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A day of digging

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I ended up outside for about four hours, digging paths in the snow – and I’m not done!

The priority was to get the fire pit area cleared. That has been drifted over for at least a couple of months now. I got the easy paths done first, though, like the path to the litter compost area. On that side, there was one path that got drifted over that I hadn’t gotten to previously, and I needed to use the ice scraper tool to break up the packed snow to get it clear. The rest of the most used paths only needed minor clearing.

The first section of the path to the fire pit area was brutal. I didn’t even try to re-dig the original path from before. That’s where, in the video, you can see a dark trail from dirty little cat feet. Normally, I’d clear the cat path to where they get under the storage house, with a branch off towards the fire pit. That cat path was too hard packed, so I cleared a new path next to it, until I reached where the old path branched off.

Even working off to one side, the snow was so hard packed, even the blade from the ice scraper had difficulty cutting through. I probably spent as much time on that one short section as I did the rest of the path to the fire pit area. If I had tried to use little Spewie to try and clear it, it would have broken. I’m pretty sure even my brother’s gas powered snow blower would have broken, trying to get through there!

Speaking of which, my brother came out today. Along with stuff he needed to do in their storage, he got his own truck set up. He used the snow blower in the outer yard and driveway as well, and moved his truck to our garage, where it can partially fit through the door. The cap on the box of his truck is too high to drive all the way in. He made sure it was all prepared so we can use it, if we have to.

He is convinced something is going to happen to prevent our truck from being ready in a few days, or it’s going to break down again, and we’re going to need to use his truck.

I really don’t want to use his truck! I appreciate the offer, for sure, but it’s a bigger truck, a rear wheel drive and basically a one wheel drive. It’s done very well for them, and I am incredibly grateful the option is there, but I really, really would rather not have to use it!

While I was digging one of the last sections of path, my brother came over to get me and show me the truck. He had it part way in the garage, and had set up a large board across the floor, in front of the tires, to make sure it didn’t go past that point. Otherwise, the top of the box cap would hit the top of the garage door frame! He had me start it and back it out, and walked me through various things on it. This truck as two gas tanks; something we’ve never had. As old as it is, it has lower mileage than our truck! He had some things he wanted to take out of the back, so after going over it with me, he took care of that, then drove it back in position party way into the garage while I went back to shoveling.

I was near finished shoveling when he came over again. He wanted to take pictures of section of the drain pipe from the kitchen, across to the bathroom. Under the bathroom, with the maze of pipe joins, the main drain changes size twice before the final length of 3″ pipe that runs to the septic tank. He is thinking of replacing the pipe from under the kitchen to under the bathtub with 3″ pipe, so that it can handle the volume of water from when the washing machine drains. The washing machine’s pump drains it faster than the water can go through the 1 1/4″ pipe. The problem is, there not a lot of room to put a 3″ pipe through!

I told him about how I’d run the drain auger through three times, after the plumber last got it unblocked for us. Not even the commercial drain auger can get the inside of the pipes completely clear from decades of grease and grime from the kitchen sink, and the sink that used to be set up where the washing machine is now.

I’ve picked up a brush set that’s designed to clean pellet stove pipes or dryer vents. It has two brush sizes, one of which will fit inside this pipe, and it can reach up to 30 feet. It’s about 20 feet to the corner under the bathroom. I think that if I can scrub out the inside of the pipe, that would solve the problem, and we can have the washing machine drain to the septic tank instead of out the window in the main door! I haven’t done it yet because it would be a very messy job that I would need to prepare for. Just running the auger through was messy and disgusting enough! Until it’s done, though, we don’t even dare try testing it again. The last time we did, even after the blockage was cleared by the plumber, we ended up flooding the entryway again. The water just couldn’t drain through the pipe fast enough.

That done, it was back outside. My brother had a few last things to do before leaving, and I did a bit more clean up around the paths before starting to put things away. I dug out fire wood that had been partially buried in snow, and left it out in the sun to melt a bit before having a cookout tomorrow. March is a birthday month and we always celebrate on a weekend near the birth date, usually with a special take out meal (going to a restaurant is no longer an option). Obviously, we can’t do that this month, but I still want to do something special, so we’ll be having a cookout, instead!

Before putting everything away, I finally took the snow off the cat shelter roofs. I’d been leaving the snow as an extra layer of insulation, but we don’t really need that anymore. Now, I want the sun to actually warm up the shingles and metal roof panels and melt away any remaining build up of ice and snow.

By the time I got in, I was pretty wasted. My daughters have basically taken over the other jobs I normally would have done, and made sure I got fed! 😄

Tonight, I’m thinking to prep some things in advance for the cookout before heading to bed. I’m still deciding on what that might be.

Meanwhile, I still need to dig out one more path. With the cookout planned for tomorrow, I might leave that for Monday. We’ll see. I definitely want to get it done before the first day of spring, though, as I plan to do my first “garden tour” video of the year. 😄 It won’t be the first time I did one with everything covered in snow!

Little by little, it’s getting done!

The Re-Farmer

I’m going to need to decompress after this one!

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Okay, so things got done and I’m home now.

First, the good parts.

I texted the cab company (it’s one guy with one car) last night to book a trip for today. Once it was confirmed he was available to pick me up in the afternoon, I called the grocery store. I had used their website to build a shopping list, using the new flier, etc. They have a delivery service that allowed to have the list transferred over with a click. That would have allowed me to submit my shopping list, work out payment, and then either have it delivered or ready for pick up. Except I knew no one would be delivering where we live. I expected to be able to arrange a pick up. Our nearest location, however, didn’t even come up as an option.

Which just meant I had to phone the store directly. Since I used their website to build my list, I could just read it off. I also let them know when I would be arriving to pick up (more or less) and was assured it would be ready by then. That done, I confirmed with the taxi about the times. I even got a call this morning to ask about substitutions, and could even call them back later on to add something to the list my husband requested.

The grocery store was just the first place I needed to go. I went to the customer service desk and the only delay was people running around because someone had fallen in the parking lot, and an ambulance had been called. My order had already been processed and suspended, so it just needed to be called up and paid for, then someone went to the back to bring out the cart. It was all boxed up, so I didn’t even need to use the bags I’d brought along.

After the cab was loaded up, the next stop was the bank so I could use the ATM to pay him. I asked him how much it was before I went in, so I had an idea of how much I needed to take out. It was already $50 by then.

From there, it was back home with a stop at the post office. It has been more than a week, so the mail box was stuffed with fliers, but the important mail we were waiting for was there, plus I now had a parcel to pick up.

As we left, I messaged the family to let them know we were almost there, so they could be ready to assembly line things to the house, and that I was telling the driver to just pull up to the garage, not into the yard, so it would be easier for him to leave.

Final bill was pennies over $90, before tip. I can’t begrudge it. Gas prices have gone up to $1.559 – and no, it’s not because of what’s going on in the Middle East. It’s just our government inflating prices again, then blaming Trump and the US, which has become the modus operandi since Marx Carnage became our new Prime Dictator.

I’d better watch myself. With the newest bills they’re trying to push through, especially after buying another MP and getting the majority government they couldn’t get through an election, I can be arrested for saying that.

Anyhow…

The girls were waiting for me when we got there, everything was unloaded to the garage and we assembly lined bringing everything to the house as the driver left.

Now for the down side.

The drive is a nice guy. He really is.

He’s a terrible driver.

Also, he car sounds like it’s about to break down any minute. It did not sound like this, the last time he drove me into town!

When he first got here, I met him at the gate, leaving it open for when we got back. He didn’t drive fully into the driveway, and had to do some maneuvering in order to turn around because of it. He mentioned getting stuck twice in the last while, so I can understand his being super cautious.

As soon as we headed out, I immediately heard and felt something wrong with the car, but I didn’t say anything about it. I figured, he would know about his own car.

What he clearly doesn’t know, is how to drive on icy gravel roads. Even in the first quarter mile, he was already starting to speed and I could feel the car losing traction. I told him to feel free to drive as slow as he needed, and that the area ahead was prone to deer crossings. He did slow down, but after the first mile, he started speeding again. That section was better, but he didn’t slow down when we were coming up on the intersection at the highway, where it is always sheer ice. So I let him know that the area ahead was really bad for being slippery, and he did eventually start to slow down, but still ended up sliding a bit because he was still going too fast while breaking for the stop sign.

Once driving through our little hamlet, where the speed limit is 50km/h in good conditions, he started speeding again. It wasn’t good conditions, though certainly better than the gravel road.

Then we got through the residential area, and the limit increased to 100km/h. Which would have been okay, except, being a nice guy, he was also very talkative.

He talks with his hands.

At least he mostly kept one hand on the steering wheel, but he was all over the road. At one point, driving in the middle of the highway. Thankfully, there were no oncoming vehicles at that time!!

Meanwhile, the entire time we were driving, I was literally expecting the car to break down.

He drove me to where I needed to go, and then we were on the way home. I discovered he’s not good at getting around other vehicles, either, and had a mild heart attack as he drove around a plow truck that was just through an intersection, setting up to clear drifts off the shoulders. With oncoming traffic.

When we got back to our hamlet, we stopped at the post office and it wasn’t too bad – until he got back on the gravel road. Again, I tried to let him know, he didn’t need to be in a hurry, and which sections were known to be slippery. He started asking about other towns and hamlets in the area, gesturing broadly with one hand, weaving on the icy road with the other. As we started to get to the intersection by our place, I mentioned how the road past our place isn’t on any maps, so that’s why we made the sign at the corner of the property, with the road name on it, because the sign with the name got stolen. I even gestured at the stop sign that had been knocked down in the process. At that point, I had to say, please slow down!

It turns out he was so distracted by talking, he was about to drive right past our intersection. He had to back up to be able to take the turn.

When we drove in, one of my daughters was waiting at the garage, while the other was waiting at the people gate into the yard. After bringing everything in, my younger daughter went back out to close the gate while I helped my older daughter put things away. As we were talking, she comments on the noises coming from the car! She thought it sounded ready to break down, too.

I’m happy we got the errands done, the mail finally picked up – and to be home again, safe and sound!

I really wasn’t sure about that last part for much of the drive.

I really hope the truck gets fixed soon. I don’t think I could handle another cab ride.

Oh, crud. I’ll have to get the cab to drive me in to pick up the truck, anyhow.

*sigh*

We’ll figure it out!!!

The Re-Farmer

Whoops!

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I got distracted and forgot I didn’t make a post!

It was a quiet day, and I was even able to get some crochet done.

I do have a bit of a morning update on the truck.  More perplexity.  They test drive the truck a couple if times yesterday.  

It was working fine.

At least, the first time they drove it.  The last time they drove it, it started making noises again.  They needed to wait for an available hoist si they could check out whatever us going on.

I got a city trip and a visit to my mother with no issues, but that short trip to the dump had do many issues in such a short time, with all those warnings from the onboard computer, it’s bizarre fir it to be working fine after being parked for a day and a half.

My brother says my truck is cursed. 😆

The Re-Farmer

Our 2026 Garden: “potting up” the onions, and setting things up

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Okay, I got some good progress today!

My first goal was to “pot up” the onions in their seed snails. For this, I wanted to use potting soil, rather than more seed starting mix. I have a bag of potting soil from last year with plenty still left in it, but I knew it was really full of sticks. Which meant I needed to sift it, first, because there was no way it could be used in the snail rolls as it was.

I got out a bucket and a colander that I use for harvesting in the summer, and started sifting in batches. The potting soil was bone dry which made it easier to sift, but also meant there was a LOT of dust. Even misting with water didn’t really help much. I did try to use a dust mask, which is difficult all on its own, since I can’t wear masks anymore. It was either breathing dirt without it, or struggling to breathe with it. Definitely a no-win situation. It didn’t actually help much, to be honest, but it was better than nothing.

I was blown away by just how many sticks I sifted out.

That pile on the side? That’s what I sifted out of what you see in the bucket. I poked my finger in to measure, and it was up to my second joint, so about 2 inches deep. Good grief! It was almost more sticks than soil!

The next step was to moisten the sifted potting soil. I used hot water for that, so it wouldn’t be a shock to the plant roots. It took a remarkable amount of water to moisten it, and I was just aiming to get it wet enough to be able to stick to itself.

Then it was time to get the onions ready.

This is how they looked to start with. These rolls all fit into one bin, and the seedlings are looking pretty good.

The length of them did make unrolling the snail a bit of a challenge! They were tangled together, and wanted to twist around each other as I unrolled the snail.

In the first photo above, I unrolled the first seed snail. These were bottom watered, and you can see that the soil is moist all the way through, and the roots are all the way to the bottom. Some of them seemed a bit crowded, so I did adjust a few of them to space them out a bit. In the second picture, you can see where I’ve added the potting soil on top. From there, it got rolled up and taped closed again.

It was a lot bigger, of course. Only two could fit in the bin I was using, but I did have a second, slightly smaller one, available.

Here are the “potted up” onions. In the second picture, you can see that one of the snails is a lot smaller. That’s the bunching onions. It’s a good thing those didn’t need as much soil, because I was scraping the bucket to get every last bit out for that roll. I really didn’t want to have to sift more!

These are now back in the living room. They are the only things I have space for there, this year.

In order to do this, I had to completely clear my work table. That meant taking away the trays, lights, heat mats, and everything under and around them.

With the onions done, I could then arrange the work space to be ready for the next batch of seed starts. I have the top shelf from a plastic shelf that was too tall to fit in the old basement, and it was used last year to hold trays higher up. That’s what I am using it for again now.

My poor little peppers and eggplant.

Hopefully, the new seeds I sowed yesterday will germinate – and won’t get eaten! I had some concerns about not having heat mats under them anymore, but before I set up the shelf, I made sure to create a wall of cardboard around the back and at one end, then moved the heater so that it was blowing under the shelf. That made a big difference, and the warmth is kept under the shelf enough to warm the trays from below. Not that the heater is on all the time, but even when the furnace is on, now that the opening between the basements is uncovered again, there is heat blowing in and the cardboard, etc. holds it around the plants surprisingly well.

Which you can see better in this next picture.

The insulation leaning at one end it just there until it’s needed later; the cardboard forms a “wall” behind it, out of frame. I’ve got the flaps of the cardboard box under the back legs, so I had to put something under the front legs to level the shelf. Then I set up the insulation pieces, which protect the cutting mat from warping, and the heat mats, ready and waiting. With the seedlings so close to the shop light, the plant lights aren’t needed for now, so they’re just clamped to the table in the front. There is no place to clamp the lights to use them on top of the shelf, anyhow. Everything gets plugged into a power bar with USB ports that I have set up above my work table.

As for our next seed starts, I don’t think I’ll be using the seed trays again. They are all smaller seeds, and for the space, I think I will do more seed snails. I wouldn’t me making them as deep was what I used for the onions, though. More like a third of that height. I have lots of that packing foam available.

I need to remember, though: do not use painters tape to attach them together to make a longer strip. One of the onion rolls started to split at the tape while I was rolling it back up again. It doesn’t like moisture. I’ll have to see what alternatives we have.

That won’t be needed for another week or so.

For now, I’m just glad I don’t need to sift more of that potting soil for a while!!

The Re-Farmer

Here we go again… again

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Funny how things can go so wrong – yet go so right, at the same time!

First off, I am seriously glad I cancelled both my own doctor’s appointment, yesterday, and my daughter’s on Monday, because of concerns about road conditions.

Second, it’s amazing how there were the right people available at the right time, and even the right places.

The truck just got towed to the garage again.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but my first warning of a problem was while backing out of the garage, to load it for a dump run. I wasn’t going to drive up to the house, but I at least wanted to back up closer to the cleared path to the chain link fence. As I was backing up, the truck basically stopped moving. I knew there was a snow bank I needed to clear and I thought I might have backed into it. I tried to get out in 2 wheel drive at first, then switch to 4 wheel drive, but eventually was able to pull forward while in 2 wheel drive and didn’t try backing up again. As I went to the house, though, I could see by the tracks that I never got anywhere near the snow bank. It was just loose snow over ice, and no traction.

My daughter and I loaded up the truck, and then I headed out. Things were really slippery on the gravel road, but once I was on the highway, it was fine.

It was slippery on the gravel road to the dump, but not too bad. I drove up to the booth to show my access card number, but there was no one there. The guy was at the pit area, using a front end loader to clear up the driving area in front. So I went to the recycling bins first and unloaded there, before heading to the pit. I did notice, every time I tried to move, everything was very slippery and the tires were spinning more than usual before I could get traction.

At the pit, I drove further in, to where it was already cleared, then turned to one side, so that I could back up to the pit and unload.

I got stuck.

Tires spinning, no motion.

I tried a few times in 2 wheel drive, then drive both 4 wheel drive settings. I could move forward slightly, but no traction in reverse.

At one point, the guy with the front end loader passed in front of me, clearing way more snow. I hoped that would help, but it didn’t.

After a while, he came out to talk to me. He made a comment about this being a problem with 2 wheel drive. I told him, I’m in 4 wheel drive! He said that only my rear wheels were turning, not the front wheels. !!!

I tried again, setting it to 2 wheel drive, and the front tires started to spin – but now I started getting messages on my dash. Stabilizers Off. Then Service 4 Wheel Drive.

The truck was not moving.

The guy then said he would try to find some cardboard or drywall or something to put behind the tires. I got my handy garden cultivator that we keep in the truck as a grabber, and used it to scratch up the ice behind each tire.

He found some drywall pieces and set them behind the tires, then suggested something to me, assuring me that he’s done it before, and would be safe. He said that he could try standing on the tail gate and bouncing the truck up and down while I reversed, so help it gain traction. So we did that, and it worked! Once I got far enough out, the tires were no longer spinning and I could back up normally.

He then helped me unload the garbage bags. When it was done, he said he would follow me out to make sure I got out okay.

So awesome!

Once I got on the gravel road, though, I could feel the truck starting to fishtail, and I kept having to slow down. The “slippery conditions” light was on continuously. By the time I got to the stop sign and started braking to stop, I started getting
“stabilizer is off” and “traction is off” messages. As slow as I was going, the truck fishtailed to a stop.

Once on the highway and starting to accelerate, it started again.

That shuddering that, until now, only happened while in 4 wheel drive or auto.

I quickly pulled over. After putting it in park, I thought I would just try again and started to move forward again, but the shuddering immediately started.

So I parked, turned on my hazards and got to work.

This is what WordPress AI thinks my truck looks like. No rust. 😄

First was to try and message the family but, for some reason, my phone hasn’t been able to send messages while on data only. So I phoned home and left a message (I knew no one would be close enough to get to the phone before the answering machine kicked in). Then I called CAA.

Thankfully, this time, after going through the initial answering system, it went straight to a live person. The only difficulty there was, they need a physical address. I was on the side of the highway. There was, however, a driveway a short distance away, so I walked over until I could read their driveway marker number. I knew the tow truck drive would be able to find us, but CAA needed a physical address.

That done, I tried to message my brother and his wife, but it wouldn’t send. After some searching in my phone, I found a setting that, for some reason, was off, so my phone was trying to connect to the internet through my phone’s web browser, instead of through a data signal. I’ve never seen this setting before, so this must have been part of the latest OS update.

That done, I could finally send messages, and even look at the CAA map to follow the driver. Not that I was going to use it much, since it’s all open highway. I would be able to see the tow truck from a mile or more away.

Then it was time to wait.

I even had a couple of vehicles slow down beside me to check if I was okay, which was really nice.

I did get a call from the tow truck driver as soon as he got the CAA notice. We talked about my exact location, which side of the highway I was on, etc. He then asked if I would be riding in with him. That was when I asked about the possibility of getting a ride home. He would have to go past the turn to our place anyhow, and we were only 2 miles out of the way.

Also, just one mile past his sister’s place, at the large animal rescue. So he had no problem knowing where I was, and agreed to drive me home along the way.

Which is so extra appreciated, as it turns out my brother wouldn’t have been able to come out – they were on their way to an event in another town – and my sister and her husband might not have been able to, because today is the Sabbath, and their “church” is pretty strict about that sort of thing. Helping me out might have been okay, though. Still, it would have been at least an hour for them to reach me, or they would have to meet me at the garage. Which closes at 1pm on Saturdays.

So that was something else that fell into place.

While we were driving, I told the driver about what happened and what warnings I was seeing. I had left a message on the company phone, but I was able to give him more details this way.

He asked questions about the mileage and stuff, and I told him a bit about the many very odd and unpredictable problems we’ve been having, as well as how this shuddering thing would come and go, and they could never find the cause. It would work fine while they were testing it. He laughed about that part, because he understood completely. He has that happen with his own vehicles! He even brought up that, for the potential cost, first for how much time it might take to find the problem, then the repairs themselves, it might be better to trade it in. I told him that I’ve already been talking to his brother about that, but we still have almost 3 years of payments on it. He assured me, his brother would be able to help us (he even mentioned that, for regular customers, he can do payment arrangements for work done). I brought up that we (my brother and I) have been talking about including my mother’s car as a trade in, but it was suggested we could get a better price by selling it ourselves. I said that’s not something I would feel up to doing, but my brother suggested we could sell it on consignment.

It turns out, our mechanic does sell on consignment!! Plus, we could probably do better that way, since it would be highly visible on the lot.

Something to work out. I co-own my mother’s car, as I needed at least partial ownership to be able to register and insure it. My brother was able to arrange that, as my mother’s PoA. If we do work out something to sell it, it might be easier for him to make me full owner, so he wouldn’t have to come out and sign things on my mother’s behalf.

But I’m getting ahead of myself on that.

Oh, and I did get complimented on the fact that I understood the risks of buying a high mileage vehicle. He said that he’s had quite a few people he’s towed that got high mileage vehicles, then would be really angry and upset because things were wearing out and breaking down. I told him, we knew the risks, but it was what we could afford – and his brother really went above and beyond to help us with the financing (I’m still convinced he sold it to us at a loss). I actually love the truck. It’s the vehicle we need, but all these weird break downs are just too expensive on a fixed income. I told him about some of our past experiences with the high mileage Uplander we had previously, which did remarkably well for us until we finally sold it for scrap. I then mentioned, the vehicle I liked the most was the Dodge Caravan. He perked right up on that. He said that the Caravan is one of the safest vehicles. He told me he’s rolled a bunch of them for the fire department, and has had one roll 10 times, and still not be crushed. !!!

How does one even get a job like that? 😄

As we were driving down the gravel road to our place, I suggested to him that he could drop me off in the intersection, rather than go to our driveway. With the walls of snow, the driveway is pretty tight for such a large vehicle, and he wouldn’t have room to turn around. He appreciated that! Once he got the tow truck turned around, it also gave him a chance to double check the straps securing the truck before he headed to the garage, and I walked the rest of the way home.

As much of a pain this break down is, it couldn’t have happened better.

I had been thinking of doing our Walmart and Canadian Tire run after my medical appointment, yesterday. Because I cancelled that, due to the weather, we didn’t have this happen while we were much, much further from home. Instead, it was only about 10-15 minutes from home.

We did get our Costco stock up shop done. We got the cat food donation. I got our lysine picked up from the feed store. We are good for some time. I even managed to get the dump run done before the break down. Yes, we still need to do our Walmart and Canadian Tire run, but neither of those are urgent. More importantly, I got a visit in with my mother.

I’d already cancelled my daughter’s medical appointment on Monday, just in case, so we won’t be needing to phone to cancel on the day of the appointment.

There was the guy at the dump, able to help me out.

Our regular garage now does CAA towing, and the driver is our mechanic’s brother, so not only do they know the area and could find me where I was, but I knew that anything I told him about what was going on would actually get to our mechanic. Plus, he was able to give me more information and assurances about other things, like that we might be able to get my mother’s car sold on consignment through the garage.

In the end, I have many blessings to count. For something that went wrong, it couldn’t possibly have gone more right in the process.

The Re-Farmer

Costco stock up trip: this is what $800 looks like

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$799.40 to be exact. 60¢ under budget. 😄

First, though, an update on the truck.

The first thing I noticed when I started it this morning was that the clock’s time was wrong. I’d reset it yesterday. Which means, we lost power to the console during the night, and it came back.

As my daughter and I were starting the drive, we were talking about what’s been going on with the truck, and how weird it was for the tire warning message and light to not be there anymore.

Then, just shy of the highway, less than 2 miles from home, both the light and the message came on.

*sigh*

We had left earlier than usual to meet someone from the rescue to get our top loading cat carrier back, but also to stop in the town my mother is in (again). We picked up a couple of energy drinks and sandwiches for breakfast, then went to the feed store to pick up the lysine. They were still closed, though, so we kept on going to where we were arranged to meet up. We had plenty of time to eat our sandwiches and just sit and talk.

Once we had the carrier again (they even cleaned it!), it was off to the city and Costco.

I could not believe how full the parking lot was, for a Wednesday morning! It was really busy in the store, but the bigger surprise was as we left. There was a huge line to the customer service desk, running all the way to the main doors outside. I don’t usually see that kind of line except after Christmas.

Still, we got what we needed to get here; anything left on our list will be done on our next Walmart run.

There is is. $760.67, before taxes. After the cart was re-loaded, we had to stop and my daughter reorganized things. Because of the crowds and line to the Customer Service desk, we had to do it outside. As our stuff was being scanned, a guy showed up to load the cart and he basically just threw everything onto the flat cart with no attempt to be secure or even logical about it. My daughter and I are both very keen on packing and stacking things well, so it was hard to watch! 😄

This picture was taken before my daughter was done reorganizing so no, those eggs did not stay balanced on top of the pierogi at the end of the cart!! 😄

This is what we got today.

We did get cat supplies, though with the generous donation, we should only need maybe one more 40 pound bag of kibble before the end of the month for the outside cats. We didn’t need any for the inside cats, so the two 9kg and two 11.6kg bags are all for the outside cats. I think the price on the 11.6 kg bags went up. Either that, or they were on sale that last time I remember getting them.

We also got a case of canned cat food and a case of XL puppy pads. We now have enough canned cat foot that we won’t need to pick up more for the rest of the month. Usually, I get a couple smaller cases at Walmart to have enough for the month.

For non-food items, we got our toilet paper, AAA batteries, and some more Head and Shoulders that gets used as an anti-fungal body wash.

For beverages, we got a case of Coke Zero and a case of Monster. The Monster variety pack had replaced one of the flavours from before, and it’s to one I like but haven’t been seeing in stores much at all lately, so I’m happy. It was also on sale, so that was bonus. There is also a 3 pack of oat milk for the girls.

In dairy, we got a 4 pack of cream cheese, a carton of whipping cream, a block of Old Cheddar cheese, plus 5 pounds of butter.

For meat and other protein, there is a double flat of 60 eggs, a panini pack of sandwich meats, some pickerel fillets for the girls, two big packs of drumsticks that were $5 off at checkout, a pork blade, a pork loin, and a variety pack of dry sausages that was on sale. I also got two garlic coils, as the price was almost half what they are, locally. Oh, and some canned chicken. The price on that seems to be staying under $20 for six cans of late.

There is also a bag of carrots – organic, but they were on sale, and we didn’t see any non-organic ones anywhere, a 20 pound bag of Russet potatoes, frozen perogies, a case of ramen noodles, a bag of basmati rice, a case of tomato soup, large jars of mayo, peanut butter, and pickles. There is a two pack of butter chicken sauce, a shaker of powdered garlic (which, oddly, had more product for a lower price than the granulated garlic I usually get), and a large bag of granulated sugar.

For bread products, I got a 2 pack of rye bread and we got two packs of tortilla wraps. Finally, as a treat, my daughter selected from toffee and chocolate chip cookies.

Note that we did NOT get any beef. We haven’t been able to afford beef at Costco for a while, now. Lately, I’ve been picking up the odd package on sale, locally. The last couple of times I was in town because of the truck, I got some stew meat and some ground beef with sale prices much better than Costco these days.

Once the truck was loaded up, we filled the gas tank. Costco gas was at $1.239/L instead of $1.359/L everywhere else! It cost $51.69 to fill the tank.

On the way home, we stopped at the feed store and picked up the lysine. It came in adorable little 1kg buckets from a different brand this time. The price went up, so the two of them cost $67.20 after taxes. The containers I got before had been $20 each. Still better than buying it elsewhere.

When I saw the buckets, I commented on them, and that I would probably be keeping them to reuse. The woman behind the counter completely agreed with me – you can’t have too many buckets!

She also asked me if I was still wanting to get chicks.

I said yes, absolutely.

She asked if I was after a specific breed or anything like that, and I said I just want laying hens. She named several breeds, and I was fine with any of them. Then she asked about the date I’d want them, snowing the hatchery’s schedule on their white board.

There was no way we’d be ready for them in April! I told her, we need to be able to assemble the chicken coop first, which means, no snow on the ground. (Yes, I know; they’ll be in a brooder for weeks, first, but I still want to have the coop assembled and ready, before we get them.) So she put me down for the latest date they had, which is May 27. She has two other people who are interested in getting a smaller number of chicks than the 24 chick minimum the hatchery sells them for. I told her that, with our coop, we can have a maximum of 10 chickens, so we can go under, but not more than 10. So she will talk to the other two people and see what can be worked out to split an order of chicks between us, as well as splitting the shipping costs. With three people, we’ll be paying $15 each for shipping instead of $45.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to work something out with the other two people and get it all arranged and ordered. I’m flexible on the delivery date, too, as long as it’s not in April! She said, all three of us have said we are flexible on things, so this should work out quite well.

My daughter had been waiting in the truck all this time, so once we were back on the road, I updated her about the chicks discussion.

I think she is actually starting to look forward to having chickens! My daughters had been very reticent about it. Especially her sister. They have online friends who keep chickens, and my older daughter had commented about chickens getting sick, and we wouldn’t be able to take them to a vet.

Well, no, but we would be getting what we need to treat them ourselves! The feed stores carry medications and supplements for chickens, as well as feed. There’s lots of info out there on treating chickens.

Then we got to talking about where to set up the coop.

Ideally, I’d like to have it where we can easily see it, which would be in the south yards. Most of it isn’t level, and some significant portions of it floods in the spring, so that likely won’t work. I mentioned I was thinking of having it sheltered in the maple grove, or even where we currently have a pile of maple logs from the trees cleared away from the roof. The ground under that log pile is quite level, and I can see it out my bedroom window. Inside the maple grove would be more sheltered and there are fairly level spots there.

My daughter suggested we set it up against the retaining wall blocks at the end of the old kitchen garden. I had considered that area, but it would have to be at the northernmost end, as the south end is next to an area that gets deeply flooded in the spring. It’s not as sheltered from the wind, but it does get more light than if it were in the maple grove.

The other thing to consider is being able to secure the coop from being blown over in high winds. We’ve previously talked about getting panels that we can set around the mesh sides on windy days. The roosts are under the floors of the nesting boxes, rather than inside. There are three nesting boxes, with access from outside, at each end of the coop. When we assemble it, I want to find a way to attach a couple of roosts in the space in front of the nesting boxes, so they can roost for the night indoors, and not be exposed to the wind.

Ultimately, though, where we set up the coop will be temporary. I still plan to have some sort of polytunnel or greenhouse of some sort over garden beds in the main garden area. The coop and chickens would spend the winter inside that. So while we will need to secure it to make sure it doesn’t get blown over in high winds, we still need to keep it mobile.

I quite enjoyed talking it out with my daughter!

Anyhow.

Once at home, I had to drive up to the house to unload. I had some concerns on whether or not I’d cleared away enough snow before my body gave out. Especially the area I pull into behind the garage, so I can back up to the house. Sure enough, while in 2 wheel drive, I got stuck. I switched to 4 wheel drive and was able to back up. It was hard to tell, but I think that shuddering had started up again, while I was reversing in 4 wheel drive. The distance was so short, though, I really couldn’t say for sure. I just made sure to switch back to 2 wheel drive as soon as I was stopped, so I wouldn’t forget later.

Then it was the assembly line to unload the truck into the house. Last of all, my daughter and I took the kibble bags into the old kitchen. The whole time, we were constantly needing to make sure Sir Robin didn’t get into the house! He so wants to be inside!

Once the last of it was done, I left my older daughter to put things away while I grabbed some hot water and did the outside cats early. My younger daughter took over doing the kibble while I topped up the water bowls. Once all the cats were distracted, I was able to drive the truck out of the yard. I only had to scoot two of them away, first!

So there was have it. Finally. Our Costco stock up trip is done!

We will still need to do the Walmart and Canadian Tire trips, but that’s not as urgent, and there isn’t a lot we need to get there.

What I do need to do is visit my mother! I am planning to do that tomorrow afternoon, so I’ll be calling her tonight to let her know. My sister should have been able to visit her today. Maybe. During the drive home, we hit some pretty crazy blowing snow conditions, but it did clear up before we got home. As I write this, we are at our predicted high of -13C/7F, but the wind chill is -28C/-18F

Oh, my! Not only are we warming up over the next few days but, as I write this, we’ve got a high of 6C/43F forecasted for Sunday! 6C!!!! Wouldn’t THAT be nice!!

So, tomorrow (Thursday), I visit my mother. The day after, I have my doctor’s appointment. Saturday, I want to make a trip to the dump. Just a regular garbage and recycling run, though; my mother’s old mattress and box spring, and the broken office chairs, will have to wait for another day. Monday, my daughter has a doctor’s appointment. After that we don’t have anything scheduled until my dentist appointment near the end of the month, but March is also a birthday month for my older daughter. For her special birthday dinner, she usually chooses Pizza Hut pizzas. So at least one more trip there (no one delivers where we live. 😄)

Well, our mechanic has said, we need to drive the truck often. Mechanically, it’s running fine, with the possible exception of the shuddering in 4 wheel drive that comes and goes. I can just keep it in 2 wheel drive until absolutely necessary. They’ve checked and re-checked, and they can’t find anything wrong that could be causing it. The weird electrical thing has only affected the console and radio. The dashboard display has not been affected.

It’s still hell on my nerves, though.

The main thing is, we have transportation again, AND we finally got our first stock up shopping trip done – a week later than usual!

All is good.

I just have to keep telling myself that!

The Re-Farmer

Way off topic, but too funny not to share

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It took me a while to get around to it, but lately I’ve been catching up on the series, The Chosen. I’ve been hearing quite a bit about the series, but I just don’t tend to watch TV shows. I saw it was available on Prime, though, and decided to give it a go.

I’m into season three now. I’ve been enjoying it a fair bit. I do see where some of the criticisms are coming from, but I also see where the criticisms have been unwarranted. Given how little detail we have in the Bible for a lot of things, it is understandable that they would have fleshed things out quite a bit. I question some of the directions they chose, but found others interesting. Portraying Matthew as being autistic, for example. Then there were continuity issues. For example, in an early episode, it shows people reciting the Lord’s Prayer, but Jesus doesn’t teach that to his apostles until a season or two later.

One of the things I question is their use of modern concepts projected onto the past. Like seeing writing on a stone marker that was translated as “private property, trespassers will be prosecuted”.

Another is the usual trope about how Jesus and the Apostles were all poor, and that Jesus was homeless. Fishermen in Galilee would have been solidly upper middle class. As for Jesus, when Joseph died, as the eldest son, Jesus would have inherited the family home as well as the family business. They may not have been wealthy, but they wouldn’t have been poor, either, and he would have had a home to come back to.

Other things, though, were niggling at me. Little details – and they clearly paid close attention to details in this series.

For a bit of back ground, I have a keen interest in history. Particularly ancient history. However, my approach to history is rather different. I want to know how ordinary people lived and, in my view, to really understand a people, the best way is through learning what they ate and what they wore. It’s amazing just how far reaching those two things are. They are influenced by everything from climate and geography, to proximity to trade routes. What fascinated me about ancient foods, for example, is just how far ranging some of the ingredients were, even for those who were not wealthy, and the remarkably complex and sophisticated their food was. Cooking methods, seasoning, methods of preservation, flavour combinations, etc. When we were actively homeschooling, we regularly recreated historical dishes as best we could. I was particularly amazed by just how much salt, fat and sweeteners were part of ancient meals. Downright staggering, in some cases.

Along with food, their clothing, their homes, their everyday tools, their methods of transportation – everything is so interconnected.

In the series, there’s a lot of worrying about food, but it is very… vague. Which is remarkable, considering just how important food was to the Jewish people and their celebrations. Seeing tables loaded with… bowls of … seeds? There’s fruit. Bread. Talk of cooking lentils. Chopping of cucumbers. Talk of buying vegetables, etc. Talk of cooking. What I wasn’t seeing was pretty much any sort of protein, in a land where they would have been eating massive amounts of fish, at the very least. The eating of fish is often mentioned in the Bible. I’ve recreated meals from 2000 years ago, and it just all seemed… wrong.

Then there was the clothing. Why are there frayed edges all over the place? Why were there so many seams? Why were almost all the seams showing frayed edges? Also, some of the colours. People did try to wear as much colour as they could, but some of those colours required dyes that were exceedingly expensive at the time, while others could only be worn by people of specific class or status.

Other things niggled at me. Like the shelters being built, or how people seemed to just be… doing things with their hands that had nothing to do with the task at hand. There was also a lot of, why is that there? I’m no historical expert, but I know enough that a lot of things just felt… wrong.

Then I got to a scene in season three, episode four. An item on a table that was so incongruous, it distracted me away from everything happening in the scene.

I ended up taking a picture of my monitor to show you.

I wasn’t able to get a shot that included the lid, but that box?

I have one.

These boxes are made in Poland. Granted, they’ve been doing it for about a thousand years, but not two thousand years, and certainly not made with the modern tools, patterns, colours and sealant that were used to make this box.

So I’m just laughing at this, and completely distracted because I HAVE THAT BOX! In the exact pattern and colours. A nesting set of three. The box in the scene is the middle sized one.

I admit, with all these little things niggling at me about the food and clothing and shelter and so on, I did find myself wondering if Metatron has done an episode on the Roman armor and uniforms. 😄

The Re-Farmer

That wind!

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I was up early today, so I did the outside cat feeding – something my daughters have been doing for me in the mornings for the past while.

WOW!!! is it windy out there!

0C/32 with a wind chill of -18C/0F Maybe 2 minutes after I got that screen cap, it had already dropped to -2C/28F with a wind chill of -21C/6F

We’ve already passed our high of the day. For the rest of the day and through the night, we are supposed to slowly drop to -30C/-22F

Brutal.

We are supposed to be having a light snow. The blowing snow advisory we’re under right now has little to do with the snow actually falling, but the snow already on the ground. Even as I headed out to switch the memory card on the gate trail cam, I could see the snow being kicked up in the open areas.

I’ll be getting the truck back today and had already planned to do a smaller grocery shop locally rather than try for a Walmart. With the blowing snow conditions today, I wouldn’t be heading to either city for a proper stock up shop today anyhow!

I’ll have a talk with our mechanic when I pick up the truck. I just don’t trust the truck! For something like what we were feeling to just… disappear on its own like that. I mean, I’m glad I won’t have a massive repair bill, but will it happen again? Why did it happen in the first place?

*sigh*

The Re-Farmer

What the heck?

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I got two mysteries going on.

One is simpler. I found this, while doing the outside cat feeding this afternoon.

The mesh used to replace the cloth hammock that was damaged during transportation to us is completely torn up. How on earth did this happen? It looks like maybe a cat fell through it. This stuff is pretty strong – it’s meant to protect gardens from things like deer and other critters.

No chance of repairing it until spring. That gives time to find some other material to use. If I can find some that is strong enough, I should probably replace it with fabric, like what was there originally. I’ll have a few months to find a proper alternative. Until then, the original fabric hammock on the other side is still very much being used and enjoyed by the cats. It even still had straw on it. The straw that I’d put on this one got knocked away, long ago, so that cats weren’t actually using as much.

Also, that’s Frank enjoying her supper, well away from the other cats crowding the kibble trays in the sun room and isolation shelter. Smart girl.

A rather minor mystery here. Then there is a much bigger mystery.

I got a message from the garage, asking me to give them a call about the truck. I talked to the owner. He told me they’d gone over the truck and found nothing. They still replaced fluids, just in case. He’s just taking it for a test drive.

The truck was running fine.

He’d even taken it on the highway and and drove it at the 100km/h speed limit. He drove it on 2 wheel drive and both 4 wheel drive settings.

It ran fine.

He drove it with the mechanic that had driven it with me and had felt exactly what I was talking about, and how it happened only while on 4 wheel drive but not 2 wheel drive.

The heard and felt absolutely nothing wrong.

What the heck??? They are completely perplexed, but there was nothing for them to fix.

About the only thing he could think of is that something had been frozen in the wrong place. The truck had been in the garage overnight, where anything like that would have melted away and left no trace.

We talked about it for a while and I commented on how I should probably drive it on 2 wheel drive instead of auto, just in case. I would just switch it to 4 wheel drive if absolutely necessary. He said that would be good, anyhow. While the manufacturer says it is fine to keep it on auto all the time, he disagrees.

The truck is now ready and waiting to be picked up.

Given that today is Thursday, I had figured there was no way I’d get the truck back before the weekend. If they found something minor but needed parts, they could order parts today, which would arrive tomorrow – but with so many vehicles bring brought in due to the weather conditions, that doesn’t mean they’d be able to do any repairs right away. I had messaged my brother and SIL asking if it were possible to get a ride for grocery shopping, just to the nearest Walmart or something. Before they even saw that message, I changed it to asking about the possibility of getting a ride to pick up the truck.

We started going back and forth on that for a while. They weren’t available during the day, while the garage was open, but could drive me in the evening. Would the garage be okay if I picked it up while they were closed? I hadn’t thought to ask what we owed for the truck, though; I am assuming there would be a charge for the fresh fluid, but they have not charged me for stuff like that before, so I may owe nothing. So we were thinking that I might call tomorrow during the day to find out what I owed, before working out picking up the truck.

Then my brother phoned. He had had an idea and did some searching online.

It turns out our neighbouring town has a taxi.

Singular. One taxi.

He had called the company and talked to the driver to see if they went as far as where we are and apparently they do it regularly.

!!!

I had no idea. I remember seeing a taxi in town once, years ago, so it never occurred to me that they might still be around. It might not even be the same company as years ago.

After talking to my brother about it, I got the number and texted. It is now arranged for a taxi to come here for 11am to take me into town to pick up the truck.

It should cost somewhere between $40-$50, but is about what it would cost my brother in gas to come out here and drive me to town, then drive home again.

I won’t be doing any city shopping after picking up the truck. I’ll go across the street to get a few more groceries, but the drive home will be my test drive to see if everything is still okay.

I admit, I am very nervous about driving the truck at all. We don’t know what went wrong in the first place. Perhaps our mechanic was right. Perhaps it was something frozen that caused it to shudder like that. If that wasn’t it, there is no way to know whether it will happen again!

So I will do some local driving first. As it stands now, I think my first stock up shop will be Costco on the weekend.

I need to talk to our mechanic again about getting a replacement vehicle. That it’s working fine and they didn’t have to repair anything is literally the best case scenario and I want to be happy and thankful about it. However, the truck has been so weird lately, it’s really been hell on my nerves. I just don’t trust it. There was no mistaking just how bad that shuddering was by the end of the test drive I did with the mechanic. They were just as confused about why it was happening as they are now confused about why it stopped!

Hopefully, I will have the truck back tomorrow, and it will continue to behave. I just wish I was more confident that it has worked out for the best, and that it won’t happen again while I’m driving home!!!

The Re-Farmer

Digging out… and waiting for word

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I woke up to a message from the cat rescue group, asking about the truck. I told them I hadn’t had any word yet. The person asking me then said that she would drive to our place to deliver the donated kibble on Saturday!!! (today is Thursday)

What a sweet thing to start the day!

Then she asked what my address was.

Bahahahahaha!!!

I gave directions. She will message me when she heads out. Hopefully, we’ll know what’s going on with the truck before then.

I had texted the garage yesterday afternoon but didn’t hear back before they closed. I texted again this morning, asking if there was any news. I needed to know if I had to arrange for a ride to get groceries. I got an response and an apology. With all the snow we’ve been having (they got a lot more of it in town at the lake than we did here!), they were swamped. He promised to get back to me soon.

With today and tomorrow being so much warmer, but then a steep drop in temperature after that (though not as steep are predicted earlier), the first thing I wanted to get done was clearing the end of the driveway. I did take the time to help run the hose out the door’s window so my daughter could start on the many loads of laundry we’ve all got waiting, then shovel some of the paths around the house, first.

Then it was off to the gate.

I remembered to grab some of the outdoor solar powered lights I got a box of not long ago. I grabbed three of them last night and was going to prep them with double sided mounting tape under the tops, where the solar panel is, but found that wasn’t going to work. These are designed to be mounted onto wood with provided screws. The way the casing is designed, under the solar panels isn’t flat. There’s a slightly recessed area. I would need foam core mounting tape to fill the gap. Which I didn’t have. So I used what I had under the light portion, where it was flat. Hopefully, it will be enough to hold them in place.

I put the lights on the gate first – one on the slide bar, positioned to it would light up the lock and chain below, plus two others above the middles of each side of the gate. I forgot I meant to have the other two facing the other way, though. That’s okay. If these work out, I can add two more, facing the other way, in between the three already there.

Then it was time to push the gates open through the drifts under them and start digging.

Thankfully, the plow ridge wasn’t too hard packed, though using the ice scraper to break up packed snow was still needed in some areas. There were two areas that I needed to focus on. The plow ridge and the drifting under the gate itself. In between wasn’t too bad. The rest of the driveway could use a run with the snow blower, but I don’t think I’ll bother. Not worth dragging around a couple hundred feed of extension cord. It’s not that bad, and we’re going to be warming up more consistently, soon. Friday night through Saturday night are supposed to be cold, but there is no new snow expected. After that, things are supposed to warm right up again, we should even see some melting in some areas.

I had to force myself to slow down and take many little breaks while shoveling. I enjoy it so much that, when I get started, I’m working like I’m 27 instead of 57, and this was going to be a big job! I started at the plow ridge and then worked my way down far enough to clear the swing zones of the gate.

While working, I did see a bit of traffic. Much less than usual for our surprisingly busy road. While I was clearing the second side of the gate, I started hearing another vehicle coming that sounded… off, somehow. Looking up, I saw our vandal driving by veeeeeerrrrryyyyy slowly. Thankfully, he didn’t stop to yell and wave his colostomy bag at me again. 🫤

At one point, I thought I would take a break by sitting on the wall of snow along one side of the driveway. Silly me! It wasn’t as hard packed as I thought, so I sank down. Which wouldn’t have been a problem, if my knees weren’t shot! I couldn’t just stand back up again. In the end, I had to get down on one knee – the left knee, since I still can’t put weight on my right knee – and use the shovel as a brace to stand up again.

Being broken sucks.

Last of all, I dug a path to the trail cam, which I haven’t been able to get to for some time. That path needed some serious chopping up with the ice scraper! It was so snow and ice packed at the bottom, I only did one part of the path. I was just too tired to try and dig out the path running at another angle. It was completely filled with snow and would have been just as packed with ice and snow under the much softer top layer.

In the end, I was out there for two hours.

Still no word on the truck when I got in, but I did tell him I was going to be shoveling and might not be able to hear a message come in. I’ve since let them know I’m inside again.

My daughter, sweetheart that she is, had a not lunch and a pot of tea ready for me when I came in. 💕

It was so nice out there today that I was actually overheating somewhat while shoveling. We’re definitely going to have to get a new snow shovel, though. I really like the one I’ve been using, with the blade width and ergonomic handle. Unfortunately, it started to crack a few years ago. Today, while pushing snow, it got hung up on a chuck of something, hitting it hard enough that I heard a cracking sound. The old crack is now much larger. Amazingly, it still held as I finished the job! Unfortunately, a really good snow shovel like this one is not cheap. They also tend to not be in stock when the end of season clearance sales happen. Still, when I finally make it into the city, I’m going to have to look for a replacement. We do have other snow shovels, but they are not as good.

For now, I’m going to just get some rest until it’s time to head out and do the second cat feeding outside. I really ought to take more pain killers. Or my anti-inflammatories. I haven’t been needing those every day, lately, but today is a day I should take them!

If I can just haul my stiffening body out of my chair to walk across the room to get them.

Okay. Maybe I over did it a bit today…

😄😂

It sure felt good, though!

The Re-Farmer