Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: July 31~August 6, 2022

ioujc

MARANTHA!! Even so, come LORD JESUS!!!
This morning I was still sleepy and ended up sleeping until 10:30AM!!!!
I usually get up at 3 or 4 AM......but that is what happens when you decide to stay up late occasionally.....1 AM!!!
Usually I am in bed by 10 PM at the latest!!

Anyway.....all that to say this:
Doing my chores that late in the day made it unpleasantly HOT and I think I am slightly sun burned!!

Baby chicks are doing great!! Goats went out and grazed all afternoon and got the rabbits watered and picked grass, clover, smart weed lamb's quarters, dock leaves, plantain and this other weed that I don't know the name of, the rabbits really like it!! I have been feeding them things I gather in the area rather than the rabbit pellets. What I do is, feed grass and vegetation for two days, a day of rabbit pellets, and repeat over and over.

Yesterday I went to a doctor's appointment. Took DAN-DAN with me in his service dog outfit and a diaper I got for him, and he had a BLAST!! He loves going places and we have never gone out where people don't want to love all over him and he just ADORES all the attention! I jokingly tell people that I got him to take places with me so folks will think I am talking to him when I am actually talking out loud to myself......that is only partly kidding!!!

We also got his shots yesterday and of course he did NOT enjoy going to the Vet. When he doesn't like something he announces it loud and clear......sort of similar to a two year old throwing a screaming tantrum!! I admit he is 175% ROTTEN SPOILED, but he does mind .....now we just need to get the howling under control. He is also getting obedience training done by his Mom (me) and we are working toward the service dog status.

As far as the garden, I've got several cantaloupe getting ripe, tomatoes are forming, but not ripening and my peppers are just sitting there!! Also gearing up to get a fall garden ready......can NOT wait to have some decent lettuce from the garden!!! The stuff at the store is gross.

Well, gotta go...Daniel is announcing he is HANGRY!!
 
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nomifyle

TB Fanatic
DH and I went to the VA today, xray and blood work for me and regular check up for DH. No results yet for me. My leg was pretty good today, but it was a wearing trip.

Stopped at a thrift store in a small town, 4 tops, hope they work for me.

No other shopping, really don't need anything and only need to replace a couple of things.
 

ReneeT

Veteran Member
Thank-you, Moldy; still achey, but I can bear weight, so life is good! I did take my wheeled walker with the seat (prior knee surgeries and can't use crutches) with me just in case, but left it in the van; I figured I knew enough folks in town that I could call someone to go pull it out of the van if I had to have it :lol: It took 20 minutes to get my script filled, and I was the only person at the pharmacy. You have to do just about everything but pee in a jar to fill a narcotic prescription it seems; it's been quite a while since I've needed to, so having to show my ID and tell them why I needed the medication was a bit of a surprise. I ended up spending more money than I'd planned while I was wandering around the store waiting on the script, but I found several items on the summer clearance racks for the boys, as well as some marked down undershorts and socks for them. I bought a few sizes up on the socks and underwear, and several pair of black shorts in sizes up as well. Then I went through the canning area and picked up 10 more boxes of Golden Harvest regular mouth lids; don't know why I can't pass by that area without picking up lids...

After I got done with the shopping, I stopped by the little thrift store ran by the Senior Citizens and dropped off several bags of the grandkid's outgrown clothing - including some brand new underwear I'd bought on clearance previously and put away 'until I needed them', except the boys outgrew them - at a buck a package, I didn't lose a whole lot, and I'm sure someone will be happy to find them. I need to go through their closet and dressers to see if there are more things I can take in; they are growing so fast!!

Well, I'm about ready to head for bed, so I'll say Good Night All! Take care; stay safe out there!
 

briches

Veteran Member
It’s been “back to school” week for me so not much time devoted to prepping unless you count me buying school supplies for students. Lol
I did schedule two important doctor‘s appointments - yearly mammogram (September) and colonoscopy appointment (November) - I’m about to sit down and do some meal planning for the week. I’ve got to get on track to start eating healthier again. My body can tell the difference.

Slow and steady.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Then I went through the canning area and picked up 10 more boxes of Golden Harvest regular mouth lids; don't know why I can't pass by that area without picking up lids...

When we were at Walmart the other day, Cary went on ahead to a different department to get something. I went on about my shopping. I happened to look up, and saw him coming. He had an arm load of more canning lids, LOL (6 boxes)! He had come back through the canning section, and thought I could use more, LOL! He's as bad as I am when it comes to shopping......
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
When we were at Walmart the other day, Cary went on ahead to a different department to get something. I went on about my shopping. I happened to look up, and saw him coming. He had an arm load of more canning lids, LOL (6 boxes)! He had come back through the canning section, and thought I could use more, LOL! He's as bad as I am when it comes to shopping......
A couple of weeks ago DH told me he almost bought me a case of jars, I almost fell out of my chair. Even though he did buy it it made me smile.
 

ReneeT

Veteran Member
It's a lovely cool morning here - we are under a fog advisory currently, but it is supposed to lift before noon. And then the sun will come out, and it will be hot and humid high of 90*F predicted :lol: I think I'll enjoy my cool morning while I can!!

My sweet corn is doing it's best to stand back up, but I'll need to rake some soil up around the stalks to give it a helping hand. I want to try to put 24 bags of corn in the freezer for our use this year. I'll wait to pick the pole beans that I can see hanging on the fences until after it dries up a bit - yeah, it'll be hotter then, but I don't want to risk bean mosaic spreading.

I'll pick tomatoes when I'm done with the beans - they will be pretty much just for fresh use. I'm going to trim the tomato plants back a bit while I'm out in the garden - the plants give me a rash, so I have to wear a long sleeve shirt with the collar up and surgical gloves to pick them, so I'd like to be able to get down the rows at least.

While I'm waiting for things to dry up, I'm going to run in to Dollar General and use my $5 off $25 coupons on more on sale laundry detergent for daughter, and Ziplock bags for here at home. I'm not going to make it to grandson's football games today, and that makes me a bit sad. The game is about 40 miles from home, and I'm just not steady enough walking yet to risk being that far from home in an area where I don't have friends or family I can call on if I need help.

The neighbor with the truck patch has bushels and half bushels of tomatoes for sale, but I have a decent stock of tomato products on hand and the grocery store in the pool town has Hunts tomato products on sale 10/$10 starting Sunday - assorted canned tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, ketchup; and Manwich is included in the sale as well. I'd rather put my available home canning/freezing time toward the beans and corn rather than tomatoes- I'd like to get 24 bags of corn put in the freezer this year. Store brand canned veggies are also on sale - if possible, I'll get a case each of whole kernal and cream style corn to use in making scalloped corn. The recipe I have makes a fairly large batch, so I bake half and put the other half in the freezer.

The store also has a lot of what I consider 'junk food' on sale - things like Chef Boyardee pasta that daughter keeps in her pantry for the boys to nuke for a snack if they are hungry after school while she is working. They also have things like microwave popcorn, variety pack small bags of chips, pop tarts, Rice Krispie and other cereal treats. I may stock up on some of those since I heard that Hershey isn't going to be able to keep up with the demand for Hallowe'en candy; the kids seem to like something different than just chocolate.

Well, I'm not getting anything on my list done sitting here, so I reckon I'd better get up and get moving...

Take care all; stay safe out there!
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
A couple of weeks ago DH told me he almost bought me a case of jars, I almost fell out of my chair. Even though he did buy it it made me smile.

When Cary got back to me with all his canning lids, he told me that all the canning jars were on a certain aisle. Asked me if I wanted to get more of those, too. I told him I didn't need any more right now. He really wanted me to get more. Bless His Heart! He's trying so hard, too.
 

briches

Veteran Member
When Cary got back to me with all his canning lids, he told me that all the canning jars were on a certain aisle. Asked me if I wanted to get more of those, too. I told him I didn't need any more right now. He really wanted me to get more. Bless His Heart! He's trying so hard, too.

It makes life SO much easier when your partner/spouse is on the same page as you. When I read some that don’t have that support, it’s a reminder of how blessed we are.
 

ioujc

MARANTHA!! Even so, come LORD JESUS!!!
WHAT A MORNING!!!

Before the sun came up, I taped up the reflective/insulated covering I got from Dollar Store; remember i got it for FREE and it is what the frozen foods are shipped in. I got it out of the racks outside that they store the cardboard boxes in until the garbage truck picks them up. Just about day break I finished it. For some reason this one was VERY HARD to get it to stay up on the window!??!?

By the time I finished I was sweating to the point my clothes were soaked. Changed clothes and went out to water the garden.....

Got everything saturated and dawn was pretty much just getting going. Fertilized things as well with a spray on foliar fertilizer. Then, I started gathering the elderberries. Got almost a 5 gallon bucket of elderberries.

As I was doing that, I noticed the grapes looked ripe.....tried a few and yes, they ARE!! So gathered quite a few of those too. And, OH THEY ARE GOOD this year ....I didn't get any last year, because a hard freeze burnt up the new growth on them last year, which precluded a harvest. These are SUPPOSED to be HIMROD GRAPES.....HOWEVER they have seeds, so I really have NO IDEA what kind they are!!!

They are sweet, but also have a mellow spicy taste underlying the sweetness. I, personally, think they are FAR BETTER than any other grape I have ever tasted!!! I will be eating A LOT OF THEM, since now there is only me here. Maybe I will can some and I'm sure I will also freeze some.

This was a HAPPY MORNING!!!!
 

Cag3db1rd

Paranoid Pagan
Had 3 cavies born night b4 last. Someone stole 2 out of the cage while I was not home. The remaining one is a sweetheart, though. Probably got those because all the older ones are too fast to catch quickly. Gonna have to put locks back on them I guess.

Since we are down to 2 hens which only provides hubby with his weekly boiled eggs for work, hubby has invested in 14 more chicks: 3 black stars, 3 golden comets, 3 rhodies, 3 EEs, and 2 australorps (was all they had). We now have 3x the number of birds we are "allowed" to have according to the perceived authorities. My neighbor doesn't mind. I give her free eggs.

Fall corn is up. Fall beans are up. Fall carrots are up, starting to see fall beets. Getting rampicante squash coming in, but no seed swell at the blossom ends. Started my KNF fertilizer barrel yesterday - "fetid swamp water," according to David The Good. Giving it a shot.

Right now organizer totes are easy to get, and they are purple! So, I'm moving things that are normally in cardboard boxes into these boxes both for ease of loading if I have to put them in the truck and leave, and to keep mouse poop off of them. So tired of that.
 
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Cag3db1rd

Paranoid Pagan
Oh yeah. I fed the tomatoes some epsom salt, and the flush of new growth looks good and healthy. Maybe that was the biggest problem. I mixed a watering can of rain water with a little pinch of borax, a sprinkle each of redmond salt, nu salt, epsom salt, and pee. Fed that to the squash plants. It'll be a bit b4 the fetid swamp water is ready to water the garden.
 

ReneeT

Veteran Member
Well, my trip to Dollar General this morning went pretty well - other than me lollygagging around getting there. I had paused briefly to look at the 50% off table just inside the door, and the check out lady went past me and said "Buy it; buy it all please!!" Well, I didn't buy it all by any means, but I did stop at the table long enough to pick up 4 new towels for my bathroom at $2.50 each. Then I went to pick up laundry detergent for daughter but was only able to find 4 packages of the on-sale laundry pods she uses, so I went back to the clearance table and picked 4 - 2 packs of dishcloths at 50 cents each (the ones I like with the netting on one side), and then grabbed a package of those snap type hair clips to finish out the $25 I needed to spend to get my $5 off $25 coupon. The gremlins in my house must LOOOOVE hair clips because I can never find a pair that match (Who me? Leave them hither, thither, and yon??) I should have bought 2 or 3 packages of clips because I'm betting I'll have lost half of 'em by next weekend (but only one clip of each color, of course) - which will probably be this evening as I have more $5 off $25 coupons so will run in to pick up cat litter.

Once home, I changed clothes, then headed out to pick beans - I sunk a couple inches in to the soil but it needed done - I filled two Rural King bags just from the two front bean fences. I did end up with 10"x12" container full of large pods that I'm going to have to throw in the pressure cooker for a bit so that I can peel the pods off and then split them and pull out the actual beans. I'll cook the beans to add to 3 bean salad or throw in soup or something like that. Hubby was watching a motorcycle race, so I plopped a bowl of washed beans down in his lap and he snapped them for me while I finished washing the rest of them and then sat down with my own bowl to snap.

Hubby fixed lunch while I got the beans prepped to go in the canner - hamburgers, potato salad, and sliced tomatoes. I had very few ripe tomatoes, for which I was generally grateful since my knee was already aching again - the two I wasn't grateful about appeared to have been picked by raccoons and mostly eaten. Oh well, may have to eat the raccoons if things get bad; at least they'll be chubby ones!

I ran out and marked the little peonies I'd transplanted so Hubby wouldn't run over them with the mower; now I'm waiting for him to get back in from mowing so he can watch the canner while I pull some weeds - I can sit down to do the weeding. I found another sprouted sweet potato, so I'm going to go out and dig a deep-ish hole in the one empty raised bed I have left, I can snip the leaves and cook them as greens, so if they don't produce any 'taters, I'll at least have those.

Well, the mower shut off, so I reckon that's my cue to get started weeding!

Take care all; have a great day!!
 

moldy

Veteran Member
Weeded a front flower bed this morning and fed the weeds to the chickens and turkeys. Gave a tour to some friends of the farm, and hung up some laundry. Managed to get to the grocery store and get produce pak, but didn't care too much for the peaches that were avaliable. There were a couple lemons in the park, so I might get some Portuguese bread and lemonade made with th....we'll see.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Cary loaded his Roundup tank onto his back, and walked the fence perimeter spraying all the blasted wisteria and brush that tries to take over the fence every year. I hate using that stuff, but it's what we have to use to keep it killed back off our fence. We're surrounded by old growth woods on 3 sides of our property.

Tomorrow is memorial day at the cemetery where Cary's parents are buried. We took flowers for the gravesite down there, today. Man, was it hot! It's within walking distance of our house, but it was too hot to walk. About 1/8th of a mile away. No shade at all, and at 104 heat index, yeah, we rode in his Jeep.

I'm experimenting with supper tonight. I took 2 cans of roast beef (drained most of the juice), mixed with 2 cans of diced potatoes (drained), chopped onions, garlic, a can of cream of chicken soup, and shredded cheddar cheese, a bit of salt and black pepper. Mixed all that together, and put in a casserole dish. Will stick in the oven at 350 to bake til bubbly. I hope it is good. I was hoping to find a way to use up some of this canned roast beef I have bought up. I told Cary to be prepared to run down to the country store for a quick replacement if it doesn't turn out to his liking. I'm also cooking green beans and sweet corn to go with it. Ya'll wish me luck, LOL!
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
The experimental casserole turned out really good. Cary liked it, so all is well, LOL! I would have used cream of mushroom soup, but Cary will not eat anything with mushrooms. It had a nice flavor, and is something I will make again. I might tweek it some more, but overall it was good. I'll have to add more canned roast beef to my pantry. I don't have many cans of it, because I just couldn't come up with a good way to use it. I would love to hear some ideas from ya'll if you have any........:)
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I'm saving my canned meat until there is nothing else. It keeps for a long time.

The roast beef is in those pop top cans, and I don't think they will keep as long. I use what I store, so I can keep everything rotated. I don't stock my pantry and just walk away and leave it for years on the shelf. These two cans were already 2 years old, and I wanted to use them to see if we like it, before buying anymore.
 
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Barry Natchitoches

Has No Life - Lives on TB
That's exactly what I want to do with this old 40+ yr. old one that I'm trying to empty, but Cary fusses everytime I mention doing that. I want to use it for dry storage. He thinks it's a waste not to keep it running just to keep odd and end frozen items in. I told him I would, but will never have it more than half full at one time. I just can't see having a 40+yr. old freezer full just to have it quit on me. What if there isn't another one available at that time? Then, what will I do with a freezer full of food that is thawing? He won't let me go ahead, and get a new one, either. Sometimes, I just want to pinch his head off, LOL!
I might someday do something similar with the 1950s model fridge that my parents gave me - but the thing still works great, so I use it as a second fridge...

Can you imagine - that fridge is close to 70 years old, and it still works great!
 

hd5574

Veteran Member
I have a couple of windows upstairs that get blasted with the hot afternoon sun....I taped them over with the cheap space blankets and they really blocks the heat....it keeps the heat out in the summer and the cold out in the winter....

Ioujc...not as good as free but the next best thing
 

ReneeT

Veteran Member
hd5574, we do a similar thing with our upstairs west windows, except I now use those car windshield sun shades - they are a bit thicker. If I'm any where close to the auto stuff aisles when I'm at the Evil Empire, I walk down them to see what there is in the clearance section - I've gotten way discounted golden lab colored seat covers to put over the black one in my van that the grand-dog sits in, the car sunshades in a variety of shapes and sizes (originally bought to see if they would work for solar cooking but haven't tried them yet, bundles of car washing rags cheaper even than Dollar Tree, etc...
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I might someday do something similar with the 1950s model fridge that my parents gave me - but the thing still works great, so I use it as a second fridge...

Can you imagine - that fridge is close to 70 years old, and it still works great!

My mom is still using a fridge that her and Dad bought the year I was born, 1959. It's still working great for her, too. She has it out in her storage shed to use for odd and end purposes. Let's just hope this old 40+ year old freezer lasts as long! I still don't trust it enough to keep it full.
 

hd5574

Veteran Member
Renee
I am for anything that lets me give the power company less money every month....bubble wrap....also works on windows to keep the heat out or cold out.. depending on the season...it might be a huge help in a grid down mess..and lots of times it comes free as packing material...just have lots of tape..lol
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Keep grains, flour, and meal in it. As long as it stays dry inside, even if it goes out, the stuff inside should stay okay.

That's what I plan to use it for, along with some cheese and butter (only a very little). Mainly for flour, meal, oatmeal, grits, things like that that can stand to be thawed should the freezer go out. I store all of that in ziplock freezer storage bags before putting it in the freezer. If the freezer goes out, it will all stay dry, hopefully. I'm getting freezer alarms, so if it does go out, I'll know soon enough to take all that out immediately.
 
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