What's everybody doing today?

[Mountain trapper]

Been working on the new building today. Got one sheet of plywood left to put up on the east wall. Just before I quit for the day the ladder broke through the snow and dumped my butt on the ground. The high temp today was 25 degs, perfect working temps, until the wind picked up. Had snow flurries off and on all day. It's supposed to start cooling down tonight to single didgets or lower. There isn't much more that I can do to the new building except put siding up on the south gable end, build shelves, start wiring the electrical outlets and installing lights. Phase 2 and phase 3 will have to wait until spring.

 

[Tommyice]

First full day back at work—that really sucked. Extremely busy and no increase in our hours budget. Pharmacist and I decided to just go over the budget. Worse they can do is fire us.

Had my first issue this morning giving dad his feeding through the tube. Actually it was his meds. Even though they were ground fine some it clogged the port connected to the tube itself. Visiting nurse had to come and get it moving again.

Brother goes home tomorrow morning. I’ll be moving into Dad’s house after he leaves. We’re still trying to figure out what to do starting next week when he is gone back upstate and I’m back at work. I’ve cut my hours back to 30 (the minimum to maintain full time status and benefits). Dad will be alone for 3 1/2 hours in the morning then 3 hours in the afternoon. He doesn’t need care—he moves around fine with the walker. We’re worried he won’t stay motivated to get off the sofa and keep moving .

 

[Ekatarina]

Friday Friday Friday
January 17th 2024

13f right now but will go down -14f tomorrow ..
Oh well its Winter !

Tomorrow
Plumber-Electrician friend Andrei will come check my woodstove back fan tomorrow
And I have to do a load of laundry

Enjoy your evening and night

 

[Amish Heart]

Went errand running this afternoon...Harbor Freight for stuff husband wanted, the amish place for the good cheese, and then filled a cart at Aldi. Going thru my list of stuff to do before the big cold moves in tomorrow night. We're going to have a busy day tomorrow.

 

[JustMe]

Completely covered in my 2qt pot. When they float to the surface you know they are done. Same for wings. They sink when you first put them in. When they're cooked through they'll float.

I do something else for wings. I have a one pot type thing with a steam option. I steam the wings first till they're almost done. This cooks out the fat/grease. Then I drop them in the hot oil with no batter, only takes a couple or 3 minutes and they'll float. If you don't steam out the fat first the skin on the wings will never get crispy. Doing a 2 stage cook makes for yummy wings that are not greasy at all... nice and crispy skin.

Same principle when I cook thighs. I bake them almost done in the oven. Most of the fat under the skin cooks out. Then I drop them in hot oil for a couple minutes and fry them. Makes great thighs... and I don't have to bother with a batter.

Here's my wings....

View attachment 171818

Unless you're gluten free.....you could dredge them in a seasoned flour with a pinch of baking powder to make them crispy.


and if you want extra crispy, do the dredging station.......seasoned flour, beaten egg, and panko. Just be sure to press on the panko to make it stick

 

[Peanut]

Got 4 chairs and a cooler hung on the wall today. Have two more boards to put up and get a few more chairs to go up on the wall. Happy with the progress so far.

The new phones I bought for mom and dad came today. Got the base hooked up this evening, letting the handsets charge over night. They are designed to help the visually and hearing impaired, large buttons, volume boost when needed, clearer screen with large print. Has bright red lights on each handset and the base that flashes when someone calls. If a caller is talking too fast there's even a button to press that slows the sound down. Not sure how that works yet.

Just watching tv and playing a little music. Tackled my Bb folder tonight. Haven't played from it in a while, lots of hardcore bluegrass, old school stuff.

Oh, some replacement tools came today, needed and sort of a late christmas present to me, from me, lol...

Priced tickets today, I can't go, to much $$. The annual national bluegrass convention is in Nashville next week. 4 days access w/hotel is $275 a day. That doesn't include food or anything else, travel, pocket money etc. I'd love to go but... My luck i'd get there and cfs would put me on my back for 4 days. Miss the entire thing and have a huge room service bill.

 

[Pearl]

Working today, cleaning my building a day early, then I have one small job. I'll be off Sunday and Monday, maybe Tuesday if it snows!!

 

[snappy1]

Today, our high is 71 degrees. Wild weather!
Tuesday is our snow day 3-5" expected. Not going anywhere all week if I can help it!
Today, will walk and walk dogs.
Pick up parking lot at Church and shovel gutters.
Make spaghetti and meatballs.
Do a load of laundry before the freezing temps hit.
Grab extra towels and blankets to cover little cherry plants.

 

[Amish Heart]

Well I guess Tuesday is everybody's snow day, we also have it forecasted. But temps start dropping today. High will be 22.
We've got lots of chores to finish up today...a big dropoff at the thrift store and also into the bigger town with little granddaughter for clothes shopping for her. So the plan is to get those errands done today so I don't have to go out except for animal chores in negative weather.

 

[sonya123]

it's raining ice pellets outside, wonderful way to start the day
So we will have to rotate animals around to clean the barn.
Maybe today I will start on taxes, I just have to enter everything into a spreadsheet and send it to the accountant, did sort paperwork for all the stuff I need.

 

[sonya123]

Well I guess Tuesday is everybody's snow day, we also have it forecasted. But temps start dropping today. High will be 22.
We've got lots of chores to finish up today...a big dropoff at the thrift store and also into the bigger town with little granddaughter for clothes shopping for her. So the plan is to get those errands done today so I don't have to go out except for animal chores in negative weather.

we did most of that yesterday and day before, our cold weather arrives Sunday night
good luck, hope your animals will be ok

 

[Amish Heart]

Been working on it the last few days....big covered porch is reloaded with firewood, more kindling picked up. I have some stuff upstairs that needs to be hauled to an outbuilding, the rabbit cages need to be cleaned out today and double filled with straw for warmth. I brought in a bunch of frozen gallon water jugs yesterday, so I'll bring them back out to the milkhouse empty. I've got a tarp on a turkey run that needs to be put back on for a wind shield today. And a big load to put in the truck from when little granddaughter cleaned out a ton of stuff...and I cleaned out kitchen stuff. And we'll dump it at the thrift store. But, we should get it done with the two of us going at it all. She's off Monday, so I have three days of her helping to haul water buckets. That's a big pain.

 

[Magpie]

Some cooking for the week and chores, and gave my very mucky dog a trim. Took a while, he finds it hard to sit for long times, but he looks better and my face has been licked clean

 

[SoulSeeker]

Tried my sand blaster I made from cardboard. Works ok on small items but bigger stuff tends to put too much sand out the front. So the melt furnace waits another month. I still have smaller parts to do with there's a never ending supply of between all my projects! You can see what I'm dealing with as far as tarnish. A couple future projects.

 

[Weedygarden]

You're going to take a cat on a 'several mile walk'??? You can do that???


OK, now I'm guessing Bear is your dog? And I was thinking you were talking about a cat before.

Dang it, now I'm really confused.

I have a client who has a cat that she takes outdoors to walk and explore. The first time I met them she had him outside. I do see people walking cats on leashes. I wouldn't, because dogs can be determined when it comes to something that they consider prey. Not all dogs consider cats to be prey, but some do. I've known more than one situation where dogs and cats live together peacefully.

They live in an area where there are at least 3 black cats that roam about as well as a couple other cats on their block. One of the black cats doesn't have a tail and none of us knows who owns it nor if it is a Manx or had some accident. We don't know who owns any of the cats. They are all over the place as cats are known to be.

One of the black cats came into the yard of a different client whose house I was house sitting in. It climbed up and took out a nest of baby birds. I tried to spray it with a hose and to scare it away, but it was after the baby birds and came back a few times. The mother bird was doing her best to get the cat away and I was trying to help her. She abandoned that nest after that cat killed all of her babies. She hasn't been back since. Since there are so many black cats in the area, it is hard to know which one is the bird killer. Aren't all cats bird killers? But only one climbed up and killed those baby birds.

 

[Ekatarina]

Well...my electrician will be around 4 pm cuz he does have visit at home

 

[Neb]

It has been a busy week for us. My son has been looking for a used car and he thought he found one. Drove him to credit union for a check then to the dealer. We didn't like what we found and the unwillingness of the dealer to fix obvious problems. Abandoned that mission and he is back to looking.

An 90+ year old neighbor needed to get to an appointment for a check up in a snow storm. I am glad I had Google maps going because she is from Japan and never did master enunciating English. "Turn right at the right..."

I get her there and they wanted to test everything. A few hours in she tells me they wanted to get X-rays and they think she us dying. More waiting and then she was sent on her way. Hmmmm.

The Princess had a delivery of a new chest freezer today so yesterday I had to shovel a path. When the delivery people showed up they balked at the conditions. I don't blame them. The weather forecast doesn't look good for next week with a low of -8 on Tuesday. Everything is going to freeze up.

So The Princess is repacking the refrigerator that was going to be hauled away today. I am staying out of her watching her haul baskets of food back and forth through the house.

Looking forward to a less active week hunkering down for a few days of sub-zero temps.

Ben

 

[sonya123]

One of the black cats came into the yard of a different client whose house I was house sitting in. It climbed up and took out a nest of baby birds. I tried to spray it with a hose and to scare it away, but it was after the baby birds and came back a few times. The mother bird was doing her best to get the cat away and I was trying to help her. She abandoned that nest after that cat killed all of her babies. She hasn't been back since. Since there are so many black cats in the area, it is hard to know which one is the bird killer. Aren't all cats bird killers? But only one climbed up and killed those baby birds.

If I saw a cat doing that here I would shoot it. But our dogs generally take care of any that dare come up here
Sorry but I love birds and cats trying to kill them are no better than racoons trying to get at our chickens
Been trying to take a photo of all the birds at the feeders outside but we have screens in front of the windows and if I go outside they fly away . Just saw 2 beautiful large woodpeckers, a jay and some cardinals, plus a bunch of little birds I am not sure what they are called

 

[Spikedriver]

Headed up north to visit Mom in the nursing home today. It's her 85th birthday, actually it was yesterday but the get together is today. Daughter is here for her last couple days before she heads back to college. She and I will go pick up GF and Ruby the dog this afternoon and head on up.

 

[Weedygarden]

If I saw a cat doing that here I would shoot it. But our dogs generally take care of any that dare come up here
Sorry but I love birds and cats trying to kill them are no better than racoons trying to get at our chickens
Been trying to take a photo of all the birds at the feeders outside but we have screens in front of the windows and if I go outside they fly away . Just saw 2 beautiful large woodpeckers, a jay and some cardinals, plus a bunch of little birds I am not sure what they are called

This is in a densely built newer neighborhood with children and is a fairly tightly knit neighborhood. There are many activities that are scheduled there, including weekly concerts in the summer mostly by talented neighbors, holiday gatherings in the community building, Fourth of July parade and barbecue and much more. I do a lot of work in this area because people talk and have recommended me. This could greatly have a negative impact my business there. I would be very wary of shooting a cat in that neighborhood.

Would I want to shoot that cat? Oh, yes! I am not alone in my dislike of him. He comes into yards of other cats and tries to start stuff. I am a lover of birds. I was so mad at that cat.

 

[sonya123]

This is in a densely built newer neighborhood with children and is a fairly tightly knit neighborhood. There are many activities that are scheduled there, including weekly concerts in the summer mostly by talented neighbors, holiday gatherings in the community building, Fourth of July parade and barbecue and much more. I do a lot of work in this area because people talk and have recommended me. This could greatly have a negative impact my business there. I would be very wary of shooting a cat in that neighborhood.

Would I want to shoot that cat? Oh, yes! I am not alone in my dislike of him. He comes into yards of other cats and tries to start stuff. I am a lover of birds. I was so mad at that cat.

yes I can totally understand that. When we lived downtown Orlando, we had 3 hens that raccoons and possoms tried to kill all the time. We set a trap, and drowned it ( since we couldn't shoot it in the city limits ) Filled up a garbage can with water, dumped the trap in and closed the lid. I felt bad doing that, but it was either the racoon or the hens

 

[Mountain trapper]

This is in a densely built newer neighborhood with children and is a fairly tightly knit neighborhood. There are many activities that are scheduled there, including weekly concerts in the summer mostly by talented neighbors, holiday gatherings in the community building, Fourth of July parade and barbecue and much more. I do a lot of work in this area because people talk and have recommended me. This could greatly have a negative impact my business there. I would be very wary of shooting a cat in that neighborhood.

Would I want to shoot that cat? Oh, yes! I am not alone in my dislike of him. He comes into yards of other cats and tries to start stuff. I am a lover of birds. I was so mad at that cat.

A cage trap baited with sardines will catch any cat that comes in to your yard. Then you can dispose of it however you see fit.

 

[JustMe]

Long list of to do chores today including cutting up whole chickens into usable parts for the freezer and starting some broth from those bones, rendering the fat & skin, can some pinto beans and maybe some leftover meat, do a load of laundry.........list goes on. I doubt I'll get it all done, not even sure about half. It would help if I got off my duff and got moving. In a minute. We'll see

 

[Mountain trapper]

Got the battery bank topped off. It didn't take much water, maybe 2 gallons for 12 batteries. Got a 4 foot section of framing to finish on the east wall of the new building. I'd like to start putting some shelves up too.
Next I'll start framing in the new deck at the chicken coop. It's a beautiful sunny day here, 18 degs right now. No wind yet so it's a nice day to work outside.

 

[Tommyice]

Brother went home this morning—he’s actually almost home. Dad is watching him on the find my iPhone app. Nearly broke my heart. Dad was crying like a baby when he left. I didn’t want him to leave either. It was really nice to spend the time with him. He’ll be back in less than two weeks and hopefully my sister-in-law will be able to come too.

Spending the day moving into my childhood bedroom. Trying to find a routine.

 

[Weedygarden]

A cage trap baited with sardines will catch any cat that comes in to your yard. Then you can dispose of it however you see fit.

Yes, but not my yard. I am careful about my behavior in that neighborhood. Too many eyes watching me and even cameras.

I was housesitting in the same house where they had a previous cat and a dog, both now deceased, and new cat and dog there now. I was taking the dog out and the cat kept trying to run out the front door. I had the dog on a leash while trying to keep the cat inside while I closed the door. I was not seeing that a woman was coming by with a dog and the dog on my leash went a little crazy barking at the passing dog, creating a commotion. I immediately texted the owner and told her what happened, apologizing for the commotion in front of her house and explaining what happened. She is a great client. After they returned home, one of their neighbors approached her to tell her about what happened. I am so glad I told her before neighbor got to her. Her dog was a pit mix and he hates pits, so it was another reason for him to be upset about what happened. The pit was generally a very friendly and playful dog, but she was protecting her yard and that is why she went after the German Shepherd that was going by. If she was sitting inside, looking out the window, she would always bark at passing dogs. It is what many dogs do.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Yes, but not my yard. I am careful about my behavior in that neighborhood. Too many eyes watching me and even cameras.

Guess I'm not used to living in neighborhoods with close neighbors. The last time that I did live in town it was on a quarter acre lot and I put up a 6 foot cedar fence around it for privacy.
In your situation it sounds like there isn't much you can do.

 

[Ekatarina]

I just did watch it 2 times cute and funny

 

[Amish Heart]

Oh boy we worked like crazy outside...it was 18 degrees and windy, very cold. But will be colder tomorrow. Levi came by and helped with a tarp that had come down. Finished lunch and getting ready to go drop off all the thrift store stuff, then into the bigger town for clothes shopping for little granddaughter. Pleased that all the outside nonsense is done for now.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I cut up a bunch of meat for jerkey when I came in for lunch a little while ago. I'll marinade it over night in the fridge then smoke it tomorrow.