holy CRAP food has got expensive!

[RowdyRebel]

Wife's birthday tomorrow. I have always made dinner on her birthday. It's the 1 day out of the year you'll find me in the kitchen if she's home. She wanted Chicken Alfredo. Ok, easy enough. Found a skillet meal that doesn't have broccoli. Throw in some garlic bread, potatoes in a buttery garlic sauce, and some honey roasted sweet corn. Cake, ice cream, card, and a bunch of candles. F***ing cost $65 at Walmart...and I have to heat it all up! For that, I could've almost taken her out to eat & not had to spend a single minute in the kitchen. Probably would've been cheaper to make it from scratch, but then I screw up oatmeal. Nope. Dump it in a skillet & heat. Corn is steamable in the bag. Taters are the same way, or I can dump them in a pan to heat up & make it look like I'm doing more than I am. Garlic bread is just a "warm it up in the oven" deal. SHOULD be able to manage without screwing anything up.

Funny thing is, I could have the heads off an engine, transmission sitting in the yard, and brakes tore apart the day before we're supposed to leave on a road trip and have it all back together in time and it'll all work just fine. In the kitchen, I could follow a recipe to a T and it just turns out nearly inedible.🤷‍♂️

[JoeH]

I'm sure she appreciates the effort!  We get pizza a lot, and it's gone up probably 30% the past year. Let's go Brandon!

[BOBWhite]

Don't eat out all that often but even the cheapest ingredients have gone up. $35 for 6 gallons of milk which will last the week.

To make things worse a fox got all but one of our chickens the other day so no more fresh eggs

[RowdyRebel]

$5.83/gal?!?!?!?!?😱😱😱 Walmart has their store brand here for around 3-1/2 bucks for the good stuff (whole). The name-brand stuff is up there, but it all tastes the same. Sounds like you're a gallon-per-day house like we are. Sucks about the chickens...I've been wanting to get some, but my wife is opposed. Coyotes are a problem around here. One morning, back when Ol' Dozer was still around & riding shotgun with me every day, I was out pretripping my truck. Ordinarily, he'd be off doing his business during this time, but that morning he was laying quietly between me and the ditch, staring intently into the darkness. When I noticed, I shined my light over there & saw a coyote stalking us. Called the sheriff once we were rolling to see what options the law says are available to me in that sort of situation & was told "just shoot it". OK...good to know. About a year later, I was out checking the propane tank and got an eirie feeling like I was being watched. Turned around & saw one about 15-20 yards behind me creeping up on me. Pulled out my Governor & sent a load of 000 its way. Every once in a while, we can hear them off in the distance. Chickens in the yard would bring 'em closer for sure.

[mechohaulic]

when I had my Grandparents farm with the intent of keeping it running; the chickens were part of it. for me the fresh egg idea is great but not worth the negatives associated with chickens. they are sloppy kicking food all over which brought the rats =not mice  rats. got a few with 22 /bird shot . since we didn't have large family at the time  - was cheaper/ easier to buy eggs. 

on the "bright side" according to todays news ;; gas prices are lower today: which means it will cost you less going  to a market so you can spend more for  what you are buying. 

[Geoff Weeks]

Hear "yoties" at night, but they will not come anywhere there is a barking dog, they have learned a barking dog brings a farmer with a gun. Not the dog they are afraid of.

[Freightrain]

23 hours ago, Geoff Weeks said:

Hear "yoties" at night, but they will not come anywhere there is a barking dog, they have learned a barking dog brings a farmer with a gun. Not the dog they are afraid of.

So a recording of a dog barking that goes off intermittently should take care of that? 

 

Gas is cheap now but Opec says they will cut production to raise prices(go figure).

When Karen and I go out to eat it used to be $25+ tip.  Now it's $40+ tip.  Same basic food we get at our few usual hangouts.  We don't drink, so that really keeps the price down.  Alcohol will double your bill in a swift second.

[BOBWhite]

It was Braum's milk so it was the best of the best for store bought stuff. Still at $5.80+ per gallon I'm convinced its cheeper to keep a milk cow around.

I'd guesstimate that the population of coyotes is more than equal to the population of people in my county. Each year a contest is held to see who can kill the most in one day. The winner is usually gets 20-30 and overall the contest kills 50-100+. The trapping/fur markets still big around here. 

[Brocky]

We have "Coy-Dogs" here in South Carolina?? Guess the coyotes will cross breed with larger dogs??? The man who rents my pasture land hunts them regularly, especially if he has some new calves coming!!

[other dog]

They used to pay a $50 bounty for coyotes here, but I think they stopped because they were going broke paying the bounties. I know people who had recordings of a rabbit in distress and night vision scopes, and they'd hunt them and usually get a few every night they went.

[Geoff Weeks]

7 hours ago, Freightrain said:

So a recording of a dog barking that goes off intermittently should take care of that?

I doubt that would work. My dog will not react to a dog or even a wolf on the TV but will to 'yoty's in the distance. There must be frequencies that we can't hear and don't reproduce in recordings.

[other dog]

13 hours ago, Geoff Weeks said:

I doubt that would work. My dog will not react to a dog or even a wolf on the TV but will to 'yoty's in the distance. There must be frequencies that we can't hear and don't reproduce in recordings.

That's funny, Zina's dog Ollie used to jump up and go crazy at the TV when any kind of animal was on. He'd even bark at horses, but especially dogs. I'd always laugh because I thought it was hilarious, and she'd yell at him. And none of the 3 dogs we have now pay any attention to anything on TV.

[mowerman]

On 12/12/2023 at 6:28 AM, mechohaulic said:

when I had my Grandparents farm with the intent of keeping it running; the chickens were part of it. for me the fresh egg idea is great but not worth the negatives associated with chickens. they are sloppy kicking food all over which brought the rats =not mice  rats. got a few with 22 /bird shot . since we didn't have large family at the time  - was cheaper/ easier to buy eggs. 

on the "bright side" according to todays news ;; gas prices are lower today: which means it will cost you less going  to a market so you can spend more for  what you are buying. 

Fresh eggs are the best Ive only had them a couple of times in my life

[mowerman]

15 hours ago, Geoff Weeks said:

I doubt that would work. My dog will not react to a dog or even a wolf on the TV but will to 'yoty's in the distance. There must be frequencies that we can't hear and don't reproduce in recordings.

My dogs are the same way they both start barking and I don’t see anything out there my house is completely secluded from the street