A bit tight.

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It hurts everywhere, even with the painkillers.  Not too harshly, mostly.  Not as tired, oddly, exhausted either.  Just body pains, from lifting, moving, doing, going, driving, walking, and else all on one day.  Five days of work, I'd say,  Days of work I usually couldn't have done back to back.  I don't mind the pain, at all.  Beside having holy uses for it, I don't mind working until well past pain, when I can.  It's a grace.

Even so, chores are done.  I got to those rather quickly.  Had to take a break after, a long one.  Then I did make the calls.  An appointment, by phone, is set up.  And the blood work is still available.  Not bad.  Almost forget, falling into something between a trance and a nap... while still mostly awake.  It is so dark out there.  Winter is, it seems, back... in full blossom.

I do enjoy most seasons, even the summer if heat can be tolerated.  I prefer the three wetter, colder seasons.  I would like to claim that they are more alive, but the truth is, if summer works as it should, it is far more of a living season... save maybe spring.  Even compared to spring, summer is just the slow finish to life rather than the jump-start of it.  And fall is the end of it.  Winter being the finality of that ending.  Still, I... think... other than what is, sometimes.

That might be the end to work today.  Still, I did reset one pan of dishes.  And I hope to clean off the freezer, and then get to that pan of dishes.  Perhaps several groupings of dishes to be done yet today... if I can clean off the freezer.  As well, on to a soup.  Oh, and making a taco salad.  Something like those things.  All maybes.  But... hope is there for the hopeless.  And, sometimes, it actually works.  If that takes faith and charity to fulfill, and a bit of luck for the lame.  Amen.

Be well.  Later.

A late start.

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Sort of expected.  I busted my hump yesterday.  While quite successfully, it wore me out.  Things hurt, a bit, if no where near the level I expected.  I would call this level of pain a good day, save that on a good day this would melt off in the first hour or two.  I suspect this won't go for a day or two.  So, a typical dose of painkiller right off the starting line.

The waterers were reset, I just turned up the furnace and set the alarm for an hour.  Then to chores.  I may not do a whole lot more today.  And, what I do, will be in small, discreet, parts.  After chores, for example, if I can, I will wash off the freezer.  Next, I will take a break, play games or look through the internet... looking for a roux... if that cheese sauce from earlier might work.  

Someone brought up scalloped potatoes.  And, it really looks good.  Potatoes?  I don't know.  But flour roux?  No.  Even the potatoes would have to either be eaten cold (in theory... some sort of deactivated or manipulated starch... with a dubious proving out), or soaked and that refreshed until the water is clear?  Something.  Removing as much of the starch as possible, anyway.  I think there is a way to do that so that you don't destroy the texture.  Not sure any of it will work, or if I will ever get to finding out... but... I can look around.

Later, too, a call.  To the V.A., to make sure the blood test will be available next week, and to set up a next appointment.  Nothing fancy.  I just have to call before 15:00... they generally shut down about then.

I am hoping, as well, to maybe do one or two loads of dishes... assuming I get the space open for air drying.  And I would like to test the tool, and do a bit of work on the larger cage, trying both the staple and nail function of the 2 in 1 tool.  Of course, that means getting the compressor out, figuring out how to get it over close enough to the cage (as I can't move that cage solo), and then getting everything set up and going...  Hmm... maybe parts of that, or tomorrow.  But... I really want to check the tool or and get the cage reset.  Though, I could do some smaller things with the cages too?

Assuming, of course, that I will be able to do more than sit.  Ooh!  That first glass of kefir is doing it's thing!  I'll... call it quits on the post for... a bit.  :p  Later.

Slow.

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I've been tootling very slowly.  No second shower today.  I'm... just out of energy.  I did get the ducks in, and waterers in, plus cleaned and reset them.  Not much else.  I have been awake, hoping to get the shower in.  I just don't have it.  My hair is still clean.  I may have a bit of dried sweat, but... I just... can't shower tonight.  Too tired, worn, a bit sore, and needing sleep.

Oh, I think it is bedtime.

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Drats!  I need to do final chores.  As well, I want that nighttime shower, and some time to air dry a bit before sleep.  I hate going to bed too wet.  And, after being clean today, I really want to go to bed clean tonight.  Rabbit food is set up, duck food is filled, right, and mixed.  I'll do waterers as well, tonight, so everything is ready in the morning.  Plus, refresh the water for the cats tonight.  They absolutely love fresh water.

I am sorely tired... the heart.  I think I can do these last bits, if I do them in a paced measured manner.  No rushing, pushing, shoving.  Just... a gentle steady go at it.  Muscles no longer burn, lungs are good again, just the heart.  Sleep will ease it back into place.  If it doesn't, pray for the peace of my soul in the next area.  I would be grateful.

You probably don't know how many people I pray for, who have moved on.  From my last step father, to Kord, a few cousins... minus one who had been being prayed for more recently... as I believe she made it.  Cousins, friends, people I knew, people I really didn't like... then.  Odd how, over time, even those not liked... once... or not appreciated... something changes.  I pray, generally, for those in purgatory.  I do.  I've been there.  I suffer for them as well.  But, beyond that, I pray.  No one was praying for me, and I'm... not sure moving along is possible without it.  I suppose general prayers might help.  But so slowly.  I name many.

Though, I tell you, I do not fear death.  I fear the Lord, rightly, not in doubt.  Nor do I fear life.  I don't mind living in His name, or dying in or for it.  Even when it hurts.  The pain can be gifted, and is useful.

I best get to things.  Good night, sleep well, dream boldly... terribly or wonderfully.  Amen.

Nearly miraculous.

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Miraculous?  I'd... have to say so.  Started late, moving slow, but when I got the groove...

First, of course, a shower.  No big thing there, but... it... took a while and a lot.  Then on to the grainery.  I picked up enough for... a while.  Twelve bags of various feed.  No help there, but it was close.  At home... I decided to unload what I could.  I was... nervous.  Six bags out back.  Three of those mixed into the active feed barrel.  Then a rabbit feed in on the back porch.  Was getting low.

Not sure I could go on, but... was... feeling okay?  So, the last five bags into the garage, hoisted a bit in hopes rodents can't get to it... or... easily.  Hmm.  Really?  I... think it is the kefir.  I really do.  That, alone, might not even have been possible for the last year.  Well, on to town, for a bit of grocery shopping, and else.  That is that for spending, it looks like.  I might be able to eek through the month.

As well, something I had heard about.  A two in one 18 gauge nailer and stapler, for ~$30... plus expendables.  Still, worth it for me.  So I don't have to beg the neighbors.  Does it work well?  I will find out.  As well, they had some bigger screwdrivers!  I have been hankering for those for a while.  Their biggest was in a set, but the ala carte were far bigger than any I have currently.  Why big screwdrivers?  They are the next best thing to bigger hammers... from deconstruction to mechanics to... other things.

Finally, on my way home, I wanted more milk.  My kefir is doing well, but, currently, I am eating it almost faster than I can make it.  I will do so for another week or two, then, hopefully, settle into a lower rate of consumption.  But the stuff, I'm telling you, is doing incredible things!  On almost any given day, for the last year, any single part of any single project would have done me in for a week.  I just pulled off four or five days of work.  

Just finding the milk farm, on my own, at dusk and beyond, was more than I would have attempted.  I even saw the sign, not from a mile away, but from the turnoff.  Couldn't have read it, five feet away, but I can see it a couple miles away!  :)  Oh, what a day.  I may even take another shower yet tonight.  Then set dishes up?  I can hope.

I need to call the V.A., make sure a blood test is still available.  And they called to set up another appointment with the doc?  Okay.  I'll call about that, too.  The earliest I can get in, for blood work, is Monday.  I... am a bit shot.  But that doesn't mean I am quitting.  I am hoping to, possibly, do some work tomorrow on the feeder box.  And maybe some other parts of the cages.  As well, perhaps, set up the outbuilding boxes, putting a few in if I can get to that.

Ah, but... quite a good day.  I may not be able to do anything tomorrow... or for a few days.  If I can, I will.  That is why I don't plan on a trip to SL City for a while.  I'll do what little things I can, or rest if really needed.  But, yea.  It pleases my little dark heart to push until I bleed.  My heart is sore tired.  My muscles are all burning.  My neck and shoulders are stiff, to the point of starting up a headache.  Pleasing.  And, all any glory garnered from said is to Him.  I... think it pleases Him.  Amen.

A late morning.

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I may be losing the day, but I am improving in very odd ways.  My vision?  Well, it isn't improving, itself.  What seems to be improving is eye fluid.  When I drink a lot of tea, then pee it all out, it sort of steals the fluid in all parts of my body.  A dry throat (if I stop drinking), dry eyes, probably drier skin.  All that liquid just shoots through, pulling fluid from everywhere else.  The kefir... allows me to drink a lot less actual liquid.

While kefir is rather fluid, sometimes more than milk, though often a cross between milk and yogurt, it has a lot of... bits.  Whether smaller, as pebbles or even grains of sand (albeit made of dairy, bacteria, and yeast rather than hard minerals), or bigger clumps like slivers of chalk or cauliflower like growths of rather larger size (as overdone medium flowerets) (as well, both made of dairy rather than their various counterparts), it is more like eating than just drinking.  Further, when some of this hits the stomach, it changes.  I think it grows, and expands, within the tight confines of the various organs it passes through?  It sure acts as roughage, so I suspect so.

While I do get fluid with this, it isn't the same as drinking simple water or tea.  Those just shoot right through, mostly, especially at the volume I had been consuming tea.  Up to three to four gallons a day, now down to, say, a gallon to a gallon and an half... so more than an half reduction.  As well, I am eating better.  Not always the perfect foods, but better foods and heading to even better foods than of recent.

I can't always go the absolute keto dietary path.  I can only do just so much.  If I am cleaning, doing business, and doing extra with the rabbits or ducks, I don't always have time to cook properly.  Sometimes I just don't have anything extra... beyond simple chores.  I lead a small life.  Still, it is better to eat something, even the wrongthings, than to eat nothing.  So... I eat... if I have the coin for it.  Bleh.

But, this kefir, beyond being a drink replacement, and food, is also helping with bodily liquid balances.  And, it covers a bit when I don't have other right foods.  As well, regularity on this stuff is absolutely amazing.  But my eyes... my sore, tired, dry, eyes are coming around.  I won't ever see extremely well, but I can see as good as I can see or I can see worse.  Seeing better is much better.

Warming the waterers, treated the girls, will get their litter sorted before getting to other chores.  A shower, dishes set up, and after a break, cleaning the area for dishes to air dry.  Maybe a nap in a bit.  Ugh.  Later.

Oh, you tease, flirt, jest...

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Echoes of others?  I... don't think so.  A warning or threat... or offer... more like.

To it!

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I got the call, to the ssa.  The primary rejection, and reconsidered rejection, letters are being sent.  How soon?  Who knows.  Soon.  I'll check Friday.  But, very good.  The call didn't take too long, and it wasn't complicated.  I'll take it.

Now, if I can do it, I might get the pork ribs.  Today, or tomorrow, though I am hoping today.  But what with it?  I just don't know.  A can of veggies, or... what?  I'll figure it out.

I am still feeling pretty good.  I'd like to hit dishes.  I will see in a bit.  Still moving slowly, though... with some hope.  I have checked on the critters.  I look out from time to time.  Not purely out of concern.  It is as much because I enjoy the critters.  They are friends, for my part.  As a good friend, I try to stay out of their way.

I am planning to call my mother again today.  She was tired, napping, yesterday.  If she needs more sleep today, I will let it go, and wait for her to call me when she is able.  No worries.  She is... aging.  I just hope her naps are pleasant, as with her dreams.  Good day.

Are you sure you want to play this game?

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Someone sees.  Knows?  Or... suspects, most likely.  And so it goes.

Good morning.

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Difficult to wake this morning.  The sun isn't out.  Dark days make it difficult to wake.  Still, awake and going for things.  As I was dressing, I began making plans.  First thing, simply, was turning up the furnace for a bit, and putting the waterers out to warm up.  As well, I grabbed a few treats for the girls.  Oh, and I finally remembered to pull the ac's upstairs.  Yea...

I had feared the ac's might be full of water.  I wasn't sure where to put them.  I didn't know this, I wasn't sure about that, and else!  Then?  I simply forgot.  I pulled the first and... it sits in the area easily.  There is a very long sill?  Something.  Anyway, it pulled very easily, and can stay in place.  The other one was the same.  That... may well help cut my bill.  As well, it cut the sounds of vehicles.  Oh... such a fool.  But... live and learn.  And enjoy what you can.

A call, today.  A shower before long.  Dishes later.  Chores in an hour, giving the waterers time to warm.  I will call my mom, again, today.  Just to let her know she is on my mind, and I am concerned for her.  She is having surgery in the spring.  I offered to visit, somehow, and help her.  But she... thinks she has that covered.  It wasn't an empty offer, but she has a good situation.  So...

As well, I have been thinking about kefir.  After a few days, I was beginning to wonder if the acidity was just too much.  It was... definitely... changing things in there.  I liked most of it, but felt the acidity might be becoming too much.  I have been having three drinks a day.  Which... might be too much?  I kept thinking, wondering, and continuing anyway, the last few days.

I figured a few things out.  First?  Only have a larger portion if using it as a stand-alone meal.  Nearly sixteen liquid ounces is fine twice a day.  Second, having a smaller amount before any other meal really helps digestions.  Further, I suspect it helps non-keto, non-diabetic friendly meals, digest better and seem much more friendly.  It... changes the whole board.  Not that I should eat those things, only... it helps when I fail.  What it does for keto and diabetic friendly foods is boosts their function into the stratosphere.

A bit odd and rough.

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I have been doing bits and pieces, making calls, eating as rightly as possible.  I am making plans.  A business call tomorrow, soup tonight or tomorrow, dishes... a bit as I go, and of course tending the critters... feathered, furry... hairless... well... I still have a head of hair... and a bit more.  *blush*   Anywhile.  I actually think I am doing better, if not quite perfect.

Oh, medicine will be set up and started tonight or tomorrow.  Eating keto helps, but it can make some things... like insulin... a bit dangerously slick.  I do have carb tabs, a few stacks.  But... that can go really fast.  Ah, I need to get to the feed store tomorrow, as well.  Ugh.  So many things, but... I think, in pieces and parts, I can get there.

A bit more.

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My brother called.  Funny thing, I was going to call him, but thought it was late.  Actually, it was too early, when I went to call him.  Now I know.  I had thought his state wasn't on the daylight savings program, but it is.  I asked about their last homestate, but, no, they had it there too.  The time difference is constant, good to know.  We had a good talk.

I then called my mother.  She was napping.  I asked if we could talk later.  She thought that was a good idea.  I can tell when she is tired.  I am tired too, just... it isn't dragging me down, quite yet.  No worries.  I'll try to be the one to call my brother next time... in a week or so.  We are running out of new events and things, but... perhaps we can talk about worries and else... just... talk.

We made it around some things.  I won't be taking the jab, especially if they try to mandate it.  He, and my mother, have or will take them as soon as they can get them.  They are true believers.  Whatever the news says, they... pretty much follow.  It's always been that way.  From when I was a kid.  I never... quite fit in.  That was tolerated, but just.  They wanted to go along to get along.  I had no interest in such.  Yea, it was... difficult, for both sides.  I have always walked alone.  Not (or just) because I was right, but because I simply see things differently and choose what is right, wise, better, if only just for me.  But that is too much.  They want an authority to tell them what is good, right, and then to follow that.  Not too... uncommon, actually.  Pretty typical.  I, in truth, am the problem.  I know this, but it is my way.

I won't be able to call today.  Tomorrow, almost certainly.  I must admit, the start of keto, mostly, through kefir, and soup shortly, and the meat crumble and else, is beginning to help.  I am hoping I can set up a few monthly medsets tomorrow, maybe today, as well.  Adding in particular vitamins and minerals, which I had partially set up before.  Bit by bit, I think life might be coming back into a sort of better function.

As well, the kitchen and bathroom are beginning to be sorted out.  Just little bits, each day, on top of chores.  It's a slow process, but something is coming back into play.  A bit more sun the last few days has helped.  It is a joy to have the sky sparkly smile, after being gone for a longer time.  It almost feels like spring.  If I suspect we are far from it.  How to enjoy a moment, without becoming dependent upon it?  Well... it's to have hope, faith, charity, but an realistic understanding as well.

All good.  Still full from lunch, but I might steal just a touch more of kefir.  Check the cat litter, look out and watch the birds for just a bit, then take a nap.  I am hoping to hit dishes this afternoon, and maybe take a shower.  It's a handsome day out there.  Oh... I have added an extra medium waterer to the mini does, to see if that helps.  They are drinking so much!  If I must, I may have to add another large waterer.  I'll... do it for them.  I want them with as much water as they desire.  I don't think it is bad for them.  Later.

Tricks, hints, tips.

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Okay, not original to me, but they work or don't, at least for me.

I have been having problems with my tea jugs smelling, the ones from which I drink.  The refrigerator storage jars do just fine.  Better if I clean them from time to time, both, but even so, the drinking jugs... I have had great difficulty getting that... sour, moldy, smell out.  Someone suggested efferdent... a cleaner for dentures.

I suspect it is the plastic bits, not the metal (which does seem like stainless), which holds the bacteria and mold, thus odor.  And, that stuff works on plastics usually kept in the mouth.  So, perhaps, there was a possibility.  One of my jugs is an half gallon, the other is half that... a quart.  So it would take a goodly lot of packs.  Still, I ordered them.

They arrived several days ago, but the effort wasn't on my schedule and I have so much else going, that... I had to add it in slowly.  Finally, last night, I put enough tabs to make the water and else spirt through the closed cap... think giant sippy cups.  Right up and out through, which I guessed would clean parts unseen.  However, that... taste... you either like it or gag at it.  I'm near to gagging at it, just me maybe, but...  Still, I let them soak overnight, turning them and shaking them from time to time.

Then, right before chores, I put baking soda in, then charged that with vinegar, and let it spout through the straw opening again.  Then I let that set while doing chores, and then taking a break.  Finally, around lunch, I rinsed them well, thoroughly, and several times, until any odd smell was gone... or seemed so.  I was a bit nervous about the first tea.  Now, there is a very mild minty efferdent flavor.  But so mild I usually miss it.  No issue.  And, to my nose, for now, it seems clean of the other moldy smell.  Now, I think, I just need to do that once a month or even every two weeks.  It seems to work.

And efferdent doesn't cost a lot.  I paid, like, $6, and received 226 tabs in sheets of eight.  Hmm, that doesn't seem to come out to an even number of sheets.  Odd.  Anyway, there are 28 sheets and some, of eight each.  The big jug... I used eight tabs (though will only use six next time.  And the little jug I used three, but will just use two next time.  So, that will last me a couple of years!

Further, I may not need to clean as often as I suggest.  The problem was that I had not cleaned these jugs for years.  Yea, it... catches up.  After, I had a taco salad for lunch.  Not bad.  There are a few other things I am trying that seem to be working.  Life isn't perfect.  But if you keep it small enough, try little changes from time to time, and keep on top plus remember... it does get better, even if you are busy dying and close enough to spit in Death's face.  Not that I would, to be honest.  Death... is my oldest friend, at this point.

Later.

Ugh, oof, and such.

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Oh, well, a pleasant morning.  I am just still sleepy, very sleepy.  Not sleepy enough to stay asleep, in spite of being so very sleepy.  Not tired, not exhausted, just sleepy.  I woke at 08:00, and couldn't get up.  I didn't want to sleep the whole day, so I set the alarms for 09:00 and 11:00.  I woke fifteen minutes later, turned them both off so I didn't have this dread in my mind, and went on back to bed.

Here, at 08:58, I find myself quite awake, and laughing.  I am happy to be awake, pleased at the time, just... the circumstances leave me chuckling.  At or with myself though, that... I can't answer.

The vehicles, shoving through.  Can tell it is Monday.  You can tell which vehicles are late.  No one, otherwise, is in a hurry to go back to work.  Do you remember when we dreamed of what we would do when we grew up?  No one thought they would be rushing to work, hoping they aren't late one more time... to a job they often hate.  But food... table.  Further on, I never thought I would be stuck at home, listening to traffic, wishing I was a part of it.

Thick-necked bastards?  It's the only way to make a dime.  You drive your flesh until it dies or breaks.  Better to die.  If it breaks, it's... hard to kill.  Though, in time, for moments, even that can be endured.  Oh, not a whine.  Just a note.  I'm over whining.  Doesn't help, isn't fun, and life, even now, is worth more than being reduced to complaining.  It just won't ever be what you thought, or even think, it will be.  Enjoy what you can, endure what you don't enjoy, and get out and do your best... even if that isn't much.

I know have four half gallon jars of kefir going.  As soon as I make some room, I'll probably add another, keeping one as a deeper reserve.  Of the four active, I will pull a morning and night draught.  Then fill with milk, leave out a day or two, then put back in at the back of the line.  The reserve will be pulled for similar every other rotation... to keep it fresh and sharp.  If a particular jar starts looking a bit rough, I will empty it into a clean jar and go on.  I... need more half gallon jars.

I have cut tea jars to three, but am using five for kefir, so there is no savings of jars.  Four more, for reserves for whatever, plus a few extra.  As to pickling, say of onions, I do believe those will go into quart or pint jars.  I just don't eat enough of those.  Hmm, I wonder if there is a level of too many probiotics?  My guess is it would begin pushing food through, without taking in nutrients.  I sort of get the feeling that it continues to bubble while in the gut, which allows it to act as roughage.  On top of what all else it does in there, chemically, perhaps mechanically.

Kefir was rather thin, this morning.  Somedays it will be.  If I think this is one of the kefirs which I just used and refilled.  Fine.  It won't usually be like that, once I create a proper rotation.  It is still pretty good, if the milk isn't as broken down as would be best.  Like I said, I am just starting to develop a rotation which will mean only kefir which has worked for four days will be consumed... one to three days on the counter, one to three days in the fridge.

I forgot to put the burger up, but I did cover it.  I turned the furnace up to get the waterers warmed.  I set an alarm to know when those will be ready.  Then I do chores and will put the burger up.  I best put out the chicken, to warm to room temp and get shredded.  Soup will begin later today.  Lots of mushrooms, plenty of veggies, of several sorts, life will be good.  I am hoping to have that ready by this afternoon or evening.

As well, a phone call.  Dishes to be started again.  Hmm, perhaps other things.  Yes.  The week has started.  It is Monday for even me.  No escaping Monday.  It doesn't hurt, anyway.  And it's not a bad day.  It would be slightly better if I could get beyond that want of sleep.  Later.

Late, for good reason.

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Chicken is finished, and put away.  Burger... a mix of ground beef, pork, and turkey, is finished, and served as a taco salad.  No real heat added, just not in the mood.  It has to be put up, and will be.  Then to bed.  It's more a matter of... getting going.  I cleaned the dutch oven I used for the chicken, and will hit the pan with the beef.  Just a simple wipedown, mostly to remove moisture.

The girls are being weird, so I am not going to let them up tonight.  Sassy... can be a real annoyance.  I'm not sure why they do it some times, then not for a long time.  Oh well.  They do get the hint.  Though, to be honest, it seems that they know they have annoyed me.  Often they ignore my fits.  This time?  Sassy actually had guilt in her eyes.  That helps, but it won't change me locking them out for a bit.  Three or four days, then we'll see.  She has been so good for weeks.  I just don't get it.

Food for the rabbits is prepped, most of the trash is out.  I had to hide trash from tonight, or Sam was getting into it.  I just don't get it.  It's as if the girls are starving.  I assure you, they are not.  Though, with Sam, anything chicken, and much else I cook, she... really wants some.  I didn't even have chicken tonight, so...  And I gave her some of my last bites of my taco salad, saving only the meat.  She enjoyed, but still wanted that chicken.  She is a fiend for cooked chicken.

Well, on to put the meat crumble up, then on to bed.  Good night.

No nap.

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And sleep won't be early.  I am going to bake chicken, then fry a mix of ground meat.  The chicken will be put up, overnight, then left to warm tomorrow... so I can pull it off the bone.  A terrible task, if it's cold and slimy.  So, as said, left out to warm a bit through the morning.  The burger will make for supper tonight.  A taco salad.  I really don't get bored with those.  The rest will be bagged and used for various things through the week.

Actually, even as good as I have gotten at making baked chicken, I like it so much better in soup that I am not going to bother having even a single portion of the hindquarter.  It just isn't as good.  Fried?  Yeah, maybe.  But I can't have properly fried, and my keto versions just don't cut it.  Soup... stew hopefully actually, will do.

Tomorrow, if I do what is needed, I will have a rack of ribs.  Oh, not all at once.  I will bake it, just before being done, then finish it on the grill.  I'd love to have gotten to a keto ketchup, from which to derive a keto barbeque sauce, but that just hasn't happened yet.  Then again, I do have dirty keto ketchup on hand.  I could start from that, if I could find the gumption.  Still, if I call ssa and get the rejection letter sent, I will have the last ribs I will have for some time.  As with the steak, it was a leftover from summer food fun.

I have checked the waterers.  Then, after the second check, I checked the temp.  It was 38 F, quite nice.  No need to check, actually, at least for flow.  But the mini girls drank all of their water.  I replaced it.  Ugh, but they are piggies!  They eat and drink everything available to them in ten hours?  I also put Rusty in with Hazel.  Nada.  He was too interested in sniffing her... scents.  And she was getting... hostile.  She tried everything to get in his way.  He absolutely ignored her.  She was getting mad.  I pulled him before she ate him.  Bleh.  Yeah, do have to put her in with him, it turns out.

Why the opposite worked for the woman I bought them from, she showed me how that worked... and doesn't work for me?  Bleh.  And, they are next door neighbors, so the scent is right there.  Argh!  Maybe he just wasn't in the mood.  I am going to try to breed, but will hold off to get things better arranged.  Get all the bucks their own cages, and any breeders their own cages for after... so I can put the does in with the bucks and the does will have their own place to settle in after.  Bleh.  Tomorrow, I'll see what I can do.

Since I'll be up a while, I may try to get into dishes.  I have gotten trash and recycling out, but there isn't enough to pull to the curb.  If enough else is brought together, it might still go.  Just trash tonight, recycling is next week.  I think.  But it is out.  Now, to get to cleaning the counter, clearing the fridge a bit, and the food for the week.  Life is doing well, if I can just keep up... a bit... mostly.

What else, besides a letter from ssa?  No reason to contact the lawyer, until I have the rejection letter.  Hmm... I would like to find a source for chicken feet, chicken carcass bones, pork hocks, and beef bones.  Oh, and honeycomb tripe... at least for the next beef stock production.  I can use some of this in the chicken soup, but most is for the stock.  And I need 16 and 32 ounce containers for that.  So... not quite yet, but I want to be stocked up for it, when that comes through.  It's on the list.

Oh, someone brought up roasted onions.  Which... sounds worth a whirl.  But that made me think of roasted garlic.  Now, this guy uses a smoker/griller.  Not how I will do it.  But he offers the three ways which are on my mind.  Excellent for stews, or a variety of things.  Same with onions, pickled or baked.  Oh, yes, I think so.

Later.

A bit late, slow, and pained.

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I have had worse.  And the sun shines through, sort of?  From time to time?  A good day.

Chores are done.  It is probably in the mid thirties to low forties?  It's nice out there.  Wet, so cool in that way, but... nice.  Oh, best feed the girls, and fix their litter boxes shortly.

Kefir has gone down.  Something about kefir?  It really helps regulate that which sometimes needs regulating, especially for those of us who can't, don't, eat regularly.  It doesn't turn out bricks, nor liquid, if you know what I mean.  Soft serve.  Hope I... didn't ruin that for anyone.  :p  Not only that, but if I haven't eaten enough, it seems to create the bulk needed to push everything out.

As for kefir, it is a strange drink.  There isn't just one type of critter growing in there.  Some if it is like highly softened cauliflower, some of it is like milky chalk, if most of it is like liquid yogurt.  No matter how much I shake, stir, or else, there are always bits of the growing things.  Initially that was a bit off-putting.  Now it is like finding the CrackerJack prize!  It... will take you a while to get to that point.

Oh, a few things for the morning...

One last thing...

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While making kefir, usually I prefer to mix the whey back in, for a more sour result.  I... do love the sour.  Still, there are other things you can do with it.  Today, in my order, I ordered four red onions and a bigger batch of carrots than needed.  Separately, I intend to produce a quart or two of each, as fermented vegetables.

A bit surprised.

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No nap.  I did get a shower and the dishes back in... if I didn't mention it.  I really wanted a nap.  Mostly I simply waited for the time to go.  Milk was delivered.  Very welcome.  Some of it was set right to kefir.  I can begin drinking that stuff twice a day.  Usually raw.  Sometimes sweetened.  Sometimes sweetened with fruit.  Sometimes with fruit but otherwise raw.  Between a tablespoon and two of fruit, or five larger strawberries.  If sweetened, two drops per sixteen ounces.  I think I'll do mornings plain, then mix and match nights.  Ten ounces of frozen fruits will last two weeks, at that rate... or well past a week anyway.  No, I'm thinking two weeks a package.

I really do love that stuff.  Something about the tang.  You have to get almost completely away from sugar and the faster carbs.  It would be even easier if you got away from almost all carbs.  But, if you get away from sugars, your taste buds change.  And that sour begins to present a hidden sweetness that just doesn't make sense to the senses when sugar is a regular item.  Though, too much and it is like eating too much lemon or lime.  It'll dig into your gut and make it sore, sour.  Two glasses a day is as much as I can do.  Perhaps, in time, more can be consumed.  If I don't think that is wise.  Two glasses, between twelve and sixteen ounces, is about as much as I really think is needed.  Less if you are smaller.

Green kale was available this time.  I have chicken hindquarters thawed.  That might be cooked tonight, or tomorrow.  All of it will be pulled and used for soup.  I do have beef stock out, but really need to remember chicken feet, and maybe extra bone from somewhere.  Uncooked is best, perhaps the store will have some?  I'll call, it's not something they list in their online listing.  Well, and pork hocks... for both types of stew.  It really thickens, and fattens.

I think I got everything on my list.  If they don't have something, I don't quite have a good way to compare what I ordered with what I received.  They said the receipt was mailed.  I'll... have to review.  Still, it's not a bad program, just a bit... confusing, for me, currently.  I'll try to get my head wrapped around things and work it out.  Oh... the good thing about the drive?  On the way home, the sun smiled at me.  Two days in a row I got to see the sun.  Life... always seems a hair better with some sun... in the winter.  Some clouds, especially rain, in the summer.  And a smiling woman on most days.  Unless... she knows what I'm up to?  No, that's... even better.  *grins*

Everything is put up.  Except something I am snacking on.  Not sure it will fit back in, but maybe.  I'll give it a shot, when I can stand.  Tired already, then well fed, means... not moving anywhere or fast.  Later.

Actually, good night.  I'll be sure to include you in my prayers, if I usually do anyway.  Friend, enemy, family... you all need it.  Amen and sleep well.

Not sure how much today.

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Absolutely exhausted.  A bit sore.  But not feeling ill.  Just can't get going.  Even playing games is difficult.  I'm thinking about a nap.  It may end up throwing my day off, but it's going anyway.

Chores were done.  Oh, and I have things to do this afternoon... best not nap.  Gah!  I had hoped to get dishes going, but need to take a shower, then get ready to do some things.

The real trick is just figuring out what to do in order to stay awake long enough to do what is needed.  It isn't the cool.  I can tell when that is getting to me.  It is just... I have done too much lately.  Tired, energy spent.  Ugh.  I am hoping the store calls, to see if I need anything else.  Eggs!  Cheese, cheddar, too.  I love the idea of shredding my own cheese, but that is a lot of work, with the cleaning, packaging, and else.  So, I go with the middling shredded cheddar.  It's all I can do.  I'd like to add other cheeses, but... edam, gourda, and a dozen others.  Beside their expense, it's figuring out how and when to eat them, before they go bad.  I do what I can.

More milk will be on the way.  I offered to pick it up myself.  Though not today.  I couldn't do both trips.  But, Monday, to sort of force myself out, perhaps.  Neighbors pick it up for me.  I offer them little gifts, if out of appreciation, not in payment?  Something.  Odd things.  I hope they find use or enjoyment with the items.  Ugh... life is messy.  Always owe more than what I can pay, get what I don't deserve.  Just waiting to die, but... not, too.  I'll live as much as I can until then.  Amen.

Well... just... getting out what bothers me.  Have a good day.  I hope you can do a bit more than I.  I really may just have to nap.  Oh well, or all good?  All good.  Later.