I was unofficially offered a promotion at work on Saturday. It would mean a pretty good raise, but also a lot more hours. Saturday night, my husband and I talked about it. I slept on it. We talked some more on Sunday morning. I decided if they could meet a few terms that I had, I would take the job. So, I texted my boss Sunday evening to tell him I had made a decision. Would he rather me come in on Monday or just call? He said just to call. I think he thought I would say no.
I called today mid-morning and he didn't answer and I left a message. He called this afternoon to tell me the offer was off the table for now. The owner had made a decision early this morning to hire another manager. He also told me that if this other employee didn't work out, he would make sure the owner knew what he had in mind and the offer would be renewed.
My dog got stung by a bee again today. He has a bad habit of chasing anything that buzzes. He went flying off the porch when I let him out to chase something in the yard and before he got off the steps, he apparently stepped on a yellow jacket. He limped back up on the porch and we got him inside. I looked up what could be done for it. I saw a few things, but the biggest thing I saw was to make sure the stinger was out. I was trying to look at his paw and he was NOT happy about it. He growled at me and actually snapped at me. I know he was hurting, but that is totally not acceptable. So, I snapped my fingers at him and pointed down, which he knows means to stop what he is doing and lay down, which he did. He didn't bite hard and didn't break the skin or leave a mark or anything, however, that behavior will not be tolerated. We decided for me to hold him in my lap and hang on to his head just in case and my husband checked the paw out. No stinger that we could see. He did growl, just didn't make any attempt to snap or bite. We gave him a couple of treats for being such a good boy. I got some frozen chicken innards I saved from the last chicken we cooked and stuck them in a sock. I put it down on the floor and got his paw on it. He stayed like that for a few minutes. Now, he seems to be fine.
We have to take my son to meet his dad Thursday evening. After that, we will go watch my husband's grandson play baseball. This is the first year that he is playing and we are both excited. I played softball and my husband played baseball growing up. We are really looking forward to it!
We are going to spray the garden tonight. I don't like to do that, but some bugs seem to think that my tomatoes are for their delight. Not so. Death to the bugs! *evil laugh here*
We got a bunch of beans out of the garden to dry and put up for next year's garden. I am already starting to make plans. First, I have to get the garden ready for fall and make those plans. I know some of what we will plant, but need to see what I have left and saved from last year. Then I will have to order some seeds.
My husband has a sinus infection. Not sure if it is from the dental work or just because. We are treating it and he seems to be on the back end of it. Not soon enough for him. I don't blame him, I don't like them either.
We had fried fish again last night. We did not have game night. We listened to music instead. It has been a while since we have done that, too. I think we will have game night tonight. Yahtzee is calling my name!
One of the things that we do each week is set up a meal plan. That allows us to use up all the leftovers and not have to throw food out. The meal plan is of course flexible. We decide what we think sounds good for the week, write it down, then invariably change something at some point. It seems to be just a starting place while allowing both of us to be part of the planning process. Cuz who wants to be the only one choosing dinner every night?
Our reel mower seems to be doing a good job as long as we stay on top of the yard. Or my husband stays on top of the yard. 😀 I think we will stick with it. No gas or oil? I'm in.
See y'all later!
P.S. Supper tonight is home made pizza. I have the dough rising right now and all the topping picked out and ready to go. Dessert/snack is going to be fresh fruit.
P.P.S. I am thankful that the bee sting for my poor puppy wasn't worse.
Monday, July 30, 2018
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
I'm Ba-aaack!!!
So after a rough couple of weeks, I am back. Life in the Trailer household is back on track.
So after the crazy drivers on Friday when my husband had his dental work, I figured that his mouth hurting and not being able to eat well would be the only problem. Well, we all know what happens when you assume something.
On Saturday, the adhesive they used to hold the plate in was long gone. He was told to keep it in for 24 hours at least. He woke up in the middle of the night with the plate in the bed and not his mouth. It would not stay in place the whole day on Saturday. It rubbed his gums where the teeth had come out. He couldn't eat anything. I make a lot of home made stock, thankfully, so at least he could drink something nutritious. I didn't eat much either. I felt bad eating in front of him when he was so hungry and all he could get in himself was stock. He was in quite a bit of pain on Saturday as well. I tried to do what I could, but there isn't much to do for that except make sure he had ibuprofen. We don't either one take prescription pain meds. He doesn't like them and I can't take them.
The ibuprofen helped some, but definitely did not get rid of the pain. So in a stoke of stupidity, we decided a couple of shots of whiskey would help get rid of the pain. Well, it did work. The stupidity came in because neither of us had eaten anything solid. So, after a couple of shots, you can imagine just how much it affected us. My husband went on to bed. I was on the phone with a friend, so I stayed up longer. And continued to drink. That's where the real stupidity came in. I was drunker than Cooter Brown by the time I went to bed. I woke up with what I thought was a hangover. Which I obviously deserved for being that dumb. I got out the Pedialyte and drank the whole container. Then started on a second one. Then I realized I wasn't dehydrated any more. I just didn't feel good. I still attributed that to being hung over. A mistake I won't make again.
I realized the next morning that wasn't the case. I won't go into details, but for three days, instead of me taking care of my husband, he was taking care of me. That was not how this was supposed to work!! It wiped my ass out. It took almost a week to recover. Add in to that not sleeping because of storms and still more fireworks, it was rough.
I still haven't had a really good nights sleep. I have laid on the floor and slept on the floor more in the last month than I have in the last year. I have had nights that I have had heartburn so bad, I had to sleep sitting up, which is also uncomfortable. At least I can take a nap if I need one!!
In addition to all of that, both of us have just felt bad the last couple of weeks. Since we had cut out most of the sugar and chemicals out of our diet we had been feeling a lot better physically. My headaches had virtually vanished. I hadn't been having much heartburn, hormone or gut issues. Just felt better. But since my husband was so limited on what he could eat, I was focusing on fixing what he could. I ate what he ate. Big mistake. Basically, I did it to myself, though. That is another mistake I won't make again.
Now on to the good news!
My husband had his follow up visit. His mouth is healing really well. He was able to move to the paste to hold the denture in. It finally stays in all day. He is figuring out how to chew with it and is able to eat a lot more foods now. Since he can eat more food now, I have been able to go back to fixing the foods we normally eat. In the past few days, we have gone back to low sugar, organic and chemical free foods. The difference in how I feel is dramatic.
The garden is still doing well. We are getting all kinds of squash. Delicious. The beans are just about done, so I will be pulling them this week and replanting the ones with the short maturity dates so we can get another round out of them before I plant the fall garden. Sadly, the corn is not fairing well. The winds from the storms have pretty much knocked it all down. It hasn't seemed to kill it so I left it out there to see if any of the corn will be salvageable. The peanuts are doing fabulous, and we have some winter squash and watermelons coming right along. The tomatoes are producing, albeit slowly, but producing.
We bought a fryer at Kroger. It was on sale for 20% off and I had a coupon for another $10 off. Woohoo! I have been wanting one for a long time. So on Sunday night, I made fried fish with a beer batter coating and French fries. So much better fried and not baked. I bought mushrooms and onions when we got groceries planning to dehydrate them, but now I think I will make fried mushrooms and onion rings.
We also added quite a bit of food to our deep pantry. I have a can rack that we bought that will hold and rotate about 200 cans. We have it almost full. Which doesn't count the stuff that I can and that doesn't fit in the can rack due to the shape of the can. I realize that wouldn't go too far feeding the three of us, but it would be better than nothing, and more than most people have.
Last night for dinner was lasagna mess. I just use whatever noodles I want and instead of taking the time to layer it, I throw everything in the pot I made the sauce in, mix it up and dump it into a baking dish. Easy, peasy, cheesy.
I talked to my sister yesterday. Fertile Myrtle is pregnant with number five!! I am excited for her! She has four girls, so her and her husband decided to try one more time to see if they can get a boy! She is having a lot of morning (all day) sickness like I had with my son, and she didn't with her girls, so they are really hoping that is a sign that this one is a boy. And of course her husband feels bad and keeps apologizing saying he did this to her! I am pretty sure based on what I learned in biology class, that it took both of them! I am just glad that he cares that much about her.
We bought a thunder shirt for the dog. We have had several people tell us that it has worked wonders for their dogs for storms and fireworks. We bought it last Friday. I am glad we did as it stormed all night Friday night. I didn't go to bed until about four in the morning. Then had to work Saturday. That was a long day. The thunder shirt is helping I think. He doesn't seem to mind wearing it. He also seems to calm down faster when I sit or lay down with him. He is still scared, but not shaking so bad and his heart doesn't pound as fast. I plan on putting it on him a little bit each day and kind of randomly. I don't want him to equate the shirt to storms and get scared just because I put it on him. Hopefully we will see a difference soon. I would love for him to not be so scared. That can't be good for him.
Sunday night, my husband and I got back into game night. We played Connect 4. We always have a blast when we have game night. I have a ton of board games and card games, dice and dominos. We used to have game night every week. I am not sure when exactly or why we stopped, but I think this will be put back in our routine. Maybe every Sunday, along with a fish fry! Now we just need to get into fishing and catch our own!
I have to run to Walmart today to pick up a couple of things. I hope to get out in the garden after that. It is cloudy right now, and if it stays that way, it will make it nicer to work out there. I am hoping it stays nice out for a while at least so I can wash the dog's rugs and have enough time out there with him so they can dry.
I think that is pretty much everything for right now. I'll see you all tomorrow!
P.S. Supper tonight is meatloaf with those aforementioned fried mushrooms and onion rings.
P.P.S. I am thankful for health and feeling good. Obviously, feeling good makes for a better mood and outlook and easier to accomplish things.
So after the crazy drivers on Friday when my husband had his dental work, I figured that his mouth hurting and not being able to eat well would be the only problem. Well, we all know what happens when you assume something.
On Saturday, the adhesive they used to hold the plate in was long gone. He was told to keep it in for 24 hours at least. He woke up in the middle of the night with the plate in the bed and not his mouth. It would not stay in place the whole day on Saturday. It rubbed his gums where the teeth had come out. He couldn't eat anything. I make a lot of home made stock, thankfully, so at least he could drink something nutritious. I didn't eat much either. I felt bad eating in front of him when he was so hungry and all he could get in himself was stock. He was in quite a bit of pain on Saturday as well. I tried to do what I could, but there isn't much to do for that except make sure he had ibuprofen. We don't either one take prescription pain meds. He doesn't like them and I can't take them.
The ibuprofen helped some, but definitely did not get rid of the pain. So in a stoke of stupidity, we decided a couple of shots of whiskey would help get rid of the pain. Well, it did work. The stupidity came in because neither of us had eaten anything solid. So, after a couple of shots, you can imagine just how much it affected us. My husband went on to bed. I was on the phone with a friend, so I stayed up longer. And continued to drink. That's where the real stupidity came in. I was drunker than Cooter Brown by the time I went to bed. I woke up with what I thought was a hangover. Which I obviously deserved for being that dumb. I got out the Pedialyte and drank the whole container. Then started on a second one. Then I realized I wasn't dehydrated any more. I just didn't feel good. I still attributed that to being hung over. A mistake I won't make again.
I realized the next morning that wasn't the case. I won't go into details, but for three days, instead of me taking care of my husband, he was taking care of me. That was not how this was supposed to work!! It wiped my ass out. It took almost a week to recover. Add in to that not sleeping because of storms and still more fireworks, it was rough.
I still haven't had a really good nights sleep. I have laid on the floor and slept on the floor more in the last month than I have in the last year. I have had nights that I have had heartburn so bad, I had to sleep sitting up, which is also uncomfortable. At least I can take a nap if I need one!!
In addition to all of that, both of us have just felt bad the last couple of weeks. Since we had cut out most of the sugar and chemicals out of our diet we had been feeling a lot better physically. My headaches had virtually vanished. I hadn't been having much heartburn, hormone or gut issues. Just felt better. But since my husband was so limited on what he could eat, I was focusing on fixing what he could. I ate what he ate. Big mistake. Basically, I did it to myself, though. That is another mistake I won't make again.
Now on to the good news!
My husband had his follow up visit. His mouth is healing really well. He was able to move to the paste to hold the denture in. It finally stays in all day. He is figuring out how to chew with it and is able to eat a lot more foods now. Since he can eat more food now, I have been able to go back to fixing the foods we normally eat. In the past few days, we have gone back to low sugar, organic and chemical free foods. The difference in how I feel is dramatic.
The garden is still doing well. We are getting all kinds of squash. Delicious. The beans are just about done, so I will be pulling them this week and replanting the ones with the short maturity dates so we can get another round out of them before I plant the fall garden. Sadly, the corn is not fairing well. The winds from the storms have pretty much knocked it all down. It hasn't seemed to kill it so I left it out there to see if any of the corn will be salvageable. The peanuts are doing fabulous, and we have some winter squash and watermelons coming right along. The tomatoes are producing, albeit slowly, but producing.
We bought a fryer at Kroger. It was on sale for 20% off and I had a coupon for another $10 off. Woohoo! I have been wanting one for a long time. So on Sunday night, I made fried fish with a beer batter coating and French fries. So much better fried and not baked. I bought mushrooms and onions when we got groceries planning to dehydrate them, but now I think I will make fried mushrooms and onion rings.
We also added quite a bit of food to our deep pantry. I have a can rack that we bought that will hold and rotate about 200 cans. We have it almost full. Which doesn't count the stuff that I can and that doesn't fit in the can rack due to the shape of the can. I realize that wouldn't go too far feeding the three of us, but it would be better than nothing, and more than most people have.
Last night for dinner was lasagna mess. I just use whatever noodles I want and instead of taking the time to layer it, I throw everything in the pot I made the sauce in, mix it up and dump it into a baking dish. Easy, peasy, cheesy.
I talked to my sister yesterday. Fertile Myrtle is pregnant with number five!! I am excited for her! She has four girls, so her and her husband decided to try one more time to see if they can get a boy! She is having a lot of morning (all day) sickness like I had with my son, and she didn't with her girls, so they are really hoping that is a sign that this one is a boy. And of course her husband feels bad and keeps apologizing saying he did this to her! I am pretty sure based on what I learned in biology class, that it took both of them! I am just glad that he cares that much about her.
We bought a thunder shirt for the dog. We have had several people tell us that it has worked wonders for their dogs for storms and fireworks. We bought it last Friday. I am glad we did as it stormed all night Friday night. I didn't go to bed until about four in the morning. Then had to work Saturday. That was a long day. The thunder shirt is helping I think. He doesn't seem to mind wearing it. He also seems to calm down faster when I sit or lay down with him. He is still scared, but not shaking so bad and his heart doesn't pound as fast. I plan on putting it on him a little bit each day and kind of randomly. I don't want him to equate the shirt to storms and get scared just because I put it on him. Hopefully we will see a difference soon. I would love for him to not be so scared. That can't be good for him.
Sunday night, my husband and I got back into game night. We played Connect 4. We always have a blast when we have game night. I have a ton of board games and card games, dice and dominos. We used to have game night every week. I am not sure when exactly or why we stopped, but I think this will be put back in our routine. Maybe every Sunday, along with a fish fry! Now we just need to get into fishing and catch our own!
I have to run to Walmart today to pick up a couple of things. I hope to get out in the garden after that. It is cloudy right now, and if it stays that way, it will make it nicer to work out there. I am hoping it stays nice out for a while at least so I can wash the dog's rugs and have enough time out there with him so they can dry.
I think that is pretty much everything for right now. I'll see you all tomorrow!
P.S. Supper tonight is meatloaf with those aforementioned fried mushrooms and onion rings.
P.P.S. I am thankful for health and feeling good. Obviously, feeling good makes for a better mood and outlook and easier to accomplish things.
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
When it Rains, It Pours
Wow, it's been a rough few days.
On Friday, my husband and I went in for his morning appointment. It was the measurement, fitting, instructions, waivers and all of that for the teeth he was getting pulled. Time for all the questions that we had come up with. All of that went really well. We went to Wallyworld to get the stuff they told us we would need for at least the first two weeks. We came home. We had a really good lunch since I knew that my husband would not be able to eat dinner. We got a couple of things done, but not much because I didn't want to work him too hard since he was getting teeth pulled.
We left about an hour or so before the afternoon appointment to make sure we had time to get there. Good thing as there was some road construction about two blocks from the office that was not there that morning. We did make it with a few minutes to spare. We decided to smoke once more before we went in while watching traffic. It was backed up forever and we were talking about how we hoped it was gone before we had to leave. We watched a truck pull in to the back of the building with mowers. Then this noise... At first we thought that was fast, how did they get the mowers running that fast? Oh NO!! It was our truck!!!!
So, out we jump and pop the hood. The serpentine belt had shredded. Really? Right now?
In we go so my husband can check in. We know we need to call the insurance to schedule a tow. We figure out where we want to take it. My husband said he will call his buddy. He pulls out his phone and started to pull the guy's number up and they called him back. He started to head back and realized I needed the phone number so I can call this guy. I was checking our insurance online to make sure we had the towing add on, which I was pretty sure of, but just double checking cuz that's what I do.
I open his phone back up to call the guy. Only to realize he had pulled him up by his first name, not full name and there were three to choose from. I asked the girl at the front desk to go back and ask which one I am supposed to call. They were already working on him. These folks waste no time! I head outside and start at the top. Nope, not it. I called the second one. Nope, wrong number. Third call was no answer. So I called again. I can be quite persistent. Bingo! Got an answer and it was the right person. He can take the truck today, but can't work on it until Monday. I told him I had no idea what time we would be there as my husband is getting his teeth worked on and I have to call a tow truck. Who would be bringing us with him. Of course, I have no idea how we will get home. He told me no problem, we could all figure something out.
I go back inside and ask the girl at the front desk how long this typically takes. She said about an hour. Ok, back out to call the insurance and see how long for a tow truck. The phone call was easy, the gal was really helpful and polite. She made sure that we were safe and not in any immediate danger and set everything up. About an hour they should be there.
My husband came out from the back and still no tow truck. We had to wait almost 20 minutes after he was done for the truck to get there. At least we were inside as it was pretty hot outside. The tow truck guy finally shows up. He gets the shredded belt off and the truck on the roll back. With about half an inch to spare before missing it entirely. Gets it strapped down and now it's time to climb into the truck. Only to realize there is only two seats and what I assumed was a filing cabinet in the middle. So I sat on the filing cabinet. And rode with the craziest driver I have ever had the privilege to ride with. He tailgated, he slammed on his brakes at the last second, he checked the weather on his phone, he picked his nose. OH MY GOD, I thought he was going to kill us. The only thing I could think of is, he is going to hit someone and I am going to fly through the windshield and the truck is going to flip over the cab and squash me.
It didn't happen. We made it to the shop in one piece. Well, except my nerves. But alive.
So, my husband and his mechanic buddy talk for a few minutes and we find out he is going to have his wife drive us all the way to our house. Which is not really that far from their house, but she planned on going all the way back to the shop. Which was really cool of them!
Turns out she is about the third or fourth craziest driver I have ever rode with. She is from Chicago and still drives like it! She was super nice and really pleasant to talk with on the way home, but I don't miss the Chicago driving experience. I wasn't keen on living it again with someone I had never rode with. Again, we made it home in one piece, minus a few nerves. And maybe a few more gray hairs after the driving we had to endure in one afternoon.
Finally, we are home and looking forward to relaxing. We sit and talk for a bit and figure we are both wiped out and are ready for bed. Then the fireworks start again. Yay. Time for the next dog freak out. I don't even know what time I got to bed.
I will leave it here for now, as I am still tired and am really hoping that there are no more fireworks. I have had all I can take for this year. I will finish the rest in the next post.
P.S. Supper tonight was salmon patties and potato wedges.
P.P.S. I am thankful that the Fourth of July only comes once a year.
On Friday, my husband and I went in for his morning appointment. It was the measurement, fitting, instructions, waivers and all of that for the teeth he was getting pulled. Time for all the questions that we had come up with. All of that went really well. We went to Wallyworld to get the stuff they told us we would need for at least the first two weeks. We came home. We had a really good lunch since I knew that my husband would not be able to eat dinner. We got a couple of things done, but not much because I didn't want to work him too hard since he was getting teeth pulled.
We left about an hour or so before the afternoon appointment to make sure we had time to get there. Good thing as there was some road construction about two blocks from the office that was not there that morning. We did make it with a few minutes to spare. We decided to smoke once more before we went in while watching traffic. It was backed up forever and we were talking about how we hoped it was gone before we had to leave. We watched a truck pull in to the back of the building with mowers. Then this noise... At first we thought that was fast, how did they get the mowers running that fast? Oh NO!! It was our truck!!!!
So, out we jump and pop the hood. The serpentine belt had shredded. Really? Right now?
In we go so my husband can check in. We know we need to call the insurance to schedule a tow. We figure out where we want to take it. My husband said he will call his buddy. He pulls out his phone and started to pull the guy's number up and they called him back. He started to head back and realized I needed the phone number so I can call this guy. I was checking our insurance online to make sure we had the towing add on, which I was pretty sure of, but just double checking cuz that's what I do.
I open his phone back up to call the guy. Only to realize he had pulled him up by his first name, not full name and there were three to choose from. I asked the girl at the front desk to go back and ask which one I am supposed to call. They were already working on him. These folks waste no time! I head outside and start at the top. Nope, not it. I called the second one. Nope, wrong number. Third call was no answer. So I called again. I can be quite persistent. Bingo! Got an answer and it was the right person. He can take the truck today, but can't work on it until Monday. I told him I had no idea what time we would be there as my husband is getting his teeth worked on and I have to call a tow truck. Who would be bringing us with him. Of course, I have no idea how we will get home. He told me no problem, we could all figure something out.
I go back inside and ask the girl at the front desk how long this typically takes. She said about an hour. Ok, back out to call the insurance and see how long for a tow truck. The phone call was easy, the gal was really helpful and polite. She made sure that we were safe and not in any immediate danger and set everything up. About an hour they should be there.
My husband came out from the back and still no tow truck. We had to wait almost 20 minutes after he was done for the truck to get there. At least we were inside as it was pretty hot outside. The tow truck guy finally shows up. He gets the shredded belt off and the truck on the roll back. With about half an inch to spare before missing it entirely. Gets it strapped down and now it's time to climb into the truck. Only to realize there is only two seats and what I assumed was a filing cabinet in the middle. So I sat on the filing cabinet. And rode with the craziest driver I have ever had the privilege to ride with. He tailgated, he slammed on his brakes at the last second, he checked the weather on his phone, he picked his nose. OH MY GOD, I thought he was going to kill us. The only thing I could think of is, he is going to hit someone and I am going to fly through the windshield and the truck is going to flip over the cab and squash me.
It didn't happen. We made it to the shop in one piece. Well, except my nerves. But alive.
So, my husband and his mechanic buddy talk for a few minutes and we find out he is going to have his wife drive us all the way to our house. Which is not really that far from their house, but she planned on going all the way back to the shop. Which was really cool of them!
Turns out she is about the third or fourth craziest driver I have ever rode with. She is from Chicago and still drives like it! She was super nice and really pleasant to talk with on the way home, but I don't miss the Chicago driving experience. I wasn't keen on living it again with someone I had never rode with. Again, we made it home in one piece, minus a few nerves. And maybe a few more gray hairs after the driving we had to endure in one afternoon.
Finally, we are home and looking forward to relaxing. We sit and talk for a bit and figure we are both wiped out and are ready for bed. Then the fireworks start again. Yay. Time for the next dog freak out. I don't even know what time I got to bed.
I will leave it here for now, as I am still tired and am really hoping that there are no more fireworks. I have had all I can take for this year. I will finish the rest in the next post.
P.S. Supper tonight was salmon patties and potato wedges.
P.P.S. I am thankful that the Fourth of July only comes once a year.
Thursday, July 5, 2018
Garden Goodies and a Fearful Fourth!
Hello, everyone! How was your Independence Day? We had a pretty good one all the way up until the fireworks started. Then one cat went into hiding. The dog freaked out.
Here is the cat "hiding":
No pics of the dog freaking out. I was ready to pull my hair out. He was going through the house trying to climb or crawl under everything. I had to drag him out of the litter box. My husband and I finally put his cage back up and shoved him in. He started chewing on the bars and I was afraid he would break his teeth. So, in I went into the cage. I sat in there with him for about an hour. Then I let him out when it sounded like the fireworks had slowed down. Only to have him make a beeline for my son's room and try to claw his way through it. About 2330 he finally settled enough for me to go to bed. Only to have my other cat wake me up at about 0230. I checked on the dog and he seemed okay by then. Then I woke up at 0330 with heartburn. I came to the kitchen to get some milk and found the dog getting ready to eat cat poop. Which I took from him and cleaned up his mess. Next thing I know, the cat that had awakened me was hacking and puking in the hallway. Yay. What a night.
This morning, I sliced a bag of onions with my mandolin slicer my honey got for me. It was marvelous. I sliced those suckers in a fraction of the time it normally takes. Loaded them up into the dehydrator. (I think I have mentioned I have a nine tray Excalibur.) I filled all the trays up, took it outside and turned it on. I will be able to bring it in later after the smell dies down. I think I am probably stinking up the whole street.
Yesterday, I put up the mushrooms I had already dehydrated. We have about one quart of those now. We found some clearanced out so we bought four packages and into the dehydrator they went.
I canned some ground beef last week that I forgot to mention. I followed the tips from Annie (Thank You!!) and think I have a good batch.
Also, this morning I spent some time in the garden harvesting more veggies. I got three lemon squash, gold rush beans, green beans, tiger eye, pinto, red and Cherokee cornfield beans.
See:
I need to work on using the flash so it doesn't come out with funky colors.
I was supposed to get my new holster today. It didn't show up. We have a new mailman and seem to be having some problems.
Tomorrow, my husband goes in for his dental work. I am looking forward to it so he won't have to deal with the constant pain anymore. For the past few weeks, it's been every day. At least after the procedure is done and his mouth starts healing the pain will go away. I plan on spoiling him for the next little while until he feels like himself again. He will probably tell me he is fine and to stop hovering! LOL
January will be my turn. Unless something changes, I want to wait until the down time at work when I don't have any hours so I don't miss any days. After that, we will finish my husband's teeth, then mine and all dental work will be done.
As per request, here are a couple of pics of the gazebo we put up.
It even has shelves and a hook in the corners so I can put out some pretties! And maybe someday I will even get cushions for my chairs and get them in there. For now, it's just the fire pit to keep it out of the weather. I will get our adirondack chairs in there so we can enjoy it now.
It is now time for me to get some dishes done and laundry washed to hang outside. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day! Tomorrow, I will get some pics of the dried up onions posted.
P.S. Supper tonight is chuck roast and garden veggies. I am using the pressure cooker this time to see how it turns out. A new project for me as I have never used one before.
P.P.S. Today I am thankful that we do have a cage for the dog. We used it when we first got him to keep him safe from the cats at night. We haven't used it in ages and had to put it back together last night since we had taken it down some time ago. I am just glad that I was able to safely contain him and prevent him from getting hurt during his freak out.
Here is the cat "hiding":
No pics of the dog freaking out. I was ready to pull my hair out. He was going through the house trying to climb or crawl under everything. I had to drag him out of the litter box. My husband and I finally put his cage back up and shoved him in. He started chewing on the bars and I was afraid he would break his teeth. So, in I went into the cage. I sat in there with him for about an hour. Then I let him out when it sounded like the fireworks had slowed down. Only to have him make a beeline for my son's room and try to claw his way through it. About 2330 he finally settled enough for me to go to bed. Only to have my other cat wake me up at about 0230. I checked on the dog and he seemed okay by then. Then I woke up at 0330 with heartburn. I came to the kitchen to get some milk and found the dog getting ready to eat cat poop. Which I took from him and cleaned up his mess. Next thing I know, the cat that had awakened me was hacking and puking in the hallway. Yay. What a night.
This morning, I sliced a bag of onions with my mandolin slicer my honey got for me. It was marvelous. I sliced those suckers in a fraction of the time it normally takes. Loaded them up into the dehydrator. (I think I have mentioned I have a nine tray Excalibur.) I filled all the trays up, took it outside and turned it on. I will be able to bring it in later after the smell dies down. I think I am probably stinking up the whole street.
Yesterday, I put up the mushrooms I had already dehydrated. We have about one quart of those now. We found some clearanced out so we bought four packages and into the dehydrator they went.
I canned some ground beef last week that I forgot to mention. I followed the tips from Annie (Thank You!!) and think I have a good batch.
Also, this morning I spent some time in the garden harvesting more veggies. I got three lemon squash, gold rush beans, green beans, tiger eye, pinto, red and Cherokee cornfield beans.
See:
I was supposed to get my new holster today. It didn't show up. We have a new mailman and seem to be having some problems.
Tomorrow, my husband goes in for his dental work. I am looking forward to it so he won't have to deal with the constant pain anymore. For the past few weeks, it's been every day. At least after the procedure is done and his mouth starts healing the pain will go away. I plan on spoiling him for the next little while until he feels like himself again. He will probably tell me he is fine and to stop hovering! LOL
January will be my turn. Unless something changes, I want to wait until the down time at work when I don't have any hours so I don't miss any days. After that, we will finish my husband's teeth, then mine and all dental work will be done.
As per request, here are a couple of pics of the gazebo we put up.
It is now time for me to get some dishes done and laundry washed to hang outside. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day! Tomorrow, I will get some pics of the dried up onions posted.
P.S. Supper tonight is chuck roast and garden veggies. I am using the pressure cooker this time to see how it turns out. A new project for me as I have never used one before.
P.P.S. Today I am thankful that we do have a cage for the dog. We used it when we first got him to keep him safe from the cats at night. We haven't used it in ages and had to put it back together last night since we had taken it down some time ago. I am just glad that I was able to safely contain him and prevent him from getting hurt during his freak out.
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
Monthly Maintenance and Rambling
This is our maintenance week. The first week of every month we specify as our week to make sure things get done.
We clean our guns(we both have our carry permits), we run down the generator and recharge it, we clean the filters on the air conditioners, ad nauseam.
One of the things I do is run some vinegar through the coffee pot. It stinks but does clean it out. We clean the filters on the air conditioners. We clean the fan blades and the motors. I wash rugs and blankets that sit on the back of chairs. We take this week to make sure that everything that needs regular attention gets it. We have found that if we set a specific week aside for maintenance, it actually happens.
We (meaning my husband) found the part for the mower. If we can find a bit of time that is drier, we (meaning my husband) will mow, hopefully tomorrow. Or just in the morning, wet or not.
As a random aside, it took my son all of one day to fall out of his pattern of getting up in the morning. He is back to his staying up late, playing video games and watching you tube all night(I do not provide the internet that allows him to do this any more. He downloads stuff when he is at dad's house, so he doesn't need it when he is home) He swears he has goals, but just can't seem to stick with them. As seems to be typical for a millennial, he thinks things should be handed to him without work. He has a short amount of time before he has to figure it out and go somewhere. It may be the Marines if he can figure out a few things, or flat on his face, because he doesn't get to just stay here forever. I hope he can figure it out since I don't want him to wind up a failure, but I can't fix everything for him. He has to grow up at some point.
We finally got our gazebo put up. It said it could be put up in 30 minutes. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
It took us a couple of hours. It wasn't really hard, it was just that the directions left a lot to be desired. Now that it is up, we are glad for that and are looking forward to being able to spend some time outside in an enclosed space and try to avoid some mosquitos. And flies. And other creepy crawlies.
Someone set off fireworks on Saturday night and my poor puppy freaked out. There hasn't been any since then, but not holding my breath that there won't be any tonight. I am hoping that with time we can get him over the loud noise fear.
Another thing that we try to do every week is plan our meals. It makes it much easier to plan buying groceries and using the food that we have that is fresh. Less waste means less money wasted. And less money wasted means more money saved.
For me, more money saved means we get to where we want to go. I have wanted a "simpler" lifestyle since I was a kid. My husband was the same. It's not that we don't want to work, we just want to work for ourselves on our own land. Also, we want to spend our time together. I know that there are folks out there who actually enjoy spending time together and folks who don't. We are one of those couples that enjoys being together.
Last night for supper we had sirloin steaks (broiled - I am so glad for my broiler pan), beans and greens for my husband and I and green beans for my picky eater kid.
What sort of thing(s) do you look at to ensure maintenance of the things you need to take care of? How often do you change filters? Clean filters? Just in general check the maintenance and status of the stuff you own? Would you check those items more than once a month? What sort of things do you do weekly or monthly?
P.S. Supper tonight is roasted chicken and mashed potatoes.
P.P.S. Today I am thankful for air conditioning since it was so hot and muggy out today.
We clean our guns(we both have our carry permits), we run down the generator and recharge it, we clean the filters on the air conditioners, ad nauseam.
One of the things I do is run some vinegar through the coffee pot. It stinks but does clean it out. We clean the filters on the air conditioners. We clean the fan blades and the motors. I wash rugs and blankets that sit on the back of chairs. We take this week to make sure that everything that needs regular attention gets it. We have found that if we set a specific week aside for maintenance, it actually happens.
We (meaning my husband) found the part for the mower. If we can find a bit of time that is drier, we (meaning my husband) will mow, hopefully tomorrow. Or just in the morning, wet or not.
As a random aside, it took my son all of one day to fall out of his pattern of getting up in the morning. He is back to his staying up late, playing video games and watching you tube all night(I do not provide the internet that allows him to do this any more. He downloads stuff when he is at dad's house, so he doesn't need it when he is home) He swears he has goals, but just can't seem to stick with them. As seems to be typical for a millennial, he thinks things should be handed to him without work. He has a short amount of time before he has to figure it out and go somewhere. It may be the Marines if he can figure out a few things, or flat on his face, because he doesn't get to just stay here forever. I hope he can figure it out since I don't want him to wind up a failure, but I can't fix everything for him. He has to grow up at some point.
We finally got our gazebo put up. It said it could be put up in 30 minutes. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
It took us a couple of hours. It wasn't really hard, it was just that the directions left a lot to be desired. Now that it is up, we are glad for that and are looking forward to being able to spend some time outside in an enclosed space and try to avoid some mosquitos. And flies. And other creepy crawlies.
Someone set off fireworks on Saturday night and my poor puppy freaked out. There hasn't been any since then, but not holding my breath that there won't be any tonight. I am hoping that with time we can get him over the loud noise fear.
Another thing that we try to do every week is plan our meals. It makes it much easier to plan buying groceries and using the food that we have that is fresh. Less waste means less money wasted. And less money wasted means more money saved.
For me, more money saved means we get to where we want to go. I have wanted a "simpler" lifestyle since I was a kid. My husband was the same. It's not that we don't want to work, we just want to work for ourselves on our own land. Also, we want to spend our time together. I know that there are folks out there who actually enjoy spending time together and folks who don't. We are one of those couples that enjoys being together.
Last night for supper we had sirloin steaks (broiled - I am so glad for my broiler pan), beans and greens for my husband and I and green beans for my picky eater kid.
What sort of thing(s) do you look at to ensure maintenance of the things you need to take care of? How often do you change filters? Clean filters? Just in general check the maintenance and status of the stuff you own? Would you check those items more than once a month? What sort of things do you do weekly or monthly?
P.S. Supper tonight is roasted chicken and mashed potatoes.
P.P.S. Today I am thankful for air conditioning since it was so hot and muggy out today.
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