My Weblog

History Nut

I am a total history nut. I can't help it. Old places and antiques fascinate me. Throw in old "castles" in Europe and a cute young guy (just a little older than my oldest grandson) with an amusing accent, and I am hooked. I have been watching some videos on youtube of this "kid" exploring old abandoned manor houses, castles, etc. The kid speaks pretty good English, but with little knowledge of idioms. So, for example, he just picked up a fan like you might have used at a fancy ball in the south, trying to cool yourself, and referred to it as a "waver". The kitchens in these places have some version of a chimney or primitive range hood. He refers to them all as "extractors". He sees tapestries on the wall and calls them "wall rugs". I have used the phrase "back in the day" and heard that phrase used. However, I don't think I have ever heard it used to refer to anything before 1920 or 1930. He's walking around a 200 year old building talking about how something might have been used "back in the day". In some of these places, idiots have gone in and dumped piles of furniture, fabric, and papers in a room. He refers to the room as "overthrown". It's all a little amusing if you ask me. He frequently encounters rosaries--he calls them prayer beads. He also calls a crucifix either a cross or a picture of Jesus Christ. It also gets pretty interesting when he tries to figure out something he sees in a kitchen.

His accent is so cute. It does cause me to have to do a little problem solving along the way though. For example, I heard him talking about upholstered "shares". It didn't take long to figure out he meant chairs. (He has trouble with the sh/ch combinations.) Another sound he has trouble with is the th sound, which is pretty common with folks from Germany/Netherlands/the parts of Belgium with a heavy Dutch influence. I heard him talking about the "udders". I looked around for cows, then realized he meant "others". 

All in all I like this kid pretty much. He has a respect for the fact that the place he is exploring was once someone's precious home. If he picks something up, he tries to put it back in the exact same place. He handles things very carefully, being cautious about breaking things. He is touring places filled with thousands and thousands of dollars worth of antiques, but doesn't seem to have any inclination to steal even an ashtray. I've actually seen him "clean" (straighten) a couple of "overthrown" rooms. I appreciate his respect for other people's property, even though those people may have died and will never know the difference. I have been giggling, though, when he marvels that dead people just left all this good stuff behind. I wanna say "Hay, cutie, did you think they could take it with them?" Another thing I like is he never tells you exactly where he is or even shows you the exterior of the place he's exploring. That way, no one seeing a wealth of gorgeous antiques will know where to go to steal anything. 

Anyway, if any of this sounds interesting or amusing to you, go to youtube and search for Bros of Decay. Let me know if you check 'em out and it they bring a smile to your face or fascinate you with the amazing places they tour.

 

 

Joining shopper's anonymous now..........

Kroger had it's case lot sale last week and it's continuing this week. I will admit to you that I don't think it was near as good as in the past. I noticed no sale on a lot of basics but if you wanted to pay for prepared foods, you could do okay. I was particularly interested in canned goods. I have single cans of a pretty wide variety of goods, but after the first week of SHTF, I'm going to have to really work at it. I did manage to grab some Green Giant corn and peas and some Van Camp pork and beans, but those are the only "basics". I don't buy much in the way of brand name stuff; I stick mostly to Kroger brand. I've found that brand to be pretty good over all. I can't see spending more on something just because it is an advertised "branded" product. 

I have found that in general, Kroger is pretty good to shoppers if a product is out of stock. Normally they will substitute something that is deemed to be "higher quality". For example, they substituted Dole pineapple for Kroger this week. Also substituted Kroger's line of organic products for the regular Kroger stuff. They had "my" brand of frozen pizza on sale. I rarely buy frozen pizza anymore. However, they had Freschetta pizzas on sale for $3.99, normally $5.99. I haven't seen those at $3.99 for months and months. I bought 4. One I cooked up last night (with two more meal's worth in the fridge, and I have 3 whole ones, 3 meals each (at least) in the freezer. That'll carry me well into 2022. 

I am contemplating a change in my shopping routine. For quite a while now, I've been shopping every other week. I am considering changing that to weekly. I think it may help me to keep a tighter grip on the budget by having access to weekly sales. I want to build my menu more closely around whatever is on sale. I also want to see if I can walk the store to do my shopping instead of pick-up. I haven't even tried that since I got hurt. But, I miss being able to shop the markdowns.........

I finally figured out one of my Dad's jokes from years gone by. He'd tell this "joke" complete with miming and I never got it. I have been sitting down when I have a lot of work to do chopping veggies or meats (for canning). I did that the other day to chop up veggies for cole slaw. I found that getting out of one of my dining room chairs was hard. Dad used to mime a wobbly old man with a cane moving along very slowly, then trying to maneuver himself into a chair near his friend. When it was time for the wobbly little old man to go, Dad would struggle out of the chair, stand still til he got his sea legs back and then start wobbling away. At that point, the friend would say "Don't hurry off..........."  It finally hit me--these days I resemble that wobbly little old man and I finally got the joke about "hurrying off". I guess it's good to be able to laugh at yourself, 20+ years later. 

It is still hotter than Hades here, with daily temps up to 110 this week. Even at night it doesn't get cool enough to open up the doors and air the place out. I miss that.

Well, that's about it for now. 

Cleaning and organizing..........

And buying......... I discovered along the way that my manual can opener was broken. So I got a new one. Then I found my missing canning ladle, but half the handle was gone, apparently hiding behind or under the fridge. So I got a new one. Then I tried to take the trash out and had a horrible time pulling out the bag. It was hung up on a broken rim which obliterated the upper edge of the bag when I finally managed to extract it. So, I got a new one. Then I wanted to shred some zucchini. But nothing I could do would cause the food processor to turn on. I know from experience that chopping up vegetables manually makes my wrist scream. The food processor was broken. So I got a new one. I try to shred old client records and tax returns to maintain security of private information. No matter what I did, I couldn't get the shredder to run. It is broken. So, I need to buy another one. Old slew foot seems to intend to nickel and dime me to death...........

Apparently I have enough chicken to can. the Kroger store (Smith's) put chicken legs and thighs on a really good sale. My normal pattern would be to buy some and vacuum wrap it and freeze it. Then, later, at my leisure, pull it out and can it. So I ordered 2 value packs of legs and one more of thighs (since I'd just canned a value pack of thighs). I went to pick up my groceries on Tuesday and they were sold out of the chicken. I still have plenty to can in the freezer, among other things a turkey breast and a whole turkey. Maybe God thinks I have enough poultry???

Watching youtube, I finally got an explanation of effective meal planning to use what's in the house. I've heard any number of people tell me to meal plan, but finally got a step by step explanation of HOW. First thing is to know what you have. So, I'm working on a pantry inventory. I started with the rolling pantry. I took everything off, dusted the cans and jars (to get rid of the dog hair), and created a written inventory as I put it all back. Everything went back by category and by type. For example, all the soups are on one shelf with all the tomato soup grouped, then the mushroom soups together, and so on. I actually feel pretty proud when I look at that rolling pantry now.

Best part of the pantry inventory is that Smith's is having their quarterly can sale. For a change, I can make sure the stuff I buy is the stuff I need. And the dog hair has been banished from that corner of the kitchen! And I won't be buying a bunch of canned corn while I already have 3 cans on the shelf. 

I gave my "new" (refurbished) food processor a try last night. To tell you the truth, I was disappointed. I was trying to shred some zucchini, which would have been difficult for me to accomplish manually, but which I expected to be no problem for a food processor. I had just two zucchini to shred but I think it took me longer with the machine than it would have without it. The big advantage turned out to be that all my knuckles and fingernails were intact when I was done.  I'm sure it will do a dandy job of chopping. It may even do just fine on slicing, but the shredding thing was very frustrating...........