Duck, Duck, Geese and Car Dealer

 

These four concrete geese are dressed for every season. I did not take this picture. There are more, but I am too tired to post them. Maybe one of the others of  single goose will be better. 

Today, I went to cardio and talked to two nurses. I received the Holter monitor and found out important things about my heart condition. Too tired to type it. 

We went to a car dealership to buy two cars. They would not come down a dime on the listed prices. So, that is that! We will keep trying. 

Dinner was spaghetti that Tommy made all by himself. I told him what to put in but did not step foot in the kitchen. 

Thursday night, I went to bed at 8:30 pm, so tired I could barely walk. I woke at 2:30 am, stayed up until 4 am, and then slept until 8 am. 

After that, we went to dealer,  came home and cleaner came for two hours. 

This post has not been edited. 

Shouldn't a dealer come down some on listed price on a used car? 

Locked In! Locked Out! It was Costly

 Wednesday night, I went to bed but could not sleep. I could not get comfortable. I had a knot on the back of my head. No matter which side I lay on, it hurt. Plus, I had a 'place' on my back that hurt. Then, I had to go to the bathroom. I heard Tommy making an unidentifiable noise. 

When I came into the living room, he had four garbage bags of recycling. He was sorting the bag of plastics. I sat down to talk since I was not sleeping. 

He tried to open the door. We were locked in! He tried to take it apart, but the deadbolt was in the door frame and would not move. I was not sleeping in a house I could not leave in case of a fire. Yes, there is a back door, but it is five feet down and scary steps, no railing. He called a locksmith. The nicest man showed up about 2:30. He had trouble getting the deadbolt out, too. But, he had knowledge and tools. 

The biggest surprise of all--he had a replacement deadbolt in his vehicle. He got it back together and tried to send a receipt to my email. Finally, he went out and brought one back in. That was $275 for the call. I apologized to him for getting him out in the middle of the night, forgetting that was his job. 

Since being locked inside was high drama for me and him, too, I suppose, we were not sleeping. I think we went to bed just before five. Just before 7 am, I heard an awful noise that sounded like metal scraping on the asphalt right outside my window, except there is no asphalt outside my window. I ran to look out the fanlight. It was a piece of equipment digging in the yard across the street and down one house. This house has had plumbing problems for about four years. It seems they are always digging1 somewhere in the yard. It is a rental, so I wonder. I imagine they will be back early tomorrow! GRRR

I was up with less than two hours sleep. I let Tommy sleep until 11 am and turned on the news. Around noon we went to Publix and The Pig to buy items on sale. Tommy had loaded the recycling into the back, but he did not send anyone out to collect it. I asked someone to carry it in. We are rid of those at last. This city does not recycle. 

I added more turkey to my leftover salad. The salad greens were soggy, but I didn't care. I feel horrible and just wanted to eat something healthful, followed it with strawberries. 

Tonight about 5 pm, I finally put color on my hair. About 2 inches was grown out, meaning I had a four-inch wide patch right on top of my head! It was disgusting. 

Speaking of disgusting, Tommy bought some Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale. 

I have only been locked inside the house once before. I managed to get the lock unstuck then. I would have hurt myself trying to get out the door and down the steps. Tommy said he hung onto the screen door handle and eased himself down the steps until he could touch the utility room wall and then hung onto the door and wall to get the rest of the way down. 

Too tired to go on. Knot on head hurts. 'Place' on my back hurts. Going to bed.

Have you ever been locked inside your house? How did you get the door open?

Haave you ever tasted Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale? Did you like it? 

Plans

 Tommy saw two small birds swoop in and sit together on one end of the porch. One bird flew away from the house. The other bird flew to the direction of the birds in the flowerpot. He said she had food in her mouth. So, the little birdies are still there and doing well. I will get a bird house before next spring that will suit her for more babies. 

We left this noon to go and get the ads. It only sprinkled a bit, but we did not shop, just came back home. Tommy immediately looked over the ads and made a list. 

I have been using a bottle of Italian Dressing, Kraft, I believe. It has been too tangy for me, so it has been eaten slowly. Yesterday, it was almost empty. Today, I poured olive oil in it to break the tanginess that chokes me. It was still too tangy. I think the time has come to make my own dressing! Maybe tomorrow. 

I have felt well today, not shaky, getting my own food, and making plans instead of just sitting and trying to exist. Last night, I went to bed around 9:30, woke at about 2 am, went back to bed at 4am, and woke aat 9:30 am. It is amazing what a good night's sleep will do for mind and body. 

Tonight, I made a salad of the rest of the bagged salad, put a bit of grated cheese, and olive oil on it, plus a little bit of turkey, and a whole tomato. My eyes were bigger than my stomach. I also have strawberries to eat afterwards. I suppose what I cannot consume will the a snack later. 

I finally contacted the cleaner. She has not answered the phone. Well, she had surgery on her thumb. She had a trigger thumb. She might be here Saturday. I promised her light work and she can just not do anything that will bother her. I need her to dust and not pick things up, just dust around things I would normally have her pick up to dust underneath, get something down from tall cabinet. She is 5'11". 

Install my printer, show me how to send picture from phone and my camera to computer. Put a thing under the bulb by the door so it comes on automatically at night. Remember, she is tall. Straighten top of my dresser. There is two hours of stuff to do here that will not hurt her hand, hopefully. Oh, stuff needs to be moved from table in dining room so that electrician can get to the light fixture. 

I have installed every printer I have ever had, but this is in a location where I cannot stand and bend to do so. I do need a stool on wheels with a lock for the wheels. 

This tomato is delicious. Tommy cannot stand the seeds and the membrane around them. To me, that is the best part! That is why I like home-canned tomatoes.

He stays in the kitchen four or five hours a day. Tonight, I missed him and asked what he was doing. He was checking to see if some dark rolls were out of date. They were frozen. I took them, smelled to see if they smelled fresh--no moldy smell. Then, I checked each roll for signs of mold. He is cooking them. Then, I will put most of them in freezer bags. When I buy a loaf of bread. I put two slices in freezer bags. It is good to have frozen buns or rolls, or slices of bread. It saves a trip to the store. The Aldi rolls were delicious!

Someone in a comment asked me how much cheese I eat in a week. I finally know. I ate three pounds in eight weeks. I ate 6 ounces each week. Is that a lot? I just finished the three pounds, and just in time, the regular pack is on sale. We may shop tomorrow. I eat more cheese when I make pimiento and cheese. 

I forgot to make squash casserole or freeze squash!  Maybe tomorrow. I will slice one to put in the leftover salad I finally put in the refrigerator. I like raw squash in a salad.

Dogs are still here. Tomorrow, I will call humane society. The city is only removing them to mow the grass. I am afraid they will just put them back.

Maybe we will have a BLT tomorrow. Right now, I need to make a list from the three stores' ads.

Do you like raw squash in a salad? 

Do you like the seeds and squishy membrane around the seeds? 

Is six ounces of cheese too much to eat in one week?

Market Day

Tuesday, we went to the store and bought things while the present ad is good. My milk was $3.99/half gallon. Tommy bought 4, so a savings of $4. His gallon was also $3.99. He bought Chips Ahoy and I was so disappointed. He triumphantly told me he got the last package. That was sweet and thoughtful. Of course, I ate some. Six hours later they are still hurting my stomach. 

I had him buy three more quarts of strawberries--3/$10. He got bread he forgot yesterday. 

The weekly market was today. We decided to chance going, hoping it would not rain. It only started raining when we drove up. I really did not want Tommy to get out, so I urged him to wait. We finally got a parking place where our favorite vendor is. I opened my umbrella and stuck it out the window to shield me from the rain so I could get one of the women's attention to tell her what we wanted to buy--strawberry lemonade, two cups of yellow squash, cup of tomatoes, all for $21. Tomorrow, I will make squash casserole and freeze one cup. 

As we sat there waiting, a woman was leaving and stepping off the curb in the rain. She just disappeared and made a sound and a thud. Everyone was horrified and rushed to her. I wanted to get out to help her up. Now, you know what a foolish thought that was. Finally, with much effort, three or four women helped her up and she almost fell again! 

I called out to one of the vendors we needed. I told her when she got through with customers we needed items, that we could barely walk. She said she would do it right then.  All her customers were gone by then. Everyone was hanging around watching the woman on the ground.

Luckily, the rain quit as we were leaving, with only drops now and then on the windshield. And, it held off all the way home. Tommy had left his walker outside the house. There was no rain in our neighborhood, thankfully. 

Since my number shows as 'unknown' when I call someone, my friends don't pick up and answer. Verizon undid that. For some reason, my phone does not have the capability to block numbers. And, they raised the bill instead of lowering it. So, Tommy will take it to Verizon to straighten it out. 

I was going to sleep a bit ago. But, acid reflux was too bad. It is still a problem sitting up, so the raised head of the bed would have been useless right now. Earlier I took about three sips of strawberry lemonade. That and the Chips Ahoy earlier are hurting me. I have been awake since 2 am. It is 8 pm now. UGH!

Tommy and I were talking. I decided getting the right amount of sleep was more important than sleeping at the 'right' time of day. He concurred. 

We went next door and drove into the driveway to see if we could see if the dogs were gone yet. Well, one dog was in the yard next to carport, looking through the fence. He is the yappy one. It was pitiful. He stood there tentatively wagging his tale. It was not an excited wag, but a wag like he was wondering if something was going to happen. I suppose the other big hound is there, too. I suppose they won't remove the dogs until the guys come to mow the rest of the yard.

It has been much cooler outdoors, so my flowers are looking happy. The heat will be back too soon. This respite is lovely. 

What goodies have you gotten from your farmer's market? 

Do you ever suffer from acid reflux?

Poison Oak

 Lack of sleep and the national events of Sunday evening rendered me incapable of writing a post. I had been 29 hours without sleep when I finally was able to succumb on Sunday night. Then, I slept 8.5 hours and felt better than I have in weeks. 

Sunday evening, I finally opened a can of salmon for salmon croquettes. First, I had to get all the black stuff off the salmon. I could smell it and became ravenous. I must have eaten a quarter of the can as it came out of the can (not heated). It was delicious! Mama always put crushed saltine crackers in her croquettes. Decades ago, I decided oats were a better, more healthful choice. We had no saltines or oats last night. So, I used cornmeal. There were just enough chopped onions in the refrigerator

When I tried to form the patties to fry in olive oil, the patties were too dry to hold together, so I added a bit of olive oil. I should have used two eggs, but I only used one because I didn't have a whole can of salmon. They were good. If I had fried potatoes, gravy, and Great Northern Beans, it would be just like in my youth. But, I don't eat like that anymore. I had green beans with it. I forgot we had mustard greens ready to heat and eat. I only remembered when I saw them on Tommy's plate. 

Tommy took the ads and made a list. He actually put Prego Spaghetti sauce on the list. He uses it once I make spaghetti and puts it on other food items. He added an apple pie, just one at bogo for $3. It was only 6" across, thankfully. 

The main thing I wanted was a bag of salad mix. Fresh Express was bogo making it $3.50. I thought that was much more expensive than usual. So, I had him get only one. Dasani was b2g1, so we bought 3. He got bananas for me and forgot the bread. We need to go to another store tomorrow. Plus, we still have a bit. 

Where we were going to use the little chainsaw around the dogwood tree is a mass of poison oak. Now, we need to get rid of that! The mower wants to get rid of it in the fall when it dies back. I want it gone now. Besides, touching it in winter can still cause a rash/reaction. I took poison oak off little and large trees at my house when I noticed it. But. this is quite the infestation and won't be easily removed.

An electrician is scheduled to come and put up the three light fixtures in the kitchen this weekend. I saw a post on Next Door that made its way to the internet. At last, we will have proper light! 

Shockingly, he bought Life and Cheerios. Both were bogo. I didn't realize he had no more boxes stacked up on the bookcase by his chair. Yes, he wants them close. I gave up storing them on a shelf in the kitchen...lol. 

Well, I managed to sleep from 4-6:30 and could not even wake up. I have no idea, no remembrance of say, "Okay, I will be right there." Yes, I did come to the living room about 7 pm. 

I told Tommy we need to work every day to get the dining room where the electrician can get a ladder in there to work. He said, "I guess that means I have to do it." He is a good man. Actually, when cleaner comes, I will direct her what to do that will make it less onerous for Tommy. 

Tommy did not know how to buy strawberries. He has bought some almost dead ones. So, I finally instructed him to only buy shiny berries and to notice how some are dull, and not so plump. Now, he buys the best the store has. He washed them in vinegar, rinsed, dried, and stored them in a glass bowl with SnapLock lid. They are as good now as when they were bought last week. And, they are delicious.  Every night, I have about five. Yum! 

Tonight, I had a chicken tender, a salmon croquette, lots of green beans, salad, and strawberries. 

Have you ever battled poison oak? 

To Get Off the Floor

 

Amazon.com: WOESKCEAR Electric Chair Lift, Support Users get up from The Floor, Ground Lifts Help to Stand Up Again, Weight Limit 300 lbs, High Adjustable to 20”, Weight 29 pounds : Health & Household

This is just one of several of these I found.

I found this device. It lowers for use and has a device to raise it. Looks good to me. Has anyone ever seen one of these?

Gorilla Glue Call

 

This is sign is hilarious. I had a cat I loved that I carried from Jackson, MS to Memphis, TN. Mama said I had to leave the cat because it would just escape on the trip. I held onto her so tightly that she did not escape. I really loved that cat and held her all the time. That all changed when I learned cats could be an allergen. I only petted he on the head after that even though she wanted in the house. Even now, if I go into a house with a cat, I am all sneezes. 

Friday, I made a call that I forgot I made. Since the beginning of the lollipop-from-noodles journey, I have questions. I want to get this right the first time without having to try out the glue and make a mess if it does not work.  I called Gorilla company to see which glue will work. I talked to a very nice woman who was not only helpful, but hilarious while helping. She told me exactly what glue to use--Gorilla Clear Grip. This needs to be applied to both sides (I think) and let it air before joining. She said this was the equivalent of E6000. She said it is Walmart. Probably on Amazon, too.

No, Gorilla glue won't melt in the rain. I knew that but I had to ask her. However, fierce heat and sun can melt it. In December the sun and heat will not be so bad.  So, her recommendation was Gorilla Clear Grip.

The other call I needed to make was to Macy's, but I postponed that because of current problems they are having. 

Like I said, we bought paper towels, a six pack. I thought Tommy was cutting little pieces with a scissor. However, I could not fathom that he would cut good squares. But, the Sparkle paper towels have perforations to tear each paper towel into four pieces. There is even a picture of this feature on the front of the package. Next time I buy paper towels should be in a year or more, so I need to remember Sparkle.

Today, before I took a nap, I heard a bird chirping outside the window by Tommy's chair. It was thrilling to hear the mama bird. Tommy could not hear it at all, even with the door open. Finally, he said he heard a bird in the tree across the street when he went to get the mail. It was so disappointing that it was not my little mama bird. Tommy looked her up in a bird book. We have a house wren. 

Does the sign at the head of this post reveal the way your cat would talk if it could talk?

 

I know some of you don't use paper towels, so this question is not for you--have you ever used paper towels that can be cut into four squares?

It has rained on and off today, a gentle rain, for a total of about four hours? I can do without the wind, and lightning. How much rain did you get?