The New Water Cooler
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I could have sworn I did an entry last night.
I always think I am going to put some color somewhere and then never do. Since I paint rarely it feels like too much of a commitment!
I don't really want to do anything this weekend. But we'll see, I'm sure that is unlikely.
Only one more week at work for Zach after today. So far they are still on campus. We'll see!0 -
You did an entry yesterday. I read it and responded.
My brother is almost done with painting our fireplace and surrounding wall. It looks nice as an off white neutral. So bright and clean. He is coming in the morning to do the last coat on the front of the fireplace and it will be done. He's slow and particular but I'm grateful he is painting for us.
Tomorrow I am going to spray paint a small patio table for my porch. I may swim at my sister's in the afternoon. We'll see how day goes...
Our water is from a well and is so hard that it leaves rust deposits in the toilets. Turns the whole bowl brown. I bought some rust guard tablets and put them in the toilet tanks. They are suppose to work for 30 days. We have 3 toilets, we'll see how they work.
We've bought a pressure pot, jars and the utensils to try canning. Now when tomatoes come out we will buy a large amount to make salsa, stewed tomatoes and marinara. In the Fall I will can apple sauce. We are planning our container garden for next spring. We may buy galvanized troughs instead of building with treated wood. Wood prices are high and wood is scarce right now. Our neighbor across the road has his own sawmill in one of his barns. He saws and planes boards from his woods. He told Russ he can take whatever he wants from his piles. Instead of towel racks in the bathrooms, I want hooks for towels. I priced them on Amazon (a wood bar with 6 hooks) and they were about 64 dollars. Ridiculous! Russ said he could make them for me and then I will paint and distress them. I'll find cute hooks for the towels. That way we can hang up more towels if we have guests. He also told Russ he has a dump station on his property for his camper to drain his black tank of waste after camping. He said we can use it whenever we want. So nice!
Sweet corn is hitting the veggie stands! Yay! Russ is going to buy some tomorrow for our first batch of the season.
All of our stuff is in the pole barn. Russ has been going through it to see what we have. So funny we didn't miss most of it for the last year. Just shows what you can live without. I do look forward to getting some of my nice pictures and other things out again.
Well enjoy your Saturday!
Jenny
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oh boy - we canned a lot at that first house we had the first couple of years because we put in a big garden. It is so much work. Might be more fun to do when you don't have to do it after putting in a full day at work-work. I invested in all the stuff - I wonder if I kept it. I hope you are able to find tanks or troughs for your gardening. Those are some of the products we make that have turned into weirdly high demand items and we (and other manufacturers too) can't keep up. Backlog is still over 22 million and we are still trying to ship May orders. Yes, it is that bad. And the orders keep pouring in. I don't get it.
I hid at home this weekend. I thought I would feel better after having a downtime weekend. But I don't. I just really have hit an emotional valley again. Not surprising, but just something else to deal with. This will be Zach's last week working, he wants to be off next week before school starts and I have no issues with that. It's not like he got to do anything fun this summer or last and if he wants to take off a few days it's his summer. He is making me nuts though - I told him he was responsible to get his dorm items ready this year (I did it last year) and he has his drop off date on Thursday and he still hasn't really done anything. Ugh. Boys. I am making myself stay out of it. He has to figure it out, but it's killing me.
Bernie did something to the yard this weekend that he didn't even talk to me about. He ripped up some grass and put in rock. I'm guessing because it kept growing a bunch of crab grass and he couldn't keep it nice, but I can't believe he didn't discuss it with me, and I can't say anything about it now because no matter what he'll just yell that he won't ever do anything again because I'm never happy. Sigh. Kind of true. But he would freak out if I just started ripping up carpet or tile without getting his ok. Bleh. Drama I don't need.0 -
Boys don't seem to need as much to be comfortable in their dorm rooms. I always wanted to give them nice comforters and sheets, bed pillows, rugs, storage, etc. and they didn't care. Their rooms were piggy anyway and they never changed their sheets or cleaned their space. Let him be and he will figure out what he needs to live or will ask for your help. Very different from the daughters of my friends. Such is the life of mothers of boys!
Rain today and very lazy. I'm reading and trying to figure out my credit card bill after an unusual delivery from UPS. Do you remember that our patio table and chairs we ordered through Amazon was suddenly canceled without notifying us? It was the Christopher Knight brand outdoor table. Well Amazon told me that Christopher Knight Company stopped doing business with Amazon so that's why it was canceled. We ordered another table and chairs, different brand, through Amazon and it is currently on our deck and we've used it. Well UPS just dropped off a patio table from Christopher Knight in our garage. I would imagine the chairs will arrive this week too. Amazon did not charge us for it and I don't think they can give our billing info to CK company. It will be interesting to see if we end up with a free patio set or if they figure it out and contact us. We aren't sending it back on our dime or using our muscle. If they want it they need to send UPS here to pick up. We don't even have a receipt or order slip for it since it was canceled weeks ago. Stay tuned...
I should be tackling some of the nitty gritty cleaning this place needs. The tile floors need bleach and a scrub brush to clean the grout. I would have to get on my hands and knees and this is not the day I feel like doing that. Maybe tomorrow? I have some of my framed pictures unpacked and am making decisions on where to hang them. Russ is taking a day off from home projects so I have to wait until he's ready to hang them. It's one of those tasks he has to be in the mood to do.
Is the area in the yard with the rock where you would be ok with it? He took initiative but I agree it would be nice to discuss it since you both own the home and live there.
Jenny
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wow - finally the temps dropped and it.is.amazing. It is like 75 and low humidity. It could stay like this and I would be so happy. But, hot is back this weekend. :<(
It will be interesting to see what happens with your extra table.
Hair today. Glad to banish the grays, but don't necessarily enjoy all the time it takes.
Still waiting for the boy to pack.
The sheriffs person no faulted the accident of my folks. Which obviously is better than saying it is her fault, but with folks only having 100000 medical on the policy they could be in big trouble financially. We'll have to see how the bills come in. The ambulance and life flight alone will probably eat most of the that up - let alone the surgery/ICU/ and all other stuff. I know they still think their medical coverage will pick it up. Nope. Not on an auto accident. Is it Friday yet?0 -
and TSC (our main customer) just announced they want all orders by Labor Day. HAhahahahahahahahaha. We still have a 23 million backlog (mostly of their orders) and we are shipping barely 3 million a week. Do.the.math. It's not that we don't want to do more, just can't. Whatever. Hopefully they cancel0
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We have decided to try sweet corn from different farm stands. Today was taste test #2. Tomorrow we will buy from a couple of other stands. It's interesting how everyone recommends a different stand as the "best".
I hope your parents don't get wiped out and have huge debt/bills. How is your Dad doing?
I have a Zoom meeting in a few minutes with my former knitting group. We are wishing another member Happy Retirement.
The chairs for the patio table arrived today! What the heck? I will check my credit card in a few days and see if we get billed.
Well I better get ready to Zoom. Have a nice night. Your work is going to be crazy!
Jenny0 -
Today we need to buy a ceiling fan for the guest room. Russ wants to put it up before he attaches the headboard to the bed. Then I can put the end tables by the bed and find the lamps that go in there. Hopefully he will hang the two pictures I want in there too in the next week or so.
My niece and husband have listed their house. It should sell fast but they will have a difficult time finding something to buy in the location they want to be. Luckily they have rental options if they need to move out. It would be better for them to sell first. Houses go so fast here that a contingent offer would hinder getting the house they want.
Yesterday 3 of us, childhood friends, got together for lunch at our friend's lake cottage. Beautiful day and lovely lunch. She took us for a boat ride on the lake and we checked out all the new houses that have gone up over the years. My childhood home was two houses down the shore from hers. My Mom sold in 1998 and moved to a condo. The buyers had plans to take the old cottage down and build new. The old house burned down in a storm so they lucked out. They built a home that my cousins next door call the "castle". It doesn't fit with a lake home at all. More like an affluent suburb home in a city.
I'm going to sand and paint my table today. If I like the paint I will order another color to paint my dresser.
Hope you and your parents are well. How is Z doing with his packing and C feeling with the school issue?
Jenny0 -
I'm starting a general logging of my food intake today to get a general idea of calorie intake now that I'm home all the time. Then I can adjust as needed.
My knees and foot are very sore today. I know I haven't been moving enough. This morning we went to Home Depot, Michaels and Costco. Home now and I'm going to sand and paint first coat on small table that was my Mom's. Russ went to buy a face cord of firewood to have on hand. We are building a fire pit in the back yard and want it done before the boys get here on 8/22.
Heating up here. I think AC will go back on soon.
Jenny0 -
Today is drop off day for Zach at Wayne - since only got about four things ready to drop off (sheets, a couple of towels) I decided Bernie and Zach could handle it without me. I mostly kept to my guns about not doing it (aside from pulling out a garbage can to send along b/c for some reason they don't have those in the rooms). B peeved me off by getting after me because I wasn't on Zach about getting it done. I reminded B that I had reminded Zach a few times in the last few weeks and if B was worried about it he could it himself. Bite me. I know I am always the one who does the packing, but guess what ya'll are all adults. If he only wants a few things he can do that.0
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I agree with you. Z knows what he needs and wants at school. If he didn't get it ready he will learn by natural consequence and have to wait to get other stuff when he comes home next. Best way to grow up and become responsible for yourself.
I sanded and painted the first coat on my table. I need a different brush so will buy one tomorrow for the second coat. We tasted another farm's sweet corn today. It moved to the #1 spot! We have one more farm to try and then we will have taste tested 5 different farms this week. Today's was the best I've had in a long time.
Both my sister's called me today and my brother stopped by this afternoon. We invited them to dinner on 8/23 when the kids are here. They all seemed excited to have a gathering and someone else cook for them.
Well I'm off to bed to read and relax.
Have a good day tomorrow. TGIF!
Jenny0 -
I saw a few pictures of what will be Zach's new room. It is very nicely updated compared to the older Berry Hall, not that Zach cares about that. Having the a/c will be nice, but the main thing still remains to be seen how the new roommate situation goes. Just over 9 days and they'll finally meet! Pleasepleaseplease let them all be amazing together and another spoke on his wheel of friendships.
The crazy level is high at work today. HOT too. Bleh.
but, TGIF!0 -
How is Wayne handling room mate situations with COVID? Is everything being treated as normal and usual now?
I didn't sleep well last night. Knee was throbbing. Up at 5:30 and feel tired. Russ went to grocery really early and I'm going to get dressed and go check my table I'm painting. I'm hoping I don't need to do a 3rd coat or sand the last coat. Not sure I like the paint I'm using. It's Country Chic Chalk Paint. Very thick and I didn't water it down. If I do a 3rd coat, I will make the paint more thin.
Well we may hunt for the last corn we are going to taste today. If not, I'm going to my sister's pool this afternoon. It's heating up again.
Have a nice day.
Jenny0 -
Sorry about your knee. Maybe some pool time will help.
From what I understand at Wayne they will have to wear masks in common areas and to class. I’m guessing not their rooms bc who would.
OPS the biggest school district in Omaha announced Friday they are going all remote for at least the first quarter. After the government pointed at Omaha as a burgeoning hot spot. If schools can find ways to play sports they dang well can find a way to go to school.0 -
Big 10 announces cancellation of 2020 football season (probably the other sports too) - and now you will see NE lose it shiz. Can you hear the screaming?
I really wish I smoked or drank - still holding my breath for school -0 -
I just saw that the Big 10 canceled their season. I wonder if high school teams will follow once they find out that players are testing positive.
Very frustrated with Russ today. I had unwrapped all my framed prints and had them in the living room ready to be hung. He hates hanging pictures but we put aside this morning to at least put up the prints in the living room. I'm lucky if I can get him to put up 2 in a day. Well he put up the print above the fireplace and one in the dining room. We were measuring and centering another print above the small couch and he couldn't seem to mentally figure out how to determine the spot and center it. He said "this is my last one today". So I got 2 out of him because he gave up on the one above the couch. I'm so sick of it always being an unpleasant experience to hang our pictures. I just spent $200 dollars having one framed and now what? I am going to have to tackle the smaller pictures on my own or ask my sister to come help. I can't deal with him doing this. Or I just pack them up and put them away and our walls can be bare? I just feel so frustrated with him sometimes.
I have an appointment to get my driver's license processed today for MI. I am able to slip in to a late afternoon appointment that someone else canceled.
Very hot and humid here. It feels like a storm is building and going to hit soon.
My middle sister's 65th bday is Thursday. We are having everyone over for fajitas. My oldest sister and I went and taste tested cupcakes at a new place in town. I will pick up a dozen for dessert on Thursday.
Have a nice day,
Jenny
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I hear your frustration J. I'm so sorry. Maybe try one or two yourself and see how it goes. Or maybe a handyman. Or just take a few days at the pool with a margarita!
I am also feeling extremely upset and frustrated, just in general. While I am happy that my dad has seemingly beat the odds and will likely recover mostly whole. I am completely and totally unhappy with the direction everything else is going. As you may remember from my posts, my dad has been farming for many years. Including all the years I grew up when his 'real' job was teaching. So he would teach all day in Omaha and then take off for Pender or Wayne (depending on what he needed to do) and farm all night and all weekend. He was never at any of my activities because the farm was always the priority. Always. Thats where all the money and all his time went. In the last five or so years my sister and her husband have basically gotten into business/farming with my dad because she basically wants to make sure that dad gets to keep his land (family homestead etc) and thinks she is keeping it in the family or something. I have NEVER wanted anything to do with it. I hate dirt, hot and have never been interested in any aspect of farming. I have not signed up for it. Don't know how to do it. Etc. But I know with dad in bad shape we all have to pitch in for now. So Bernie has been going up as he is able to help mow the three (THREE) places and last weekend they spent over twelve hours emptying one bin of beans. There are more to empty before this harvest starts. On different places, which involves moving everything everytime. My issue? Bernie will spend more and more time doing this. Time he always claims he doesn't have and can never complete things around the house, or just yell at me for how stressed he is. And the fact that now dad and mom will expect this will continue. Bernie will just assume the extra duties. Because there is no plan for how to handle all the work when dad can't continue. Short term for this year, ok. But if it continues after that? I'm done. I had a father who didn't want to be involved in my life ever growing up because the farms were always more important. i have put up with a lot of bs from Bernie's family and his own issues from being raised by morons. But honestly - if he starts spending all his time doing the farm I'm out. I won't go through that again.0 -
Your situation sounds very frustrating. So your parents own 3 farms? How big are each of them? What do they harvest? How in the world did your Dad farm on top of teaching? No wonder he wasn't around. Where is Bernie suddenly finding the time? I would be angry too.
Well this morning I hung framed pictures in the guest room, den and living room by myself. So far they haven't fallen off the wall! I have another one to hang in the kitchen by the table that I can do myself. As for the others, I need help. Maybe I'll ask one of my sisters to help at some point.
I'm waiting for my mineral fusion paint to arrive so I can begin painting an old dresser I want to update and put in the guestroom. It's a cranberry red. My bedspread is navy denim and the pictures on the wall have cranberry mats.
Rory told us he will be coming on the 22nd. It will be so nice to have two of the boys here and Karah. It's been almost a year since we saw Jeff and Karah.
Tomorrow I'm getting together with a friend. We are going to check out some stores in another small town. She has a second hand shop and likes to browse flea markets, estate sales, etc.
Well hang in there! I can't imagine how all those farms can be managed.
Jenny0 -
Glad you were able to hang a few of your pictures. Maybe that will also incentivize Russ too. Bernie will suddenly be able to do something after I try to do it myself (although he'll still yell about it).
How exciting getting to see at least some of your boys! I would be beside myself after that long.
so the saga of the farms. (He does corn and beans) It first started for my dad as helping out his dad. Then when his Aunt Mary passed away dad bought that place (Aunt Mary didn't have any kids) so that was dads fully owned place about 100-125 acres - but that place is in Wayne about 30 miles from Pender. So he continued to help his dad and work on his own place and teach. When his dad passed away dad took over as much as possible doing that farm work as well. His mom was still alive for many years so the place and land was still technically hers. There are/were two sisters (well three but Joan and family were killed in an accident in the 70's) - and his one sister (dads twin actually, lives in Vegas) had nothing to do with the farm, and his other sister while living pretty close was busy with their own place. When grandma passed a few years ago there was a lot of family drama but in the end dad ended up with the right to purchase the land or something I don't know all the details, but the girls got money and dad ended up with the Pender homestead. That is around 100-125 acres as well. My mom got half of her folks land (she has one brother) when her mom passed and that is latest addition to the farming and where Michele jumped in to add their help and a few acres of their own. I think mom's land is also around 100 acres and her brother ended up with around the same but he sold it to non family much to the horror of mom. So three places each anywhere from 15 to 35 miles apart. So the land - the LAND is in their blood. While I intellectually get it - it's not in mine and I have years and years of bitterness of being always put aside for the farm. Money always going to the farm. And I should be less selfish and be above and like my sister and keep this precious thing going and in the family. But I don't give a fart about it. Obviously my dad nearly worked himself to death trying to do it, but it was and is his dream. My kids don't have any interest (at least none that I can see) in it. Even when dad was less busy - he retired from teaching at 55 because he had enough years (rule of 85) and it was easier, he and mom could have taken the boys more over the summers and done farm things. But that never happened. Because you know kids are hard, they take time and it would have been too much for them. So the boys have no knowledge or care about aside from they care about grandma and grandpa, but they don't have a legacy type thing for it.
So, yeah, there was some verbal bomit for your day. So , regular work still stinks, but I go home to my a/c in the afternoon and completely forget about it until the next day. The money I make goes towards my boys and helping find their passions and future. I don't dump it in the money pit of farming - yet. Soon, I'm sure we will be having to help out soon enough. It's already starting with mom and dad not spending money on things they should. Like, they don't have garbage service. So we have to bring it back to Columbus. I told Michele I will pay the stupid fee. I gave them a nice infared thermometer I bought earlier this year, so they would have one of those. So it begins.
Anyway...
I haven't been 'junkin' in a long time. Sounds fun.
Stay cool, the heat is up this week, maybe next week it drops.0 -
Wow! That's a lot of land to care for and harvest crops. If it's not your passion, don't feel guilty about it. I wouldn't want to do it either. Garbage pick up is typically pretty cheap for a monthly bill. Why would they cut that bill? Gas between farms and supplies for farming are going to suck the budget for sure. How old are your parents again? You would think they would want to be done with it but probably don't want the land to leave the family. If you inherit a farm or some land, could you lease it to a neighboring farmer to farm and you reap the leasing fee for income? Or is it conducive for hay and you could harvest that and sell it off?
My friend and I had a good time. I did not buy anything. I don't want to acquire nick nacks when I have boxes full in my pole barn. Sarah bought several things at a second hand store to turn around and sell at her store. I don't get it but it is her hobby. She loves old stuff, the quirkier the better.
Russ hung the new diningroom light over the table. It looks very nice. I like it alot! I just need to clean the bathrooms and mop floors tomorrow and we are ready for the bday party. I will pick up the cup cakes and wine tomorrow.
It is hot here! We turned our AC back on this afternoon. It won't cool again until Sunday and next week is suppose to be in the 70's. I hope my paint comes so I can start on that dresser.
In the Fall I would like to go to more junk and antique stores. I like to look for nostalgia reasons and to find that special item.
Have a nice night,
Jenny0
