Dreaming of Spring Gardening in the Middle of a Wisconsin winter part 2

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I will have to say I am a little more nervous this year than I have been with the potential railroad strike. One of my friend's husband works for the railroad and she was talking the other day about how real that potential is.

My husband works for the railroad. The strike talk makes me nervous too. Fortunately the government steps in every time, so I'm not too worried. If a strike were to happen it would be very short lived. Hopefully it gets resolved this time.

 

[WIchickMama]

My husband works for the railroad. The strike talk makes me nervous too. Fortunately the government steps in every time, so I'm not too worried. If a strike were to happen it would be very short lived. Hopefully it gets resolved this time.

I hope so as well, for all the families and people involved.

 

[jvls1942]

I was involved in one successful strike.
there were only five of us working in a
studio. doing drafting. no AC. finally we told
the manager that if it hit 80F , we were going
to leave. the next day it hit 80F in the building.
we left , and we also took the secretary and one
temporary help person with us. we went to a local
bar and drank cold beer until quitting time. the next
day when we got to work, we had AC..

 

[jvls1942]

Happy Thanksgiving.. I am early.
tomorrow I will be busy .
I just put the sweet potatoes w/marshmallows
into the oven.

 

[WIchickMama]

Happy Thanksgiving Jim, Barb, Lisa and anyone else checking in! We will not he overly busy but I do not do much computer stuff on holidays. Hope everyone eats something good, even if it isn't turkey (we are having steak with fixings). I am thankful for all of you, my family, my health, my faith and my chickens

 

[Callender Girl]

Happy Thanksgiving to you all, too! Hope everybody has a day of good company and good food!

Like Anjanet, I am thankful for all of you (especially since none of you complain about my often-very-long posts!), and the life I've been given -- with all its bumps and bruises along the way.

 

[jvls1942]

We had 8 for dinner. Annie ordered a turkey dinner
for ten from County Market. A whole cooked turkey,
sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing ,
a pumpkin pie and green bean salad.
I tweaked the dressing and sweet potatoes to my
liking.
Eight of us did not manage to eat half of the food.
Then to top it off, nobody wanted to take any
left overs home with them.. we will be packaging
and freezing meals.

 

[Callender Girl]

I had a successful Black Friday run to Bomgaars this morning! Since none of the feed I needed was already on sale (last time they sneaked in that puny one-dollar-off tactic), I was able to buy all-flock, duck feed, sheep and goat feed, all for 20 percent off. Plus, my dog food had $8 off, and there was a $5 off coupon for the cat food.

I was so excited by my big scores that I splurged, went to Hy-Vee and bought myself a bag of overpriced baby carrots!

 

[jvls1942]

what a beautiful spring day this was.
after another meal of left over turkey, we old
people went out and cleared enough space to get
Annie's car into the garage. then we emptied the
firewood out of the tractor bucket and hauled it
into the small lean to out of the weather.
it was sure nice to not to have to wear a heavy coat.
but at three o'clock, it was cool enough that it
felt good to come into the warm and cozy house.
Annie bought an electric heater and put it out
in the sun porch. it took about a full day, and now
the temperature out there is 72F and the heater turned off.
that adds ten feet x forty feet of living space to the house.
when the Great grandson comes to visit, that will be his
room. He should be born about mid January. Nothing like
planning ahead, eh?

 

[Callender Girl]

Loved your "spring day" remark, Jim! I don't know whether to be grateful for continued mild weather or worried that winter is going to slap us hard upside the head when it finally gets here.

And, your sunporch sounds lovely.

Sometimes, we are our own worst enemies. I have been working to REDUCE how much stuff I have. But, yesterday my favorite auctioneers were having a sale with so many goodies pictured online that I couldn't resist.

One of the estates was from a woodworker, and it was heartbreaking to see a hand-crafted, 6-foot tall, solid wood armoire go for $20. If I'd brought the truck instead of the Focus, I might have come away with a gigantic piece of furniture that I have absolutely No Room for.

The good news (and perhaps the bad news) is that I got everything I bid on. I always set a price in my head for what I'm willing to pay before I bid; I exceeded that once yesterday, but only by $10 for a combined two items.

Because it's a small-town operation, not too far away, I know the auctioneers and a lot of the other bidders, so I get a lot of socialization value even when I walk away empty handed -- which is, admittedly, a rare occurrence. BTW, having the auctioneers know you by name is NOT helpful when you're trying to resist bidding.

Hope everyone has a good -- and not too chilly -- week! It's a disappointing 18 degrees here but it's supposed to get up to 50 later today.