Thursday, January 11, 2024

The Night Of Living Strange-erously

Farmer H has been up to his strange antics again. It all culminated Wednesday night. A tale which will take three tellings. Here's the background info you will need.

Monday night, a smoke alarm started chirping. We argued over which one, with me being proven correct. It was the one in the hall between the boys' bedrooms, not the one in the kitchen. Farmer H took it down. Put in a battery. Put it back up. And then the chirping resumed. He diagnosed an expired battery, and vowed to get some more of the 9-volt kind.

When I made our pot of sausage/potatoes/cabbage on Friday, some of the juices bubbled out. I thought I caught it in time, and wiped off the stove and burner edge. Turns out more ran down under the burner, into the burner drip pan, and charred when I was trying to re-warm a pan for supper the next day. It was really charred. So I asked Farmer H if he could get some burner drip pans when he got the batteries. He agreed. Forgot on Tuesday. But picked them up at the Devil's Playground on Wednesday.

Wednesday afternoon, as I climbed into T-Hoe to go to town, I twisted my knee. It's the good bad knee. The one that's had two surgeries. I just had my foot turned too much on the running board when I sat down on the seat. It was a sharp pain, like a torn cartilage feels, although I've had cartilage removed (TWICE!) from that knee. I could hardly get my leg in through the door. Usually I can adjust that little catch, and walk it off, and be fine as long as I make sure my foot isn't pointing sideways next time I climb back into T-Hoe. But this pain persisted, even after I was home, and had been sitting at the kitchen table with my scratchers.

I made a baggie of ice cubes from FRIG II's freezer, and rolled up my pants leg to hold it in place. It made my knee feel better. By the time Farmer H came home from bingo with the batteries and burner drip pans a couple hours later, my ice was partially melted.

"Could you put this in the freezer for me? Laying down, but with the top where there water won't leak out?" You know, because if water is along that close-y part, it will freeze, and force the close-y part apart.

Farmer H took my baggie of ice, and stood with the freezer door open.

"What's wrong?"

"I cain't find no place to put it."

"Fine. I'll do it myself. Just leave it."

"Well. There ain't no room."

"Just lay it on a bag of food!"

Sweet Gummi Mary! FRIG II's freezer has four shelves! Plus four shelves in the door! How can Farmer H not find a place for a regular size baggie of ice? When I checked later, he had set it on a little ledge, third shelf down, STANDING UP! So instead of having a flat baggie of ice to put on my knee next time, I'd have a log of ice frozen in the bottom of a baggie.

I moved it to the top shelf, on top of a bag of frozen chicken chunks. It fit perfectly. No adjusting of any freezer items necessary.

Tomorrow, more strangeness from Farmer H...

4 comments:

River said...

"There ain't no room" Hah! Only a man would say such a thing. I bet there's enough room for half a deer if YOU look in there and maybe move a couple things.

Hillbilly Mom said...

River,
EXACTLY! Sometimes you just have to stack something differently. This was a clear space on top of a bag with frozen chicken chunks. Didn't move a thing. And my ice baggie had just the right little concave shape the next day to fit on my kneecap.

Kathy's Klothesline said...

I have a similar tale about ice!! When we unload the RV, there is always a partial bag of ice we purchase along the way. This time, the bag was almost full. We don't leave anything in the fridge this time of year, since we have to winterize the unit. Imagine my surprise when I saw that he had left the bag of ice on a bench in my garden. It was still frozen, since the temperature from the night before was quite low. I said to the man who was willing to just let the ice he purchased melt that perhaps he could put it in the freezer in the house and actually use the ice he paid for. He informed me that the freezer was full and there was nowhere to put it. We actually have two freezers, the one inside is full, but the one outside is not. I suggested that he might try rearranging the frozen items to make room. Such a deep sigh you have ever heard erupted from his chest. I picked up the bag and took it inside and emptied it into the ice container that was empty. It takes a village ... or one woman with a brain.

Hillbilly Mom said...

Kathy,
I will wager that I HAVE heard such a deep sigh! What a genius and a trailblazer you are, for such a creative solution as putting ice in an ICE CONTAINER in the freezer! HeWho had better not be constructing a shelf to hold HIS Nobel Prize for Common Sense.