To one-up all you cookie people, the banana nut bread is in the oven. I may have waited a bit long on the bananas, because even though they hadn't became dotted with brown yet, an aroma of fermentation was evident when I shucked them into the bowl. We will assume that my bread will not be banana-rum.

I waited all afternoon for a tree trimmer to come and give me an estimate, I was his first stop (suppossedly) about 12:45. He finally says he had truck trouble at 4:20 and will try to do estimate tomorrow. This is what I seem to get any time I try to engage a service person, am I just afflicted with bad luck?

Apparently my 1/4 beef that I engaged back in October, is finally cut up and might be delivered Friday (again all these uncertain factors, I like to deal with absolutes).

Ok, enough griping about the uncertainties of the world. I got out and used pruning shears on some of my encroaching small trees. Things are so hard to kill, and I don't usually want to use pesticide in the beds/borders.

I really need to unbox and ready my new chainsaw and go work on some bigger stuff, but I always seem to find a reason not to.

I grew Pink Eye Purple Hull, Knuckle Purple hull, and cream Zippers. The PEPH did well and taste good, the zippers did pretty well and taste good, the Knuckle purple hulls must have done very well, they looked beautiful till the night the deer are every one of them. I did get enough to eat a hand full raw. I will try again this next spring.

I had another Dr. appointment today. On the way home I stopped at a tractor dealership and bought a RTV, should be delivered tomorrow. My wife and daughter told me to get one. They are easier to get on than my tractors, it also has a hydraulic dump bed. I hope it can extent my gardening life.

My wife has greens cooking, I am not sure how much longer they will last in the garden. I should have not planted so many, they seem to do better when I keep them picked low, but I cant eat them that fast. I may try cutting a lot of them down and using for mulch, and then just pick the young leaves to eat.

Ha! Danny--while looking for leftovers for dinner last night found 2 black bananas. Sigh. I should get some of that made, too. But today got 3 dozen Mexican wedding cookies done, gingerbread dough, and lemon cookie dough chilling in the fridge over night. I've got 11 dozen cookies in the freezer, and 11 dozen more on the counter in containers. I may have a do-over on sugar cookies. I wasn't very happy with the first batch. I am sick of baking cookies. But the fun will come tomorrow with being able to play with frosting them. I almost sat down and cried today. Hip hurts, and what an unGodly mess this kitchen is. I keep washing the same bowls and spoons and measuring stuff. No sense in putting it away until I'm done with the mess. I really don't like making cookies, but love the idea of sending them to friends and relatives. I still have a densely fruited bourbon-soaked fruit cake in the freezer from 2 years ago. I've taken it out a few times to check. Smells good. I think I'll send it to my SIL for Christmas. She loved her last one. Making cookies cheaper in $$ than presents. Eileen, if you're reading, yes, I'll send you a couple chocolate ones. LOL

Yeppers, little garlics and more little cilantros up. I was afraid I would have the cilantro after Garry took out a whole batch outside the veggie garden with the week whacker. Larry, Made and you should be feeling healthy now with all those greens. Good stuff. How does she cook the greens?

Wow--an RTV!!! How very cool! Keep us posted on it.

Nancy, Madge just boils the greens, tossing in what ever we have to season them with, other than pork. Made tries to live by the Old Testament dietary laws. The greens she fixed today had a can of chicken broth, salt, black pepper, onions, garlic powder, dash of nutmeg, a little sugar. I like for her to use jalapenos and a few other things if we have them. She often uses olive oil or butter also. Today I picked mustard greens only, often I will mix other greens in also, but today was a last minute thing and we just tossed something together, but it was good.

The RTV was sort of a spur of the moment thing. The doctors just cant keep me from hurting. I got a round of antibiotics today, but they only helps for a while. I also get pain pills, but I dont like taking them. I have some project I want to finish while I am still able, and the hyd. dump bed should let me move gravel, compost and mulch easier, and it should run faster than my tractors. The RTV is small Kubota diesel, they are going to put a top and windshield on it and bring it to me tomorrow. I didn't even feel like going out to look at it, they drove it up to the window, I could see the dump bed work and hear the engine running, and it had new tires. Having a hard time getting around has me bummed out, I am just not ready to quit doing the things I enjoy. Another thing I had on my mind is, I cant get Madge to use the tractors, I think she might use the RTV, if not maybe someone will get some use out of all this junk I have.

Larry, I hope you make good use of your new equipment!

I personally like stuff better cooked in chicken broth over Ham broth.

When you set up electric fence against the deer, what kind of wire and poles do you use? We need to stop Sasquatch from climbing the fence. I actually have some of the step on posts that I think are meant for electric fences. I think we'll have to put a barrier where she usually climbs out, and hope she won't go over the gate if it's not "hot". Maybe we'll put a wire on it so she'll think it's hot.

{{Hugs}}

Amy, I use a few poles like you are talking about, ( given to me ), but most of what I use are just regular "T" posts, because that is what I have the most of. It I were starting from scratch, and trying to keep a dog in a fence I would use something I could attach to the fence or the post. I think I would want it close enough to the ground that the dog was still grounded when it touched it ( on a wood fence). If the dog is climbing a medal fence, the fence itself would be the ground. I would want the wire close enough to the fence that it would not interfere with mowing. They make different types of insulators for different applications, may be one that attaches to a chain link . I often make my own insulators out of PVC if it is a special application. If you are wanting to protect a flower bed, you can just drive 1/2" PVC into the ground and use electric tape to tape the wire to the PVC. I use a metal rod to drive into the ground, and wallow out the hole, then drive the PVC into the hole, my ground is pretty hard and it is tough to just drive a piece of PVC into the soil without a pilot hole.

I use pulse type of chargers to protect against larger critters, and constant voltage for small critters. I dont like constant voltage chargers because I have killed birds with them when the hot wire was close to a grounded surface and the bird completes the circuit The pulse type of charger sends a very short burst of electricity about ever second or two. It will permit something to bolt away from it. some small critters cant get loose from the constant voltage. You will also want to think about how "hot" you want your wire to be. The strength of the currant is in joules. You should read about the joules needed for a dog, keep in mind that if a dog has a thick coat it will be harder to shock it, unless the coat is wet. It you want to make the gate hot also, you can use a piece of insulated wire to go from the hot fence wire to the hot gate wire, giving enough slack to permit the gate to swing, you dont want the hot wire to ground out on the fence. (That is one thing I save my damaged extension cords for). You will need a proper ground for the system, and it should be hooked up through a ground fault circuit. Another good investment is a fence tester, you can get one for less than $20.00.

I think electric fences are the best, and quickest fence to put up, but if you are in town, you may want to check the regulations.

Yes, I can imagine the meter reader getting the shock of his life. (and yes it's probably wrong of me to be chuckling as I envision)

Cut fresh cilantro this evening for our carne asada tacos. It has a much stronger flavor than what we buy at grocery store. Don't have to put as much on the taco. It really stands out and adds a better flavor.

I put out a bit more seeds in all three cold frames. I am a scatter type person, rather than rows... and I seem to have missed areas.

Used some potting soil over the newly scattered seeds, and watered the beds. This is my first year ever to have cold frames.

Sure was a nice day to be out.

Moni

Well, I had fun today. First I went outside to look at my coum cyclamen (which I had noticed had sprouted yesterday, but was not light enough to get a good look). I planted six? I think 4 years ago, this was the only survivor. When I parted the bamboo that's now shading it...I found the mother plant and a fairly large number of progeny. I'm so excited, I'm a cyclodad! I've never had them reseed before, and I've had cyclamen for twenty years or more. Of course flower buds are evident on the mother tuber, not long now.

Then the tree trimmer dude came, who stood me up yesterday, and gave me a quote of $150, contrasted with the summer quote from another of $2300. Oh, that made me happy!

Then I wandered to the backyard and my Christmas rose (hellebore niger) had 1/2 opened. Probably tomorrow? I've never grown that species before and I'm uncertain if it will persist (planted last December) or if we're just too warm for it.

Native honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) 'Major Wheeler' persists in nearly constant flowering, having several clusters open and quite a number in early bud. If only there were hummingbirds to enjoy these red clusters.

The heliopsis 'Burning Hearts' seed planted in mid-November is showing the first sprout on the cool laundry room windowsill. I'm hopeful to get them going and do that 'flowers first year' thing, which is usually false for me on perennials.

My blue impatiens (impatiens arguta) is nearly in flower out there too. I bought it in October and it was shipped going dormant...but a coolish room was enough to convince it spring had came. I'm going to get a good strong pot of it going, and hope to also plant some cuttings outside in the spring and see if they are willing to winter over for me. They're tuberous and return from the roots.

Due to mostly warm temps, I have great foliage on columbine, heuchera, and even my maiden hair fern looks pristine out there. I am surprised because we did have one night at 20F, but mostly just below freezing. I wonder what Jan and Feb will bring? My passionfruit vines aren't quite dead yet...would be interesting to see them grow new leaves (*lol*).

Oh, and my Baker Creek catalog came today. I'm saving it for the rainy day expected on Friday. I am gonna figure out what to grow in that whiskey barrel this next year. This year, I did very poorly with it...only getting 2 hot peppers and maybe 30-40 tomatillos.

Ha, Danny, not only is the meter outside the fence, but one of those smart ones they don't have to look at. I am more concerned about my husband forgetting and shocking himself. Besides the furious cursing that would ensue, he has a defibrillator implanted and I have no idea what it would do to that. It's neat you have things blooming now.

Larry, it's a chain link fence and my 65 pound dog climbs it like a cat. Mutter mutter. (We think someday she will climb the tree after that stupid squirrel.) I suppose a pulsing unit costs more? There's a monstrous wisteria on that fence, which Ron says he's going to cut down, but in the mean time we could run insulated wire through it? I'm not going to do the gate, I know Ron would grab it. Or a kid. I just don't want the fence charger situated where it can be stolen. We had several stolen at the ranch in a much less populated area. I was looking at aluminum wire and polywire. I'm just scrolling through the Tractor supply website. I'm going to have to study up on joules and grounding, electricity was something that never made sense to me.

Negative! I’ll test again in a week or so, just to be safe.

Off to pick up a grocery order, then I need to dip the peppermint patties and peanut butter balls, and make some marshmallows.

Well, I finally screwed up my courage and unboxed and started my first gas-powered chainsaw (I have an electric model..but it's not powerful enough for larger diameter trees). I've been quite scared of chainsaws as a general rule, because my father almost amputated his leg when I was younger than school-age with one. I sawed the majority of the way through the 5 trunks on the two weed trees that the neighbors sawed off to fence level. I hesitated to saw completely because they're along the fence row and I didn't want to hit the chain link fence for the sake of the saw, the fence, and myself. I can finish with a handsaw more safely.

I actually sweated while doing that...it's 70 something out there. Oh, and the Christmas rose is coming along (attached)

Yeah, for the negative!

Yeah, for the negative. This Covid and political thing is about to drive men nuts. I never dreamed i would ever see anything like this.

I had cabin fever last night, and ask Madge if she would like to go out for a pizza, she liked the idea, so we went out and got a car wreck also. It did not amount to anything, but still over $4,000.00 in damages. The car has over 114,000 miles on it, and we are not ready to get rid of it. Getting a car, and a RTV, and Christmas in the same month is going hit us pretty hard. I may be eating greens for a long time.

Danny, I can relate to the fear of a chain saw, they can be bad news. I have a gas saw but have not started in in many years. I think I have, or has 4 electric chain saws. All the clearing I have done around here has been done with an electric chain saw. I have not been able to start a gas saw in many years. I would take the generator and a couple of saws ( and a stool) to the grove of trees and cutting the trees down, and into pieces small enough that I could drag them with a tractor. I would always take to or more saws because at times I would get one saw hung and have to cut it out.

Amy, I had my grand daughter order me a charger that I think I will really like, it works on 12 volt or 120 volt. I have 4 or more chargers, I think the price ranged from around 18 to 100 dollars. The one I think I will really like cost around 60 to 70 dollars, it is a pulse charger, and yes, the pulse chargers do cost more, but I think they are saver. I just buy the cheapest wire I can find (Ace Hardware). The last I bought was around 18 dollars for 1/4 mile, I think I am about down to my last spool. I have never used the poly wire, or ribbon. The poly may work better for you because it is much easier to see, and when something gets shocked a time or two, they stay away from the hot line, you can turn the power off and they still don't want any part of it.

We have a cat problem, and no kind of animal control out here. I really don't like what I am afraid I will have to do, but I am afraid one of is going to trip over a cat.

Posted in the facebook group, but here's today's carrot harvest. The big one was pretty woody and bitter so I don't think it'll be any good, but I'm dehydrating them to make carrot powder. I can add it to spaghetti sauce, stews, etc. I don't notice much difference in flavor, but it makes me feel like my husband is eating veggies. I swear he has the food habits of a 5 year old.

I'm very far behind, so I'll read and comment....

My favorite southern pea is PEPH. I really like them a lot.

Danny, I made banana bread 2 days ago too! Put it in mini loaf pans. So good. It's a recipe I've used since age 12. They're gone now. The boys around here eat up the bread.

Nancy, sorry about your hip hurting so badly. Your cookies sound delicious. I do like to bake in this season. A lot. I'm weird that I like the kitchen to be clean before I start working in it. Then, I can turn on some Christmas/yule/winter solstice music and start cleaning and/or baking. It's such a great feeling. I love being home. My family prefers me to be home--everyone is so happy and relaxed on the days I'm home. The house is taken care of and smells nice... laundry done, good food to eat.

Larry, Madge's greens sound delightful.

Yay, Rebecca!

Weather has been beautiful. It's been good to take the kids outdoors for recess. A blessing in December.

I don't even know what to talk about really. There's a lot going on...and a lot of feelings attached.

HU came out tonight and we recovered everything. And organized the canning supplies a bit.

My little boy rooster is gone. They're not really roosters until they're one and he is only 20 weeks. Or was. He died. Last night. Poor little thing. His sister is alone now. I've been opening her door so she can mingle, but she put herself on the old coop's roost (where she's been living) instead of the main coop. I'll probably have to force her to the main coop at some point. I decided to name her Wynnie, which is sort of funny because she is a Dark Cornish and Wynnie means white or fair. It's probably somehow related to my name. Jennifer comes from Guinevere and means "white wash/wave or fair. But, even though she's dark she seems like a Wynnie to me. The little roo was Wesley.

Tonight I opened a jar of southern peas for dinner. SO good. And made a salad out of our lettuces, spinach, arugula, carrots, and radishes. It was also so good. My entire dinner came from the garden.

That's all from me.

Jennifer, I sure wish I had your taste inclinations! I mean that, I really wish I did. I'm sorry about little Wesley. (I've been reading a lot about Wesley lately--that is, John Wesley. ) Wow, I just noticed my microphone is working and recording my words! I discovered that when I was really getting ticked off because I kept hyping Wesley and it kept changing the capital W to a little W. So then I said, oh for heaven sake's, and it typed that. LOLOL. Guess I won't talk out loud any more while I'm typing this. I am easily amused.

Speaking of easily amused, that wasn't funny, Larry, about the wreck. But you manage to tell things in such a funny way. GDW and I were actually on our way to Muskogee for dinner at Chili's when I saw YOUR post about the wreck. So I laughed and was reading it to him. He said he hoped that wasn't going to happen to us. It didn't. But he also had been struck by "cabin fever," and was just pacing earlier today. I have figured out what that means. That means he's trying to make up some kind of excuse for why he has to go to town. It irritates me, really. He COULD just say, I've got cabin fever, I need to go drive somewhere. In fact, I'll be sure to tell him that tomorrow. "GARRY! If you have cabin fever, just TELL me and if you want, invite me to go, too. If. you don't, don't." (I was BORN to live in isolation. . . as long as I can connect with my friends through avenues like this or FB or emails or USPS).

So, Larry--are you going to be going car-shopping?

Amy, I hope you find a great solution to the Sasquatch situation. She is a handful, isn't she! How many days a week do you have your little babe to babysit for?

I have NOTHING blooming, Danny, but have many things growing. It got into the 60s today. BEAUTIFULLY warm yard-working weather, but I had to be inside working on cookies for shipping out. Frosting the gingerbread boys and girls, and now have begun on the sugar cookies. It's tedious, but not to me. This is the fun part. . . it's painting, just not on canvases. The cookies will be shipped out to 5 "kids and families," and the rest to friends and the children from Lincoln. I'll have to have John and/or Suzanne deliver the cookies to the Lincoln kids' families.

Loved reading up on your cyclamen, Danny--they're lovely!

Nancy, I hope the insurance will just fix the car, but we have not had good luck with insurance. The car we owned before this one was hit and totaled. The insurance totaled the car out for less than we could buy another like it, this one may be the same. The car still drives okay, I can not see over $4,000 in damage, both accidents were the other drivers fault, but we seem to get left holding the bag.

Rebecca, glad to hear you're negative. Do you have to go back to work now?

Christmas rose is lovely, Danny. Glad you could manage the chainsaw.

So sorry about the car Larry. Are you both alright? Probably hurt today from being jarred in the accident.

Jen, when my kids were little I would puree a whole bag of mixed vegetables and freeze them in ice cube trays. A serving of veggies purees down to about a tablespoon. I would put 2 cubes in spaghetti sauce and nobody knew they were eating veggies.

Sorry about your rooster, H/J! I watched my 8 yo grandson's Christmas program on Facebook yesterday. Wiggly kids singing jingle bells in masks, LOL.

I'm not getting enthusiasm from Ron on the electric fence. He has so many projects and not nearly the energy he once had. I did see a fence company that will set up a horse fence. I was thinking of horse wire anyway. Got side tracked by other things. A phone call (recorded) about a bill we hadn't paid. Couldn't get through to them, so called St Johns (supposedly the bill). They, of course, have 2 sides that don't talk to each other, the clinic and the hospital. On hold forever (bad hold music) with clinic, no we don't owe them. Transfer to hospital side. They had Ron's address as Street not Place. The post
office changed this several years ago and it is still coming back to bite us. Then Ron decided he had to call someone at American and he was on hold an hour. On speaker phone. Kenny G saxophone. Same. Damn. Song. Over and over. My eyes were throbbing. Then I tried to video call my dad. We haven't been able to make that work in a couple of months. Frustration. Nothing productive yesterday at all.

Everyone have a nice weekend.

Amy, we are fine, I am stressed, have not been feeling great. My renter had two caves out, I don't feel like chasing them. The dad works all the time. They keep foster kids, have kids of their own, and at least two adopted. All that I have met are good workers, the dad is out picking greens now. I think with ten kids you have to work all the time.

Jennifer, sorry about your roo.

Back to the car. The other driver was in the turn lane and cut across my lane, I almost stopped and he almost made it across the lane, his truck had a heavy steel bumper and ripped a lot of plastic off the front of our car. Our car runs okay, it looks like it has a black eye and some teeth missing.

What about you and Madge? Are y’all okay.

So glad Covid test is negative, and glad the Peughs didn't have a worse experience. People drive as irresponsibly as they respect others time (if not worse), and though you do your best, can't always account for wild things done.
Well, my 1/4 beef is on it's way (though the farmer is behind an accident and halted for now). I hate to see $$$ leave my checking account, but I think I should come out ahead in the long run.

Sorry to hear about your wreck , Larry. Except for getting injured, the worst part of a wreck is getting the vehicle totaled. When it happened to me, I wasn't ready to buy another car, did not want to buy another car. I've got a 2009 Chevy truck now that I bought new , and its got 45,000 miles. Can't replace that. Insurance company would not pay me anywhere near how valuable it is to me.

I'm glad Madge and you are safe, Larry. That could have been a nasty one.

Lynn, that sounds like a good truck! Reminded me of my Mom's car; she handed it off to me in 2014. It's a 2002 Honda Civic 2 door coupe. It now has 33970 miles on it. And has lived in a garage for all its life. I'd say we both have good deals.

Is your beef from nearby, Danny? Let us know how it is. We've thought about doing it a few times; I think what's holding us up is not knowing the quality of it.

I think I'm done baking for now. Not positive. I'll share a picture of the sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies. Was kinda brutal. I don't bake often enough to have gotten good at frosting them. Maybe I can make some every other month or so to practice.

We had rain a good part of the day; I see nearly 1.5" in the rain gauge, though Mesonet just said .9". It was a gorgeous 73 yesterday and not really all that cool today. I should have seeds coming from Kitazawa tomorrow or Monday. I think that's all for now. I have the tomato seeds.

Yes, we're all glad you tested negative. Rebecca.

Amy, I think I'll start pureeing our fresh veggie, too! Good idea. And, BLACH, for your nonproductive frustrating day! Blach!

Oh, I DO have a blooming flower. My pretty pink oxalis. I got that from you, didn't I. Jen? BTW, was I supposed to send some seeds to you? Did I? lol

Outta here for now.

Cookie palooza, and now on to candy. What is WRONG with me! lol

Well, I'll answer obliquely (since I only had a roast I rushed tonight, I'll know more in a couple of days probably) (lol).

In October, to tide me over till this beef was here, I bought $120 package from a butcher shop (mix of chicken, beef, pork). Everything I got was fantastic, better than the grocery stores, even their custom bacon was better. I had forgotten that bacon is basically a cured dry meat, where the grocery stores bacon are always seem to be limp and wet packed. The chickens were smaller (whole cut up) and didn't not have that globby layer of fat all over that store-bought did. I don't LIKE pork chops, but the ones in that package were pretty darn good.

Ok, as to the beef I got this afternoon, yes, you could get a bad one, and I would try to buy a beef from someone I knew or from someone that someone I knew of had bought from. I tried that..and there were no available beef from that line of inquiry. So, I just found someone on FaceBook (yeah, you know...desperate times) and trusted in providence. I had a light breakfast (pancakes), skipped lunch yesterday, while waiting on this guy. So by 3:30 when I got the beef home, I was starved. And it was what can I do quick. So I found my smallest roast and just threw it frozen into the InstantPot and had supper less than two hours later. It would have tasted better if I had treated it right and thawed it, seared it in a pan to brown in hot oil. However, I was in a hurry and it was (of course after pressure cooking) tender, and flavorful and there was almost no fat on it (really one or two little pieces, which I could barely remove to give to the dog, so small). And now I gotta eat roast for at least another day before I can go back to the freezer and give something a real try (think probably T-Bone steak, have 5 big honking steaks I think, which I will grill).

So the whole digested version is...I think just about any quality product (either custom butcher or local produce) will beat anything from standard grocery store which tends to have bulk meat from those awful feed lots I saw when I lived in Nebraska (you know, the plants that had the major E-coli recalls?) where they wade in manure/mud/urine up to their navels. I'm not an animal rights person, but additionally the conditions of commercial chicken production are at least as bad. It's our fault, we all want everything at the cheapest possible price, and that's the only way to do it, I guess. We're all guilty.

Nancy, it's always great to have at *least* one thing blooming. In my old age, I am tending toward plants that flower other than mid-summer through very early fall, You know how little we want to be outside at that time of year, so plant for the more moderate times when being outside is a pleasure versus awful.

As far as candy, I'm safe, I don't like such concentrated sugar. Baked goods I eat though :)

In my old age sugar effects me badly. I would want fudge or, my weakness pralines, but it would make me nauseous and lightheaded. Ron likes Sam's rich chocolate chip cookies. I can't eat them. I can do pecan sandies, or the wedding cookies. Not as much shortening and chocolate.

We used to buy bulk beef from Perry's (Tulsa). Not enough room in the freezer to do that now. The ranch I worked on used to sell a few calfs (calves?) while the rest went to Nebraska. We had a purebred bull break his leg. He was about 18 mos old. He was too old to butcher. Meat was tough. Butcher should hang the carcass for up to 30 days. The Tbones we got from Perry's 31 years ago are the steaks by which all others are measured. Ron charcoaled them perfectly for youngest's christening.

I need to use the instant pot more. Since I rarely cook, my convenience appliances don't get used much. Ron does like the air frier though. Learning the instant pot is a bit much for both of us.

I did finally manage to video call my dad. Until one of us lost the internet connection. They tested everyone in the retirement center for covid. He was negative, but they found 6 more cases, so no visits and no dining room.

Larry I'm glad you're ok and sorry about your car.

We have the youngest grandkid today. We're going to go shop for a new chair. My chair has not held up and seems to lean to one side. We've only had it about a year. I only plan to go to one place. I haven't been out in more than a week, and I'm getting cabin fever, too. I really am more suited to lockdown. I don't mind staying home.

The boy has a truck that makes backup noises like a real truck. It's getting to me! There's a toy coffee pot that makes a noise like coffee brewing, which he insists on leaving on the whole time he's here. This boy loves noise! Maybe I should say sound. He will watch music videos like other kids watch cartoons.

Have a good weekend.

Thanks for the concerns for us, and the car. It could have been much worse, and I am thankful no one even had a scratch.

I think I could buy a beef from the guy that rents my place. There has been 4 born in the past 2 or 3 weeks, all nice looking calves. There is also a slaughter house 2 miles north, the down side is that you need to make an appointment when the calf is born, or it will be too old and tough to eat when your number comes up. I don't like a lot of meat anyway, but I think my gout bothers me less if I eat fresh meat rather than processed meat. I really feel better when I eat a lot of raw fruit and veggies.

My RTV was delivered yesterday. It was money thrown away, but it was really nice to drive it to the back of the place. I could tell just after riding a few feet that my back was really going to like this rig, it is easy to get in and out of and does not shake my guts out, plus it was raining the whole time and I did not get wet.

The Oklahoma Cattleman's Association is promoting buying beef directly from their members. During the lockdown last April, when the hoarders were clearing shelves and the meat packers were shutting down due to sick workers, there was a lot of interest in going directly to the cattle ranch. When this pandemic is over, I'm gonna think about it. The Cattleman's web site has a list of ranchers who want to sell direct.

Direct to consumer

I store my onions in my storm shelter. They sprout in storage. I've no idea what causes this but I'm losing a lot of onions this year in particular. Here's what they do ..... its mostly my red onions. I've contacted Dixondale asking them about this, waiting on reply

Well, my thought (since they're growing) is it's too warm..and maybe moist.

My problem is always the too warm part, yes, Danny. Hard to find a place cool enough for them. However. This year I just left them out on our deck table (the one that's sieved, so good air flow. NOW it's going to be too cold, so I'll bring them into the unheated garage, which should be just about right. Thought you might like to hear what Dawn has to say. (Spoiler alert: she says it gets too warm. . . ) https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2092683/onion-storage

My thoughts mirror Danny's... I think, to moist. Cold would be good.. how cold, and how humid is it down there?

Moni

Nancy quit posting while I type..

LOL

Moni

Just saw an interesting You Tube video on Refrigeration. He talks about how things were before the age of refrigerators... eating in season, not washing eggs etc.

Pretty interesting.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHv4x2Maxp8

Moni

Humidity is not a problem, but since its not entirely buried, its not a cool cellar. I've never measured the temps, I will have to do that.

Dawn also said the long day onions kept the best. Short day onions tend to be sweeter and not keep as well. Intermediate? Probably half of both, LOL. She froze hers when they started sprouting. Complete with onion goggles and cut up in the food processor. Mine always rotted in hose like that, but they were probably short day kept too long. I like that rack, though. Thanks for the beef link. Are they butchering too? Where did I read they were starting a new facility? Claremore maybe. The east and west coast might run out of meat, but it won't happen here. But like Larry said, getting in to a butcher is the problem. It was sometimes a wait 10 years ago when I worked for the ranch. Especially during deer season.

I'm glad you like your RTV. (Why is it R rather than A? Rough Terrain rather than All terrain? ) every little bit helps. We looked at lift chairs today. I just need a couple of extra inches to get out of the chair. I assume this is only going to get worse.

The guy I bought my 1/4 beef from told me that his favored slaughter facility was booked until sometime in 2022. Can't believe it...especially since he told me that about half of his booked beef were cancelled because of people losing their jobs and finances changing. It seems that the butchers wouldn't be backed up because of same reason.

I wondered that, too, Amy. Is that like a 4-wheel drive TV? Yes, thank you for the link, Lynn.

I was going to answer Amy's comment about sugar. We don't eat sugar hardly at all, and it really affects me adversely. I think it probably affect everyone adversely, but most people aren't cognizant of it because it's a regular part of their diet. So I was thinking about when GDW and I do eat sugar--the biggest culprit is pancakes and syrup. And while we love breakfast for dinner (including the pancakes), I always know it'll be the end of ANY work for me in the evening. So we have to have it tonight.

The other thing that has my mouth watering is your Cuban black beans, Moni. Those might happen Monday. I can put them on to soak tomorrow. I have a good friend in town whose father was Puerto Rican, and she says that growing up in Florida, he cooked a lot of Cuban food. She has shared some recipes with me--and they're much to my liking. Haha re posting while you're typing. Now I see someone else has posted while I'm typing.

Ah. I see it was Danny. Well. We might check with our meat store and get one of their packages. I just ordered rib steaks from Kansas City Steaks to be delivered to MN kids. Now I want some, too.

After reading Dawn's post, I would guess air flow is the problem in my shelter. They did not start sprouting till bout a month ago, so I'm thinking temp's aren't triggering that.

That rack is a shoe rack. I saw it on some on-line retailer's site and it was on sale with free shipping. I think I paid $20. I bought it just for hanging onion in the shelter.

On the beef, I think processing is still a problem but the Cattleman's Assoc is working on that. IIRC, there's a small number of major processors, I think only four. And not only if one of those goes down a huge bottleneck is created, but they also have a lot of pricing power. OCA wants to see more smaller processors. It might be a pretty good time for a young man to become a butcher or get into meat processing. Probably a lot more valuable than a college degree these days, without the student loan debt. I think the OCA was working with the state legislature on the processor problem, but I'm not sure. I follow the OCA on Twitter to keep up and I'm sure they have a Facebook page.

Amy, an uncle of mine has been in rough shape for years ( now has stage 4 cancer ), but when he was first having problems years ago, ( broken back, and other problems) my cousin, who is a very small, but talented lady, made her dad a 2 x 4 frame to attach his recliner to. He used that chair for many years. he said it gave him just enough height to get up without any assistance. I think she turned the 2 x 4's on edge, which would have been 3.5", but I am not sure about that.

Yes, Amy, rough terrain vehicle, it is made by Kubota, it has a diesel engine and a transmission much like my small kubota tractor. The RTV is too slow, heavy, and ugly to appeal to most people, but with a hydraulic dump bed that claims a 1100 pound capacity, which I can operate from the drivers seat did appeal to me, plus it will run 20 to 25 mph. Most of the time I will be going 5 to 10 mph. I can see the zero turn and the rtv becoming my ride of choice when I am just going from point A to point B here on the place. ( the rtv rides much better than the zero turn)

When my onions started sprouting this year, I just replanted them in the garden, I am not sure what will happen by spring, but so far I have just been eating the tops. I had mine stored on the back porch, and it was getting too cold out there anyway. We had some stored in the pantry also, I expect they have already been used. I lost most of my onions this year in the garden before harvest because of so much rain.

The State made $10 million available as grants to meat processors for them to enlarge their shops and buy equipment. Money was part of the Federal CARE's act, the Covid relief money. Hopefully, this next session of the legislature will address this .

Nancy, I can't remember if I brought oxalis to you, but I originally got it from spring fling. I remember whoever brought it only had 1 left & 2 of us wanted it; I told them I'd get some the following year but they insisted & we cut the thing in half right there.

Christmas candy-palooza is on here. I made sugared orange peel & christmas crack tonight; will make a couple batches of fudge, some peanut brittle & a big thing of chex mix. Most I plan to give to our guests, otherwise I'll eat way more than I need & sugar doesn't like me anymore. My sister in law wants to send a box of goodies to the kids she used to live with, so I think she has plans for other stuff too.

Been skimming through past threads, making a journal so I can keep track of what gets planted when & where & all that great info. I found several where Nancy was sharing the adventures of Tom & Jerry, & had to laugh at the memories.

Tom and Jerry and Tiny are freaks, and I've had about enough of them. I remember Dawn sternly reminding us that WE'RE the bosses. Uhhhh, those of us who relinquished that role are doomed to sleepless nights. Oh Dawn, wish I knew how you did it. (Jen, I myself do NOT remember. . . kinda do now. . . remember how freaked out I was about letting the kittens out of the house, and so worried about whether they'd ever get used to us? And oh, well the time Tom raced outdoors when he was just a little tyke and then was so scared he wouldn't come out from under the deck. I called my friend Scott and he said, "Tuna." So I got out the tuna and set it 5 feet inside the doorway into the quilting/everything room, with the door open to the outside. It worked. That kitten (I think about 6 months old by then) came RACING into the room, loudly meowing his gratefulness, and he has been devoted to me ever since.)

I am so thankful our baseboards and door and window trim Is rough-cut lumber. Because is they weren't, they would be now. This is Tiny's favorite way to get me out of bed immediately. He begins scratching on the door trim. I oughtta just barricade them all in the unheated garage next to the quilting/everything room. Every single night. Boy they'd be sorry then. And Titan's just as bad. Yeah, now I threaten to kick 'em ALL out and not let 'em back in. lol

Thanks for your post, Jen! YES, will immediately order stuff for grocery pick-up for Chex mix. Going with caramels and fudge and Chex mix. I envied Rebecca for her patience in wrapping caramels. I have some small foil gift containers--I'll just pour the caramels into them, cool, then cut! Ready to send out! Woo-hoo. Reason for making more stuff is that I have so very many folks to gift to--many of the Lincoln children, many of the Lincoln adult volunteers. I began dividing up cookies into the small containers and realized I need lots more STUFF.

Lynn, thanks for the update on the meat processors.

As we're entering Christmas season, and approaching Christmas, I expect many of us are thinking of Dawn, as we think of all the loved ones we've lost. Bigtime thinking of Dawn. But knowing that we all agreed, no matter how reluctantly for some, that Dawn would want us to continue on. I must say, now, that I am so thankful for you all and our camaraderie. I so appreciate you all.

Hi!

We hung our onions under the shop porch. They didn't last very long but looked cool hanging there. When I've brought them indoors and kept them in pantyhose, they've lasted much longer. We are going to try the copra this year (and others too). I've chopped onions and put them in the freezer since growing them. Chopped while wearing safety goggles.

Those feed lots in Nebraska are nasty. My Dad is from Nebraska and when we visit relatives we often drive past the feed lots. The smell is awful. I guess we don't do that in Oklahoma? I only see cattle out on grass here.

It was interesting reading y'all's thoughts about eating meat, sugar, etc. Do any of you follow Bad Baxter. She is certain that mainly eating animal products (meat, eggs, milk, butter, cheese, etc.) is the healthiest way to eat. And those animals need to be fed a certain way--no grain and whatnot. To her, veggies are a condiment. And even then, the veggies need to be homegrown/local/organic. Bread, pasta, rice are completely out.

Honestly, I think different bodies do well with different eating styles. I strictly followed Eat Right for Your Blood Type for awhile. My metabolism was revved and I felt great. Blood type A is supposed to be mainly vegetarian...vegan even. I'm not sure I believe in that "diet"...but I did feel wonderful eating that way.

Bad Baxter believes that things like black beans are just sugar and not good for the body. Stuff like that. I agree with her on many things but not everything.

There could be some truth to the blood type diet really. I meant...there is a difference in our blood...so why wouldn't it affect things like diet. Type O is supposed to be a meat eater.

Anyway...

Yes. I miss Dawn. Remember the year she started her tomatoes in December?

She would be bagging up jars of salsa and then cookies (last year). And decorating and doing all the things she liked to do for the holidays.

Nancy, her younger animals gave her some grief too...especially their newest pup. Gosh..what is his name? She named him after her elderly neighbor that passed just a few months prior to her death. Jesse? I think it's Jesse. He was a mess and she couldn't get anything done, remember? And then all those kittens that she had last Christmas. They kept destroying her Christmas tree. haha. Yep. She loved them all though.

I moved Wynnie to the big coop tonight.

I shopped today. Everyone was wearing masks and doing what they're supposed to do.

Hi HJ, will comment more tomorrow--but have a question for Danny! There's a Mom on Facebook OK Gardening that wants to know which carnivorous plant easiest for her 10 yr old son, who wants one/some. I figure you're the expert here. . . ???

Well, It's very late and I can't sleep. So will address your diet stuff, HJ. My BFF from kindergarten til now is big on the diet for blood type thing. She can't eat chicken according to her blood type. (Can't remember what it is, cuz I never paid attention.). I laughed at your mentioning blood type O (positive, I presume?) being meat eaters. That would be me. I instinctively stay away from bread and grain products. It always astounds me to find there are people who love bread. I never eat bread with my meals--unless we're having sandwiches. I think Bad Baxter must be a food eater type like me. I certainly don't advocate my favorite foods to everyone. I think it is a keto diet way of eating--or at least, modified keto. If I had to give up one food group, it would e grains. I'm not a GREAT veggie lovers, but would include them way before grains. In fact, for me, I think grains are totally unnecessary.

Well, I'm thinking as far as hardy plants, umm would be above the paygrade of the avg 10 year old, but Venus Fly Trap seems easiest to me, followed by Sarracenia purpurea.

However, if I had to make a recommendation, I'd say a tropical sundew like drosera capensis, would be easiest, though it probably won't last much more than a year (my experience), they have to be repropagated and pretty much treated as a long-lived annual. But for a 10 year old with limited attention span, that may not be much of an issue.

In either case, it will require full sunlight (or at least a South window), distilled water, and specialized media (not common potting soil, though you can probably just never repot the drosera capensis).

While not as fast as VFTs, you can see that the leaves and hairs curl around insect prey captured.

Acquiring one...well I don't know about Oklahoma now, but I don't remember seeing any pretty much any where, but inquiries at Alligator Alley in OKC might turn up something. I have a local that grows these, and mail order if I want cheaper (relatively) ones (cheaper meaning 8-16$ plus a hefty shipping fee for one plant ($10 or so)). This won't be like buying a 3.96$ philiodendron at Wal-Mart.

Larry, before I had my hips replaced Ron made a platform for my chair. I think he dismantled it to use the wood for something else. We bought "lifters" for my mothers chair. I had ordered lifters, but they didn't work with this chair.

Your onions will probably flower in the garden and yes, the greens make good green onions. Dawn said she planted sprouting onions for pollinators, so usually do this too. I have even had them reseed.

Lynn, I think small processors is a good idea. Some ranches might start butchering on the ranch.

H/J, most ranchers here are cow/calf operations. Which means they keep cows to produce calves for market. Then they sell them to a middle man (at least we did) who takes them to a big feed lot to be fed (grain?) And finished for processing. One time my boss took them directly to the feed lot. You have to pay for feed and any medicine and you can have some die, which cuts into your profits. I think he decided it was better to get paid by someone else and not worry about all that. Plus, when you go direct, you wait longer to get paid. The feed lots are not nice places, as Danny said earlier, so grass fed beef or at least beef finished at home and processed in a small butcher shop seems like a much healthier way to go. I've never seen the actual process (and don't want to), but the big meat processing plants were hotbeds for Covid.

Ron is type O. I am not, but I don't know what it is. I don't digest red meat as well as chicken and fish. I could not do keto. I like bread. I like beans. I don't eat enough veggies. It's not like they're not available. Ron likes bread, too, though. Actually Ron likes everything.

They required masks and took our temperature at the furniture store.

It's snowing now. Yuck. I broke my ankle falling on ice 40 years ago. I've been terrified of frozen weather ever since.