Pot Bellied Stove / Water Cooler
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Just had a run in with one of our managers wanting to make a change to one of our forms that I know our division chief wouldn't approve. Told him to go duke it out with here. Gosh, this place just makes me tired sometimes!0
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Good afternoon everyone, it's thunder out there right now. We had a good dose of rain around 10:00 am and my patio is still flooded. I hope it doesn't decide to drop a deluge on us. The temp is 77 degrees and 88% humidity, it felt nice when I took out the compost pail.
Last night I cut open a watermelon I bought the other day and it was very good. I cut it all up and blended it in the vitamix, then poured it all into glass drinking jars for later. Takes up a lot less space than keeping it whole in the refrigerator and hubby can take one to work with him. I'm even doing an experiment on the leftover rind in the compost pile. I cut some pieces up really small, some bigger and even left one larger portion to see how long it takes each to break down in there. It's getting really hot out there so I can't imagine it will take very long to get the big one decomposed.
Sannferris-I wondered where you were, glad you got it fixed. Have you found a home for cookie yet? I know what you mean about housework. I get started and I can't breathe very well so I have to stop what I am doing. Then I don't want to get started again easily talking myself out of it. But I need to get it done. So, your cleaning the back door area, I will de-clutter the living room and wash the towels I keep on the furniture today. Let's work together and get our homes in order, shall we?
Mygnsac-Bummer on the bank issue, my bank up and closed their only location for 28 miles around me so I can't benefit from using the branch unless I go to big town. We are forced to deposit on the phone. It's good you stood up for yourself and told that person to duke it out elsewhere with their need to change a form. I wouldn't do it either. I hope your work commute gets better tomorrow.0 -
Good Morning. My computer is a pain again. This time it's MFP, it keeps logging me off. I received an email back from a cousin who was one that I had resent due to the delivery failure notice and she thanked me for resending, but that she got it the first time around too. I'm really confused, I wonder if all of them got it twice.
It started out wet yesterday and even though it turned into a really nice day, I did absolutely nothing. Today and the weekend should be perfect outside working weather, dry, but overcast to keep it in the 70's. Not too hot and not too cold, I have no excuse.
Marcie, glad that you're getting the cubicle of your choice. And, so smart to start moving little by little, not so overwhelming. I've never stayed with an office job long enough to accumulate stuff in a cubicle. My longest stint in an office was 4 years, and then while self employed for the last 30+ years, I only worked an office for a few months at a time during winter. Great idea to turn any disputes over to the "chief", make management work for their money and take it off your hands. They never realize that the worker bees know more of how to make everything run smoothly. I hope they leave you alone and let you do your job right.
Anew, I always cut my watermelons and store them in containers. Now, I buy the smaller ones because, you're right, they take up a lot of refrigerator space. I never thought to reduce them to juice though, interesting, but I probably won't, I like the biting into and chewing part. Do you juice your cantaloupes too? My aunt used to make the most delicious watermelon rind pickles. I sure wish I had gotten her recipe for that. She's passed now, but I'm wondering if her daughter might have the recipe, except that that cousin was a career woman and ate out a lot, did not cook, so I doubt she collected recipes. Your humidity sounds stifling, I'm not sure I could stand living in Texas. I bet you miss San Diego so much. Did you garden in Southern California or were you busy working outside your home back then?
I'm sure Debora is busy with Bible school this week. It seems a little early, our Vacation Bible School is usually in July, maybe I'm remembering her comment incorrectly. I know they had a Missionary Conference last week, she'll let me know when she has time to comment.
I'd better post this before I lose it, I don't trust MFP to keep me logged on right now0 -
Good afternoon everyone, tied up another cantaloupe with a net slipped over it this morning. Then pulled the one that turned yellow and discovered another that had turned yellow as well. Now I am down to 8 cantaloupes that are growing very well. I also picked a huge pickle I kept forgetting to pick before I sprayed. It's double the size of the first one I picked. I am pretty sure the seed pocket will be a huge hole with huge seeds in there. More rain coming the next couple of days so I will just wait it out. Right now it is nice, bright and sunny out there with a temp of 89 degrees and 59% humidity. A perfect day!
Sannferris-Try doing a restore on your computer by going back to a date you remember not having any problems with it. I don't normally blend up watermelon. I usually buy a small one we can eat in one sitting because I don't like the space needed in the refrigerator. We also don't eat it fast enough before it starts turning, which is usually the next day. This time the watermelon was a big one and I decided to blend it up for less space to be taken. Well, I didn't have any room for a big bowl in the refrigerator. We already cut up two pineapples and had a third in there. I have since frozen the pineapple though. Anyway, the watermelon juice is already turning, even yesterdays juice was turning. It's getting that taste watermelon gets the next day after cutting. The reason I don't like having a big one we can't eat in one sitting and I never juice a cantaloupe.
My mom pickled watermelon rinds too, I don't know what the draw was to it. I don't think I ever had it after the first tasting. But when I was a kid I wasn't much into pickles. I do like the refrigerator pickle I just made the other day though. It's got just the right acidity to them.
Here is a recipe you might like, it's old fashioned watermelon rind pickles.
https://ahundredyearsago.com/2012/09/20/old-fashioned-watermelon-rind-pickles/
I do miss San Diego a bunch. I didn't garden there, I worked full time and raised my kids so I was always busy with that. I did around 2000 try a small raised bed garden my husband built me and grew some greens. They grew real well and then bolted quickly so I gave up, not knowing I could have been cutting those greens back for more salad and to help slow the bolting process. I have had a lot of learning along the way out here though. Lot's of internet reading on gardening too.
Well, I hope you all have a great day today!
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Yay, another work week is done. As usual, looking foword to the weekend.
I popped in to tge grocery store on the way home, but will most likely have to make another run this weekend. I also have another bag of clothes to take to Good Will.
Long meeting this afternoon. Nearly 3 hours. Didn't think it would ever end. And, after I went home I've received about 50 emails! I've decided to stop monitoring my work emails for the weekend!
I hope you all have a great weekend!0 -
Hi ladies, another beautiful weekend! Can't wait to get outside and read my book. It is really good and hard to put down! The housework will have to wait! I've been making small light meals this week such as fish tacos. Hubby and I have been enjoying having the smaller dinners. I have no plans for any special meals this week since Jami is dying my hair tomorrow so we will "eat out of the freezer" or something this week. I'll still do my usual weekly greens though. We are also going for pedicures before she dyes my hair so I'll get a little pampering and feminine feet.
I don't remember if I mentioned that my brother Joe took the early retirement from JC Penney. They offered him an extra $10K to retire now. May 31st was his last day. He is anxious about what the next phase will bring. He knows that he could easily become a couch potato. I told him it is up to him to get up and out and involved. Plus I am pushing him to start cleaning out the house. He is truly a hoarder. I keep telling him that the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time and if he does a little each day he can get thru it. But he has to be strong and get rid of stuff!!
Anew, wise to do more research on whether the squash is a good choice this time of year. The cukes and pickles sound wonderful! The pickled veggies recipe looks good too. Let us know if you try it. The pasta sauce and dinner sounded absolutely fabulous! I'm so jealous!!
I read an article a couple of years ago about watermelon rinds having a lot of nutrients in them. I don't know that I'd ever pickle them either. They'd have to be homegrown or organic of course. The boogie blue filter for the hose looks like a great idea. I never would have thought about filtering the water from the hose. We aren't growing veggies anymore though so I won't worry about it for now. Amazing how well the mels square foot has worked for you. Great job grasping the concept and running with it! Boy, you guys sure have had your share of problems with wasps. We used to have them in NJ but not here in SD. Poor AC guy! He really should find a new "indoor" job away from wasps. Needing 2 epipens sounds really serious!
Marcie, I really despise leaf blowers. It makes me crazy on so many levels. Getting dirt all over our cars is REALLY annoying! Then there is the pollution they are all putting out. You can't even imagine how many are running all over San Diego on any given day! So great that you finally get to move back to your old cubicle. If we've got to spend 8+ hours a day in them, they should be a good work space. That is one of the perks to being the receptionist on top of all my other duties - I always get a large desk and am right in front of the doors/windows! It is really amazing how much stuff we accumulate isn't it! I keep telling myself I'm going to weed it out if I ever get the time but...Yay on finally getting your printer fixed and finding a home of the mini fridge. I'm not at all surprised you got several responses considering it was free. I prefer dill pickles over sweet too although when I got the branding iron burger when we went to dinner for Dan's b-day recently they had these sweet hot pickles that were pretty tasty. Have you ever tried the organic kosher dill pickles at Trader Joe's? Those are our favorites and they don't have the food coloring, etc you get with "standard" store bought pickles. I have to agree with you also on how annoying the big rigs are on the freeways. It was so much better when they used to be confined to the 2 right lanes but now they seem to be able to drive anywhere (except for perhaps the far left lane) and it makes freeway driving so much more difficult sometimes. How annoying that your bank system was down. I would not be comfortable with "phone" banking. I'm surprised you don't have direct deposit. Is that a government job type thing that you all get live checks?
Sheryl, How wonderful to have blueberry bushes. Do you get a harvest from them? I would think you are in the perfect area for them. They sell blueberry bushes here and I have tried to talk hubby into planting one but he is not going for it. Amy's graduation dinner sounds amazing! I would have definitely WAY overeaten! I don't know how Norma contained herself but she is a pretty strong gal! I loved all those old shows like Perry Mason! I don't know if we get those here. I know my brother Joe in NJ has a station he watches where he gets all the old shows we used to watch. I haven't seen anything about that new show coming called Sheldon Cooper. We will definitely have to check it out. It could be really good if done right.
Debora, I know you are busier than usual this week so we will stay tuned for further details.
Okay, I'm going to go grab some breakfast then get outside and read. Have a wonderful weekend all!0 -
Hi, I was going to try and drop in for a few minutes every day this week and just have short entries but I don't know why I thought that would work. Yes, this was Bible School week. We do it right after school is out because wheat harvest is usually the middle of June and our farm families are busy. Paige and Lucy were here the whole and Jeremiah was here the last two nights. We took they and another family to and from Bible School. I would stay till everyone went in and then go do what needed to be done. Then I would try and get back for the last 15 minutes so I could see the skit done each day. The people that decorated the sanctuary did a wonderful job as usual. It looked like a castle when you walked into the church and there was even a drawbridge that was lowered each morning to let everyone in. That will stay until after the program tomorrow night and then be moved to the Community Bible School and then go to another church so will get used at least 3 times. The theme was giving honor and glory to the King.
Monday morning Lori and Maggie hung at the house and then ate with us cause she wanted to go on the cemetery tour Ralph was giving that afternoon. We had leftovers for dinner so an easy meal. He had about 20 people show up for it. After they left, the girls got their "beds" ready and played house for awhile. Lucy needed cookies for the next day and I needed a dessert for the meal I was making for one of the teachers so we made mint chocolate cookies. They were good. Hot dogs was an easy supper and then went for a walk down to one creek - about 3/4 mile.
Tuesday morning we got up and going. They sleep in the basement and the rule is they can't come up until I open the door (at 7). That gives me a little time to check my email and stuff. While they at Bible School I did the rest of the meal. I made hamburger pie, added fresh pineapple and made angel biscuits. We ate the same thing. That afternoon the girls worked on their verses, Lucy worked on her needlepoint. They played. We tried a rapid egg cooker my sister had given us. The girls enjoyed piercing the end of the egg. 6 made in 16 minutes and then I made eggs in white sauce for supper. One liked it, one didn't - more for me. This time we walked to a different creek - enjoying tossing some rocks in and watching the ripples and got in a good mile.
Wednesday I took the kids and Ralph went and picked up some kids in Potwin (3 of us took turns getting them). Then I got the centerpieces to the Nursing Home that our 4-H kids had done. Went back for the prayer time and home for an hour. Got our lunch in a cooler (glad I had picked up some lunchables) and a plate ready for Ralph to heat. The kids and I ate in some shade at church and then went to Derek's to watch his kids too. The three I had had fun playing with their cousins. We ended driving home in a hard rain but made it fine. And because of the rain no walk - but we enjoyed American Ninja Warrior while the kids did their crafts. We fixed frozen pizzas for supper. I sure did dishes a lot more than I usually do. Jeremiah had to take cookies the next day but he got the ones I had bought just in case.
Thursday got the kids in and came home and got taco meat ready for dinner and made applesauce jello. That afternoon I made breadsticks for the next day meals (a friend was doing the main dish and I was doing the rest) Then Paige needed cookies for Friday and didn't want chocolate so I googled sugar cookies and found one I could just use a cookie scoop to put on the pan and did them. We all liked them so I'll keep that recipe. We had breadsticks, vienna sausages and applesauce jello for supper and the girls and I went to Willing Workers. They worked in the kitchen with the junior girls and made cookies to sell to the ladies to raise money and I worked on our Sunday School material. That was our late night so I told the girls that had to get ready for bed as soon as we got home. Still had time to read a quick story.
Friday Ralph took the kids to Bible School and I headed for town as soon as they were ready to go. I didn't have a long shopping list so got home and put the cold stuff away, boxed up the meal stuff and headed back to the church. Last day brought in more offering than all the other days together so the missionary is was going to was wowed. We got home, ate leftovers, got the kids packed up and their dad was there to get them. Ralph and I just sat and rested a bit after they left. The house was not messy but I worked on getting what was needed back in place and did my list for Saturday and then we left for town. We ate at McDonalds and then went to a baseball (my son keeps a player and we watched the team he is on) and they ended up winning.
And that brings us to today. I changed our sheets, made a cantaloupe/grape salad for tomorrow, heated more leftovers for dinner, got the crockpots and stuff ready for tomorrow, swept the floor, etc. This afternoon we went to a wedding. We were glad we went early cause it was a packed out church. The ceremony was nice and we stayed for reception and program. We weren't really hungry so just fixed a light supper and I've been mostly doing some email and stuff since I didn't do much of it during the week. Ralph found a black snake in a chicken nest that he had to move. Don't want it eating the eggs or chickens. Ralph also moved birds from one building in with ones in another building cause he said it's time to start new chicks. Alan moved one of the a-houses for Clark to put his chickens in. Tomorrow is Communion Sunday so we don't have Sunday School. I am to help in the nursery. Next week is our Community Bible School and they have a nursery for the teachers and I am in charge of it so will be gone every morning. I will have the afternoon/evening at home but will try not to put too much on the list so I don't overwhelm myself.
And that's why I've popped in to read this week and didn't end up saying anything.
Marcie, Cisco shares himself both you and your dad - keep either one from getting jealous that way. Cool car you took a picture of. Ralph always enjoys when we see older cars and tells me whatever he knows about them. What a pretty bush.
Isabella, glad you're enjoying The Good Earth. I think I read it many years ago. I basically read fiction - nothing to heavy other than the Bible.
Ralph had around 20 show up for the tour and kept it just under 2 hours. He talked about who was buried here, stories of the families - and after he ended some of them stayed and asked questions. Things like who was the first one buried, the family that had three buried after a fire, and stuff like that.
Anew, you must have a green thumb and knowledge and you take the time to care for your garden. And you are reaping the benefits. I didn't keep up with the weeds when I had one. We had a wonderful asparagus bed for several years until we had a bad year of grasshoppers. Now I have never juiced a watermelon before. We had one last Sunday and finished the last of it Friday (cause I forgot I had another container) and we thought it was still good. Cool on the boogie brew deal. Having gallon jugs sitting around is a great idea. Dragging a hose around is a lot of work. Sorry your ac guy got stung by a wasp - 2 epi pens - yikes.
Cool that you had some pesto to freeze and be ready to use another time.
Sheryl, what a wonderful celebration for Amy's graduation. Good for Norma for being strong and not eating a lot. Nice that your Bible Study will continue. Ours does too - we'll skip when it doesn't suit most of us - like we aren't meeting during the two weeks of Bible school cause some are teaching and stuff.
I saw the ad for the Sheldon Cooper show too. I'll definitely check it out.
So sorry Cookie is getting meaner. We had a rooster like that and got a neighbor take it who I think killed and cooked the tough bird but that wouldn't go over with John.
Marcie, guess your dad can just walk when he wants if his buddy has quit on him. Cool that you get to move back to your old cubicle and don't have to rush doing it. Nice that the refrigerator was taken care of so quickly.
Yay on a working printer. Never knew Home Depot took used light bulbs. I'll have to see if they do that around here. Never sure what to do with ours so that would be helpful.
You'll have to let us know about the new menu at the Grille when it comes out.
Bummer that the computer system was down at the bank. That's a mess for anyone anymore when that happens. Seem strange to me to deposit with the phone. My oldest does it some. I seldom use even the drive through. I like going in and seeing the people in the two banks I go to (especially the one Julie works at).
Sheryl, computer problems are no fun. Mine keeps acting up. May try and convince Ralph that we should do something before it crashes. We'll see. Rain does slow down the outside work. Alan is now working on planting the last field of soybeans and the rain keeps stopping him.
Just about 10 so I think I'll close this and start heading toward bed. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
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Hello everyone. Today is bright and shiny hot. It's 86 degrees and 65% humidity out there. We have had rain off and on for the last four days so thought my garden had plenty of water. This afternoon I looked out at the garden and noticed my cantaloupe and cucumber plant leaves were wilting. I went out and checked the soil and found it's almost bone dry. Something is really wrong with that because yesterday morning I was out there and the soil was plenty wet, and we had a bit more rain last night.
So, I quickly watered everything in hopes that I caught it in time to recover those plants. I picked the three biggest cucumbers off the plant so it could focus on the smaller ones and reviving itself. I'll go back out and water everything again this evening as well. Yesterday we set up the watering filters before the rain set in and all the plants were doing great. I picked a handful of my first green beans and had them for a yummy snack.
Isyvanek-I decided not to plant any summer squash due to how hot and humid it gets with the mildews I would be battling. I will however grow beans from now until they are done but won't plant anything for the high summer heat. I'm not sure if beans will get mildews either but I will try.
Arobed53-Sorry to hear about your asparagus, I would love to have some of that. I haven't had any grasshopper problems here yet but I do read about it happening in all sorts of areas. A green thumb I don't really have, honest. It's through reading and doing that I have managed to keep things alive, lol. I used to kill everything I touched, I guess this is what kicked in my stubborn head to learn it. I love Mels, it's easy and anyone can do it. Best part is, once you set everything up it's planting time, not waiting on the soil to be good enough to grow something in. So, anyone could plan their garden layout in the fall/winter, build their beds and fill them and plant in spring. That's of course if it's too cold to garden in the fall/winter time. Basically, your garden could be ready one bed at a time, or build the entire thing over a period of time and plant all at once. I recommend building two beds and planting those, then adding to the garden layout as each season comes on. Much easier that way.
Well, as I was typing this and reading the above responses I remembered I had not shut off the pressure to the filter. It looks like my cucumbers and cantaloupes are starting to recover from their lack of water and the clouds are setting in again. Supposed to be more rain today. We had a constant lightning show last night for about 30 minutes. The weather said we had cloud to ground lightning too. It was strange seeing the sky on constant light up for so long.
Have a great day everyone!
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Good evening everyone, it's hot today at 95 degrees and 42% humidity out there right now. The garden perked up well since they got water twice yesterday. It was dry on top again last evening so I gave everything more water. We had 5 minutes of hail and rain last night and it passed on. I've made some more refrigerator pickles with the three cucumbers I picked yesterday. I really like those, it makes a great snack with the onions tossed into the mix, I just had a big bowl a few minutes ago to finish off the first jar I made.
I hope you all are having a good week, I'll see you here sometime.
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Had to come back and update on the fence. So, our neighbor pastor from the church behind us came knocking today. He wanted to know if we were going to fix the fence or what? I said yes, but I do believe that fence is owned by both of us and we would be willing to pay our half. However, there must be a permit paid for first and let him know the entire fence needs replacing due to rot and termites. He said all the other people just file a claim on their insurance for the fence to get it fixed. I told him we won't be filing an insurance claim for a fence. He then said that is the original fence that was put up 30 years ago, and I told him it's had it's full life and then some. So, he said he would get it fixed and bill us. I told him no, we need you to get an estimate and we will take a look at it. Then he proceeds to tell me they buy their materials at the local hardware store, and his handyman would do the building of the fence. I told him the hardware store costs far more than just going to Lowe's and buying all the same stuff there. So, he said ok and off he went.
Hubby commented when I called him about it that if he (the pastor) wants to file a claim on the insurance to fix the fence, he is more than welcome to do that. Sheesh, I can see why the neighbors months ago say they won't fix a fence. Well, I told the neighbors they will pay their half, we aren't paying all of it. Good luck I was told. Didn't seem very hard to me, lol. I guess you just have to be firm and to the point. They can't argue 50/50 responsibility.
Next, the handyman comes by and asked if he could go in the backyard to count all the boards needed for the new fence and I said sure. I then asked him how much he charges for labor, and he told me he wouldn't know until he knows what the job entails. So, no percentages or anything like that I suppose. I let him know my husband would probably not agree to pay anyone to build a fence because he can do it himself, I already talked to him about this and so I let the handyman know to get their estimate in and my husband will do one too. Then we can all come to an agreement regarding the fence.
Here is the kicker. We bought this house in 2012, the fence needed replaced then and hubby has already had run ins with their handyman. Hubby went out to repair a couple of boards on it and the handyman came running over and asked him if he was putting a gate in. Hubby told him no, I am repairing it. The handyman then tells him he can't put a gate in, it's our fence. Hubby said, I told you I'm not putting a gate in, I'm reparing it. Then told him if it's your fence, it needs replaced. The guy then back peddles and says, well it's 50/50. My husband said to him, it still needs replaced. Hubby doesn't like the guy because each time he goes to fix a board the handyman harasses him. The problem with this is that the boards he is fixing are the ones the handyman put on that look like crud. The guy can't put a board on straight. It's like he doesn't care that the fence looks like crud, just throw a board up on the fence. He also just puts old used boards on the fence. Hubby has taken some off and replaced them altogether because of the holes that are in them.
The handyman was just telling me he builds fences for a living, and he's been working for the church for 17 years. Hmm, well he should be doing better repairing a fence. I didn't tell him that though. I just told him we'll provide an estimate and they can provide one and we will come to an agreement. This is going to be interesting because hubby does not like this man at all. All I want is a decent fence without rot, termites, and lichens all over it. They better learn how to work together.
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Good morning everyone. I wonder where you all went to today. It's a beautiful sunny day today with a temp of 82 degrees and 99% humidity, though later it'll be a scorcher. Got everything watered this morning, filled all my empty water jugs and placed them all around the garden. Then realized that I had not watered the cantaloupes yet, so I used two of those gallon containers to water them with. Already worked out and was convenient for me. Thank goodness the garden has seemed to bounce back very well from it's lack of water the other day.
The cantaloupes are starting to get their familiar cream colored webbing on them and hubby and I are both excited to try one. He asked when we know they are ready, and I let him know my understanding was that they will slip right off the vine, and into their handy little pockets. He licked his lips, lol. I've been picking a few beans here and there. The tomatoes are doing well and I am getting more and more cherry tomatoes. The others will stop producing soon and I will pull them then.
I hope you all have a great day today.0 -
Good Morning, It's been a week, sorry for being MIA. My mornings have either been filled with John cause he got up early, or I just felt blah and sat in my chair and dozed off. Been mowing the areas of very tall grass that had already seeded, so lots of seeds and pollen floating through the air. Plus, lots of pollen from the trees and I have had hay fever/allergies which haven't bothered me in years. Took some medication to dry up my nose and I think that wiped me out even more. Ah, It's Spring.
And, then...today, it's raining. I'll stay inside except to feed and let the beautiful rains clear the air. Yes, I said beautiful, I don't mind the rain, I like the variety of what we get here. There's one more tall grass area that I need to mow (when it gets dry again), but another area that I will open the gates and let the llamas take care of it for me. They haven't been in that area for months, so they will love it. They get so charged up when I let them into new areas, they need some excitement in their lives.
John is thrilled, we have spotted 3 separate bunnies this season, plus we know of 2 babies, so there will be more. I'm sure there are plenty more that manage to elude us.
Every morning, we also have the wild Mallards fly in for breakfast. Since John has been getting up earlier than usual, he's able to see all of them too. Every morning, he comments that he's "never seen that before" and I say, "they're here everyday". It's always so new and exciting for him.
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Good morning everyone, good to see you Sanferris.
It's going to be another hot one today. Right now it's 82 degrees and 62% humidity. I have sprayed the garden with fungicide again. It's been a couple of weeks and lot's of new growth so I needed to get it covered and protected from the humidity that leaves everything wet at night. I also fed everything this morning with my husbands help. He picked all the ready veggies before I sprayed and then put the food in the water jugs and refilled them for me too. So nice to get the help from him. We started at 6:30 this morning and I just came in from finishing about 20 minutes ago. So that would be 1.5 hours with his help. Without it I would have been out there until 9:00 and the sun would be a lot hotter by then. I really appreciate all the help he gives me. Today I will be making some more tomato sauce to freeze.
Sanferris-Sounds like you have been very busy. I hope you can get outside into the fresh air and move those llamas soon. It would be fun to see bunnies running around the yard.
Well, I hope you all are having a good time and busy as ever. Have a great day today.
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Good morning ladies, today is our free library concert. The artist is one we haven't seen before. Sounds interesting. The bio says that he plays a mix of rock, pop, folk and blues. Sounds good to me. Then we'll see where hubby feels like eating. Our bible study is breaking for the summer so this past Wednesday was our last gathering for now. We had potluck finger foods and we had a sign making party. This gal goes to groups and helps you make these crafty signs that make you look like you know what you're doing. Mine is green with tan lettering and says "It is well with my soul". It also has 2 birds at the bottom. The other saying choices were "Be still and know that I am God" and "Let your faith be bigger than your fear".
Would you all believe after all the hassle we have had with the neighbors on the East side with the fence and then later agreed to let them build a fence up the slope - the neighbors in the back are now asking them to cut part of it shorter because they are claiming that it is blocking their view?! This is ridiculous! And the association is agreeing with the top neighbors and told our next door neighbors that they have to comply at least with the last panel at the top. Dan is furious. He does not want the fence shorter because first of all it won't match the existing fence, second of all we will then be able to see their mess of a back yard (hopefully they are going to finish it someday) and third of all, then the dog will be able to jump over the fence and start pooping in our yard again.
The whole point in their putting the fence up the slope to begin with was to contain the dog!!
My nephew Steve in N. Carolina asked my brother Joe to be his son's Godfather at his christening on June 25th and Joe agreed. He is hoping that one of Steve's siblings is going to go also so he can travel with them.
Debora, you had quite a week taking care of the kids. Glad it went well. Sounds like your church came up with a really clever idea for bible school. Here we call it vacation bible school since they take place while regular school is "on vacation". Our church tries to come up with a neat entertaining theme each summer too. Ralph's cemetery tour was a big hit! I would have enjoyed something like that too. Our Home Depot takes light bulbs too so I would guess that yours does also.
Anew, sticking with beans for now sounds like a good idea. I forget that some areas actually get too hot and humid to plant in the summer. My friend Grace in FL can't plant during part of the summer either and even her farmer's market closes at a certain time in the summer and winter. Very happy to hear that the "wilty" plants came back nicely. You caught them in time. I have always been fascinated by lightning. I know it can be dangerous but I love to watch it. You got quite a show! Why do neighbors have such a problem with fences?! With the old neighbors we never had a problem with fixing fences or anything else. Even with the young ones on the West side we were fine when we replaced fences last year. But as you all know we had a heck of a time with the neighbors on the East until we signed off on all their home improvements and became friends. Sounds to me like this handy man your hubby has to contend with is using old boards from fences he replaces and uses them on your fence. I can't even imagine having to deal with that. Dan would not be able to put up with that either so I totally understand why your hubby doesn't like him. As you said, hopefully they can figure out how to work it all out and get your fence done. Most people I know have their cherry tomato plants come back each year so you may want to hold off on pulling them. Or maybe try leaving one and see what it does next season or next year? Let me know how it goes if you do.
Sheryl, glad you got some nice rain to wash away all that pollen. We had tons of pollen this year too. I'd come out to my car at the end of the work day and it would be covered in pollen. Thank God I don't have allergies. Did you release the llamas in the new tall grass area yet? Neat that John has bunnies to entertain him again. Has he named them yet? We have tons of them here. Too many. I would imagine the mallards are neat to watch too. So long as it isn't those dang messy Canadian geese! 
Marcie, you must be busy today. Are you decluttering another closet?
OK, I'm going to go have some breakfast and read my book. Have a wonderful week everyone!0 -
Good Morning. John got up earlier and then went back to bed, so I have a few minutes to collect my thoughts.
Yesterday was another day of drizzle, sun breaks, and a couple thunderstorms with heavy downpours passing through. It doesn't last long, but boy, is it powerful while it's here. The animals don't care, they just keep grazing or lay there and chew their cud like it's nothing. The ducks and geese love it, playing in the water. Only the chickens run for cover.
I opened the gates to let the llamas roam more area and they really like it. John had to constantly go outside and check on them since it's harder to see them from the windows. He fusses over every little thing, I've learned to ignore it all.
Today is my Mom's cousin's 50th wedding anniversary party. Norma is going to drive to Pasadena this afternoon for it. Mom did not want to make the trip. Norma thought that she'd go to Nancy's house and drive with them, one less car to take up a parking space, but Nancy is going directly from a rehearsal and will be arriving late. Norma then called Karen, but they already have a very full car, so she'll just go on her own and then can leave whenever she wants to head back home. Norma's very good friend is having health issues again, so Norma will spend the night and tomorrow with her to help out.
I'm listening/watching another internet seminar for 7 days at 6 pm. Started last Wednesday, so there's 4 days left. Interesting information, but I will not follow through with it as I don't have the severe pain that they refer to, or seizures, so I don't need this treatment.
I better answer a few emails, they are piling up again.
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Good evening everyone, it's 88 degrees and 69% humidity. It's pretty much stayed about the same throughout the day in temps and it's starting to cool down out there as the sun goes down. I just gave everything a sprinkling of capt jacks powder on their stems and tied up the vines of the watermelon to the trellis. Just this morning I fed everything and the watermelon exploded in growth already. That stuff is amazing.
Isyvanek-I decided not to plant anything else out there but will plant around September instead for a fall garden. It's getting too hot out there to keep going at it. I'll also pull the tomatoes as they give out and keep picking cucumbers and beans as they come on. The cantaloupes look like they won't give me any more of those either, so the 8 I have on there might be all I get. Which isn't too bad since it's the first time I have grown them, and on a trellis.
A lot of people say you have to manually pollinate them to get cantaloupes but the bees have done a great job of it for me. I'd say I'm on a roll there, lol. As far as tomatoes go though, I won't let any keep through the entire summer just to see what they do later. It would take far too much water to keep them alive and the constant fungicides needed would just be wasted. I'll let it all finish out and cover all the beds to keep weeds at bay and start again for the fall crop.
Once again, your concert sounds great. I am positive you had a great time today. Neighbors and fences are ridiculous. I still can't believe he had the nerve to suggest I make an insurance claim on a fence. People don't realize your rates go up each time you make a claim and they already go up because of others making claims, It's a never ending cycle.
Sanferris-The llamas and John sound like hard work. For me looking in from outside I get a giggle because John sees things all new each day. I can imagine it is tiring to be on the inside though. A friend of mine's mother has dementia and is fighting everything tooth and nail right now.
I hope you all had a great day today.0 -
Hi everyone, this week ended being fuller than I thought it would be. I didn't even make here to read one day. Sunday we just had Alan's family and my sister. I made pork chops in gravy and mashed potatoes that I thought turned out well. We had leftovers yet tonight and then I froze the two pork chops left and the gravy for future meals. No one stayed too long cause they were going to go home and get naps since the Bible School program was in the evening. We heard some good singing, the end of the skit they had been done each day and then each class did a skit or said some verses. Then we had ice cream while we visited. No one hurried home.
Monday I walked with my friend and then it was off to be in the nursery. We had 6-8 kids each morning (the youngest was like 18 months) and then the three 4 year olds joined us when their class was done. The high school girls who helped are really good with kids. The church has a good selection of toys. Several of the kids had been in the nursery last year and it's fun to see the growth - especially with the girl with cerebral palsy. I was in the nursery from a little before 8 to about 12:15 each day. Monday evening we went to a visitation. This friend worked till she was 80 and in the year since had a heart attack and later got an infection in her lungs which she couldn't fight off. Tuesday I got home at 12:30, quickly fed us and changed and we went to the funeral. So I usually had a portion of each day at home but didn't do a lot more than keep up with dishes and laundry and have-tos. Wednesday evening we went to Jeremiah's baseball game and watched the girls (well, really just Maggie). His team lost but it was a good game. Thursday, two friends took me out to eat as a thank-you for lining up a couple of meals for them so that was fun. That evening Ralph and I sat at the computer and ordered a bunch of books for our missionary friend to use in the classes he'll be teaching when he goes back. I think we ordered about 40 books so our mailman will love us next week when they start arriving. We looked for each book at 4 different sites and then looked for the best prices on books in good condition so it took us a good two hours to do it all.
Thursday night after we got done with the books, Ralph got started mowing the lawn and Alan called trying to figure out how to get his kids to Bible School Friday morning cause they need to be in Wichita at 8:30. At first I said I couldn't take them but after some thinking, I had him meet me at the house of the friend I walk with and I took them with me to the nursery and after the high school girls came, I took them to the school. They had a ride home afterwards. Owen reminded me that his birthday was Saturday and I jokingly told him he was going to be three. He said, no, I'm going to be 3 plus 3. Yep, he turned six today. My last child didn't got picked up about 12;30 that day. Then it was up to the school to get the containers of blocks I loaned to a friend and I gathered up all the leftover teaching material. There are two more small churches that are going to use the decorations we had in front of our church along with the visuals and stuff. It's nice to have things used more than once. Got home and found out Ralph had a headache so I was to go to town by myself. So I ate a little bit and headed off, shopping as fast as I could cause we had a wedding to attend at 6. It all worked out. The wedding was very nice and we had a good time visiting at our table while we ate (pulled pork on homemade hamburger buns).
Today I got started on the Saturday stuff till 10. Then we had a funeral at our church. My sister, my walking friend and I did a nursery service for kids of the family. We had about 6 kids and it went fine and then we stayed for the meal after it. The man who passed away had been raised Amish so a busload of 52 plus some van loads came up for the service. Very nice people - just dressed in their style. Since we got home, I've finished up on food stuff - will start the tenderloin before I got to bed. Tomorrow starts a new week and we'll how it goes. 4-H is Monday so you know how it will go.
Anew, yes, you have learned a lot to garden the way you do. Glad your plants made a good recovery and cool on enough tomatoes to make sauce. It also takes time and you and your husband make a good team in many ways. Nice that he helped you in the garden today. I finally took the time to look at your refrigerator pickle recipe and the other one you might make and realized it's similar to what I use for my vegetable relish. I do chop my vegetables and I have even used the leftover juice for a second recipe. Nice that you can make a pickle so quickly. I bought a cantaloupe this week but I bet yours will be really tasty.
Oh my, what a mess with the fence. Kind of sad that it's a church you're working with and how it's done doesn't seem important. I hope your husband will be able to stand his ground and be nice about it and things can be worked out.
Sheryl, mowing tall grass is extra work. Nice that you get days off due to rain. How fun for the llamas to get a new grazing area. Glad John is enjoying the rabbits and mallards and that it is fresh every day. Wonderful that you've learned to work with John just as he is and not let it get to you. Sorry the pollen is making your allergies act up.
Nice that Norma can make it to the 50th celebration. Being able to leave when she wants is an advantage to going on her own. And then it's nice of her to help her friend.
Glad you're enjoying the seminar. Not sure I'd stay with it if I wasn't going to do any of it but you may glean something.
So how was the concert, Isabella? They always seem to be good. Where did you eat? Are you sad about Bible study ending. It will give you an evening to do something else you enjoy. What a fun ending and when you see your sign, you'll remember all the ladies you spent time with.
It's actually call VBS (Vacation Bible School) or DVBS (Daily Vacation Bible School) like you said. I just shortened it. We even used to do two weeks of it. I don't know how many companies put out material to choose from but sometimes driving through towns, you see different ones advertised.
Yes, I often had volunteer cheery tomato plants back in the day. And they were just as good as the ones I bought.
That would be nice if your brother could find someone to ride with. Would he go just on his own?
Found out one of our channels is running My Three Sons reruns all weekend. I'm out of taped shows so it was fun to find these. I always enjoyed them. Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone.
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Good afternoon everyone. Today is another scorcher but it will still get even hotter as the months come ahead. It is 93% and 51% humidity out there. At least it's not as humid as it was this morning at 89% humidity and 88 degrees. The weather changes so much around here.
I have enough Roma paste tomatoes to make more pasta sauce for the freezer. We have picked a whole stock pot full in the last 4 days and they are all nice, red and firm. Perfect for sauce. The garden is definitely slowing down in the heat. The cantaloupes seem to be just sitting there doing nothing about growing bigger or ripening, but I'm sure they are. I haven't seen any new flowers on it and am sure I have my allotment of cantaloupe this season.
There were a couple of male flowers on the watermelon plant that I discovered last night. I am hoping to get some watermelon on those vines soon. I only have one plant because I planted other seeds but no germination with them. That's ok, I think one is plenty for the single trellis it has to support it. I just hope I don't get any bad guys out there eating the plant and killing it.
The cucumbers are still producing flowers and the beans have a lot of flowers as well. What I am not seeing is a lot of bees around right now. Which is strange because I have flowers and herbs out there that have flowered for them to drink from. I would think they would be all over the garden like they were a couple of weeks ago. It is getting hot though, maybe they are out in the very early morning when I don't venture into the garden.
Arobed53-How cute he answered you back with addition. That's one smart little boy you have there.
It sounds like you are busier than ever out there.
Well, I am going to check out here today. I have my cast iron in the oven seasoning, and my tomatoes are clean and ready for sauce making when I turn off that hot oven. You all have a great one.
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Hi everyone. Happy Monday.
We had a cloudy chilly weekend. The weird weather continues around here. I think it's supposed to warm again later this week. Just too cool this weekend to get in the pool!
I ran a bunch of errands over the weekend. Mostly I just wanted to get out of the house. I made two trips to Walmart, one to Costco, got gas, got the car washed, went to the grocery store twice (I keep forgetting to get things...you'd think I'd made a list), and went out for breakfast on Saturday and Sunday. Gosh, people sure do get aggressive at those food sample stands at Costco. Their manners just go out the window. One of the vendors gave me a sample of some skin cream called Infinite Aloe. Wow, that stuff is great. Then I asked for the price. A jar of that stuff is $75! Walked away from that stand empty-handed.
Did laundry, hard boiled eggs, painted the nails, and caught up on some of my recorded shows. Was planning to vacuum the house, but just never got around to it. It can wait.
This morning I FINALLY got the rest of my stuff moved from the old desk to the new desk here at work. I had a cart I've been using parked at my old location, but someone took it. I had to go on a hunt to find another one. I don't mind if people take things, but the least they can do is return it when they are done. Rude.
My new desk is just a disaster area right now. So much stuff to put away and organize. One the managers offered to have one of his student assistants scan some of my old notes (I have a drawer full of them) so I can discard the paper copies. I thought that was nice of him. Just for reference, he wants to take a look at them, most of them are from attorneys from way back when and are now most likely obsolete, so I told him to help himself...but take them with a grain of salt.
I also have CA Code Books for each year, going back to 1989. I need to toss those in the recycle bin. I don't know why I've been hanging on to them for so long and they take up so much space. Everything is online now anyway.
Got a free lunch today. It's my division chief's birthday and her assistant brought in lunch for us to celebrate. Big spread. Fixings for sandwiches, corn on the cob, pasta salad, potato salad, chips, melons, juices, and later angel food cake. She wouldn't take any money for it though!
Thursday we are having a going away party for another co-worker, who is moving to Nevada next week to go work at the NV Secretary of State's office. They will be ordering sandwiches from Subway. Then on Friday they will have a cake party for her. These two events cost me $15. It's getting cha-chingy around here lately. Next month we have another long-time co-worker retiring (more $) and another one in October. Everyone is retiring or leaving around here!
I just checked out the new menu at the Grille here at work. The owner did make a few changes that are a bit healthier. More veggie choices, different kinds of healthier breads, etc., but I think he can still go further. They're soup of the day today is their potato soup, which Dad likes (I'm not a fan), so I'm taking a cup of it home for him to have tonight.
I was on Facebook quite a bit over the weekend. Connected with my Uncle who lives in Washington. Got caught up with him. Friended a number of my co-workers. Put a pic of Cisco (of course!), etc. A few of us were talking about how we sure wished we could retire, and then my division chief chimed in that we we're making her nervous about all the retirement talk. I told her that if I win the lottery, she and I would be having a talk, otherwise no danger of me retiring any time soon. Ha! I suppose if one wants to win the lottery, one should actually play the lottery (been many years since I bought a lottery ticket).
Well, I have to go back and read all you recent posts. I'm behind again!! I'm going to close and finish my lunch, and then get back to organizing this new desk. I'm hoping I don't receive any assignments today so I can focus on that and get it done!
Have a great day everyone.0 -
Good Morning. Another drizzly day for today, but forecast to be nice tomorrow. I need to get to the store, so will go out today and plan to stay home tomorrow and try to work a little outside while I can. I think they said more rain for Thursday.
Norma asked me yesterday about the neighbor's calves and the llamas. I think I forgot to update you about them...they are all getting along now. Took two and a half weeks, but the calves are a fixture now and the llamas don't pay any attention anymore. I am pleasantly surprised that the calves are so well behaved, so far they have not pushed on the fences at all. But, they are growing and if they are still around this summer, when all that lush grass is gone, we'll see how they behave.
The llamas made short order of the tall grass area behind the garage, it's down enough now that I can get a lawn mower through there easily when I need to. Yesterday, I let them in the backyard again, I won't have to mow that at all.
Marcie, glad that the new menu at The Grille is better, but I guess we're not surprised that they did not take more of your suggestions. Good luck on organizing your new work area. I guess it's good to move every so often to clean out all the old obsolete stuff. I should do that right here at this desk, I look around and see lots of papers that have been sitting here a very long time.
We had a very nice visit with Jack and Gayla on Sunday afternoon. Gayla can hardly wait for the hip replacement, surgery is Thursday of next week. She is in so much pain. She said that had she known how she would be feeling now, she would have passed on tax season and had the surgery months ago. They are still having trouble finding anyone who has an RV accessible. Renting one is just too costly, so they may take us up on our offer to stay here with us, but won't know until next week. I'll clean all the bedding and towels and be ready, just in case. I know Gayla will be very motivated to do all the PT and get back to her own home asap.
I guess that's it for now.0
