What's everybody doing today?

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This is down by my cow pasture after the rain stopped.
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We haven't had rain for over a week. It was hot, hot today. I painted for 3 hours outside but was in by 1 because I couldn't stand it anymore. And I was in the shade. A little bit at a time.
Getting ready to go to the little feed store, and the amish salvage store.
The ladder angle wouldn't work right in the bed of the Ranger, so I put in a call to a cousin for their 14 yr old to come by with his tractor, and granddaughter will get in the bucket to finish the high spots.
 
That's a lot of water, Terri!

Patchouli said:
what are your favorite beans for adding to your chili?
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I add whatever I have at the time. This time was a #10 can of pinto beans and 2 larger cans of refried beans (for texture). I made a lot of chili!

dademoss said:
Weird day. Tonight I lift a glass to my youngest brother, who passed during the the night.
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I'm sorry about your little brother, dademoss!

Walked first this morning and walked dogs.
Helped DH with putting up clothesline.
Raked leaves out of gutter in front of house.
Dug up one last dead rose bush.
Killed ants.
Visited a friend.
Made sugar free pudding.
Thawing hamburger to make meatloaf tomorrow.
Still need to sweep house.
That's enough!
 
I finished up the raised bed with the paw paw trees. I had just put in some fence posts in the corners when my brother called to inform me we have to replace the dryer ain the rental property. He found the model we needed but it is only in stock at a Lowes an hour away.

I ordered it for pickup and after a phone got the vet discount. My brother pick it up and installed tomorrow morning. That let me get back to putting a chicken wire fence up around the paw paw trees. Bambi has taught me I cant trust them even for one night.

While I was measuring and cutting the fence a neighbor showed up early to talk to The Princess. The neighbor was my mother's best friend and is a Japanese American and doesn't do english very well. She suspects she is being scammed and double billed for insurance on her sewage line.

So I let her watch as I buttoned up the fencing and give The Princess time to finish up work for the week. The two of them are downstairs in the office now. The Princess is very sharp when it comes to administration stuff.

Not quite sure what I am up to to tomorrow aside from taking the granddaughters to the VFD fair in the next town over.

Take care

Ben
 
Last 2 weeks I've had a project added that is due bu end of September. Got another one this week. Gotta figure out a remote camera system to allow viewing from off site of 30 some aquariums. Most of these are 30-50' long and 4-6' wide. Should be fun.
Had to do our annual Local Emergency Squad training for our building today. Got a good group that helps me with the squad. Boss also sent out a request for what training or equipment we forsee needing for the next FY. Since we've had some solar power projects over the last 3-5 years, 1 more coming up soon, I requested getting some training for solar design. I'm sure it'll help me at work, but I think it'll help me even more in designing something for us here at home.
 
Today, after work I harvested what ripe tomatoes we had and then cleaned and ran them through the Victerio Strainer and now the juice/pulp is cooking down on the stove, we will be canning it tomorrow. I only ended up with 4 gallons of juice, so I expect to end up with 2 gallons of sauce. We are transitioning to only canning pints because, being empty nesters we just don't use as much as we used to.....
 
UrbanHunter said:
Today, after work I harvested what ripe tomatoes we had and then cleaned and ran them through the Victerio Strainer and now the juice/pulp is cooking down on the stove, we will be canning it tomorrow. I only ended up with 4 gallons of juice, so I expect to end up with 2 gallons of sauce. We are transitioning to only canning pints because, being empty nesters we just don't use as much as we used to.....
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I love the V strainers.
 
Well it's Saturday morning. The tomato juice is cooked down (I cooked it over night, stirring every 20 minutes). All the dishes from last night are done and put away. I did a couple loads of laundry when I would get up to stir.

This morning I need to run errands, but the stores open at 06:00, so it should go smooth. I plan to go to H-depot to get a couple of fittings, I am adding a fertilizer/insecticide distribution port to my rain-barrel drip system just before the pump.

I expect that by mid-day I will be pooped, but I still need to finish mowing the lawn and making a pile for next week's trash hauling day (I don't actually load the truck till the day of, just in case I need to haul something between now and then).

Side note my son got me an Alexa and some type of music account, I asked her to play music from the 1970's last night and that is how I kept time to do the stirring, it was nice, I heard a lot of songs that I forgot all about, spending a full night in that half awake half asleep mode may not have been the wisest choice for an Old Man, but hey, the wife says that I'm just a little boy who never grew up (as I played with match box cars on her wedding-ring quilt).... Mom and dad had one till I was about 8 and I just couldn't resist.....

FYI - Now that all of the curtains, the pillow shams, and the quilt are all coordinated the Master Bedroom looks very pleasant. I should have taken a picture of my dear wife working at the sewing machine, with her oxygen mask on and IV bag at her side.

Yep, that is what you call a trooper, the Doctors say you won't last long, so you go out a start redecorating........
The load of laundry I did last night was for the new project, new shower curtains and window treatments for the Master Bathroom... Yep, she has moved on to another room :)
 
Small odd jobs around the house today while waiting on the call from a sister. Sister will not know what time today until Hospice calls her. It's getting to the point that my sister (who's the primary caregiver) and the two ladies we have hired (secondary caregivers) can no longer handle mom's needs. Meeting with Hospice today to plan for mom's future care.
 
Walked first this morning.
Helped DH with clothesline--now he just needs to tie up the lines.
Cooked bell peppers, onions, turkey sausage and eggs for breakfasts.
Made 3 meatloafs- 1 loaf pan, 1 9X9 pan and one 9X13. Froze two of them and will cook the 9X9 today.
I may do some eBay drafts later.
 
The canning jars are about to come out of the washing machine, then I will can a couple batches of pints in the steamer.

When I ran the errands this morning I was able to get some canned grapefruit (I like it as a snack instead of a heavy lunch, but it has been hard to find), they had 1 can short of a flat, so I got 11. Yesterday when the wife and I were talking about the upcoming wheat issues, she suggested that I pick up some pasta, they had a limited selection but I got a start at it. So my next visit to the "good store" will include some pasta along with the fresh fruit.

While I was waiting around doing nothing I decided to change the oil on both cars (one is smart and she has been talking to me), as I was enjoying my CAR time, the question hit me, am I the only one who still fills the oil filter and lubes the gasket before installing the new filter? Then again I have to wonder how many people still change their own oil.....

I know when I re-did the engine in my old truck a couple of winters ago, some young guys from church stopped by (It was Pre-Covid and their wives were visiting mine so they were just along for the ride). They were totally floored that I (an old guy) could pull an engine out, rebuild it, then reinstall it, and get it running, all by myself using just hand tools and a hoist.

Well, I'm all cooled off, my soda is about dry, and I'll bet the washing machine is done with the Jars, so I guess I will try my luck at Canning, then I can mow the lawn.

I bet I sleep well tonight.....
 
We have another heat wave going on and it didn't cool off last night, so my morning house painting was limited till noon. Did my normal picking buckets of veg from the garden, emptied the dehydrators, filled them up again. A raccoon got to 2 of my meat chickens last night, reached in and grabbed one and beheaded it, left the body. The other one was beheaded and the leg pulled out of the chain link. It ate the leg and thigh, left the lovely foot and bones on the floor. So had to reinforce with smaller wiring the whole bottom three feet of the cage. It's a 5 x 5' chain link. I'm sure the monster raccoon will be back tonight for more.
Starting some cooking for tomorrows picnic at the lake, and also the potato salad I need to bring to my favorite cousin's tomorrow night for dinner.
 
Trying to finish cleaning my shop.Don't know why, I have nothing to build out there. Repaired furniture at one time, but have not had any for a couple years. Wood is too high to build anything. I do have one rocking chair that I made that is almost done. It has been sitting there for a couple years
 
The Princess insisted I put away all of the wile garlic etc but afterwards I got at the unraveling of the morning glories from the young sugar maple trees. Anyone that didn't know there trees in that bed they would never have known. Tedious work but I got it done.

Then we met up with granddaughters for an at the VFD fair. The girls have a talent for chosing the next ride always being at the other end of the place. To finish the night I rode one of those dizzying rides with the youngest. I am good for another 10 years before I do that again.

Ben
 
Wife wasn't up to a road trip last Saturday, but has felt better this week. So today we drove up to our favorite Amish store called Troyer's. Much like the Yoder's store several miles away. Anyway we stocked up on butter, but did notice the 2lb roll's we usually get were sold out, so we got a bunch of 1lb rolls instead. They were also way over half of bread, and other things. They usually are way over stocked. BUt we got all we went for. We always get a hand made sandwich when we go. So good and any toppings you would want.
All in all a VERY NICE DAY
Thank you Lord
 
Lucky you have Troyer's, Bacpacker. We have Kansas Station and husband's favorite cheese is Troyer's Natural Swiss. I was just in there getting two lbs of it, and a couple of pounds of Amish Butter Cheese. They make great sandwiches, too. Super stacked on homemade bread. Pick a meat, a cheese, and they slice it right there. Then add the vegetables and dressings. A great buy at $3.99. I can hardly eat a whole one. I haven't noticed any shortages there, but I did notice shortages and prices went up at the salvage store (Yoder Discount). Almost looked like she didn't have a truck come in.
 
Sounds like the same sandiwiches we had. I forgot to mention we ordered sourdough, it was out too. Still a good sammys though.
That was the first time we had saw anything short or out in there. Kinda surprised me I guess.
Downside is those stores are close to 100 miles from us, so we don't go there very often. Sure stock up and enjoy them when we do.
 
I pulled a giant mountain of weeds this evening. Can you see that peak off in the horizon? Yep that's the top of the pile of weeds! Since we had the horrible "heat dome" for the past month, I didn't get any flowers planted when I usually would have so went today and got some. The good news is that they were mostly discounted because it's so late. Got most of them planted but have more to do tomorrow. We (Hubby) might go fishing tomorrow which is fun because he fishes and I stitch on the bank. It's supposed to be hot (100*) tomorrow so it will be a little cooler up there.
 
Smokey looking skies this week. Didn't realize it was so bad until I took a cruise to the west early this evening. The sky was white around the sun and coming down from a slight elevation could see the pollution across the road and in the distant hills.
Getting one of the kids ready for heading off to college in the fall. Trying to keep moving ahead in spite of all the bad news in the world.
 
Sorry to read about your brother Dade… just catching up on reading tonight. Death has been on my mind the last couple of days. There was a kid, lets call him “W”. In the mornings he was the first kid on the school bus, I was the next stop, we had a long 1.5hr ride.

I knew this kid and most of his drunken family my whole life. This kid got every bad break there was in life… even new ones that happened to come along. His skin was even a birth defect. He had weird white splotches of skin on his arms/face. He was always sick with a cold/flu or something… He also had a badly crippled arm, had lost the ability to hold anything in that hand. He was left back in school a couple times because of grades, not the sharpest guy around. He was the youngest of about 15 kids, his dad was a moonshiner and part time drunk. Or was that a drunk and part time moonshiner? The rest of the older brothers were assistants.

It was the local rumor that his dad was the reason for the badly crippled arm and a bad burn scar down his leg… I never asked and he didn’t say.

The way W was treated by school kids was almost worse than his family treated him, and they treated him horribly. Once I got a little bigger, his treatment by kids at school improved. I always took up for him.

After school he could never keep a regular job, had one arm and was always sick, never had money for a reliable vehicle. Several years later an older brother passed away and left him an old pickup.

Through all this he was the most unfailingly kind person I've ever known. He always had a smile on his face. Usually he was kind to others in ways they didn’t even notice, no matter how they treated him.

In the years I lived away from Alabama I’d always make a point to stop and say hello when I was back home for a visit. I took him fishing a few times.

15yrs went by, I was living in CA when I heard he had died, something about bone cancer. A couple months had already passed before I heard the news so missed the funeral…

Fast forward, 2 days ago I dove by the spot where a shack once stood. The old wooden shack where that W once lived. He was po’ white trash before there were trailer parks.

I realized I didn’t even know where W was buried. I didn’t even know who to ask… all his younger family members had moved away long ago.

Guess who I saw while sitting at the drive-in this evening? W’s oldest nephew! He recognized me, I had to ask who he was. We chatted a couple of minutes then I asked him where W was buried. I’m going to stop by the grave the next time I down that way… somehow I find the idea comforting, something long over due..
 
Because you're a good person, @Peanut
I'm sorry about your friend's lifetime of misfortunes. Amazing what would appear to be his neverending gratitude or acceptance. Thank God he has a spot dedicated to him. May he always rest in peace.
God bless you and all who are kind to all the weary and broken souls.
 
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