Heaven's it's Wednesday. Hubby birthday on Friday

 Okay... Tuesday I did laundry and hung on kitchen porch line. I washed the curtains, shower curtains, bath mat of the wheelchair bathroom and shined the window and mirror. I washed the inside of the front room windows, took down summer sheers and curtains, washed them . Bathroom and front stuff went to yard line. I hung winter curtains in both rooms. I cooked the last of the 3lbs of hamburger and make taco meat. Divided by 3, put 2 in freezers for later and had tacos and tortilla chips with salsa for supper. I canned 8 pints of diced green tomato(first for doing this).

Hubby did his last haul for the produce auction and picked up a load for Friday to deliver pipe for fencing. He finished the field tile.

Wednesday... it's 11:30 and I am waiting for the second canner of diced green tomatoes to finish and then it's off to the gardens. Laundry is on the kitchen porch line and the dishwasher that didn't get ran last night is now running and I can reload when I come back in. I will check the dehydrators while waiting for the canner.

Wednesday after supper. Hubby flex sealed the basement casement windows. He covered the crawl space vents to keep the cold from going across the heater vents. He put away the garden hoses, did a fly bomb in the pump house (said there wasn't many but did it anyways), he covered the AC. 

I reloaded dehydrators with more greens. Put laundry away. Set today's canning aside so I can check it tonight and again tomorrow. Cleared 40 of the 104 tomato plant. Was going to try to get half done but my back decide it had enough and I couldn't bend over. Guess that is better than not being able to straighten up or stand up. 

Hubby had elbow mac with chili over it. I had it with butter and mushrooms. 

And we have called it a day. 

OH wait. Daughter 4 said during her check up (and weekly covid test) they did another ultra sound and her doctor is checking with another doctor about instead of doing a port and Radiation ... they might do IV with radiation. Less chance of her getting infection and there is a slim chance of doing External radiation... For her sake I hope the external. 

Thursday

My back is a bit cranky, Hubby suggested I wait another day before going back to the gardens for tomatoes. Work at winter curtains and dealing with what I have to process already in the house. 

We need chili in the pantry... so that has to go on the list.  

Daughter 2 gave me 2 cases of chili I had made her (her money and my time)she found when she moved that are too old to eat(five yrs to be exact). They were still in the boxes and she thought the boys had finished them, the boys didn't realize the chili was in the boxes and thought it was gone. SIGH. Said now she takes everything out of the boxes and puts the boxes in the garage to put empty jars back into. Lesson learned. Her man cooks so he is now making chili this week. She's the "Box and can" cook in the family.

Hubby started the morning (after coffee) turning the gas generator on and running the house on it as the "test" for this year. He will let it run low on fuel before turning it off to keep the fuel fresh during the season. He burnt another stoop. Cleaned out the purple martin bird house and covered it for the winter. He also cleaned out the other small two on the north side of the house the sparrows use. The only one left to clean is the wren house that is getting moved to the garden as that's were I found the nest. I don't think they like the dogs being that close.  He also moved more gravel around for the trailers to sit on instead of their back wheels sitting in dirt.

I harvest the last of the herbs I am doing this year and they are in the dehydrator. I have grinded the last of the greens for the greens jar so done with that and the tomato skins for tomato powder. I dehydrated more kale and more red tomato skins as I finish the tomatoes.

I finished the fall decorating. I washed more winter curtains and hung them in the bedroom(making due as I haven't found anything to make curtains for this room) the laundry room and the bathroom. Washed the bath mat and the shower curtains for this bath also. 

I put away summer dress clothes and brought down some sweaters and long skirts to wear. I have no closets in this home.  I use a pipe Hubby put up that will hold 7 hangers of clothes. The rest of my hanging clothes is on 2 clothes racks in the south loft. Hubby has 3 wardrobes for his hanging clothes, either in the wheelchair bath or right at that bathroom door. 

Friday

My favorite photo of him. Today  is his 62nd birthday. He is hauling pipe for fencing for the Amish. E is with him. M sent over caramel iced cinnamon rolls last night as she knew today was his birthday and it's his favorite that she makes. I told Hubby since we decided against going to Lock 16 for his birthday (we have a bridal shower and wedding coming up in Nov and Dec) He could decide what fast food he wanted to have for supper and I would order it, pay for it and go get it. He laughed as he knows I hate talking on the phone. I'm okay with paying or getting it.

We spent a quiet morning until almost noon since he wasn't hauling produce to the auction and talked about his personal goals for this coming year. It's something we do on our birthdays. He decided that he wants to lose twelve pounds, practice his welding this winter (he used to weld all the time at the factory) and depending on the pandemic go deep sea fishing next  year with his buddy. 

Then he went off to haul pipe. 

I have did the finances for the last part of the month. Checked his business finances so he didn't have to. Did the regular laundry, then started washing bedding, dog beds and furniture throws since it is a great day for that type of stuff. Ironed dining room curtains and marked where the button holes will go as these will be hanging with shower curtain hooks at request of Hubby. Actual sewing will be on a rainy day. Cleaned the iron.  I ordered my Humira, making sure they were sending it to CVS and not my home. Aired out the bed pillows. Checked Facebook, emails and here. Checked on ALL the kids and a few of the grandkids that was dealing with crap due to pandemic.  Swatted stink bugs and spiders more than a dozen times that seem to come in every time I open the door. I've ignored the 2 dozen spam phone calls but it takes my time to go check the phone...will be thankful when the election is over.   

He chose Philly steak subs , I added a side salad for me. He was definitely on the dirty side and was thankful E went with him as they had to hand lift all 350 pipe over a 4 ft high rail off the semi. The pipe weighed 150 lbs each. DOG TIRED.

We called it an early night.

Saturday

Leftovers are being ate today since there is enough of them instead of me cooking something else. 

Hubby off hauling hay. I have the second load of laundry going as I had to wash what he wore yesterday separate as they were that filthy.

My morning jobs are, laundry, unloading the dishwasher and reloading the odds and ends,  clearing both emails, checking Facebook, checking here, vacuum packing frozen hamburger patties and frozen green tomato slices.  Updating our health insurance elections for next year.  THEN going to the gardens after that is done.  Be back later.

I finished harvesting the last 8 bags of potatoes. I won't be growing potatoes next year. Take up way too much space for the little bit we get. I can buy the from the Amish or the Mennonite bulk store for less than what it costs me to plant them. I've tried 2 yrs now. This ground isn't good enough >>YET.

I cleared 1 1/2 boxes of tomatoes before calling it a day.

Sunday

Daughter 4 called to tell me I have been hacked on FB. I have yet to figure out how someone in Chicago can hack my acct without my password. 

I rewrote our to do list as there was so much marked off that we couldn't figure out what was needing to be done.  Hubby did paperwork for the business. I in with Daughter 4 to make sure she is staying on track with her budget. Her son was there visiting and he double checked what she was doing. All 3 of her kids are doing what they can for her.

I wrote out the menu for dinner for the coming week. Hubby and I don't eat bfast very often and we  eat different times for lunch. Most time's he is walking out the door before dawn and doesn't come home for lunch . Since he doesn't do eat and drive, he might grab a couple granola bars or trail mix he makes for himself to eat while waiting to be loaded or unloaded.

Sunday :(today) Tomato soup and lunch meat tortilla wraps

Monday :Beef roast (saving some meat and broth for noodles in a couple weeks) with carrots, red onions and white potatoes. Will have pickles and peaches also

Tuesday : Burritos , Spanish rice with black olives and carrots and celery with ranch dip. Custard or flan.

Wednesday: Double crust Turkey pot pie *white potatoes, carrots and peas* with a veggie platter of celery, yellow and red bell peppers. Plums 

Thursday: Leftover pot pie and salad as we will be going to appts and the grocery store for the major stock for this month.

Friday: homemade pizza, sausage, pepperoni, bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, banana peppers and a salad.

Saturday: Philly Cheese eggrolls (new recipe), store bought frozen pot stickers , veggie tray and fruit bowl. 

Blessed Be everyone

 

 

Fortune cookies/ Oct. goals

 

Hubby's was the top, mine the bottom and both of us was laughing. He had bought us take out the other night. He comment was the problem was Daughter 4's cancer, the stepping stone is because we are buying her organic food if we don't have it ourselves and the rule is now we (her daughter that is expecting, Daughter 4 and us ) must take a picture of what we are eating...maybe we all will be eating better. Finding her organic food, fresh veggies and fruit is going to be hard during the winter. 

Goals for Oct.

Stay healthy as I know if I get cold and wet I will get sick. 

Decorate for fall.

Clear the gardens including north flower garden

Clear all pots.

Finish processing the food from the gardens.

Transplant spring bulbs

Transplant fall bulbs

Transplant walking onions 

Plant the garlic (after 1st frost)

Shell the dried beans

Finish making the hot sauces Daughter 4 gave Hubby for Father's day.

Fill all the oil lamps 

Get hamburger, veal and ground pork and make meatloaf and meatballs for freezer.

Make noodles to dry for pantry.

Wash and dry (clothes line or drying rack) summer curtains and put in storage.

Weather strip north front room storm window.

Fix the dining room winter curtains

Make winter curtains for French doors

Make winter curtains for bedroom

Continue seasonal cleaning. Still working through  drawers, cabinets and shelves. I'll start cleaning outside windows this week on warm days that are above 68.

Hubby will help with clearing the gardens and planting the garlic. 

He also wants to finish the last field tile, burn the last two stumps , test the gas generator , cover the AC, cover the crawl space vents at dining room (they are right at the heater vents so sucks all the heat during the winter) Finish the air barrier in the north attic and the east/west attic. 

I would like to have this done BEFORE Nov 1st... why? Because Nov 1st is the start of National Novel Writers Month that I try to do yearly. That's 50,000 words during the month of Nov. Average is 1667 words a day or around 15 words per min for less than 2 hrs a day.

Financially... Daughter 4 gave us her budget, her daughter will help keep her on track of paying the bills on time. We estimated the groceries on the high side as I figure I won't always be able to pull a variety for her to eat and she must eat a variety to stay healthy. She will pay everything she can first and then let us know if she needs help (a week before it's due). BUT in our finances I planned for the worse so we could cover her completely.

Then we did the finances for the business for the slow time is already starting to happen. There has been a bit of an increase as several decided to change to pipe fence instead of wood or barb wire. Last a lot longer and the animals can't shove through it. That will give Hubby 2 jobs for this month that he didn't have. He has 2 maybe 4 for the produce auction and that will finish it.  We figure he needs 6 months for the business. 

The house budget got cut in some areas and increased in the others. We did decide to continue to pay extra on the mortgage.  When Daughter 4 is recovered and starts paying us back that money will also go on the mortgage. We figure 2 solid years after last treatment for her to be back up and ready to start repaying the debt.

I need a basic grocery list... instead of I would like this on this week.  We will be going to the store once a month for basic, then Hubby will pick up milk when he is already out when needed. 

What do you have planned for Oct?

Blessed Be

Thank the heavens it's a new month

 My uncle (by marriage but we never count that part) just died and we were going to go to the viewing until my cousin let us know his sister has covid and is not quarantining and was going to be at the viewing. Cousin said the sister's kids had already warned the funeral home. Uncle Sam(yes that is his name) will understand why my brother, our kids and ourselves didn't go. I understand her need to see her brother...the funeral home offered a time for her to just come in so they could make sure everyone stayed safe and she refused. Just and FYI , he was a retired cop and his Buddy's know she's positive. Rock and hard place and I hope that she works with the funeral home. Meantime we all stayed home. 

It's been a rough week that we all got through.

I had to rework the budget. Daughter 4 is working Door Dash and said she made enough this week to pay her mileage on her car and get her furnace fixed (which is taken off her rent)plus her credit card, phone and car ins so she's now working for mileage for the rest of the month and next month's bills... BUT we have agreed when she can't make the bills we will pay to keep her in her own home. Her budget  is $1500 a month including organic food. She is hoping she doesn't have to pay out of pocket for her Lupus meds but does have GOOD RX if she does. She is filling out paperwork every day, has some to take into her oncologist to finish filling out this week as she goes in for blood work etc. Her first radiation is supposed to be the 21st but she hasn't had that confirmed by the treatment center yet.

Hubby had enough jobs to finish paying off his bills for Oct with his business except 2 filing fees that are due quarterly. He is sure the few jobs he has lined up this week will pay them. Makes he feel better that he is already working on paying Nov bills. Late Nov to mid Feb is his slow time for hauling. 

He burnt stumps that was here when we bought the house,  this past week along with mowing the entire 2 acres and E's pasture on the south side of us. AND did the trimming. He cleaned out the basement ramp and made sure that drain was cleared and redid it's roof as Charlotte had knocked part of it loose and I worried Wilbur would go across it and fall in. It's fixed so it won't shift now. Since Hubby jumped on it I can say the dogs won't fall in on it. GEEZE.

We are looking at the to do list and decided we would see where we stood this coming weekend. 

I shelled dried beans and cooked up some hamburger to bag and freeze for quick meals. I have a list as long as my arm to do this week. Finish clearing the gardens (killing the mole GRR). Plant spring bulbs, transplant fall bulbs etc.

Going to be a busy month. I thought about a menu, wrote it up and then after we didn't go the Uncle Sam's viewing I tossed it as I would have had to make a special trip to town for the stuff. We will just wait until we go to chiro and get it then. Hubby pulled out 1 lb. of frozen turkey breast for Monday. I think a pot pie might be nice or ala king over rice. 

I would like a good part of the to do list done this week... We will see how much gets done.

Do you have plans for this month?

Blessed Be 

 

Daughter 4 with cancer and credit card fraud.

 Start of my Monday was letting my youngest know I am thinking of her as she was in the waiting room at the Oncologist to start jumping the hoops to get the stage 1 ovarian cancer dealt with. 

12 weeks radiation, 4 weeks break, 16 weeks chemo (iffy on whether she will lose her hair) and then maybe surgery. Her lupus is affecting her treatment.

The Oncologist gave her the number and name of a company that hires those going through this stuff a part time job and works with them. AND his office is helping her get medical coverage as Amazon warehouse let her go so she has no income and no ins. The Oncologist changed her diet... she has lupus and the beginning of Crohn's and now cancer... Nothing processed, canned (glass jars ok , metal not) fresh not frozen best, no deep fried, fried, microwaved or fast food. Unbleached organic flour (bread and pasta). ORGANIC everything. In season for a price... well , it's OHIO there is cabbage, brussels sprouts kale and some beets. Winter Sq and pumpkins. Maybe sweet potatoes and potatoes but lets get real, give it a month if that and it will BE NOTHING in season. Even if she hadn't lost her income , living expenses with medical expenses (she had a 70/30 plan with $2000 oop) isn't going to leave much for organic food where she lives. She can't live with us (her 5 dogs won't get along with Rascal or Wilbur. Charlotte would be okay as 4 of the dogs are her parents and siblings) because our income stops her from getting assistance on the medical side 

We already know due to a friend paying her adult child's rent on a regular bases that if the money is regular it is considered income when they try to get help. Her daughter was in the hospital off and on for 6 months and couldn't keep a job because of it. 

We can't chance Daughter 4 not getting the assistance. What we can do is put food on the table and in the dogs bowls. We can pay the vet bill that happens ever 3 months. Her daughter is taking over the laundromat costs. I can pay for the gas in the car as it's MY car. She already contacted her utilities and they asked for her Oncologist to fax them a paper so her electric and gas are down low enough her 15 yr old and 13 yr old are going to cover it . Her trash can go to her daughter's also. 

That leaves rent, water, and car ins. We will figure it out. AS she will do better where she is as our nearest cancer treatment center is over 45 min from us and her's in 15 and they have a program that they have a nurse that will stay with her IN HER HOME for 30-60 min after treatments to make sure she is okay.

While dealing with figuring out diet and getting her bills paid, my credit card texted and asked if I had made a purchase to Modere... I didn't even know what it was so the answer was no.

Credit card fraud, Then found out my credit card was missing. I know where I used it last and the moron that stole it... actually had what they bought sent to their HOME. so it's not going to be hard to nail them. They had to have pulled it from my purse while I was at Walmart I had it in my wallet, I didn't zip up my purse until I was walking out the door because the card was with the receipt I showed at the door. I remember wrapping the receipt around it and putting it in the outside pocket of the wallet in my purse but I don't remember zipping my purse. Lesson learned. I am glad they caught it wasn't the norm for me and I did find 2 other charges I didn't do which is how they got the address of where the packages were sent to.  IFI hadn't been buying medical stuff I wouldn't have had my card out to begin, I'd paid with cash. 

I need to go deal with produce though at  this point I would rather take a nap.

Another week , the size of great grandbaby

 yep, baby is the size of a grape. My granddaughter tells me on a regular bases how big the baby is comparing it to food. She found an app for her phone that does that for her.  She said she hadn't checked this week as she was going to go to the doctor for a check up.

It's Monday, clean frigs, gather trash and take to road, do the weekend laundry.... normal Monday chores... add on 2 bushels of green tomatoes that got sat on my front porch LATE Saturday NIGHT.  I have one bushel sliced onto cookies sheets and in the deep freezers. Tomorrow I will vacuum bag them. I took the core out and then put the end pieces in containers to make green tomato relish (NO CABBAGE). That will be when I have 7 lbs of ends as that is what the recipe calls for. I also canned 4 pints of pickled watermelon rind. We have never had them so not sure we will like them. I washed another load from the Rubbermaids. All the clothes lines are full along with both drying racks of sweaters. I think I only have curtains and bath towels left to do along with decorations. dog blankets... Yeah I know they are still needing washed. I still have red tomatoes to harvest and can. I really need more cookie sheets LOL. 

Homemade noodles and chicken over mashed potatoes and pickles 

Tuesday 

Hubby unloaded the dishwasher while he was making coffee and reloaded it and actually turned it ON.  He got a couple calls for rides. H and B needed a ride to go see B's cousin that was hurt bad in an accident. Then he had to take H to E as M's cousin in Indiana died from cancer. Funeral is Thursday. Trying to make sure the kids not going are taken care of and the farm animals are taken care. They will be back Friday morning. 

I vacuum bagged 140 some slices of green tomatoes that I had frozen on cookie sheets. I reloaded those sheets with more sliced green tomatoes. 

We batted around some thoughts on the finances for next year. Waiting to finalize it when we know what our health ins will be fore next year. We chose 2 different budgets also thinking things might change with the election.

I washed and dried another load of winter odds and ends

chicken and dumplings with odds and ends of veggies and peaches for dessert

Wednesday

Hubby was "taxi" today but did help me clear 5 garden boxes and mowed the north garden down after I finished picking what volunteered grew there. I pulled 6 different dried beans that I can shell later on a rainy or  this winter. I pulled turnips, kale, some red leafy (I think Asian red mustard but not something planted this year) cucumbers and some red chard. I harvest the last of the fennel bulbs and started cooking it to put in the freezer. I pulled small carrots the size on my thumb that I will clean and toss in with the relish of green tomatoes. I harvested chives.  Chives, greens, and carrots tops went into the dehydrators and I'll grind them up for the "greens" jar 

I washed the winter sweaters and let them dry on the drying rack.

Leftovers for dinner.  

Thursday

Lousy day all around... the good news is I am not in the hospital... I ate barley flakes cereal and it triggered my tummy , thankful it didn't trigger the Crohn's but definitely can't eat a cup of that cereal and not end up in the bathroom most of the day. Doesn't help the tummy muscles are very sore with the amount of work I am doing that works the core. 

Five out of the 6 kids lost friends this week. Three of the death's were mutual friends. There was a total of 7 funerals.  

I finished the paperwork for the life insurance Daddy left through his old employer. Was strange to get something from a company he retired from 33 yrs ago.

I started the paper work to file for Social Security. I already know that I will get more (a lot more LOL) filing as hubby's spouse rather than my own. So I have to wait another month to file it. Since we didn't count on SS when we did our financial planning for retirement, it's an "extra". I 

Hubby ate leftovers. M sent cookies over before they left for a funeral on her cousin who died from cancer at age 31.

Friday

Felt decent but knew if I went full force I would go right back down. 

My uncle Sam is in the hospital dying from brain tumor that went into cancer. He has battled this for 2 yrs since my aunt died. They had gave him 6 months when she died.  We are praying he does not linger. 

I washed half of the winter curtains and found some winter blankets (not where they should have been) so washed those also. 

I shelled dried beans. But stayed out of the gardens since I knew I would over do it. 

We had loose meat tacos... not taco meat just hamburger that I had cooked for the freezer.

Saturday

All the winter curtains are washed and dried. 

The storm windows for the front room are washed and installed except one that the wind caught and flipped as we had it propped up to dry after washing. Shattered the glass so it's now at the repair shop getting new glass. Should be ready for pick up by Wednesday if not sooner.  I took the screen out of the kitchen window and washed both sides of window of it and put the screen back in. 

I harvest the sweet potatoes and treated the yard inside the fence for fire ants. Hubby mowed and did some trimming. He was hoping it was the last time but the back yard is already looking that it needs mowed and he did it 2 days ago. Hubby set a trap for a mole that is out by the road but working it's way up to the north gardens.

I sorted green tomatoes out of some that are just turning red. I put the green ones in the frig as I will be processing them on Monday. 

We sat down , took a break and listed what jobs we NEEDED done by end of Nov. I broke it down to big jobs (all day or more than 1 day) vs small jobs that can be done in less than 4 hrs. 

He did admit the business costs more than he thought it would to run, it takes more time to make the money to break even let alone make money than he thought it would and he broke his own rule of NOT scheduling work on Thursdays( that's appts, errands and work at home day THAT HE CHOSE) and being home by 6. He is slowly starting the "I can't do that today (when it's a late day haul) but I can do it at this time".  He had one out of 6 tell him they would let him know as they would try to find someone else. They called him back in an hour to do the haul. Two of the other haulers have started it also as they were going through the same thing. One of the companies that they haul to closes at 3:30 so they have to have the load to them by 2 to be unloaded by closing. Twice now Hubby has had the load on his trailer over night. He now charges extra when that person waits to load him too late to get to the drop off.  since he can't take a load until that is unloaded. He told the other drivers he was doing that... the person quit waiting to the last minute to have the load hauled.

Hubby picked up Wendy's since he was right across from it dropping off the broke window. Said he thought we needed to relax the rest of day. I think it was more he didn't want soup for supper and decided to take it out of his pocket money. 

Sunday

The day of rest...

 I did pull a ham steak, box mac and cheese and a pint of green beans for supper. I pulled dinner sausage patties for tomorrow to go with sweet potatoes and cucumbers. M sent over a loaf of bread late last night. 

Hubby is updating some of his business files so when Oct hits he can just finish the last couple days and file. He has 2 reports to file in Oct. 

I paid the last bill for Sept... balanced the accounts and transferred the next month's income into the checking.

How did your week Go? 

Blessed Be

 

 

two having serious health problems

 My 70 yr old brother who is a diabetic is having issues, sugar was too low(59) and his red blood cells were too low.... He has too much protein in his blood and urine and now his glucose is way to high... but at least he is able to crawl out of bed.

Daughter 4 today was diagonized with stage 1 ovarian cancer. She is being transferred to Oncologist. Right now it's only on her right ovary but she knows it can go fast as she lost a step mom with in 6 wks who had it.

I am down in bed myself... was up at 3 not feeling good. I think I can't eat barley flakes cereal (I can eat it in soups). What a way to find out something will trigger my crohns  

frugal days

 Monday

 I canned 17 qrts of tomatoes. I put the tomatoes (core cut out) on a cookie sheet and put it in the grill. Five to seven minutes later the tomatoes skins were loose so they were put aside to cool. I did 4 cookie sheets per batch of 7 qrts. Doing it on the grill saved the propane that runs the house. I started harvesting the last of the sweet corn and we some for dinner. Brother texted me to let me know he was really sick. I reminded him that we nearly lost our Aunt due to infection in her teeth and he had just had an abscess under his bridge. YEP he has an infection along with low sugar (he is diabetic) and low red blood cells which runs in family. He is better, seeing his doctor on Friday for more testing and to schedule his "70's testing... that's what he calls colonscope and prostrate testing. We finished the leftovers from the frig for our meals. Furnace to run at 70 at night only.

Tuesday 

No canning or freezing though I did pick enough tomatoes to get a good start for Wednesday morning. Weather has cooled enough to cause to cause both of us to ache and be stiff. Still the furnace was turned off when the sun came up . I started washing flannel sheets. Put the clean summer sheets in the Rubber Maid to go out to the barn loft for storage. I am trying to do 1-2 loads each day of winter stuff and then put the summer in the empty Rubber Maids. They will go to the barn loft 

It's 101 days to Christmas or 95 days to Yule or 96 days to Kwanzaa... we are a family of several faiths.

I ordered 10 shirts/sweaters from Thredup using discount and sales. I need something to cover the back of my arms and not long sleeve as it is annoying to have to keep pushing them up. I noticed the Amish women wear 3/4 length in sleeves so I ordered that. 

Brother texted, on bed rest... didn't remember he had already talked to me.... sugar was 59 .

Hubby had a flat tire, one of the new ones and of course it was the inside tire of his truck (dually) . He lucked out that it could be fixed and only cost $20 and they put his spare back into it's place for him. Hamburger helper with carrots for dinner.

Wednesday

Beef roast was cooked for today and tomorrows meals. I will have enough broth(now in freezer) left to add some chunks of beef that are in the freezer to it and make noodles for this coming weekend.  

I got 9 qrts of tomatoes canned and 2 garden beds cleared of tomatoes. I washed 2 loads of laundry and 5 loads of winter stuff... which Hubby for some reason decided to mow right at the clothes lines and threw grass all over every thing. Since I am allergic to grass... fresh mowed grass triggers my asthma horribly. I will be rewashing everything tomorrow on top of appts and errands. He took a picture of the busted drainage tile and took it with him to go buy field tile. The guy at the local lumber yard took one look and told him he didn't need to replace the whole tile as they had what he could use to splice it and make sure it didn't leak (2 different tiles coming together was the issue) . SO once more the cost of fixing this had dropped... Cost him $10. and 30 mins to fix it and fill in the hole. Still need to reroute the far drain... BLESSINGS ALL AROUND... except for rewashing laundry .... 

Thursday 

Leftover beef for supper... what a day. Hubby got a email from the state requesting a drug test in 24 hrs.... they do random testing. So he had to stop what he was doing and we pushed back going to do errands until he got back home, about 2 hrs. after we had planned to start out. I did get all the laundry rewashed and on line before we left.  We paid the truck payment here in town and then went to Sidney to make a deposit at our bank( they closed our local bank), went to chiropractor. Hubby dropped me off at CVS and I did the shopping (saved 50%)there while he went to Walmart to pick up sugar for M. He picked me back up and dropped me off at Kroger's( ours is closing next month so I am trying to get in the habit of going after chiro) while he went for fuel. Saved 45%. We shouldn't need anything until late Oct or even Nov besides dairy. 

Friday

I got the flannel sheets and a blanket on the bed. Changed all the furniture covers to winter (we use old sheets due to dogs but Hubby likes a sheet in his recliner since that's his bed. Thankful a recliner worked for him since a cpap made his breathing worse. I roasted chicken and baked potatoes in the oven to help warm the house. At 1 pm I turned the furnace on and increased the temp from 70 to 72. It was 62 in the house. No sun what so ever to help warm the house. We did find we were going to have to find a new place to fax. Our library is only curb side right now and the local Kroger's is closing. Our phone company charges an arm and leg for that to be in the home. 

We ordered our brains AKA calendars, 5 subject note books as neither of us remembered to go get them when school supplies came out. Daughter 2 said I spent half what she did getting them for her youngest. I also ordered my journals for the next 2 years since they were on clearance and the style I prefer. 

Saturday

N showed up and said he was cleaning the hoop house so I could get my green tomatoes. Hubby went over to pick them and N had already picked half of them. Hubby picked the other half. N didn't want any money, but since Hubby was insisting he asked for $5 since it took him 30 minutes to gather them. Hubby gave him $10 . The common amount of an hour's work around here for pretty much everything. I got 2 bushels of green tomatoes for $10. N's wife E canned over 200 quarts of tomato juice during the week not touching what she had already put up. Hubby said there was close to 4 bushels of red tomatoes waiting for her on the table at her canning stove that she would be starting to work on Monday morning. 

I went through the green tomatoes, some I will allow to ripen, most will be sliced and froze. I did find  at

https://pickyourown.org/GreenTomatoes_WhatToDoWithThem.php#:~:text=Freeze%20Green%20Tomatoes%3A&text=Select%20firm%2C%20sound%20green%20tomatoes,freezer%20wrap%20between%20the%20slices.

She doesn't flour or anything her green tomatoes before freezing. I will be trying this out this year. 

I still have tomatoes in the garden.

Green tomato ends from slicing the green tomatoes for the freezer and the small greet tomatoes from the garden will make relish. Not thrilled with green tomato relish but won't waste it. Red will be canned as whole tomatoes. Looks like a good solid week of putting food in the pantry. 

The summer bedding and the furniture throws are in the rubber maid to be taken to the barn loft. I already brought the next one in to start on Monday.

I made noodles to use the leftover beef and broth. Made enough of it and mashed potatoes to have for Sunday dinner. We hade watermelon as I sliced the one up and froze it to be bagged on Monday. I cleared the kitchen side of the bfast bar so I could roll out the noodles. 

I did a brain drain  HA HA. Wrote down in no certain order, everything that was needing done. INCLUDING using a cleaning routine for this house. I pointed out hot spots (places that gather clutter including the cardboard box sitting next to Hubby's wardrobe) that bug me but keep filling back up. The cardboard box has the American flag that needs fixed... wind ripped the hook ( not the flag) that holds it to the top of the pole. AND the old "barn" coat that Hubby was going to through away as it is ripped up and worn out beyond even rags. He said he kept it so he wouldn't ruin another coat. I asked him how many coats he has because I can tell you now he has another one he could use as a barn coat as the cuffs of it are almost gone. We looked at our punch list per room and realized we had stopped looking for some things that we wanted to use for organizing the house. We decided to order a lamp to go between the recliner and couch, a roll cart to go between the washer and dryer and a roll cart to slide in the cubby hole in the bathroom.   I looked around for the correct size, the best blah blah blah and decided to wait one more day to order.

Sunday

I checked what I had put on hold to order. Two things had went down by 25 % so I ordered everything. 

I played a bit with the finances as we know starting next year we will both have social security (2nd and 3rd Wed of the month) My IRA from Daddy will come in the 15th (date he had used so I kept it). We have bounced around when to get Hubby's IRA set for.... Hubby said the 1st but by time it comes all the way through it's the 3rd or 4th which puts the mortgage late. I can pay the mortgage with the social security but what we had planned out isn't set for that. So I will rework it to see if that is the way we should go and still get his IRA on the 1st. Otherwise we need to cover an extra month before we start his IRA next year. I'll work both it both ways and let Hubby decided since it's his IRA.

We got a FEDX delivery... on Sunday... not the norm for around here. Down in Son 2's area he even gets regular mail on Sunday.  It was the doughnut pan and doughnut mix for baked doughnuts for Hubby's birthday. He was excited even though his bday isn't for a couple more weeks. I usually bake a carrot cake for Autumn celebration, he asked for his apple cinnamon and his pumpkin spice doughnuts to be made instead. I got part of my shirts from Thredup. 

We had the last of the beef and noodles and mashed potatoes for dinner.

He decided to finish the field tile so it was done and off the list completely. He will be working on it this week when he has time. I will start prepping the house for winter. Getting around for storm windows to be put on next weekend and hanging winter curtains. He will put the insulation boards back up around the foundation in a couple areas. 

Blessed be

 

 

When needing a lift.

 I found this picture on the internet several years ago. I wish I could find who posted it and thank them. The lady looks close to how my Nonna looked and that is my favorite apron style, more of a canning apron style. The kitchen looks like the one I grew up in. Not a kitchen she ever cooked in but she did sit in the rocker and watched. 

When I am being over ran in the gardens, canning and freezing until I stumble in tiredness like today, along with a bruised knee due to Charlotte running head first into me. She was chasing a bunny. At least she didn't knock me down though she staggered herself .  I go down to my pantry and look at the full freezers and then the pantry shelves.If I have empty spots going into fall I do NOT have enough. 

We decided to have at least 18 months solid of food in the pantry/freezers and with acknowledgement it could stretch to 2 yrs.

YES really... Hubby said something about the  freezers, I told him we have to eat 2 whole chickens, a pork butt, 6 lbs of  shredded turkey and two beef roasts before Thanksgiving. I need room for the hams that goes on sale at Christmas.

 I know I need more tomatoes (which are right out there in the garden that needs cleared for winter and I need to do my own so if I need more I can let N know) I need green tomatoes which are coming in the end of the month or the beginning of next month when N clears his hoop house for the winter. I need 180 qrts of tomatoes for the year. If I can in pints, double that to 360. Pizza sauce is done and that's not in that count.. I have 30 of the 6 oz jars.I have a dozen of store bought tomato paste.  I have 63 qrts. I am short 117.

If I can the same amount as I did yesterday I will be done in a week... Need to really focus on that... 9 days as I don't can on Sunday. Means I will know if I am short before N closes down his hoop house. If I can I will go help him close it down so I get a discount on the tomatoes or even free.

E ran into the guy that built our home. He said the spouting on the south side of the house and off the east and south side of the barn should be running to the field tile that goes to the pond.The only thing that should be running to the county tile is the west side of the barn and it goes to the corner of the property towards the county line.  So E and Hubby went out and checked. They found blockage on two of the lines that was mud.... M remembered her brother who lived here before N did  used to wash the garden stuff in the pump house (main drain to the pond) BUT they wouldn't have used much water to do that so the dirt from the veggies blocked the line. N and E, when they lived here used the water they used to wash veggies to water in the hoop house so it didn't get"wasted". E helped Hubby unplug the two lines so we only have 1 line to repair and then Hubby can put in a field tile out at the corner of the property to run the barn tile to the pond. SAVING hundreds of dollars. 

Other savings... 

We decided to not turn the furnace on even though it was 42 this morning , high is to be mid to high 70's, until the house drops to 68. That makes the front room 64. Hubby can't handle anything colder when he is sleeping. I am hoping this year that room won't be 4 degrees lower than the rest of the house. As we keep insulating /caulking where we find air leaks. 

I've had to use the drying rack a couple times at night to finish drying the clothes that didn't dry on the clothes line after hanging for hours.

I open curtains and blinds to the sun to warm the house, shut the windows and doors in afternoon before it starts cooling down to keep the warmth in the house.

Hubby got milk when he was picking up meds so no special trips to the store.

We got a free meal from an Amish couple. Hubby and they had went to an Auction... we didn't get anything but on the way back the wife asked if I had supper waiting. He said no, I would fix it when he got in. They asked if they could use his phone to order pizza. Sure , he even had the number in his contacts. They placed their order while Hubby secured the load. When he stopped for them to get their pizza , they had ordered 3 for their family and 1 for us. We ate it for 3 meals. 

Instead of using the whole package of smoked sausage I split it between baked beans and jambalaya. Other wise Hubby would have ate 3/4 of the package by himself. I made corn bread to go with the baked beans and sausage (cooked it together) and Hubby ate the last of the corn bread for his bfast. 

We bought 1/2 gal of orange juice. Daughter 4 bought a kit to make hot sauce for Hubby for Father's day. I have tomatoes and onions and lime juice but the one called for OJ. Hubby got the cheapest he could get. SO we will have to focus on drinking what we don't use. He was taking back a med I had gotten that I can't take due to blue dye. They found out the warning system they have wasn't working so they gave me free meds along with several coupons... they also switched it to cash payment instead of insurance as it saved me $200 as they used GOOD RX for the cash. I said something to Daughter 4 and she said she very seldom uses her ins for meds as she usually can get it cheaper with GOOD RX. 

Even if it means there are dishes sitting in the sink, I do not run the dish washer. unless it's completely full. So instead of every day it might be every one and half days.   

If I am washing pots and pans by hand, all gets washed by hand. Same amount of water is being used.

We are saving shower water, canner water etc to pour down the drain that goes to the pond. Even with the 5 inches of rain we have had last week , the pond is down 3 feet from where it should be but the fish are no longer in danger of dying from lack. I thought it was 2 ft but Hubby and E measured it when tracing for the tile. Scary thought as the pond is only 8 ft deep at it's deepest. We know because we had pump put in to circulate the water,aerate, in it for the fish that is tied to the windmill we had put in.

I harvest seeds for lettuce, red noodle beans (heirloom) and Bergen dried beans.

I traded a large "family" size of toilet paper I can't use due to allergies for a loaf of bread and 2 pies.

We are reworking our plans for the garden. Hubby now knows who will grow what on a regular bases and they water (hose and Honda motor ran by gas on their wells) so we can figure out what we REALLY need to grow on our own.We would like to add more fruit trees and get rid of 3 trees that are not making anything.

We bought some trees to plant last year. When I sent a picture to the company they refunded my money as there are 6 that didn't get get leaves or show any signs of growth. I really felt when they sent them, they were sending by zone not by what the weather was doing. I also let them know they were delivered when we had freezing temps and that's when they told me to send pictures to them this fall if they didn't do anything. Was nice they kept their word but I won't refer them or order from them again.

I started washing the winter bedding, did some of the sheets today and hung them on the line. 

Are you prepping for the fall and winter to come? 

Blessed Be

 

 

Hubby cracked a joke

 about me writing out everything that should be done in next 4 weeks which is when we usually get our first frost which last year was a freeze.... then I handed him the list and got a lot of "I forgot that wasn't done, I need to find where I put the stuff to do that (aka lost in the barn)... and finally, guess that wasn't a bad idea to do.

I came back with "does that mean it was a good idea?" 

Sometime we annoy the crap out of each other. 

I definitely annoyed him when I called him as he was in Kroger's picking up my meds and told him to bring supper home when he knew I had supper already planned ... I had burnt my hand 3 times and decided I wasn't touching the stove the rest of the night. ALONG with I stepped offthe kitchen porch NOT at the steps while turning to see what the dogs were doing.... not bad but it's a 2 foot drop to the ground and I ended up grabbing the tree branches to slow that jolt down. I was done for the day. A little sore this morning but have had worse working in the gardens. He was MORE annoyed I stepped off the porch. When we redo the kitchen porch (stuff is here) we will widen it so there is actual flooring on both sides of that kitchen clothes line. PLUS I can put pots there to get rain instead of moving my pots out into the yard when it's going to rain. Which annoys him when I forget to put them back up on the porch and he has to stop mowing and move them.

I broke down the lists... produce. gardens.outside work. fall prep. insulation. and projects not done but the stuff is here. 

Produce:fire roasted tomatoes (starting that today), green tomatoes, relish, 7 types of hot sauce (thanks to Daughter 4 that got that gift for Hubby for father's day knowing I would be the one making it) pickled onions , more tomatoes as I clear the gardens. I have potatoes, sweet potatoes and onions to still dig, dried beans for soups to pick and shell and beans to pick and shell for seed for next year. I need to clean the north garden of the volunteers of turnips, red chard, and 3 kales. I need to pull and process  seed from the field paste tomatoes in my garden. I need to pull the corn for the seed corn for next year. I need to cook and dehydrate the 5 pie pumpkins and dehydrate celery.I need to freeze Brussels sprouts. I need to clean out the produce gardens boxes  in the south garden and prep for transplanting strawberries in the spring.

I need to make noodles and dry them as this can also be a gift at Christmas.

I need to dig out the north flower garden that over flows with weeds every year. I am going to clear it (again) Move the hosta that is huge and over the sidewalk in the spring to the south garden area. I have artisan lilies that will do very well in that area and over whelm the weeds (that I will pull out by roots) like they did when we lived on Staley. I have cedar chips (termites and other bugs don't like them) to use as mulch. 

I need to transplant the walking onions as they have out grown were they are and are trying to plant themselves on the sidewalk. I will be having seed garlic coming in that will need planted also. Didn't get the varieties I ordered as they didn't grow well this year but am getting what I have ordered in the past.It helps when you order from the same company year after year.

I need to prep the large pots to transplant the fruit trees in spring. 

I need to clear all the flower pots and clean them for next year.

Garden stuff needs cleaned and put away, not tossed in garden shed like Hubby did last year. Winter snow shovels and deicer pellets (pet safe) needs put on porches and deck.Window scrappers put in vehicles . He can't remember where he put the shovels and scrappers and thinks we need one for the deck as Wilbur and Rascal are starting to come in that way more using the ramp instead of stairs.

Garden hoses out to the horses need drained and put away, probably end of Nov as Eli usually keeps his horses closer to the barn in the winter time. 

I need to get the winter bedding, furniture throws, curtains and clothes out of barn loft and wash and dry (on clothes line). Need to pull all of the summer bedding, furniture throws, curtains and clothes and put in the barn loft for storage. I know I didn't get 2 sets of curtains made last year and have 3 curtains to change how they hang on the rod. 

Hubby needs to finish air barrier installation in north attic and dining room attic. Material is here. He forgot.

Caulking, insulation board (on back of doors to attics and crawl spaces ) and outlet/switch insulation is still needing finished.He forgot this also.

Not touching the deep seasonal cleaning ... I am still doing week 2 of drawers, cabinets and shelves but have done week 3 and 4. Week 5 is windows and curtains.

I do https://nanowrimo.org/ the WHOLE month of Nov. Writing 50,000 words in 30 days.

Kids want cookies and candy for Christmas. 

Projects not done but stuff is here.

Fencing to replace the fence the old wire fence between yard and pond.

Brace for deck top railing.

Side boards for deck ramp 

Basement ramp walls and kitchen porch...this will be better done AFTER we fix the drainage problem. Was advised by ditch witch person to mark where we want the drainage and THEN measure for the tile so we don't buy what we don't need. 

Tower and antenna put up.

Gravel spread on driveways. Probably a 4 day job with the tractor.

SIGH but first is dealing with marking the place for the tile to be put. We might do that tomorrow as Hubby has 3-4 jobs already lined up and we have chiro and banking on Thursday.

I have today's meal(what was suppose to be last night's) and tomorrow's meal.  So I need to plan menu tomorrow including what to bake. 

On to roasting tomatoes on the grill to can. 

 

Why field tile called tile.

 The phrase "tile drainage" derives from its original composition from tiles of fired clay, i. e., ceramic, which were similar to terracotta pipes yet not always shaped as are pipes. In the 19th century a "C" shaped channel tile commonly was placed like an arch atop a flat tile, denominated the "mug" and "sole", respectively. Today, tile drainage is any variation of this original system that functions in the same mode. Commonly HDPE and PVC tubing denominated "tile line" is used, although precast concrete and ceramic tiles are still used.

Going line by line of the budget

 this is field tile. Worse would be we need 1500 ft of it to fix the drainage here.That would be total replacement of what is here and add to what should have been here. That alone is $750. 

We know we can rent a ditch witch (machine that cuts the ground into a 5 inch ditch to put tile in at the correct slope for drainage) for $2000 for 2 days since it's takes a half of day to get it and take it back we lose that time plus Hubby would have to not work himself to do it losing more money that way. He is calling the guy a lot of the Amish use even though they say he is expensive...we know what it cost for us to do it.We can lay the tile our selves and cover it ourselves saving there. 

MEANTIME I need to figure out where the money is coming from.

We could pull it from the IRAs or main savings but I would like to not have to pull it from there or all of it from there if we can get by I don't mind if we pull from month savings accts as I put each month in a separate savings to keep things straight for our son if something happens.Sept and Oct are in joint checking, Nov and Dec are in personal savings.Emergency fund is in main savings.

I know Hubby will most likely not break even in his business Oct thru March as the produce auction won't be open and pallets have not picked back up. Amish won't be needing grain hauled or seed hauled or even animals hauled much.So we don't count on the business at all at this time.This year according to our tax person is BREAK EVEN which is is most likely going to do or be close to doing even with the pandemic which is AMAZING.

Hubby gets his SS in Nov. That can cover Nov budget as we use that money in the savings to pay for the ditch witch. Daddy left an insurance policy that we didn't know about that will also help cover that month (it was through the plant he retired from so it's not much of one) and brother and I was wondering if someone was trying to scam us since we didn't know he had one still there after he retired 33 yrs ago. That should come in late this month.

OKAY ... I need $750 .

We cut 27% off the electric bill from last month (GO ME for following Hubby around and turning off fans and not turning on the AC until supper time if then) so that will cover 100 ft.... leaving 1400 ft to go.

The jar money we made off the garden and making ice will cover 200 ft leaving 1200 ft to go.

I can cut the dog budget for Sept and Oct (money in the checking) as no one needs shots until Dec and I have their vitamins and meds. That is another 200 ft leaving 1000.

The kids and grandkids have asked for cookies and candy for Christmas... two also asked for measuring cups and spoons (yard sale if I don't have extra myself as I think I have Daddy's in the barn) as they would like to start baking (out on their own) I have everything to do that except peanut butter (they like buckeyes).  SO I can take the grocery budget over to the tile for Sept and Oct (in checking ) . Use  the money we get from making the ice for E and M for milk and peanut butter for Sept and Oct that adds another 200 ft leaving 800.

I can take part of the money that is put back for Christmas and put on the tile, the other part will go to replace baking supplies. That's another 600 ft  leaving 200 ft. We give per family not person we have 6 kids, 8 grandkids out on their own. Great grandkids(5 with the 6th on the way) get cash, their parents put it in a savings as they all have like 6 -8 sets of grandparents/great grandparents etc so they don't want a lot of presents or it over whelms everyone.

I paid the school taxes in advanced so I can move that over to cover the last 200 ft. 

Hubby is hoping that it's only half that . As we already pulled some from the Dec budget to pay for the rain gutters being fixed and added to. 

Not a frugal week

 unless you count we dropped off stuff to the 4 kids needing it and picked up the motorcycle at the same time. The rest was a down hill slide. Then we still forgot to get the lawn chairs from Daughter 2 SIGH. IT's okay Son 2 forgot to get the title to the motorcycle notarized so he will be heading this way or us that way again. Maybe Daughter 2 will bring it to us if she decides to come fishing LOL.

We started checking out the field tiles that run to the pond... only one worked, it blew while we were running the water to fill pond so it was hunt to find where it blew since it didn't blow UP any where we knew it had to blow downwards and could cause a sinkhole. 

Two hours of digging, Hubby came in and said he couldn't even find the line... I went out and pointed out the TRACTOR was sitting on top of where the line should be. He moved the tractor and dug 1 ft from where he was digging and found it.One tile had a crack in it... the other one blew.He called a friend that had a ditch witch (digs  a ditch for field tile) and it was broke down. SO he is going to have to call a business to see when they can come do it. Triple the cost but got to be done. We will have to add more tile to connect everything like it should be but better in the long run.PLUS we are having the 2 yr old rain gutters fixed and they said it would be easier to run it so everything goes towards the tile or the pond it's self. They don't know why the contractors changed it since they didn't put it in any or the tiles that was already here and at down spouts. The head contractor already stopped using them right after we had them come back and fix areas that weren't right at all.

We got beets in that we had bartered for and Hubby's mother then requested twice as much as she had ordered. I just gave her ours as I know that was pretty much the end of the beets. I repeatedly asked her if she was sure that's all she wanted and she said yes. We are fine with what we have but I definitely will be starting her order in the spring so when she says she needs more it will be easier to get her some. She also started looking for veggies to can relish (I call it picadilly) since she found canning lids in her basement. Hubby made arrangements to pick it up for her Friday when hauling produce. She will be paying for those as Hubby pointed out he had bartered for us to have half those beets and paid for hers. She could pay for the veggies she was asking for now. I thought it was strange as we don't usually have any of the family pay. His siblings that actually live closer and his brother that oversees his parents told him to quit giving everything to the parents. I guess  they are tossing food out left and right and then going out to eat or get take out. Except the beets... his dad eats the beets. 

Hubby went to get prescriptions, milk , dog food (on sale) and flex seal. He also picked up a fogger for the pump house as he has been battling flies there.

We finally got rain.... way too much at one time as it was 4.5 inches (1/2 mile away got 6.5) in hours. Basement has some water in it. We got it blocked when I realized last night it was coming through the door and casement sills. That will be taken care of as soon as it dries out. A few things will be moved in case it happens again but most of it was up off the floor so it would get wet . We still need to add water to the pond. The guy that built the house told E he filled the pond himself running the pump 5 hrs a day for 7 days... it was completely empty when he started it. So that's nice to know.

After we talked it over I ordered another dehydrator , plastic lids for canning jars for storage and more Tattler lids. These were not in the budget.Hubby felt we should get them now while we could and not chance waiting for next year. To keep the budget in line I moved several areas over to cover this. We can go without for a bit in those areas. 

How it things going for you?

Blessed Be 

Deck railing

 I can't mark it off the punch list as it still needs a support along the top railing and the ramp still needs the side boards (to keep wheelchairs from going off the ramp) . It is nice to at least have it looking good. Patio table is still needing put together if Hubby every gets the time.

South railing. We have an umbrella that will go between the two chairs on the left and I need to spray paint the small table.

North railing. Metal chair needs welded, Hubby thinks he can get one of the repair shops that work on Amish stuff to fix it  and then I can repaint it... we had 6, I am not sure where they are in the barn but I want to make sure they are fixed and repainted by next year. We were going to put the grill here... no way now. That railing is vinyl just like siding and Hubby has already melted vinyl siding on 2 houses with the grill. Grill will stay on the front porch. Not a bad place as I very seldom get rain there but I do get wind so we put up a wind block.

Rascal's crook of his tail at bottom of photo... that is what we see when he is walking on the ground besides this railing. Wilbur and Charlotte are watching Hubby pull the flat bed trailer in and parking. This is the west railing. The bottom . of all the rails are low enough to stop one of Rascal's balls from going off the deck.

We might put lattice later in the open spots but right now I love the way it is. 

I did not buy sweets

 or the frozen lasagna while at the store today... oh yeah it was tempting. I did get the cool whip that was on sale and shoved 12 of them in the freezers and 1 in the frig as I am planning to make a icebox cake tomorrow. 

Poultry creamy enchiladas using https://theprudenthomemaker.com/creamy-chicken-enchiladas/  recipe. is for tonight. 

We changed dentist and my appt was today. I save $250 by switching as I was due for xrays. I got 5% also off as I wrote a check instead of using a debit or credit card. Hubby goes the 10th.

I got the knack of canning with Tattler lids.I bought a case and figured if I use them 3 times, I can then count the rest of the times I use them as free compared to metal canning lids. They were also in supply where metal canning lids aren't.

I made an extra payment of the principal of the mortgage. That saved us $958.40 in interest.. Our mortgage guy actually looked to see if it was better to refinance the loan or just pay it off early... when I told him how we were going to pay it. He figured we would saved 39% and next year it will be more as I plan to pay off this loan off in the next 10 yrs not 28 yrs as we have left on the loan. I really would like to do it in 6 yrs but with how things are going in the world I am not sure I can do that.

We had ordered bushels of tomatoes (2 red and 1 green). Red will be juice and diced tomatoes. The Amish guy said if we were willing to wait until he cleans his hoop house where he grows them he would discount them by 50%. I've done this the last couple years. I even have gotten some for free as no one wanted them and he knows I am sharing with my kids and grandkids (GEEZE , grandkids living on their own SIGH) 

I mended my slippers.

I harvest lettuce seeds and dried bean seed for next year.

I harvested volunteer turnips, red and green kale and lettuce. 

I harvested the red Pontiac potatoes and set them to cure on the porch. I grew potatoes is grow bags. I put the "used" dirt in other garden box beds so I won't have to buy more dirt. Everything gets a good dose of fertilizer this fall and again in the spring.  

I canned 5 pints of crushed tomatoes and 2 pints of tomato juice. I am surprised I got that with how bad the blossom rot is but there was one or two paste tomatoes per bush that was good even though they are about 1/3rd of their normal size.. Hubby's uncle lost ALL of his tomatoes to blossom rot. 

We worked on the deck and almost have the railing finished. We ran out of the one board so will be picking it up this week when we are already over to Sidney for appts and can go to Menards. I have rebate credit we can use for that. 

I mixed water with dish soap, shampoo, conditioner and switched to bar soap for hand soap in the bathrooms and liquid soap( scraps of bar soap mixed with water) at the sinks in the kitchen and mudroom.  

I made laundry soap. 

I gave daughter 4 and granddaughter (her daughter) dishes and silverware we were not using. Our local thrift shop is not accepting anything at this time still.Keeps me from paying extra on the trash service.

Blessed be everyone

When Amish ask you if you have extra canning lids.

 You know things are bad. When the statement is I don't know what we are going to do, do you have any extra?

Canning lids for the Amish is the difference between having food during the year and going hungry.They even can their meat. 

M said she still had green beans and tomatoes to can. She still has meat to can...she can kill the chickens as needed and the pig could be smoked but the cow has to be canned.  Veggies and fruit are regular lids. Meat is wide mouth. I have 12 cases of wide mouth jars and 3 cases of regular jars with their lids and bands. I moved to the side for her. I gave her 10 boxes of regular lids I had. FYI she cans over 3000 jars of meat.It takes 3 qrts of meat a MEAL to feed her family. She does over 11,000 of veggies and over 6,000 of fruit. 

Today I am going down to sort through what I can and see what else I can come up with for her.  Hubby said worse would be we buy a freezer for their usage, that's a 16 ft freezer just for the cow.

Going to be a rough winter for a lot of people

Thankful for bloggers: dealing with fraud and totaled car (not mine)

 That speak up and tell you a company is fraud. 

I had ordered canning lids. Even after googling the site it kept coming up a "real"... it wasn't. I am thankful my bank had not paid it yet so I could cancel it (easier than fighting a fraud claim).  

Amazon also caught a fraud company stopped a withdraw and let me know about it.

I questioned my car and home ins agent about a bill I got in my email (we get all those bills in paper mail) and it was fraud.

Hubby got a bill for the business... when he checked it out, found it was fraud.

Daughter 4's daughter totaled her car about 2 wks ago... her boyfriend when to pick her up at doctor appt beginning of this week and his wheel bearing went out and the axle broke. Yesterday Daughter 4 who was the one driving everyone to work (they work same place and same hours) had a hit and run driver hit her car while parked in front of her home while she slept. NO one in the neighborhood heard anything and it looks like it was intentional as it's square hit from behind to shove her trunk up into her back seat and moved her car 8 ft. Paint chip from the car that hit her was left behind so the cops are now checking repair shops but doubt if that does any good. She didn't have full coverage and doesn't have enough for another car or even a down payment as she just got back to work from the pandemic. SIGH. We took our jeep down to her and specified only she could drive the car.

Charlotte broke out in hives. We took all 3 to vet ,boys got nails clipped and she got nails clipped and shot and meds that she has already figured out how to eat the treat and spit the pills back out. SO it's pin her and shove them down her throat. Wilbur is the best for taking meds. We also corrected Wilbur's birth date. Daughter 2 told us he was born in 2010 then grandson said, no because they lived in the old homestead when he was born...that's 2008 so Wilbur is 12 . SO I had the vet pull Rascal's original records when I noticed they had him as 9 ...he is 8 not 9 which is what I thought , they don't know who changed it on the record.  SO they are 12, 8 and 3 ... While at the vet, I ended up with Rascal and Charlotte and got pulled down by Charlotte who tried to run to the truck and Rascal stepped sideways in front of me... Lucky he wasn't hurt. I have a banged up knee and sore wrist. Hubby gets her for now on if on regular leash. I wrap a leash around Wilbur like a harness and can control him . I told Hubby we need to do the same for Charlotte as she has a lot of pulling strength and with a harness I could pull her up to her back feet to stop that. I do think I only fell because of Rascal stepping in front of me. 

Back to work ... 

funeral and changes.

 Aunt Dolly, she was Mother's half sister on her Father's side.She looked just like her mother. She had a sense of humor to the day she died. Even in her obit that she wrote in her final days asked for hats and silly masks to be worn so she could look down and laugh at us. She was 88. 

 I thought about how hard is has been to get seeds and canning supplies. I got some Tattler canning lids and STILL don't have it down how to get it right... I decided I was going to practice canning water LOL this week until I do have it right since I am already canning. I went through my canning supplies. I would get about half way through canning and be out of lids. So I am looking NOW until I find enough as I can over 1200 jars a year. I did find some at a decent price at https://www.ballofficial.com/.  I went through my seeds, checked what I needed. Bookmarked the orders (as there is 7 different places to get them ) and now am looking to see if I can find them cheaper somewhere. This spring I didn't get some varieties the do better in this area for summer planting. 

We need to order water for the pond. It is down dangerously low and we don't want the fish (over 200) to die. If we can't find a supplier we will be running the garden hose out to it to add to it daily to try to keep it where it is.Hopefully the rain that is in the forecast will actually come HERE.

I am now dehydrating corn as I have enough room left for watermelon, cantaloupe and green tomatoes in the freezers. We have decided to start Sept 1st on eating from the pantry(that includes the freezers) instead of waiting until Nov/Dec. Mainly because with making ice for E we don't have that freezer for the turkeys and hams I buy in the fall. I do already have enough butter by buying here and there when it was under $2 a lb. 

 I am back to waiting on the dried beans to stop blooming and dry LOL. 

I have peach chutney to make and can, orange marmalade to make and can, cantaloupe and watermelon to cut and freeze. Then green tomato relish, picadilly, green tomatoes for freezer and canned for chili, tomatoes diced, chunked, sauce (pints and qrts) and maybe some juice to do ,tomatoes and green tomatoes are to be in this week or next. 

Hubby wants to change some things in the finances but we need to wait until we have the costs for the pond, canning supplies and seeds.

How are you doing?

Fried green tomatoes

 I do my green tomatoes a couple ways when I can going to freeze them... 

I cut wash, dry and cut them like I was going to fry them right then.

choices are

flour then egg(or buttermilk) then bread crumbs 

or

flour then egg (or buttermilk) then cracker crumbs

or 

flour then egg(or buttermilk) then cornmeal 

or

flour then egg(or buttermilk) then bread crumbs

or 

corn starch then egg (or buttermilk) then corn starch 

If I am eating them fresh I would do any of the above or use Whistle Stop Green tomatoes batter....

Freezing them ... I stop before I do the egg or buttermilk.Freeze them on a rack (like for cooling cookies or a cake)and cookie sheet. and then  bag them after they are frozen solid so I can pull out how ever many I want at a time.  Sometimes I just do the first step of cornstarch freeze and then do a mixture of cornstarch and flour with no egg or buttermilk. Depends on who is in the house and how heavy coating we want to eat. 

HEAVEN HELP ME LOL

Tuesday night... Hubby went over to E and M's to pick sweet corn. He was suppose to get 3 dozen but thinks between L and little E there is closer to 5 dozen. 

He also brought home from them, radishes, onions, celery, oranges, 3lbs apples,4 lbs plums, cantaloupe and 6 tomatoes that are the size of a soft ball. 

SO today I started ...  I harvest garlic chives ,chives and kale from my gardens and put that in the dehydrator. In the other dehydrator is celery from M and what I had picked up. That will give me enough for the winter as I will buy some fresh for celery salad and stir fries.

I froze cauliflower and broccoli I had gotten. Not a lot but enough for a meal or two.

I started canning the last of the beets M sent over last week when her daughter L knocked on the door and had 1 plastic grocery bag of green beans with the news of  her brother was bringing the second bag. OH well add that to the growing list. 

Hubby called to tell me he had local honey to bring home and we were being gifted with a fresh chicken as one of the guys had butchered 40 plus chickens.. 

Tonight is beef roast with M's onions and my potatoes... tomorrow is now chicken.

 

I have cantaloupe ,watermelon and corn to process for the freezer.

I have more kale, garlic chives and chives to dehydrate.

I have plums, green beans, pears, (another gift)peaches (yes again) pickled watermelon rind, and pickled red onions to can.

Within a week or 2  I will have beets for pickled beets from A, green tomatoes(sliced and breaded for freezer and made in to relish) red tomatoes ( picadilly , salsa  and sauce ) from N .I will dehydrate the tomato skins for powder to make paste out of when needed or add to taco meat etc 

Making noodles is still on the list also. 

How many legs are your milk stool?

We had a real nice ride to grandson's parents in laws for his son's 4th birthday. She is half way between them and us. We had a nice masks/social distancing birthday party. We stopped to get baby formula for M at their local Walmart (was out like ours) but I got tomato paste, 25 lbs of flour ,25 lbs of sugar, 6 pack of root beer, 12 pack of Vernor's ginger soda (the only either of us can drink when sick), red ink pens and lighter fluid. 

I went through The Prudent Homemaker's site https://theprudenthomemaker.com/blog/  and ordered onion powder as I am not going to have enough onions to dehydrate and grind and yet do some as pickled, garlic powder as I didn't plant garlic last fall (I do hard neck over winter and will be planting them this year), cumin and thyme. I have a couple thyme plants planted this year and they are doing okay but not enough to get me next month let alone a year from now. I made 3 spice blends that I was out of. Emeril's essence, Tightwad Gazette taco seasoning and Paula Deen's house blend. 

There is an ad on tv that the spokesman (I think Tom Selleck) talks about retirement and reverse mortgages.... comment is you want at least 3 legs on the retirement milk stool to stay stable. We started talking about our milk stool and how one of us dying would affect the other's milk stool..

Hubby will have Social Security, he has his IRAs , he has his business that he knows he could run into his late 70s as there are more than one hauling in their 70s around here.He would have my IRA's from Daddy if I died first.He has a life ins policy that if the loan is paid off it would have an annuity for him.

I will have Social Security (based on his as there was no way my income would come close to what he was earning), I have Daddy's IRA's  I have my life ins that has an annuity that I would still get even though I have a small loan on it .I would have Hubby IRAs .

That's not a bad milk stool for either of us... together the milk stool has 7 legs. 

IF the house is paid off we could do a reverse mortgage that gives us the 8th leg  None of the kids or grandkids want to live in this area so the house would be sold anyways.

And since in 2008 at age 81 Daddy went to living on his SS only and what ever he made on side jobs and stopped using his IRAs to allow them time to recover from the nasty hit they took we looked hard to see if something happened could we do the same. We are short $100 a month IF we have the mortgage and the work truck paid off. I think we could handle it even if we didn't make that amount to cover it.

Daddy's only issue (he had full coverage NO out of pocket FREE health ins from the company he retired from. Even when they sold the local plant they kept him covered under the home plant, he was very grateful) was putting food on the table.Brother, myself and Daddy's granddaughter from stepmother's side, put the food on the table for a year so Daddy was only paying for his milk and bread. When his IRA stabilized and he started drawing them again, he spent $40 a week at Aldi's and $60 a month at Walmart for non food items... He had enough TP, and paper towels stocked that when we cleaned out his house the 3 of us split it between us and none of us bought for 4 months. 

Hubby went down to the pantry with me (believe me he doesn't do that much) and we counted up meals with 5 veggies and 3 fruit a day along with 2 proteins.. can we go a solid year with only buying a bit of fresh and dairy? YES. THEN he stopped on the steps coming back up and asked if we could go 2 yrs. I was like... I could safely say yes to 18 months... Are we helping the kids or grandkids any or the neighbors? 

He immediately said yes to 3 of the neighbors, M &E as we could barter meat from them(they usually are yeast, flour, sugar and white vinegar (I know when she is canning pickles) and oil. I already have an extra month of that for that reason ... The other two are elderly (same age but in bad health and one is a vegetarian ). He thought about the kids  and knew who came to get food this last time.

We have 6 kids and 8 grandkids out on their own.. of that group I would say only 4 of the kids and maybe only 2 and 2 of the grandkids would ask for help. But they would be looking for green beans, pasta sauce. pasta dried beans and rice, the one would be looking for Navy beans.I think he is more Daddy's than mine when it comes to his eating habits.They would take tomato juice and make sauce themselves. They would be happier with homemade noodles in water if need be. yeast and flour to make bread maybe.. I told him I would add 3 months extra to help neighbors and kids/grandkids. BUT I would need to change what we planted in the gardens or get off the Amish to build that supply. He thought about it for awhile and came back and said... 2 yrs pantry with the acknowledgement we might give 3 months away. 

So I went back down and spent Sunday, the day of rest, really checking the pantry...since I was down there I finished cleaning the shelves in there and did the herbs and spices. 

I decided to add more veggies. I am dehydrating celery (out completely). I can do pickled watermelon rind (will be the first time, the watermelon was given to us and I will freeze some of it) I can do tomato chutney and green tomato relish.  More salsa (easy with getting tomatoes from N in a couple weeks) Beets for plain and pickling are coming in then also from A. I can dehydrate the tomato skins to make paste or sauce as needed... that's just time pulling the skins when making sauce. I can dehydrate any greens we have come in including lettuce to make "green" powder to add to dishes. I will need to get carrots to can.  I have some odds and ends coming in from the garden to help fill the pantry out. 

Hubby told me to figure a way out to at least use the hoop house cover to extend the growing season some... I need to do that today. 

To me , having the full pantry is another leg on that milk stool. I can focus on the money going to the bills and not worry about feeding us as long as I have seeds... I will be focusing more on heirloom and open pollinated.