June 12, 2007

• E-coli or what?

  I wasn’t able to do any blog writing due to the fact that both the Beast and I were sick for several days. We are still not 100% but we are much better today than we have been for the last four days or so. We suspect that we had a mild episode of E-coli poisoning or whatever you would call it. Here’s why……

  I do my grocery shopping at our Wal-Mart just down the road from us. It’s a matter of just about 4 miles versus about 15 to get to the only other grocery store in the area (Piggly-Wiggly). In this instance, it’s location, location, location <>

  One evening I decided I had a taste for a nice juicy hamburger and some home-made french fries so I made a couple nice hamburger patties, peeled and cut up some potatoes, melted enough Crisco for the fries and started dinner. I made up up some nice medium rare hamburgers and some fries, cut up tomatoes and served up dinner (I also added some cottage cheese to the mix but I digress so you will know I care about our health eating).

  It was tasty and filling and we went to bed later that evening with all being well. The next day, however, I awoke feeling nauseous without a clue as to WHY I felt that way. I was sipping my coffee because IT was making the nausea worse. I mentioned it to the Beast and he admitted that he wasn’t feeling all that well either. We figured we might just be trying to come down with something. Needless to say, we kind of laid around the house, not doing much more than we had to as we continued to feel not only bad but worse. Our friends got into town and the Beast went to help them set up our trailer in the campground in Guntersville. While he was there, he had a severe attack of diarrhea. Thankfully, the sewer line from the trailer was installed so he could use the bathroom there without worry of embarrassment.

  I was at home, in the meantime, feeling and doing the same thing and wondering just what the heck was happening to us and grateful that my doctor had office hours on Saturday if I needed to try to make the journey. The Beast got home, told me about HIS adventure and I agreed that we were both suffering from the same thing. I had cramps that came in waves and kept having to lay down with a pillow for comfort until the wave passed. I was grateful that we have two bathrooms here, let me tell you!!

  Later on that day, my hubby goes online to check his email and finds this article my sister emailed to him regarding E-coli being found in hamburger. It didn’t phase him until later in the article it mentions that it was found in the hamburger sold ti Wal-Mart in Alabama ! That set up an alarm bell immediately. I went to check the package for the date and, sure enough, the hamburger I had used came under that date. At least our feeling sick made sense now. I tend to buy the 2-1/2 lb packs of hamburger mentioned and take half of each, put it in gallon size freezer bags and put it in the freezer. I buy at least three or four each time I buy hamburger. I had three other packs in the freezer so I just grabbed them out and threw them in the garbage. No sense taking ANY chances.

  In the meantime, the Beast and I have been grateful we are healthy and it seems to have played it’s way through our systems without getting any worse than that first day we suffered the worst of the symptoms. I only vomited twice…once from the coffee and again later that day but not since. Like I said, we are not almost over it, I hope.

  Of course, it helps that we keep yogurt in the house (Dannon All Natural and Activia) so we used that when we didn’t have an appetite. Yesterday, I actually made homemade chicken soup that was both tasty and seemed to be exactly what the doctor ordered <>

  So, now the Beast is out on Lake Guntersville with his buddy, fishing for Crappies (or, as he jokes, doing some crappy fishing). I’m working on getting out my emails and bringing the blog kind of up-to-date and trying to figure out what we are having for dinner. My stomach is still a bit on the *tender* side so I don’t have a real taste for anything. I may just opt to have some more of my soup and let the Beast fix whatever he wants for himself. I sure hope tomorrow is a better day and one where we feel fully recovered. I would hate for this to drag on any more than it has.

  The Beast goes out fishing and I am sitting outside, enjoying a bit of fresh air after watering the plants on the deck. I decide to come into the house to do a load of clothes and see a bajillion ants crawling all over our garbage can in the kitchen. The top is up so I look and see that the Beast had finished the gallon of ice cream we had in the freezer and had just thrown it out in the garbage can without at least rinsing it out ! Three guesses what the ants were after…..and the first two don’t count.

  The trusty ant spray took care of the ants (and I think a half can of the spray) so I let it sit to dry off a bit before I cleaned it up. I kept going back to make sure that I had gotten all the ants. It was finally ready so I removed the garbage bag inside (and had to spray part of the outside of that) and took that outside to our big garbage can. I dragged the garbage can from the houe (which the Beast made out of wood and is really a neat holder for the bags with a removable top with hinged lid) and took it outside to hose off and clean out. I swept up the thousands of ant bodies on the kitchen floor and removed the evidence <> . It’s all now back in place and ant-free, complete with clean garbage bag. The Beast called me a bit ago and I was sure to mention how his neglect had led to the ant invasion but he didn’t even seem contrite. **sigh** If the roles had been reversed, I would never have heard the end of it. MEN!!!!

  Oh well, the end of another day. Our tomato plants are doing well and are full of tomatoes. Some are really big and I can hardly wait to taste them fresh off the plant. The rest of our garden is also doing well and the Beast has two nice size (softball) watermelons on one of his plants already. He’s in seventh heaven and drooling already <>
  The cantaloupes are just babies but *I* am looking forward to those. I love cantaloupe for breakfast. Bush beans, beets, cucumbers and other goodies are doing well but it’s a bit early for them yet. We WILL have a nice garden variety of foods to eat and can by the end of summer, I hope.

  Have a wonderful day ya’ll. Come again soon. <.

  • 6:20 pm
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