What we are doing....

 Waking up at 12:30 A.M. to the rain hammering the side of the house. Apparently Hubby was already up with Charlotte and the coffee pots had been turned on. They of course as of now  are sound to sleep.

Books I have read in past 2 wks.

Alzheimer's Disease What if There Was a Cure by Mary T. Newport. MD

I really liked this book... some of it we did with Daddy I am using a slow approach with the diet changes more for me as it can easily trigger my Crohn's. Since I am adding the coconut oil to the cooking. Hubby doesn't like coconut but since he can't taste it (it has no coconut taste), he is okay with me adding it to our diet.  Next month I will add MCT oil. The following month I will add coQ10. 

He said something to the one Amish gentleman and was told that the MIL is on all 3 of those along with eating spicy foods to help keep her metabolism up.  

The End of Alzheimer's Program By Dale E. Bredesen, MD 

I have not started this book but was suggested by grandson's MIL who is a nurse in neurology.

Eat to Beat the Disease by William W. LI MD 

Couple of the kids suggested this. Daughter 4 has done some of it for her cancers . I am also using it for my Crohn's. It's set up that I can make small changes as we go. Hubby was okay with trying this some especially if he doesn't have to acknowledge the change. He is his father's child.

Eat to Beat Your Diet by William W. LI MD

This is more of your metabolism. It's broke down by weeks and it is a strict diet. I am not sure with the work we do that it is a doable diet even for 2 weeks as it takes meat out completely and only has beans (which I can not eat daily). I will talk it over with our Primary when we see him.

Hubby copped an attitude with me over exercise. Neurologist said 1 hour each day, at least 10,000 steps. He is getting 5000 and forget even trying to get him to do stomach vacuum exercises (suck your gut in and hold it to the count of 20. Do 3 rounds, 3 times a day , second week go to count of 40 and third week count of 60) Son2 did these when he was having issues and needed to deal with it quickly to remain in Army as he only had 1 more year until retirement at that time. I don't worry about him lifting weights or anything like that. You can't cut, stack and haul fire wood without that type of exercise and he's dealing with the wood 3 times a week at least and moving dirt bags of 2 cu ft. around after putting in the new strawberry beds.

I am doing the same exercise and same diet... it's not like he is alone in this.

 I asked him why he wasn't doing a simple exercise that he could do sitting at his computer.  His answer was that I was making him sound stupid for not doing them. So I called our primary, who is also a long time friend of Hubby's and had Hubby tell him about why he wasn't doing the simple exercise. When he got to the part I was making him sound stupid for not doing it...Doc told him he pretty much was correct he was sounding stupid. Do the blasted exercises.  I did NOT laugh (while he could hear me). If Doc has said, don't worry about it or it's okay I would not have pushed it. While Doc had him on the phone, he asked Hubby if he had gotten his Plan D yet. Nope that's Thursday, but did tell Doc he was doing straight Medicare with AARP supplement and a Plan D. He found 2 that would fit where we live and what he takes but wanted to get advise on it. Doc thought that was a good plan. 

( Computer is whacky this morning so it's highlighting in white for some reason)

He did replace the north steps to the kitchen porch, he wants to wait for a couple weeks before tweaking them as right now they have a slight rock when you step off them towards the house. The old ones had the same but I had put a shim under the one side and fixed it. The south steps on that porch will take 2-3 days if not longer as he will have to level the area first to do as of right now it's been railroad ties and concrete blocks for 5 yrs.

He was on the way to the mail box and sent me this. The day before he had pointed out that there was buds only on the zucchini. He was amazed that in 1 day with the rain they had bloomed and the one zucchini was the size on his little finger.

The peas (left side) are starting to fill out... they have "draped" over the leaf lettuce and the radishes are on the right side. He was excited we might have peas this week as we usually have peas in May. I've has a few snow peas to add to meals but not enough to be a side dish.

He figures Friday both of us will be in the gardens, weeding and harvesting and he will be mowing. Saturday will be finish what ever up and Sunday we go to his sister's son's graduation party and will see his dad there for Father's day. 

Charlotte is up... wanting out until she realizes it is still raining LOL

Blessed Be

Prayers for peace

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING 

Another morning wide awake, accident update and life rolling on

 Blaze rose bud.

white rose, looks almost exactly like the blush rose that has tinged with pale pale yellow

Hubby said strawberries would need picked today, but since it's suppose to rain all day it might not happen or it will be between showers. That there are blooms and a small zucchini the size of his little finger that was not there the day before. Looks like the blackberries and red raspberries are coming on at the same time. 

I don't know if I woke at 2 a.m. because I had to go pee like a race horse  or because the furnace kicked on. We turned it back on last night at bed time when we saw it was going to get down into the low 40s this morning. This weather is all over the place.

But at least I am not spending 2 hrs. a day, 4 days a week watering the gardens. Normally I wouldn't water perennials but being new plants I do the first year. 

I baked an applesauce spice cake that we will top with apple pie filling and a no bake fresh strawberry pie making my own "glaze". Since Son2 brags he makes his own, I had to match him LOL.

We had chef salad a couple times from the gardens. Should have more this coming week.

Hubby has his Medicare stuff scheduled for Thursday. He is going straight Medicare with AARP supplement and which ever plan D they think is the best. He doesn't take a lot of meds and what he does take is generic but he worries about needing a "higher tier" dealing with his brain. We were trying to figure out how much his Plan D would run, I read it one way, he read it the opposite... we were BOTH WRONG and when he said something about me being wrong also. I reminded him I have had a stroke, have heart failure, cerebral palsy on top of a learning disability. Dementia is a given... he laughed really hard. Such a pleasure to hear him laugh. But did acknowledge he never has thought about my issues even though he tutored me in math in high school and know I was able to help Daughter 3 with her learning disability because it's almost exactly like mine.  He said something about dealing with these issues and I pointed out that in 2008 Daddy had started in to Dementia, but because we didn't live with him (widower) we didn't catch it. It was another 10 yrs before we caught it and HE actually is the one to ask the doctor for a test for it. His own dad has had it for 5 yrs and is in his mid 80s and is doing fine . Including he helps clean the house unlike his son.... another look of horror and he went off to run errands . 😂

He has went to each Amish that he regularly hauls for and told them he is done. Even if they fix the trailer (both of us think they will total it and still waiting on that to come back as it went to a 3rd party for decision), he is done.

 Adjuster who is over the truck was at the dealership when they pulled the bed off. Nothing wrong with the frame so it's being repaired, just waiting on a new bed to come in for it. She did have them replace the ball part of the gooseneck hitch and both safety chains. The dealership ordered that from Amazon and then charged for delivery. Hubby called her and told her if they had said something I could have got it delivered for free. Regretfully they didn't tell her or she would have asked us if we had prime. I thought it was funny. 

He hasn't heard from the adjuster over the wrecker bill, said he would give her a couple more days before contacting her. 

He will keep the livestock trailer for another year. He doesn't think he will have much use of it as the mineral spirits he has been going after every 3 months(55 gallon barrels fit nice in the livestock trailer) is now going to come in on a semi. Three Amish communities joined together to get that shipment in. They save almost 30% doing that way. Just means we now have to pay for our oil for our lamps. BUT he is closing down the business, not a maybe or a might. He said he is closing it down and will start paperwork after the accident crap is finished. He will probably do small hauls close by where he doesn't need State numbers to run. Since he has Legal Zoom, they will help him on that side.

He decided he wants to have 2-3 yrs worth of fire wood. He needs a lot more wood...E told him to leave other year's wood as timber for at least 1 yr. Then cut it. and leave it sit another. E came over and spent about an hour looking at the wood Hubby was splitting and what is going for night time wood and made suggestions. Told Hubby to get at least one more wagon of wood from the saw mill if not two and use the wood coming from his woods for night. E is clearing some so his maple trees he taps grows well. He also told Hubby he would barter wood if Hubby would go to the woods with him when the boys aren't home. E doesn't think anyone should go to the woods to cut wood alone. 

Hubby took large cardboard boxes to M as she uses them for the floor when butchering. She told him awhile back she had a place to store them so he cleared a good amount out of the barn in stall 2. 

We checked the calendar and he asked if I would put appts on his work calendar as he doesn't think to come check the Flylady calendar in the dining room. We have a lot of appts.  The 15th is his Medicare appts with Health Market. The 18th is Father's Day and nephew's graduation  party. The 22nd is chiro in Sidney then driver 1 1/2 hrs. to Marion for appt with IRA guy. Will probably pit stop at his parents and then go to Kroger's before coming home since it's right around the corner from where we will be. The 28th I have to be in Dayton for check for my back to start preapproval for injections. The 30th if we prepare our winter propane we get a free grill tank of propane. That's a savings of $25. We used 515 gallons this year. I bought 800 gallons last year so I have credit. We decided 700 gallons as if like today in June I have the furnace on due to it being 42 outside. We have more than enough money put back for the propane.

He made a list of things he wants done this summer/ fall... then he pointed out if he didn't close the business , he would be always running behind and that is stress on his brain. He didn't realize what he was doing that was making it worse until now. 

He ran across some article about eating to kick start metabolism and increase health defense against bad crap and asked me to look it up. It's the same book that Daughter 4 read when she started fighting cancer and was pushing 200 lbs. at 5 ft 2. She's now down to 140. But she thought the book (it was a loan from a friend) really was good. I decided on a hard copy of both books the doctor had wrote. I'll let you know how that goes.

My kitchen is a wreck. So today I will focus on reorganizing it and giving it a good cleaning. I think I enough hand wash of skillets to deal with since I don't run my skillets in the dishwasher.

Meantime Charlotte wants to go sit on the porch.... now where did I put that blanket ???

Prayers for peace

Blessed Be

I was going to sleep in plus rambling thoughts

 Yep, I told Hubby I was sleeping in. Since he only got 4 hrs. sleep himself the night before (went and picked up E and M at bus stop at midnight) and I got 5 . He thought it was a great idea for both of us.

Yeah well ... I ate a foot long coney dog at supper (it's now officially summer for me)and IT decided I needed to be up at 1:00 am. SIGH... no sense trying to go back to sleep so I made coffee.  She's been good and not went and woke him up. Yes she will do that if I am up and he isn't. She won't wake me up if he is up though.

Moon has an orange cast to it. Charlotte and I sat on the kitchen porch and listened to the frogs in the pond behind us. We have 1 frog and he's pretty quiet in our pond. Listened to E's horses clop around the pasture next to us as he took the two from the pond home yesterday.

Our "personal" insurance guy gave me an estimate of what it would cost to put the work truck on our insurance if Hubby shuts down the business.  I input it into the budget and then showed Hubby. I am pretty sure he is going to shut down. He even brought up about asking a couple other haulers if they wanted to buy the livestock trailer. I figured he would keep that because he uses it when Amish go get mineral spirits for lamp oil 4 times a year which means free lamp oil for me. I might bring that up... he uses it to haul horses 4 times a year... it mostly sits...which might be why he is thinking of selling it. It is covered by insurance when on the personal truck under the farm insurance so it's not costing anything extra  except when he has to replace tires. 

We talked about getting a smaller truck (used Ford 150 or a Chevy Silverado) and a Nissan Armada (used) that would last us about 10 years.

I am not willing to be without a truck. We use a truck a lot on the personal side. Went with out for a year and I got tired of renting uhauls to haul crap to the dump, Supplies for the gardens and helping the  kids, etc. Both vehicles have to be able to tow... MY requirements. I agreed we should be looking at something that will last at around 10 yrs. 

We got all the gardens weeded, harvested and watered. Should be getting rain starting around noon that is supposed to be a soaking rain and last over night. We need it. Strawberries will be ready to pick again, lettuce, onions, cherry tomatoes, spinach, mustard greens and maybe a few more radishes and turnips should also be ready after this rain.

Since we have been talking of diet changes or really going back to our old diet which was a lot healthier. Hubby asked if we could cover the colors diet (aka Rainbow diet) without going to the store. We couldn't but I could pick up some of what we don't grow ourselves through the Amish and fill in at the store. Like pumpkin we get off ST, I buy 3 at Halloween and then cut them up , cook them , puree them , dehydrate them and grind into powder. A 50/50 mixture of powder and water and let sit becomes puree. I add it to bread, cake, pancakes, waffles and soups.  Just a FYI, an Amish pumpkin pie is not orange, it's more of a pale orange almost tan and it doesn't taste like canned pumpkin at all. That was a bit of a shock when M sent the first one over. She just laughed when I said something. Libby's pumpkin is actually a Dickinson Squash. https://www.epicurious.com/ingredients/what-is-in-canned-pumpkin-article

I can buy acorn squash and butternut (2 that almost all Amish grow). Amish do a bulk order of fruit and we have a local (okay it's 40 miles away but we pass it when we go to appts.) that we can order bulk fruit also.  I told him I would make a list. I need to go back to growing garlic. I picked up some last year at A and B s but she told me she wasn't going to have as much to sell this year of it. 

Might make that list today and let Hubby start checking to see who is growing what for sale. Give him something else to do with purpose to "protect" us financially. I will have to check the pantry of what is needed. I really hope the Roma green beans and yellow wax beans start growing as I've planted them again.

I planted Yukon gold, red skin, purple and russet potatoes... they look like they are going to do decent. My sweet potatoes rotted so I didn't get starts off one. Couple other Amish said they had the same issue and had to buy starts. I will have to order them if I don't find a homegrown sweet potato between now and fall.

Guess I will go get another cup of coffee.

Thanks for listening to me ramble along.

Blessed be

Prayers for peace 

Frustration

 Hubby has hair past his shoulders but it is very thin like his mom's. I hate to see him pulling it out while dealing with insurance over the wreck. 

He has 3 different adjusters which is bad enough. Thankful that they specify which part they are working so he can keep them straight.

 One for the truck, she told him that she had the dealership pull off the other fender and that would be covered to be replaced as she wanted to see if the axle was messed up and that she would be in the dealership when they removed the bed to check the rest of the frame Monday or Tuesday. They didn't have an opening  to do that when she was there. Once the bed is off.. if no damage then it's more of waiting for the new bed to come in. If the 30 day rental is not going to be long enough she will have insurance extend it. IF totaled due to frame, she will have the pay off to the bank and balance to him in 10 days. Okay... that is a good time frame even though it took them a week to start getting things around.

One for the trailer, the adjuster is pushing for it to be repaired but thinks they will total it. He thinks Hubby will get an answer in a week. 

One for the wrecker bill... this lady does not understand Amish don't do load bills like Englisher's do. Actually questioned the cop that was behind Hubby that saw the accident of whether there was a load on the trailer. Questioned the wrecker company that picked it up off the freaking road and delivered to the Amish it was going to. Hubby told the other two adjusters and they are trying to help deal with it.  

IF the insurance company had told him, and they admitted they just assumed (we know what that makes us when we do that) that he would always need a load bill . He could have generated that himself. They knew he was hauling for Amish as it is stated in the policy.  We can't afford to eat $5300 wrecker bill but I am willing to hire a lawyer to push the issue and I made that clear.

Hubby has done well handling it A couple of the Amish had told him if the insurance refused to pay him for that to let them know and they would help cover it. I doubt he would do that. 

He did a few odd jobs that has been sitting on his to do list for awhile. Actually stopped without complaining for lunch. He asked while we ate for me to help him figure out a propose and what socialization he could have if he wasn't hauling. He knows that lack is what caused Daddy to go down hill fast.

To me that is a huge step for him to think about as he has always been a fly by the seat of his pants. 

Off the top of my head, he could go back to work in the winter for the state as he does have a CDL He could go to work for the county, he has a friend he made while working state that does county in the summer. He could add to the gardens and grow produce for the Amish auction like we did with asparagus this year. 

I pointed out that during garden time both of us are busy plus he will have more medical appts. we will have to deal with. During summer and fall, he needs to deal with cutting wood for the stove. In spring he will have to focus on resupplying the wood to have it cure. We look to have a cure of 2 yrs. before we burn the wood. During winter every other day he takes 2 hours to reload the house of wood. He plows our driveway and the 2 widows' driveways so E doesn't have to do that any more. He can go help E in the woods when the boys are in school as E won't go to the woods for cutting wood without someone with him. He can still deliver messages. He can still take them shopping over in Holmes county especially if we replace the personal truck.  There are still some punch list things needing done and that could easily take him until next year to finish as it now takes him a month to do a job that took a week. He could repair some furniture we have in the barn so we could sell it.

If we could buy something like the rental we are driving and put a tow package on it, he could do local small tows as we have a small trailer like hay or straw. 

We could make the rounds to see the kids and his parents more often since he wouldn't be working 4-5 days a week. We could go see some friends that also are retired.  

I told him he could actually do some of the house work and start decluttering the barn.  I also suggested that he start doing some of the cooking or figuring out menu. The look of horror made me laugh. He is okay with cooking or menu but he hates housekeeping would hire it done in a heart beat and knows the barn clutter drives me crazy.

He is back doing crossword, sudoku with paper back books and playing pool on his computer. Doc thought those were all good. 

We just need to get past this mess with the wreck to make choices. Though I think he has chosen to shut it down but isn't saying so in case the insurance causes him issues that way. 

As June rolls on

 

First year I planted them so surprised they are blooming. Some more (I planted 12) have buds, some have nothing but are firm to ground so maybe next year???

Our rental car... that if I had the money I would buy... maybe next year if the old red truck holds up 

Nissan Armada 2021. Drives like my 2001 Ford Explorer and inside is like Son2's Chrysler Pacifica . I sent the pic to him as he is on the hunt for a new car also.

Update on wreck...

 Hubby has to get proof he was making a delivery ... do you understand that Amish don't do paperwork or have phones... was his question to the insurance. The cop that was behind him was wondering why his word that the equipment was on the trailer wasn't enough. HUM. Won't pay the wrecker tow bill until he can give them paper work, that is $5300 we can't afford to eat. So he is jumping hoops.

Adjuster for the truck basically just went to the car dealership where we dropped it off to go over it with them to make sure everything is fixed. Truck worth is at $40,000 damage is at $18,000. They are taking the bed off on Monday and if nothing is wrong with the frame underneath it, it will be repaired. IF frame is bad, it will be totaled.

Second adjuster came to house to check out trailer. The young man was here 6 hrs. He spent 2 hrs. looking the top side over, another 2 for the underside and 2 hrs. on the phone figuring things out.  Trailer was worth $18,000 Repair is at $14,000 because the entire bed has to be replaced due to scrapes that will allow the bed to rot. He said it will most likely be totaled. Personally he would rather fix it but the cost of wood for that floor is through the roof. 

Hubby said he is thinking of shutting the business down whether they fix it or not. I would prefer that but I know this is not only his purpose for something to do but his socialization.  When he asks questions I will answer but I am not pushing either way. I did tell him the stress of worrying about making enough to meet the bills is a negative on his health.

Speaking of his health, he got his EEG done. Results will be Sept 20th due to not being able to get in to the doctor that does that. We were warned when we saw the neurologist it would take months. They did say he needs to eat healthy, lose at least 1 lb. a week and exercise 1 hr. a day. Working in the gardens, pushing the lawnmower and cutting, stacking and hauling wood counts. They also want to me track when he showing the most confusion, what he is eating and when since he only drinks black coffee, unsweet tea and water along with how many steps he is getting. 

Back to the gardens... got lettuce, onions, radishes, turnips, mustard greens, strawberries and golden cherry tomatoes today. 

Tomorrow it's the perennial gardens to be weeded, harvested and watered. Hubby decided after harvesting the strawberries that he needed to get the new bed up. Said they were starting new runners. So I am not going to deal with it when he is working there...even though it was tempting to hose him with the garden hose. I behaved 😈😝. I still need to repot some rhubarb for MIL, basil and wave petunias. Herbs need cut and in dehydrators also. But that is for another day and I am done after getting up at 3:30. 

Blessed Be

Prayers for peace

 

I thought May's finances were bad

E's horse Sunshine whom is letting Hubby pet and Enon who is stand offish that are spending a week at our pond as lawn mowers. LOL

 I will say it's going to take a lot of sacrifices to get back on track after . Hubby lost 3 weeks of work in May due to trailer brakes malfunction. 

He is going to lose probably the same due to getting truck fixed. July is always very slow due to factories shutting down and not needing the pallets that he hauls. He has 18 more payments on his truck that he has been using the business to pay but. He can make enough to pay regular bills, central billing, insurance, truck payment  some on legal stuff. BUT I know if he isn't hauling he is going to lose socialization (a loner).  He already has close to $10 K out of pocket to get everything back on the road and home. His business insurance had him file through the app. so she could get things rolling to get his money minus deductible back asap. 

Since his Social Security will be covering the bills (again) for the business. Mine and the IRAs will be covering the home. No worries there since the debt ceiling passed.

THIS MONTH NEEDED DONE

Schedule and set up his Medical, supplement and drug coverage. 

Schedule with lawyer to update will and legal crap.

Schedule with funeral home to figure out prepaid funeral arrangements like Daddy did.

Make sure we get all his testing done. His EEG is tomorrow and his nerve testing in Nov 1st. His Neurologist is doing that testing himself so we are only making 1 trip for that. There was mention of sleep study being done, just as a check as Hubby was taken off Cpap machine after he had throat and nose surgery. We haven't heard anything about it being scheduled...yet.

I have Ortho appt first thing in the morning for my leg/ fake hip issues. Probably more muscle and could be coming from the bad back but back doctor won't do injections until hip is ruled out since the pain in more in that area. 

We have chiro between my appt. and Hubby's appts. Thankful they are all within 30 miles of each other. Time wise it sucks a bit between the first two. Might hit Menards and Lowes to check out garden stuff. We will have enough time to eat between chiro and his EEG which they want him to eat 2 hrs. before the testing.

We usually go to the store when we go to chiro. I am by passing this time. Garden is coming in and we can have lettuce sandwiches just like M served to her family last night. 

Strawberries are coming in, so pancakes, waffles and French toast will be good or chicken salad with strawberries. 

Have a good week

Stay safe

Prayers for peace

Blessed Be

UPDATE ON ACCIDENT

 Wrecker company cleaned up everything, hauled trailer in and loaded equipment on their own flat bed... offered to take the equipment to the Amish gentleman since he wasn't that far from their shop for free since the tow bill was already pushing $5300. Yes... $5300. They even had parts of his fender for him. Not that it can be reused but what ever. He tossed it in the back of the truck.

He had to get a new tire and rim for the trailer, wiring harness for the connection to the trailer to the truck that runs lights and brake system. He had to by hydraulic fluid for the trailer. The wrecker guys helped him "pump" the brakes to get the fluid back to where it should be. He wants me to write a letter for him to send to owner about how great his workers are.   

He got all new tie down straps, even though the wrecker guys picked them up also. 

Amish gentleman whose equipment got tossed to the road side, said he thinks nothing is broke. He will be testing it in about a week or so. Ins is working with them, know that they are mostly in the field getting crops in and hay off so it might be longer than that. They have dealt with Amish before in the area.

Insurance agreed that Hubby could take the truck HOME for repairs and use whomever of his choice as long as they are a business. We have a repair shop 1 maybe 1 1/2 miles from us that he has used a couple times for the personal truck. Hopefully they can get him in quickly. E stopped in and let them know he would be coming for estimate as he has done some work for the owner.

E already put the word out that Hubby would not be hauling for the coming week. He need time for truck repair and insurance paper work. E also arranged for their church to go in and help ST's boys that was putting beans in. Came over and asked if I needed anything done. M had been over and asked that morning, did I need one of the kids to come over and deal with the gardens... anything I needed. 

Our home and car insurance agent CALLED the business ins to make sure things were rolling. Called Hubby to make sure he was okay and his rider was okay. Gave the business insurance co  my email as I do the paper work most the time. He has been a great agent for us. 

ST and Hubby loaded ST's equipment yesterday morning. They left at 11:30 pm and are not going through Chicago. Hubby doesn't think he can handle that stress at all.

I got 3 texts, when they left. Again when they stopped for fuel, break , check tire pressure and check straps on load, again when he finally got his truck dash GPS to load the map (pulled over and screen shot it and sent it to me). ST had been reading the paper map I had printed off until then. He thought the atlas I bought when Hubby started hauling was neat. Told Hubby he wasn't going to nap because the GPS might quit working. Hubby told him he would wake him up if it did and he could go back to being the GPS. 

I am still trying to get a majority of HIS chores done before he gets home. Will leave lawn mowing for him as he finds it relaxing. Will push that he go see his parents this weekend. 

He should be back around noon to ST's and 1 at home unless he just leaves the trailer to get later... possible at this point.

Ps.... trailer was basically scratched up from being dragged upside down. 

Truck is going in to shop. Hubby wants the frame checked as he doesn't know if the frame of truck got bent or if the truck bed just pulled away from cab. IF the frame is bent, it's the insurance decision of fix or replace truck.

Both okay....

 When Hubby didn't text or call when he should have arrived to their destination. I checked the map. There had been an accident that had a road close for a couple hours that I thought probably slowed them down..... yeah it slowed them down all right. Since it was Hubby's truck. I wish I had screen shot the map. The bed of the truck has pulled from the cab some.

He used his finger to point to the blown tire LOL. Since he had just had the brakes done the tires were checked also. Especially when the repair place knew he was going to hauling 10 tons. They had even checked the hydraulics for the lift tail. The end aka tail of the trailer goes up and down so you can drive fork lifts etc. up on the trailer. Everything was good. ST told the cop that Hubby had checked the tire pressure every time they stopped. He thought it was a little weird for Hubby to do that. Cop told him it was a good practice and asked if he was taking a long drive with his buggy would he check the horse's hoofs when he got there... he said yes. Same thing. I thought it was kind of funny that ST actually said something to the cop about it then realized he was trying to figure out why it blew when Hubby had been checking them.

 

ST told his wife that the cop that was driving behind them told him that Hubby was great at handling it as the majority of the time that much weight (10 ton) usually flips the truck part also. That he didn't slam on the brakes which would have slid the trailer on up into the truck bed possibly into the cab since it is a gooseneck and hooks in the bed of the truck not the bumper on a hitch and possible harmed them. That Hubby would definitely be sore.  ST's wife made sure I got that message even though it was close to 10 by time it was delivered as the Englisher that brought the message went to E and E come with him to tell me since I don't know him. E let him know Hubby had talked to me but they still came to tell me. I think it was midnight before I went to sleep. 

Still with what is going on with Hubby's health, I was glad to hear that he handled it correctly. AND I will push for no more long trips. I'm okay with him going across the state line to get mineral spirits for oil lamps as it's actually closer to us than us going to the kids or a couple doctor appts.  Ten tons is what he limits the loads to even though he can legally haul up to 12 ton.

He is calling the business insurance today. He has these pictures (cop told him what to take for insurance) and the State police report. Said he needed to repair the wiring harness that runs the lights from the truck to the trailer. Someone went and got him a tire on a wheel. He is using his credit card to pay for this. 

He couldn't remember his out of pocket amount. He is worried again about the financial hit. I told him I was more worried about him and ST needing medical and not realizing it. They are spending the night with ST's brother in law with Bishop's approval (Englisher's staying in the home over night is not the norm) and said ST's Mom showed up to check them out.  Reminded him of E's mom.

I let the kids know.... last night. I will let his parents know this morning. 

MEAN TIME I will be checking finances and transferring money as I know he doesn't have enough to cover his deductible for the business insurance since he just paid the trailer brake bill.

Saving money end of May

In no rhyme or reason... 

Weather has been iffy all week but I still turned the furnace down to 60 from 8 am to 9 pm. and up to 70 degrees from 9 pm to 8 am. Hubby has issues if he wakes up cold. 

 I got up this morning and told him the temperature in the house was 75... if I get up the rest of this week and it's the same I will shut the furnace off completely. I let the late sunshine come in to warm the house to hold the temp up during the night. Week is suppose to be pushing 90 for 3-4 days so I can see that furnace being turned off.

We harvested from the gardens: strawberries, rhubarb, scallions, red and golden cherry tomatoes, radishes, turnips, spinach, mustard greens and lettuces. 

We got a rhubarb pie from M. M isn't getting extra eggs so we bought eggs from Amish bakery. Cage free organic brown eggs $2.50 a dozen... extra large eggs they were.

Used digital credit (earned by changing delivery days with Amazon) to buy the 3 books that Neurologist and a friend suggested on Dementia. So no out of pocket there.

I ordered 2 elderberry bushes using my Chase points. 

Doc took Hubby off B complex vitamin, I will use them for myself .

Used Charlotte's drinking water on kitchen porch to water 2 of the small plants on the kitchen porch. The inside water to water the mint and daylilies at the mudroom door. 

I froze all leftovers that was not going to be ate.

Used "Ever Lasting Meal" cookbook by Tamar Adler for using up some odds and ends

Took buttons off Hubby's work shirt that is nothing but thin rag now. I think I might get a few pieces that I can make patches with otherwise it's in the rag bag.

I made French toast with 2 loaves of the bread I got on sale. Now in freezer. Also froze another loaf so we only have 1 loaf to eat now. 

I replaced the plants that died when we got that late freeze. Since it's at the end of planting season I was able to find replacements at 2 Amish greenhouses that were starting to clear their stock to make room for fall crops and flowers. Nice discount and got the flowers for the family's graves at 25% off also 

Sold 4 lbs. of asparagus at produce auction for $4.50/ lb. 

Had a $10 credit on Hubby's TSC card, he got dog food which gave him another 5% off since he bought it at TSC.

Used the garden meter while watering, Hubby over waters and I underwater. This keeps things water correctly. 

Made snacks for Hubby's trip

Trip planning

 Hubby is going on an over night business trip. The gentleman going with him knows about his issues and the Neurologist okayed the trip to Wisconsin since he will not be alone. 

Hubby looked at 5 different maps and every single one of them had him going through Chicago (I have yet to find a trucker who wants to go through Chicago). He was getting upset about it.  I texted Son2 and asked how to get around it since he has for years had to go Fort McCoy Wisconsin.

He sent back this map. Hubby printed it off, took it to the other guy and they both felt it was good. It means 30 minutes more travel but NO CHICAGO. It goes south of Chicago on a road that both Hubby and the other gentleman have been on. It also means NO TOLL charges which was going to rack up to around $400 total. Hubby also loaded it to his phone that he can hook to the truck display so they can see it without picking up the phone. 

They are loading the trailer today... packing over night clothes (and Hubby's meds in original bottles) and some snacks, water and black coffee. Should be at destination at lunch time since they are leaving at 4 AM. Will drop off the load and reload then call it a day. The other gentleman is making the overnight plans.  Plan to leave when they get up (probably around 3-4 AM knowing these two men) and head home. I will be getting texts at gas stops etc. so I know where they are.

He will make enough to meet the bills for June so that is a relief with all of the automatic bills that come in on the 12th. 

He reminded E yesterday when the family was over here fishing the pond that he would be gone. E agreed to check on me so Hubby could feel more at ease. 

Hope it goes well.

if I started crying

I am not sure I would stop and I need to do for Hubby first.... a roller coaster week for sure.

 Apples are starting to make. That's a good sign.

Hubby's trailer is fixed after almost 3 wks. of losing work...$3200 later SIGH. He used his SS to cover the bill to the Mennonite company that did the repair (they don't take credit cards) and the bank let him do extend a payment for the parts he bought on his credit card. Mennonite arranged for him to get their "discount" since he drove a total of 4 hrs. to go get the parts for them. Finding parts was the hardest part. SO it the govt doesn't cover the debt ceiling and they don't seen SS checks we are going to be hurting bad.

The strawberries and black raspberries are in bloom, should be getting strawberries in a week if it gets warm like they are forecasting as we had a cool down with mornings in the low 40s and highs in the 60s, low 70s

I will now only go get groceries once a month with a pick up of milk two weeks later when Hubby is getting fuel as the medical bills will be through the roof for the next couple months. I did save $81.11 on groceries this past week, a bit over 20%. and Hubby saved a bit over $5 using the Kroger's fuel points. I now have $12 in Fresh Mode points and over 500 pts for fuel for June. We will have to start buying eggs. Free range, organic is running $2.50 with the Amish. M isn't getting enough to have extra with 12 of them at the table I understand that completely.

Hubby had a change in behavior followed by not processing things. I brought it up to our primary and he scheduled an appt. with the neurologist who ordered a MRI, Primary ordered extensive blood work and put him on B complex vitamins, thinking it's a vitamin deficiency.   

Blood work is in. Back off the B complex. He is not deficient in anything. He does have low thyroid and metabolic syndrome plus the A1C is 6.1 (both of us for over 30 yrs have had this number).

Went to see the neurologist, The MRI showed brain damage BUT the brain is NOT shrinking at this point. He has no feeling below his knees. Was told to stay off ladders since he doesn't know where his feet is (he pointed to them and told the doctor they were on the end of his legs. Even Doc laughed).

He couldn't do simple subtraction (he tutored me in math in high school and tutored the kids and their friends), broke my heart as I hadn't picked that up. BUT what I did pick up was he wasn't remembering what we would decide on or what I said to him about things. The nurse while testing him gave him a sentence that he was to repeat back to her exactly as she said it. He said the reverse. Specialist gave him the sentence ... go to second traffic light, turn right, the house is the 3rd on the left. Hubby came back with , go to the light , turn left and it's the 3rd house on the right. Specialist looked at me and said...it's not you, but he isn't going to repeat back what you said. If it's important WRITE IT DOWN. Hubby asked me if I write it down in the memo pad he carries to write it in red so he knows it's important.

 Specialist made it clear he has to have a routine (hubby admitted he battle me on this), he has to eat healthy (berries in any form daily) And if he starts hauling at 7 am , and he isn't hauling that day, he needs to do work around the house starting at 7 AM. Meals need to be close to the same time daily. He has to do physical work 1 hr. every day including Sunday. Push mowing the yard, splitting, stacking and hauling wood counts if he is doing it by hand or wagon, not tractor. He has to have at least 10,000 steps a day. He gets about 7,000. 

He told Hubby that he was lucky as usually by time he sees the patient the MRI shows the brain has shrank. My noticing the change in behavior and didn't blow off he was forgetting due to old age is going to make a big difference on how it progresses. Hubby told Specialist that he worked 3rd for 40 yrs even when he was farming and that he could always float his lunch time so he made sure the diabetics ate when they need to even if it meant he was eating lunch  30 minutes before clocking out for the night. 

He will be scheduled with neuropsychologist to pinpoint what caused the damage, could be chemical from farming,  from working with aluminum, rheumatic fever, motorcycle accident, hearing loss, eyesight loss, or dementia. He will also have a sleep study to make sure the sleep apnea is not back and testing nerve testing for hand and feet. 

He has to eat a brain health diet and told him to eat 1/2 cup of berries at least twice a week, daily would be better in any form as Doc knows that berries are expensive... We both laughed and told him we actually grow all sorts of berries and two types of grapes.  

Hubby did tell him that he had been copping a nasty attitude towards me because he thought I was lying to him. I got an apology from Hubby and the Specialist made it clear that I was doing very well, to keep that type of watch over him. If something improves he wants to know it along with what is getting worse. 

He definitely will NOT be doing the finances. 

We did decide, I wrote it out and he signed and dated it, that we would tell his parents in person he was having issues, that he had brain damage and being tested to find out what caused it. When we do that I will let his sister in law (retired nurse) tell his siblings as they live in her area and see her daily so they can question her instead of the parents. We will do the same with our kids except Son2 who is our caretaker if something happens who we told on the way home. 

ON THE OTHER END

I have hurt the right leg that the fake hip is in and I am now waiting for a call back to see if they want me to come in to see them or if they want to order a test to see if I messed up the hip  or muscle. I am limping, can't take my normal stride in walking and the knee has gave twice now on stairs.  I am hoping for pulled muscle and NOT follow Daughter 1's footsteps of breaking the stem to the leg bone that she did TWICE.

Prayer for peace and sanity

Stay safe

Blessed Be

Freaking tired

 I want a nap... whine whine whine. 

Over the last five days I have walked enough steps to have went 60 miles. 

All the winter stuff has been washed but not put away in the barn... I want a nap.

Hubby's hauling trailer had a brake lock up and heat up. He got it to release but drove it straight to the repair shop. He decided since it was already in to have the trailer completely gone over and all 4 brakes replaced. He ended up going after the parts after it took them a week to find them and they were clear across the state. Delivery would have been more than his fuel to go get them AND saved 5 days coming through the mail as it was Ascension the next day and that store is ran by Mennonites. 

STILL no trailer. Repair guy said they must have all heated up because they are being a bear to fix. Better than being in Wisconsin and having it happen like he will be next month. Meantime he lost 5 hauls due to trailer being down. SO he won't have the money coming in to cover the repair job nor to cover the regular bills so we did the money shuffle. All the household bills are paid to the 8th so gives him time to figure out if he needs to use his SS to pay the business bills or if he can pick up enough to cover it. The Wisconsin job could be moved up. It won't cover everything but it would help a lot. 

He wired the solar pump backwards and it drained the batteries connected to the solar panels and pump. So with help from the dealer he got the issue found and corrected. Hopefully nothing was harmed but we will find out later as we can't run the pump until the batteries are charged. He showed E what he had done wrong and E showed me. 

He was mowing the yard with the push mower with a can of gas sitting on it right against the motor and then thought I lost my mind when I stopped him over it. Mowed over my lilies thinking they were weeds also, they hadn't bloomed so he didn't think they were flowers. He won't mow weeds if they have bloomed either.

He turned the AC on even with the house only being 68. I turned it right back off and told him we would check it again when the house is 80. 

I asked him if he had been taking his meds... he said yes. He usually takes them first thing in the morning but I noticed today he was taking them mid morning.

I counted the pills when he went out with E (who knows about the issues) the answer is NO he is skipping the one, it's for his shakes. He has nerve damage due to accident. 

I went out to the barn to give it to him and found almost a case of unopened bottled water that he was supposed to be drinking and didn't the past week. Pinched the back of his hand and E pointed to it and told him he was dehydrated so he wouldn't think clearly. E told him they do that test when in the woods hunting or cutting wood. E got him to drinking the water. E is working with him for the afternoon and the boys are too making sure everyone is drinking their water.

New rule, he has to drink the water in front of me when he is out in the barn. Funny thing is, when he is hauling, he drinks water all the time and when he is in the house he regularly gets water to drink. 

After spending 6 hrs. with his parents, I can say he acts like his mom...AND neither would drink anything while here. His dad is into conspiracies (thank heavens I am not dealing with that from him... that's a couple of the kids), still very angry he lost the farm when he was gambling the money away, blames the gov't because they wouldn't let him roll it on the farm loan and is sure that certain members of congress are trying to take his title of his house. Hubby's mom always rolls her eyes (maybe I should learn that) and then talks of all the things she sees on media and it must be true it's on media (SIGH) and they blame each other for the spam, hack , break down of their phones, computers, iPad etc. I texted Hubby's younger brother and told him their phones were not right and he dad thought someone was trying to take the title of the house. He said between him and the 2 grandsons' that work in that area, they mess things up daily and he has their legal stuff dealt with to protect them from title theft etc. He wasn't sure but he thought his Dad applied for a reverse mortgage and his mom put a stop on it needed both their signatures so that triggered the "someone is trying to take my title because he couldn't borrow against it.".  

Hubby mentioned his dad was drinking sprite with orange juice when at home. Another text went out to his sister (nurse) and she went and took it out of the house. He is on insulin and is NOT to be doing that. So now they are being checked for what is coming in the door. I can vouch they could be in the nursing home and still getting food that they aren't suppose to have due to visitors (my brother and nieces giving Daddy candy ) and the ones eating at the table with him giving him their puddings or what ever they didn't want to eat. Daddy didn't believe in throwing any food away ever.

Hubby asked what we were going to do when he couldn't have his choc bar with peanut butter or me my coke... NOT BUY IT just like my Mother did when Pop couldn't have stuff due to his health issues. I cut way back on the coke anyways 20 ounces lasts 3-4 days unless it's with pizza which is maybe once a month.

We have back to back appointments this week at least he's not trying to juggle doctor appts between hauls. PLUS I need to use my coupons and points before I lose them. So grocery store is added in there. 

Have a wonderful week....

I need a wonderful NAP.

Stay safe

Blessed be 

Prayers for peace including peace of mind

  

I still need to...

 replant cherry tomatoes that have out grown their pot and plant the cucumbers (4 inch ones) in a pot also.

Hubby finished putting together the last 4 beds we have space for. He will fill them with dirt today. Mostly will be for late summer early fall crops. 

Days now will be weed/harvest/process/plant. Along with laundry/dishes/ meals 

Beyond that it's what ever I can get to. I thought I was going to get a good rainy day Saturday to clean house and prep... instead I was planting because it didn't rain enough to stop that. But at least the main part is growing.

Asparagus is done mostly. Might get one or two meals out of it before they all are ferned out.

I need to harvest rhubarb

Strawberries have bloomed and are starting.

As of today we saw the first blooms on the blackberries

We saw our first hummingbird yesterday, a female that was more interested in the hanging baskets than the hummingbird feeder. Hubby said she was saying Happy Mother's day and thank you for her Mother's day flowers LOL.

Since we didn't get the rain out on Saturday I finished planting the big gardens. 

Sunday I planted the heart garden bed I bought for myself. It has annuals and perennials. 

I really need to start the spring cleaning. But today is Monday. That is clean 3 frigs, put anything away that hasn't been and take trash to the road. I still need to bake bread and a spice cake. BUT refilling the hummingbird feeders comes first.

Stay safe

Prayers for peace

Blessed Be

I'm tired BUT

 Son2 got rid of some of his clutter. Mother had gave him this LEAD crystal pitcher (he doesn't remember using it ever) 

It might kill off the orange roses but what ever. I got them for $5.

Son 2 also sent me this.

He asked about where we were with updating our will and crap (his words) as he was updating his. Since I am his next of kin and he is our executor... it followed his thinking.

Then he brought up stupidity in DC (retired vet with working as civilian on base) over the debt ceiling . Could we make the bills without SS since we have always focused on making the bills only on SS.  I spent 5 minutes while he yacked about VFW (he works 2 jobs there) and Combat Vets (works 1 job there) I did said he was a work alcoholic right? Plus helping his girlfriend with her teenage daughter whose own dad doesn't make the effort.  The last time this crap hit I was paying his gas for him to go to work as ordered but not getting a paycheck.

YES we can either live on 1 IRA or on both SS with medical from Daddy's IRA that I inherited. ALSO know that's WITH the mortgage. 

Mean time we decided to put extra money back in savings instead of on the mortgage incase crap hits the fan. Then if it doesn't hit the fan we can just send it to the mortgage. 

The Amish lady I was buying herb plants from , waited on an Englisher (what Amish call us) who was telling Mrs. Y all about where she was going shopping with her friend. When  I stepped up to check out, Mrs. Y told me that the Englisher comes up from southern Ohio, a 3 hr. trip one way, once a month to go shopping at several stores with her friend. Mrs. Y had asked if the stores near her didn't sell what she was shopping for. Yes they do but she gets to go to more stores with her friend. 

Mrs. Y who very seldom offers that kind of conversation continued with " let me offer some thoughts,  more stores you shop, the more money you will spend because you see what you think are good deals. Deals you really could go without."

 I asked how often she went to the store, bulk or English... not even once a month.  But she acknowledged she had chickens for meat and eggs along with a milk cow so have milk, heavy cream and butter. I asked if she need to do other work, I wanted advice to help save money and eat healthy. She said she had the time for me.

Eat from your garden (or in season if you don't have a garden). Eat what you process yourself or get at farmer's markets. Leave boxed food on the store shelf. Make it from scratch. Buy canned goods or frozen if needed. She would add pasta if on sale cheap.   She pointed out I just over ran 5 Amish families (actually it was 6) with asparagus, one actually sold it at the produce auction and gave us the money. Everyone else's asparagus is just now coming on, ours is done. We ate it daily. I have 3 more meals of it in the frig and 26 meals of it in the freezer. Hubby would like to not see it on the table since it was on the table nightly for 5 wks.

She asked what would come in next. Rhubarb is ready now, strawberries are in bloom. Peas are just starting to come on, might end up with peas and green beans at same time.  She nodded. Eat that, and use what you already have in pantry.

She also told me to have Hubby say something to J at feed store about what cheeses he brings in from Holmes co. I pointed out that Hubby is hauling someone every other month to Holmes co. She strongly suggested he get his cheese then. 

Men must talk about eating cheese when Hubby is hauling them LOL.

I asked if she did pantry soup like E's mom. She said no, she does scrap soup or casserole. What ever is left over the day before goes to soup or casserole for lunch.

She asked how often I go to the store or shop Amazon (yes Amish shop Amazon through Englishers)  Twice a month store, once a month Amazon, but that was stock up of medical supplies including the dog medical, that I couldn't find local. She suggest to cut in half... or even down to one with just pick of milk and eggs.  She pushed  to every 5 to 6 wks. when she realized they had started going to the store on average of every 10 days. They were already in town, let's stop. When she quit that and pushed it to twice a month, the bill dropped by 25%. She pushed it again to once a month, it dropped another 25%. Now she is at 5 wks. and looking to push it to 6 wks. She's spending 1/3rd of what she was. She does put her gardening supplies in the grocery budget.... as she put it...it's food right? 

It was an interesting conversation from a woman I barely get any from. 

Let me tell you a story

We can start with last night's dinner that is off topic

Hubby mentioned he missed going to a steakhouse and getting surf and turf. I pulled it from the freezer and picked the asparagus fresh . Grilled it and called it done. Last time we had that meal at a restaurant it cost us over $100.

Now to the story

 In 2007 Hubby was telling me his plant never laid off, he was working 7 days a week 10 hrs. a day for a solid year as they couldn't hire enough to work. We had the old homestead that we were refinishing to sell and then decided to move Daughter 2 in to help pay those bills and help do the work. We bought a smaller 3 bedroom one story. I, for the first time in years, had no garden and no more than a month's worth of groceries including paper products and personal care. BECAUSE Hubby made him feel we were poor and that I was saying he couldn't take care of everything.  

 Within 1 month in 2008, not only did the plant lay off over half the workers, the ones they kept (mostly maintenance like Hubby) was cut to 3 days a week. The plant did that so they could keep them covered with health ins. and we were grateful for at least that.

Daddy lost over 50% of his investments due to not moving his money when his finance guy told him to and had to go to living on SS only. We actually gained money in our investments. 

 Daughter 2 lost her income and moved, we lost both houses and moved to an 800 sq ft rental a friend found for us. I started stocking when I could afford it. We ended up in slow pay bankruptcy. The judge refused to take the 401(k) like we wanted to just pay everything off. At the time I was ticked over that choice. Bankruptcy was for 5 yrs. Our kids and a friend were putting food etc. on the table for a solid year.

Hubby was still dealing with the shock of everything when I sat him down and told him, I was taking over the finances. In 4 yrs. instead of 5 I had the bankruptcy paid off. Every single extra dollar that came in or was not spent, went on that bill. I sent a letter thanking the Judge for not letting us use the 401k to pay it off as I don't think I could have got Hubby to start saving.

We moved to an old farm house a coworker was renting out. Daughter 4's ex moved us and told her not to worry as I had enough can goods stored under furniture to keep us fed for 6 months  We lived there almost 10 yrs. I saved up enough to come up with the down payment for this home. I went back gardening and canning.

As all of you know, if you have read this blog much at all. I have grow a huge garden. I stock pile everything. I have helped our kids , grandkids and neighbors . We have an emergency fund (lower than I like but it's there). We are able to go off grid if needed.

Hubby told me to stock for at least 2 yrs for everything and to get the emergency fund up to 6 months at least. FYI we are at 4 months, 5 months if I count what is sitting in checking. 

I asked what he saw on tv or read on the internet. A lot of things from what he explained that he doesn't believe they are being completely honest because they don't want to trigger a big freak out. Just like 2007-2008.

Just a FYI , average time of recession is 10 months according to Dave Ramsey.

Daughter 4 had texted him she had her 40 hrs. plus / week job at Amazon (within 30 miles of us) cut to 15 hrs. She was going for an interview at another place.  

The grocery store that was coming in locally, has backed out completely. 

Feds once again raised interest rates.

Two more banks are up for sale (and that's after our own put out they bought Union Bank)

He is seeing less work hauling pallets and knows the one company that he used to haul for has closed due to lack of orders. The company that buys used pallets, isn't getting much in either. 

He was watching on the internet some financial guys and one of them mentioned that Dave Ramsey had commented on his site that recession is like a hurricane. You don't know how hard it's going to hit or exactly what it is going to hit. When it hit him, that between world issues and political issues and banks going down... the hurricane has started. 

He didn't even bring up the crap in DC about the debt ceiling with possibly not getting our SS.

I did Dave Ramsey's debt snowball when my late husband died leaving me with $65,000 in debt and no income. Was it hard? Yes , I posted the debt on the wall and the kids learned where the money was going and on what. We celebrated not only paying that off but bringing a $33,000 one step before being condemned house up to $56,000 paid OFF. That was before Hubby and I married.

This morning I checked out Dave Ramsey's site for recession info.

He said put the 4 walls first: food, utilities, shelter and transportation. Follow that with stock pile cash with the assumption you already have 3-6 months emergency fund. 

I inventoried medical first, then medication, then over the counter vitamins and such. I even did the dog.  I made the list of what is needed and how much for 2 yrs.

I inventoried cleaning/personal care/ paper products including office products. Might need ink for printer before 2 yrs. but I felt what we have is fine

I inventoried the pantry. Since it's going into garden season, not real worried as I have grains, sugars of all sorts (honey, molasses and maple syrup in this area) I have yeast but can make sour dough. I have salt which comes from my Grandpa on Daddy's side telling me how they couldn't can one year because they ran out of salt. I am writing out what is needed so I don't lose focus during the season and miss I need more green beans like M did this past year. 

Utilities/shelter is current and I keep focusing on reducing those costs.

We are selling the motorcycle. We will run the red truck until we can't (frame rusting out) and Hubby has 18 more payments on the work truck.

We have 4 months emergency funds, 5 with checking.   We both carry some cash as Amish are always asking if we can "break" their $20s. 

When he gets home today from hauling I can sit him down and show him where we are with everything and hopefully calm his fears. It can make things worse with his mild dementia.

Stay safe, prayers for peace (and brains that actually are logical?)

Blessed be

Tomorrow is a new day

 Migraines are back and I am trying to not make them worse. I hate taking the meds as they just whack out everything else. 

It's May 1st  Ohio... you can see the sleet against the barn. I know I have lost several plants that will cost plenty to replace. Just weird weather for Ohio. 

E came over to get Hubby to take him and a couple of the boys to go get some motors that finally came in. Way to rainy, sleety, windy (gusts up to 40 mph with temp at 35 to help Hubby fix downspout on barn or unload wood from wagon.

I called the one place we had several people tell us that was good to go to for figuring out Medicare etc. They asked a few questions and came back we really didn't need them as I had 98% already figured out. Not only that but they specified they didn't provide all plans as they limit to the ones they SELL.  She did check about the prescription coverage thinking we should flip to Walgreens (40 minutes away from us 1 way) but came back with NOPE. We would spend almost twice as much going the way they were thinking.   They did suggest AARP Medicare supplement since we are long term members. They also said to wait until end of June or even the first week of July for Hubby. I won't be until Oct. If we wanted to come in to go over it to come in late June.  

The widow next door came over and asked when we went on Medicare (she already is on it). Her niece just opened a business in town that helps people find the best plan. They check around 200 plans, they don't sell any of the plans. Just do a small fee to help the headache of dealing with it. I called the young lady, Hubby goes in mid June. One headache at a time.

I took a strong look of what we need to restock for the year in the pantry. Weird crap LOL. Like vinegars for salad dressings.  I went to 4 stores to find parmesan and only could find the powdered stuff ... sorry but my Italian grandmother's voice was in my head over that. Ended up ordering jar from Amazon. Son 2 thinks he can get me some from his area. I want a block or round I will shred myself. I was down to the last box of Gas X  cherry as I can't stand the other flavor... of course that was to be found no where in store, was told I could order on line... okay but they wanted to charge $$ to ship, got it through Amazon and the box was even less than ordering through the store. GEEZE. I finally found some wintergreen tea as I am totally out and it's the only "mint" tea I can drink. I can do my home grown garden mint (that's what the Amish call it) a little if I don't let it steep longer than a couple minutes. 

I need corn for the freezer that will come from E or one of the other Amish. 

I need Italian green beans (wide for one pot meals), regular green beans (Jade beans grow best here) and yellow wax beans.  I need peas (planted , but if I don't get enough for freezer I will replant in the fall) I need tomatoes. If I don't get enough I will buy them from 3 different Amish. M had to buy some canned veggies at the store this year so she is definitely expanding the gardens and not giving any away (I usually get zucchini and tomatoes from her when she was ran over). I'm not sure what else as I've not done the spring cleaning yet.

Stay safe, prayers for peace

Blessed Be

 

When the question is "how can we save more ....

I brought up finances to Hubby while we were driving to doctor appt. yesterday.  

He didn't think we had anything except the mortgage to save for.... sigh... Yes I know that's his mild dementia so I just added that I thought we talked about it while he was working on putting garden beds together. Then it came back. He guessed he didn't realize how many  things we needed to be saving for.... which is why I do the finances or he would going out getting loans. 

We want the out of pocket for Medicare to be in the money market in full by Oct 1st when Hubby goes on Medicare. I can tell you unless things changed a lot, Hubby has NEVER met his out of pocket of $3200 from employer (who covers the insurance until he is 65). I can also say according to all our doctors our insurance is weird because the CO PAYS count in the OUT OF POCKET. That will be the hardest change for us.  I on the other hand usually have $3200 spent by March.... that hasn't happened in past year. Crohn's is calmed down and I didn't have any surgeries. 

Friends that worked at same place said they had out of pocket (including Doc offices) of $14,000 between the two of them. She is on biologic IV every 6 weeks. I am not a candidate because I only have 1 good vein in one arm but that goes on part A as she has it done at hospital.  But basically they have the same doctors and same health as us. There are some things we noted to ourselves that they could have saved money on that they won't ever do. Everything has to be brand name as I watched their sons and their wives roll their eyes. Plus they didn't get Medigap when they should have.

SO ... 

#1 . We need to save more for the Medicare out of pocket. We decided to double what we have now should be okay for his Oct. We will definitely get Medigap. Except for my biologic, all meds are generic.

# 2. We need to save back up maintenance fund by $2500. 

#3 The garden shed needs resided and a new roof. Metal shop said they could get white metal for siding and any shade of gray metal roof to make it look more like the house. Hubby is measuring this weekend to get the estimate costs. E said either he or his oldest 2 boys could help. We pay them $10/ hr. It's mostly going to be the roof. I would like to change it as it's over a loft and I don't use the loft so that would drop it down. Hubby said if he could rent the lift like he did to install the wood chimney he could do it with just 1 helper to lift the sheets of metal up to him. We will see as that will mostly be a fall job depending on the costs of the metal.

#4. We need to save $6000 for the rest of the garden beds and soil. Less if we can find it on sale as I based it on full price. 

#5. We need to increase emergency fund.

#6. We WANT to pay off mortgage as quick as possible.

#7  We WANT to replace red truck (one I drive) BUT I haven't found anything I would spend THAT kind of money on let along have a down payment for. The dealership we bought the red truck from told me that $5000 down would cover anything he has and he does a buy here pay here and he doesn't sell anything he wouldn't have his mother (mid 70s) in to drive. 

Mother would have made 7 savings accounts and divided what she had left at the end of the month by 7. She was a spender. She had 12 savings for her funeral. All of them had $100 . SIGH

Daddy would have started with emergency fund, then out of pocket fund and moved on from there. Daddy was a saver. 

I will have to think about this for a couple days

Blessed be

Prayers for peace and strength

  

GEEZE OHIO WEATHER

 Yes  I am yelling.!!!!

Snow pellets... first is was nasty cold rain and cloudy like late fall. Freeze warnings every morning... got one morning of frost warning and then back to freeze warnings. This CRAP is late February, early March weather.   I turned the furnace back down and we started the wood stove back up

Yes I know the ash door was still open. It had just started rolling. We have learned to wait to shut it until the smoke is coming out of the chimney outside. 

Asparagus is under row cover, M's oldest girl had Hubby show her how to move it so she could harvest. They were short some for Church supper. We did pick some before we covered it and E's Dad took it to auction for us. LOL. It sold for $3.50 a pound . Wow. He asked if we had more. Depends on how much his son's family eats and he asked for at least one more batch for him and E's mom.

We planted 12 roses, 2 elderberry bushes, 1 bee pollinator bed, 1 butterfly pollinator bed, 1 hummingbird pollinator bed, apple mint and orange mint. My peas in my hanging pots are starting to come up... they are now in the house ... not only for the cold but the birds thought they were a buffet . LOL

I cashed in Swagbucks and got a $25 card on discount and a $5 card. Both for Amazon.

I made waffles finally with the Belgian waffle maker. I did level 4 instead of 5 for darkness. Could have done level 3. Hubby said 4 was good in microwave but a bit hard with toaster. He wants me to label at what level they are cooked so he know which way to reheat them. We both liked the batter. I'll have to use the other waffle maker next time and a different batter.

We took Charlotte to the vet. She was limping. Nothing in her pads, got her toenails clipped. Taking the same med that Rascal took. Charlotte's mom started with arthritis at this age so it could be that. Athena, Charlotte's mom is on CBD oil and had done well. Doc said he could do an x ray to make sure that is what it is if she still is limping in a month. 

I made a extra payment on the mortgage that was equal to 7 months of the principal payment (no interest). Between it and the gardens and maintenance, back fence as the two pastures went bad. Looked like deer had ran into it and broke it in several areas. We put up cattle panels with metal posts. E told me to get some orange tape/ribbon and tie on the top and it would help stop that as they will see the ribbon and know to jump over it. He used in on the widow's next to us and it hasn't been broken in 6 yrs. I've seen deer run through her back yard so they will jump over it.... Anyways... we went over budget but not as I had been putting $$ back for those types of things.  

Now it's back to savings and hoping for warm weather so I can start getting more food out of the gardens to put on the table. Though I will admit eating asparagus daily for a week was plenty. I do have enough to have it twice a month thru the off season aka late fall/ winter.

Prayers for peace (and Sanity) 

Blessed be 

  

 

April's finances

 

Income

IRAs $6800.78

Social Security $3634.

Son 2 payment on loan $100

Business income $2600

Interest $89.98

Cash back from credit cards $100.05

Daddy's annuity $76.67

Swagbucks $30 (bought 2 Amazon cards)

CVS $10

Dentist $11 for paying cash 

Savings at Kroger's including Fresh Mode $125.61

Back pay from Daddy's Annuity $ 2453.44 

TOTAL INCOME $16031.53

Out go

Irregular expenses $2389.56

Down grid / maintenance $1327.90 (back fence to 2 pastures)

Automatic savings $180

Dog food/treats/vets $52

Household expenses $2543.55 

Business expenses $2522.26

Medical/OOP $1085.29

Garden $5228.73

Extra payment to Mortgage $3028.11( same as making 7 months of principal payments)

Extra to savings $780 (local bank has not increased interest so we moved a good part to our money market that is paying 4 %. We got 1 cent for interest from local bank.  If we didn't need cash on regular bases I would change completely. But nearest ATM for other accts in an hour away.

TOTAL OUT GO $19,137.40

IN RED $3105.87 

I transferred savings and still have almost 2 months saved for emergency. 

I am bored.

Had visitors this morning at 8 AM.

They don't usually come over , was actually on the front porch pecking at the door driving Charlotte crazy. I don't think she scared them at all as they wandered around the side yard and the driveway before actually going back across the pasture. 

 

 Lousy weather. Got past this, then last night and this morning it was rain (we needed it) but the freaking cold came with it. Temps dropped over 20 degrees.

M's girls will pick the asparagus late  afternoon so that's not on my list. Hubby  said we would cover the asparagus and pollinator plants late evening trying to give them as much sunshine as possible. Next 4 days will be cover plants at night and uncover when the temps get above 40 during the day

I gathered stuff yesterday to go to the Township clean up today. Widow on E's side gave us her stuff a couple nights ago. E was over last night asking if we could take his as he was at a horse auction this morning. Hubby had a good size load as I cleared out part of the garden shed and gathered some nonworking appliances (heater, AC, humidifier amongst others) that he had scattered through the barn thinking he would remember where he put it.  I saw it and piled it in the front bay right where he walks. Second pile was in front of the 1st stall barn door so he had to move it to go out to his truck and the third pile was by garden shed by the trailer.  He just text me and said the hauler said they would have charged $300 for what was just ours and $500 for everything. It was FREE sort of since it's part of our township taxes. Might as well use it.

 I guess I can go play with finances or go read.... 

Prayers for peace

Blessed Be