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?

Frustrating Start to Day & 101F

 Two positives from Tuesday have turned to complete frustration on Wednesday. I felt so positive until I opened the mail later Tuesday. I was up to the challenge, but this has turned out to be an ordeal.

When we went to far away UPS store, Tommy was turned away as they needed a QR code. So, this morning I was going to call and see what happened. Now, I realize I received two emails from Amazon. One is for a scheduled pickup. The other is to take the package to UPS store. As I looked at the pickup notice, I found I must pay for pickup. Not happening. 

I made a call to the same number I called for the return. I got one of those messages--If you are over 50, press #1. If you are under 50, press #2.  Since I have made the mistake of pressing #1 before and have been subjected to a sales pitch, I pressed #2. That backfired since I got ten minutes of sales pitches. Then the sales pitch hung up on me. 

So, I decided to call Verizon. I had the bill reduced to $25 instead of the almost $75 per month we pay now. Well, they raised the amount of our bill. How does that happen? Now, it seems my calls to rectify this won't go through. So, we will drive to the phone store! 

This is not how I wanted to spend Wednesday. We did plan to go to Cullman, but it is so hot and we don't want to be out if the predicted storms catch us on the interstate. 

Tommy has been on the front porch for thirty minutes shucking 6 ears of corn. He does it the hard way and then completely removes all the silk by hand. I have told him to use the vegetable brush. Maybe he enjoys removing the silk this way. The sun has not reached him yet, so he will just shuck and silk how he wants. He reported worms in the last two ears last week, so these must be okay since he is still working on them. Good! I want corn and tomatoes and slaw for dinner. He just came in and said the sun was about to get to him. He had been sitting in shade of porch

The pizza is still bothering my stomach. So, my stomach medicine will have to calm my stomach before I eat.

Today's plans are to make tuna salad, make pimiento and cheese, mix the slaw. Maybe I will cook a protein. I want nothing to stand in the way of watching every second of the debate on Thursday night. So, I will at least have leftovers to heat in a hurry. 

Yesterday, after the pizza about 5 pm, I only had a small apple the rest of the night. It is 2 pm on Thursday, and I still have had nothing except water! I hurt and am not hungry yet. 

We went out to get the ads but came home before going to phone store. A bad storm warning was for this afternoon. The clouds were so dark and there were sprinkles. We went to park for a bit and came home just as the sprinkles were starting. I found a return label for the return that Tommy had not seen, but I have no idea when it was left. 

It was very hot and humid when we left the house, but actually cool when we returned, even before the sprinkles. At least Tommy won't have to water the flowers. I just found out that after all the rain in the area, my flowers only got a mist of rain. However, without my asking him, Tommy watered all the flower. The purslane blooms are so beautiful and prolific. 

Oh, the dogs are still next door. We think they retreated to the back of the yard under trees to escape the torrid conditions where they love to lay. I am sure the close proximity to Tommy's brick house and the full sun where they lie and where dog houses are located keep them hotter than normal. We have not heard one bark. They just sit or stand, never play, and look sad. 

Dinner--country fried steak and gravy, cabbage, potato bit, carrots for both of us. 

It's a bummer to have a day of accomplishments all turned on end the next day. Right? 

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? 

Thursday and Elkhorn

 Today, we're focused. There was no browsing at all. We knew what we wanted and got it or left. Sometimes, I wander around looking for what is on a list in my head. Tommy's phone had no minutes, so I could not have done that if I wanted to do so. We talk back and forth to decide what was on the list. 

He wanted a card with minutes for his phone. But, he left one store to buy it at Dollar General. We needed plastic cups/tumblers for the house. He got cheap Crocs, 3 24-packs of Dasani that were b2g1. Then we were home and I took a nap. 

The mower did not come. I think it was dry enough, but he may live in a part of the county that got much more rain last night. He is supposed to come on Thursday every two weeks. But, that seldom happens. But, he will come eventually. 

We will eat leftovers for dinner and watch Elkhorn. I had baked chicken and green beans and a tiny chocolate cupcake. He had a highly seasoned piece of chicken, broccoli, and green beans and a jalapeno biscuit. That's as far as we have planned. Well, I will have 3 strawberries and about 8 grapes. 

After weeks of watching Elkhorn, I finally decided to look up Mason Beals, Theodore Roosevelt on the series. He has practically NO history. He is an amazing actor who looks like Roosevelt. Have you been watching this series?

Today has been lots of coughing and chest congestion. Not fun and tiring. 

June is the best month of the year in my opinion. The days are green, not too much heat, just enough rain, and overall pleasant. It is a happy month?

How do you feel about June? 

Have you been watching Elkhorn? 

Monday Plans

Today was a beautiful day, the kind that makes your heart sing. We went to Publix and nothing much else. I wanted slaw, needed otc, and food for prep for gastro visit. I slept 8 hours last night and did not nap. I wanted to nap but would rather watch America's Funniest Videos. 

Tommy opened a can of chicken and ate last of some vegetables. 

I made four calls and none of the businesses had anyone at CS desk. I made a list of ten places to call tomorrow, and I just thought of five other places I need to call. ugh So, my day is planned for Monday. 

Tommy filled a concrete pot with no hole in the bottom with soil and watered it in preparation for planting carrots about a month ago. So, he needs to get the pot I told him to get and start all over so we can plant carrot seed. He got the sunflower seeds for me, so we need to plant those. That will happen tomorrow, I hope.  

I told Tommy to call his homeowner's insurance and ask them to try to collect for the tree limb being cut from our yard and clothesline. He thought it was a good idea. Who knows what will happen? 

He is doing well with the meter still. I sometimes want him to get his blood sugar level to see what a particular food does to the level. He willingly looks to see. I imagine he wonders how a certain food affects him, too. 

I heard from Tommy's friend's wife. The friend is still in hospital and has headache. That is all I heard. 

My plan for homemade Christmas yard decorations is coming along. The pool noodle to made lollipops are $1 each at Dollar General, while the pool noodles are $3.54 at Big Box. Those may be larger than ones at DG. Not sure, but cheaper is better for me. When it gets drier, I will wash the mailbox well, and spray paint it red. I don't want lots to do nearer Christmas and in cold or wet weather. I expect to get leftover PVC pipe for the lollipop sticks. I must work on this each month to get it done in time and cheaply. 

Another plan--I have about ten pounds of Granny Smith apples. I want to cook some of them because we will never eat so many. However, I want them as low carb as possible, so I won't make a pie or anything else with pastry. I don't demand lots of sugar in these tart apples because I actually like them tart. Well, if Tommy really wants it I will. I am thinking sugar, cinnamon, flour, and butter, maybe cooked in the crockpot. It looks like my Monday is filling up fast. 

We do need to go to Cullman one day, so I need to schedule plans for tree cutting and mowing on another day. Yes, that makes two more phone calls I need to put on my list. 

Do you ever make more plans than you can ever get done for one day? I figure my list for the next day is already done with the leftovers for next day. A couple of my calls will be long and arduous, maybe even confrontational. Others will be 30-second calls. 

Do you have long-term plans and short-term plans all the time? 

How much is that bunny in the window? And, why I usually answer the phone

bunny in the kitchen window with clover from the yard

And the window needs cleaning in the corner!

Do you remember these planters that were also an animal figurine? This one was very old and free. You know I love the price. It sits in my kitchen window. It makes the place feel homey to me. I love these little figurine vases. I don't ever remember anything like this sitting on my mother's kitchen window sill. Maybe I saw these in the homes of aunts or grandmothers when I was young. It feels familiar.

Above picture and text were a photo from a spring and published here long ago.  I have since cleaned that dusty window that looks horrible when it was just dust that did not show up as so nasty.

I have been complaining about harassing calls and people remark in the comments that they do not answer those calls. Well, there is a compelling reason why I do answer unknown numbers. 

Too many times to count, those calls are from a doctor's office. I have all my doctors' office numbers in my phone which means I know if one returns a call. WRONG! A nurse calls on a different line in the office and I miss the call because I did not recognize the number and often cannot get another call until the next day which is an annoyance and inconvenience for both parties. These are huge offices with dozens of lines for multiple nurses and multiple doctors.

So, I answer the phone unless I remember the number as just a sales pitch. That does not work either. These people have the ability to use a local prefix to call me which makes me think it is a local call. If I have advertised something for sale or given my number to someone, it all falls back on me when I answer these calls of scammers or salespeople. 

I have filled the reject/block list on my phone and cannot figure out how to get rid of these numbers. I filled this list long ago, and I figure those numbers are no longer used by the scammers. I thought a person at a phone store got rid of these so I could block more. Obviously not. So, I will try again. 

Granted, I only answer about three of these calls each day, but it is still a great pain. I do have reasons I answer the phone. However, I have to listen to the phone ringing about ten times a day when I know it is a person to whom I do not wish to speak. 

So, I do know not to answer the phone most of the time. Just before I started this paragraph, the phone rang, I checked it and recognized it as a number that I don't want. So, I let it ring. I can do this, but too often I cannot take the chance it is a number where I really want to talk to the caller. 

Do you ever miss a call because you ignored it, not knowing it was someone you did want to talk with?