Reflections of My Life

katlupe said:
I am not having a good week. I hurt my back somehow, don't know how. So for two days I could hardly do much. Finally yesterday it let up and I was able to clean my apartment up. I had neglected it for those two days. I did a lot of things due to the fact that I turned my computer off. I do not get much done with that luring me away from my chores.

Then yesterday late afternoon, my son sends me a message on messenger that he just got home from the ER (words that make me freak out! Big Time!). He said he was on his bicycle by the store and then he woke up in the ER with IV's on him! He said he got overheated and that he don't know what happened or where his bike was. I found out the police have his bike until he can get it today. They said he had a seizure. I have worried about this so much because back in 2015 he stopped taking his medication for it. So now I have to work on this problem and somehow get him back to a doctor and on it again. He has a phobia of anything medical. It is so stressful getting him in to a doctor because he will just not show up for his appointment. Or sitting the waiting room, he will suddenly bolt. Like a wild animal.

Looks like another rainy day in NY today. Many are out of power. Or were. I am fortunate here because I have never been out of power since I moved here. Maybe because I am downtown.
Click to expand...
It sure makes it tough and frustrating when loved ones refuse to seek medical care for themselves. Wishing you both well 🤗.
 

I wrote down three lists. Daily Chores. Weekly Chores. Monthly Chores. Hung them up so I could see them every day. Once I listed all the chores I need to do, it didn't seem that big a job after all. Not like I am living in a big house or a off the grid house without running water. Makes my life pretty simple actually. Since my aide has not shown up since I hired her, I guess she did not want the job. So much paperwork and time put into that process that now I think I will tackle my cleaning jobs myself. One small job at a time.

Today I am going to clean the shower (yes, the floor too. I will figure it out since I cannot get down on the floor to scrub it by hand......some cleaning is good regardless of how good I can do it) and pour some baking soda and vinegar down the drain to get rid of the mildew smell that comes from it (I hate that!). Then clean the bottom part of the toilet as well as the whole thing. I have not been able to get down on the floor to do but another thing I will figure out. If I want to do something, I will find a way to do it. Mop both the kitchen and bathroom floors and hopefully clean the exteriors of the stove, refrigerator and bottom kitchen cupboards. Shouldn't take too much time, but like I said, I do it little bit at a time.
 

katlupe said:
I wrote down three lists. Daily Chores. Weekly Chores. Monthly Chores. Hung them up so I could see them every day. Once I listed all the chores I need to do, it didn't seem that big a job after all. Not like I am living in a big house or a off the grid house without running water. Makes my life pretty simple actually. Since my aide has not shown up since I hired her, I guess she did not want the job. So much paperwork and time put into that process that now I think I will tackle my cleaning jobs myself. One small job at a time.

Today I am going to clean the shower (yes, the floor too. I will figure it out since I cannot get down on the floor to scrub it by hand......some cleaning is good regardless of how good I can do it) and pour some baking soda and vinegar down the drain to get rid of the mildew smell that comes from it (I hate that!). Then clean the bottom part of the toilet as well as the whole thing. I have not been able to get down on the floor to do but another thing I will figure out. If I want to do something, I will find a way to do it. Mop both the kitchen and bathroom floors and hopefully clean the exteriors of the stove, refrigerator and bottom kitchen cupboards. Shouldn't take too much time, but like I said, I do it little bit at a time.
Click to expand...
kat,
Try a Swiffer or sponge style mop on the bottom of the tub and the tub surround then rinse with the shower.
1598706172326.jpeg
Good luck!
 
Reading another member's post this morning about her garden and canning made me think about how much I miss doing that. As I have written before, I lived on a small homestead and I had 16 raised beds. Some were wood and some were made out of rocks. Yes, big rocks. I grew a lot of food and canned or dehydrated it all. I did not have a freezer and for six years lived without any refrigeration at all. So canning was essential to my life at Peaceful Forest Homestead. I bought meat in bulk when canning vegetables and fruits was finished for the season. I canned meats in chunks. There were times I made soups and stews and other types of foods and canned them too. But it was easier to can plain meats and vegetables and combine them to cook to make different dishes.

Living in the forest allowed me to forage for wild edible or medicinal plants. I made a salad daily throughout the spring, summer and fall using what I grew as well as plantain, violets, lambs quarters, dandelion leaves, etc. One time I counted how many wild plants I found in one day and it was over 25. I didn't like the situation I was living in and I made the right move to leave there. But I do miss some of it.

This week my cat, Hobo, died. She stayed at my house with my husband. I knew she would not be able to stand it living in this small apartment and never going outside again. In 2003 someone threw her off the little bridge near my house into the creek, which is a long drop. She was bleeding from her nose, eyes and a small hole in her head. I could not afford a vet and nursed her back with Essiac tea baths on that area. She had come to our house in the middle of the night so I figured she wanted me to care for her. She was young, but had hardly any teeth and was smaller than the other cats. But a tough girl. She lived a good life and could do what she pleased. Cats like that.

canning_cat_700.JPG
 
awww bless her little paws... condolences on the loss of Hobo the little fighter...

flat-750x-075-f-pad-750x1000-f8f8f8-u9.jpg
 
What a beaufitul kitty she was! I am sorry for your loss. Thank you for mentioning that you treated her with Essiac tea. I am a firm believer in natural remedies.
 
deesierra said:
What a beaufitul kitty she was! I am sorry for your loss. Thank you for mentioning that you treated her with Essiac tea. I am a firm believer in natural remedies.
Click to expand...
Thank you, deesierra. I was using the Essiac for another cat at the time (which definitely saved her life too) which is why I happened to have it on hand. I use it myself to this day. I have a batch to get started on right now.
 
Monday, my aide finally started work. This is not going to be easy for me. I am not used to telling other people what to do. Or to sit in a chair watching them clean my house. The thing is that I am overly critical of how someone else does my chores. That is why when I was at my house with my husband and he would offer to wash my dishes or my clothes, I would say no. Same with cooking. I need to work on this problem as she will do what I tell her.

So my aide cleaned my floors and she did a good job. She was here for 45 minutes. I had been having trouble with my vacuum cleaner for the past several months. Someone had given it to me when I moved here and didn't have one. I could not get it to work good enough. So she had to borrow one from the lady across the hall who she is her aide too. I ordered a new vacuum that evening and it should be here today.

Yesterday, I wrote out my budget sheets for September. I always hand write one for my son's money and one for myself. It has made the biggest difference in my budget and my life. When I was living with my husband he was out of control. Living on credit cards and personal loans. I'd beg him to talk about money and to make a budget but he would get mad and storm out the door. Every month since I moved here, I have written the budget sheets out. Relief! To know what I can afford each month and that all my bills are paid and never late has taken away all the stress I had before. I have a few credit cards left from that life that are in my name and even though I have a very low income, I have been "snowballing" them. Which works. And of course, the stimulus payment helped too.
 
kat.

During my working years, I had trouble allowing others to perform various tasks in a way that was logical or comfortable for them.

I eventually learned that the best thing to do is to let them go and focus on the results.

If you trust this person alone in your apartment give them a list of things to do and then head for the community room or outdoors for a little fresh air.

Good luck!
 
Yesterday I decided to skip grocery shopping until next week. The stores are just too crowded. It is too bad that Walmart cut their hours back so everyone has to go at the same time now. Sonny (my bf) went in to get me a few things like spring mix, bananas and kale for Rabbit. They did not have any kale so we went to Price Chopper for that and it was worth it. Much nicer, better quality than the other stores ever have. I am tempted to test one of those shopping services like Instacart. I shop very frugal and it seems that paying someone to shop for me is not frugal at all. I probably could have my aide shop for me but I like to pick out my own produce, meat and dairy products. If I need anything as long as the weather is dry, I can go to Tops.

My new vacuum cleaner is here and I have not taken it out of the box yet. It came the day before yesterday. I will get it out and test it today I hope. Since I was busy yesterday, I didn't do hardly anything. Mainly, Rabbit's cage and dirty dishes. I cannot believe I left dirty dishes in my sink overnight. Just could not stand there to do them. I washed my coffee cup and rinsed them off and put them in the dish pain for today. I always do my housework before noon. I do my best work then.

One thing I realize is that my taste in food has changed. I loved to cook and still like food that I cook better than restaurants. I try to like canned soups or other types of quick foods, but I just can't. I take one taste of a canned soup like Campbell's tomato or chicken noodle and I cannot eat it. It is definitely worth my time to make the soup from scratch. Now my taste has changed to liking softer types of foods like soups, stews (with ground meat and soft vegetables). Recipes that call for cream soups are usually easier that way, but cream soups too, are easy to make quickly on the stove and taste better without all those processing ingredients added. I have two e-Books on Amazon in the Kindle shop that are cook books and I think I included my recipes for making cream soups in both.
 
I forgot to mention that yesterday was my nail appointment. I hated to change my purple frost to a new color but Rick (my manicurist) outdid himself. This color is not one I would have chosen because it is so dark but I told him blue with sparkles. By the time I left his shop, I liked it a lot. Takes me time to adapt to changes. I figure the manicure makes me feel better about my old lady hands.

blue.JPG
 
katlupe said:
Yesterday I decided to skip grocery shopping until next week. The stores are just too crowded. It is too bad that Walmart cut their hours back so everyone has to go at the same time now. Sonny (my bf) went in to get me a few things like spring mix, bananas and kale for Rabbit. They did not have any kale so we went to Price Chopper for that and it was worth it. Much nicer, better quality than the other stores ever have. I am tempted to test one of those shopping services like Instacart. I shop very frugal and it seems that paying someone to shop for me is not frugal at all. I probably could have my aide shop for me but I like to pick out my own produce, meat and dairy products. If I need anything as long as the weather is dry, I can go to Tops.

My new vacuum cleaner is here and I have not taken it out of the box yet. It came the day before yesterday. I will get it out and test it today I hope. Since I was busy yesterday, I didn't do hardly anything. Mainly, Rabbit's cage and dirty dishes. I cannot believe I left dirty dishes in my sink overnight. Just could not stand there to do them. I washed my coffee cup and rinsed them off and put them in the dish pain for today. I always do my housework before noon. I do my best work then.

One thing I realize is that my taste in food has changed. I loved to cook and still like food that I cook better than restaurants. I try to like canned soups or other types of quick foods, but I just can't. I take one taste of a canned soup like Campbell's tomato or chicken noodle and I cannot eat it. It is definitely worth my time to make the soup from scratch. Now my taste has changed to liking softer types of foods like soups, stews (with ground meat and soft vegetables). Recipes that call for cream soups are usually easier that way, but cream soups too, are easy to make quickly on the stove and taste better without all those processing ingredients added. I have two e-Books on Amazon in the Kindle shop that are cook books and I think I included my recipes for making cream soups in both.
Click to expand...
Yup I can’t stand canned should either except for chicken noodle when I am sick.
 
katlupe said:
Reading another member's post this morning about her garden and canning made me think about how much I miss doing that. As I have written before, I lived on a small homestead and I had 16 raised beds. Some were wood and some were made out of rocks. Yes, big rocks. I grew a lot of food and canned or dehydrated it all. I did not have a freezer and for six years lived without any refrigeration at all. So canning was essential to my life at Peaceful Forest Homestead. I bought meat in bulk when canning vegetables and fruits was finished for the season. I canned meats in chunks. There were times I made soups and stews and other types of foods and canned them too. But it was easier to can plain meats and vegetables and combine them to cook to make different dishes.

Living in the forest allowed me to forage for wild edible or medicinal plants. I made a salad daily throughout the spring, summer and fall using what I grew as well as plantain, violets, lambs quarters, dandelion leaves, etc. One time I counted how many wild plants I found in one day and it was over 25. I didn't like the situation I was living in and I made the right move to leave there. But I do miss some of it.

This week my cat, Hobo, died. She stayed at my house with my husband. I knew she would not be able to stand it living in this small apartment and never going outside again. In 2003 someone threw her off the little bridge near my house into the creek, which is a long drop. She was bleeding from her nose, eyes and a small hole in her head. I could not afford a vet and nursed her back with Essiac tea baths on that area. She had come to our house in the middle of the night so I figured she wanted me to care for her. She was young, but had hardly any teeth and was smaller than the other cats. But a tough girl. She lived a good life and could do what she pleased. Cats like that.

View attachment 120403
Click to expand...
I read you post with interest @katlupe as we’ve grown our own fruit and preserved / dried it for our own use .
We only have a average house block of about 750 square mtrs so not very big at all it’s amazing what you can grow in small spaces.
I have a pressure canner which can be used for canning meat but I’ve never had the need to try but you know I just might one day .
We are just coming into spring in Australia my fruit trees are looking pretty with their blossom
I have a esidri food dryer but I mostly dry my fruit I the sun / shade , it’s free(y)

Ive never had the need to cover the drying slabs or slices of peaches / apricots / plums / apples
I do cover them at night just in case any cats pay us a visit.

We only did 16 kg of “wet fruit“ last summer which equaled around 4.5 kg dried apricot61B56391-DC13-4590-9DB0-98583160B66D.jpeg8A17EDA9-2863-41E7-8E05-3D0CE773D223.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Kadee46 said:
I read you post with interest @katlupe as we’ve grown our own fruit and preserved / dried it for our own use .
We only have a average house block of about 750 square mtrs so not very big at all it’s amazing what you can grow in small spaces.
I have a pressure canner which can be used for canning meat but I’ve never had the need to try but you know I just might one day .
We are just coming into spring in Australia my fruit trees are looking pretty with their blossom
I have a esidri food dryer but I mostly dry my fruit I the sun / shade , it’s free(y)

Ive never had the need to cover the drying slabs or slices of peaches / apricots / plums / apples
I do cover them at night just in case any cats pay us a visit.

We only did 16 kg of “wet fruit“ last summer which equaled around 4.5 kg dried apricotView attachment 121158View attachment 121159
Click to expand...
I have never seen fruit dried like that! When it is done, how do you store it? And use it?
 
These are apricots that are to soft to dry as half’s , I wash and process in a food processor.
Each tray which i bought new are actually pot plant trays ,I line them with freezer go between wrap prior to adding fruit .

The apricots are usually ripe about the first week of January ( mid summer )
Each tray holds 1kg of wet fruit ,and as soon as I can touch the top of drying fruit without it sticking to my fingers I tip it out of trays onto baking paper to finish drying which takes about a week or so in total depending on how hot It is outside .

We use the sliced / Rolled apricots for lots of things like adding chopped to our breakfast / in cakes / biscuits or we just eat as a snack .

We cut each slab some times referred to as “fruit leathers“ in half when dry and roll up and slice like this ⬇ Oh I store in the freezer only as a assurance they won’t deteriorate due to being preservative free 33ADE7A4-DA7E-4ADD-A48C-55380C74F5C1.jpeg
@katlupe
 
Last edited:
Kadee46 said:
These are apricots that are to soft to dry as half’s , I wash and process in a food processor.
Each tray which i bought new are actually pot plant trays ,I line them with freezer go between wrap prior to adding fruit .

The apricots are usually ripe about the first week of January ( mid summer )
Each tray holds 1kg of wet fruit ,and as soon as I can touch the top of drying fruit without it sticking to my fingers I tip it out of trays onto baking paper to finish drying which takes about a week or so in total depending on how hot It is outside .

We use the sliced / Rolled apricots for lots of things like adding chopped to our breakfast / in cakes / biscuits or we just eat as a snack .

We cut each slab some times referred to as “fruit leathers“ in half when dry and roll up and slice like this ⬇ Oh I store in the freezer only as a assurance they won’t deteriorate due to being preservative free View attachment 121313
@katlupe
Click to expand...
That looks good! I have never seen them done like that. Thank you for sharing!
 


Back
Top