Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: May 14--May 20, 2023

[kyrsyan]

Got work done. Boss commented on how calm this week has been. Told her to be quiet so she didn't jinx us. She laughed and agreed.

Got back out with the hot knife yesterday afternoon and got the cuts sealed.

Got back out this afternoon and got the first 6 tomatoes planted. Had to get down on my knees to do four of them, which the body flat out did not like. So I had to stop with 6.

It's a case of my knees don't like it when I put so much pressure on them. And my back doesn't like lifting me up and down from the ground. I'm working on the weight so the body will be a little happier.

Tomorrow I can reach all of the holes without bending so I should be able to get most, if not all of them, done. And from lessons learned in the past, I'm getting the cages up and tied together now.

I already added fertilizer to the bed in general. I'm adding egg shell and acid lover fertilizer to each hole, along with a good pile of fresh top soil.

I got things arranged for Mom's birthday gifts. My SIL is helping by keeping everything at her house until Mom's birthday. Because Mom would open everything as soon as it arrived.

Now I'm figuring out Dad's stuff. I've got Mothers Day. Then two weeks later, Mom's birthday. Then two weeks to Father's Day. And two weeks after that is Dad's birthday.

One of son's medications was not available in full this past weekend. The store just got the refill in today. So they can't get it mailed here before he runs out. That means a road trip tomorrow afternoon. Because there and back is an hour, if everything goes smoothly and quickly.

And it turns out that Walmart is the one company that cannot change my email address. Even with a phone call and the ability to completely verify everything in the account. Even with a verified phone number on the account.

So I made copies of all the receipts and nuked the account. The only reason I started shopping there again was because it was the only place allowed on my son's primary insurance plan. That changed this year and I can move his scrips to Sam's Club. I know, same overall corporate. But those are the only choices. And we do use Sam's Club a lot.

Anyways, going to chill some. The garden movement and exercise has changed the feeling issue in the toes. As in the "off" feeling area is getting smaller. And the pins and needles area is also getting smaller. I must be somehow loosening muscles that were pinching the nerves. But at the moment everything from the waist down is just flat out sore. At least the calf muscles are not currently locked up.

 

[ioujc]

Well,I got the majority of the garden planted yesterday!!

There is still a LOT to do!! I am going to add another raised bed, which will require MORE planting!

So far, I have already planted potatoes(planted quite a bit earlier), sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, green beans, cantaloupe and radishes and beets, spinach and lettuce(also planted a good bit earlier).

I still want to plant black beans, some squash and some new varieties of beans....also Jerusalem artichokes. Oh!! And of course watermelons and pumpkins!! Still LOTS TO DO!!

Trying to get BACK into shape!!! The gardening usually does it without a problem, but finding things are a bit harder this year. So TIRED ALL THE TIME! After working in the garden yesterday, I came in the house and went right to sleep!! But, then again, I usually only sleep 4 hours at a time, due to pain waking me up. Oh well, no pain....no gain!!

One of my hens has gone broody!!! Only problem is, I do not currently have a rooster in my flock!! I do have an ISA Brown, but he is only about 3 months old, and when I put him in with the girls....they REALLY GANGED UP ON him and pecked him bloody!! Now he will probably end up wanting to be a trans-sexual!! Poor little guy!!

Also will have several at least with the 50 straight run Barred Rock I still have under lights. This is their 3rd week...

Well, it is PAST time to get started this morning ....ideal time is right after the sun comes up!! And it is ALREADY 8:28!!!

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Cary got the tree limb cut up and moved to the burn pile and got all the new railing on the deck finished. While he had his tools and saws out, he remade one of the steps leading off the deck, too. It has been loose for a while.

I managed to get all the raised beds hoed, before the rain hit. Everything is looking great. Just as I was finishing up, it began to rain. More rain in our forecast for today and tomorrow. I am planting more cuke seed into the raised bed with the others. There's plenty of room for a couple more hills. Will get that done today.

Doing more laundry today. Cary's work clothes, and my Blair order came in. I'm washing them, too. The dye smell was really strong on the top, so I wanted to wash it before wearing it. Also, changed out the sheets on the bed and cleaned the bedroom from top to bottom already this morning.

 

[summerthyme]

@kyrsyan ... watch thrift stores, garage sales, etc for one of these.

Amazon.com : garden kneeling bench

I still can get up and down from the ground without help (most days!), but when planting or weeding the big garden, my kneeler is a lifesaver. Since I also have a very stiff ankle due to the MRSA infection, it let's me kneel comfortably, which isn't possible if I'm flat on the ground... my foot doesn't lay flat like it should.

Ioujc... I hate to say it, but once we're in our 60s, it gets MUCH harder to "get back in shape"... recovery takes longer, building strength and stamina takes much longer. I'm working hard to not let myself veg out in the winter... even on bitter days, I can run up and down the loft stairs a few dozen times, or walk laps around the shop.

Now that spring is here, I've been averaging 12,000 to 15,000 steps a day, and the first week or so was tough!

Summerthyme

 

[nomifyle]

Shamey Shamey I ate cherry pie last night and it was okay. However, I'm back on track today. And we are going out to eat tonight. I checked the online menu and they have foods that will keep me on track. Grilled catfish, sweet potato and grilled veggies. Its not perfect but it will do. I've had breakfast and lunch already and I counted my calories, which is not necessary, sometimes I'm just curious. With everything counted I'll only be at about 900 calories for the day. I did have a light breakfast and lunch, but feel completely satisfied.

I've been working on laundry and trying to put some clean clothes away.

Its hot outside, 90 degrees. The garden plants are growing well.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I got more cuke seeds planted today. It's so warm now that it shouldn't take them long at all to come up. Cary took out our window a/c unit and cleaned it good. He's got it ready to go when our summer heat begins.

I'm working on supper now. A beef taco casserole, garden salad, and warm flour tortillas. I like to make things ahead of time, put in the fridge, and take it out to cook when the time is right. Red velvet cake for dessert.

 

[kyrsyan]

I did not get in the garden today. The day went sideways pretty fast, but in a good way. I finally have access to my primary email account. Took AT&T almost 8 weeks to get it fixed, but it's fixed.

Son had a bad night last night. He did things that he knew, almost instantly, that he shouldn't have done. He spent an hour or so crying it out before he came in to give me a hug as his way of apologizing. (And making sure that Mom wasn't still super angry at him.) The tears weren't for me. He always gets upset when he loses control like that. It's not quite meltdowns, but it's something that just gets out of his control. I think it may just be emotions overloading that he's still learning to control. Because he didn't learn a lot of those skills when he was younger. And now he's getting surprised by things. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't like wild emotions any more than I do. He came in first thing this morning for more hugs, just to make extra sure that I was not still mad at him and the he was still "my boy". Like that's ever going to change. He's always my boy, even when I'm mad at him, and I tell him that. (even when I am mad at him)

There are days when I wonder what mischief he's about to get up to because he'll hug me and say "your boy". But sometimes, I think, it's just his emotions and mind giving him issues and he needs the extra reinforcement. I will sometimes tease him and ask him if I'm his mom. Which is normally, very quickly, answered with one of his versions of yes. Every once in a blue moon he'll be in a mood and he won't answer. Or he'll answer no. Generally with a big sassy grin on his face. That gets him tickled until he recants.

He started to repeat the bad behavior this afternoon and I asked him if he wanted mom to be "big mad" again. That actually got through the start of the storm and he managed to calm himself. He made it home without an explosion which was a win. Mad and Bad are two words that I am very, very careful about using. I don't know why but both are very big emotional words for him. And to add big at the front of either word seems to really make him think and focus. It's odd. They haven't been words that I usually use frequently or in any big way. But they hit, so I try to not use them unless he's really getting out of control but not yet to meltdown.

We had to go out because they didn't have enough of his seizure med on hand to refill it last week or this weekend. They did give us a 3 day supply to hold him. But when I hadn't heard from the pharmacy, I called. They got the meds in last night. That meant I had to go get them rather than wait for them to be mailed. I'm going to have to order a back up supply from Alldaychemist. Last time I looked they didn't have it, but when I checked just now they do.

Then a client finally started sending over receipts that they had been sitting on all week. So instead of a short peaceful day, I ended up with a 5+ hour day that had me all over the place. Ugh. I'm going to go take some headache medicine, pull the veggies for dinner, and chill for a while. If I drank alcohol, this would be the night for a glass or two. But I have a 7 year old bottle of mead that I am not finally cracking open for this reason.

 

[nomifyle]

So we went out to eat and in theory I stayed withing in my food plan. Grilled fish, steamed vegetables and a small salad. It wasn't the least bit satisfying and I was hungry. I wasn't hungy before I ate but I was afterwards. After we got home I had cottage cheese with mandarin oranges and a slice of ezekiel bread with avaccado on it and now I'm satisfied. I hope we don't go out to eat again any time soon. The company was nice though.

The house was hot all day and the ac was running. But when we got home it had finally cooled down, I hate to see our electric bill this month.

 

[Digger]

We are still getting rain every few days. We got the hay fields all fertilized. I got more garden planted. But the garden we started last year, I have only tilled part of it. Hopefully, this week I will get most of it planted. A friend gave us some speckled butter bean seed to try. An old man gave the seed to our friend. The older gentleman had been saving his seed for years. We will see if we like them.

We kept the grandkids last week knowing the baby was not feeling well. Then the 5 year old took a nap. Felt his head, yep, he had a fever that evening. Now guess who is sick,. Hopefully, we will kick it in a day or two.

The local Tyson plant only worked part of the week. Our son in law only worked a three day week. Our daughter in law got a 4 day week. Not sure if it is not enough chicken or too much unsold product in the warehouse. But the workers were told to expect short work weeks for the next 6-8 weeks.

Today I have to get some prunings and limbs that the winds blew down picked up. The yard needs mowed again. I did get all the fruit trees sprayed again. Hopefully we will have a good harvest. I may have to thin some of the fruit. We will see after the May drop is done. The trees will thin themselves some. Some years it is enough and some years we have to thin more.

 

[John Deere Girl]

I planted more pole beans, carrots, lettuce, potatoes, and onions yesterday. I only have watermelons left to plant. I'm hoping to not only can and dehydrate our harvest, but we want to share with family and some friends as well.

The kids and I got some big projects knocked out, but I'm exhausted now. I'm dealing with carpal tunnel in both wrists and hands right now. It's frustrating, because it impacts a lot of things like cooking, cleaning, and even planting seeds.

 

[nomifyle]

I planted more pole beans, carrots, lettuce, potatoes, and onions yesterday. I only have watermelons left to plant. I'm hoping to not only can and dehydrate our harvest, but we want to share with family and some friends as well.

The kids and I got some big projects knocked out, but I'm exhausted now. I'm dealing with carpal tunnel in both wrists and hands right now. It's frustrating, because it impacts a lot of things like cooking, cleaning, and even planting seeds.

Vitamin B6 always helped carpal tunnel for me.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

We have absolutely nothing planned all weekend. It rained off and on all day, yesterday. More rain and storms, today. I did scrub the bathtub this morning and cleaned the whole bathroom to spic and span shine. My back is fussing at me now.

When I talked to Mom, yesterday, she told me that she had a half bushel of large green bell peppers for me in her fridge. I can pick them up, Tuesday, when I take her to see her ENT doctor. One of her friend's DH brings her all kinds of fresh produce year around, but she doesn't need any more peppers. He goes to a big farmer's market somewhere in Alabama to pick up a truck load of fresh produce for them and Mom every couple of weeks. I think it's in Birmingham. Mom always gives me what she can't use of which I'm very thankful. I'm already planning to use some of the peppers to make stuffed peppers. I'll chop some of them for the freezer.

 

[kyrsyan]

There is a lovely large Farmers' Market in Birmingham. I'm hoping to go in a few months. Great prices on food straight from the farm.

I was going to plant today but the middling chance of rain turned into rain all day. Supposed to be sunny tomorrow though.

I'm taking as the sign that I need to catch up on house chores. And get a side job done in time to bring in extra money for the massive flea market over next weekend. It had been dwindling but it exploded in size again last year. And there were quite a few things that caught my eye.

I'm hoping to see similar again. It makes me wonder about the reasons for the size explosion but I'm just going to take advantage of it to fill in some gaps. I have fingers crossed for a rolling garden seat, wheelbarrow, and maybe another garden cart. In addition to fruit trees and ammo. And tools handles. Maybe some ammo cans.

Son is still battling migraines. He gets barometric headaches that meds can't really do anything about except take the edge off. The one med that might work for it requires that he consume a gallon of water in the hour before and after he takes it to avoid kidney damage. He can't do that. And interestingly enough, according to others, super hydrating like that can actually reduce the headaches by itself.

I am making myself do more squat style moves when I'm doing things around the house. Instead of just bending at my waist. The hope is that if I do it where I can use support, it will remind the muscles how they are supposed to move and strengthen them.

Anyways, I slept really late so I should probably get going on more of the chores. I haven't slept until 9 am in a long time.

 

[John Deere Girl]

Vitamin B6 always helped carpal tunnel for me.

Thank you for sharing that! I will try it!

 

[Hfcomms]

Just been getting more bulk stuff. Bought a 150 pack of shaving razors and added to that a 400 count set of toothbrushes individually wrapped and a 150 count box of small toothpastes. Awhile back bought a few cases of hand soaps as well. Basic hygiene is one of the first things to go in any type of disaster yet a long term disaster of not having things on the shelves and it keeps you a lot healthier. To be able to shave or brush your teeth becomes much harder when basics like toothbrushes, toothpaste and razors are unavailable.

And those are things other people will need as well and they are not all that expensive either. Got all this stuff for about $70.

 

[kyrsyan]

Just been getting more bulk stuff. Bought a 150 pack of shaving razors and added to that a 400 count set of toothbrushes individually wrapped and a 150 count box of small toothpastes. Awhile back bought a few cases of hand soaps as well. Basic hygiene is one of the first things to go in any type of disaster yet a long term disaster of not having things on the shelves and it keeps you a lot healthier. To be able to shave or brush your teeth becomes much harder when basics like toothbrushes, toothpaste and razors are unavailable.

And those are things other people will need as well and they are not all that expensive either. Got all this stuff for about $70.

I just ordered the soaps I use for my son in bulk from Dollar Tree.

I'll probably do the same for some other things over the next few months.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Just been getting more bulk stuff. Bought a 150 pack of shaving razors and added to that a 400 count set of toothbrushes individually wrapped and a 150 count box of small toothpastes. Awhile back bought a few cases of hand soaps as well. Basic hygiene is one of the first things to go in any type of disaster yet a long term disaster of not having things on the shelves and it keeps you a lot healthier. To be able to shave or brush your teeth becomes much harder when basics like toothbrushes, toothpaste and razors are unavailable.

And those are things other people will need as well and they are not all that expensive either. Got all this stuff for about $70.

Bulk products for personal hygiene are a big part of our storage plan. Plus, in all of our travels, staying in hotels, I've accumulated a large tote filled with their little bars of soaps, shampoos, lotions, toothpaste, and such. I'll use those for barter, unless we find ourselves running out of what I have stored for our use, which isn't likely.

 

[nomifyle]

I've been buying extra soap for years, I have enough for DH for the rest of our lives.

I had a friend that went through a bar of soap in just a few days. She always let it float around in her bath water and I told her if she would stop doing that it would last longer, She did and her soap lasted a lot longer.

 

[prudentwatcher]

Been getting lucky at the grocery store on the small things. Got a package of marked down stew meat yesterday that I will can with potatoes. They also had their 5 oz cans of Hormel ham on clearance for some reason for 87 cents. I bought all 4 they had. Date is good until late 2024. Also got some marked down ground round to make burgers for Memorial Day cookout.

 

[nomifyle]

I've been thinking I need to store more food. I only have room to replace what I've used. I think its a sickness or an obsession or neither. I've always kept a full pantry, maybe being a girl scout for 8 years has something to do with my preparedness way of thinking. Actually at this juncture I guess it really doesn't matter.

When I'm in the grocery store I do look around to see if there is something I should stock up on, but I never see anything.

Right now I'm on an eating plan to lose weight. The couple of times I used canned veggies it didn't taste anywhere near as good as fresh. I've loved adding canned diced potatoes and canned mixed vegs to soups, but they don't taste so good in stir fries. If push comes to shove I see a lot of soups in my future when things do get to where getting fresh or frozen foods becomes to expensive or they are not to be found.

I love to add grape tomatoes to just about everything, but we don't have any in our garden this year. I have frozen whole tomatoes in the past but they just don't taste good chopped up in a stir fry, same with canned tomatoes, they taste nasty.

These are just things I've been thinking about.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I've been thinking I need to store more food. I only have room to replace what I've used. I think its a sickness or an obsession or neither. I've always kept a full pantry, maybe being a girl scout for 8 years has something to do with my preparedness way of thinking. Actually at this juncture I guess it really doesn't matter.

When I'm in the grocery store I do look around to see if there is something I should stock up on, but I never see anything.

Right now I'm on an eating plan to lose weight. The couple of times I used canned veggies it didn't taste anywhere near as good as fresh. I've loved adding canned diced potatoes and canned mixed vegs to soups, but they don't taste so good in stir fries. If push comes to shove I see a lot of soups in my future when things do get to where getting fresh or frozen foods becomes to expensive or they are not to be found.

I love to add grape tomatoes to just about everything, but we don't have any in our garden this year. I have frozen whole tomatoes in the past but they just don't taste good chopped up in a stir fry, same with canned tomatoes, they taste nasty.

These are just things I've been thinking about.

I know how you feel, Judy, about the need to store more food. I get that feeling from time to time, too. It would have to be some major event happening to cause me to go out and add to what I've already got in storage, though. I'm all out of storage space, unless I start stacking cases/flats in the living room. Plus, I don't want to store more than what I can easily keep rotated and take care of. At this point, I don't know of anything I would want to add that we don't already have plenty of.

 

[SAPPHIRE]

Shopped at King Soopers (Kroger) yesterday...mostly browsing looking at prices....sheesh....found some freeze-dried herbs and Sprouts (Litehouse brand) normally $5.96 a jar.......clearanced for 50 cents a jar....bought beau coup...produce looked lame...and cereal price/shrinkflation is over the moon............sigh