You can also buy pickling spice at most grocery stores. We used it all the time.
Was woken up by rain; supposed to go up to 60* today then a low of 24* tomorrow. I’m sure BooFae’s weather ap would have some great words about this kind of bizarre weather.
Going to go see Tom Hanks movie. Then perhaps go for a walk in the pm when it’s supposed to be sunny.
Have a good day!
Afternoon, mumpers! I’m back home in the right country and the right time zone again, and I’ve told the weather app where I am so it can get the right insulting comment out there. it’s currently 7c/45f with no predicted change, and partly cloudy. Which means also partly sunny. Weather app says “Today the sun is going to enter your mouth and come exploding out of your ass. Good fucking luck!” Thus you should be prepared for some quite strange weather conditions!
I’m back at work (from home) after a few days away in Spain which was a good break from the madness here but of course means I’m catching up with everything now. I have read much and retained little, except I know there are plenty of mumpers in need of a hug for one reason or another.
{{{{{mumpers, families and pets}}}}}
FCD just left for the vet with Higgs. We were lucky they could squeeze us in. Fingers crossed that it’s just a minor bug…
I got a nice fire going in the basement with some of the newly-cut wood. Tomorrow, I’ll stack it neatly, but for today, I just grabbed a few logs.
main trunk parts
branch parts
OK, the toddler is whining - back to wrangling…
After a a day that would have had Loki stressed out from the chaos, nothing happend…except random potato. 
I see you’ve missed the tales of Angry Samurai Sumo Driver, and the Irreg Train of Doom.
Trust me, there will be much swearing.
I fell asleep in my chair last night and dreamed I’d posted nonsense here in my sleep–I mean more nonsensical than usual. Weird. I’m going to walk to the store today and then make chocolate pudding for a friend who’s craving it. (It’s just from-scratch chocolate pudding with chocolate chips melted in, but for some reason, people think it’s a special recipe, maybe because they’ve only used the kind from a mix.) I shall also head to the gym.
Thanks! It wasn’t that bad, really. There’s a machine test that’s worse that involves a huge plastic “lens” that sits on your eye and prevents you from blinking for the 15-minute-ish test. I call it the Clockwork Orange test. (Spoilered because some people are squeamish about eye stuff.)
Yikes. I don’t know how you do it without going batty.
FCM, hope Higgs is OK.
It must be International Ka-Blooey Day.
FCD just got back. The vet said the only thing that explained all the symptom and blood test results would be if she ate a tylenol. Which is entirely possible because FCD has been known to drop his meds on occasion. So they gave her fluids and we’ve got several syringes with meds to give her over the next few days. I’m to feed her bits of boiled chicken and plain white rice in small amounts till she’s back to normal. So, off to make some rice.
Tobias is napping - hope it lasts a tad longer.
It’s pouring rain and is supposed to keep it up all day. I woke up with a sore throat so am staying in my js watching Law & Order all day.
Ah yes, the B.R.A.T diet. That’s what we were feeding Polar when we couldn’t get him to eat, and he now absolutely refuses to eat any kind of dog food. I’ve tried them all. He’s been eating boiled chicken thighs and rice for almost three years now.
He gets to eat over easy eggs for breakfast and eats ham and cheese sammiches for lunch. Woe betide you if you don’t feed him when it’s meal time. He is pretty vocal about it.
At any rate, I hope Higgs is feeling better stat!
Please consider my application for the position of Family Dog.
I never heard of this, so I looked it up. Seems many people put a cherry on top. Not sure I want to try this.
Nothing much exciting today. Was chilly last night, so I got up and put another blanket on the bed, which helped a lot. Glad that it gets above freezing during the day, but boy is it cold in the morning.
{{wordy and mom }} Hope the new chemo helps.
Howdy Y’all! We got coiffed, I took care of candle duty, and then we were bears who brunch at Eggs Up Grill. They are right generous with the portions! We were both stuffded when we left at eleven a.m. and I still do not want sustenance. Still awaitin’ the rain that is supposed to move in any time now.
MOOOOOOM I’m glad Higgs is relatively OK. Hope she’s back to her usual self soonest.
JtC and Dicey there’s also pear relish. I’ll leave it to you to google. I actually like it on peas and butterbeans.
BooFae welcome back! Have you had to unleash the PSWSLNS on irk yet?
i’ve eaten this odd salad, cottage cheese instead of mayo and maraschino cherry on top.
too bad shipping a fortune … id take all ya have lol
Thanks for all the well wishes, guys. She seems incredibly relieved, so I’m trying to be incredibly relieved, too. Sadly google exists - I’m finding that there’s a really good reason you shouldn’t google this shit.
I’m exhausted. Slept heavy, but got up early to waddle. It was windy as all get out - we were leaning into the wind so much we practically toppled when it stopped suddenly. Still glad I went, but if I could, I would totally take a nap.
In other, completely unrelated news, I taught myself to crochet. I can see why people do it. It’s more hypnotic than knitting - more blocky (at least when you’re beginning) - so it’s cool to just watch the hook slide and twist with the yarn on it. Very relaxing. I’m probably not being paid to crochet, though, so guess I’ll do it tonight.
Lazy bastids.
I have used it in the past, it works very well, but usually I forget that I can buy it until I’m in the kitchen looking at a pile of chopped veggies. Arizona is weird, I get most of my pickling supplies at the local hardware store.
Poor Higgs, and the worse part is that the silly girl won’t ever figure out why she felt so badly.
We got served these in grade school. I ate the cottage cheese and cherry, if Mom said pears were ick, then all pears were ick and I wouldn’t eat them no matter what the lunch ladies said about them.
And I’d happily give them to you! We’ve also gotten Pepsi and Coke products in the past and now I know why. We get the food bank rejects, LOL!
NONONO!!! Slaps hands and takes mouse away. I’m sending many good wishes for your mom and for you.
BTW, thrift stores often sell yarn and crochet or knitting needles. I like practicing new stitches using cheap materials so I don’t stress about wasting the good stuff, maybe you can find useful things for not so much money at your local thrift stores.
Today is hanging cheese day, I’ve got five drain bags hanging in the hobby room. We were smart enough to leave enough room for this when we put the hobby room back together, I really didn’t like hanging them in the laundry room, the pole is too high for me to reach without a stepladder. I’ll use the whey for ricotta later this evening. I don’t have enough orders for what I will end up with so I’ll give my customers extra ricotta and give the rest to our yard flock or anyone who happens to ask for it.
The dishwasher is chugging again. I keep looking at our kitchen cabinets and wondering if we could have a second dishwasher installed without losing so much storage space we end up with flatware on the island. It doesn’t really take that long to hand wash my big pots, hoomans can’t wash dishes in super hot water like dishwashers can.
They sell some at my thrift store of choice, but whoever prices it thinks very highly of the partial skeins they offer. I would have bought them out if they were like half retail, but some were more than retail!! Weird.
Higgs is drinking lots of water, but not eating yet. I put a dish of rice and chicken down for her and she’s sniffed it twice. We’re going to let her sleep outside her crate tonight and maybe tomorrow so she can get to the water. Unfortunately, she peed in front of the pellet stove. But I planned to pull out the carpet cleaner this weekend anyway, so not that huge a deal. I figure when FCD is enroute to Indy, it will be a good time to clean all the areas that were puked upon, including the furniture. Exciting plans, no?
The kids had a good time at the playground. I got my sweetie to start the meatloaf while I was there, so when I got home, I just threw together the sides and we had a nice meal. The dishwasher is sloshing along and he took the dirty laundry downstairs for me. I sorted it all and I threw a load of sweatshirts in. Tomorrow, I’ll do the rest.
We’re going to set up MIL’s new TV tomorrow - her last two were destroyed when FIL fell into them. So she’s getting a shiny new 55" Samsung. It’s a smart TV but she’ll never use those features. She’ll make do with the cable box.
That’s the exciting news from hereabouts. Time for synchronized chillage on recliners!
rocker there is a peach salad that uses cottage cheese and a maraschino cherry on top. It’s special and only served on the high holy days of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. Sometimes that or the pear one is served if the preacher comes for supper, cause that’s also a special time.
Yanker yay for progress!
JtC peanut butter slapped in celery was big in the skool lunchroom when I was a wee cub. The lunch lady would get real upset at us for lickin’ the peanut butter out of the celery and leavin’ the celery unet. Hanging cheese sounds vaguely dirty.
MOOOOOOM synchronized sloth is an art form.
It being National Pizza Day, DH and I did magic Internet pizza for dinner.
Poor Higgs! I don’t know what her kibble of choice is Mooooooom, but I just saw on the news that Purina Pro Plan has been recalled for too much vitamin D. The effects sound a bit like what you described for Higgs’ symptoms.
At least Don Gato hasn’t fallen off the roof, has he lily?
JtC, my grandmother used to make pear butter when pears were in overabundance. She also did this with the apricots from the three trees in her yard. It was pretty similar to apple butter, just spiced slightly differently.
Irked, came home, took the little reddish beast to the dog park and came home. He got a bit cranky with an 8 month old Frenchie who just wanted to play and kept messing with him. Niko (the Frenchie) was sweet, but hasn’t yet learned how to do it without annoying other dogs. He’s sweet and he’ll learn. 
Stay safe and healthy y’all!