Howdy Y’all! Been a nice day of sloth. Watched my Dawgs eat some South Keerliner chikin, managed nappage, and we et sup. Fartfest now ensues. Hope everyone else has had a good day!
I decided we’re having pot roast for dinner. I bought a 3+ pound hunka deadcow. (Apparently, his name was Angus.) I pulled the cast-iron frying pan out of the oven, and heated it up to give the meat a good sear. The sizzling sure sounded good! But then I looked, and the meat diaper was still on the bottom. DOH! I rescued the meat, but then I had this melted plastic in my pan. I had to scrub it out with detergent. Still, the pan is fairly well seasoned so I didn’t take it all off. It’ll get a coat of grease when I make bacon in the morning. In the meantime, I seared the meat in another cast-iron frying pan. I have it in the oven at 350ºF. It should take about three hours, so we can think about eating at 17 o’clock or so.
I am not inclined to go walking today. I thought about chopping wood, but I’m not inclined to do that either.
Ha! I win the battle of the garage door opener. Had to take some crap apart, then put it back together, but it works now.
Flyboy I hate the meat diaper, glad the damage to the cast iron, and meat, was minimal.
Howdy All.
I’ve been reading along but haven’t had a lot to say lately. I don’t now either, but thought I should pt in an appearance lest I lose my membership card.
Sympathy to everybody for their troubles, but no advice. People generally don’t want my advice anyway.
We had some friends from the valley stop by yesterday. Had a long gabfest and then a late lunch at the tavern down the street. The husband of the pair has bid on a job over here so we may have a house guest later this year. He does security systems.
Dinner tonight will be a big honking sausage and corn onna cob. Maybe a salad. That’ll make it healthy. We’ve finally gotten to the point in the summer here where the local corn is good. Also the temperatures are more reasonable now.
It’s about 72f right now at ~3.23pm.
Monday the new basement door goes in. Tomorrow I’m gonna stat taking the old door apart. At least I can take some of the old hinges and other extraneous bits and bobs off. Apparently when the old hinges started getting wonky they would just screw on a new hinge and leave it at that. there’s a bunch of them. Fun.
Well, that’s enuff from me.
You da man! Me, I can’t find my garage door opener. It’s a mystery.
I posted in the Gilligan thread in GD that I received a used copy of Mary Ann’s Gilligan’s Island Cookbook. $3.95 plus $3.99 plus tax from Seattle Goodwill.
There’s an inscription to ‘Anita’… signed by Dawn Wells.
This is next to the light switch in my kitchen:
We don’t get a lot of company, but most people ask about this switch. I do not have a Halon Fire Suppression system. This opens my garage door…
bright tree, with humans encroaching upon their space more and more, the humans will see more wildlife. It doesn’t usually end well for the critters.
Glad you got the garage door opener fixed VanGo. Having one of your entrances / exits non-functional would suck.
Picked up the prescriptions, some lotion, a can of corn (I forgot it at the other two grocery stops) and some sugar free strawberry jam (neither my Kroger nor Aldi carry that) while I was at Tar-jay. Came home, took Nelson to the dog park and made a nice salad with a couple of chicken tenders for supper. Now to finish the birthday card for my lead that I worked on this morning.
Evening all. So my day went: Climbed up a hill to the soccer field trailing a wagon-load of stuff for my coaching/refereeing (the kids were playing at the same fields up the hill) and the sprinklers were running on the soccer field I was supposed to referee on! No other field was getting the treatment, just mine. Called the Comish (Regional Commissioner for our group) and he got them to shut them down, but the game started late anyway (field wasn’t in that bad a shape). Then came my game and we had no referee so I reffed the 1st half and the other coach did the second half (we got whomped). Then I packed my stuff and moved over about 100 yards to another field and guess what…no ref. So same thing, I refereed the 1st 30 minutes and he did the second (we lost 6-7 but it was a fun game). And since I was up there…I also refereed a 1:00pm 12U game right after mine–so that was another 60 minutes…
Did I mention it was sunny and in the mid-80’sF?
So I got home after filling my gas tank ($75 this time, still trending down) just a little tired and found three packages at my door, one smelling less than wonderful. I was confused since I only had one thing ordered via Amazon, but it turns out theother two packages belonged to my next-door neighbors, so I walked them over there and then opened my package (of course it was the smelly one). I got my microfiber wipes OK, but they had (for reasons beyond all understanding) but a fully loaded coffee can in with the sealed packages and it had ruptured and spread coffee grounds over the inside of the envelope. So my computer room smells of coffee (which I don’t particularly like) and I need to seek sustenance here, since I have been living on a Glass of Instant Breakfast, bottles of water, and way more Pepsi than is good for my dental hygiene.
So, how was your day… 
VanGo, glad the garage door opener was repairable. Mine works fine but I did back into the door several months ago and the repair guy was able to fix it with some tinkering and a hammer…
Hipple, regarding the garage door opener, I like your style.
Flyboy, glad the pan is salvageable. Enjoy dinner
FCM, take your time coming home. Know you want to be back in your house with your pets and family members about, but after all the stuff in the past week and starting at 3am…well, just be careful. And maybe the estimated sale price will help convince his folks to move.
flyboy I’m not as kind to the 8-legged species as you are, more of a “Hulk Stomp” on spiders like you and VOW(not sure what a good MMP name would be for you–like Taters, yours is perfectly fine as is–IMHO) encountered.
Oopsie, all of my shots have been Pfizer, the tech at Wal-Greens said this one was what counted, indicating it was more potent/directed than the others. We’ll see.
OK, hugs, yeas, boos and other inappropriate noises to all. Have changed my mind, will save the Salad bowl for tomorrow…I’m going out and get a Big butter pecan cone because I can!! That’ll take care of the calories!
All y’all take care.
I don’t disagree at all in general. But this place is deep in the forest and that has changed little in all these years. The area has always been lousy with cougars.
If I had to guess, I’d say it’s more due to the fact that I haven’t had outdoor dogs for awhile. Most of the time I’ve lived here, I’ve had them. After the last one passed a couple years ago, I’ve struggled to decide if the ol’ heart can take another loss. But I do think my beloved dogs acted as a significant deterrent to comfortable cougars. Might be time to revisit the dog situation.
In other MPSIMS…
So I decided to make another effort to start Ye Olde Lawn Tractor. I know this machine. It apparently had sufficient time to collect itself, because it fired right up. I was pleased, because I wanted to at least get it back under cover before we get rain later this week. But since it was already running, I thought, oh, go ahead and finish up the mowing.
At this time of year, there is one thing I fear more than anything else. More than cougars, bears or random serial killers stalking the woods. I fear wasps. Especially bald faced hornets, characterized by their paper nests.
I had already spotted a ground wasps’ nest near a little tableau of rhododendrons with a small dogwood tree. I kept an eye on them as I mowed around their spot. Passed very close to the dogwood tree and its protruding branch… and came within 3 feet at eye level with a paper nest. Hit reverse and hightailed it out of the vicinity faster than I’ve ever driven that tractor before, I can tell you.
A close call and a super fortunate evasion. Those things are vicious. I. Hate. Wasps!!!
Complete mowage is temporarily suspended, and I am counting my lucky stars.
MetalMouse, enjoy that cone!! You’ve certainly earned it!
@aspenglow. You had to bring up bald faced hornets, huh?
I unwittingly disturbed a volleyball-sized nest a few years back. The emergency room doc estimated I got 120, maybe 150, stings. I felt like my head and arms were on fire. I didn’t even know what was happening to me. It took several seconds to sink in
I think it’s not wise to disturb them.
QFT. You have my deep and solemn sympathy for the encounter you endured!
I’ve unwittingly stood on ground wasp nests 3 times and those were unpleasant experiences, coming away with roughly 12 stings each time. Never been hit by a bald faced hornet and hope I never am.
I used to use a pest service guy and the only time I ever saw fear on his face was when I called to have him come remove a nest like the one you encountered. He told me he’d take care of it, but only at night. He explained that the bald facers will chase more aggressively and follow you further than any other wasp. They are heat seekers, so they go for the tender spots on your body: Behind your knees, on your neck and armpits. They also bite, so they can sting you again and again. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you!
You were fortunate to have survived so many stings!
Me when I came upon the nest and realized what I faced:
(yelp”HOLYSH*T!"shuddershiversquirmmoreshudder)
*Oof* Now I’m full. Mrs. L.A. said it was very good.
They’re harmless. I once had one crawl across my foot while I was brushing my teeth. It waited until it was done so that I could relocate it outside. 
Plus, they’re cute.
Up from naptime, watching the Wolfpack, and having a Sazarac.
My one friend worked that game. From California. Sucks the Cornhuskers lost.
I love this.
I don’t have cougars, but I do have bears and Zebra cobras 
. Which Gordie would challenge to a fight if he saw them(he tried to fight a 10 point Whitetail deer once).
Holy cow, I’m glad you got away unpunctured. Wasps are crabby and get mad for no reason at all. I’ll take a rattlesnake over mad wasps every day of the year. Rattlesnakes would rather run, well, slither away, wasps react to any perceived wrong like a chocolate deprived menopausal woman.
I’ve been reading daily, but so much random stuff just keeps happening to stop me from posting.
We have a long narrow cornice like pot shelf over our living room windows. It covers the hardware and give us another shelf to fill with stuff that takes a ladder to be able to dust. We also have vertical blinds because cats.
Somehow, GG managed to jump up on the 8 foot high shelf without knocking anything off and then realized that the vaulted ceiling was the very best echo chamber for his fabulous singing voice. At 3 am.
Happily, hubs takes his hearing aids out at night so he slept through the amplified caterwauling. I am not so fortunate, it scared me half to death because I thought he was hurt. I’m still not sure how he got up there, there isn’t anything in front of the windows but when he thought I might give him a treat he just jumped straight down to the floor. I don’t think he can jump 8 feet straight up in the air, but he is a big kitty…
Our crabby old cat challenges the big brown truck every time it pulls into our yard. He doesn’t yell at the Fed Ex truck, but I expect that’s because that’s the truck that brings our Chewy boxes.
My thumb joints are really aching so I’m going to stop typing and go back to reading.
Take care everyone!
Crabby Cat: “It’s the Chewy Box!”
GG: " 
Peanut Butter Box is here, Peanut Butter Box is here… "
Crabby Cat : < smacks GG >
< makes mental note to not wear UPS gear when visiting >
I’m hoping we Lincolnians were extra nice to your friend. Next time I’ll tell them about the best places to eat, just let me know ahead of time. Any friend of yours gets the only the best!
It’s going to be a long season. Oklahoma had mercy on us~the final score could have been worse.
Yikes! Glad you’re okay. I’ve got a large, ungainly fern that I can’t trim until we have a good freeze due to a ground bee nest.
We were bad girls and watched the 4th episode of The Rings of Power with several boxes from PF Chang and ice cream out of the carton (dairy-free Cherry Garcia for my bride and queen, strawberry Häagen-Dazs for me).
It’s safe, we keep him locked up behind a cat-proof baby-gate and hide him under the bed when we have people over. 
Every so often I will buy a big box of treats (doughnuts, candy bars, cupcakes etc.) and give them to our delivery drivers with the instructions to “put in your break room to share with everyone”. How often do you think anyone but the driver gets the treats? Did you just hurt yourself laughing?
So anyhow, Mom has been a member of MENSA for at least 30 years. She has always enjoyed the seminars and has gone to the yearly event in Phoenix on a regular basis. Due to the plague, a few years were missed and this year the seminar will be free. Mom wants to go, but she is also feeling her age and thinks it might be too much for her. I encouraged her to go, but she didn’t sound like she would.
I thought about it a lot last night and called her and lied to her. I told her that hubs thought he would like me to spend another week away (not true, he got lonesome and couldn’t sleep) and that I wanted to go with her because of the free booze and lectures.
She sounded much happier about the whole idea and says she will start making arrangements tomorrow. These seminars tend to be very self contained but it is always nice to have a car available just in case a booze run is needed.
Hat tip to Gordie the Foolish and Intrepid! My doggies were the exact opposite. They looked fearsome, but in reality, they were utterly disinterested in wildlife and were lazy cream puffs. You can keep your Zebra cobras, by the way. I like snakes well enough, but there’s a limit. 
Me, too. I dodged a bullet today, for sure. I can’t even imagine being stung over 100 times, as @cincinnatus was. Twelve stings were misery enough.
LOL, @susan, I can tell you’re a long-time resident of the PNW, referring to wasps as “bees.” But either way, you’re wise to not disturb them. Your Saturday night sounds like bliss.
JtC, I love the GG stories! And you’re a wonderful daughter.