Cleaning like My Mom

Yesterday, I Ping-pong cleaned. Bounced around from task to task, starting lots of things and finishing few. I did get the living room pretty well clean (except the boxes of toys), and four pints of tomatoes canned. I got the laundry caught up, using my solar dryer to great advantage.
The garden has been blessing us with so much good food, I am running out of places to put things.
Mr. C and I are discussing several options. One would be to move the washing machine and the dryer out to the well house, and turn the laundry room into a pantry. Drawbacks of this are carrying laundry in and out of the house and across the yard every time I need to do laundry, and we would need to install a water heater, 240 (220) electrical service, and a grey water dispersal system.
Another option under discussion is to tear out the built-in china hutch in the dining area of the kitchen, and build a bigger pantry in its place. The disadvantage there is mostly getting into said prospective pantry.

 As you may be able to see, the table has to be moved away from the hutch every time I need in it. The table also impedes through traffic to the patio door. The proposed pantry would go all the way to the wall where the plant sits, and come another 8" to 10" at the closer end above. To make it work, we may need to find a new home for the table.

For the present, I have to do the best I can with what I already have. Which brings me to cleaning and re-arranging. (I started writing this last night, but went to bed before finishing.)

I asked Becky where I should start on all the cleaning/ re-arranging that needs to happen. Then, I ignored her advice.
Not on purpose... I picked up something to put away... and the place it lived had other things in it, those things needed moved to their designated homes. Except, there were items that lived elsewhere in THOSE places.

It was a VERY nice day here for July, the high only supposed to reach the low 80's. A great day to clean the dust off the HVAC filters and wash the slotted door that covered the unit... which is in the laundry room.
The washable filters were hung on the clothesline and hosed off. The laundry room was already a mess, so I decided to start there.

Of course this meant I had to empty everything out of the laundry room.

 Because, you know... that's how I clean.
EVERYTHING out of the laundry room, except the washer and dryer, which I cannot carry out myself.
However, in sweeping between the machines, I found a microfiber cloth had fallen down behind the washer. I fished it out with the broom handle. It was wet.
NOT GOOD!
Instead of calling Mr C right away, I looked up the receipt of the washer. It was (of course!) out of original warranty by about five weeks. I did have an extended warranty plan! YAY! I called, and a repairman is scheduled for next Thursday.
THEN I called Tom and told him.

So, what did the rest of the house look like without anything in the laundry room? (So sure you want to know! I took the pictures and sent them to my Mom and Becky, as well as my DIL Paula... whose own house is  always an inspiration to me!)

Quite a mess, right?

 So many questionable items. Like, why do I still have cone coffee filters? I don't have a machine that uses them. And I cannot use aerosol air freshener sprays... the air borne particles shut down my voice in a matter of moments.

But this stack here... put together from a few here, a few there... We have 24 cans of bug fogger. TWENTY FOUR CANS. I usually have to fog at least a couple of times during the summer, with the fleas coming in on the dog, and with little fruit flies getting in through the screens. This is enough to fog the entire house, both inside and underneath (for spiders) THREE times.


I tossed some stuff. I think I am trying to overcome being an uber frugalist. I had to give myself permission to throw away several lengths of random string/ twine that turned up. All the zip ties that come home in Sam's pockets and get fished out of the washing machine get saved. All of the wee sprinkler head filters I find in Daniel's laundry get saved. The screw driver drill bits from Tom's pockets.
But mostly... earplugs.

This is a (re-purposed/ recycled) clear solo cup full of foam earplugs. My washing machine makes them. (The earplugs, not the solo cups.) I'm pretty sure it does anyway, as it gives me several every laundry day. And, since they have been washed, and are clean... I save them. (This gets really annoying when the cup gets overturned.) They may be worth as much as 11 cents per pair, new.
If we should ever have a grand party and the guests need slightly used but clean earplugs for whatever reason... I have them covered! (The solo cup has my grandson Connor's name on the side. He used it on his first visit to the house when we were moving in... over a year and a half ago.)

(I do NOT hold the solo cup frugality record. It was pointed out to my MIL that she was still using some of the same solo cups as she had used when the kids used to come visit during the summer. Her cups were being used over 20 years later!)

My cleaned up, re-organized laundry room. (I need a few more pegboard hooks.) My laundry detergent will actually live on top of the washer, but is going to stay in the cupboard until after the machine is fixed.
  Today... do I start with the lower kitchen cupboards... or the uppers? Decisions, decisions.  Pretty sure the lower ones will be the better choice this time. Guess I will get to it!

Happy Place!

First of all, Ralph was released from the Critical Care unit of the hospital, into a rehab facility last night. Mom is getting him settled in. He is greatly improved over my last report. He has to be in rehab at least five days, including last evening.
I got all the grandkids passed on. Becky got Kimber and Dakota back, and took Nickole for a week. Gavin went home, deciding he had been away long enough. It is quiet, quiet, quiet here.
Not that I have had a huge opportunity to relax. The garden has been going strong, and I have been in full bore preservation mode. The fungal wilt, and beetles have hit the tomatoes hard. Several seemed beyond recovery. What do you do with heavily burdened tomato vines that are naked of leaves? The tomatoes tend to scald in the sun.

This was a great opportunity to make green tomato relish! I have used one recipe before, from "Farm Girl Fare", that I really like. It is sugar free- no sweeteners at all. I am also trying one today based off of a "Taste of Home" recipe for a sweet green tomato relish. Me being me.. I find it very difficult to stick to a recipe. The ToH recipe seemed like it had a tremendous amount of sugar in it... so I cut back on both the sugar and the vinegar in it. I added a couple of seasonings not called for in the recipe. In short, I made it my own, with their recipe as a baseline. Farm Girl Fare's recipe called for a boiling water bath. I am pressure canning them to ensure their seals. (I'm afraid of just using a boiling water bath on most things, though I do on my jellies.) The unsweetened green tomato relish is in the canner right now- five pints. The sweetened batch is cooking in my Instant Pot.
My daughter Becky and DIL Paula had both told me how much they loved their Instant Pots. (An Instant Pot is an electric pressure cooker.)  Mr C got me one for my birthday. At the time, I thought it could be used for pressure canning. That is not true. One cannot use it to pressure can.
HOWEVER... it remains one of the handiest gadgets in my kitchen. I use it to cook the food to be canned. It doesn't heat up the kitchen, as it is well insulated. It can have temperatures adjusted, and timers set. It sautes, it slow cooks, it pressure cooks. It boils eggs that peel like a dream. I have even heard you can bake in them. It has been my handy-dandy daily helper in dealing with garden stuff. And then, when I need to cook supper and I am so worn out from all the harvest preservation... it cooks a meal in minutes.

Unsweetened green tomato relish

The garden has been quite prolific in pepper production as well. I have been drying and crushing the peppers as they get picked. Tom broke several overladen cayenne bush branches off... and I didn't want to waste THOSE peppers either, even though they were green. So I dehydrated the green cayenne as well. I kept them segregated from the ripe ones, and now have almost a pint of green cayenne flakes.  The Tabasco peppers are our hold up on making our tri-pepper blend. They aren't getting ripe as quickly as the others. Drying peppers as we go makes this an easy fix!
I have also been dehydrating other fruits and veggies, such as tomatoes, celery, and onions. Some of these will go into my own *Dash* blend. (Mrs. Dash is trademarked... as is Rotel Tomatoes.)
Dehydrated powdered tomatoes are like sunshine dust.
Anyways, here it is a bit past 1 in the afternoon. I WAS going to say I am *done* with tomatoes for the day. But I went to check on the second batch of relish in the canner... and saw the deck rail covered in RIPE tomatoes. I brought those in, and got to looking for my garden basket to set them in... I found it, half full of mostly ripe tomatoes. And the five gallon pail Tom uses to pick the produce has several inches of ripe cherry tomatoes in it. So... Not quite as *done* as I would of hoped!

Good thing I ENJOY doing this!

The best laid plans of mice and CowGrannies...

Ralph did well in his surgery. However, he has had a couple of setbacks, and remains in the hospital. He's been given several pints of blood. (Three, so far I think.) His blood sugar has been over 300+, despite insulin injections. (It has not been this high before). He is in "renal failure", and they now think he may have an unknown infection. Or maybe his bowels haven't awakened after surgery. At any rate, he remains in ICU. He is heavily sedated and back on the ventilator. So, please remember him and Mom in your prayers.
Mom did have my sister in law, Ruby to drive her to the hospital. But Ruby suffered the unexpected loss of her brother this week. So she has had to travel to Tennessee. Mom's been coping on her own.

Last Sunday, we were a Family on the Road. Nickole and I returned from East Texas. Daniel had been to West Texas, and as long as he was there, he brought Kimber and Dakota back with him. Tom drove back from Ohio. Grandchildren Connor, Alana, and Gavin all traveled TO Becky's house for a week. Those three are heading back to Oklahoma tomorrow, when I will take over Gavin for at least a week.
Tuesday, I will travel with the four Grands I have back down to East Texas. Tyrel has Kids For The Nations Camp in Dallas. It is closer for Becky to spend a few days visiting with my folks than driving back to West Texas, then coming back to Dallas for Tyrel. (Plus she gets to visit family!) So I am taking Kimber and Dakota back to Becky. We have a one day overlap to visit. Not certain yet if Nickole will come back with me or go home with Becky. Thursday, we all abandon Mom (Rose) again. (Ralph still won't be HOME, as he is going to have to go into a rehab center for a few days first.)
My old faithful pressure canner died this week.

 It would not release the seal. At first, I thought it was just *me*. But Daniel is quite strong, and HE tried and tried to open it was well. I got a mallet, trying to force the lid to turn, and only succeeded in breaking the handle off and loosening the rivet holding the handle in place, allowing pressure to escape around the rivet when I later tried to bring it up to pressure. The lid finally unsealed when I got the canner hot again. But by then, I had broken it. I ordered a new canner... from Amazon. T-Fal 22 quart. It arrived moments ago. May it serve as long and as faithfully as my old one. (I have had it at least 25 years. It was mom's (or Granny's?) before that, and had been used for years and years. The company is out of business and parts are hard to come by!)
So I am about to get busy canning this afternoon. I have been bringing in at least 8 lbs. per day of tomatoes. Some days even more! The wonderful Kellogg's Breakfast Tomatoes weigh more than a pound EACH. Some weigh over a pound and a half. This afternoon, I did fresh salsa using JUST the KBT. (Plus our home grown onions, cilantro, and jalapenos, and store tomatillos, lime juice, salt and garlic.)
Our okra is just starting to produce. I got a handful today, but can see I will have a good crop by tomorrow. "Granola" was right... my cherry tomatoes are being kept in good check by Becky's girls, particularly Dakota! I am selling squash twice a week to The Wooden Spoon, averaging just over 20 lbs. total per week. Not including all we can eat, and me freezing or dehydrating so much we probably won't use it all this year. However, it IS slowing down. (Time to replant! Growing squash is like growing money!) Maybe I can talk Mr C into an acorn squash, and perhaps a pattypan for fall. It isn't too late for pumpkins, I don't think.

Anyway- these tomatoes aren't going to preserve themselves. Have a blessed day. Thank you for reading.

Changed plans... still waffley

Mr C left for Ohio without me this morning. Since I am not going along this time, neither is Nickole. His vacation will be more like an actual vacation without being in charge of a needy child.
Instead, I will be going down to Texas in a few days. I will be taking care of the garden in the meantime. This won't put the entire burden of the place on Daniel and Sam all week.
  I know there are just a few of you who are 'regulars' among my readers. (My total "following" is about 12!) Most of you already know the reason I didn't go to Ohio this trip. For those who don't...
My stepfather Ralph has a birthday on the 9th. For his birthday ( 84/ 85th?) ... he is having open heart surgery. (Actually, the surgery is later this week, but he may still be in the hospital on his birthday.) A good number of years ago, he had stents put in his arteries to his heart. A recent check-up indicated he may have a blockage, so a test was scheduled. They were going to replace the old stents if necessary. It looks like the old stents ARE the problem. They had somehow twisted, or turned sideways (from our understanding of the docs explanation). They cannot be replaced easily, but have resulted in a 98% blockage on one side and a 99% blockage on the other. The only recourse is the open heart surgery. Due to his medications, the surgery wasn't immediate, but had to be scheduled for later time so he could be off his meds for a number of days. I am going down to be an official hand holder 😌 . Or maybe driver, as Mom will be stressed enough without dealing with traffic to and from Tyler every day.
It will also give me a chance to spend time with Dad and Kathie, after Dad's stroke and Kathie's surgery recovery. I will only get to stay a few days, due to garden obligations.
I was torn about what to do with Nickole. I know she was really looking forward to spending time in Ohio. I tried to think of some way to get her to Becky's for a visit... not wanting to cut Nickole's summer short. (More on that in a bit). Becky and Stephen are in the final push to get Doug and Nola's new house completed. In about a week, Connor, Alana, and Gavin will be headed to Becky's for a visit. With her five, adding three before they get moved to the "big house" is plenty, without adding Nickole in the mix. Last night, Nickole was out kicking the soccer ball around with Daniel and Sam. I went out to fill the hummingbird feeder, and caught a bit of Nickole's monologue. She was telling them that she 'really hoped she didn't have to go back home just yet, as it would be a big disappointment to her Poppo and to her Mom'. She explained that when she gets back, then they would have to take care of her. She said she 'knows they love her, but they really get tired of taking care of her all the time'.
So... She will just stay with us awhile longer. I may HAVE to have her and Gavin at the same time, though Mr. C was hoping to have them separately. Math will continue. She's improving, but not up to grade level yet. (This is where *no child left behind* sucks. You get promoted to the next grade without being competent in basic skills, such as addition and subtraction facts. If you miss out on the basics, there is no "catching up" in higher grades. You HAVE to HAVE a solid foundation to build on!) Nickole has gotten angry with me several times as we do flash cards, telling me she learned this in SECOND grade. I tell her that "Obviously you didn't", as she struggles with the math facts. (9+2= 10)
"No... try again."
 "IT'S 10! "
"Nine plus Two is NOT TEN. Try again." (Glaring, shrieking, foot stomping. Finally, finger counting and a puzzled look.)
"oh. it's 11. I MEANT to say 11."
I was talking to Arlene (Tom's Mom) about our adventures in math, and that I feel like I need to keep Nickole longer to try and get her up to speed in math, Arlene asked me, "Why you?"
I answered, "If not me, then who? Someone needs to take the responsibility."
We have told Nickole, as she struggles with the Khan Academy math tutorials, we will allow you to fail the math problems. You learn from making the mistakes and correcting them. But we will NOT allow you to be a failure. You are a failure when you give up and refuse to try.
So... the summer adventure continues. Not what I had expected. And since I really didn't have a solid plan, I can't say it isn't what I planned. But isn't that life?
Please be praying for Ralph, and for Nickole. Thanks for reading!