Saturday, February 4, 2012

Not like it was cracked up to be.

Good afternoon everyone,

I just thought I would pop in and tell you all that, yes, we got a snow storm, a little wind, and about 9 inches of snow, BUT...it did not have the 35-45 mph winds behind it to give it the punch it needed to be a full blown blizzard.  This was a baby storm compared to some I have been in, drove in, and lived through. I do know that Colorado got dumped on, and some parts of our area got over 15 inches, but here, it was a considerable baby storm, with a squeak instead of a roar.

Right now, its melting outside, about 32*F and probably by Monday, will be pretty much gone.  It has been too warm here, to keep it on the ground, so its soaking into the ground, which my trees, and my garden need it so badly. So, I'm happy that it was the storm that wasn't.
So, I am ok, everything is as it should be.  I am going to tackle my broth tomorrow (Sunday), and just kinda vegetate for a few days.
Everyone, take care and we will think of something to blog about next week.

Hugs to All

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Too much of a good thing or Be careful what you wish for

Very Good Morning Everyone,

Its a little early for me this morning, BUT, I needed to get up and start things early as we are in a BLIZZARD WARNING! Yep, first one this year, after all of the spring weather we had been getting, SEE, told ya so.  I knew that we would pay for the nice weather.

Why a blizzard warning instead of a winter storm warning or an advisory, is because we are supposed to have 35-50 mph winds behind this snow, and with 8-12 inches like the weatherman is talking about,  will make it worse than Saturday night at Dodge City.  When you get sometimes gale force winds behind snow, you get a mess. So, guess what I;m doing this morning......

I am pretty much prepped anyway.  As usual, I have pantry, fuel, and lamp oils etc. etc.  stocked anyway, just because I do as part of my household anyway, nothing new in this. My snow removal guy is ready and will show up after all of this splats on the ground probably on Sunday, when this is supposed to quit and move out of the area.
I am just going out this morning to get some cat food, litter, and just a few items and I'm done and ready to hunker down for the long weekend.  With the winds that they are talking about, I may lose power, so I may be down on the computer, but that is just part of living out here in hillbilly hell.

And for some of you who asked about if I am getting any quilting done.  I am afraid that I need to start a stash.  Money has been so tight, and I can't afford fabric at the fancy quilt shop we have here.  Good grief, some her fabric is $12 a yard!  I have been thinking that I may just start with a denim quilt, my name sake, which I love denim anyway, and just cut patches out of different colors of denim, which I have plenty of around here and do a bed quilt for D's bed.  I need to haunt the second hand shops too, but I just cannot eake out money, even small amounts for cotton shirts.  But I do have a small amount of shirts from my closet and I have been washing these and slicing them up and stacking them in a small plastic box with a lid and I'll work until I get something saved up to start something small, like a table runner or something.  Thanks to all of you who sent links and ideas and suggestions, its just like everything else, you have to start out small and work up. This weekend would of been a wonderful time to quilt on something.  Oh well.

If we keep the electricity up and going, I am going to just work in the kitchen and finish canning my chicken broth and chicken meat.  When I started hearing about snow on Monday, I thought I'd just wait and then heat up the kitchen when its cold. So everything went in the freezer and I will pull it out probably tomorrow or Saturday and finish.  I may also do another round of veggie broth.  I use a lot of both in cooking.  I won't be able to get to the store for beef  shanks until after this storm so that's on the agenda next week.  Also D and I are planning a trip to the small hometown meat processor about 50 miles from us so I can get some smoked sausage that they do and maybe a few other things.

Well,  I had better get going.  I am going to have a little breakfast, and then try to be out the door by 8:30 am and then get things done, as by the time the afternoon rolls around, people start getting off work, and decide that they had better get to the stores when its too late, and its a mad house around here when people are pushed.  It amazes me, living around here that some people wait until its too late and then cry that there is nothing on the shelves when we have storms.  Its usually very young people who are more worried about their smart phones working than keep their butts covered in a blizzard.
I will try to take some photos if I can. I never know about my little cheap camera.
I wish everyone a wonderful weekend.

Hugs

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Here Chick, Chick....There Chick, Chick.....

Good Morning To All,

I am sorry for the gap in posting.  It seems Blogger got its issues straightened out, and I can comment and read my favorites now.  I am not sure at all what went on, but I am glad its figured out.  I was afraid that I had issues with my blog from hackers or something.  Also, remember, I'm a boring life entity, and right now, its cold here, even though we are having 50's and 60's here with an average of 40's on a daily basis, with very little snow. Its supposed to be close to 60* F today, for pity sakes! Where's winter? But I still cannot do anything in the garden, period, everything is frozen solid, and even though I love the fairly warm days, they are sure deceiving and all you want to do is start gardening.  I can't even start some seeds yet, even though its starting to get a little warm.  I am planning on bringing a couple of my ghetto buckets around to the south side to start warming up.  It will  take most of February to do this, and by then, in March,  I can get my greens seeds in, and cover with my greenhouse plastic and just wait.  Something that I haven't heard of is the fact we are getting Sand Hills  cranes here now.  They usually start showing up the end of February, but they are flying and some are gathering west of town along the North Platte river and out in the corn (maize) stubble the farmers leave for the cows to graze in.  I have heard them overhead, way up high, but I have not seen them yet.  I am sure, we get a few nice days I will start to see them fly closer down where you can see them.

Last weekend, I pressured canned the broth off of the  turkey carcasses I had in the freezer along with the meat that was left on the bones.  I was so proud of myself, Miss afraid of the pressure canner here.  Today (Sunday, Jan  29th), I am having chicken dinner tonight, with the trimmings, and I am going to do chick broth and leftover meat and can that.  I look back thinking how much of a wussy I was with pressure canners, and how much I have missed out on not being able to do what I wanted to do years ago,  Funny how bad experiences with things alter your outlook, but then the need out ways the fear of getting things done if you have to provide food for your table, or need food for your health.  Payday, I am hoping that I can spare a little extra so I can purchase a box of beef shanks so I can process the meat and broth. I need to purchase shanks here as when spring rolls around my part of the country, I can't get shanks anymore until next winter.   My doctor wants me to get more beef  broth, since I am showing signs of bone degeneration, since I do not have a thyroid,  he urged me to take better care of myself, since I am caring for people, and I need to take time for me also.  That's hard to, but I am taking his advice. Like he told me, sometimes the caregivers poop out before the people they care for by just being like a shrew, and burning your candle at both ends.  Is that what it is? :-) I'm a shrew.  I feel like a hamster, sometimes, in a wheel, but not a shrew.


I have retired my in home chef-ing for a while.  A lot of my people are really cutting back on things, and expenses so all of us agreed upon stopping.  My clients were struggling with coming up with money, I was struggling with trying to get them their meals, and yet providing for my parents and my charges here, including me.  We all agreed that we were going to see what the spring brings and go from there.  If there is improvement in the economy, I sure don't see it, at least here.  I see so much poverty around me, funny that the rest of the community doesn't see it.  But 90% of the poverty that is going on here in my community is the fact that it is brought on by people who are drug addicts and alcoholics and would prefer to buy their habits with money that should be used to provide for their families, which the families lose out, and then it falls upon the community food banks and churches to provide for these people who, by choice prefer their habits before their families.  I shed tears for  these kids and families who have parents or a parent who waste their life away with something so very fleeting.  I sit here and thank each day I am able to wake up and be me, whether I feel good or not.  What makes me angry is the fact that these parents make everyone else provide for them, just so they can have their habit,  I am for giving a helping hand "up" but I do not like giving "hand-outs" to these people.  I have had incidents here where I live where the renters wanted me to give them produce from my garden, which I would be so very glad to do, BUT, I had a stipulation that they come over to help me weed or water or trim in the garden for about an hour to help me out.  The answer was always "no", and so I refused, simply on the fact that I feel you should work for your food, which I do as I have to provide as much as I can as I cannot go out and get help for my meals and no one is going to do it for me.  I will assure you, I have made many enemies while the renters where living here.  Oh well, off of my soap box.

Well, I need to get off of my fanny, and get my pans and chickens  ready to start dinner for this afternoon.  Then I will get my broth ready tonight, let it chill and then skim and can this tomorrow.  I will have more time tomorrow to do it. I like quiet and peace when I do this.
Well, until I can come up with something else.  I will leave all of you to have a wonderful, up coming week.  Please take care all.
Hugs