Prep Genrl Weekly prep thread: May 5 - May 11, 2024

[SouthernBreeze]

Yes, me too (since February). If nothing else, I'm going to make my house as elder-friendly as I can, without breaking the bank. I'm still able to do most of the work myself, so that's the goal for this year.

That's also why my tree decision is taking awhile. I need both "pretty" and "low maintenance." That's been tough, LOL!

When Cary retired, we set in to make our house and yard as elder-friendly as we could. Not much had to be done to the house, except the upkeep on it, which is an ongoing job, but the yard was a different story. We wanted low maintenance. I got rid of a lot of flowers and shrubs and left only the few right around the house and deck. Cary uses a lot of weed and brush killer around, so he doesn't have to weed eat very much at all. Mowing is his biggest maintenance job. With a riding lawn mower, it's not hard on him at all.

I'm still downsizing in the house mainly to make way for more food storage.

 

[patriotgal]

I will be joining the 65 club this summer.

 

[nomifyle]

Happy Birthday Sherree, 65 is when I got VA health care or was it 66, LOL. I was in good physical shape at 65.

I did a search for a couple of brands of mineral water. The Sam's nearest me even has my beloved Perrier back in stock. I hate that Perrier is owned by Nestle, but my other favorite brand is Topo Chico and its not owned by Nestle. Sams has both in stock in glass bottles. And Sams has an excellent price on Kerrygold butter. So now I'm glad I got that discounted membership. I'm blessed in so many ways.

Overcast and too warm for me. No rain, yet, but probably this evening.

I've fallen down on drinking green tea, I have some in the fridg, but I keep forgetting. But I don't forget to drink coffee, LOL.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Happy Birthday Sherree, 65 is when I got VA health care or was it 66, LOL. I was in good physical shape at 65.



Overcast and too warm for me. No rain, yet, but probably this evening.

I've fallen down on drinking green tea, I have some in the fridg, but I keep forgetting. But I don't forget to drink coffee, LOL.

Thanks, Judy. I get to use my Medicare for the first time, today, at my doctor visit. I won't know how to feel getting to walk out of the office, without having to pay anything.

 

[Meemur]

Yes! Having medicare is a load off my mind. If anything major goes wrong, I'm covered.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Yes! Having medicare is a load off my mind. If anything major goes wrong, I'm covered.

Yeah, I have some spine issues that I've been waiting to have addressed, until my Medicare kicked in. I've already had 2 spinal surgeries. Now this issue. My rheumatologist will do ex-rays on the 20th of this month, I'm sure. I've been waiting about saying anything to him about it, until now.

 

[Meemur]

I hear you! I wish I could've held off for one more year on my cataract surgery because of medicare, but it just wasn't do-able.

I'm celebrating that it's over, at least. It'll be the one year anniversary of the first one in a couple of weeks.

 

[connie]

I noticed Costco has the smaller glass Perrier water on sale. They carry Topo Chico too but in larger individual bottles. I like the smaller individual ones from the grocery store. I will buy San Pellegrino in the big bottles with screw top lid at Costco.
Winter I enjoy hot tea but like sparkl ing water in hot weather.

 

[nomifyle]

I went outside earlier and there were a few sprinkles, and that was it. The temperature is climbing.

So far I've gotten nothing done today. DH on the other hand is outside doing things. He has an issue with his tractor, so he's been working on that. He ordered a new raidiator for it and somewhere the freeze plug was lost, so he's trying to find a replacement for that, so far no luck. He uses his tractor for many things, but there are other things he can do in the meantime. Everything at the tractor dealorship is beyond expensive and then you have to wonder if they are telling you the truth. He's had a bad experience with them in the past.

 

[nomifyle]

I noticed Costco has the smaller glass Perrier water on sale. They carry Topo Chico too but in larger individual bottles. I like the smaller individual ones from the grocery store. I will buy San Pellegrino in the big bottles with screw top lid at Costco.
Winter I enjoy hot tea but like sparkl ing water in hot weather.

The Perrier in glass bottles has always had smaller sizes. I like them too. I'm glad they are back in stock at my nearest sams, no Costco anywhere near my neck of the woods.

 

[anna43]

My home was made handicapped friendly well before I turned 65 due to my dh. One primary thing is no tripping hazards so no throw rugs. The bath rug is only on the floor when I shower. I do not leave anything where I walk such as a book or bag or shoes. When I take off shoes, I immediately put them away. Cupboard drawers and doors are always closed. There are two grab bars in the bathroom and one outside the door into the house from the garage. The step from the garage into the house was enlarged so that you can stand on it with a walker. Chairs are always pushed back under the table.

For ideas there are books available at big box stores like Lowes and Menards and, of course, online.

I mentioned this before, but I'll repeat. Watch garage sales, estate auctions and thrift shops for a walker, commode, grab bars, cane, crutches, bath seat and other handicapped aids. I've picked up most of mine for 50 cents to a dollar. Make sure the items are adjustable to fit you. If you need one a walker permanently, you'll want to have it personally fit to you. The thrifted one will see you through until you can get the permanent one and be available as a spare. My sister had to wait a couple months to get her walker just last year. I have my late dh's walker that does not fit me and keep forgetting to donate it.

I have my late mother-in-law's that does fit me, and I picked up another for $15 just for the larger wheels. The wheels would have been $40 new. I also now keep that walker upstairs because when I started having back problems a year ago, I needed it, and it was in the basement. I am fortunate that I only needed it for a couple weeks, but I well remember the day I could barely walk due to pain so am now better prepared. Also, there are different brands of walkers and parts are not interchangeable.

A handheld shower is also necessary if you need to use a bath chair. I have one that is not installed because I love my showerhead. I need to find one that has both the fixed and handheld in one unit.

 

[nomifyle]

DH put several grab bars in the regular bath tub area, but I no longer even try to take a regular bath. He also put a grab close to the commode, mostly for himself. I would like a grab bar in the stand up shower, but can't talk him into drilling a hole in the back of the shower, thus far I've not had any issues without it. I miss a tub bath and so do my feet, but just not possible. He put hand rails on each side of the front steps and only one on the back steps. The back steps always make me nervous, even before I decided I am old.

I don't actually need the shower chair to take a shower, but I think it might help me do more work on my feet, I need a pedicure.

 

[patriotgal]

Was very grateful for DH's Medicare in Jan. First time we used it. Hospital bill was thousands of dollars but all we had to pay was deductible of couple hundred.

Measured future Grand for her wedding dress. Watched future great enjoy the presence of a butterfly on her finger for most of an hour. Couple of times it actually flew around her and came back. She walked all over the yard while talking to it.

Youngest new great is 3, garbled speech and still in diapers. Not sure yet if issue is developmental or situational. He is a dear and I managed to correctly translate several times. He says papa very clear but didn't even attempt grandma, lol.

Guys got truck fixed. I surprised MIL with a donut and coffee while running errands. Hid a pretty "mom" pillow for one of greats to give her mom Sunday. Bought hamburger patties for the first time in years and fed everyone today. Once I have made sure my kids don't want something we are getting rid of, I offer to grands. Looks like grands might be taking much of furniture off my hands.

Next 2 days are rain free before it starts back up Sunday and stays awhile again. Will be making the most of it.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Made it back from my doctor visit. I had a full work up, today. Lots of blood work and an EKG. I was in so much pain that he decided to go ahead and do an ex-ray on my spine. Won't know those results for a while, yet. Some joint swelling, and since I don't see my rheumatologist, until the 20th, he went ahead and prescribed 2 weeks worth of prednisone. Both doctors work hand in hand with each other, so overlapping treatments are always going on with each doctor's acknowledgement. Really, I have a team of doctors, so I feel special, LOL. I got all my prescriptions renewed as well. I have to go pick up the prednisone, tomorrow, but all others will come by our prescription mail service.

More storms overnight into early tomorrow morning. No watches up, yet.

 

[kyrsyan]

Managed to catch up today. Finally. And hopefully tomorrow is a short day.

Been cleaning son's pool for a week. It is "eating" chlorine. I can no longer find shock that is at least 97% chlorine. Today I lost temper and seriously overdosed the water with algaecide and phos-clear, along with another bag of shock. From what the test strips are showing, I'll likely have to drop in another bag of shock come morning.

Cyanuric acid has been ordered. Along with more shock. And I may send a sample to the pool place to see if I missed something.

Otherwise, just trucking along on projects. Arnica plants arrived today. And I have a plant order in at Baker's Creek. I'm debating ordering wintergreen again. And wild garlic. And more ramps. And a stand up sod punch for planting.

And this weekend I need to go out with the Roundup and handle the heavenly bamboo and sweet autumn clematis. Before they take over again. Maybe this time they will fully die.

Anyways, dinner is in oven and about done. I'm hoping for early sleep and early rise so maybe I can be done work by noon. If those above are in favor.

 

[Peachy]

It's Spring cleaning here -- the weather is finally warming up so no more woodstove soot!! I've spent the last two days out in the garden. I removed the Wall-o-Waters from the tomato plants and caged them. To hopefully keep the turkeys away, I did something crazy; I used caution tape all around the cages and they are blowing in the wind! I'm sitting on the porch surfing TB and watching for any terrorist turkeys! The hens leave their nests in the afternoon and come over to eat. Soon they will be too busy with babies to fly into the garden. I got the cauliflower plants in and found a few rogue raspberry canes that need to be relocated. Horseradish went into pots where I had the overgrowth of oregano and lemonbalm. I gave away as much I could. No one seems to want the rhubarb though. I was up by 5 making zucchini bread. My sister is coming to visit for a week so I need to make some treats and use up the freezer zucs. The orchard is in full bloom. Overall everything looks happy.

 

[anna43]

DH put several grab bars in the regular bath tub area, but I no longer even try to take a regular bath. He also put a grab close to the commode, mostly for himself. I would like a grab bar in the stand up shower, but can't talk him into drilling a hole in the back of the shower, thus far I've not had any issues without it. I miss a tub bath and so do my feet, but just not possible. He put hand rails on each side of the front steps and only one on the back steps. The back steps always make me nervous, even before I decided I am old.

I don't actually need the shower chair to take a shower, but I think it might help me do more work on my feet, I need a pedicure.

I'd insist on a grab bar in the shower. When we took out the tub and put in a tiled shower, the tile guy almost cried when I had him drill holes and install the grab bar! We have a built-in seat in the shower.

I've noticed each year my feet seem further and further away!!

patriotgal -- you might suggest the 3-year-old have his hearing tested. Garbled speech can mean nothing or not hearing clearly. A lot of kids remain in diapers way too long. I think disposables and pullups are responsible. When mom had to wash cloth diapers, kids were usually trained by 2 or shortly thereafter!

 

[Digger]

We went to hubbys dr in Conway. We stopped at the Kroger there. It is bigger than the one in Russellville and gets really nice produce. We spent less than $20, but got what we needed. I also found the cold medicine hubby uses on clearance and bought another bottle. I have several put away.

Hubby got tired of the crappy fly swatters in the stores and ordered some from Lehmans. They have a longer, heavier handle, and the swatter part is leather. It's the Cadillac of fly swatters. They are really well made and actually get the job done.

On our way home from Conway I had hubby stop at the liquor store to get me stocked up on vodka for tinctures and elderberry syrup. A friend came and got a pint of syrup this week. I don't sell it, but I know some people do.

I let my turkeys free range a few minutes yesterday. They really enjoyed it. I on the other hand was worried about my babies. I was afraid they wouldn't go back in the pen: they did. And I worried they would stray too far: they didn't. My goal is for them to free range during the day, but go back in the pen at night. I hope I can keep them coming in with feed.

I think my old incubator is going to work. Once I get the temperature fine tuned, I offered to hatch some goose eggs for our daughter. We will see how it goes.

Time to get busy. Have a blessed day everyone.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I got a call from doctor's office this morning with all my test results. Inflammation markers were high, and my ex-ray showed mild signs of disc degeneration in my thoracic spine. He wants me to have physical therapy or go to the pain management clinic for treatment if the pain gets worse. I'll just keep taking the curcumin/turmeric capsules and Aleve for now. All other bloodwork was normal, plus, EKG was normal. He also wants me to increase my walking every day. All these results will be reviewed by my rheumatologist on the 20th. He might want to add more input.

Sunny skies today with much cooler temps. 78 for our high, today. I'm doing laundry and a bit of house cleaning. Cary plans to work on the wood pile. Cary called our pharmacy, and they don't have my prednisone ready, yet. He might go later this afternoon if they call. He has to make a trip into small town today anyway to see what's taking so long getting the mini tiller fixed. He also wants to pick up new mower blades to have on hand.

Chef salads for supper, tonight.

 

[nomifyle]

Heavy rain last night for a few hours, everything is screaming green this morning, much lower temps from yesterday. I turned the ac on in the she shed yesterday, might need to turn it off for now. The central ac was on for a while last night, I couch badly when I get overheated. No cough so far this morning and no congestion, what a blessing.

I'm ignoring all the CME stuff, if it happens it happens, if not then nothing.

I started to schedule a wm pick up, but haven't yet. I'm out of a couple of things, but can make do. Walmart has been out of Dave's Killer bread for a good while but now they have it all back in stock. As far as eating bread its nice bread, but I wonder if its really any less healthy than the crap walmart bread.

I grew up eating bread at meals, daddy buttered his bread and would give me a slice, I used it to push food on my fork. My second husband used his knife to do that and I started doing it too, therefore eliminating the need for a slice of bread. Sometimes when I do a certain thing I remember I picked it up from him. He was a nice man but we were both immature so it didn't work out. My time with him opened up new things for to me and I was never sorry. We both cried for what might have been when our divorce was final.

I got out a case of new wide mouth jars last night to start putting my herbs and other bulk things in them. Its cooler this morning so I need to get off the computer and get it done.

A salad sounds good, but I don't have any salad fixings.

DH put a yoke on our goat that keeps getting out. He's a bad boy. His mother was stolen when he was still litter and I wonder if that's way he's the way he is. We've got an older female that still hangs with her 3 or 4 year old boy. I don't think they forget.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Cary came in the house earlier and said that he had a raised bed ready for me to plant my squash in. We had mulched the bed to knock down the grass, so he just dug 4 holes through the mulch. Good rich dirt, too. So, I now have 4 hills of summer yellow squash planted!

I do have a question. We have hardly any bees each year, and the squash has a really hard time pollinating. I was wanting to plant flowers in with the squash, but I have no idea what would be a good bee attractant. Any ideas? These would have to be plants, not from seed.

 

[anna43]

I got a call from doctor's office this morning with all my test results. Inflammation markers were high, and my ex-ray showed mild signs of disc degeneration in my thoracic spine. He wants me to have physical therapy or go to the pain management clinic for treatment if the pain gets worse. I'll just keep taking the curcumin/turmeric capsules and Aleve for now. All other bloodwork was normal, plus, EKG was normal. He also wants me to increase my walking every day. All these results will be reviewed by my rheumatologist on the 20th. He might want to add more input.

Sunny skies today with much cooler temps. 78 for our high, today. I'm doing laundry and a bit of house cleaning. Cary plans to work on the wood pile. Cary called our pharmacy, and they don't have my prednisone ready, yet. He might go later this afternoon if they call. He has to make a trip into small town today anyway to see what's taking so long getting the mini tiller fixed. He also wants to pick up new mower blades to have on hand.

Chef salads for supper, tonight.

I also was given the choice of therapy or pain management and chose therapy. I've never been sorry as it has helped me a lot. When I slack off on therapy at home, I notice it in two days. I'm trying to get back to doing it every day but am satisfied if I manage every other day. It's all a matter of strengthening/stretching muscles to support the back which makes good sense.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I also was given the choice of therapy or pain management and chose therapy. I've never been sorry as it has helped me a lot. When I slack off on therapy at home, I notice it in two days. I'm trying to get back to doing it every day but am satisfied if I manage every other day. It's all a matter of strengthening/stretching muscles to support the back which makes good sense.

I wouldn't mind physical therapy here at home if I knew what to do. My problem is that we live so far away from any physical therapy clinics that I would have to drive all the way into Tupelo several times a week just for the therapy on top of all our other ongoing doctor appointments.

 

[anna43]

I can understand the travel thing. However, if you explain that to the therapist and ask that they get you started and teach you what to do in one or two sessions, you should be able to transition to home. I have 4 standing exercises, 4 sitting (I only do 3) and 5 laying on the floor. My grandson is doing home therapy and was trying to do the laying down exercises on his bed and I told him the surface was too soft, so he got a yoga mat for the floor. He said it really helped to have the firm surface. I have carpet so do not need the yoga mat. I can get myself off the floor without assistance or support, but I usually use the coffee table or sofa to get up.

I had the arduous trip of three blocks to the local nursing home therapy department. lol

 

[SouthernBreeze]

I can understand the travel thing. However, if you explain that to the therapist and ask that they get you started and teach you what to do in one or two sessions, you should be able to transition to home. I have 4 standing exercises, 4 sitting (I only do 3) and 5 laying on the floor. My grandson is doing home therapy and was trying to do the laying down exercises on his bed and I told him the surface was too soft, so he got a yoga mat for the floor. He said it really helped to have the firm surface. I have carpet so do not need the yoga mat. I can get myself off the floor without assistance or support, but I usually use the coffee table or sofa to get up.

I had the arduous trip of three blocks to the local nursing home therapy department. lol

I'll consider it. I want to talk about the issues with my spine with my rheumatologist, before I make any decisions.

 

[school marm]

Cary came in the house earlier and said that he had a raised bed ready for me to plant my squash in. We had mulched the bed to knock down the grass, so he just dug 4 holes through the mulch. Good rich dirt, too. So, I now have 4 hills of summer yellow squash planted!

I do have a question. We have hardly any bees each year, and the squash has a really hard time pollinating. I was wanting to plant flowers in with the squash, but I have no idea what would be a good bee attractant. Any ideas? These would have to be plants, not from seed.

Catnip/catmint is not only a great bee attractant but also helps repel squash bugs. And it has medicinal uses! Win all around.

 

[anna43]

Catnip/catmint is not only a great bee attractant but also helps repel squash bugs. And it has medicinal uses! Win all around.

Both spread badly so they should be planted in containers.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Both spread badly so they should be planted in containers.

I have 2 planter boxes left and plenty of potting soil. I'll place the 2 containers in the raised bed with the squash in 2 corners. That should work. Now, to find catnip plants. I have an appointment to see my Mac Degen specialist next week. While in Tupelo, I'll visit the huge greenhouse and nursery while in town. I'm pretty sure they will have it.

 

[kyrsyan]

I've been dealing with residual pain flares for a couple of weeks now. I had finally decided that if it didn't clear this weekend, I was going to go to the doc next week.

My colloidal silver arrived today. And I had another pain flare. So I pour it into my tea and started drinking. Suddenly everything is calming down.

I have the kit to make it. I want to upgrade it some. It is definitely time to have it in reach and ready to go again.

Here's hoping for a calm and productive weekend.

 

[moldy]

Monarda is great for attracting bees also. Linden trees are great too, but I'm guessing you don't really want a tree.

Spent the day at work, then a few errands on the way home. Safeway was packed - with mostly men and kids buying flowers! Glad to see it though. Spent over $100 at Walgreens on baby shower gifts - you know, the things you wish you had in the middle of the night like tylenol, grip water, butt paste, nipple cream, saline drops... I knew it would be pricy, but sheesh!

 

[Meemur]

Today was a rare day, a 10! Perfect, 70 degree weather, no one bothered me, and a fair amount got accomplished.

I worked outside at home today. The only place I went was our recycling center (down the road) to dump yard waste. I'm still not finished, but I cleaned up the fence line and worked on the stumps. They are getting drilled and filled. I don't have the strength or money for a stump grinder. I'm going to open them up as much as I can, pour on stump desolver and then let them rot. Maybe this fall, I can remove enough pieces so that they are below ground level.

I'm scanning news now. My internet seems to be OK. I'm also reheating dinner, meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I'm going to eat that on my patio.

Later, I'm going to pour a small glass of wine and watch for the northern lights. I'm told that we might be able to see them. Normally, I'd have to drive about 3 or 4 hours north to view them.

Lots to be thankful for, and I truly am blessed.

 

[nomifyle]

I've been looking and looking for SB's tuna and noodle salad recipe and I finally found it. This time I book marked it. I've just got to make this.

 

[patriotgal]

Crazy day. Grand and soon to be new grand arrived at 9 this am. Shortly thereafter another grand and fiance and 3 soon to be greats arrived. They picked up another great from school.

Helped one set of grands find a home. They are moving as we speak. Yeah, it was that urgent.

Cooked a grill full of hamburgers plus fried chicken, baked beans and potato salad. No idea what I will feed them all tomorrow.

Think the 3 yo speech will greatly improve now that he will be in a new home environment. Found out today just how scary that has been. His poor mom was literally shaking in fright about what her stepfather might do when she went to get their beds.

Heading for my bedroom to hide out while kids fill living room with pallets.

 

[seraphima]

Borage is a well known bee attractant.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Thanks to all for the suggestions for the bee attracting plants. I'll be back in Tupelo, Thursday, and will stop in at the greenhouse/nursery while there. I absolutely love going there. So many beautiful plants and decorations to choose from! Pricey, too. I never get to buy very much because of the prices.

Cary picked up my prednisone for me, yesterday afternoon, and went on to pick up the mini tiller and new blades for the mower. Yes, they got the tiller fixed. It runs like a jewel, now. I have one raised bed that can be tilled and used, now. All others have already been planted, plus 4 large planters with 4 more tomatoes. The bell peppers are beginning to put out little blooms, and the garlic is flowering. All the tomatoes look great, except for the one that fell over. It's struggling.

We'll be spending the afternoon visiting Mom, today. Also, today, our community is having its Spring community catfish fry to support our volunteer fire department. We always make a donation and pick up 2 fish plates. That's what we'll do on our way home from Mom's. So, lots of catfish and all the fixin's for our supper, tonight. We will have another one in the Fall.

Tomorrow is home fellowship again. We're going to skip the next 2 Sundays, so we're having 2 back to back. We'll be traveling next Sunday, and some of the group will be traveling the next. We'll be taking Mom to Florence, AL to stay 2 weeks with her sister next Sunday.

 

[nomifyle]

Sherree, I know it means a lot for ya'll to take your mom to visit her sister, God bless you for doing that.

 

[SouthernBreeze]

Sherree, I know it means a lot for ya'll to take your mom to visit her sister, God bless you for doing that.

Thank you. Yeah, we either take her or go pick her up whenever she wants to go. Mom and my aunt are very close, and she's the aunt that just lost her husband a few months ago. We really enjoy going for the visit, ourselves. I've always been close to this aunt, myself. She's always been a lot of fun. I went on trips with her and my uncle when I was growing up all the time. They were later in life about having children, so in the meantime, she adopted me, LOL.

 

[kyrsyan]

New learnings. Son is allergic to casein. Something we discovered when he was very young. He could have breast milk but any of the formulas were a problem. Also how we discovered soy was an issue. That bodily response was drastic and unmistakable. And years later, soy cheese flying across the room would emphasize that. It's the only food he ever did that with.

Fast forward a couple dozen years, and there is now more knowledge. Not all casein is the same. There is a2 casein which is an older form and closer to human breast milk. And yeah, goat's milk might be safe for him as well. Same for sheep milk.

His milk response isn't fun but also isn't painful. Well not now anyways. So we are going to try some of the animal milk varieties. Today it will be a2.

Why? Because there are nutritional differences between animal and plant milks. And if it is okay for him, there are dried varieties I can put in the pantry. Also, they are starting to make butter and cheese from a2. So we could stop buying the very much non-food fake stuff and replace it with more natural and real stuff. (Non food fake is kind of mandatory at the moment because son actually loves the taste of cheese.) The a2 stuff isn't any more expensive than the fake stuff.

Anyways, that was my new found knowledge today.

 

[Meemur]

Lovely day here! Full sun and 70s.

My energy levels are much better but still not excellent. For example: I did some light housework this morning and still had enough energy to load my bike. I'll probably be whipped after a short ride, but when I struggle to load the bike onto the car bike rack in the first place, I know I'm in trouble.

Packed a lunch. I'm going to spend some time on the trail riding and working on plant and tree identification, now that the leaves are out. That's two preps in one: exercise and finding useful plants.

Have a great day, all!

 

[moldy]

@kyrsyan praying it works for your son! That would be awesome!

Going to help DH take down a carport today - ay yi yi! Praying one of his friends comes thru to help out today. I don't know that I'm up for handling 20 foot sheets of aluminum.