Last Friday of January

[Colliemom]

Morning. Sunshine and 2° And a real feel of it’s 5°. When I got up this morning at seven it was -10° with a real feel of -17. So it has warmed up very well and it’s supposed to go into the teams again today I think. Shirl, sounds like a doozy storm out your way.

Furnace tech just left from doing the yearly cleaning of my boiler. I have hot water baseboard heat. This is a new furnace, 2 years old. So the annual service cleaning and check is done each year, around it’s installation date. All’s well. Course one never knows when a zone valve might finally give up the ghost, then I’ll have to call them out to replace it.

Nothing special on the agenda for today. Have some touchup painting to do in my bathroom around the sink where I caulked, so will get on that. Everything’s done up stairs as far as painting, touchups etc., so off to the basement now. To answer your suggestions about the bathroom flooring. I could probably buy the flooring, but it would have to stay in the bathroom for at least 3 months. Don’t know it it’s good for it to lay in a roll that long. Might discolor the side laying down on the floor Too much of a hassle to get it into the basement, plus don’t want anything on the floor because I am going to paint it. When I buy it, the installers bring it with them when they come, so would probably have to bring it home myself which I’m not doing. I might just leave the whole thing ride for awhile and let fall what may.

Barbie, hope you get your UTI under control. Like the discussion on pillows. I too buy the cheaper ones. I actually sleep on two. Have all my life. Bottom one is a little firmer than the top one, so I can snuggle into the top ine without going flat. Works for me.

Keep thinking I should get an air fryer, but wondering which is best. Haven’t really looked into them. I’m not one to get the latest new gadgets unless I think I would really use it. Don’t want a kitchen full of unused stuff. I have a toaster oven which I use periodically depending on what I need it for, but thinking of getting a different one as not overly enamored with this one. Need a little longer cooking time.

Rattling on about nothing here, so will knock it off and get busy. Just renewed my Security software for my computer, phone and IPad, so need to install the the support portion of it now. Off to do that.

[Redetotry]

Good Morning All,
Sue I have a Cuisinart toaster/oven and I seldom use my large one. It bakes as well as my and even my 8" cast iron skillet fits which I love for baking chicken especially. Do you have alternative heat of any kind in case your power goes out? I keep saying I am going replace our generator that had a factory flaw but the company refused to own up to the fact and wouldn't replace it. Covid hit just as I had made plans for a replacement so that didn't happen. I think it is around 33 now at eleven and we have a light dusting of snow. Hope the dusting is all we get!

Glad your pillows work Barbie and I hope your UTI is better. Do they ever have a repeat 24 or maybe it is a 48 hour lab test done when you finish a round of antibiotics to see if the infection is really gone? If not I would ask for one. I go to a woman for massage who also does Reiki and that has really made a difference. She seems to 'know' where and how much pressure to use, which for me is never very much! I come away very relaxed. I had acupressure once when I was in San Diego and could barely walk for a week. However I love acupuncture, it really helps but it really depends on how well the practitioner is trained. There are a lot who are not very safe or good.

I think I need a nap already. Maybe a good idea since Pippa is sleeping! She is growing fast and weighs 5 pounds. She eats almost a cup of food a day!

[Acadianmom]

Sue, the air fryer I have is the small Dash one. The basket is only 6 and 1/5 inches across. It only holds one hamburger patty or a piece of steak. I have cooked chicken wing pieces and they came out good. I think there are air fryers that are also toaster ovens. I don't have enough counter space to have one of those.

Barbie, you must not have an AT&T phone. They started wanting me to get a new phone last year. I ignored them and then they said they were sending me a free phone. I ended up buying one from Samsung myself since I didn't know what they would send and I don't trust them. It's the 3G phones that will stop working. The one I have now is 5G. There has been a lot on the news about airports not wanting 5G towers near an airport because they might mess with some signal from planes. I'm wondering how that is going to affect people with 5G phones.

It's overcast and 48 today. It only got down to 42 last night but it's suppose to freeze tonight. It's not suppose to rain but the radar shows rain just off shore. The weather channel is saying it could be in the 20's in some parts of Florida Saturday night.

Last night when I was going through the things I took out of the shelves I found a journal I kept when Harold was here after his stroke. No wonder I lost 30 pounds, I didn't sleep for 2 months. I forgot how bad it was.

Martha

[MandysMom]

I love my Cosori 5.8 Bluetooth air fryer. Yes it's big, but I can do 4 burgers so son and I can eat twice. I am a meat eater and cooking just 1 burger or part of a steak, just wouldn't work for me. Mine is a year old now and I use it sometimes as many as 3 times in a day. I pour out drippings and wipe with paper towel, then more thorough cleaning once a day, which is a 5 min project of wipe, soak basket/bucket with soapy water, while I wipe interior of cavity, use soft brush on bucket/basket, rinse then turn upside down to dry. Smoke never an issue and I cook so many things that I now keep a air fryer file on my phone for quick reference as I figure out best timing/temp for things. If you eat processed freezer food, I learned during holidays when we buy certain appetizers, that many frozen foods now haf AF directions on package. I love my instant pot, but now use the Cosori AF even more. Crispy chicken wings in 15-20 min is one of my top favorites. A air fryer is only a good purchase if you decide to use it routinely. I don't eat veggies but I've heard tossing them in a bit of olive or avocado oil and air fry cooking is fabulous. There are several sites on you tube with meals where you cook meat and veggies at same time like sheet pan dinners. Kathy of Fabulously Frugal devotes her channel to air frying.
It's a cool day here, destined to barely reach 60 for an hour, but sun is shining. We need rain!
Keeping those in path of storm in my thoughts.
Barb, do get rechecked. Consider removing sugar from your diet as typically the bacteria involved love sugar! Drink plenty to flush your system. Real plain yogurt with live culture to help rebuild gut bacteria. Cranberry helps bacteria not stick to walls of bladder, but the juice is highly sweetened so get pills instead.
Velda

[Bethers]

I actually gave my toaster oven away after falling in love with my air fryer. It can do everything I used the toaster oven for and so much more. That said, unless you're willing to learn it and use it, it won't be the life changer for you as it is for me. I actually am bringing my larger air fryer with to Utah as I'll be there 7 months and can put it in the office kitchen. There are things I don't and can't do in the mini in my rig. Both of mine are made by Chefman and they've done well by me. For in a home I'd recommend one like my large one. This looks like mine:


After training all night today is muddier than any other so far. Ty didn't attempt to walk, just pranced around before the puddles and mud until he did his business. I'm thinking of walking through the park to the paved road in a bit where maybe we can at least get a somewhat better walk.

[Colliemom]

Thanks for the input on the AF’s. Will look into it a bit more. May not be worth it for me, but then….. I use my Forman grill a lot and occasionally my toaster oven.

BJ, no I don’t have a generator. Whole house ones are extremely expensive to buy and have installed and I don’t want to rely on a portable gas one. One becomes dependent on gas stations. If you have a multi day outage, you are eventually gonna need gas. And if the stations are affected, good luck. I saw that happen last month the when a snowstorm knocked out power to half the county next to us for a few days. People were posting on FB about having to drive out of the area to find gas for their generators. At least they were able to drive out, could have easily been snowed in. I have not had very many outages here in the past 25 years. Probably could count them in my fingers. None Have been caused by weather. Human caused from people hitting power poles or a transformer blowing type thing and have been just few hours type stuff. Whole house generators are hard to come by right now, cause they are shipping them to the tornado and other storm hit areas. My cousin downstate has has one on order since last August and is still waiting for it. So I haven’t decided if I can justify the cost to get one. I have been thinking about getting a gas stove installed in the house for a heat in case the power outage goes too long during the winter. . It’s a tossup which way to go. Summer is no issue.

[Bethers]

Sue, if you have gas to the house, how about a gas fireplace? You might enjoy it even when you have power.

[Colliemom]

Beth, we had a gas fireplace in the last house, but drawback is that they need a blower to move the heat around and that won’t work when power is out. I had it taken out as it was 10 years old and had a gas stove installed and that worked out great because it didn’t need a blower or anything and you could use it regardless of whether the power went out or not. I have no room in this living room for a fireplace and I don’t even know if I can put a gas stove in here either. There is less living room wall space in this house due to it being a split floor plan. And really no outside wall to vent it out as the porch runs along the only outside wall. Don’t know if it can be vented u der a porch roof. Not keen on having it go up through the ceiling and roof. But thanks for the thought But I keep thinking about it and if I decide I wanna do it I’ll have somebody from the stove place come out here and look it over.

[JudyJB]

Cool today at the Magic Kingdom, but really chilly tonight. Got setup at around noon and headed to park right afterward. Got back to RV about 8 pm, and I was really cold even though I had on long pants, short-sleeved t-shirt covered by very lightweight cotton hooded zip up, plus nylon wind breaker. Temp was about 57 by then. This is supposed to be non-busy time, but was more crowded than I expected, especially with children. However, two things really bothered me today:

- First was the very small white dog a strange lady had in a pink basinet on a stroller. Dog was dressed up in a blue satin jacket with a hood that made it look like a baby, especially since she had it wrapped up and covered with baby blankets--no doubt to smuggle it in. Dog could hardly see out of hood because she had it pulled down over its face. I could only tell it was a dog because she was feeding it ice cream. You cannot tell me that dog really wanted to be at Disney World dressed up as a baby!! One of the employees told me later that it was probably a lady who was a "regular" and smuggled the dog in often! She had the tiny dog almost completely wrapped up so you could only see a bit of white fur. I am certain this was NOT a service dog because Disney requires those to perform specific tasks, and this poor creature could barely move. I guess I feel sorry for the lady, but this was not an appropriate place for an animal and certainly not fun for him/her!

- Second, the temperature really dropped from about 69 to 57 around 5 pm. It also became very windy. I was amazed at the number of babies and small children who had very little clothing on them--like shorts and a t-shirt on a toddler or younger! Many parents had backpacks with them, so maybe extra clothing?? If not, why not put it on the kid or buy the poor child a sweatshirt and take him home!! I know parents take kids to theme parks as a treat, but late in the afternoon, most young kids are hungry, tired, and just plain cranky, and it is obvious they are no longer having fun!! And quite a few had to be terribly cold--I know I certainly was at that time.

Really worn out and tired, but had some leftover pizza. Got the furnaces and electric heater going now and place is warm.

[snowball]

my mom keeps her bills in a basket on her table so I decided to put them in some. manila envelopes according to what they were after I finished with it my brother answered my text should have gone into a folder oh well guess I will do it another day washed a couple loads of laundry one still in the dryer the other in a basket on my bed need to go fold it when this Murder She Wrote is over...won't take long it's a couple of sheets and pillow cases...and what is in the dryer is towels so will be ok till I remember to go get it
did a word search looked for golf pros even recognized some names
then vegged out watching a rerun movie on Hallmark... the Amish story
I haven't looked at the air fryers a lot my eldest dd sells PC and when I'm making a purchase like this I like to use her not that I get a discount cause I don't but it helps her in the long run... the space between the top cabinet and the counter is 13 inches so asked her how tall the PC one is but if I'm remembering the timing right it was while she was sick so I am sure that she thought that she would look it up when she felt better then forgot and I keep forgetting to remind her ... I bought mom a toaster oven a few years back (her oven wasn't working and thought at least she could make smaller things but I am sure that the only thing that it's been used for is for toasting bread... I know that is all I use it for... I ought to try using it for something else though..
the food I'd gotten was sweet and sour pork and one was a sweet and sour combo so the sauce was already on it... but I will keep in mind what you all have said if it was just for me I would probably get a smaller one but with being here I need a larger one.... I have heard that fries are really good in it... watched a Emmy made it today she did donuts in a air fryer as well as deep fried... she wasn't overly impressed with the air fryer ones and they didn't look that great either perhaps they were in long enough...
tried calling the bank today to see what I need to do to get my title to the 5th wheel of course to facilitate the call they wanted either account number which I don't have with me or SS number so I put in mine it says not recolonized I look at it and think I'm sure that is my number then thought I wonder if they want Larry's which of course I don't have... people may look at my place and think I'm disorganized but I know where stuff is so call my granddaughter and asked if she would go out to the 5th wheel and see if she can find the tax papers told her where to look and what year and yea she found it didn't even have to say "look with your women eye's" a favorite saying of her mother's but more to the boy's than the girls... so now I have the SS numbers and hopefully can get the information I need or they need...
I also called for my mail
didn't do any Swedish Weave though... I am starting to get worried about getting that soot out... found some on some white clothing of mine that didn't come out... almost think I will take it to a dry cleaners and have it cleaned that is if they have one here in town... I really don't want to have it not come out... do any of you have an idea of getting at least it's soot out of material?
made this potato soup today that mom had found the recipe and clipped out was pretty good made lots...
we have a daily paper here free even I read a couple days worth today one was talking about a fish that has been in an aquarium for they believe the longest of any fish in an aquarium something like 95 years named the fish Methuselah... it's an Australian Lungfish.....and then an article of new found species like 224 it was pretty interesting....
well you all have a great night
sheila

[MandysMom]

I'm chuckling at Judy thinking 57-69, is chilly! It was 69 here today and short sleeve tshirt is just fine. I don't even use long sleeves until its near 50 and a light jacket for 40's!
I'd check online reviews before buying a PC air fryer. They tend to be over priced and I have no idea if they are reliable or not. I can tell you they need space above as they vent out the back on most and mine would not fit under a 13 in overhang. It gets really warm behind ot, so not against wall either.
Strange Disney would require "specific tasks", as some animals are designated emotional support animals and that's pretty hard to measure. If they have certification and wear the vest, I believe federal law indicates they are accepted as support animal.
Have a good weekend.
Velda

[Pooker]

Sue, I recently bought a toaster/oven/broiler/air fryer and replaced my regular toaster/oven/broiler with it. Just about fits in the same place. I always use the toaster/oven to broil fish, chops, etc. I hope someone knows more than I do about using the air fryer part. Everyone seems to talk about pouring excess fat/oil, but I don't have a tray underneath to catch fat. The floor of the appliance is right below the bottom heat rod so no space to even put a piece of foil. My appliance came with only 2 trays: a mesh oblong basket with sides about 2" high and a pan that looks like a broiling pan. They don't fit together. So, folks, my question is how do I air fry things that might be messy? In the broiler pan? Then the air couldn't get under the food, right?

So far, I've only used the air fryer part to make some sweet potato fries, but they came out like baked potato, not crispy fries. Is there a secret?

Beth, yours sounds like it might be a combo thing too, any hints? Do any of the rest of you have a toaster/oven/broiler/air fryer all in one?

Evie

[BirdbyBird]

Velda, I am sure that Judy can explain better but I suspect that she is referring to tighten regulations of what animals and certifications will be accepted as documentation of a service animal. Those of us that live and work with animals and have trained well behaved animals have long followed the unethical certification of "support" animals that basically is no more than paying someone to mail you a certificate so you believe that you should be able to bring your pet anywhere you what. The problems and issues that resulted over the years did and does damage the ability of real service animals to be well accepted. I can usually spot the fakes by their lack of basic good manners and obedience in public. Just someone's pet with a vest.

[Acadianmom]

Evie, maybe try putting a rack on the pan to keep the food raised up. My air fryer has a metal basket with a floor with holes about a 1/2 inch above the bottom. You are right, you need something to keep the fat or juices from falling on the heating element. I would think that the only difference between broiling in your oven is that the air fryer part would blow the air around. I usually spray the food I cook with pam. That makes it crisper.

Martha