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Post by paulf on Jan 30, 2018 12:17:32 GMT -5
As the water/sewer commissioner in our little village I handled a complaint of a sewer backup in resident's basement. A plumber had been called to roto-rooter out the sewer line to the main line. He couldn't get through the roots in the feeder line so I called in the big sewer jetting-out truck from the county seat utility company. The resident has a large bunch of tree roots blocking the feeder line from the house to the main line. His sewer line needs to be dug up and a collapsed pipe needs replaced. Usable right now but needs replacing soon. Resident is unhappy but knows we did what we could to help. All part of being a home owner and being part of the village board of directors (city council).
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 30, 2018 12:20:43 GMT -5
september, your hair turned green! Is that a sign of spring? I am taking a "snow day" today and staying home and it feels great to be able to do that! We are just having flurries but it is windy and cold. The grass white and covered so I am puttering around the house doing chores like laundry but also shopping online with some Christmas gift cards. I also want to find some Fox Cherry Tomato seeds somewhere with the cheapest shipping since I am only buying one pack of seeds. I hate that they don't ship them for just the price of a stamp or two.
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Post by meandtk on Jan 30, 2018 14:17:33 GMT -5
Hmmm...today I'm setting up security cameras. Our lovely rural setting is too close to town, or town has come too close to us. Neighbors have been broken into- one next door.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jan 31, 2018 9:57:20 GMT -5
I'm sorry to hear that.
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Post by bestofour on Jan 31, 2018 19:29:14 GMT -5
Went to see my mother and went to a house that we've inherited to see clean up a little bit.
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Post by ahntjudy on Feb 3, 2018 7:58:21 GMT -5
Hmmm...today I'm setting up security cameras. Sadly, that's something that's on my near horizon...There are just rotten apples in every barrel in practically every town anymore... My big 'bad' barking dog can only do so much... My really nice old Italian gardening buddy across the street, who keeps an immaculate yard and garden by the way, had his car, parked out on the street, vandalized the other night...somebody threw a rock and broke one of his windows...A security camera would have gotten that on film...I just shake my head at what the heck is in people's heads...What went wrong with them that they had to go down that destructive path...that is very saddening...ok...sorry...off my soapbox... ~~~ Today, just came back from a hike with Summer...Man, it's nippy out there this morning...it's in the teens... I've just had my energizing cup of coffee...Getting ready to go to the kitchen to do some prep cooking...baking the cake part today for my boyfriend's 71st birthday...He wants a coconut cake... Doing other prep cooking...Made pimiento cheese last night...Blanched some jalapeńos readying them for that stuffing...Fried up some bacon ( daylilydude ) to add to my version of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana...(of course I had to eat the rest of the bacon I didn't need for the soup)...Getting the kale washed and prepped for that as well as fry up the sausage for it... Gonna fry some peppers and caramelize a bunch of onions to go with hot sausage sandwiches...Cleaning a bunch of different raw veggies for munching... So it's a kitchen day for a while...
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Post by aftermidnight on Feb 3, 2018 12:16:19 GMT -5
Well so far I've gotten up, had coffee and visited here. It looks like it's going to be a very lazy day.
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Post by paulf on Feb 3, 2018 12:23:46 GMT -5
Finally a useful quip from the internet....I have a vision problem...I can't see myself doing anything today.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Feb 3, 2018 12:31:32 GMT -5
It's cold, cloudy and misting today. The cat in the hat hasn't shown up to play, so I'm listening to Gunsmoke on TV.
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Post by ladymarmalade on Feb 3, 2018 12:39:05 GMT -5
Dropped the kids at dance for the morning, went and got my church all clean and spiffy for tomorrow, and then did all my grocery running around for The Big Game on Sunday.
It's snowing, and not expected to stop until tomorrow- we could get as much as 5 or 6 inches. So far it's enough to make the roads a mess. Tow bans have already been issued for the main highways. I have to go out one more time to pick up the kids and then we'll be in for the day.
Then I'll be making a massive batch of New England Clam Chowder and Philly Cheesesteak Dip for my offerings for tomorrow's game. I might make some fresh bread too.
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Post by ahntjudy on Feb 3, 2018 12:44:54 GMT -5
Came to sit down for just few minutes...cake's in the oven... When I was stuffing the jalapeńos, I was thinkin' that instead of scarfing down what I didn't need of that nice crispy bacon I made for the soup, I should have saved some to mix in with some of the pimiento cheese... Next time......My arteries are not quite clogged enough...
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Feb 3, 2018 13:24:34 GMT -5
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Post by ladymarmalade on Feb 3, 2018 13:32:05 GMT -5
This is the recipe I'm using for the Cheesesteak Dip: noblepig.com/2015/01/philly-cheesesteak-dip/And this is the recipe I use for the Clam Chowder, though I'll be doubling it and probably using more bacon and more celery: Simple Clam Chowder 2 bacon slices 2 cups chopped onion 1 1/4 cups chopped celery 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 2 garlic cloves — minced 2 cans chopped clams — (6 1/2-ounce) 2 cans whole baby clams - (10 ounce cans) 5 cups diced peeled baking potato (about 1 pound) 4 bottles clam juice — (8-ounce) 1 bay leaf 3 cups milk (or more as needed) 1/2 cup all-purpose flour Cook bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 1 teaspoon drippings in pan. Crumble bacon; set aside. Add onion, celery, salt, thyme, and garlic to drippings in pan; cook 4 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Drain clams, reserving liquid. Add clam liquid, potato, clam juice, and bay leaf to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until potato is tender. Discard bay leaf. Combine milk and flour, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture to pan; bring to a boil. Cook 12 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Add clams; cook 2 minutes. Sprinkle with bacon. Serves 12
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Feb 3, 2018 13:49:22 GMT -5
Take a peek at this. I think it would be pretty tasty.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Feb 3, 2018 15:54:19 GMT -5
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Feb 4, 2018 16:30:07 GMT -5
I put my babies outside today after lunch. It started off cloudy and dreary, but burned off by 11. It's 65 and sunny right now. I put my babies on the dash of the truck facing the sun. They are just beginning to pop through the pellets.
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Post by tomike on Feb 4, 2018 17:45:27 GMT -5
I had to shovel snow twice today and prepared "Pasghetti Sauce"...
Used up tomatoes from the 2017 garden in the freezer.......
Looking forward to the 2018 growing season......
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Post by bestofour on Feb 5, 2018 9:20:34 GMT -5
39° this morning so I think I will put out bird seed and that's all for today.
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 14, 2018 9:40:17 GMT -5
We finally got a sunny day so I will go horseback riding with 2 friends this afternoon and then come home and prepare a special Valentine's Day dinner for hubby.
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Post by Gianna on Feb 15, 2018 16:39:50 GMT -5
This morning I decided to make some spaghetti sauce. I knew there were some ripe tomatoes in the garden, so decided they would go into it. Much to my surprise, I was able to pick almost 3.5 pounds of them!! Wow. Much more than I thought. I even left a few ripe ones out there for future salad use. And there are more green ones too.
It truly has been a warm winter.
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 21, 2018 10:27:46 GMT -5
It was 75° yesterday so I put on some work clothes and hubby and I cleaned out the chicken coop. Yuk, it was totally gross from them being cooped up by the bad weather for the last several weeks. They have outside pens but when there is snow on the ground they just stand inside and poop! It was really smelly in there. Poor hens.
I got inside and raked and scraped everything out and hubby took it to the compost pile. It was a dirty job but now they have all new straw on the floor and I sprinkled DE in there to kill mites.
Since the hens are not laying eggs yet due to the days still not being long enough, I also gave them worm medication. Now they will be ready for spring when it gets here with clean bodies and a clean coop (for now).
I always feel happy when I have cleaned out the coop and made better living conditions for the hens and I like adding to my compost pile as well.
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Post by september on Feb 21, 2018 10:39:58 GMT -5
I bet the hens are happy too with their fresh and clean condo!
I had smoked trout and cream cheese on toast along with my hot coffee for breakfast, and now I get to go out and shovel the 12 inches of snow that fell on our upper deck and back stairs the last two days. Jim does all the other snow removal, so those two are my jobs. Half of the deck goes fast, but half is over our entrance below, so I have to first move it sideways so I don't clog up our main already clean walkway with a snow avalanche from above! Time to bundle up and get at it.
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 21, 2018 10:46:54 GMT -5
I bet the hens are happy too with their fresh and clean condo! They definitely are. They get to go outside while we are cleaning and after they all take dust baths they lay in the sun with one wing extended. the first time I saw this I thought that they were dead but now I know what they are just enjoying the sun. When they go back into the fresh coop they have a great time ripping apart the fresh straw and eating any seeds that they find. It was a wonderful day for them and they will get to come out in the sun again today. Sorry about your snow september, we had 4 inches 4 days ago but with this warmer than normal weather it is all gone now and that is OK with me!
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Post by paulf on Feb 21, 2018 22:16:49 GMT -5
Today the paper where I work one day per week, we printed five newspapers. The owner bought one, we do our own and prints the others for other small papers in the area. Did I get a raise for doing four times the work in the same amount of time as before....NO!
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 22, 2018 10:29:28 GMT -5
I go horseback riding once a week on Wednesday's and yesterday it was 78°. It was glorious!
We rode through the woods on some new trails and had to cross a creek and go up some big hills. The only problem was that the horses had Spring Fever and really wanted to gallop and we didn't so we had to keep holding them beck but it was totally beautiful. We had a great time.
After we were finished and I turned my horse out into the mud filled pasture she immediately got on the ground and rolled in the mud! She looked awful but was totally happy. I think that they like the feeling of stretching their backs out flat on the ground and flinging their legs into the air and don't care if they get all muddy. I have given her a complete bath before and had her roll on the ground right afterwards. She just doesn't care about being pretty!
Today is it raining and 45°. I am so glad that I took advantage of being outside yesterday.
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Post by ahntjudy on Feb 22, 2018 18:59:58 GMT -5
Not today...today was chilly and raw, but the past two days have been like spring...t-shirt weather...sweating outside in February!...in Pennsylvania!... Got out and did a good clean up and cut back of all the dead stuff that overwintered... 7 big trash cans of stuff for 'yard debris pick up'...stuff that's too big and woody for my compost bins...And 3 big trash cans of compostables...
Then headed over to my boyfriend's, did the same thing...brought bags of leaves over there, weeded and mulched the veggie garden areas...Man it felt good to get out there and do some blood pumping yard work...
Everything's ready to plant now as soon as it's time...
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Post by meandtk on Feb 22, 2018 20:39:27 GMT -5
Today I added an Anna apple and Keifer pear to my trees.
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Post by ahntjudy on Feb 23, 2018 7:55:38 GMT -5
Was out earlier in the rain with doggie Summer...noticed a bunch of worms stranded here and there in the driveway... Rescued and relocated them all to the garden... Had a little conversation with them along the way...
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Post by brownrexx on Feb 23, 2018 9:16:10 GMT -5
noticed a bunch of worms stranded here and there in the driveway... Rescued and relocated them all to the garden... I always do that too ahntjudy, but my veggie garden is too far away so they go to the flower beds.
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Post by september on Feb 23, 2018 11:18:59 GMT -5
Defrosted the little dorm refrigerator in the basement when I noticed the puddle of water next to it. I suppose it had not been defrosted for several years and the ice had formed outside the top compartment and had even pushed the drip tray askew. Had not opened it for a long time - not much in it these days, just a few water bottles and pop cans and one last jar of my fermented pickles from last fall.
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