Wednesday, April 17, 2024

What a week!!!

 We helped with eclipse... that was low key for around here.

We helped Amish with funeral of young wife (thrown from car in car accident on way to a funeral out of state) No kids, her husband banged up pretty good. Driver now has reckless op, going way to fast around a curve and rolled car) and charges for the death. Husband is dealing with what to do about her greenhouses and how to run the home on his own.

WHILE setting up for the funeral (at their home and had almost 700 show up for the funeral) our Amish neighbor let us know her 19 yr old nephew cut his arm off using a notch machine (cuts notches in pallets so forklifts can lift pallet from any side). The notcher was jammed and instead of using the stick like he had been told repeatedly. He stuck his arm in it and it took his arm up to the elbow. Could not reattach. SIGH.

Dealt with the state taxes. No longer owe anything there. Got school taxes paid for the quarter. Will make first month payment on loan we got to pay off IRS for taxes from selling business equipment at profit. Have a year to pay it off but want to do it quicker BUT need to put propane money back first as it will come due before the final payment of the taxes will. Hubby is going to get more fire wood also.

E asked Hubby to move some large pieces of wood that his sawmill can't cut and he doesn't want for his fire wood. Hubby is going to cut it up for us since I use that type for when it's cool but still need the wood stove. He also reminded Hubby that he was going to fix the purple martin house and him and the boys to do the roof on the shed. He did not want to see either of us up on ladders

April bills and May's mortgage is paid so nothing is due until the 7th of May.

Bought new deep freezer. Small one is almost 15 yrs old and with our luck figured it would go out. We found this one for half the price of an 18 cubic. It's 21 cubic plus 2 doors. We brought it home on our trailer so no delivery charge.


I already have 52 meals of asparagus in it.  It will be fruit and veggies freezer which will let me move the poultry into the house freezer.

Yes, asparagus is in. I let M know the kids can start picking for them as they only do fresh eating of it. E doesn't like pickled asparagus.

My rhubarb is trying to flower (I take them off so the rest will still grow). M gave me a bunch so I can make pie.

Peas and snow peas have broke ground with radishes and turnips.

I inventoried the pantry, wrote out what I have, how much and what I need.

Will do the same with the freezers as I defrost them and move fruits and veggies to new freezer and poultry to the house.

Spent some time with M talking of the struggles of making ends meet, sourdough starter not making and just the daily trying of do things more frugal and dealing with the death and accident.

We had almost 5 inches of rain 2 weeks ago and almost 3 inches this past week. Hubby mowed as he put "made hay" as rain is in forecast and the grass is over 5 inches tall. Raked up the front yard and tossed it into E's pasture. Horses love him.😀. 

We talked about winter squash. I lost about half last year due to temps bouncing and they got too warm. I want to turn basement ramp into a root cellar also can  freeze some with the new freezer. We decided to leave so "weeds" in some of the old potato beds as the bees were loving the flowers. The rest of the beds I will either plant squash in or he will get rid of.

We talked about potatoes, sweet potatoes, garlic and onions... all that I bought from the one that died. I usually get my flowers from her also. Her 2 workers are going to run the green house this spring so I will still get my flowers but most likely will shut it down after that as she was doing more of produce in the summer and fall and had told her husband she wasn't doing that this year any more.   He is not sure what he is going to do right now as they had talked about building a smaller home on the farm and letting one of the nephews take over it since they have no kids and looking at age 41 and what to do if one died before the other. Everyone told him to just wait on making choices. His family and hers are close by plus his sisters married her brothers. We checked on him yesterday, he was helping his brother in law with tearing down the old barn and planned today to rebuild it. Said he will have gotten 4 meals, 2 loaves of bread, a pie and cookies. Really needs everyone to stop trying to feed him unless it's breakfast. He's already found he hates cooking breakfast and doesn't care for oatmeal. Hubby told him boiled eggs and what ever pie would be decent. All the guys laughed. M said she would boil him 2 dozen and take him rhubarb pie when we told her. 

I watched our electric co annual meeting (they only do virtual) and earned a $20 credit on the next bill.

We went to chiro, then to Hubby's ENT appt. He only needs to go back if he starts losing his voice or speaking constantly low. He had to finish his voice therapy as they found he does not speak using his diaphragm like you are suppose to.  She told him speaking using his throat only will cause him to damage it and lose his voice completely.  Our primary already said he would renew the nasal spray for his allergies so we don't even have to go back for that. We then shopped at Menards, 11% rebate plus what we needed was on sale on top of the rebate. We ate out using a gift card that we almost forgot about and came home. Said several trips by combining them even though it wears us both out.

I did not go to grocery store. Will have to pick up milk this week.

Hubby had voice therapy, a Ham Radio meeting and a drop off of Ham Radio trailer they used during eclipse. He made it so he did it all on the way to his voice therapy so he wasn't over lapping, using more fuel. 

We have turned off the furnace during the day and only turn it on low at night. Still to cool in house without it completely. But we haven't even used 1% for this month by doing it that way.

Hope everyone is safe.

Prayers for peace 

Blessed be