What's everybody doing today?

[zannej]

Yesterday I wasn't able to get to sleep before taking my friend to his dental appointment. I'd never heard back from my dentist after the hurricane-- turns out their phonelines have been down & they were furious with their phone service company but couldn't find an alternative available. Phone is working again now, but they say it's spotty. Friend had 2 teeth pulled. He'd been working on a machine at work to repair it, sat up too fast, blacked out, and slammed his face into the machine and broke one of the teeth clean in half and the other cracked more (although both were previously damaged from the wreck a few years back). They said he needs 4 more teeth pulled & he can get dentures. He's scheduled for the next pulling in February. I'm scheduled for a full dental scan that day so they can determine where I need fillings and such.

I was supposed to go to the post office today but I didn't get to sleep until 6am-- just kept tossing and turning- and I slept past closing time for the post office (It's only open from 10am to 12pm on Saturdays).

Been chatting on another forum w/ Frodo about leatherworking & am going to try to find more discussion on the topic. I now want to make leather masks. My mom has some leather from some kit she got. I probably have some scrap leather from old couch cushions down at the workshop (need to see if they are any good). I need to pick up some waxed thread.

Allergies are not being kind today & I'm still sleepy. Need to find my nasal spray to see if it helps. Was supposed to check on my friend to see how he's doing today after his tooth-pulling.

 

[Meerkat]

You do know that's a political statement ?

Jim

MaybeI better start over soon as I say what a ...........just kidding.

 

[Amish Heart]

Filled up a cart at Aldi, and husband got us takeout while he was waiting on me. Little granddaughter has her mom and the boyfriend visiting right now. So far, they've been outside...she likes playing in the big old barn, and the neighbor girl is over with her puppy.

 

[LadyLocust]

Had to go over the mountain today to get our pig from the butcher. Glad to have a little more meat in the freezer. When they went to the butcher, I made room in the chest freezer. Today when I returned home and went to put the meat in there, I noticed the meat in it wasn’t frozen solid. It is okay, but it did this before and I turned the temp. way cold so it’s going to the dump. Not worth loosing $$$ worth of meat. Glad it’s not summer! So I made room in the other freezers. This was a heritage breed hog so only about 135# of meat. We didn’t know that when we asked for a hog, but under the circumstances, probably a good thing. Our freezers are full.
It was an absolutely gorgeous drive. Also got 3 doz home-grown eggs for $7

 

[Grimm]

It is snowing. The dogs keep asking to go out and a few minutes later they want back inside. They love the snow but hate the cold.

We moved Roo into Juju's room today. I can't sleep with Juju coming into my room every night because she is scared. We figured moving her big sister in there would help because she will not be alone. We will see tonight. Roo's room is now the play room with all the toys and books.

For the most part we are enjoying a lazy day keeping warm.

 

[viking]

Folks, I have a question about using chicken-poop in my garden. Once a week Dawn and I go out and clean out the three coops; we take the straw out, too, and refill the coops with fresh straw. Instead of throwing it away, I'm keeping it in empty feed bags and I have about seven of them pretty tightly packed.

We do have a compost-heap, but I was thinking of just mixing that bag with the soil in my garden, till it under, and use it in the spring in my raised beds. My question is this: I know chicken poop and straw make good compost, but if I till it in now and let it set for three months or so, will that be time enough for the poop mixture to decay and not take a chance on burning my crops?

Chicken Poop is very hot stuff and needs to be composted, had a neighbor when I was a kid that mixed the poop with alder sawdust, it was so hot it turned the sawdust black, but it did the job. I stack the chicken shed clean out at the top of the garden in a large pile and it's all mixed with wheat straw, if it rains a lot it will wash good liquids down into the garden, I let the stuff compost about a year before I would use it in the garden and never use hay, made that mistake years ago and I still have patches of odd grasses growing in my field.

 

[Duncan]

Thanx, Viking!

 

[Double R]

@LadyLocust Isn’t it a nice feeling having a full freezer? It makes me feel so happy once I’ve found space for it all that is
Been doing some cleaning and organizing pantry stuff. Need to make room for newly canned items while we used up store bought stuff.

Went to get some flour and we apparently have a mouse so had to check everything and clean everything. Traps will go back in there I guess. Not sure how the little sucker got in there or how it got up so high to get into the basket of flour, oats etc. They sure are crafty little suckers. Guess we’re going to have to figure out better rodent/bug proof storage for that dry stuff. Several packages of mixes had bugs too. Thinking about the video online I saw where a lady dry “canned” (in the oven) her beans and rice. Supposed to kill the bugs and obviously keeps the rodents out. Definitely going to research this more. Especially for the beans and rice.

Took the packages of oats and seeds that were opened from the invader and added it to our chicken treat mix. Made up some treats for them. Once they cool I’ll package some for the freezer and give them a few.

Hubby has his breads rising for tonight. He blames me and his mom for eating all the bread he made last night. Well he dropped some off to her so who’s to blame for that and he was starving me so it was survival to eat it! It’s not my fault his bread is to die for! I rarely eat carbs but I draw the line at that bread. It’s

Later were going to tackle our test batch of canned green beans. The regular beans we made last night are good but bland. Didn’t use enough seasoning in the jars. Will adjust next time. Also looks like we slightly over filled a few. One didn’t seal (the jar we ate) and one hubby says he saw liquid come out of when we took them out of the canner to cool. It did seal though. Tonight we’re going to eat the partial jar of spaghetti sauce that we went ahead and canned even though it wasn’t full. It’s in the fridge till dinner.

 

[txcatlady]

I cut a foot of my hair off today. Did it 16 years ago for a spiked short cut. Still below my shoulders now but feels so good. I was so tired of it, washed once a month and always wore it in a clip off my neck. Hair is in shock from lack of weight and is waving and curling up. Not anything special, but blessed with 2 of my girls here and 4 grands. Daughter cut it and we played with a little color on it. Happy me!

 

[Peanut]

A quiet day here. The only excitement was the youngsters brought up 100 rolls of hay from the other farm. The youngest of the two brothers promptly got stuck in the driveway with the first load. The drive goes down a hill, at the bottom it forks, one leg goes straight, the other leg makes a 90 degree turn. They couldn't quite make the turn at the fork, got the trailer stuck in the ditch, had 20 rolls of hay on the trailer. Had to use the little tractor for an assist.

Went for a few groceries after that, warmed up left overs for dinner.

 

[LadyLocust]

A quiet day here. The only excitement was the youngsters brought up 100 rolls of hay from the other farm. The youngest of the two brothers promptly got stuck in the driveway with the first load. The drive goes down a hill, at the bottom it forks, one leg goes straight, the other leg makes a 90 degree turn. They couldn't quite make the turn at the fork, got the trailer stuck in the ditch, had 20 rolls of hay on the trailer. Had to use the little tractor for an assist.

Went for a few groceries after that, warmed up left overs for dinner.

View attachment 57570View attachment 57571

That sounds like enough excitement for one day.
@txcatlady have you considered donating to “wigs for kids?” (Locks of love charges for their wigs. Wigs for Kids doesn’t charge the patients).

 

[goshengirl]

So my question is how do I know I have enough?! At this point I think the hunt may be an addiction for us What is your “I got enough for the season”?

It's especially hard for you to know right now, because you don't know yet how you'll like all that home-canned food, or what works for your family. When I first started canning, it was chicken. And I canned a lot of chicken. But when I opened it up it smelled like wet dog food (and memories of my childhood home) and made my stomach roil horribly. So consequently I didn't make as good a use out of that canned chicken as I should have. So I learned freezing our chicken is a better option for us - doesn't matter what other people do, just matters what works for us. (We have a generator in case of a relatively short-term power outage, and a heavy-duty camp burner and propane in case a longer power outage necessitates canning all that meat after all.)

Your test batches of different foods is great! In time you'll get a better handle on what jars you use for your family - and that's really not something anyone else can tell you, know what I mean? Not that I would discourage you from buying canning jars! lol I mean seriously, they can be used for so many things.

@LadyLocust Isn’t it a nice feeling having a full freezer? It makes me feel so happy once I’ve found space Guess we’re going to have to figure out better rodent/bug proof storage for that dry stuff. Several packages of mixes had bugs too.

Dang, that's so frustrating! But in a way it's a good thing to find out now, you know? I thought we were good to go in our basement - no mice (thank you indoor cats), and no bug problem, either. Then we got a grain weavil infestation. Those b*#^*$!s decimated our food storage. Now I evaluate everything differently when I put it in storage - which is a good thing, because I think it matters more now....

 

[Double R]

It's especially hard for you to know right now, because you don't know yet how you'll like all that home-canned food, or what works for your family. When I first started canning, it was chicken. And I canned a lot of chicken. But when I opened it up it smelled like wet dog food (and memories of my childhood home) and made my stomach roil horribly. So consequently I didn't make as good a use out of that canned chicken as I should have. So I learned freezing our chicken is a better option for us - doesn't matter what other people do, just matters what works for us. (We have a generator in case of a relatively short-term power outage, and a heavy-duty camp burner and propane in case a longer power outage necessitates canning all that meat after all.)

Your test batches of different foods is great! In time you'll get a better handle on what jars you use for your family - and that's really not something anyone else can tell you, know what I mean? Not that I would discourage you from buying canning jars! lol I mean seriously, they can be used for so many things.


Dang, that's so frustrating! But in a way it's a good thing to find out now, you know? I thought we were good to go in our basement - no mice (thank you indoor cats), and no bug problem, either. Then we got a grain weavil infestation. Those b*#^*$!s decimated our food storage. Now I evaluate everything differently when I put it in storage - which is a good thing, because I think it matters more now....

I’m right along with ya. Definitely know whatcha mean. I’m already seeing how fast the jars get used and seem to be adding more uses daily. I’m thinking we may need a bit more for the garden season. Also I’m seeing quarts are not going to be the most used for us. We eat so little at a time that quarts would be far to much unless we’re eating something together for days.
I agree the storage options matter so much more now and that’s part of why this hit has hurt so much. Some of what we had to toss/feed was HARD found and treasured. At least some has come back in and hopefully we can reevaluate storage and change stuff up. That had to have been heartbreaking when you saw the grain weevils. That’s what I’ve been afraid of. My food saver jar lid sucker set just came today. Still hunting for a used food saver that will allow me to use the hose and lid sucker. That was already in the works for dry good but may also attempt hot canning. Working out the details has been an adventure in itself for all this. At least it really hasn’t been all at once.

 

[Grimm]

It's especially hard for you to know right now, because you don't know yet how you'll like all that home-canned food, or what works for your family. When I first started canning, it was chicken. And I canned a lot of chicken. But when I opened it up it smelled like wet dog food (and memories of my childhood home) and made my stomach roil horribly. So consequently I didn't make as good a use out of that canned chicken as I should have. So I learned freezing our chicken is a better option for us - doesn't matter what other people do, just matters what works for us. (We have a generator in case of a relatively short-term power outage, and a heavy-duty camp burner and propane in case a longer power outage necessitates canning all that meat after all.)

Your test batches of different foods is great! In time you'll get a better handle on what jars you use for your family - and that's really not something anyone else can tell you, know what I mean? Not that I would discourage you from buying canning jars! lol I mean seriously, they can be used for so many things.


Dang, that's so frustrating! But in a way it's a good thing to find out now, you know? I thought we were good to go in our basement - no mice (thank you indoor cats), and no bug problem, either. Then we got a grain weavil infestation. Those b*#^*$!s decimated our food storage. Now I evaluate everything differently when I put it in storage - which is a good thing, because I think it matters more now....

We got weevils in a bag of rice a few months ago. Now I keep grains in air tight containers or in the freezer.

 

[goshengirl]

We got weevils in a bag of rice a few months ago. Now I keep grains in air tight containers or in the freezer.

Yeah, what started our problem was actually a 5 gal bucket with a gamma lid - I'd filled that bugger too much (wheat) and thought it was closed when it wasn't. So it went unnoticed for way too long.

 

[Firepolice271]

@Firepolice271. And I have been busy but I did catch him lying down on the job.

View attachment 57501

While cutting out the termite infested wood. He built a make shift platform over the cistern to allow us to to rebuild the back corner of the house. There were quite a few questionable moments while the house was teetering on jacks and we were deploying ratchet straps to keep to walls aligned with the foundation.

View attachment 57502

In the end we had just short of 3/4 of the main perimeter beams installed. We should soon be turning the corner from subtle repairs to standard. carpentry work soon. Then it will be Katy bar the door walls and studs.

Making great progress!

Otherwise..

The Princess aunt may be failing. Cousin s are flying in. She is 94 and out lived all of her generation.

Similarly my periodontist is recommending pulling all of my teeth due to bone loss and switch to dentures. I welcome the notion because even donuts and pizza are painful..

The girls are here tonight and we are having a wonderful time. Finally got them to sleep.

We are blessed.

Ben



Y

Got more done today

 

[Bacpacker]

I’m right along with ya. Definitely know whatcha mean. I’m already seeing how fast the jars get used and seem to be adding more uses daily. I’m thinking we may need a bit more for the garden season. Also I’m seeing quarts are not going to be the most used for us. We eat so little at a time that quarts would be far to much unless we’re eating something together for days.
I agree the storage options matter so much more now and that’s part of why this hit has hurt so much. Some of what we had to toss/feed was HARD found and treasured. At least some has come back in and hopefully we can reevaluate storage and change stuff up. That had to have been heartbreaking when you saw the grain weevils. That’s what I’ve been afraid of. My food saver jar lid sucker set just came today. Still hunting for a used food saver that will allow me to use the hose and lid sucker. That was already in the works for dry good but may also attempt hot canning. Working out the details has been an adventure in itself for all this. At least it really hasn’t been all at once.

Here it's just the wife and I so we only can pints, other than for a very few items that can be store cold in the fridge after opening.

 

[Bacpacker]

Started last night actually. Still working on cutting some trees and cleaning up a bunch of under growth close to our upper garden site, where the raised beds are going in at. Got one big Black Cherry tree cut down and up, except for a 6' base trunk. Gonna try and use it for a saw log
Hauled 4 loads of brush and have enough logs, limbs to fill 2 2x12 beds halfway up (my hultyculture addition.) Stil got a big pile of vines to burn or move to the brushpiles. lso still have more to remove, but I could stop ofter one more load of brush and start building the beds and filling them.
My butt is dragging tonight.

 

[hashbrown]

Me the boy and the dog took a 6 mile walk up Bull creek first thing this morning. It was cold when we left 25 degrees but the pace kept us warm. Dog was 6 months old today and we wore her completely out she spent all afternoon passed out on the couch. I think we will head up bear creek in the morning.

 

[Tank-Girl]

Me the boy and the dog took a 6 mile walk up Bull creek first thing this morning. It was cold when we left 25 degrees but the pace kept us warm. Dog was 6 months old today and we wore her completely out she spent all afternoon passed out on the couch. I think we will head up bear creek in the morning.

View attachment 57587

She looks like she's a good hound.

I'm finding it a bit alarming that my 9 week old red nose pit puppy can completely destroy and eat a large dried pig's ear in under an hour.
These things are tougher than leather,
It does look like they were a good call though esp at night when it seems that land sharks get up to the most mischief.

 

[hashbrown]

She looks like she's a good hound.

I'm finding it a bit alarming that my 9 week old red nose pit puppy can completely destroy and eat a large dried pig's ear in under an hour.
These things are tougher than leather,
It does look like they were a good call though esp at night when it seems that land sharks get up to the most mischief.

We have had several pits over the years this is a photo of my last one Onyx. I wanted a little bigger dog this time so we chose a Cane Corso. She is 6 months old and weighs 85lbs.

 

[zannej]

@Peanut How long does the hay stay good for? We got some last year that was already old. My two cows managed to eat a few of the rolls and then didn't seem to touch it for a long time. We can't find anyone selling more in our area and today I saw them nibbling at some of the old rolls. Is that bad for them? They are out in the field and not under any cover.

Popped in to see my friend. My brother harangued him about how he needs to kick his ex out asap & how she's only going to keep causing him more stress the longer she's around. The more he gives in to her, the more she's going to keep taking. He keeps saying he's going to stand up to her but he doesn't. He apparently had a huge argument with her while driving her to work. He got upset & said what he thought we wanted to hear but he wasn't convincing, but I got the message. He didn't want to talk about it. I got my brother to stop and we both hugged him. Then I briefly talked to him about designing a leather face mask for him with some kind of cloth lining. We hung out for awhile and then had to go to the grocery store. Grabbed the Equate version of Ensure for my friend since he can't eat solid food for awhile. I brought Mom a salad to tide her over while I pulled the meat off two rotisserie chickens and then I heated her up a tv dinner.

I'm going about to take my medicine and try to get some sleep.

 

[txcatlady]

That sounds like enough excitement for one day.
@txcatlady have you considered donating to “wigs for kids?” (Locks of love charges for their wigs. Wigs for Kids doesn’t charge the patients).

Yes, I plan to donate to wfk. I have donated once before. I have a bag that I saved with two big lengths to go with this one. This one does have a few gray hairs more than the others though. Thanks for support!

 

[UrbanHunter]

Today is a church day... so the morning is booked till noon.

I have a lot of organizing that I need to do and I need to stay away from the ****-tube, I watched it till 10 last night and wasted hours. Need a little more self-discipline to stay productive.

 

[The Lazy L]

Recharged the batteries on the hand held radios.
Laminated cheat sheets for the hand held radios. Channel, frequency and brief description.
Reprogram scanner to match the hand held, mobile and base radios channels and frequencies.
Made and posted channel/frequencies above the base radio.

We bought a hand held Yaesu FT-4XR on sale for $80. Software unlock to enable broadcast (SHTF) in the FRS/GMRS range (compatibility with our Baofengs) . Programing cable is backordered so programing by the front panel (not as problematic as the Baofeng). If our testing proves satisfactory then we'll consider upgrading our Baofeng UV-R radios.

We are also evaluating a tactical antenna made by Disco32. Flexible and weaveable in MOLLIE. Unfortunately SMA female connecter is not offered so an adapter is required.

Church and then taking wife to whatever restaurant she choses. Then back with dinking with radio comms.

 

[phideaux]

Recharged the batteries on the hand held radios.
Laminated cheat sheets for the hand held radios. Channel, frequency and brief description.
Reprogram scanner to match the hand held, mobile and base radios channels and frequencies.
Made and posted channel/frequencies above the base radio.

We bought a hand held Yaesu FT-4XR on sale for $80. Software unlock to enable broadcast (SHTF) in the FRS/GMRS range (compatibility with our Baofengs) . Programing cable is backordered so programing by the front panel (not as problematic as the Baofeng). If our testing proves satisfactory then we'll consider upgrading our Baofeng UV-R radios.

We are also evaluating a tactical antenna made by Disco32. Flexible and weaveable in MOLLIE. Unfortunately SMA female connecter is not offered so an adapter is required.

Church and then taking wife to whatever restaurant she choses. Then back with dinking with radio comms.

I can definitely see that you been busy with projects + writing.

Thanks for stopping in.

Glad all is good for ya.

Jim

 

[MoBookworm1957]

I tried posting pics of my last dog only to have some obnoxious bigmouth spout garbage about it.

I rather gargle broken glass than give the window licker another chance to run his mouth.

Tank-Girl,
I am also sorry that has happened to you.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Recharged the batteries on the hand held radios.
Laminated cheat sheets for the hand held radios. Channel, frequency and brief description.
Reprogram scanner to match the hand held, mobile and base radios channels and frequencies.
Made and posted channel/frequencies above the base radio.

We bought a hand held Yaesu FT-4XR on sale for $80. Software unlock to enable broadcast (SHTF) in the FRS/GMRS range (compatibility with our Baofengs) . Programing cable is backordered so programing by the front panel (not as problematic as the Baofeng). If our testing proves satisfactory then we'll consider upgrading our Baofeng UV-R radios.

We are also evaluating a tactical antenna made by Disco32. Flexible and weaveable in MOLLIE. Unfortunately SMA female connecter is not offered so an adapter is required.

Church and then taking wife to whatever restaurant she choses. Then back with dinking with radio comms.

Nice to see you .

 

[Peanut]

@Peanut How long does the hay stay good for? We got some last year that was already old. My two cows managed to eat a few of the rolls and then didn't seem to touch it for a long time. We can't find anyone selling more in our area and today I saw them nibbling at some of the old rolls. Is that bad for them? They are out in the field and not under any cover.

The quality of hay is a very complex subject with a dozen variables. The first of which is the quality of the hay to begin with. Rolls of hay stored in a pole barn/under cover is going to lose about 10% of the nutritional value the first year. That said, certain vitamins in hay will disappear far more rapidly. 2 year old hay will keep a cow from starving but that's about it. Hay left out in the weather loses nutrition a lot faster.

Is it bad for them? I honestly can't answer that question. Hay left out in the weather can develop a host of problems. The first is mold. If you are worried take a sample to a farmer who has nice cattle and ask him. He can touch it, feel it and smell it and give you a reasonably accurate answer. I'm just guessing with nothing to go on but a few typed words.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Well, it has been a few busy days.
And I understand a well is a deep subject.
But I have decided to just be me and if someone or other doesn't like it.
Tough s***.
Then scroll on by, no comments needed or warranted.
Granny and Strawberry have survived oldest grand daughter sleepover on Friday night.
We're sitting around today in sleep clothes, relaxing.
Strawberry is snoozing in her chair.
I'm sipping coffee.
Will have to get house back together in the near future, but not today.
We got lots and lots of cuddles with grand daughter on Friday night, Saturday.
But let me tell you what, this Granny hit the bed bout 8 pm last night.
Worn slick.
Definately will have to do a dab of dishes up: 6 bowls and silverware.
Am sitting here without my glasses on so spelling might be off slightly.
But don't really care.
I seemed to have forgotten how messy it gets when she helps me cook.
But we enjoy it for the most part; or at least she does.
I have an upcoming appointment at the VA this Wednesday.
Seeing the surgeon about my left foot.
Got to get it fixed so I can participate in 5k in May with my team of Veterans.
Nothing much going on.
Have a wonderful day.
Oh by the way oldest grand daughter is 3 years old.