The Old Folks Home

[getaclue]

scg, He forgot to mention that it takes an hour or so for the water to heat back up.

 

[chickadoodles]

Scg I'm surprised the furnace guy can't do the water heater. I thought plumbing and heating were together in most companies. It is here.
So sorry you have such a hard time with service people.

Nice job on your embroidery.

We like squash and zucchini friend with or without batter or baked.
Grilled is great also.
Some veggies are best steamed like broccoli and cauliflower.

Dh did not get out of his recliner all weekend so the carport did not get done.
It takes all weekend for him to rest up from working all week.
This was his first week getting his Fridays off after a long hard season.
It takes a toll on him these days

 

[microchick]

Hey Micro, my house is on piers and the land slopes enough that I could have a walk out basement. Do you have any idea how much it cost for the neighbor to jack the house, dig it, form it, pour it, and set it? I have a ~1550 sqft ranch so it would double my usable space as well as allow me to better grade around the house.

No idea what the exact price was. Look at it this way. He had to buy a skid steer, then he borrowed the equipment to lift the house, the wood to make the forms after he dug out the basement himself and then the concrete for the foundation. We figure the concrete was 25,000 roughly. Things are pretty reasonably priced around here so that is just a rough estimate and he did all the work himself with the help of a couple of Amish neighbors.

So with the price of the skid steer that he bought probably somewhere around 35,000 is a good guestament. Plus he has a LARGE family and all the older kids, both girls and boys (I went over one day to find the girls down in the trench laying drainage tile) pitching in to help.

 

[microchick]

Water heaters. Uggggg. Always a bite when you have to replace one. The last time ours went out we replaced it with an instant hot water heater that we found on Ebay for less than 100 dollars. Since we weren't home much at the time it provided us with all the hot water we needed.

About 6 years ago we noticed we had a small leak in our under 5 years old roof. Called the guy who installed it, he came out, looked at it and said it was ice damming and under warranty. He would call us in a week or less and tell us when they would be out to fix it. We are still waiting for that call back, two years after we sold the house and after us calling them three or four times.

Absolutely no pride in business ethics these days.

 

[Beer can]

Deb, there are no words for your suffering.

Made donuts this morning...if you can believe it, I have never used canned biscuits before... it was an epic struggle. I followed the directions, I thought, and pushed a spoon into the seam. Apparently you're supposed to strip it of outer packaging first... so when that didn't work I moved to stabbing it with a knife, which caused biscuit parts to ooze out the holes. I was eventually able to peel it open, but jeez, what a struggle. I had told BF to buy "the cheapest store brand biscuits" per the recipe so of course he returned with butter flavored flaky grands, so my donuts are more like flaky donuts, but they taste good.

View attachment 1184751

For those who want the recipe, it's easy, once you get the biscuits open.
Follow the directions exactly to get the cheapest store brand biscuit storage device open.
Remove a hole from center of individual biscuit.
Fry in about half inch of oil, turning halfway until lightly brown.
Remove from pan, place on plate with paper towels to help sop up the oil. Let cool a few minutes. Dip in a cinnamon sugar mix (I think I used 1 cup sugar to 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon, mixed well), then eat.

I remember making donuts that way in elementary school. Teacher had a few paper lunch bags with different sugar combinations, kids would toss their donut in the bag they wanted and shake.
We got into making waffles with the tubes of cheap jumbo cinnamon buns. Just squish them in the waffle maker, cook, top with the glaze. Kids loved them.

 

[Beer can]

As annoying as they sound, I would still like to have a flock of guineas. I just cannot do it as long as our two youngest dogs are around. They are just too 'prey' oriented to trust them.

I was driving on the highway one day, crested a hill and slammed on the brakes as there was a flock of at least 40 Guineas occupying the whole lane I was in. They were just idly moseying along like Guineas do, heads turning every direction like they owned the road. I finally had to honk the horn before they decided to move off the road but they gave me quite a laugh.

I haven't bothered with guineas since I lost them all one after another hit in the road. Our house and coop over a hundred yards from the road, 100s of acres of fields and woods surround our place. Dumb guineas would go down and play in the road...

Guineas are better at evading dogs than cars. And they fly amazingly well.

My guinea cock would fly up and sit on top of our second story chimney to make his racket. I loved the noise they made. Every time DW was outside he'd scare her, run full bore at her and then strut around her feet like a cat. Only person he'd do it to, must have thought she was part of his harem Lol!

 

[bruceha2000]

Our basement is basically a roost cellar/crawlspace. We try not to go down there any more than we need to due to our allergies. I spent a good 30 minutes sweeping down cobwebs. Amazing how quickly the creepy crawlies can take over any given area. And I hate cobwebs.

A roost cellar? You need to put chickens down there

Don't sweep, vacuum. Better for your allergies, and lungs in general.

We would love to dig out the basement and finish it.The walls and foundation are poured cement but the Amish guy who built it had some of the forms buckle on him so in places the walls are over a foot thick.

Don't do that. It doesn't matter if your walls are 5' thick, what matters is the footers and if you dig out the dirt, you will compromise the entire foundation because the footers are no longer stable.

@Latestarter get some quotes. Lifting a structurally sound rectangle isn't that hard, some cribbing and likely 2 or 3 I-beams. Find someone who already owns a skidsteer, the cribbing timbers, jacks and I-beams. No idea what the actual poured foundation would be but corners cost and you have only 4 . It would be easy to quote.

 

[Beer can]

Yellow squash, steamed with salt and basil and then melted butter in a bowl is the only squash I like. I hate all of the others that I have tried

I'll eat squash and zucchini every day like that in the summer while they're growing bonkers. I love them fried but steaming them is so much easier.

 

[Beer can]

fruit flies are a pain for sure.... Set out a small glass of cider vinegar... somewhere away from the fruit. I use a mason jar with some wine too... ad in some dish soap... make the hole on the cone about the size of a pin head.... They cant figure out how to get out.

I use a plastic sandwich bag hole cut in corner and taped or rubber banned to the jar. Cider/wine vinegar, wine, even beer, they love beer.
Yummy, swig of beer with a fruit fly or two...I hate fruit flies.

 

[Beer can]

Hey Micro, my house is on piers and the land slopes enough that I could have a walk out basement. Do you have any idea how much it cost for the neighbor to jack the house, dig it, form it, pour it, and set it? I have a ~1550 sqft ranch so it would double my usable space as well as allow me to better grade around the house.

My aunt and uncle did this, same thing ranch house on piers.
Had a house moving/crane company move the house over, built the basement, and then set the house on it. Not sure how much $$.