Snow, Doe, Don't Know.

While we are relatively unaffected by snow in our area, the same cannot be said of areas west and northwest of us. We are close to the NY state line, so a lot of the New York state weather is closer to us than Erie. These areas generally see 'lake effect' snow being on the eastern shore of Lake Erie. Once the lake freezes over, it won't be such a big issue. 

There were a lot of news stories coming out of Erie today, what with two feet of snow on the ground and the snow is still falling with another foot possible on Sunday. 

Here, however, it was quiet. Not a lot of snow, but enough to cover the ground. 

Tim hunted today, and he wound up getting two doe, which was unexpected. It also meant that he needed help dragging them out. I received a text from him. His texts are succinct and often short on details. I got word that he needed help. I went down, expecting that we'd be working in the heated garage. I knew it wouldn't be hot, but I did expect that I wouldn't need to bundle up in layers because I wouldn't be outside. Silly me. I was outside. Tim needed help dragging. I nearly froze to death in the wind, but we got it done, two of them on the truck and back to the garage. By then it was dark, so we got done what we could, but we'll have to go back tomorrow morning to finish up.

Still. Two doe. And big ones, too. We're lucky for that. 

We came home and it took me forever to warm up. I was bundled up in layers with a cat stretched across me. Tim stretched out on his couch, lounging in shorts and an open shirt, taking a well deserved break. I don't get it. I'm still cold. 

Here's something that I will throw out for you to ponder. 

What do you think of 'concierge medicine'?

There is a orthopedic surgeon who is part of a very successful practice. If you go to him, he will do you surgery. If you want special care and attention, you are offered the option of paying $5000 fee. This allows you to pick your surgery date. It gives you the ability to get in touch with his practice 24 hours a day. It provides you with an ice water pump to keep the joint cooled as it heals. He has a big party, renting out a tent during one of the summer events in Erie, which allows his patients to have a big picnic while listening to live music from the summer event. He also does podcasts, featuring videos from surgery and interviews with patients. It is called 'Hey, Saw-bones: My Story. My Passion'. 

A woman who paid the $5000 says that it is no different from buying a car. You can have a vehicle that takes you from point A to point B, but if you want a car with all the bells and whistles, you're going to pay for it. She believes this is the wave of the future. 

I'm curious what you think. 

'Twas the night before first day...

 Well, the good news is that we did not get the dreadful amounts of snow called for. So. It was cold, and it did snow, but not even enough to warrant getting the shovel out. 

Tim went to Grand Valley, where the new house is, and where the kittens are, and where he is hunting. He turned up the heat a bit inside the house, and he turned the heat on for the kittens out in the garage, because it was cold today and supposed to get even colder tonight. He shot his gun in preparation for first day. He's quite excited about this. 

I stayed home and made a half batch of bread. I'm trying to find a new recipe that I like, and that always involves a bit of trial and error. I also made a batch of soup. I had some partial bags of different beans from last winter and wanted to use them up. I used some of the ham left over from Thanksgiving. so I tossed that in the crock pot, chopped of onion, celery, and carrot, added some garlic and thyme, and just let those beans simmer all day while I played with bread dough. 

The soup turned out great, and it hit the spot on this cold day. The bread was better than the bread that I made Wednesday, but not great. 'Needs Improvement' as the old report cards would say. 

I did get my hair cut, and what a relief that was. My locks would never be called luxurious, not by any means. What it WOULD be called is straggly and shaggy, and with no shape. So having it shorter, and styled, means that I can wash it, blow dry it, and style it, and have the comfort of knowing that it will look half way decent for a few hours. 

Tim has been busy, busy, busy. This is the night before first day. He sharpened his field knives. He charged up his electric socks. This year, we added an heated vest for him as well, because he has noticed that he feels the cold a lot more keenly than he did years ago. It is supposed to be in the 20s tomorrow, and if there is any wind at all, he'll be miserable up in his tree stand. He has tried out the vest, and is much pleased with it. He can slip his hands inside his coat if he needs to warm his hands. 

His things are laid out, and he is in bed already, because he plans on being up and in the woods by 5:30. This means he will have to leave the house no later than 5. 

Since I have no such plans, I held up my part of the deal. I made two tunafish sandwiches on wheat bread, sliced some cheddar cheese for him. I added a box of coconut breakfast bars and he bought two bags of funsize candy bars to toss in. He also has a container of soup and a roll to take along, so that if he gets his deer, he can warm up in the house with a hot bowl of something before skinning it in the garage...which does now have heat, so I guess he'll be okay. 

I did tell him to call me if he got something, and I could drive down, but he told me that there was nothing really for me to do. He's able to drag out his own deer this year, unlike last year, when he needed me to come drag it for him because he was fresh out of surgery.

Thanksgiving

 

Winter Storm Warning issued November 28 at 7:34PM EST until November 30 at 7:00AM EST by NWS State College PA

* WHAT...Heavy lake effect snow expected. Total snow accumulations between 2 and 7 inches with locally higher amounts over northern and western Warren County. * WHERE...Warren County. * WHEN...From 4 AM Friday to 7 AM EST Saturday. * IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult. The hazardous conditions could impact the Friday morning and evening commutes and holiday travel. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Gusty west winds will also cause snow to drift and repeatedly cover untreated roads even when snow is not falling.

Severity
Severe

Certainty
Likely

Urgency
Expected

Published
November 28th, 2024 07:34:00 pm EST

Effective
November 28th, 2024 07:34:00 pm EST

Expires
November 29th, 2024 10:00:00 am EST

The news is filled with breathless warnings about the terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad snow storm we are expecting. The last I knew, they were calling for 9-12 inches. At the Thanksgiving, my niece pulled out her phone. Much to my surprise, her weather was calling for 2-3 feet. I'm not sure where that report came from. 

I've been keeping an eye on this storm for the most trivial of reasons. I have a hair cut tomorrow afternoon. Now, bear in mind that I had my last hair cut in June, just before my stylist took the summer off for a hip replacement. She returned in the fall and had quite a backlog of people. I made this appointment a couple weeks ago, and tomorrow was the earliest that she could get me in. 

And...so...I'm just hoping the this weather hype is mostly hype. 

Thanksgiving was nice. As the saying goes, many hands make light work. I made my cranberry sauce last night. I got up this morning and baked a chocolate cake and frosted it. I had time to relax before popping the ham in. About an hour before we left the house, the corn casserole went in on the bottom rack. A lot easier than doing the whole meal yourself. 

It was a nice time. A little sad because some of them were there to bury their mother tomorrow. But everyone talked and it was fun to listen to them. Saturday is the first day of rifle season for deer, and so phones were being passed around to show the monster bucks. The youngest great nieces and nephews ran around playing well together. The oldest are grown. How on earth has this happened? 

After we got home, there was an e-mail from another niece who was not there. She's expecting a baby in May. 

The circle of life, isn't it? 

So that was Thanksgiving, and I am thankful. 

I will even more thankful if I can get that haircut. 

I hope that everyone had a nice day, no matter whether this was an ordinary day, or a celebration for you. 

Thanksgiving

 Well, blogger is being a pain in my butt today. It would not let me sign in this morning, for whatever reason, and so my comments are anonymous. I tried several times to make a post tonight. When I clicked on 'sign in', nothing happened. 

Now, suddenly, I can make a post. 

Today was a quiet day. Tim worked on the heating for the cats, and I burned trash. Then I got the idea to start gathering up various bits of construction debris and start getting rid of the clutter around the house. It was a pleasant way to spend the morning. 

Tim needed to run to Lowe's this morning for some fittings. Something we've discussed is the fact that 25% tariffs will be levied against China, Canada and Mexico and supposedly those will take effect his first day in office. That's going to lead to some pretty high prices. We had discussed the fact that we probably should pick up our dishwasher for the new house. I kind of had my heart set on one, because I haven't had one for nearly 30 years. I don't need one. I am aware of that, but I did want one. 

Tim came back from his run to Lowe's, and said, "I bought you a stove." I was a little surprised, because I'd bought a used stove for $300. It had a convection oven, which I was pretty sure that I'd like. Tim explained that this stove had been marked down from $1100 to $600 because it had a small dent in the side. It was a top of the line stove, with 5 burners, and a convection oven. The oven can be used for air frying and dehydrating, and it was a large capacity oven. Plus it matched the refrigerator we bought last spring (also a scratch and dent markdown). And the dishwasher he picked out. 

I was a little stupefied. I said, 'but...we have a stove.' He said, "We'll put that one in the rehab." 

And that was that. The new appliances are nice. We put them into place and it will be a nice kitchen. All we are waiting on is the Amish made sink base, and we will have all the components for the kitchen. We still do need to pick up the flooring, but the good news is that we have agreed on what we want, and that feels like half the battle right there. 

Another interesting thing is that someone is interested in buying our house, the one we live in right now. That was unexpected. He owns the apartment building next to ours, and has an eye on turning our house back into a duplex. The original owner had done that when her husband died. She made the second and third floors a separate living space for tenants. She lived on the first floor. After she died, a young couple bought the house and restored it back to a single family dwelling. 

Tim said in a musing way, "Well...if he bought it, we would save quite a bit of time on getting it market ready. If he wants to turn it back into a duplex, he would want to do the renovating." Which sounds very fine to me. I may not have mentioned it, but I am heartily sick of fixing up houses. 

So we hauled the appliances to the new house. I fed the cats while Tim hooked up their furnace. It was a pleasant morning, warm, no wind, and so I started a fire outside to burn the trash and then collected a lot of construction debris and got that burnt as well. 

So. It was a productive day, and that felt nice. 

In just a few minutes, it will be Thanksgiving. For all the uncertainty about the future, I can tell you that I still have blessings to count, and I'm trying to be very mindful of that. 

We celebrate Thanksgiving with my brother-in-law's family. The celebration has grown so big that it is held at their church, in the rec hall. There will be two turkeys. Three hams to build a feast around. We are taking one ham, corn casserole, cranberry sauce with orange and ginger, and a chocolate cake.  It is always a good time. 

It will start snowing at some point tomorrow. We're in the midst of that blue splotch. That's snow. The interesting thing is that the interactive radar shows the storm moving, but the blue patch stays right over us. We have snow in the forecast every day for a week and by the time that this finally passes, we are expected to have 9-12 inches on the ground. 

Happy Thanksgiving, America. 

A Story Of A Car.

 Some of you might remember that at the beginning of summer, Tim purchased a new to him Suburu Outback to replace our other car which had developed transmission problems. A couple weeks later, I was headed to my son's house to baby sit my granddaughters for the weekend while their parents went to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers. 

(side note: I do not believe that my granddaughters' parents see nearly enough weekend concerts. I had fun. They had fun. The girls had fun...there really was not a downside.)

Anyway, Tim insisted that I drive the new car because he thought (for whatever reason) that it was more roadworthy that my own trusty car, which had never given me a hint of problems. I finally gave in, because the man will push. 

In the end, it was a lucky thing because I got a call. A fellow from Pittsburgh had run the red light. William was in the car and gasped, "Grandpa!" as Tim was pulling into the intersection. He slammed on the brakes, but the front end of my car was neatly ripped off. Tim was so calm that I didn't believe him, initially, but I could hear William gabbling in the background. He was very excited and picked up a piece of my broken car as a souvenir. 

It was witnessed, and there was no doubt that the other guy (who was driving his brother's car) was at fault, but still it took like a month to get it all sorted. They totaled out my car. It's a 16 year old car, and based on its bluebook value, getting it repaired would cost more than it was worth. We received a check, but Tim is a mechanic, among his many other talents. He bought the car from the insurance company for $400, and went right to work. RockAuto had all the parts he needed and so for less than $1000, he had everything he needed, and he began to patiently put the car together again. 

The end result: 

It needed a special inspection to be declared sound enough to be driven on the road again, and we had quite a bit going on, so that kind of got put off for a while but we dropped it off last week. It passed. We jumped through the necessary hoops and today after a flurry of mad dashes, we made it back to the inspection station with all the necessary paperwork they needed to put the new sticker on it, about 15 minutes the place closed for Thanksgiving. 

I have my familiar, trusty car back and it is road ready, so that was exciting. 

Also exciting was that while Tim was running an errand this morning, he dropped me off at a thrift store. I found a puzzle for our Amish Christmas, and a book of horses to go with little David's Breyer horse. That baby adores horses. I also saw this:

Isn't that the most adorable thing? The tiny pink polka dots, the appliqued roses and ballet shoes. It won't fit my youngest granddaughter this winter, but it will be perfect next winter. Now my oldest granddaughter loves ballet, taking lessons twice a week. The youngest? Who knows. She's a fearless little thing, and when provoked, she will growl in frustration. Her father says, "She's that girl who will walk around with a brick in her purse," which makes me laugh every time that I think of it. 

So...she may well not be at all interested in ballet. She may end up passionate about karate, for all I know. But I fell completely in love with that little corduroy jumper. Being that I'm a grandma with no self control, it left the store with me. Along with a tiniest bangle bracelet with an etched floral design for the oldest granddaughter, a tee shirt made out of the dryweave material that William swears by, and the puzzle and the book for the Amish Christmas. 

I was pretty excited about my $5 adventure. 

We worked at the new house today. Well...not really the house. Tim's installing heat for the kittens in the garage. We have a large carpet that we used to both cover the cold concrete floor, but also nailed it to the board wall to block drafts. At the rehab there were, believe it or not, two damaged Coleman coolers, one in the attic, another in the garage.  We cut entrances in them with a sawzall, and tucked a blanket in each one of them, so that the kittens will have a well insulated nest. Once the heater is running on low, that will make a cozy place for them. 

So that was our project today. We'll finish it tomorrow, and those cats will be glad of it. They sure did not like all the noise today. 

So, yeah, that is exciting too. 

I listened to the video from the city council meeting on Monday, and the council unanimously voted to make a payout to us for the sewage debacle last spring. 

So, that's exciting too, although we have no word on when that check will actually be cut. 

I have to tell you though, my biggest excitement, I can't even tell you about. It should be here the first week of December. It is the perfect thing and I'm ridiculously excited to give it for Christmas. I can't wait.

There is another bit of excitement that I know of, but cannot tell of, because it is a gift to us from my daughter and son-in-law, and Tim does not know yet. That is their job to tell him. 

The Story of A Bike.

 The story begins on November 16th. A woman posted on a local 'helping hands site' that she wanted people to be on the lookout for her bike, which had been stolen. She was offering money to anyone who could help her get her bike back.

She was so desperate to get it back, I started wondering what it was that made a Salsa Timberjack bike so special. A little googling made it clear. The bike ranges in price from $1700 to $2000. 

A lot of people tried to help, contacting her if they saw a green bike anywhere, or giving her suggestions about camera placement around town, and the like. 

Two days ago, I happened to notice on a local garage sale site, someone was selling a bike. 

It clicked with me, and so I contacted the woman who'd had her bike stolen. 

(So did about everyone else in town.) 

The seller was from Youngsville. She posted it on a Corry site, a town about a half hour away. 

The woman who'd had her bike stolen contacted her and offered to buy the bike. 

The bike was in Jamestown NY at her boyfriend's house, the seller said. She had no way to get it back to Youngsville, which was why she was selling it. They only accepted Venmo or CashApp payment which is very strange for an in person pickup. 

The  prospective 'buyer' said that it was no problem, and that she'd need the boyfriend's address. 

It was provided!!!!!

At some point, the seller's post lit up with comments claiming that the bike belonged to So and So. The seller said, "It's not the only bike of that brand bought in the area." But she also made the connection that her prospective buyer was the same woman the bike had been stolen from. She very quickly sent out a response that the bike had been sold by her boyfriend, and the ad was taken down just before the police showed up. 

And that is how a ring of thieves who targeted high end bikes and e-bikes was taken into custody. 

They may have been good at stealing, but it is interesting to me that they didn't seem to know anything about serial numbers. 

But anyways, I do love a happy ending, don't you? 

Conversations from a Marriage

 Today was another work day. We got another ceiling up in the third bedroom at the rehab. That was our goal for today. Mission accomplished. I did some insulation work too.

I also swept.

The house is old and it was pretty bad. I have been sweeping over and over, every time that I go, but still...there is more dust. Yesterday, I hauled out the wood from the kitchen cupboard. Didn't seem like after getting rid of the doors that there was much point in keeping that wood, but Tim thought maybe it might come in useful for something. And the wood does match the woodwork. So I hauled the wood out to the garage and stacked it, and cleaned the debris left behind and swept out the kitchen. Dustpan after dustpan. Where does it all come from? Who knows, but I swept upstairs and downstairs again today, and found plenty more dust. 100 years of dust doesn't get swept up over night, I guess. 

Tim made the comment about 'the next house we buy...' Pretty sure he was joking, but you never can be too sure. Just in case he was serious, I looked him square in the face and said, "We. Are. Not. Buying. ANY MORE HOUSES! I am making it perfectly clear. I am ready to retire, and I'm not doing it anymore, so if you decide to get yourself tangled up in another rehab, you better be prepared to be working on it all by yourself. I AM DONE!~!!" He looked surprised but didn't say anything. I've said this before, but, by heavens, this time I mean it. I think the man would be happy to drop over dead with a hammer in his hand. Me? Not so much. 

We worked all day and then headed down to feed the kittens. Tim went hunting last night for a couple hours, and so he took over feeding them last night. (I stayed home and made supper for him, scalloped potatoes, with smoked sausage.) I know that he doesn't fuss much with them. He'll just throw a couple cups of dry cat food in their dish and call it good. I'm different. But I knew that he'd want to get out hunting right away. I bring the pitcher home with me to wash, so I got the bright idea to make the gravy here at home for him. I handed him the pitcher on his way out of the door. "When you get down there, just add a packet of beef broth to the gravy, heat up the water in the electric kettle, and then pour it all in with the gravy. Stir in a couple cans of cat food, and then take it down and add it to a couple scoops of dry cat food and you're done. 

I'm not sure what he did not understand there, but I noticed that when I filled the kettle with water today, it was brown. Really, really brown. I wondered what was going on with the water. I've never seen it that color before. But then, something struck me. I said to Tim 'So...did you add the beef broth in the electric kettle?'

He said, "No. You didn't tell me to do that." 

I said, "I'm glad. The water was so brown that I thought you'd misunderstood or something."

He said, "Well...wasn't I supposed to pour the gravy in there?" 

Me (aghast), "In the electric kettle???!!!" 

Him: "I was heating it up for them." 

Gaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!! I explained the proper use of an electric kettle to him. Nuthin' but water! You use the kettle to heat water to add to things in a pitcher (or a cup). Nothing but water goes in the kettle! I think that I used enough exclamation points. He'll probably remember. Maybe. 

The kettle was brought home for a thorough cleaning. 

The kittens were especially glad to see me today, poor starvelings! I mixed their food up just the way they like it, and they gathered around quickly. I notice when I sit down on the floor to watch them and talk to them that three of them seem almost to be more interested in being petted and scritched behind the ears than they are in the food. Today, I didn't have enough hands because three of them crowded close. Minnie was eating her food while it was still hot, but she stayed close and watched carefully as Tiger, Sigh, and Possum milled around purring and rubbing against my hands. The three of them initiate the contact by standing in front of me staring at my face. When I look at them, they give a quiet questioning 'purp!' That gets the pets started. It is fun to see them learning to trust, and I am grateful for that small joy. 

So. That was today. Work and kittens. We stopped at a grocery store to pick up carrots and broccoli for a stirfry, but I don't imagine that you're interested to hear about that. Or the turnips I picked up for a pot of turnip soup either. So. I won't mention that. 

Happy weekend. 

Music to Work By

It was a work day. Tomorrow will be another. 

I hope you enjoy today's giggle. 

A pinch of this, and a splash of that...

I got supper in the crock pot. Chicken with vegetables, tomatoes and cannellini beans, and then cleaned the kitchen. 

It was a book club meeting today for lunch, which I always look forward to. Last month, we were looking ahead at an election. This month, it's done. We all are a little sick about it, but it's done. I guess I'm a bit pragmatic. It is what it is, and we simply have to look at things thoughtfully, with an eye toward preparing ourselves for what comes next. We are being warned to expect two years of hardship, and Elon Musk says that "Americans need economic hardship" (like a billionaire understands economic hardship). 

So. Tim and I are preparing for that, and the one thing that I know about us for sure is that we have lived through some pretty lean times, and we've always squeaked through. We are sensible and we are practical, and we have always been frugal. I'm more worried about the people who don't understand thrift. They are going to be hard hit. I know that some of the most ramshackle places in our county have big old proud Trump signs in their front yards, so I am kind of interested to see what happens when they realize that these cuts are going to affect them as well. 

I realized today that we are not all in the same place. Some people are quite emotional about this. Actually terrified of the future. So afraid that all the calm words in the world would not make a difference. It was a little disconcerting. 

Anyways, I headed out on two errands. I had to pick up two prescriptions. I was shocked spitless that they were $77. I said, "I don't understand this. We paid less before we had a prescription plan." Long story short. They had Tim's Humana information in the system, but for some reason it wasn't 'taking'. They didn't have my Humana information in at all. It took quite a bit of time to sort out, but in the end, the prescriptions were covered, and there was no copay, so I guess that my patience and her persistence paid off in the end. 

I also bought a glass two quart jar at the thrift store. I've been reading about sourdough bread, and have made up my mind to give it a try. It's just that there are so many different schools of thought on growing the starter. Mary Moon? Feel free to advise. (Any of the rest of you? Jump right on in.)

I finally got home, thtew on work clothes and headed over to the rehab. Tim was still working in the bathroom. We worked for a couple of hours, but he was tired, so I sent him home to get that supper which had been left simmering when I left the house earlier. 

I headed down to feed the kittens. It had been spitting snow all day long, but nothing had been sticking. Halfway to the new house, the snow began to get heavier. By the time that I pulled into the driveway at the new house, it had begun to cover the ground. 

It was starting to get dark by then, and the kittens were very glad that I was there. I sat with them for a while. I mix their canned catfood into the dry kibble, and add the warm gravy over top. They do love that. I petted all four of them today, but didn't want to stick around too long, being concerned about the weather. 

I needn't have worried. I drove out of the snow squall just as suddenly as I'd driven into it. There is no snow on the ground here in town although we are expecting some tomorrow. 

This post is kind of all over the place, but some days are just like that. 

Tuesday

Except it is Wednesday...

 I was still stumbling around when Tim appeared fully dressed and ready to go. He headed off to work on the renovation. I was directed to drive over when I was conscious, which always takes a quiet cup of coffee.

I'm not sure how he does that, falling right out of bed ready to go.

So I drank my coffee and made myself get a move on. I had a stop to make to pick up a bag of books for the Amish kids. There were some great titles in there, and I was pleased as anything to have them. She didn't want any money for them, none at all. She just wanted to know that they were going to kids who would be excited by them. 

You can always tell a book lover, can't you? 

It was a warm day today. Tim had put a second coat of mud on the second bedroom. When I got there, we went across the hall and started work on the bathroom. It had been gutted right down to the studs. Today we insulated the outside walls and the ceiling. We are not yet quite sure what we will do for fixtures there. We initially wanted to keep all the old stuff, but I suppose it would be better to put in an updated bathroom. It's a pretty niche group that likes a 1920s bathroom. We'll keep the clawfoot tub though, for sure. Just reglaze that. 

It was nice to be working together.

We went up to the new house to collect the air compressor and the air nailer and some lumber that Tim needed. I also fed the cats. They are really quite fun. The two blue eyed ones with the obvious marks of their Siamese father are the most sociable. Tiger is pretty good, and will approach to be be petted. Minnie? She watches. She will take food from my hand. I can give her a random pet. But she mostly watches. 

I'm glad for the distraction of them. It has been fun to watch them learning to trust. 

I made my pickled ginger today. I sampled a slice before closing up the jar and putting it in the fridge to age like any good pickle, and was quite happy with the taste of it. 

We had our first venison steaks of the year. They were quite tender, so that made me happy too. 

We had two more Christmas mailings arrive, and thankfully, there were no problems with those. More boxes ticked. 

Distractions

 I got my 'sushi maker' today, and am really excited to try it out. I've been googling different recipes for different kinds of sushi and kimbap. It looks pretty straight forward, and I have three recipes to try initially. I need to get to the store and pick up the ingredients. I'll start with that, and see how it goes. I also want to pickle some ginger. 

It sounds silly, but it feels good to be excited about something in these trying days. 

I received my second package in the mail and I knew as soon as I picked it up, I was not going to be happy. In my ongoing quest to avoid Amazon, I shop directly from manufacturers if I can. I shop on Walmart as well. This package came from Walmart's 'MarketPlace' and it was supposed to be a quarter pound of hematite. The package did not weigh 1/4 pound. Sure enough, I opened it, and there was one lone piece of hematite in there, nicely packaged in a cotton lined box. Interestingly enough, they paid for shipping on .25 pounds though. 

Anyhoo...

I've never had to make a return through the Walmart system before. I started the process, was sent an e-mail with a barcode, instructed to take the package to Walmart. They scanned the e-mail, took my package, and that was that. 

So...two orders. Two unsatisfactory packages. Two very easy returns. So...I can't complain. 

Well...I can complain...just not about my Christmas orders. (I mean, Dr OZ???? Really????) 

Ahem. In any case, it's been a quiet day here. We bought another large Christmas gift today. One by one, we're ticking items off that list. 

I told my sister what I want for Christmas. Two tractor scoops of cow manure. I told Tim what I wanted. 4-6 raised beds. We have untreated lumber from Levi's sawmill. The next four years are going to be a big economic question mark. It's going to be important to be as self sufficient as possible. That is my belief, and it would be nice to be wrong about it. 

Anyway, over at Jennifer's blog  she posted that a seed catalog arrived today. It is only November, but honestly, the idea of planting a garden next spring was so irresistible that I had to order 3 of my own. 

If it sounds like I'm distracting myself, well...I am.

Feel free to add your own suggestions for your favorite distractions in the comments. 

Oldie but a Goodie

Jaycee asked the question about the Nazi marchers in yesterday's post. 

"Are such things legal in your country?"

Sadly, yes they are. 

This little gem was from 9 years ago. 

 Even longer ago than that, when I lived in Midland Michigan, the Klan held a rally on the court house steps. I floated the idea of having a counter rally. In the end, the idea was taken over by some church leaders, and the church that was kind of catty corner from the courthouse set up a prayer service to coincide with that rally. In the end, the church was packed. The Klan Rally wound up being less than a dozen fine fellows who rode into town in the bed of a pickup truck, waving their flags and trying to make a lot of noise. 

It was even kind of funny in a very unfunny way. 

So yes, Jaycee. Perfectly legal. The question begs an answer though. Does freedom of speech cover people who are trying to marginalize and vilify others? To me, the answer would be a simple 'no'. But there are lawyers who will muddy common sense and turn it into a First Amendment issue. 

Ironic. 

You see, there's this orange man...

Be good people.

Do good things. 

Stick together. 

Today

 This is a huge football day. His football team is the Pittsburgh Steelers. They are currently playing the Baltimore Ravens. A must see game. Right after that is another must see game, the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs (who are up to this point undefeated. I blame Taylor Swift.) Now here's where it gets tricky. Tim wants the Bills to lose because they are neck and neck with his beloved team. But he also wants the Chiefs to lose because they are undefeated and a loss would make them within reach of his beloved team. 

What to do, what to do? It's a quandary alright.

I saw a sushi making kit on market place. I love kimbap. I did a quick search and was amazed to see that you can buy nori sheets right at walmart, on the shelf, so quick as a wink, I bought the kit. I've been looking at kimbap recipes. I think this will be a lot of fun, although I can see it something that easily gets out of hand. I've already got plans for pickled daikon radishes, and looking up recipes for fish cakes. It will be a fun thing to play around with this winter.

After Tim got home from church, we ran up to feed the kittens. He also wanted to move his game camera. Plus we had to be home by the time those VERY IMPORTANT games started. 

I tried something new today, now that it is getting cold. Keeping in mind AC's admonitions about cats and milk, I decided to try stopping their milk. At the discount grocery, they have packages and packages and MORE packages of gravy mix for 10 cents each. I heat that with a couple cups of water, haul it out to the garage and mix a can of catfood into the gravy. I pour it over their dry catfood. I stood back to see what they thought of it, and we had quite a kitten caboodle of excitement. They were quite enthusiastic, and once their bellies were full with warm dinner, they were very playful, so it was a fun way to wait for Tim to get out of the woods. 

I received my first package for the Amish Christmas in the mail yesterday and was much disappointed to see that it was broken. I contacted the seller and much to my surprise, she apologized and said that she would refund my money. Two minutes after she said she would, my phone pinged again, and I was notified that I was receiving the credit. How nice was that? I was prepared for a wrangle. 

Speaking of wrangles, after 10 months of wrangling, I see that the city has us on the agenda for tomorrow night's meeting. We should have a nice check in our hands by the end of the week. It will always gall me that we were totally ignored until we hired a lawyer, something that added even more expense. But all's well that ends well, and if we are lucky, we will never have to deal with the city manager again. 

So that's today. Steelers winning by two points coming out of halftime. 

Yesterday in Columbus Ohio. 

It's going to take more than one giggle to get past that awful scene. 

Yeah. Going in: 

Just in time for Thanksgiving: 

A decorated turkey cake.

Or a flaming turd.

I am going to guess a turkey.

The flaming turds were marching in Columbus.

And finally, linking back to Jaycee's post: 

A historical picture dating back to 1924 of an unknown Scottish haggis hunter.

Shopped Until We Dropped

It was a pretty quiet day here. Tim decided that he did not want to go hunting today, so we stopped over at the lawyer's office to sign some papers. 

We headed off to feed the kittens down at the new house. 

Tim wanted to go to Titusville when we were done. I asked if we could hit a thrift store. What a score that was. He found a new leather belt for himself. I found a Land's End wool coat, egg plant color that matches very well with the scarf I found a couple weeks ago, for $8.99. I found some books for the box of books I'm putting together for Christmas. You know...just browsing...and then...

I heard angels singing

This canister set was a reproduction jadeite set and it is greener than it appears in this picture, but...

it will match perfectly with the wallpaper...

...in the new pantry

It was $6.99 for the set, and I could see them so perfectly on the hoosier cabinet, 

that they were in my cart in an eyeblink. 

We also bought some more Christmas gifts today which was fun too.

We stopped at a grocery store to pick up some pepperoni to make pizza for supper tonight. I had a loaf of Italian bread which needed to be used up, and so I figured that I'd split it, top it with sauce and onion and peppers and pepperoni and cheese and have a pizza. Tim decided he'd rather have it topped with sausage and so we went back to the meat coolers. We found a rope of Italian sausage. I said, "Well, that can be split up, and it will make 4 or 5 meals for us. He said, "That's a good buy for $9. We glanced through their meat, and were shocked to see pork chops being sold for $1.49 a pound. They had family packs ranging between $6 and $8. I counted the pork chops and said, "Gees. A couple packages of this could break down into 6 or 7 meals for you and me." They were very well trimmed which we liked. Tim said, "You need to pick a couple of those up."

Once the packages were opened up at home, and repackaged into smaller portions for the two of us, we had 11 more packages of meat to put in the freezer, and as ridiculous as it sounds, it is something that makes us both feel good. 

The all important giggle!

This gem was brought to my attention by Gigi from Canada.

She posted it on John Gray's blog, and I shamelessly stole it because I laughed until I cried. Tim came out to watch it and laughed as hard as I did. 

So. Here's your giggle for the day. 

 

Forgot your Giggle.

 

Heh. On that bright note, I'm going to hit the hay. 

Explained

 It's kind of obvious that the last couple days have been discouraging ones. After not letting things get to me, well...they up and got to me. 

I've been feeling dull and tired and uninspired and bleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaah...

And today, I am (once again) down with a cold. Covid at the beginning of October for a couple weeks and two colds since for those keeping track at home. 

That may be a record. 

It also counts for that hopeless despairing mood. 

I've been meaning to ask...I've lost my revolver globe at the bottom of the screen. Trying to figure out why today, it told me that it was because the time on the map was different than actual time. But when I went to investigate that, my screen locked and all these warnings to call microsoft immediately popped up with an ominous alarm in the background. I control-alt-deleted myself out of there without calling the number flashing on my screen, of course. (I did not fall of the turnip truck yesterday...) but I am curious. Anyone else seeing that? I will delete the feature from my blog layout and perhaps try to install later. 

A bit Easier.

 Yesterday was a wobbly day. No other word for it, and today, truth be told, it was yet another wobbly day, and that is some nonsense right there. 

We had some work to do at the renovation, taking apart the 8 foot tall cabinet so that we could give the doors away. We were meeting the people tonight. While we were there, a quick giveaway...the 'small' 30 x 34 inch mirror was claimed by a couple who were renovating a bathroom. She did not want a medicine cabinet, only a large mirror behind the sink. They were thrilled to find one for free. We were thrilled to get another thing gone from that house. 

Once our work was completed, we came home. Tim wanted to spend the afternoon hunting, so I fixed him a hot roast turkey sandwich and then he was out the door with a nice container of turkey and gravy for the kittens as well. 

Left to my own devices, I looked around blogs for a time. That 'black dog' was still on my heels. When I ran out of my regular blogs, I glanced at side bars. I noticed that Tasker had one 'Finding Life Hard?' and so I clicked on that because, yeah, right this minute, I'm finding life a bit hard. She showed a game that her husband had made for her, and it popped into my head that this would certainly be a game that the Amish kids loved. 

The hematite pieces are divided up between the players, the extra pieces set inside the string ring. The players take turns putting their hematite into the circle. If your hematite attracts other pieces, they become yours. The first player to get rid of all of his pieces is the winner. Simple game. No reading required. Good for all ages. 

I looked around and bought a quarter pound of hematite

I started to feel a little excited, so I browsed around some more. I found Shut the Box. That's a big favorite around here, fast paced, easy to play, good for rudimentary math skills. They make a six player game! Who knew? I bought one of them and a Perplexus Maze ball too. 

I don't generally buy a great deal of new things. Just a handful, and flesh that out with nice things from the thrift stores. As delighted as they were with that old box of children's books from my childhood days, I keep an eye out for used books. 20 books in a box will make their day. They love to sit together in their warm kitchen in front of the wood stove, eating popcorn and putting together jigsaw puzzles, so I always like to toss in 3 or 4 of those. Candy is a good choice too. Strangely, Rudy loves trucks. Littlest David loves horses, and I got a nice deal on some Breyer horses. A woman was selling an unopened 152 crayola crayon set for $8. on Market Place. I bought that too. 

My mind danced along making plans and lists. It really does not matter what you get for the nine of them. Wrapped gifts are a novelty and they are just as tickled to unwrap a box of candy canes as they are to unwrap a game, and remembering their excitement made me happy. For an afternoon, I was not finding life hard.

So...thank you, Tasker for the link that led to Liz. 

Old Stuff

 Not much done today. I took Tim's spring gobbler from the freezer, and fixed that today. The leftovers are simmering gently away in a roaster over night to be turkey and gravy hot sandwiches tomorrow. The left overs from that will be made into a turkey pot pie and we will hopefully be done with that turkey. 

I worked on my plants. I vacuumed. Put laundry away. Dishes and kitchen and just stuff. 

I also did some very painful Market Place stuff. Broke my heart a little to do it. The renovation is a 100 year old house. There had been a large hole in the roof and so the weather had gotten in and destroyed the rafters in the attic, and then continued down to destroy the bathroom. From there, the water worked its way into the kitchen directly below. We gutted the bathroom and the kitchen right down to the studs to assess the damage, and after substantial structural repair and a new roof, we are ready to think about how we will be putting those rooms back together. 

One wall of the kitchen had a gorgeous to-the-ceiling cupboard. We discussed that for quite some time. First we toyed around with getting cupboards that would blend with that piece. However, the kitchen is small, and a kitchen will sell a house. It will also be a dealbreaker. 

You can make a small kitchen functional. We've done that before. But this cupboard. It was shallow, only about 9 inches deep. It had no counter space. It was beautiful, but when counter space is at a premium, that beautiful thing quickly became something that we were struggling to work around. It took up the entire wall. We toyed with removing the doors and having new bases made, but the doors were odd sized and the height was wrong. And do you know how much it costs to have bases custom made? (Answer: Lots. Lots and lots!)

On top of everything else, we pulled the cabinet away from the wall. It had no left side. It had no back. It was just built right up against the walls, which was sometimes how things were done back in the day. So it sat there while we tried in vain to figure out how to incorporate it into the house. 

We gave up. So I put the doors on Market Place, offering them up for free, and it was a heart breaker, because I truly do love those doors. So did Tim. The very first response we received was from a woman who flips furniture, painting things, making fancy pieces, and she makes a good living at it. I don't begrudge her that, but as silly as it sounds, I wanted my homely doors not to be repurposed so much as given a chance to be used just as they had been used all along. 

Another woman said, "I love these. I will figure out something to do with them."

A third woman said, "Are these still available?" I sent her a private message. "It sounds very stupid, but what are you going to do with the doors?" And she said, "I have an old work shed that we are fixing up, and these would look perfect..."  I messaged back, "They're yours." It makes me feel a bit better about getting rid of them, knowing that they will continue being functional cabinets in an old building, maybe even for another hundred years.

Tim went out hunting today. While I was in the shower, I saw I had a voice mail and his irritated voice said, "I'm not leaving a message. Call me." 

So I did.

My call went to his voice mail. 

I texted. "Hey...I think you forgot to take your phone off of do not disturb after church on Sunday. I'm trying to call." He does this pretty much every week. 

Nothing.

I figured he was busy. Maybe he got a deer. Maybe he needed me to bring him lunch. I didn't have a clue. 

And it irked me. 

He finally got home, and he was grumpy because he hadn't seen anything. He was probably hungry too. I said, "I tried to call you back. I couldn't get through. Check your phone to see if it still set to 'Do Not Disturb'. He said, "I checked. I didn't see any calls from you."

Sigh.

"Check again, because I called." 

He took his grumpy self off to be grumpy. I continued on with supper. Later tonight, he was once again, complaining about a problem with his phone. I said, "Give it here." I fixed his problem. I also noticed my phone calls to him listed there just as plain as day, and so I checked his settings.  Sure enough, he still hadn't taken his phone off Do Not Disturb. 

I thought of us. He's forgetful. I've got a cataract. Both have ears that don't work as well as they used to, and I'm gimping around on a knee that needs surgery, but am trying to hold off because we're still paying off his medical bills. I don't drive at night these days... and....and suddenly, without warning, I just felt very old indeed. 67 isn't old. My gosh. And then there were big old tears rolling down my face, because suddenly, it occurred to me that maybe I'd gotten old without noticing. 

I'm sitting here in my dark and quiet office and I'm not quite sure what I feel tonight. 

Getting things done.

 Today started out early. We headed down to the new build. We had work to do. In the refrigerator upstairs, in a fridge drawer was a quartered deer. Tim likes to give them a day or two to cool and age. He skinned the deer and then quartered it, and we carried them wrapped in brown paper shopping bags from the garage to the house to put them in the fridge. The fridge is empty for the most part. It holds milk for the kittens, and makings for sandwiches, and drinks. The freezer contains 12 pounds of butter that I bought a couple months ago when it was on sale for $1.59. An extra loaf of bread for those sandwiches. 

Oh. And pickles. 

He took out a shelf and we stacked the quarters in their bags into the drawer. 

This was Saturday night. Sunday, we went to visit my nephew and his wife. Today, we got up and headed down to cut up venison. 

We have a stainless steel counter top for a work surface. I disinfected everything and then we went to work. We cleaned the meat, one quarter at a time, making sure all hair was removed. Each with our own knives, we worked side by side trimming away any gristle or fat, dropping the waste into a box on the floor between us. 

Tim was anxious to use his new meat saw. He'd bought it last fall, and assembled it in the basement. It was right next to the work counter. He cut the meat into steaks and roasts, and handed them to me. I put them in ziplock bags and labeled them. They were vacuumed sealed like so: (Hmmmmm...after the fact, I noted that the mad genius can't spell. Gave me a giggle.) 

Just that quick, the meat is freezer ready.

We cleaned and disinfected all of our equipment, and that was that. Tim hauled the scraps outside away from the house and into the woods for whatever predator, be they winged or furred, that might want to help themselves. 

We were done before 1 PM. 

Tim wanted to run to Corry. It was a good idea. We needed more sanitizer, and more paper towels. On the way, we talked about what is coming. While we don't know, it seems sensible to be ready for whatever it might be. I've always noticed in my life that if I prepare for the worst, it doesn't happen. 

We've decided that we need to get our dishwasher now, rather than later. We will get the flooring for the kitchen and livingroom too. Those two purchases are really the last things we need to buy to make the house livable. We have the rest of the supplies bought and waiting. 

I also said, "You know, while we are at Walmart, I'd like to pick up some stuff to make a double batch of laundry soap. A five gallon bucket of that will last us a couple years. By then, we should have a better idea of what's going to happen. Tim agreed that was a good idea. 

He also thought we should pick up various beans and rice. He said, "We could get some five gallon buckets and store the bags inside. They can be stacked on the floor in your new pantry." 

Yes. Yes, they could, and I can pick up large bags of split peas, lentils, pinto beans, navy beans, rice one at a time, while I grocery shop.

We made sensible plans, not panicky, not emotional. Just sensible. Things that we should do. Things that we shouldn't do. We wanted to go to Erie to see Lou Gramm as our Christmas gift to each other, but at $94 a ticket (plus the inevitable fees...) we decided that now was just not the right time to be spending that kind of money. 

We got our five gallon buckets with sealing lids for $4.97 at a warehouse/overstock store called 'Simple Dick'. Tonight, Tim went back out hunting. I stayed home. I grated Fels Naptha soap for my laundry soap. I grate mine using a cheese grater, and then added the 4 lb boxes of borax and washing soda. I always use the Oxyclean as well. An hour of work. Two years of laundry soap for about $45, not counting the bucket. I scoop the powder out, one mason jar at a time to set at the washing machine and keep the rest of it sealed up in a dry place. The thing to remember about this soap is that you use a heaping tablespoon for your washload, two if it is a large load or an especially dirty load. This stuff will last you. 

It's probably a false sense of security, but it makes me feel better to be doing something. 

Any of you sensible Canadians want to step up?

Laughs are still free, right? 

Turn off your volume for this because her voice is annoying, and she snorts when she laughs. 

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1DhYNRZmVj/

Holy Day

 Today was a nice day. For one thing, it rained. And it rained. And it raaaaaaaaained. We needed that. We have had 3 brush fires in the past week, one just yesterday. It's so awfully dry. My daughter-in-law is reporting even worse conditions on their side of the state. They've had three fires in the last week too, much larger, burning hundreds of acres. 

Tim took his first deer yesterday, a small one. We got it quartered and in the fridge and will cut it up tomorrow and get it in the freezer. We had a roast in the slow cooker today with vegetables, our first fresh venison of the season. That was a treat.

We went off to visit with our nephew and it was a nice afternoon. 

Nick Fuentes, the leader of the Proud Boys, posted after the election: 

"Your body, MY choice."

The backlash was predictable and immediate. He was doxxed. Yeah, I had to look it up too. It means that his home address, his phone number, his personal information has been made public. He's now whining on social media that he no longer feels safe. 

A trending meme is:                                      

                                                                 Your body, MY freezer.

So that's today. 

Lo...not to be confused with LOL.

 Today, we worked on the renovation and got the work done there that we wanted to get done. 

We met up with an old friend. He eats a plant based diet. A few days back, Tim and I had did a quick grocery shop, and I'd seen some of the pouches of seeds and grains that he likes. I thought of him as soon as I saw them, and at 59 cents, I could not pass them up. It was good to see him again, and he seemed pleased with our finds. 

A couple of days ago, someone had thrown (among other things) a plant to the curb. I'd been watching it for a couple days, wavering back and forth. It was supposed to be in the 20s that night, so, channeling my inner Steve Reed , I walked down and rescued it, three plants really, purple heart (tradescantia pallida). I brought the plant home but not the pot and dirt. I gave it a careful wash, and cut away all the dead and damaged leaves. What's left looks pretty happy, and that made me happy too. 

I finished the book that I was reading. It was the color of lapis lazuli as strange as it sounds that a book would have color. It was beautiful and filled with sweetness. It was ugly and heart breaking. In the end, it was hopeful. It seemed appropriate for these days and I loved it. "There's a River in the Sky" by Elif Shafak. 

I tended cats, although I did not have a chance to play with kittens. Teaching wild animals to trust is something that makes me feel peaceful too. 

Supper was a good soup from the left over steak and gravy of the night before. I chopped the carrots, celery and potatoes and tossed them into the crock pot, along with some green beans from my sister's garden. There are people in this world who would be grateful for such small moments of normal. I think of them.

Tim walked in the house exclaiming "Smells good! I could smell that soup half way up the driveway." We had a quiet supper with toasted garlic bread. It tasted as good as it smelled. 

I did not watch the news. It is too soon to watch it. I cannot bear to listen to the voices. I think it's awful that Nancy Pelosi blasted Biden. It's done. We need to put our efforts towards managing this train wreck, not finger pointing and blaming. Anyways, I keep a close eye on the news...I just don't want to hear it. I read it online, from trusted news sources. 

While I was not watching the news, I cleaned the kitchen. 

I did have a moment of hilarity today. Someone who believes herself to be always right decided today that I was using an alias on line, one blogger commenting under multiple names. First of all, I don't. I yam what I yam and dat's what I yam.

In any case, her hypothesis is incorrect. I'm sure that because she is never wrong, she will believe forever that I am a liar, but it is just so funny that she'd even come up with such an idea. What even sparked that? Since we got our computer back, the unfamiliar security system sometimes boots me off my blog while I am looking something up. Sometimes, I find that I've posted anonymous comments because I haven't noticed that security has logged me out, but I have never commented under another name. 

Nothing nefarious going on at all, and there is only one me. (Let the world rejoice!) 

Margaret from NZ asked about my meeting with the city. I'm loathe to say too much about it at this point, because I won't feel like the deal is done until we are actually holding the check, but I cautiously feel that this is resolved. I sent an e-mail to the city administrator asking if I could be put on the agenda to speak to the council. I gave her no reason, or idea of what I was going to say, but somehow, the big man himself got wind of it. 

Now remember, I had a funeral to attend that night, and it would have meant ducking out of the viewing, rushing to the meeting, hoping to speak first and then rushing back for the funeral. Since no one had responded to the e-mail, I called the city administrator. Without warning, I was asked to hold, and suddenly, I was speaking to the big man. He was very friendly, and wanted to know what was going on. I said, "I was informed by my lawyer that the city agreed to settle back in September. We are now into November, and the issue has yet to be put on the agenda. I would like to address the committee." 

Oh it was very polite. He claimed that our lawyer had never done the necessary work. He said, "But let me check into that, and I can give you a call back." 

I shouldn't have, I really shouldn't have, but there was this five months of ignored correspondence that rankles me to this day. I said, "Not to interject any animosity into the conversation, but really, you haven't been all that great about responding to us." 

And he smoothly said words to the effect of, "Initially, that may have been true but since the lawyers are involved, I think the city has been very responsive."

And to my credit, I made no response, although I had one in mind. Anyways, that is as close to an apology as I will get, I imagine.

Our lawyer was quite irritated, and handled things immediately. We should have payment the week of the 16th. 

So...I am glad that I did not have to make the meeting after all. The funeral was very sad, and it was important to be there. 

So... lo, it is good.