Monday, July 31, 2006
Tight fit...
Uh oh - now how the heck am I gonna get that outta there!?!? No pulling or pushing that I did would break it free - I'm gonna have to cut the wire sooner or later!
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Garden pics - FINALLY!
Seems Blogger's being nice today - so let's post some garden pics!
As you can see here (and will see in other pictures), the rumbo pumpkins are crawling alllll over the place! This teepee has scarlett runner beans (seeds collected from last year's beans) and pattypan squash planted in/around it. That's all I planned to grow up it. Instead the pumpkin, which is probably 10+ feet away, is crawling towards the sky!!
I'm not sure what this is! I THINK maybe they're pattypans of a variety I've never grown before, and left them on the vine because they were more conical in shape?? I remember buying a last minute pattypan seed packet at Kriegers one day - maybe this is what I got?? Heck, I better start picking 'em smaller than nearly football-size, hunh?
Part of the tomato patch - I think we've got black krim on the left and black cherry on the right? I can't WAIT for these to ripen!
These are from a freebie packet I received - Hard Rock. I didn't expect them to take on this paste-tomato shape! Double-checking Totally Tomatoes, I guess this is an ok shape and they shouldn't get much longer...
We wouldn't have our gardens without these little helpers, which is why I HOPE we'll be able to find a new home a little more out in the country so I can have 2-3 bee hives and not worry what the neighbors think.
Might be hard to believe looking at this picture here, but I expect this kinda ugly yellow guy will be turning into one of the Rumbo pumpkins, which were super popular last year!
While you can't see any tomatoes in this picture, it's the Fourth of July variety a coworker gave me. What you CAN see are the rumbo's crawling out over the tomatoes!! I'm starting to cut back the rumbo vines, as they're taking over the place!
These are either Sun Golds or Sun Sugars - I need to remember to check the tags! Good, and the first of this years tomatoes to ripen for me, but so far we're not finding them to be AS sweet as advertised.
I WISH these were the Green Zebras - then they'd practically be ripe! But they're Red Zebras, and look like they have a ways to go...
So far this is the only sunshine squash that's shown up on the long vine - and it looks like it's ready earlier than I would've expected! Just waiting for the stem to turn brown so I can pick it.
Left teepee has lemon cucumbers (which I've never had before) - lots of vines and flowers, but so far no cukes. I direct seeded these late though, so no complaints. And the right teepee has snow peas and sugar snap peas....
View of the garden - you can actually see it's full width here, but to the untrained eye it just looks like a mass of green. There are the edges of tomato cages on the left and right, and you can see the teepees down in the distance in the middle. The big leafy green middle section? Oh, that's my dumb plan to have a narrow walkway down between squash and pumpkins this year. H'yeah, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Lesson learned.
Okra blossom! And I THINK that's a pair of squash bugs mating on the leaf to the right - not sure!?
Another view of the squash/pumpkin patch.
Pattypan and scarlet runner bean blossoms...
As you can see here (and will see in other pictures), the rumbo pumpkins are crawling alllll over the place! This teepee has scarlett runner beans (seeds collected from last year's beans) and pattypan squash planted in/around it. That's all I planned to grow up it. Instead the pumpkin, which is probably 10+ feet away, is crawling towards the sky!!
I'm not sure what this is! I THINK maybe they're pattypans of a variety I've never grown before, and left them on the vine because they were more conical in shape?? I remember buying a last minute pattypan seed packet at Kriegers one day - maybe this is what I got?? Heck, I better start picking 'em smaller than nearly football-size, hunh?
Part of the tomato patch - I think we've got black krim on the left and black cherry on the right? I can't WAIT for these to ripen!
These are from a freebie packet I received - Hard Rock. I didn't expect them to take on this paste-tomato shape! Double-checking Totally Tomatoes, I guess this is an ok shape and they shouldn't get much longer...
We wouldn't have our gardens without these little helpers, which is why I HOPE we'll be able to find a new home a little more out in the country so I can have 2-3 bee hives and not worry what the neighbors think.
Might be hard to believe looking at this picture here, but I expect this kinda ugly yellow guy will be turning into one of the Rumbo pumpkins, which were super popular last year!
While you can't see any tomatoes in this picture, it's the Fourth of July variety a coworker gave me. What you CAN see are the rumbo's crawling out over the tomatoes!! I'm starting to cut back the rumbo vines, as they're taking over the place!
These are either Sun Golds or Sun Sugars - I need to remember to check the tags! Good, and the first of this years tomatoes to ripen for me, but so far we're not finding them to be AS sweet as advertised.
I WISH these were the Green Zebras - then they'd practically be ripe! But they're Red Zebras, and look like they have a ways to go...
So far this is the only sunshine squash that's shown up on the long vine - and it looks like it's ready earlier than I would've expected! Just waiting for the stem to turn brown so I can pick it.
Left teepee has lemon cucumbers (which I've never had before) - lots of vines and flowers, but so far no cukes. I direct seeded these late though, so no complaints. And the right teepee has snow peas and sugar snap peas....
View of the garden - you can actually see it's full width here, but to the untrained eye it just looks like a mass of green. There are the edges of tomato cages on the left and right, and you can see the teepees down in the distance in the middle. The big leafy green middle section? Oh, that's my dumb plan to have a narrow walkway down between squash and pumpkins this year. H'yeah, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Lesson learned.
Okra blossom! And I THINK that's a pair of squash bugs mating on the leaf to the right - not sure!?
Another view of the squash/pumpkin patch. 
Pattypan and scarlet runner bean blossoms...
Guess who's turning into a little fatty!
I weighed her yesterday and she was up to a whopping 2 lbs 3 oz!! That's more than twice what she was when we first picked her up off the highway two weeks ago!
Poor cat might be dealing with an identity crisis, however. "Freeway" was a short lived name for her - lasted two hours. Then we were certain "Spooky" would be good, especially after Brett quoted the song of the same name "...spooky little girl like you..." - fun! But it just sounds like a 5yr old named her, and I don't like it as much as Brett does.
We have been considering "Lilly", short for Lili'ukalani, Queen of Hawaii (way back when). "Willow" has come up a number of times as well (Buffy fans showing here), and maybe even calling her "Willie" for short? :) Who knows what we'll settle on...
Poor cat might be dealing with an identity crisis, however. "Freeway" was a short lived name for her - lasted two hours. Then we were certain "Spooky" would be good, especially after Brett quoted the song of the same name "...spooky little girl like you..." - fun! But it just sounds like a 5yr old named her, and I don't like it as much as Brett does.
We have been considering "Lilly", short for Lili'ukalani, Queen of Hawaii (way back when). "Willow" has come up a number of times as well (Buffy fans showing here), and maybe even calling her "Willie" for short? :) Who knows what we'll settle on...
Sharon comes to town!
...so let's put her to work!
...or better yet, vacu bag her with the FoodSaver!
Sharon's in town for volleyball games this weekend, and stopped by after dropping Justin off at work (handy for her - she stays at his place and he lets her use his car!). We had a few hours to kill before meeting the OCLF (Off Campus Lunch Friday) for lunch at Green Beans (aka Evergreen Buffet, but let's be honest - their most absolutely amazing buffet dish is the garlicky stir fried green beans!!).
Since we had time to kill, and since we're talking about green beans, and since they were piling up here at home even AFTER I'd given some away and we'd eaten a bunch - it was time to try out the new FoodSaver! Folks here like Steven, FarmGirl and my cousin's wife Stacy (hi Stacy, Bryce and Mav!) rave about their FoodSavers. Apparely (according to the booklet), normally green beans would only last 8 months in the freezer - but vacu-pack 'em with the FoodSaver and they're good for 2-3 years! Yowza!!
So first someone's gotta stem/trim all those beans! Sharon didn't have anything better to do - the kitten didn't want to play with her. Voila! Bean-trimmer extraordinaire!
But first we must stop Sharon from EATING all the beans!!!
Ok, so she didn't really TROUGH at the beans, but we DID find the beans, after steam blanched for 4 minutes and then shocked in an ice water bath were REALLY good dipped in blue cheese dressing. MMMmmmmmMMMMMmmmm Good! Now Sharon - save room for lunch!
And then there's my usual kitchen helper - Tucker. He REALLY loves watching whatever's going on on the kitchen counter. I don't know why he decided NOT to hop up on the counter this time - usually I have to remove him. Luckily the barstool seemed good enough for him, so he sat and supervised for awhile.
Hm, the way that ear's cocked back, maybe we're doing something wrong? Did you have an opinion Tucker?
As Sharon was stemming/trimming (what do you call it?) beans, I started steam blanching them, and then dropping 'em in ice water. Once they were all done I had to figure out the best way to dry them (per instructions - is this necessary?). I didn't feel like hand blotting piles of beans with kitchen towels - that seemed like more effort than it was worth and would soak most of the towels.
BUT!
I have another kitchen gadget that came to the rescue - the salad spinner!! Fill it with beans, spin, shake to redistribute the beans, spin again, and voila - mostly dry!! They seem to hold water a little better than lettuce - perhaps it's their fine hairs? Oh well - no biggie - that took care of 'em in no time!
And then it was time to learn the FoodSaver. Read the instruction manual? Nah! It didn't seem very helpful (since I was skimming). Watch the DVD? Eh - too slow, and we had to head out the door for OCLF!! So after playing around with it a few minutes, I finally realized I had to put the open end of the bag down into the slot that also catches excess liquid, and THEN turn it on. Neat! Nicely packaged green beans!!
And I'm SO glad I got the model that let's you push a button on the side and swivel the whole thing into a veritcal position on it's base - easier for storage!
Here's the end result:
Man, that doesn't LOOK like it was a huge colander full of beans!! Oh well - that was yesterday. I'm sure if I make it out to the garden tomorrow, I'll easily have that many to pick again!
So - all you FoodSaver people - any tips?? Recommendations? I understand I can take these bagged beans and drop 'em in a pot of water, bring the pot to boiling, and once it hits boiling the beans should be thawed/cooked?! Do you re-use your bags? Do you prefer make-it-yourself bags from the rolls, or do you just buy a bunch of the bags? What size do you prefer? (I thought the 11 inch wide would be best, but have decided maybe 8 inch wide is best for servings-for-two) What's your preferred method of buying the bags - in store or online? So far we've found them cheapest at WalMart, and even found generic ones (anyone tried 'em!?), but I still need to check Amazon. Might be best hitting Bed Bath & Beyond with a 20% off coupon!
Brett missed out on playing with the FoodSaver, so we bought some strawberries and blueberries today for him to play with later. And I might start shredding squash for it as well?
Maybe I can vacu bag the kitten!!!
...or better yet, vacu bag her with the FoodSaver!
Sharon's in town for volleyball games this weekend, and stopped by after dropping Justin off at work (handy for her - she stays at his place and he lets her use his car!). We had a few hours to kill before meeting the OCLF (Off Campus Lunch Friday) for lunch at Green Beans (aka Evergreen Buffet, but let's be honest - their most absolutely amazing buffet dish is the garlicky stir fried green beans!!).
Since we had time to kill, and since we're talking about green beans, and since they were piling up here at home even AFTER I'd given some away and we'd eaten a bunch - it was time to try out the new FoodSaver! Folks here like Steven, FarmGirl and my cousin's wife Stacy (hi Stacy, Bryce and Mav!) rave about their FoodSavers. Apparely (according to the booklet), normally green beans would only last 8 months in the freezer - but vacu-pack 'em with the FoodSaver and they're good for 2-3 years! Yowza!!
So first someone's gotta stem/trim all those beans! Sharon didn't have anything better to do - the kitten didn't want to play with her. Voila! Bean-trimmer extraordinaire!
But first we must stop Sharon from EATING all the beans!!!
Ok, so she didn't really TROUGH at the beans, but we DID find the beans, after steam blanched for 4 minutes and then shocked in an ice water bath were REALLY good dipped in blue cheese dressing. MMMmmmmmMMMMMmmmm Good! Now Sharon - save room for lunch!
And then there's my usual kitchen helper - Tucker. He REALLY loves watching whatever's going on on the kitchen counter. I don't know why he decided NOT to hop up on the counter this time - usually I have to remove him. Luckily the barstool seemed good enough for him, so he sat and supervised for awhile.
Hm, the way that ear's cocked back, maybe we're doing something wrong? Did you have an opinion Tucker?
As Sharon was stemming/trimming (what do you call it?) beans, I started steam blanching them, and then dropping 'em in ice water. Once they were all done I had to figure out the best way to dry them (per instructions - is this necessary?). I didn't feel like hand blotting piles of beans with kitchen towels - that seemed like more effort than it was worth and would soak most of the towels.
BUT!
I have another kitchen gadget that came to the rescue - the salad spinner!! Fill it with beans, spin, shake to redistribute the beans, spin again, and voila - mostly dry!! They seem to hold water a little better than lettuce - perhaps it's their fine hairs? Oh well - no biggie - that took care of 'em in no time!
And then it was time to learn the FoodSaver. Read the instruction manual? Nah! It didn't seem very helpful (since I was skimming). Watch the DVD? Eh - too slow, and we had to head out the door for OCLF!! So after playing around with it a few minutes, I finally realized I had to put the open end of the bag down into the slot that also catches excess liquid, and THEN turn it on. Neat! Nicely packaged green beans!!
And I'm SO glad I got the model that let's you push a button on the side and swivel the whole thing into a veritcal position on it's base - easier for storage!
Here's the end result:
Man, that doesn't LOOK like it was a huge colander full of beans!! Oh well - that was yesterday. I'm sure if I make it out to the garden tomorrow, I'll easily have that many to pick again!So - all you FoodSaver people - any tips?? Recommendations? I understand I can take these bagged beans and drop 'em in a pot of water, bring the pot to boiling, and once it hits boiling the beans should be thawed/cooked?! Do you re-use your bags? Do you prefer make-it-yourself bags from the rolls, or do you just buy a bunch of the bags? What size do you prefer? (I thought the 11 inch wide would be best, but have decided maybe 8 inch wide is best for servings-for-two) What's your preferred method of buying the bags - in store or online? So far we've found them cheapest at WalMart, and even found generic ones (anyone tried 'em!?), but I still need to check Amazon. Might be best hitting Bed Bath & Beyond with a 20% off coupon!
Brett missed out on playing with the FoodSaver, so we bought some strawberries and blueberries today for him to play with later. And I might start shredding squash for it as well?
Maybe I can vacu bag the kitten!!!
The dinner that didn't taste so good...
I don't get it. What went wrong? I had all these great ingredients (aside from the pre-formed, packaged beef patties from the grocery store - last time I do that!), a great concept for dinner, and it flopped!
Decided to take the low maintenance route for dinner, and use a bunch of stuff from the garden and potted plants out back for dinner last nite. Had two leftover patties leftover from a cheat-attempt two nites before to use up as well - I'll never buy them again. I much prefer home-formed hamburgers - the ones from the store were too dense and didn't have very good flavor. Anyhow, sprayed two large sheets of heavy dutytin aluminum foil, lightly sprayed them with non-stick spray, and put down herbs (parsley, oregano, chives) and thin slices of a couple huge garlic cloves. Topped that with the two burger patties. Sprinkled the patties with a dried tomato/herb mix mom gave me awhile back, plus some freshly crushed black pepper. Topped each of those with the potatoes, which I sliced thin with the Cuisinate. Each foil packet also got what I called the "lucky potato" (see the two little baby spuds? Hey - had to use 'em up somehow!)
And then things differed. Brett's packet got the one baby carrot I'd pulled, stemmed and cleaned. Mine got sliced okra, sliced zucchini, sliced yellow squash and dragon tongue beans snipped into about 1/2 inch pieces. Then I topped both of our piles with torn basil, a pat of butter, a sprinkle of salt, and a glug of white wine. Folded 'em up, assured they were sealed, and baked at 400F for an hour.
Talk about bland! I'm wondering if I should've sprinkled in some beef bouillon? More salt throughout the middle? I don't know. I really had high hopes for these! And I should've tossed in some of those orange SunGold cherry tomatoes you see peeking out of the bowl in the pictures. The tough of red behind the parlsey is raspberries - those didn't get added. Neither did the freshly cut dahlias.
Sure makes for a pretty picture! Just not a very tastey dinner! :(
Decided to take the low maintenance route for dinner, and use a bunch of stuff from the garden and potted plants out back for dinner last nite. Had two leftover patties leftover from a cheat-attempt two nites before to use up as well - I'll never buy them again. I much prefer home-formed hamburgers - the ones from the store were too dense and didn't have very good flavor. Anyhow, sprayed two large sheets of heavy duty
And then things differed. Brett's packet got the one baby carrot I'd pulled, stemmed and cleaned. Mine got sliced okra, sliced zucchini, sliced yellow squash and dragon tongue beans snipped into about 1/2 inch pieces. Then I topped both of our piles with torn basil, a pat of butter, a sprinkle of salt, and a glug of white wine. Folded 'em up, assured they were sealed, and baked at 400F for an hour.
Talk about bland! I'm wondering if I should've sprinkled in some beef bouillon? More salt throughout the middle? I don't know. I really had high hopes for these! And I should've tossed in some of those orange SunGold cherry tomatoes you see peeking out of the bowl in the pictures. The tough of red behind the parlsey is raspberries - those didn't get added. Neither did the freshly cut dahlias.
Sure makes for a pretty picture! Just not a very tastey dinner! :(
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
This week in the garden...
I didn't take any pics while out at the garden today, but I got some on Sunday. Today I picked 7 lbs of zucchini/summer squash, 3 lbs of green beans, a handful of dragon tongue beans, a handful of okra, some sun gold cherry tomatoes, my first red zebra, some fourth of july tomatoes, a patty pan squash, a whacked out squash (maybe an oversized patty pan?), and dug a small bowl's worth of taters.
Ok, well, I WAS going to post the pics from the other day, but Blogger's being a real pain in the ass...so maybe another day!?
I DID end out getting the FoodSaver V2860 and a roll of 11" wide bag making stuff, so I should be all set when I finally find time to blanch, vacu-bag and freeze my remaining ~7lbs of beans some nite this week! That'll be fun! And since I had two expired 20% off Bed Bath & Beyond coupons, and BB&B is about 20 minutes away, I just hopped over to the Linens N Things that's about 2 minutes away and got the discount there. I LOVE how Linens N Things works that way... We've decided we're going to try just writing "20% off" on a piece of paper and see if they'll accept that! LOL
Last nite we drove around and looked at 8 houses within Tallmadge, where we live. One of those probably warrants a visit with our realtor. We're meeting with Leslie (our realtor) tomorrow after work to look at some houses that we did drive-by's of last week...
I got in a really good lunch with Michele today. Brett had a "free burrito" coupon for Chipotles that a coworker had passed on to him, and then he gave it to me. So Michele and I split a barbaco burrito with rice, pinto beans, cheese, lettuce and the spicey green tomatillo sauce, plus got a side of chips and their oh-so-amazing guac! MMMMM! Green heaven! Was a great lunch - we just vegged out in the sunshine while eating our half burritos and scarfing down guac.
Had Brett buzz down my hair with the trimmers after getting home from the garden. Ah, nice fresh and clean feeling!
Oh well...time for bed....the rest will be nice!
(Ooh - storm's starting up. Supposed to get pretty severe for a little while. The growies will really appreciate it!)
G'nite!
Ok, well, I WAS going to post the pics from the other day, but Blogger's being a real pain in the ass...so maybe another day!?
I DID end out getting the FoodSaver V2860 and a roll of 11" wide bag making stuff, so I should be all set when I finally find time to blanch, vacu-bag and freeze my remaining ~7lbs of beans some nite this week! That'll be fun! And since I had two expired 20% off Bed Bath & Beyond coupons, and BB&B is about 20 minutes away, I just hopped over to the Linens N Things that's about 2 minutes away and got the discount there. I LOVE how Linens N Things works that way... We've decided we're going to try just writing "20% off" on a piece of paper and see if they'll accept that! LOL
Last nite we drove around and looked at 8 houses within Tallmadge, where we live. One of those probably warrants a visit with our realtor. We're meeting with Leslie (our realtor) tomorrow after work to look at some houses that we did drive-by's of last week...
I got in a really good lunch with Michele today. Brett had a "free burrito" coupon for Chipotles that a coworker had passed on to him, and then he gave it to me. So Michele and I split a barbaco burrito with rice, pinto beans, cheese, lettuce and the spicey green tomatillo sauce, plus got a side of chips and their oh-so-amazing guac! MMMMM! Green heaven! Was a great lunch - we just vegged out in the sunshine while eating our half burritos and scarfing down guac.
Had Brett buzz down my hair with the trimmers after getting home from the garden. Ah, nice fresh and clean feeling!
Oh well...time for bed....the rest will be nice!
(Ooh - storm's starting up. Supposed to get pretty severe for a little while. The growies will really appreciate it!)
G'nite!
Go Goo Go
"OHMIGOSHWHATIS THAT!?!?!?!?!"ROFL! Brett was flipping channels yesterday and we saw this majorly crazy episode of a show we've never bothered to watch before - Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.
The brown headed block head kid you see to the right is Mac, and he visits Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends - where all the wacky imaginary friends people come up with stay...at least that seems to be the basic premise of the show.
And then he meets Goo, the girl with the rainbow colored sleeves in the pic. Goo has an overactive imagination, so she starts making insane numbers of new imaginary friends appear while in the house. That was funny. What was funnier - as in "funny as hell, had me rolling" - is how she talks faster and faster and faster, and whenever she talks there's whacked out carnival music playing in the background (and it gets faster and faster), and she runs around pointing to things going "OHMIGOSHWHATISTHAT!?" and darting off in a new direction. Total hysteria... Seriously - we had to rewind and watch parts on more than one occasion because we were laughing so hard.
And according to tv.com, "the episode was nominated for an Emmy as Best Animated Program Under One Hour " - so I guess that's saying something, right?
I SO wanna be Goo for Halloween! LOL
Lance Bass of 'N Sync Reveals He's Gay
This just in!Lance Bass, band member of 'N Sync, says he's gay and in a "very stable" relationship with a reality show star. Bass, who formed 'N Sync with Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick, tells People magazine that he didn't earlier disclose his sexuality because he didn't want to affect the group's popularity.
"I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys' careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said (that I was gay), it would overpower everything," he tells the magazine.
'N Sync is known for a string of hits including "Bye Bye Bye" and "It's Gonna Be Me." The band went on hiatus in 2002. Bass has also found headlines for undertaking astronaut training and failing to raise money for a trip into space.
Bass says he wondered if his coming out could prompt "the end of 'N Sync." He explains, "So I had that weight on me of like, `Wow, if I ever let anyone know, it's bad.' So I just never did."
The singer says he's in a "very stable" relationship with 32-year-old actor Reichen Lehmkuhl, winner of season four of CBS' "Amazing Race."
Bass and Fatone, 29, are developing a sitcom pilot inspired by the screwball comedy "The Odd Couple," in which his character will be gay.
"The thing is, I'm not ashamed — that's the one thing I went to say," Bass says. "I don't think it's wrong, I'm not devastated going through this. I'm more liberated and happy than I've been my whole life. I'm just happy."
GASP! (Brett's known it all along... Too bad Joey Fatone can't be the gay one in the show!)
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Quick Pics
It's stuff like this:
That get's people busted at work, like this (ahem, Cindy...):
So now Michele knows who took the last of the blueberry breakfast bars when she went looking:
(Thanks for the evidence Dave!)
And yes, those pictures are of our shop at work, with computers in the process of being burned in before going to library staff and faculty at Kent State University's Libraries & Media Services.
Oh, and I just have to post one of these - this was right before she dozed off, chin on the keyboard, last nite!
That get's people busted at work, like this (ahem, Cindy...):
So now Michele knows who took the last of the blueberry breakfast bars when she went looking:
(Thanks for the evidence Dave!)
And yes, those pictures are of our shop at work, with computers in the process of being burned in before going to library staff and faculty at Kent State University's Libraries & Media Services.
Oh, and I just have to post one of these - this was right before she dozed off, chin on the keyboard, last nite!
Wild Horses
Sounds like a herd of cattle or horses or something tearing around upstairs. As soon as Brett went upstairs at least two of the cats followed him. Now all I hear is Spooky rip roaring back and forth up there - and I have a feeling Tucker's probably involved.
She was playing with that Panic Mouse gadget, where it rotates the stick around with a toy dangling, and she chases it around in circles. Well, Notch came right up and laid down right in the path of it, so basically the fluffy toy kept hitting him in the face. She kept on playing, once in awhile nearly colliding with him, and then he'd let out this half-hearted disgruntled noise/meow like he didn't approve. But you KNOW he put himself there on purpose... Crazy cat.
She was playing with that Panic Mouse gadget, where it rotates the stick around with a toy dangling, and she chases it around in circles. Well, Notch came right up and laid down right in the path of it, so basically the fluffy toy kept hitting him in the face. She kept on playing, once in awhile nearly colliding with him, and then he'd let out this half-hearted disgruntled noise/meow like he didn't approve. But you KNOW he put himself there on purpose... Crazy cat.
Line of the morning...
So I've been meaning to make Farmgirl's blueberry breakfast bars for awhile now. I even had some blueberries last week, but they were forgotten in the fridge, and there hadn't been much baking time with all the cat craziness, house searches, etc...so they went bad. I picked up more blueberries, plus flour and sugar (running low on both) this week, and found some time to do some cooking yesterday afternoon between errands.
One of my coworkers, Julie, brought in this great blueberry upside down cake yesterday. REALLY GOOD - incredibly moist, just the right amount of sweetness, etc. GOOD STUFF!
This morning, Bob from Circulation came up to talk to me about work stuff, and on his way in he saw I brought in some of the blueberry breakfast bars. I guess Bob had some of Julie's blueberry upsidedown cake yesterday...
Bob: "Wow - more blueberries! So is Julie the blueberry queen?!"
Me: "Uh, no, actually I brought those in today, so I guess that'd make me the blueberry queen today." :)
Since I'm totally out at work here, Bob enjoyed the joke.
Perhaps tonite this blueberry queen will have a chance to post the picture I took last nite. Or you can just go to Farmgirl's recipe!
Quick kitten update: Change in name! While we were eating at Swenson's waiting for her foot to get X-ray'd, we decided to name her Freeway. By the time she was home getting over the stressful 3 1/4 hr vet experience (plus travel time) we'd decided "Spooky" was more appropriate and fun than "Freeway". So....Spooky it is!
And speaking of Spooky, it didn't take her too long to recover last nite - she was tearing around the house, purring, knocking things over, loving etc in no time!
Oh, and her status - turns out they don't think her foot was crushed or slashed, but instead she had major chemical burns on the back foot and minor burns on the front. They wondered if kids had done something to her, or if she just stumbled into something. X-rays looked good, and they picked off all the scabs (thankfully we weren't there for that) to confirm there's healthy healing tissue underneath. Looks like swollen purple hairless flesh - like a burn victim. Doesn't seem to slow her down though!
One of my coworkers, Julie, brought in this great blueberry upside down cake yesterday. REALLY GOOD - incredibly moist, just the right amount of sweetness, etc. GOOD STUFF!
This morning, Bob from Circulation came up to talk to me about work stuff, and on his way in he saw I brought in some of the blueberry breakfast bars. I guess Bob had some of Julie's blueberry upsidedown cake yesterday...
Bob: "Wow - more blueberries! So is Julie the blueberry queen?!"
Me: "Uh, no, actually I brought those in today, so I guess that'd make me the blueberry queen today." :)
Since I'm totally out at work here, Bob enjoyed the joke.
Perhaps tonite this blueberry queen will have a chance to post the picture I took last nite. Or you can just go to Farmgirl's recipe!
Quick kitten update: Change in name! While we were eating at Swenson's waiting for her foot to get X-ray'd, we decided to name her Freeway. By the time she was home getting over the stressful 3 1/4 hr vet experience (plus travel time) we'd decided "Spooky" was more appropriate and fun than "Freeway". So....Spooky it is!
And speaking of Spooky, it didn't take her too long to recover last nite - she was tearing around the house, purring, knocking things over, loving etc in no time!
Oh, and her status - turns out they don't think her foot was crushed or slashed, but instead she had major chemical burns on the back foot and minor burns on the front. They wondered if kids had done something to her, or if she just stumbled into something. X-rays looked good, and they picked off all the scabs (thankfully we weren't there for that) to confirm there's healthy healing tissue underneath. Looks like swollen purple hairless flesh - like a burn victim. Doesn't seem to slow her down though!
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Quick pics before bed...
I think you'll find a theme here. The kitten has found she can go from the floor to the subwoofer to the top of the computer...
...hmm, I'm guessing the backup drive is warm...
...to the desktop without any assistance!
While I was working on email to a client (hi Mari!), the kitten would behave, and then walk all over the keyboard, and then purr and look cute so I'd let her stay, and then walk all over the keyboard, so I'd put her back on the floor. Then she'd come back up again. She definitely likes the attention.
As I'm typing this, she'd come from behind the monitors, laid down to watch me, and fallen asleep with her head on the keyboard. When I turn on the camera she starts to wake up, so I don't think I'll be able to get a picture... Maybe I'll try to get one to post tomorrow.
Oh, and after dinner we heard the jingle of the ice cream truck - and I didn't have dessert or us, OR cash! Luckily we had the change bowl, where all my spare pocket change gets tossed to be rolled up later.
We were weak.
We couldn't help it.
Yum! ;-)
...hmm, I'm guessing the backup drive is warm...
...to the desktop without any assistance!
While I was working on email to a client (hi Mari!), the kitten would behave, and then walk all over the keyboard, and then purr and look cute so I'd let her stay, and then walk all over the keyboard, so I'd put her back on the floor. Then she'd come back up again. She definitely likes the attention.
As I'm typing this, she'd come from behind the monitors, laid down to watch me, and fallen asleep with her head on the keyboard. When I turn on the camera she starts to wake up, so I don't think I'll be able to get a picture... Maybe I'll try to get one to post tomorrow.Oh, and after dinner we heard the jingle of the ice cream truck - and I didn't have dessert or us, OR cash! Luckily we had the change bowl, where all my spare pocket change gets tossed to be rolled up later.
We were weak.
We couldn't help it.
Yum! ;-)
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Brett N Boo...
Well, we're not CERTAIN her name is "Boo" yet, but it's a name Brett really likes that we're trying out a bit. Along with Hex, Eight (or just 8) and Freeway.
No no no Daddy Brett - don't eat me! I only weigh 1 3/4 pounds - I wouldn't even be a snack! (Just weighed her tonite - 1 lb 12 oz! She's really starting to pork out! ;-)
Kisses for the kitten
"So NOW I know what those other two cats were warning me about - when the camera comes out, run!"
No no no Daddy Brett - don't eat me! I only weigh 1 3/4 pounds - I wouldn't even be a snack! (Just weighed her tonite - 1 lb 12 oz! She's really starting to pork out! ;-)
Kisses for the kitten
"So NOW I know what those other two cats were warning me about - when the camera comes out, run!"
Kitties and flowers
You can't seeeeeee me! I'm waifishly thin and can hide behind these daisies!
Mmmm....daisies!
Blech - they don't taste as good as they smell!
Ooh, sneaky - put a catnip leaf in the flowers, and it attracts kitties to pose with them!
Granted, once they found a piece of catnip in ONE flower...
...ALL the flowers must be checked!
Would you stop taking my *%&$ picture!??
Mmmm....daisies!
Blech - they don't taste as good as they smell!
Ooh, sneaky - put a catnip leaf in the flowers, and it attracts kitties to pose with them!
Granted, once they found a piece of catnip in ONE flower...
...ALL the flowers must be checked!
Would you stop taking my *%&$ picture!??
Friday, July 21, 2006
Quick update before bed
Garden update:
Picked beans tonite. LOTS of beans. I filled a grocery sack half full of beans - two pounds worth! And I really only picked maybe 1/6 - 1/5 of the bean patch! I was sick of picking beans, I was sweaty, the mosquitoes were after me, it was getting late, and I had to go to the bathroom...so I called it quits and figure I'll get back out there this weekend.
TWO POUNDS! That's not bad, eh!?
I'm going to have to try Steven's and Farmgirl's blanch-and-freeze technique. I also want to do more dilly beans using the recipe Paula from work gave me (her husband's recipe). Includes garlic, dill seed and jalapeno - and is sooooo good!
Haven't even weighed the squash yet. Got more snow peas, plus the first of the sugar snap peas. More swiss chard. Enough basil to make two quart bags of pesto for the freezer. Some odd shaped cucumbers (not much hope there). A jalapeno. And four okra! (just enough to slice and fry for myself!)
Kitten update:
Still no name....and trust me, we've bounced a bunch of names back and forth! She's wired and crazy and loving life! Some of her foot scabs are starting to come loose - I've caught her cleaning them a couple times. Her belly wound looks fully healed and just needs to have the fur grow back. Back foot's swelling is MOSTLY down. Front toe still looks like it would hurt, but doesn't phase her in the least.
Tonite she learned how to get up on the sofa (climb her way up a blanket hanging over the edge, or hop up the box and end table beside the sofa) - it's amazing what roast chicken can inspire a cat to do!
All the cats are getting along now. There isn't tons of physical contact between her and the big kitties yet - they're still a bit curious and cautious, but you can tell the urge to play is there!
Picked beans tonite. LOTS of beans. I filled a grocery sack half full of beans - two pounds worth! And I really only picked maybe 1/6 - 1/5 of the bean patch! I was sick of picking beans, I was sweaty, the mosquitoes were after me, it was getting late, and I had to go to the bathroom...so I called it quits and figure I'll get back out there this weekend.
TWO POUNDS! That's not bad, eh!?
I'm going to have to try Steven's and Farmgirl's blanch-and-freeze technique. I also want to do more dilly beans using the recipe Paula from work gave me (her husband's recipe). Includes garlic, dill seed and jalapeno - and is sooooo good!
Haven't even weighed the squash yet. Got more snow peas, plus the first of the sugar snap peas. More swiss chard. Enough basil to make two quart bags of pesto for the freezer. Some odd shaped cucumbers (not much hope there). A jalapeno. And four okra! (just enough to slice and fry for myself!)
Kitten update:
Still no name....and trust me, we've bounced a bunch of names back and forth! She's wired and crazy and loving life! Some of her foot scabs are starting to come loose - I've caught her cleaning them a couple times. Her belly wound looks fully healed and just needs to have the fur grow back. Back foot's swelling is MOSTLY down. Front toe still looks like it would hurt, but doesn't phase her in the least.
Tonite she learned how to get up on the sofa (climb her way up a blanket hanging over the edge, or hop up the box and end table beside the sofa) - it's amazing what roast chicken can inspire a cat to do!
All the cats are getting along now. There isn't tons of physical contact between her and the big kitties yet - they're still a bit curious and cautious, but you can tell the urge to play is there!
Good news on Peter's status
Just got word from Peter's good friend/coworker Francis... Sounds like Peter's feeling increasingly better, is ecstatic to be losing weight since his diet consists of anything he can be fed through his IV, will probably be on IV or oral antibiotics to control infection, but apparently they didn't have to operate, annnnd he could be going home as early as today! Woo hoo for Peter! I expect him to be posting by the end of the day (yeah, right!)
Thursday, July 20, 2006
More Cat Antics
What do you do when you have a new kitten? Why, you take too many photos and even some videos! First - some of tonite's photos:
Crazy little beast, isn't she!? And here's my first attempt at using YouTube - HOPEFULLY the large video from my camera will stream nicely!?
Crazy little beast, isn't she!? And here's my first attempt at using YouTube - HOPEFULLY the large video from my camera will stream nicely!?
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