What did you do in the garden today?

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. Yesterday was a very long day for me. The countertop installers were at my door, promptly at 7:30 am. DD was still in the process of disconnecting the sink, and the workmen were surprised by the lady plumber (not her regular day job, she's a business analyst). The room is almost completely put back together. But I think I'll skip the cabinet painting and just do some deep cleaning and freshening up the wood cabinets. The only time I got close to the gardens was in the afternoon while sitting with the chickens. As soon as I got into the big garden a hawk flew over my head and reminded me to get back to my hens. This rainy morning after feeding the chickens I picked another half pound of green beans, two okra, a jalapeno and an accidental poblano. I also picked another 2 pounds of SM tomatoes. I have a batch of tomatoes working on their first cooking right now. This is going to be my last batch of sauce. The remaining tomatoes will be turned into salsa. I'll be slicing up more peaches for the freezer today. As for the issues with Walmart: it depends on the location, the community and the management. The local (to me) Walmart is reasonably well managed. This is evident by the friendly / helpful attitude of the majority of the workers. Although this store is smaller than the big Super Walmart about 10 miles away, it is a much better shopping experience. This is the same with any chain store, it depends on the community it is serving and management. Many people rave about Tractor Supply. I cringe whenever I go there because the closest one too me is so badly managed and the cashiers are not familiar with farm products. It's evident these young people are from the little town to the north of the store which is not exactly a farming community. While they are polite and friendly they don't know very much about the products they are ringing up. But, at least they have something of a work ethic. People are different everywhere and have different skill levels. With so many people unwilling to work at these lower paying jobs, those who have a decent work ethic struggle to develop the skills to be successful. I've found it's more productive to be patient with cashiers and other retail workers who, despite the pandemic, are still trying to keep the stores we depend on in business. Have a great day everyone.

Old kitchen

updated, but not totally complete kitchen

 

[WthrLady]

Woke up to DH telling me he was heading to work, and oh by the way, the dishwasher is broken. UGH. One of the sucky things about working from home, getting stuck with the crap that sucks up the day, but needs done.
DH has NEVER had to deal with this crap.
SO two hours on hold with whirlpool for a 3 month old EXPENSIVE dishwasher, for a CS agent to answer and with apparently no higher than a third grade education to answer. Her reply to my plea for help was to read from a repairman's manual, which I also have, but due to machine being new, should not have to touch.
She couldn't pronounce half the words. That alone puts me in bad mood.
No repairman spots for three weeks out, so on to the floor I went. Crap.
Another hour later, drip pan emptied, NO IDEA why it filled, no leaks detected, machine back together and I'm 3 hours behind in my workday, and will miss my only social engagement of the whole month to catch up on missed work. Crap crap crap.
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Re Her Walmart. It was a nice area of town, until the bus line came in. Part of the problem is that it is only two blocks from the freeway and theft isn't punished harshly enough. Employee hands are tied and that's if the thieves are even caught. You NEVER go in there on the weekends or after dark. Period. Shame really.
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Few more tomatoes to pick today.
Off to work. Have a good one all.

 

[BullChick]

I picked all of the tomatoes, and pulled the plant. I also cleared most of the big garden out. I still have that one pumpkin finishing up.

The tomato bread is in the oven, and the part to fix the vacuum will be here soon. I hate to admit it, but I almost junked the vacuum over a $12 part. I tried everything, including taping the hose, but it never lasted long. Duckling and I both looked, and the hose didn’t look replaceable. I finally decided, before ordering the vacuum in my cart I couldn’t actually afford, to go to the Bissell site. I discovered that I still have 8 weeks on my warranty, and that while they don’t seem to have the hose I need, I found the instructions to replace it. I laughed at how simple it is. Twist the hose off the vacuum. I was trying to disassemble the entire thing!

 

[NewBoots]

Behold my mutant tomato!

Got a 20' leash to put on Penny so I don't have to worry about her deciding she doesn't want to be caught. Dropped the leash and let her wander as she wanted, just called her to me from time to time for pets and kisses. Long story short, I was able to work in the garden this morning. Cut back the yellow pear cherry tomatoes, watered everything, picked tomatoes (including mutant monster above), made scrambled eggs with oatmeal (used up some old eggs) for my ladies, sold a dozen fresh eggs, and cleaned the poop boards. A very good morning over all.

Todays plan is to make more apple butter, make peach butter, and maybe another batch of cowboy candy. Then I'll have the fridge cleared of fruit that might spoil. Oh and some more dill pickles too since I found some beautiful fresh dill yesterday.

 

[BullChick]

All that is compacted. I have lines on the carpet, and I was giggling the whole time just feeling the suction. I forgot what a working vacuum felt like!

The piece I thought was part of the hose.

 

[WthrLady]

AHHHHHHHHHHH!

 

[Elyrian1]

I love seeing people fix stuff rather than just junk it.

Sorry about your dishwasher @WthrLady. Something very similar happened to my in-laws with their brand new one. A little plastic tab from... somewhere?... broke off and got in the motor. It snapped all the plastic fins off the motor and the darn thing wouldn't drain.

Watered the plants yesterday, some of them are still hanging on!

 

[WthrLady]

To do that mine would have to get by two filters.
The quality of customer service, abhorrent.

 

[Elyrian1]

To do that mine would have to get by two filters.
The quality of customer service, abhorrent.

Yup, it got past two filters! Is yours a GE as well by any chance? Sorry about the customer-lack-of-service. Bit of a running joke in our family about that these days.

 

[Sally PB]

I weeded the heavy soil garden because we had rain the other day, and weeds will actually pull out of the soil. Think I might be a bit sore tomorrow, but I'll be going to the chiropractor, so he'll put me back to rights.