JtC all this great information is reminding me that my steam oven came with instructions how to make yogurt. I might actually try it.
My Instant Pot purports to be able to make yogurt. Must try that sometime, when I can lay hands on starter.
Morning, mumpers! It’s 16c/60f with a predicted high of 17/63 today, and partly cloudy. The weather app says “It might be nice now, but at some point, it’s going to rain. Sad fucking trombone.”
Today’s excitement is a trip to Belfast this afternoon - we have friends over there in a band called Baleful Creed and they’re playing on Saturday night so we thought we’d make a weekend trip out of it. We first met the guys via farcebook and since then, we’ve become good friends. So this morning I was up early to feed the cats and clean the litter trays. I’ve vacuumed the floors (cat-feeding friend is coming tomorrow, I don’t want her thinking we live in complete squalour), sorted out the liquid stuff I can take with me, just need to pick some t-shirts and get packed.
Moooom so sorry to hear that FCD has to trek back to Florida to bail out his parents. It must be so stressful and distressing for both of you, knowing they are such a liability to each other. I hope he can persuade them to get some help even if it’s only a couple of days a week. He might have to be very blunt about the “not caring for him if you’re dead” approach.
Doggio the monarch might yeet herself before July, she has only managed to attend a couple of events for her jubbly, and looks increasingly frail every time she’s seen. I’m not a monarchist by any stretch, but she’s an old dear and I have a lot of sympathy for her trying to carry on as best she can. She’s definitely gone downhill since Phil the Greek died, and I would not be surprised if she doesn’t last much longer either. I will be sad about that, but the rest of that family? Couldn’t really give a stuff.
VanGo I hope the sciatica calms down a bit. One of my minions suffers dreadfully with it, she really appreciates being able to work from home as she can lay on the floor with a hot water bottle. I keep telling her to manage her hours, work when she is able, take as many breaks as she needs, but she is a trooper and just carries on.
Right…need more tea, and I should consider packing some clothes for the weekend! Oh, and of course I have to put more food out for the mogs, check litter trays again, top up food bowls, clean the water fountain and empty the bins. All while 'im indoors is busy shooting things on his PC.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN 'Tis 71 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 95 with rain/tstorms/apocalypse predicted for later today. We shall see. No biggie plans for the day other than the usual sloth and uselessness. Quality cee-mint pond time will depend upon the weather. Sup shall be majik intartoobz pizza and sallit.
VanGo glad the back is better today.
BooFae have fun concertin’ this weekend.
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah.
Happy Firday Y’all!
That part is easy - plain, no sugar, no fruit yogurt from the dairy section. At least, that’s how I always got started…
It might not have been boiled - maybe it was heated to a certain temp, then cooled before the starter was added. Criminy, it was 45 years ago - like I remember the details…
We got lots of rain yesterday, but the next few days should be sunny and nice and not too gawd-awful hot. First thing today, we’re going to our local credit union to get a credit card just for travel. With luck, we’ll have it right away, tho I’m not counting on it. IF someone had listened to me last week, we’d have one already. 'Nuff said.
After that, we’re heading to the boat to start some serious cleaning. I think the covers on the various mattress cushions will zip off, and if so, they’re destined for the laundry. Then various surfaces will be wiped down, crud will be vacuumed out of corner niches, and we’ll make ready to bring aboard the various and sundry stuff I’ve been accumulating for adventures afloat.
I’m hoping his car will be done today - I hate the thought of it sitting on their lot till Moanday. Paul will do his best to get it done, I’m sure. We found out yesterday we were one of their first regular customers! I’d assumed when I went there the first time that they’d been around a while, but apparently not. When FCD was dropping off his car, the new receptionist/clerk asked if he’d been there before - yeah, only for the last 17 years or so… 
And more than 10 cars if we include daughter’s/SIL’s vehicles in the count, since they go there because of us. So, yeah, Paul knows us and loves us. I just hope he doesn’t retire before we quit driving.
Yep, exciting day ahead for us. Happy Firday!!
Morning all. I expected to sleep well last night after mowage and exercising, but ended by getting up about 5:30am…I think FCM is a bad influence… Rain seems to have departed the area so I have hopes of mowing the back yard this evening once things dry out.
Speaking of water…I usually have a low water bill (about 1400-1500 gallons per month), given I only run the dishwasher once a week and do laundry once a month, but my bill for April showed 5,300 gallons used. I tried the pills in the water tank routine and had the toilets shut off for the two weeks I was on vacation in May, so the bill this time…was for 9,700 gallons! Tried the color test again on the toilets and can’t find a leak, so guess I’ll have to call in a plumber and see if they can figure out where all the water is going (there are no wet spots or water damage inside the house that I can see and no swamp has developed in my yard, so no obvious clues).
FCM, enjoy the boat cleaning expedition.
boo fae, have a good trip–going by car/ferry or trusting your lives to RyanAir (I think you’re in England, right?).
OK, need to make the call; the plumber says the phone line is open 24/7, guess we’ll test that.
Any chance a neighbor is watering their yard from your hose when you’re not around?
I’ve printed the boat chore check list, including a column for how much certain things will cost (like installing engine room lights.) Next step is researching prices for the non-free items. Stuff like cleaning is pretty much free since we have all the stuff we need to do that already. So fun ahead.
Moooooom, wishing FCD good luck on his upcoming trip to Florida. I hope that he can talk some sense into his folks.
Glad the sciatica is doing better VanGo.
Up, caffeinating, breakfasting, a load of towels ready for the dryer and a load of clothes on deck. I will commence housecleaning after KP, then go grocery shopping (hope there’s no wreck on my street this week, unlike the last two), picking up a CO2 cartridge for the SodaStream and setting up a Marketplace meeting.
Stay safe and healthy y’all!
Good morning everyone.
We had thunderboomers overnight; I know because a couple of them woke me up. It’s currently 56 degrees and damp outside with a 100% chance of rain. It’s not raining at the moment though.
I worked all day yesterday, solved several problems (go me), sat through several meetings, and was happy to shut down my computer at 4:00. I mowed the lawn because I knew it was going to rain and that we were going to get thunderboomers. It was muggy as all get out, but I’m glad to have finished the chore before the grass grew too tall.
Hugs to all who need them and feel better vibes to all those who are hurting or not feeling well.
I can renew my tabs online, but I figure it’ll do me good to get out of the house. Besides, I need to get a few things at the store, so I might as well just get the tabs while I’m at it too. I have adaptive cruise control, but really am not a fan. And, in certain situations even on the freeway, it’s just not good to use it. Sudden back-ups are common. Finally, I just plain don’t like it. I’ve used it, but I just like controlling the speed on my own for regular commute driving.
I’m currently finishing my last cup of coffee and then I’ll need to log into my work computer long enough to certify my timecard. After that, I’ll shower and get ready for the day.
It’s finally Friday! 
I can’t believe this was only a 4-day work-week…Monday feels like eons ago.
More storms came through last night, but this morning was nice and cool; I’ve been enjoying having the windows open once again. At 1pm-ish it’s 74° with a decent breeze, and I’m hoping to be able to keep 'em open for a while. Sometimes it really is the little things. 
My (manual transmission) car has cruise control, but I hardly ever use it: only on really long drives when there isn’t much traffic, and those two things are rarely true at the same time. Most of the time I actually forget that it’s available…I’ve been driving for 35 years and it still kind of makes my head hurt that a stick shift can even have cruise control!
Did anyone else watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee last night? 
The first spell-off in history! I felt bad for the kid who didn’t win: they were obviously too upset for LeVar Burton to be trying to interview them right afterwards.
I have super tentative plans to go out tomorrow night: a friend is going to be a featured singer at a piano bar, and I haven’t seen her (or some of the other folks who will be there) in ages. I might want to just hang with my doggy, though, after the drama of last weekend/earlier this week.
Time to figure out some lunch…
I know you’re talking to a plumber, but could there be an issue on the water company’s end?
My MGB has overdrive (Laycock). I don’t use it more often than not. On the freeway, of course; and about half the time on the straight 50 mph (heh 
) road to the freeway/one of the supermarkets. But along the beach or on the local roads there’s no need for it. A funny thing happened once. Someone cut me off and I downshifted to second. When I shifted back up to third it sounded like the engine was failing. It turns out I hadn’t flipped the switch to NORMAL, so it was a long step up from 2nd to 3rd.
SWMBO requested escargots tonight. I think I’ll see how the filet mignons look at the store, and get some spinach and feta to go with it.
My 5-speed Scion didn’t have cruise but I added it. Our truck didn’t have it (or much of anything else - it even has crank windows!!!) and we added it also. Cruse is a necessity!
Back from the boat. FCD finished most of what he wanted to do in the engine room. I vacuumed the aft cabin and took the mattress cover off the big mattress. It will be washed, then returned. We also did a general tidy, then decided we didn’t want to play any more. 
Waiting for a call from our credit union to come pick up our MasterCard. We got it with a $1000 credit limit which will be more than enough for gas on the road. We should get it today or tomorrow. Meanwhile, FCD found a handyman in Ocala and he passed the info to his mom - maybe he won’t have to drive down there right away after all. But while he was talking to his mom, his dad asked if our boat was in the water yet. He didn’t remember going out with us. 
It’s bad. It’s really bad…
Not sure if I’ll do anything productive this afternoon. I’m reading a really awful historical romance by an author I usually enjoy. This particular one is really hard to believe. Seriously - the widowed female character is terrified of t-storms because of something that happened with her late husband. So when she ends up with a known rake and a horrific storm rolls in, they wind up in a sweaty nekkid pile doing the nasty, because when you’re scared of thunder, you want to do a guy you just met… 
But I’ve got to keep reading to find out how they wind up together, since it’s obvious that’s what will happen. These books are nothing if not predictable! It’s my guilty cheezy pleasure.
Of too the land of cheeze then…
It’s Friday evening here and it’s done with raining. For now. Tomorrow’s going to be hot, and then rain again on Sunday.
We need the rain, and we’ll manage to get the grass cut tomorrow, so I don’t mind it too much. Just hope we don’t get hail, because our tomato plants already have some baby tomatoes.
Might use Sunday’s rainy period to make plans to visit the U.S. in August/September. I just read that yet another area is implementing indoor mask requirements again, which is not very hopeful, but I think we’ll visit anyway.
Enjoy the Friday!
I’m in England now, so if you give me your credit card number I’ll get it and mail it to you when I get home.
PSYC!
Afternoon all. Swimmin’ and Sweatin’ (1,600 yards backstroking and 30 minutes in the sauna) are done, looking to mow the back yard in a few hours, so those will be my major accomplishments for the day. About 82F but lots of clouds so I want to let the grass/ground soak up as much of the moisture as possible.
That’s been my thought too, but when I went there with the last bill, all I got was a couple of tablets to test toilet leakage. I thought it might be a bad reading the first time, but with this second bill–well, hopefully the Plumber can find out what’s going on.
I have cruise control of course, haven’t driven a manual in 25 years, but only use it on long-distance trips on Interstates. Since 90% of my driving is city/suburban, it doesn’t get a lot of work.
OK, have snacked and need to solve some Sudoku’s and Jumble’s in the paper today. All y’all take care.
We’re a quiet bunch this week, relatively speaking.
I wound up having to reschedule that medical appointment, which is now this coming Thursday morning. Badly timed lower digestive disturbance made hiking over there impossible, and I didn’t have enough lead time for Lyft.
Howdy all. I’ve been an absent Mumper this week. We are currently under a Tropical Storm warning. We are supposed to get 4-6 inches of rain by Sunday. It is already raining out but not too hard.
I planted more herbs today. Herbs are slow to germinate and grow or at least mine have been. Right now I have:
Tomatoes both cherry and big ones
Cucumber with six on the plant
Scallions
Bell peppers, yellow, green and orange.
Jalapeño.
Squash and zucchini not yet germinated.
Herbs are Basel, parsley, thyme, mint, chives, cilantro, arugula, and others
Lettuce mixture
Spinach two kinds.
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I have read all. Hugs to those who need them.
Howdy Y’all! A day of major sloth, along with nappage, and some quality cee-mint pond time was accomplished today. Pizza and sallit were also ingested. I hear thunder rumbles outside (as opposed to inside which would be weird) so maybe we’ll have a tstorm soon. I wish!
oopsie, my 2003 S10 had cruise control on a manual. It was right down handy, given that I drove 32 miles each direction every day to irk and all but about 3 miles was on rural freeways. My current car is the first automatic daily driver in a lot of years and, of course, has cruise.
When I passed the county clerk’s office (where we get our tags) down the street this afternoon, there was a line out to the street. I’m due this month, but will wait until the folks rushing to get their due-in-May tags go away.
I got a stoner supper tonight and am now chilling.
We can renew our tags on line. So I do.
Much chillage and laziness ensues. More boat work tomorrow.