Jenny, I remember one person behind me in line, obviously eyeing several packages of steaks in my cart. One was for $17.99. I guess they wondered about my "economizing." That package was for three pieces of petite sirloin steak. What they didn't or don't know is that you can cut up those three pieces of tender steak into nine meals for $6.00 a meal.

Or you can further cut each of those nine into half for stirfries or other dishes bringing the total down even further by unit pricing and how the meat is used. Since I'm only buying for myself, I can be more particular on what I purchase and how used.

Because of my allergies, a single lifestyle, and because my tastes have changed, there are some foods I no longer purchase. I've had to learn to incorporate more labor-intensive meal preparation due to my inability to have convenience foods, canned soups or bottled salad dressings, mayo or ketchup products, fast food, or microwavable foods.

Now, I'm just trying to use what I have before shopping again.

Good Afternoon,

Jenny, Scott is so busy with work and current health issues for him, wife and one of the dogs that some 1 on 1 time during Cherie's standing appointment seemed like a good answer to not having time to text or call.  Plus - it means I get to have a meal I didn't fix myself! 

Patricia,  I also "buy in quantity" and divide into portions for freezing.  Easy to take out multiple packages if I need the whole thing.   

Marilyne, glad you found the post about the Lady Earl Grey tea.
I'm really disappointed to find some many think the taste has changed. Had noticed there are now several brands for Earl Grey and it's been so long since I had any that I can't remember which one I always used.

I remember seeing bergamot growing in a garden in northern Iowa years ago and being told that it probably wouldn't do so in Oklahoma heat.

Had the first "glitch" with a grocery order yesterday.  My "shopper" is supposed to call when ready to come but hadn't done so 30 minutes after the scheduled delivery time.  Then I saw the e-mail that told me the order had been delivered.  All shoppers so far have been willing to bring sacks into the kitchen so I checked porch, patio and driveway.....no sacks.
Tried to contact Shipt via "click here" - no luck.  Tried calling the number suggested - got cut off.  Talk about frustrated!!!! 
Finally found "Live Chat" on store web site and was able to communicate with the nicest person at Shipt headquarters.  He immediately contacted the "shopper".....who had delivered the order to the wrong address, not even in my neighborhood!!!!  Apparently, "shopper" didn't understand my phone was a land line (although I had checked that on order) and kept trying to text - which only works on my mobile phone.  Nice Young Man said the shopper was new and should have known to contact them for help.  I commented that it would be "a learning experience for him" and also that the person who found groceries on their porch would be very surprised! He agreed with both 
Anyway-  Nice Young Man arranged for a new order to be delivered ASAP and also gave me a $25.00 credit. Lovely Lady Shopper even found items that New Shopper had made substitutes for.
So - all is well and Shipt gets an extra star from me.

Off to see what else I can find to do this afternoon.  It's getting harder to "make the effort" - especially to get out and about. Don't know where I'd go, anyway. 

Hope Everyfriend's Day is Enjoyable.

Callie  -  I wonder if the people that got your groceries by mistake, will keep them, or call and have them picked up?   Since they hadn't ordered, they might think it's a surprise gift from someone, and will keep them?   You'll never know! 

MarsGal - they didn't have any Lady Earl Grey at the market this morning,  but I did see Constant Comment, and bought a box.  I used to like it a lot, many years ago, and had forgotten all about it.  I think I'll make myself a cuppa, right now! 

Patricia - Looks like you have a long winter ahead of you, if the snows are starting this early?   Do you have Indian summer, in AK?   If so, then that will melt the recent snow, and give you a short break before Winter really sets in for good. 

Jenny -  I'll send you an email.  I'm looking forward to learning all about spatzel, and seeing what the pictures look like.

And I hope you will share the spaetzl pictures with us "interested parties"! 

Marilyne, I meant to ask the Nice Young Man if someone would be sent to pick up those sacks but...forgot.
If it was someone who came home from work, the sacks would have been on the porch for about 3 hours by the time they got home and there were a few frozen or refrigerated items.  That would have been messy!

Well i gave in late yesterday and phoned my new GP surgery, and yes recorded voice told me i was number 7 in the hold queue, took 20 minutes to get to speak to the live voiced receptionist who never rushed me, ( she said it had been very busy ) i must have been her last call of the day as it was after 5.30 pm...i asked if any GP's available that i could speak to as I know they do call backs as late as 6 or 7, anyway i am booked for a phone call on Wednesday 30th, just hope not a foreign sounding GP that i cant pick up on what he or she is saying over the phone like i have had in the past after she told me the foreign sounding name of the GP who she has booked to phone me, otherise i would have to wait another couple of days for a more English speaking GP who will be in the surgery on that particular day, i told receptionist if it was face to face with them i would pick up what they are saying, just not over the phone, but as our C - Virus new cases are on the rise, trebling every so many days, plus too far for me to get in unless i take a taxi i will stick with the Wednesdays call-back...Told her my left leg ankle is starting to strangle me, both feet are very tight, both ankles are now permanently what i called deep wrinkled, have deep skin creases, like cutting off the supply, blood flow, more so if i try to bend them...been like this for a week or two, told her i would be foolish to put this off anymore...My left foot looks the worst, like elastic bands have been around the ankles leaving permanent deep cut-in wrinkles - creases is what I call them, plus swelling over the tops of both feet, and both feet feel permanently as if i am wearing a pair of very tight elasticated socks...I have enough trouble walking with my Multiple Sclerosis as it is without adding more problems..I am wondering if Cellulitis is setting in like i had on my right foot not long ago, especially as i had a minor graze that the skin has now gone indented inwards, like an indented scarring...
****************************************************

News dominating our UK tv's yesterday was of the shooting dead  ( inside the police station ) of a well respected Police Officer, they have named him now, and we can see a photo of him, would you believe he was only a couple of months away from retirement....what is fair in that, nothing, absolutely nothing...robbed of his retirement...
... and the gunman is getting treatment in one of our hospitals.... plus taking up a valued hospital bed...
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Jenny...
... no fun having those " oscopies " I've had 2 or 3, both up and down, front, but not the back, not pleasant....

I finally caught up on the posts.  Too much going on here the last couple of days.

My oldest daughter's father-in-law died.  I was glad my son-in-law was able to see his dad before he passed.  He was 97 and had lived a full and successful life.  Unfortunately, the situation with my grandson and his family is very sad and complicated.

Marilyne, We also eat a late breakfast and early dinner, but we both have snacks before bedtime.  Larry usually eats a bowl of cereal and I have some crackers and peanut butter.

Sandy, Has your area had a lot of that rain or is the sun shining again.  Today has been a lovely day.  As Mary Ann use to say "if the sun is shining, it's a good day".

Jenny, I hope your dad is still doing well.

Callie, glad you were able to get your order straightened out.  It would be interesting to know what happened with the misdelivered groceries (I had to look in Webster to see if that was really a word).

Jackie, sure hope you can find out what is wrong with your leg.

Time to go and fix a leftover.  Have a good day everyone.

Jenny...
...re, your remark " Sure is nice to see you being able to laugh " yes i can laugh some now but, i am dead inside...when our loved ones die, ( our forever hubbies - wives ) we die with them...

FlaJean...
...my guess is, infection has set in...although i am more worried that blood flow is being cut off..
re, your grandson situation, you know what they say.." families, we cant live with them and we cant live without them "

Good morning from a bright and sunny Interior! Even if the blue skies are washed out and the trees bare of leaves, it's so nice not to be in the midst of fog or rain.

Marilyne, we don't have an Indian summer in Alaska, or at least in the Interior. I'm not sure how that term came about, but our closest thing would typically be September. In the past, we would have a hot summer, an August that was four weeks of rain, and a September that would be beautiful, cooler temperatures, bright sunny skies, and a new feeling of preparedness.

That would last through most of October with the first snow around Halloween. That was then.  This summer broke all known records with its continuous rain, fog, and dreary days. We are weatherwise, about a month further along toward winter. I have no idea of what constitutes a new normal.

The mountain snows usually don't start moving down into the foothills until mid-October, and not as they're doing this year. Weather reports say it will be clear, sunny, and in the thirties and forties through October eleventh, so we shall see.

Jean, I'm so sorry for everything your family is going through, and I know you wish everyone were closer. This has been a bad year in so many ways. We just keep going a step at a time.

Fla jean,
the weather here has been cooling off and
I only run my AC for a couple of hours
a day (if that) ... They will
be removing my Window AC next week. 

We have not had much rain but for a while
the smoke from the West Coast Fires was
noticable here in Maine ... 

Imagine that !!!

Hi Sandy - Good to see you checking in!  It's been a while since you posted here.   Sorry about our California smoke traveling all the way to Maine.  We're glad to get rid of it, but don't wish it on anyone else.  Causes breathing and eye problems, wherever it goes.

Patricia - Indian Summer, is a return to warm pleasant weather in mid-Fall, after a period of cold, frost, or rain.   Here in California, we laughingly say that Indian summer arrives in the Fall, and lasts until Spring!    Not really true here in the North, but definitely true for Southern California.

Jackie - The problem with your legs sounds like it's become much worse!  I do hope you see a doctor this coming week, and that they will do something that will help you.  One leg was bad enough, but now with inflammation in both,  you will soon be unable to walk.  I hope they give you a different antibiotic.

Jean - It seems like there are situations in lots of families, where members have strained relationships, from some issue in the past.  So sad when those problems don't get resolved, and go on so long, that no one seems to care anymore.               

Marilyne...
... thank you for caring over my ( another ) medical issue...It will be a Doctor who is booked to phone me but if anyone is sent to my home it will be a visiting nurse, very much doubt any GP's will be doing any home visits...I maybe asked to send photos in by email, i have now managed to work out how to download onto my computer photos, as the way i was doing it before for some reason was not allowing me to do it that way anymore...Still not the same as sitting in a GP room face to face with them, i have spoken to probably half a dozen different GP's over the phone from this surgery yet not gotten to meet any of them in person yet, and none have met me, and of course missing that personal touch with a regular seeing doctor....

**************************************************************************

Up and about 5.30am this morning, tv and computer on, freshly made mug of tea in hand, and the first story and footage i watched..i heard and watched on our morning breakfast tv was an uplifting story from Bolivia...
" one silver lining to being locked in for months during the pandemic is some of us have formed unlikely friendships with other people or animals or even birds it would seem, as one relationship in Bolivia has ruffled a few feathers."
" Waiting to be served, 18 floors up in the Bolivian capital of La Paz, three Caracaras, a species of falcon from South America, thanks to lockdown they have struck up a friendship with Elba Soto and her son." She said, " because of the pandemic we paid more attention, for me it was like a visit, i had three lovely visitors, every time they come they bring us happiness, i am so happy to see them, and with the issue of fires and so many animals being lost, and birds disappearing, i felt very useful in saving these three birds." Then the footage shows her hand feeding them on the high up ledge, such a lovely story to hear first thing in the morning...

This Sunday came and went very quickly....it was cool and smokey out today so we did not stick our noses out the door.  Lots of football....which I could do well without😩

Yesterday afternoon we were invited to Dave and Michele's for a visit and dinner.  It was delightful to catch up with all of them and enjoy a nice meal together.  She is doing quite well with the new chemo maintenance.  She will have a couple more treatments before they do more tests to see if this lower dose is keeping the tumors under control. 

We had chicken drumsticks in the air fryer for our meal today.  They were nice big ones.  I put them in some olive oil and spices and let them marinate for a couple of hours and they were delicious.  We had yellow squash with onions and potato salad. 

CALLIE, I have seen others asking if their grocery delivery might be on someone else's porch recently, so it does happen.  Glad that they replaced yours and even included items the other person was not able to find for you😘

PATRICIA, I have always bought larger sized packages of meat to save money and to make it easier to have the amount prepped for my cooking needs.  It works good for me.  You have had a pretty strange summer up your way.  Our fall is going to be short this year, I am afraid.....

TOMEREADER, I do not know how to share,pictures in here, so I asked MARILYNE to just email me at the address o; this sight and I sent her the info on the spetzel.  I would be happy to do the same thing for you if you will send me email. 

JACKIE, we often get caught up with the telephone call you have here too....and every time you get the new person you have to start over and tell them the same sorry....so exasperating.  I do hope you will get the call from the GP soon. I do understand what you are saying about never being the same after loosing a loved one, but I think your decision to make the move to a better locator you has at least given you some peace of mind.  I just hope you can get some answers to the latest medical worries you are dealing with SOON. 

JEAN, I am sorry to read about the death of your daughter's father-in-law.  Your family is going through so much right now😩😢. My dad continues to hold his own.  There is no question he is having more memory issues, but I talk to him everyday and he is always happy to hear from me and we have a meaningful conversations.  He sounds happy and his voice is strong.  Thoughts and prayers continue for you and your family.

Time to gather the last of the trash items for the night.....trash truck comes tomorrow morning.

Pleasant dreams to all.

Jenny

Marilyne...
...are you alright, as just this minute heard - watched footage on our UK lunchtime BBC news of California's new blaze known as the glass fire that broke out in Napa county at the weekend forcing thousands of residents to flee...i dont know how near or far away this is from you..i hope and pray you are not one of them that have had to flee..

Jackie  - Thanks for asking.  We are South/West of Napa, so are in no danger from the fire itself.  However, we are inundated with heavy smoke, making it difficult to breathe.  We are advised to stay inside for the duration, and looks like it will be a long time until this one is under control.  So sad and depressing.  No sunrise here this morning and no sunset last evening . . . just thick dark smoke. 

Good morning from a beautiful autumn day in the Interior! The only downside is my legs feeling like arthritic stilts in the morning, but that soon passes with a little activity.

 I noticed that the automatic hallway lights had been on lately. I was puzzled after weeks of hall darkness until I saw the signs that anyone knowingly smoking on property, be it balcony, car, or apartment, would be levied a $150.00 fine first and an eviction second time. This property has been smokefree since 2016, and besides the virus, there are many respiratory challenged tenants living here.

I'm surprised; I shouldn't be that so many of you meal prep. I don't see that here as much, even when I was working. Back in the days of working afternoons and evening shifts and a forty-five-minute bus ride on each end, I rarely had any energy left other than a quick snack and bed. Then I found meal prepping. I could have a good breakfast in the morning and have my dinner on my afternoon or evening lunch period. It took only a few hours on my day off while cleaning and laundry, and I've never stopped.

Marilyne, I am so sorry to hear about yet another vast California fire. I remember when we had our drought-ridden fires, 2012-2014, and everything was yellow and hard to breathe. They started after the spruce beetle turned vast tracts of the forest into kindling. When you walked to work, there was a little bubble in the yellow smoke as you moved, and there were emergency rooms on each block where you could go if you had trouble breathing. I remember coming home from work one day and finding one of my cats dead from the smoke in the tub. But that is nothing like California goes through repeatedly!

Good evening.

Not much to tell about today.  It was cool out this morning, so I turned on the heat!  I think there is a frost warning for tonight but we are not going to worry about trying to cover any of the plants as they are probably not going to last much longer anyway.  😩

I hope you all had a good day and will have a good night of rest.

Jenny

Good morning, it's 29 degrees right now, heading to a high of 56, and you can see where all the waters, rivers, ponds, and creeks are in town by the low lying mist. Today is another stay at home day, and all is quiet so far. Jenny, and all who follow, good morning/afternoon when you post next!

We are having a beautiful fall day.  Things are about the same here and not much to talk about.

Need to get a few things done around the house.

I hope everyone has a good day.

Good morning. We're at 43° and overcast this morning.

Good First Friday HELLO in October to ALL🍁🍂

I am a day late, PATRICIA, but it was nice to see your welcoming words yesterday.  Seems you are having some cooler temperatures in your area?

I  am sad to see there has not been many poster for a few days here.  I have been absent due to having my life long friend visiting from Wyoming.  We pretty much covered all the problems in the world or at least gave it a good try while she was here😘

Our smoke from the wildfires is pretty bad here today.  It is a good day to stay in. 

Happy to read that it is a pretty day in your part of the world, JEAN. 

I guess ai had best be thinking about what to fix for dinner....that is a daily issue around here it seems.  We are blessed to have plenty of food to choose from, so I have no business complaing😘

I wish you ALL a good day. 

Jenny

Good Afternoon,

Another gorgeous day - weather-wise.  I've discovered that 4:00 p.m. is a good time to enjoy the patio.  Getting dark too early to sit out after dinner.

Needed to do errands this morning that were a bit farther than the usual mile north or south of my house.  I suspect the car was wondering what was going on - since it didn't go its usual route. 

Miss Emily has "checked out of the clinic" and, after a friend's engagement party tomorrow night, will be headed home to stay and to begin an internship with a local chiropractor on Monday.  "No more classes, no more books......etc."  She will go back to KS in November for her final Boards and, of course, for graduation on December 18th.
So proud of this young lady.

Hoping Everyfriend Everywhere is having an Enjoyable Day.

I read last week in Euronews that the smoke from fires burning in California and nine other western states had reached Europe. And that another hurricane was brewing in the Gulf.

I emailed Marilyne today. She's still at home, just not feeling well at present.

Not much to post about except as expected i have been put on another course of anti-biotic - penicillin's, three a day for one week for my left ankle situation, after I managed to download some photos saved on my desk-top, of bottom leg-ankle-foot and sent it to the GP doctor who had phoned me, then was waiting in his surgery for the photos as it was end of the day, going on 7.pm, he was ready to leave to go home..

Edited to add...my ankles are the least of my problems, there will soon come a time i can not continue looking after myself re, my worsening PP - Multiple Sclerosis...i am struggling with it now... my inside is being attacked by my nervous system..stronger top inside right leg spams, crumbling of legs underneath me, the gut, plus using my right hand paraesthesia - numbness make it hard feeding myself...
This is my reality, I will fight it to stay independant as long as i can..i wont allow it to get the better of me..it doesn't know who it is dealing with....

Jackie, we are all rooting for you but want you to know that most of us are dealing with some of the issues you face. Mine are no where as severe as yours but this week has been a taste of the problem with legs. Each step I do think of "how many are hurting worse". I would hate to be in a doctor's shoes with having to never be able to fix the whole person, just minutes here & on to the next patient. I finally got an appointment for the 8th, to see if oxygen would help with my short windedness. Compared with the leg pain, being short winded isn't at the top of my list!

Callie, happy to hear Miss Emily is ending her schooling, I'm sure she will make a wonderful chiropractor. Lucky you to have one available you can trust to treat your aches & pains. Her choice of career will allow her to work anywhere she chooses to live, smart girl! Congratulations to her from one of the old "aunties" ....

Patricia, thanks for the update about Marilyne.... think everyone on the west coast must be in a  state of shock with so many fires for so long. The world certainly has had a lot of problems in 2020, time to start praying for a better year ahead, right?  I worry about earthquakes for Alaska and the northwest.... We lived next door to a guy that was on his shortwave radio day & night during the big quake in the '60s. Every area has it's dangers, right?

Jenny, know you are disappointed about not getting the place close to your father, but you don't need more activity in your life. At least you can come & go and don't have to worry about maintenance on 2 places. This is what I am telling my daughter right now. She would love a place in Wichita but her time is so divided as is, more worry than pleasure when she comes. My father had a cabin at the Lake of the Ozarks, he loved to fish & just go chill out. BUT, it soon became another place that needed work every time he went. Pretty soon he dreaded having to go. Hope you can find a place to rent for a month at a time, safer to stay longer, those drives are not without danger! Hopefully all of your family will enjoy a wonderful season of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

That happens to be all the posts I can see on this page so will shut up and get busy! A time to remember our good friends of yesterday.... Norm and Mary Ann for starters. How lucky we are to have known them, thanks to computers! Wishing all a happy week end. Shirley

Good morning from another sunny, but cool, Interior day. Nine days of no rain is a cause to celebrate after the record rains this summer that smashed all known records.

We have had new pandemic cases surging locally as it gets colder, people move indoors, and the trees have shed their leaves. It frightens me that the age for most cases is steadily dropping and now is in the twenty to twenty-nine group.

Jackie - Good to hear that you're getting Penicillin for your leg infection.  I hope this time it works, and will be a long time before you need more antibiotics.   Sorry you're having other issues, having to do with your MS.   I hope you'll be feeling better soon, so you can start enjoying your new apartment. 

Callie - Congratulations to Miss Emily, for sticking with her plan, and will soon be graduating!   I can imagine how proud you are.  I'm wondering about Miss Ellen, also?  How are things going in NYC at this time??  Has she been able to find enough work to stay "afloat"??   I've heard that a revival of my favorite musical, "The Music Man" will begin rehearsals, as soon as the quarantine is lifted.   This production will star Hugh Jackman.  I think he's wonderful, and I can picture him as Professor Harold Hill!   it would be wonderful if Miss Ellen could get selected for the chorus!   So many great musical numbers, and lots of dancing.

Hi Shirley - good to see you posting here! We are doing okay. We still have to stay inside, and not go out unless we are wearing an N95 mask.  The air is so thick with ugly smoke, that yesterday, we could barely see the house across the street!   This morning it seems better, but we both have developed a "smokers cough", even though we don't smoke! ha ha. They say a day spent in this environment, is equivalent to smoking two or three packs of cigarettes a day.

Jenny - I see that you're struggling with wildfire smoke also!  I guess it won't be back to normal until we get some rain.  None predicted here, but I hope you get some.    As you can guess, we never got to Costco, to see if they have Spaetzel.      Well, it. will give us something to look forward to in the future. 

Patricia - Thank you so much for your concern.  Seems that the smoke causes lots of health issues with us older folks.  I try NOT to complain at all, because the people both old and young, who are really suffering, are those in the Napa Valley/Sonoma Valley wine country.  It's such a beautiful area of California, that it's terribly sad to see the photos and hear the stories of devastation.  Countless homes burned to the ground, and I think 25+ wineries, now a pile of ashes, along with thousands of acres of vineyards. 

P.S.  There seems to be something wrong with the font size?   I clicked on my usual #4, but it was HUGE, and looked terrible.  Now on #3, which also looks bigger than everyone else's font?   Has anyone ones else had to make adjustments on size?  Okay, I went back and reposted it, and now seems normal to me?

I've heard the weekly 12:00 noon test of storm sirens so it must be time to wish you all a
Good Afternoon. 

"Slept stiff" last night so moving a bit more "leisurely" than usual.

Shirley,  I'll be sure to tell Emily that her "auntie" in Wichita wishes her well.  Thanks.

Marilyne,  Auditions for "Music Man" are long over if the production is beginning rehearsals. This would be a "union" production and those members get first chance. Ellen is a long way from reaching that status.
I don't really know much about her right now.  I try not to "pester" her with questions and don't get many details from her Dad.  I know she went back to one of her "Nanny" jobs and has told her Mom that she is sending her resume to a temp agency.

We've had hazy skies and a bit of smoky smell from the western fires.  The main issue around here is the weed and tree pollen.  The trees are beginning to shed leaves but there's very little color.    A neighbor who just returned from driving across Colorado said the aspen are gorgeous in the mountains.  That's about the only thing I miss about living there.

Good wishes and prayers for each friend who's experiencing health issues - 'specially pain.

TTYL