Quarantine and chill and kindness chatty clubhouse: Jump in and join the conversation! All is welcome!

[lynxstch]

Sorry for the double post but have to share....I made brownies from scratch last night for DD and I and they tasted off. I couldn't figure out what it was...until just right now when I realized I used monkfruit sweetener we had in the cabinet and not regular sugar. Going to try again tonight since I'm really craving brownies....

never even heard of monkfruit sweetener,but I can just imagine that the brownies would have tasted 'off'..lol. Go for a second batch, with sugar, and I bet you really enjoy them more!

 

[chickapin parterre]

Good morning all. Rained a little overnite, not the storms they predicted, and now no rain in the forecast today. Going to be 84 and muggy. I did all I had to do yesterday so it can do what it wants out there, lol.

WELL YOU CAN THANK THE POSTAL SERVICE FOR THAT......WE GOT IT DELEIVERED HERE YESTERDAY MORNING......AIR SERVICE DELIVERED....FINALLY HAD MY DESERT RAIN SHOWER COMPLETE WITH FIREWORKS...AND YES i WAS DANCING. PULLING NEIGOBHORHOOD WEEDS AND DRAINING THE POOL......

 

[lynxstch]

We were supposed to get to 85 today. We got to 93. I am so over this August heat. Its cooled down to 82 now and there is a slight breeze, and feels less muggy. I just filled the gravity water thing for the outside cats for the nite, not going to bother watering as we should get enough over the next 2 days to take care of everything. Grass is growing so fast , you can hardly tell I mowed it 2 days ago.

Sister in law called me very upset. Last Wed she took my niece to Potomac Valley Hospital as she had a sinus infection and her PCP was out for the week. They insisted on doing a covid test..and told her she would have the results by Sat/Sun. That she had to stay home till then. She called this morning. and they told her that niece had an appt for a test Wed and was a no show? Sister in law named the person who did the test, described her, told them which door she came out of and went in etc. They could find no record of the test anywhere. She finally got hold of a supervisor who made some calls..and come to find out,,the person who did the test, never wrote up the order for it,,so it couldn't be sent to the lab for testing and was thrown out? The supervisor told her if they would drive back up there today (about 30 minutes), that he had authorization do it the test in the hospital and have the hospital lab get the results in an hour or so. They called her 2 hour later and said not only was the test negative, but she shouldn't have had to take one, as she had no covid symptoms and clearly had a sinus infection. See, noone can do their jobs right anymore! The person who adminstered the test was sternly lectured, and was told if it happens again, she would be gone.
Now they have to drive to Morgantown tomorrow for her allergy shots, and then to her PCP on Wed for a follow up visit. I told her she might have to swim there to get there on Wednesday..lol

Dinner here was salmon cakes, mashed potatoes and peas.

Mr L is doing his exercises and then it's tv and then sleep. OT and PT are both coming tomorrow, and neither of us know what to expect of the person replacing Matt the PT guy for the week. Matt's father was in hospice and passed away this morning Got a call from a girl this morning asking to come today from 3-4,, no idea who she was, when I asked she said she was PT. Then she explained why Matt wouldn't be coming,,and I said , ,no make it tomorrow as scheduled,,I don't feel good, and neither of us slept well, and at that time of the afternoon, he's not in the mood to do exercises. We have gone out of our way to accomodate their schedules, sometimes ending up with OT , PT and the nurse here all at the same time,,and it's just too much. For once, I asked them to accomodate us!

Have a nice evening all.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Thanks, AuntieMe3 and welcome home! Dad found at Target a Hamilton Beach 2 slice toaster. Here it is It worked! We are going to get a cover for it to keep the open slots protected when not in use. We're pleased.

Payers for your SIL, Lynn!

We did get some Walmart, Amazon, and even regular old mail packages today. Still waiting on at least one if not two Amazon packages. I got the Cross ornaments--they are lovely! I already know how each one of the three will go, too

Wishing all of you a good night's rest with love.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Hi friends.

Boy, watching 2 littles is exhausting. Stayed for dinner with DD and family then stopped for ice cream on the way home. Watching America Ninja Warriors, then showering and going to bed.

 

[lynxstch]

Good morning everyone..at least it is morning, I think? Sleep is getting worse instead of better. Went to bed at 10 after Ninja (so sad that Daniel , my favorite, is sidelined with Covid). Woke at 10:30, took me till midnite to fall back asleep. He woke me at 1 to use the commode. Fell back asleep finally around 3. Woke at 4:05. Just fed the cats, got his pills, and am going back to bed. Have to be up before 8 to get his breakfast and help him get cleaned up before OT and PT call and start rolling in. Rain is supposed to start sometime this afternoon and continue through tomorrow. They say high temp today will be 77, but its muggy again.

Will be back later on to check in..have a nice morning

 

[footballmouse]

Good morning .

Back to work in the office now . Oh well, nothing I can do about it.

Get to visit my new great nephew this week so I went out and bought him some toys he will need. He's only 5 weeks old but I bought blocks, balls, a rubber duck and some sleepers. Once he learns to sit up, he'll be able to use the balls and blocks. They had 4 baby showers so I'm sure they didn't need anything. I do still have to stop and get their dog a little gift. She's been a very good big sister so far so I think she will enjoy a nice bone.

AuntieMe3, your brownie mishap sounds like something I would do. I am not a cook. If I make a new recipe for dinner, I try to have us eat around 5:00, that way if it's really bad there's still time to order a pizza.

Supposed to rain today, hopefully I can sneak out of work for 30 minutes so I can get a walk in.

Everyone have a good day

 

[easyas123]

I've been a bit MIA of late, so I went back several pages to try to catch up. I'm sure I missed a lot!

crock pot cooking

I like crock pot cooking. I need to order a smaller one, a 4 or 5 qt. one because the two big ones I have are a bit big for 2 people cooking.
I usually just do roasts, chili, meatballs, pulled pork & soups...that sort of thing. And I use the big ones for making broth on occasion as well.

My problem is they are blaming their ineptitude on a pandemic. Take responsibility and own up to the fact that you dropped the ball!!!

I've seen/experienced that a few times myself.

Sorry but i really needed to vent. On the positive side my foot is getting a little better. I am off to look at new living room furniture today.

Vent away!
I've been needing to go furniture shopping but have not gotten around to it. I really, really should....

It's just killing me to pass this price up. I'll ask around at work this weekend, maybe someone will want to go with me.

What did you end up doing? Why not consider going by yourself? I enjoy sharing my travels w/ my husband, but every once in a great while I really enjoy 24-48 or so hours where I'm on my own.

I like Boscov's.

My husband will be heart broken when / if Boscov's ever closes - I like that they still have a dedicated petite section, although is is skewed toward the older woman, so I have to really cherry pick thru it. Still, the section is large enough that I can usually find something that doesn't make me look like my grandmother at her weekly bridge game!

He can move his arm a little more freely now, just gets stiff sometimes.

That's good, glad to hear is is improving.

DS just sent me a picture of the poor rabbit that lives next door with our crackhead neighbors

We have a rabbit rescue near us, maybe there is one near you? My niece has bred & shown rabbits for 4H for years, they are a lot of work so it's sad to hear of one essentially abandoned and not getting care. Hope you are able to help it out.

I am planning way ahead for Christmas.

I'm usually one who enjoys Christmas shopping during the season, but honestly the amount of gifts we've had to purchase has gone down over the years since the kids ages out of toys and whatnot. Still - I'm starting to see the ease it brings to enjoying the season by planning ahead a bit. I've already bough each of the kids airline gift cards for any future travel them may want to do. That will be their 'big gift", other than that it will be stockings filled with fun/novelty type stuff. I like this new keeping it simple, my husband??? If he could have the entire living room filled with gifts for everyone he would!

I also need to limit my news watching

I'm one who listens to news radio & talk radio 5 days a week in my office, and in the AM when I'm getting ready and in the PM when I'm making dinner...I know I'm hearing the same stuff being repeated most days. My husband will sometimes tell me "you've had enough", there does come a time some evenings when we just decide we need "something fluffy" as we say! So we keep a rotating bevy of shows on the DVR like The Office, Parks & Rec, Rick Steve's, and House Hunters International - just dumb, fun stuff that helps take the mind off. I ingest to much news, but I want to know what is going on, too. Double edged sword.

I am very Christmas card particular

Me, too! Not in the way you are, but still I'm very particular. We were somewhere recently where they had boxed cards on sale and my husband picked them up and said why not just get these and be done with that chore...as if I could take the first box of cards. I told him nononono I can't send just any card! He then told me I had a problemHe's right, but I'm going with it!

Now that the hetic schedule of mine between getting ready for fair, fair, and recovering from fair is done I have finally been able to catch up on almost 20 pages of posts.

That's me, I was busy for a good week or so and feel like I missed a whole boatload! Glad the kids did good in the fair. This year was my niece's last 4H fair, I think she is aging out since she is graduating.

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

That's for the recommendation - looks good, I just ordered it!

My back is screaming at me..hasn't hurt this bad in a long time, and I didn't do anything differently? I took a hot bath, did my hair, and then had him put some Icy Hot on it..took 2 tylenol arthitis strength tablets,,and I hope that helps. Off to figure out dinner.

I hope your back is feeling better!

I come tonight to ask selfishly for prayers for myself.

Nothing selfish about that, hope things have worked out peacefully for you.

I must be on a lucky streak this weekend. The other day I mentioned that I won $50 on lottery scratch off tickets, I cashed those in last night for a couple of more tickets and gas money and this morning I scratched off $110. Yay me!!!! Plus I started a 1200 calorie diet (per my MD) and I weighed myself yesterday morning and lost 3 lbs. last week. Let's hope my streak continues!

You are having a great couple of days! Congrats on all points!

.I made brownies from scratch last night for DD and I and they tasted off.

I've never made brownies from scratch...as close as I get is a box of Ghirardelli mix!

I am so over this August heat.

So are we!

Sleep is getting worse instead of better.

I hope you can get a good nights sleep soon. Don't forget to also make yourself a priority, at least once in a while.


As I stated up thread, I tried to go back and play catch up, but I'm sure I missed a lot!
Hope everyone who needs a bit of calm & hope in their households comes by it, and good luck to those getting kids off to school once more.

Toasters - I need a new toaster, too. I haven't gotten around to that yet though. I did see a pretty nice one. Simple, classic but it was pricey and for a appliance we use only 2 + times per week I figured it wasn't worth it. I'll pick one up eventually!

After the remnant's of Ida come thru tomorrow we are looking at some pretty nice weather over the weekend. The boys are in a fishing tourney Sunday, and Monday my husband and I are flying down to the Ft. Myers area to spend a few days w/ my folks and check in on the construction down there. We are coming back on Thursday. We discovered the large tree off the back of the house is rotten inside and needs to come down. We've actually been contemplating it for a year or two - we hate to lose the shade, but it's do close so if it comes down the wrong way it takes roof, porch & fence with it. I don't need the headache, and so now that we know it's not healthy we are going to take it down the weekend after we get home. Gotta track down a stump grinder, and all that fun stuff. Plus by mid-sept. it will be time to bush hog the fields that are not planted. Time to be busy!

Speaking of busy, I've got to go to Annapolis, so I'd better be off. Have a good morning everyone.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Good Morning,

Where did August go? Amazing that it's going to be September tomorrow.

Prayers truly each of you has a brighter month ahead with more rest and plain joy! Remember, always, we all care and are here.

Will check back later.

 

[lynxstch]

Raining lightly..just enough to say its raining...wish it would just stay like this. OT and the reevaluation person with her just left. They said he has 2 more weeks of OT, that they are going to call the Precision Sports place on Thursday and ask the Dr if they can do any resistance exercises with that arm. Had no trouble getting him into the bedroom and onto the bed,,the bed rail gave him all the assistance he needed. They told him to practice a few more times just getting in and out before attempting to try to sleep there all night. They gave him a gold star for the day,,lol! I don't know what the PT person is going to do when she gets here (3:30-4:30 or so), as that was his PT goal for the week. He would not feel comfortable trying it with someone we have never seen before so she's going to just have to work on the exercises I guess

 

[easyas123]

Speaking of books and good reads - I just finished the below book, The Radium Girls. If anyone wants my copy, PM me your address.

https://www.amazon.com/Radium-Girls...swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1630431355&sr=8-1

 

[Kirby]

Speaking of books and good reads - I just finished the below book, The Radium Girls. If anyone wants my copy, PM me your address.

https://www.amazon.com/Radium-Girls...swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1630431355&sr=8-1

I wouldn't mind reading it. I think it might make a good docu series or whatever they are called.

Speaking of reading, I went to my book club meeting last night. Our book for July was The Green Rider by Kristin Britain. It's genre is fantasy which a few of our members do not care for so not everyone read it. The majority of those that did read it voted it three out of four stars. We try to be diversified in our choice of genres. The hostess ordered food from Pizzaghetti. We had stuffed bell peppers, champagne chicken with mushroom sauce, mixed vegetables, salad and garlic toast.

Just got a call from my favorite cousin. It was so good to talk to her, hear her voice.

 

[AuntieMe3]

Good morning....went to Costco last night for some essentials. All of a sudden they are out of toilet paper and paper towels again, which is annoying....also didn't have their brand dish soap that I like. I got laundry soap, fabric softener liquid and sheets, clorax wipes and some other goodies we always get there....its been awhile since I've been but I knew I couldn't(shouldn't??) spend a lot so I didn't even bother looking through all the good stuff.

DD and I have gotten some bug bites lately(her more than me) and we can't figure out where they are coming from. We don't have mosquitoes or fleas around here normally because of our climate so it can only really be spiders which is just yuck ....she washed all her sheets and blankets and I did my bedding. I really need to get a bug guy...

Didn't try to make brownies again last night but might try again tonight.

We are under flash flood watch until late night....we really need the rain so I'm really hope we get some. Locally, 3 different fires in three days, only 1 is still burning but we really need some rain. Haven't had a really good summer storm in a couple years.

Enjoy your day everyone.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Extra hug, Lynn, I hope the PT does something helpful!

What a kind idea, Easyas to share a good book, thank you for doing that I will follow in your footsteps by offering to pass on: A Treasury of Miracles for Friends: True Stories of God's Presence Today by Karen Kingsbury. I was given this as a birthday gift by a back in May by a friend. It would mean a lot to me to pass it on to another friend in one of you

Hooray for phone calls with favorite cousins, Kirby!

Hug, AuntieMe3, my poor dad is very prone to get bug bites, as well. I'm sorry you and your DD are, too. Enjoy your brownies! I have never been able to find a tasty boxed brownie mix. They all either burn or dry up or end up or just don't taste very moisty or fudgy. Stay safe, my friend!

Quiet around here now that Athens (garbage pick up) is moving further down the street. So grateful to them; they do sure make a lot of racket!

Hope all of you are having a good afternoon.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

DD and I have gotten some bug bites lately(her more than me) and we can't figure out where they are coming from. We don't have mosquitoes or fleas around here normally because of our climate so it can only really be spiders which is just yuck ....she washed all her sheets and blankets and I did my bedding. I really need to get a bug guy...

Where are they and what do they look like?

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Afternoon all.

Let's see...DH and I got up early (at dark o'clock) yesterday morning and walked, almost 2.5 miles. Had delivery from the local Thai place...I love their dumplings and yellow vegetable curry! We also got curried cream cheese wontons, basil fried rice, their version of a chicken pho, their version of sweet n sour chicken (stewed, not fried and sauced), Bang bang chicken, and garlic black pepper beef. Lots of leftovers!

We didn't walk this am; DS woke me up about midnight, with a teen crisis, and I was awake until almost 2, even though we 'solved' it about 45 minutes after waking me up. So tired; got up about 9am, showered, and went to the post office to pick up DH's meds. Then went to Fresh Market and got a weeks' worth of meats (6 lbs of ground beef, to split up for meatloaf and tacos; 2 meals of hamburgers, one bacon cheddar, one pimento cheese filled; and 2 meals of chicken roll ups, one broccoli cheddar, the other parmesan; I already have chicken breasts/thighs, pork chops, bacon and breakfast sausage in the freezer); some apples, lettuce for tacos for tomorrow; a black and white cookie for DS, and some mini pumpkin spice cupcakes for DH and I. It was already lunch time, so I just picked up CFA for everyone, and we'll have leftover Thai for dinner.

I need to clean the bathroom and mop the kitchen, and get DS to clean his bathroom , and scoop the cat litter. Tomorrow I have to do a couple loads of laundry, so I might wait and do it all tomorrow. it's already 4:30, jeez.

Well, that's all the news I have, lol. Hope everyone has a good week!

 

[AuntieMe3]

Where are they and what do they look like?

They are on our legs...I only have 2, she has about 6. They look like little red spots...lol She got half one night, changed her sheets and then got the others the next. The thing is she had her clean sheets crumbled up on the foot of her bed waiting to be changed so I told her the spider could've been on those so then she decided to wash it all....lol We're in the desert so spiders are pretty common this time of year.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Wow, you were busy, B&B! I’d love to try some of the stuff in the first paragraph. I’m not as familiar with Thai food as I am with Chinese - I usually order Pad Thai if we get Thai at work. I can’t say I’m a big fan of curry, but haven’t had a whole lot of it. With Schezwan. I try to stick with the stir fry but I love the soups and dumplings, too, as long as they’re not to dough-y. DD is a dumpling fanatic so we tend to get them a lot.

I didn’t mention above last night I made a sauce from our tomatoes again, we never get tired of it. It was good. I’d picked up some fresh ricotta and spinach manicotti at Aldi’s and covered them with the sauce, and added some parmesan and mozzarella and it was delish! I forgot to get a picture as DS had to run out to a softball game so it was a little rushed. Tonight we are having grilled chicken that’s been marinating in Italian dressing and fresh French style beans.

Been getting a lot of little things done this week. Worked on Mom’s estate a bit, hoping to wrap it up soon.

Sending out good thoughts to all who need them. Tough times we are living in right now.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Get some rest, B&B!

I hope bugs will be gone for all effected by them!

Overcast and cool here, strange end of August weather.

Definitely, Pea, to all!

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Survived another day. I don't know how some grandparents do daily daycare all year. They must be younger than I am. I'll be lucky to stay awake for Fantasy Island at 9 pm.

Tessa is 4 1/2 but really acting out these days. Wants to be in control and throws a fit when things don't go her way. Her parents use choices and consequences as a way to live. Today, because of her choice to not put her shoes on and get ready, we didn't go to the playground park and CFA. Hopefully tomorrow goes better. I thinks she needs to get back to daycare with the structure and routine. Carter's only problem was eating sand in the sand box.

Back home for dinner of left over turkey breast in gravy for hot turkey sandwiches. Because we didn't go to CFA, I fixed the kids lunch at their house and DH went to Wawa where he had a free hoagie and bought me one too.

after Ninja (so sad that Daniel , my favorite, is sidelined with Covid).

Me too. I like him. I liked seeing all the teens succeed. I didn't know anyone else watched this.

I've got to go to Annapolis

Have you ever eaten at Iron Rooster? We really enjoyed it a couple weeks back.

Locally, 3 different fires in three days,

So scary. DH's and my nephew, his wife, and 2 year old live in Hayfork near Redding. They had to evacuate for the Monument fire. They also have some cabins in Lake Tahoe which is now being evacuated by the Caldor fire.

Catch you all tomorrow.