Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

Baymule

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White Elephant Christmas party simplifies matters. Each person brings one present. No more shopping for EVERYONE and buying stuff they already have, wrong size, color, don’t like it and so on. Not to mention the expense and time. Kids get presents from everyone, teenagers do too, but they can play White Elephant too, just bring a present.

Bring it up at Christmas, y’all talk about it.
 

Ridgetop

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Update:
1. Decided to buy nursing tops for DIL since the ones she already had (only 2-3) were tank style and the baby is arriving in a month. Found a pack of 3 long sleeved in cute colors and layered design with xlt reviews on Amazon.
2. Ordering a pair of fleece lined jeans for me for trips to Texas in December and February. Good reviews, stretchy, comfortable, affordable. Ordered size larger because of confusing reviews about size. Still have time to return and order different size.
3. Also ordering the companion volumes to the Dungeons and Dragons books for DD1's boys.
4. Will go to Ross on Tuesday (old folks day) to buy baking tools for DGS2 who has discovered a special interest in cooking. Last Christmas I gave him the Harry Potter Cook Book. He made treacle tart for his brother's birthday. It was a disappointment because he made it with Panko Crumbs and Karo instead of the bread crumbs and treacle the recipe called for. He also discovered that his mother does not own a rolling pin and dough cutter. What?! :oops: I showed him the old way of cutting the shortening into the flour with a pair of knives but told him I would fit him out this Christmas with baking tools. When he had to roll out the crust for the treacle tart, I showed him how to wrap a large can from the pantry in plastic wrap and use it to roll out the dough. While it was a stopgap in an emergency, it was not long enough. I have my grandmother's antique lemon juicer that I will give him too. I used to have 3 or 4 rolling pins, one was marble that you chill, the others wood. I use my grandmother's and think that the others might be in the shed. (I used the marble one for rolling vinyl floor tiles. LOL) I promised him that I would teach him cake decorating this summer too. This is the grandchild that does not like the sheep and is finicky about dirt so this is something I can work with him on. :D =D Found some stuff on Amazon that I ordered for him. I also found "baking beans". Anyone else wonder what those were or the term "blind baking"? I had to look it up on the internet after 60 years of baking! Apparently, it is the term for baking the pie crust before filling it with a custard or liquid filling. You line the bottom of the pie crust with parchment paper and put in dry beans, rice, or "baking beans" to weigh it down to avoid it getting air bubbles. "Baking beans" are porcelain weights shaped like beans or marbles. It works better than just pricking the dough with a fork. I found a set that is made in the USA. All the others were made in China, and I was worried about the possibility of lead. For the treacle tart he made we used rice instead which worked but was messy. Probably not a god idea to use dried corn! :gig

Rained all night Tuesday. Blue skies, but cold for past couple days. No more lambs. DH watching the election returns. I am not watching since I haven't had a good election since Reagan and Trump. Stock market soared when it looked like there would be a "red wave", probably dropped now.
 

farmerjan

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The baking beans here are called "pie weights"... very popular and do the same thing. I have a set... they keep the pie crust from bubbling up and getting air and yep, work better than just pricking it which is still better than doing nothing for prebaking a pie shell. I had never heard of it called blind baking but looked it up and saw that is a common name.
I like my pie crusts a little on the soggy side.. so......
Nice to find something that you and relate to him on a personal level like that. Sheep or goats or horses or cattle or turtles are not for everyone....
 

Ridgetop

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It was pleasant, and I retained my position as "SHE WHO KNOWS ALL" with my grandson. I have lost that position with 15-year-old DGS1 who could probably build his own computer from scratch and no longer brings me anything to repair or make. DGS2 and DGD1 still believe I could repair anything and have the ingredients to make anything. they need for school from my craft closet.

DGD1 brought me her baby banket that her other grandmother crocheted for her when she was born. It is an open shell pattern in fine yarn and she caught it on something and tore the edging. Naturally, I maintained my poker face when she said she knew I could fix it. DD1 was standing there hopefully as well. I rose to the occasion and assured them it would be no problem. However, I don't crochet and don't have wool that weight, feel, or color. Over the past 9 years it has faded with constant use and washing from a soft yellow to a grayish yellow. My reputation was going to suffer here. :confused: I kept putting off the repair and telling DGD1 that I hadn't had time to fix it. Yesterday, I grabbed the bull by the horns (figuratively since I would never keep an animal with horns - dangerous and tear up your fences). Went through my needlework boxes and found a twisted (not 6 strand) piece of embroidery floss in cream. The yarn looping the shells together was broken. First I tried using a fine crochet hook to loop through the shells. That didn't work at all. Then I had the bright idea to use a large crewel needle and just go through the loops that way. Eureka! You can't tell where the broken yarn was. :weee Pau-Pau (Chinese for Grandma) still rules! DGD1 is home with a cold and does not know yet that it has been repaired. Naturally, I will receive her thanks with aplomb and matter-of-fact acceptance of her grateful kisses. ;)
:love

Today is 15% off at Tractor Supply for military vets! If we were in Texas I would buy my gates, T-posts, and wire. Received my AG tax card so no sales tax. Sadly, we are in California. :hitI will have to wait until next year for the next sale. California won't honor the tax card and tax here is almost 9% which negates most of the discount. I wonder if TSC only offers the one-day military discount on Veterans Day or if they do it on other holidays like July 4th, etc. Anybody know?
 

Baymule

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No I don’t know about the Veterans Day discount. They conveniently exclude certain items and put a $$ limit on it. If y’all are coming after Thanksgiving, what about calling the store, asking if you can purchase now over the phone, to pick up by xx date?
 

Bruce

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The reasons for high acceptance rankings for black and hispanic applicants with low grades vs low acceptance rankings for Asians and whites with excellent grades are not making sense.
Incorrect understanding. No one gets into Harvard, MIT, etc if they don't have the grades. There was a discussion about this recently on the radio, one guest was (or had been? I don't recall) an admissions person at Dartmouth. She said that while all accepted applicants had the grades, those accepted under affirmative action were students that didn't have the same opportunities as others due primarily to financial situations. They showed the same promise of success but didn't have the "extra padding" (my words) on their resume which money can "buy" for other students to put in their application letters. She also mentioned some kids pay someone to write their application letters!

I just looked up acceptance rates
MIT - 7.3%
Harvard - 5%
Dartmouth - 9.2%
 

Bruce

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Back to the tractor pedal thoughts ;)

I was using my forks the other day. To see the front of the forks down near the ground I need to stand up while I move forward (and sometimes backwards). I'm not sure if I could do that with the twin pedals found on some machines like Deer. With a treadle you push down on the pedal, with the twins you push forward. Easy to push forward while standing? I don't know.

And since the brake pedals are forward of the treadle, I can inch forward or back and brake as needed while standing. I know I couldn't stand and do that on the "twin pedal" designs with the brake pedal on the left side. We all need at least one leg to stand on! ;)

I don't know if the treadle pedal on my Mahindra is significantly different than what is found on other makes though the Kubota looks to be fairly similar.

I think when it comes time to buy a tractor you and DH should "try before you buy" rather than write off some brands based on a pedal design you've not tried.
 

Ridgetop

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No tractor purchase for another year. Have to get the perimeter fence up and get moved first. :fl

Local fence guy is getting estimate together for us now. Landscaper installed a dozen different fruit trees last week. He put up a hot wire for the cattle - just hope the hogs don't decide to root them up! Tornado blew through northern Texas but missed Sulphur Springs by a few miles.

Incorrect understanding. No one gets into Harvard, MIT, etc if they don't have the grades.
That is correct, but those grades are then added to other things to determine admission ranking. There is a "personal score" assigned to students. Once the "personal scores" are added and subtracted to/from the grades, admission rankings change considerably. Some of the arguments were reported online with Alito's questions to the defense lawyers.

Some of the yarn I ordered arrived today. The rest will be coming next week. :) Plenty packed away for many months. Pretty colors. No need for tranquilizers when I knit. It also keeps me from snacking since I keep saying I will get :gig something after the next row! Not as good as exercise, but certainly keeps food out of my mouth.

Still no more lambs! The next due dates based on the markings will be 11/15, 11/17, and 11/25. I will have to wait and see. And if this is a year where all of them lamb 5 days past their due dates (as something happens in herds or flocks) then I need to add 5 days to each of those dates. Crazy year!

On a good note, we will hopefully be picking up a puppy from Erick in March when we come out for the wedding. I say "hopefully" because although the bitch is bred and xrays show at least 5-6 puppies who knows how many males or females will be born. We will know the end of November. If we don't get one from this breeding, Erick has another bitch being bred to the same male which will have a litter a month or two later. He is wondering now if he will have enough puppies for everyone that has been waiting for years. He hasn't bred a litter for the past 3-4 years due to health reasons and we have all been waiting for Lucky Hit puppies. We are all owners of previous Lucky Hit puppies and willing to wait for one of his! I am already on the list for another puppy 2 years after this one. LOL When we move to Texas, I hope to have the puppy trained and can move Rika part time to being a newborn lamb, yard, and house dog. She will be older and ready to retire to easier jobs by then. One more puppy to train before retirement.
 

Finnie

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Update:
1. Decided to buy nursing tops for DIL since the ones she already had (only 2-3) were tank style and the baby is arriving in a month. Found a pack of 3 long sleeved in cute colors and layered design with xlt reviews on Amazon.
2. Ordering a pair of fleece lined jeans for me for trips to Texas in December and February. Good reviews, stretchy, comfortable, affordable. Ordered size larger because of confusing reviews about size. Still have time to return and order different size.
3. Also ordering the companion volumes to the Dungeons and Dragons books for DD1's boys.
4. Will go to Ross on Tuesday (old folks day) to buy baking tools for DGS2 who has discovered a special interest in cooking. Last Christmas I gave him the Harry Potter Cook Book. He made treacle tart for his brother's birthday. It was a disappointment because he made it with Panko Crumbs and Karo instead of the bread crumbs and treacle the recipe called for. He also discovered that his mother does not own a rolling pin and dough cutter. What?! :oops: I showed him the old way of cutting the shortening into the flour with a pair of knives but told him I would fit him out this Christmas with baking tools. When he had to roll out the crust for the treacle tart, I showed him how to wrap a large can from the pantry in plastic wrap and use it to roll out the dough. While it was a stopgap in an emergency, it was not long enough. I have my grandmother's antique lemon juicer that I will give him too. I used to have 3 or 4 rolling pins, one was marble that you chill, the others wood. I use my grandmother's and think that the others might be in the shed. (I used the marble one for rolling vinyl floor tiles. LOL) I promised him that I would teach him cake decorating this summer too. This is the grandchild that does not like the sheep and is finicky about dirt so this is something I can work with him on. :D =D Found some stuff on Amazon that I ordered for him. I also found "baking beans". Anyone else wonder what those were or the term "blind baking"? I had to look it up on the internet after 60 years of baking! Apparently, it is the term for baking the pie crust before filling it with a custard or liquid filling. You line the bottom of the pie crust with parchment paper and put in dry beans, rice, or "baking beans" to weigh it down to avoid it getting air bubbles. "Baking beans" are porcelain weights shaped like beans or marbles. It works better than just pricking the dough with a fork. I found a set that is made in the USA. All the others were made in China, and I was worried about the possibility of lead. For the treacle tart he made we used rice instead which worked but was messy. Probably not a god idea to use dried corn! :gig

Rained all night Tuesday. Blue skies, but cold for past couple days. No more lambs. DH watching the election returns. I am not watching since I haven't had a good election since Reagan and Trump. Stock market soared when it looked like there would be a "red wave", probably dropped now.
I just wanted to clarify- I wasn’t laughing about the election results. Rather about using dried corn for pie weights! :gig
 

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