The Daily Rave

[iris lilies]

I think we are each paying $449 for regular medicare part B and a supplement, Plan G.

I pay a total of $584 monthly for all of this health insurance stuff, not including the fee to my direct care physician.

breaks down as:

Medicare gap coverage G plan $235
Medicare A, B, D: $349

Our part B coverage is higher than usual in 2024 due to a big cash payout of a stock, so that raised our income to a level where they charge more. I expect it to come down a bit later.

[Tybee]

sorry, I added mine wrong, it is 185 for part b and 269 for my supplement which totals 454, plus another 49 for drugs so that is 503 per month. That does not count my doctor that I pay each month, as well.

[iris lilies]

sorry, I added mine wrong, it is 185 for part b and 269 for my supplement which totals 454, plus another 49 for drugs so that is 503 per month. That does not count my doctor that I pay each month, as well.

This was a useful exercise for me. It forced me to re-create an account with Social Security and review what is coming out of those SS payments before the check hits my account.

I once had a Social Security Admin account but it is no longer there. I have some vague recollection of them closing accounts some years ago if they were inactive. To open a new one I took photos of my drivers license, a photo of me, and they matched the two. Also confirmed SS number.

[iris lilies]

I do a lot of stirfry type cooking and I’m tired of the grease floating around my kitchen even though I have a pretty good exhaust system. So in the past couple of months, I’ve been taking our electric frying pan out to the deck and cooking. Since that works so well I bought a much smaller electric frying pan that is easily portable

so may I present my “outdoor kitchen “which cost about 20 bucks rather than the $18,000 other people spend on their outdoor kitchens. We also have the typical gas grill, but we never use it

IMG_6717.jpg

[Tradd]

IL, I like that!

[Alan]

...so may I present my “outdoor kitchen “which cost about 20 bucks rather than the $18,000 other people spend on their outdoor kitchens. We also have the typical gas grill, but we never use it

My outdoor cooking area consists of a gas griddle, an electric pellet smoker and a typical charcoal grill. I haven't used the griddle in over a year, the smoker gets used 4 or 5 times a year and so far the charcoal grill has been used once. They all look nice on the deck though.

[pinkytoe]

When we go to Texas, DH loads up the back of the car with post oak and mesquite since he only cooks outdoors with wood. He is smoking some Hatch chilies tomorrow for making green chile sauce.

[iris lilies]

In my little town there are several old houses with tiny brick buildings behind them. I think I’ve been told these tiny ones are smokehouses from 130 years ago. I never saw these in the city so it must be a country thing.

[early morning]

My grandparent's farm had a spring house, a smokehouse, a chicken house, hog barn, butcher shed, large hay barn, tobacco shed, corn cribs (wooden, they never got one of the "new fangled" metal ones), and a wagon shed. (oops, forgot the milking shed, for some reason referred to as "the milking parlor") OH - and a summer kitchen. And of course a privy. This was pretty typical, from what I've gleaned. Most of the buildings were wooden structures and fell into decay as practices changed. Most farms today, even in Amish country, don't have all of these little buildings cluttering up the place, lol. Country living/farming required a lot of specialized buildings back in the day!

[catherine]

I do a lot of stirfry type cooking and I’m tired of the grease floating around my kitchen even though I have a pretty good exhaust system. So in the past couple of months, I’ve been taking our electric frying pan out to the deck and cooking. Since that works so well I bought a much smaller electric frying pan that is easily portable

so may I present my “outdoor kitchen “which cost about 20 bucks rather than the $18,000 other people spend on their outdoor kitchens. We also have the typical gas grill, but we never use it

IMG_6717.jpg

Wow, what a great idea--at least for the summer! DH is a stovetop cook, and he loves sauteeing in a lot of fat. Our house probably reeks of grease. We don't have an exhaust system, although I did just recently purchase a portable one.

Regarding early morning's outbuilding post, our little quarter-acre is starting to fill up. When we bought the place, it was a house, two storage sheds and one "workshop" shed. We also have three lean-to's for wood and garbage cans. We added the camper two years ago for DD/DSIL. DS#3 and DDIL have just purchased a shed kit that will be assembled in the footprint of a fallow garden bed in a couple of weeks. They come up here so often (nearly every weekend), they didn't want to keep imposing by sleeping in my office. I'm a little nervous about what the neighbors will say, but we don't need a permit if it's 100 sq.ft or under, so it's really none of their business. But still. This is it. No more adding ANYTHING to our yard. Really.