Coffee and ..... for Wednesday, September 6th

Goooood Mooorrrnning one and all!

Let's hope the computer bugs that were making life tough on DG yesterday have all bitten the dust.

Here's the link to yesterday's thread http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/647641/

Good evening and good night to all of you night owls and hopes for a beautiful morning and afternoon today for the rest of you.

I haven't even had the time to read the posts yet. Came home from Tahoe last night and found the inside temp of the house at 97 degrees. The fan for the main air conditioner went out and it had been running full bore since mid saturday morning. Of course my teens decided that turning the thermostat down would solve the problem and when it didn't they left it down. I am dreading this coming power bill. Called the repair man and he came out today. 590.00 later and we have our comfort zone back again. I was really looking forward to getting to work and cooling off and of course the air was out there for most of the day. Tempers were really flaring most of the day.
Spoke with Darius for awhile which took my mind off all the little things, so my gratitude to you Ms. Darius. Came home to a cool house and started cleaning up the remains of a teens weekend. Just finished and now I am beyond ready for bed. So I will hopefully get the chance tomorrow to catch up.

Have a wonderful day everyone.

Casey

yikes Casey, no AC in that heat! What a lovely cooling spot to look at, a very beautiful photo.

I am still up, having sorting out my recipes that are just on a oiece of paper som are copies from food Network, have cooked many of them and never been disappointed

Good night all it is past 1 AM, really should sau good morning

Defoe~I’m sorry your not feeling well…stinks, I know….especially this time of year with so much to do. Too bad we live sooooo farrrrr away. The designer puppies sound heavenly. Hmmmmm, what will they sound like? I’ve always loved Beagles but they are too roamy for me and just my luck I’d get a JR that would fetch all the neighborhood snakes home. My DA’s little CC (kitty) brought back the one I sent over to the neighbors.
“Snake good for garden” Van says. “No, Van! Snake are not good for garden at our house. Snake no good anywhere around me!!! In our little world of freaky pets I think I’ll have to pass on probably some of the cutest little puppies to come. You’ll probably decide to keep them all, they will be so adorable! DS found Dick and Jane a home. THANK YOU!!!! DH was going nuts while I was in OR, they would tear the house apart.
I need to go back and find that spaghetti sauce recipe. You posted it, right?

Darius~ OK, I’ll give you the water this time.

Mary~I haven’t heard of endurance rides….cool. When you were in Sedro Woolley area you were right in my DH’s territory. That’s the area most of their jobs are. It is very beautiful up here in the woods but yes, a lot of underbrush. I hope those fires stay clear of you…the smoke too. Can't be good for anyone, horses included.


Bal~The fence is great…My DH worked in a shake and shingle mill when we were first married…..packed a few shingles myself.

Kooger~Probably because it is a NICE shop!!!! That’s bigger than my house AND yard!

Maria~Don’t start over doing it!!! If I made bread everyday I would look like the Pillsbury Dough Girl. I LOVE bread!!!

Casey~ I have always loved that view! Thanks! So sorry about the no AC. I know in your area that stinks!!!

Well DH just home from a meeting and since I have been working evenings maybe I should go to bed at the same time as he. I think I’ll shower off the Eau de Burrito for tonight. I want to get some sleep:) I just hear Mr. Cuckoo pop out for midnight...better go shut him in till am......Night all! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Here's that famous wave I've seen around. K~

Wow ... you mean I'm first this a.m.? I'm not believin it! LOL Couldn't sleep, so will get up and do something constructive today. Whatever it is will have to be in the house as it's too wet outside for gardening. Off to the coffee pot for now. will BBL
~~~~~ Elaine

IO1 - you have the worm!!

It is dark when I get up now and I hate that...I'm a sun person. Thank goodness I don't have to get dressed and hop to work...justing sitting in the lazy boy is fine for me. Kooger - that job sounds like the pits - having someone watch you all the time- dont they trust you!! I'd be looking for something else. Sitting without talking for 100 minutes - ya right....bet the supervisor couldn't do it either!

Carat- beautiful pic. Wouldn't you like that to wake up to every morning!! Glad the AC got fixed - were your candles melting? You are a brave woman to leave teens home alone. I did that once and they thru a mega party and I still am finding traces of it! I told them what goes around comes around. Four months until you move?

Not much more news here today - kinda boring in fact! I need to apply some more anti-itch stuff, cruise some other forums, and I'll be back. What's for breakfast?? I have some pie..

Good Morning all,

I'm up getting ready for work. Have to leave my 7:30 to get into town on time.

Fed the dogs and the birds, now fixing my lunchbox. Just remembered Jeremy took my cash to get gas for the mower and didn't give me the change. Guess I have to go to the ATM so's I can get some breakfast.

Shutting computer down. Imagine the electric I'll save by going to work.

heehee
Molly
:^))))

Where are you working? Is this a painting job?

Olivia decided I needed a face wash at 5 a.m., but then settled down for a nap...after I was wide awake! I went to bed a little earlier than usual so I guess I was done sleeping anyway.

Maria, I had a bum crop of tomatoes this year too. Got two big yellow ones off one plant that now looks like it's done for, lots of the little pear shaped minis, and one, yes ONE red one. Went over to DGS's garden and raided it last Friday for a half dozen nice red ones. Had an email from his wife this morning, they didn't even miss them.

Am happy to hear you are feeling better. Now, don't go full speed ahead right away or you'll be back to being tired and feeling lousy again. I liked my raised beds that were two feet high, no bending to pull weeds, and easy to tend. Since they were large they didn't dry out or overheat when the weather was hot. But that was at my last two homes and I don't have them anymore. All my small baskets and planters needed water sometimes twice a day this year.

Carat, no a/c! And a whopping repair bill, yuck. But you have a beautiful view, so it's not all bad! Maybe it's good that it happened now, so that you can tell your buyers that they won't have to worry about repairs. Kind of irritating to have to fix something you won't even get to use for long. Are you getting excited about the big move? Must be hard to wait. I'm sure you will both find jobs soon after you settle in, you both have needed skills.

Bonnie, I hope you are feeling better. I think you wore yourself out with all that canning before you took your trip, and then the recycled bad air on the planes finished you off! Wonder what Mr. B's puppies will look like! Designer pups, LOL, someone will want them! Puppies are so cute, who could resist them? (Besides me, I mean....) New colt show up yet? Must be time...
I agree, most "hobbies" the guys adopt require more outlay of funds than they bring in. I know if my DD added up her expenses on her Goldens, they would be a lot higher than what she gets selling the pups even at $800 a pop. Or do I mean pup?

Rained yesterday until about noon, then cleared up and got pretty warm. Looks good for today, and I'm going golfing. Forecast is rain the rest of the week, so I might as well go while I can.

Any suggestions for my strawberry plants? I have them in a wagon, in the side garden, and it will be too cold to survive the winter in it. I thought I might move them to the west side of the deck where the ground slopes, and put them in the ground and mulch them for winter. All that's in there now are snaps and the stupid nonproducing tomato plants. Will transplanting them this late be the death of them?

Did Jeremy get the mower running, Molly? Guys love to tinker with stuff like that, especially when it's a freebie. LOL about weedwhacking to cut the grass! Hey, whatever works! Is the new paint job a big one, or something you can get done quickly. I can't believe he didn't tell you where it was..hope he remembers to pay you!

Robert, that is some handsome hunka fence! I assume it will weather gray like the rest. DH wanted to use that restoration stuff on our deck, and I told him I liked it gray, like the house, so he left it. Otherwise it looks like raw wood, and doesn't blend. He did finish putting the lattice work on the bottom, and made it removable so he can still store the lawn tractor under there, plus a multitude of other lawn accessories.

Mary, I hope those fires stay far away from you and the wind doesn't blow the residue in your direction. There have been so many fires out west this year, with all the heat and the dry brush. We used to get out of school if any of the forested areas around us in Northern Wi were burning, so we could go and make ourselves useful. Sometimes we put out small ones from flying debris, sometimes cut firebreaks so the fire couldn't "Jump" to a new area....but mostly we just wanted to get out of class.....

Sarv, you are lucky your mom still likes to cook, both my birth and step mother got very lax and lost some of their skill in their later years. Maybe with no one to cook for daily contributed to that. I don't care for green peppers (or they don't like me?) but I never met a cabbage roll I didn't like. I'm looking forward to cold weather to start making real food again, and making the house smell good with something simmering all day.

IO1, I'm glad you liked the card. I was standing in the card shop chuckling about how surprised you'd be when you opened it. Can't believe it took over a week to get there! It was supposed to arrive before your birthday!

Elaine, glad the kittens have settled in some. Sammi and Olivia still race around like maniacs,but he's calmed down a lot, and sometimes hides from her in order to get a good nap. She can be a real pest and she's a chatterbox. When she wants attention, she's right up on your lap, chirping and meeping to get petted. The only time she is loud is on the way to the vet, and I'm glad it's only a five mile trip! She'll be spayed before she goes into heat, so we may not ever hear any real howling.

~~~~ to all, going to hit the shower and get dressed and make myself presentable. See you later.

Sheila

hmmmm, I had more in that last post but it didn't go.
I wanted to share pictures of my project, one that even darius would not attempt (well, by herself).
The front of this house was built around 1820 and the rear T was probably completed before the Civil War. The walls in the front part are only single-board width, while the rear has real plaster walls. I hope this takes this time.

woodspirit! OMG that looks worse than our farmhouse...congratulations!

Lost part of my post and then I couldn't get back in!! Wanted to ask Kooger if she gets #7, will she be eligible for unemployment. That work environment sounds deadly. I wouldn't have lasted that long. I applied for a job steno typing years and years ago, and while I was interviewing, it was time for a break. Simultaneously, several dozen desk drawers opened and people took out candy or whatever, and were not allowed to leave the room. You took your break at your desk, in front of your typewriter!! I quit interviewing and said I had another appointment and had to leave. LOL Not for me!!

WS, it looks like a major job to upgrade that house!!

Gone again
S.

Here is the front of the house. It's hard to believe that it isn't leaking although it was last roofed over 50 years ago (tin roof). The floors are amazing. Large, very tightly fitted heart pine, I think. 9" baseboards. The upstairs front rooms are very bright and light but no bathroom up there; that will be an interesting project. 4 rooms downstairs (huge kitchen/dining area) and 6 rooms upstairs.
North Carolina has a large statewide organization called Preservation/NC. They buy or get an option on endangered historic structures and resell them with protective covenants and a schedule of restoration attached to the deeds. They call their fund a revolving fund, because they turn the houses over quickly.
The only residents in the house since the 1950s have been hobos, the homeless, and teenagers partying. I have been on 1 big clean-up party. I had a room that was shin deep in fallen wallpaper and leaves. The windows are broken out so that's how the leaves got in. I can't believe the floors appeared undamaged. I took out 8 garbage bags full of this trash from the one room. Also old torn papers and (urk)! condoms. Other rooms had several torn old cotton-stuffed mattresses that fell apart when you tried to move them.
Another clean-up party is scheduled for this Saturday and then on the 16th, Preservation/NC volunteers will come to nail up plywood and plastic sheeting to keep out the intruders and the drunks.
Yesterday, while i was working in library's history room, a man came in that wanted more information on the house (I had plenty) and is considering buying it! Woooo-hooooo!
By the way, the price is $25,000 for the house, carriage house and 3/4 acre. But that's a drop in the bucket for all the work that has to be done.

|Good Morning all, woke up this morning coughing, so just decided to start the day. This is grocery/errand day, plus senior day where extra discounts are given at most stores, so have to get moving. BBL to comment to all.

Morning everyone! Just popping in quickly to say hi.

Bonnie, sorry your not feeling well.

Maria , glad your feeling better, but still take it easy.

Had a pretty quiet holiday weekend. Didn't acomplish much except got some windows washed. Had company over on Labor Day for a little cookout.

DS switched jobs again. He is now working full time at the farm he worked at part time. It's what he really wanted to do all along, but the pay isn't as much. This is a kid who knew the difference between a John Deer and a Ford tractor before he knew his ABC's.

Busy day at work again, so gotta get moving. Hope you all have a good day!

Betty, that's quite a project! And you are correct, not one I would tackle alone.

Bonnie, don't overdo or you may get really sick!

Casey, that's the pits about the AC, but a good selling point when you sell the house.

Kooger, I WANT that shop! (Of course, I couldn't get it across my bridge, LOL.) Good luck with the contract offer. And, START LOOKING for a better job with less stress. I could never work under those conditions.

My brother rode his new motorcycle 200 miles yesterday round trip to his V.A. appointment, and he's now having second thoughts about an 800 mile trip up here. Plus, he's keeping a watchful eye on TS Florence, both for his home, and rain on the route he would take up here. At least I don't have to clean the house today for his arrival, not that he would care.

My sister (who is not related to my brother) has lowered the asking price on her house in Florida. If she has to go any lower, she won't break even much less be able to pay off her car and credit cards.

Whatever changes the weather has taken in the last 2-3 days has brought a plethora of goldfinch to my niger sock feeder. Haven't had more than 2-3 all summer and this morning I have a dozen or more. Time to refill it and put up the regular feeders too.

I need to get off my duff and do something but I have no energy. Slept 11 hours last night and still awakened tired.

~~~~ to all I missed

Later...

Hi everyone.just poping in real quick before I have to go shopping...UGH!! I don't like shopping.
Well got 2 quart cases of jalapenos and vegis put up and 2 coats of snow coat on the roof, still have to bake some cookies...I need a cookie!!
Fires here too, tho not close. Junction City had another and it's a whopper this time, heading to the wilderness area(2 huge fires there already) and other small communitys. Hwy 299 was closed for 4 days over the weekend and things got messy. It is the main road to the coast here.

Maria, glad to hear you are feeling better but don't over do it.

WS, wow that was some cleaning job! Hopefully it gets sold and restored to it's original beauty.

Mary, your rides sound so much fun. I'm glad the horses are better and finished well.

Dcat, hope you are feeling better and get rid of that cough! Have fun shopping...LOL

Carat, you have a great view there. Glad you got your a/c fixed. I don't think I could live with out my swamp cooler. I would be real cranky. How they did it before amazes me....

Molly, Have a great day at work. I hope it's not too hot there. Watching my mail daily....:-)

Shelia sounds like Sammi is getting some of what he gave to the other kittys there with Olivia. What a way to be woke up....Don't know about the strawberries tho..Have fun golfing..

Elaine, Rain sounds wonderful. It's been ages since we've had any and I can hardly wait for the frist rainfall...Love the smell..

Oh heavens CRS has set in so off to shop.~~~~~~~~ing to all I missed hope you are feeling better if sick and have a great day. Lauri

Just popping in for a minute. Went out to a market and bought a bushel of Roma tomatoes for sauce. Just wondering what Bonnie's sauce recipe is like before I start. Maybe I'll modify what I do.

Ann

Ann, I roasted several cloves of garlic (cut not minced), 2 onions, a little olive oil and quartered roma's. Roasted at 450-475ºF for an hour or so until most of the liquid was gone. To some I added basil, to some I added sliced seeded green peppers. After I ran it through the food mill, I added sautéed mushrooms and chopped black olives, cooked it down a bit and canned it. Some I just canned plain.

I'm interested to see her recipe too.

Just planted the pulmonaria I got yesterday for two bucks. Divided it into three plants and moved 2 more pulmonarias - love those things!!

I'm thinking about going into town. It is sunny and nice here, but I feel like going out. I think I will even take myself out to lunch!! I'm good company LOL

wood- that is some house- woudn't want it tho. We moved into a 100 yr farmhouse and redid it when we were younger- no more oomph for that kinda work.

Darius -so you may not have a visit from your bro - oh well....Hope your sis doesn't have to lower the price....wouldn't want that hanging over my head either!! I need to get my feeders filled again too. Usually I keep them filled all summer, but DH was ticked about the 'white wash' that was left all over, so we left them unfilled for the summer. Haven' seen my hummers, so I think they have left for sure now. Time to take those feeders down and clean them for the year too.

have a computer question for you. I had my garden plants all listed on my old mac. I copied the folder and emailed it to myself. on my new computer. And I got it (wonder of all wonders) However, now I need to update it and can't seem to put any new info in. What do I do...things like this really irritate me!!! It still shows up in the form of an email and I've moved the folder to my desktop.....I sure don't want to re=enter all that info if I can avoid it!!

I love pulmonarias!

Sarv, what format was used for the documents inside the folder you emailed? Is your old Mac still available? Do you have the same programs on the new PC?

Sarv - did you try opening the document with the program it was created with, i.e. word, excel? Click on the icon for the program it was created with and then go to file/ open. Is your new computer a MAC also?

drat - typed a rely and it went poof....hate when that happens..

Thanks suz and darius- I think that is the problem - going from an old mac to a new pc. I am going to fiddle with it some more, but thanks for responding. I ended up calling my son and he said he would help me, but then I have to help him seed his lawn. He's a character....

I went into town to cash in some gift cards I had - I was afraid they were going to expire. Stopped at Barnes and Nobles for a CD of Andrea Bocelli, Office Max for 2 pkg of my favorite mechanical pencils, and Kohls for a winter sweater...Only one more to go!!

Stopped at a garden center and their tables were loaded with lush perennials- all for full price. No way am I paying full price this time of the year!! Did pick up some fertilizer tho.

Darius- I've had wonderful luck with my pulmonarias reseeding....they are a gorgeous plant first thing in the spring here. And yes, I still have the old mac- it is incredibly s-l-o-w....

Well, time to think about food for dinner (can you believe I didn't even eat lunch today!!)

Sarv, if you have the old Mac, open each file. It will have an export function so that the new PC can read the file. Export the new copies either onto a CD, disk or email.

Hi folks,

Just in from a volunteering stint at the food cupboard. Now to dealing with the produce I acquired this morning.

Darius - do you roast the tomatoes in their skins? I don't have a food mill, but will running them through the food processor work well? That's the way a recipe in the recent Chatelaine magazine works. Sounds relatively easy as to removing all the skins like I used to do. I got a neighbour to help me bring the tomatoes in from the car and that will be this evening's project. Might have to go get some onions and garlic though. Have lots of basil in the garden.

Sarv - I think the important questions have been asked about your computer file. What program created it? Can you open the emailed version at all? You might be able to do a copy and paste from one program to another if you can. Or you may be able to import it into a program as opposed to opening it.

BBL

Ann

Thanks gals for all the tips. Remember I am a real ignoramous when it comes to computers. I just tend to push buttons and it has gotten me into some awful jams sometimes!!

Good luck with the tomatoes VI!

Ann, yes I roast them in their skins. I like them (and the onions) to get slightly charred for flavor. A food processor is fine, it will just grind up the seeds unless you seed the roma's first, easier than with some tomatoes. You could scald and skin them first too but that's always more work than I want to do.

Where's Bonnie with her recipe?

I posted on my Limbo thread that my chimney lining is shot... old chimney fires have left cracks in the lining so it's not safe to use. Boo, Hiss. More $$ when I get some.

Sarv - I have both a MAC and a PC here in my office. We have a special program so the two can "talk" to each other. Mostly I use the MAC, but the PC is needed to produce FedEx labels. I need to be able to send files from one puter to the other. To make matters worse, I am probably the most computer illiterate person in the office.

45 minutes to go until the end of the day. Was going to leave a little early, but had a couple things thrown on my desk this afternoon that needed to be done asap. Looks like it's really nice outside

Wood - that house looks like some project. It will be beautiful when restored though.

Casey - Very pretty picture. Hope you had a good time.

Molly - good luck with the new job.

~~~~~~ to everyone I didn't mention. See ya!

Wow!!!! Either we are awfully chatty today, or this is what I miss by going to work.

WS, I went to work for someone else, for the time being. I need to get money coming into the house until I get my own business up and producing, painting business, I mean.

Jeremy worked on the riding mower, got it running off a jump start from the car, but the blade doesn't turn, but it drives. So looks like he is going to need some more tutoring from his Uncle Jimmy. Need the electric hooked to the starter and figure out how to make it actually mow.

Soon please. Weed wacking is okay, but that's a big yard.

Dogs missed me big time today. But they were good and waited to do their thing until they were outside. Snowy and Lexy had a good racetrack run around the shade garden.

But I am hungry. And my legs are tired. Tomorrow I get up a bit earlier so I can get there earlier and leave earlier, before the rains start.

Getting a bit of dinner now.

Molly
:^))))

So Molly- tell us what you did at your new job???

Sarv, I caulked soffits and fascia and started cutting in the extrior trim of the house.

These people work at a slower pace than I am accustomed to, but then I have always been concerned with profit and loss.

Fact is, if Jeremy and I were doing this job we could get it done in 2 days, looks like this will take 3 and a half days and there are 3 of us there. Next week we do the entire inside of an emty house in Ocala. The owners live up north. I understand it is a big expensive house though.

If I am driving to work in Ocala, I will probably work more that 7 or 8 hours a day to make it worth the trip and gas.

Molly
:^))))

LOL, Sarv... I'm sure she painted! (which she just posted while I was hunting and pecking).

Hey, I'm cooking. How lovely it is to go out to the garden and collect half my supper! A luscious slicing tomato, and a yellow squash I'm sautéeing with some Vidalia onion (which I did not grow). Next year I shall get an earlier start on the garden, God Willing. And, some variety!

O.K. I have a silly question....Does anybody here raise theeir own onions from seed?? I let one of DH's Stockton Sweets go to seed and then started the seed. Well I now have sprouts and need to know where to go from here...
~~~~~~~~"s to all for now, I must go water all my A.V's and that takes an hour...Lauri

Try the Vegetable Forum... seems like I've read of a few folks who do, Lauri.

Thanks darius, I did and now have to give the little things hair cuts,LOL need to be kept to 3-4 inches tall....My DH will soon have me committed, do they have computers in Shady Pines??...........Lauri

Do you think I am not taking it easy? lol, planned to do laundry, bake my bread and apple pie for my family Do you think I did all that? ha ha did not!!! How is that for being lazy
Bet none of you can match that

Here is my handsome Samson

Glad you are being lazy Maria!! Do it for a couple more days too!!

We had a horrid storm roar thru - hail bouncing all over- it was wild to see!! I haven't taken a walk outside to check on the brugs, but I imagine they are pretty smashed up! Now the sun is out and it is beautiful!

Molly- couldn't you and Jeremy do the job and get the cashola and give the boss man a cut. You'd be a subcontractor (painter) then.

lauri - I've always wanted to start some allium seeds, but haven't...,maybe I should give it a try= I've collected seed from them.

I tried calling Pati Schell earlier, and no answer. When I talked to her earlier in the week, I asked when her CT Scan and laser treatment were scheduled and she said she was too dopey on meds to remember.

Except for feeding my face and talking to the chimney man, I have done little here today but I'm tired none the less. Think I'll turn in and watch some TV.

Say Goodnight Gracie.

Oh that Samson is a honey! Wish I could give him a big bear hug snuggle!! Good that you are resting, Maria. I had pneumonia abt 3 years ago and I dragged around for 2-3 months. I could not believe how long it took to feel good again. Since you have a couple years on me, smile, you need time to heal and rest.

Well, DH did it! The papers are signed and closing date is 30 days. And my surgery in the middle of it. Oh well, I'm not gonna worry abt it. It's mostly tools and parts, guy stuff, plus a couple of garden things - my arbor especially. I may sell it and have DH built me a metal one fairly close to the same design. IA winds are not kind to wood structures that aren't reinforced. :) DH is talking abt buying a truck with the left over, should be able to pay cash for a 2000, around that year at least. Kinda ironic, right? Sell a truck shop and buy a truck. He will build a much smaller shop for just one truck, perhaps two. The hard part abt getting rid of the big one is that he built the whole thing. He hired a cousin with a boom to help with the metal siding, the rest he did himself. Lotta pride there! Oh, he hired the brick done on the front too. He did the rest of the concrete work himself. We borrowed some from MIL and she may be heading to a home in the next year or so, so it's good to get that paid back before it's needed too. Really, enough pluses to convince him to let it go. :)

Youngest DS graduates in May so I may hit the road with DH in the truck. Gonna have to get legal tho, I have no CDL. Hmmm, wonder if I could pass the test. It's not easy! Most guys take a few tries to pass. DH was a stinker, he passed first try. On the driving part, you start with 'x' number of points and then they lay a yardstick down and you do corners and backing up, etc. The number of inches you are off are deducted from the number of points and you must have zero or more points when you are done. Most get negative points and fail a time or two. DH hit the last corner on the dot and finished with '0' so he made it first try. He was pretty surprised and pretty pleased! No way I'll do that!