Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: May 2 ~ 8, 2021

Good Morning, All!

It's a beautiful day here - already warmed up to almost 60*F, and is supposed to get almost to 80*F before the rain starts in around suppertime. Once the grandsons are both up and fed, I'm planning to head out to the gardens and do some more tilling. I won't get much - if anything - planted though I'd love to get my rows of zinnias that I plant at the front and back of the gardens in as I enjoy them so much. Granny always said not to plant the warm weather crops until after the full moon in May, but that won't be until the 26th, so I will likely risk planting earlier. The poke is finally coming up in my flower bed in between the sidewalk and driveway - later than usual. I pointed it out to youngest grandson and reminded him that if you are going to cook it and eat it, that you have to change the water three times. He asked if that was the plant that we made ink from the berries - I was so pleased that he remembered!

I told Hubby that I plan to open up the back garden this year and plant it almost completely in sweet corn - he didn't even argue; kinda gave me a bit of a jolt as he usually tells me I'm taking on too much work; maybe he's finally getting worried about what's coming down the pike, unrest wise. I am going to save room for my sunflowers though; and youngest grandson is asking if we can plant watermelons, so I guess I'll leave a little bit of room for those as well. I'm also going to till an area by the gooseberries for my raspberries that are still stuck in pots on the front porch.

I've got a bunch of pruning I need to do - my elderberries and gooseberries both have a lot of dead wood in them - the elderberries have almost no older trunks putting out leaves, but do have a ton of new growth coming up. I want to get the old branches out as there is some Virginia creeper starting to twine on a couple of the dead trunks. I doubt that I get much, if any, of it done today as the younger grandson already has lots of plans for things he wants to do today; and it will be soon enough that he doesn't want to spend his time hanging out with his old Granny. Hubby let him drive the ancient Mule around the yard yesterday, so I guess I could do a bit of pruning, and let him use the mule to haul the prunings to the burn pile.

I need to buy a few more wren houses - I've got wrens arguing over the one in the side porch grapevines and the one on the clothesline post as well. If I'm not careful, they'll have nests in a couple of my birdfeeders - I need to write on my to-do list to check them today! I'm pretty sure I bought some cedar boards to use to make bird houses, but I'm darned if I can find them, so someone probably decided to use them for something else...

Well, the boys and dog have been fed and watered, so I guess it's time for me to start doing something useful! You folks all take care; stay safe out there!

Good morning to you Renee and everyone else.

It’s an overcast day here this morning and I have no idea on the temp since I haven’t had a chance to poke my head out the door yet. While waiting for the coffee to make I got out the things I needed to work with in the kitchen then set the oven timer for 15 minutes to get awake. Got the dumplings made for DD2 chicken and dumplings birthday dinner and a few other things done and now the timer is set for 12 minutes so I can rest a bit before heading back in there. The way my knee is throbbing, someone else may have to takeover. Timer going off.

Windy day here with red flag warnings issued. Warm though in the upper 60's.
I will be working on yet another hunting knife and doing some outdoor work. I have to cut and put the trim pieces on the wife's hurricane shutters that are now installed. Likely another boring day at the hiwall household.

Windy in Central Iowa, too.

I bit the bullet and went to Target this morning. That was to avoid ordering items on Amazon. I tossed several of my insulated lunch bags in the trash (over 5 years old and not worth repairing). I went after sale lunch boxes (adult, insulated kind). I pack lunches/dinners in them when I go to the trails. I also treated myself to a new "car cup" (insulated cup that fits in the car cup holder) and a narrow thermos bottle that both fits in my pack and the car cup holder. That will be for coffee/tea in the winter and water in the summer. Yes, Walmart carries these items but their cups and bottles don't fit my car holders or my backpack.

Yes, I eat in my car or at a picnic table by the trails a lot. I can save money and time packing my own meals, snacks, and beverages. I like them a lot better when the liquids are cold in the summer and hot in the fall and winter.

I also got some misc. office supplies because I wasn't up to a Walmart run, too, but I'm glad I only needed a couple of items because prices were awful. I need to buy two large packs of stick pens (blue and black) when they are available again this fall. They last forever, not like the "gel" ink that seems to either run out or dry up in 3 - 4 weeks.

TP and paper towels had limits and were in short supply, but everything else looked OK. Their frozen pizza section was the fullest I've seen at a store in several weeks, probably because their prices are so high.

So this post makes a bit more sense: to help with my diet, I prepare a lot of my meals on Sunday and freeze them. Also, when I'm not in a major hurry, I put lunch and dinner together at breakfast, and if I'm going to be gone, I pack a lunch and snacks. That both saves money and insures that I'm staying within dietary guidelines. I do occasionally grab a black coffee (nothing fancy) and a muffin at the local cafe to support them, but for the most part, I carry my own food and beverages with me.

Yesterday we went blueberry picking. Berries were great, but price was high. Came home with 5 lbs. Will probably go through about half this week and will freeze the rest.

Hit Publix after church today and took advantage of some BOGO sales. Got a lot of cereal as that is what I have for breakfast most mornings. Also got some more pasta and a few snacks.

Ordered some tshirts and shorts from Kohls during a sale with Kohls cash back. Tshirts arrived yesterday and the shorts should come early this week. And I have $10 to spend at Kohls the next two weeks. Will stop in and take a look on Saturday.

Since Chewy's didn't have our kitty litter, we have been hitting the stores buying the smaller containers. I think we ended up with 15 20lb jugs. Enough for a bit, but we will keep an eye on things and keep stocking more if the supplies don't seem to be getting better. The 4 cases of canned cat food arrived and our canned cat food shelves look good and we have 8 or 9 bags of cat food in reserve. So we should be good for a little bit. Lost our oldest cat, who was 19, on Friday, so we are back down to 4 cats. Always hard to lose one of our babies.

Still getting to work a few extra hours (about 9 or 10) a week for the next couple of weeks at least. That will be at least six weeks of extra money, which is nice.

meemer, your packing lunches reminded me that I need to cook some egg muffins. They are good for snacks and freeze well. That would be one way to use up some of our eggs, we are mostly giving them away. We do eat what we want, but when you get an average of 20 a day, that adds up to a lot.

I'm waiting on my second set of storage shelves for the pantry room to get things done in there. Its very nice to have the sofa cleaned off.

I've been book buying in the last couple of months, I get on a kick with that from time to time. DH has shelves in his office that he has allowed me to store canned food on, especially when a couple of years ago I discovered a rusting problem in my regular pantry. So I approached him recently about moving some of the canned foods to the pantry room and using some of those shelves for books. I'm trying to only put cook books and homesteading reference type books on those shelves. Also gardening books, of which I have quite a lot, although I just don't have a green thumb and I was dreaming when I bought those.

I have got to make more shelf space for my recent purchases, about 4 larges stacks of books, they have got to get off the floor where I'm tripping over them. My ex promised me that when I died he would make sure my books got to like minded people. My DH would probably burn most of them, he's a good guy, bus some things he has no respect for, no one is perfect.

It rained last night and this morning. I was looking out my office window at the rain and reminded me how much I loved the rain in the French Quarter, it was mesmerizing, it was nice looking out of my window. But that was a life time ago and pictures will suffice.

God is good all the time

Judy

Judy

Here is my shopping, canning, freezing coup. I love when those ten-pound bags of chicken leg and thigh quarters are on sale. From a $3.90 (before taxes) bag, I got seven quarts of stock, a big bowl of chicken salad, two chicken pot pies, a dozen chicken thighs for frying or the grill, and extra cooked chicken in the freezer for a little more chicken salad. All that for four bucks and change.

It's going to be a rainy week ahead for us through Wednesday, starting tonight. No plans to work outdoors anyway. I have plans to do grocery shopping, tomorrow. Also, planning to get garden veggies out later this week, after the rain stops.

Got the junipers potted up this morning and more carpet down before the rain hit. Not sure what will get done this week with the weather being rainy.

Picked up the produce pak from the grocery store (the first saturday of every month thing): had 2 potatoes, a bunch of bananas, 2 apples, 4 oranges, a mango, a cucumber, a bell pepper, a bunch of green onions, celery, a head of lettuce, 2 ears of corn, a lb of carrots.

I got the rest of the tomatoes and my sweet peppers planted. I got some squash seed in too. I still have okra and melons to plant. Maybe purple hull peas if I can find the room. I may need to expand the garden some more.

We got the fruit trees sprayed. It is hard to get it done with the rain and windy days we have been having.most of the apples were freeze killed in the pasture. But there are more cherries than I thought there would be. Hubby also got the hay field sprayed.

I ordered new boots. They will be in this week maybe. I love Twisted X brand. They are comfortable for all day wear. I bought 2 new pair of insoles for my older boots. The ones I wear to work on the farm daily feel much better with the new insoles.

I won't get a lot done today. It is my day to keep our 3 year old grandson. So I will be playing cards and Legos and who knows what till his parents get off work at 10PM. I am tired when he leaves, but I won't miss these days for anything.

I just ordered 2 cans each of dehydrated potato slices and freeze dried sweet corn for the long term pantry. I keep telling myself I need to add a few of these more often but then forget to do so. I saw on a Facebook group that Amazon had a few Augason Farms items on sale. I rarely buy anything from Amazon anymore and canceled my Prime account but the total was more than enough for free shipping.

DH went through another freezer last week and did an inventory and clean out. We are getting low on chicken breast, smoked sausage and some pork items, so I’ll be looking to resupply. We have plenty of beef thankfully, a couple of whole turkeys and some whole chickens.

Digger- The grand babies are always something to not miss out on.

aviax2 said:

I just ordered 2 cans each of dehydrated potato slices and freeze dried sweet corn for the long term pantry. I keep telling myself I need to add a few of these more often but then forget to do so. I saw on a Facebook group that Amazon had a few Augason Farms items on sale. I rarely buy anything from Amazon anymore and canceled my Prime account but the total was more than enough for free shipping.

DH went through another freezer last week and did an inventory and clean out. We are getting low on chicken breast, smoked sausage and some pork items, so I’ll be looking to resupply. We have plenty of beef thankfully, a couple of whole turkeys and some whole chickens.

Digger- The grand babies are always something to not miss out on.

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That reminds me that I need to put a chicken in the crock pot, we have several in the freezer. I did buy the auguson farms peanut butter powder. And the last year or so I bought up to two cases of #10 cans of shredded potatoes and onions.

We've had little success in growing potatoes, but I've got green onions out the wa zo.

I've kinda been in limbo the last week or so about organizing my prepping because I'm waiting fot the delivery of two more shelving units.

God is good all the time

judy

nomifyle said:

That reminds me that I need to put a chicken in the crock pot, we have several in the freezer. I did buy the auguson farms peanut butter powder. And the last year or so I bought up to two cases of #10 cans of shredded potatoes and onions.

We've had little success in growing potatoes, but I've got green onions out the wa zo.

I've kinda been in limbo the last week or so about organizing my prepping because I'm waiting fot the delivery of two more shelving units.

God is good all the time

judy

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How do you use the peanut butter powder, in mixes or ? We haven’t ever been able to store potatoes for long, they always start sprouting on us really quick, so I like having a “storable” option. Not to mention they are expensive around here. My youngest DD loves the tiny new potatoes and always asks me to make them for her birthday. DH didn’t pay any attention to the price when he bought 2 of the 1.5lb bags the other day until he was back home looking at the receipt. 3lbs of potatoes were $8.00 GAH! I told him well it’s too late now and her birthday only comes once a year!

We just back from our shopping run. I wanted to get it done today ahead of the storms that are supposed to roll through again tomorrow. Everything is now packed and stacked away for another two weeks.

I was a bit shocked at my grocery bill today! Everything was so expensive, and I didn't buy any more than usual. Since Wright's bacon is back in stock, I bought 2 1.5lb packages at $8.88 each! They also, finally, had Tyson's boneless chicken breasts, and I bought another bag of those. Another 20lbs of ground beef, some snacks/chips, 4 cans of chili that we like ( I think this will make about 50 cans I have in storage now), another package of TP( just because), more paper plates, and the rest was fresh produce for 2 weeks. I bought some other odds and ends, too, like pickles, hamburger and hot dog buns, etc. I wanted to buy more canned meats, but their selection wasn't very good today, except for the chili I bought. Tuna wasn't on sale this week, so I didn't get any. The store was fully stocked, except for the canned meats section. Makes me wonder if there is a shortage, because so many people are beginning to buy it up based on reports of a meat shortage in our future.

Stopped in at Tractor Supply for dog and cat food, plus our doggie's treats. Bought more tomato plants and two hanging pots of begonias for the deck. Cary wanted some new Carhartt short sleeve pocket Tee's, but they were all out of his size.

EDIT....Cary just corrected me on the price I paid for Wright's bacon. It was $8.99/1.5lbs.

aviax2 said:

We haven’t ever been able to store potatoes for long, they always start sprouting on us really quick, so I like having a “storable” option.

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I have the same problem with potatoes and onions, both. It's our humidity that causes our problem. We've never been able to grow them, either. I like having storable options, too. I buy canned sliced and diced potatoes for storage, plus #10 cans of dehydrated diced and shredded potatoes. I also have lots and lots of different flavored instant mashed potatoes in storage. I just bought a 10lb bag of russet potatoes, today. They will probably begin to sprout, before I use them all in 2 weeks time.

As for the canned meat section being low, maybe more people are watching Alaska Prepper who has been saying to stock up on canned meats for over a year.

The brand of chili that DH likes is now coming in our commodities. So I don't have to resupply what is used and he's not eating much chili lately, but I have over 50 cans and I do rotate.

As I said before we've had little luck growing potatoes, so I do have a good supply of grocery store canned and LT storage cans too.

Last night I was looking in one of the freezers and ran across a family sizes package of of mac n cheese, by Load O Lakes. I put one package of that and a package of ground venison in the fridg to thaw. I browned the ground meat and then dumped the mac n cheese on top of it and mixed it together. I'm sure DH will complain that there is not enough meat in it, but he does like mac n cheese. There is so much of it that we will probably get sick of it before it all eaten up. The dog loves leftovers.

God is good all the time

judy

nomifyle said:

As for the canned meat section being low, maybe more people are watching Alaska Prepper who has been saying to stock up on canned meats for over a year.

The brand of chili that DH likes is now coming in our commodities. So I don't have to resupply what is used and he's not eating much chili lately, but I have over 50 cans and I do rotate.

As I said before we've had little luck growing potatoes, so I do have a good supply of grocery store canned and LT storage cans too.

Last night I was looking in one of the freezers and ran across a family sizes package of of mac n cheese, by Load O Lakes. I put one package of that and a package of ground venison in the fridg to thaw. I browned the ground meat and then dumped the mac n cheese on top of it and mixed it together. I'm sure DH will complain that there is not enough meat in it, but he does like mac n cheese. There is so much of it that we will probably get sick of it before it all eaten up. The dog loves leftovers.

God is good all the time

judy

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Well, the shelves were pretty bare at Food Giant in the canned meat section. I didn't go anywhere else, so I don't know if it's that way in other places. They had several cans of our favorite chili (Wolf brand) with beans, and I bought 4. I wanted more cans of Bacon Spam, but there was none. Tuna was available in small amounts, but it wasn't on sale, so I didn't buy anymore of that. I already have around 60 cans. I only buy now when it's on sale. I've got plenty of canned chicken, and only buy it now when I shop at Sam's in store. The small cans of smoked ham were all gone. I wanted more of that, too. I may have to do an order from Walmart, and see if I can get what I want there. I've been wanting to order more Keystone ground beef from them, too.

So, I'm stocked up on canned veggies that should last us at least two years, and that's without having a garden to supplement them. I'm done with stocking more veggies, until this fall. The canned meats are my priority for now, but they're getting scarce. I don't want to only depend on the freezers for our meat.

I know what you mean about finding the mac and cheese in your freezer. I was digging around in one of mine (the one that didn't get defrosted), and came across a smoked half ham! I had forgotten it was in there. I guess it's already two years old. I got it out to defrost in the fridge. I'm planning to get a few meals off that one ham! The end pieces will be put back in the freezer, once cooked, to go in a big pot of beans this winter. Of course, all that depends on whether the ham is freezer burned or not. I'm baking it tonight for our supper. I want to use it , before our weather gets too hot for using the oven.

I left the mac n cheese, with ground venison on low low on the stove and took a nap. Apparently it stuck to the pan and DH scraped the bottom of the pan and now the burned part is mixed up in the mac n cheese, the dog will enjoy it and ultimately it only tasted okay.. DH said I should have put it in the oven to brown on top. I hve another package so i may do that next time.

God is good all the time

Judy

nomifyle said:

I left the mac n cheese, with ground venison on low low on the stove and took a nap. Apparently it stuck to the pan and DH scraped the bottom of the pan and now the burned part is mixed up in the mac n cheese, the dog will enjoy it and ultimately it only tasted okay.. DH said I should have put it in the oven to brown on top. I hve another package so i may do that next time.

God is good all the time

Judy

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I hate when things like that happen! BTDT too many times myself.

My ham is vacuum sealed, so I hope it's not freezer burned. It looks just fine through the sealed package. I would hate to have to use the whole thing for dog and cat food! I'll know later on today when I open it.

Got a small bed of oats planted today, along with a package or 2 of pole beans (next to a trellis), and flowers in the bed next to the driveway/road entrance. Drove around the property and checked for thistle (will need to spray that in a few days perhaps), and did some thinking/planning.

so much to do around here.

My 2 yr. old ham turned out great last night. No freezer burn at all. I was afraid our power would go out, before it had time to finish baking, but it stayed on. It did blink a few times. I should get at least 3 meals from it, with some to put back in the freezer for use later.

After all the storms, yesterday, it going to be a beautiful, sunny day, today, but a bit cooler. Temps for the rest of the week only in the low to mid 70's.

I'm preparing to spend some money on this and that, things I know we'll need in the near future, like fence posts and insulators. A portable small frig (trucker style) that I can run on my solar panel if we have power issues again. And so on. Prices going up, availability going down, so I don't think we'd better wait any longer.

Kathleen

Freeholder said:

I'm preparing to spend some money on this and that, things I know we'll need in the near future, like fence posts and insulators. A portable small frig (trucker style) that I can run on my solar panel if we have power issues again. And so on. Prices going up, availability going down, so I don't think we'd better wait any longer.

Kathleen

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Exactly, get it while you can.

I watched a utube video several days ago and the man was saying to stock up on things that have not gone up yet, but most definitely will. The main example he was giving was screws at lowes that had not gone up in price. We were in Lowes the other day and I was wandering around looking at stuff. There was a clearance area and on it was two buckets of the star end screws discounted 19.99. I rand and found DH and dragged him to the clearance area. I convinced him to buy both buckets. So with the already discounted amount in addition to his veterans discount he saved $50.00. Normally he would not have gotten more than one or even just one. But he is realizing that prices are going up and availability is getting scarce. Finally he is seeing the light to some extent anyway.

And speaking of prices, the saw blades for his saw mill are $132 each and unfortunately we have had to order them several times. Last week I was looking around on line for a better price and I found a package of 10 for $123. They came yesterday and are working fine. He ordered 10 more this morning. Sometimes a blade will last a good while and sometimes the are kaput in a day. We are not looking for a cheaper price on planner blades. The are about $20 for two

In an effort to cut down on the electric bill I'm trying supplement with fans as much as I can. I found a decent price on box fans on walmart dot com and I ordered two.

Now to get off the computer and get something done. LOL

God is good all the time

Judy

You reminded me that I need to replace one of my box fans before the hot weather arrives. I think I'll probably get two, also.

Kathleen

Freeholder said:

You reminded me that I need to replace one of my box fans before the hot weather arrives. I think I'll probably get two, also.

Kathleen

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Yeah, me, too. I'd like to have a new one, since that's what we use during the summer, instead of running our AC all the time. Guess I need two. A new one to use now, and one for storage. I thought about getting them last year, but thought I'd wait. The time for waiting to buy things is just about over, me thinks.

We have had lots of wind and rain all week including today! Sooo no outside work but plenty to do inside. I ran to the closest Walmart 30 min away. Now I am no longer prepping just replacing. Coffee beans were up $3 a bag. Coffee creamer up $2 a quart. Bacon was $6 a pound. Chicken wings fresh were $5 a pound. Clearly those are luxury items. Just listing to demonstrate the increase in prices. Baling twine has doubled in 1 weeks time. To be honest, it made me physically ill and sort of weepy. Some days all the negativity just comes crashing down on me esp when verified by my own eyes!

On a positive note...we have green tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, onions, and garden peas that should be ready to be picked by the weekend. Corn is about 12" high! God is faithful to us even when we are not faithful to Him.

Have a great day everyone!

We don't even have AC, so the box fans are an absolute necessity (though we do have ceiling fans in the downstairs rooms, which helps a lot). But the payoff is really low power bills through the summer, so it's worth it.

Kathleen

Freeholder said:

We don't even have AC, so the box fans are an absolute necessity (though we do have ceiling fans in the downstairs rooms, which helps a lot). But the payoff is really low power bills through the summer, so it's worth it.

Kathleen

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Yes, it's worth it! We hardly ever use our AC. We use the fan. I open the front door, open the back door, and a cool breeze blows all the way through my house. That's just the way the floor plan is laid out. With only one fan going, our house stays rather cool all summer long. Electric bill is only around $100/month during the hot months. That's on the high side. Our house is canopied by huge oak trees, and that helps a lot, too.

Freeholder said:

We don't even have AC, so the box fans are an absolute necessity (though we do have ceiling fans in the downstairs rooms, which helps a lot). But the payoff is really low power bills through the summer, so it's worth it.

Kathleen

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it would be nice to live in a house that has cross ventilation. But our home is a 1980's mobile home with rooms added all around. DH is build a screen for the only window in our bedroom. And he has the materials to build others. We have ceiling fans in the living room and bedroom. DH doesn't like to use them but when he's not around I turn them on to circulate the air. Our thermostate is on 80. I can deal with that but when it gets to 82 and I start to prespire between my fingers, that's it, gotta cool off the room a bit.

Last year DH bought one of those little cube personal air conditioners that you put water in and it really does put out cool air. That was a life saver last summer when power was out for several days. The cost in the $40 range.

God is good all the time

Judy

I don't mind having the front and back doors open during the summer. The double French doors that open out onto our back deck makes the deck an extension of my sun room/laundry room. It's set up nice back there. We have those open even before it gets hot enough for a fan. It brings nature indoors so to speak. The front door is open, but no one can see that from the road. Just us knows that it's open. The joys of living the rural country life!

I meant to share earlier in previous post that the bank did not have $20 bills today. Now isn't that bizarre?!

Rode bike into town to pick up my truck from the repair shop. Just some maintenance stuff(change oil, water pump, timing belt) but they did find a bad motor mount that they also changed out.
Ready to go for hopefully a long time again.

Life's been a bit crazy for awhile here. Health issues and my son being out of work. So trying to get the raised bed planted, additional groceries in the pantry, going to a pistol competition on Saturday to sharpen up the skills a bit. Lots of craziness going on but one day at a time.

Went to the pool for an hour of aqua aerobics with my friend today, per usual; then she decided she wanted to go to pick up Mother's Day flowers for her 3 daughter-in-laws; I didn't have anything I needed to do on my list besides pull weeds, and it was still pretty muddy for that so I tagged along. We stopped by the neighbor's greenhouse where I got two flower baskets for my own porch and a pot of basil that had several plants in it - I'll split the pot of basil into two bunches and plant one at each end of the top strawberry bed. Then we headed to my work town - I took her out to the Chinese buffet as a thank you for picking me up on her way to the pool when we go; then we hit the Dollar Tree, where I bought 4 large clear plastic bowls that I plan to mount over my hummingbird feeders to keep the darn sparrows off of them - hummingbirds will fly up from the bottom to feed, but the sparrows always land on them from the top. Rural King was next on her list for a couple of bales of straw; I picked up three more hanging baskets of flowers, plus a couple of 2 packs of red striped petunias; we stopped by MIL's on our way out of town and I let her have her choice for Mother's Day.

Tomorrow morning, I plan to work on weeding the flower beds and raised beds; poke more onion sets in the soil around the strawberry plants, and then plant some perennial flowers here and there. I have to head to daughter's town before noon to do some banking stuff; and then be at her house when the grandsons get out of school. Both boys need haircuts, and I need to take them to get daughter some flowers for Mother's Day. It's supposed to rain again in the afternoon, or I would take the trailer to town with me to get another load of composted manure from the sale barn.

I'd cut a bunch of lemon balm out of one of my flower beds the other day and laid it out on screens inside to dry; checked it a bit ago and will probably be able to bag it up tomorrow. It adds a nice lemon flavor to veggies, and also makes a nice tea. I've got more of it coming up in a flower bed that I need to cut back, so I will try to do that tomorrow morning as well, and get it on the screens to dry.

Blackguard, do you shoot IDPA matches or a different type of competition? Hubby shoots IDPA, and had a match this past weekend; he hadn't practiced since the last match and only came in 9th out of 22. He says 18 of the shooters at the match were using electronic carry optic sights, but since he doesn't want to put them on his carry gun, he's going to stick with his standard iron sights.... at least for now.

Gosh, I just got a nice surprise. Cary had to take one of the lawn tractor tires over to the tire store in the small town my Mom lives in. It's the only place he could find the inner tube in the size he needed. Anyway, the tire store is beside Mom's house. She lives in town. The store didn't take debit cards, and Cary was short on cash. So, he walked over to Mom's to borrow the rest of the cash he needed. While he was there, Mom's best friend's husband was there. He had gone to the Farmers to Families food give away in Tupelo, yesterday, and had brought Mom a huge amount of food. Since she couldn't use it all, she loaded Cary up with some of it. If he keeps going to the free food give away, I'm sure he'll keep bringing Mom more free food. I'll enjoy taking anything she wants to share with me! I won't even have to drive to Tupelo and wait in a line a mile long to get it, either. Yes, he said the wait line ran for a mile!

We got apples, tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, spaghetti noodles, and a #10 can of mashed potato flakes all for free! All good quality stuff, too.

Kroger has boneless chicken breast on sale $1.99 lb so DH bought 3 large packs to divvy up for the freezer. I think if he goes back to that town I’ll have him pick up some more. A store in another town closer to us has whole pork loin on sale $1.82 lb and we use it to slice for chops, so I want to get a few of them and that will help fill some holes in the freezers. Then I hope we can find some decent sales on smoked sausage since we’re low on that too.

After reading here on TB and a few other places on FB, I decided to do some online shopping last night. I ordered some of the bleach tablets to have on hand. We don’t use a huge amount of liquid bleach but I know it was hard to get last year and sounds like it’s getting worse. I told DD2 a few months ago that she should make sure to get supplies for the kids pool for the summer but... I think what they managed to get was pricey and may not get them through the summer. Also ordered some paper towels, toilet paper, coffee, different nuts, oil, garbage bags, shampoo and tuna pouches. I remembered a few other things that I should have ordered so I may do that before the day is out. Next month is going to be busier and I want to get as much done this month and get it organized better.

DH has been looking for Silver Queen corn seed and finally located some yesterday by phone, the guy told him they only had 2 lbs and hubby asked him to set aside 1 for him. I told him he should just go ahead and get both, by the time he got there someone had already bought the other lb. It’s worrisome when it’s hard to get garden seed.

I just received my latest Sam's order. FedEx delivered, and set the packages on top of our garbage can like she always does. I've been tracking it online, and knew that is was coming today, so I was watching for it this time!!!! Cary still hasn't got around to getting those security cameras yet. I still can hardly believe that those guys stole our last delivery!

I wanted to make out a Walmart order this morning, but our funds for that are running a bit low right now. I refuse to shop "in store" at Walmart. I do order from them, though. There are just some things I can't find anywhere else, or for a cheaper price.

I stepped out on my front porch a while ago, and there was a dead snake laying just off the steps! I guess our doggie killed it! Wasn't poisonous, though. Still scared me to death, almost, until I realized it was dead.

I've been waiting for the shelving unit I ordered a couple of weeks ago, without it my progress in the pantry room has come to a stand still. I called walmart because it was never listed as shipped, I called on the day it was scheduled to arrive. The fellow told me that it was not going to make it and that I should cancel the order and reorder it. That order is supposed to be delivered on May 18. He did give me a $25 off coupon, I when I reordered I got it for 25 dollars less. then he sent me another $25 off coupon for further purchases, I used that for the fans I ordered.

DH paid for an additional shelving unit that is supposed to arrive on Monday, May 10. Walmart told me that one is going to ship and by now it already has. I've got so much to do in the pantry room, but I can't because without extra shelves I have no place to put and organize anything. Maybe I'll get the one shelf unit on Monday, God willing.

God is good all the time

Judy

Very warm here today. I washed the truck!