A Sinking Feeling

The very AUDACITY! I'm supposed to believe my lyin' husband over my truthful eyes!

For the past couple days, my kitchen sink has been draining slowly. I couldn't imagine why. At first I thought it was because I still had the faucet running water in the sink, after I'd pulled the plug, rinsing off the last of the silverware. But no. I was also slow without the faucet running. So took the plug/strainer all the way out, and found something unpleasant.

Pieces of food stuck down in my drain, too big to run down the pipe. I knew exactly what it was! Pieces of flat noodle and mushrooms, from the Hamburger Helper Stroganoff that Farmer H had been eating for supper the past three days.

I wondered why the containers I'd stored them in, the round plastic Chinese takeout containers that I fed him in, were so clean when I went to wash them. He'd had biscuits with the meals. I just figured he must have used the biscuits to wipe out the remaining particles and sauce in the container. Looks like he DIDN'T!

Of course I had to holler at Farmer H.

"Hey! When you bring your plate in here tonight, DO NOT rinse it in the sink! You clogged it with your other leftovers, and I had to pick out the pieces with the end of a paring knife!"

"I don't know how. I wiped out them bowls. Into the wastebasket. With my paper towel. Before I rinsed them."

"THAT didn't happen! I sure didn't eat that stuff, or run my food down the sink. It didn't jump over from the wastebasket! Funny how all those pieces ended up clogging my sink!"

When Farmer H brought back his plate (baked chicken, stuffing, and baby carrots with ranch dip), he didn't even make a pretense of wiping it out with a paper towel. He set it on the counter, a blob of dip still on the plate. But THEN he used his paper towel to clean up the pieces of previous food that I had left in the sink. As evidence. But mainly to shame him.

"I still don't know how them got there. I wiped out my bowl."

Denial is strong in that one.

The Pony Finds A Bargain

Neither of us had much to shop for on Errand Day, but The Pony found a bargain! 

"I can't decide what to have for supper. I usually just grab an apple with peanut butter for breakfast, and then eat one meal. I don't know if to have a frozen dinner from the freezer, or make something. I think I'll go back and look at the steaks."

That was a good decision. The Pony found a Kansas City Strip Steak on special, because it was the day after the Sell By date.

"Look Mom. I'm pretty sure it's okay. It's only one day, and it looks fine. It doesn't smell."

That's an 8 oz steak for $4.32. Which is half price from the original amount. It normally sells for $17.99 a pound!

The steak still smelled fine when The Pony unwrapped it at home. Just a bit of discoloration from where the tag was. But the whole thing would turn that color anyway past the date. Sometimes before, from my experience. I'm pretty sure the stores put some kind of coloring in the meat! Aha! I just looked it up, and they use carbon monoxide. Which is apparently banned in Europe.

Anyhoo... The Pony said that steak looked like a FOOT! Heh, heh! I can see it.

The Pony's one meal was substantial:

That's homemade garlic toast, and some tortellini, not homemade. Along with some wine, and that Kansas City Strip. With the ambience of laptop keyboard lights!

Looks good enough to eat! And it certainly was a bargain.

Farmer H Feeds Some Pig To Speckled Pepper

Sweet Gummi Mary! I don't know what Farmer H was thinking! Yesterday was Glazed Ham for lunch at the Senior Center. I suppose they gave extra to Farmer H. He IS their pet, you know. And he didn't buy an extra dinner to bring home.

When I got back from town, there was a styrofoam container lying open on the side porch. It wasn't chewed up or anything. Then Jack came around from the front porch, looking quite portly. I recall Farmer H saying he was dragging a deer leg around the front porch, so I attributed his girth to snacking on spoiled wildlife appendages.

Anyhoo... the truth came to light later in the evening. I was concerned about Pepper having enough food. He'd been kind of wild that afternoon, trying to get in the laundry room door. His food pan was empty. I thought maybe he was hungry, and knows his food comes out that door.

"He has plenty of food. I fed him already. And earlier, he had some ham I brought home. Jack had two pieces, and Pepper had one."

"You gave Pepper some HAM? I don't know if that's good for a puppy. He just learned how to eat solid food."

"He was fine. He really liked it."

Flash forward to this morning at 6:00 a.m. I was sitting on the short couch, with Pepper snuggled next to me, chewing on his blue towel while I petted him. Pepper grew restless. He stood up. But instead of looking over the side of the couch, or across at Farmer H... he stood looking at the back of the couch, and started HEAVING!

"Oh, no. Something is wrong with Pepper. He looks like he might throw up!"

"He's fine." Said Farmer H, watching Pepper's little body convulse and shake as he opened his mouth. Farmer H jumped up and grabbed Pepper with both hands and ran to the laundry room. "Here, let's go back outside!"

I heard the door open and close. It took a few minutes for Farmer H to return.

"Is Pepper okay? Did he get sick?"

"No. He didn't get sick. I was picking up the stuffing from that toy. Don't get him any more stuffed toys. It's all over the place." Said the man who had left a paper plate of moist food in Pepper's enclosure, which has been chewed to bits, with pieces in front of the laundry room door.

"It was a pet toy. I didn't think it would be that easy for a pup to destroy it!"

So not only did Pepper have a slice of ham, he might have eaten parts of a stuffed pig!

Pepper DID enjoy biting that pig. But I never thought he'd rip it apart.

No wonder the little guy's tummy was upset! I will make sure to get the next toy made of hard plastic or rubber. Pepper does not need to be full of stuffing. And Farmer H needs to quit giving Pepper people food until he's a little older.

The Pickling Of Mrs. HM

I found a new snack on the shelves of 10Box last Saturday. Of course I bought a bag to try. I offered to share with The Pony, who was not at all adventurous, took a single bite, and declared it a no. Too bad, so sad! That meant more for ME!

It's a new snack made by Pringles. That's why I was at that aisle anyway, getting Sour Cream and Onion Pringles for The Pony's snack while helping me install TurboTax on my new two-Christmases-ago laptop. These are called MINGLES. I suppose because it's two flavors in one. These are Dill Pickle and Ranch.

They are shaped differently, but the same consistency of those Vlasic Pickle Balls that I had a while back. The same consistency of Planter's Cheese Balls. Very airy.

I like the Mingles because a serving is 37 pieces (as seen above) for 150 calories. They go well with a Shasta Zero Sugar Cola. In fact, because of their bow-tie shape, I bite them in half. So that's like having 74 pieces, heh, heh! 

I have a gripe about false advertising again! The back says there are "about 6" servings per bag. After meticulously counting them out for the past five days, I discovered that this bag only had five servings, and nine pieces left. That's 5 and 1/4 servings. Liars!

Anyhoo... the Mingles also come in Cheddar Sour Cream flavor, and White Cheddar and Ranch. I was in 10Box again, and got myself another Dill Pickle and Ranch, along with the Cheddar Sour Cream, and two bags of the White Cheddar and Ranch. The Pony is getting one of those, since the White Cheddar and Ranch sounded appetizing.

While checking out, the checker said, "Oh. YOU are the one buying these!" As if I am the only person depleting their stash! It had been 5 days! I was just getting more to have on hand.

"Yes. I've only had the pickle version, and it's a little too much Ranch and not enough Pickle. But they're pretty good. I figured I'd try the other flavors, too."

"Yeah, they're a little heavy on the Ranch. [So obviously, SHE had tried them, too!] You know, we used to have those Pickle Balls..."

"I know! I really liked them. I came back for more, but they were all gone!"

"Anything in a bin will disappear. It's just a one-time thing."

"That's why I'm stocking up on these! So I have some on hand if they're discontinued."

I have to finish my Pickle version before I open another bag. I'm leaning towards the Cheddar and Sour Cream.

I Crowed Because I Won $75, And Then I Met A Woman Who...

Monday had temps in the 40s, but the wind was gusting to 39 mph, and I didn't like the thought of the windchill. Have I mentioned that I'm always cold? And that I hate wind?

Anyhoo... I decided to stay home, and called Farmer H to ask if he'd bring me some scratchers. Specifically, some $5 crosswords, and some $3 crosswords. He did good! 

I won $6 and $12 on the little crosswords, and my last big crossword won $75!

I was really happy, because lately I haven't been getting many winners, and if they are, it's only the ticket value, or maybe double. I can't really complain, because my casino luck was good. 

Anyhoo... there's a checker at 10Box who always asks me if I've been doing any good with the scratchers. So I was happy on Tuesday to inform her: 

"I won $75 on a $5 crossword yesterday!"

"That's great. I won $1000."

"WHAT??? Which kind of ticket?"

"That newest $20 ticket. The 40th anniversary ticket. Out of the right machine."

"Congratulations! I'll be sure not to buy that ticket here, heh, heh!"

I was really happy for her. I don't play that $20 ticket, but The Pony does every now and then. This gal doesn't play the crosswords. So our wins can coexist without jealousy.

So sad that I had to rely on FARMER H to get a decent winner...

Sweet Snoozing Pepper

The Pony was here on Sunday to download my TurboTax on the new computer he got me a couple Christmases ago. It has Windows 11, which I've been avoiding. HIPPIE runs Windows10, which is no longer an option to use for this year's TurboTax. I swear, they're in cahoots with Microsoft!

Anyhoo... we brought Pepper in the house to be near us while we were computing and visiting. Pepper is not allowed the run of the Mansion. No siree, Bob! The Mansion is not puppy-proof. Pepper escaped one morning while Farmer H was putting him back on the porch. He had neglected to close the laundry room door. Pepper was roaming the kitchen, looking at himself in the oven door reflection. At least he didn't get to the basement steps. I would not have been able to get up fast enough to stop him.

Anyhoo... we had Pepper in the big box Farmer H used when bringing him home in SilverRedO. Pepper is getting almost too big to be contained by the box. He has learned that jumping against the side will tip it over. Also, he finds it particularly tasty.

We wrassled around a bit to wear Pepper out. Played tug-o-war with his blue towel. The Pony used Pepper's pink squeaky pig to distract him from tipping over the box. After about an hour of such play, Pepper grew drowsy. He was like a toddler fighting off a nap.

Just before his eyes closed for the nap. Looks like Pink Squeaky Pig was also tired out, lying face down with his ears drooping. Pepper slept on and off for an hour. He'd raise his head or sit up when one of us moved. Followed the sounds of us leaving the kitchen for the bathroom. He'd try to rally and play-bite if petted.

The Pony would hum a lullaby for Pepper. This was a magical sleep aid! He'd go right back to snoozing. Once he woke, refreshed, we played for about another hour. We had just put Pepper back into his porch pen when Farmer H came home.

Not that he would have cared. Farmer H seems to be allowing Pepper many privileges not afforded to my little Jack.

Such Deceptive Advertising

Sunday was spent with The Pony, downloading TurboTax on my new laptop, and just hanging out. We ate frozen Chinese dinners for lunch. I didn't really want to cook by the time Farmer H came home from his SUS2.5, so I'd told him in advance he was getting a frozen Hungry Man dinner. I asked what kind he wanted. He said Salisbury Steak, or Meat Loaf.

The selection in Country Mart did not include a Salisbury Steak. But it DID have a Grilled Beef Patty, which looked better than the Meat Loaf. They had the same side dishes. So I took the Grilled Beef Patty dinner, because that was the first kind Farmer H mentioned. 

I took out the box to read the directions. It could be microwaved or put in the oven. I figured that it was easier to put it in the oven while Farmer H was driving The Pony home. It would be done right as he returned.

It looked like just what Farmer H wanted. Hamburgers in gravy, with mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables. He had even seen the box, and according to The Pony, who showed it to him, he said, "Yum."

Well. Little did he know what was inside. I almost felt sorry for him!

Where's the BEEF? Those are the tiniest patties I have ever seen! They are the size of breakfast sausage patties! Nowhere near the depiction on the package! I don't think the brand Hungry Man is supposed to mean the man will still be HUNGRY after eating it! 

At least there was a plentiful amount of the mixed vegetables. And mashed potatoes. Farmer H said the patties were pretty thick. So there's that. He also said it tasted good. 

I did not ask if he would choose this meal again.