Credit Score

As soon as his 90 days of minutes is gone, Tommy is getting a phone that does more than twitter so that he can hear it. In the meantime, I will get him a pouch to hang the phone around his neck! 

 I have had this blank page opened, waiting to write. I opened it Friday afternoon. Now that it is 24 hours later, maybe I can write. I guess this is writer's block. 

Nothing happened on Friday except I tried to sleep and feel like a person who can actually accomplish things. When I woke from a nap at 8 pm. I wanted a salad, tuna with MW on a bed of salad mix. Well, there was no MW, so we went to Publix to buy. 

I put a pair of pants on under my nightgown which was so soft I did not want to take it off.  Hopefully, neighbors did not see me. I had two coupons for MW, so Tommy took those. After a bit, I remembered I had no bananas, so called him. A woman answered the phone, but I did not recognize that. She said, "I just picked up this phone from a shelf and I answered it." My head reeled with questions. I told her it belongs to Tommy, and I would send him back into the store. At that very moment, Tommy was coming out of the store. 

I honked the horn at him and waved my phone with the lit side toward him. He kept coming. I was hurting for him because he started coming faster, and I could tell he was exhausted. He came all the way to the car and turned around and hurried even faster. The customer service guy handed it out the door. 

Why was the phone on a shelf in the store is what you want to know, right? Quoting him, he was trying to keep it where he could hear me call. ???? Well, that didn't work. As soon as his 90 days of minutes is gone, Tommy is getting a phone that does more than twitter so that he can hear it. In the meantime, I will get him a pouch to hang the phone around his neck! 

Friday, we did remove stuff from the freezer and gave it away along with about another 40 cans of food. The guy came and collected it for the woman and five girls. That was a real chore, plus we stayed outside in the heat talking to him. 

He often has his flip phone hooked into the neck of his knit shirt. This is so it will be close to his ear. The Miracle Whip was on the very bottom shelf, so he did not want the phone to fall out of his shirt neck. He put it on the shelf  to keep it secure. sigh sigh sigh

Then we came home for me to ruin my dinner. I put way too much lemon in the can of tuna! It was awful, but I ate it anyway. He had chicken thigh with bbq sauce, potato, carrots and something else. 

Another thing, I received notification of my credit score--805. I am stunned it is so high. Of course, I do pay off 2CCs on time, 2 store cards, and a debit card, all on time. I never have anything on all of them at one time. And, I always pay them before I have any kind of charge. The debit card is used all the time and CCs only occasionally. 

It is almost 5 pm, and cleaner was going to be here a little after 4 pm. There is a lot to do around here, but I will give out after about two hours this time of day. Okay, cleaner came at a little after 5 pm. She said she thought she would give me a little longer to sleep. In a nice way, I told her I had been up since she called at 3:45. That I wanted to be up when she came and dressed. If she had told Tommy she would be here when she actually came, he would have let me sleep. 

She changed my bed. I sat while she got the rest of the food out of the freezer. I suppose I gave her 30 pounds of food, all meat. There was lots of bread Tommy will go through. He said some of the bread we took out of the freezer last time just crumbled and fell apart when he tried to use it, just to crumbs. Plus, I found two old bags of mashed bananas ready for banana bread. Tommy hates banana bread; I don't need it even though I love it. So, the clearing of the freezer is done. 

Dinner--I ate meatballs we uncovered, last of slaw, and green beans. He had meatballs and sauce on a hotdog bun and a huge salad. 

I have almost turned my nights back to sleeping instead of staying awake all night and sleeping all day. YAY me!

My side slowly quit hurting. Today, leaning over the chair hard to pick up things while she was doing the same, it started hurting again. So, I won't be doing that again. 

It was funny when Tommy was watching a heavy rain. He said, "Good, I won't have to water tonight." We got 1.4 inches in short order, quite a gully washer. 

How is your weekend? Rain? Rodeo? 

Pooped!

 I am pooped! Today was a busy day. Not only was the day busy, but I did not quite get enough sleep, had no chance for a nap, and was involved in what was going on here. 

Tommy put together a carpet cleaner and used it in several places. We were both happy with the results. This was a cheap Bissell--$113. Neither of us has ever used one. This was almost as much as a rental. Plus, there is too much to do for him to do it in one day. This 44yo carpet is a mess. I have watched him spill stuff and just ignore huge coffee or hot chocolate spots on the carpet. Amazingly, the cleaner cleaned really old spots on which he used the carpet cleaner. 

Then, we had a chore out that involved me lifting small amounts over and over! The lifting is something a child could do but hurt me! 

The cleaner came and started emptying the freezer, sorting and replacing what we wanted. There were dates from 2020. There must be 50 or more items frozen that are cooked and in a single portion bag. Tommy will love having all this prepared and a variety at his fingertips. I found pecans, shredded coconut, frozen rhubarb, blueberries, and strawberries. 

I had bought baskets/bins to put things into and on shelves in the freezer. Of course, I forgot to empty them since I have used them elsewhere. I will have those ready when she comes to do the rest of the freezer. She left one job, went to doctor, came here, and then had to go to her other job. So, there was no more time. 

Any mashed bananas were thrown out. Tommy hates bananas. Besides, I cannot stand long enough to make banana bread, and don't need it tempting me. 

We sorted the door, too. About 1/2 of the freezer has not been touched and sorted. So, she will be back sometime for that. She took home a bag full of food, too. 

I gave away lots of frozen meats and frozen yogurt that I dislike intensely. Someone will eat well. I tried to give the meat to a man who was in cardiac rehab! He would not take it. Good for him.

While we were out, I bought more pimiento and cheese. When I finally get cheese, I will be all set. Surely, this week, some store, somewhere will have Kraft Medium Cheddar Cheese chunks on sale. 

I decided I could not stay up any longer so to nap from 8-10. I could not fall asleep until 10 and woke at 11:30. It is midnight now after having cold chicken breast and slaw. Two gallons of blueberries are on the stove. These will be delicious with yogurt or cottage cheese. 

I think I will go back to bed since I awoke with a sore throat. Yes, I know I am ill again. I am freezing and suspect I am running a temp. 

Do you have a carpet cleaner? Does it do a good job? Leave carpets too wet? One review said this one left carpet wet and it mildewed. 

When you empty your freezer if you have one, are you happily surprised by the food you unearth? I found two pineapple popsicles. 

Accomplishments Today

 After reminding Tommy to keep a food diary, he did not. The next day, I asked him. He said he forgot. Then, he was searching for small pieces of paper. I gave up trying to deal with that foolishness. That was Friday. Sunday night, I saw him writing in a large spiral notebook and asked him what he was writing. Answer--food diary. 

Monday, I started about 10:30 making calls. I gave  that up to read blogs and comments. We went out to do something, forgot what. I had him buy four pool noodles, one each of the four colors I saw--pink, green, blue, and orange. The orange is a foot shorter than the others. I think they are two different shipments. So, we will go to another DG to see if the longer ones come in orange. Probably not. Maybe I will just have three lollipops for Christmas display. There will probably be ones in yard sales or on side of road.  We had gone to Walgreen's to get his prescriptions promised today. No, they were not in yet!

The too small ring issue was solved, and the right size is on the way. 

Sent egift card to granddaughter from Amazon. 

Electrician coming to put up three light fixtures.

Called Walgreen's CS to get Tommy's rewards put on his account.

Called tree service and no call as promised to me.

Tommy got my Dawn from under sink.

Found out when lunch served at church.

My debit card was lost. I called over 12 days ago and should have received a new one in mail. Bank has no record of my having called. BAD WORD! Since nothing has been done by the bank to get cc up and running again, one cc account earned a late fee! I am very unhappy. 

Paid two cc cards, one with late fee, another without. 

I used my umbrella to stay sort of dry coming into the house about two weeks ago. It has been in here while I intend to take it out. I asked Tommy to try to remember. Today, I asked him to take it and put in my seat when he collected the mail. So, it is now in the car...clutter lessened. 

For a little over an hour, I lay down. Then, still not asleep, I heard a huge booming avalanche type crash and rumble. I thought he fell. No, it was an avalanche from the big freezer. I got out of bed too fast and almost fell in the bedroom and in hall. So, I bent to get the things and almost tumbled all the way down. He did find chicken breasts, thighs, and drumsticks. 

That is 13 items off the list. Some calls required calls to find where to call for correct number. 

I had breakfast, then lunch, too. It has been a productive day. I still have several more calls to make at 6 pm...so I will see what I can do.

Now, he is watering flowers. He also did a load of kitchen linens. I see him deadheading. Good. 

The customer service person in SA was most pleasant cs representative I have talked to since the one in Bombay.

Thinking about lights after I talked to the electrician, I asked Tommy why he got so furious when I brought light bulbs from my storage to put in fixtures here. He said it was like I was taking over his house. That hasn't happened yet. 

So, made 7 calls and about 6 other calls to find some of those numbers that worked. Five other things that needed to be done happened because I made them happen or encouraged Tommy. He washed the kitchen linens because he had few dish cloths and dish towels. He often does take the initiative. 

We both need to work on dinner so we can see Jeopardy.

We did not make it, so will fix dinner after Jeopardy. I will make cole slaw. He will have chicken legs, and I will have a cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato. We will both have slaw. 

The last slaw was the worst I ever made. I dumped too much apple cider vinegar in it. Yuck.

I think I can get in one more call.

This day has been beautiful. Tommy has been calm. A good day. 

I added another three calls.

How was your day today? 

Did any phone calls occur to straighten things our or to make plans? 

What We Did Today--Important, But Not Much in the Grand Scheme of Things

 

We manage to do a bit each day, somedays more than others. Today was not a stellar day for getting things done. However, I am pleased. 

Since I went to bed at 9 pm last night, I was awake at 12:30. I still felt ill. But, somehow felt better before I went back to sleep. By the time I woke at 11:30 am, I felt like I was well. I suppose it was a delayed reaction the covid vaccine. However, I did have Tommy get the specimen cup from the doctor, and we returned that to the doctor. I may still have a uti.

He made a return for me. I looked for a battery for his flip phone. I called a cell store and found a $25 battery for his $29 phone. Instead, I ordered one for $10 from Amazon. So, he won't have a phone until Saturday. I wondered why he kept his phone plugged up so much. Now, I know. 

I sent him into Publix for carrots and Lysol wipes. Publix sent me an email saying to clip a coupon and pick up a free Salsa bouquet. I did. He did. It is very pretty, festive, cheerful. 

My back is hurting worse today. His little finger has a huge, infected pocket behind the moon. He said he knew he hit his finger, but only until the day after did it hurt so much. Of course, then he looked at it and showed me. I will doctor it until tomorrow and lance it, clean it, medicate it with mupirocin, bandage it. I know it really hurt if he showed me and submitted to my ministering to it. Those things always hurt.

Tonight, I put six boneless, skinless thighs and six bone-in and skin-on thighs into a cooking bag with a whole pound of carrots and four huge potatoes and celery. The potatoes were cut into round pieces about an inch thick. Everything was seasoned with garlic powder and onion powder. I will freeze most of the meat, two thighs at a time for Tommy. We will just eat the vegetables and not freeze them unless Tommy wants some in with each of his thighs. He said he wanted potatoes and carrot in with each thigh, so he will have six meals in the freezer. 

If he has meat and vegetables, I can eat a grilled cheese sandwich for supper rather than cook. But, I won't offer one to him. When I offer him less than meat and vegetables, he sounds so sad but agrees to it. He is always willing to cheerfully help me to cook. Of course, something like taco soup that does have meat is okay with him. 

Just now, he searched for frozen chicken breast for me. He found enough for three meals for me. Plus, he took out two packages of raw, frozen breasts. So, I will cook those Saturday, probably alone. There is enough for meals for three days, protein and vegetables, but I will get this done, so it does not have to be done later. 

Sunday, when it is raining and we have nowhere to go, we have decided to try and sort part of the freezer and the little freezer in his refrigerator. We will get two boxes, one on his walker and the other next to freezer on the counter. I can pull it out. We hope to separate cooked meat from frozen meat. There is no way we can work on the lower two thirds of the freezer. We still need someone to get that out. 

I was looking in the freezer a few days ago, poking around and found two slices of bread frozen. I took that out and Tommy ate it. This was from back when the freezer was new and empty and I froze loaves of bread. Any bread I find will come out. Protein is more important! 

Just now, I remembered I have a huge package of ground beef that needs to be cooked. So, that will happen tomorrow. I really want spaghetti. I cook the meat with chopped onions. Tommy is really happy when he finds frozen package of ground beef. He eats it for several meals. I will freeze small packages for him and larger for spaghetti. Maybe I will make a healthy meatloaf. 

Last night, we put away a bit more Christmas. Little is left, just a small pile. 

Sign up for club Publix and click for coupon for Salsa bouquet. 

There were no grand plans or accomplishments today. It does work to keep us fed and not get too far behind. 

What are your plans for food this week or tomorrow? 

Are there any good ads in your area?

Anyone still have Christmas decorations out still?

Frugal Cooking with the Holy Trinity

More about the succulent later in the post.

The weather will be a bit cooler this week. I will put a chicken In the crockpot along with celery, bell pepper, and onion--the holy trinity. I don't care what you say, the crockpot does heat up the kitchen once the temperatures rises! Of course, a "bit cooler" is like 89 F. But, I am taking that temperature gratefully.

I want everything to be cooked when exbf gets here this week. So far, those have been my plans for weeks, but I have yet to achieve that goal. Then, I am incredibly tired. The mushrooms, squash, zucchini, bell pepper combo has not gotten old since he only had it this last week. Along with the chicken and sautéed vegetables, I will make a salad.

Along with the eggs, I left potatoes in the car, but that is not a tragedy if I cook them soon. The eggs left in the car went into the trash. It is NOT frugal to waste food.

Rather than cooking Sunday night, I looked in the freezer and found a frozen piece of cheese pizza. I should have had a salad with the pizza.

On Sunday, I had only one slice of bread and the slice of pizza. Yay me.

Saturday night, I found two hotdogs in the freezer, not the ones I bought on sale, but  cheesey, spicey hot ones. I will be so glad to get some bits and pieces of things eaten from the freezer so I can store other things in there.

Monday plans:

Saute mushrooms, zucchini, yellow squash, bell pepper.

Try to hang a few clothes outside. maybe not

Drink more water to help flagging energy. doing it

Put chicken in crockpot. done

color hair

Computer weather says it is 81 F with 100% humidity. Oh, dear, I have to go out soon.

I wrote about getting the SUCCULENT in a post you may remember. It sat on a counter near a window but under a counter. One of the three fingers bit the dust. The other is turning white and getting hollow and hard at the end. So, I moved it to a window with shade all day but quite bright. The last "finger" is doing great. It seems to have a "baby" growing on the end as well as small "baby" things growing from the base.

Since the flower forms from the base, I am hoping this is what the things around the base are. Does anyone have an opinion on the dying finger? Has anyone seen this in person or the flower in person?

Freezer Camp for Dominique; More Irma

Dominique needs to depart. 1) She is alone, and that makes me sad. 2) However, she is a very poor layer, taking off half the year for herself. For those two reasons, I cannot pass her off as a layer. Oh, 3) she has a very disconcerting habit of crowing.

She did not crow until I got rid of the rooster that I paid too much for. He crowed very loudly, enough to disturb neighbors. Dominique still struggles, sounding like she has a sore throat.

She can never free-range because of the fear of something eating her. So, it is a pretty restrictive life, not something I like to see since she has no company!

I will not give her away without seeing her right up until the moment she is harvested for food. I am afraid someone will mistreat her. I am not attached to her, but do not want her mistreated at all. I am okay with her dying to feed someone.

There is nothing on the radar, yet it is raining! It is not more than a drizzle. It is entirely unexpected. It is a gloomy fall day, not something I even like in season, much less now at the end of summer, a day that should be hot at least.

I hope Fall is not here I need more summer.

Your turn
So, what would you do with a hen that does not lay much, crows, and is lonely. I want more chicks, but not this chicken. Have you ever sent a hen or more to freezer camp?

Why Don't I Have Flour?

A blueberry cobbler seemed like a great idea. But, there was no flour in my flour canister. I had to think hard about where my extra flour was stored. Then, it hit me: in the freezer that died last spring.

I always use all purpose flour in five-pound bags. Last Monday I gave away a tiny bag of flour given to me because it was self-rising. That was a bad move. I really could have used it! Now, I was going to have to purchase more flour. Fortunately, I remembered I had a huge box of Bisquick.

Since I don't bake as much as I have in the past, I decided to see if the tablespoon of flour in the canister was still good. Nope. It was rancid. The flour canister had to be washed and dried. I now have more flour. I DON'T have freezer room to put in five pounds of flour! I do this to kill the eggs that come in flour so they won't hatch in the airtight canister.

My only recourse is to somehow get more food out of the freezer or put the flour in pint jars to freeze a bit at a time. This is all disheartening! I never realized how much I used and depended on my freezer.

The cheap chest type freezer is small. But, more than that, I cannot lift food out of there to search the bottom for what I need. grrr

I received a $50 coupon from Lowe's since I bought the washer, but really cannot go into debt for any more.

There is no flour here because it was all thrown in the trash. The End.

Your turn
Has the lack of a major appliance thrown you for a loop? Made things more difficult?