories--overworked angels who make my life easier or more comfortable and the second who are power-mad sadistic witches who exist only to make my life miserable.  I actually listened to one nurse go on a rant about how she was going to wake up the person in the next room over and take her vitals specifically because they had asked to be left alone for a few hours at night.  (the patient there also had sundown syndrome, so the nurse waking them up when not really needed was the dumbest thing ever and ended up being a security code.)  I could hear everyone talking and they were blaming the patient and the progression of the disease .... and not the nurse who planned all this stuff  OUT LOUD where I could hear it.  

Edited October 16, 2024 by euphrasyne

[Littlesister]

Euphrasyne, don't get me started on hospitals. They just let my DH choke on food they bought him for dinner and then just stood around and did nothing for him while he was choking. And no water. I went to the nurses' station to get water for him, and they just said later and kept up their conversation. Luckly another nurse heard the conversation and came running out of another patient's room. He got his water to help him swallow and I had already had him sitting up in bed. But they had to call in for a breathing treatment after the incident to get him fully recovered from choking. There were a lot of things that happened in that hospital during 2020. No patient care and If I wasn't there with him, he wouldn't have even been able to bath or brush his teeth. Not to mention keeping water in the room for him to drink was impossible. 

I am so glad that you did go and get that taken care of, but the medical field has become socialized medicine, and we will never get the care we once had. Not even with private insurance. Right now, I am having issues with finding a good doctor as I am getting so disgusted with the care I get. Doctors don't get paid much from insurance companies, so they have the whatever attitude don't spend enough time with you to deal with any issues you might be having. 

 

Glad you are back home, and your blood pressure hopefully has gone back down to normal. Praying for a fast recovery. You have really had your share of medical issues. Time to stay well. 

[Jeepers]

@Littlesister Good luck with your landscaper. I like to save money by doing it myself too. But these days I can't do the things I used to do so I have to hire it done too. I cause more problems trying to save money. Penny wise and pound foolish.   Glad you got your furnace on. I've been running mine this week. My bedroom is so hot. I closed the vents in here today hoping that will help. The rest of the house is too cool. 

 

@euphrasyne I'm sorry you ended up in the hospital yet again. I know all about the sadistic nurses. I still have the hole in my ear drum from Nurse Ratched at the Dr. Mengele Hospital for the Unsuspecting.  And I'm sorry your DH had to suffer through his final days Littlesister. A real shame how some people just don't care. 

 

I'm being sort of lazy. I'm tired. Been sleeping off and on. I need to go to town tomorrow. Specifically Wal-Mart. I have no idea where my jeans are. Packed away someplace. I can't find any and it's getting too cold for these shorts. I'll go buy a pair and find the others. 

 

I did start cleaning a little. I got most of the small hall closet straightened up. Mostly took the meds out and stuck them all in another bedroom. I have two bedrooms I can't walk all the way in. 

[Mt_Rider]

On 10/15/2024 at 10:34 AM, snapshotmiki said:

Maybe make some jalapeno garbage bread.

 

  I know why I would call anything with jalapeno "garbage"  .....but I suspect your "garbage bread" means something different from my view.   

 

MtRider 

[Jeepers]

I'm with you Mt. Rider. I can barely tolerate mild sauce. I'm a delicate little flower. 

 

I read it as "garage" bread and wondered what it could be. 

[Mt_Rider]

10 hours ago, euphrasyne said:

NO MORE HOSPITALS!   This is becoming ridiculous. 

 

Oh good grief...that is the truth!    for your restored health.  How does your family fare while you're in the hospital?  Older dd at home is the one who likes to cook, right?  But for sure the little one would be missing you....    Sorry some of the medical folks are outright dangerous in their lack of motivation.     Go work in a convenience store if they have that attitude!  

 

Jeepers, Enjoy your new house - tho hunting and hunting within the piles of things is really not a lot of fun....     It will be "carving out a campsite" for a while.  But now...you've got the time.  You've landed at your home in INDY!!!!   

 

I arrived home yesterday in early evening by the time we actually got home from airport.  At least gas is cheaper In Town.  I had no difficulty in flying except one last minute gate change - and it was a long way to the other gate.  Thankfully, an employee who is not an assistance person (more like an 'in-charge and do whatever it takes' person)  scooted my wheelchair and the man next to me in an airport transport chair...all the way over to the new gate assignment.    I also had forgotten to make my traditional PB&J sandwich....and didn't connect with the bag of dehy apricots and goodies my friend was packing for me.    How'd we manage that?  However, I had enough time at the second airport to buy a 23.7 fl oz of water for $5    and eat one of the protein bars I always carry in my two-ton purse.  I didn't have any rush except the quick transport assist with that gate change but no worries with him getting us over there.  

 

Air travel in the Rockies can get rather - ROCKY!  Pockets of different air currents happen frequently.  Some areas of flight, the staff stay buckled in and they certainly don't serve beverages.  I buy water with the flip open lid!  No unscrewing the cap....cuz ya just know there'd be an ooops! 

 

Last nite I was SO tired I went to bed early for me.  10:30pm I think.  Then of course, I woke at 7:30am.  I was FREEZING.  Furnace down a bit too low.  I was up for a bit - bowl of granola cereal and then back in bed.  Even pulled up the down comforter and tried to get warm while.  Finally did.  Repeated same in the afternoon and that one included a bit of a nap.  Sooooo tired.  I did get two larger suitcases emptied.  Not everything is put away from them yet.  Most tho.

 

BTW.....I went to thrift stores with MO friend...and just happened upon suitcases.  The large one I brought was breaking apart.  So I bought two nice ones - a bit of wear but no holes, rollers were good, handles/zippers all intact.  But they just aren't the new, hard plastic, sleek style.  Hey....I got them for $5 and $8 and my old one went into their trash bin.     That old one was giving me visions of seeing my undies taking a ride around the luggage carousel.     [Long ago I did have luggage damaged and it came down the carousel leaking bits. ]  Handlers aren't real careful, of course.  By the way, it's a really good thing that I always put thick red yarn tied to the handle.  Also had put a green handle wrap on one of them...or I wouldn't have immediately recognized them.  I was walking along side the second one, trying for a positive I.D.   

 

So...with my nap earlier, I'm up and it's time to go to bed again. 

 

MtRider     It's cold up here in the mountains!  Big surprise there, huh?   

[euphrasyne]

Garbage bread, casserole, etc.  usually means you throw everything left in your fridge/need to eat area into it so it isn't always made the same way twice.  At least where I come from.  It turns out great 99% of the time.  

[snapshotmiki]

@Mt_Rider, I used to make it with pizza dough and throw in chiles, jalapenos, and cheeses.  It's so good.  i'm glad that you are getting caught up on rest!

 

Already walked.
Made some medicare related phone calls.
Going to make that bread this morning.
Walk dogs.
Get free lunch from Catholic Church for us and to deliver to homebound friends.
Local grocery for a couple of things.
Make a cottage cheese blueberry bake that is low sugar to take to Bible study tonight.
Bible study this evening.

[Necie]

1 hour ago, euphrasyne said:

Garbage bread, casserole, etc.  usually means you throw everything left in your fridge/need to eat area into it so it isn't always made the same way twice.  At least where I come from.  It turns out great 99% of the time.  

My mom used to do something like this when we were kids. We always called it “throw-ins”. 
She would take all leftovers from the fridge and cut them into stew size bites and put into a 9x13 cake pan. Meat was ALWAYS beef. We never had chicken or pork. Potatoes (always just boiled) and veggies and any gravy that may have been made. There might be goulash, chili, tuna/noodle casserole, etc. that also got mixed in. Maybe some leftover rice or oatmeal from breakfasts. If she needed to add *more*, it was a quart jar of beef/barley soup. 
Anyhow, she would mix it all in the cake pan and top with biscuits and bake. It was dinner EVERY Friday night. Grocery shopping was done on Saturdays. 

[Littlesister]

My mother who was not a good cook, did make a good soup. She called it stone soup. All he leftovers from the week went into it. Be it chicken or beef, it went in the pot. corn, Green beans tomatoes, onions, butterbeans, you name it. We didn't do hot stuff. But the soup was one of the few things she could make. 

 

Getting ready to go pick up RX's.  Looked at the sale paper for anything I could buy to dehydrate. I now have plenty of onions but need more celery, and carrots. Maybe check on peas to see if any frozen ones also are on sale. DGGB loves peas and carrots but when DGD tries to take a jar of peas and a jar of carrots and mix them she won't eat them. She's not spoiled she wants the jars that has peas and carrots mixed together. I want to dehydrate some fruits also. I think I have a bag of blueberries in freezer that I will pull out to dehydrate. But no other frozen fruit. 

Knee is better today so working on house today.  Main bathroom is mostly clean just need to get the shower walls and tub cleaned. Then clean window and blinds. 

[Jeepers]

I've seen it called Dump Dinners now. Just dump in what ever you have. 

 

The women in my family were all good cooks but it was always the same thing. About the only spices were salt and pepper. To be fair, my mom worked in a factory and took in ironing in the weekend. And there was no internet for ideas. And not much action in our little southern Indiana farming town. We ate chicken and some beef. Once in a blue moon we had a pork chop. But lots of casseroles. Never ever did any of the women in my family cook fish. Maybe they were afraid of them.  

[Littlesister]

Changed up everything today. Paid a couple of bills and then off to post office to mail them. Then on to Harris Teeter to pick up RX and to shop the sales. Frozen strawberries were on sale as well as celery. shredded cheese was a buy one and get one free so got 4 packs for the freezer. Bought some frozen broccoli as well. I want to make some potato & broccoli soup. So now I need to let my knee rest as the driving and walking through store has it hurting again. Then I will start dehydrating a bit later.  I now have celery, onions still to finish up, blueberries and strawberries to dehydrate. The rug will get put down hopefully tomorrow. But I will need to find a stopping place as I have an insurance company calling me at noon about a new prescription drug plan. I think this one will work out. 

 

Jeepers, my grandmother and 5 of my aunts were great cooks and I learned from my GM. Had one aunt that was not the best cook, but boy could she bake the best cakes and pies. She loved to bake but not to cook.  I learned how to can from my grandmother growing up. I spent a lot of summers on that farm with her.  Helping her and my grandfather with the garden. Those were some great times. 

[Mt_Rider]

13 hours ago, snapshotmiki said:

cottage cheese blueberry bake that is low sugar

Now that's a recipe I'd be interested in!   

 

Yay!  I have a horse ride tomorrow.  Forecast calls for thunderstorms in the PM.  Ride is 1-2pm so I think we'll be okay.  Sitting on the planes so long ...my legs have been twitchy and uncomfortable.  MO and CO are not that much distance but it is hours of sitting - on plane or in airport or in car getting home again.  I've walked the dog Tues and tonite but only a few tenths of a mile.  I get all wobbly.  Good thing the dog is always diverted by sniffing EVERYthing...even if she'd sniffed that post every single night for the past 2 years.  So if my pace gets slow, she's fine with it.   

 

I didn't feel quite so wiped out today.  Got a few more things put where they belong.  I'm using some of the tinctures that MO friend sent home with me (and bottles did not break - packed them good).  I was very stuffed up in sinus and took the mullein tincture once.....I've been clear the rest of the day.     K says you're supposed to take it every few hours.    Didn't need it for that one.  But...the pain one (wild lettuce) I've taken 3?  4?  times.  My overall-general muscles are complaining.  Ow!  

 

OK...gonna go to bed...lay down again!  Doesn't hurt then.  Much.  Don't have trouble sleeping tho.

 

MtRider .... G'nite

[snapshotmiki]

For @Mt_Rider

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/558727897540187303/

 

Will walk first.
Work at cafe for 3 hours.
Water roses this evening.
Not much else going on!

 

 

[Littlesister]

Mt. Rider, I hope your ride went well today. 

Miki that looks good.  Going to check that out. 

 

Tomorrow is going to be a crazy day.  And this morning I was supposed to get a call about my prescription drug plan, and he didn't call me. I am changing plans for that as the one I have now is not very good. 

Tomorrow, I am babysitting for a couple of hours, and I still have to get some things out of the 2 sheds. Then the landscape guys are coming in the afternoon to see what I want to do and then give me an estimate. I have a feeling this isn't going to be cheap. But I just can't do it by myself. This is going to be too big of a project for me to handle. Going to try to get the rug down in the sewing/craft room tomorrow morning before the baby gets here. The kitchen is a mess to say the least, but to clean and set up one room, you end up making a mess in another room. I did finally get the main bathroom cleaned up though. My GS had his dirty feet on every wall in there. Took a lot of the Mr. Clean scrubby things to get the dirt off. But I did get it all off. Now to get those curtains made as soon as I can get my sewing machine set up. 

[Necie]

At the farm.
The camper has been INVADED!! LADYBUGS! 🐞 🐞 🐞 🐞 Hundreds of them. I tried spaying... did you know it only kills them on contact? So I vacuumed... the floor, the walls, the ceiling... with the little handheld. Sprayed more. Smacking them with one of my flip-flops.🩴 Ladybug guts everywhere. 🤢  More spray. Googled... vinegar works best to deter them... DE to kill. Mom is bringing vinegar when she comes up tomorrow. Said they also don’t like citrus. I sprayed OdoBan Citrus... I also don’t like citrus... 🤢 Can’t figure out where they’re coming from... except *outside*. Don’t think I’m gonna get much sleep tonight. 😒

[Mt_Rider]

Thank you, Miki!  That looks SIMPLE (first qualifier) and yummy (second qualifier).  Have to get cottage cheese and try to thaw a large bag of blueberries....they're unfortunately in a frozen lump.    I might dehydrate the ones I won't use right away. 

 

Ladybug invasion..... oye.  As intruders, they don't sting, get under your skin, chew up anything.....but by the hundreds...oye!  Can you lure them outside with milkweed plant leaves?  I seem to remember they like those.  We don't have many around here anymore.  Used to have them.  ??

 

Weather forecast was totally wrong.  Said thunderstorms PM.  Nah uh!  It was   .... Last Saturday I rode in 95* heat!  This week it was 27* ...a variable breeze... and threatened to rain!  Thankfully we had a very nice ride --- dressed in silk long johns, jeans, bigger boots to fit thick socks, several layers including down vest under a coat.  Ear covers that pinch (cuz my hat size is X large) and suede leather cowboy hat in case it started to pour.  It didn't until we were driving home.  By the time we got home, it wasn't liquid drops but mushy splats of half snow/half rain.  Hauled up groceries DH gets while I ride.  Tonite I looked out and we've gotten about a half inch of real snow!    Not even Halloween yet.  Kids here have to buy really big costumes to wear over their bulky winter coats.  My MO friend has had to cover her garden things that are still producing since just before I left - frost, not snow tho.   

 

MtRider     so very tired.... 

[Necie]

8 hours ago, Mt_Rider said:

 

Ladybug invasion..... oye.  As intruders, they don't sting, get under your skin, chew up anything.....but by the hundreds...oye!  Can you lure them outside with milkweed plant leaves?  I seem to remember they like those.  We don't have many around here anymore.  Used to have them.  ??

They do bite. The *indigenous* (for lack of a better word) strain is very passive and must really be provoked. The newer strain(s?) that have been brought in are more aggressive— though not like a mosquito or even a bee. And their bites HURT!! 
We’ve had frost/freeze the last few mornings. So they’re not looking to eat, but to get somewhere *warmer* for winter. I’m hoping that the vinegar will convince them to find somewhere else that isn’t as *offensive* to them. They are a beneficial bug to crops... just not when you’re camping and trying to sleep. 😉 

[Mother]

11 hours ago, Necie said:

LADYBUGS! 🐞 🐞 🐞 🐞

Red ones are Ladybugs! Orangish ones are invasive Asian Lady Beetles.  I would welcome the ladybugs into my greenhouse.  What I get are Asian Lady Beetles by the droves. While the beetles, like the lady bugs, eat soft shelled insects such as aphids and mealy bugs which I have trouble with  in the greenhouse area they are more aggressive and will bite and they smell …..  I, too, vacuum, spray, squash, and wage war against them.  Seemingly to no avail though I had less of them last year.  We’ll see this year.   

[Jeepers]

I've heard of ladybugs biting too. Kinda like a mosquito bite that some people are allergic to. 

 

Coming in for the winter reminds me to start being on mouse patrol. Tis the season and most of the farms around here are becoming harvested and we've had a couple of frosty nights. They're going to be wanting inside. I saw traces of them in the house the first time I came back after I bought the house. I was so upset. I cleaned up and set traps and never did catch any or see traces of them again. I still keep traps out just in case. I also plugged up a lot of holes in the floor under sinks where the water pipes come in. One of them was bigger than a silver dollar. 

[Jeepers]

Dosen't one of the species eat holes in fabric? I think i heard that somewhere but I'm not not sure.