Reflections of My Life

Today I am drinking an extra cup of coffee, I usually only have two. The sun is shining and it is a cold morning, 29 degrees when I got up a few hours ago. I have things to do on my computer and will be doing that as I clean my bathroom at the same time. I do some cleaning, then come back to the computer so I can sit. Days like this I try to do the type of chores I keep putting off but are easy. Like cleaning the bathroom and going through another pile of papers that accumulated somehow.

After watching tons of videos on YT about what the hurricanes did to our south, I am looking at my apartment with a critical eye. Stuff. Things. What good are they really? It seems I have been constantly working on trying to get rid of clutter. Yet when I go to other people's homes or see them on YT they have way more than I do. It is hard to part with things that I am sentimental about so I try to incorporate them into being useful to me. Especially in my daily life.

The most important thing to have in a studio apartment is pieces of furniture that can do double duty. Especially for storage. Like my dressers that store more than my personal clothing. Towels, bedding, etc. are stored in them as well. They also serve as the divider between the bedroom area (that does not have bed presently as I made an area for Rabbit there) and the living room area. Also is where my television is. They do it well because visitors always ask if this is a one bedroom apartment. No, it is a small studio at 338 sq. ft.
 

Yesterday my blackout curtains and curtain rods came. I am not replacing my other ones. Just putting these on the bottom of the windows to winterize them. I had the idea to get the blackout curtains to keep it warmer in here during the cold weather. The curtain rods are the tension type so easy to put up. These are an Amazon basic rods and they worked beautifully. The curtains too, are excellent quality. I put one up so far. On the window in the bedroom area. The sun can still come in through the upper part of the window. I will put the other ones up once we get cold weather. Wednesday and Thursday it is supposed to be in the 70's again.

I had to order more groceries today. Mainly for Jeff so I got Rabbit more bananas too. If you want them earlier in the morning you have to order either the night before or very early. I expect them around ten this morning.
 
I have been pretty busy today. Doing little chores. Just seasoned the cast iron skillet. It is not such a hard job but not as easy as doing it in an oven or a wood stove. Here I have to be careful to not heat it too hot so it smokes and sets off the fire alarm. Actually that is how you are supposed to do it.........a very hot oven or wood fire. Works great. So I am doing it on my Duxtop induction burner. It works.

A job I do about every two days is water. I keep the water in canning jars on the counter so it is easier to use. Rather than having to go into the bathroom and get some water from the containers. Then I keep a large 2 quart jar of drinking water in the refrigerator and have to refill that. Then there is the electrolytes that I have to replace every day. Plus ice cubes! I keep 4 ice cube trays in the freezer and there is not room to do all four at the same time. So as I use them, I replace that one tray.

In between working in the kitchen doing these things I have to come in and sit at the table till I can stand up again. I cannot stand longer than 5 minutes at a time. Cooking breakfast made me stretch that time a bit and it hurt.

Now I am on my way to clean Rabbit's cage. That job does take a lot out of me. I have to stand up the whole time I am doing it. Standing and bending over. I figure my way of doing physical exercise is in the these daily jobs. I never thought in my lifetime I would be this bad off.
 

This afternoon I was able to relax after my busy morning. Got onto watching a new YT channel that is about a young couple who bought a farm in Texas. They are using it to start a rescue for Belgium draft horses that were on their way to Mexico for slaughter. They also have 3 donkeys they rescued also. I like this channel a lot but I have to admit of shedding some tears watching it.

Well, for a long while I felt like I could not cry. I used to cry easily reading a book or watching a movie. Then after my father died I could not cry. I would feel sad but no tears. I figured I was all cried out. Lately though I have been moved by various things and can cry again. I think that is good.
 
gruntlabor said:
Hope you are feeling better soon, kat

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Thank you, I am.

Today is supposed to be another warm day. I am looking forward to cold weather this year so it seems like it just stays warm. Supposed to be in the 70's and most years we have at least a little bit of snow by now. Yesterday I had to use my air conditioner most of the day. Probably today too.

I need to get all my housework done today because tomorrow Sonny is coming to take me shopping. Tomorrow will be a busy day but not here. I am working on getting my budget sheet written out. Usually I have it already done by now. But no, I have neglected it. Today for sure.

Going through my cupboard is a step back in time. My mom gave me a lot of glassware serving dishes for entertaining. In my first marriage I entertained quite often. I am going to take pictures of some of it and put it up on fb marketplace. I need to find new homes for all these things now if I don't want it to end up in the landfill. It makes me sad to have to do this but I have not used any of it in a long, long time.
 
Aunt Bea said:
kat,

I’m curious to know what your experience has been with fb marketplace.

It would be a much easier option for me than eBay.

Thanks,

B
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My BF (Sonny) sells on FB marketplace all the time. He buys things on there and then resells them. Sometimes it is something he has to fix and then can sell for more. He listed my friend's mobility scooter that did not work. Did not even turn on. He listed it and within a half an hour he had tons of messages from people wanting to buy it. A couple drove from about 3 hours away that night to buy it. They had to push it into the elevator and out the ramp to their trailer. It was dark by the time they got here. He put a price of about $200. on it and they didn't even try to get it down.

He mostly sells what I call "men things". Like car parts, rc race cars, go-karts, etc.

I have sold a few things like my solar oven, a crock pot, a rabbit cage, a hay feeder, books, etc. But I have not done it in a long time now. I am thinking of testing it with some costume jewelry soon. If I sell anything I will let you know.
 
FB marketplace is becoming a major trading hub. You can sell almost anything, within a short span of time usually. Make arrangements for the trade, the time. It all works fast and efficient. You get the other parties phone number too if they ok it. I know it is your personal info. I still think that the big Corps have your basic data, not your credit card, and there is not a lot they can do with it.
 
Today is my errand day so I am making lists for where I need to go and what I need to do. Sonny has been sick so don't want to make him do too much. This morning I am paying bills. I had to fill out the payee rep report for my son. They sent the form for me to fill it but it had the option to do it online. So I think, "oh boy, I'd rather do that." I go there and it is not anywhere to be found. The past ones I have done are on there but not a new form to fill out. So I had to do it the old fashioned way. I will mail it from the post office today.

I have a bag of sardines to give Sonny. He likes them. I discovered that I don't. I was going to do the "sardine fast" for three days so bought some cans for that. Nope. I like fish but I could barely get the first can down. I will stick to fresh fish from now on. I don't like to order it to be delivered because I like to look it over in person.

Our manager will be back here on Monday. Only working at our building now. Yesterday was her last day of having to drive to Hancock to manage their building too. We needed her and they made her do two buildings instead. The other building was in bad shape and that meant she was there more than here. Now our building is not in good shape. Nobody was cleaning it and it looks horrible. The maintenance man has to be told what to do and when to do it. So hopefully, Monday will be the start of a good era here.
 
katlupe said:
Today is my errand day so I am making lists for where I need to go and what I need to do. Sonny has been sick so don't want to make him do too much. This morning I am paying bills. I had to fill out the payee rep report for my son. They sent the form for me to fill it but it had the option to do it online. So I think, "oh boy, I'd rather do that." I go there and it is not anywhere to be found. The past ones I have done are on there but not a new form to fill out. So I had to do it the old fashioned way. I will mail it from the post office today.

I have a bag of sardines to give Sonny. He likes them. I discovered that I don't. I was going to do the "sardine fast" for three days so bought some cans for that. Nope. I like fish but I could barely get the first can down. I will stick to fresh fish from now on. I don't like to order it to be delivered because I like to look it over in person.

Our manager will be back here on Monday. Only working at our building now. Yesterday was her last day of having to drive to Hancock to manage their building too. We needed her and they made her do two buildings instead. The other building was in bad shape and that meant she was there more than here. Now our building is not in good shape. Nobody was cleaning it and it looks horrible. The maintenance man has to be told what to do and when to do it. So hopefully, Monday will be the start of a good era here.
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That's too bad about the sardines. I love them. On anything. I will even make scrambled eggs with them. :)
 
In the past few years I have sold a ton of stuff on marketplace. After they set a date and time to come I give them my address. I meet them outside. If it’s furniture that’s too big for me to carry down I put it in the hallway and lock my door so no one goes inside.

I know what you mean Kat about having furniture do double duty in a small space. I have my tv on top of my antique buffet and in the drawers are all my towels, etc since I don’t have a linen closet and my bathroom is too small to store them.
 
katlupe said:
My father always ate them. I tried to eat them for the "sardine fast" which is a thing in the carnivore/keto world. I am giving them to Sonny today.
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I don't blame you, my husbands family ate those on crackers as well as smoked oysters in a can. When they could get the oysters fresh there would be a gallon container on the table. They would just suck those down raw with cocktail sauce. Of course, they did live in Louisiana for a while, they often went on night frog gigging trips so they could have frog legs. Just thinking of it would turn my stomach.

My son, however, has tried all these things, including crawfish, he worked at a Cajun restaurant as a teen. He would bring things home for Dad and him and I would disappear into the back room. I guess I am lucky, the kid was exposed to all kinds of foods and would and still will try everything.
 
Since I did not go grocery shopping with Sonny like we usually do on our errand day, I placed an order this morning. Scheduled for 11-1. That time works good for me. I hate to get it too early or too late. I have learned to either place the order the night before or when I first get up.

I have a problem with the spring mix for Rabbit. I have to pick through the whole container, leaf by leaf. Take out all the spinach leaves and any other leaves of lettuce that are slimy or black. As much as he likes red leaf lettuce, it is always the first one to go bad and and can ruin the whole container. So I normally only get half a container out of it. But I am stuck and have no choice in this matter. He has to eat.

Today I am paying bills first. Then going to see about doing some vacuuming and then laundry. I would like to get all that done today. The building is usually very quiet on Sunday as a lot of people go to church and that is an all day affair. Monday our manager will be back here to work only at our building from now on. So maybe things will start improving.

It was 25 degrees when I got up this morning and has not gone up yet. It is supposed to get up to 50 today and that sounds good to me. On the 10 day forecast it shows a future day of it going up to the seventies again............Why does it have to do that? I can't winterize my windows until that type of temperature is history. Almost every year we have had cold temps in Oct and many times it has snowed.

I am thinking of making some chicken soup this morning in the Instant Pot. Using Keto Chow savory chicken in it. A good day for soup I think.
 
Another cold morning here (not complaining at all). Yesterday afternoon, I took everything off my huge windowsill so I could clean it. I want to make it look as uncluttered as possible. Those new blackout curtains I am putting up for the winter will be on a tension rod. So I am afraid of the rod falling down for some reason and breaking my clutter. These are things I have for sentimental reasons. I liked displaying them but maybe I need to put them away for the winter.

I woke up this morning to absolutely no swelling in my feet. Thank you cold weather!
 
Seeing that Quincy Jones has died reminds me of something that happened to me. I wrote a book, My Homesteading Journey, back in 2007. I published it as an ebook on my own website and people would download it from there. The buyers were mainly from my Homesteading Today forum. So one morning I get an email that I had a sale. I processed it and sent it out to the buyer. Later when I checked it to see where it went, I liked to see what city and state they sold to. It said either Hollywood or Los Angeles, can't remember exactly now.

So I pinpointed to the exact address and then put that address into Google. It was Quincy Jones home! I could not believe someone like him would be buying a book on homesteading. I sent a thank you for the purchase and the reply came from his daughter, Jolie Jones. What was so weird is that I had just recently read his autobiography. I still can't believe it.
 
Like I told you all before, I bought black out curtains to winterize my huge windows. I bought them to be about half the size because I am only covering the bottom half of the window. Then they cover the bottom part where the cold air comes in. Since I have to do this on my own with no help........and I am short, I did end up standing on stool to do the one with the air conditioner. I have to be very careful not to knock down the other curtains because they are on a very fragile (cheap!) tension rod. I would not be able to get them back up.

These black out curtains are very well made and easy to put up. The tension rods also are excellent quality. I put them up so I can still turn the blinds to open and close. I have one more window to do, the one in the middle. But not today. I did a lot of work today and am done for the day now except for Rabbit's cage. When it starts to get dark I will pull that end one over the air conditioner. It will block the cold air good.

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katlupe said:
Like I told you all before, I bought black out curtains to winterize my huge windows. I bought them to be about half the size because I am only covering the bottom half of the window. Then they cover the bottom part where the cold air comes in. Since I have to do this on my own with no help........and I am short, I did end up standing on stool to do the one with the air conditioner. I have to be very careful not to knock down the other curtains because they are on a very fragile (cheap!) tension rod. I would not be able to get them back up.

These black out curtains are very well made and easy to put up. The tension rods also are excellent quality. I put them up so I can still turn the blinds to open and close. I have one more window to do, the one in the middle. But not today. I did a lot of work today and am done for the day now except for Rabbit's cage. When it starts to get dark I will pull that end one over the air conditioner. It will block the cold air good.

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very colourful.... that would you cheer you up on a dismal winters day....
 

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