Today started out overcast and very windy. It didn't seem to matter to the chickens, however. Unlike other times. They still came out for their corn and just to scratch in the dirt. When it started to storm (complete with lightning and thunder), they went into the coop. Then, when it was raining hard, I could hardly believe my eyes when 8 of the chickens marched outside and stayed out in the rain for about 10 minutes. When the rain stopped, only two stayed out. I can't figure them out.
For some reason today, they didn't go nuts over the lettuce. They did pick at it but didn't get it finished up before the rain started. I wonder if it gave them indigestion? They seemed eager for it at first but I have no idea why they just picked at it. I'm going to try the apples (chopped up) tomorrow. Just for my own curiosity. I think I will also make a couple baked apples for me and the Beast. With his sweet tooth, it should be a change for him at least.
I did laundry again. I needed my jeans and both pairs were dirty. One of them had coconut oil on the legs. I used it to condition my hair and scalp but my body heat made it drip from under the plastic wrap I had around my head and I also had, unthinkingly, wiped my hands on the legs instead of using a towel. Duh! I still have to hang up a couple tops that I have draped over the TV tray that I use for my projects. Cee gave that to me a while back.
Michael and Lucia got home from Atlanta today, I am assuming. I will call them tomorrow to give him Bratfink's email addy and tell him what she wants. After that, it's in his hands. I hope he can coherently explain what Sheldon needs to do to be able to stream Netflix and Hulu. I also hope that Sheldon subscribes to Netflix. I know that is a requirement. Cee is registered on Michael's account from what I understand. You can have two people on it from the information I have. One good thing is that I know Sheldon has a router. I just hope he won't have to buy a DVD player that has the connection to Netflix already on it. Mine does, I know, but I don't want to pay another monthly bill.
Well, time for bed. I have to be up early tomorrow so I am just going to hang up my tops and then get some sleep. Love you all. Be happy. Surround yourself with family and friends whenever possible. Life is too short to be anything but happy. ***Hugs***
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Chickens Like Lettuce!!!!
I saw a video yesterday about this woman that gave her chickens treats on occasion. Things like lettuce, cranberries, grapes and a couple other things I forgot. But I had a bit of lettuce left here that didn't have the size leaves left on it that the Beast liked using for his sandwiches. I had thought I would just chop it up and add it to the romaine lettuce I have for our salads. Instead, I decided to see how the chickens would react to it. The woman's chickens came running when she would put out treats for them and they attacked the lettuce like they were starving for a salad...LOL.
So I cut up the lettuce and put it in two pie pans since only about six of them can surround a space that size. They are getting on the bulky side.... Well, like the greens (actually mostly weeds of various types) that we give them, they LOVED the lettuce once a couple of them approached it and tried it out. When the others saw how they were eating it, they crowded around to get their share. It was really funny. I have to see if I can find any cranberries out although I think they are waaaaay out of season right now or I may try some grapes. I would like to see how they react to fruit. I was thinking of chopping up some apples to see how they liked that but want to check to make sure that it's okay to give it to them before I do. It's just interesting to know what all they will eat. I do know that if one of them died in the coop, they will cannibalize it. They are not very nice to each other.
Not that I expect them to bury the dead chicken or mourn it but I really didn't think they would do that. But there are lots of birds that eat other birds so I don't know why I should be surprised at that. It's all protein, I guess. I would just rather they ate worms...LOL
I went over to Cee's for a while today. We got to talking about food and cooking stuff and different ways that we eat them as individuals. What's funny is that we like to eat certain foods the same way (we tear up our biscuits before putting the sausage gravy over it as one example). The Beast used to just break his biscuit in half and pour the gravy over it. But he now does the same thing. Like I told him when I was doing it, it makes it much easier to eat and there's no need for a knife or to struggle to cut up a section with your fork. Of course, sometimes the biscuit is so hot, you have to gingerly break it up but that's doesn't cause a burn, thankfully.
For two sisters, we can always find topics of conversation. We don't gossip (much...LOL) but we do state our opinions of things occasionally. But that's just human nature. We often talk about things we liked or didn't like when we were growing up (not being able to wear pants to school in winter, for example). Thank goodness that's changed now. We used to freeze just walking to school which was just the next street over from our house but a long block after that to get to the door. It really worked out to a block and a half but, in Chicago, that could be brutal to exposed skin with the wind in the winter.
It was worse when I got into high school. It was a four block walk to the elevated train and just as far to the bus line and then it was walk for almost the same distance or wait in the cold to transfer to a different bus. Then there was the walk to the front of the school. It was murder because the ROTC/football field was between the main drag and the entrance to the school. It's no wonder I hate winter. I hated it then and I am not crazy about it now. My only consolation is that we don't get much in the way of snow here. This year, in fact, we only got a light dusting of it one day. Global warming, I guess. Or El Nino effect, whatever. Before El Nino started, we only really got one good snow each winter but we sure had lots of ice that would develop on the roads. Not fun if you MUST go out and drive on it.
At least our town now has some snow vehicles. They spread salt or sand, not sure which, and they even have a few snow plows. They used to have to borrow it from other areas if we had a heavy snowfall. But the town got some kind of improvement grant a few years ago and used some of it for just that. Just having the trucks for the salt/sand was great. As long as you got the twice weekly paper put out here or got on the website and found out when the roads around your home were going to be done. Otherwise, it was just creep, creep, creep along until you got to a road where you didn't slip and slide any more.
The poor Princess, who was born and raising in Florida, found out what black ice was like unexpectedly and hit a telephone pole one day. She was scared shitless when it happened but she had never even been taught what to do when your car went into a spin on ice so she did everything wrong. The Beast was so nasty to her over that and I was really angry at him for the way he reacted. But she was driving a car we had bought for her to use to get to work and college at the time and it was on our insurance. He knew our rates were going to go up because of it and that's what angered him. But he has always overreacted to things like that. He never stopped to think about what he was saying or doing or how it might affect the person. He is still the same way. Some things never change. He has become his father, whom he always hated for the way he was treated. Go figure!
Boy, did I digress. I made some egg salad for sandwiches and it turned out perfect. The Beast didn't go to church
So I cut up the lettuce and put it in two pie pans since only about six of them can surround a space that size. They are getting on the bulky side.... Well, like the greens (actually mostly weeds of various types) that we give them, they LOVED the lettuce once a couple of them approached it and tried it out. When the others saw how they were eating it, they crowded around to get their share. It was really funny. I have to see if I can find any cranberries out although I think they are waaaaay out of season right now or I may try some grapes. I would like to see how they react to fruit. I was thinking of chopping up some apples to see how they liked that but want to check to make sure that it's okay to give it to them before I do. It's just interesting to know what all they will eat. I do know that if one of them died in the coop, they will cannibalize it. They are not very nice to each other.
Not that I expect them to bury the dead chicken or mourn it but I really didn't think they would do that. But there are lots of birds that eat other birds so I don't know why I should be surprised at that. It's all protein, I guess. I would just rather they ate worms...LOL
I went over to Cee's for a while today. We got to talking about food and cooking stuff and different ways that we eat them as individuals. What's funny is that we like to eat certain foods the same way (we tear up our biscuits before putting the sausage gravy over it as one example). The Beast used to just break his biscuit in half and pour the gravy over it. But he now does the same thing. Like I told him when I was doing it, it makes it much easier to eat and there's no need for a knife or to struggle to cut up a section with your fork. Of course, sometimes the biscuit is so hot, you have to gingerly break it up but that's doesn't cause a burn, thankfully.
For two sisters, we can always find topics of conversation. We don't gossip (much...LOL) but we do state our opinions of things occasionally. But that's just human nature. We often talk about things we liked or didn't like when we were growing up (not being able to wear pants to school in winter, for example). Thank goodness that's changed now. We used to freeze just walking to school which was just the next street over from our house but a long block after that to get to the door. It really worked out to a block and a half but, in Chicago, that could be brutal to exposed skin with the wind in the winter.
It was worse when I got into high school. It was a four block walk to the elevated train and just as far to the bus line and then it was walk for almost the same distance or wait in the cold to transfer to a different bus. Then there was the walk to the front of the school. It was murder because the ROTC/football field was between the main drag and the entrance to the school. It's no wonder I hate winter. I hated it then and I am not crazy about it now. My only consolation is that we don't get much in the way of snow here. This year, in fact, we only got a light dusting of it one day. Global warming, I guess. Or El Nino effect, whatever. Before El Nino started, we only really got one good snow each winter but we sure had lots of ice that would develop on the roads. Not fun if you MUST go out and drive on it.
At least our town now has some snow vehicles. They spread salt or sand, not sure which, and they even have a few snow plows. They used to have to borrow it from other areas if we had a heavy snowfall. But the town got some kind of improvement grant a few years ago and used some of it for just that. Just having the trucks for the salt/sand was great. As long as you got the twice weekly paper put out here or got on the website and found out when the roads around your home were going to be done. Otherwise, it was just creep, creep, creep along until you got to a road where you didn't slip and slide any more.
The poor Princess, who was born and raising in Florida, found out what black ice was like unexpectedly and hit a telephone pole one day. She was scared shitless when it happened but she had never even been taught what to do when your car went into a spin on ice so she did everything wrong. The Beast was so nasty to her over that and I was really angry at him for the way he reacted. But she was driving a car we had bought for her to use to get to work and college at the time and it was on our insurance. He knew our rates were going to go up because of it and that's what angered him. But he has always overreacted to things like that. He never stopped to think about what he was saying or doing or how it might affect the person. He is still the same way. Some things never change. He has become his father, whom he always hated for the way he was treated. Go figure!
Boy, did I digress. I made some egg salad for sandwiches and it turned out perfect. The Beast didn't go to church
Monday, April 4, 2016
Just A P.S. For Today's Blog...
I forgot to mention something about the chickens... We have found a couple of the chickens in laying positions today like they are starting to feel the need to lay eggs. Isn't that exciting? Now we have to make sure to inspect the coop closely because it could be any day now that a few of them start laying eggs! Will let you know when that happens.
It's Beginning To Feel Like A Real Farm Around Here....
Although we don't have a lot of animals, there are a lot of chores that are starting to feel like this is a farm. For example...there's the matter of cleaning out the coop. That was a sorry mess and it's only partly done (I know, shame on us) but then we really didn't have enough fresh bedding for the hens. But we did what we could and it should make the chickens feel better.
We also started on clearing the veggie boxes. That's going to take a while since I don't want the Beast to pull out the strawberry plants. They are coming up nicely so I decided that box was MINE to clear. I have thinned out the plants so they won't be crowding one another. We should get some decent strawberries this year...hopefully. I had to get down on my knees to work on cleaning out the weeds. Some looked more like regrowth of plants from last year but those I pulled out and fed to the chickens. They seem to love almost any kind of greens.
I had forgotten to put out more cracked corn for the hens so I let myself into the coop and took care of that. I spread some among the greens so that they had a variety to feed on. The Beast had already added more seed to their feeder and given them some fresh water. The water holder will hold around 3 gallons and it lasts them a few days (which, if you think about it, explains how the bedding gets so damned messy!). I told the Beast that it's about time that he sprays out the floor of it when we clean it next time. Thankfully, he painted it a few months back (before we moved the chickens into it) so it won't warp the wood.
Then the Beast worked on mowing the lawn. It really needed it. When he was done with the back, I sprayed it with Weed-B-Gone. I'm almost afraid that we will wake up in a few days to a totally dirt yard. The weeds have really taken over since the Beast got lazy last year. He never did any spreading, even though we have the spreader handy enough. He just wasn't up to it and we can't afford a yard service. Weeds it may have to be. I got about 3/4 of the yard sprayed but now we need to add more hose to the one we have. That one is 100 feet, I believe but we need about another 50 feet so that I can get to the other side of the cottage. He says he will do it tomorrow but it's supposed to rain and you can't have it raining and apply the weed killer. It's supposed to be dry and no rain for an hour after applying it. So it will probably be Wednesday before I can get that done. Then I have to do the front of the house and then the lot next door.
My back was breaking and I realized that I should have put on my back brace before doing all this. Even my hip was in agony and I was walking with a limp. I may just say the heck with it and go visit with Cee tomorrow. Especially with the forecast of rain.
Bratfink wanted me to give our nephew, Michael, her email addy so he could send her instructions on how he set up Cee's DVD player so that it can stream NetFlix, Hulu and others. I wanted to do that for her but it has to wait because he and his wife traveled down to Atlanta for a few days to get away from the constant sales calls and to visit a friend there. I haven't forgotten about it, Sis...you just have to wait until they return. Love you!
By the time it was dinner time, we were both exhausted so we took short naps and then just had a sandwich. Neither one of us had an appetite and didn't even want soup. I did find him having his milk and some cookies before he got ready for bed. He's always got to have something. He's one person that cannot go to bed without a full stomach. Otherwise, he's up in the middle of the night making himself hot chocolate and toast or cookies.
Well, bedtime for me. I'm beat. Cee laughed when she heard about my day and said I should sleep good tonight. I sure hope so. I wish you all a good night and lots of love. ***Hugs***
We also started on clearing the veggie boxes. That's going to take a while since I don't want the Beast to pull out the strawberry plants. They are coming up nicely so I decided that box was MINE to clear. I have thinned out the plants so they won't be crowding one another. We should get some decent strawberries this year...hopefully. I had to get down on my knees to work on cleaning out the weeds. Some looked more like regrowth of plants from last year but those I pulled out and fed to the chickens. They seem to love almost any kind of greens.
I had forgotten to put out more cracked corn for the hens so I let myself into the coop and took care of that. I spread some among the greens so that they had a variety to feed on. The Beast had already added more seed to their feeder and given them some fresh water. The water holder will hold around 3 gallons and it lasts them a few days (which, if you think about it, explains how the bedding gets so damned messy!). I told the Beast that it's about time that he sprays out the floor of it when we clean it next time. Thankfully, he painted it a few months back (before we moved the chickens into it) so it won't warp the wood.
Then the Beast worked on mowing the lawn. It really needed it. When he was done with the back, I sprayed it with Weed-B-Gone. I'm almost afraid that we will wake up in a few days to a totally dirt yard. The weeds have really taken over since the Beast got lazy last year. He never did any spreading, even though we have the spreader handy enough. He just wasn't up to it and we can't afford a yard service. Weeds it may have to be. I got about 3/4 of the yard sprayed but now we need to add more hose to the one we have. That one is 100 feet, I believe but we need about another 50 feet so that I can get to the other side of the cottage. He says he will do it tomorrow but it's supposed to rain and you can't have it raining and apply the weed killer. It's supposed to be dry and no rain for an hour after applying it. So it will probably be Wednesday before I can get that done. Then I have to do the front of the house and then the lot next door.
My back was breaking and I realized that I should have put on my back brace before doing all this. Even my hip was in agony and I was walking with a limp. I may just say the heck with it and go visit with Cee tomorrow. Especially with the forecast of rain.
Bratfink wanted me to give our nephew, Michael, her email addy so he could send her instructions on how he set up Cee's DVD player so that it can stream NetFlix, Hulu and others. I wanted to do that for her but it has to wait because he and his wife traveled down to Atlanta for a few days to get away from the constant sales calls and to visit a friend there. I haven't forgotten about it, Sis...you just have to wait until they return. Love you!
By the time it was dinner time, we were both exhausted so we took short naps and then just had a sandwich. Neither one of us had an appetite and didn't even want soup. I did find him having his milk and some cookies before he got ready for bed. He's always got to have something. He's one person that cannot go to bed without a full stomach. Otherwise, he's up in the middle of the night making himself hot chocolate and toast or cookies.
Well, bedtime for me. I'm beat. Cee laughed when she heard about my day and said I should sleep good tonight. I sure hope so. I wish you all a good night and lots of love. ***Hugs***
A Busy Day Again......
I actually didn't do much in the morning but, when the Beast went to church, I started cooking. I made shrimp alfredo with noodles, some beets and garlic toast. I timed everything to be ready when he got home. Thankfully, I had told him I would have food ready for him so he didn't go anywhere else but home. He sometimes goes for coffee afterward with one of his buddy's there but today he only stopped to pick up some bread and my French vanilla creamer that I was out of. He went to Dollar General for that so it was on the way home.
The shrimp alfredo came out so tasty. I made sure I put the leftovers into the fridge right away. That will be our lunch tomorrow since we have a busy day planned. It revolves around the chickens, of course. He needs to refill the chicken feed which I discovered is the formula for laying chickens. It has the extra calcium they need for the eggs. We also have to refill the water and the bedding needs sweeping out and replacing...again.
He's closing up the doggie door at night now that the critters have discovered the chickens. We are taking no chances with them. I sure don't want the chickens being attacked because of a panic and the critter reacting with teeth and claws. All they are really going to be looking for is their eggs, although they aren't laying yet. But the critters wouldn't know that.
The Beast likes to take a bath or shower after dinner on the nights he doesn't go to church. On Tuesday (his church night), he will take one after lunch sometime. But he hates to have to get redressed to go out and close up the chicken coop. He won't let me do it for whatever reason and that's fine with me. I do my corn tossing about mid-morning and that's pretty much all I get to do....except for sweeping up the nasty bedding, of course. I really don't mind that although my shoe soles are a mess afterward and requires some scrubbing.
We also are going to start clearing out the vegetable beds. I don't think the Beast wants to plant much but I'll put out my bush beans and some lettuce if I can find the right kind. I want to plant some rosy tip but can't find the seeds for it so far. I may have to call a couple local nurseries and see if they carry it. He said he only wants to put out two tomato plants. One will probably be cherry tomatoes and the other, who knows? I told him he said that last year and we ended up with five or six. I don't want that this year.
I did manage to get some more wash done and I started working on clearing my desk top again. I got distracted with having to refill my pill holder for the week. I really love it and I am so grateful to my sister, Bee, for giving that to me. It makes taking my pills so much easier since I have to take quite a few every day. I really hate being OLD. You can't be a wimp and still manage.
Time to get back to bed. Love you all. Be good and try to be happy. Life is too short to be anything else. ***Hugs***
The shrimp alfredo came out so tasty. I made sure I put the leftovers into the fridge right away. That will be our lunch tomorrow since we have a busy day planned. It revolves around the chickens, of course. He needs to refill the chicken feed which I discovered is the formula for laying chickens. It has the extra calcium they need for the eggs. We also have to refill the water and the bedding needs sweeping out and replacing...again.
He's closing up the doggie door at night now that the critters have discovered the chickens. We are taking no chances with them. I sure don't want the chickens being attacked because of a panic and the critter reacting with teeth and claws. All they are really going to be looking for is their eggs, although they aren't laying yet. But the critters wouldn't know that.
The Beast likes to take a bath or shower after dinner on the nights he doesn't go to church. On Tuesday (his church night), he will take one after lunch sometime. But he hates to have to get redressed to go out and close up the chicken coop. He won't let me do it for whatever reason and that's fine with me. I do my corn tossing about mid-morning and that's pretty much all I get to do....except for sweeping up the nasty bedding, of course. I really don't mind that although my shoe soles are a mess afterward and requires some scrubbing.
We also are going to start clearing out the vegetable beds. I don't think the Beast wants to plant much but I'll put out my bush beans and some lettuce if I can find the right kind. I want to plant some rosy tip but can't find the seeds for it so far. I may have to call a couple local nurseries and see if they carry it. He said he only wants to put out two tomato plants. One will probably be cherry tomatoes and the other, who knows? I told him he said that last year and we ended up with five or six. I don't want that this year.
I did manage to get some more wash done and I started working on clearing my desk top again. I got distracted with having to refill my pill holder for the week. I really love it and I am so grateful to my sister, Bee, for giving that to me. It makes taking my pills so much easier since I have to take quite a few every day. I really hate being OLD. You can't be a wimp and still manage.
Time to get back to bed. Love you all. Be good and try to be happy. Life is too short to be anything else. ***Hugs***
Sunday, April 3, 2016
I Give A Big Hint To The Beast......
I was really tired of the Beast putting off making potato pancakes. I would have done it myself but it would have hurt the Beast's feelings. Besides, his aren't too bad. But, since he was out and I knew he wouldn't be home until around noon or so, I went ahead and peeled the potatoes and got the onions ready. I put the potatoes in a bowl with some water and a little ice to prevent any browning and had the bowl and the onions on the counter next to the processor.
When he got home, he took one look at it and said, *Is that a hint?* I just laughed and said that he said he was going to make it on Wednesday and it was Saturday. I thought it was time to make it easy for him. I didn't expect him to make it for lunch, I said. He just smiled while I went ahead and made some hash browns (the kind you buy in a package) and eggs for us.
After that, I went to my computer and decided to let my nephew know that he was going to get his potato pancakes today. I left that message on his phone and said I would call him when it was ready. I didn't realize that his wife, Lucia, had never had anything like it. But, later on, when they stopped by to pick up what we had put aside for them, the Beast gave her a taste of one with some sour cream on it. She loved it. Between us, I think we shared one of the leftovers (not the ones put aside for them) while we chatted.
Michael needs some plywood for some reason. I really didn't catch what he said he wanted it for but he has a problem. He only has a car and can't really carry it back to his house even though Lowe's is only about a block or two away from his house. If he had a hitch on his car, he could have used our trailer which is how we got all the stuff for the interior of the *cottage* to our house from there. I think the Beast told Michael that he would help him with that since both our cars have hitches. Michael will just have to call him when he is ready and then come over to help the Beast hitch up the trailer and connect the brake lights to it.
Michael said that he was kind of sorry he had sold his truck but the move here was hard enough with just their car and the rental truck for their furniture and things. He had a nice Dodge Ram which he could have used to get the plywood back to the house. We owned one once and they could hold the plywood with no problem. I know because we used it back in Margate after we moved into our house there. The Beast built a stand for the new AC air handler that we installed in it.
I really miss having the room, although I would prefer the house we had built in Port Charlotte. That was the house of my dreams. I loved my utility room with all the storage space I had. I know the Beast misses his three car garage that we had built deeper than most so we could put up his work bench and the shelves that we used for our hurricane supplies. That was much larger than the shelves he built here.
Like I have said before, if I had known that this would be the home we ended up retiring to, I wouldn't have let the Beast buy it. I would have chosen one that was about 300 sq. ft. larger or so. I definitely wouldn't have chosen the kitchen that I have. It lacks counter space. I feel like it's even smaller than our house in Sunrise. But, that is water over the dam now. We have made the best of it we can but I know the Beast misses the room we had. I would have loved a bigger deck out back.
Lucia told me today that she really misses seeing the Princess and the kids. She wanted me to tell the Princess that she loves and misses her, Chewlee and Gunner. I had hoped that the mishmash that Tara caused would have been resolved by now but....c'est la vie!
Some time in the next week or so, Lucia is going to make her peach cake again. Michael said he's going to work on her making another of her carrot cakes. I know that both of them are labor intensive. Lucia and I talked about the skinned knuckles you get from grating the carrots. We both know what that is like. When I make my potato pancakes, I don't use the processor like the Beast does. I make mine using a regular grater. I guess that's why I don't mind the Beast making them these days. It saves my knuckles....LOL
I really love those two...Michael and Lucia. She is so sweet and modest. Michael is very helpful and always ready to give you a hand when you need it. He's also very good to his mother (my sister Cee). She called me tonight to tell me all about watching the new Stephen King series (it's on Hulu...sorry!). It's about a time traveler and she missed out on watching episode 8..which is the final episode...and has to wait until next week to see it. I laughed because I know how frustrating that can be. She thought it would be available all day.
She had to get some work done around the house (taking out garbage, doing her dishes, those kind of things). She had been riveted to the TV instead of getting those things done. I think if she had known that she wouldn't be able to see that last episode, she would have put off doing those things for just a bit longer.
Well, it's late and I need to get back to bed. Today was another busy day. Baron went out tonight and there was something she didn't like in our yard. He started growling and hit the yard like he was intent on getting rid of....something. He was gone for a bit and came back looking satisfied. It did make the Beast go out and secure the doggie door for the night. He's been leaving it open but he doesn't want a *critter* to get inside. He said that six of the hens were on the small perch, all huddled together like they were afraid. Perhaps they knew something bad was in the yard. I have no idea about that. But I feel better now that I know they are secured.
Love you all. Be good to your friends. Remember this: Good friends help you find important things when you have lost them....your smile, your hope, and your courage....Doe Zantamata
***Hugs***
When he got home, he took one look at it and said, *Is that a hint?* I just laughed and said that he said he was going to make it on Wednesday and it was Saturday. I thought it was time to make it easy for him. I didn't expect him to make it for lunch, I said. He just smiled while I went ahead and made some hash browns (the kind you buy in a package) and eggs for us.
After that, I went to my computer and decided to let my nephew know that he was going to get his potato pancakes today. I left that message on his phone and said I would call him when it was ready. I didn't realize that his wife, Lucia, had never had anything like it. But, later on, when they stopped by to pick up what we had put aside for them, the Beast gave her a taste of one with some sour cream on it. She loved it. Between us, I think we shared one of the leftovers (not the ones put aside for them) while we chatted.
Michael needs some plywood for some reason. I really didn't catch what he said he wanted it for but he has a problem. He only has a car and can't really carry it back to his house even though Lowe's is only about a block or two away from his house. If he had a hitch on his car, he could have used our trailer which is how we got all the stuff for the interior of the *cottage* to our house from there. I think the Beast told Michael that he would help him with that since both our cars have hitches. Michael will just have to call him when he is ready and then come over to help the Beast hitch up the trailer and connect the brake lights to it.
Michael said that he was kind of sorry he had sold his truck but the move here was hard enough with just their car and the rental truck for their furniture and things. He had a nice Dodge Ram which he could have used to get the plywood back to the house. We owned one once and they could hold the plywood with no problem. I know because we used it back in Margate after we moved into our house there. The Beast built a stand for the new AC air handler that we installed in it.
I really miss having the room, although I would prefer the house we had built in Port Charlotte. That was the house of my dreams. I loved my utility room with all the storage space I had. I know the Beast misses his three car garage that we had built deeper than most so we could put up his work bench and the shelves that we used for our hurricane supplies. That was much larger than the shelves he built here.
Like I have said before, if I had known that this would be the home we ended up retiring to, I wouldn't have let the Beast buy it. I would have chosen one that was about 300 sq. ft. larger or so. I definitely wouldn't have chosen the kitchen that I have. It lacks counter space. I feel like it's even smaller than our house in Sunrise. But, that is water over the dam now. We have made the best of it we can but I know the Beast misses the room we had. I would have loved a bigger deck out back.
Lucia told me today that she really misses seeing the Princess and the kids. She wanted me to tell the Princess that she loves and misses her, Chewlee and Gunner. I had hoped that the mishmash that Tara caused would have been resolved by now but....c'est la vie!
Some time in the next week or so, Lucia is going to make her peach cake again. Michael said he's going to work on her making another of her carrot cakes. I know that both of them are labor intensive. Lucia and I talked about the skinned knuckles you get from grating the carrots. We both know what that is like. When I make my potato pancakes, I don't use the processor like the Beast does. I make mine using a regular grater. I guess that's why I don't mind the Beast making them these days. It saves my knuckles....LOL
I really love those two...Michael and Lucia. She is so sweet and modest. Michael is very helpful and always ready to give you a hand when you need it. He's also very good to his mother (my sister Cee). She called me tonight to tell me all about watching the new Stephen King series (it's on Hulu...sorry!). It's about a time traveler and she missed out on watching episode 8..which is the final episode...and has to wait until next week to see it. I laughed because I know how frustrating that can be. She thought it would be available all day.
She had to get some work done around the house (taking out garbage, doing her dishes, those kind of things). She had been riveted to the TV instead of getting those things done. I think if she had known that she wouldn't be able to see that last episode, she would have put off doing those things for just a bit longer.
Well, it's late and I need to get back to bed. Today was another busy day. Baron went out tonight and there was something she didn't like in our yard. He started growling and hit the yard like he was intent on getting rid of....something. He was gone for a bit and came back looking satisfied. It did make the Beast go out and secure the doggie door for the night. He's been leaving it open but he doesn't want a *critter* to get inside. He said that six of the hens were on the small perch, all huddled together like they were afraid. Perhaps they knew something bad was in the yard. I have no idea about that. But I feel better now that I know they are secured.
Love you all. Be good to your friends. Remember this: Good friends help you find important things when you have lost them....your smile, your hope, and your courage....Doe Zantamata
***Hugs***
Friday, April 1, 2016
The Beast Has A Major Problem.....
I haven't talked about the Beast and his cc problem. It seems that his cc# somehow made it into the hands of an online thief. This guy was smart. He tried making a couple small purchases (a couple inexpensive software items and a cheap game cd. The Beast had also, around the same time, made a purchase of his own. Our bank was suspicious, however, that the cd (the least expensive of the items), was to be sent to an address not ours. They DID try to register it as our new billing address by giving that as the shipping address and stating it was a recent move.
So, our bank called and asked the Beast which items were ones he had ordered. They recited the list and he told them, no, no, no and yes. They then said that they were going to cancel that card and send him a new one. A few days later, the new card arrived and...the nerve of this guy. He calls the bank wanting to know why his card was cancelled and demanding a new one be sent to the new address. When they asked him for his SS #, he actually HAD it! Which led the Beast to believe that either someone at this one doctor's office had taken down the number or the drs office had been hacked. That is the only way he could have gotten the Beast's SS #. It was also the only way he got the NEW card # because the Beast had used the new card to pay the doctor's office visit (towards his deductible on Medicare). But...since the new number had been used AFTER the old card had been refused and he had been told that the new card had been sent already (he didn't know it had been already activated and used by the Beast), the guy AGAIN tried to change the billing address AND get a new card sent to it. The bank took care of reporting all the information they gathered to the police as attempted fraud. I gather they do a lot of that in instances where THEY catch the attempt.
However, it made the Beast do several things. He reported it to Lifelock (since he subscribes to it) and set up a lock on any future credit without his being directly contacted by THEM to his cell phone number or mine. He cancelled one credit card entirely. He set up passwords for our bank credit card, his Chase credit card and we both set up passwords for our debit cards. The Beast then went down to SS to make sure that no one applied for HIS SS card or tried to deflect the funds for his monthly check (or mine). So now, if we HAVE to make any changes, we must go in person and they had copies of our drivers licences on file with a notation on both our files that the licences MUST be compared as well as our signatures.
Since my signature had gotten a bit shaky unless my whole arm is supported, that could be a major problem...LOL. But I don't anticipate any problems like the Beast has. I primarily use cash or my debit card and that debit card is 99% of the time within my arm's reach. Since they wouldn't have the security code, even if they did get the card #, it wouldn't matter. If I buy something online, I always use the Beast's credit card and there's no reason to put the security code on for those purchases. I've changed my debit card within the last three months due to a different problem I had (with a monthly billing that didn't stop after I had cancelled it TWICE) but I did get the money back, thankfully.
I didn't have to worry about my Medicare supplemental insurance because that's tied to our checking account and not any cards, thank goodness. But what a headache that some damn hacker can make for you. All this was not taken care of in one day, as you can see by the account above. It's time consuming even if you just are dealing with phone calls. The SS one had to be dealt with in person so he could explain the whole thing to them and the reason for his concerns. It's actually faster....as long as you aren't dumb enough to go into the office on the first of the month. LOL! But the Beast didn't even think of that. I was in shock when I realized he had gone today of all days.
I can't even imagine the headache that someone who stole your identity could make for a person. It's why I told the Beast to keep his LifeLock. If anyone gets their identity stolen, it would be him. He makes so many damn online purchases and at so many different stores, that it makes my head spin at times. But, hopefully, at least THIS episode is over.
I love our bank because, a few years ago, they caught another questionable purchase with the Beast's credit card. Only the two purchases were expensive electronics that were being shipped as a *gift* to someone that happened to be here in Alabama when we lived in Florida. They called as soon as the billing came through electronically and they put a hold on it then called the Beast to *check*. That saved us the first time. Now this is a second time and it was really minor purchases that were attempted. Probably before they would take the chance and try to buy something big.
Just one funny thing about the chickens tonight. I was standing at the sink, washing a few small items and noticed one of the hens we call *Frantic Fran* because she never walks calmly anywhere...she runs. She seemed to be bullying this hen that is a bit smaller than she is. The hen put her head down low and slowly walked away and Fran started to strut a bit. That's when the rooster came running over to her like he was pissed (and I think he was)..she tried running off but he cornered her and gave her a couple pecks (not gentle ones) and SHE hung her head like she had been read the riot act for picking on the other hen. Then he went over to the one she had bullied and just walked beside her, pecking at the ground but definitely keeping her company for a bit. I thought it looked so cute. I was telling the Beast about it as he sat at the table and he only caught part of it. But I had to share that. I guess he IS king of the roost now....LOL.
Other than that, I did spend a couple hours over at Cee's house. We always enjoy our time together. We even ate some peel-and-eat shrimp that she used her microwave steamer to cook them in as a little snack. It had been a long time since I ate them and she cooked them perfect. I waited for Michael to get there to install her DVD player on her TV along with some other gidget so that she could stream her Netflix and Hulu on her TV instead of on her computer. Since she uses a laptop for her computer, that can be a real pain.
Well, love you all. Be good. Stay dry. I wish everyone good weather and no tornadoes. Be kind to everyone. Your small act of kindness could be the best thing that happens to them all day. You never know. ***Hugs***
So, our bank called and asked the Beast which items were ones he had ordered. They recited the list and he told them, no, no, no and yes. They then said that they were going to cancel that card and send him a new one. A few days later, the new card arrived and...the nerve of this guy. He calls the bank wanting to know why his card was cancelled and demanding a new one be sent to the new address. When they asked him for his SS #, he actually HAD it! Which led the Beast to believe that either someone at this one doctor's office had taken down the number or the drs office had been hacked. That is the only way he could have gotten the Beast's SS #. It was also the only way he got the NEW card # because the Beast had used the new card to pay the doctor's office visit (towards his deductible on Medicare). But...since the new number had been used AFTER the old card had been refused and he had been told that the new card had been sent already (he didn't know it had been already activated and used by the Beast), the guy AGAIN tried to change the billing address AND get a new card sent to it. The bank took care of reporting all the information they gathered to the police as attempted fraud. I gather they do a lot of that in instances where THEY catch the attempt.
However, it made the Beast do several things. He reported it to Lifelock (since he subscribes to it) and set up a lock on any future credit without his being directly contacted by THEM to his cell phone number or mine. He cancelled one credit card entirely. He set up passwords for our bank credit card, his Chase credit card and we both set up passwords for our debit cards. The Beast then went down to SS to make sure that no one applied for HIS SS card or tried to deflect the funds for his monthly check (or mine). So now, if we HAVE to make any changes, we must go in person and they had copies of our drivers licences on file with a notation on both our files that the licences MUST be compared as well as our signatures.
Since my signature had gotten a bit shaky unless my whole arm is supported, that could be a major problem...LOL. But I don't anticipate any problems like the Beast has. I primarily use cash or my debit card and that debit card is 99% of the time within my arm's reach. Since they wouldn't have the security code, even if they did get the card #, it wouldn't matter. If I buy something online, I always use the Beast's credit card and there's no reason to put the security code on for those purchases. I've changed my debit card within the last three months due to a different problem I had (with a monthly billing that didn't stop after I had cancelled it TWICE) but I did get the money back, thankfully.
I didn't have to worry about my Medicare supplemental insurance because that's tied to our checking account and not any cards, thank goodness. But what a headache that some damn hacker can make for you. All this was not taken care of in one day, as you can see by the account above. It's time consuming even if you just are dealing with phone calls. The SS one had to be dealt with in person so he could explain the whole thing to them and the reason for his concerns. It's actually faster....as long as you aren't dumb enough to go into the office on the first of the month. LOL! But the Beast didn't even think of that. I was in shock when I realized he had gone today of all days.
I can't even imagine the headache that someone who stole your identity could make for a person. It's why I told the Beast to keep his LifeLock. If anyone gets their identity stolen, it would be him. He makes so many damn online purchases and at so many different stores, that it makes my head spin at times. But, hopefully, at least THIS episode is over.
I love our bank because, a few years ago, they caught another questionable purchase with the Beast's credit card. Only the two purchases were expensive electronics that were being shipped as a *gift* to someone that happened to be here in Alabama when we lived in Florida. They called as soon as the billing came through electronically and they put a hold on it then called the Beast to *check*. That saved us the first time. Now this is a second time and it was really minor purchases that were attempted. Probably before they would take the chance and try to buy something big.
Just one funny thing about the chickens tonight. I was standing at the sink, washing a few small items and noticed one of the hens we call *Frantic Fran* because she never walks calmly anywhere...she runs. She seemed to be bullying this hen that is a bit smaller than she is. The hen put her head down low and slowly walked away and Fran started to strut a bit. That's when the rooster came running over to her like he was pissed (and I think he was)..she tried running off but he cornered her and gave her a couple pecks (not gentle ones) and SHE hung her head like she had been read the riot act for picking on the other hen. Then he went over to the one she had bullied and just walked beside her, pecking at the ground but definitely keeping her company for a bit. I thought it looked so cute. I was telling the Beast about it as he sat at the table and he only caught part of it. But I had to share that. I guess he IS king of the roost now....LOL.
Other than that, I did spend a couple hours over at Cee's house. We always enjoy our time together. We even ate some peel-and-eat shrimp that she used her microwave steamer to cook them in as a little snack. It had been a long time since I ate them and she cooked them perfect. I waited for Michael to get there to install her DVD player on her TV along with some other gidget so that she could stream her Netflix and Hulu on her TV instead of on her computer. Since she uses a laptop for her computer, that can be a real pain.
Well, love you all. Be good. Stay dry. I wish everyone good weather and no tornadoes. Be kind to everyone. Your small act of kindness could be the best thing that happens to them all day. You never know. ***Hugs***
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)