Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: April 4 ~ 10, 2021

ReneeT

Veteran Member
The very first Easter taught us this: that life never ends and love never dies.

"Christ the Lord is risen today, sons of men and angels say. Raise your joys and triumphs high; sing, ye heavens and earth reply."

Good Morning, All! Wishing you all a Blessed Easter Sunday!

I am up early to have the grandsons Easter Baskets prepped and ready when they wake up; was just too darn tired to do it last night as I only got about an hour and a half's worth of sleep after I got home from work yesterday morning. Trying to remember where I hid things was the hardest part; I sure do miss my memory! It is a beautiful Sunday morning here; sky is just beginning to lighten in the East, temperature is in the low 40's right now, but is supposed to rise into the mid 70's by early afternoon - it will be a beautiful day to be outside. I plan to hide the boys electronics until at least mid-afternoon (Hypocrite much, Grandma? :lol: ) My co-worker friend will be coming over to join us for lunch - he's bringing the makings for a fruit salad. I call it my lazy fruit salad - strawberries, blueberries, bananas, peaches, dark cherries and pineapple mixed together with vanilla yogurt. I picked up a spiral sliced ham at Aldi earlier in the week; we will have hash brown casserole, mashed sweet potatoes, green beans, and deviled eggs to go with. The frozen hot roll dough is thawing on the counter - the boys will be making a bunny shaped hot roll pull apart with it. I was contemplating adding a small pineapple upside down cake to the menu but Hubby said "Enough already!!"

I had some medical stuff going on last week that left me scrambling to trade days at work and short on sleep; and the younger two grandsons spent their spring break split between us and the other set of grandparents as daughter took the opportunity to get away for a few days, so I haven't gotten much done on the prep front. It's still too wet to till the gardens so I'm just going to heel in the raspberry and strawberry plants until it dries up a bit. I'm hoping that I can finish up the wreath for my parent's grave site and get it to the cemetery today - I felt bad that I missed getting it there last week for my mother's birthday, but am comforting myself with the thought that she was born on Easter Sunday so at least it's close.

I'm hoping that Hubby is able to get the yard mowed tomorrow - it's looking pretty rough, and it's supposed to rain mid-week, so it's then or we'll likely have to bale it by the time he has another day off and it's dry enough to mow! I'll be spending tomorrow catching up on laundry and sleep - too much of one, and not enough of the other :lol: A nap is definitely in my plans since I have to go back in to work tomorrow. The rest of the week will be spent dealing with work, another medical test, one more day of work, and then a 3 day weekend that I'm currently planning to spend mostly by myself.

Well, the grand-dog is insisting that it's light enough to go out and explore, so I guess I'd better post this and get to work finishing up that wreath - I'll need the counter space for prepping lunch shortly anyway!

Take care all; stay safe out there!
 

Freeholder

This too shall pass.
I hope everyone has a blessed Resurrection Day! We are starting the day with songs and hymns of praise, and (as usual) with Bible study.

I don't know what I'm going to get done today, other than finish moving chicks out to the chicken coop, and put a few things away. We'll see!

Kathleen
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Happy Resurrection Day, Everyone!

Family and friends will be arriving later this morning for our home fellowship/Bible study. It's always a great time to gather with everyone to study God's Word, and fellowship, especially today.

Nothing else special happening here, today. Gotta get rested up for Cary's doctor visit, tomorrow. Supper tonight will be carry-out pizzas, so I don't have to cook.

Blessings to All!
 

Barry Natchitoches

Has No Life - Lives on TB
On this beautiful Easter morning, my wife woke up to a freshly made strawberry cake with strawberry icing and topped with fresh strawberries. And fresh strawberry milk to wash it down with.

OK, so I used Duncan Hines cake mix and pre-made Duncan Hines icing. But I did turn on the oven all by myself...

We have been eating my homegrown butter crunch lettuce and overwintered spinach for over a week now. The romaine is still in the growing stage right now. It looks to mature about the time I harvest the last butter crunch lettuce plant out of the garden.

The cabbages are just beginning to develop little heads in their centers. Same with the broccoli plants. We still have some time before we get to harvest and eat them.

I finished putting up a new wire fence on a strip of newly tilled garden ground. My plans for that fence is to grow purple climbing string beans on half of it and southern cowpeas on the other half. I will plant the first bean seeds sometime in the next few days.

I also just finished readying the soil in one of my older garden strips. I will plant the first tomato and bell pepper plants tomorrow. Early yellow summer squash will be planted late this coming week.

My wife is feeling good today, so it really is a great Easter afternoon....
 

WanderLore

Veteran Member
Beautiful Easter with all the trimmings, family and friends, egg hunt, yuge meal. Hid boys baskets in the lilac tree.
My solar is up and running!
DH and SIL put it up. So far so good!
Taking family hike group on hike Tuesday. Will start on garden planting tomorrow. Weather has been wonderful.
 

WanderLore

Veteran Member
My solar kit is from Rich Solar. Was $134.00 out the door. Free delivery Amazon.
Deep cycle marine battery$128.00, was only thing available local. Online was going to take longer. I was waiting on shipment from auto place to come in, but they didn't get any batteries??
Anyway. Already had older inverter.
Hook ups and wires etc were good quality.
Pretty happy with it.
Of course, now I'm looking at expanding it in the future lol. But this is good for now.
 

aviax2

Veteran Member
Hi everyone!

I finally got the rest of my Sam’s order last week, my total order came to just under $65.00 but it took 4 states and 5 shipments and a long time to get to me. The starter cultures came in Sat. I haven’t had time to check them out. Spring break is over and I was sick for most of it so didn’t get much checked off my to do list. Back to babysitting tomorrow and today I’m resting up from yesterday.

Barry-Not a thing wrong with Duncan Hines, we use those and Betty Crocker!
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
We just got home from the big city after Cary's doctor visit. Great News! He was doing so well his doctor lifted all the restrictions he's been under, except for the weight limit. He has to wait another 6 months, before he is out from under the 20lb limit. He gets scanned again then. Then, he only gets scanned once a year for the next 5 years. He is already chomping at the bit to get to work on our yard, but knows that he hasn't gained all of his energy and stamina back, yet. He'll be ok as long as he takes it slow (I'll see to that). It all doesn't have to be done in one day.

We stopped in at LOWE's, before coming home. I bought all 5 of the azaleas I wanted and one large hanging pot of the fern I wanted. The price of the small potted azaleas have really gone up in price, since the last time I bought any. It's been a few years. The price had doubled if I'm remembering correctly. I'll be buying my garden veggie plants and flower bedding plants in a couple of weeks. I like to make sure the soil is nice and warm, before putting them out.

I also got to pick up my new glasses. They are gonna be fine, but I can't see anything out of them right now. I've got a week to find out if my eyes are going to adjust to them, or.......I have to start all over again with another eye exam.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
We've been outdoors since daylight this morning working in the yard. Cary spread weed killer all over the lawn, while I picked up twigs and small tree limbs, loaded them in the garden wagon, and hauled them off to the burn pile. Made several trips. Cary plans to start cutting and burning in place the tree that's down this afternoon. I also, moved my houseplants out to the front porch this morning. Before getting started on yard work, I changed out my closet from winter to summer clothing. We're both taking a rest for the time being. I still have laundry to do.

Our temp will be going into the 80's today! Wonderful time to begin using my outdoors clothesline! We should be finished will all cold weather from here on out.
 

Digger

Veteran Member
Hubby got his back injection Friday. He already seems in less pain. Now the big problem is to keep him from over doing it.

We took down one more tree that was in the edge of the driveway. It was in the way when pulling a trailer. We have a stump grinder on hold for the weekend. I would rather work on getting more of the firewood finished up, but we will grind stumps first.

I had to put up some fencing on my snow peas and my blueberries. The deer were snacking on them. I did not hunt this year and that seems to have been a mistake. However, the wild hogs seem to have moved on. I have not seen anymore hog sign since February.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
We were sorta shocked yesterday afternoon. When Cary had the CT scan done on his kidneys Monday, they also did the scan on his lungs, too. Kidney's were fine, but the results had not come back on his lung scan by the time we left, but we didn't think there would be any problems. So, late yesterday afternoon, I got a call from his doctor saying that the lung scan showed that Cary has a small nodule on one of his lungs, and has COPD. He also has a good amount of calcium buildup in his coronary artery. Today, we are waiting on appointments for a Pulmonologist and his Cardiologist. Thing is, Cary is showing absolutely no symptoms of COPD. So, we wait, once again, to see what's going on. Always trusting in God's plan for our lives.

Finished most of the yard clean up, yesterday. Cary is mowing this morning trying to beat the rain and storms moving in later today and overnight. Severe storms and tornadoes possible. Got some of the tree cut up and piled to burn. I got all my flower beds weeded. Raised beds are next, after the rain stops. Supposed to have a few days straight of rain and storms. By then, the soil should be warm enough to plant my garden veggies and bedding flowers.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
When it rains it pours. Praying for ya'll SB and CC.

I have a regular check up today at the VA, nothing going on, just a check. DH getting blood drawn for INR, nothing unusual, just a check on his blood thinner.

Judy
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
When it rains it pours. Praying for ya'll SB and CC.

I have a regular check up today at the VA, nothing going on, just a check. DH getting blood drawn for INR, nothing unusual, just a check on his blood thinner.

Judy

Thank you. This really has hit us out of left field. We thought all of these health issues were behind us, and we had already begun to move ahead. Praying that all goes well for you and your DH, today, as well.
 

aviax2

Veteran Member
Sherree-So sorry to hear that y’all have more health issues to deal with. Prayers up for you both.

DH has finally finished up with some new fencing behind the house, still has to finish cutting up the tree that he had to take down, it’s in the yard. I don’t think he’s going to get that done before the rain sets in and he’s still trying to spread fertilizer on some of the pasture and hayfield. We’re hoping it doesn’t rain too hard and wash the fertilizer away.

I’ve got the turkey carcass from Sunday’s dinner in my biggest Instant Pot to make broth. I froze it since I wasn’t sure what day I’d get to it so it’s one big frozen clump. I’ll cook it a little while, let the pressure off and break it up before I finish cooking it. I’m just planning on freezing the broth since I don’t feel up to canning it, but it will be a delicious ingredient to add to soup, side dishes, etc.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Question.....Do any of you ladies know anything about the clothing at ZoLucky? I keep getting ad pop ups on my computer, and their clothing is beautiful. I don't know anything about them, though.
 

coloradohermit

Veteran Member
I ordered 2 different things from Zolucky. They weren't quite as lovely as the pics indicated and weren't quite the quality the pics seemed to show. My biggest disappointment, and why I won't go back, is that the stuff is made in China shipped direct from China and was slow as heck arriving. YMMV
 

paxsim2

Senior Member
Started a new Walmart list, I am out of olive oil. How did that happen!
Got the new raised bed planted with the herbs that arrived on Friday.
Planted swiss chard right before it rained.
Cooking eggs for boiled eggs and egg salad. Free from sister, she gets leftovers the chickens like. :)
Trying to get the house in order.

Praying for all of you!
 

briches

Veteran Member
Took a several day break from the web and just got back to reading on it last night. It’s good for me to take a break every once in awhile.

Prep wise got the Jeep’s oil change done last week. Other than that, slow and steady for us. I use up one, and try to replace immediately - sometimes with two.

Was fighting a cold or something Monday evening / yesterday. I doubled up on vitamins and elderberry and slept for 11 hours last night and feel good today. Extra vitamins will continue.

Hubby and I have bought a few herbs / veggies for the garden in addition to the many plants hubby grows so that’s been fun.

Slow and steady we continue.
 

briches

Veteran Member
Oh .... almost forgot ... one prep/ chore we worked on this morning was separating the oyster spat (baby oysters) we bought in the fall into three more growing bags. We kept the smaller ones together and moved the larger ones into a mesh bag with bigger holes.

So cool for me to learn about this.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Praying for you and Cary!

Thank you. I understand the calcium buildup in his artery, but his doctor didn't give us a clue as to the nodule that was in his lung. I don't know if that's why he said he had COPD, or if it's a suspected malignant cyst like what was in his kidney. So many possibilities. We're trying to stay calm, but it is worrisome. I wish that I could have talked to the doctor, myself, but I talked only to his nurse. She couldn't answer any of my questions, and wouldn't let me speak to his doctor.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I ordered 2 different things from Zolucky. They weren't quite as lovely as the pics indicated and weren't quite the quality the pics seemed to show. My biggest disappointment, and why I won't go back, is that the stuff is made in China shipped direct from China and was slow as heck arriving. YMMV

Thanks for that report. Told me everything I needed to know, especially about the quality, and where it came from.
 

prudentwatcher

Veteran Member
We got our chimney cleaned yesterday. Hadn't been done in a while, but we live in Florida, so it doesn't get used all that often.

Have an appointment on Friday morning to get some maintenance work done on my car. Five years old but only has 54K on it, but I keep up with the maintenance so it should last for a long time.

Winn-Dixie has a few things in their ad that I might take advantage of this weekend. Will be working extra hours for the next three weeks, so will have some extra money.
 

John Deere Girl

Veteran Member
We were sorta shocked yesterday afternoon. When Cary had the CT scan done on his kidneys Monday, they also did the scan on his lungs, too. Kidney's were fine, but the results had not come back on his lung scan by the time we left, but we didn't think there would be any problems. So, late yesterday afternoon, I got a call from his doctor saying that the lung scan showed that Cary has a small nodule on one of his lungs, and has COPD. He also has a good amount of calcium buildup in his coronary artery. Today, we are waiting on appointments for a Pulmonologist and his Cardiologist. Thing is, Cary is showing absolutely no symptoms of COPD. So, we wait, once again, to see what's going on. Always trusting in God's plan for our lives.

Finished most of the yard clean up, yesterday. Cary is mowing this morning trying to beat the rain and storms moving in later today and overnight. Severe storms and tornadoes possible. Got some of the tree cut up and piled to burn. I got all my flower beds weeded. Raised beds are next, after the rain stops. Supposed to have a few days straight of rain and storms. By then, the soil should be warm enough to plant my garden veggies and bedding flowers.
My husband also has COPD. Never smoked. He has supplemental oxygen as needed and two inhalers. We have a friend in her 80's with it as well, and she only uses inhalers. It's scary to hear that diagnosis though. Praying for you and Cary!
 

aviax2

Veteran Member
We planted some herbs today.

Elderberry.
Lemon balm.
Lavender.
Thyme (2 kinds).
Basil.
Peppermint
Cilantro
Stevia

Now to read about what I can do with them.
I love fresh and dried basil to use in tomato dishes especially. Cilantro is the devils weed to me and my whole family, we just never could develop a taste for it. I need to check and see if my lavender made it through this past year, I only had a tiny little plant. I’m planning on doing some pots on the front porch of rosemary, basil, thyme and sage soon.
 

philkar

Veteran Member
Oh .... almost forgot ... one prep/ chore we worked on this morning was separating the oyster spat (baby oysters) we bought in the fall into three more growing bags. We kept the smaller ones together and moved the larger ones into a mesh bag with bigger holes.

So cool for me to learn about this.
This sounds like an interesting adventure and something right up my alley!
 

philkar

Veteran Member
So we planted more today. Corn squash tomatoes etc. Beautiful day to be on a tractor and playing in the dirt. A little anxious about amts planted and what the future may bring but trying to rest in His plan. Our new crop this year that we have never grown before? Sugar cane!
 

moldy

Veteran Member
The last 2 days at work kicked my backside. Lots of sick people, and just busy, busy.

Heading out for a short visit to see mom and the kiddos. I have checked the ads for the area, but I'm not sure it's worth even stopping in the stores. We'll see.
 

Old Gray Mare

TB Fanatic
Took a smidge out of the savings account and did a shopping run. Not a massive fill the pantry run, more of a fill the holes run.

This run was totally eclectic. This was a lot of the nice to get stuff that I'd been procrastinating on. Things the could make our lives easier, more comfortable or let us enjoy a few familiar treats for a little longer.
In no particular order:
over the counter painkillers, mostly aspirin
fishing gear
Big safety pins capable as doubling for diaper pins, sewing needles and thread
Tea, coco, sugar, flour, leveing, vinegar, jam made of fruits I like but don't have
veggies to preserve
odds and ends for the kitchen

Tomorrow I hope to get more meat to put up
fill the last of the holes I've found so far
top off the fuel in the vehicles
fill the fuel containers
hit the hardware store

We don't have enough for a really long term emergency, maybe enough to make it to the new level of survivable normal is established? With the Lord's help and guidance hopefully that will be enough? I'll do what I can and put my trust in him to balance out the rest.
 
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Cag3db1rd

Paranoid Pagan
My 3d printer came in, and I spent yesterday putting it together. It was sooo intimidating, but step by step, I got it done. Next I have to set it all up.

It is time to start another incubator of quail eggs and butcher what I have. Otherwise I will be finding dead birds soon. They have reached life expectancy. Yay -_- I hate plucking.

I've got all my blurple lights going now with my seedlings. My front bedroom window looks like a "grow operation" right now, so I'm a little more paranoid than normal. The usual suspects - tomatoes, cukes, okra, peppers, beans, and new for me, ground cherries. I also have cinderella pumpkins and roma tomatoes I'm growing for someone else.

I lost a chicken the other day. Her only chick is in my brooder right now, and it sucks that I promised her to a friend b4 this happened. But I gotta keep my promises.

Hubby's welding stuff is still in my living room. He is working a little each day to get the garage under control. I look forward to getting my living room back.

Toot n I will be making dandelion jelly today as a "school project." He picked me a full quart of flowers which gave me 2 cups of petals. Perfect for 1 batch of jelly. I hope it works.
 

WanderLore

Veteran Member
Got rest of cold weather stuff and some flowers and bulbs in the ground, then a lovely warm rain all night, excellent.
Hubs changed oil and filter in jeep. Daughter working on storage stuff in part of house to clear out and make room.
Took our group out for a very nice hike Tuesday. 3 families plus the boys and their parents. Much fun.
I still have to carry small camp chair as I hike so I can sit if needed. The extrusion is still there, almost a year. Legs and feet go numb after bit of walking. But not slowing me down.
Just regular chores and things. Stocked to the gills.
Everyone have a good and manageable day!
 
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