Posted on 05/01/2026 6:24:57 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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Interesting! We have a ton of those “Ditch” Lilies!
“Immer etwas”
(with “w” pronounced as “v”), as my Dad always used to say with a shake of his head!
Working on my BAD ATTITUDE, today. Everything is a wet, sloppy mess and I need to get stuff in the wet, sloppy ground and get more of the lawn mowed! Grrrr!
Today’s attitude gives me possibilities.
Today’s priorities give me focus.
Today’s health gives me strength.
Today’s family gives me stability.
Today’s thinking gives me an advantage.
Today’s commitment gives me tenacity.
Today’s finances give me options.
Today’s faith gives me peace.
Today’s relationships give me fulfillment.
Today’s generosity gives me significance.
Today’s values give me direction.
Today’s growth gives me potential. ~ John C. Maxwell
P.S. Please stop raining!
That wet sloppy mess appears to be headed for us. NWS shows good to high chances of rain for every day of our 7 day forecast. Even Thursday, our “dry day” is up to a 40% chance.
Yesterday amounts were modest, only about 1/3”, but in a couple rounds - plenty to keep things wet ‘n sloppy. Lawn mowing in particular would be tough - esp. when the grass has gotten ahead of me anyway! A powerful zero turn mower could probably handle it, but, “I ain’t got one one those”!
Walmart had no started cucumber plants. They really have a skimpy selection this season with WAY too many annuals. I mean, it’s PAST Mother’s Day. How many more hanging baskets do people need?
Also - I’m not paying $6 for a 4” pot of Lavender! Forget that noise! I want to make some Lavender products for Christmas gifting, but I’ll bet I can get a pound of the dried Lavender for all of six bucks! Grrrr!
Obviously, my ‘attitude’ is still cr@ppy, LOL!
In the never-ending freezer clean-out, I found some venison steaks/roasts. They are thawing now, and I will pop them in the crock pot with a Dr. Pepper and call it BBQ!
I’ll have a lot of friends and family in and out this weekend, so I’m getting a jump on cooking for the long weekend.
Crock Pot Dr Pepper Shredded Beef (Venison!)
https://www.thecountrycook.net/crock-pot-dr-pepper-shredded-beef/#recipe
It’s nice to grow your own, but skipping the work & buying dried lavender has its benefits.
Too hot to mow & if I plant anything, it will get fried 🔥 Trying not to get depressed over the gardening situation around here.
We all seem to be struggling so early in the season! Grrr!
At least we know we won’t starve to death. We know where the local grocery store is. Not sure Farmer’s that grow for Market in any of our areas are faring any better than we all are!
It’s a CONSPIRACY, I tells ya! :)
I just got back in from watering my plants in the shop. Everything looks ok EXCEPT my $4.68 Shishito pepper plant. The soil is still moist, but it is in a state of collapse from which it will not recover :-( I’m not buying another one.
5 Forgotten Poor Man Meals Nobody Makes Anymore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vauEwBIT-J0
You Tube Video, 20 minutes. She makes five recipes from a Depression-era cookbook, while remembering everything her Grandma taught her. I had two Grandmas that were just like that; both made it through The Great Depression while keeping their families (my parents and their siblings) fed. *HEART*
My favorite current “poor man” meal is to cook up a “chicken flavor” ramen noodles portion bag (the 12-pack was half off at Wally World because the box was slightly damaged.) Add a little chicken thigh meat I’d grilled. (More chicken than Campbell’s chicken noodle soup, but less than a stew.) Side = 1/2 can french style green beans that a locally owned store had on sale for 49 cents. Plus maybe 20 cents worth of grapes Aldi had on sale. Half an orange will do too - sometimes they have 4 lbs. for $2.99. Our well water to drink. Most of the time it is good, just not after heavy rains. This comes in around a dollar, tastes great (esp. if I got the grilling right - over downed wood at that, and definitely will fill me up.
Gasoline just jumped 25 cents / gallon here, and we can only cut our driving so much, so I’ll be studying those 5 forgotten recipes too...
Yeah, I still need to call the “Transpo guys” and see if they’ll come out. When I got home today PART of that branch had just come down — the reason I know it had literally just happened was because there was no sign any of that part (daughter branch) or the misc twigs and stuff on the road had been hit or run over. The base of what came down was about 4” diameter, and the whole thing - almost as much as I could drag off the road by myself — amounts to MAYBE than 10% of the entire “parent” branch that needs to come down.
I may give that puppy a “trial yank” anyway — if moderate force won’t bring it down, I’m not gonna risk equipment or a nasty rope snap-back... Nor will I try the Ted Nugent method (shoot the base of the branch with a machine gun that I don’t have.)
;-)
When our 2009 Outback developed a radiator coolant loss problem, it turned out it was the (original) radiator cap itself malfunctioning. (Depending on conditions it’s supposed to let the radiator send or pull fluid from the reserve tank.) Basically, too much fluid would get sent to the reserve tank, which then overflowed, and the system eventually would end up short on coolant.
I’m sure that extra source is helping. :-)
FWIW, good quality laundry detergent has a quite high level of effective surfactants in it.
We go back and forth between Southern IL and Western KY quite a bit on I-24 @ Paducah, and as one approaches the Paducah Mall area near (KY) Exit 3, from IL, a big new Bass Pro Shop is under construction. I imagine the idea is to catch a lot of the business that LBL generates, although a Gander Mountain near that same Paducah location failed twice. (Once as the “original operation, the 2nd as the “comeback” op.) Paducah also has an Academy Sports store and a Dick’s, plus a large “Paducah Shooter’s Supply” store with a local fishing supply store on the end of that structure, and Wal-Mart’s dept. too. I may be forgetting one, and there are some smaller operations - at any Rate, this Bass Pro Shop will face some significant competition. (GOOD! But, that said, I hope the local guy, an older black fellow, can hang in there - he’s a good dude. I don’t get by there much, but he’s great to talk to.)
Quite a number of angler related operations right in the LBL area have failed or do poorly, so, that is another factor I wonder about. Interest and business seems significantly down from a generation or more back...
The interesting thing is... There is a large borrow pond right behind where this Bass Pro Shop is going in. I wonder if that contributed to the choice of location? (The store will also be very easily visible from I-24.) I can imagine all sorts of promotions and other attractions that could be worked in, if BPS bought the land the borrow pond is on too. I’m guessing the price would not be bad, as, what else would anyone do with it?
This location, and it’s surely very high priced land adjacent to the Paducah Mall, evidently won out over all sorts of possible spots along I-24 just east of Paducah, and significantly closer to KY Lake and Lake Barkley. Hmmm...
I use Dawn.
Follow up on that: The last raccoon I’ve had to kill is a 31 lb. female! I feel a bit bad about it*, as there may be kits left behind, but, I’d feel worse if “Mom” tore into or burrowed into the chicken house. The .22 pellet rifle has to be a perfect shot to get an instant kill, so, I definitely think getting those (just) subsonic .22 LR hollow point rounds for the .22 revolver or the .22 (scoped) regular rifle was a good idea, even if the rounds are a bit pricey...
*OTOH, she’s butchered and slow simmering overnight. The chickens will be getting lots of good protein the next 3 days. :-)
CARAMEL COFFEE CUSTARD
ING 2/3 c sweet/cond/milk 1 1/4 c hot water 1 c hot black coffee
3 eggs slightly beaten 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 c br/sugar
Method Mix condensed milk, hot water, coffee. Pour slowly over eggs. Add salt. Pour into 6 greased custard cups w/ 1-2 tbl br/sugar on bottom. Place cups in pan filled with hot water to depth of custard. Bake 325 deg about 1 hour til set. Note: knife blade comes out clean when custard is done.
Caramel Custard Iced Coffee / Espresso, milk, luscious caramel custard
Sweet, slightly salty, perfectly chilled, and incredibly satisfying.
ING 1/2 tbsp br/sugar Big pinch of salt 60ml espresso (or 1.5 tb instant coffee mixed w/ 4 tb hot water) 1/2 cup rich milk Lots of ice 1 portion coffee custard
Process: Pull shot of espresso (or combine instant coffee, hot water). Add sugar, pinch of salt; mix to combine. Let cool before assembling: ice, shot of espresso, caramel custard, then milk. Stir, serve.
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