Posted on 11/01/2025 5:46:00 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
The trailer is unloaded. After dealing with getting the Army table out of the trailer & into the shop, I don’t know how I managed to get it out of the generator shed & into the trailer in the first place.
That’s a beautiful table! I hope you can find a spring. There are a couple of people on the garden thread who seem to be very good at finding odd parts/things - maybe they could help.
Mom is very fond of the Army table. It is solid wood, 6’x 30” & very heavy. Dad got it at an Army surplus store early in their marriage and it was used for their dining room table until they could afford a dining room set. It’s been in various places/sheds & I wanted it for the shop. Now (somehow, because I wrangled it by myself) it’s here :-)
Lots of memories in those old tables. Comforting for me along with more than a few older things I still have. Like my mom’s original hope chest from the 40’s and her cabinet sewing machine that I learned to sew on. I refinished both and took the lock off the hope chest and found a lock business nearby that made a new key.
So, traction tomorrow, then? LOL!
Pitching hay and all the water-carrying I’m doing for the critters this week have me using muscles I don’t normally use. But it feels good to feel a little ‘burn’ - as long as my back holds up! :)
I keep some tomatoes in pots so I can bring them in for the winter. If I can keep them alive all winter, I can have tomatoes in March. The problem is killing the aphids. I have sprayed and even dipped the plants, but the aphids keep returning. It’s a constant fight to kill the spawn before they can mature enough to reproduce.
The problem with over-wintering plants that are out of sync and out of their desired environment IS dealing with the insects. Usually aphids and white flies. Fungal gnats, too. All tiny but persistent little buggers!
I read somewhere that when a plant is stressed, it gives off some sort of hormone or vibration and the bugs just come in droves to help it over ‘The Rainbow Bridge.’ ;)
And if you’re a houseplant lover, an aphid, white fly or fungal gnat infestation will effect every plant in your house.
Be careful out there, People! ;)
(’Hill Street Blues’ TV show)
Beautiful table! I was supposed to get Grandma’s kitchen table after Mom passed, but my brother is in the house now, and I haven’t the heart to tell him since (1) he’s using it, (2) it seems to go with the house, and (3) I’m not sure where I’d put it in my current home. Your table is more decorative, but yes, it was enameled, and one of my favorite pieces in Grandma’s kitchen. The rolls she rolled out on that table! 😍
No traction LOL. I am fortunate in that exercises for sciatica or piriformis syndrome work pretty well for me. You have to get on the floor to do most of them, but I am still limber enough to get up & down even with my surgical knee (cannot kneel on it). Knock on wood, both of my knees have been holding up well.
It’s 4:30 AM & obviously I am not sleeping but in the meanwhile, I have figured out how to manage Thanksgiving so all I have to do is get the turkey in the oven by 7 AM & heat up everything else. I will do some prep work Tuesday & have everything put together Wednesday. The kitchen will stay clean on Thursday, too. :-)
I have found that Styrofoam ‘coolers’ or even a regular cooler, is great for keeping dishes warm for 2-4 hours. Mom has ordered from Omaha Steaks & I have their coolers large enough for 9x13 pans & 8/9x11. I cut cardboard to fit just over the Pyrex baking dishes so I can stack them which also retains heat. When we got newspapers, I used several layers in the cooler bottom so the hot dishes don’t melt anything, but with no papers, I cut cardboard.
I use the coolers all the time - transport hot food to church potlucks & to relatives houses for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners. Since we moved here, we have had 60 guests (mom counted!) & I have made meals for all but 2 so I have figured out how to prepare food ahead of time & keep it warm ... coolers for casserole dishes & crockpots for things like Chef John Green beans, cinnamon apples, Bavarian sauerkraut, etc. When we have overnight guests, I make breakfast casseroles the night before & just pop them in the oven in the morning.
For breakfast casseroles, there are good ones (& other recipes) here at this site for bed & breakfast inns:
https://www.bbonline.com/recipes
Farmers’ Almanac say it will cease publication after 208 years
A 208-year-old publication that farmers, gardeners and others keen to predict the weather have relied on for guidance will be publishing for the final time.
Farmers’ Almanac said Thursday that its 2026 edition will be its last, citing the growing financial challenges of producing and distributing the book in today’s “chaotic media environment.” Access to the online version will cease next month.
The Maine-based publication, not to be confused with the even older Old Farmer’s Almanac in neighboring New Hampshire, was first printed in 1818. For centuries it’s used a secret formula based on sunspots, planetary positions and lunar cycles to generate long-range weather forecasts.
The almanac also contains gardening tips, trivia, jokes and natural remedies, like catnip as a pain reliever or elderberry syrup as an immune booster. But its weather forecasts make the most headlines.
“It is with a heavy heart that we share the end of what has not only been an annual tradition in millions of homes and hearths for hundreds of years, but also a way of life, an inspiration for many who realize the wisdom of generations past is the key to the generations of the future,” Editor Sandi Duncan said in a statement.
In 2017, when Farmers’ Almanac reported a circulation of 2.1 million in North America, its editor said it was gaining new readers among people interested in where their food came from and who were growing fresh produce in home gardens.
Many of these readers lived in cities, prompting the publication to feature skyscrapers as well as an old farmhouse on its cover.
“The Maine-based publication, not to be confused with the even older Old Farmer’s Almanac in neighboring New Hampshire...”
I always thought they were one and the same! Today’s gained knowledge.
Good advice on the coolers! Smart!
My meal won’t be as extravagant, but one thing we do in our family is roast a few turkey breasts, slice, and then they go into the crock pot with stock to stay moist. Works like a charm. No big mess and no carving mess at the table, either. I’m thinking of doing a few drumsticks too, if I can find them. Beau likes to chomp on one and so does my Mom, LOL! I plan on having all the sides ready to go, too. Heat & Eat!
I LOVE recipes from Bed & Breakfast hotels. I have a crust-less quiche that I make quite often that I found in a recipe booklet compilation of B & B’s. Can’t wait to check out that link!
I haven’t stayed in a B & B in ages, but have some fond memories of staying in some very beautiful homes through the years.
I really miss having a Hoosier Cabinet. I sold it ages ago. It wasn't a family heirloom or anything, just something I picked up while 'antiquing.' Mine had all the original baking features needed. HUGE regrets ever parting with that! I doubt I'll ever find another in as good of shape and at an affordable price these days.
It was my own dumbass fault. When my brain is engaged, I put a welded wire cage around my young trees after I pull the grow tubes. My brain wasn't engaged. I pulled a few tubes earlier in the year, got distracted with other things, and here we are.
Hard freeze expected here over the weekend. I hope to pick tomatoes and peppers later today. Will depend on how my back feels. Got a steroid injection in the L4/L5 space yesterday afternoon. I think it feels a little better this morning but I haven't been up and around long enough to know for sure.
When my son was moving into his apartment several years ago, he needed more counter space and storage space. I bought him a Hoosier cabinet EXACTLY like the one you’ve posted. The only difference is the gadget on the left (a sifter?) had been removed. I found it at a second hand consignment furniture store, and I’m pretty sure I paid less than $100 for it. Of course, that was about 10 years ago. He loves that thing!
I have two shishito pepper plants in pots with blossoms still all over them. I brought them inside when it got near 32. I can’t bear to part with them just yet, since they have so many baby peppers all over them.
I’m truly addicted to these, and now I’ve hooked one brother on them. He’s been able to find them at his grocery store, though. If I could find them here, I wouldn’t be so worried about not having any over winter.
Sunday will be another hard freeze for a few days, and maybe snow. So far I haven’t seen any aphids or whiteflies on them. Knock on wood, though.
Your cooler idea is really great! I’ll have to incorporate that trick into my life.
We’ve had prebagged commercial shishitos in our local store for the third year now. They are pricey and aways look old, a little shriveled even. No thanks.
I never heard of a Hoosier cabinet before so naturally I had to go looking. Check this one out, just wow.
https://www.chairish.com/product/27546735/1920s-antique-hoosier-cabinet
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