Today's Update - 14 Jun 2015

Here's a silly little ditty that my father remembers from when he was a kid.  I laugh in all the appropriate places even though I've heard the stories so many times before.  To me this shows his memory is starting to fill the holes back in.

One bright day in the middle of the night,

Two dead boys got up to fight.

Back to back they faced each other,

drew their swords and shot each other.

A deaf policeman heard the noise

and ran to save the two dead boys.

If you don't believe this lie is true,

ask the blind man, he saw it, too.

--Anonymous

Not only is the ditty silly but so am I.  So tired I'm silly.  Today is the first day off I'm going to have from transporting Dad and Mom to various doctors for almost two weeks.  It seems no matter how I arrange things I just don't have any time at the end of the day to write like I had planned.  It is driving me a bit crazy.  In fact I'm not getting much of anything done beyond playing taxi cab driver.  On top of it I am barely keeping up with the house and business.  Strike that, I'm not keeping up with either of those things either.  Last night I'd finally had enough of being less than productive and got my daughters to help me do some overdrive work ... kitchen, family room, breakfast area, living room, bathrooms, laundry, etc.  None of it is as clean as I would like it to be but at least it is cleaner than it was.  Amazing how much mess two extra adults can make, especially when they spread their stuff through the house creating little piles of stuff that doesn't belong where it winds up.  Then add in all of the mess my dad's medical supplies make ... even in my frig with his insulin and antibiotics ... and no matter how much I clean and pick up nothing every seems to stay clean for more than an hour or two.  My parents have just gotten used to letting things go and as busy as we are I just can't live like that.  Too much chaos make Mother Hen a cranky ol' bird.

The other thing I did yesterday was two small batches of sugar free (as in no sugar at all) jams using my Ball brand automatic jam maker.  The first batch was strawberry.

 

I got that batch made and then went on to the next batch which was strawberry-blueberry no-sugar jam.

 

Took about six pounds of strawberries plus two of blueberries to get both batches made.

Ignore the old and broken spice jars in the background.  Ugh.

I made it using

This was my first run with my jam maker despite having purchased it earlier this year and I realized right off the bat that I need to adjust a few things.  Even though I am supposed to put the pectin evenly on the bottom before the fruit I will probably need to thoroughly mix the pectin in with the puree beforehand.  The first batch I tried the pectin stayed on the bottom and cooked/burnt there.  Ick.  Mixing it in made for a much better product.  I'm not sure if that is true of all pectins or if it is a particular problem with the low-sugar/no-sugar type.

Sorry for taking so long to get any story but I gotta do what I gotta do.  The stories that I've updated include:

Up On Hartford Ridge
Still doing a little clean up on this one but it will be up by the end of the day.
A Bunch of Wild Thyme
Dark Days
Emi on the Caloosahatchee
Zombies Aren't Real ... Are They?!
A Girl Called Jack
Prelude and Chapter 1 is up.  This one is a little "out there" as far as the volcanic disaster genre goes but it was fun to write.  Will probably go up slow as I don't have a lot of time for editing right now and this one really needs it.

Only have one video for you today but hopefully you will find it fun and useful.  It's on how to make a pie crust using a Duncan Hines cake mix.  Now think about that for a second.  How much fun could you have making different flavored pie crusts that way?  Strawberry pie with a chocolate crust?  Key Lime Pie with a pineapple crust?  Squash Pie with a carrot cake crust?  Or even one of those no-bake pies (ice cream or cool whip type things) with a flavored crust?  Lots of possibilities with this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sWQwl5VBes

Thanks for being understanding.  Enjoy!


Today's Update - 4 Jun 2015

"Like sand through an hourglass, these are the days of our lives ...."

Anyone remember that?  Been feeling like I'm walking through a bit of a soap opera lately.  Nothing I can't handle and mostly from outside influences but still, not what I need right now.  However life does go on and found out that my father has been approved for hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).  I'm told this is a very, very good thing.  We'll see.  I've been trying to keep my expectations in line with reality.  While Dad is improving in some areas, in others he is barely staying on course.  The antibiotics for the staph are really kicking his tail.  I give it to him three times a day through his pic line.  Matter of fact I do most of the medical stuff except change the wound dressing ... I even change out the cartridge on the wound vac as my mom isn't strong enough to.  I'm hoping this new treatment does what they say it will.  He has to go to the wound center six days out of seven to spend ninety minutes in a hyperbaric chamber on pure oxygen.  They've ordered 40 sessions.  OMG.  I hope my dad's patience doesn't run thin.

But a praise report and something I'm really proud of us for.  My dad's daily morning sugar reading has been staying between 130 and 150.  This was unheard of before when it ranged into the 200s.  My only concern is that the HBOT tends to speed up people's metabolism and this may cause the sugar to drop too low.  We'll have to watch things very carefully.

Trying to tend to my parents, keep my house in order, take care of the family, and help run the business is taking a lot more time than I had budgeted for.  There is very little room for "extras" during the day.  Posting daily may be out until late summer unless I can arrange things better.  That said, just because I don't put an update doesn't mean that I may not update a story between times. 

I did finally manage a thorough re-red of "UOHR" and also got the first addition to it up tonight.

Stories that have been updated:
Up On Hartford Ridge
A Bunch of Wild Thyme
Dark Days
Emi on the Caloosahatchee
Zombies Aren't Real ... Are They?!

I'm sorry that I don't have time to do a vid search but I'll try and include some interesting ones on the next update.

Thanks for your patience.

Enjoy!

Today's Update - 1 Jun 2015

Ever had a time in your life where it feels like there has been a full moon for about three years running?  That's where I'm at right now.  On the days I don't personally feel crazy it feels like most of the people affecting my life are.

As I've mentioned we made the decision to move my parents in with us until they could get back on their feet after some pretty serious physical issues my father has had.  Thus far it has been three surgeries in less than two months.  I'm not sure how my mother has been able to do it for so long.  This last surgery was a surprise.  The wound from his second surgery wasn't healing properly, had to be "abraded" which pretty much means they went in and scrubbed out the infection and any associated dead tissue and he subsequently came home from the hospital with a pic line for intravenous antibiotics and a wound pump to drain off fluid build up.  We already arranged for home health care to come in but we will still be handling most of everything.  Where it appears we dodged a bullet is that my father's reaction to the sedation was not as severe this time because we didn't have to deal with the Delaudid/Cipro side effects.  The man has an open wound and is only taking OTC meds for pain.  Told him I would get him a blue spandex unitard and red cape and Mom and I would sew a big red "S" on the chest just for him.  Hmmm ... he was not amused. 

Not fun getting put into the position of the "bad guy" when it comes to snacks and menu planning but it is what it is; he and Mom both need healthier eating habits.  I'd love to say they are old enough that eating what they want won't adversely affect their quality of life but that simply isn't true.  Sugar and carbs are the big baddies in the room right now but there is also sodium and fats.  Plus he needs more protein to rebuild the muscle he has lost from being bed-bound so much.  I'm actually enjoying modifying his favorite recipes and he's being a good sport about eating the resulting experiments.  Although with as hungry as he has been it isn't getting him to eat that is the challenge so much as keeping my mother from giving him (sneaking him) "snacks" to abate his misery. Fun, fun, fun.

I haven't been able to finish the writing projects that have been on my to do list but I hope to achieve some kind of streamlined schedule soon.  At-home intravenous antibiotics three times per day, in home health care two and three times per week, physical therapy starting today so I don't know yet, cooking three meals and two snacks per day, the extra cleaning and precautions for infection control, doctors' appointments, two extra pets in the house, and so much more is taking up a lot of the "free time" I was hoping to have this summer.  That doesn't even include the activities my kids are in and having my adult son gone leaving the things he normally does for us for someone else to pick up ... ugh.  Ugh.  UGH.

I missed adding new trees to my edible landscaping but hopefully I'll be able to get some tropical in this fall.  I have a few sitting in pots from last planting time and made the mistake of thinking I would get to them this time.  Looks like they'll get a re-pot before they'll get a re-plant.

The pond area at the back of our property that backs up to the swamp is getting out of control again.  I may just have to lay weed paper down in the worst of the areas and then mulch it the best I can though a couple of areas are fairly steep.  The real problem is the plants growing in the pond.  Since I'm fond of neither snakes nor gators it may be time to hire a professional to get those pulled out again.

Ew, making myself antsy thinking of all the things there are to do that aren't getting done.  Time to refocus so on to the story updates.  Before the end of the day I will have the following stories added to:
A Bunch of Wild Thyme
Emi on the Caloosahatchee
Zombies Aren't Real ... Are They?!
Dark Days

I'm also hoping to have a new entry for Up on Hartford Ridge but that depends on whether I have any unexpected nails pop up that I need to hammer back down.

Today's vids fall under the key word "safety."  Ever wonder why you aren't supposed to pour water on an oil fire?  The Slo-Mo guys explain it and give good video of the result.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbgdRR4yj8Y

 

 

The next video shows that storing fuel in glass containers is akin to a Molotov cocktail.  Hint:  definitely not something to do at home.  Just let crazies like the Slo-Mo guys do the experiment for you.

 



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfvceHUBWnU

 

The following is an oldie but a goodie from 1949 outlining safety in the kitchen.  My mother said she'd even seen this one in one of her home ec classes.  LOL.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViXh9O87SJ0

 

 

One of the funniest safety videos comes to us from Air New Zealand, especially if you enjoy The Lord of the Ring series.

 



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VqhIzigk1s

Today's Update - 27 May 2015

Unfortunately my father's health has had another set back and I'm in the midst of helping my parents.  We did get them moved in with us but little else has been accomplished.  Will try and update further in the next day or two.

I have been working on the stories so check the usual suspects.  The links for the stories in motion are on the right hand side of the page:

• A Bunch of Wild Thyme
• Emi on the Caloosahatchee
• Zombies Aren't Real ... Are They?!
• Dark Days

I'm still doing a reread of Up On Hartford Ridge and hope to get additions to that started soon.  Right now I'm travelling daily to the hospital and don't have much internet access to load stuff up until I get home and by then I'm either exhausted or dealing with other responsibilities.  I will get things going in the right direction but I have to prioritize the needs of my parents right now.

Thanks for everyone's kind wishes and prayers.  They are appreciated and I hold them near to me during these difficult days.

Short Update - 20 May 2015

Had a nice long update but power blipped and I lost it while blogger was trying to save it.  So, just a quick one to let you know that I've been adding bits and pieces to the usual suspects.  I'm still trying to figure out why the last entry for "Geeks" won't post and show up.  May have to completely retype it.  Ugh.

My dad's recovery is going to be very slow.  Doctor's say upwards of a year.  Tentatively they will be staying with us two months, we'll re-evaluate that as that point approaches.  Hubby and I have put our summer vacation on hold but the kids will continue to do their thing.  The sacrifice is worth it if it gets my parents back on their feet physically and financially.

The links for the stories in motion are on the right hand side of the page:

• A Bunch of Wild Thyme
• Emi on the Caloosahatchee
• Zombies Aren't Real ... Are They?!
• Dark Days

I'm also doing a reread of Up On Hartford Ridge and hope to get additions to that started possibly this weekend.  Depends on the logistics of moving my parents down on Friday.

Thanks for putting up with my crazy schedule! 

Today's Update - 5 May 2015

(That's not the sun, that is the full moon we've been experiencing.

Photo was taken about 8 pm.)

 

 

Well it if isn't one thing it is certainly going to be another.  Now on top of all of the other medical issues my father has been facing post-heart surgery he is now going to have to have gallbladder surgery.  My poor mother is at her wits end.  We are trying to get them to come live with us for at least a few weeks, and they want to, but events keep interfering.  Faith tells me to put it in God's hands and trust in His timing.  My humanity tells me to stomp around and have a hissy fit at everything getting in the way of my wants.  If this is a test of some sort I'll admit to struggling. 

 

Having nothing but good things happen doesn't make for many opportunities to become a stronger person.  Wish that wasn't the way it is but apparently that's the way the human race has turned out to be.  We need adversity and challenges to grow and be the best we can be.  Someone once said that the strongest steel is forged by the hottest fire.  I hope that is true and applicable to humans as well.  If it is then by the time life is finished forging me I should be positively "stainless."

 



I'm trying to work on writing but I'm running into challenges there as well.  I've got the last bit of "Geek" written and in draft mode but something in the formatting is having a battle with blogger.  I post it and it just isn't showing up.  Something is being read as code and I have to go through each little blurp until I find what is going on.  If I can get it posted tonight I will but I have to be honest, I'm very tired and not finding a lot of patience for something that isn't obvious.  I'll get it up as soon as I can.

Below is what I have added to.  Also, I have decided that in a few days I will start finishing the next one which will be "Hartford."  I'd like to finish that one by the end of June at the latest.  It may very well be sooner but I'm not going to even try and guess because if I have my parents to look after and have to deal with a lot of summer activities for the kids plus the business goes crazy during the summer ... you get the idea.  Let's just leave it at Hartford being the next on the list to finish.

Zombies Aren't Real ... Are They?!

http://zombiesarentrealarethey.blogspot.com/

 

A Bunch of Wild Thyme

http://bunchofwildthyme.blogspot.com/

 

Emi on the Caloosahatchee

http://emionthecaloosahatchee.blogspot.com/

 

Today's vids have absolutely no purpose beyond entertainment.  My brain is positively fried which sent me off in a weird direction on the internet.  From one search to another and then another ... I fell into looking at what all could be deep fried.  Trust me, you don't want to know.  There is one channel on youtube where this guy deep fries positively everything.  The ones that I'm posting aren't quite that bad but should give some of you a giggle.

 

Deep Fried Pickles

 

Deep Fried Mashed Potatoes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwWGKDJUeVU

 

Deep Fried Butter On A Stick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o7E3ioJ9Ek

 

Deep Fried Oreos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HORSj6vRqS4

 

 

 

Today's Update - 3 May 2015

(Three of the palms in my front yard.  They are much taller than you can tell from this picture.  In the wind they sway and the sound of the fronds rubbing together is almost hypnotic.)

 

 

Yesterday was been what my father would call a long day at black rock.  Add to that a full moon bringing all the crazies out and you can imagine how work came hand over fist.  Day didn't start off too bad but about 1:30 it is like the bottom dropped out of everyone's minds.

  

Had a softball game at 8 am.  Weather was cool with only a little wind but the ball was wet by the dew on the field.  Didn't seem like the girls could keep a hold of the flaming thing.  Then halfway through they finally came alive and my Sporty Girl hit two doubles and a home run with an RBI of 9 for the game.  Not too shabby.  Not too shabby at all.  And that's with a sore knee where she got capped by a low line drive at Thursday's practice.  Came home and the man was there to fix the sprinklers.  We could have done it but the guy owed us a few bucks on an AC he nicked the copper line on while doing some landscaping.  It was a good barter.

 

But by 1 pm the day began sliding.  Everyone seemed to want everything three days before they ask for it.  Too many people with excuses why they weren't going to have the rent until the end of the month and didn't want to pay the late payment.  We had one break in to a unit we were getting ready for a new move in and we suspect the former tenant's brother but with no proof there isn't a thing we can do about it but suck it up.  Work day wasn't over with until almost midnight. 

 

Came home to try and find some good things after a hard day and what do I see when I pull in?  Our magnolia tree starting to rock some blooms.

 



Then I round the walk and my gardenia bush is just loaded as well.

And then right at the door there is a beautiful hibiscus.

It was a blessing that I needed and refreshed me.  But obviously not enough that I could write last night.  LOL!  Here is what I have been able to update thus far today:

Zombies Aren't Real ... Are They?!

http://zombiesarentrealarethey.blogspot.com/

 

A Bunch of Wild Thyme

http://bunchofwildthyme.blogspot.com/

 

Emi on the Caloosahatchee

http://emionthecaloosahatchee.blogspot.com/

 

Geek Inherit the Earth

http://geekinherittheearth.blogspot.com/

(I hope to have this up before the end of the day.  Blogger is pitching a fit about some hidden formatting in the file that I need to find.)

Today's videos have to do with the fact that you likely have an edible landscape whether you realize it or not, all you need is a little investigation.  One of these days I hope to find ways to make most of the things in my yard edible or useful in some other way. 

The first vid is on making homemade hibiscus tea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0yuipPnWb4

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDTYVaevdLI

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53sVLm3UYvM