My Weblog

Icicles on my nose...........

We have not climbed out of the 40's for the last couple of days. Well, let me back up. There was a weather forecast out that said we would have snow, lots of snow, for Thanksgiving. It didn't happen. At least not if you were below about 7000 feet. Yesterday morning it was cold but beautiful--very clear and sunny and 40 degrees. The mountains around LV were capped in snow. However, down where most of us actually live, the snow came cleverly disguised as rain. By yesterday afternoon the temperature had climbed "all the way" to 43, but the cloud cover made it feel colder than earlier in the day. Customers (probably all from southern California) were coming into the store saying it was showing. I went out around 2PM--absolutely NOT snow. Sleet, yes. Today we were forecasted to "climb" all the way to 48. Maybe, but not sunny at all today and more wind so it felt colder than yesterday.

I went to work dressed in a cotton turtleneck and a good, heavy sweatshirt. I spent the day in Lumber, which was good as far as not being unendingly on my feet, but it's colder down there. There is a big metal "door", kind of like a garage door right there by the registers. At one point they raised that to take the forklift outside and left it open for a considerable period of time. I was sitting there with my arms across my chest and my hands tucked into my armpits. Chilly I tell you! I was thinking about it on the way home--what can I wear to work that is heavier than what i wore today? I don't think I have anything warmer................

Yesterday was a zoo. I spent pretty much the whole day on two very busy registers. At one point we had 4 registers going as well as Lumber and Garden and Customer Service fully staffed with 3 registers open. They had all three full time  Head Cashiers in Customer Service as well as the part time Head Cashier. I asked one of the lower level managers what he'd heard about yesterday's sales. He reported we were just shy of a quarter million. I was told that at 6AM when the store opened, customers were lined up all the way from the main entrance back to the garden entrance, waiting to get in. By the time I got off, I was darn near unable to form full sentences. And, even before I went to bed last night, I was taking ibuprofen for muscle pain. When I woke up this morning my legs would  barely go and I hurt from the middle of my chest down, front and back!

Ya gotta love retail. I figured out on Thanksgiving that I am not going to have 2 days off in a row at least from now til the 19th of December. It seems this is some new thing corporate is doing with our schedules. You know, I am so exhausted that I end up sleeping a lot on those single days off and it's not until the second day in a row that I actually have enough oomph to get anything done. It appears my house is going to get worse, not better...........  Well, that's my report for now. Work, work, work...........

Thankful for the bounty

I have canned with a vengeance these last few days. I've also done some dehydrating. I actually have more canning to do and more dehydrating as well. Meanwhile, that messy "cook" has come to visit again and with all the cooking and canning that's gone on, there's much to clean up.

My first canning day i did 10 pints of potatoes. The next day I did 6 pints of tomato soup (darn, I already ate one!). Next I pressure cooked a turkey and picked all the meat off of it. I have one BIG breast half in the freezer, one smaller half I cut into for a turkey sandwich, and 4 pints of turkey meat in broth. Not wanting a half empty canner, I put together 4 pints of Fiesta Ranch Pinto Beans to fill the empty space. Last night, I canned 7 quarts of broth. Y'all know by now I usually can pints, not quarts. However, I figured that quarts would be okay for me with the broth. A quart is only 32 oz. It's hard to make a pot of soup with less than that so I'm pleased with quarts of broth.

I have more canning goals which I could go after today, but I think a big clean up session is in order. "Normal" people would have watched me try to can that broth in the middle of all the mess last night and just walked away mumbling and shaking their heads.

What's hanging fire? To answer that I need to explain some canning rules. First, I need to do something with my pumpkins. One has gone bad, I think, but I have 2 left. I can either can them in chunks or puree them and turn them into pumpkin powder after dehydrating them. It is not recommended to can pumpkin puree, just chunks. The fear is that it will be too thick, won't heat to the proper temperature in the center of the jar, and could make me sick if I tried to use it. So, I'll go with one of the other alternatives.

It is also not recommended to can anything with dairy in it. Some people do it if there's just a small amount of dairy, but I don't need to chance it. I found a way to can some potato soup by putting all the non-dairy ingredients together and canning that. Then, when I'm ready for a bowl of potato soup, I can add some milk or cream, puree everything and enjoy a very fast and easy meal. And, yes, I do have a LOT of potatoes on hand.

And, of course, I have a freezer full of meat to can up.

I have jars on hand as well, but lids..........I need lids. The regular-mouth lids will be here any day. I also pushed the button on wide-mouthed lids last night, but they are 4-10 days out. I may have to order jars from a local store tomorrow for delivery this weekend just so I can scavenge lids.

I work tomorrow. I wish I felt I'd had enough time off to "want" to go back to work. No such luck. And, God help me, it's Black Friday. But I do have Saturday and Sunday off. Phew!

 

One of my least favorite things to do

I hate picking a turkey. I don't much love the smell and, let's face it, turkey is greasy. i've washed my hands over and over, but I'm convinced they still smell like turkey. This turkey ended up being a 15 pounder, a bit bigger than i thought. Surprisingly, I haven't gotten all that much meat from him. Well, I guess I did--I keep forgetting I've put the turkey breast into the freezer, not into the jars (after using some for a sandwich). And that was one big turkey breast. I do have about 3.5 pint jars of turkey meat to can. I also have a LOT of broth to can. I cooked the turkey last night. My plan was to move him, canning pot and all, to the garage. Our night time temperature last night was supposed to be in the 40's so I figured that would keep him good and chilled. FAIL! A pressure canner empty is heavy. Add to that a 15 pound turkey and a LOT of broth, all of which is hot, and moving it to the garage was impossible. I just was not able to figure how I was going to carry it and, if I could carry it, how I'd get the door between the kitchen and the garage open. So, where were you last night? I coulda used your help!

I have a large pile of turkey skin and bones to get rid of. I'll simmer some of the skin a bit more and give Parker a little on his dog food. He'll appreciate that. He's been real good in terms of not begging for what I'm sure must smell wonderful to him.

I'm not happy with a decision I made. I've been trying to switch over exclusively to wide-mouthed canning jars. It's so much easier to get stuff out of them than when you're using the regular mouth. I don't mind using the regular-mouthed jars for broth and tomato sauce, but anything more solid I prefer in the wide-mouthed jars. Unfortunately I have a lot of the regular-mouthed jars from when I first started canning. And, of course, canning jars get used over and over. Fill 'em up, store them on a shelf, empty 'em, scrub, repeat. My bad decision was ordering a bulk order for regular sized lids. I did not order wide-mouthed lids--simply a matter of needing to choose based on budget. Wrong choice. I had half a dozen clean reusable wide-mouthed jars on hand, but no unused lids. And my order for regular-mouthed lids hasn't even come in yet--they're coming from Canada. Fortunately I had a new box of wide-mouthed jars WITH LIDS in the garage. But, how stupid to have to open up a new box of jars just to get lids!

My Social Security money hits soon, so I will be placing a bulk order for wide-mouth lids...........I do have some wide mouthed reusable lids. I don't like them. They are fussy to use and if you don't fuss with them in just the right way, they don't seal. One of the instructions that help make the use of those reusable lids successful is to underpack your jars. You need to leave a lot more unfilled space at the top of the jar. Consequently, you have to use more jars to accomplish the same goal. And, jars aren't cheap. I don't like just using jars willy-nilly. Besides, my stash of new wide-mouthed jars consisted of one box--the box I opened to steal lids for today's canning mission. So, I screwed up, but I'll fix it soon enough. Soon, I'll have to be buying more jars. But my stock of shelf stable food is growing. LOVE that.

Well, I have a multitude of things to do before I can call tonight over. I'd better get on it..........

cry or throw things?

I am so upset. I've tried telling Parker about it but he's no comfort. I'm not even sure he's listening, much less understanding.......

I sent my ex-son-in-law an e-mail letting him know I had achieved the impossible (it definitely pays to pray). I had been allowed to take vacation time this week in order to see my grandkids. I started working on this in early October. I was supposed to be notified within 36 hours whether or not this could happen. I didn't get any notification til after November 1st--a lot more than 36 hours! By golly, I was given every hour I had requested.

I had inquired of my ex-son-in-law as to when the kids would be in town. He inquired of his SO as to the dates and then sent me a copy of her response. It indicated the kids would be here this week.

I was just now informed that the kids were here last week and just left to go back to Sacramento. I am actually shocked by my level of disappointment. When someone I love lives miles and miles away and I never know when/if I'll ever see them again, the only way I know to live with that is to just "let it go". The fact is that when they are here, I try not to be too bothersome with multiple visits. So far, I'm regarded by ex-son-in-law and his SO as having a right to visit the kids. I live in fear of somehow upsetting them so that their opinion on this subject might change. o, I am pretty surprised I am taking this so hard. Well, there's always Christmas if I can pray the impossible into existence in my life again and once again get vacation time.

A small proliferation

of food. Yesterday I canned 10 pints of potatoes. Today I canned 5 pints of tomato soup. I also had a pint of the soup for supper--it's yummy.

Tomorrow I'm tackling a turkey. Maybe two...........there are two in the freezer and I could use the space. I'm planning on pressure cooking the turkey in my big pressure canner. I have no big plans for Thanksgiving. No one will see my turkey, even if I were to roast it all pretty in the oven for hours and hours. So, why do that? It will cook in about an hour and a half in the canner. So, I don't have to get up a dawn 30 to cook it. I will debone it and throw the carcass in with the liquid from the cooking process and make a yummy broth which I will also then can. I probably won't get to the actual canning process til Tuesday.

All this canning has the effect of mitigating the dryness of the heated desert air. I watched some folks buy a humidifier at the store the other day. Now that I can and also hang my clothes on an indoor rack to dry, I rarely have to think about getting shocked in this house. I guess the folks who bought the humidifier haven't learned these tricks yet..........

Well, I have to go pull one of my little turkeys out of the freezer to thaw. It's not much bigger than a big chicken so it ought to thaw pretty quickly. I really only need it to thaw enough to be able to get the bag of innards out before I cook it. I'm hoping to get some stuff on the dehydrator while the turkey cooks. I have enough stuff to dehydrate to fill all 9 trays--celery, carrots, kale, zucchini, and cilantro.

Trying Walmart & Mysterious "Thunks"

The last time I went to the grocery store, I came home totally exhausted from pushing the heavy cart and trudging through the store. Lately I've been doing delivery or pick up. It costs a little more up front, but it sure eliminates impulse buys which would probably cost me more than the fees. So, tonight I'm trying Walmart.

I haven't checked the full order yet and that may change my evaluation, but I doubt it. First, I found their website very confusing. Things are clickable that don't appear to be clickable. Additionally, I ended up placing a pick up order when I tried numerous times to indicate I wanted a delivery order. I ended up having to call an 800 number to get that straightened out. That was not all bad as they gave me $10 off for my trouble.

I had hoped against hope they'd deliver in paper bags. I was watching a youtube video from the Provo, Utah area this AM. She was awaiting a delivery and when it came, it was in paper bags. Darn it all, I got more plastic bags. I have been working hard to get plastic bags out of my house. The store has a recycling center that recycles plastic bags. I KNOW I've carried in 4 bags, stuffed with bags. And, I have 2 more in my van right now. Also 2 more waiting to be filled in the kitchen. I'm sorry--I regard those things as a curse. Yes, I do use them to line my small trash cans but only because they multiply like rabbits otherwise.

IF Walmart does a weekly sale ad, I've never been able to find it. That really messes with my usual mode of shopping--I buy a few standard items and then round out my order with meats and veggies that are on sale and which I can can. I did find, just because I know the prices at Smith's and Smart & Final, that many items are just a few cents less than I usually pay. It's not much even when totaled and I have not figured a way to shop sales when I can't find out what is actually on sale.

I am about to have some sort of a problem with the van. I have noticed when I back up that it feels and sounds like I'm backing over something when there's actually nothing there. I figure it could be tires (maybe a bubble on the inside I can't see or a broken belt), brakes or tranny. I am praying if it's one of these three things it's tires. Dear God, spare me the tranny thing. I'm going to have to drive her about 15 more miles and then next week I have taken time off so I can get her seen to then.

Pays to have a stuffed pantry

I was watching some youtube videos this afternoon. I got inspired and decided I needed some chicken soup. I grabbed a jar of home canned chicken and a jar of home canned broth. I pulled some dehydrated onions and some dehydrated celery from another shelf. Then I grabbed some freeze-dried carrots I've owned for a while. Dumped all that into a big pot. Added a quart or two of water and some freeze-dried chicken gravy that had been powdered. I did not add any additional seasonings. When all that was thoroughly warm and rehydrated, I added several handfuls of egg noodles (from the grocery store) and voila! Chicken soup! It is chock full of chicken with plenty of veggies. It is seasoned very well with the dehydrated gravy. All in all a yummy dinner, fit for a rainy day like today. And, as usual, there is a good bit leftover for additional meals.

Time to get serious with the canning

I told you I canned 10 jars of chicken the other day. I've been upset with myself ever since. My canner will do 10 jars on TWO levels, hence up to 20 jars at a time. However, in order to do that, one needs two racks. One rack sits on the bottom of the pot so that the jars don't come in direct contact with the bottom of the "pot". The second rack sits on top of the first level of jars, thus allowing a person to double stack. The only problem--I have only one rack, so no double stacking. I had 4 more chicken breasts, big ones. I could have had 4 more jars of canned chicken but for the absence of that second rack. The interesting thing about double stacking is that it does not require any more energy (gas or electric) and it also doesn't increase the processing time. I guess I am just tired of paying double for my gas stove for the same amount of product, the result of the wasted opportunity to double stack.

So, I am going to bestir myself and order another rack from Amazon. It's a bit $12 investment and I have easily wasted multiples of that amount with the loss of many double stack opportunities. Additionally, I am ordering a BUNCH of canning lids. Canning jars need to be viewed as an investment, not an expense. You are buying an asset (think automobile) that you can use many times, over and over. Lids, on the other hand, are only supposed to be used once. I have cheated and used some of my jars twice but it is a riskier thing to do. Lids where I shop are about $.30 each. I found lids on Amazon in bulk for $.17 each. That's a heck of a saving. These are brand name lids, not some generic thing that may or may not work.

These bulk canning lids are made by a company called Bernardin. They are the Canadian company owned by Ball Canning. If you don't know, Ball Canning company is the know all and be all of American canning--top of the line. Bernardin lids and jars are the equivalent of Ball. So, they're a good deal. And that $.17 price includes extra shipping from Canada! (Probably includes some tariff as well.............)

I have big canning plans for the next week. I want to cook and can a turkey or two as well as a bunch of potatoes. Truth is, turkeys are appearing at all the local stores at very low prices per pound. I'd love to go buy a couple to stash in the freezer. However, my freezer is full. So, I need to can some stuff up because I can't take advantage of any bargains I might find right now. And, I am concerned about the price of food come this time next year. I expect it to go up and I do not expect my wages to keep pace.

Additionally, my health isn't getting any better, or so it seems from human observation. God may certainly be about to work a miracle, but it's got me worried. I'm truly not sure what happens to me when I can't work anymore. So, prayer warriors, please pray for me.

 

Livin' in the state of confusion

I keep telling y'all that I never know what day it is. I know the date because the computer tells me the date in the lower right corner. Sometimes folks will ask me questions like: "Are you working Tuesday?" or "What shift are you working Saturday?" I tell you, those questions totally confound me. I thought I'd talk about last week's schedule just to give you an idea. I was off the 10th and 11th, Sunday and Monday. On Tuesday, the 12th, I worked 8-1. I remember going to get into my car and being surprised that everyone else had their trash cans at the curb. Me? I had no idea it was Tuesday til that moment. I worked 4-9 on the 13th. Then I had the 14th off. On Friday, the 15th, I worked 1-6. And I had/have yesterday and today, the 16th and 17th off.

So, I get up in the morning and the first thing I do is check my schedule to see where I'm supposed to be that day. Actually, I almost always check the night before and then again in the morning, just trying to make sure I got it right. Then I check the weather. Usually 3 seasons of the year, it's windy around here. In summer, it's usually dead still. Our weather right now is fluctuating between the 40's to the mid 70's. If the high is going to be 70 or above, I wear shorts. If it drops below that, I'm lookin' for long pants. Then I have to figure out what to wear on top. If I'm gonna be in the van around mid-day to 3PM, I can be sure the temp inside the van will be in the mid 80's. But going in early, or staying late, it's more likely to be in the 50's. The next question is what it might be like in the store. If I'm gonna be in Lumber in the late afternoon or evening, I have to layer up. It gets COLD in Lumber. If it's windy and they put me "in the middle", I'm gonna be cold. (In the middle happens to be right in line with the exit doors. If it's windy, the cold air comes in anytime someone goes out.) If they put me on "my favorite register", I only get too warm when my blood pressure plays tricks. Otherwise, I'm cold, right in the path of a huge ventilation duct. I can wear a short sleeve tee and plan on a sweater over it. I can wear a short sleeve tee with a long sleeve tee under it. I can wear a short sleeve or long sleeve shirt of some kind with a sweatshirt over it. I can just wear a pullover sweater or sweatshirt. It's a continual guessing game, hence a continual state of confusion.............

And on and on........... Do I need to tell you I hate all this? Some folks say we humans don't like change. My whole life feels like "change".

I was off yesterday and I'm pretty proud of what I accomplished. I cut 13 chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces and created 10 jars of canned chicken, doubling my stash of canned chicken. I know ladies who have 100 jars of canned chicken on their shelves, figuring they'll need 2 jars per week to feed their family for a year. I don't know how they do that! I did "ugly chicken". That's what canners call chicken that is canned raw. If you've ever boiled a chicken or even poached some chicken breasts, you've probably seen some "scum" that floats in the pan. When you can chicken that has not been cooked, that "scum" settles on the inside of your jars. It still tastes great and can be used many ways. It just doesn't look "pretty" in the jars. Most canners love to show off their shelves filled with sparkling jars of colorful food, courtesy of God's bounty and their own hard work. But, for me, not having to go through the extra work of browning the chicken up front works. I don't care if the chicken is "ugly".

I can use that chicken to create chicken and rice, chicken and gravy with mashed potatoes, chicken salad, and many different chicken casseroles. I can turn out homemade chicken soup in the time it takes to cook the veggies (dehydrated veggies of course). All that's necessary to use the chicken to make a hot meal is to warm it up--it cooks fully in the canning process. Convenience food on the shelf.

My next canning project will be potatoes. I have also been dehydrating kale and turning it into "green powder" along with the odd bunch of spinach here and there. I can "hide" a teaspoon of green powder in whatever I'm making and bump up the nutrition without the risk of the greens going bad in the fridge. Gotta love that. And it really saves space. A whole bunch of kale makes about 1/4 cup of "powder".

Well, that's all I have for now. You be BLESSED today.

 

Working hands.............

One thing I always wanted was pretty hands. I've decided, with this job, it will never happen. First, unlike some of my co-workers, I am not willing to spend my hard earned money on manicures. So, I'm stuck with slapping a few coats of clear polish on my nails and letting it go at that. Second, working retail, one is exposed to every kind of disease/germ imaginable. It's worse than working in a nursery school. Every surface one touches has been germed up, not just with childhood diseases and flu and cold germs, but with adult germs like TB and certain other diseases that we thought were eradicated in this country. Money, merchandise, counter surfaces, the scan gun, the keyboard--someone else's germy hands have touched it all, most likely AFTER they coughed on their hands or wiped their noses. Consequently, I use a LOT of anti-bacterial stuff on my hands, numerous times a day. So, the skin on my hands is dry. And to add to the dryness and no professional manicures, my hands get bruised up all the time, as do my arms. I get poked with screwdrivers and customers dump pry bars and quarts of paint onto the counter (but only onto the part of the counter  on which my hands are resting). My hands are constantly bruised up. In that my left hand is still not as useful as it used to be, my right hand takes the brunt of the beating.

Right now  am sporting 3 big reddish purple bruises on my right hand and one on my right arm. My father used to call marks like this "blood bruises". I personally think they are the result of bruising where skin is thin and so are the walls of blood vessels. One thing that might be kind of good--it kinda indicates that the blood is "thin", i.e., flows freely. It's the kind of bruise one sees often on "older people". I guess that means I am an "older person". Who knew?

It has long been a complaint of "older" women that we are often "invisible". I'm beginning to wish that were true. I'm getting awfully tired of "old" men patting my hand, my arm, my shoulder and calling me "sweetheart". The worst of it is I don't get to answer them on this job. I admit I physically recoil from all those "friendly" touches, but in the past, if someone called me "sweetheart", my response would have been: "Sir, you don't know me well enough to call me "Sweetheart" and you never will. Please call me Ms. __________." Now if I were to say that to a customer, I would undoubtedly be "counseled" on customer relations. I am thinking I may drop in on one of the Assistant Store Managers (male) and ask them how I can respond to shut this stuff down.

The other day I was on a register "in the middle". Someone else was working on "my favorite register", normally the busiest register in the place. I was amazingly busy, customers one right after another, and lined up. I looked over at "my favorite register" and she didn't have a single customer. I know I am a better/faster cashier than she is, but the customers had no way of knowing that, right? I came up with an idea as to why and if I write it here, I hope no one will stone me for not being PC. The other lady is grossly overweight. She wears clothing from 3 sizes ago. Knit pants stretched over rolls of fat aren't really attractive. In fact, it kind of contributes, in my mind, to a "slovenly" appearance. I go to work wearing makeup and I am not overweight. My clothing looks clean, doesn't fit like a seam will break open any second, etc. Additionally, long ago, I gave up coloring my hair. It's white now in the front with some salt and pepper in the back.I do not have 4 inch roots against hair that was previously dyed black. Is it possible I am working harder simply because I look better? Sounds crazy, I know, but, I admit, I don't like being around people who look like they don't care about themselves. If that is the case, there is no hope for me. No way I'm going to work with ill-fitting clothes or no makeup. I guess I am just stuck being called "Sweetheart" and working my butt off...............

I'm worried about a couple of guys who work in the store, one more than the other. One guy I know is single. He makes a point of talking to me. That's kind of okay, but he invades my personal space when he does it. He's also commented "nice legs" when I am wearing shorts (NOT Daisy Mae shorts, bermudas, to my knees!). Yesterday I got the whole story of his recent vacation in Florida............. There's another. I don't know if he's married or not. He, too, makes a point of making eye contact and smiling and speaking to me, sometimes several times a day. I often catch him "studying" me. He may just be a friendly guy, but he sets my alarm bell off. Can I just wear a sign that says "NOT interested--Asexual"?