I'm Back from The Middle of Nowhere!

I am finally back folks.
I know you all missed me terribly. 8-))

The trip went well and a good time was had by all.
I wish we had more time there since 2 of the 3 days was an all-day drive.
The fun part in the middle went by much too quickly.

The weather was great all 3 days.....sunny and warm-ish but not too hot.
Which is a good thing since the Reunion is held outside on the house grounds.

And my foot/leg suddenly felt much better by Saturday.  We stopped a few times on the way down Friday to break up the car ride, and for awhile I sat on the back bench seat with my leg elevated.  I walked through Walmart on Friday as we needed to pick up a few things and I felt the foot was better then(though it wore me out for the day)but by Saturday morning the foot was feeling 80% well.  My brother and sister in-law had brought a wheelchair they have for me to use on Saturday but it turned out I did aok without it.  Besides the small cement patio area they would have had a hard time pushing me around on the grass as it's not exactly flat there, so it's a good thing I was able to walk some.  I navigated ok with my cane and the folding chairs were fine for me to use plus they had the 5 large wooden rocking(and a small table I could put my foot up on)that are usually on the back porch out for folks to use and I parked myself in one of those for awhile.
Heck, I even walked up to the second floor to take a peek around at the work that they've done upstairs in the house(and the rooms that still need work).  I hadn't been inside the house since my great grandmother moved out of there in the mid 1960's. 

The Reunion day went way too fast.  I connected with a few folks but there were so many more there that I didn't even get a chance to introduce myself to.  Many of them left after only a couple of hours so the die-hards(us and a few of my mother's cousins)sat until about 4:30pm just visiting.
I didn't get nearly as many photos has I had wanted to at the Reunion or of the entire trip.  sigh.
And I didn't take a single horrendous video either.....I know, some of you out there are relieved about that one. lolz

I didn't get as many photos taken as I wanted to overall.
My brother took my camera with him when he went off on Saturday afternoon to my mom's property to get some photos there for me.  It's a long walk from the road and heavily forested so there was no way I was going to be able to get back there myself by foot(and nobody would have been able to wheelchair me back there either).  So I gave him the camera which meant I didn't have it to take photos from about 2pm on.

We had dinner after the Reunion with my mother's cousin and her husband from her Harper/Tucker side of the family at the pizza/Italian joint down the road from the motel.  That was a good visit too, plus mom's cousin helped me ID those mystery people in the photos I have which I had posted about in August of 2012 HERE.
This information also helped me break down a brick wall this morning on my Tucker ancestral line.

I'll post more about my trip later this week.  #2 Son has my camera cord so I can't even download my photos until I get that back from him.

Gary the workman is here from the handyman company and working on the baseboard and the crown mouldings.  I am hoping he can finish this up today so we can get moving on these rooms to get them inhabitable asap.

I'm off to go work on the end of the month budget/bills accounting now.  September will NOT be pretty...... 8-(

Sluggy


 

Saturay Night Party!

Here's something fun for a Saturday night.

So who do you think won the lip sync off?

We're partying our a$$es off here in Keysville, VA tonight!
Woohoo......

Sluggy

Week 4 of the Boring Blog Box Giveaway.....Last Week to Enter!

Here's how it works if you are new here.......

 

I put things in the box(mostly what I have gotten for free or almost free)each week and when the box is filled we draw a winner from all the entries received.

Here is what went into the Box today............something for your pitts, your hair, your nails,  your tummy & your décor......

 

 

1.  1 small Dove Deodorant stick

2.  1 bottle of Magnetix nail polish

3.  1 small bottole of Pantene conditioner

4.  1 bag of Brach's Fall Harvest Mix(candy corn and such)
5.  1 winged Gargoyle figurine for your Halloween decorating

 

 

 

If this is your first time, please go read all the rules for these Giveaways HERE.  *As always, if you are located outside the US, you CAN enter and win but weight restrictions/shipping costs may mean your prize box will contain less items.*

***Time to enter.....You can enter on this Giveaway post until I close this post to entries.
This is the last post for this Giveaway.  You have until Friday, October 4th, at 11:59pm to enter.  The Giveaway will be closed at that time and a winner selected from all the valid entries received by that date/time.

1 entry per person per day on THIS POST.
Leave your name/email address and a COMMENT on this post.  

This week I want to hear about if/how you celebrate Halloween.  Do you dress up on Oct. 31st whether or not you are going to a party?
And if you give out candy/treats on Halloween, what do you like to give?

I use to get those full sized candy bars for a good price at the restaurant supply store so my house use to be very popular for Trick or Treaters.  This year I think we'll scale back but I am not sure what we will give out yet.....I still have a few weeks to work that out.
 

 

You can come directly to this blog post or find it through the link on the right side bar to leave 1 comment per day.  The current Giveaway Post will be linked right at the top of the side bar.

Please NOTE--You MUST be a follower to enter the Giveaway.  If you aren't one, just click on the "Follow" button on the right hand side of my blog to become a follower.

There are 2 ways to get 2 EXTRA entries on this and each new Giveaway Post besides the daily comment.......

1. Put my blog on your blog's Blogroll.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST with the URL of your blog so I can go check it out. **If I'm already on your Blogroll, say so in an extra entry comment once each week of this giveaway.

2.  Blog about this Giveaway on your blog with a link to this post.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST with a link to your blog post so I can go view it.  You can do this extra entry once each week of this giveaway.

 

Two more weeks/posts after this and the box will be full and ready to pick a winner.

Any questions?  Just email me.

Happy Entering!! 

Sluggy

Going Back to the Old Home Place

It hasn't been the best of days here lately.
Nothing earth shattering just the blasted foot not healing.  Actually on Wednesday it was worse again so I was scared of having to go back to the hospital so I babied it extra and Thursday it was better.
But I am still nowhere near being able to do anything I use to do.

Hubs was out of town for 2 days so even less got done around here.  And little things were blowing up while he was gone and I just couldn't physically take care of things.
Sigh.

And now the Chihuahua is sick.  I noticed her eye was closed today and a bit swollen and then pus started coming out of it.
And we are going to the reunion tomorrow so she's going to have to wait until Monday to go to the vet.  If it gets worse while we are gone, #2 Son can take her to the ER vet down the road but still, that's another worry on my mind.

We had trouble booking a motel room for this reunion.
The location is so off the beaten path that there is not a chain motel/hotel for 50 miles in any direction.  The only motel is an old family run one in the next town over which has been there from before I was on this Earth.  If they had a listing, words like "old" and "dumpy" would be the highlights for it. lol

With my foot condition I put off making a reservation until last week as I still wasn't convinced we'd be going.
In between the time I first found their website and 800-number and last week, they stopped paying for the website and it disappeared.  And the 800-number was disconnected.
Great.

But we found the local number and yes, they are still in business so if I don't get back online(of course there is no WI-FI there!)by next Monday, someone please come looking for me in Keysville, VA.  Hopefully the motel clerk is not a chap named Norman with a penchant for bird taxidermy.....

I am thinking I'll need a wheelchair at the reunion since it's outside and I can't stand for long periods of time and they'll probably just have folding chairs strewn about the place. 

Trying to find a loan or rental of a wheelchair has proven difficult.  The place that loans them out for free for short periods of time never returned the message I left(figures)and the one place that rents them is all the way on the other side of Wilkes-Barre and while I could have driven myself there, I couldn't have gotten myself from the car into the store and back again.

But luckily, my sister in-law has one for her mother, who won't be needing it this weekend, so they are bringing it for me to use on Saturday.  Bless there little old hearts......

I also had to make a dish to bring to this shindig.  Having to stay over on Friday night meant I had to make something today that would keep with possibly not being refrigerated the full time beforehand.
So I settled on my mother's Pineapple Salsa recipe and Tortilla Chips.  The salsa will stay cold enough for the ride down in a small cooler and if there is no dorm sized fridge in the motel room, we can pack ice from the motel into the cooler and keep it chilled overnight.  Hubs can run into a local grocery store on the way down tomorrow or Saturday morning for the tortilla chips and I can take a big plastic bowl to put them in.
This dish got selected also because it was something I could make while seated at the kitchen table after I had Hubs gather all the ingredients.

Now I just have to pack and get to bed.  Tomorrow I'll attempt a shower as I don't want to offend Hubs on the ride down.

I'm nervous as hell because besides my brother and his wife, I am not going to know a soul at this thing.  I had hoped to bring the computer and be able to get online to access my Ancestry files and tree while there so I can engage whomever is interested in the family genealogy, but I doubt that they have broadband or dial-up at the plantation house and I don't have satellite internet.

So I am bringing a photo album of pictures and I'll take my camera, a pen and a notebook and hopefully will make some meaningful family connections.

I am nervous and sort of depressed at the moment so I have to try to get my spirits up before we get to this party so I am not a downer when I arrive......I am sure there will be plenty of time to BECOME a downer once the festivities get going. lolz

At least I have my painkillers and I'll take a little bit of "adult beverage" since if I remember correctly this county is semi-dry(meaning restaurants can sell liquor by the drink, but not stores by the bottle)and so, so backwards and still dwelling in the early 1900's.
I hope my Time Machine begins me back to 2013 by Monday.....

Wish me luck!

Sluggy
 

This Week on the Dining Table

The "Still Hobbling Around" Edition......

 

Look at all those ripe tomatoes still on my plants!  I wish I could get out there and pick them so I can can them.....sigh.....

 Here's what was planned last week--

Sunday--Leftovers (I had my leftover Chinese Food.)
Monday--Leftover London Broil cut thin for beef hoagies(with caramelized onions and melted provolone cheese), stir fried Green Beans
Tuesday--Roasted Chicken with Onions & Carrots, Stuffing(for the menfolk), Cranberry "Glop"
Wednesday--Frozen Pizzas(I can have a small piece), Caprese Salad
Thursday--Broccoli Casserole, maybe Pork chops if I can dig them out, Applesauce
Friday--no clue but will probably involve tomatoes and/or green beans lolz
Saturday--ditto

And here's what actually got eaten--

Sunday--Leftovers (I had my leftover Chinese Food.)
Monday--Leftover London Broil cut thin for beef hoagies(with caramelized onions and melted provolone cheese), stir fried Green Beans
Tuesday--Roasted Chicken with Onions & Carrots, Stuffing(for the menfolk), Cranberry "Glop"
Wednesday--Frozen Pizzas(I can have a small piece)
Thursday--I was the only one home for dinner so I made a piece of fish, and green beans.
Friday--BLTs, yet again....lol and Broccoli Casserole
Saturday--Hubs had leftover chicken and broccoli casserole, I had a turkey sandwich and salad.

Through Wednesday was on plan and then the wheels flew off the bus. lol  We didn't get take-out or spend on more groceries at that point, deciding instead to work on eating some leftover and surplus tomatoes and beans and going to the freezer/stockpile to see what we could find.   It all worked out for the best. 8-)

  

As for food spending last week.....I spent $100.86 on $197.03 worth of groceries at 2 stores and the farm stand.  Actually Hubs spent the $ as I was in no shape to go shopping(except for riding out to the farm).  I have $193.67 remaining of my $400 September food budget with 6 days to go in the month.

As for food waste, nothing last week. 8-))

Leftovers going into this week--still more green beans and tomatoes from the garden.

Here's this week's meal plan---
 

Sunday--Pork Chops(freezer), Green Beans(garden), leftover Stuffing, Applesauce(from stockpile)
Monday--Dinner at TGIFridays(I had an appetizer and water, Hubs had a burger and iced tea.)
Tuesday--Roast Chicken(freezer), Brussel Sprouts(freezer), leftover Applesauce
Wednesday--Halushki(noodles from stockpile, cabbage from farm stand) with Bacon(freezer)
Thursday--Rigatoni w/Meat Sauce(meat from freezer/pasta from stockpile/sauce made from stockpile ingredients), some veggie from the freezer OR Fend for Yourself-not sure which yet
Friday--No plan yet, eating out
Saturday--My brother will probably want to eat at a pizza joint so not sure what I'll get there.

On the shopping list......I cooked a chicken breast for lunchmeat so no deli meat will be bought this week.  What I need to buy to prepare the meals above are a head of cabbage(picked up already at the farm stand).  That's it as I have everything else either in the stockpile or freezer.  I do need to pick up some staples we are out of like cornstarch, vinegar(on sale this week), yogurts for me(on sale this week), milk and a bag of dog kibble.  I'm still in no position to do a full-on grocery shop so I don't foresee spending more than $25 at the grocery store this week.

That's what's appearing on the kitchen table this week here at Chez Sluggy. 
  

 What's getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy