Reflections of My Life

katlupe said:
Aide called in sick of course, on the first day. She sounded sick.

The elevator engineer and repair guy showed up and have been working on the elevator all morning now.

One of my friends/neighbor and I walked the hallway together. It went fast having someone to talk to. Yesterday I only did two laps, today three. We could have done more, but I have to be careful when my knee starts hurting. Maybe we will do it again later in the afternoon. I have done this three days in a row. It is good for me.
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It's wonderful you were able to do two laps! I am glad you enjoyed it with your friend/neighbor!
 

katlupe said:
Daddy

He always said I was the apple of his eye,

I ran home crying, as fast as my legs would carry me.

My friends ganged up on me,

because I was the littlest, the youngest,

picking on me, causing my tears to flow,

"Oh Daddy, Daddy," I cried,

"They were so mean to me!"

He dried my tears with his handkerchief,

and said, "Come with me."

In the middle of a big project,

building a gas station, which would

become our family business.



Took me across the road,

gave me a candy bar and a bottle of pop,

then a big spoon to dig in the dirt,

while he set to work on the building.

Pretty soon he took a break,

took me by the hand, carrying a minnow bucket,

that fishermen use. We crossed the road again,

followed the path beyond our house,

to the creek that ran along the back,

climbed down to the edge of the water,

he said, "Look at the fish!"


"Oh Daddy, there are so many!"

"Let's catch you a few."

"Will I cook them to eat?" I questioned.

"No, we will set up a home for them,

in your bedroom, so you can watch them,

take care of them and spend time

getting to know them." I was excited,

to say the least. I loved fish and couldn't believe

I could have them in my bedroom!


Then we picked out some gravel from the bottom

of the creek, some rocks and some seaweed and plants.

Back at our house, we put the minnows in a big glass jar

with the gravel, the rocks and the plants.

"Let's put the minnows in now," said Daddy.

We watched them swim, then scattered some crumbs to eat.


I remember for years and years,

always having a minnow tank in my bedroom.

Something my Daddy and I did together,

every time the last minnow died.
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What a beautiful and touching poem about you and your dad! Loved it!❤️
 
Just for today, I am not going to think about the things I can't do. I will think about them tomorrow.......or maybe never. I rarely get depressed or even cry about anything other than deaths or sickness of my critters or loved ones. I just live with it and then tell myself I can't do anything about whatever it is. If I think about it for any length of time though, I find there is always something I can do. Or should do.

Yesterday my friend made me see that even when things are very hard to do or figure out, that if you really think about the problem there will be a solution. I lived for many years (twenty-three) as a modern homesteader and I solved many problems. Today, I am going to start working on my laundry problem. I don't have a clothesline or a rack (which I am going to start planning on buying in the near future) but I have a bucket I can use to wash some clothing that I need. When I use to wash my laundry outside at my homestead, I used that time to think. I am going to think about ways to get down those stairs. I am pretty sure I can get back up them but that will hurt. Probably won't be today. Maybe on Tuesday when they are doing those inspections (since I think the code enforcement will be here too).

Last night for some reason, I did not clean my kitchen. Just made the coffee and went to bed really early. Today I am up at 3 and ready to tackle those dishes. The thing is that when you cook you will always have dishes to wash. I like to cook and sometimes I complain about it but I really like to do it. Whatever I get in a restaurant usually is not as good as what I can make myself. So it is just laziness that gets me there. Or Sonny. He likes to eat out.
 
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This morning I washed all the dishes and putting a dent in the laundry pile.

My friend and I walked 5 laps and our other friend joined us on the last 2. So I have walked every morning for a week now. Even when the elevator is working again I will continue this. It is so much easier to walk out my apartment door and do my exercise walk. In nice weather I will still walk the park but I don't really walk that in the same manner. I stop and look at things, take pictures and talk to people. Sometimes I sit down and just enjoy the park and the people.

Now I am just having some more soup for lunch.
 
Glad you're exercising! If the stairs are an issue, maybe if it's in your power, in the future, to move to an apartment on the first floor so you don't have to deal with stairs?

Also, when we used to travel in Europe and didn't have a way to wash our clothes, every evening I would wash them in the sink and hang them up in the bathroom to dry. The bucket in your case could be useful. You could let your clothes sit in the soapy water, scrub them a bit, then rinse 2x and hand squeeze dry.
 
It always confuses me for a second when I read mention of the ''first floor''.. in the UK the first floor is the first one Above ground

The bottom floor where no stairs are need for access is the Ground floor.. then 1st..second , third etc.. :)
 
hollydolly said:
It always confuses me for a second when I read mention of the ''first floor''.. in the UK the first floor is the first one Above ground

The bottom floor where no stairs are need for access is the Ground floor.. then 1st..second , third etc.. :)
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In my building the ground floor is called the Lower Level. Then the one above the ground is the first floor.
 
palides2021 said:
Glad you're exercising! If the stairs are an issue, maybe if it's in your power, in the future, to move to an apartment on the first floor so you don't have to deal with stairs?

Also, when we used to travel in Europe and didn't have a way to wash our clothes, every evening I would wash them in the sink and hang them up in the bathroom to dry. The bucket in your case could be useful. You could let your clothes sit in the soapy water, scrub them a bit, then rinse 2x and hand squeeze dry.
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Well, as I said I lived for over 23 years as a "modern homesteader" and we were off the grid for the last 20. I did not have running water or unlimited power. I washed all the laundry by hand and hung it outside on clotheslines. It was not easy because the water was very cold having come directly from my shallow well. It is nothing new to me. Right now I have a bunch of things hanging in my shower. I just ordered a type of plunger that (I used to have but left it for my husband to use) is used for washing laundry. And a drying laundry rack, the kind that folds up. I didn't bring the ones I had because I didn't think I would EVER be washing laundry by hand again. I can do this. It will save me the money for the washing machines downstairs.
 
hollydolly said:
I understand that's quite unusual for the USA isn't it Kat?.. I'm led to believe that most other buildings call the ground floor the first floor there..
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Not around here. Even the hospitals call it the ground floor, basement or lower level and where I go to therapy I go to the 2G floor. The first floor is where you usually walk in from the street or outside entrance stairs.
 
palides2021 said:
Glad you're exercising! If the stairs are an issue, maybe if it's in your power, in the future, to move to an apartment on the first floor so you don't have to deal with stairs?
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I missed that question.......no, I do not want to leave my apartment. They will fix it. How can you have a seniors/disabled apartment building with no elevator? I have the best apartment in the building and I will not give it up so easily.
 
katlupe said:
I missed that question.......no, I do not want to leave my apartment. They will fix it. How can you have a seniors/disabled apartment building with no elevator? I have the best apartment in the building and I will not give it up so easily.
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Oh, now I understand. This is a special apartment building. Sorry if I misunderstood.
 
palides2021 said:
Oh, now I understand. This is a special apartment building. Sorry if I misunderstood.
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You do not need to apologize. You said nothing wrong. I was just explaining because everyone keeps telling me that and I am willing to wait for them to fix it. I know it is not a quick fix. Moving out would not be any easier for me having to take all my furniture and stuff down the stairs. And here............I can have my bunny.
 
katlupe said:
Not around here. Even the hospitals call it the ground floor, basement or lower level and where I go to therapy I go to the 2G floor. The first floor is where you usually walk in from the street or outside entrance stairs.
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that's what I'm saying... the floor where we walk in from the street is the Ground Floor here.. so the apartments on that floor just inside the street door are called ground floor flats...
 
I am looking through my kindle right now at some keto cookbooks I had bought some time ago. When I still lived at my house. I want to make keto hushpuppies adding the cornbread extract to it. Instead of deep frying I will put it on the crispin' tray in the Nuwave oven. I don't have an air fryer but think this cooks the food about the same as that. I love southern and Cajun foods and have been experimenting to make them keto.
 
hollydolly said:
that's what I'm saying... the floor where we walk in from the street is the Ground Floor here.. so the apartments on that floor just inside the street door are called ground floor flats...
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So what do you call the floor below that? In my building you walk into that from the street at the back of the building and that is where the ramp is. That is called LL (lower level).

I made a mistake reading what you wrote or maybe I made a mistake in what I wrote. I am confused now.
 
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katlupe said:
View attachment 91189

Meet "Rabbit" My House Rabbit Companion

Where I live we are allowed to have one pet with no deposit, as long as you have a doctor's slip. My doctor asked me what to write and he wrote it out. If you have another pet, you have to pay $100. deposit on that one. Rabbit is quiet and doesn't make any noise, unless he hears an unusual noise, then he gives me the rabbit warning sign of stomping both back feet loudly.

I never planned to have a rabbit much less a "house rabbit" at the time I got him, I had 3 horses and 2 cats. My other animals had died off by then. In 2014, my husband came in the house from the barn to tell me there was a rabbit in the barn. When he said it was white, I asked if it was a cat and he thought it was a rabbit. I thought that because we had a stray tomcat that came to our house and acted like he lived there, so I thought it was him. I went out to the barn with him and yes, there was a white rabbit!

He was digging around in the hay and didn't seem to be scared of us. But if I tried to get near him, he scooted out of sight. He had made a bed hidden under a pallet of hay. Now I have been writing and attending homesteading events for some time so I was familiar with rabbits. My brother had one as a pet when we were kids but she was kept outside in a shed. I sat on the bench watching him and I instant fell in love with this little guy! When I saw his side though..........it was clear that an owl had picked him up somewhere and he must have gotten away somehow. He had marks on his side. I wanted to doctor him, but he would not let me that near him.

He ended up living out there from Sept to early Feb. Some nights he'd go off and wouldn't come back for 2 or 3 days. I'd go crazy with worrying knowing something would get him. We lived in the middle of the state forest and there were a lot of coyotes and other critters out there. I heard owls every night and baby rabbits screaming right after that hoo hoo. So I was scared and wanted to bring him inside if I could get a hold of him. Plus that was a very cold winter with temps -26.

Well he healed on his own. Eventually, I caught him (but that is another story to tell) and brought him inside. I researched online about caring for a pet rabbit and discovered the world of "House Rabbits" and that is what he is. I had him neutered and he uses a litter box, but I didn't even have to teach him. Pretty much like a cat, just did it. When I moved from my house, I took him with me and he is the talk of the apartment complex. Everyone calls me "the rabbit lady." But lots of people have house rabbits, just not here.
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I really like animals, more than most people except for my wife and daughter...
 
I watch a couple different YouTube channels about people who have moved to France and they are really surprised to find that none of the apartment buildings have elevators at all. Kind of like some of the buildings in NYC that don't have any. One girl had to find a guy on the street to help her carry her brand new mattress up to her apartment. The delivery man would not do it.
 
katlupe said:
So what do you call the floor below that? In my building you walk into that from the street at the back of the building and that is where the ramp is. That is called LL (lower level).
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there's no floor below ground floor in most places here , in the few places there are they're called Basement flats.. .. but if for example we're going to the floor under ground in the car park it's called lower ground.. or in the Lift the button says -1
 

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