Hooray for Thunder Shirts and Other Daily Goings-on

I am happy to report that the thunder shirt is working. My dog still doesn't like the storms and thunder, but instead of hiding and shaking and pounding heart, he simply finds a place to lay down where it's fairly closed in and dark. That is a huge improvement. I am so glad that we got it.

We did get the garden sprayed. The stuff that we used has neem oil and an "exciter" to make the bugs come out and eat the treated leaves. Then they die off. It affects their neurological systems so that they stop laying eggs and stop eating. Course when I went out the next day to water, I saw about a million bugs I think. It was a little surprising and kinda gross to see so many. We will spray again next weekend to get them under control before we plant the fall garden.

I have saved and dried a bunch of the beans we grew this year for planting next year. The pintos and Cherokee cornfield did really well, the red beans did ok and the limas and tiger eye did not do well at all. Hopefully as I keep planting them, the harvest will improve as it adapts to my soil and micro-climate.

The corn is now a total loss. The last two storms did it in. I thought last week after the storm that I could probably salvage some of it. The storms yesterday pretty much finished it off. I am not sure that any of it will mature enough to save any seed. Bummer. Plus as it fell and broke it started smothering the squash plants. I think that bed is going to be done for now. I will leave it there until after we spray this coming weekend to make sure we get any bugs that might be hiding in there and then rip it all out. I don't think it has too many pests as none of the plants look like they have been munched on.

The peanuts, on the other hand, are still going strong and looking splendid. It will still be a while before they are ready to harvest. They have a long maturation date.

We had to fix the truck again. Over the weekend as we were out running errands, the fan quit blowing. Which sucked because it was so hot and humid. We first replaced some resistor thing. I don't remember exactly what it was called. It was cheaper than the blower motor and if it didn't work, we figured it's still a new part and we won't have to worry about it going out later. It didn't work. So the next day my husband bought the blower motor. We went out and changed it. It was surprisingly easy to do. Now it works again.

I have an old rocking chair that I will be restoring and cleaning. I spent some time researching it. It appears to have been made in the early 1900's. I need to clean it to see if I can find any identifying mark on it. It is a mission style chair and seems to be in the Stickley style. Without finding the mark, I can't be sure of the maker, though. I don't think it has any actual value as the seat cushion has been replaced and there seems to be either a back cushion or something along those lines missing. It does, however, appear to have the original springs. I just think it's cool to have a piece of furniture that is that old. I actually got it from my mom years ago. I also have an old dresser that I think I will do some research on to see if I can date it as well. Also from my mom. I seriously doubt that it is worth anything, either, owing to the stickers I put on it as a kid!! Although I may be able to get them off without damaging it. It makes me wonder with furniture that old where all it has been. How many people have owned it. If it could talk, what stories would it have. They were both obviously well cared for as they are both in pretty good condition. Even if they are 100+ years old (which is what classifies a piece of furniture as antique), they have both been in my family, either my mom's house or mine, for probably 40 years or more. I will have to ask her when she bought them. I just remember them always being there.

I roasted some garlic yesterday. Oh man, does that ever make the house smell good. I saved all the tops that I could to use in fresh cooking. Waste not, want not and all that. I also made breakfast burrito guts yesterday. We don't wrap them anymore, as my husband hasn't mastered the biting into things yet without his plate coming loose or moving. So I make the innards and he just eats them off a plate instead. It's a really filling hearty breakfast.

After the storms yesterday, it cooled off enough that I was able to open windows and use fans. Boy, I love fresh air in the house. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for air conditioning. I just get tired of the staleness in the house when it's on. I also love to have fresh air when I am sleeping, as does my husband.

This afternoon, I am going to find my mayonnaise recipe and make it so I can make my gouda cheese dip. It's quite tasty. I am not sure how well my husband will do with crackers, but maybe he can use bread instead. I imagine it would be good on anything. It's cheese. That's kind of like bacon, it goes with everything. And if it doesn't, then you shouldn't eat it!

That's about it for the last several days. I don't really feel like I have gotten a lot accomplished. I did get things done, like laundry, washing down cabinets, sorting and purging lids for food containers that I no longer have the bowls, organizing cabinets, etc., but there really isn't anything exciting or news-worthy about that! I do feel that they are all important tasks as I would not have to worry about those issues if something happened. Just not worth putting up a blog post about it. Do you ever feel like you haven't accomplished anything if it wasn't something big?

Starting next week, I will be working two days a week. The new assistant manager seems pretty cool. She told me she heard good things about me and that she could be very persistent and would be in getting me to work more. I told her I could be very stubborn, but was willing to test our wills! Which in that case she would actually win since I had already decided to start picking up more hours. Slowly to make sure the dog doesn't freak out when I am suddenly gone more than one day a week. Plus, as I start working more, I am hoping that the temperatures start going down. I realize they won't for a while yet, but I can handle a couple of days for now.

Well, I am off to find something to do. I am not sure what I will accomplish this afternoon. I just plan on flying by the seat of my pants to figure it out. Probably start with cleaning the bathroom since I washed the bathroom rug yesterday. Don't want to put a clean rug in a dirty bathroom. 😁

P.S. Supper tonight will be ham steak and eggs. Or maybe the cheese dip and crackers with some fresh fruit. Not sure yet.

P.P.S. I am thankful for my husband. I had a killer headache this morning (sinus) and he let me sleep in. He really takes good care of me. I can only hope I take care of him as well as he does me.