Once we get the truck back from the shop, I’m going to need to do our stock up shopping trips.
I am really dreading to see how much higher the prices have gotten.
Even the Wokies that “escaped” the US are realizing just how bad things are getting.
Canada is in so much trouble right now.
So glad we are no longer in the city and at least have the possibility of growing our own food.
The Re-Farmer
*sigh*
So… we still don’t have a truck.
The work was done by noon. Once I was informed, I messaged my SIL to let her know. Then I suggested we got for (a rather late) lunch after picking up the truck. It took her about an hour to get to our place. Today has been technically warmer, but the wind from the south was brutal, so I asked her to let me know when she was close so I could meet her at the gate.
When we got there, I went in to pay. I talked to the owner a bit, particularly since they had just replaced a seal to stop the leak on a Thursday, and the truck broke down on the following Sunday. The problem is, where the damage was done is all internal. The replaced the seals and put in new fluid, but there was no way to actually see. Again, it’s best guess, but those oil leaks I had were leaking all over the differential, so that’s why they figure engine oil got in, and it just wasn’t caught in time. It was totally tried.
I paid the bill…
… and commented on the credit card smoking, but then added that it really was a good price, and I appreciated that they were able to keep it down for me. He said new ones can run around $2000. I told him I’d looked it up, because I didn’t even know what a differential looked like, and the lowest price I saw was in the $1200 range. So… yeah. This really was a good deal.
I also brought up that if we could just keep it running for a few more months, then told him about my BILs F150 that he was looking to sell in the summer. The owner just shook his head and said, he would never buy a Ford product. Of all the vehicles they work on, they work on Ford vehicles the most. Interestingly, my brother – who owns an old F150 – had also warned against it.
I told the owner, I have a hard time seeing it as being worse than what we are dealing with now! I made a point of saying, there was no way to predict the sorts of problems we’ve been having , but we just can’t keep this up. He absolutely agreed. I think he feels bad, since he sold it to us. It was absolutely a life saver, and I do love the truck, but good grief.
Anyhow.
With the bill paid, it was time to head out for lunch. My SIL and I were at first going to hit the Chinese restaurant in the hotel right next to the garage.
One thing I noticed right away when we parked at the hotel is that the broken plastic under the bumper was fixed! The mechanic and bolted it directly to the frame. It’s more solid there now than the rest of the piece. 😁
We went in and it turned out the restaurant was closed. They won’t open again until late March. I forgot that they do this every year. So we drove through town to go to a Subway.
Now, I was fully expecting the truck to feel different after the work done, but… what was I feeling? It was just a few blocks before I parked, so I really couldn’t tell what I was feeling. Anyhow. We had a wonderful lunch and got caught up in all sorts of things.
I really enjoy spending time with my SIL. She’s just awesome.
That done, we parted ways. I was going to go to the grocery store, then home.
The grocery store I was going to is across the street from the garage. As I was driving along, with stop sign after stop sign, everything felt wrong. There was a strange hesitation/jarring, and there was an odd noise.
Instead of going to the grocery store, I went back to the garage. I quickly messaged my family and my SIL, then went in.
My SIL told me she was still in town and to let her to keep her up to date. The owner was talking to a customer when I came in, so I just kept out of the way until he was done.
Needless to say, he was surprised to see me.
I asked him if he could drive the truck, and told him what I was feeling and hearing. He was very perplexed, partly because it was really hard to describe. He contacted the mechanic that worked on the truck. He wasn’t in the shop at the time, so there was a few minutes wait. When he got there, I gave him the keys and told him to do the driving, and tried to describe what I was feeling. He was very perplexed.
Once in the truck, I remembered to thank him for fixing the broken plastic piece under the bumper that was hanging down. He said it was no problem at all!
We headed out and he turned onto the highway that runs through town, so there would be no stop signs. The half block to the intersection, there was a noise, and he asked if that was it. I said yes, then added that I did consider that the noise might be from the ice and snow, but ruled it out.
Once on the highway and starting to accelerate, it started up again. There was no mistaking it. It was even stronger than when I’d been driving it from the Subway. He immediately took the next driveway into a large parking lot – barely a block later. Once there, he tried something. The truck can be set to 2 wheel drive, 4 wheel drive front, 4 wheel drive back, or auto. I keep it on auto in the winter. He set it to 2 wheel drive, then started driving again.
Everything was gone. It was driving fine.
He’d started driving through a residential area and tried something else, pulling over and switching it to 4 wheel drive.
It was back, and even worse.
He told me he wanted to take a look at the transfer case. I told him, my ride is still in town and suggested they keep the truck overnight. He asked if I could hang around for a couple of hours. He wanted to spend the time to really look into what was happening. Then we both looked at the clock. It was well past 3, and they close at 5. No point in hanging around town. He asked if I was comfortable driving home on 2 wheel drive only. I told him, I wasn’t comfortable driving it at all!
So he parked the truck at the garage and went in with the keys to talk to the owner. I messaged my SIL, asking if she could meet me at the grocery store, then grabbed a couple of bags from the truck and walked across the street.
I am so glad I decided to wear those bib overalls my daughter got me. They do such a great job with blocking the wind. My legs were fine, by my hands and face were getting blasted with icy wind, and I only had to walk maybe 200 feet!
Once there, I went ahead and got more than was on my short list. I couldn’t be sure we’d have the truck back by Wednesday, when I would normally doing my first stock up shop for next month. My SIL and I soon connected again. As it was getting so late, she was picking things up for their own supper, since she wouldn’t have time to make supper when she got home.
Once we were done and heading for the checkouts, I was very happy to see they had gone back to the single line system! When they got rid of it, I commented on it to the cashier, and she quietly asked me to call management and let them know. The cashiers preferred the single line system, too. I ended up emailing the company, but I have also been answering the surveys on the receipts, where you can be entered for a $500 gift card for answering it. At the end of the survey, they have a space where you can make your own comments, and every time I did, I asked for the single line system to be returned. It’s just more efficient. I’m guessing I was far from the only one to ask for it!
We got through the line very quickly. When I got to the cashier, I made sure to tell him how happy I was to see the single line system back. He said they were really happy with it, too, as it makes things easier for the cashiers as well.
That done, it was off to my SILs car and she drove me home.
As I got my phone out to let the family know we were on the way, I found a message from my husband.
My mother had tried phoning me. She left a message, but it was quite garbled, and it sounded like they (the care unit people) were going to move her.
To the town she lived in before going to the hospital.
???
This was quite a surprise to us, mostly because we would have expected them to call my brother, as her PoA, right away. So my SIL phoned my brother – her car has the computer and she can do that all hands free. He was stuck in traffic on his way home from work. I read the message from my husband to him. I said I would call my mother back as soon as I got home, and talk to the nursing station first. My brother was going to call the nursing station as soon as he could, too.
My SIL got me home and then had to leave right away, she needed to get home. She couldn’t say if she could give me a ride again, as she has her own medical appointments, but I don’t even know when the truck will be ready or anything like that.
I got through to the nursing station before my brother did. I told her I had a rather garbled message about my mother being moved to another town. She told me, no, not today.
!!!
She put me on hold to get more details, then explained it to me. The care unit coordinator had offered my mother a bed. There is temporary long term care in the hospital of the town my mother lived in. They wanted to be sure my mother (and the rest of us) were good with this. I told her, this is where she used to live. She knows people there, she knows the town. (She has even visited friends that were in the temporary long term care unit she’ll be moved to.) This would be good for her, even though it’s still not where she wants to be. So there is a process that needs to be gone through, and they will likely call us about it tomorrow. I told her, she will probably be getting a call from my brother, who is PoA, soon, then asked to be transferred to my mother.
My mother was very happy to hear from me. When I asked about the move, she asked if I thought she should take the offered bed (I found out later, she had already accepted it). I told her yes!! It’s not where she wants to be, but it’s got to be better than where she is now. My mother agreed and started telling me she had lots to say about what’s been happening when I visit.
I had to tell her that I don’t have the truck because something else happened, and they need to try and find the cause, so it’s still in the shop. I have no idea when I can visit next – then went back to saying, the move would be a good thing.
I got the impression that something has happened (she just got moved away from the problem room mate!) that she didn’t feel she could talk openly about.
I was at my computer as we were talking as saw a message come in from my brother. He had talked to the nursing station and tried to call me, but the line was busy. 😂 I let him know I was talking to our mother, then told her that my brother was messaging me about having talked to the nursing station. She was all happy that we’ve all been making these calls and trying to figure things out.
We spoke for a short while longer. As we got off the phone, she was sounding very excited about this move. I let my brother know I was off the phone and he called me.
We basically had the same details – he also told them he approved of the move – and that our mother had already accepted it – then called the coordinator about it. Her office was closed by then, so he left a message which included him saying that he also approved of the move.
Hopefully, by the time I get the truck back, my mother will no longer be in that TCU and in a better situation!!
One thing my SIL mentioned during the drive home is how glad they were for me, that my mother was no longer living on her own and getting unreliable home care. With the problems we’ve been having with the truck, plus the weather we’ve been having, it would have been a real problem if they wanted me to cover for not having home care workers available for my mother. I told her, I simply could not have done it. As much as my mother is chafing about it, it’s been the best thing for her to be in the hospital, and now in the TCU, all this time.
So, there was are. I’m home, but still don’t have a truck. The mechanic did comment, as we were driving back to the garage, that it was a good thing I came right back. I’m so glad my SIL and I went out for lunch, first! If we hadn’t done that, I would have just gone across the street to the grocery store, then headed home. It would have started having issues while I was out on the open road, where turning around to go back would have been more difficult, and my SIL would likely have well on her own way home. All the pieces fell into place in the best way possible.
And now my mother should soon be transferred to better living conditions.
Plus, I got groceries. 😂
I still dread that question, though.
What next???
The Re-Farmer
Not much to talk about for today. Yesterday seems to have caught up with me. I’m feeling exhausted. Mentally exhausted, not physically. I’m just so tired of so many things going wrong.
So I’m giving myself a rest day. Just doing the basics and not trying to go beyond.
It’s a gorgeous day out, though, and the yard cats have been absolutely loving it. The critter cam facing the isolation shelter has been going off so often, I had to adjust it so that it was at least no longer triggered by cats jumping around in front of the main doorway.
Down side: the feral ladies have all been going into heat. Today, I saw the cat I named Fluffer, because it looks like Fluffy, except for the white chest. With the long fur, we couldn’t confirm male or female. Today, with all the males chasing after her, I suppose that’s confirmed female. *sigh* At least Fluffy is spayed, but we’ve never been able to get any more adult females in to the vet.
Yesterday morning, I found something odd in one of the paths to the catio shelter.
Odd because everything is buried under snow, so where did this mess come from?
Then I identified part of it as an old bird’s nest. Which meant the cats had to have been climbing pretty high up and far out on the closest willow tree. This tree has been trimmed a few times, to keep the branches away from the power line to the house. That means any branches above are all pretty small and thin. Given the noises we’ve been hearing, I’d guess a cat got chased pretty far out and disturbed things enough to knock down the nest.
It’s been warming enough that this morning, I gave the cats a treat and started pre-soaking their kibble with a blow full of cat soup dosed with lysine. Usually, I toss the dry kibble in lysine, but only so much sticks, and the food trays have lysine power all over the bottom. It’s not something we’ll be doing every day, yet, and only in the morning, so they have a chance to eat it before it freezes. The sun room thermometer was at about 11C/52F, even though our high for today was -2C/28F. As I write this, we are at -3C/27F, but the “real feel” is 1C/34F
And yet, we are under a weather advisory right now! A low pressure system is moving in, and the south end of our province is looking at possibly 15-25cm/6-19in of snow by tomorrow evening. Our area is on the outer edge of the system, so we wouldn’t be expecting that much. We are expected to get as much as 9cm/4in of snow on Wednesday, with another possible 2.4cm/1in through Thursday morning. The temperatures are still expected to be mild, though the highs are supposed to drop below -10C/14F by the weekend.
Hopefully, tomorrow, the garage will be able to take a look at the truck and see what on earth happened to it. Messaging with my brother, he suggested the differential, but that got a leak repaired on it just a few days go, so that’s unlikely. His other thought was the CV joint. At which point we’re looking at possibly over $300 for the part, and another $200-$300 in labour, from what I can find online.
Well, we’ll find out soon enough, I guess.
*sigh*
Yeah, definitely feeling mentally – and emotionally – exhausted at this point.
The Re-Farmer
Well, it’s done. The truck has been towed to the garage.
My BIL, sweetheart that he is, skipped the lunch my sister, who was going to work later, was making so he could come out and find me before the tow truck reached me.
Thankfully, I was able to pull over next to a very large and open company driveway, making me both easy to find, and easy to get to, while on the side of a busy highway.
The tow truck actually arrived later than expected. He had a call ahead of me that only needed a winch, but ended up pulling two people out of the ditch before getting to me.
My BIL, meanwhile, had already arrived and we were sitting in the company driveway, talking, when the tow truck arrived. The tow truck was not only from our regular garage, but the driver was the owner/our mechanic’s brother! That gave me the opportunity to describe exactly what happened, knowing our mechanic would actually get the information.
The truck had been running so well. Since I’d gone to church in town first, which is right on the highway that goes to the city my mother is in, I took that route through all the little towns along the lake again. I had the radio on when I started hearing/feeling like something was rubbing on a tire. This continued for maybe a couple of minutes before it felt like something dropped. Suddenly, the tire was shuddering, like something was caught up in it.
Of course, I pulled over right away, got out and checked.
I could see nothing. I even popped the hood and tried to look from above. Nothing.
I got back in the truck and started to move, but the shuddering was immediate. I stopped after less than 5 feet, I’m sure.
From there I contacted my family and even sent a quick message to my brother (he’s out of the country still) before contacting CAA. I phoned directly rather than using the app, because I’ve never quite managed to get the app set up and working, and I don’t know what’s wrong. The last time I tried, I was at home and ended up using my desktop, instead. Not an option this time!
So I phoned and started going through the automated system, which uses voice responses to questions. That worked fine as long as it was yes/no questions, or when I said I needed a tow, but then it asked what was wrong. I didn’t know what was wrong, so I said, I don’t know, something is wrong with my tire.
It decided I had a flat tire and asked if that was correct. I said no. It tried again and I tried to answer a different way. It still thought I had a flat tire. Finally, I pressed 0, hoping that it would get me to a human. It recognized that I wanted to talk to a person but then said the automated system would likely be faster and started over again in asking what was wrong with my vehicle.
*sigh*
After a while it gave up and sent me to a real human being.
… and put me on hold.
Thankfully, I was the “next caller” and didn’t have to wait too long.
It was a bit confusing in trying to say where I was. Thankfully, I was next to a company driveway that had all sorts of signs and their physical address number right next to me. What I wasn’t sure of was whether the highway had a different name while in town. I also wasn’t sure if I’d crossed the border from one town to the next, as these two towns are butted right up against each other. Still, we got it figured out.
The tow was arranged to take the truck to our regular garage, and I soon had a call from the towing company. I had to laugh when I saw the name of our garage on the call display. I had seen new signs at the garage showing that they did towing now, but I didn’t realize they did CAA calls, too. On confirming the company driveway I was next to, the drive knew exactly where I was.
After that, I just had to wait. When my BIL arrived, he pulled into the company driveway, and I didn’t even recognize his truck – he’s gone through at least two since I last saw what truck they had. I think the last one I saw was an F250. This one’s an F150.
He has a very nice truck – very new looking truck, even though it’s a 2008.
Since I was on the side of the highway, we sat in his truck to talk. I told him about what happened, and he was aware that we’ve had other issues, too. He started telling me about his truck and work he had done on it – including getting a new engine, because apparently it was easier and cheaper than the fix needed. So the engine has 30,000 km less on it than the rest of the truck does. I’m amazed he found a 2008 truck with only 30K on it! It’s got 170K on it now, which is about 100K less than our truck had when we bought it.
Oh, and he was planning to sell it in the summer.
!!!
I asked what he was looking to sell it for, and he said about $5000
…
We might actually be able to come up with that before the summer.
When the tow truck showed up, I went out to talk to the driver and explained what happened, as far as I could tell. He said it was good that I didn’t try to keep driving it, just in case. I told him, there was no way I was going to keep driving with what it was doing!
He also told me it was a good thing I had CAA. The tow would have cost $200, without it!
Today is Sunday, so the garage is closed, but tomorrow is a holiday. That means Tuesday will be the earliest anyone can look at it. I mentioned I was just there on Thursday! They didn’t see anything wrong while working on the differential. I’m at a complete loss. My BIL thinks it might be the transmission. If it’s something big like that, it might not be worth fixing. *sigh*
After that, the tow truck driver didn’t need anything more from me, so my BIL and I headed out. The tow truck was blocking my BIL’s truck, but that nice big commercial driveway had plenty of room for my BIL to move around and back out.
It was a very lovely ride, I must say. As we were talking, he told me about some other things he was planning to sell before selling the truck. I told him, if we can come up with the money, I’ll buy it!
We just need to keep this truck running for a few more months. Assuming whatever broke isn’t too expensive to repair in the first place.
After I got home, I mentioned to my brother that our BIL was planning to sell his truck in the summer, and my brother suggested that if we can buy that, we could possibly sell this truck on consignment. We still have lmoast 3 years to pay it off, but might be able to get a decent return on it to take care of that. At least partially.
I don’t think I’ll be getting that large greenhouse with my tax return, after all. 😄 That’s okay. I should still be able to something. Just not a hard sided one.
…
Had a break from writing this to talk to my daughters. My younger daughter was asking me about the chicken coop we got and I mentioned that’s one of the reasons I wanted to get a greenhouse or polytunnel – something to overwinter the chickens in, coop and all. We were looking at some of the designs I was finding on Amazon – risky to purchase from there, and a lot of them have very mixed reviews. They are far more affordable, though. Especially the polytunnels. It’s cheaper to buy a full kit than the materials we’d need to build one, if we could even find some of the materials needed in the first place. On seeing the prices, my daughter thought they were something that, between us, we could manage to afford.
In the end, though, a lot depends on what happens with the truck. I pray whatever broke on it will be a relatively cheap fix!
The Re-Farmer
I’m posting this from my phone, on the side of the road.
I was on my way to visit my mother when I started hearing/feeling some sott of rubbing that seemed to be coming from my front driver’s side tire.
Then suddenly something seemed to drop and the tire started to shudder.
I’m now waiting for a tow truck. My BIL is also in the way to drive me home.
I tried looking under the truck, but I just can’t see anything that might be causing the problem.
The truck was running so well after the recent work was finished!!!
*sigh*
The Re-Farmer
Today, finally, we did the stock up shop that normally gets done at the end of the month!
Between issues with the truck and trying to get my mother’s apartment emptied before the end of January, what would have been our first stock up shopping trip to the city, didn’t happen.
This trip is normally a stop at Canadian Tire, a Walmart and then either the international grocery store we like so much, or a Superstore.
Well, we’ve done our Costco shop, and have done local shops, so today we only needed to go to Canadian Tire and Walmart. Both of which we could do in the smaller city where my mother is now in a Transitional Care Unit, until they can find space for her in a personal care home on a permanent basis.
I didn’t take a picture, but our first stop was at Canadian Tire, where we got three 40 pound bags of litter pellets. I was also looking for more seed starting mix, but they only had Miracle Gro, which has become increasingly filled with chunks of wood and twigs. So I skipped that, but I did pick up a new growing tray kit. They had 72 cell trays with hexagonal cells and a greenhouse dome lid for only about $9. I just got the one, as I have other things I can use. I’ll eventually need to get more drain trays separately, though. More and more of my older ones are starting to crack.
My Canadian Tire purchase was only three bags of pellets and the one tray kit, which totaled $35.24
Then, it was the Walmart.
This is what $288.51 looks like.
Most of my list was non-grocery items. My husband requested a few things, and my older daughter requested some heat and eats. None of us are doing well enough to stand in a kitchen, cooking a full meal, right now.
So this is what I ended up getting.
I couldn’t get the receipt to lie flat, but I think it’s still readable.
In the heat and eats, my daughter chose dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets, just for fun. Not something we normally get, at all, ever! I grabbed a package of corn dogs at the last minute (they became supper!), plus we got a couple of bags of frozen tater tots.
For other food items, we got a couple more loaves of rye bread, sandwich pickles, 3% milk, a case of Kraft Dinner that was on sale, a bottle of Kefir (a rare treat), Birthday Cake flavoured coffee creamer, a box of Sleepytime tea and a bag of oranges.
My husband requested Fresca, sour candies and water flavours.
There are some feminine hygiene products, hair oil, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, paper towels, two cases of canned cat food, and the Jiffy seed starting mix I was looking for. Also, a package of baby wipes to keep in the truck for hand washing.
For the drive home, we got a couple of drinks and a snack to try. Samosa chips; rosemary vinaigrette flavoured. They were quite tasty!
And that’s it; 33 items in total came to almost $300.
Our Walmart shop actually cost more than getting the truck repaired. That doesn’t even include the Canadian Tire stuff, nor the gas we got on the way home (I only put in $20, but used my points to get 10¢ off per liter, so I got more for my money).
*sigh*
Thankfully, though, this should be our last big shop for the month. Which is already almost half over.
2026 is already just flying by!
The Re-Farmer
First up, I am happy to say, the truck behaved wonderfully today. The oil pressure gauge stayed right where it was supposed to. The check engine light even turned itself off, when I was on the way home. 😂
My husband wasn’t up to going into town to get his blood work done, so I went into the city for a much needed Costco stock up trip. I went to the new location this time, too.
First bonus was filling the gas tank. Gas was $1.099 instead of $1.279, like everywhere else.
This is what $737.33 looks like.
Today’s costs were a bit different, though, in that I renewed my Executive membership, as well as using the annual rebate. The renewal cost $130 and the rebate was $130.40, so they cancelled each other out. That’s why the receipt below has a total of $867.73.
First up, there’s the cat supplies. I got two 11.6kg bags of Whiskas, which was on sale, and two 9.1kg bags of Kirkland brand. One of the Whiskas will be for the outside cats, though we will still be getting 40 pound bags from the feed store. Mostly, it’s to give them variety. The remaining three bags of kibble should be enough to last the month for the inside cats. There is also a case of canned cat food (we’ll need to get more of that before the end of the month) and more puppy pads.
In non-food items, there is toilet paper and AA batteries. The batteries were on sale.
For beverages, there is a case of Monster energy drinks for the girls and I (which my daughter pays me back for later) and a case of Coke Zero for my husband and I. There is also a three pack of oat milk for the girls, which they use more for cooking than drinking.
We’ve been getting extra bread every chance we get, so I didn’t get a lot today. There’s two packages of tortilla wraps and a 2 pack of “rustic rye”. Not the rye I usually get, but it was a better price.
In dairy, there is 5 pounds of butter, a block of Old Cheddar cheese and a wheel of brie – the brie was on sale – a 4 pk of cream cheese and grated Parmesan.
There is also a 9 pack of pasta varieties that was on sale, a jar of mayonnaise, a jar of peanut butter, a jar of olives, dehydrated onion, a 2 pk of butter chicken sauce and canola oil.
The only frozen thing I got today was a “Normandy” bag of mixed vegetables. There is also a double flat of eggs (60 eggs). They’ve changed the eggs they carry. Now they’re “free run, farmer owned” (yeah… right), so they’re more expensive. I think we’ll be getting our eggs from the local grocery store now. They are every bit as “free run, farmer owned” as anything else.
In the meats and fish, I was able to get a fair bit. A large package of drumsticks, which was on sale, a large pork loin, a garlic coil – not on sale, but an excellent price – two panini packs for sandwiches, some snapper fillets for the girls, and mild Italian sausage. They didn’t have the wide variety of fresh sausages in stock this time, but they did have loose sausage meat, which was at a lower price, so I got that instead of sausage links. There is also a 6 pack of canned chicken.
Last of all, I got “supper”. For the girls, I got a nigiri platter. With how cold it is, I didn’t have to worry about raw fish in the box of the truck! I also picked up a meat lasagna that was supposed to be for my husband and I, but I forgot he has been cutting out cheese completely. The Lactase doesn’t seem to be helping, and even lactose free cheese is making him sick, so we’re not sure what he’s reacting too, all of a sudden.
That’s it. That’s what we got today, for over $730.
*sigh*
The Re-Farmer
After all the driving I did yesterday – including some white knuckle driving in near zero visibility, the last thing I wanted to do was head out again.
Unfortunately, between having to focus on getting my mother’s apartment emptied, plus concerns about the truck, we haven’t been able to do our usual city stock up shopping. I’m glad I had been able to do the top ups earlier but, until I can finally get to the city, we had to do another smaller shop. Plus, with all the driving I’d done yesterday, I normally would have gotten more gas before heading home on that last trip, but there was no way we were stopping to get gas at that point.
I really wish I’d been able to stay home today. The roads sucked. Yesterday’s high winds came from the south-southeast. Today, we had winds coming from the north-northwest. Since the roads I was traveling ran east-west, that meant there was drifting from yesterday/last night’s winds on one side, and new drifting on the other! Not to mention the open areas, where I was being broadsided by winds and had to fight them to stay on the road. Thankfully, it wasn’t particularly slippery. Temperatures were actually pretty mild today – not as mild as yesterday, but close. The winds, however, negated that completely.
I don’t want to have to do this again, so I made a larger than usual shop.
I filled a whole three grocery bags for $181.02m plus a 12 pack of Coke Zero and a couple of bags of potatoes – and that’s with all the discounts and sales I took advantage of!
Here’s what we got, today.
There’s the Coke Zero at the top of the list, which was on sale. I remembered we were running low on ketchup, so I got a bottle. It’s mostly the girls that use it, so I tend to forget. The gingersnap cookies are a treat for my husband.
There was a sale on pasta sauce, so I got a couple of jars. I got two 18’s of eggs rather than a flat, because the flats don’t fit in the hard sided grocery bags, and I didn’t want to fuss with a larger soft sided bag, just for eggs.
Next is a couple of pounds of house brand butter. The cheapest branded butter was almost $8 a pound. The spiral fries are something my husband is able to cook himself, which he likes to do whenever his pain levels are more tolerable. Then there are a couple of bags of frozen mixed vegetables, and a couple of bags of frozen pierogi.
Potatoes were on sale, so I got one of white potatoes, one of yellow. I also got a bag of onions and some bananas.
Stew meat was on sale, so I picked up the largest package I could find. It was still smaller than what I used to be able to get for under $20. Now, without the sale price, it would have cost over $30. Insane.
They had “cook tonight” discounts on whole chicken, so I got a couple. Those went straight into the freezer. I also got a couple of sausage rings, then decided to get a treat of potato salad. Something we don’t make ourselves, so it’s a fairly rare treat.
Last of all was bread that was on sale; two loaves of marble rye and two of whole wheat Texas Toast.
With the sale prices discounted at the till, not counting the sale items that were priced by weight, I saved $34.10. I could have gotten $10 off on this shop with my loyalty points, but saved it for another time.
There’s a reason we do bulk shopping in the city.
Hopefully, I will hear back from the garage early tomorrow. I ended up sending another picture. Once again, there was fresh oil under the truck. Just another drop, really. Still, it shouldn’t be there. Especially not after just getting that seal replaced. That means it’s coming from somewhere else.
*sigh*
No change in what the oil gauge is telling me. It starts off in the normal range, then drops to the exact same level in the “low” range, and stays there.
Tomorrow is supposed to be colder, but that wind is finally supposed to be done by now, so it’ll probably feel warmer than it has for the past couple of days. Today is Sunday, and the 10 day forecast is saying we’ll reach a high above freezing on Thursday, drop significantly on Friday, then warm back up again by Saturday. If the forecast is at all accurate, that will be the last of the whiplash weather – at least for the highs we’re expecting in the long range forecast.
Which means, by the time we’ve got whatever it is figured out with the truck and we finally do our stock up shopping in the city, even if it’s just one trip, it should be much more pleasant driving!
Here’s hoping.
The Re-Farmer
It was white knuckle time at the end, but we did it.
My mother’s apartment is now completely empty.
At our end, things started after my brother got here and started working on their truck. Which he had to dig his way to. After clearing the barn door enough to open it to access their shovels, etc. He was able to plug in the block heater and left it to warm up before getting their snow blower out.
When I saw he was here, I went out and checked on the truck. It started fine and, at first, that oil pressure gauge was actually in the normal range, which was encouraging. After backing it out a bit, I found a single drop of fresh oil under the truck and that was it. Oil levels were fine. Yay!
Then I caught up with my brother and we worked things out. He would continue with the snow blowing and getting their truck ready, and I would go to my mother’s apartment, where my SIL was already at work packing.
There were a few little delays as he remembered to load up a cart to help carry things to the truck, and so on. In that time, I noticed…
The needle on the oil pressure gauge was dropping again.
*sigh*
It dropped to the same level it was at when I drove the truck home yesterday, then didn’t move. Not that I could focus on it much during the drive in. While today’s temperature was a lot warmer, the wind was insane. It wasn’t even snowing yet, but there was so much blowing snow on the highway that I was hitting white outs, even without snow kicked up by oncoming traffic. Once I was parked, I took a picture of the oil pressure gauge and texted it to our mechanic, as described how things had gone. Then I headed inside.
My SIL had been very busy. We were all shocked by how much was left. My sister didn’t take everything she was supposed to. I think she misunderstood and thought she was to take the things she wanted to keep, plus the stuff my mother specifically wanted her to take, not help empty the place.
There were boxes packed and ready, though, so I immediately started loading up the truck. It wasn’t long before I had as much as I could fit, so I headed back home, messaging my daughters before I left, so they would be prepared to assembly line things into the basement.
I also got a response from the garage. He found what was going on very strange. He said it could be two things: a problem with the engine, or the sensor – and the engine checked out fine when he was working on it yesterday. Which means, it is the sensor. Yet another common issue with our make and model of truck.
Definitely not going with GM again in the future.
I asked him if the sensor was still on warranty – it was replaced maybe a year ago – but whether it is or not, I asked how soon I could bring it in to be fixed. He will check on Monday and get back to me.
So, basically the truck is fine. Which is good, because I did a lot of driving today!
When I got home, I found my brother had gotten the snow blowing done, including clearing a path to the storage house that they could back their truck up to, when it was time to do the furniture.
The boxes, however, were going into the house. I unloaded the truck to the door, one daughter grabbed whatever I had, then passed it to her sister at the basement stairs. This was rather awkward because of how the doors are, and the need to make sure they got closed before any cats made a run for it.
Sir Robin did manage to get into the house once!
My poor brother, meanwhile, was having plenty of trouble. Aside from the huge job of snow blowing vehicle-with paths to their trailer and the warehouse they are beside, just in case we needed to put stuff in there – the truck was having issues. In spite of having a solar powered trickle charger all this time, the battery was dead. He had to boost it (thankfully, he has a booster pack) and had gotten it started by the time I unloaded, then went to talk to him before heading back. He was trying to drive it out, but there wasn’t enough turning radius cleared in the snow for a truck the length of his. He ended up having to dig it out manually.
After connecting with him, I headed back to my SIL. This time, loading the truck was more awkward. I needed to get the commode in, as the medical device department of home care will be picking it up from our place some time next week. It was too tall to fit under the box cover, but I managed to get it into the back of the cab, by setting it on one end. There were more boxes to put into the box, but most of what I had to get in was odd shaped stuff, including a large framed picture that my sister had left behind. I was able to get some smaller pieces of furniture in, at least.
The truck was packed about as much as I could when my brother arrived. Neither of them had eaten since breakfast, and it was well past lunch time, so we took a break for food. My brother, out of habit, shut his engine off when he meant to leave it running, and it wouldn’t start again! Thankfully, he brought his booster pack along, just in case, so he was able to get it going again. He did leave it running the entire time we were at the restaurant, and we even sat at a table where he could keep an eye on it, through the window!
We had an excellent lunch.
Since my truck was already loaded, once we were done, I headed home to unload while they went back to the apartment to start loading some furniture. This time, I was going to stay at home until they got there. The winds were still insane, though at least this time, it was at my back, so the drive was at least a bit smoother! It was still pretty hard to see the road at times – yet I still had vehicles passing me!
It wasn’t too much longer before they arrived with the first load of furniture. By this time, it was getting quite dark, and they were unloading into the storage house, which has no power. I brought out a camping lantern we now have – thanks, M! It sure came in handy! – and my brother found a place to hang it in one room, while a second large flashlight we have was used to light up the room we had to go through at the door.
My brother pretty much picked up and carried all the different pieces of furniture in, himself! He’s amazing!
Once that was done, we headed back to the apartment one last time. I was following them, but was soon left behind. The weather had gotten worse, and it was white knuckle driving quite a few times! It was bad enough that, when I got there, I brought up the idea of renting a motel room and spending the night, once everything was packed. They were going to do that drive, though. If I’d been on my own, I would have stayed in town overnight, but I was willing to do the drive, at the same time as them.
With the cap on their truck, they could fit everything left except for the mattress and box spring, both of which will be taken to the dump. That went into my truck. Unfortunately, I have a shorter box on my truck. A whole 2 inches shorter than the mattress and box spring! I do keep rachet straps in the truck now, though, so I was able to strap them down and leave the tailgate open.
After that was loaded, we went back in for one last check in everything, while my SIL took pictures and video of the empty apartment. Then, we locked it up one last time and headed out!
The road conditions were even worse. The only saving grace was that we had the wind at our backs, so the snow kicked up by oncoming traffic wasn’t quite as bad. They followed me this time, and managed to stay in view the whole way, even when we had people passing both of us at the same time! I just don’t get it. The road was barely visible, and a few times I found I had wandered into the other lane, because the road had disappeared under the swirling snow, and people were passing in this? Good grief.
Once back here, I parked the truck in the garage, since it wasn’t going to be unload this time. We got my brother’s truck unloaded – this time, he carried an entire loveseat, up the stairs and into the storage house! I was able to help with that one a tiny bit, at least.
That storage house is so jammed with stuff. We haven’t gone in there all year, and have made no effort to trying and clear it out. So much in there just needs to go to the dump! Now, we have almost all my mother’s furniture squeezed into there.
*sigh*
The boxes the girls and I got into the basement are going to have to be gone though soon. We’ll unpack what will stay in the house, but the rest will need to be repacked and taken into the storage house, somewhere, before spring, when the basements start getting wet.
After the furniture was unloaded, my brother and SIL had to transfer a few things out of it to their car or their trailer, before the truck could finally be parked back in its spot by the barn and they could finally head home. I’m still waiting in anticipation for a message telling me they arrived home safe and sound! I’m really hoping the winds have started to die down. It had started to snow lightly before it got dark, and will continue to snow, off and on, throughout the night.
Meanwhile, I’m just glad we finally got it done. It was brutal – especially with the weather! – but it’s done.
With our not being able to get our city stock up shopping, though, I’m going to have to go into town tomorrow (Sunday) and do a smaller shop. Which means we’ll have to take that mattress and box spring out of the truck, so I can close the tailgate. The dump won’t be open again until Tuesday, so that’s the earliest we can get rid of them. Unless the garage is able to get us in to get that sensor fixed/replaced. I’ll find that out on Monday.
I am so tired of winter.
According to the long range forecast, we’ve got another week of relatively milder temperatures, but then we’re supposedt to start to get highs above freezing more often than not, for the rest of February!
I can’t believe it’s already the last day of January. Where has the month gone???
I am so tired.
The Re-Farmer
Normally, today would be my day to go into the city for our first stock up trip for February. With the truck having issues and an appointment to get it checked tomorrow morning, today was a home day, instead.
Which turned out to be a good thing.
I didn’t think I’d pushed myself yesterday, but the pain started hitting last night, and this morning I could barely walk. I managed to feed and water the outside cats, grab a quick breakfast, pain killered up and went back to bed for a couple of hours.
Thankfully, that seemed to help a lot.
Which meant I was up to setting things up in the basement to start more seeds.
That included testing out the heat mats. I’d bought a new one last year, because the old one stopped working, but I tested it again anyhow. For a while, I thought I’d need to buy another heat mat, but the new one did eventually warm up quite nicely. The basement is always between 13-16C/55-61F, though it does feel warmer after we removed the cat barrier in the “window” between the two basements, now that we don’t allow the cats down there anymore. I set up just one of the lights, choosing the one that actually warms up a bit when it’s on.
Then it was time to get the set of seeds to start this early. I decided against starting thyme. I’ll see if the varieties we planted last year survived the winter under their thick mulch and blanket of insulating snow. If they didn’t, I will buy transplants, instead.
I also decided against trying the Sweetie Snack Mix peppers again, and will start more of the other two varieties, instead.
This is what I started today.
There’s the luffa, of course. I probably could have started those at the same time as the onions. There are sprouts in all four onion seed rolls now.
Then there’s the Caspar eggplant, a new variety I’m trying this year. The Golden Boy celery is the first time I’ll be trying to grow celery. The Sweet Chocolate peppers are a variety the girls suggested. They grew well when we had them before. When it comes to flavour, they really don’t find much difference between any of the varieties we’ve tried. The California Wonder Bell pepper is a new variety for us that I chose specifically because they are described as being thick walled.
I decided to pre-germinate the peppers, eggplant and luffa, as the seeds are larger and will be easier to move and plant, once the radicals appear. I could also use a damp wooden chopstick to pick up the pepper and eggplant seeds.
With the peppers, I was thinking a total of 9 plants. When it came to pre-germinating the seeds, though, I ended up going for 9 seeds each – though the California Wonder got an extra when one of the seeds I grabbed looked like it was damaged. We’ll see how many actually germinate.
I also started just 9 seeds of the eggplant. I’m hoping to get 4-6 transplants out of those.
I was seriously tempted to pre-germinate more than 4 luffa. Even with pre-germinating, they do struggle to survive. We’ll see how many germinate – and how many survive until transplant time. Last year, I started with four, three pregerminated, one didn’t survive being planted, and of the remaining two, only one really grew much at all.
When it came to dampening the paper towels for this, I made sure to use warm water, too.
As for the celery, the seeds are so tiny, I decided not to pre-germinate them. Instead, I repurposed a clamshell from strawberries. The holes on the bottom are fairly large, so I set a paper towel on the bottom to keep the medium from washing out the bottom. Normally, I pre-moisten the starting mix in a large bowl I have for that purpose, but for such a small amount, I filled the container with dry mix, then used the warm water to thoroughly soak it, first, making sure there were no dry spots. Then I pressed it down to get rid of any excess water, and ensure there were not air gaps.
I have a little seed dispenser that I used to scatter the seed lightly over the surface. With seeds that small, the hard part is keeping them from being too densely sown. Also because they are so small, I didn’t top them with more seed starting mix. Instead, I added a layer of vermiculite. That got a thorough spray with warm water.
All of these fit into a seed starting drain tray and are now set on the heat mat, under the light. The light has “legs” that fit on the ends of the aquarium we originally got it for, so it only needed a couple of the fire bricks I’ve been using as supports. The other light we have rested directly on the aquarium frame, so if we need to bring that one out, it’ll need twice as many bricks to get the same height. The handy thing is, as things grow taller, we can just add more bricks to raise the lights by an inch per brick.
For the peppers and eggplant, I’ve got some deep cell trays I can plant them into. The less potting up, the better.
In the beginning of February, I will be starting tomatoes. I will probably pre-germinate, then use the Red Solo cups for those. I’m still torn between starting three, or all four, of the new varieties I got.
Oh, who am I kidding. I’ll be starting all four.
It would also be the time to start herbs, such as tarragon and savory.
Hopefully, this will work out. Aside from the luffa, these varieties have a relatively short days to maturity on them. It’s not just frost free days we need to think about though, but soil temperature. Last year, we had such warm days in May, but the overnight temperatures were so low, we still couldn’t transplant our seedlings until well into June.
Hopefully, this year will be a much better growing year, without the drought, heat waves and smoke!
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 