Almost the same as I make them except I use canned chicken I get from Costco and I season the chicken with Spanish hot paprika.
Since I discovered the Cream of Poblano and Cream of Jalapeno soups, I have occasionally subbed a can of that for the white sauce. (Don't tell anyone. )
Rain. Ugh, I'm so tired of rain. Our lawn hasn't been mowed in over 2 weeks and it is getting scary out there. I see the lawn crew is on the street so it might happen today. On my way to take out some trash to the curb yesterday, a little ribbon snake scurried across the driveway and into the over-the-ankle grass. We usually have a bunch of those little guys, as well as a few copperheads in the bark mulch. "We" (well actually "he") has already killed our first copperhead swimmer of the year... we have to check the pool skimmers for copperheads before getting into the pool. Seems that our water heater has given up the ghost; no hot water this morning. So another major appliance bites the dust. I think that one is over 20 years old so really can't complain. The problem with replacing it is that it's in the attic and my husband is no longer a candidate for manhandling a 50-gallon water heater upstairs and then up the small attic stairs as he did 20+ years ago with the help of teenage sons. So we will be paying a plumber for the first time ever. It's always something. I am still feeling pretty good, considering. If the next 3 chemos go like the last one, it will mean a little over a week of feeling like crap, which may make it easier to deal with since now I kind of know what to expect. I was terrified that I was going to feel like that for the entire time, so I'm very grateful for the respite.
HOLD on there Beth! If the water heater isn’t spewing water or bulged out it is an easy fix. If it’s electric, only 2 things can go wrong with them. 1. The elements might need to be replaced. 2. The thermocouple and controller pad is bad. Elements only cost about $15 a piece and the pad goes from about $10-$20 depending on the make. Turn off the electric, empty the heater and replace everything for about 35 beans. The spout on the heater is made for a hose hookup. Hello YouTube if you need verification. Note: The hardest thing to get out are the elements so you might have to get a special wrench from your local hardware store....$5 Note 2. If the whole heater is bad, think about a tankless heater. If there’s room on your fuse box for a couple of 220 circuits it’s a move I do not think you’ll ever regret.
Thanks, Bobby. Our WH is gas and I'm pretty sure it's time to replace it. I hadn't considered a tankless WH but that's food for thought.
I think our WH sits in a lead pan or some such that drains into the house plumbing, in case of any leaks or whatever. I think it's relatively easy to drain but I'm not sure my hubby wants to bother attempting repairs.
Yeah, there is that. I just immediately thought of how many times I faced replacing water heaters and know how much I do not like it. Lord, I can’t even imagine fishing one out of an attic! (shudder!!). Anyway, I didn’t want to turn your diary into an FYI booklet so do carry on. You’re doing great!!
I just want to chime in and say that we have one of the little tankless water heaters, and it has worked really well for us. Bobby had to update some wiring to install it, but we always have hot water, and it gets there as fast as it did with the old hot water tank. When this house was built, someone must have put in the hot water tank in the kitchen, and then decided to enclose it in. Now it is behind a tiny door, and won’t come out unless we (Bobby) tears out most of the wall. Since it was going to be a huge project to get the old water tank out and a new one in, Bobby decided to just leave the dead one in its hidden corner, and just put in one of the tankless water heaters. We have had this one for several years now, and it works great !
Chances are it is full of crude, scale, and sludge, and not worth repairing. The tankless ones are nice and gas is the most efficient, but at my last heater replace, they were much too expensive and the electric ones wouldn't provide my needs. I get about 10 years out of a heater with our highly processed water that puts some heavy white scale on my hot water tea and coffee pot and has to be cleaned with white vinegar weekly.
Thanks so much, Bobby. And please, add any posts to this tome that you please. It's kind of a "Random Thoughts" area. Oh, and get this... hub went up into the attic and putzed around with the WH... it's now working. I assume he was checking the pilot or whatever, but IIRC it has electronic ignition. So now we have dialed back the urgency and are assuming a "Wait and See" attitude.
Thanks, Yvonne. We may examine that option at some point. And isn't it great to have a handy husband??
We have hard water so I'm sure our WH is totally full of sludge, which is one more reason to replace it. I'll let the better half decide which replacement route he wants to take; I know there won't be any electric tank WH installed at this address. (Too many power outages for one thing.)
Lon's thread about the responsibility of a pet made me think about Harry. The 4th anniversary of his death was 2 days ago... he died of cancer at 9 years old. Here are some memories; first, when he was a puppy. Cutest little guy EVER. And on a trip in the RV; this is inside the motorhome. Harry LOVED to travel and would get so excited when the RV was brought from storage to the driveway to load for a trip. He was an excellent little traveler and has peed in more states than many people ever see. On I-25 in Wyoming... With Daddy at Priest's Gulch near Dolores, Colorado...