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Post by desertwoman on Dec 26, 2023 23:50:36 GMT -5
Recovery day today. Thought we were going to get a couple of small projects done...best laid plans and all that... Instead we read and relaxed, then visited this evening with some friends here for the holiday week.
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Post by Mumsey on Dec 28, 2023 5:16:29 GMT -5
Busy day yesterday. Decided to do shopping on way to Dad's yesterday. Didn't get there til 10:00, Dad was actually ready to grind the deer/pork for sausage. Took 2 hours to grind it, season it, then grind again. Followed by 2.5 hours of packaging. Ended up with 153 lbs of sausage. Step mom and I were packaging while Dad and brother cleaned everything up. Then Dad was in charge of freezer paper and tape and brother was labeling and packing it in the freezer. We had a system going. I was out of there by 3:00, just in time for rain to turn to snow, but it didn't stick.
Sis will be coming for the weekend, we are going to have a water bottle cutting party! Reducing water bottles to plant pot size for when it's time to start seedlings. Also planning some good eats, homemade pizza one night, oyster stew another night. Haven't had oysters in years.
Also made the decision to kennel the Princess for my upcoming trip to Illinois. Not what I want to do but it would be too stressful for us both. Long car ride with frequent stops. Our local vet has boarding at their vet hospital in the big city, so they know her and she knows a couple of them. Should be good. And I can call everyday to check on her. Now just so the weather cooperates.
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Post by emmsmommy on Dec 28, 2023 6:35:35 GMT -5
Hubby decided he needed to be the one that went out in our first day off quarantine as he had medicine to pick up. I sent him with a list of about five things that will do until Friday when we'll make the trip to town. Even though prices are much higher, it's nice to have a few small stores and a pharmacy within five miles, even though hubby still forgot to pick up his medications.
Today we're to go to mother-in-law's and then Saturday to my parent's. Haven't decided if we're going to have a New Year's feast or not just yet, but I mentioned a cabbage and apple dish I recently discovered watching Two Fat Ladies.
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Post by centralilrookie on Dec 28, 2023 12:07:26 GMT -5
With sweetheart off of work yesterday she had two of her grandkids for the day, a quick call to another and they were off to the trampoline park. After my usual morning chores I made a trip to Tractor Supply to get our 40lb LP tank filled as the heat in the garage isn’t quite ready to fire up. We’re having the our Texas crew today and tonight so heating the garage helps spread everyone out. That being said I mopped out the garage and set up tables and chairs for the gathering.
This morning is food prep and miscellaneous duties that sweetheart feels needs done. Soon the house will be filled with people and laughter…… I might need a drink or two but for medicinal purposes only!! 😂
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Post by breezygardener on Dec 28, 2023 13:05:30 GMT -5
Lord, I LOVE those two women. My mom & I used to watch their tv shows faithfully, I have all the episodes on DVD, & also have all their books. After I moved down to Virginia from NY, my mother used to send me all sorts of interesting ingredients from their recipes that I couldn't get down here at the time - pickled walnuts, golden syrup, etc., etc. |
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Post by datgirl on Dec 28, 2023 13:41:03 GMT -5
Last grandson just left. The silence is deafening, but welcome after 3 days of 3 grandkids  |
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Post by emmsmommy on Dec 29, 2023 8:20:35 GMT -5
For some reason, after an illness my brain seems to refresh or go into overdrive. It's like it's trying to catch up for all the down time. Up early and jotting a few notes in my garden notebook when I suddenly begin to wonder about my relatively unsuccessful spring brassica harvests with the exception of Kale (it reseeds constantly). Now I've had some success in recent years with cabbage and broccoli, but not what I expected. It seems there's conflicting information as most seed packs say to sow 6-8 weeks before the last frost, but further research says to transplant 3-4 weeks before last frost, so in theory I should be sowing those seeds 9-12 weeks before the last frost date.
I keep thinking of Farmer Jack, whose property I have driven by for over 30 years. Oddly his wife grew up just a stone's throw from my grandma and I would always play with their kids when they'd visit their grandma, but back to the story. Farmer Jack always had massive cabbage plants in early spring-huge when compared to the wimpy little transplants available at garden centers. My Granny always sowed her cabbage seed (never fooled with the others) on St. Patrick's Day and I've done that a few times, but never achieved anything remotely like Farmer Jack's so early in the season. Farmer Jack's wife passed about ten years ago and unfortunately he passed earlier this year. His kids never seemed to pick up gardening so his secret to early cabbage went to the grave with him. I can only guess it was the years of animal manure and some extra early sowing of seeds, but I'm making it my mission to achieve brassica success this year!
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Post by Mumsey on Dec 29, 2023 14:52:02 GMT -5
Took down all the outdoor Christmas stuff. Nice sunny day to do it. Laundry, some hand quilting. That's about it. Sis will be here in an hour. Better go walk now.
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Post by datgirl on Dec 29, 2023 17:00:02 GMT -5
I took a few of the Christmas decorations down in the kitchen. Cleaned up the extra bedroom that has all the plant starting supplies in it. Potted up a couple of baby spider plants that kit kat pulled off the momma plant. The Jung Seed catalog came, so I was just looking thru that for a while and dreaming. I've never ordered from them, but it was nice looking at the pictures. Not much else going on here.
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Post by desertwoman on Dec 29, 2023 17:47:43 GMT -5
Got started on preliminary end-of-year bookkeeping, getting ready to complete the spreadsheets, but that's for another day.
Also took some pics of my mom's engagement ring and wedding band (it was tricky getting good ones that capture their light).
My younger nephew and his girlfriend just announced that they are going to get married next year, on their 15th anniversary!! (post college). They've asked me to officiate, which I am thrilled and honored to do.
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Post by centralilrookie on Dec 29, 2023 20:35:34 GMT -5
The Texas crew arrived yesterday afternoon, sweetheart was giddy with anticipation and excitement while waiting for them. The space heater had the garage up to a comfortable temperature and the tables and chairs were a perfect gathering place when the rest of the family showed up for supper. With all the commotion of kids playing and adults laughing poor little Ruby was in constant motion. When the evening ended we had two adults upstairs, 4 kids in the living room and a 3 year old grandson with gma and gpa. 😂 Sweetheart out did herself preparing breakfast and by 11 the house was quiet again. Other than some leftovers in the fridge we’re all cleaned up and ready for things to get back to normal.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Dec 30, 2023 1:14:37 GMT -5
On Christmas, I got a sort of unwanted surprise - my garbage disposal broke. The breaker plate cracked, and about a quarter sized piece away from it - a rather noisy happening! I can't say that old Kitchen Aid disposal owed me anything, as it was put into my kitchen just over 40 years ago, when I was setting up! I guess it was just ready to go I didn't even put anything hard in it (and really never do). I looked around at everything available at Lowe's and HD, as well as Amazon, and Amazon had better deals, for a model with a 10 year warrantee - the warranties vary greatly, even with higher prices models! It was nice being able to just pick it up off my front porch, too, though I eventually had to go get some plumbing parts, so I had to make a trip. Getting that old disposal out was harder than putting the new one in! I had to check online for something that had a photo of this old thing - I had sort of figured it out by "feel", and it had a snap ring, like what they have these days, but a neck, with a red piece of plastic on it, to grab it from, didn't really help any. Eventually, I got some Visegrips, and clamped them onto that neck of the snap ring, and used brute force to remove it! It didn't matter if I damaged it, so I didn't care if I did, and it came out, then the old machine dropped out! It weighed probably twice what the new one does! I just cut the wire, then took the DW hose off - one of the large threaded parts to the S-trap must have snapped out, from the weight of the disposal dropping - I thought I had disconnected everything, but I guess not! I had ordered that Moen model as a "hardwired" model, but it came with a plug anyway, with instructions to hardwire it! So I decided to put a box in, and use the wire! That was not easy for me, but I figured that was a better thing to do, than to hardwire it. I didn't have any single outlet electrical outlets, or receptacle covers - not something I use very often, but didn't want an unused outlet under the sink, so I got those at Lowe's today. It's unbelievable how a single output outlet costs $4.97, while a regular, double outlet is 97¢! Supply and demand... I had some plumber's putty still, from the last time I used it, many years ago, and itwas still good! That's because I put what was left in a vacuum sealed bag, then shoved it back in the container it came in. Had about half of this left - hopefully, it won't be another garbage disposal I'll be using it for!  I got the idea for this when I had some dry out in the container after not using it for a while, and had to go out and buy more, wasting about 2/3 of the previous container. Like that Gorilla glue - keeps forever, as long as sealed off from the air. The new one went in fairly easily, until testing for leaks! I finally disassembled the trap, and reassembled it, and it worked that time. That's when I finally turned the circuit breaker back on, and tested the switch, and it worked! And much quieter than that old monster, though I didn't grind anything yet. Still no signs of any leaking, and I'm leaving it open until tomorrow, then I'll replace all those cleaning things I keep on that sliding shelf. I also want to figure out a way to elevate that DW hose, keep it up when sliding the shelf - maybe use some of those cable ties.  About a half cup of plumber's putty, vacuum sealed until needed again. by pepperhead212, on Flickr  Finally finished putting the new disposer in the kitchen, about 9:30 pm. by pepperhead212, on Flickr Fortunately, no work to do in the garden now. |
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Post by Mumsey on Dec 30, 2023 6:04:33 GMT -5
pepperhead212, Could that dishwasher hose be shortened? Looks like you did a good job!
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Post by desertwoman on Dec 30, 2023 10:24:38 GMT -5
pepperhead212, I'm just so curious... what do you put down a garbage disposal that isn't composted? We removed the garbage disposal when we moved into this house since I couldn't imagine needing/using it? The only things I can think of that I don't compost are avocado skins and citrus skins, which I don't think would be good for a disposal. Maybe I think wrong?
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Post by pepperhead212 on Dec 30, 2023 12:31:59 GMT -5
Mumsey That spiral type hose has a flat end, a little over an inch long, to screw the hose clamp down on; you can't just cut it to length, and do the same thing. desertwoman There are a number of things I use the disposal for, and citrus skins is one of them - they are great for keeping it "fresh", though I've never really had any problems with that. I also don't put those avocado skins and pits in it, and don't put meat bones in it, even after pressure cooking them until soft! But anything with meat shouldn't be composted, and the same with oily components. Though I can't remember them off the top of my head, there are some things I don't compost, due to the seeds becoming weeds.
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I got the idea for this when I had some dry out in the container after not using it for a while, and had to go out and buy more, wasting about 2/3 of the previous container. Like that Gorilla glue - keeps forever, as long as sealed off from the air.