Tuesday, August 18, 2009

AWOL Brain

Brain I just walked out to get the mail, and when I got to the road, I remembered that I'd already picked it up when I came home from the grocery store this morning.

If anyone finds my brain, please return it to me. I miss it.

Remember when I wrote about my Mom finding raisin bread at the store for 50 cents, so she bought twelve loaves? I am my Mother's daughter. One of my favorite things at our local store is stopping at the area where they have a couple of carts filled with clearance or discontinued items. I've gotten bottles of wine for four dollars, cans of carrots for 40 cents, and other good bargains. I scored big today with Campbell's Chunky soup, the chunky sirloin burger kind...50 cents a can! Wow! That stuff is usually over two dollars a can! So I bought ten. Haha! I think there was one more can, but I wanted an even number. It was the healthy kind, with less fat and sodium, but I can doctor it up with plenty of salt, and throw some lard in there. I'm kidding--I try to get stuff with less salt when possible, and we put some on as needed. I save stuff like that for the winter, when we've been out and I don't have time for a "real" dinner--I serve it over rice. Aren't those little sirloin burgers just the cutest?

I get my stocking up tendencies from my Mom, obviously. I don't mind taking after my Mom in a lot of things--she's a very kind and sweet person, and that's much better than...the alternative!

One of the rare disadvantages to having a wooded property is the limbs that can come down in a storm. After yesterday's intense thunderstorm (we got over two and a half inches of rain in our area, more in neighboring areas), we had lots of small branches and a couple of big ones down. I walked around today and picked up the small stuff, but the big problem was in the front yard. Those branches didn't look as big when viewing them from the house! One was as big around as my arm, and I was able to pick that one up and toss it into the woods, but the other was more the size of my leg, and that one wasn't budging. I was able to move it a little bit so it wasn't against one of our little pine trees, but there was no way I could pick it up.

Front yard Even worse, there's a good-sized tree that is leaning over, and will eventually fall. It's been shedding bark for some time, so I think it's been in distress for a while. The storm yesterday finally did it in. It hasn't fallen, but it's leaning over the power line that goes from the pole to our house. I called the power company, and unfortunately, they can't do anything if it's not on the line. I suppose I could have said, "Oh look! It just moved and is on the line!" but that would be dishonest, wouldn't it? Bummer. Ken will have to take a look at it when he gets home. Maybe he can saw off the smaller branches at the top so it won't take out the line if it falls further, at least until he can get to the main part of it.

I'd much rather have a place out in the country with trees, though, than a place in town or in a subdivision. I don't like neighbors being too close, and I love being hidden back here (the foliage is especially thick in the summer). When we started looking for a house a few months after we got married, we agreed immediately that we wanted something away from town and not in a subdivision. We've both done the subdivision life, and didn't want to go back to that. We were just talking the other day about how fortunate we were to find this place. It's been seven years, and I still feel that way every day.

14 comments:

  1. I love getting a bargain. What a great idea for winter. You do have a wonderful place it sounds like. I don't blame you either because I wouldn't want to live in town or a subdivision. I love the country life!

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  2. Beth,

    I miss living out in the country. I used to live on 25 acres, with 200 acres all around me. Only thing I had to watch out for was Alligators.

    One of my room mates mother is a shopaholic. She clips coupons and can buy things for .03 cents a can. She buys more food than any one I have ever seen. So much that she took a spare bedroom and turned it into a mini-store, with shelves.

    Thanks for sharing. =o)

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  3. I am more inclined to want for the neighbors. I like going out and seeing and saying 'hey' to people on my run. The loss of privacy isn't that great, and it isn't like I need a secluded labatory as if I was an mad bio-geneticist or building a small particle accelerator for nuclear fusion or something!!

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  4. I'm the opposite of you when it comes to shopping. I buy the minimum, and I rarely look at the price tags. For me, grocery shopping is simply a matter of getting it over with as quickly as possible. I should be ashamed of myself, and I know it. On the other hand, I agree that a property in the country is the best! I live downtown now, but I do have a very small yard with some nice trees. But I miss the farm we had in Pennsylvania and the small farmlet in Connecticut. I have virtually no plot with enough sun to grow veggies. Durn!

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  5. Unfortunately, now the limbs are touching the power line, and they still can not come out and help because of liability. We are going to have to have the power cut, then trim the tree, and then restore.

    And yes, we have a well stocked pantry in the basement :o)

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  6. My dear Beth, the shock of seeing the brain sent mine into, a state of shock and as you probably know that a brain closer to 80 than 79 probably had some more brain cells die. lol You are always interesting.

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  7. Sorry about the trees, but living in your own private nirvana seems well worth it! I wish I cared more about finding a bargain. I'd probably have a few more pennies in the bank...!

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  8. For me to buy 12 of anything(I've never even been to Costco or places like that), you'd have to tell me it would never be available in the USA again..okay, except for the wine. I'm with you on the wine :-).~Mary

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  9. Hi Beth,
    If I see your brain wandering around Santa Monica, I'll put it on the next flight back to Nutwood. Would you mind doing the same if you find mine in your neck of the woods? I wouldn't want it crashing into any fallen tree limbs!
    Best,
    Marty

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  10. It's so good to like where you live, and I'm glad you do. I live in a neighborhood but have privacy. It's not a subdivision but an older street, I guess. I know about limbs and power lines, too! Good luck!

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  11. Ha! You left one can of 50 cent soup behind because you wanted to have an even number – I love that. I've got some little OCD behaviors, too. Like when I eat Skittles. I have to eat them an even number at a time, and the colors have to match of the colors. So like 2 blue ones, one for each side of my mouth. Or if I'm going got four at once, I'd have to have two of each color.

    The only times I can skip the color matching requirements are:

    1) When I'm down to the end of the bag, or
    2) In a theater that is dark enough that I can’t make out the colors. If it's a bright movie or there’s enough ambient light, then I am still responsible to make sure my colors match.

    The only time I’ll eat an odd number is when there aren’t enough left to eat two sets of two. And when that happens, it is imperative that you eat the last three together. Under no circumstances are you to leave yourself with JUST ONE SKITTLE. Because then bad, bad things would happen.

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  12. i would love to be in the country but it is too expensive. City living can suck. I do hope Ken safely gets that limb moved and your power line is ok and you two are also. I know your property is so beautiful..i always love the photos.
    congrats on the soup find! I love bargains too. Campbell's soup is soooooo good!

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  13. I know you love your home by your writings. Isn't it wonderful to love your home and surroundings so much. Too bad they make you wait until the power is off to do anything! You did do some stocking up! That's the kind of food you can keep forever though, good emergency food too.

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  14. Hi Beth,
    It is interesting to hear you say "you are your mother's daughter" I remember the first time my youngest did something and then was aghast to think OH MY GOODNESS that is just like my mother.
    Your property sounds absolutely serene.....We are looking forward to building our retirement home at a nearby lake where I have an old cabin.
    Who would have thought property values would go through the roof.
    Blessings to you and Ken,

    ALBERTA Lori

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I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you?