Success Times Three

 Have you ever had a day or days when you leave home with a purpose and things go awry. Well, today, I accomplished all three goals I set for our outing. 

1) Get the new Covid shot. It turns out the old boosters are no longer available. So, I got the latest. We would have done this two months ago, well, get the booster. However, since the vaccine works best when a person is not ill, I was waiting for a well spell and for Tommy to be in the mood. For some reason, he would just say, "Later." We have had four vaccines for Covid now.

There was no Pfizer vaccine available at our Publix. We only found the right vaccine across town at Vestavia Hills. It went off without a hitch. No one was waiting. The pharmacist was very nice. He listened to my problem with getting the last one too close to my shoulder with a torn rotator cuff. 

My allergist told me to get the Pfizer from the beginning, so I did what he said even though others told me to get any combination of vaccines. 

2) Return dishes to Belk. I ordered dishes on sale and they delivered them to the PO. ??? I took out one dish in the parking lot, put it back in the box. I hated them. They stayed in the car from Saturday to today when I got rid of them.

The woman who takes phone/pickup orders to the car was very nice and came and took them in. She took them to a register and got a return for me on the cc. I was so happy to see those gone. 

They were the style dishes that look distressed, ugly. 

3) Went to Publix near us to get Milk and Diet Pepsi for Tommy. While I was there, I got Publix hamburger buns, cheap and they are good. I have had no cheese in over a week, so got that on sale or bogo. 

Since I slept only a bit over 4 hours Saturday night, woke and could not go back to sleep, I was due a nap. No such luck. When I heard a crash, I jumped up from a near sleep state and rushed in. The 50-yr-old tv tray fell. Tommy insists putting cartons of Pepsi on it and it keep collapsing. I went back to bed, and the dogs were barking, four of them, furiously. I turned on Rod Stewart and tried to sleep. It was not to be as it sounded like someone hit the house with a broomstick, a loud crack. 

When I got up again, I was woozy, sick to my stomach, weak, and cranky. Tommy had kicked something trying to get out of his chair. For a quiet man, he made a lot of noise today. Wisely, he did not cross me by arguing with me. 

The TV tray will go in the trash can tomorrow. I have a new folding table, larger and sturdier, that can take its place. 

I sat here and recovered with a little caffeine! 

There was no way I could cook all the chicken and vegetables in my condition...lol. So, I put burgers in a pan in the oven. We ate those about 8:30. Then, I put in the hot oven three sweet potatoes, washed and oiled. Around 9:30 we ate sweet potatoes. Around 10:30, we will have a salad. Actually, this is the schedule I was told to follow--eat some now, a bit later, and more later. 

By the way, the Beauregard sweet potatoes were delicious without sugar. I did put about one teaspoon of butter mine and mash it. Tomorrow, I will bake a whole pan full and take some to neighbor down the street. Tomorrow, I will cook the chicken put in the refrigerator to thaw. 

Altogether, Sunday was great with blue skies and not a cloud to be seen. I do like white fluffy skies, though. Sleeveless blouses and sandals are still comfortable, not chilly a bit.

On Monday, the plan is to shop until I find leggings for me. Then, we will pick up my shoes from SAS. Well, that is the plan.

How was your Sunday? Quiet? Busy? What is on the schedule for Monday?

Sweet Potatoes and a Yard Sale

 Saturday, we went to Cullman to the Festhalle Farmer's Market. There were few vendors left when we got there about 11 am. But, my sweet potato farmer was there. His 40 lb boxes of sweet potatoes were not there, just 32 lb boxes. I got the last one. Maybe I will go out to his farm for another box. This won't be enough. 

He also had a $5 container of really tiny squash, bred for their thin skins and smaller seeds. Good. The squash I bought at the grocery store were tough as leather and had huge seeds. 

The whole day was warm and downright bright! The blue skies were so bright! I must get prescription sunglasses. I was blinded all day. The day was very warm, so I decided I should get out something summery and wore my striped outfit, the one with a floral print, too. The red t-shirt I was going to wear will be appropriate all winter long, but the summery one won't. 

We drove another 15 miles out in the country for a sandwich from the Mennonite store, Dutch Oven Bakery. We shared a sandwich that had turkey breast slices 1/2 inch thick. The slices were thin but stacked high. It was delicious and plenty. We both had a peach fried pie, hand-pie. It was awful. First of all, there was dribbled over it an icing of powdered sugar. Plus, the pastry was flaky like store bought goods. The filling was thickened, very thick, lacked peaches but had too much sugar. I never did find peaches, so quit eating. 

They sell wrapped candy by the piece. I had pecan in caramel dipped in chocolate. I chose peanut butter filling dripped in chocolate for Tommy. These went up from 3/$1 to 60 cents/each. We sat under a tree and ate in the car. We could get out and eat at a picnic table, but the wind was very rough. 

The store where I bought Double Luck green beans for $0.69 still had plenty. Five cans came home with me. I should have bought another 10 cans. 

At the PO I had a huge package, dishes I ordered from Belks at a great sale price. I hate them, so they are still in the car to return them. They are they type dishes that have the scuff marks on the pieces like they are old and scuffed. Nasty looking. 

On the way back from the bakery, I wanted to go to the orchard to get apples. But, Tommy passed it. Usually, I would have him turn around and go back. But, today, I told him we could go there next time. I had assured him he should stop at a yard sale we passed on the way out and told him not to stop. But, at the first yard sale I spotted on the way in, on the way out we did stop. 

I found books for a quarter apiece. I purchased a workbook, the kind with pages to copy for children. The activities were all early childhood lessons and the first part was reading readiness. If my back had not been hurting so, I would have shopped more. As I was digging around in my purse and came up with only three fivers, she said to just forget it. Okay. 

This is just the type book I would have bought to use at the daycare. Many of the pages were ripped out, but still stuffed into the book. Okay, I am ready to go. Oh, this table also had about a dozen tiny, blunt scissors. This sale would be great for a mother, home-school teacher, or a teacher. I didn't ask the woman what the setting of the teaching was. Now, I wish I had looked for manipulatives.

The best part of the day was getting home to a nap. Well, having a meal ready for after the nap sure helped my happiness. 

Decluttering--I found the top to one of Tommy's Tupperware canisters. He says he bought these at a five and dime. No! I also salvaged and put into the dishwasher another one of my Tupperware bowls and lid, something I sent home with food. One lid from a cheap container is in the trash. I will probably work on this box intermittently for the rest of the evening and tomorrow. Hopefully, the box is empty by Sunday night. We will have even more walking room in the kitchen when I finish. Yay for decluttering! 

We had leftovers: pork roast with bbq sauce, rest of squash and zucchini for Tommy, salad with grape tomatoes for me. 

After dinner the microwaved peach fried pie was better, sort of. At least there were peaches in this half but not many. Still, the pastry part was like a fresh glazed doughnut, not what I was hoping. It was still too sweet. And, strangely, the gelled part did not get softer when heated. 

How did your Saturday play out? What is on the agenda for Sunday? Do you like fried pies?

Saturday Curb Find, This and That

Last week, the np got wind of my difficulty sleeping. I did not mean to tell her, but it slipped. Sooo, she is going to solve that problem and gave me something to sleep. Since I did not want it, I did not take it. Friday night, I decided to try it out since I needed sleep for the next day. Well, I am still groggy, not feeling particularly swift or well. I hate this feeling. This is why I take nothing for pain of sleep. 

That means I did not feel like stopping for green bean stock up. Lynda wanted four cans, too. I did not feel like going to the farmer's market for my 40 pounds of sweet potatoes. I did get out of the car for one thing.

A block from my place, I saw pink flowers in the gutter. Tommy turned around and I rescued a pink geranium. Okay, I got out of the car three feet from the plant. I carried it straight to the porch here, and he dumped the dirt from one of my pots in the trash can and plopped it into the pot. I suppose he will water it when he waters all the flowers later today. Right now, he is watching an Auburn game. I absolutely never bother him when an Auburn game is on tv. 

Ordinarily, I would dump dirt into a place in the yard that needed more dirt. But, that is not ever on his radar, and I will not argue or do it myself today. I am just too tired. 

There is a red geranium in a hanging pot, and now there is a pink geranium on the porch. I don't know if they will survive winter or if they are annuals. I suppose not annuals since the one I found is very large. So, I will have to read up on that. 

Friday night, about 7 pm, I put some sort of pork roast into the crock pot. It was half-thawed so I put it on high in order to get it out of the pot and into the refrigerator before we went to bed. Ordinarily, I would have waited until later and put it on to cook on low or medium all night in order to take it out in the morning. But, I knew we were leaving by 8am, and I did not want to do it half asleep and in a rush. about 1 am, I slammed it into a glass storage dish and refrigerated it. Today, I will freeze some of it in bags holding two portions. It appears we have about 8 portions of pulled pork or 4 meals for two. This will be great with bbq sauce on it and eaten with slaw. 

Last night, we had a huge salad with a whole tomato each and other items we both love. Mine had shredded cheese and chopped chicken breast. His had crumbled hamburger cooked with onions. We both fix our own salads, getting what we want. Until about six months ago, I made a salad for Tommy after consulting him about his preferences. Now, my back hurts too much for that. 

Later today, I have about ten pounds of chicken that I will put into a turkey bag for more meals. Maybe I won't if I am still groggy from this pill to sleep. I am going to take a nap. We left within five minutes of 8 am and arrived home within five minutes of noon. I did not even want to stop at good yard sales. 

While I eat asparagus, I have never cooked any. Tonight, I will figure out how to cook it and have that for dinner with whatever we decide.  (I have a vague idea.) Tommy said he would eat asparagus if he had to eat it, but he does not care for it. Oh well! I love asparagus, so more for me. 

He peeled the sweet potatoes we microwaved. I  puta tiny bit of brown sugar and cinnamon on them and stirred them well. He will eat these as they are not my favorite sweet potato and taste nasty. I am waiting on Beauregard. Georgia Jet would be better, but they do not store well. 

This morning, I was not too cold as I went to the car in a short sleeve. However, the car air was chilly and the arm rest and seat were frigid. I grabbed a fleece blanket to cover my arms. As soon as I got the car turned on, I turned on the heat. When we both finally were too warm, I cut the ac back on. I suppose this is the beginning of cool weather. I will carry a sweater or light jacket in the car for the few moments I need one each time I am in the car. I just hate this new development. But, the temperature is now 82F. 

Okay, I am headed off for a nap when Tommy gets back in from getting the mail. 

Do you eat asparagus? Do you grow it?  Is your weekend beautiful with a cloudless sky like it is here? Anything exciting, boring, or mundane happening in your life?

New Flatware and Stuff

 For a long time, I have wanted to use regular flatware rather than plastic, but Tommy said NO. Well, when the heavy plastic spoons and forks were impossible to find, I suggested it once more and suggested now was the time. He said it mattered to him because he was the one who would have to dry them and put them all away. 

Well, that was a shocking reason. I told him I could dry the flatware or let them air dry. He was adamant. He said he was willing to spend the money to be able to throw away all forks and spoons. I tried to buy 6 Pfaltzgraff spoons but when I got them home, they were 18/0 stainless steel, not good quality. I took them back.

He commented when I bought the first forks and then took them back unopened, that he hated to eat from a salad fork, that they were too short. I thought that was strange.

Finally, I repurchased them and used them. Then, I bought more salad forks and more spoons and a package of three knives. There were no dinner forks on the shelf. I put them in the dishwasher and washed them. When Tommy got me a utensil from the dishwasher, he had to have noticed there were lots of forks and spoons, but he said nothing!

The other day I took all the clean and new utensils out of the dishwasher and put them on the counter over the dishwasher. I walked away to sit and rest my back. Sitting between simple tasks is sooo necessary. Well, when I came in later, he had gotten the short basket from storing grapefruit, washed it and sorted the utensils and put them in the basket. I was shocked. 

Nothing was ever said. Later, he was using the salad fork to eat. He swore he hated salad forks, preferring plastic forks. Now, he uses the metal and not plastic ALL the time. I figure these real utensils will pay for themselves in about four months by avoiding buying more plastic. Believe me, we have many boxes of 100. We can use the occasional plastic and have them left this time next year.  Or the next year!

I have really enjoyed eating from real utensils. Now, if I can just get him to eat from a real plate, not a paper plate, at least for dinner. 

Oh, why don't we use his flatware? His is all silverplate, and in a case except for two or three pieces. This was his family's everyday flatware. I tried using the tarnished spoon and it really needs cleaning to avoid the awful taste. He really did not want me to use it at first, just out of meanness. And, unless I polished silver, I would not try it twice. 

Any transition with him is long and bumpy. He is not easily convinced of any little or large idea. 

Speaking of grapefruit, we wasted six given to us. I love grapefruit, but in the spring and especially this spring, I have avoided citrus since I am allergic to citrus. I kept reminding him. Now, we have red grapes that he should eat! He did for breakfast this morning--red grapes and a muffin. I hate red grapes. 

Today, Tuesday, we left the house at 1 pm. I put my hand on the car after I opened the car door to help me get inside. I burned my hand on the car, pulled it back, and fell into the car with my head....again!  Tommy burned his hand on the car since he must hold onto the car to get from the back seat where he puts his walker to the front door to get inside.  

4 pm--Right now, it is 92F and feels like 103F. 

10 pm--Right now, it is 86F and feels like 96F. 

Since I only slept 2 hours Monday night, I took a 2 hour nap this afternoon.  Tommy spent that time taking cans to car to recycle and watering the flowers. He cleaned the ants out of two hummingbird feeders. This is the first time I have ever gotten big ants in the feeders here. Then, he took all the sweet potatoes outdoors and sorted them, throwing away ones gone bad, not many. He is really good about taking care to sort sweet potatoes, taking out the ones going bad so they don't cause the rest to go off. 

For dinner tonight, we put bbq sauce on baked chicken and I made coleslaw. It was delicious. He had grapes for later. I would have a banana, but I don't have a banana or an apple. 

The list gets shorter:

sort sweet potatoes 

buy spray bottle

wash or color hair used color

The ac runs here and we stay in, so we have not suffered from the heat. How is it at your place? Hot? Torrid? It has been dry enough here, but I hear there are floods elsewhere. 

Are Yams and Sweet Potatoes the Same Thing?

 Yams and Sweet Potatoes are not the same thing. Despite what you have heard, they are different animals.

Just click on the first four words of this post, whatever color they may be.

Thoughts? 

Tuesday in Cullman

Tuesday, we went to Cullman for my appointment with the oral surgeon about TMJ. I don't need surgery which I did not think I did. It seems I cannot eat certain foods if they cause pain. I sort of  knew that. I can get some sort of thing if I grind my teeth, which I don't. I never chew gum, anyway.  The clicking goes away when I don't eat caramels. 

I have had an earache for 11 months and it only went away when I found a sub for pseudoephedrine. The clicking started when the molar was pulled last year. I suppose I will spend my stimulus on the implant. 

I went to my place and looked at it while in the car. We went to the farmer who sells me sweet potatoes, Beauregard, and bought 40 pounds of sweet potatoes, and a container of green tomatoes. I hate fried green tomatoes, but Tommy loves them. So, I will cook fried green tomatoes for him and let some ripen for both of us.  

Then, we went out to the country to the Dutch Oven Bakery and had a sandwich made to order at the meat and cheese counter. I bought two pieces of candy that they have 3/$1, and a bottle of water for Tommy. I had a bottle. These sandwiches are delicious, better than fast food joints. We ate at a picnic table over near  a fence where the farmer keeps cows. Every time we have gone there, a cow comes over to sit by the fence and the table. And, there is always no place to eat. Today, we found an empty table and the cow did not come! Bummer! It was only 50 degrees and in the sun, but the wind was brisk, causing me to want to go. We left before I peed on myself. 

Since it had been so long since we ate and still had to drive home, I suggested DQ chicken fingers. Well, I got chicken fingers and Tommy ordered a Strawberry Sundae. I was so mad but he would eat nothing else. We won't be going to DQ again. I should have remembered the packs of crackers I keep for him. 

So, he was driving crazy all the way home! I was prepared to demand he pull over or call 911 about his driving. 

It was a beautiful day, plenty of sunshine and traffic  was not bad. I did not go to the store where I get bargains. And, I did not go to Publix. 

At one car lot, there was a yellow car, an orange car and a white one. It took me only seconds to figure it out. 

Dinner tonight is a smidgen of leftover meatloaf, leftover meat balls, collards and baked sweet potatoes. I cannot wait! 

Wonderful Saturday, Cheese Curds, Pumpkins, Canned Bread

 The weather was gorgeous, and despite the low 50s temp, I wore a sleeveless top, my striped outfit. The skies were clear and blue. Drivers were sane. Tommy was not in an argumentative mood. Everything went smoothly. 

We had several places planned to go and did everything without a hitch. That's rare. We left by 8 am and were home by 3 pm. The places I am talking about did not happen in the order I will talk about them. 

When we first pulled into the market, I saw the sweet potato farmer. He came over when I waved at him. After we talked a few seconds, he told me to pull up to a place that was not parking and was level. So, I walked about 10 feet to his booth. 

My plan was to go to the sweet potato farm if he was not at the market. He was there. All the boxes of potatoes were gone. I bought an $8 bag of Beauregard sweet potatoes and he took them to Tommy waiting in the car. I turned and behind me were sweet potatoes manned by a woman with her children and what appeared to be a grandchild. I told which pumpkin I wanted if she would carry it to the car for me. She obviously found a young man to carry it to Tommy. 

As I turned around, I asked the sweet potato guy what else he had. I bought a quart of purple hulled peas, frozen and took it back, too.  I had a huge package of bscb in a cooler, so even though the peas mostly thawed, they were partially frozen and went straight into a pot of water. They were delicious.

There was more in the market, probably things I wanted, but I had walked more than enough for the day. I didn't even go get eggs!

At Publix I found B&M bread I had been search for in the Publix down here. Have you ever had bread sealed in a can like green beans? Then, I bought cheese curds. They are way too expensive! Now, how do I eat these? Just pick them out and eat? Put in salad? In cooked food? Help me out here. 

Also, at Publix I found little squares for exfoliating skin and they were on sale! There are 50 in the bag, but I use 1/2 at a time. What is so special about these exfoliating squares I have been searching for years to use? They have nothing on them. I had some of these 20 years ago, but they were replaced with lotions and soaps. I hate those. Today, I used half of one with Dove. 

We had a Whopper Jr. and fries for lunch. We headed to the lake and the whole park was closed. So, as we left there,  we just pulled into the senior center parking lot next door. It was closed on Saturday, so we found a shady spot to just revel in the trees surrounding us. 

So, I came home with sweet potatoes, pumpkin, freshly shelled purple hull peas, B&M Bread, cheese curds, exfoliating pads and enjoyed eating at the senior center parking lot.

Back to Friday--

About 5 pm, I decided on a quick trip to Lowe's. I took my cane and got out at the garden center.  I sat down inside the door, waiting for someone to help me with flowers. Well, I mentioned a cart would be great. So, a woman brought an electric cart and I could shop by myself. I found a purple mum to put in my chicken and yellow pansies with a dark purple center for my concrete bunny. I bought white spray for my metal chicken. 

Sunday--

Saturday night, I went to bed at 2 am and was asleep by 2:30. I awoke at 4:30 and did not sleep until after 7 am on Sunday. At 3:30 pm, Sunday afternoon, I awoke and have felt well this afternoon and evening. See? About 8 hours sleep transforms me.

The mum desperately needed water, so I watered it and put it in a bowl of water for a bit. I had two tiny pansy cups, but only put one in my bunny. Basil was watered. Tommy and I both went out for a bit. The hummingbirds are not deterred by our presence now. 

Instead of Tommy struggling to turn on the hose and both of us dragging it to the other side of the porch, he filled water bottles and we used those. I could have gotten out the watering can, one of the three, but the bottles were easier on my shoulders and hands. He did not object to not trying to turn on the hose! 

Plans--

We are going to the farm for a 40 lb. box of sweet potatoes.

There is still no rain in sight on the weather reports. It is dry. The air is neither hot nor cold. I could stand many days like this. It has been a good weekend! 

Meals and Money and Tornado

In October or November of 2019, I bought 40 pounds of sweet potatoes. We are still eating them. Sweet potatoes last a long time if stored properly. Unfortunately, the best temperature for sweet potatoes seems to be in the living room underneath the coffee table that holds Tommy's 50 inch TV. The 2019 sweet potatoes will probably gone in a week or two. Only then will I start baking the 2020 sweet potatoes. Remember, I bought 50 pounds. 

The problems with shingles has had me so off for six months that I have not done things I should have, including baking sweet potatoes. 

Monday night dinner was scrumptious, if I do say so. We had meatloaf, sweet potatoes, green beans. I had no catsup, so I tried a healthier version. I usually put catsup in the meatloaf and on top. I used a small can of tomato paste and about the same amount of milk in the meatloaf. Tommy did open several fast food packets for me to put on top. I think I will not use catsup at all when I make meatloaf. Tommy never puts anything on his baked sweet potato. I use a bit of butter. The green beans were sodium free. 

The best part of the meatloaf dinner is that I froze the second one I made. I used two square glass pans for the meat loaves. 

Sweet potatoes are simple to bake, but I should freeze some at least for this dinner. Of course, a can opener on green beans is too simple.  

I have kept up with money spent on groceries this month. So far, we have spent a bit less that $200 for groceries for both of us this month. I have $10+ left. We won't need milk, but I might need one more banana to finish the month. 

Publix will have a2milk on sale this week, so my surplus will be spent well. Or, I can wait until Feb. 1 and start using next month's $200 f I spend the $10 this month. This amount I have spent is for things we ate and things for stock up. So, actually we have not eaten so much. But, I am using from the freezer, too. The bell pepper that went into the meatloaf was from the freezer. 

When a person is eating from the freezer, eating from stockpile, stocking freezer, stocking shelf foods, AND eating just-purchased food, it is hard to know exactly how much it costs to eat. So, I try to keep my spending under $200. We do eat at least three vegetables and four fruits each day. I should not eat that much fiber. 

Of course, this does not include other things about the house and meds. But, I rarely go wild with either area. I could go wild buying food, I suppose. 

The refrigerator cleaning and having all its shelves have been a joy. I cook what is there, eat leftovers and waste nothing at all. 

At 11 pm Monday  night, the ac came on. It is currently 68F but the bricks were warmed by the 70F+ we had today. With the heat in the winter, we are on alert for tornadoes. At midnight it is still 70F. And tornadoes have hit close by, well, about 12 miles from here as the crow flies. By 12:15 the temperature was up 1 degree to 71F.

Tuesday

A tornado did hit, killing one child, injuring many, and tearing up multiple buildings, some completely destroyed.