Thankful 4th

 I am thankful for our mechanic that not only changed the oil and checked the fluids but went over the dog truck to make sure it was ready for winter with us out in the county.

I am thankful that the weather has been nice so Hubby could finish putting up the new fence and burn the last old stump.

I am thankful for E coming across to check on us when he hadn't seen the dog truck for a couple days and wondered if something he could help with. He thought maybe I was with Daughter 4.

I am thankful that Daughter 4 is dealing better than expected with the radiation.

I am thankful we live in a country where we VOTE and just don't get told who was going to run the country. 

Blessed Be

Menu Monday, Frugal Choices.

 

I sat down Sunday night and made the menu. We then decided to freeze the Brussels sprouts so I figured I would pull out the last roasting chicken this morning to make room for the sprouts.

There was 2 roasting chickens. I think one was Son 2's as its smaller than I buy. I told Hubby I was roasting both. They will take less room with the bones out of them and I can make the pot pie and a pot of soup from the birds after a meal of roasted chicken. They are in the downstairs frig thawing.  SO a change in the menu already.

I am definitely ready to be done with the green tomatoes. What ever is left after I can another 16 pints is going to be left to turn red... if they don't turn, sometimes paste tomatoes don't, then they can just go to the compost. No one else wants them.

I called Hubby's finance guy (since we now each have one) and asked it we could meet with him on the same day I have an appt within his area. He is two hours from us so this would save us a lot of time and money if he can. They are doing appt only and he was at an appt outside the office so we have to wait until the secretary gets a hold of him to find out. JUST an update, they decided due to our age and my surgery pending that we would do a phone conference. They offered ZOOM but we don't have that good of internet here for that. 

I've hung clothes on the drying rack and clothes line. 

Hubby went to the store for milk and heavy cream and brought home rolls and French bread that had been marked down. He felt since I couldn't bend over due to back injections that I didn't need to worry about making bread. They were priced lower than my cost of making them would have been.

I put the clean oil lamp wicks I used last year in the windows again to stuff in the windows were there was a draft. Hubby turned the ceiling fans to rotate the other way for winter. I closed the ceiling vent in the front room so heat would not go up to that loft and put a heavy curtain in the stairway to stop heat from going up that way. 

Hubby went out and worked on replacing the old fence. He now has the south section done completely. That leaves the east section. He also mowed the yard mulching the leaves as he went. Two for one.

I used the leftover apple tomato soup to make sauce (added homemade sauce) and made pasta for supper along with meatballs that I made and froze. Sliced some of the French bread and made it into garlic bread.

I paid all our bills that was in or on auto pay (deducted, I just will check to make sure they go through). We have 1 bill still out, that is electric. Our propane company called as we had a winter fill at this time last year and asked if we needed propane... it's fine I have been turning temp down during the day and when we are gone. So that helps. PLUS Hubby got some air gaps closed up so that helps also.

Back to work for me as I am now taking the brussels sprouts down and freezing them 

Nov 3rd Thankful

  I am thankful for our forever home that we designed for wheelchair as I talked to an older friend last night that has to walk the furniture as she can't get her walker through her home. Her youngest added railing so she can get out the back door from her bedroom if she needs to get out of the house from the bedroom. 

I am thankful for the sunshine as it's always a better day with sunshine.

I am thankful the Amish man that put up a new rain gutter on the barn and hooked it to the field tile to the pond , checked the rest of the rain gutters and fixed ones he found not working right without add more to the bill. Now we have another section of rain gutter hooked to the field tile for the pond and the cubby hole gutters are one section instead of three and drain out the gravel of the driveway not under the front room and front porch. He also left a note that the birds had a nest in the north gutter but it was starting to down pour so he didn't mess with it. Hubby took care of it the next day along with putting screen in to stop it from nesting there. We had leaf covers installed when we put the gutters on... should have spent the money and got the one piece rain gutters. 

I am thankful that I have my pantry over filled, having to store cases of home canned goods in the upstairs loft as it will allow me to pass organic food to Daughter 4 as she fights cancer.

I am thankful we can vote for our leader,we have a voice in who does win unlike other countries.

What are you thankful for?

Thankful Each Day

Following Brandy over at the Prudent Homemaker who is posting what she is thankful each day of this month..

Nov. 1st. I was thankful that it was just snow flurries and a cold blowing wind and not worse as my soon to be granddaughter's bridal shower was yesterday. I am thankful she thought of me and texted me before the shower as I couldn't go due to needing to "stay at home" to keep safe from Covid because of upcoming surgery. I am thankful for the pint of tomatoes I canned and the 3 apples I had made the soup for dinner and the 75 cent loaf of bread Hubby picked up since I wasn't allowed to bend over after back injections made a nice addition to the soup with it grilled and cheese melted on top.

Nov 2nd I am thankful that an old friend of my parents that is from the old neighborhood called me today to let me know she loved me and if she dies before my birthday she wanted me to know she would be singing to me then. She's not very well and only her one son is in and out of her home.  I am thankful my in laws texted instead of just showing up, not thinking about they shouldn't be in our home especially since they go out and not wear a mask  when I am waiting for surgery (veins in legs affecting my heart). I am thankful we can afford Hubby to turn down some jobs that would open the door to him getting covid and bringing it home to me. I am thankful, even though tired of it, of the green tomatoes I am still running through the food processer to can. Going to have to stop after today as I do not want to run out of canning lids.

What are you thankful for?

Done so far... back to back doctor appts rest of week

 I canned 16 pints of shredded green tomatoes and then shredded enough to do the next batch of green tomato apple pie filling. 

I spent a good part of the day doing phone tag with doctor's offices. I confirmed my appt with the cardiologist that is checking my vein problems for today (Wed). His office called back since they realized I live over an hour away, they got the preapprove from my health ins to run a ultra sound before my appointment so I wouldn't have to make a two more trips. That is very nice. Son 2 and Daughter 1 and 4 warned me when they had ultra sound ran on their legs, they had some issues of keeping their balance. I can't keep my balance to begin with... LOL.

 Hubby can't go in with me so he is going to do some banking for the business and go look for snow shovels. 

Our Chiro office called to confirm we were coming for our adjustments on Thurs. They don't usually call but it was a new girl and she was calling everyone.

My pain doctor's office called and left the message they had ins approval for my injections so to call them to schedule. So I called them back.... and they were at lunch so I had to call back an hour later. That is scheduled for Friday morning.

Which means I won't be doing much more than sitting with ice on my back Friday. I won't do much over the weekend either. 

Do you ever feel like all you do is run to doctor's office or testing? 

Planning for November.

 Finances for both us and Daughter are set. Both households need to stay on budget. We also decided to make 1 extra payment each month on the mortgage.

We completed 4 more things off the punch list and made a new list for Nov.

Our list for November is :

Finish green tomatoes if not done

finish taking down the brussel sprouts and kale.

finish air barrier in North attice

install insulator board on backs of north attic door, east attic door, front room crawl space door and make a door with insulator board for the mechanical room crawl space.

The perimeter fencing to be finished

remove the old fencing, the old dog house(not ours , was N's) and it's fencing and take all the scrap metal to the junk yard.

Install outlet in bucket room of basement by outside door. Wiring is there, for what ever reason the outlet didn't get installed.

Finish mending dining room curtains and make the French door winter curtains.

Finish installing outlet/switch insulators in WC bath, bath, kitchen, laundry room, bedroom, and all 4 lofts.

Do the fall cleaning (20 areas not including the barn)  

Do Nano (me myself and I) 

Get my back injections

Get what ever is causing sever bruising on my legs (varicose veins issues I hope) dealt with.

Do you have plans?

We won't have any family meals or go to our friends due to covid and our grandson's wedding in Dec.

Monday night ...When your finance guy calls in the evening

 your gut kind of drops thinking it's not something good...

He apologized but was looking for someone to cut down trees at the office and thought of us living amongst the Amish that someone would want the wood. So I told him Hubby would ask around and get back to him by Thursday. He did tell me my earnings rate was up. Thought he would offer that. Hubby went to E and he is still clearing dead wood out of his woods and suggested H who lives on the other side of us and sort of behind . The back of his workshop is at the side of our back field. H wants to look at the trees first so Hubby is taking him over to see them tomorrow afternoon.

We had smoked pork butt along with Simply Ming French Onion soup with apples. I switched the cheese to swiss as it was what I had. Decent soup, though we both thought we could have put the bread to the side instead of in the soup. I wouldn't mind some mushrooms in it. On the time consuming side and a light soup but went very well with the smoke pork. The shallots were costly, next time I will use a small red onion and add a bit more to the garlic. 

I added another meal of meat to the shepherd pie meals in the freezer. I cooked the hamburger for the mild chili and hamburger to make philly cheese egg rolls to finish bagging for freezer tomorrow. I cleaned and prepped red tomatoes for tomorrow. I cleaned out the frigs (nothing in them to toss!!!!) and gathered the trash (forgot my bedroom trash can SIGH) and Hubby took the trash to the road for pick up. Trash is anywhere from 5:30 to 6:30 AM. 

Hubby finished the air barrier in the side attic of the west and east lofts. They are what is commonly called knee wall attics. He has the north loft attic to do yet but it's a regular attic over the dining room ceiling so it's lay the barrier on the studs not staple them to the walls. 

I scheduled my appt with the back doctor, have to go in and do the ins paperwork for approval first. I scheduled my appt with the cardiologist as my primary thinks the problems with my leg veins is coming from my heart failure (I think there was a duh moment there with him) and I scheduled our flu shots at CVS to do before voting. We finished the leftovers.

Tuesday

Turned the tomatoes on to make juice on my way to the first cup of coffee. Gathered the last of the laundry and kicked the washer on. Made my bed and got dressed BEFORE I finished my first cup of coffee... not the norm for me as I don't move quickly when getting up. I think it's the orthostatic hypotension I have is the reason I don't. 

By the second cup I have the tomatoes cooling to be juice, that juice is going into chili. Laundry on drying racks and my emails and FB done and sat and read The Prudent Homemaker comments on her frugal blog. 

I had 4 things to do out in the garden that isn't getting done as it's cold and rainy and I am not chancing getting sick. Winds are out of the north and they are cold. I canned 7 pints of hamburger chili. Hubby decided he didn't want me to make sausage chili so I put those 3 lbs in the freezer to sausage gravy later. I repackaged bacon to make 6 of 1 1/2 lbs packages and put 4 of 1 lbs packages of smoked pork in the freezers.

We had hamburger pie for supper.

Wednesday

We left the dogs in the house, first time in a long time. It was storming and Rascal and Charlotte don't do good with storms. I put the trash can on the front porch so Wilbur wouldn't get into it. Figured we come home to someone's mess as Charlotte has not really had to hold it longer than four hours. She still gets one of us up during the night. NO MESSES at 6 hrs.

I had to be in Centerville for an appt to start the paperwork needed to get my back injections, a 2 1/2 hr drive and had to be there at 8. Got that started.

Pit stopped at Daughter 4 and gave her organic veggies I had and my juicer.

Got home and both of us took a 2 hr nap. I cleaned the jars I canned and Hubby took them down to the pantry for me to put away later. 

I rewrote my to do list as in 10 days I start NANO and want to get most of the stuff done before then. I know I can spend 4 hrs a day writing NANO.

We had chili for supper.

Thursday

pea soup fog this morning

Daughter 4's 36th birthday. She had her first external radiation treatment. Scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursday for the next 6 wks. Said it wasn't as bad as she had planned for it to be. Felt like a sun burn on her stomach. Her daughter said she fell asleep around 4:30 and woke up at 10, ate a salad and salmon, risotto and green beans for supper and went right back to sleep. 

We got our flu shot and went and did early voting.

I washed all the bedding and furniture throws besides regular laundry as this looks to be the last or next to last warm day for it.

We finished 98% of the outdoor work including gardens. There are a couple sq ft gardens with strawberries ,1/3rd of of the north flower garden and the berry trellises that could just a bit more work but if they don't get done this fall it's okay. It's a lot better than last year. I planted 4 types of garlic taking 4 of the 2 ft by 8 ft garden boxes and transplanted walking onions in another 2 ft by 8 ft box.

We finished the chili I didn't can and snacked of apples.

Both of us tired and chilling... I usually have side affects from the flu shot, Hubby usually doesn't by I am thinking this time he is going to.

Storming tonight

Friday

Check on Daughter 4, she said that she felt like she had the flu along with eating something super spicy (radiation can feel like that) that burned all the way back out. Said she tried to work the night before but the storms was too bad so she didn't call in to deliver anything. She does Door dash. Also told she wasn't going to work any as she was told when she called Door Dash this morning that her county is almost to purple on the coved 19... that is level 4 the worse that can be. SO she is staying home, we will all suck up tight budgets with us supporting her.

Hubby started  working on replacing the perimeter fencing between the pond and E's pasture on our south side. Going to take a lot of time but he figured he could do it off and on.

I made meatloaf patties (instead of loaf) and meatballs for the freezer. Sorted the last of the red and green tomatoes to work on over the weekend. Made 2 hot sauces... 5 more to go and if Daughter 4 ever buys her dad something like this again SHE can make the stuff instead of me LOL.

We had meatloaf patties, mashed potatoes and hot pickled cauliflower. Apples for a snack.

Saturday

I finished red tomatoes !!!!!

Still have a wagon full of green ones. 

I did another hot sauce... four more to go.

Hubby did some "taxi" driving for the Amish. They had a wedding on Thursday and a death of Friday. He helped get those that were needing to change bus tickets into town to get that done and then were they were staying over the weekend. He picked up calzones and popcorn chicken that a few of the Amish got together and paid for as a thank you for helping them as he didn't accept any money for being taxi. We don't when it's an emergency and having a family member die the night of a wedding qualifies in our mind.

So we had the popcorn chicken with butter garlic dipping sauce and split a calzone. 

Sunday 

Day of rest... I did dishes and a load of laundry to hang on drying rack as the loads on Saturday were more than the drying racks could handle. Damp again today.

Hubby carried down the canning to the pantry and I put them away. I went ahead and cleaned out the frigs... NOTHING TO TOSS 2nd wk in a row. 

I checked the finances for Daughter 4 and we decided we were going to run money for her from my personal acct instead of the joint acct. She put herself on a budget that is less than we figured and she wants it weekly like a paycheck since that is what she is used to and she knows what she pulls out when. She figures habit will work over the brain fog she knows she will get with the chemo when that starts. I have her set until Jan.

I checked our finances, put in for the transfers (as I don't keep money sitting in accts that don't make much interest) and when it comes in so Nov will be mostly paid for. I cut our budget to cover Daughter 4 budget. Organic non processed food is going to take a good bite above what she normally buys.

We had arugula salad with apple, pecans, bacon and feta cheese and split the second calzone for supper.

I have at least 1 doctor appt due to problems with veins in my legs and maybe if the insurance processes the paperwork for the back injection I might get that one in also this week. Fingers crossed.

How did your week go?

Blessed Be

 

 

On Budget

 Since we are also supporting Daughter 4 we are double checking the budget every day. Granddaughter said something about money and Daughter 4 pointed out that she shared the budget with all 3 of them (2 sons and daughter) so they would know what was going on. They wanted a pizza and Daughter 4 wasn't willing to pull money for a pizza so the 3 kids chipped in and got a cauliflower crust loaded with veggies. Daughter 4 thinks she has automatically bought take out when ever the kids asked as they don't live with her,*her medical put her repeatedly in the hospital so the kids lived with their dads to stay stable. She was able to pick up some work this weekend (starts treatment Thursday) so used it for oil change, gas, vet bill, dog food and groceries. 

We went to the store and got hamburger for 36 meals (Shepherd pie, taco meat, eggroll meat, meatballs and meatloaf) to fix and put in freezers. I will make chili with some of it and can that . I found some beef roast marked down that I cut into chunks for stew and froze that also. I got 3 lbs zesty sausage for chili for Hubby. I eat the hamburger one.

We caulked the north window in the front room. HAD the caulking. It was allowing air to come in from the sides of the window frame. No condensation on the inside window now.

I have used the clothes lines or drying racks for the laundry. Been raining or 30 mph winds have been blowing.

Hubby burnt some stumps to get that done off the punch list. He used scented oil for oil lamps that triggered my asthma so it was not wasted.

I am still , some more, what ever canning red and green tomatoes. Apples are next and then brussels sprouts . Kale is being used as fresh  as I have plenty dried for soups. I dehydrated the tomato skins to grind into powder for my supplies. I got a bushel of 48 lbs. Honeycrisp apples for $22 Local store would have been $109.92. I got a bushel 48 lbs. Mutsu (crispin) apples for $11 for $80. but would have had to ordered them and was warned they would be bruised in shipping. I found a recipe for green tomato apple pie filling to can.

A friend across state sent us a medium size box of medical supplies she no longer uses including a nebulizer that will be welcomed in the Amish community.

We ate mostly from the menu. The one night we had pizza from our favorite place over in Sidney as I ended up with 2 doctor appts at the last minute and wasn't getting home until after 6. (homemade pot pie was on the menu) The pizza along with 2 salads made 4 meals. Gave me time to go later to the store to finish the shopping.

Rest of YEAR groceries will be dairy, some produce and 1 turkey breast to smoke and at least 2 hams if not more depending on room in freezers. And 1 prime rib roast for Christmas eve size depending on that kids show up. Usually it's one of our boys. 

I have been having some vein issues in my legs. My primary decided to send me to a cardiologist instead of a vein specialist so I could get my heart failure check up at the same time. One co pay and one appt. Right now I have to have my legs up for 10-15 minutes a time,  4 times a day 

I harvested some volunteer kale and swiss chard from the north gardens. I might get one more pick.

I mended a skort and one of Hubby's shirts.

I turned the furnace off a couple days when it was warm with the sunshine. I found out that if I turn the bfast bar ceiling light it gives enough light off to see over the entire kitchen and dining room otherwise I have to turn on 2 or 3 lights.

Hubby used dirt from a pile to contractors left 2 yrs ago from digging to install our water lines. I said something about I was tired of seeing the pile at the deck. He mentioned he had left there so he could use it to fill in holes on the property. SO I took white fence posts (used for electric fencing) and stuck on in every hole I had found. The dirt is now down by half and we know next spring we will need more since he burnt down 6 tree stumps and dug up the field tile.  At least we aren't buying dirt for filling.

Have a safe week everyone.

Blessed Be 

gardens cleared of tomatoes and dried beans

 won't harvest Brussel sprouts or kale until after frost. 

wagon is full of mostly green tomatoes and I now know where my old cookie sheet went to LOL

We have set the 2021 budget

 On average since Jan 2, 2019 our budget has floated from $8794 to as low as $5062. I've tracked the changes which sometimes incurred every month and the reasons why it changed. The average is $6,690. 

SO with our health insurance changes, higher co pays and 1/3rd increase of out of pocket. (OUCH). AND doing worse scenario for Daughter 4 not working (her doctor doesn't know if she can handle doing Door Dash while in treatment) due to cancer and keeping her in her own home. I just added her $18000 (not counting medical costs) into our budget. She needs $1500 a month to run her home. AND I am paying extra each month on the mortgage. 

We come in at $5500 for us and her $1500 is $7000. Hubby asked how that could me when it's only $310 more than what the budget averaged with increased insurance and daughter. 

What did I change?

Insulated curtains on windows. Keeps the propane down and the electric as the furnace is not kicking on all the time. Opening up house in morning to cool house down and closing curtains when the heat of the summer day comes in. Opening curtains in the winter to help keep lights off and warmth brought in. Covering the crawl space vents at the heater ductwork. Same thing.

Turning down the heat when furnace is on, turning OFF the AC when we leave when it's on. Right now I turn the furnace off when the mornings are no cooler than 55 and I have the furnace set at 70 (68 in the dining room where the thermostat is is 63 in the front room and too cold for Hubby even with long sleeve flannel shirt over his tee shirt.)

Turning off FANS when not in room.

Not using the dryer except to defur dogs beds. I have started hanging out the pillows and blankets to air them out instead of fluffing in the dryer. They actually smell better that way.

Using an oil lamp for mornings at the dining table and a candle at supper... Not for romance though he thought it was. 

Using LED through out the house, using LED for night lights so we are not turning on bigger or more lights. I turn off coffee pots. Unplug computers. Unplug phone chargers You would be surprised what vampire electric appliances cost you. 

Keeping frigs and freezers full (they run less). 

I changed where I get my BP meds because I can't take blue dye. I am now paying $5 for 90 instead of $25 for 30. 

Our prescription meds goes up next year and might costs us more than Good RX will. I just have keep track of what and where I get our meds to see if I can get this amount down. 

The electric bill hit over $200 last year for 5 months. It only hit $166 once this year the rest of the time it was $140 or lower. This month was $105... $45 lower than last year.

I conserve water from showers etc. to water the dogs and plants so the softener isn't using as much salt.  We have dropped 4 bags a year in usage (our salt is based on water used). That saved us $32. PLUS we just have them bring 8 bags and what ever doesn't fit we add later saving 1 service call of $50/yr.

We have rerouted the field tile to go to the pond except one that goes to the county. We will be having some more spouting put on the barn to tie into the pond field tile so we won't need to be running the water pump to put water in the pond to keep the fish alive. That should be happening in the next week or so. Amish is doing it when they get out of the field.

He got the internet/house phone dropped down from $125 to $85.

Our house insurance and car insurance dropped down  and then the umbrella insurance got cut in half. 

I started pricing dogs items and cut the price by 1/4th. Vet wants them to have dental treats as they fight if you try to brush their teeth. Instead of cutting them in 3rd I cut them in 4ths so I have and extra 10 days of the dental. Vet okayed that change. We changed vitamins for them that include the things that Wilbur and Rascal needs and it's okay if Charlotte has it also so I don't have two to three different pills to shove at them. They all hate taking pills but okay with chewable. They think it's a treat.

I cut back on buying chips, Fritos, tortilla chips, chip dip, trail mix completely(he now makes his own) and granola bars. I cut back on candy bars (both of us). I buy these items at the dent store along with cold cereal there also. Though this time Dollar General brand cereal was actually cheaper. I will go back to making yogurt.

I cook from scratch... that takes my time and has at times been an issue, but to stay healthy (so I am not spending so much out of pocket ) I need to cook from scratch.

I buy bulk when it's cheaper, break it down and store it. 

I change the non food as the cleaning rags are right with the paper towels. I use Bounty select a size and still will tear them into 4ths when using them if that is all I need for a smashed stink bug, or in half for grease. I use less than needed with cleaners.  I always price out furnace and frig filters before buying and I buy for the year if I can get them cheaper.

I grew a lot of my herbs/mint teas this year cutting that out of the budget. Last fall I spent over $250. On herbs and teas. I didn't need to buy any this fall.

I cut the grocery budget by $400 a month... first I went back to only going every 2 wks instead of every week. Second I started back into making a lot of my own mixes. Third I change where I bought what I didn't grow and save a lot of money on produce that is organic. 

The garden budget has been cut in half. I have saved several of my own seeds and found Amish that are growing some of the produce that will save me money also as they are willing to barter.

Since I am not running around much and not going to Son 2 's to take care of his cats as he's not going either for work. My maintenance and fuel has dropped by 3/4ths. It also dropped my car ins.

Daughter 4 is looking over her budget again with her 3 children to see if there is any where for her to cut also. 

Paying off the house early is going to make the difference of living only on SS or needing the IRAS to help pay the bills. 

Do you set a budget for your finances?

  

About mid Oct.

 I was walking up from the gardens and glanced across to E and M's and noticed their woods behind them. I just stopped and looked at all the colors that are changing. I went and got my phone to take a picture . I miss not having maple trees up at the house. We have 2 but they are across the acre behind the oak trees. 

 M's garden is pretty much down except what she left for fresh eating. Said she might have 1 or 2 canners left but she's thinking to just harvest it and put it in the spring house for fresh eating after this coming weekend that is suppose to be low 30s in the mornings. She was washing bedding Friday and Saturday. This week is curtains and her fall cleaning of both her house and the "Dawdy Haus" Grandpa house will be completed. Her parents used to live there before they moved back to Indiana to live with her brother. 

I have 136 things I want to get done before the end of the month. SIGH. I moved the rest of fall cleaning to Nov. Figured it would get me up and moving around since I know I will be sitting 3-4 hrs a day writing for NANOWRIMO. That's 50,000 words in 30 days (1667 about/ day). 

How is your Autumn going?

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.