What's everybody doing today?

Homesteading & Country Living Forum

Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Got a call late last night from my friend's gf on another friend's phone. Mom initially refused to pick up bc she *HATES* the guy that she thought was calling-- he's my brother's friend. Not sure why my brother is still friends with him considering the guy stole the headlights, tail lights, and LED bulbs out of my brother's old truck. But anyway, turns out the good friend's internet was out, phone wasn't working & he'd apparently had blood vessels rupture in his face near his left eye that blew out the vision in his left eye. Paramedics attended to him & his blood pressure was very low, but it's possible it had a spike. They told him it wasn't life threatening but to seek medical attention. He checked to find all the decent ERs are full up right now (local one is not decent so it's not an option -they don't even have an MRI machine- one has to be brought in some sort of trailer on Wednesdays). He said his left eye is like looking through frosted glass & he has no peripheral vision. On top of that, the blinkers in his truck went out, the power steering in his little car went out (he needs a rack & pinion) & he couldn't find his truck keys. So, his usual sort of luck. My brother went over last night to sit with him & to take him to the hospital if he got worse. He's still over there hanging out.

Meanwhile in the good news, my good neighbor (well, he lives a few miles away) is over here with his nephew bush-hogging, cutting weeds (getting those damn blackberry bushes), cutting up fallen trees, picking up trash that got thrown around by the storm, & burning trash.

My yard looks so much nicer. He's been bringing us hay and bush-hogging ever since we sold him the tractor (for about half price) and gave him a bunch of accessories for it (probably a few thousand $ worth) as we weren't using them. None of us can be out in the heat so the tractor was collecting dust. We thought it was in worse shape. Anyway, I gave him some money this time. He refused at first so I told him to consider it a Christmas gift. He got a little choked up. He's such a sweet man.
 
Last edited:
Was expecting to not get much done today, but then my 04:00 charlie horse came by to make sure I was up and moving. Was able to do the prep work for my volunteer assignment by 05:30. Did 2 loads of laundry. Cleaned and lubed the 22 rifle that was given to me a couple of weeks ago. Helped the wife get her bath. I got all but 1 of my garden containers emptied, sifted 100 gallons of soil and blended it with yard cuttings to compost over the winter. I checked on my raised beds with the tops at 13:00, the outside temperature is 65 and overcast, inside the boxes it was 95 like a sona, I opened them up for a while to let them breath... I dug out a few old window type containers that I plan to grow a couple of root type veggies in. Now, it's time for me to shower and put on Sunday Clothes to go do the volunteer work.
 
I've heard of theraworx but never tried it. I get charlie horses from time to time. I think my brother gets them more often. I know both of us need to improve our diets. I need to eat more veggies. At the Chinese place they have seasoned long beans. I loaded up my take-out box with them. Unfortunately, they were cooked with onions & the juice from the onions gave my stomach hell, but I think the nutrients from the long beans & the flavor were worth it. Just wish I didn't have a problem with onions. My friend said he wants to go there. If he can get an eye doctor appointment on Monday I can take him to the Chinese place after the eye appointment. Hoping he can see my Mom's eye doctor.
Speaking of Mom, she's paging me now.
 
I went for a bike ride and fell and hubby had to help me up thought I broke something went straight backwards darn acorns or ballance but I thought I had good balance since I exercise. I don't think anything is broke but be sore tomorrow. Hubbt told me not to go,but I made about 1/4 mile whch is nothing but cme back to get hard headed dog from woods and saw vine hanging and pointed up and flew baackwards .Hubby ran a helped me up said I told you not to ride. Said I couldn't see ,but I can see good enough to ride called me Mrs,Magoo, I has just got my second wind then hard fall knocked it back out of me.
 
Meerkat said:
I went for a bike ride and fell and hubby had to help me up thought I broke something went straight backwards darn acorns or ballance but I thought I had good balance since I exercise. I don't think anything is broke but be sore tomorrow. Hubbt told me not to go,but I made about 1/4 mile whch is nothing but cme back to get hard headed dog from woods and saw vine hanging and pointed up and flew baackwards .Hubby ran a helped me up said I told you not to ride. Said I couldn't see ,but I can see good enough to ride called me Mrs,Magoo, I has just got my second wind then hard fall knocked it back out of me.
Click to expand...

We don't bounce like we did years ago..huh.

Jim
 
Meerkat, sorry you fell. I have never had good enough balance to ride a bike. I had one with training wheels but later on when I tried to ride ones without I couldn't stay upright. Just couldn't balance. Hope nothing is broken. Put some ice on the sore areas for inflammation.
The beach is overrated. LOL. I lived on a tropical island with beaches all around sand. So much sand. It was ok when I was a kid, but when I got older I didn't like sand. We would walk along Tanguisson beach (no getting in the water bc it was listed as toxic/contaminated by the military) and then hike into the woods a little to Lost Pond. There was a freshwater pond with a rope swing in a shaded area. Much more fun than the beach.

Heard from my friend. His grandfather doesn't know his new phone number so he has a little peace and quiet from the phone (which is working again but is spotty) but the old man is still rolling up and laying on the horn at all hours of the day & night. They have been completely ignoring him. His fiance is on her meds, got some therapy last week (emotional/mental) & is doing much better. She's being much more supportive of him & taking care of the baby better. The girl they took in has been cleaning & helping out & thus far there has been no drama with her or her 1-yr old. The baby is FAT. He apparently wants to eat all the time & my brother was joking that when he gets of formula they will need to bring in food by the truckload to satisfy his appetite. My friend has a voracious appetite too, but his metabolism is such that he burns off all the calories & stays skinny.

I'll have to take pictures of my yard later on- it looks so much better with stuff cleaned up. While I was out talking to my neighbor, one of my cats kept walking up within a few feet of me, flopping on her side, and then dragging/sliding herself across the ground over to my feet. I wish I'd been filming it bc it was funny. The dogs went out to see the guy & his nephew & didn't bark at them. The cows came over to see them & chased the tractor. I wonder if the cow remembers it was our tractor. No telling what she's thinking though-- probably "foooood". One of my kitties is still missing but I'm hoping she'll turn up OK. I've been calling her & she usually comes out after awhile but she hasn't and she hasn't been coming in at night.
 
zannej said:
Meerkat, sorry you fell. I have never had good enough balance to ride a bike. I had one with training wheels but later on when I tried to ride ones without I couldn't stay upright. Just couldn't balance. Hope nothing is broken. Put some ice on the sore areas for inflammation.
The beach is overrated. LOL. I lived on a tropical island with beaches all around sand. So much sand. It was ok when I was a kid, but when I got older I didn't like sand. We would walk along Tanguisson beach (no getting in the water bc it was listed as toxic/contaminated by the military) and then hike into the woods a little to Lost Pond. There was a freshwater pond with a rope swing in a shaded area. Much more fun than the beach.

Heard from my friend. His grandfather doesn't know his new phone number so he has a little peace and quiet from the phone (which is working again but is spotty) but the old man is still rolling up and laying on the horn at all hours of the day & night. They have been completely ignoring him. His fiance is on her meds, got some therapy last week (emotional/mental) & is doing much better. She's being much more supportive of him & taking care of the baby better. The girl they took in has been cleaning & helping out & thus far there has been no drama with her or her 1-yr old. The baby is FAT. He apparently wants to eat all the time & my brother was joking that when he gets of formula they will need to bring in food by the truckload to satisfy his appetite. My friend has a voracious appetite too, but his metabolism is such that he burns off all the calories & stays skinny.

I'll have to take pictures of my yard later on- it looks so much better with stuff cleaned up. While I was out talking to my neighbor, one of my cats kept walking up within a few feet of me, flopping on her side, and then dragging/sliding herself across the ground over to my feet. I wish I'd been filming it bc it was funny. The dogs went out to see the guy & his nephew & didn't bark at them. The cows came over to see them & chased the tractor. I wonder if the cow remembers it was our tractor. No telling what she's thinking though-- probably "foooood". One of my kitties is still missing but I'm hoping she'll turn up OK. I've been calling her & she usually comes out after awhile but she hasn't and she hasn't been coming in at night.
Click to expand...
Thank you Zanne and I could picture that ct rolling on it side. I love cats bur allergic to them for past `1 years now. Not good to gain too much weight as a child it stays with you for life sometimes.
 
We've been haing high temps here and I lost 2 guinea pigs to heat stress.

I also had a maiden sow give birth prematurely and abandon the young.
The male didn't make it but the little female is fighter.
I had to take the afterbirth off her face and trim the cord and dry her off.
She couldn't stand at all and she was twisted.
I was going to put her down and I didn't have anything to feed a tiny little guinea pig that was about the size of a mouse.
I mixed up some skim milk powder on a teaspoon and I could have fallen over backwards when she started drinking off the end of it like a champ.
With such a strong will to live I wasn't going to put her down and she deserved a name.
I called her Dobby from the "not quite right" house elf from Harry Potter.
It's been 3 days and she can now run properly and BOY is she LOUD.
You would be forgiven for thinking that premature mammal offspring would have weak under developed lungs.
Dobby is on 1 to 2 hourly feeds and boy howdy does she YELL to let you know she's hungry.
Yeah, that means getting up at night to feed the tiny noise machine.

ATM she's in a box next to me yelling because obviously it's feed time again.
 
Tank-Girl said:
We've been haing high temps here and I lost 2 guinea pigs to heat stress.

I also had a maiden sow give birth prematurely and abandon the young.
The male didn't make it but the little female is fighter.
I had to take the afterbirth off her face and trim the cord and dry her off.
She couldn't stand at all and she was twisted.
I was going to put her down and I didn't have anything to feed a tiny little guinea pig that was about the size of a mouse.
I mixed up some skim milk powder on a teaspoon and I could have fallen over backwards when she started drinking off the end of it like a champ.
With such a strong will to live I wasn't going to put her down and she deserved a name.
I called her Dobby from the "not quite right" house elf from Harry Potter.
It's been 3 days and she can now run properly and BOY is she LOUD.
You would be forgiven that premature mammal offspring would have weak under developed lungs.
Dobby is on 1 to 2 hourly feeds and boy howdy does she YELL to let you know she's hungry.
Yeah, that means getting up at night to feed the tiny noise machine.

ATM she's in a box next to me yelling because obviously it's feed time again.
Click to expand...
Congratulations on Dobby.
 
MoBookworm1957 said:
Congratulations on Dobby.
Click to expand...
Thanks.

At 3 in the morning when she goes off like a bomb to let me know it's feed time I'm not feeling like someone who should be congratulated.

Thank goodness she isn't fussy about the temp of her milk because she gets it at room temp - like it or lump it.
She doesn't care and chugs it down which goes a long way towards her continuing good health esp. at late night feeds.
 
Took Lilli Bare(naked) to get her vaccines. I am surprised no one got hurt at the clinic. She was not happy but the harness and leash made it easy for the techs to get her in and out of the carrier and not have her escape. They were limiting the amount of customers at the Petco so I took advantage of my wait for the clinic to load up on litter and dog food for the evac totes. I also got another cat harness and leash. I have been using the one for all the cats since they don't all go to the vet at the same time but I really should have one per cat just like carriers.

I only have Bailey that needs her full vaccine set and Sebastian for his last round (he is a bigger (not fat) than normal cat and takes 2 sets). All will have their rabies before January! Then the dogs go for their vaccines in February.

Dropped Lilli off at the house and ran back out for kale for dinner. I made Olive Garden copycat zuppa toscana soup. At the grocery store I saw they are 100% out of bottled water and toilet paper. I grabbed the kale, and some granola, a baguette (for the soup), sour cream for onion dip and chips for the dip. Not a load of stuff as I have to go out Monday for fresh green beans for Thursday. I did find the snickerdoodle mix and bought 2 packages. I want to be 100% ready for Christmas this year so I can avoid going out for anything except the fresh produce. I think I am 99.99999% there! Gingerbread cookies are the last thing on my Christmas food list. Any good recipes?

K did take the donations to Goodwill today! It was a full truck load and we still have more that needs to go. So I have more room in the garage to move around and get to things I want or need!
 
Last edited:
Planned to blow up our leaves today. Got the blower out and before filling the tank saw a loose hose. Got to checking and found both the fuel feed line and fuel return line were dry rotted. Gotta go get new tubing. I had some, but this stuff is 1/8", nothing I had was smaller than 1/4". Ended up cleaning off the front porch of flower pots and stuff where we've been growing. Also worked in the basement quite a bit starting on reorganizing a bunch of stuff.
 
@Meerkat Have you considered getting a trike? Might be safer and still get you out of the house and some exercise.
We went up the mountain and I cleaned the house and shop while Hubby cleaned up the yard and got the layer of wet leaves mowed/mulched and off the lawn. Looks better! Now we just need to sell it.
 
Dawn and I are in Mesa AZ visiting our oldest, Andy. The three of us are going to go over to our old neighbors for Thanksgiving dinner. We spent the day shopping for stuff you can't get in twin falls idaho, and a suitcase to bring the stuff home with us.

We're leaving Friday morning at 0500 to go home via Seattle; hopefully we'll have a two hour layover and meet our youngest, s.i.l, and grandson.

Being separated from our kids is really bad, especially with the pandemic and all the political trouble going on. It's expensive as anything going to see them, but who can tell when travel will no longer be possible? We want to spend as much time with them as we can.

But Mesa is half a million people, and we are just now realizing why we moved to a more saner life in the country! We're already anxious to go home!
 
Duncan said:
Dawn and I are in Mesa AZ visiting our oldest, Andy. The three of us are going to go over to our old neighbors for Thanksgiving dinner. We spent the day shopping for stuff you can't get in twin falls idaho, and a suitcase to bring the stuff home with us.

We're leaving Friday morning at 0500 to go home via Seattle; hopefully we'll have a two hour layover and meet our youngest, s.i.l, and grandson.

Being separated from our kids is really bad, especially with the pandemic and all the political trouble going on. It's expensive as anything going to see them, but who can tell when travel will no longer be possible? We want to spend as much time with them as we can.

But Mesa is half a million people, and we are just now realizing why we moved to a more saner life in the country! We're already anxious to go home!
Click to expand...

Last year we went to visit the whole family for Tnanksgiving. Our 3 grown kids came here in Feb when I was in hospital.May cook still not sure. Talked to 2 grands,son and one of our daughters yesterday on phone.Talked to friend and daughter today.
If we got guaranteend in Ga. our place and hens may not be ok.So far nothing ever happened here but it is 2020.
 
Last time we saw all the kids and grandkids was 2 Christmas's ago. That was just after the Docs gave the wife 6 months, I took out a loan to fly everyone home for one last holiday together..... Now we all skype or zoom or whatever virtual thing is the soup of the day... The wife is still here and we are thankful that we can see the kids each week, even if it's only on the little screen ;)

After all the drama that resulted from the wife's sister traveling to visiting her kid's families and half of them ending up in the hospital, I will be happy with virtual visits.
 
How are you feeling today @Meerkat ? I hope not too sore!

Will do a video in a bit and feed pups.
Church
Set up my month's vitamins.
Make pumpkin angel food cake for Ladies group this afternoon.
Also whoopie pie filling--I was lazy and bought big cookies to put it in between. LOL
Then Ladies group and home for the day.
 
phideaux said:
@UrbanHunter

I bought 2 bottles of Theraworx on eBay for $28.

Gave my daughter one , who had charles horse every night.
NONE since she's using it, it goes a long way.

Try it, you'll like it.

Jim
Click to expand...

A good remedy for leg cramps is it? My Wife has been having leg cramps at night as of late. If it works well I might give it a try.
 
After fighting with Charlie and his horses I gave in to potassium and had relief. It would usually mean you're deficient in potassium. Thera worx contains magnesium.
I'd get both to have on hand.
If you purchase magnesium to take by mouth, don't take it at the same time as potassium. It can affect how your medications work and can also affect blood pressure.
 
What am I doing today?
Checking out Estelle's Christmas present.
She's getting a sewing machine for Christmas from her daddy.
Will be making up basket of quilt squares for her.
Putting together sewing basket miniature sized like mine.
Because she likes to play in mine.
Crocheting on Reign's Christmas blanket.
Sipping coffee.
Will have to cook today.
Ate all the potato soup.
Do up a dab of dishes.
Clean off table and counter tops to start prepping for Thanksgiving.
 
Patchouli said:
After fighting with Charlie and his horses I gave in to potassium and had relief. It would usually mean you're deficient in potassium. Thera worx contains magnesium.
I'd get both to have on hand.
If you purchase magnesium to take by mouth, don't take it at the same time as potassium. It can affect how your medications work and can also affect blood pressure.
Click to expand...
Patch,
I take magnesium and Riboflavin for migraines.
It helps somewhat.
 
That's good to know. My migraines aren't painful, but affect my vision.
As we age, our bodies' storage of precious nutrients decreases and we really do benefit from moving around and taking supplements or herbs.
I'm being lazy, tired, slight headache. Need to get cracking on getting ready for church.
 
Patchouli said:
That's good to know. My migraines aren't painful, but affect my vision.
As we age, our bodies' storage of precious nutrients decreases and we really do benefit from moving around and taking supplements or herbs.
I'm being lazy, tired, slight headache. Need to get cracking on getting ready for church.
Click to expand...
If for some reason, you start to crave salt.
I don't eat much with salt because of blood pressure.
Check your iron count, it might be low.
That's how I know when mine drops.
Would like to not get blood transfusion right now.
I have chicken livers, spinach in my future.
 
snappy1 said:
How are you feeling today @Meerkat ? I hope not too sore!

Will do a video in a bit and feed pups.
Church
Set up my month's vitamins.
Make pumpkin angel food cake for Ladies group this afternoon.
Also whoopie pie filling--I was lazy and bought big cookies to put it in between. LOL
Then Ladies group and home for the day.
Click to expand...

Thank you for asking and I'm fine not sore at all. Thank goodness but it was a good warning to be more careful and realize I'm not what I use to be.:thumbs:
 
LadyLocust said:
@Meerkat Have you considered getting a trike? Might be safer and still get you out of the house and some exercise.
We went up the mountain and I cleaned the house and shop while Hubby cleaned up the yard and got the layer of wet leaves mowed/mulched and off the lawn. Looks better! Now we just need to sell it.
Click to expand...
Meerkat,
Maybe you consider a trike.
Just until your balance is better.
I had one that I used until my balance got better.
Mine was from World War II( that baby was heavy).
But if someone hit me, it would do more damage to their vehicle than it would do to my trike.
You can pick them up around here relatively inexpensively.
I got mine from auction, got it on 2011.
Paid $50 for it and the seller even brought it to my house.
Sold it last year when I was downsizing for 5 times what I paid for it.
 
Curmudgeon said:
A good remedy for leg cramps is it? My Wife has been having leg cramps at night as of late. If it works well I might give it a try.
Click to expand...

Worked for me and several friends and family.
The foam is best , 2 squirts , rub it in cramps gone.

My daughter rubs it in before bed time and hasn't had a cramp since.

Worth a try.
That's what I said .

Glad I did.

Jim
 
We built a custom sized door for the basement. Just barely dodged the cold weather to got the glue to cure. We included an inch of foam insulation in the core.

It took a little fiddling but we got it hung.

Viewed from inside.

20201120_151831.jpg


Looking down from the backyard.

20201120_151914_HDR.jpg



It is extra wide to make it easy to got the HVAC and water heaters in.

There will be need for the tenants to get into the basement, it can serve as an off site cache.

In my spare time I have continued the big lego sort. I will be running out of storage bins before I am done but I am close enough to be able to guess if I need more big bins and ir many small drawers.

Ben
 
MoBookworm1957 said:
Meerkat,
Maybe you consider a trike.
Just until your balance is better.
I had one that I used until my balance got better.
Mine was from World War II( that baby was heavy).
But if someone hit me, it would do more damage to their vehicle than it would do to my trike.
You can pick them up around here relatively inexpensively.
I got mine from auction, got it on 2011.
Paid $50 for it and the seller even brought it to my house.
Sold it last year when I was downsizing for 5 times what I paid for it.
Click to expand...
MoBook trikes are too slow and as you say awkward.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top