Lunch and Relapse

Today, I went to one of the free lunches. While there, I felt like I was going to faint again. I had someone drive me home while another car followed me. The light-headed feeling was not hunger or tiredness.

When I took my first dose of antibiotic today, I realized I had left off one yesterday. NOT good! I must do better.

J is going to drive me to deliver my entries for the Fair. And, she agreed to feed Dominique. Right now, it is pouring, so I hope it stops before she gets here. On the weather map on the weather station, there is a red blob over the town. Thankfully, it is moving quickly. But, there is another right behind it. RED blobs are the heaviest rain. Exbf must have driven to work in the rain.

It looks like I will not get to go to the sewing shop to use my coupon, the $20 dollar coupon that I paid $6 to buy. Maybe J will want to drive me there. Maybe I will let her choose something for sewing since she has no supplies. My friend with whom she is staying has plenty, so she has not missed needles and threads, yet. She will when she moves into her own place.

Okay, the rain has let up and the next blob of red is not coming through here. It moved to the south enough we will only get drizzles, not driving, pouring rain. This rain calls for shoes, so I need to change my sandals.

The guy probably won't come to pump the basement in the rain. He would have to work from the outside for a while until he could get it out. There is a roof over the entrance, but not enough to keep him dry while he works.

The only thing I have bought this last five days is the cookies ready to break off an bake.

That's my Tuesday so far.

How is your Tuesday so far or your Wednesday if it is Wednesday where you live?

For Posterity and Horrid Fence Construction

 

Two entries and two ribbons

I had to make this photo for posterity. I take  a group picture of my entries with the ribbons when I enter the fair.  Sooo, here is the other.

 

$5 for dehydrated food + $3 for photo= $8

 

 

Apparently, I looked at the wrong entries in the fair information. I do have the vegetables to eat and that leaves me still at a deficit of about $10. But, it was fun and feeds my ego or assures me I still have it...lol. .

 

Now, for the fence. Well, the nail does not show. Stay right here while I go take another picture of just the fence. I want to show you something.



 

this is the top rail of the fence. See the nails that missed that 2x4 rail?

This fence was erected by a guy whose son owned the house and was horrid to me. He was flipping the house. See the nails? One day, the guy was working, nailing up the fence and left. As soon as he left, one of the boards fell down to the ground. For a week the guy came back every day and nailed up his fence--a board here and a board there as they fell down. They have the pretty side of the fence facing their yard. That seems like wearing your clothes wrong side out.

Plus, an insurance friend and a professional who builds these fences says this is an insurance liability. The woman next door said she could not imagine how a child could get up that high or really want to get up there. One day, a kid on the other side of her ran like a maniac to catch his cat. He jumped on my table by the fence, clambered over the fence using the top rail as his next step, vaulting over the fence. So, that is why and how a child would and can come into contact with all those nails that are the length of the fence between our yards.

Stay right here while I go take another picture of just the fence. I want to show you something.

 

huge crack between warped boards

 

largest crack along the fence where a hen could slip through

The woman who bought the house was adamant that this was built right. The 2x4s are lying down on their broad side. I think they should lie on the narrow side. That certainly keeps the horizontal board from warping. The people who had a professional build their fence certainly did not construct it this way. Isn't there supposed to be a 2x4 at the bottom? That would keep the fence from warping. Also, aren't screws supposed to be used for the fence construction?

Now, after much fussing, she wants permission to come into my yard and put a bottom board that will be screwed together.

Update:
Just to clarify, this is not my fence. It is in the ground less than one foot with a very little bit of concrete. The man doing this job was following his son's instructions. The son flips houses. And, they guy used a nail gun to do the nailing.

Your turn
Is that fence built right? Do you see anything else that is wrong with it? I am not an expert, but I have lived with one at the back of my house for about 25 years.

FALL FAIR, FALL FARE

County Fair
Next Sunday I can start entering items in our County Fair! Frugal ways pay off in ribbons and cash. Thrifty skills that I learned as life skills when I was an ambitious child are showcased at county fairs. Last year, my first year ever to enter a fair, I won 5 ribbons! What’s more, I had never won a ribbon for cooking/canning or woodwork. However, I have won many ribbons over the years for my sewing skills.

This year, I plan to enter a bird house that is huge and has no top. It is meant to be used to house a plant. Last year, I entered a real bird house. The house was made entirely of wood taken from my 108-year-old home. Learning to use a table saw paid off, and I lost no fingers!

So far, I have canned NO tomatoes, but I might can one jar just for the fair. People do that, I hear. There are mulberries in the freezer that might be canned juice…hmmm. I will can at least one jar of fig jam.

This year, I will also enter sewing items. I just need to look at the fair list and find things I have made this past year.

Report forthcoming in the next few weeks!

Check out your county fair office to see what you can enter. I call the county agent to find the Fair Office number.

In the meantime, will you share your stories of your county fair? What did you enter?

More Fall Fare

I know it sounds strange, but September seems the perfect time to make biscotti. For years I thought it had to be tooth-breaking hard to be deserving of the term “biscotti.” Not so! I read that it can be cooked just once and sliced, or it can be cooked for just a few seconds the second time.

I don’t drink coffee, so dunking is not even an option. I use these for snacks, often when not at home, so dunking is not a possibility. Besides, I am trying not to cause dental failures by chewing on bricks that are just short of concrete hard.

Therefore, my biscotti is just extremely dry, not rock hard. If I give it away to coffee drinkers, I bake a batch that is rock hard. Okay, the biscotti I prefer and make is not THAT dry.

Now, for the good news—I have made and tested a recipe of my own biscotti. There may be about six variations/flavors that I have tested to perfection so far. I will share these for the rest of September. The goal was to cut calories and fat. Even though we all need a bit of fat in our diet and even in snack foods that we use to tide us over the afternoon, I just assume that most of us are not lacking in fats and oils in our diets.

There is only one remaining task—find the recipe and test it. I saw the recipe about a month ago and left it on the counter in anticipation of September.

Until the end of the year I will post recipes every week or two.

Do you have favorite Fall recipes?