Friday, June 22, 2012

The frevolities continue

Good Evening Everyone,

I hope that all of you are doing well and I hope that your gardens are growing, and rising to the sun to provide you with goodies for your tables soon.
I started this post over last weekend, its been very busy, with just life, funny life is busy, especially mine as bland and dull as it is.

Well, the madness, the traffic continue for Nebraskaland Days. We have the concerts this Friday and Saturday, and it will be a madhouse around here. I have had to get out a few times for errands, and people and their driving scare me to death.  With all of the talk in the media about distracted driving, we sure have it here.  Yesterday, I was followed by a very young woman who was not watching her driving too well and guess what she was doing....texting with her Android phone on the steering wheel and just typing away. I could see what she was doing in the rear view mirror of the car. Then just a few days later, I had another very young teen, texting again, and she came into my lane of traffic and almost hit me head on. I will tell you I had my window down in the car, and the obscenities I said were pretty bad. I was just livid, I could just see wrecking D's car.    I can't do that, at all, let alone drive and keep my eyes and ears on what I am doing and watching all of the insanity around me and not getting run into. Amazing, and just a few days ago, we had a local news program on about this texting and driving and we had for every collision we had in the state, 1 out of 10 fatalities were texting and driving.  We, so far have had over 76 fatalities this year on our roads so it would make it about 10 of the fatalities were from texting and not paying attention.  Sad and unnecessary for these kind of deaths on the roads.

I have not been keeping up with the blog well. My heart is not into it. Its not that I do not like it, but it just seems things are just depressing.  But I do not want to loose my blog readers, and I am sure all of you get blog-itis too.   Too much going on.  D is helping me in the garden and watering, hoeing and things of that sort.  This year, I am just not up to too much.  I just have very  little energy, the heat gets to me. I am also very crabby and irritable.   I am in the process of changing to a different doctor.  I am trying to get in to see my parent's doctor.  He is a wonderful, caring doctor who sits and listens to you and makes you feel comfortable and not like you are the one losing your mind.  I should know sometime the end of this week to see if I can transfer my records to his office. It doesn't help with all that is going on in the world, and just trying to keep a roof and food on your table and all of the country's problems and world problems.  It is so hard to shut it out too.  I keep the tv off during the day, except to maybe watch a movie I like,  the radio I love, but you still get news and it gets old after awhile.  So if I do radio, I found I have radio streaming on the computer, and I have been using that a lot and listening to music and just trying to detach from the technology.  During the weekend, I do unplug the computer and do not allow D to have his cell phone on.  It sounds tough, but I am tired of technology and keeping so stuck to a gadget you cannot even enjoy the day. 

I will post some photos of the garden progress, everything looks so good, not trying to brag here.  I still worry about the bugs, but it seems that the garden dust is keeping things at bay.  I had to bring out the big guns and put down grasshopper bran, but if I don't the hoppers WILL eat the garden clear down to nothing.  They are very small now, and this is when you place the bran down, since I did that a over the weekend, I have really cut the amount of hoppers I have seen.  They were so bad, they covered the south side of the trailer, I am not kidding, and flew off of the sides when you walked by. And they were eating my Tarragon and in my walking onions, so I had to lay the bran down to keep them in check. It will be a bad year for hoppers here.  They are getting bad in the western part of the state and down in the southwest part along the Kansas/Colorado border from what the ag people say, so I am quite sure they will be in our gardens. But I am going to give em a fight before I give up.

Last Saturday, it hit over 100*, Sunday it was 103*F and last Monday, it was 106*F.  This weekend with the stupid concerts, it is supposed to be over 100* with a bad heat index, I am SO glad I am not going to be in the arena for these concerts, it will be a madhouse. The medics and cops will have their hands full.
We are supposed to be over 100*  this next week, so the heat is on, welcome to Summer.

I am posting garden photos.  It seems to be doing well.  With the heat, and if you can keep the bugs at bay, and water, it will be ok. Now, please note, the garden is not pretty, and somewhat very disheveled looking, my heart is not really into it this year, I guess, from all that is going on with the owner and the moron mouthpiece of his.  Everyone is like they are walking on egg shells around here, not knowing what to expect, so its a little depressing here.

We have had some very bad  issues around this neighborhood.  Someone, (and we all know who it is), is killing the neighbor's cats.  We have lost 2 so far, and I have 2 very heartbroken families, and very angry ones at that.  I am afraid that the line in the sand had been drawn and it will be some general garden variety vigilante justice now.  I am now, so sad, and fear that this will bring things into disruption mode and cause something.  I just pray for my outside ferals I have around here.  They have been here for about 7-8 yrs now, and stay very close to the house or specifically, under the house.  They are very leery of people, and are street smart, so I just hope that they keep their smarts about them and I am just going to stay inside and mind my own business, even though what has happened breaks my heart and I grieve for these families.

Other that this and just staying in because of the heat, not much is going on.  D is going on a little vacation over our 4th of July to see family and I am going to do some meat canning, and just general house work that needs to be done.  It seems so funny that things that need to be done in a home, and around the home, and the yard, it is a full time, job.  I sometimes get so frustrated, where to begin so, right at this moment, I am tackling my bathroom and tomorrow, I will tackle the bedroom.  Since I have little energy, I have to tackle things and make them a mini job.  Then I take a break, make some tea and then hit it again.  If I do not finish, I will tackle the rest tomorrow.  I also will be going through my wardrobe and clearing out clothing that I do not wear or want and take it to Goodwill or a smaller thrift shop.  I have errands tomorrow, with stops to pick up my food packs and then a stop at the farmers market, and then my ranchers for some meat, then home and quiet.

Well, that is about it for this week.  I have some other issues I will write about next week.. I would like to put something out as a discussion and see how everyone feels about this and what is going on, but until then, I will wish a wonderful weekend to all and garden delights to savor.

Hugs


Monday, June 4, 2012

The Start of the Silly Season

Good Morning Everyone,

Well, it just dawned on me that we are in the beginning stages of the silly season that infests us here in our community:  Its called "NebraskaLand Days", and for locals, its more of a pain in the rear than should be tolerated.  Personally, for me, its very hard as I have a fear of crowds, and tight spaces and getting cornered and it affects me this time of year.
I know that it brings in much needed revenue and business into town, but along with all of that, it brings out the worst in both the locals, who partake in the festivities, and the tourists who bring in some bad behaviour and bad habits.
It is two full weeks of nothing but rodeos, parades, barbeque's, and beer gardens  and other stuff that brings out the worst in humanity.  Along with this, it brings out the drugs, booze, and drunks and then rapes, and assaults, and yes, some murders.

When I was younger, I did go to a few concerts, which were fun, but then, it changed, the people became more violent, and bold, and then the dangerous.behaviours came out, like stabbing people with syringes, then knives, or screwdrivers.  I went to one concert, and the next thing I knew, I was in the middle of two women, stoned, and fighting over a man, and having beer thrown all over me, and the people who invited me to the concert.  It ruined me, and it made the people, who brought me along,  feel so very bad as they knew I had a fear of crowds and being in tight places and they were gracious and did so much to make the experience a pleasant one, but from just one incident, I now do not go to any crowd gathering what so ever, unless I knew who it is, then I will go if its a small one. 

If you would like to visit this yearly romp of madness and what goes on here, please visit www.Nebraskalanddays.com
and this will tell you what it is.  We are also hosting several outdoor concerts, one with Toby Keith, a country western music star,  which I am sure will be madness.  See, I live about a mile from the arena where they have the concerts and rodeos and the traffic along around my house is bad enough. Then you get the cops and the stopping of cars in front of your house at  3 am for drunk driving and other fun stuff.  I have even had them in my driveway and up on the curb right in from of the house.  Just gotta love them cop's lights in your bedroom, kinda like reliving the 70's disco era.

So I am planning my grocery shopping and errands to coincide with the silly season.  During this time, you really do not drive around too much.  If you have errands that must be done, you get up pretty early, and do them and then get home, QUICKLY!  Its only 2 weeks and I can live with it until next year.

Other than that, not too much on the agenda.  Just normal household things, garden and such.  It is starting to get hot here now, and its very dry, and so watering and checking to see if the bugs ate everything off.  I think that its going to be a buggy year, since we did not have a winter, so to speak,  the bugs will be bad.  My house neighbor across the street came over Saturday and sprayed my grape vine with Malathion as we are getting a nasty bug called a "rose chafer" and it eats everything up, roses, and veggies, and grapevines and what ever else it finds appetizing. I detest using chemicals and some pesticides, but I am afraid if I don't, I will lose the garden and I will have nothing to can, so I am using things with care and reserve and just hope for the best.  I even started some extra tomatoes, and cucumbers and melons  just in case I lose some to the bugs.

Oh, and by the way, the beef I bought on Saturday, was absolutely delish.  This was grass raised and pastured  and had wonderful flavor and was so worth it.  I will continue to buy from this group of ranchers. This is a group of Sandhill Ranches, about 94 families, who provide humanly raised, pastured beef.  If you would like, please visit at www.sandhillranchersbeef.com

Well, I had better get going.  I have some errands, hair cut, and trying to get things done before the silly season gets really going. I wish everyone a wonderful week and blessing upon everyone.

Hugs


Saturday, June 2, 2012

Playing with the Blog

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I just popped in to let you know that I am "nesting" with the blog and colors, text, etc.  I am sort of living with it.  I will as I have some time this weekend and through the week, see if I can do something different with the photos.  I would like them a little bigger, and play with the text.  I have problems reading small letters and I know others do to, so I am playing with colors and text size to make it easier on all of our "older" eyes.  I want something easy on the eyes and not hard to make out what it is you are reading.

Today, I have been trying to find replacement hot peppers.  I went out this morning to water, and the red Chile peppers I had put in a few days ago, were eaten almost clear down to the ground, I was SO PO'D that it wasn't funny.  So I drove around, trying to find some type of hot pepper I could dry and grind down for my Chile powder.  I found some cayenne's but that was about it.  the veggies around town are quickly dwindling down and its hard to find anything anymore.  And everything is very expensive for plants and transplants, so I did find some at our local Menard which is similar to a Lowe's. They had a few things and I also picked up a pot of variety plants to place in an old chair that I use as a decoration on my patio.  I shouldn't of but it was pretty and I needed some color.

I am going to see if I can start some seeds of peppers, and hopefully, maybe keep them covered for later fall, if possible.  For some reason, things are late, including me.
My issues are money, and I have to be so careful where it goes, I can't buy indiscriminately, but I did splurge on the colorful pot for my chair.  I will post a photo later. It has a begonia in it that is a beautiful orange and some trailing plants and a chartreuse foliage in it so it is striking.

I also picked up about 6#''s of hamburger from the rancher that comes in from Valentine NE.  He raises grass fed beef and I will pull out some for tomorrow to grill.  I had a issue with the grocery the other day about what they are doing, by screwing people with their hamburger.  They are shorting you when you buy hamburger, and charging full one pound price for a not full pound of burger.  I caught the butcher that worked the counter and confronted him about it, but he said that I would have to take it up with management, and I said I would.  That really PO'd me too. Our hamburger prices are running at $4.79 a pound for 80/20 and I am not paying that period.  So I will try this ranchers beef and if its ok, and will continue to buy, if not, I am purchasing a grinder and doing it myself.  I have noticed that our grocery stores are now starting to short you on things and selling very inferior produce, so I have also noticed that people are not buying either.  Maybe when the grocery management sees its not selling, it may change its ways, which I bet they won't, but I am going to confront them about the shortages.

Well, I had better get off and start something for supper and get off my soap box. 

Have a wonderful weekend.
Hugs

The versatile meat grinder by Jean Butler from the September/October, 2001 issue of Countryside & Small Stock Journal

The versatile meat grinder by Jean Butler from the September/October, 2001 issue of Countryside & Small Stock Journal

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Revamping the Blog

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I just thought I would pop in to let everyone know I am going to try to work on the blog and update its looks and do something with the photos, which I know are small.  I am trying to figure out the new blogger interface, and for me that may be a dangerous step, as I may delete the blog into blog purgatory.
So If I am down for a little bit, don't panic, I am just playing and seeing if I can do some spring updating.
Have a wonderful week and I will see you all later.
Hugs