What's everybody doing today?

[montanabill]

Loaded both freeze dryers, getting enough volume freeze dried so now am going after some tasty meals in a bag. Our chickens are picking up laying after I put my light system in to give them enough light in a day. So with the extra eggs and a delicious small ham I scrambled up a lot of scrambled eggs and ham to package in smaller meal packages after freeze drying.
Put fresh hay in the chicken house and left it in a pile and sprinled some dried meal worms on it to give the hens something to do.. Going to be below zero here but they all made it thru the molt and puff up nice again.

 

[snappy1]

Very light day, today!
Will walk first.
Do year end personal filing.
Walk dogs.
Put away 22 quarts of pressure canned dog food from yesterday.
Bible study tonight.

 

[Pearl]

Regular job today. Coming right home afterwards, get some outside things done while it's nice weather! There is A LOT of downed branches and trees that need to be cut after the horrible winds the other night!

 

[Mountain trapper]

After breakfast I'll go out and snow blow our pathways and feed and water the critters. Then I'll finish plowing the road, hopefully before it starts snowing again. It's only 15 degs out right now. I think this the last of our mild temperatures for awhile. Could get as low -15 tomorrow night, and for the next several days.

 

[sonya123]

going to take animals out in a few minutes, dogs already been out
we plan on going swimming today , did the shopping for food yesterday afternoon
I spend much less now that I have cut out all junk ( except one bag of candy husband got and one frozen pizza son asked for , he eats them for snack if he is still hungry in the evening)
Spent $150 and got a cart full of food but didn't buy anything besides food

I have a lot of things on my to do list but don't feel like doing them like starting on getting the stuff together for our taxes ( we don't pay any but I have to file to prove we don't need to pay any and to keep our health insurance)

Plus next week it is supposed to get really cold, liek around 0, so we need to prepare for that. Sons water freezes every year, his house is not a real house and wasn't really meant for winter living. He does have a wood stove, but the outside waterline is not protected well ( ours is under the house and so far has never frozen) . We try new things every year but if it gets that cold it still freezes. The house is up about 5 feet off the ground in the area the water pipe goes in and its just a bare pipe going to the bottom of the house. We have wrapped insulation around it and duct taped it but that wasn't good enough . I think maybe this year we will just shut off the water and he will have to deal with coming to the main house for showers and have a bucket with water for his bathroom

 

[UrbanHunter]

We have been doing canning in the evenings and we are doing okay. We have been running into more cans failing to seal than we like. I ordered some different brand lids today in hopes that a higher quality lid may help with the problem (it's sad to admit that Ball is not what it used to be). I hope the new lids work better, if they do I will report it someplace here.

 

[Bacpacker]

going to take animals out in a few minutes, dogs already been out
we plan on going swimming today , did the shopping for food yesterday afternoon
I spend much less now that I have cut out all junk ( except one bag of candy husband got and one frozen pizza son asked for , he eats them for snack if he is still hungry in the evening)
Spent $150 and got a cart full of food but didn't buy anything besides food

I have a lot of things on my to do list but don't feel like doing them like starting on getting the stuff together for our taxes ( we don't pay any but I have to file to prove we don't need to pay any and to keep our health insurance)

Plus next week it is supposed to get really cold, liek around 0, so we need to prepare for that. Sons water freezes every year, his house is not a real house and wasn't really meant for winter living. He does have a wood stove, but the outside waterline is not protected well ( ours is under the house and so far has never frozen) . We try new things every year but if it gets that cold it still freezes. The house is up about 5 feet off the ground in the area the water pipe goes in and its just a bare pipe going to the bottom of the house. We have wrapped insulation around it and duct taped it but that wasn't good enough . I think maybe this year we will just shut off the water and he will have to deal with coming to the main house for showers and have a bucket with water for his bathroom

Is there room to stack hay bales around the pipe?

 

[Bacpacker]

We have been doing canning in the evenings and we are doing okay. We have been running into more cans failing to seal than we like. I ordered some different brand lids today in hopes that a higher quality lid may help with the problem (it's sad to admit that Ball is not what it used to be). I hope the new lids work better, if they do I will report it someplace here.

We've been having the same problem with lids. Brand don't seem to matter, although some are worse than others

 

[MoBookworm1957]

My power came back on yesterday morning.
Been scurrying around like a little mouse getting ready for the next go around .
Probably on Friday.
Seems like my little helper(Estelle) has been helping herself to Granny's small flashlights.
So will need to replace them, along with new supply of batteries.
Had 10 small flashlights, key word there was had.
But now only have 1 that works.
I had been without power several hours before I contacted Lady Locust.
Maybe 6 hours, well dropped a stitch in Sugar Plum's blanket, so will be fixing that today.
Meatloaf,baked potato soup, things I can eat cold if need be.

 

[winds-of-change]

going to take animals out in a few minutes, dogs already been out
we plan on going swimming today , did the shopping for food yesterday afternoon
I spend much less now that I have cut out all junk ( except one bag of candy husband got and one frozen pizza son asked for , he eats them for snack if he is still hungry in the evening)
Spent $150 and got a cart full of food but didn't buy anything besides food

I have a lot of things on my to do list but don't feel like doing them like starting on getting the stuff together for our taxes ( we don't pay any but I have to file to prove we don't need to pay any and to keep our health insurance)

Plus next week it is supposed to get really cold, liek around 0, so we need to prepare for that. Sons water freezes every year, his house is not a real house and wasn't really meant for winter living. He does have a wood stove, but the outside waterline is not protected well ( ours is under the house and so far has never frozen) . We try new things every year but if it gets that cold it still freezes. The house is up about 5 feet off the ground in the area the water pipe goes in and its just a bare pipe going to the bottom of the house. We have wrapped insulation around it and duct taped it but that wasn't good enough . I think maybe this year we will just shut off the water and he will have to deal with coming to the main house for showers and have a bucket with water for his bathroom

I heard if you leave the faucets trickling a little bit, the movement of the water might keep the pipes from freezing. I’m not sure if that’s true or not.

My power came back on yesterday morning.
Been scurrying around like a little mouse getting ready for the next go around .
Probably on Friday.
Seems like my little helper(Estelle) has been helping herself to Granny's small flashlights.
So will need to replace them, along with new supply of batteries.
Had 10 small flashlights, key word there was had.
But now only have 1 that works.
I had been without power several hours before I contacted Lady Locust.
Maybe 6 hours, well dropped a stitch in Sugar Plum's blanket, so will be fixing that today.
Meatloaf,baked potato soup, things I can eat cold if need be.

My kids would lose all my flashlights, too, in the summer. They’d take them outside at night to play in the dark and would never bring them home.

 

[havasu]

I have my annual doctor's visit today. Fun times!

I then, after a 3 month wait, am receiving the second key fob for my new car. Due to the microchip shortage, they have been on back order for 3 months. I thought I'd just drive in, grab it, then leave, but they said it is a 3 hour process, so they will provide me a loaner car for the night. One of the perks of purchasing a Lexus, I guess.

 

[LadyLocust]

We have been doing canning in the evenings and we are doing okay. We have been running into more cans failing to seal than we like. I ordered some different brand lids today in hopes that a higher quality lid may help with the problem (it's sad to admit that Ball is not what it used to be). I hope the new lids work better, if they do I will report it someplace here.

I have preferred kerr to ball - I know they are owned by the same company, but have had better luck with kerr. I also have the tattler reusable lids that I've been growing accustomed to. There is a learning curve with those.

 

[Amish Heart]

I took the neighbor girl to her school at 7:30, came back and did animal chores with little granddaughter, then got her to school by 10. She had a late start today. Post office, and hard ware store in our little town afterwards. Husband's decided he wants to go into the bigger town for a PT appt on his shoulder, just to talk and not do the PT. I'll drive him to do that, and to pick up his prescriptions. Might as well fill a cart at Aldi while he's talking. So another whole day in town. Little granddaughter and I will be putting up windbreak tarps for the turkey runs when she gets home from school. It's going to get cold.

 

[snappy1]

We have been doing canning in the evenings and we are doing okay. We have been running into more cans failing to seal than we like. I ordered some different brand lids today in hopes that a higher quality lid may help with the problem (it's sad to admit that Ball is not what it used to be). I hope the new lids work better, if they do I will report it someplace here.

For Jars seems to be a good brand.

 

[LadyLocust]

Had a big install yesterday 42' loaded 6 X 18 beam Weather has been sketchy with wind so Hubby was a little nervous (under statement!). Went in well and that part is done. With that beast out of the shop, the guys have been cleaning and organizing, building and stocking new storage racks, even sweeping the floor - wahoo! It was in desperate need! It looks so much more open out there.
Chilly of course, expecting snow later this evening. As a heads up: have had to make 2 parts runs just close to our smaller local hardware store. Both times, there were old-timers in there getting "Prepared." I put more stock in that then in the goofy gurus of media.
Y'all stay warm.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Just finished plowing the road. It took over an hour to make it down to our lower gate. Now that I have the road open and defined with the tractor, I'll be able use the side by side and snowblower to keep the road open.
It's been snowing hard for most of the day and now the wind is picking up quite a bit

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Cooking day:
Made large meatloaf, normally make miniature loaf pans but I ran out.
Fed Sourdough starter this morning.
Made 2 large loaves of sourdough bread, again normally make miniature loaf pans but I'm out.
Got 15 bean chili simmering in crock pot.
Got twice bake cheesy potato soup simmering on stove top.
Hard boiled 8 eggs for breakfast or when ever.
Fed Ex delivered my coffee order just now.
So set with that for the moment coffee and cheese balls.
Life is good.
Simple things in life make me happy.
Looking at school catalog to see what kind classes I want to take this winter.
International cooking maybe,candy again maybe, sewing maybe.
I will figure something out.

 

[Tim Horton]

.....Canning lid failures..... I'm interested in a more detailed report on that... Product being canned, brand of jar, brand of lid, size of jar and lid size.. Stove top or counter top canner.. At a time and place we were the neighborhood ..go to.. people for canning info.. This with both conventional lids and reusable..
Please post updates..

 

[Neb]

The Princess called from outside the backdoor last night. She couldn't get her key into the knob to unlock it. Same problem using my key. So 35 years of being unlocked multiple times a day the limit for an entry knob.

Swapped out the knob with a new spare I had in stock. But that still require I run out to get extra keys copied. I looked at replacement entry knobs but they didn't have Schlage in stock I will have to find the spares on Amazon.

I did get the last of the network and security on a new UPS. The Princess wants me to delay testing a simulated power outage until she is not working from home. Provided the hardware test is OK I am just one more circuit away from the transfer switch project being completed.

Ordered a 15-pack of the 72 cell seed starter inserts. That should cover this years needs with some spares.

Nuff for today.

Ben

 

[Peanut]

Finally feeling better after a couple really bad days. Couldn’t eat, went 48hrs, had a couple bites of a fish sandwich in town yesterday afternoon, doesn’t really count. Was finally hungry today, went to the meat n 3 down the road for lunch, cleaned my plate, 1/2 a bbq chicken, 2 veggies, cornbread. I also raided the salad bar for a few nibbles and had 2 pieces of cake for dessert.

Had a prob with my new internet. During install yesterday I read off a new password to the installer for device access. He entered it… turns out he added a letter and changed another one, both typo’s. No wonder my password didn’t work! I called their tech support, very professional, great attitude. The support guy logged into the router remotely and found the issue right away. Then gave me the current password, it works fine. Happy with the Isp so far, typo's happen. Guess the next test is reliability over time.

No plans but tv tonight.

 

[Swing]

We are expecting below freezing for about 3 days next week and not much warmer for the rest of it. So tomorrow I should get my delivery of a little prep shopping I did from Amazon late last night. I had most of this stuff at one time, but with a massive clean out of belongings (with massive help) about 15 months ago, 2 moves since then, and not unpacked here yet, I don't know where it it, or if it's still here. Just some floating wicks for oil candles, crank radio/flashlight charger in case the power goes out, a few space blankets (want to cover the opening to the gas fireplace I don''t use. Stuff like that. And I have a small solar 'generator' battery pack for running some small appliances if I need to warm any food up.

I have got to get prep stuff organized to know where it is after this. All in one handy place.

 

[Amish Heart]

Did all ther errands in town and also filled a cart at Aldi. Will get to the turkey run tomorrow...out of steam after putting everything away. Hoping husband doesn't come up with an appt tomorrow, it'd be good to stay home.

 

[kenv1950]

Dealing with 3 Subaru dealers for a new 24 Onyx

 

[Haertig]

Went out for a nice breakfast with the wife. Helped my son move his safe across the house. Went to Costco and got rid of some excess money. Vacuum sealed some stuff to go into the freezer. Now trying to decide what to make for dinner. I think I have it narrowed down to two choices - either hamburgers on the grill or fried shrimp in the air fryer. But the wife will have final say, so I may still be making a last minute run to the grocery store to buy whatever she wants me to cook. Kind of a slow day. But at least I did get out of the house.

 

[Heartbroken]

I felt like royalty today, backing the truck out of the garage and heading to town without having to clear ice and snow off of it. I am going to have to do that tennis ball on a string thing though, it's hard to know exactly how far to pull in.
Dug through a ton of piled up mail and paperwork today, paid bills, ran to the bank and the post office. Stopped by the lawyers and signed to paperwork to convert the new house deed to the ladybird deed so that my daughter can get inherit without hassle. Lots of nagging details dealt with.
Researching wood burning fireplace inserts. The plan was to put one in next summer and have the guy put new cap stones on the chimney but I may have to go ahead with it now. There's a nice stone fireplace here in the new house, but evidently designed to be used with the doors shut, which means I lose most of the heat, but leaving the doors open causes problems too. There aren't any screens, so I have to use an old screen propped up on the raised hearth, and the underside of the little wood mantel gets hot. I'm also constantly hitting my head on it when I try to add a log to the fire. So it's just not really as safe and comfortable as I would like.

 

[Bacpacker]

Busy week at work. One of our Meterological stations has an outdoor electrical outlet (GFCI). The box was old and failed. All the rain Tuesday fried the outlet. So had to set up electricians to swap that out (union). Got that done this morning. Been trying to get a lot of our air cal's done this week because the cals are almost impossible during temps below 35. The rest of the month, we aren't forecast to even hit 40. Yesterday we were informed our main radio system was getting some router upgrades, so we worked 12-14 hours yesterday and had to get back into it this morning. Hopefully that ends tonight.
I decided to take a couple hours off tonight and get home to work on my chicken run. I use area that is fenced on 4 sides and the top (totally enclosed except for the floor. I keep a canvas tarp on the roof. When toward the end of fall I put up another canvas tarp on the north side of the run and about 1/3 of the west side. My roost is in that corner. During the bad weather Tuesday, lots of rain and high winds, both tarps got blown around and created openings. We are expecting more heavy rain and high winds tomorrow. So I too both loose, folded the top back, and put up the side tarp back up, then put a 3rd tarp up to complete the west side and about half of the south side. After that I pulled the top back over the edges. Its all tied down with some wire now and I removed all the bungee cords. It should all stay in place now and the birds are much more protected from the weather. Our temps won't get above 40 for the next 2 weeks and we expect lows in the low teens mid week next.

 

[Bacpacker]

I felt like royalty today, backing the truck out of the garage and heading to town without having to clear ice and snow off of it. I am going to have to do that tennis ball on a string thing though, it's hard to know exactly how far to pull in.
Dug through a ton of piled up mail and paperwork today, paid bills, ran to the bank and the post office. Stopped by the lawyers and signed to paperwork to convert the new house deed to the ladybird deed so that my daughter can get inherit without hassle. Lots of nagging details dealt with.
Researching wood burning fireplace inserts. The plan was to put one in next summer and have the guy put new cap stones on the chimney but I may have to go ahead with it now. There's a nice stone fireplace here in the new house, but evidently designed to be used with the doors shut, which means I lose most of the heat, but leaving the doors open causes problems too. There aren't any screens, so I have to use an old screen propped up on the raised hearth, and the underside of the little wood mantel gets hot. I'm also constantly hitting my head on it when I try to add a log to the fire. So it's just not really as safe and comfortable as I would like.

I lay a 2x4 across the parking spots in our basement. I'd like to get a true (whatever they are called) rubber thing that goes across the floor. Won't slide around like the 2x4 can

 

[UrbanHunter]

The wife has been after me to get her a "new" old sewing machine. She gave our daughter her old white sewing machine when she moved away and has regretted it ever since... She has had several new machines since then but the plastic parts wear out very quickly under her heavy hand. Anyway I found 2 identical machines that were close to what she liked, I bought 1 that they said worked perfectly, it arrived today and I spent the evening cleaning and oiling it until it purrs like a kitten, upon close inspection all the mechanical parts and housings are metal. I did get a lot of lint out of the machine during the cleaning process, and after oiling and running I was able to remove some more. The second machine appeared to have more accessories and a better manual, so I am hoping that between the two I will have enough parts to keep one running for a good long time.

Tomorrow I am taking her to the dentist and I am not looking forward to it, she does well but they keep the office at about 72F and that is just too hot for the wife.... I will hear about it till we get home...

 

[LadyLocust]

The wife has been after me to get her a "new" old sewing machine. She gave our daughter her old white sewing machine when she moved away and has regretted it ever since... She has had several new machines since then but the plastic parts wear out very quickly under her heavy hand. Anyway I found 2 identical machines that were close to what she liked, I bought 1 that they said worked perfectly, it arrived today and I spent the evening cleaning and oiling it until it purrs like a kitten, upon close inspection all the mechanical parts and housings are metal. I did get a lot of lint out of the machine during the cleaning process, and after oiling and running I was able to remove some more. The second machine appeared to have more accessories and a better manual, so I am hoping that between the two I will have enough parts to keep one running for a good long time.

Tomorrow I am taking her to the dentist and I am not looking forward to it, she does well but they keep the office at about 72F and that is just too hot for the wife.... I will hear about it till we get home...

Pictures please - of the machines not the dentist.

 

[Pearl]

Yeah,

Pictures please - of the machines not the dentist.

We want a dentist office VIDEO!!