Updates

 5 yr old not doing well, having strokes, seizures, cardiac arrest. Mother won't leave room has blacked out 3 times.. next time they will transport her whether she wants to go or not as she's at a children's hospital. Hasn't been eating even though Son 2 has been making sure she has the money to eat. He's struggling because they are not married so he can't be in ICU with them. 

Nephew had his last test about his lungs, gets all results in Nov. He's holding steady.

Friend's cousin's hubby sees cardiologist today, he has congestion heart failure and some other issues like COPD. Hoping for plan of treatment.

MIL has congestion heart failure, got 40 lbs of water weight off and she's doing better... late 80s.

Hubby's uncle had heart issues and was in hospital twice for it.

Hubby's younger brother had heart attack but doing okay even though he is battling his wife (retired nurse) as he doesn't like any medical treatment.

E's Dad, who has helped us with many things especially advice is in Mexico having knee replacement (half the cost of US, Amish don't have insurance). Surgery was yesterday and we still have not heard from E as we know he will call us to talk to his wife plus we will do the rounds of telling the rest of the family.

We had a 18 month old die in Amish community. Snuck out of the house was supposed to be napping and ran behind a van that was backing up. Died instantly.Driver thought they hit the dog and got out and found the child. She had just dropped off his sibling as he is disabled and gets picked up for school with a van. She's in hospital as she could not cope with it. The Amish man we bought our house from said between the ages of 1-2 yrs they have problems with the children running up to cars, moving buggys, up behind horse (and get kicked) equipment and he was thankful that Hubby always asks where the kids are or tells them to go to Da or Ma, older sibling. 

I am not sure if anyone is getting any rest, might be passing out due to exhaustion.

GOD give me strength ..frugal moments

 5 yr old is still in hospital, not waking up, bounces from one issue to the next. Everyone on this side is now broke trying to pay copays (horrible insurance that she thought would save her money and she is broke ). Now the hospital wants to try things that the insurance will not pay for as it is experiental WHICH MEANS they want her to pay for it completely... like she hasn't worked in a month and you think she has money?. Son2 had a friend have that procedure and said to not go that route. Does not help that Son 2 is off work, on medical for mental illness, is to go back to work on Monday, and his finacee is by herself with 5 yr old in ICU. She's struggling to hold on herself. And he is off the walls because this isn't what he signed up for (please God give me strength to not reach through the phone and nail his butt) Give me strength for those middle to the night calls, thinking someone died , my heart jumps and my soul shutters but it's just the boy as we call son2 complaining about life.

Nephew has one more test in Nov. to see if he is rejecting his lung transplants. 

Hubby's uncle had a heart attack, now back home and on meds but family is checking on him as he lives alone.

Sister of my heart has a family member in for heart troubles and will be driving 3 hrs to see a cardologist. And we thought 90 minutes for a doctor was bad.

E went with his parents and sibling with her hubby with infant to Mexico for his Dad's surgery. We got a call about 8 hrs after he left, landslide happened and they were sitting in Chicago. Tracks are blocked, hospital said they will work him in when he gets there..His family is checking in with us daily to see if we have an update.

Hubby's truck needed front linkage (helps you steer) $4200

Hubby's hearing aids are needing replaced as the doctor is now limping them along$4500 *better than the $7000 Son 2 just spent for his replacement.

The garden beds are cleaned. I am planting garlic that came in. Hubby started putting the new beds together so when we can buy raised bed garden soil we can put them in the gardens.

I have tomatoes ripening on the table in barn. I don't need any more of tomato stuff so I am just canning it as juice. I have pumpkins waiting in the barn also.

The vegopod needs harvested and possible replanted

I still need to clean up the berry patch but if I don't get to it, it's okay as long as I get it done by Feb. when I do the pruning anyways.

The mums and 4 hanging pots are still doing good.We were given a small mum  as M said they kept forgetting to water it since they are not use to having anything in pots. 

All the wood is in for this year and we have a good solid week's worth in house and on porch.Hubby has 5 trees down that E helped take down that he can start cutting off limbs etc to cut for next year's wood. Temps are bouncing, might get a warm day and tomorrow be cold and back to warm the next day so we are using the furnance. 

I filled the low items in pantry from my stock. Had 3 pastas needed to buy as I was almost out of that type. Was completely out of condensed milk and evaporated milk . Got those on sale (figured it was going to be a wait until on sale thing). IF I find chocolate condense milk , we use it to make fudge.

Hubby used my Kroger's points for diesel. Saved $1/ gal.

I saved $54.50 on groceries, I plan on using my shelf stable milk so we won't be going after milk in two weeks. Even with the stock up of pasta and canned milks I came in under the budget for this month with groceries. I bought eggs from Amish so I know where they come from. 

Charlotte now has to get in the front seat of the Silverado for rides as Hubby broke the handle to the back seat door. Too much rust to replace. 

We know we will have 2 increases on property tax, I will be surprised if the new replacement tax and the new additional one doesn't pass since its' to help disabled kids. My Mortgage company gave us a ballpark figure of what it would cost if it passes so I set the budget for that.Figured if it doesn't pass I will still put that extra on the mortgage. I will be redoing the budget to put in the tax increase, hearing aids and rebuilding the savings from paying the truck repair.

I still need to do the deep cleaning.I have been decluttering. 
All the winter curtians are up. I need to flip summer bedding for winter in the 4 lofts. I already did mine and the furniture throws. Hubby moved his bipap to the desk and is now sleeping in the recliner of the couch. Found I was right that the desk keeps the heat from the wood stove off him so he doesn't get so hot. I also put a rotating fan across the room so if he needs it on he can just turn it on,

I bought a new lamp so I can sit and read in the front room. Hubby likes it better than what he has at his desk. He worked a couple days hauling beans for Amish so gave me the earnings to buy his the same type of lamp. I can then take his old lamp up to the sewing area as I have been making due with the poor lighting in that area. 

Have a blessed day and a good night's sleep.

Weather weird and being frugal

 First it was warm, then the temperature dropped 20 degrees and started raining which was not in the forecast at all for us... Since it was 55℉ at noon we started this

I even cooked supper of corn beef hash and peas on it.  We found the wood we have this year produces a hotter fire and the outside temp also went back up some.

 So use less wood. This is what we were burning

Yes, just scraps of wood from the sawmill and from where Hubby cut wood to size for our stove. We have 12 of these containers full.

Hubby decided at 9:30 pm he was going to let it go out because the house was up to 85℉, he added the powder we have to fight cresote (we also have cresote logs) before letting it go out... it's going on 4 AM and it's still 77℉. 

The weather forecast has changed for this coming week. We were suppose to get below 32℉... not seeing that as of today in the forecast.

I still have 5 garden beds to clear, cherry tomatoes, tomatoes and bell peppers. Pumpkins will be harvested also. The last of the garlic I ordered to plant should be in Monday so that will be done also.

We have green tomatoes, so I plan to have fried green tomatoes this week. We have cabbage... so maybe cabbage steaks from middle of cabbage and fried cabbage with fried potatoes and cole slaw from the rest of the cabbage. 

Bellpeppers will be diced and put in freezer. I will make more tomato sauce as Son2 asked for help with groceries. He goes back to work Tuesday after being off work on medical for 2 months. He told his doctor if he didn't go back to work his mom and finacee was going to strangle him . He is such a negative person when he has no purpose. AND since he couldn't be with finacee due to covid, he couldn't even help her besides help with the bills and get her money for food so she could eat.

 Hubby has refilled the older beds with raised bed soil. We will have to save up again to buy more soil for the new garden raised beds.

I look at what we have fresh to eat, then what needs used up... those 2 thoughts have helped with meal planning. I can be honest neither of us is interested in anything with tomatoes as they have ran us over. This week of fried green tomatoes is okay as we haven't had them for awhile.

Nephew with transplanted lungs did his last round of IV steroids. He goes back in for pulmonary testing on the 21st to see if it was just a nasty bug in his lungs or if he is starting to reject the lungs. Praying it was a nasty bug.

Son 2's finacee's 5 yr old son has had 3 surgeries for brain bleeds and a herniated disk surgery from the whiplash in the accident. The surgeon is hoping that fixes it all. Son2 and momma are both broke financially. She has horrible insurance from work on top of being off work now for a solid month due to covid herself, covid for the child and now this accident. They were supposed to get married next month but have backed it off and will set date after child gets released.

His grandparents found out that the car that rear ended them had NO insurance as required by the state of Ohio. Grandfather is still off work and the grandmother has no car to get to work as it totalled hers so has been using her hubby's until he gets back to work. They are broke also since can't go to work. Lawyer will have to deal with the mess. 

Son 2 is cutting what he can, didn't realize he was nickle and diming himself. Saw a YouTube of Clara Cannucciari (died 2013) done by her grandson Christopher Cannucciari of Depression Cooking... he was going on and on about it until I sent him a photo of her cook book (Clara's Kitchen) and told him that he grew up with some of her meals LOL.

Hubby's uncle ended up in ER, thought he was passing blood in his stool, he's eating too high of iron diet and has the intestinal virus I had at beginning of year. We all were thankful that was all it was.

We put the deck furniture in the barn. Hubby prepped the pump house for winter.

I still need to finish fall cleaning but that will be done after garden and berry patch has been dealt with. Maybe next 2 wks.

Prayers for peace

Blessed Be

Saving money

 As tempting as it is to wipe out the savings and pay the truck repair and new hearing aids... I told Hubby I would try to just crunch the budget and see how much I can scrape up before pulling the savings. We will put it on a credit card  for the points and some time before it's due.

The furnace is on from 9 pm to 7 am at 72℉. From 7 AM to 9 PM it is off. We have used 1% of our propane for 3 wks. Hubby isn't going to turn on the pump house heater until it drops to 33 ℉. Right now the temperature in it is 57 ℉.  We used 20% less propane than we did last year. We will start the wood stove this weekend. 

We used Good RX Gold to cover medication that is tier 3 and tier 4 on our regular Part D. When the lady checking us out saw the cost of my one med her eyes widened, $389. Her mouth dropped open when she put the Good Rx number in and $29.99 was the costs. She decided to enroll her parents when she got home.  Between both our meds we saved $401.00 I moved that amount to savings I put back for medical as our Good RX Gold membership is due next month.

We got our eyes checked at Walmart, cheapest around here. Neither of us needed new glasses and I had found 3 sets in computer case I used to take to Son2's when he was going to Annual Training that I can't remember when I got them, must be over 7 yrs ago as Walmart didn't have them on my record but they are close enough to what I wear now I can use them also. She put stickies on the cases so I would know what was for computer and what was for reading. I used the credit card to pay for it even though that money is sitting in checking so I could get the points.

I used my points on credit cards to pay towards the card bill saving total of $22.00. 

Hubby needed some odds and ends from Amazon. I used my points to pay for it that was on my Amazon card.

Hubby got fuel at Kroger's. He had put the gas cans in the bed of the truck. Using my points from Kroger's and my Kroger credit card, he saved 75¢per gallon. That was $15.00 savings.

I didn't go to the store for anything. We will need milk. 

Hubby put his brake sensor repair and his oil change on his credit card. Called and asked me which one got the best points. LOL. 

I got a medical bill so paid it, then they came back and told me that they didn't catch that I had medigap and it paid it so they refunded my money to my credit card. Should cover the Advent candles I just ordered. 

I did comparison of what we have for Part D. We use AARP Medigap. I will be staying with WellCare. Hubby is changing to WellCare from Aetna as they increased from $5.30 to over $40. So that will be changed after Oct 15th.

I am off all of my prescription meds except 1 due to really bad side effects. One I was taking for bone health, it actually causes bones to break. My doctor was flipping over that news.  I am not saving there as my meds costs me nothing but I am not taking OTC meds for the pain that was being caused so I am saving on that part.

Charlotte in wanting me to go out with her. 
Prayers prayers and more prayers.

Blessed be

update on 2 of family and what we got done.

 Nephew was on antibotics for a week, now on day 2 of 3 days of IV steroids. In Nov they will check his lungs  to see if it's infection or if he is rejecting his transplant lungs.

5 yr Old is son 2's finacee son. He has had 3 seizures and a very light stroke. Went back into surgery late last night for the 3rd time, was back in ICU afterwards. Now he is coming off sedation very slowly but has started running a fever so they are worried he has sepsis since he had covid/flu/pneumonia 10 days before the accident. I talked to financee on the phone. She thanked us for helping her financially as we paid 2 copays for testing and sent her money so she can eat since she is stuck in the hospital. If she leaves she can't come back. She choose a cheap Affordable care plan and didn't think about it requiring her to pay co pay for all testing. Son2 is covering her cell phone and her car insurance and some of the testing. She is self employed. She is thankful. She was crying when she started talking to me but laughing when she hung up. She was passing nephew's name to the hospital preacher when he came in. A friend asked their preacher to also check on her and VA requested on Son's behalf that a local chaplain check on her. They can get in ICU if not been sick where we can't even though we haven't been sick. Son2 also was sick when grandson to be was sick and he is off work on medical. Hopes to get cleared today to go back to work (Finacee and us to as he is bored and driving everyone crazy).

We got the softener salt delivered. Should have enough salt to get us to spring. I told the guy he was our last fill for winter and he laughed and said he was taking his load home also and it was his as the wood is in. He has family in Tampa, St Pete  and Clearwater. Son 2 's friend has parents in Tampa and couldn't get out (needed ambulance to transport). They wrote their names, birthdays and next of kin phone number on their bodies so if they didn't make it, they still could be ID'd. Just makes me want to cry.

I canned 3 quarts of tomato juice from the bed we cleared the other day and the table at barn where tomatoes are finishing ripening. 

I filled the night time wood rack in house. Hubby finished spliting some night time wood so instead of taking to wood shed and then moving again, he just put it in the rack on front porch. So that rack is half full.

I filled one of the two wood racks for day wood (lighter weight, doesn't last as long as night wood) filled a 5 gallon bucket with small limbs Hubby cut up and filled a old plastic dish washing tub with scab wood that was mostly bark.

We will finish filling the racks today or tomorrow as we are expecting a scattered frost this morning and a good solid frost (might be killing frost) on Sunday morning.  So gardens will be finish being cleared by then unless I cover the bell peppers. Because it's messy to clear half frosted tomatoes plants.

I finished dehydrating the basil so I have enough for the year. 

Hubby turned 66 yesterday. He spent the morning getting the short in brake light fixed at dealership, got oil change etc. Decided to have them go over everything since winter was coming up soon. Good thing he did as the steering linkage (what turns the front wheels) was in need of replacement $4500... better to have found it before it broke when he was driving even though that is an OUCH on the finances. It's safe to drive for a bit. He scheduled it for the 16th. They should have all the parts in by then.

Then he went to get his hearing aids cleaned and tweaked as they were beeping in his ears... He needs to replace them by the end of the year as they are over 4 yrs old and are not staying charged more than 8 hours. $4200.... seems to be the magic number of OUCHs.

I will be going over the budget today, paying bills and figuring out next year's budget. 

Prayers Prayers and more Prayers

Blessed be

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