Just need to talk to my friends (178)

Iris L.

Jo C, I had not heard about a four hour power outage on Sept 8th, is that just in your area?  I know about the probation on outdoor watering for fourteen days.  

My grandson has never lived in another country.  The U.S. has difficulties, but so do other places. 

Iris

Jo C.

Hi Iris, the Edison planned outage is just for our housing area where they are working.   Our city does not have any two week "no outdoor water" usage plan in September.

Our city has restrictions which we comply with and the city also has its own water wells and also gets water other ways - they had planned this many years ago and maintain several well-run water plant stations for their deep wells.  The city also has a very large water treatment plant and waters all outdoor areas in parks, meridians, etc. with recycled, "used" dirty water that has been treated.  We have a very nice multi-page city newsletter that comes out each month with a lot of detail about so much.  In it, they publish the water conservation regulations and we follow them.  These are Septembers: 

No watering cleaning of driveways or sidewalks with a hose

No running water continuously while washing vehicle (We use a recycling car wash.)

No using sprinklers to direct water to other areas other than landscape; NO runoff

No serving water automatically in eateries unless customer asks for it

No use of fountains unless it uses a recycling system

Immediate repair of water leaks

All residential and commercial landscape areas to be watered between the hours of 4:00 pm and 10:00 am for no more than 10 minutes.

Watering is limited to three days a week during June through September

Watering is limited to two days a week October through May.

Drip irrigation systems and other such low water irrigation systems are exempt from rules.

If using a hose, it must be equipped with a shut-off nozzle

Violations of regulations are punishable by a fine of up to $500 per day.

We have automatic timed sprinklers with multiple controlled areas for lawn and planters; so it does not all go off at once.   We vary how things are watered and some areas need far less attention.  So far, it is working okay and DH keeps a close eye on all of it and ensuring timers for the different areas are all working to plan and in compliance with city regulations.  

We have a gardener who comes once a week.  He mows, edges, trims, etc. and at the end, he uses his blower on our patios, sidewalks and driveway, so those areas are clean without using water.

We can only hope we get some rain this winter and that the Sierras get LOTS of snow.  I really love the way the earth and hard areas smell after a rain and all the trees, plants and shrubs are so perky and happy looking.

J.

Lorita

Hi,,

Jo, the amount of hay the girls eat depends on what else they're fed and how much grass is available in the pastures.  We have a lot of rescue so if we get moisture it grows underneath the dead grass. We lately have carried about 40 head through the winter and they ate about a bale(1800 lbs.) a day.  There may be a few more this winter..  Everyone has meadows to bale so if all goes well they have their own hay. Darwin had a lot of carryover hay and so did Mike in this area.  We didn't because he ran heifers on the meadows instead of baling but the other hay he has is within half a mile so it should be okay.  Feed is running about $300'a ton, two or three times higher this yeat.  We did have a lot of old hay left.I notice the heifers are eating a lot of our two year old hay.

Fairy, I found the recipe and will post it later.  Makes me hungry just reading it.

Water rationing would be hard, I think, but necessary.  I heard that Dallas is worried and is trying to make arrangements to run a six foot pipe from a lake near Texarkana to supply them.  We get our water from a huge lake so guess we have enough,however, in a bad drought years ago the water level fell to a point to, in other areas,that some of the pumps were out of the water. When I was growing up the lake wasn't there so every home had wells.  I can remember watching a man witching for water. Mike is considering having wells drilled so cattle away from availability of city water will have water. He's already using City water for some near a house.

The float valve is working.  It was an old one so didn't knowif it would.  When I got up looked out and a calf was going to the water tank.  I could tell by the way she drank where the water level was..  I have it about 5" below the rim of the tank.

Allergies are not good this morning. GPs went out and stayed three hours but it was getting hot so sprayed them and let them in.  I'm kind if itchy and eyes are burning sonme.  I didn't take the zyrtec  last night because I took it about 10" am and that would be too close.  Will take it tonight.  Cannot understand wht, after alk thus tine, that I'm having allergies.  Not fun at all but guess the good thing is that so far there's no congestion, just itching which is bad enough.

Hope you all are up and at 'em this morning and feeling well.  I'll post the recipe later.

Jo C.

Iris, some parts of the County being on a two week restriction of no use of outdoor watering from September 6 through September 20, kind of niggled at me . . . so I did a little search and found out the following:

 The reason for the areas having two weeks of no outside watering  is for the repair of a leaking water supply line:

 ***********************************************************************

 "The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California will ask customers to cut back water use and suspend outdoor watering for two weeks in September.

 The request was issued to give officials the opportunity to repair a leak in a pipeline delivering water from the Colorado River to Southern California.

Nearly 4 million Los Angeles County residents will be affected, including residents of Beverly Hills, Burbank, Glendale, Long Beach, Pasadena, San Fernando, and Torrance.

Also impacted will be customers of the Central Basin Municipal Water District, Foothill Municipal Water District, Three Valleys Municipal Water District and West Basin Municipal Water District.

  *******************************************************************

 If they don't fix the leaking line it could burst causing a huge problem for ability to deliver water.  So that explains the restriction. 

 Lorita, I have used Zyrtec once and it made me very sleepy too.  Just what I need, less oomph - (no I don't.)  I keep wondering about that allergy, Lorita.  If it continues into the autumn and winter, especially if it continues after the guys have extinguished the Johnson Grass, I think I would be wanting to go and see an allergist and find out what is going on.  Intense itching is no joke; it can be miserable.    The dogs do not have any new kind of powder or other applied item they are using, do they?  Just wondering.

 This morning, I gathered all exisiting Prescription med bottles and all OTC containers.  I went through them and took all outdated containers and placed them in a plastic bag to take to disposal.  I could not believe how many outdated items there were.  Even the Immodium was outdated.  DH has a lot of prescriptions that have been adjusted, so he had quite a few bottles as I had from when I had my procedure done last year.  Strongly recommend screening one's items like that and getting rid of all outdated stuff  - even the stuff in tubes for external application.  The Sheriff's station near our house has a special locked barrel one can place their expired drugs in and then a county special service picks it up for disposal. Spent a long time removing those stickers with the name on them.  Glad to have it done.   Better safe than sorry.

 We have a CVS pharmacy a mile from us, but we use a different CVS location as they have a drive through window for picking up prescriptions; it keeps one from standing in line shoulder to shoulder with sick people and sometimes it is even a bit faster. 

Gosh; we thought we had issues with accessing care; especially finding a long term care facility.  One of our Members, Buggsroo, lives in Canada and that is a whole different waiting game.  It can take up to a year to be authorized for a care facility.  One picks five choices of care facilities; a social worker goes out to the house and assesses the person needing placement and then approves or not, and then the waiting for an opening begins.  Whew!   That is a whole lot of stress for caregivers. 

When "French," another  Member, was transferring her Partner from Tunisia (where she had placed him in care), back to France where he is a citizen because he had become acutely and seriously ill, she had to find a hospital in her area in France willing to accept him; not all were willing to do so.  She then had an advocate who was a physician who pulled some strings and made it happen.  After the acute hospital stay, evidently then it becomes an extremely difficult search for placement in a long term care facility.

 It seems the world over, managing the care of the elder and infirm is a problem issue and not high on the scale of "doing it now," sort of application by governments.  Young make and spend money.  The elderly have worked and spent and are now no longer an asset????   Otherwise, why such dynamics persist I cannot fathom.  Truly sad when one thinks that today's capabilities that provide so much was built by those who came before us working hard and paying taxes and carrying their share.

I also did a little looking at some CCRCs not that far away in San Diego County.  Omigoodness.  They all have wonderful websites and one can find out the cost of  an apartment; In Independent Living, ranging from a studio at near $4,000 a month to a nice one bedroom with balcony at $8,000 on average. BUT what they do NOT put in their ads on their websites is the need to pay an Entry Fee to be able to move in.

To my utter shock, I found that Entry Fees are stupendously outrageous.  I saw multiple places with Entry Fee payments of $345,000 to $540,000, depending on the size of the apartment; and the largest:  $1 million!  Gasped for sure. That is on top of the monthly rent and extra fees. Worse; because the CCRCs are a "step down" sort of care, it is up to the administrative group to determine when someone is no longer able to live independently and must move from their independent apartment to their ALF unit or from the ALF unit to a MC.   People on Yelp very upset at being made to move when they feel they are no way compromised.  Of course think of it . . . if they move a person to a lesser unit, they are still paying a monthly fee plus the CCRC still has their Entry Fee.  By moving that resident, they free up the higher level apartment for a NEW person to become a resident who then pays that exorbitant Entry Fee.

Then when looking to see how much of the Entry Fee can be recovered by a resident; that varies and one does have to be extremely careful. Some CCRs keep 25% of the entry fee each year for four years.  This means that by year four no return of the Entry Fee. Other CCRCs have a different way of dealing with the Entry Fee, but it is still not in the resident's favor.

 So . . .  I learned when looking at a CCRC Website, first find out what their Entry Fee is and who determines when a resident must move to a lower level of care.  Once more; the sly taking advantage of the elderly.  These organizations MUST keep getting new Entry Fees as this is how they keep up their facilities with swimming pools, cocktail areas, steam rooms, gyms, etc.  It is that environment that attracts potential residents like a bear to honey.    Sure is something that needs some oversight, but for the elderly, it once again seems to point to one of the most overlooked groups in our society.

 Just one more time we must look out for ourselves very, very carefully.  Looks like the idea of engaging a visit with a CELA is a very good idea early on.  Now to get myself going to do so is another thing.  We saw an attorney last year and had a Trust, DPOAs and Wills set up and so glad to have that done; but we would be best served by seeing a CELA before we get any longer in  the tooth.  It appears we will not ever be eligible for Medi-Cal, but still a CELA can screen for pitfalls for the future and provide a lot of good information.

 Looks like this is the last chance to get COVID testing kits from the government at no cost.  With winter coming, it would be a good idea to have some kits in - just be sure to note the expiration date and put it on the box in large dark numbers with a marking pen. 

 I was really sick for about five days last year; running a temp, severe headache, severe fatigue and severe sore muscles, and more.   I never get ill like that.  I was told to take a COVID test which I did and it was negative; I still wonder if I had COVID and the the rapid test kit was in error.  Ah well; will never know.  Will just continue to be careful.

Looks like we will be staying in for a few days except for grocery pickup; the heat is on and it will be well into the three digits.  So love the grocery pickup, it has worked so well for us and it is rare that everything is not done really well including nice produce.  Am grateful for that wonderful service.

 Got a new emergency radio after screening which ones were better.   Will have to spend some time reading the accompanying user instructions. It is NOAA Certified and capable.  One can use batteries in it, or crank it, or it has a solar charging unit on top, so there are three ways for power.  It can do a lot of other things too, but it takes a bit of know how and right now, I am a know not. 

Thank you for the information re feeding the cattle, Lorita, I had no idea.  Sure is complicated and a lot of work caring for herds.  Having a good, caring and responsible owner makes all the difference for them.

 Am making an appointment for haircut once again at home.  Different hair stylist.  Used to go to her some time ago; I was astonished she would come to the house as she is very popular and busy, I am thankful.  Could get in earlier as she has Mondays off and that is when she will come one week after this Monday.  Sure hope there is hope for me for a decent haircut.   Not the most important thing in the world, but it does make one feel much better.  I often think how much easier it is for men; can jump in the shower, shampoo and simply comb hair into place and off they go.  Sigh.

 Going to take my gone to seed dandelion hair and venture forth onto something else. More laundry today - that never runs out.

 J.

Mint

Lorita when I went to orchard today saw quite a bit of hay being cut and thought of you.  The lady at the orchard said they are very pleased with the hay they are getting this year.  Was good to hear that.   

Saw lots of mums for sale Beth and thought of you.

Judith how has your friend been doing?

Hope each one gets a good nights rest

  

jfkoc

My friend died this morning. Thank you all for keeping her in your thoughts.

ladyzetta

Judith.   I am so sorry to hear that your friend has died. She was lucky to have you as her friend. Hugs to You. Zetta

SQBEAR50

So very sorry to hear about your friend Judith.

BethL

Judith, I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your friend.

Lorita

So sorry to hear of the loss of your friend, Judith.  I know how hard it to lose a longtime friend.  Just know she's no longer suffering.  That helped me a lot.

Just wrote a long post, hit the wrong key and it was gone.  Sufficeth to say I spent about 45 minutes outside fixing the hose and float valve and reuniting the new baby and his mom.  She had gone to graze and left him here so he wouldn't have to walk through big weeds.  Johnson grass is dying - turned yellow.  Rose is okay and has a bloom.

Joan saw some scenery around Grand Junction.  Very pretty but so different from here.  Hope you're well.  Will write more tomorrow.

Iris L.

Judith, please accept my condolences in the loss of your dear friend 

Iris

Mint

Judith I’m so very sorry.

loveskitties

Judith, I am so very sorry that you have lost your dear friend.  May all who loved her find peace.

Lorita

 Just looked out the front door and saw the cutest little, white faced calf.  Rose Bud, Jr.s second baby.  Remember we lost Rose Bud a few months ago,- she was about 22. She had a white face.  All of her calves have been white faced.  Her daughter now has two babies, one a year old and the new baby..  All three were together and so cute. It just started to rain some!!!!  All of the girls and babies headed to the barn.  Saw eight tiny ones  going in.  Looks like they would want to stand in the rain and get a good bath as Charles always said.

Maybe our rain time has come.  Fingers crossed.  It's thundering and Sheena is nervous.  The propane man just left from Filling our tank for the winter.  Guess Stormy didn't know what wss going on so went to the door to check.

Fairy, here's the recipe for Caramel Dumplings:Caramel ingredients:  1 cup sugar, 2 T butter, 1/2 tsp. Salt, 2 Cups hot water

Dumpling ingredients:  2 T butter, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup sweet milk, 1 1/2 Cup flour, 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp. Vsnilla, pinch of salt.

In heavy iron skillet or pan, add sugar and cook until it melts and begins to caramelize.  Add butter and salt..Slowly add hot water and cook until thickened and dissolved.

Mix dumpling ingredients and drop by table spoonfuls into caramel.  Bake in 450 oven until dumplings aren't doughy.    Remove from oven and turn dumplings over in caramel to coat.  Serve with rich milk or cream.

This is mother's  recipe.  She didn't have the time to bake.. I remember watching her turn the dumplings over in the caramel.  They were so good and I can taste them now.  She made hers in a big iron skillet and it filled it.  

She made them once for Charles and I.  He didn't care for them- thought they were too sweet.  Hope you enjoy them.

It stopped raining but hope there's more west of us.  We need every drop and more.

Lorita

Jo, something I forgot to add about feeding cattle.  We fed liquid feed along with hay, creep and minerals.  So, if if wasn't creep day they had the liquid feed.  As the little calves got tall enough they licked the feed off the tank after the cows licked it and left some.  After Mike bought the girls I bought tank of liquid feed for them and may do it again.  They're used to it so ... Guess I'm an old softy but that's all right.  

Iris L.

Lorita, what's in the liquid feed?

Iris

Mint

Good morning

63F, 17C

Lorita those caramel dumplings would have been something I would have really enjoyed when I was younger.  My belly probably wouldn’t like it to well now.

Couple of days ago I mixed  taco meat and Mexican rice together.  Added a little extra garlic and onion powder.  Stuffed a pepper with it.  Put a little cheddar on top.  Cut up some tomato and put on top of that.  Baked it and put sour cream and taco sauce on top, tasty.  Think if able will freeze a few pepper halves so can do this in winter.

The orchard has their cider back.  I was just about to run out.  Will have to remember to buy a little extra late spring.  Bought a glass jug there.  Will just take that back to get refills.  No more plastic, yeah!  I freeze it in 8oz portions.

Lots to do today.  Take care everyone

Lorita

Sara, your stuffed peppers sound good.  Mother used to make them a lot but I never have.  Good idea to freeze peppers.  They might be a bit flimsy if thawed but you could stuff them while frozen and it would be fine.The caramel dumplings  are rich but so good.  I've never caramelized sugar so don't know how that would be.

 Glad the orchard has the cider back.  Is it a big  orchard where you can pick your own apples?

Iris, the liquid feed has vitamins and minerals in it that the cattle need.  It's very sticky and pretty dark.  Not good to get it on you.  A friend once told me he thought you could cook with it because it smells kind of like molasses.I never tasted it but the girls love it.  They go by and get a few licks and move on.  We always have kept mineral tubs.  They're the same as the liquid feed but the liquid is cooked until it's hard and put in big 200 lb. Tubs.  The cows also lick it.  We have three tanks is and a few years ago some was left over in one of them and it got too thick to lick.Charles and I had to take off the top and shovel it out.  What a mess.  Two of the tubs have four licks and one has two.  They're big wheels that go down to the bottom And as tbs cows lick the wheel it brings the feed up to them.  Their tongues are really strong  so they keep the wheels going.  When we first started using  liquid feed if took them a while to figure out what to do.Now the babies learn from their moms.

I'm drying clothes and just put ingredients in the  bread maker so in a little over three hours will have fresh bread.  Wet a big cloth and rubbed down the cats.  They didn't like it but I know they have pollen on them because  them because they scratch.  I can feel it on my arms and hands, too.  The Pyrenees are outside.  Not too hot and partly cloudy.  They need baths to get rid of the pollen but doubt I can do that. 

Iris, I remember when you were working  on your taxes.  I never got mine finished but will need to this month..  The tax guy did an extension for me so they're due in mid Oct.

Carol called and mentioned she had been to the store and looked at Crisco.  She said the big can was $20, smallest on e was $3.  I haven't bought any in years but that is ridiculous.

Clothes are dry so will be back later.

BethL

Sara, your cider sounds good. I would enjoy it hot with a cinnamon stick in it. Also your stuffed peppers - I made stuffed peppers recently and we enjoyed them. When I was a kid, I just ate the stuffing - didn't like the pepper itself. How is your garden doing?

Lorita, it is good to hear the Johnson grass is dying. Hope the prickly pears are too. Maybe once we get a frost, your allergies will be much better. Glad to hear you are getting rain! We got some last night too (1/2"). You asked what color my mums are. They are not yet in bloom but they are bronze, white and red. The mounding purple aster is blooming now. 

Thinking of you, Judith, in the loss of your dear friend. 

I made chicken enchiladas this week - first time and they were great! Planning to make beef enchiladas for dinner tonight. Froze some sweet corn today. That will be nice to have come winter. The corn has been really good this summer. 

Iris, Joy, Zetta, Ron, Marie, Fairyland, Jo, Nicole - hope you all are doing well. Always good to hear from you all.  Have a good weekend everyone.

Jo C.

Dear Judith, I just read of the heartfelt loss of your beloved friend; I am very sorry.  A dear friend of so many years is a treasure that does not come often and can imagine how deeply this must hurt.

 With a soft hug and warmest of thoughts being sent your way,

 J.

Jo C.

When I read here that a can of Crisco cost $20, I had to go take a peek and see what was what.  Well; the 48 ounce can of Crisco is about $9.00; it is the six pound can of Crisco that tops out at about $20.00 at WalMart.    Cannot recall what we used to pay for the regular sized can of Crisco, "back in the day."  I just know it was nowhere near what it is now, as is the same with all foods. 

 I had been wondering when one would be eligible for the "new" COVID booster that is coming out and found this:

 https://www.yahoo.com/news/explainer-covid-booster-153700835.html 

Even though it is said that one can get both the flu shot and the new COVID Booster on the same day, I am not inclined to do so. I get the Fluzone higher dose flu vaccine for "mature" folks each year, I get very sore muscles and some deep ick fatigue for a few days or so afterward.  Also does the same with the COVID vaccines - it really hits me hard which indicates that my immune system is working well and ramping up.  I just do not want to get both at the same time and risk having an even more severe reaction that may put me down and out for awhile, so I will split them.   According to Dr. Fauci this year's influenza is supposed to be a very bad and harsh year, so definitely want to get that flu shot in later September or early October. It is recommended to get the  flu shot in September, but one wants it to last into May at the end of the flu cycle as the flu vaccine is time limited in whatever protection it may provide.

Isn't it strange how we get involved with TV programs if we have no working TV?   Had a significant problem issue with the TV receiver box and could not get it to work with the hand-held control and then not at all and it would not stay connected.  Ended up on the phone in a foreign country for tech help which created another problem.   The tech rep had an accent so thick we could barely understand him and the poor fellow himself did not seem to have a good command of English; he could not grasp much of what was being communicated.  Ended up that his "fixing" things made it all far worse and we ended up with nothing - all gone.  AARGH!  So, today I thought to put on my big girl patience hat and venture into the thick of it again.   When getting the monster recording answering router, every time it asked me what I wanted, I would say, "United States Representative,"  always with the words, United States.  Do not know if that made a difference or not, but got Texas - yippee!   The nice person in Texas put herself to the task . . . she had to completely undo what was done yesterday and then find the route to getting things done that needed doing with the original problems in the first place; all managed from afar. FIXED!    What a difference having a knowledgable tech; could'a hugged her!

Finally got some wild atlantic salmon; sure is good.  Had it for dinner last night and there is some left over, so shall have another meal with it.  I do like fish.  Favorite is the fresh caught wild trout we would get in the U.P. of Michigan.  Delicious.  BIL used to do deep sea fishing off San Diego and he would get some really great fish and so much that he would share - also delicious.  I do need to eat more fish.  Mostly I eat chicken, pretty much zero beef.   Have a favorite pork tenderloin recipe but do not make it much; it has a great easy sauce made with a decent balsamic vinegar and brown sugar; gosh it is so good and really, really simple and fast to make.   Best in cooler weather.  Also like a good pork chop.

Found the easiest way to make stuffed green peppers which I like to do in the winter, is to do them in the crockpot.   I of course cut the tops off and clean the seeds out of the peppers; then without taking all the bottom off, slice a skinny bit of the bottoms that stick out so the peppers sit well in the crockpot. Simply stuff them and stand them in the crockpot against one another; put your topping on or even just undiluted tomato soup, set crockpot on "low;" I would put them in the pot early in the day and by the evening, dinner is good to go.  Peppers nice and soft and all the flavors mingled and the house smells yummy.

DHs vision is recovering from his surgery in his left eye; we will know the full outcome on that eye in December as it takes months to evolve healing.  However; it was found that he has a hole in the macula in the other eye; if it begins to expand, he will need a very delicate surgery to try and save that eye's vision.  He of course is concerned about losing his vision completely and I too have concern.   Type 2 Diabetes; it really does its worst slyly and silently.

Thank you for the teaching regarding the feeding of the herd, Lorita.  I had no idea; it is more complex than I thought; an ongoing need to constantly be monitored and addressed - no lazy ranchers out there, that is for sure.   Did the Johnson Grass actually get sprayed - and is it actually beginning to die out?  I am not certain if I am understanding that clearly.  So hope it is for your sake.

 We are well into the three digits heat; so far the electricity has stayed on for which I am very thankful.   You have all probably heard on the news that California is in the process of phasing out gas engine cars which will be forbidden over time.  Don't get me started on that!    Anyway; we are on flex-alert for saving electricity due to the high use of AC in the heat.   The flex-alert said not to use electric appliances between 4:00 pm and 9:00 pm - no washer, drier, dish washer, ovens, keep AC set at 78 lowest and save the lights, etc. AND - GET THIS - Do NOT plug in the electric cars to re-charge during that time . . . Um-m-m-m; Mr. Governor, if you are going to mandate electric cars only for all citizens, how about fixing the power grid first?? 

The other issue is that the electric cars are small and they must be to power them adequately and conserve . . . . but what about people who are disabled, or people of larger build; those with leg braces, those with other lower body issues; what about those who must transport wheelchairs, walkers, O2 supplies, etc.; and need to have a trunk in which to place items so they do not get stolen?  What about large families?  Guess that there needs to be some exceptions to the electric car mandates and the designers need to do some re-configuring of the vehicles that will better accommodate special human being needs.  In an awful big hurry to get this done, but not seeing the forest for the trees.  Hope that gets addressed soon.

Will be going to the ocean as soon as it cools down a bit; just too hot right now.  Love to drive down to the sea and enjoy the feeling and scent of it all.  It has been quite awhile since we have done that.  Our favorite time at the ocean is actually in the winter.   It is amazingly beautiful in many ways.  I have a pair of binoculars and sometimes like to look way out over the water where there are sometmes ships in the distance and also watching the pelicans diving for their meals.  Gulls play on the air currents; hardly any people, and the smell of the ocean and sea weed, and the taste of salt on lips and a nice breeze in one's hair and face, it is all part of it and feels so peaceful.   I used to visit the ocean now and then when in the worst of times with caregiving - just a short time driving to the nearby ocean would renew me and take away the horribleness of all the dreadful FTD behaviors being dealt with.  All it took was the gas to get there and it is only about 20 minutes away, so that is easy.  Best and most fun of all is in the early morining when it is windy and the kite surfers come out - now speaking of amazing; those guys are awesome; kind of like a wild flying ballet with kites and boy are they brave as the wind lifts and carries them way, way far aloft and then whizzing across the water at great speed.  Wow.

Been so dry and warm out here that I am all dried out - Cera Ve not helping much and it is a good product.  I need to get a new foundation makeup for dry skin.  The Lauder foundation I have is suddenly too dry even with trying to put a moisturizer under it.  No big deal as I do not put on makeup except seldom, but sure did notice the difference with my skin last time I went to put it on before going out.   I think I am turning into a great big prune!   Yikes!  Well; if that is the worst that happens, then it can be said once again as I do so often; there are many, many blessings too numerous to count.

Goodness; time's awasting as the old saying goes and once again too long a Post; I type really fast and it gets away from me.  Labor Day weekend, so most folks will get an extra day off work and no mail or government offices are open, so we all relax a bit more except when it comes to caregiving - that never has a holiday.  All take good care and so enjoy reading everyone's Posts.

 J.

  

  

Iris L.

Liquid feed: fascinating!  Who knew?

I'm still delayed with my taxes.  It's a nightmare!

Lorita

Hi,

Iris, does the time ever come when we don't have to do tax returns?  Surely hope so.  I have mine partially done so if I would just get to it could have it ready to send to Sam in two or three hours.  Last year I only sent him the income papers and a list of deductible things so didn't have to go in.  Will do the same this year.  

Ranching and caring for livestock is s a daily thing,  They have to be cared for first and even when not feeling up to it.  You have to like doing it.  I asked Darwin if he missed it.  Said he does and even is missing brushhogging.   I've done some of that and it's scary to me.  Years ago one of our close neighbors was brush hogging and he needed to get off his tractor to fix it.  Guess he hit the gear shift as he got off and the brushhog ran over and killed him.  He didn't come home and his wife called a neighbor to look for him and he found him in the pasture.  Similar thing happened in the winter but this rancher broke through ice on a pond trying to get to a cow or calf.  Neighbor found him.  Ranching or farming can be dangerous.

Jo, Carol said there were three can sizes of Crusco.  I just checked and I have an unopened 48 oz. Unopened can of butter flavored.  Not sure why I bought it.  Used to use it a lot but not lately.  I know it didn't cost $9.00 tbough.

The Johnson grass is yellow. Outside I think there is less pollen but it has gotten into the house and onto the cats and GPs.  The cats lay on the back of the wing back chair which I have covered with a small quilt Sarah gave me.  I leaned back on It yesterday and  immediately felt the sting  of the pollen.  I washed and dried it and put it back on.  Just now sat in the chair and the sting is there still.  How do I get rid if it?  I had no idea how bad it could be.  Carol was congested this morning but doesn't have the itching.  Strange it is different on people.

Jo, I won't take the covid booster and flu vaccine st the same time either even though they say you can.  I like to take the flu shot in mid to late October for the reason you stated.  

Another foul up for Sarah.. UPS delivered her formula but it is the same kind she had a bad reaction to. She called the company and that was the script the PA sent to them. They told Sarah they would talk directly to her and get it straightened out.  I think the PA should be reported for several things.  Social worker is supposed to come and see her tomorrow so she's going to talk to her about it.  Do you all have Ang idea who to contacy?  I know she has an MD supervisor and Sarah has tried to contact him to no avail.

Jo, the prickly pears look bright and green.  Mike said he would contact a chemical company to find out what to usr.  We should have listened to my sister when she told us not to plant it.  Even if it is dug up those pieces will grow again even after laying out of the ground for weeks.

The bread crumb is different this time, almost like store bought.  It's good so that's okay.  I used a new jar of bread yeast today so that must be the reason.

Ron, everything okay with you and Lou today?

Fairyland

Hi all and thanks for the caramel dumpling recipe Lorita! Amazing how something so good can have such simple ingredients. And also lots of inspiration for other nice things from all and sundry- we used to have stuffed peppers that dad grew so well and now I’m inspired to use my crock pot for them.

dayn2nite2

Judith, I'm so sorry about the loss of your friend.  

Ahhh, the electric vehicles.  I pass the Audi dealership on the way back home.  They have 3 chargers and cars constantly juicing up.  Where are the public chargers?  I know our hotels in California generally will have 1 Tesla and 1 universal charger, but outside of California, these are few and far between.

And the grid.  Yes.  Our power grids can't handle the demand, and until everyone gets the ability to charge up at their convenience this is one of those things that looks great on paper but doesn't work in real life.  Not to mention the cost of the vehicles is crazy and their range is impractical for those who drive any distance daily.  

Work is still unbelievably busy.

ronald71111

Good morning front porch rockers, hope everyone has a good weekend. 

Judith, I am sorry about the loss of your friend!

Went to the dentist Wednesday while my sister was still here to see if they could help make my lower dentures fit better. They made a new impression of my lower gums and kept the dentures to make adjustment. I pick them back up Wednesday, which is the day I will be on a liquid diet prior to my upper and lower GI. They also took a xray of my head for the surgeon to look at and see if I had enough bone for implants. The dentist told me the implants would not help and the denture would just snap in place.

Lou has been complaining more and more about being tired in the evening and wanting to go to bed. I try to keep her up as long as possible because even though she wants to go to bed, she want go until I do and I cant sleep until around 9. I get up early anyway, but now I find myself waking up around 2. I let her sleep until around 9 in the morning and hate to say it, but I enjoy my time alone in the mornings. It's so peaceful with just me and my coffee!

I received a call yesterday confirming my appointment next Thursday for the procedure and to make sure I had received my medicine to drink. I was told the Dr. that would be doing it and noticed he was one if the Dr's that came to the VA. Certain clinics at the VA have Drs that are in the community that comes to the VA on certain days to see veterans. I am seeing him at one of the local hospitals and guess my follow ups with him will be at his office instead of VA. Certain specialist like GI, pulmonary and heart are so booked that a lot of care in the community is used. I remember before the care in the community started unless it was a emergency it took forever to see a specialist at the VA.

Hope everyone enjoys the labor day weekend!

Ron

Mint

Good morning 

69F.  Giving damp weather again.

Lorita find peppers hold their flavor really well when frozen.  They become a little limp but no more than if you blanch your pepper before you stuff it, which I do.

Have no clue when I bought a can of crisco.  Butter has gone up about a dollar a pound but can still find a good sale now and then.  Use it in baking but very little else.  Olive oil and avocado oil have always been pretty expensive so that hasn’t changed.

Beth warm cider is good.  Here the orchards have started selling cider slushies.  Lol as a child only liked the stuffing too.  My garden is winding down.  Saying that though, the cucumber vines looked dead just haven’t gotten to pulling them up yet.  Now see they are putting out some green leaves, blooming and setting on little cucumbers, amazing.  My lemon squash had to plant third time as something destroyed it first two times.  Persistence paid off as some are setting on and should be ready in a few days.  One eggplant left.  Got good production off of it.

Ron glad you are getting to have a little down time in morning.  We all need a little down time.

Corn was really good here this summer too.  Didn’t freeze any as have quite a bit from last year.   Did pickle a few small jars of non hot jalapeños yesterday.  Know at least two sealed.  Heard them ping. The other one probably did to.  

Lol Lorita good luck on getting out of paying taxes.

Fairyland if you try the caramel dumplings hope they turn out good for you.

Hopefully electric cars will improve with time.  If they don’t will probably be a bust.

Take care everyone

Jo C.

I am learning so many things about ranching that as a city girl I had no knowledge of and it is really enjoyable to learn thank you Lorita.  So . . . brush hogging was discussed and I had not the slightest idea of what brush hogging entails . . . was sure it wasn't about brushing the big farm hogs though.

 So . . . I went to our friend, Mr. Google and got a good link to better understand.   My goodness, did I ever!  For those who would be interested, here is a good link that is pretty much, Brush Hogging 101:

 https://www.newlifeonahomestead.com/brush-hogging/

Enjoyed having the TV back last night.  Got caught up on some of the PBS shows that were recorded but could not play.

Ron; I do understand what you mean about that quiet times in the morning with only you and the new day starting off together in the sweet silence and fresh day and no one making demands.  I used to enjoy that on the weekends when I was not having to rush off to work.  We have four children and of course sweet, dear husband.  I never sleep more than about four hours, so I was always up way before the rest of the family.  Like you, I so treasured those quiet, peaceful morning moments.   Sometimes me with a cup of tea and the newspaper or a book; sometimes just me sitting in the silence thinking, or sitting outside on the patio enjoying the new day and the wee early morning sounds of the birds waking.  Sometimes I would poke around in the flower beds or even dust off the garage lanterns and some window panes; so pretty outside when even the neighbors are all still abed and no noise.   Later came the thundering herd down the stairs - all ready to love them and begin the other part of our day together.   Little bits of down time when one must care for others can be a treasure. 

 You are getting a lot done, Ron.   It will be good to have it all completed and not to have all the appointments and dental issues clinging on nattering at you.  It may be nicer to be in the off VA setting in private doctor offices.   At least I hope that is so for you.   Not so much waiting and trying to wade through so much bureaucracy and so many others, etc., etc.

That homemade cider for sale does sound delicious Sayra; do they pasteurize it?  Like Beth,  I love it in the cold of winter when it is warmed and has a cinnamon stick in it.  When Thanksgiving was here, I would have a large urn of warm spiced cider to greet guests when they arrived along with some tidbits to enjoy while waiting for Mr. Tom Turkey to come out of the oven.  Such heavenly smells. 

Cannot remember when the last time was when I used Crisco, or bought Crisco.   Baking back in the day a lot of recipes had called for such fats.  I do remember oven fried chicken where the recipe called for part Crisco and part Butter melted together and heated hot before adding the chicken in to go into the oven.  Wonder why I did not hear the sound of arteries hardening back then.

Ouch!  Sorry you have to declare your taxes yet, Lorita and Iris.  We get ours done asap to get it out of the way, BUT - we do not have the complex accounting one must do to declare all the myriad stuff one has when a rancher; we are a simple declaration.  That has to be a headache getting it all together with all the bits and pieces with a ranch or a farm.

You know Lorita, IF the Johnson Grass is kaput, and still having allergy symptoms, you will have to get the inside of the house cleaned big time due to the animals carrying the pollen and shedding it everywhere; but the animals need to be cleaned too.  Can the dogs and even indoor cats go to the vets for bathing and any necessay appropriate agrooming?  That would take care of their coats that are carrying pollen. AND sadly, the inside of the house would need thorough cleaning as pollen travels and does not stay on one surface with the air currents and animals helping that process of spreading it around as they shed the pollen everywhere they go; they will also pick up the pollen from indoor surfaces since pollen travels.  If you look on Google, there are a lot of sites describing how to clean floors, indoor furniture, etc. to get rid of indoor pollen.  Does your vacuum cleaner have a HEPA filter?  It is really warm weather, so it is easier to do that deep all over cleaning.  If you could hire a cleaning service to come in and do it for you, that would be easier.  Services may actually be willing to come out that way as you say you do not know any one person who does house cleaning in your area.  Some cleaning services specialize in cleaning away pollen allergens in the house.

 Gosh  Day; the national power grid situation has always been a significant concern when thinking about it.  So many, many different power companies, so much ancient equipment, insufficient equipement and insufficient oversight to say the least.  Wouldn't one think this is a great priority for a nation?  But nothing . . .  I understand last weeks show, "60 minutes," did  a bit re the power grid.  DH recorded it but I have yet to watch it.  I have a horrible feeling that it will not be good news and scare the bejeebers out of me one more time.   So easy to take down the grid which is in SUCH bad shape - if this should happen, all the country would be down and become a nightmare.  Even sewer systems require electrity to run to keep flow gates open and control so much - so even our toilets would be a disaster with expected backups - blech!   Think of the myriad things requiring power from transportation, refrigeration . . . heck, I won't continue on that - but just think . . . it would be good to write letters to those who govern us to put their egos and power mongering aside and address this big time as it also affects them too - we know how much they like themselves, so go figure why it is not being done.  Ah well; shut up J.

We are to be about 105 degrees today; some areas both south and north of us will be way higher; some about 111 degrees.  Holding out hope that there will be no blackout because AC use is up and it is a weekend where folks are home needing the air cooling.  We have multiple cooling centers in each city for folks who do not have AC, so that is good; but if the electricity goes out, they will no longer be cool either.   Hard on those without AC and especially concerned about the elderly without cooling.   Will ask for the church to watch over the elderly congregants as I do not now who has cooling or not.   DH said if it is that hot and no AC, we may wish to go for a cool car ride with the AC as the car is with a full tank. Can't do that for too long.   I plan to keep the house closed up, all shutters and other blinds closed tight in hopes that it will keep the house from frying if the electricity goes out.  Come on winter!

These are the days I wish we had a swimming pool, but we never put one in nor did we want one.  Lot is small and the upkeep would be a forever thing that could be a big burden.

 Oven off today, microwave only or cold dishes.  Lots of water and bare feet.  Heck; I never wear shoes in the house, only when outside.  I am always bare feet or socks only in the winter.  Love being bare foot.  My nickname for our sweet granddaughter, is "Twinkle Toes."  She has always been a barefoot person since little.  I even found a pair of socks that had sparklies on the toes with print that said, "Twinkle Toes."  She loves having her own little special name.   I sure do miss having little ones; no one to play, "This little piggy went to market . . . " with anymore.  DH will not let me do that to him, (Ha!) I am stuck with no one to play games with or read storybooks to anymore and therefore have to be a grownup all the time.

How is the travel management stuff going, Day?  Long holiday weekend, so I would imagine you are like a butterfly with hiccups dealing with all of it; you're going to need a break to catch your breath!

Well; I shall take my bare feet and plod on to some other things needing attention; be careful, stay cool and have a day that is simple and serene.

 J.

Iris L.

Lorita, I'm reading a book by Eliza Reid about gender equality in Iceland.  Apparently it's the most gender equal country.  In Iceland, both husband and wife work the farm, but only the man's contributions count.  This is changing.  Also, there are a few women who farm by themselves, apart from a husband, father or brother.  There are some sheep and a few dairy cows.  Fishing and farming are the traditional livelihoods.  Those people need to learn about YOU!  You could give them some lessons in gender equality from your own life, also age equality, if that is such a thing.

Iris

Lorita

Lost posts twice today. Will try tomorrow.   Everything's okay  here, just hot..  Rest well.