Frigid...this week's plans

 Still no propane. BUT since we took the pump house off the propane and went to kerosene there. We aren't dropping like we were. Which means the pump house needs the old insulation (on punch list but low priority) ripped out and replaced with better and possible the window in there even though covered with plastic should probably be replaced also, THIS YEAR.  We will also have an 120 gallon propane tank installed for the pump house alone. Our supplier does that size also.

I made instant mashed potatoes instead of frying potatoes to go with sausage gravy. We had enough for lunch and supper last night.

M sent eggs over last night so that's the menu for today with the leftover sausage gravy and the potatoes.

Looking at the roller coaster of temps of the weather with Tuesday 45 and rain and Wed 38 and SNOW  and temps back down BELOW zero without windchill by Friday.

Monday I have contrast (drink not injection) CT scan and blood work to see if I have developed antibodies to my Humira. We have to leave at 5:30 in the morning , two hr. drive, 3 hrs. for testing and then 2 hrs. back home.  Hopefully we will get propane.

Tuesday is Chinese New Year.  We have Chiro. I might stop at thrift stores in Sidney to look for stuff for GS D.

I was planning to make the dinner, Hubby suggested we get it on the way home from the testing and just get enough to have leftovers for Tuesday. As I usually eat rice after testing anyways. Both of our Chinese restaurants are closed on Tuesday (pizza shop and one restaurant is closed on Mondays) . I will also need to start gathering what I am giving Grandson D for his 1st apt. He was texting me last night as his oldest brother is moving in with him that they need food and kitchen stuff. He thought it was funny when I asked Box cook or scratch cook. UNTIL his brother went " box mac and cheese or Uncle B's mac and cheese) then he understood. He is a box cook. Oldest said he would buy perishables as he cooks from scratch. So I am just fill the cabinets not the frig and freezer. GS D then sent Towels, wash cloths, dish towels, dish cloths, bedding dishes pots and pans... cleaning supplies.... then just put ... HELP ME. Oldest is trying to make the youngest get most of it as he is only moving in to help D get up on his feet. He is turning 19 but is in last year of high school. Oldest didn't like the idea of him going out on his own. BUT plans to move out after GS D graduates and can work full time to pay the bills on his own. Living with either parent is not a good choice and he has been floating between his 2 brothers the past year. 

Wed. I will clear and reorganize the kitchen frig and it's freezer. I will do finances also. Start the bread starter so I can bake bread on Thursday. Probably will pull meals from that freezer

Thursday  Finish what ever up. Make noodles as I am out. Bake bread.

Friday is up in the air. GS D doesn't move until the 11th so I don't think I will be taking stuff to him until that date. I might go shopping at the local Goodwill and the Dollar General. 

Saturday up in the air.

Blessed Be

Emergency we did not plan for

 When we bought this house we thought about emergencies... 

bad weather (HAM radio and cell phones that gives us local alerts)

home phone line goes out/ cell phone drops service... covered

electric goes off... 2 generators.

BUT never did it cross our mind about not getting propane delivered before we ran out. I check the level at the tank WEEKLY for that reason.

Two days ago I called in for a delivery. We were at 31 % and using 4% each day due to how cold it is with the windchill. We usually use 10% / wk. during the winter. This was 15% in a week. Today Hubby checked the propane. 25%... furnace will not run at below 20%. He called to see if the propane was coming in today.

 IT'S NOT. They have several with NO propane and they are trying to get them filled first. I do not have an issue with that at all.... BUT they did warn us that if they can't get to us by tomorrow (they hope to) that it would be MONDAY so we will be out. 

We took a deep breath... thought about if this was a blizzard, we could be in the same position. What do we have to keep the pipes from freezing and us warm enough plus our water heater and cook stove is propane.

Hubby went to the barn.

 He found the 2 kerosene heaters with good wicks. E had 5 gallons of kerosene that he was not going to use so passed it to us. Hubby turned off the propane heater in the pump house and put a kerosene heater in there. The odor will not matter since it's where we won't be. He is also going after 5 more gallons of kerosene (and a gallon of milk).

He found 2 gas buddy heaters we used to use on the old farm in the bedroom and front room. Those are now in the house with 2 grill propane tanks(both full) to run them.

 The canning stove in the barn is on a full grill propane tank and the grill's tank is half full.   I have electric roaster, electric skillet, crock pot, and air fryer plus microwave.  Hubby brought in the camping stove and it's fuel. We will be reheating leftovers today and tomorrow I will fry potatoes and make sausage gravy that can be reheated in microwave or over the camping stove. 

I found the old electric heater in a north loft and brought it down. Turned the lights on in the grow cart which will warm that area by 10 degrees. 

Right now we have some sunshine so it's feels warmer than it actually is. Furnace is down to 65. At bedtime we will turn it down to 60. 

It made us really think about if this was a blizzard we wouldn't get propane for a week or more... so rethinking back up for the propane is now something to be dealing with. 

Meantime.... I have Mother's thick cable sweater on. Hubby is wearing his insulated vest in the house over a heavy fleece shirt and tee shirt. We have thermos which we might be using for PJs tonight. 

We will be okay for the short term.

I am tired

and looking at the window when it's at 17 below wind chill and seeing this made me more tired.

YEP... they were back at it before day break to finish cutting ice for the last 3 families ice houses. Even the 2 boys (ages 5 and 6) were out there working and running after thermos after thermos of coffee that M was keeping supplied.

It's 3 pm now,they are finishing the last wagon and loading the tools and the slide they use to load the ice on the wagon back up in the rafters of our barn over hang. Good place for it to be stored.

We used 20% of propane in last week. First time ever to use more than 10%/week. The frigid temps and wind chill sucked that right down. We had to turn the furnace up 2 degrees to keep the front room where Hubby sleeps in his recliner (so he can breath) up to 66. Below that his tremors get really bad. Still only 2 degrees and turning the fan on ON instead of auto kept the home warm. Called propane co and ordered a refill. They said they had one that dropped 9% over night and their furnace was struggling to run so was glad I called before we dropped down to 30% so we weren't an emergency. 

I used paint markers to mark the plastic clothes pins that I am going to use in the grow cart to track what I am growing. 

We bounced some thoughts of how we wanted things to be a year from now around the kitchen table. I  made notes so we can talk more about them and then see how it goes. 

Hubby took a break from his one hauling job, they were starting to load hours which he can't do with having State numbers. They know they can call him to help fill in as they hired 2 drivers to replace him. In this cold of weather, he is glad to not be hauling at break of dawn. 

Stay warm , stay safe, be kind.

Blessed Be

finance report

 Will most likely repeating a few things. 

Mortgage...met the $5000 extra we decided to try to pay each month this year. Taking 10 months off the mortgage loan and saving $16, 870 in interest.

Bought new chain saw, paid cash and got 10% off.

Put our name on the list for the pruner (Stihl) that is on back order but suppose to come in during the next 3 months. Been trying to get it for 2 yrs. This is through the company that sold us the chainsaw. So another cash item and they give discounts for cash.

Bought dripline for gardens. Saved $175 on delivery by Hubby going after it (within 15 miles of the chain saw) and 10% of purchase price (web promo) and 1.5% cash back from Hubby using his cash back credit card. 

Since he was already in the area and needed to kill about 30 minutes between stops, he pit stopped at the Mennonite store (cash or checks , don't accept credit cards) to check on half bushel baskets and crates for our cold storage we will be doing. Baskets are normally $7 and crates are normally $6. He got a $ 2 off each as he took last years that was in barn storage and "dusty" . Plus he got a free pallet as the guy was just going to burn it and Hubby offered to take it off his hands. 

He stopped and got gas using the new Marathon card he got and saved 75 cents total. 

I've used promo codes, discounts and priced checked all of the seeds I have ordered. Saved 1/3 of total costs.

E let us know he was adding 2 rows of sweet bicolor corn for us since we have helped them so much this year. So our eating corn is taking care of.

I have gotten 50 yellow sweet corn (aka canning corn) seed, tomato seed, Armenian cucumber seed and 2 packages of flower seed for free.   

I ordered some "office" stuff to make a better inventory record keeping of the garden seeds and such. I used promo code for 15% off and my cash back credit card. Got free shipping.

I have to go get a diagnostic CT scan and blood work at the hospital that is 2 hrs. from us. They arranged it so I could get both done the same day saving us gas and time. That is on the 31st.  

Amish ways of keeping food

  I think we all know that they can  a lot of their food... veggies, fruit, and meat.

But there are many that don't realize how they keep food fresh without electric.

Some have spring houses, like our neighbors and Johnston Farms ,https://www.johnstonfarmohio.com/Exhibits/exhibits.php had one. 

Here are some pics I found on the internet

This is what they use as a refrigerator. M says she can keep hers around 32 to 36 degrees with just making sure there is fresh water going through it. She will add some of her block ice to the water holding areas in the summer.

Most have an ice house to hold huge blocks of ice. This is NOT like a freezer. It's more for just keeping things cold. Like using a cooler to camping.

Here is some pics from the internet of ice houses.

M has said about the only thing she throws out is about a quart of milk every other day. They have 2 milk cows and 11 of them in the family , the cows still produce more milk than they need. She dumps the extra milk where she will be planting her tomatoes this summer. Both of us are planning to start making our own cottage cheese and cheeses this year. 

Hit mortgage extra payment goal

 

They are clearing snow off the pond as snow makes ice mushy when they cut blocks for ice house. Probably late next week they will be cutting as we will stay below freezing. I hope they get at least 6 inch blocks. 

I am feeling better, rough with some light discomfort but not really any pain. I was able to eat 1/2 cup potatoes and 1 egg last night for supper which was great. I had 1/2 cup of canned spinach for bfast. LOL Daughter 4 told me to eat my veggies first, then fruit and then protein carb so if I don't feel like eating I at least have my veggies and fruit in. Voice of experience there.

We made our $5000 extra on the mortgage goal this month. Coming out of the holidays and me going down, we didn't eat out or get take out and the groceries was down also as we are eating from the pantry. Okay HUBBY IS EATING from the pantry.

Blessed Be

UPDATE Day 9???

 My crohn's has went back to where it was when I started Humira two years ago, even though 1 yr ago this month I was in full remission with out signs of damage. They are thinking the hip and it's replacement triggered enough inflammation to retrigger the Crohn's as it triggered inflammation up my entire back causing headaches. That is the bad news.

The good news according to my Doctor is we know Humira will work so it's back on the original schedule of one shot every two weeks instead of once a month like it has been the past year. AND remove chemicals from my diet AND increasing anti inflammatory foods. WHICH is more than I did two years ago. 

Told me to look at my garden as my drug store and the food as the medicine. Can use it as practice when I hit Medicare and they don't want to pay for the Humira. His wife and him garden and can a lot of their own food.

What am I doing?

Still in pain that rolls through on a 2 hr time frame instead of a 10 min time frame, still cramping goes with the pain and chilling. Have the shakes (might be a drop in caffeine as I am drinking ginger tea and white tea instead of black tea). I am able to eat 1/2 cup of food at a time and then have to wait 3 hrs before I can handle eating again. I've lost 8 lbs. 

MEANTIME I have finished hunting for seeds and am now planning what to start when in the grow cart. 

Hubby has ran 3 people to the ER in the past week including one today. Medication is taking twice as long to get filled. 

Things are not good.

Doctor office (sorry for the ramble)

 gave me a list of inflammatory food additives to remove from my diet. You would think since I grow my own veggies etc., there would not be much.

I just bought salad/ lettuce the other day and then had to toss it as it is on recall and I had ate some of it. SIGH. They didn't test for food poisoning when I went in for Crohn's so there might have been some of that. 

EDTA is used in salad dressings amongst other things... I have lots of different salad dressings that are now in the trash can WHY? EDTA was formulated formaldehyde. I do not think I need to eat that.

Another one that is being pitched is Carrageenan that has been used for hundreds of years and indeed is organic, there is damning health research around it, suggesting that is in not necessarily safe to eat. It is linked to IBD, IBS RA and colon cancer and is banned in European Union ... My cottage cheese had it in it which funny thing is my go to when having Crohn's attack. 

I HATE reading labels especially in a store where I have to keep flipping reading glasses up and down. One lady suggested I look only for ingredients... like what I would buy to make it. As I don't see me  looking for carboxymethyl cellulose for a dish (ok in small amounts, large amounts ferment in large intestine).  Worse they go by different names depending on where the product is made.  Some even have numbers. 

Hubby and I started through the salad dressing and condiments. Now we wonder if the raw veggies/salad that we thought was messing me up was actually the dressing I was putting on it. SIGH.

Doctor office said also since I am not in the hospital (still no beds and selective procedures being canceled again) my recover time will be at least twice the time (as least 16 days) and the pain will be longer to deal with as my home med is no where close to the strength of morphine I take in the hospital.  

I am in pain, I compared it to the final stages of natural childbirth and Daughter 2 asked if it was when I delivered her or Son 2 which I went into labor ... hard labor 7 times for, Daughter 4 I didn't have labor as I was too busy puking from the flu . I look like I am pregnant for the bloat.  

I went from walking 10,000 plus steps a day to less than 1,000 steps a day. I didn't eat for 3 days, than ate cottage cheese and crackers. Last night was double pumpkin pie as it was what Hubby fixed from scratch. I figured it was safe.  Tonight is potato soup.  I have no energy (need to eat for that right?) 

I am tired, either fall asleep at the drop of a pin or not sleep due to pain and just be tired. Have to be careful not to shut down the digestive system with pain meds and then have to go through the pain of starting that back up. Been there and done that. A HELL far worse than now.

I am whiny... I haven't gotten to the point of Hubby telling me to knock it off but he does point out improvement which is next to nil at this time. Well , maybe not as one was I was home not in the hospital surrounded by covid  And I have Charlotte to cuddle some with me.

I have started inventorying the seeds coming in and planning what season to plant what. Hubby wants to try a 4 season with storage veggies. 

I need to look up salad dressing to make from scratch.

IN ER

 all day Saturday due to Crohns attack.

They had to send me home as there was no beds and since Crohns means you spend a lot of time in the bathroom , it was not that they could keep me in the ER or the hallway until a room was available. 

Two injections of Morphine did not wipe out pain .... been here and done this.. 

4 injections of Humira did help calm it down but not take it away.

Blessed be everyone , stay safe. wear your masks

drip lines for garden vs cold storage/root cellar vs pay off mortgage

 Hubby is all for root cellar and waiting on the mortgage. 

I am for drip lines as I know how much time I spend watering all the gardens and fruit trees (in pots)and possible cold storage for some things as I felt we didn't really have an area for a root cellar... might be because I have built a couple with Daddy for his sister and his Dad.

Our friend who is a Community Emergency Management Director, CEMD for short (aka Prepper) made the choice for us.

Basing what he knows and on our age and abilities and then he added the layout of our land. His suggestion was No root cellar ( not enough slope and would lose 2 trees) and no buried tanks, freezers etc. Our health in 5 yrs will not be able to handle climbing in and out with ladders or being on our knees uncovering frozen stuff that would cover the lids of what ever we buried.

The drip line for the gardens was a yes. (Showed us on line where to buy it local) Saves us electric from running the well pump, saves me time, and as it takes less water, more on target of plant, it will save more ground water and that also affects our neighbors on the same  underground water supply. He was glad the pond was not graveled as that allows the dirt around the pond to absorb water (more ground water). He was glad we have 90 % of rain water going to the pond and the other 8% going to the county drain, 1 % going to a cistern and he wished we would reroute the one that just goes to the ground at the back door of all places (ME TOO).He suggested it be routed to the cistern. That can be done when we rebuild those steps.  

He then pointed out some areas that could be used for food storage. We could drill out concrete in north wall of basement for venting and do an enclosed 8x10 area. That is my pantry area now. I would lose space for 3 shelving units that I would have to find other places for. CEMD understood this and went looking for other places for those shelves. He suggest to move all empty canning jars to barn where we are going to set up the canning stove, add a refrigerator (we have 3) and a sink (we have that in barn not hooked up) Move the shelving units to those areas where the empty jars are sitting. Start canning our meat (I don't do much ) and get rid of 1 frig (as the 2nd one would be moved to barn) and at least 1 freezer.(two would be better)(lower electric, more food easier to fix). Put shelving units for meat where frig and freezer is at. 

Thought two places in barn that would be good for storage (cabbage) but Hubby was against it as he would have figure out where to move what he has stored in barn. CEMD being his buddy politely told him to quit keeping things that needed to go to junk yard. That is now on the March project of clearing the barn, as I had not put the back stalls in that as it's mostly tractor stuff and stuff along that line.

He found a decent place in house in north south lofts for winter squash, temperature is perfect thought the humidity is a little low. We have a small humidifier that was Son2 that would work there.

Said to leave beets, turnips, etc out in the garden with cover of screens to keep mice out as we have raised boxes and some other cover. Thought of other ways we could keep stuff in gardens that overwhelmed Hubby for sure. He personally had never used row covers for winter growing and was interested in how it does after this spell of wind chills at 10 below zero.

I do need to focus on heirloom/open pollinated seeds and harvesting the seed. Suggest I plant one or two  of each variety in pots and move them behind the house so they don't cross pollinate with anything. 

CEMD then walked through looking at how the home is set up for emergencies. We have 2 generators, one diesel and one gas. We fuel for both on hand. We have a wind mill at pond that we could move to the water pump. We would like to get some solar power down the road. We have thought about getting a non electric pump that some of the Amish use for the deep well. I have a hand pump on the cistern. He strongly suggested we do that even though it is expensive. We just need to know how deep the well is first. (On to do list now). CEMD thought we were in decent shape except for needing a way to heat without propane. We have looked a bit for a wood/pellet cook stove for the barn as it has the chimney in place. If things got real bad we would move to the barn. Front bay was where the guy(age 18) lived while he built the house. It has water, septic line and the chimney for the stove right there. Would be easier to keep going in bad times. 

He strongly suggested Hubby to get his HAM radio back on line. We are in an area that we get NO alerts or warnings of bad weather. IF he had his HAM radio on (we have it on antenna) we would hear other HAM radio operators sending out alerts and warnings. 

Over all , we are in good shape and he priced the drip lines for the gardens including the fruit trees at $750 if we did the installation our selves.

We got to visit with someone of like mind, that understood where we were trying to head for. He is also hunting for some seeds I haven't been able to find that is good for winter storage food. He would like to try them himself. 

Enjoy your day. I got seeds in the mail I need to inventory and to get the ham in the oven.

meals

 My Amish water bath canner that holds 19 quarts or 36 pints with the shelf added is in. 

I am not sure it will fit on the canning stove as well as the kitchen stove. It is stainless steel (my copper and brown back splash reflecting onto it makes it look brownish).

Meals have been the following

1st Pork and kraut and mashed potatoes and pickles

2nd sausage gravy with left over rolls, mashed potato patties and asparagus

3rd Spaghetti with homemade sauce using onion, fresh garlic, mushrooms, bell pepper, home canned tomatoes and home canned pasta sauce and hamburger. 

4th Due doctor appts one at 10:45 and then my EEG at 2:30 we had leftover sausage gravy, leftover mashed potato patties and the last of the leftover rolls for breakfast (neither of us eat bfast often). At noon, we ate at Perkins (pancake restaurant) as I had to eat a meal before the EEG. I brought home half of my meal.

5th I took Perkin leftovers of 2 pancakes, 1 French toast, 3 sausage links and 1/2 cup of home fries and diced up the link and chopped up the home fries and put them in to a big egg aka frittia. I cut the French toast in half and split the pancakes between us. Hubby got some toast as he was still hungry. Then M sent over dessert so we had that.. vanilla cake with mini choc chips and some kind of topping baked on it. 

Today we have chiropractic so we will have the leftover spaghetti with bread sticks and salad ( I planned that to have dried fruit in it) and the last of M's dessert.

Friday we will have roast ham, sweet potato, and apple sauce

I am not sure of Saturday, depends if Hubby works. I might do a scalloped potato ham casserole. We haven't had that in awhile.

Jan 3rd I have no clue

 to why she thinks she has to be UNDER my legs when I am propped up on the bed.

I was using the heating pad for my back. Guess she thought it was nap time. 

Stopped to drop off stuff to late husband's daughter aka Daughter 1 who was in a car accident. Car total, she's bruised and has a swollen knee. Was supposed to start back to work from surgery on wrist and elbow the next day and now that is not happening.  We also handed her some money for groceries and such. Her insurance is getting her a rental.

Stopped to drop off stuff to Daughter 4's as they were celebrating Christmas on NY Day. The night before her car got TOTALLED along with a neighbors by a hit and run driver... cops are looking into another neighbor as the driver. Going to take a lot of evidence as no one has security camaras in that area. She is now driving her daughter's car and looking for a new place to live as that is the 2nd car totaled while parked in front of her home (no driveway). The other one was the city's trash truck.

Texted rest of kids about those two, surprised I was the first to know about both.  We are usually the last to find out as they don't want to worry us. UNLESS it is Son2 and then he has to tell us each and every detail. His new girlfriend said she figured out she does NOT have to ask how his day went as he will tell her immediately.

I went through all the seeds, glad I made notes of what to not reorder. Still spent 3 hours going through it, checking notes I made of what grew better and when. I have some that did horrible in the spring but wonderful in the fall.  Made a buy list with options of something we would like to try. This week I will be searching for what I need for the best price.

We saved $95.72 on propane as we prepaid for the year and it has increased by 35 cents/gal. PLUS we went 4 wks past our normal fill.

We went to the store for dairy only. Took 4 stores to get milk, large curd cottage cheese, plain yogurt and cream cheese. Hubby put the word out to local dairy farmers he is looking for dairy shares.

We saw an old friend that used to work with Hubby, his wife and him are preppers (actually it's his JOB to handle communities emergency's like wild fires, tornadoes floods etc). I out canned him and then gave him sources for canning lids and jars. He did let us know a local bakery has sales on Tuesdays. We got bread for 25 cents. It costs me 60 cents to make the same size loaf. We got four loaves for M as she had just got back in state so that took some pressure of getting bread on the table off her. We got bread, tortilla wraps, pita bread, buns, rolls, hand pies, doughnuts and bread sticks for 25 cents each for us and split it with Daughter 4. We finished off the pumpkin yeast bread and the homemade rolls first.  I spilt some of it up to freeze and eat.  We won't make it a habit to stop as eating processed breads are not in our best interest.

I am doing Frugalwoods Uber month (no spend except for necessities) and a pantry challenge (Good Cheap Eats) for the month of January. We both have several medical appts so we have tried to combine them so fuel costs are not so high as our medical out of pocket will be high. I am glad we have that money already in savings.

Blessed Be everyone

2021 2022

 2021 :we got a lot of big goals done.

House reappraised and refinanced to remove PMI. Two years paid off house mortgage in 3 months.

2022 health insurance co pays and out of pocket in savings.

Front porch and ADA ramp done.

Kitchen porch done.

Three garden beds  covered with row cover for late fall early winter gardens. 

We produced 61 % of our produce. Bought 20% from Amish/farmers markets and the rest from the grocery store

More gravel into the driveway.

Concord grape harbor removed (wasn't getting much grapes anyways)

White seedless grapes and purple seedless grapes planted.

Butterfly, hummingbird, bee garden started.

A second purple martin bird house installed. 

PLANS FOR 2022

More gravel to widen driveway (especially where the old grape harbor was) Hubby routinely has 2 wheels of the dually in the yard.  

Finish clearing the barn of Mother's, Pop's(step dad), Daddy's and late husband's stuff (his daughter down sizing due to injuries and gave it back to me to see if the rest of the kids want any of it). Goal is to have this done by end of March as our township has a clean up day in April to haul anything the normal trash won't FOR FREE.

I want to add a drip line for the gardens so I am not spending HOURS hand watering and to be more frugal with our water.

We want to make a cold storage area, not necessarily a root cellar. 

We want to produce 75% of our produce, buy 20% from Amish/farmers markets and 5% from the store.

I want to sew winter curtains for my bedroom and one for the north stairwell as it has no door (can't put one there).

I want to start Halo red twig dogwoods from our bush.

I want to get a Blaze rose started.

We want to plant all the fruit trees in ground and prune back the 2 apple trees and berry bushes. 

I want to transplant blueberry bushes to add more acid soil (ours is sweet)

I want sit and have coffee on the kitchen porch or deck in the morning and possibly meals in the evenings on kitchen porch (deck would be hot.)

I want my "canning" kitchen in the barn set up

I want spend evenings in the swing watching the fire pit (marshmallows any one?)

We want to eat on regular times. It's been all over the place this past year. Hubby is going to have to curtail some last minute add on to his jobs.

We want to eat healthier (lower my inflammation and Hubby's weight) Surprisingly we didn't GAIN weight during the pandemic but we did not LOSE either.

We want to continue to pay off the mortgage early. Hubby would like it paid off when he turns 65, that's 22 months from now. I really don't see that but He might get it for his 68th birthday instead.

Here is a toast to strength, will power and blessings of this new year