Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

We did send her cards, and I figure after the family all leaves and she's alone, maybe then I'll give her a call.

@Mini Horses I doubt seriously that my DH will ever be the kind of guy that just sits at home and watches the tube. I know he's looking forward to attending meetings at the Masonic Lodge again (something that had to go onto the back burner for 15 years because of his work schedule). We are also talking about buying a used small travel trailer to go hunting and fishing, camping and such. He has two pensions- the first one he can access next August, and it has enough money to keep us going for about 10 years if we are careful. The second one starts when he turns 65, and it will actually pay almost as much as he makes currently in his job (he took a serious cut in pay to move up to Oregon from Silicon Valley, and this pension is based on what he was making there). So unless the SHTF and the economy takes a nose dive, we should be better off financially when he retires than when he was working, lol. If everything goes pear-shaped and wobbly, we'll be in the same boat as everyone else, and he would probably lose his job anyway. I'm not going to stress about that; we've done what we can to prepare for that eventuality.

I tried something different last night for dinner. We had the fish tacos as I'd planned, but I made Indian fry breads instead of corn tortillas. They were delicious, but almost too filling. Tonight is a simpler meal- canned chicken in gravy over home made spaetzle, with seasoned green beans.

The ducks are down to only giving me 2-3 eggs a day. I suppose that's ok, because J's husband (that died this week) was my only customer and so of course that has stopped. People out here are not interested in duck eggs, apparently *sigh* I will probably take the excess that he was going to buy this week and dehydrate them for winter.

Didn't get much done yesterday. I got caught up in playing a game of Civilization that turned out to be quite challenging. I did get the dishes done, but only because I would set a timer when I had filled the drainer. When the timer went off, it was time to put the drip-dried dishes away and fill the drainer again with fresh dishes. So today I have a lot more work to do: finish the laundry, sort through the box of junk mail that I found in a corner of the dining room (even though I think it's all junk, I have to check in case there is something important in there) and clean the living room. I can't vacuum until DH is at work, otherwise it sets of his allergies even though I have a HEPA vacuum(I don't care what they say, dust still gets into the air; just not as much). I cleaned the bathroom after I took my shower; I just need to mop the floor now.

The guys are going to load up the truck with the old TVs that are sitting in the storage area. I'm hoping we can give them to Goodwill and get a donation write-off for them, but I have a feeling we'll have to take them to the dump and pay to get rid of them, darnit. Once those are out of the way, I can start going through the mess that used to be my jewelry studio. I want to get it all cleared out and turn it into a studio apartment for DS; right now he's basically camping in my long term storage pantry, lol. He doesn't seem to mind, but it bothers me; plus, if his bed wasn't in there I'd have room for another shelf unit or two... We have boxes of food on the floor right now, because the local grocery store had a case lot sale and I bought quite a bit of food, but there's no room on the shelves for it.

I made a from-storage meal last night: Scalloped Potatoes using dehydrated potatoes and sauce makings, and added some freeze-dried sausage crumbles from an open can that needs to get used up. It was pretty good, but DH had drunk a little more than he should have, and he fell asleep before he could eat. His plate is sitting in the fridge now; I guess I'll pack it up for a lunch for him this week.

For tonight, I'm thinking of doing something on the grill, maybe kabobs. The weather forecast is for it to be back up into the 80's this week. If if is that warm today, I'll make some more sorbet for dessert.

i think you are right to give your friend some space and after things calm down she will be more appreciative of some company. I'm also trying to clean out my pantry and turn it back into a pantry instead of a storage room. horrible job and sadly i admit that its all my fault that it looks like it does.

I have old TVs and computer monitors that no one wants. I have to call the township up to find out how to dispose of them.

Today I need to spend some time in the pantry area creating some sort of order from the chaos. Yesterday was payday, so I picked up stuff I was running low on and fresh produce for salads and such.

DS had an appointment with his new psychologist and he asked me to be present again. I LIKE this guy; he's an older fellow with a relaxed avuncular manner that DS responds to very well. He managed to get DS talking quite animatedly- something that doesn't happen often with strangers. Something DS let fall is that he would really love to go into astronomy/cosmology. He never told us this because, according to him he figured it was a pipe dream. He knows we don't have the money to send him to university, and he flat refuses to go into student loan debt. But it's possible that he might be able to get help from the guvmint since he's disabled. They also will probably be able to repair the missing lens in his right eye (caused by a childhood accident, and again something we've never been able to afford). It bothers me to take charity, but for his sake I'll grab everything that would help him.

I'm trying a recipe for fish cakes today, using some of my canned trout. Hope it turns out well.

in my humble opinion your son shows much wisdom for not wanting to incur student loans. my sil is trying to pay off huge loans. it will take them many, many years at 500. a month to pay off his education. so many of the new nurses i worked with have $50,000+ in loans. they could have purchased a house for what they spent on student loans. I'm not sure it is worth it. if he can get a grant or something that would be great.
are the fish cakes sort of like the salmon patties i make?

@goatgurl I agree with you about the student loans; I'm glad he doesn't want to incur them also. What if he isn't able to find work after all that? Statistics show that 90% of autistic adults are unemployed.

The fish cakes are probably very similar to your salmon patties-- flaked fish mixed with seasonings, a little egg to bind it all, coated with bread crumbs and fried in a little oil. I had a mild horseradish sauce to serve with them which was good because they were sort of dry.
Today I'm cooking some beef in the crockpot with pepperoncinis to make pulled beef sandwiches. I bought some ciabattas because we had run out of homemade bread. I think I'll make some cole slaw to go with it (that will cool things down if the peppers make things too spicy), and I found a recipe for Chocolate Chess Pie that I want to try. DH likes pie!

We finally got some rain last night and today, so I think the fire season is officially over

On the list of things to do today is to can some beans- plain first, chili beans if I have the time and energy. I also have some laundry to do, so this will be the first time I've used the laundry lines in the utility room since I added the extra shelf units- it will be a little crowded in there, lol.

Well, time to get going!

Those fish cakes sound yummy.

I've got a happy tummy this morning; I made sourdough whole wheat apple fritters for breakfast. With a couple of eggs it made a very filling breakfast. Yum!

The crockpot beef turned out wonderful- delicious sandwiches, and there's enough for another dinner or a lunch for all three of us later in the week.

Got a sunny day today, so I'm washing sheets, which don't fit very well in the utility room. I don't have a huge list today- just laundry and dishes, and making up some lentil and rice meals-in-a-jar. I just need to add water and a tablespoon of oil and let them simmer; they are great for a busy day. I also need to replenish my stock of pie crust mix and cookie mixes. So, a fairly relaxing day.

Also since it's sunny, the guys decided to dig out a rack of ribs and barbecue them. I still have leftover cole slaw to go with them, so all I need to do is make some oven wedge fries and serve the leftover chess pie. That chess pie turned out really good; I used the Hersheys extra dark cocoa, and I added a tablespoon of instant espresso to the mix. It turned into an intense chocolate experience, very rich but not too sweet. The crust turned out perfect too- I'm getting better at them finally, after a whole lifetime of avoiding pies because I couldn't make a decent crust.

I'm cooking ribs tonight, also. And, leftover slaw, corn, mashed potatoes. On sale & worked outside as DS helper today to finish the equipment/barn rebuild. It's cool & windy here, so an oven meal was perfect -- cooked without much help, heated house.

Would love some of your pie !!