Still Unloading and Gun Club...

So, today is Thursday.  I got home from the retreat on the Outer Banks late Sunday.  I unloaded what I needed in the house and have been slowly getting the rest of the stuff unloaded.  Honestly, my knee is just aching.  I am becoming very anxious to have December come so I can have the joint replaced.  It hurts to walk far.  Standing, forget it!  The pain makes me tired quickly and I get frustrated easily these days.  Makes it all the more difficult that I am alone in my  life, now.

I have done the laundry  from the trip, gotten the things that were brought in put away, but I still have some stuff in the van.  It rained on Monday and it is raining today, but the stuff is safe in the van and I can do this as I feel like it.

I did get to the grocery yesterday.  I had cleaned out the out-dated stuff, so I needed to get some basics.  I also wanted to get a couple of things to make for dinners.

On the ride back from the Outer Banks I had the chance to get to know one of the newer members of our guild.  She was a delight and made the trip go faster than just traveling with my dog.  Debby is a unique lady.  And she shared with me her love of using a pressure cooker to make her meals.  I did not know much about them, even though I had gotten one when I married my first husband.  The most I had used it for was to steam a bread pudding on the occasional Christmas.  I found that I still had the pressure cooker, so I bought a cabbage and some ham slices to make some Southern-style cabbage.

The cooker I had was a small 4-quart pressure cooker.  Since the pot was over 40 years old I had no idea if it would still work, so I figured the cabbage would cook easily if it did not.  I got everything in the pot and heated it up.  I was right, the pot no longer functions as a pressure cooker as it would not even begin to move the metal pressure cap over the vent, but it worked well enough to cook the cabbage and it was yummy enough for me to buy a slightly bigger, new pressure cooker from Amazon.  There are some excellent recipes and food stays more flavorful using the cooker.  Perhaps I might eat better if I do not have to cook things as long.  The cabbage was awesome, so I am hoping I can learn to use this cooking tool to my advantage.  But I will be getting in touch with Debby to help me out.

Last night I attended my first Gun Club meeting.  It was unique.  When I arrived I walked into a room full of men.  Just before the meeting another woman did come in, but I was a definite minority.  I was impressed with the business meeting.  They covered all the reports and old plus new business quickly.  Totally unlike the PABA meetings that can drag on for two hours with far less business to deal with.  They were in the process of getting Range Master hats printed so I spoke to Frank about possibly allowing me to embroider them.  It may not happen soon, but at least they know I can do it!

Today I am dealing with Molly.  She has had a small growth on her left front paw.  She has always been very fastidious about her front paws.  She would lick them, just like a cat, after she has been outside.  She has been 'working' on this growth since it began to show up, but she usually just licked it and then left it alone.  Last night I began to be aware of the fact that she was digging at it.  When I pulled her head off the paw, she had begun eating the growth.  Most of it was gone and her paw was bleeding.  On my bed...!  So I grabbed her, got a wad of toilet paper and managed to stop the bleeding.  Then I wandered about, holding her the whole time, and found some gauze pads, gauze strips and tape and covered the wound to keep her from digging it more.  Today I am taking her to the vet to see what needs to be done.  In the meantime, I need to wash my bedding... again!