Best laid plans...

  Green Man.  'Nuff said.

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  lol.  It's been a crazy day of making plans and making lists and watching all my good intentions go right down the toilet.  There were only 7 things on that list. 7.  I got 2 of them done. And one of those two things was grocery shopping. I took little Roxie with me because...well, because she wanted to go. AND I had to go to Petco and get doggie biscuits and she can go in there on the leash.  I went to the Green Earth co-op first, and got some packages of dried sea vegetables, as I've found a few recipes which call for them, and I had none. I also got agar-agar, which was outrageously expensive.  I bought organic rolled oats so that I can make some granola and granola bars.  I got barley malt syrup, polenta grits,  and a few other things and spent almost 40 dollars. ouch!  Then I went on to a different store and had to get toilet paper and organic vegetables and stuff and spent another 60.  Oy vey.  Roxie and I had a Pad Thai bowl for lunch from Crazy Wraps and Bowls--she loved the spicy peanut sauce as much as I did! And she ate her fair share of whole wheat noodles too. lol BY the time we got back home it was almost 2 o'clock. I got the groceries all unloaded and put away and went out to check the chickens. Decided that this beautiful 72 degree sunny day was perfect for cleaning the coop. So, there went another 30 minutes...cleaning and filling the food and the water dishes...it was getting a little stinky in there...ammonia build-up. 

  You can see where this is going.  I came back in the house, looked at my list...looked at the clock...and crossed 2 things off the list with a flourish!  That was all she wrote.  I had wanted to make bagels today too...not even close.  I need to pull my furnace filter and vacuum that business.  Nope.  I need to get my cookbook shelf back up.  Nuh-uh.  Vacuum and clean carpet.? No way, Jose.  Sort seeds ?  Hahahahahaha.

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  Tomorrow I have a 9:30 appointment for a massage and reflexology session...A full one and a half hours of  pampering myself. That means I have to get up early and make sure I am on the road by 8:45.

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  For supper tonight I made a gorgeous salad of mixed greens with pear slices and gorgonzola cheese.  It was a thing of beauty.  I also fixed polenta, with marinara and a mixture of sauteed red onion, spinach, baby bellas mushrooms and cannelini beans.  Lordy, it was good.   But that took up some time too...polenta is a bit on the labor intensive side.

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  It's starting to rain. They said it would come in tonight, and bless their hearts--here it is.  Time for me to knock off and get myself to bed.  I can't believe it's after midnight already. (I always say that...and I mean it!)  lol

  Sending you all thoughts of spring --I noticed today in my travels that the willow trees here are leafing out! Things are greening up nicely and it's warm.  It's a good thing...maybe I'll get those seeds sorted tomorrow...

  Namaste.

A soft rain...

That's what I woke up to this morning.  A soaking gentle rain that is giving my yard and plants a much needed drink. I'm thinking of taking my camera outside and shooting some damp shots. lol

  Something in me has a really strong connection to the poetry of Hafiz and Rumi. It's something old and mysterious, this connection, and makes me wonder about possible incarnations. The simple joy of the Divine Love reaches out to me through them both. I need that. Every single day.

  I've been making soups all week, trying out and tweaking new recipes. It's been great fun. Yesterday I made hamburger buns too. I finally made the Indian Cabbage Soup and it is NOT for the faint of heart and palate.  The first three ingredients are 2 onions, 4 cloves of garlic and a pound of cabbage. YIKES. I liked it, but wouldn't want more than one bowl of it, ever. And that's the bottom line for me...am I going to like it enough to be able to eat the majority of it soon enough?  So...today I am thinking about something as innocuous as a cream of potato soup, perhaps as anathema to the onions, garlic and cabbage. lol I do have some lovely Yukon Gold potatoes on the counter, beckoning...

   Just made myself a nice bowl of oatmeal...with added pecans and raisins and dried cranberries. Yum. My stomach was growling.  I worked late last night and didn't have any supper. So I stopped on my way home and got a soft taco (bad choice) and ate it in the car.  This morning I had 2 cups of coffee and suddenly, it was time to eat! lol

  Rambling about the house...sounds like the rain may have stopped. I am going out to check on my chickens in a minute...they are moulting something fierce and not laying well at all.  OR something is stealing eggs. Last night after I went around picking up the dog and cat food bowls that sit outside (we are having a visiting raccoon that is eating the food), I stepped out into the mudroom to make sure that door was closed, and I ran straight into a giant Rocky Raccoon trying to get the lid off the dog food container. He had gotten a box of suet blocks down from the shelf and torn into one of those too.  I screeched and he screeched and he went one way and I went the other.  I guess we're going to have to get a trap and catch and release him out by the reservoir or somewhere. He is HUGE. (probably all that cat and dog food he's eating).

  I don't seem to have much energy or motivation today. Thank goodness I'm off tomorrow, and have breakfast plans with a friend. I may try to go see my new great nephew in the afternoon. It's over an hour drive, but I haven't seen him yet and he's changing  every day. He's becoming...lol

   Already thinking about taking a nap. Must be all these negative ions. Couple of phone calls this morning, couple of  small errands and then I'm off to MissB's, where the world changes every minute and there is no memory of  of anything except childhood and the immediate present.  Probably we could all take a lesson from that.  My son thinks that Altzheimers may be a portal back to our beginnings. hmmm...perhaps it is, in the early and middle stages.

  Life is good.


Namaste.

Scatterday

News flash:  It's getting ready to rain again !!!  The skies are dark and the thunder is rolling.

  And because of all this rain, we have gorgeous weeds like this growing everywhere. I don't know what it is, at first I thought it was a type of yarrow, which we have everywhere too...but it isn't. Here's the deal--I don't have to know what it is. I can just enjoy the way it looks, and that's good enough for today. But...I digress...

  THE RAIN !!!!!!

 Good lord.  I have to remember that in a month or so, I'll be praying for rain. lol  On my little stroll through the garden this morning though...I am seeing some of the effects of too much water. Even in my raised beds.  Yellowing leaves...not enough fruiting...hope this passes soon. If it doesn't, we'll be eating sauerkraut and beets all winter. lol  And dried tomatoes. And lots of beans and rice.  sigh....


  I am locked in the office, eating (away from misbehaving cats) a yummy gooey egg and cheese and onion sandwich on healthnut bread.  I have too many eggs, so I think I will make another quiche here in a minute or two. One thing about this weather...I don't mind running the oven a bit. One thing about eggs--you can find a hundred ways to use them.

  I have been bad lately about not eating breakfast. That needs to stop.  I always feel better when I have breakfast. NO matter what it is..oatmeal with raisins and pecans or walnuts...eggs any old way, or even just whole grain bread or bagel with some added finery--like fresh sliced tomato and basil and mozzarella, or peanut butter and jalapeno jelly.  yum...

  I probably should be vacuuming, but who cares?  Maybe tonight after I get home...or even tomorrow morning.

  The dogs keep barking their heads off at a guy on a tractor who seems to be cruising back and forth past my house on an old Ford tractor. That's my luck...I get an Amish stalker...lol...kidding, of course. He's hauling those huge round bales of hay 'twixt and 'tween somewheres.  You'd think they'd figure out they saw him before...


  Well...it's 10 o'clock and if I'm agonna git some stuff done, I better git on it.  I have a load of the Irishman's workclothes in the dryer ready to be folded. It was the last load to go on the clothesline yesterday, and when I brought everything in last night, they were still a little damp, so they went into the dryer for a bit. Order is slowly being restored to my household..(who am I kidding?)  and got a call last night that his trip went smoothly and they had already gone out to rib shack for supper. Good to hear.

  It's suppoosed to get up to 82 today...we'll see. Only about 70 right now. Time to shut down this 'puter and get busy.



 Be Blessed.

Thursday....winding down the week

   It's been yet another rainy day here on the Prairie.  All day long, a steady soft rain, as the Irish are wont to say.  The best part of it was listening to the birds outside my windows.  At one point my Labrador Retriever was going insane out there, and I stepped out to see what she was after, because she was racing around in a strange manner with her muzzle pointing at the sky.

  My first thought was "Squirrel"  but as I looked up at the top of the big dead tree in my front yard, what did I see but an immature eagle...big, but his head not quite white yet.  No idea how he wound up here, but there he sat, glaring down at the raucous dog.  It was a sight to behold, believe me.  Of course, this picture is NOT what was in my front yard, but it's a great picture and so there you go, lol.

  I sat out in the rocking chair on the front porch for awhile, and saw the first Baltimore Oriole of the year, gorgeous in his brilliant orange and black feathers.  As if this wasn't enough, there were Indigo Buntings, a small flock of about 5 of them, Eastern Bluebirds, Titmouse, Juncko, Robins, a Ladderback Woodpecker, several Red Bellied Woodpeckers, and a host of Finches and Sparrows.  I felt especially blessed to get to watch all this from my vantage point.

 (Here's a red bellied woodpecker on the porch rail)

  This silly chest cold has got me coughing like a fool. Other than the coughing, I feel fine.  And it is worse at night, only sporadic during the day. Bleechhh!

  I baked a lovely chocolate cake today and will bake the Italian Cream Cake tomorrow for the big whoop-te-doo tomorrow night. Decided I might need 2 cakes, because the guest of honor is one popular girl. lol  Hard to say how many people might show up...

  For supper I made a lovely Jamaican pork stew...full of whole garlic cloves, okra, sweet potatoes and succulent chunks of slow cooked pork loin. The key spices are cinnamon  and cumin, and the house smells heavenly as it cooks. It was just what the doctor ordered for a rainy cool day.

  Worked in the garden yesterday, planted squash, butternut and zucchini plants that I started indoors.  I got the Blue Lake Bush Beans planted and got the bed ready for the okra. I put tomato cages around the biggest of the tomatoes, and ran out of cages. I need to buy some new ones anyway, these old ones have just about seen their last growing season. I'm going to buy a different style this time too...these are hard to use after the first year or two. I think these are about 7-8 years old now.Things are looking great out there. I still have a few things to get planted, if the weather would just cooperate a little. I mowed the yards too, before the rains came again. Maybe I'll get out there and take some pictures...the rain is supposed to clear away tomorrow afternoon.

  About time for bed, got a busy day ahead tomorrow.  To sleep...perchance to dream...

Namaste.

 

 
 

Rainy days and Mondays...

Any more rain around here and I'll be building an ark...lol...that's what some of my sponslings call my house...Annie's Ark...

 We have had serious thunderstorms all weekend off and on...very limited computer access, naturally.  maybe God is trying to tell me something by weaning me off this idiot box slowly and surely ????  LOL

  It was a busy weekend too...Friday nights celebration was great and the Italian Creme Cake turned out beautifully.

I also made some cream cheese brownies to take. Between the Friday night and the Saturday morning meeting, every crumb was devoured. There was another cake there too, so there was more than enough of everything.  Had a nice Chinese lunch with a good friend on Saturday and then came home and took it easy the rest of the day. We watched Lady and the Tramp that we had picked up at a yard sale (I had never seen the whole movie...this was beautiful!!).  Sunday was a full day as well, went to a church service that I had to leave in the middle of, then to a meeting to , then to lunch with hubby and friends and then to a District meeting. Finally got home around 4 and ran up to Pappy's Market (in the rain, of course) and picked up some Terro for ants, a small pack of zucchini plants (I don't know why...I just cannot seem to NOT plant those dang things!!!) and some celery.  Came home and made a lovely chicken pot pie. The Irishman had gone to the watershed trail for a nice long hike and got home around 5:30. We settled in , had a nice supper of comforting tasty chicken pie and watched Adaptation, with Nick Cage, Chris Cooper and Meryl Streep.

  It stormed like crazy most of the night, and is raining off and on still. Feels like I live in a rainforest.

  Early Friday morning, I went to a garage sale and picked up a nice little tabletop food dehydrator for my son. He has been using mine, drying apples and pineapples and bananas.  I got this one for 5 bucks...and it has one more tray than mine does!  I think the Irishman paid close to 60 bucks for mine for a Xmas present.  They actually had 2 of them, and I bought the better (I thought) of the 2. Kinda wish I'd gotten them both now...He was thrilled. Called me up Saturday morning and said it works like a dream. He was already unloading the batch of dried banana planks.  Maybe I'll get mine back now ??  I think it's great...he's asking about making the dried fruit rolls that I made when he was little...thinking maybe his kids might actually try those.  lol

  Have to make some kind of a potluck dish for Pat to take to the meeting tonight.  I've decided not to participate this time...a weekly book meeting feels like too much to me right now. If it was once a month, or even every other week, I might consider it....but not weekly. Not now. Too much work to do this time of year.

  The chooks are out in the general milieu of the chicken run now. All fences are down and they are warily eyeing each other, lol. I need to get out and check on them this morning...

  Alrighty. let's see if the computer connection holds long enough to post this...

Namaste.

A beautiful Saturday

It's been a very nice day today for me. Even the pain in the knee was not horrible, and I did some housekeeping and some reading and some cooking. I am making a plan for the next couple of weeks, trying to get all my ducks in a row. So far, so good. It is fiercely storming, and I should probably shut down this computer. No lightning, ut lots of thunderboomers.

I keep getting kicked off...the miracles of satellite internet. lol Not sure if I'll be able to post this or not...I've tried to put a picture on 3 times and it keeps not loading, and saying that the connection was reset. Whatever the hell that means. lol


I roasted a beautiful chicken tonight for supper, all basted with olive oil and natural juices, seasoned with a simple salt and pepper and garlic mixture. I also roasted a whole pan of sweet potatoes, white potatoes and baby onions. Cut them into big chunks and drizzled with oil and seasoned with more salt and pepper (freshly ground, of course) and then a healthy dose of rosemary. They were exquisite...especially the onions, which tend to carmelize around the edges. We ate with wild abandon!

(YES, I am reading My Life In France, by Julia Child!!!!!!!!!) LOL

Watched a very good movie tonight called Frailty...with Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaghey and Powers Booth. It was weird and scarey and too real for my taste. lol I'd recommend it, but not alongside your dinner.


The Irishman is in there now watching African Queen, with Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. LOL>..I hear the marriage ceremony near the end..."Okay--I now pronounce you , man and wife--now-on with zee execution!" He's laughing himself silly...


I'm going to try to post this and get offline. I'll be back tomorrow..same time, same station.


Namaste.