311 replies to this topic

[Jeepers]

I just watched the George Jones memorial service. It was very nice and respectful. I really liked his pastor too.

And yes, I bawled like a baby coughvincegillcough.      

[Philbe]

SATURDAY...seems Mrs.S is has had a few issues, so will re-post. I notice that the smilies don't seem to be available (unless I go to more reply options?). Anyhow, woke up to a wet white snow of 2" this morning and it's been snowing off and on all day but not accumulating, just melting off. We took another "healthy" load of metal to the recycle plant and it was productive ... but they lowered the price 15c per ton overnight! Still added to the gravel fund nicely. Took a hit on our truck's windshield somewhere, and it cracked nearly half way across so we took it to the windshield replacement shop & they had it in and out again in about an hour and a half. BUT...in the mean time, Mountain Man gave them his truck keys & when we stopped at $Tree to take advantage of a supply of pepper & onion mixes plus they had Gossner's 2% milks in...he locked us out of my van (I left my purse in the van, along with Abby!). Did Philbe have a hissyfit? Yep. Didn't cuss but he knew she was "miffed". Called son so we came and got me & took me home to pick up our emergency key ring so we could get back into the van. And sure enough, there were his truck key ring in the floorboard where it apparently fell off his belt loop. Abby-girl has been "ultra" quiet. I think she really got frightened to see her "momma" get in that truck & leave her & then see her "daddy" sitting on a bench guarding a backet. I was a meanie...I said "I am NOT leaving Abby in the van alone to watch us leave!" So he "volunteered" to stay... :-(? Anyhow, stopped by the garden & it seems like the veggie babies are doing ok. Posting some pics here of our "record snow" for a large area of the state. Bought 15 bags of the pepper/onions and 12 quarts of the 2% Gossner shelf stable milk. $Tree hasn't had it for a long time so I stocked up. Shame on me? Nope. Maybe if they see those things disappear they'll start stocking them on a more regular basis! I took a frozen loaf of bread out & it's defrosting so we'll have more fresh bread. Baked some pretty nice "Philbe Cream Cheese Buns" yesterday, and Mountain Man and I enjoyed some last night and more this morning with breakfast. Also want to post (again) some pics of the two manual vacume cannister sets I picked up at Menard's for $10 a set. Can't beat that! Also, was able to pick up a couple of Gamma lids for about $4 which is a huge savings!!! But, alas, they didn't have any more in stock and weren't sure when the next shipment of 18 would be in. Said we could pre-order them but would have to order them probably in a larger quantity, so we'll keep checking. Also had the excellent food grade buckets to match. Anyway, I try to save $$$ every time I can on things we'd need in an emergency, even if it sets us back temporarily.

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[Philbe]

WEDNESDAY...still feeling like a "dizzy blonde" but not quite so much :-(  Watered the garden last night and we've got soooo many new babies popping their heads up!  Boiled up, peeled & sliced six trays of sweet potatoes & put them in my small dehydrator and still have about 2# that are cooling.  I'll peel & slice them, then vacume seal them for the deep freeze.  Some friends called & wanted to know if I wanted some of their baby veggie plants and you know Philbe...YES!  She said they're so far behind in their gardening (traditional style) because of the weather so I'm guessing they're about to call it quits on a garden for this year, since these babies are already planted.  We'll dig them up & take them to their new "homestead" garden! LOL  She said she'd gotten rid of all her canning jars a couple of years ago and I don't think she's wanting to re-invest.  She's indicated an interest in dehydrating though, so we may get together so I can share what I've learned.  She's got alot of canned foods already stored in their "food cellar" so it's not as if they aren't ready to take care of themselves if they need to.  Our other "like-minded" friends are more the "beans & rice" people but we love 'em just the same! LOL  They did buy a manual vacume seal pump and a dehydrator so they're coming around.  MM's still working.  Sure be glad when he gets this project done!  He just doesn't like working on old houses, you never know what every board will reveal :-(  Got the plumbing issue fixed at son's apartment so he's got kitchen water again and the lower apartment has no leaking down.  We still need to get a "cradle" put in the window for the a/c unit but it's cooled back down & starting to rain today so that's not going to happen.  Not sure what we'll be doing this weekend.  I think it's sometimes better to just NOT plan! LOL  Seems like our plans always get sidetracked by someone else's needs.  I did tell both renters that we were "out of dodge" Memorial Day and they'd just have to fend for themselves because the cell phones were being turned OFF. Our Abby-girl has devised a new "game" to play with her human Daddy.  She digs one of his shoes out from under the bed (always the left!) and carries it to him & drops it.  If he doesn't pay attention, she goes and gets another LEFT shoe & carries it to him.  This goes on until she runs out of shoes.  SOOOOO funny!  She's never chewed a shoe in her life, but now she's "fetching" them for MM.  She also found his sock "stash" and was "fetching" them for him too...again, never has chewed on up in her life.  I think it's an attention getter.  She wants daddy to get off the computer and go to bed with momma?

[Philbe]

FRIDAY...went to job site today with MM to be his "go-fer" because he was under a bathroom crawl space, wraping insulation on his new plumbing.  Then Lowe's was having their customer appreciation lunch so we both went and enjoyed brats, hot dogs & pork steaks with hot beans, chips, cookies & soft drinks.  Ran into some pretty nice contractors!  It was a bit chilly for me sitting outside (I'd left my fleece in the truck) so after visiting the bathroom and getting ready to check out at the cashier, we found Krispy Kreme (?) doughnuts and hot coffee...so that felt mighty good to me (MM doesn't drink coffee or tea).  This afternoon I enjoyed watching more of Bexarprepper's youtubes.  When MM got home we took Abby and went to "tire her out" and string the nets for our climbing veggies, since they're growing so quickly.  The three original tomato plants are only about 6" tall and already have blooms! LOL  The bell peppers already have blooms.  The berry bushes are already blooming.  The potato buckets have their little green heads peeking up through the soil, so we'll be burying them again in a few days to "peek" again!  What's growing?  Okay...potatoes, corn, tomatoes, radishes, lettuce, spinach, onions, bell peppers, banana peppers, pole beans, peas, and garlic.  (I think I got them all named).  Still waiting for some others but figure they'll be announcing themselves soon! LOL  Son walked around dumbfounded. I know (like so many) he initially thought we were nuts...now he's speechless other than asking questions.  Anyway, MM's going to work again tomorrow and really glad he won't be under that house again until it comes time to hook up the plumbing after he's installed the new bathtub/shower unit.  Then we're planning to make the day trip to Bass Pro and Sam's (Sunday).

Edited by Philbe, 10 May 2013 - 10:50 PM.

[out_of_the_ordinary]

Many answered prayers here this week. 

 

 

My dryer is now working.  DH spent an evening tearing it apart and diagnosing the problem (ignitor went bad).  I'm glad there's videos online!  A local appliance store had the ignitor in stock.  DH spent another evening getting it back together.  DH isn't good with repair, so I know it was God answering my prayers.

 

DH got overtime this week.  He was also asked to come in today to work.  All that overtime is more answered prayers. 

[Philbe]

SATURDAY...a bit cooler today, but still not bad.  Bought some herbs today at WM and MM added the new compost to my "herb square" so they're safely planted. That makes Philbe happy...she loves her herbs and spices!  The square now has garlic, chives, sweet basil, stevia, two kinds of parsley, lemon thyme and regular (? peppery kind) thyme.  Smells SOOO good there! LOL  Couldn't find the trays that fit my smaller dehydrator at WM, so we'll just invest in more for the big one (Garden Master) when we go to Bass Pro tomorrow.

[Philbe]

MONDAY...Well, the start of another week.  Watched a youtube this am of a 73 yr. woman who is retired and living full-time in her class-C rv along with her german shepherd.  Sure stirs up the hitch-itch in Philbe...LOL  She's not that much older than I am and doing alot of what I'd like to do...only with MM with me!  One of the ladies in her group of "road warriors" commented on how "the sewer hose came undone and chased her around the camp site".  SOOOOO funny!  Had a long day trip yesterday and spent alot of dollars, but needed to.  I wanted to stock up on the big containers of spices & herbs from Sam's etc., and I needed more dehydrator trays, mesh & leathers, especially since we've expanded our garden this year.  Also found a long sought handle for a WOK-brand vegetable grill pan we bought a couple of years ago so I could grill veggies over the fire pit at Cabela's.  The a stop at Bass Pro for an ammo check and found a few things we could add.  Then ate at Pizza Street so Mountain Man could have a pizza fix (I don't really care that much for the stuff, but he loves it) and then had to head home since we needed to check & water the garden and then he needed to mow here.  Our veggie babies are looking so blessed!  My tomato first sets of tomato plants are about  7 inches or so, and already blooming!  They're not big enough to bear fruit yet so if I see a little "mater...I'll pinch it off.  The 2nd set of bell pepers has buds, my berry bushes are blooming and my herb square smells wonderful!  The corn is about an inch tall and looking so pretty.  The onions are really reaching up.  I noticed a place or two on one bell pepper plant though where "something" nibbled (probably a slug) so I sprayed with veggie soap on all the plants and the wood around the squares.  See how "it" likes a mouthful of water with castille peppermint soap mixed with chili powder, garlic powder & onion powder! They're forecasting more seasonal-type weather later in the week so perhaps all this cold stuff has passed?  I very lovingly suggested to Mtn.Man that after this "little" job (that turned into a hugely BIG job) was over that I wanted him to refuse jobs that were this big.  Just because he knows how to & can do it, it's so taxing on his body.  The bottoms of his feet are so tender he can't hardly walk on them, planters faciaitis (?).  Anyway, it's time for him to slow things down and just take little jobs that he can get done in a 3 or 4 days.  I know it's not the owner's fault, she had no way of knowing that the bathroom shower wasn't hooked up to anything & simply was draining into the crawl space.  Then when MM pulled the old shower to fix that...BAD news.  Most of the flooring was rotted, and the sink fixtures as well as the laundry hookups had all frozen & broken.  So, he ended up having to completely re-plumb all of that, including the kitchen and then insulate all the new pvc runs.  Now he's layiing down the supports for the new bathroom floor etc., and then hopefully work will proceed a bit quicker.  I just hate to see him man-handling a tub etc. by himself and then having to crawl back down into that crawl space to hook things up.  He's a tall fella and he don't bend as good as he used to!  I worked with him Friday so he didn't have to keep coming up to get something he needed and hadn't drug down there with him.  Mom's been shooting starlings with her new air pistol, but we asked her not to because we didn't want somebody calling her in.  It looks so much like a real gun it would scare somebody...LOL  She's a good shot!  Even son was impressed that she was a better shot than him!  Now it's back to work for me too.  Got to get some stuff on the dehydrator trays and seal the brown sugar bags I bought at Sam's Club yesterday and get them sealed in mylar.  I've got alot of the ziplock, smaller type for meals in a bag but I do need to re-order some of the gallon(?) sized etc. for things like that.  Didn't re-stock the regular pantry though, guess we'll have to do that soon.  I am keeping a running total on our use so I know what needs to be put back.  Just can't do it all at one time (like most of us) so we do what we can, when we can. 

[Philbe]

THURSDAY...We've had an absolutely beautiful week of weather that is so conducive to gardening.  I had planned to snip some parsley, basil & chives last night be decided to leave them be for a bit.  The potato buckets are sprouting greens like crazy so we MUST cover them with more Mels Mix or they'll flower (which we don't want).  The tomato plants are about a foot tall now so won't be long until they'll find themselves winding their way up through the netting.  The cherry tomatoes are only about 6" so far.  The yellow squash has sprouted and so has the zuchini so I'll have to decide where I want them.  I plan to try to grow them vertical this year so they don't take up one whole square!  I'm thinking that I'll put them in a bucket (like I do the potatoes) and have MM sink me a couple of rods w/mesh for them to grow up.  We want to investigate a drip irrigation of some sort, so when we travel we know the garden gets watered properly.  Son's still having trouble wrapping his brain around the SQF garden system...LOL ...and we've put too much work into it to have him drown it!  Everybody thinks we're a bit "off" when they see us take our finger and draw a little indented circle around each plant & pour a CUP of water around it, or draw a 6" line down a 1x1 square between lettuce, spinach, etc., and pour a CUP of water in it! LOL  Then in the empty squares (so far...) I just poke some holes with my finger and pour water into them.  Keeps them hydrated so they don't draw from the watered squares that have veggies etc. in them.   We're hoping we'll have enough daylight left today for Mtn.Man to fire up the motorcycle and get it ready for a ride tomorrow.  Make sure everything's okay and sort of 'tune up" his balance before I crawl on back.  Then Saturday and Sunday we're planning to start dragging stuff out to inventory for a yard sale.  We want to have one the first weekend after Memorial Day weekend.  If that goes well, we'll have another.  Also want to take some stuff to an open air garage sale a few miles away.  They don't have a large vendor fee, and we'll load the truck full and take the EZup and see how we do there.  Then May 30th through June 2nd is the summer Jacob's Cave (Meadowlands) swap-n-shop but not sure if we'll take anything down.  Watched a couple of youtube's yesterday that just astounded me!  First one was a gentleman that created "cylinders" with his food saver, filled them with beans, vacume sealed them down & then placed them lengthwise into a bucket with a gasket-type lid.  Ingenious!  Then, one of my favorites (Imstillworkin) showed how she bought cheap white anklet socks, filled them with rice (or pasta) and then vacume sealed them so they didn't puncture the foodsaver bags!  THEN she had one of the most creative video's I think I've ever seen...her "red neck vacume sealer".  I get so tickled when I hear her giggling and telling people "you don't have to be rich to do these things!"  She has a video also on her "red neck seed planter".  For those of you who've never watched her work, you're in for a treat!  Might as well turn work into fun!?  Both Mountain Man and I are really enjoying having wifi tv instead of the outrageous cable/dish systems.  I want MM to hookup the antenna in the travel trailer and see if we can get a signal.  Alot of RV'ers are able to pick up free local channels if they have the newer-type digital tv's (?)  Anyway...we'll give it a try and if it works then we may also try it here in the house.  I read on the news where Texas had some tornadoes do some deadly work, and hope all Mrs.S's people are safe. 

[Jeepers]

Philbe, do you have a link to the guy making cylinders with his Food Saver? Or his Channel name. Sounds interesting. I get a lot of use from my Food Saver. I haven't checked out the Imstillworkin one either. It's a new one for me. Yeah!

 

[Philbe]

Philbe, do you have a link to the guy making cylinders with his Food Saver? Or his Channel name. Sounds interesting. I get a lot of use from my Food Saver. I haven't checked out the Imstillworkin one either. It's a new one for me. Yeah!

 

Took me a bit to find it again, he's got alot of videos.  Here's the link...hopefully it will work. I'm not too good at posting links here.

 

[Jeepers]

Worked just fine, Thanks! I liked his ideas. I really like the cat litter buckets too. They are a nice size for one old person prepping and I like the square shape. If I was using them I'd use them with a mylar bag inside because I don't know if they are food grade or not. Now all I have to do is get a cat.  

[Philbe]

SATURDAY...took a long, wonderful ride with MM on the motorcycle Friday and had to just rejoice in the beauty of God's lands!  I kept telling Him how thankful I was that I have a Father Creator, A Son Savior and a Holy Spirit Guidance Counselor!  Smelled soooo many pretty fragrances as we rode through different valley's etc., but did smell some "pretty kitty" smells from somewhere!  Glad they weren't on the roads etc. :-(   Phone rang and got us out of bed this morning EARLY.  It was mother in near hysterics because her a/c was out, said she was calling a repairman and they'd have to kick the door in to get in...yada yada yada.  I just gave phone to MM and he assured her she'd have to wait for us or pay the bill herself.  We got there about an hour later (and I had NO coffee today!) and her house was as cool as ours!  She was huffing and wheezing, so MM turned to her and said "you're causing yourself to have a panic attack.  It's not hot in here so go sit down & calm down".  I headed for the travel trailer so I could keep my mouth shut.  After checking things out, the compressor was running but things had froze up because of the cool night air and the hot air yesterday, and the humidity had caused condensation.  Turned things off, let it de-frost and all is well.  We assured her nobody has the authority to call any repairman without our permission and that if they do, they pay the bill.  It's also in her "lease" that she pays the first $500 of any repairs. So, we got a REALLY early start on today, and worked pretty much all day in the garden; put a diverter on the water spiket (so we have access to water without bothering our garden hoses) and installed about a 100' of soaker hose along with a timer so when we're away the garden will be watered..."self-sustaining" somewhat. Put the other two "hoops" over two squares and we'll have to put more on the rest. Also will need to build "cages" for my berry bushes so we can put the netting over them. Also de-winterized the travel trailer to flush all the "pink" out and fill the fresh water tank and water heater with fresh "home" water.  We learned the hard way about re-filling our fresh water with water from just anywhere.  Once got a tank full of sulfer smelling stuff in our first travel trailer and we like to never got it out!  So we fill from home and IF we need to re-fill we always smell it first & then put our filter on the intake hose.  We also have an additive that I call a "water sweetener" that I have MM put a tad into the fresh water tank, even if it is home water.  Sure glad I had on plenty of sunblock!  It was 92+ today and very humid so working outside we were both drenched.  Cool showers are soooo good!  Going back over tomorrow to test the timer to see how long it takes to adequately water all the garden.  Some like minded friends want to see the garden & the travel trailer improvements so they're bring meatloaf sandwiches with them to treat us to lunch :-)  Had seasoned chicken breasts with a nice cold salad for supper :-)  Have 10 pickle buckets that I filled with water Friday and let them sit out in the sun to sort of "air out" but may have to add a little lemon juice to them since I can still wiff a slight pickle smell.   Then we'll empty them and be able to use them for food storage & they have gasket lids too.  Also found a really good buy on gamma lids so we bought several of them along with matching food safe buckets.  Seems like we're always running into bargains that we feel we simply must buy.  Tomorrow, hopefully, we'll get some work done towards having a yard sale the weekend after the Memorial Day weekend.  For now, I'm gonna grab my kindle and rest this weary body (I'd love to have a cup of coffee but I know better this late) ...