Cayenne for the bloody nose

 

Monday

I got up at 7:30. I finished a Sudoku puzzle, then started the morning list. I brought in the milk and eggs. I heated half of the milk to pasteurize it. While I was out dealing with gopher mounds, two men came by to check the water meter. Then later two other men came to check on the stove hood. It was an easily fixable problem. I heated the other half of the milk to 100, then put it in the dehydrator to start the cheese process. I steamed a batch of eggs.

I looked up hymns to go with Ephesians. I went to the library to return a book and copy some pages in the hymn book for tonight. I went to the garden to see if the deer drank any of the water. No. But I found out that the sprinkler was turned off so I turned it back on and let it run for 6 minutes.

When I got home, I added milk from last week to some ferments and put them in the dehydrator. I read e-mail. I made and ate breakfast. I added rennet to the milk. I read messages. I posted for band. I walked to the post office for mail and also put up a swap shop flyer. I pulled the milk from the dehydrator and cut it into chunks. I stirred them with a large spoon. I poured some scalded milk into a jar and mixed in natto. I added it to the dehydrator to ferment.

I watched the next part of the Indiana Jones walkthrough. After awhile, I fell asleep. When I woke up, I separated the curds from the whey and put them in the fridge.

I ate fiber gel and read the latest messages. I ate a bowl of chili, then went out to rake the side yard. Chris came home from work. Soon I left for band.

I unlocked the chapel and Jenni was right behind me. We talked until Keli arrived. We played through the two hymns, and some songs from the yellow book. No one else came. We talked some more and they left. I turned off the lights and checked the kitchen. There was a mouse in the trap, probably the one we saw Saturday night. I texted to the chaplain. Then I locked the doors and headed home.

I passed Isadora who was cycling to my house. When she got there, she took off her sweatshirt and rested a bit before firing up the mower. While she mowed, I read e-mail. It took her about an hour. I paid her and then her nose started to bleed. All I could offer her was cayenne. She said yes, so I wet a Q-tip and dipped it in cayenne. She put it up her nostril. I put more on and she did it again. The bleeding stopped and she was so happy about it that she Facetimed her mom to tell her.

After she left, I prepared a jug of water for the garden. I drove over there and gave a little to each plant. I reset the hose switches. Then I went home and found my in-ground sprinklers were running. I had some blueberries and chia. I worked on my blog. I made tea and we watched TV.  I looked up some of the actors.  I read articles and cleared some e-mail, then went to bed

The upside down cake

 

Sunday

I got up at 8:30, not having slept well. I worked on a Sudoku puzzle until I realized I had messed it up. I started on the morning list. After practicing, I went out to water the plants and set gopher traps. But it was too hot to stay out long.

At 10, I went to the garden. It seemed to be wet from the watering at 9. I added soil to the garlic because they seemed so low. I noticed the tops of the onions were gone. When I got home, Chris gave me a coconut oil massage and we snuggled. Then I got up to whip up a batch of cheese squares. While they baked, I took a shower and threw on some clothes. I made and ate breakfast. Then I put the cheese squares in a container and went to church.

I left the cheese squares in the back. I greeted the few people who were there and assembled my trombone. I put the music on the stand. No one else came, so we had a service which was more like a Bible study. He quizzed us about Ephesians and we discussed it. Then the musicians played two hymns. We had communion after that. There was conversation subsequently. I walked out with the cheese squares, still conversing.

When I got home, I peeled the hard boiled eggs and put them in picking juice. I read e-mail and messages. I changed clothes and went to Michele's house to pick up the natto. She also gave me a piece of the pineapple upsidedown cake that didn't rise. I took the piece home and shared it with Chris. I put the packages of natto in the freezer except for one, which went in the fridge.

I read a book for awhile and fell asleep. Chris woke me up for the game. Our intrepid gang was asked to deal with some trolls and we got into a fight. But there was so much off-topic discussion that we didn't finish the fight.

After the game, Chris and I went to meet John and Michele for a mile walk. Then we stopped by the garden where I filled up a 5 gallon bucket of water outside the fence, hoping the deer would drink and leave our plants alone.

When we got home, I made tea and we watched Criminal Minds. Then we folded the laundry and made the bed. Chris turned in and I finished the Sudoku puzzle and worked on my blog. I went to bed.

Mower trouble

 

Saturday

I got up at 7. I did some Sudoku, then started the morning list. I went to the gas station to fill my tank and the gas can. When I got back, Isadora had just arrived. She got in my car and we went to Self-Help to sign out a mower. But Self-Help wasn't open till 9. So we went to the Swap Shop to pick up and organize till 8:55.

We went back to Self-Help. He put a little gas in a mower and started it easily. I signed it out. Isadora rolled it in the direction of my house and I drove home. I started watering plants. When she arrived, I put gas in the mower, then left it to her to mow. I went back to watering plants. But she came to get me, saying it wouldn't start. So I tried and couldn't start it. I asked Chris and he couldn't either. Isadora went home.

I drove back to Self Help. He told me how he started it, which we had tried. He said let it sit for a bit. So then I went to the garden and found the water hadn't turned on. I turned it on, then talked to Travis. Deer (or something) have been eating his garden too. Davis joined the conversation.

I went home, and Chris told me the Self-Help guy had been there and started the mower. But Isadora was gone. I went back to watering the plants. I checked the traps and pulled out a gopher. I tried to reset the traps.

I came in and texted Tina, but she didn't answer. I called her and no answer. I wondered if anything was wrong. I contacted Casey and John to see if they were coming to Project Night. I contacted Steve who told me Tina was ok.

I made and ate breakfast. I watched short Telegram videos. I put together a bucket of dusting cloths, and Chris took me to Tina's gate. I walked up to her house. We chatted, then I dusted cookbooks for two hours. We chatted till Chris called. He came up to the house and Tina and I came out. We talked. We left.

Chris made chili and rice for supper. Michelle called to invite me to the pool. Michele called to ask for a ride to dinner. So Chris went to pick up Michele while I put on my suit and met Michelle and Casey at the pool. I could only stay 20 minutes, then I had to go home. I had a quick dinner with Michele and Chris. Then I changed clothes and went to the chapel for Project Night.

MeryAnn came and helped me rearrange the tables and chairs. Then Casey came with his electronic project, then Michele and John. We talked, they worked. Casey left, then Michele and John left. MeryAnn and I locked up and walked out together but stood by our cars talking until her husband came by to make sure we were ok. It was almost 11 when I got home.

I worked on my blog. I looked up the owl project which I had shown MeryAnn but had forgotten how to make it. I went to bed at midnight.

…......................

Wildfire

 

Friday

I got up before 7:30 with RLS. I started the morning list. I watered the plants. I found a gopher in one trap. The other trap was covered in dirt. I reset the traps in other places. I watered a hole. The gopher ran out and never came back.

I practiced. I checked the cooler and found ground beef had been delivered. I read e-mail. I warmed up the old computer so I could print out a file. I updated the file, then put it on a thumb drive. I plugged it into the old computer, but was never actually able to get it to print. I walked to the swap shop and threw inside the stuff someone left by the door. I laid out the shoes. I checked our post office box.

When I got back, I posted for the swap shop. I made a flyer. I tried printing again, then sent the files to his work e-mail. Chris went to the office to print the flyer and document.

I read e-mail, then made and ate lunch. I moved the tall trap. The old computer still not printing. I tried making a copy of the flyer Chris printed. Eventually it did, but it wasn't a great copy. I watched part of the tapping summit. I made a grocery list. We went to the commissary and got nearly everything. So we didn't go to Tooele. I texted Tina about cleaning tomorrow. I worked on my blog.

I ate fish for supper. I walked to the swap shop to lock up and stayed to clean up the toys some kids had left.  Two plumes of smoke could be seen in the distance - evidence of a wildfire 2 miles away.   I went to the garden to check on the water. I put dryer sheets on little sticks all around the plot to ward off deer.

When I got home, I prepared for Game Night with a bottle of tea and a baggie of cheese squares. I drove to Michelle's house. She was sitting outside with her laptop so I joined her for awhile. Later I went inside to play Indiana Jones. Casey shot the bad guys for me, then I took over and explored the Nazi station. I came out with an inflatable raft. I saved the game, then went down the river and scraped a hole in the raft which eventually sank.

I left that game to play Michelle's game which was called Little Bang Story. It's a cute game. I paused it at 11, but she kept talking so I went back to playing. It was almost midnight before I left. When I got home, Chris was in bed. I got ready and went to bed.

Kelp fertilizer for the garden

 

Thursday

RLS woke me up around 6:30, but I stayed in bed until Chris left for work. I did some Sudoku, and brushed my teeth. I went to the kitchen to get through my morning list. At 9, I went to the garden. I watched the sprinkler run. I watered the edges which still seemed dry. I sprayed a tumeric solution on the plants. I pulled mint and weeds. I dug up a sunflower and brought it home to plant in the flowerbed where nothing else grows.

When I got home, I texted Saronna and Keli about yogurt. Then I took a jar to Saronna and chatted with the family. Then I went to the library and dropped off a jar for Keli.

Just then Melanie called me, so I headed out. She needed some figures so when I got home, I ate fiber gel and sent her pics of the loan numbers.

I made breakfast and ate it while watching The Highwire. I stayed by my laptop all afternoon so I could respond to her e-mails quickly. I took a break to repair a bag Chris got at work. I read e-mail and articles and messages.

Chris came home with a pizza. He baked some fish for me. I ran to the library to print out some forms and to get another book. When I got home, I signed the forms and took pics. I sent them off, then ate the fish and continued reading.

I went out to wash dirt back into the gopher holes and to set traps. But on the second mound, the critter came up for air. And … a trap was no longer necessary. I attacked a third mound and set the second trap there.

I emptied the spray bottle of tumeric solution and refilled it with a dilution of kelp. I worked on my blog before going to the garden to spray it on the plants. When I got back, I sprayed the home plants, then made tea and we watched TV. Chris and I both read online till bedtime.

Finally finished a pair of shorts

 

Wednesday

I got up before 7, then laid down until Chris left for work. I prepared for Coffee Morning by straightening up the kitchen, heating coffee and doing exercises. I watered the plants inside and out. I read with the red light. After 4 rounds of tapping and meditation, I cleaned the bathrooms and kitchen. I washed dishes, mopped, and vacuumed.

I laid out in the hot sun for awhile. I checked e-mail, then took a 20 minute steam session. After that, I showered and dressed. I went back to e-mail for awhile. I ate some yogurts, went through more e-mails. I addressed a loan-related request. I made egg salad and hardboiled a dozen eggs.

I went outside to address gopher mounds. No gophers appeared. I stomped the tunnels with my feet and hosed my feet off. Chris came home. We chatted.

I finished making the gray shorts. It got windy outside. I worked on my blog because the internet was down, then it came back up. I sat outside and ate some cashews until I heard gurgling sounds all around me. I ran to the back porch to avoid getting wet.

I went to the garden to run the sprinkler and see if it was covering everything. Because of the wind, it wasn't. I tried to tweak it and got wet. I watered some things with the milk jugs, then went home.

I made tea and we watched an episode of Criminal Minds. Then I looked up one of the actors. I worked on e-mail, then went to bed.

Packing up the decorations

 

Tuesday

I woke up at 6:30. The back porch dry even though the sprinklers should have been running. I went back to bed and got up at 7. The milk and eggs were not here yet. After Chris left, I started working my morning list.

I flooded gopher tunnels and leveled mounds, but then the extra-long hose separated. I ate a selection of yogurts. I started a kimchi yogurt with whipped cream from the can.

I went to the garden and turned on the sprinkler and it sprayed everything! So apparently someone else is also watering at my usual time. I changed the start time. I took some compost to the garden. I planted some beet seedlings and pulled a bunch of mint because it looks like the deer are eating their tops off.

I came home. I put some pots of soil in with the strawberry plants to root the runners. I checked Facebook and she had messaged me that the milk would be delivered at 10:30. I jotted notes for my blog. I basted a waistband on the gray shorts while watching part of a video.

It was nearly 11 when I brought in the milk and eggs. I heated the milk to 180 half at a time. I made and ate breakfast, then walked to the post office. I unlocked the swap shop for Angelina. I noticed on the walk back that the upstarts that I hadn't gotten to yet were gone. Someone on a large mower was doing the field across the street.

I laid out in the sun and read for a bit. I listened to more video online. I fixed the hose. Michelle came over for the chapel key so she could take down the decorations and organize them in their boxes. While she was gone, I placed a Swanson's order and mixed up a batch of fruit tree leaves. Later she came back with the key, and said she had taken everything down, but it needed to be organized with the unused decorations.

Chris came home from work. I made and ate supper, then headed to the chapel, stopping just long enough to lock the swap shop. Moira and Sophia met me at the chapel. We brought out the boxes. Then Diane and Bill arrived. We organized all the decorations and folded those that needed to be folded, which was quite a job. Some were long float decorations. I helped Bill re-hang the wall-hangings in the fellowship hall. We finished just in time for Bible study.

Karen arrived and we chatted until Wendy and Eryne came – with cake. We read the chapter and discussed it. Then Tarah came. We discussed some more and then talked about community stuff.

Afterward, I went to the garden, arriving just before 9. I turned on the sprinkler and it was at almost full power. I watched it for 10 minutes to make sure no one else's irrigation was siphoning off water pressure. Then I went home to make tea. We watched TV, then I worked on my blog and read messages until I went to bed.