New Years shopping: this is what almost $360 looks like

/ Re-Farmer / 3 Comments

What a long, long day.

I headed into the city to pick up mostly stuff for our New Years fondue plans, though of course, I got other stuff, too. I ended up going to 3 different places in the city, then swinging by town to pick up my husband’s insulin, before heading home.

I’m totally drained.

My first stop was actually the post office, where I found a package I am quite excited about. I haven’t opened it, yet, but it’s a book I won.

My next stop was in the city. The international grocery store is part of a franchise, and there is a new location near the Costco we normally go to. It’s not an international store, but we used to shop this franchise all the time before we moved, so I decided to check it out. They had hot food available, too, so that was where I had breakfast.

Sadly, I was a bit disappointed. Not in the food. That was delicious. There just weren’t a lot of options. The store may be about the same size as the international one we normally go to, as far as I could tell, but all the departments seemed like they were half the size. I was particularly surprised by how small their meat section was. The beef section was not only small, but many of the choices were discounted “cook tonight” packs that were near the end of their shelf life. The Cat Lady often buys these to use as cat food! Even the regular cuts, though, were looking oxidized.

Still, this is where I got the bulk of my list.

This is what $229.84 looks like.

Yeah. Pretty sparse.

Here’s what I got.

For the meats, I was looking mostly for stir fry type cuts, but there weren’t any. So I just got trays of beef, pork and chicken breast that we could cut to size ourselves. Then I found a package of frozen hot pot combination meats – beef, pork and lamb. So I got one of those, too. I also got small frozen scallops. Together with the frozen prawns I got earlier, we have plenty of protein for our oil fondue. I got 2 bottles of peanut oil for that.

I found a basic recipe for the cheese fondue, and was looking for Swiss and Gruyere, but was really surprised by how small their fancy cheese section was. I got two cheeses there, but I wasn’t sure if they would be enough.

I got a tempura batter mix, plus a mixed vegetable tray and some pears, strawberries, and tiny crimini mushrooms. The pears and strawberries are for the cheese fondue, along with the French bread. The mushrooms are for the tempura batter and the oil fondue, while the vegetables can be for either.

I picked up various sauces for dipping, but could not find marinara sauce anywhere. That was unexpected.

Aside from other household stuff, I also got two tubs of seasonal ice cream- Eggnog flavour – that were on send of season clearance.

My next stop was Walmart. The main thing I was looking for there was fuel for the oil fondue burner. I’d seen the gel fuel we’ve used before at another location, so I figured I’d find it at this one.

This is what $74.43 looks like.

Also very sparse!

You’ll notice there is no fondue burner fuel in there.

I looked all over that store! I even asked for help. The employee I snagged looked up gel fondue fuel on her phone at the Walmart website, which said it was in stock, but she couldn’t find it. I went through the housewares section it should have been in, the camping fuel section, the grocery aisles, and even end cap and aisles displays. Nothing!

I did find stir fry beef, though, and grabbed a package as an extra. I also got another cheese for the fondue.

Still no marinara sauce!

Along with drinks and household items, there are mini cupcakes for dessert. While still looking for the burner fuel, I spotted an excellent sale price on Kraft Dinner, which my daughters like, so I snagged a case. By this time, I was also feeling really dehydrated, so I got some drinks for the road.

I still needed burner fuel, though. I can’t say I was too unhappy about not finding it at Walmart. The employee that tried to help me showed me her search results to confirm the item, and it cost almost $40! For one bottle, not a case. I was shocked, to say the least!

So, it was another trip up the road to a Canadian Tire.

I’m happy to say, I found what I needed, and more!

This is what $54.24 looks like.

It wasn’t the gel fuel we’d used before, but I confirmed it was for fondue burners.

They were $9.99 each, so I bought two.

I also got a little strainer to scoop out anything that might fall off the fondue forks. Plus, an extra burner. That way, if we used up the fuel in the burner, we can just switch and not have to wait for it to cool down.

And yes. That is a second vegetable peeler you are seeing in there. We need to replace the ones we have, and are forever losing track of them.

Since I was there anyhow, I picked up a tri-light bulb for my bedside lamp, which has a normal incandescent bulb right now. I also picked up no-mortise door hinges. The girls took measurements of where they need to hang a door. It may be possible we have an interior door in one of the sheds they can use. If so, these hinges can be used. We shall see. If they can’t be used, it won’t hurt to have them for the future.

That done, my next stop was for gas at Coscto. Prices around the city have dropped to 129.9 cents/L, but Costco was 117.9!

From there, it was time to drive the hour or so to pick up my husband’s prescription. By then, it was getting quite dark.

It was also a long time since breakfast, so after I got the prescription, I went to the Dairy Queen and got us burgers for supper.

That and I really needed to use a bathroom, and the one in the pharmacy was out of order!

Yeah. That’s my excuse!

As of now, the only thing we are missing is dry white wine for the cheese fondue sauce. I will pick that up tomorrow!

Somehow, I didn’t expect that doing a fondue for New Years would make it more expensive than having all finger food for Christmas!

Ouch.

The Re-Farmer

Cat challenges!

/ Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

They can be so cute!

And so destructive!

Shadow has taken to cuddling me at night, but his sister, Tin Whistle, has taken to having a party on my daughter’s bed.

While she’s in it.

It’s gotten so bad, the girls are looking at building a door. The upstairs is two rooms, and we only ever had a curtain over the opening between them. If they want to get any sleep, they need to make a door to fit.

Plus, we need to get these teenagers adopted!

Beyond that, we are having another quiet day of domesticity. I expect to be heading out tomorrow to do put shopping for New Years, and run other errands.

It’s such a gorgeous day, today. Clear blue skies, sunshine and temperatures just below freezing. T-shirt weather! 😄

The Re-Farmer

Mostly quiet

/ Re-Farmer / 4 Comments

First, the cuteness!

I counted 35 this morning.

Sad Face’s nose is still looking messy from a fight a few days ago. No new injuries. It’s always a bit distressing when I tend to the cats and find fresh blood. Most recently, on the fur of one of the friendly white and greys. Friendly to humans, that is. Friendly with most of the other cats, too, but they do get testy with each other, at tumes. To be expected, with so many maturing males. From what I could tell with the blood I saw, it wasn’t his. There were no injuries!

It is turning out to be a gorgeous sunny day. Our temperature has even gone above freezing, which is a few degrees warmer than forecast.

I got to enjoy the sun and warmth during a quick trip into town. Three of our four 18.9L (5 gallon) water jugs for drinking water needed refilling. We usually do it when two are empty. Of course, I picked up a few more little things, but will be doing a larger trip, once pay comes in.

Before I left, I checked the tires on the truck, and none of them needed topping up. That’s a good sign. Especially since we will probably have to wait until the end of January/beginning of February to get those valves replaced, depending on what the status is with my computer.

The check engine light was on again, so after I got home and unloaded, I hooked up the OBDII scanner. I got the expected codes for rich fuel mixture but, lo and behold, there was a new one.

Not an unexpected one.

Yup. There’s a code for the oil pressure sensor. Our new reader even gives extra info, including the fact that this code is very common for our make, model, and year, plus the top fixes. Those included changing the filter, doing an oil change, and even replacing the sensor. The most common fix being a simple oil change.

I really like having this other OBDII reader my husband got me. The first one we got just gave the codes, and that was about it.

This one also allows me to clear the codes. The rich fuel codes are permanent codes, but I’ve found that, after clearing the codes, then tanking up, they would clear themselves. The most important thing is knowing what’s going on, and getting an idea of how urgent or not something is.

That done, it is now back to hibernation mode!

The Re-Farmer

Quiet days.

/ Re-Farmer / 5 Comments

If all goes to plan, my only outing before January will be when my husband’s private insurance disability payment comes in – with all the holidays, I’m not quite sure what business day that will be – and I make one last shopping trip of the year. We will be doing both an oil and a cheese fondue for New Years, so the food we get needs to be fresh, rather than the mostly frozen finger foods we got for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Christmas day was highlighted by charcuterie boards – we had so much, I had to split it between two!

On Christmas day, we gave the cats a break with the ear cleaning. We’ve treated them with mineral oil for 10 days, and from what we’ve read and been told, that should do it. Some of the cats, however, still have insanely dirty ears – a sign of either continued mite activity, or just that it was so bad, we haven’t been able to get it all out. Our grandma seems to be the worst case. Black gunk in the ears of a black cat. It seems we just didn’t see what was happening until it git really bad, and my goodness, it’s hard to do her ears!

I do think it has made a difference in her, though. She is becoming more active and her appetite seems to be improving!

Some of the cats seem to be developing what looks like dandruff around the ears. We suspect the mineral oil may be getting a but much for their skin. So when we started up the ear cleaning again (if we need to do one, we need to do all), we switched to coconut oil. The girls are the only ones that use coconut oil in cooking, so the big Costco size tub they got is still quite full. It just needed to be melted, first, so the prepered strips of paper towel we use can absorb it. Which had the added benefit of the oil being still warm when we started.

Or, should I say, when I started. Before my daughter was able to start brung7ng cats, I was able to do Clarence, Tin Whistle, Misty, Shadow, Ghosty, Cheddar, Potato Beetle and Ginger, all on my own. They let me just come to where they were, curled up on my bed, and do their ears. Even Ginger, who had among the most severely dirty ears, due to not being able to self clean as well, no longer complains or tries to fight. Beep Beep is another one that has become quite calm about it, but I couldn’t reach her in the middle of the king-size bed. 😄

In the end, it was only Soot Sprite and The Beast (Tiny) we couldn’t find. Knowing the routine, almost all the other cats were milling around the good bowls, waiting for their wet cat food. Soot Sprite came up from the basement, and we got him done, but we had to start opening cans before The Beast came up from the basement, too!

This is Ginger, with a full belly, enjoying the cat cave. We have a second one, but the cats don’t use it.

I hope the coconut oil works well, and we can finally get their ears all clean. There are three cats that are still really bad for some reason. Thankfully, Ginger is not one of them!

My hands have never been softer!

The Re-Farmer

Peace

/ Re-Farmer / 3 Comments

Today is Christmas Eve, and the fourth Sunday of Advent. The day of Peace.

We begin our celebrating tonight and through tomorrow, so I will take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

May you and your loved ones be filled with peace this day. My your homes be filled with hope, joy, and love, today and for always.

From The Re-Farmer household to yours!

*sigh*

/ Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

I tapped away at a blog post this morning. Tried to publish it, but it wouldn’t work. Turned out we lost power while I was writing it.

So I set it aside for later.

Later was a few minutes ago, when I discovered it hadn’t even been saved as draft.

*sigh*

I’ll try to remember what I meant to write, and try again, later.

Well… I guess if I’d been writing it on my computer, I would have known the power was put because my machine would have died as I was typing, so… I’ll take the W for that, at least. 😄

The Re-Farmer

Update: oh!!! I just realized why it didn’t save to draft! My phone published it on its own!

I feel much better now!

Still foggy

/ Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

I found myself waking up way too early this morning. That’s what I get for going to bed before midnight!

It has been warming up all night, and is supposed to stay above freezing for most of the day.

I think the yard cats are liking it. Only 25 came around for breakfast! They don’t get as hungry when it’s warmer.

The fog is still here and expected to stay for a while longer. The resulting frost on the trees is quite gorgeous – and I’m happy yo not have to drive in it!

I did get some good news of a sort, this morning. Our oldest cat didn’t show up for breakfast this morning. When my husband came out, I told him about her being missing, and that was why we’d come knocking at his door after we couldn’t find her during the ear cleaning session. I feared we were now looking for a body. He told me that she did turn to be in his room! He thought all the cats were out before closing his door. She may have been under his hospital bed, far enough that we couldn’t see her. Or maybe under the table that holds his little medication fridge.

While I’m glad she was around after I’d gone to bed, the fact that she isn’t coming around for food concerns me. For now, I hope she is in her usual spot, cuddling my daughter in bed!

The Re-Farmer

(This post will be published late: it seems we lost power, while I was writing it!)

A day in the fog

/ Re-Farmer / 5 Comments

Freezing fog rolled in last night, making for a gorgeous morning!

It didn’t go away.

My daughter and I headed into the city pretty much as soon as I was done the morning rounds. The roads were good and the visibility was okay, so long as no one tried to pass anyone. We made a quick stop at a gas station in my mother’s town to pick up drinks, and I sent an update to a road conditions group I’m on. When a was able to check it later on, people driving a highway almost parallel to the one we were on described several times when there were people trying to pass others in the fog and almost causing accidents! That highway is notorious for dangerous drivers.

Once in the city, our first stop was the computer place to drop off my tower. I told them, no hurry, for budgetary reasons. We talked a bit and I got an idea on what things might cost, depending on what he finds. The prices were quite reasonable, though if it’s a worst case scenario, replacing the valves on the truck tires will have to wait a month. In talking budget, I mentioned the various expenses that crop up, especially this time of year, and he totally understood. Turns out his engine blew on his own vehicle, recently! He’s got a loaner that needs to be returned today.

When I mentioned the valves on our tires, he immediately asked if the rims were aluminum. Why, yes. Yes, they are! He suggested getting steel ones, as soon as we can afford it. Which is funny, because the mechanic that checked my tires was saying much the same thing! 😄

With the computer, I’d things turn out to be badly damaged, we might need a new hard drive. He told me the cost for a 1T drive, which was very reasonable. Except, it turns out we have a spare! A recent care package we received included a hard drive, in case we found it useful. When I messaged my husband about the computer and the worst case scenario, he checked, and it’s a 1T hard drive.

Thank you, M! We may not need it, but what a serendipitous gift!

Once that was taken of, we went across the street to the Costco. We topped up on gas, which was 123.9 cents/litter. Higher than last time, but still 10 cents lower than everywhere else. After tanking up, I dashed in to get more eggs and cream. The girls are planning to make eggnog.

After that, we finally went for breakfast, though it was noon by then. We then went to a Sobeys I wanted to check out, which had a liquor store attached. I got stuff for our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meals, which will be all finger food this year. My daughter went to the liquor store and picked up what they would need for the eggnog, and for both Christmas and New Year imbibing.

Our last stop was supposed to be the Superstore, where I got the last of what we needed for our celebrating. We will need to pick up other stuff for our New Years fondue, but that will wait until after Christmas.

I was also looking for a gift for my mother. She always says, she has too much stuff, so I wanted to get her food gifts as treats. I had no luck, so I left my daughter to pack away the purchases (I even got $50 off with loyalty points!) while I walked over to a Walmart.

I took me so long to settle on something. What did you get for the person who hates everything?

I ended up getting a little gift set with tea, crackers and tiny jam jars, which is the sort of thing she eats when she takes her medications. I got a pretty cup for the tea. I also found a Hickory Farm set with beef sausage, cheese, crackers, and a little cleaver. Again, stuff much like what she likes to have. Just a bit fancier.

I got a gift bag for it all, with plans to drop it off at her place on the way home.

I was settling into the truck and about to call my mother to let her know I’d be dropping her gift off, but not staying, because of the fog, which was still just as dense, when I saw a message from my husband suggesting we bring home McDonald’s. The budget was getting slim by then (McRaunchies is not a cheap deal anymore!), plus burgers from the city would be cold and wet by the time we got home. I’m not sure why he didn’t suggest the new Dairy Queen that’s closer to home!

I called my mother, and my daughter started messaging her sister. Before I knew it, she’d sent me the funds to stop at the Greek restaurant in town.

Before all that was settled, though, we’d reached my mother’s place and I ran in to drop off her gift.

She had already forgotten I was coming.

When I gave her the bag, she asked what it was, and I told her it was her Christmas present. She promptly started telling my she didn’t need it, and we needed it more (even though she had no idea what “it” was).

Then she wanted me to sit and visit. I reminded her, I was just dropping the gift off, because its foggy out there, and it was going to get dark, soon. I made the mistake of mentioning my daughter was with me, to help look out for deer. She started going on about how she didn’t even come in to say hi…

I left, with her glaring daggers as me.

*sigh*

With supper arrangements made, we crossed to the next highway to go to town and order four meals to go. This place is so generous in their portion sizes, it’ll be enough to feed us for 2 days!

Unfortunately, by the time it was ready, it wS fully dark. Thankfully, the fog was not as dense, so I could use my brights at times. We only saw one deer along the way!

Though it felt far later, it was only past 5 when we got home and unloaded. My daughter parked the truck while I distracted the outside cats by feeding them, while my other daughter put the shopping away.

It was a couple of hours late, so we went straight to cleaning that cats’ ears with mineral oil. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find one cat. Grandma. Even when we started putting out wet cat food, she didn’t come out. I still haven’t seen her.

Unfortunately, with a senior cat, I can’t help but think she found a quiet place for her final nap. But where? My daughter even checked the basement. We can’t find her.

I’ll try looking in the basement myself, later on. I hope I’m wrong in my concern.

It’s been a while, and we’ve had our supper (the girls and I all ordered pickerel dinners, and I got a burger meal for my husband), but as I tap away, writing this post, I have eleven greasy cats on the bed behind me, most of whom are still grooming either their own ears, or the ears of a cat next to them! They all look so bedraggled. 😁

I really hope this treatment does the trick. Some of them still have such dirty ears, which means they still have active mites. At least some of them are noticeably better! Some were never bad at all. We’ve got at least 4 more days of this, though if we feel they still need more, we might switch to using aloe vera gel, which should also help with healing. We shall see.

Beyond that, I’m just glad we got this trip in and, hopefully, we won’t need to go anywhere until after Christmas!

The Re-Farmer

Our 2024 garden: Heritage Harvest order is in

/ Re-Farmer / 5 Comments

Today was a day of running around, starting in the afternoon. We had a dump run to do, and I had to wait until they opened. From there, it was a stop at the post office, then off to my mother’s to drop some Christmas stuff off, before I headed to the pharmacy to get more mineral oil. The girls cleaned the cats’ ears while I was out, using the last of our mineral oil to do it, and we have another 4 or 5 days of daily cleaning. Hopefully, that will take care of the ear mites!

I made sure to let my mother know I could pick stuff up for her since I was there anyhow, so she had a short list for me. I took care of that after I went to the pharmacy. Before leaving town, I messaged the family to see if we needed anything and ended up going back to the grocery store. By then, I was pretty famished, and there’s this excellent Chinese restaurant, right next door! So we had Chinese take out as a treat for supper.

The down side of all this running around is that it was already dark by the time I headed home. I hate driving at night. Yes, I have the deer screamers on the truck, but with the lights from oncoming traffic, it’s impossible to see if there are any deer on or near the road.

Once home. I was happy to go through the mail, as our Heritage Harvest seed order was in. It included a lovely surprise

I didn’t expect to get free seeds for such a small order! Of course, I had to look them up. This image is from the Heritage Harvest website.

Forme de Coeur Tomato

From the website description.

This wonderful heirloom originates from Quebec. Forme de Coeur really impressed me this summer and it is now one of my new favorites! The red heart shape fruit are medium size and produced in abundance. The fruit have great taste and are quite meaty. A great all purpose tomato that is early as well. Determinate, regular leaf foliage. (65 days from transplant)

25 seeds per packet.

We were planning to plant only 2 varieties of tomatoes next year, but we might just have to try these! Especially since they have such a short growing season.

The main thing, though, is that the Red Wethersfield onion seeds are in. We now have all our onion and shallot seeds, which will be started indoors next month. 😊

I can’t wait to get growing!

The Re-Farmer