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About 25 years ago, we had a house fire, and due to some insurance stupidity ended up having to re-furnish our entire house for $14K. We ended up getting most of our furniture secondhand or from Ikea. I swear their Ektorp sofas and chairs last forever. Heavy duty denim or corduroy slipcovers last for decades and are easily replaceable if your children light them on fire or your pets give birth on them. I had to go in and reinforce the springs on the sofa a couple years back, but they are pretty much good as new 25 years later. I'm super sad they discontinued them - now replacement slipcovers are $250 instead of $50 and aren't even close to as durable as the original. In the late 90s we got (all new) a sofa, 2 armchairs, and replacement covers for each for less than $1K. Over the years we've gotten (all secondhand) sectional for $200, another couch for $75 and an ottoman for $20.
 
Spikedriver said:
@TeeJ I looked all over at secondhand stuff, there wasn't anything worth squat out there. All the chairs were either used up or hideous, 1980s style stuff from an estate sale. Seems like I could find good tables and TV consoles, but no chairs or sofas.
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I believe it, we've been looking for secondhand stuff for a she-shed for my wife and there's nothing decent out there. I'm sure it's just like cars, when new stuff gets expensive or in short supply, used goes quickly and goes up in price as well.
 
Been doing some testing with my incubator, and as I suspected the humidity detection was way off. The incubator registered 44-49% humidity, when the other sensors went from 21-65%... I'm hoping with better humidity control, I'll have a better hatch. Just put 48 quail eggs and 9 chicken in the incubator. We'll see how it goes!

Since I've been saving eggs for hatching, we got our 1st store-bought ones in years. It's crazy how pale and tasteless they are. Makes me appreciate my poultry all that much more!
 
Taking a break I decided to check on 2 things, what news is being reported on the water shortages in the US West and food shortages to come.

First there is no new news about the water issues, they have crossed the line in the sand for the tier II restrictions but no one is talking about it. I think when they were warning people about it, they were hoping it would just go away, but now that it is clear that the water levels are going to just keep dropping it's like "we can't talk about it right now".

On the food shortage front there is very little out there, there may be 3 or 4 articles but they are looking at global projections and shortages for 3rd world countries saying the world governments need to take action to help them:

I also read this on an Iheart news post, it was also covered by the INSIDER 2 days ago: World Has 10-Week Supply Of Wheat Remaining: 'This Is Seismic,' Expert Says

NPR reported: The U.N. estimates that in the past year, global food prices have risen by almost one third, fertilizer by more than half and oil prices by almost two thirds. According to U.N. figures, the number of severely food-insecure people has doubled in the past two years, from 135 million pre-pandemic to 276 million today. Now, more than half a million people are experiencing famine conditions, according to the U.N., an increase of more than 500% since 2016.


My gut is saying that things get quiet just before they get really ugly and right now I hear the crickets chirping........
 
For years I have been dumbfounded when a blizzard or hurricane is approaching and the news reports stores are empty and people can't find food or water. These things happen every year. If you live in a hurricane prone area by the end of spring you should not only have a supply of non-perishable food and water, but you should have a supply of good, exterior grade plywood. You are gonna need the plywood to cover windows every year so buy the good stuff BEFORE the demand and inevitable price increase, paint it with an excellent exterior oil based paint or coat it with a top notch oil based urethane finish, and keep it set aside for year after year. Don't buy OSB, buy exterior plywood. For a blizzard, it is not hard to get by for a week without electricity, it sucks but it isn't deadly. Close all interior doors and set up the couch or move your beds to the living room/kitchen area. Have candles, they are cheap and "cozy" and for the other 11 months of the year many people like burning the darn candles just for fun. That same candle can be used to warm up a can of beef stew or spaghetti-O's or whatever you like to eat. The Mylar bags they pack chips and cookies in, they will keep them fresh for many months and you can have your comfort foods during your time of crisis.
But, NO! People wont do this hoping they wont have to deal with another impending storm.

The sad thing is very few people actually make an effort to prepare. I know we are here and most of us prepare at least a little, what we can afford. I am not perfect in the prepping world. I have my gaps and sadly I am complacent on water thinking our community water district will remain functioning through whatever life sends us, but i also know I have water filters and jerry cans so I can go to the river and get water in a dire emergency. It's only a 3 mile hike each way and I have wagons or a wheelbarrow if there is no fuel to allow me to drive.

And, lastly, I am as sick and tired as my father was 50 years ago about hearing how the USA is "helping" other countries when Americans here on American soil need help. I don't wish others harm but to H-E-double-hockey-sticks to all the 3rd world countries who refuse to read books and make their own improvements. In less than 250 years our country went from primitive life to the so called leader of the free world. These other countries have been around for thousands of years and are still eating mud and drinking slime.

OK, sorry about the rant. As for the water crisis, I still have family and friends in Las Vegas who are "confident" that the water issue will be fine because they think the millionaires that built and own the casinos thought ahead and "knew" the water would be always available or they would not have kept building huge hotel/casino after huge hotel/casino in Las Vegas. Those millionaires don't give a damn about the water, they just want to rake in the millions of dollars each day from the dumbazz tourists who are willing to lose their money for fun.
 
But, as for me, this is night 2 in a row of not being able to sleep. I am tired, I want to be sleeping, but it aint happening. After 4 hours of trying I came out to the computer. I am rather tired of not being able to sleep. Decided tonight that I understand how people get hooked on sleeping meds or opioids. When I was using the sleeping meds I had great sleep every night, but they are only recommended for 2 weeks or you could become addicted. Not just for sleep, but opioid addiction is akin to heroin, both are opioids. Nasty stuff to overcome. I am not addicted, and I wont go that route, but I am not sleeping because the only other thing that works is several drinks of strong alcohol and after several nights that makes me feel lousy for a few days. Maybe I should do like in the old movies, hit myself on the head with a big hammer so I can get some sleep.
 
Well Good Morning @INresponse! I hope you are able to sleep, but I bet it won't be until everyone else starts getting up to go to work!

Yesterday I worked inside and out from sun up till about 8PM I sat in a chair and relaxed to sleep... I did go to bed and slept hard was dreaming when I woke up and realized I had 5 minutes to get on my call... I set the alarm for 2:30 PM instead of AM.. but I woke up in time... just keep the camera off!!! :)
 
Had another carpet cleaning job scheduled today, but it's fixin' to storm! Moved it to Saturday. Now have four carpet jobs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday! I really like doing those. Will have the tile scrubber as well for two of those jobs! So I'm home today, doing some laundry and getting ready to make brunch. Hubby is home too because of the rain! I see a nap happing later!!🙂
 
Still packing up stuff to move. Hubby is packing up the shop stuff today.
I got all my clothes packed up for storage, except one box I'll take to the RV.
Next up is the pantry and all the food. Really hate moving and hoping this is the very last time. All preps on hold for a bit until we can get everything moved up and the root cellar dug.
Kitchen is mostly packed and I have a car full of stuff to bring up with me tomorrow. I have to go get a mailbox and pick up the key for the storage space tomorrow, then 6 days of work.
Back is finally feeling better. Took some MSM on recommendation of my younger brother who has a lot of injuries from doing manual labor his whole life, and boy if that didn't help, thank goodness.
 
DrJenner said:
Still packing up stuff to move. Hubby is packing up the shop stuff today.
I got all my clothes packed up for storage, except one box I'll take to the RV.
Next up is the pantry and all the food. Really hate moving and hoping this is the very last time. All preps on hold for a bit until we can get everything moved up and the root cellar dug.
Kitchen is mostly packed and I have a car full of stuff to bring up with me tomorrow. I have to go get a mailbox and pick up the key for the storage space tomorrow, then 6 days of work.
Back is finally feeling better. Took some MSM on recommendation of my younger brother who has a lot of injuries from doing manual labor his whole life, and boy if that didn't help, thank goodness.
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My back hurts just thinking about ya'll having to move!!
 
Pearl said:
My back hurts just thinking about ya'll having to move!!
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Moving is the absolute worst!
But we are definitely looking forward to being out on the property. It's still too wet to get our RV out there, but hopefully by July or August. Not sure how long I can stand being in the RV park with so many people close by. haha
 
Set the trash out for pickup.
Online miscellaneous work.
Tumble clean last weekend's brass
Made B&J for lunch.
Drove to range to familiarize and break in a new acquisition.
Remembered I i'll have to fix my own supper too, stopped on the way home for a small pizza.
Reread the agenda for tonight's meeting.
Pittle around on Al Bore's Internet.
Wheel the trash container back to the house.
 
Finished more shelves in the pantry, shelving is done, now to build a large spice rack on one wall and some baskets on the skinny space for taters, onions, garlic etc. The wife thinks I'm crazy for wanting a giant spice rack on the wall, lol. I said it's simple, you take a plastic container into the pantry, load up what spices you need for said recipe, use them and put them back. Makes sense to me, lol. "Everything" will be in one place, and that will free up quite a bit of space in one kitchen cupboard (which we are limited on) for something else.

On to gathering what we need for 2 more LT storage buckets, these buckets and Mylar bags is working out well, since we have a smaller kitchen and pantry it's easier to store elsewhere, and is packaged to last 20 to 30 years..............................I hope :)
 
DrJenner said:
Moving is the absolute worst!
But we are definitely looking forward to being out on the property. It's still too wet to get our RV out there, but hopefully by July or August. Not sure how long I can stand being in the RV park with so many people close by. haha
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We own and it's paid for, but I always say, if I EVER have to move I'm going with the clothes on my back!! In our younger years of renting we always moved by ourselves, I don't know how I lived through it!! 😁
 
Our last move was a total pain in the butt. I don't anticipate moving any more. Pods were the only way I could do it with kid help. We managed. It's been two years and we can finally walk around and see that we've made a difference here. It's good.
Today is a mudball mess. Been raining all night and day. Dogs are in the milkhouse, and they hate the rain, but it's time to go out and give them a potty break. The guineas really don't care about the rain. They have barns to go into, but they are not bothered at all. Running around looking like drowned rats. They are funny.
Went into the bigger town for little granddaughter's dermatology appt. She has a stubborn wart. They used dry ice a few months ago, didn't do anything. Today they used beetle juice. Interesting stuff. Then filled a cart at Aldi. Still have the dry goods to repackage and put away.
 
Your granddaughter won't want you listening to me. Use a pair of plier type toenail clippers and cut it out. It's no worse than a needle jab. Wait a day for the bleeding to stop then apply wart remover to kill the root. When surface treatments don't work, its because they don't get to the root.
 
UrbanHunter said:
Taking a break I decided to check on 2 things, what news is being reported on the water shortages in the US West and food shortages to come.

First there is no new news about the water issues, they have crossed the line in the sand for the tier II restrictions but no one is talking about it. I think when they were warning people about it, they were hoping it would just go away, but now that it is clear that the water levels are going to just keep dropping it's like "we can't talk about it right now".

On the food shortage front there is very little out there, there may be 3 or 4 articles but they are looking at global projections and shortages for 3rd world countries saying the world governments need to take action to help them:

I also read this on an Iheart news post, it was also covered by the INSIDER 2 days ago: World Has 10-Week Supply Of Wheat Remaining: 'This Is Seismic,' Expert Says

NPR reported: The U.N. estimates that in the past year, global food prices have risen by almost one third, fertilizer by more than half and oil prices by almost two thirds. According to U.N. figures, the number of severely food-insecure people has doubled in the past two years, from 135 million pre-pandemic to 276 million today. Now, more than half a million people are experiencing famine conditions, according to the U.N., an increase of more than 500% since 2016.


My gut is saying that things get quiet just before they get really ugly and right now I hear the crickets chirping........
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They aren't mentioning it because they don't have a profitable solution for it yet. You do still have your rain collection tanks all set up don't you? Also, the wheat crop here is looking stellar! Harvest usually begins July 5th.
Amish Heart said:
Our last move was a total pain in the butt. I don't anticipate moving any more. Pods were the only way I could do it with kid help. We managed. It's been two years and we can finally walk around and see that we've made a difference here. It's good.
Today is a mudball mess. Been raining all night and day. Dogs are in the milkhouse, and they hate the rain, but it's time to go out and give them a potty break. The guineas really don't care about the rain. They have barns to go into, but they are not bothered at all. Running around looking like drowned rats. They are funny.
Went into the bigger town for little granddaughter's dermatology appt. She has a stubborn wart. They used dry ice a few months ago, didn't do anything. Today they used beetle juice. Interesting stuff. Then filled a cart at Aldi. Still have the dry goods to repackage and put away.
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Unless it's changed, silver duct tape used to get rid of warts. Just keep it covered w/ duct tape. Or doc. ;)
 
LadyLocust said:
They aren't mentioning it because they don't have a profitable solution for it yet. You do still have your rain collection tanks all set up don't you? Also, the wheat crop here is looking stellar! Harvest usually begins July 5th.

Unless it's changed, silver duct tape used to get rid of warts. Just keep it covered w/ duct tape. Or doc. ;)
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Wonder if other colors are ok to use, there are so many now!?
 
Wonderful day for weed whacking on The Ridge. Lot of wild flowers in bloom.

20220524_131619.jpg

We planted maybe 20 lbs of wild flower mix last fall in an area we cleared. See this image.

20220524_131705.jpg


That area is the planned Chinese chestnut grove.

Surprised a few wild turkeys and I caught an image of 2 if them in front of the compost pile.

20220524_131918.jpg


Before whacking

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After whacking.

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Potatoes are up.

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Pumpkins and sunflowers are up.

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The broccoli in the cage are doing fine and unmolested.

20220524_160224_HDR.jpg


I will get up there to weed but that will have to wait a few days.

Tomorrow I will be working on the basement office to clean up the networking gear and install a new UPS. Not as much fun as weeding but The Princess wants it done while she is not working down there.

Behave!

Ben
 

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The garden looks good, Ben.

Lazyboy makes good furniture (or at least from what I remember they did). Dad had one with a landline phone in one arm and a cooler in the other. Worked great for years. One day though, the cooler got super hot inside and melted everything in it. It was a nice chair but lost its comfort over the years. I like the deep couches. I just use pillows behind if they are too deep. I also like taller couches. We had a really great couch my mom got that had steel reinforcement to be sturdy. My brother (who weighed over 350lbs at the time) decided to do a running jump and slam down onto it. RIP couch. The reason she had gotten the sturdy couch like that was bc he kept breaking chairs and couches.

Tossed and turned all night bc of the heat. This morning I called the original AC guy (backup guy is still in jail). No response so a few hours later my friend sent me the name of another guy who does AC. Called and he said he could send someone out tomorrow. Then Mom said someone called and said they were coming out today. Turns out it was the original people. As I suspected, fan motor was bad. They replaced it, I gave one of them an otter pop, they tested freon levels (good fortunately), I paid them, got a receipt and they told me fan motor has 1yr warranty. It really started pouring rain on them partway through the job. I let them have a $15tip (bc I didn't have change) since they got rained on and one guy got grabbed by blackberry vines. The guy who accepted an otter pop (basically flavored ice in plastic) commented on the blackberries. It told him he was welcome to pick them if he wanted any. I got drenched standing out in the rain but it felt good to cool off. AC is now starting to cool things. Pups are inside because the rain scares them. I messaged the other AC people to let them know we won't be needing them.
 
Before the fire season starts I'm considering dropping a bunch of trees, I've got to do it soon because we're getting some really warm days coming up, it's crazy how fast things change at this time of year, not to mention how fast we are ripping through this year already without getting things done that I want to do, I've heard it said that this is what happens as we get older, even sitting down on a stump doesn't slow things down, ends up feeling that I just wasted time. Getting older is not for people afraid to meet reality, however it is nice to have younger people around that step up to the plate and help us out and that its where God has really helped us, it's just hard to sit by and watch them do the work we think we should be doing. By the way, those trees that get dropped, they'll be firewood for next year, so it's all good.
 
zannej said:
The garden looks good, Ben.

Lazyboy makes good furniture (or at least from what I remember they did). Dad had one with a landline phone in one arm and a cooler in the other. Worked great for years. One day though, the cooler got super hot inside and melted everything in it. It was a nice chair but lost its comfort over the years. I like the deep couches. I just use pillows behind if they are too deep. I also like taller couches. We had a really great couch my mom got that had steel reinforcement to be sturdy. My brother (who weighed over 350lbs at the time) decided to do a running jump and slam down onto it. RIP couch. The reason she had gotten the sturdy couch like that was bc he kept breaking chairs and couches.

Tossed and turned all night bc of the heat. This morning I called the original AC guy (backup guy is still in jail). No response so a few hours later my friend sent me the name of another guy who does AC. Called and he said he could send someone out tomorrow. Then Mom said someone called and said they were coming out today. Turns out it was the original people. As I suspected, fan motor was bad. They replaced it, I gave one of them an otter pop, they tested freon levels (good fortunately), I paid them, got a receipt and they told me fan motor has 1yr warranty. It really started pouring rain on them partway through the job. I let them have a $15tip (bc I didn't have change) since they got rained on and one guy got grabbed by blackberry vines. The guy who accepted an otter pop (basically flavored ice in plastic) commented on the blackberries. It told him he was welcome to pick them if he wanted any. I got drenched standing out in the rain but it felt good to cool off. AC is now starting to cool things. Pups are inside because the rain scares them. I messaged the other AC people to let them know we won't be needing them.
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Glad you got that fixed Z. Maybe you can get some sleep 😴
 
Went to the barn this morning and found a dead lamb :( Just last night he sucked down a bottle of milk replacer and was just fine. Absolutely no idea what killed him so we actually took him to the vet school to see if they can figure it out. So while there we toured son's university and it's actually a huge and really nice looking place, especially compared to the one we went to in Florida .
We did have 4 inches of rain so the river was right up to the road, some areas are flooded but we had no problem getting to where we wanted

Had gyros for lunch and then I got some macrons at a bakery . I need to try and bake those they were really good.
Went to the Asian store and got some things
Weeds are bigger than my plants in the garden now
 
It's been raining so hard in the last fews days that the last lot of Roundup I put down is not quite winning the battle against the grass.
So I decided to mix up another couple of batches of blackberry strength Round Up and hit it again now that the sun has come out.
Funny isn't it that when you're mixing chemicals - in this case 4 20 mls into 2 ltrs of water....how you can forget just how many measures you've already put into the container??!!
Now..I've put in 3...snap..no was it 2? How hard can it be to remember.
Apparently it's hard.
I put in an extra one to be sure.
I'm expecting a lot of dead grass.
 
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