Saturday, Sunday and Berry, Berry Confused

 Saturday was slow and neither exciting nor boring. I still feel unwell, so nothing much done...lol. I did not sleep well. It seemed I was awake all night, but did sleep some, just not soundly. 

We did go to Publix to buy milk for me and apples. Tommy went in. Then, we got his insulin at Walgreen's and left it in the car for four hours or more. And, it was 91F today, so  I think it is ruined. He says it is okay. 

When he handed me a copy of some medical report to read, I did and he has moderate hearing loss even though he says it is all me. I did not mention I saw that comment. There is a new hearing aid advertised for $99. I have commented about it several times. Finally, I asked him if he thought that would help. Well, he is not against it. 

Saturday night, I put some shaved steak in the cooking bag and non-salt seasoning. I cooked it an hour and he removed it from the stove and discovered I had cooked the pad that is under meat. I suppose the people who use these know some of us cook these and do not put anything in the pad that is deleterious to our health. 

While it was cooking in the oven, I made cole slaw. Tommy brought everything to me and I made it in my lap as usual. He was doing something in the kitchen. Most of the time, I don't ask. Well, he had gotten out two small freezer bags of corn I had cut off the cob. Dinner was delicious--shaved steak, coleslaw, corn cut off the cob and frozen. 

The cole slaw mix I bought was delicious because it was full of carrots. From now on I will buy Dole. I like slaw with carrots, tasty and healthful. Other brands never have many carrots! And, this was only $1 at the Memorial Day sale. 

One day this last week, I made the Dolly Parton brownies. I will not buy them again. I like fudgy brownies, but these seemed juicy inside. It was strange. 

Saturday, when we got out of the car, my impatien plant was drooping. When Tommy watered about 6:30, He put a pie pan under it to soak water. At bedtime he took the pan of water away. I read impatiens don't like wet feet. Hopefully, they will continue to thrive in the hot weather and sun against the bricks. Maybe it will do better on Sunday. 

Sunday, the impatiens was fine. Hopefully, we won't let it get so dry again. Tommy watered just after noon since I told him morning was the best time to water. Then, around 6 pm, it drizzled, sprinkled, rained softly and quit. I suppose everything is sufficiently hydrated. 

Of course, I took a nap and Tommy had his dinner of soup on his own. Today, I cleaned and trimmed the rest of the strawberries, and put a bit of sugar on the sliced strawberries, just a bit to macerate. I want to have some tomorrow on a sliver of angel food cake that Tommy has been eating on for two weeks. 

Two Bell peppers and one red are sliced in two bags--one for Tommy's salads and the other to cook with onions for him to eat. 

It seems peppers get lost in the freezer and then turn to icy bag of green stuff. So, I won't be freezing any peppers until the freezer can be emptied and organized. 

Tommy washed a load of my clothing and I hung them and folded the ones he dried. Laundry never ceases. I remember the days of three children and diapers for six years! 

Two weeks ago, as we swung through the park, I saw flowers that I was sure were blackberries. Well, we did this for three or four days. Finally, Tommy said we have flowers just like that on the table. Hmm, do blueberry blossoms look like blackberry blossoms. I wondered and checked the blueberry flowers. Then, the flowers fell off in the park. I kept watching for the blueberries to form since I have seen those before many times. 

I was confused as to why the blueberries were so gnarly looking. Yet, they never changed, just grew a bit larger. 

Finally, today, Tommy came inside after watering and told me I had blackberries! What??? I did not buy blackberries! He told me I bought two bushes. Oh, yeah. I forgot. So, now I do have blackberries. 

Immediately, I made plans to protect them from the birds. I do have a plastic snake outside and one in here. Plus, I will get bird netting. If I cannot find that, I will buy tulle to protect them. It is just thing thing and comes in wide bolts. 

All this time, I thought I had only blueberries on the table. I do look at them, but since they are close, I suppose I read the tags on them and saw only the "berries" part of the word. The bushes are small, and there are not many berries, just a handful. 

Hopefully, I feel better this next week as I really need a new mattress. Everyday, I plan to go find one and just have no energy. 

Tomorrow, I need to cook squash and onions with garlic butter. Of course, I will like it but Tommy will love it. I also need to cook a box of sliced mushrooms for me since he won't touch those. I may put the last of the jar of spaghetti sauce over those. Yum. 

[Edit--I came home and was ill when we shopped. I rarely even look at the plants up close. So, my confusion about what plants I bought is due to being ill and neglect of the plants. Tommy did not want one of the plants I bought, yet the woman left it in our cart. So, who knows? Do you have blueberries or blackberries?]

Frozen Corn, Allergies, More Decluttering

 Tuesday, I cooked all twelve ears of corn and cut the kernels off the cob. I cut from two ears and froze those in a snack bag. I kept it up until I had five packages frozen for us, half a package apiece, so one ear apiece. We ate none of it that night. On Wednesday, I did not feel like cooking so we had what was in the refrigerator. The sixth bag of corn was eaten. Tommy had a salad with dressing, sliced cucumbers on top and chopped chicken. I had two hotdogs and too much chili. Ooops, forgot the cheese. I had something else but cannot remember what. The chili was going to be too much for my gastric system, so I only ate a bit of it and saved the rest for him.

No more patterns were sorted. 

I took my first dose of the med, snorted, for my congestion. Maybe I am imagining it, but it seems my congestion is less and my ears hurt less. Hopefully, October will not be too rough for me, no antibiotics. 

On Wednesday, I discovered I am being overcharged by providers! Medicare helped me to determine this. Now, I have to straighten it out. If they do not refund money and quit charging me, Medicare will take hold of them and beat them about the ears. I would prefer they be put in stocks.

And, another reward program has not been giving me what I was due, even though I pointed it out before. I had to call corporate to get it straight. 

Wednesday was a dreary day, no sun at all. But, somehow, it did not affect my mood. There was a smattering of rain where we are. 

I have some boxed-from-the-factory chicken equipment that my friend from Cullman is going to get when he comes down to clean Tommy's gutters. He was eager because he had five ducks and now has two. So, he said this will give them a better chance of survival. That will be one huge box out of the dining room. YAY! I have no idea why Tommy put it in the dining room, but that is where I found it. 

I slept about nine hours today, waking at 1:30 this afternoon. I had to talk to Amazon, one of those long conversation. I got something straightened out there, too. 

My ear is definitely better and I have no pain! It feels a little stuffed up, but nose is no longer running day and night. My allergist is the best. 

Tonight, we are having preformed burgers, really thick ones, cooked in the oven with mushroom soup mix over them and a bit of water. I will have a salad with tomatoes. Tommy will have cucumbers on top along with tomatoes. 

I need to make refrigerator pickles for him since we have so many they will get mushy if they are not used. 

At the grocery, I bought another basil plant since the last two bolted. I could not bend over to pink off the tops with the last one. Tommy thinks basil stinks, so I didn't ask him to pinch it. I hope this one lasts thought the winter.

There is another soldering project in the works. I feel really happy knowing that I have five meals of corn in the freezer!

What kind of projects do you have planned, started, or finished?

Corn, DL, OUCH, Reading, Crochet, Tuna, Birthday

Tommy is in the front yard, shucking corn. We were given dozen ears. I may cook it all and cut the corn off and freeze most. At least, it will not go to waste. Tonight, we will have five big meatballs given to us. I may cook all five and freeze two, not sure about that either. We will have a salad, anyway. 

Thursday, I renewed my driver's license that had expired almost two years ago. I thought my hair would be okay. No, it was not. I can say with confidence that is the worst dl picture I have ever had taken. Hopefully, the color picture on the permanent dl will be better. No, I have not driven since it expired. I hope I still know how to drive...lol. 

I bit my tongue the worst I ever have yesterday! It was at the very back of my tongue. I could hear the teeth going into my tongue, sort of like biting into a juicy apple or a stalk of celery. I cried, could not finish eating and barely could shut my mouth. Then, just an hour later, I was using a straw while riding in the car. The car hit a ripple in the pavement and the heavy straw hit me in the mouth, trapping my lip between teeth and straw. That swelled up nicely. Then, I sort of choked when I coughed. Something lodged itself in the opening in my throat to my Eustachian tube. That hurt and caused a terrific earache until this morning. 

Reading I Alone is difficult because the book is heavy, too heavy to hold up while reading in bed. My hands hurt so I can barely read one chapter. I have made that my goal every night. This is something to consider when choosing what to read. I may have to limit heavy-book reading to sitting in the living room.

Last week, I found a penny while entering Publix. Yay me! 

Crochet is going to be present in my life once more. Supposedly it is good for my brain. I bought a new hook and thread. I keep losing my hooks! Now, I have the yard and hook in a storage bag.  I am on the lookout for dirt cheap yarn at yard sales. My goal is to make blankets for dolls. I just keep making the square larger, about 18", and finish it with a shell stitch around the outside. No, I have no idea what I will do with these, probably give them away. It is too bad I don't have some of the yarn from my house.

The last time I bought a crochet hook, about two weeks ago, I never got home with it. The hook probably fell through the basket on the electric cart before I arrived to the checkout. As soon as I got this hook  home, it went straight into a bag with the yarn. 

When I found StarKist Tuna for $0.77/can this spring, I bought about 24. The problem was--each can was stuck to another, completely covered in tuna or something sticky. Now, I need to remove the label and wash each can, marking "tuna" and the date with a marker. I will know what is in the cans with just one word on each of them. I think this is why these cans were so cheap! 

There is an estate sale across the street where the guy died last year. I am going, but not on the first day. I will wait until Saturday and probably return Sunday.  A company must be doing this sale. I love estate sales although some times they are sad if the person is on the premises. 

The front porch is being cleaned off one item at a time, sometimes one item a day. I have done nothing to it all this year, but now, the humidity, if not the heat is down so it is comfortable. Okay, I don't break a sweat the thirty-seconds I "work."

I am not ill, just my usual tired all day. So, I have done nothing for my birthday week. I made it a week since I cannot have a long day celebrating. Saturday, I will be 75...impossible! Where did the time go?

Tommy just brought in the corn--12 perfect ears. Nothing was brown, malformed, full ears. This will be good eating, just not tonight. 

Do you find items fall out of the grocery cart? Have you ever bitten your tongue or inside your cheek so hard it hurt days later? 

I should be elsewhere

All the fixings for a squash casserole are waiting patiently for my attention. Then, I need to mix up slaw for the church dinner. But, I would rather waste time. 

However, one problem has been solved.  A friend gives me leftovers from a restaurant where her son works. She told me she had creamed corn to give me and blueberries from her bushes. It looks to be about a quart. THEN, she said she was giving me two tiny pieces of ham left over from a ham she cooked for son's birthday. 

When I was putting it away, the pieces of ham were each larger than my fist. I expect one piece will be more than enough for a meal for both of us. YAY! Tommy wants creamed corn with his squash casserole. I may give it all to him. I think I will open a can of green beans. Two yellow vegetables and two carbs don't really go together, but he wants it. Both will be good with ham. Plus, I bought on sale plates that are divided, so the corn will stay away from my other food. 

She said her husband just picks any blueberry and may have gotten some small ones that are not sweet and juicy. Maybe these will be cooked for pie filling with a tiny bit of sugar. I bought blueberries to put in the freezer. I try to keep blueberries in the freezer all winter by buying them in store or markets when they are cheap. 

I also should be making slaw for tomorrow. 

My hair is washed and air drying. I hate to use a blow dryer. I will put sponge rollers in the top when it is dry and sleep on them. I will get curly  hair that will fall to fluffy hair during the day  because I hate to use hair spray. Any kind of volume works for me. 

One of my floor lamps went kaput last night. So, I had to enlist another lamp in its place. I suppose I need to carry lamps to the lamp store and have them rewired. It seems electricians around here don't want to do that. Besides, one has a $90 charge to pick up and will not allow drop offs. NO WAY!, lamp,The lamp store is in another town 25 miles from here!

People tell me to just buy cheap lamps somewhere, like a thrift store. These are 100 years old. I did. buy them second-hand. 

The grocery ads came out. The only things I see that I know I want is white grapes for $1.39/lb.  Oh, and I have not gotten Vidalia onions to dehydrate as I am not up to it, and they are on sale. 

I suppose I should start washing and slicing squash. 

Do you ever procrastinate just as long as you can and push yourself into a corner? This is one of my times, although this is not my style.