Frugalness done (since I am not sleeping)

 Hubby replaced some of the oil lamp wicks and filled all the lamps. E paid for our oil because Hubby pulled his wood wagon out of the ditch the other night. Horses slide on the wet payment the wagon went off the edge and down the ditch. It's not got a good berm in that area. 

E and his oldest son started replacing the wood shed roof. Got half done before the hurricane winds and rain came through (in Ohio so not as bad as down south). E told Hubby where to get the metal roofing from and it was half of what Hubby had priced at the lumber yard. They got some work to finish up (the kind that pays the bills) and then they will finish it. Wouldn't take any money for  it because we let them cut ice for their entire family from our pond for their ice houses and make blocks of ice in our freezer so they can make ice cream. 

The furnace is on only at night and at 70. It's too warm during the day to start the wood stove.We have 20% more propane in the tank than we did this time last year. Most likely to go to wood stove mid month. Right now the nights are cool enough but the days are in 70s so the house warms up.  

 We cleaned 10 more beds in the gardens. Only 8 more to go. I canned another 5 qrts of tomato sauce. I mentioned to Son2 that I had over a year's amount and wasn't sure where I could put what was coming in as ALL my shelves are full. He suggested in the corner of the pantry where the wood smoker chips used to be  and put the sauce jars back in canning jar boxes. I put a board down (I don't put jars on cement) and made sure the box would fit.  He mentioned he might need groceries as the medical bills are horrible. His fiancee has lousy insurance but it comes with her job. I would not be surprised if they move up when they are getting married as they were looking at a year from now just because of medical bills. 

I got the comparison for my part D... Wellcare. Still the best for me. 

Will be doing Hubby's today as he got frustrated with it and decided I could handle it (I usually do LOL)

We will continue with AARP medigap and Medicare as it was really good for us.

Front room has been deep cleaned and the winter curtains and throw blankets (I don't think we will use them with the wood stove) are in it. 

Hubby put a shelf up over his hanging clothes in bathroom for his Ham Radio odds and ends which was taking a good chunk of the floor and making it hard to sweep the floor. I also moved the garden seeds to south loft where I store them during the winter. I will finish sorting them during the winter. That cleared the one small table (used to be my desk with no drawers). Since Hubby moved his Ham radio extras stuff I was able to move the printer and table down enough for the hamper to put the extra furniture covers and throws in it and it not be in front of a window. I moved Daddy's chair to the bedroom and moved Mother's rocker from bedroom to front room.  Charlotte sleeps in both. Rocker took up less room so I could move my glider over and we brought in a barrel?pot? hummm think pot for a 5 yr old fruit tree... filled with odds and ends of wood for small fires or just to pop the heat up some to sit where the glider was. Then I was able to put the small stand that holds the ash bucket and welder sleeves (so we don't burn our arms as Hubby has little feeling in his forearms and legs) at the end of his desk where the glider was. Now we have plenty of room for the 3 racks we have for wood in house.  He did bring some up to the front porch for in case we need it before next week. We plan to load more of the wood inside and on front porch this week. 

I went through the meds, personal items, cleaning products including ridx for septic tank, paper goods, dog items, nonfood (foil, bags etc) and rechecked the inventory list of food. I need canned mushrooms.  I do buy fresh once a month but I use a lot of the canned kind the rest of the month. I checked my yeast in the freezer and my flours . I was low on dental sticks for Charlotte so I ordered them. Ordered the ridx pods, meds and bandages also. The rest is good for a year or longer. I don't think we will need filters for the humidifers

I made 5 gallons of laundry soap and then used part of it to scrub some rubbermaids that Hubby was given that were filthy. He is using them in the barn.

I checked to make sure we had the savings where we need it (always want more) and the budget is on target.  We start this month on the new budget. 

Prayers for 2 family members

 Nephew who had a double lung transplant 5 yrs ago is having issues. Tests have been ran and they are waiting for results. Has to go in 3 days in a row for steroid infusion treatment. Not sure if he has picked up an infection or if his body is now rejecting the lungs. At least OSU is making arrangements for the local hospital to do the treatments so they don't have to drive 2 1/2 hrs to do that and then pay for motel.

Son2's fiancee's 5 yr old austic son was in a car accident with his grandparents. Grandparents are recovering at home, he is in hospital with a brain bleed from hitting his head on the Ipad he was reading during the accident. Also has whiplash so a bruise on the brain on the back of brain also but it's not bleeding. Going in to surgery this morning. Because the entire family including Son2 just had covid (test negative now) only his mother can be with him and she can't even meet them in parking lot. Hospital has rule no visitors that had covid in last 30 days. So she is there with no support. Their internet sucks(which means she is off work as she works from home) and you can't get much signal on cell phone. Limited usuage of room phone is set by hours the child is supposed to be sleeping. SIGH. 

rosuvastatin side effects

 confusion, muscle and joint pain, headache, weakness, dizziness, stomache pain,nausa, constipation, diarrhea, (HA HA NOT),sore throat, joint pain, cough, fatigue, hives/itching (yep), indigestion, bloating,irregular heart beat (part of my heart failure) , diabetes with liver damage (already had hepititis as a child caught at a children's hospital so liver is already damaged)

Lisinopril/ Hydrochlorothiazide side effects

 nausa, weakness, dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breathe, trouble swallowing, 

heart arrhythmia (I already have heart failure) blurred vision, heart burn, fever, chest pain, diarrhea (I have Crohns), confusion, chest pain, constipation (isn't that nice?) small  sores rash that doesn't heal, cramps, back pain (have deformed spine from birth) 

Alendronate sodium side effects

 Alendronate sodium ... taken to help keep bones healthy..

side effects

Unusual thigh bone breaks (mine cracked then cracked my hip) 

Sever jaw bone issues (can't get a tooth inplant because of it) 

bone joint and muscle pain

Esophagus problems (I have trouble swallowing at times)

Low calcium levels (Low calcium levels, also known as hypocalcemia, can cause a number of health problems, including: 

• Neuromuscular irritability: Symptoms include tingling, numbness, and fatigue in the extremities and around the mouth. 
• Muscle spasms: Muscle cramps, spasms, and twitches can occur in the hands, fingers, face, throat, and arms. Spasms in the throat can make it hard to breathe. 
• Seizures: Usually only occur in severe cases of hypocalcemia. 
• Heart problems: Abnormal heart rhythms, fainting, and even heart failure can occur. Low calcium levels are also linked to an increased risk of sudden cardiac arrest. 
• Kidney problems: Kidney stones and kidney failure can occur. 
Poor oral health: Teeth can become more susceptible to decay and loosening. 
Cataracts: Calcium deficiency is a factor in the development of cataracts. 
Osteoporosis: Calcium deficiency is a factor in the development of osteoporosis, a condition that causes bones to become weak and brittle. 

LORD

Please be with the sick kids and ones that are struggling pay their bills especially since they are in Springfield OH and dealing with bomb threats and fear of bomb threats even after they have stopped. While at work and school. Schools should be a safe place to be. 

Please give us wisdom to manage the finances  and still continue to work towards being able to live our life out here. 

Give us the strength to finish getting the gardens in, clearing beds and planting the fall garlic. 

Give us the energy to get the deep cleaning and minor repairs done before winter hits.

Bless our Amish neighbors for coming over to redo the roof on the wood shed, making sure we were safe and had no flooding in the basement when the rain poured and sent over ice cream, pie and bread more than once. 

Be with those that are struggling, that are celebrating good times and all in between. 

Prayers for peace

Blessed Be 

 

Clearing the gardens... thoughts on meds

I cleared  18 (half of the 36) garden beds, Hubby prepped 5 of them that I marked for the garlic coming in to plant next week. Then cleared out the old potato beds since he was going to have a fire of scraps of tree limbs etc burning in the hole he dug to keep the fire contained. UNLIKE E's fire that came across and started to come in our yard. We caught it happening, Hubby dealt with it while I got E to come help. Two of his fence posts got burnt a little. I told him next time to say something to us so we could help keep an eye on it. He had to go up to his house as one of the kids had problems with calves. We had NO wind when he started it, 15 minutes later wind was close to 10 mph. We have fire extinguishers and water hose so we had it back under control instead of calling fire dept. He said he might have Hubby dig him a trash burn hole like Hubby did for us.

Winter squash and last of watermelon harvested.

Cabbages harvested before the bugs eat them.

Probably lost all of the brussels sprouts as the bugs went nuts over them even after we repeatedly treated them.

There's a little bit of broccoli ready and more bell peppers turning (I can't eat green which is unripe anyways (I did not know that). 

Pumpkins are still growing and slowly turning. Last count was 7 and they are huge. Won't need to grow them next year.

Tomatoes are starting to dry up and bugs are starting to eat the skin of them due to no rain and since I KNOW the deep well is getting low (we get an odor when it does and E told us 2 weeks ago he picked up the odor when filling his 1000 gallon tank for his horses and cattle (same underground spring).  I won't be watering gardens. I am watering the mums I have along with heart flower garden and the vegapod. Dog water is going on flowers pots that the hummingbirds are still eating from. 

I harvested tomato seeds for next year. 

I was making apple cider molasses when it blew up all over the stove. Glad it was off and had been for awhile but an air pocket must have developed and when I stirred it to help it cool down , it "exploded",it was nasty. Thankful I was not taking supper out of the oven when it happened. I had a deep fryer blow up on me when I was 18. Do NOT want to go through it again. I have one more burner to finish cleaning. I can say, I would rather scrub at grease than syrup.

I still need 5 pints of tomato sauce and instead of 8 qrts of pasta sauce I am going to do 16 pints instead for when we are having ravioli when I would not need as much sauce.

I bought potatoes from an Amish lady, they are small so I will still need to buy baking potatoes. Hubby mentioned wanting to try Hasselback potatoes and English Jacket potatoes.

I still want 2 acorn squashes, 1 large butternut for autumn stew *I grew baby butternut* and 2 spaghetti squash. That will give me 1 winter squash per week until March.

Son2 brought up a way to use extra buns. Hotdog buns can become garlic bread, hamburger buns and sub buns can become mini pizzas.  Last night we used the leftover sub buns for pizza using my pizza sauce (had 1 didn't seal). I need to focus on what I can use in another meal in a different way to lower waste or what gets shoved in freezer and forgotten.

I talked to my pharmacist about my meds when I got a warning of side effects from a med I have been taking for 25 yrs. It's suppose to help prevent bone breaks... it can cause thigh bone breaks along with bone along with jaw bone problems so I couldn't get a dental implant for the tooth I broke, joint and muscle pain and low calcium (which you need for strong bones). They looked up my other 2 meds , both cause bone, joint and muscle pain along with stomach/lower back pain. That pain triggers my Crohn's. 

Talked to my doctor, I understand he looks at what the meds does help but for now on I have to also ask what is the side effects. Meds that cause bone fractures and any kind of pain is not something I want to take. I am off those meds until I see him in 3 months. I have to now take my BP 3 times a day as he is wondering if the bouncing of my BP is coming from the side effects.

Need to go finish scrubbing the stove so I can get back to canning. 

Blessed Be

Prayers for peace and truths.  

UPDATE

 49 days to election !!!!!

I am going back to gardens to finish taking them down and get the last of it processed.

Neither of us is watching more than the weather. 

I have turned off my latest updates for my local news due to Lies from JD Vance and Trump... I am more upset with JD. 

SICK AND TIRED

 

I have been independant, Republican and Democratic...

I will NOT put a felon who thinks it's fine to grab women privates even when they don't want that touch. I will not put a felon that thinks it's okay to not pay his fair share of taxes or hides how he pays off his affair with a porn star. I feel for his wife and young son.

I will NOT vote for JD Vance that is our state senator that is supposed to be HELPING our state NOT LYING .. THEY ARE HERE LEGALLY JD . My grandson couldn't go to school due to bomb threats while you brag about not verifying your facts and willing to lie to get attention.

Like Jim Jordan who has never passes a single law he did on his own though he as cosponsored some that did  pass. He has repeatedly voted against the farming bill that would help OHIO farmers. 

I will add that they should have been required to take drivers training before getting behind a wheel on their own, but really..we have  folk doing drag racing through Columbus and the cops are trying to deal with that.

The Election wasn't stolen but Trump and his GANG are trying to steal it with lying NOW.

From NBC https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/baseless-rumors-haitian-immigrants-threaten-unravel-springfield-ohio-rcna170513

 From 12,000 to 15,000 Haitians who fled political turmoil and violence in their home country have landed in Springfield over the past five years, arriving in the U.S. under a federal humanitarian program for migrants, according to the city. Others are in the U.S. on tourist visas and green cards.

“Many of them were professionals, ​​medical doctors, attorneys, teachers, engineers, you name it,” said Sophia Pierrelus, an immigration advocate who left the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince nearly two decades ago. “Culture shock happens for both Americans and Haitians.”

In the gardens for storage

 We have 9 red kuri squash, 3 possibly 4 dickinson pumpkins, and 6 baby butternut. 

I want to pick up 2 spaghetti squashs and 2 acorn squashs.  That should cover us of 1 squash each week from October to March.

My onions are the size of golf balls. I said something to M and she asked if I really needed a big onion... I got to thinking about that. Not really unless I am using it in something that I am canning. I usually cut a big onion in a thick slice for my casseroles etc. SO a golf ball size one or a couple of them would work just fine. I need to check which ones are cured and deal with putting them in storage.

Hubby checked garlic that has been curing. It's ready for storage also.

I have room for 8 qrts of pasta sauce, 10 pints of tomato sauce, 16 pints of ketchup/catsup and 16 half pints of pizza sauce.Then all the shelves are full.I need to organize the herbs and spices but that can wait until winter.

I am dehydrating the cherry tomatoes that are coming in.

I have room for 7 more meals of half bell peppers for stuffing and 1 gallon on diced bell peppers and 6 more meals of eggplant in the freezers. Then the freezers are full until we quit making ice for M to make ice cream. In the past week we have received chocolate and strawberry ice cream... she used the flavoring for kids' milk to make the ice cream. Was good. I added small frozen strawberries in ours.

Seeds I planted for fall garden in the garden beds did not sprout. I think the birds got them as we have noticed a lot more birds on the electric wire at the road. The ones I planted in the vegopod are doing well. I also have 3 cabbage plants started that I hope will grow for this winter. They are 90 to 120 days from seed.

I've already bought my seeds for next year except for flowers. I am still debating on growing my own or buying from Amish. The one that died I used to buy from, the young lady she trained is going to run the greenhouse with her sister for the widower. The other Amish I bought from told Hubby that she was going to 3 days a week as she has no one to help her since school started and the oldest girl got married and moved away.

Be safe

Prayers for peace

Blessed be 

current home pics

 

We are going to redo the gardens(berries are on other side of driveway with asparagus) and thinking of adding a green house. The one Amish family built one and the wife told Hubby that the vents work nice that it didn't get over heated during the 100 heat index days but it would need heat if trying to grow through the winter if we get a cold winter.

From a distance you can't tell we have a ramp on the front porch.

We have the roofing supplies for the wood shed (small red building to right of house) E is going to put it on. It doesn't leak so if he don't get to it this fall, it's okay. He is finishing up his wife's wash house, his mother's wash house and his sawmill building while harvesting hay, planting cover crop and waiting for the feed corn to finish ripening. LOL

Aug 31st

 6 years ago we looked at this house. A lot has changed and I should update this photo. 

We bought it March of 2018, 3 years later I had paid off 20% so we refinianced to get rid of PMI and get a rate half of what we had.

Sept of 2021 was the start date for the new mortgage. We took 30 yr. loan as it had the best rate and payment. We have paid off 9 years in the 3 yrs we have had the loan. 

Hubby is okay with that rate, figuring we will have it paid off in 7 years.

I want to get it paid off in 5 yrs. I wrote out how to do it, what the budget would be and still cover repairs and a down payment for a new to us truck or SUV (I struggle to get out of a car).

I compared it to a slow pay bankruptcy, A chapter 13... but reality is we have no other loans BUT the mortgage. We have some odds and ends needing done for maintenance on the homestead. BUT they are things we can save up for.

I know the electric bill is going to be higher than normal for Aug due to AC running for a solid week (heat index over 100). Finally broke that heat wave, still NO RAIN . I already started pulling plants from the gardens. 

I would like to have 12 more pints of plain tomato sauce, 12 more quarts of pasta sauce and 16 pints of catsup. I would like to vacuum bag 7 more halves of bell peppers so I can have stuffed bell pepper once a month. I would like 6 more meals of eggplant in freezer to have it twice a month. Except for winter squash ( I have red kuri and small butternut, want to add acorn and spaghetti squash) those would cover main groceries for the year until next year's gardens. We need to buy apples also. 

I have Jan. king cabbages and Brussel sprouts in the gardens that will be ready after the first frost. The cabbages will hold until Jan/Feb with a row cover. The winter squash will be ready then also along with the Dickinson pumpkins.

We have the new garden beds to put together and the dirt needed to fill them. I have drip line to install... might need to add to it but we can work with that by saving for what we are short. I have seeds and seed starting soil already. I will need to pick up some flower seeds to grow for my hanging baskets since the Amish grower died I haven't found anyone that is as good as she was with baskets. 

I will have to get sweet potato starters, seed potatoes and onion sets. I have that in the budget.

I wrote it out for Hubby as he does better seeing it and it will help me track what we are spending. We have maintenance on the tractor and both lawnmowers and his truck this fall.

I just need to update the finance spread sheet.  Between canning and harvesting LOL.

Stay safe

Prayers for peace (counting down days until election and all that is over)

Blessed Be 

from the gardens

 I made tomato sauce, I thought I had some in the pantry, rechecked and found ZERO, I had double the amount of tomatoes and tomato juices though. There was very little "water" after running through the mill and letting it sit over night in the frig. I got 41 pints, both canners are on the stove as I play catch up on the computer. I will make catsup/ketchup next harvest.

I have froze eggplant, halved bell peppers for the sausage apple stuffing muffins I already have in the freezer, bell peppers diced (stir fries, 123 pasta, potatoes O'Brein, Philly steak subs and pizza), green beans the size of the width of my thumb to use in stirfries when I pulled the plants. I got some hamburger on sale and make patties, froze them then vacuum bagged them. Got hotdogs on sale, kept 2 packages whole, took the other 3 and broke down into 2 hotdogs vacuumed bagged as Hubby prefers brats (not me). So we can have what we prefer.

I got hotdog buns, hamburger buns and French bread on sale. Vacuum bagged them in amounts we would use and froze them. 

We pulled the all the cucumber vines and the onions are now curing. Onions didn't get very big (too wet, then too dry then too wet again) Since we are back into a dry spell I pulled them. Figured when I only need a little bit I could use them for that. Will look to Amish to see if anyone is selling some or buy from store as needed.

We have 2 canteloupe and 1 watermelon and 1 red kur winter squash harvested.

I need to find apples since ours rotten on the tree. Hubby got them off so that mess is dealt with.

We decided on 2 hams, 2 turkeys and 1 prime rib (Christmas Eve) is the only meat we need to buy.

I pulled up the current USDA food plans...for our age Thrify is $495.90, Low is $540.90, Moderate is $672.90 and Liberal is $803.80.

We pay for our eating out from the grocery budget (including tips) We come in between Low and Moderate.

We would like to be between Thrift and Low.

 We looked at what we order to go or eat out. Wendy's and Burger King so we now have frozen hamburgers and buns, I have raspberry lemonade mix and strawberry lemonade mix. We don't really care for regular French fries unless they are loaded. So I bought sweet potatoes to make them into French fries in the air fryer. 

We will be looking at the rest, some of it is we are out on appts. Others is both are worn out. I have canned more soups to help with that side. 

Stay safe

Prayers for peace

Blessed Be

Welcome to my insane world.

 I stepped up to the window and caught this

I am slowly (in my opinion) recovering. The work load crushed Hubby. I was pretty much sleeping on the bathroom floor for 3 days. I can't remember having the dry heaves so bad or the gas being like labor contractions. Hubby did take over to M what was coming in the garden and told her I was down. I only lost so peaches he forgot.... Really really not bad. 

I have canning, dehyrating and freezing to do. Forget housework at this point. I will clean the sinks and toilets. I did wash all my bedding as I ran a fever of 102(normal for me is 97.9) for 2 days. Took me all day as I dried it on the line then tossed in dryer to "heat" it for germs.

Hubby was going to finish cutting up the last of the wood E had brought up last year he gave us, when E stopped him and told him his brother needed someone to go get supplies for E's mom. Hubby went over and talked him, phone calls made so orders would be ready to be picked up... sounds easy right? HELL NO. 

What should have been a 2 hr. run became a 5 hr run. One company forgot to pull part of the order and they go had make the trip to go get it from other company. Then Hubby was listening to the Brother explain what he was trying to do in the new wash room when Hubby caught that how he was going to run the water wasn't going to work and they sat down with the store guy and worked that out (added an hour). Then as they were getting ready to come home found a message on Hubby's phone that the other brother had a piece of equipment they needed so not too much out of way to swing by and get it RIGHT?  It is when he was in the middle of a project himself USING IT.Being good brother and friend, they helped him finish it before hauling the equipment off. Hubby took 4 messages for E over pallets his is building. E charged the company $5 for each message they had Hubby take when he had Just TALKED TO THEM from our home phone.

SO last night after things quieted down he looked around and admitted he could not handle the house if he was by himself. I told him to not worry about it, he could have E fix the front bay when the orginial owner lived while he built the house for him and rent the rest for one of the Amish. Electric to barn is separate from house so the house could go off grid and the barn be on grid. I did tell him that he wouldn't need to garden. A few of the Amish have started doing some canning for elderly Englishers and I was sure M and the girls would do that for him.

I know what I should be doing today... I don't know what I will be doing today. 

Exhausted...sick

 The basement is dry and pretreated to keep any mold from happening.

BUT it's a wreck. We lost just under $1,000. of food and items. Didn't put claim on insurance. 

Will need to replace main drain tile (the one that connects to barn,pump house and house) and drains to pond as it couldn't handle that amount of rain (6.5 inches an hour, we got almost 4). Hubby talked to the plumber that lives 2 houses down. He has single ground level home, had water in the house and garage. E's had water in basement but his brother had it going through his barn like a creek and his dad had it in his work shop...they live up on a hill that doesn't even get flooded when the Scioto floods at the bottom of the hill.

Hubby ordered canning jar boxes from Uline as that was a big hit. He cleaned an area that he is moving all the extra jars to the barn as it didn't get any water what so ever. Pump house did and we had to replace the monitor there.

I have canned 36 quarts of pasta sauce... Stil need 16 qrts and 26 pints, plus plain sauce, tom juice and maybe some tomatoes... fire roasted if I have enough.

BUT I am down with food posioning...SIGH stale fritos, yeah I know they tasted stale but I was hungry and didn't want to stop what I was doing to fix something so now I am down anyways. Hubby said it reminded him of one of my really bad Crohn's attackes.... I said no where close as I am almost recovered if I REST for at least today and then only do  little starting tomorrow. He suggested I put canning jar boxes together LOL. 

I did pay the bills, paid extra on mortgage. Not as much as I wanted but considering what I had to replace in the flood it was still a good month.  Was not fun to run back and forth from computer to bathroom. 

Prayers for peace

Blessed Be

OH MY GOD Basement flooded

 I screamed at Hubby we have water coming in the basement...  I was in the bathroom and could hear the sound of rushing water . The thunderstorm had just started. Within 15 minutes we had the ENTIRE basement flood with water up to my ankles. Sump pump was working over time. We have 2 drains, one for the Amish put in for their washer and the other in bottom of basement ramp. Hubby opened the door to the ramp thinking the drain in the house was plugged and found water COMING UP the drain. The entire house and barn is on that drain line, it couldn't handle the rain coming down. He went to the pond to check the line and it was GUSHING. He grabbed the pond pump and started pumping water out of the basement, I used the broom, we finished it with the dry/wet vac and fans. Took an hour , water was out .  ...He pulled up the app he has on his phone with our home weather station. It was raining at the hardest point 6 1/2 inches per hour. We got almost 4 inches in 30 minutes. Window seal gave and he thinks the pipe he just put in blew. Took us an hour to get most of the water out.Our alarm to the pump house kept going off... water was back up there also. He is going to check the propane tank as it looked to be leaning some.

Poor Charlotte, she was in her "den" a bed tucked in between some of the shelving units against a door which water was coming through. I did put the laundry rubber mat and a blanket there after Hubby got the water sucked up and we "dried" that area for her as it was suppose to storm off and on all night. 

I was just finishing cleaning the pantry and only had the bucket room left to do...SIGH

Now I have to take everything out, treat to stop any mold from growing, make sure what is saved is good. My canning jars that were in boxes are going have to be pitched...boxes pitched not the jars. I will have to figure another way to store them or buy new boxes. Rugs and Charlotte's bed will need to be cleaned and dried.

E and M were not home, I am willing to bet since they had water the last storm when we had water in our basement (nothing like this and it was due to drain going bad), they came home to water in their basement. We were suppose to have went to a gathering and decided against it. It would have been a lot worse if we hadn't been home. 

SO this week is clean the basement and go through every single thing and moving 3 freezers and 2 frigs and several shelving units to clean under them while starting to can tomatoes. 

SIGH

Thank you July is over SIGH.

 I thought this past week would never end. Storms  at night rolled through (but not enough rain of course) and Charlotte paces, thundershirt helped but she still paced but didn't pant like she used to. As long as I sat in my rocking chair in the dining room she was fine, she go back to the basement to her "den" but if I got up even to go to the bathroom she was back up the stairs pacing. Hubby started laughing as he heard me tell her I was going to the potty and I would be right back as she was coming up the stairs. Like being up with a baby that has it's days and nights flipped.

Wood that still needs cut for this winter

BUT that is the last of it. 

The only thing left to do on the wood shed is the roof, E made it clear he would be helping with that. Hubby is going to thunk him this week since oats have been shocked and hay just finished. 

Hubby hauled hay for HB, his father in law gave Hubby a pane of glass for helping his family (HB paid Hubby) as he found out we have a broken pane. E said he would put it in as he is replacing one of his own and has the caulking anyways. 

I canned Roma green beans and 9 half pints of cherry syrup. We bought milk.

I am cleaning the pantry and trying to fill in the holes in the food storage.

Hubby decided he was keeping the treated lumber beds instead of burning them, he wants to stack them so they are deeper, me put liner in them and then fill them. Since I already bought metal beds to replace them I asked what he was going to grow in them. He told me to figure something out. 

I finished the seed order for next year (actually 2 yrs at least). I focused my usual spring planting, what I will grow (using grow cart) for summer and then fall planting. Adding what I can put in cold storage (aka root cellar) which will be more under stairs , attic, bottom of basement ramp etc. I ordered more winter squash as I know we can take the extra over to the produce auction.

Covid is going around so we are trying to stay home (kids run around and don't care if they get it but will warn us they have been exposed). We have a few medical appts so know to mask up and use hand sanitizer. Lysol the house on a regular bases.

Hope all is well and good.

Prayers

Blessed Be

Canning

 I canned ground beef, sausage, and bacon. We tried the bacon, on grease side and more of bits and pieces but done in 3-5 minutes. I might try doing half slices to see if they hold together better. I was told pepperoni was the same way. Was just making sure I could do it correctly incase of the freezers dying and needing to can everything.

My 4 inch cucumbers are starting to come in. I canned 5 pints of bread and butter pickles. 

Tomatoes have bottom rot due to too much rain at one time. Dealing with that. Glad I have enough put up to make it through the coming year if we don't get enough. 

I need pizza sauce though. Might have to buy the tomatoes from the Amish to get that done.

I ordered next year's seeds that I need to start my plants in Jan.... I ordered this year's fall garlic. They will come in Sept. The cherries I ordered should be in this week... the Mennonite store owner was hoping to get enough for everyone that ordered.

Hubby has decided (enough to price raised bed garden soil for 12 new beds) to do some late fall/ winter crops like I have done in the past.  I am waiting for him to come back with the costs before jumping back on that band wagon. As he has bounced back and forth on it.

Have a great day

Be safe

Prayer for all of us

Blessed Be

 

 

Let's start

 

She is pretty small since she is a hummingbird... but she sat on the fence for at least 5 minutes. I don't remember ever seeing one sit that long. I caught it because I wondered what the white spot on my fender was... her neck LOL

Hubby asked for what was coming in and going out on the budget in writing. Spread sheet was confusing him since he is always feeling exhausted... he is on blood thinners but the doctor is having him wean off so by Labor day he should be off that and start feeling less exhausted. Son2 asked for it also since he takes over if I go down. Both complained I stressed them out LOL.

I broke it down to this is for the house, this is for the maintenace of house building and barn and pump house is separate, this is for maintenace of trucks, this is gardens including things to make it easier to take care of it,this is yard (freaking moles), this is medical, this is groceries including canning supplies and eating out, this is birthday $, this is Christmas $, this is automatic savings $, this is money Hubby spent at TSC that wasn't on the buy list.... yes I wrote it exactly like that.Hubby laughed. I not only wrote this is what is coming in, and going out but what I was doing to make sure it was covered.

 BUT what caught them both was I had what we needed to have invested when we hit age of 75 to cover expenses that our social securty will not cover if we get the 30% cut they talk about. I had it broke down by amount for each month to set aside. Son2 is 42, he is retired Army with 20 yrs, has Social Security also and is working towards his next pension as he puts it.BUT even with having VA health ins. Made him think about his own.

They asked me why... I pointed out that if we don't deal with it now, we will be in crisis in 10 yrs. I really don't want that at that age.

Son 2 called Daughter 2 and 4.... they calmly said "she is her father's child, Grandpa got hit with is at 75." laughed and hung up and texted me about it.  YEP... the girls got it. Daddy nearly went broke in 2008. Lost over half his investments when he dragged his feet about moving money when his finance guy called repeatedly and asked him to come in so they could protect his money by moving it. Had to go to living on social security only. He did recover financially but worried about out living his money for the rest of his life. Thankful his house and car was paid for but he ended up only having $40 a week for groceries and I gave him plants and seeds for his garden and brought him meals for his freezer to help him. Brother took him out twice a week or brought take out. 

Brother is now 75, we talked about what he hadn't planned for... a disabled wife that is 50 (they have known for 25 yrs she was going to be disabled so I just wanted to sigh over that denial), dental work when his bridge broke,eyeglasses and medical out of pocket for his wife. Cost of groceries and rising utilities. Replacing the cars.

I have that covered except for the car.

We have the wood stove dropped propane cost of $3500.00. Hubby said he still has the timbers from E to cut and a few of the blocks of the load we got from ER sawmill. I told him we was going to be using the coal also so he thinks we have enough to go 2 years. Day wood and blocks are in barn, night wood is in the wood shed. Said he might pick up another load of blocks. That's $60.

We use oil lamps about half the time and have LED lights through entire house,pump house and barn. AC costs us $5/day running about 12 hrs as I will turn it up to 85 or off when its actually on during the day when we are outside. It's set on 80 at night and only on when the heat index is over 85. Last month it ran 5 days. So far this month it's ran 2. Hubby gets issues with heat since his heart attack due to meds.Our security light is $12/month. Our deep freezers and refrigerators costs us about $50 a month with 5 freezers and 3 refrigerators. The one refrigerator is dairy only, butter in the freezer (enough for the year) cheese, extra milk, half and half, and heavy cream and enough room for the large pot. The other is produce and then the one that is in the kitchen.

My trash pick up is the lowest for this area even though I am limited on the amount of bags and size of bag it works. English neighbor pays more for her one bag pick up from another provider.

Hubby gets a little bit of money from the plant he retired from for medical bills. I don't count on it so I have been putting the money in savings when we get reembursed.Figure we will need it for dentures or bridges. We always had to pay for our eyeglasses so that has always been in budget. He goes one year and I go the next, we both try to reuse our frames to keep it within budget.We changed dentist (I hate doing that) but actually ended up with better care and about half to cost. 

SO... Hubby asked for cost of switching to root cellars and going majority of seeds being open pollinated or heirloom. First buy will be about the same of what I spend anyways, then the price will go away as I will collect the seeds from what I am growing. We used to do that with tomatoes and squashes.  I have baskets, crates and cardboard boxes we can use to store the produce in. We have several sawmills willing to sell or give us sawdust we will need for the carrots, parsnips etc.I already use my grow cart yearly so that is the same also. Getting seed potatoes, sweet potato starts and onion sets if I don't do that myself will raise the garden cost but will even out and save us money next fall.

 I would save more than half of the grocery budget.Means more work in the kitchen making from scratch but that's fine. I also brought up I wanted to only buy dairy and a few fresh produce from Oct to March. He brought up starting that now as he saw that the green beans are almost ready, N  and the Mennonite produce stand have what ever fresh veggies we could need if ours isn't in, keep the money local with local produce.

He reminded me he was pricing soil for the new garden beds.E noticed the metal bed boxes sitting on the front porch and he smiled. Asked what I was going to be adding to the gardens... potatoes, sweet potatoes and onions. Maybe more herbs. He laughed. 

I already have got the grocery budget below what the USDA thrifty food plan says we should be spending ($493.10/month for the two of us at our age). Average  cost of our groceries is $300/month including meat. I can cut the budget to $90 a month using the local Amish and Mennonite produce stands and only buying dairy at the store. M is making vanilla ice cream weekly and we get a bit of it since we make the ice for her to do that. So that drops my dairy costs since I am not making ice cream as often.

I did specify I wanted to be full stock before starting the cut... he took a pic of the to be stocked list and went to a meeting he had for HAM radio in town. Two hours later he came home with the stuff that was on the list. Did a pit stop at Walmart for E and checked prices of what was on the list. Got flour and sugar and then went to bulk store and got oats for less than $1/ lb where it runs twice if not three times of that in the store. He also found 93/7 ground sirlon on sale in 3lbs tubes. He knew I wanted to can some ground beef as I already got the sausage I want to can. 

We are stocked except for potatoes, sweet potatoes and onions... that will be in the fall. Apples... maybe pears... I have cherries on order from Mennonite store that should be in within a week.

We decided to put the saved grocery money in savings until we have 3 months of expenses which is our goal. Right now we have 1 1/2 months there.

We will continue to pay extra on mortgage with focus of getting it paid off within next 10 yrs.Preferrable sooner. 

Have a great day. 

Prayers

Blessed be

We survived Tuesday

 Charlotte had me up most of Monday night with the wind and thunder, we didn't get a drop of rain so if it doesn't rain today I will be watering the garden tonight.

I fell asleep at 7 pm and am now wide awake at 1:30 am.

We took deposits for 2 Amish to the bank as it's not really out of our road but it's over 30 minutes by CAR. Amish don't have social security numbers so are limited to what banks they can bank with.

Then we went to chiro and got put back in place, I threw my hip out before I even got off the table and had to have it put back in a second time.

Then we went to Menards and got distilled water for Hubby's bipap and they had bottle water on sale with 11% rebate so we picked some up. Should cover us for the summer.

Then we went to Aldi's as M is looking for blueberries. Hubby got her 15 LBs since they were $1.89/LB. I got 12 LBS for us, not that we want them right now as we are burnt out from eating berries but I know come mid winter we will be wanting them again and at that price... I hope my blueberry bushes produce more next year.  I also got 4 lbs of thick cut bacon on sale and 7 LBS of mild sausage to can.

Then we went to Kroger's. I picked up some box Mexican meals , enchilida and crunch wrap... what we usually order at Taco Bell's (I get Mexican pizza also) along with tortilla wraps. I got 5 jars of chocolate peanut butter and 5 jars of regular. we only eat Jif now days as it can trigger my chron's when I eat other brands.I got 5 jars of Miracle Whip, 25 lbs of sugar (only bag they had and they had no large bags of flour), I got 7 lbs of hot sausage to can but they did not have any 90/10 ground sirlon for me to can so that's still on the list.  I got honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon and bananas. Carrots, celery, bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, container of red and green lettuce and roman lettuce.  Half and half, heavy cream and buttermilk, cottage cheese and vanilla bean Greek yogurt.  Five 6 packs of coke and a large bottle of Jack Daniels Tenn. Honey whiskey. Hubby laughed because I usually don't buy it until closer to winter. I like Hot toddy's....it was on sale so I got it now. I was actually looking for Son2's bourbon but they were out. I saved $53. I spent $200. 

I still need AP flour, whole wheat flour, oats, sugar ,90/10 ground sirlon ...I know there is something else on that list but it's in my purse and if I get my purse I will wake Hubby up as his recliner he sleeps in is right there also. 

On the way home we stopped at bulk store to check when they are open (not on Tuesday and closed for lunch) and then went to CVS to pick up Hubby's meds and I used my rewards to get a 4 pack of TP and 3 bottles of body soap as it was on sale.

We checked some garden centers to see what was left... I need to get the fall gardens planted. 

Unloaded and put everything away...We both called it DONE. 

Hubby has a meeting today with HAM radio group. I will be working in the kitchen. Freezing the blueberries. I will can the sausage tomorrow since it's humid today and will not be tomorrow.

Prayers

Blessed Be