On the left of the blog is a photo of a cat, Little Miss Nubbins, and she is a rescue from Pawsitive Partners over 11 yrs ago.
When I got the call on her, she was about 6-7 wks old, and was VERY badly damaged from being tossed through a diesel engine and cutting off her right front leg, and if you look, you will also see her back legs cut off just below the hocks or the bend in the back legs. Her tail is cut off also. The vet who got her was in total amazement of her strength, and the will to live, she would cuddle him when he would doctor her. The vet was a classmate of my mother's and I got the call from him to take her, and help her heal. My mother told him of my care I do, and he did not have the heart to put her to sleep because of this strength she possessed to go on. So I went over to the office, was in total shock and in tears but was so impressed and in disbelief of her uncanny ability to get up and get around. So after some consulting with Doc, and some ideas of care, I was off and running into something that I had never handled before. She was the start of the care of disabled cats and pets that I do now.
She is 11 yrs old now, and can run and jump on the bed no less, can jump on the back of chairs and the sofa. She is a true example of what animals can achieve when they must, and it shows us something also, how to survive when all else fails.
She is my shining star, and very sweet, but she is very spoiled, and is somewhat secretive, I was able to get a photo of her on the couch without her running. She does not like her photo taken, and she has always been like this since her injuries. She has been in the local paper a few times, and she isn't keen to the life of a celebrity.
I hope that she doesn't shock you, I assure you she is quite comfortable, and is a very happy kitty. And is one of my star pupils. And I learned quite a lot about faith and hope from her. We should take a lesson from her.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Snow, cold, and cabin fever
Good Morning everyone. I hope that everything is going well with all of you and your homes.
We had snow yesterday. It started early Wednesday morning about 5 am. And it would snow on and off light, then very heavy, then quit for a while then heavy.
Moral of the story, don't listen to the weatherman, especially the one we have. You get a "snow job". Have close to 7 inches of snow this morning, and its very cold, -8 below with a wind chill of -25 below. I'm not going out today.
I had plans to go out later this morning to run a few errands, but I think not, I wanted to get out and go have a cup of coffee out to just get out of the house as I have a major case of cabin fever, and it does not help when you want to start some garden seeds and get things going a little. I wanted to go get a grow light so I can start some herb seeds and place it in my kitchen but I am afraid that it will have to wait till the weekend. Some of my blog I follow, they are starting their gardens and seeds, and I get so bummed out. I was hoping to get to my cold frames and start laying them out so I can set up my lettuces and radishes and spinach and get them covered, but they are under the porch and I have ice sealing up the space where I can get to the frames. I am hoping that we will have a thaw toward the end of the month so I can at least get these set up and covered so I can get the soil warmed up.
Cabin fever is a multi-faceted term and for many people, has many faces. Funny thing is, I have plenty to do in the house, for one thing, start cleaning out rooms and get rid of "stuff" that is truly driving me buggy. But I simply just need outside for a few hours to get some fresh air, and a change of scene, if only for a few hours. We also have had 0 sun for over a week now, and that really bothers me. It seems if the sun shines, I am better at staying in, than with no sun and cold and snow just makes me more blue. My doctor told me to up my vitamin D. I am some what bad on vitamins, I take them, but I can only afford certain ones on my little salary, so I take a whole food supplement, and a 2000 unit Vitamin D, which I am supposed to anyway since I have had cancer. She also jumped on me to eat more fruit, but I informed her that fruit is unaffordable for me period, and it is beyond affordable here, and our fruit we get here I wouldn't let a parrot eat. It is terrible and price wise is beyond my as well as others paychecks. I have some peaches and apples and apricots that I canned last fall, and I do eat these, with my homemade yogurt, over my oatmeal, and I am in the process of starting some crocked fruit or "drunken fruit" as my grandmother called it. It takes a little while to ferment, but its sure good over cake or ice cream. All I need to do is just wander over to the liquor store and get a small bottle of brandy or another liquor and start it. It will have to wait till payday though in February. I also have dried fruit that I dried last summer and fall, from some fruit that I got from my prairie paks, so I usually dry these if I cannot eat them right off the bat. I will see if I can do this crocked fruit and not have a lab experiment in the kitchen! I will have photos to show progress.
Update: The sun is shining now. WOW, I thought that it disappeared forever.
I also wanted to let you all know that when I changed my blogs name, somehow I created another blog site. Now I am stupid when it comes to blogs, and I deleted this "new" blog. By some chance, if you go to something, and you have problems, email me and let me know. I'll see if I can fix it. Or I will probably delete something and it will disappear into the ozone and outer space.
Well, I should go do something, even if it's wrong. I need to get some laundry done, and some dishes done. It does not get done looking at it, though it would be nice.
So everyone, please have a great rest of the week, and a great weekend.
We had snow yesterday. It started early Wednesday morning about 5 am. And it would snow on and off light, then very heavy, then quit for a while then heavy.
Moral of the story, don't listen to the weatherman, especially the one we have. You get a "snow job". Have close to 7 inches of snow this morning, and its very cold, -8 below with a wind chill of -25 below. I'm not going out today.
I had plans to go out later this morning to run a few errands, but I think not, I wanted to get out and go have a cup of coffee out to just get out of the house as I have a major case of cabin fever, and it does not help when you want to start some garden seeds and get things going a little. I wanted to go get a grow light so I can start some herb seeds and place it in my kitchen but I am afraid that it will have to wait till the weekend. Some of my blog I follow, they are starting their gardens and seeds, and I get so bummed out. I was hoping to get to my cold frames and start laying them out so I can set up my lettuces and radishes and spinach and get them covered, but they are under the porch and I have ice sealing up the space where I can get to the frames. I am hoping that we will have a thaw toward the end of the month so I can at least get these set up and covered so I can get the soil warmed up.
Cabin fever is a multi-faceted term and for many people, has many faces. Funny thing is, I have plenty to do in the house, for one thing, start cleaning out rooms and get rid of "stuff" that is truly driving me buggy. But I simply just need outside for a few hours to get some fresh air, and a change of scene, if only for a few hours. We also have had 0 sun for over a week now, and that really bothers me. It seems if the sun shines, I am better at staying in, than with no sun and cold and snow just makes me more blue. My doctor told me to up my vitamin D. I am some what bad on vitamins, I take them, but I can only afford certain ones on my little salary, so I take a whole food supplement, and a 2000 unit Vitamin D, which I am supposed to anyway since I have had cancer. She also jumped on me to eat more fruit, but I informed her that fruit is unaffordable for me period, and it is beyond affordable here, and our fruit we get here I wouldn't let a parrot eat. It is terrible and price wise is beyond my as well as others paychecks. I have some peaches and apples and apricots that I canned last fall, and I do eat these, with my homemade yogurt, over my oatmeal, and I am in the process of starting some crocked fruit or "drunken fruit" as my grandmother called it. It takes a little while to ferment, but its sure good over cake or ice cream. All I need to do is just wander over to the liquor store and get a small bottle of brandy or another liquor and start it. It will have to wait till payday though in February. I also have dried fruit that I dried last summer and fall, from some fruit that I got from my prairie paks, so I usually dry these if I cannot eat them right off the bat. I will see if I can do this crocked fruit and not have a lab experiment in the kitchen! I will have photos to show progress.
Update: The sun is shining now. WOW, I thought that it disappeared forever.
I also wanted to let you all know that when I changed my blogs name, somehow I created another blog site. Now I am stupid when it comes to blogs, and I deleted this "new" blog. By some chance, if you go to something, and you have problems, email me and let me know. I'll see if I can fix it. Or I will probably delete something and it will disappear into the ozone and outer space.
Well, I should go do something, even if it's wrong. I need to get some laundry done, and some dishes done. It does not get done looking at it, though it would be nice.
So everyone, please have a great rest of the week, and a great weekend.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
The New "it" that is really the Old "it.
Good Morning everyone,
Well, our temperatures are leveling off some. It isn't below 0 today, I think that it is hovering around 24* now, and that is a heat wave compared to what we did have a few days ago.
I received a comment from a wonderful reader who I respect greatly and it really got me to thinking this morning. I wanted to think about it some more and drink a cup a tea over it and between doing household chores that need doing.
On my blog the other day, I put a web site for mother nature network, and my reader commented that green is getting "old". Now I am not angry in the least bit, but I starting thinking about the "green" movement and it really got me thinking, which is a great effort sometimes, and I thought, gee, you know it "is" getting old. This is what I love about blogging, we exchange thoughts, and talk, and learn from others, and sometimes you get a new perspective on the world, which for me is somewhat isolated, as I do not get out much so for outside stimulation and conversation, I fall to the Internet and the blogging world.
Now on to the thoughts. Those of us who live a frugal, simple, and not complicated lifestyle, which the term of "Simple Lifestyle" has as many faces as Yannis, actually live "green", like my reader said. And the "green" movement has been done for hundreds or thousands of years. Now I wasn't around then, but I was raised by Depression Era grandparents who lived simply and frugally and was "green" before it was a coined term. It seems like now it is the "it" thing now, but it's not. I have found that for years, if women did not work outside the home, they were coined "lazy", worthless, or "high priced mistress", which I have found very derogatory to the females. But yet, the females of the house, were expected to work outside the home, then come home to clean the house, cook the dinner, run after the kids, run after the husband and whatever else the female was supposed to provide for the household plus her wages she earned outside the home. I do not call that lazy, worthless or a high priced mistress unless she was seeking out extras from the boss she worked for, especially if it was a male, for ill-gotten gains. I have thoughts on working outside the home but that is for a later post.
I do not have a word or a comment on this but it sure made me see a light that I really didn't see. I do feel however that the green movement is being used to benefit corporations for their personal gains, by hitting on people who are ignorant of old ways, and have no one to turn to except these corporations that are seeking out the ignorant and placing images and thoughts that aren't true or undermine others who are living a more simple lifestyle, or more frugally, or trying to get out of debt,
Now, frugal has a lot a meaning to a lot of folks, and I really feel that I do not need to go into explaining that term. Each of us has a life that we live and we do it the best as we can, no one can make the frugal lifestyle fit for every one human being for every life that is lived. What we can do is listen to others, take suggestions, ideas, thoughts, recipes, plans and work them into each of our lives and if it doesn't fit, no big deal. Go on to plan B, then plan C and etc.
Now I am going to post a web site that I got from another wonderful blogging friend, and it speaks about this subject directly. Now I thoroughly enjoyed this site. And the lady who has this site speaks just about a blunt and plainly as she can, and if it makes you upset or mad or whatever, oh, well, sh*t happens. She is glad that she got your attention.
Please go to www.homesteadgardenandpantry.com and read about Granny Miller.
So, this is my thoughts for today, my brains are warped now, as this is a complicated subject, with many facets, and many, many sub-subjects under it.
Thank you again, my lovely readers, for your thoughts, suggestions, recipes, and just plain over the fence conversation.
Well, our temperatures are leveling off some. It isn't below 0 today, I think that it is hovering around 24* now, and that is a heat wave compared to what we did have a few days ago.
I received a comment from a wonderful reader who I respect greatly and it really got me to thinking this morning. I wanted to think about it some more and drink a cup a tea over it and between doing household chores that need doing.
On my blog the other day, I put a web site for mother nature network, and my reader commented that green is getting "old". Now I am not angry in the least bit, but I starting thinking about the "green" movement and it really got me thinking, which is a great effort sometimes, and I thought, gee, you know it "is" getting old. This is what I love about blogging, we exchange thoughts, and talk, and learn from others, and sometimes you get a new perspective on the world, which for me is somewhat isolated, as I do not get out much so for outside stimulation and conversation, I fall to the Internet and the blogging world.
Now on to the thoughts. Those of us who live a frugal, simple, and not complicated lifestyle, which the term of "Simple Lifestyle" has as many faces as Yannis, actually live "green", like my reader said. And the "green" movement has been done for hundreds or thousands of years. Now I wasn't around then, but I was raised by Depression Era grandparents who lived simply and frugally and was "green" before it was a coined term. It seems like now it is the "it" thing now, but it's not. I have found that for years, if women did not work outside the home, they were coined "lazy", worthless, or "high priced mistress", which I have found very derogatory to the females. But yet, the females of the house, were expected to work outside the home, then come home to clean the house, cook the dinner, run after the kids, run after the husband and whatever else the female was supposed to provide for the household plus her wages she earned outside the home. I do not call that lazy, worthless or a high priced mistress unless she was seeking out extras from the boss she worked for, especially if it was a male, for ill-gotten gains. I have thoughts on working outside the home but that is for a later post.
I do not have a word or a comment on this but it sure made me see a light that I really didn't see. I do feel however that the green movement is being used to benefit corporations for their personal gains, by hitting on people who are ignorant of old ways, and have no one to turn to except these corporations that are seeking out the ignorant and placing images and thoughts that aren't true or undermine others who are living a more simple lifestyle, or more frugally, or trying to get out of debt,
Now, frugal has a lot a meaning to a lot of folks, and I really feel that I do not need to go into explaining that term. Each of us has a life that we live and we do it the best as we can, no one can make the frugal lifestyle fit for every one human being for every life that is lived. What we can do is listen to others, take suggestions, ideas, thoughts, recipes, plans and work them into each of our lives and if it doesn't fit, no big deal. Go on to plan B, then plan C and etc.
Now I am going to post a web site that I got from another wonderful blogging friend, and it speaks about this subject directly. Now I thoroughly enjoyed this site. And the lady who has this site speaks just about a blunt and plainly as she can, and if it makes you upset or mad or whatever, oh, well, sh*t happens. She is glad that she got your attention.
Please go to www.homesteadgardenandpantry.com and read about Granny Miller.
So, this is my thoughts for today, my brains are warped now, as this is a complicated subject, with many facets, and many, many sub-subjects under it.
Thank you again, my lovely readers, for your thoughts, suggestions, recipes, and just plain over the fence conversation.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
A web site of interest to all of you
Well, since it is colder than a...................(I'll let you fill in the blank. I came in the house for a little bit to warm up after trying to dig my car out and shovel a path to get to it. And in 5 minutes, my fingers were literally frozen under heavy working gloves. So I made a cup of tea, a donut, (got to have a bad something to eat) and surfed around for a little bit, and came across a news article, which then led me to a nice little web site that some of you might find interesting.
It is called Mother Nature Network, (www.mnn.com) . It has some wonderful articles on green living, and just general everything. I will check it out more later when I am done playing in the snow and do not freeze to death in a snow pile.
Let me know what you think, or even if you knew about this site.
Stay warm, and enjoy the day,
It is called Mother Nature Network, (www.mnn.com) . It has some wonderful articles on green living, and just general everything. I will check it out more later when I am done playing in the snow and do not freeze to death in a snow pile.
Let me know what you think, or even if you knew about this site.
Stay warm, and enjoy the day,
Addition to Flip-in Cold
To my over seas readers, the air and wind chill temps are in Fahrenheit. I am not real familiar with Celsius. You calculate and let me know. Maybe I don't want to know. It won't help to stand the cold.
I should not be complaining, its gets colder in Russia, and Alaska even worse.
Have a great week everyone.
I should not be complaining, its gets colder in Russia, and Alaska even worse.
Have a great week everyone.
Just downright Flip'in cold
Good Morning everyone,
Well, I want to make an apology to you all. The weather made me a liar. Our cold air didn't get to us until Monday afternoon and when I got up at about 6:15 am, I heard on the radio that the air temp was -19 below 0, with a windchill of -36 below 0. I kicked up the heat in the house, opened up the vents more in each room, and dripped the water in the cold water pipes to help keep them open before I went to bed last night. It isn't too bad in here now, I just cringe with the heat turned up. :*(
When it gets this cold, you just have to burrow in and take it as it come. We had about 7.5 inches of snow, but with the cold air, it is just miserable. My snow removal guy will be around sometime today, to blade off my driveway, and sidewalks, he has a nifty ATV with a hydraulic blade mounted on the front of it, and he just gets it done in no time. I cannot remove snow anymore, my back is too solidly fused and I have a hip that is now giving me problems from arthritis, so my snow removal days are done. I have an emergency jar of change and bills that I keep for gas, Handi bus fare and snow removal through out the year, a lot of it was from my Farmer's Market booth I had, so I just kept filling it, and have money for my snow guy. Now I just heard on the radio that we will get another shot of bitter cold on Friday with more snow........
Well that is it for now. Really not too much to talk about. Not when its this cold, you don't go out, and if you do, it is just for a quick in and out and that's about it.
I wish everyone a great week, and if is cold in your area, please stay warm.
Well, I want to make an apology to you all. The weather made me a liar. Our cold air didn't get to us until Monday afternoon and when I got up at about 6:15 am, I heard on the radio that the air temp was -19 below 0, with a windchill of -36 below 0. I kicked up the heat in the house, opened up the vents more in each room, and dripped the water in the cold water pipes to help keep them open before I went to bed last night. It isn't too bad in here now, I just cringe with the heat turned up. :*(
When it gets this cold, you just have to burrow in and take it as it come. We had about 7.5 inches of snow, but with the cold air, it is just miserable. My snow removal guy will be around sometime today, to blade off my driveway, and sidewalks, he has a nifty ATV with a hydraulic blade mounted on the front of it, and he just gets it done in no time. I cannot remove snow anymore, my back is too solidly fused and I have a hip that is now giving me problems from arthritis, so my snow removal days are done. I have an emergency jar of change and bills that I keep for gas, Handi bus fare and snow removal through out the year, a lot of it was from my Farmer's Market booth I had, so I just kept filling it, and have money for my snow guy. Now I just heard on the radio that we will get another shot of bitter cold on Friday with more snow........
Well that is it for now. Really not too much to talk about. Not when its this cold, you don't go out, and if you do, it is just for a quick in and out and that's about it.
I wish everyone a great week, and if is cold in your area, please stay warm.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Its Snowing
Well Everyone,
Its snowing today. It started late Saturday afternoon, and will probably continue until Monday morning. The only thing I am so glad for is we do not have the winds that they were talking about on the weather, 30+mph with 50+ gusts. With that, you just plain have a blizzard. And it is cold, but we do not have the below zero temps that was mentioned either though it will get cold. I can put up with cold, but when the wind is blowing, and below zero, I have a major problem with it, like trying to keep the house warm so water pipes won't freeze, and when the wind blows from the northwest a certain way, my furnace's pilot light goes out, and it is a pain in the butt to try to keep lit. Ah, the joys of winter.
Got my potato chowder on. I like mine a little thick and have some ump to it. And with it, a grilled cheese sandwich and I think that we are set for the evening.
All I do is just cut up potatoes, and I shred carrots and this time, I cheated, I used a large can of cream of celery soup, and a little chicken broth, and some evaporated milk. That's it. I didn't feel like making a soup base from scratch. I am lazy today.
I am going to lay out my garden ideas out on the table after supper, and start getting ideas for new beds and layouts. I have a very major problem with space here, since my modular is 16' wide by 76' long, I have a strip of yard that is 5 ft wide from the south side of the trailer and the full 76 feet long. I need to lay it out where I can get more plantings out of this space, and I have a plan for building vertical planting space using stringers that you use for house steps and building a more vertical space. Now I am not a builder or carpenter, but I do have this idea. I also want to do this to save water, and make it easier for me since it is getting too hard for me to bend and dig anymore, but I do not want to give up my gardening or being outside. If I had to give gardening up, I think that I would just wilt away.
I get overload when I get all of these seed catalogs. There are so many seeds and flowers I would love to try. But I have to really put a bit in my mouth and hold and buy a few new seeds to try. If I like them, I will order more next year. I am trying to take the open pollinated varieties, and each year, I go more and more to them. I want to save seeds and I love old fashioned flowers also, so I work each year to add to my stash of seeds. I was so excited the other day. A wonderful blog I read from a lovely lady who lives in the Ozarks, mentioned a type of squash/pumpkin that is open pollinated and seems to take squash bugs well. I looked and looked and the other night, I found it in one of my new garden catalogs, Kitchen Garden Seeds, (http://www.kitchengardenseeds.com/) and they have it. It is called a Long Island Cheese Pumpkin, and I think that I will order a package and try them. This catalog is nice, but the seeds are expensive, but if it is open pollinated, you get more seeds and do not have to buy any more seeds.
Well, I had best get going and finish some work in the kitchen, and in the utility room, washing some clothes or I won't have any to wear Monday morning.
Take care my friends, and have a great week whatever you are planning.
Its snowing today. It started late Saturday afternoon, and will probably continue until Monday morning. The only thing I am so glad for is we do not have the winds that they were talking about on the weather, 30+mph with 50+ gusts. With that, you just plain have a blizzard. And it is cold, but we do not have the below zero temps that was mentioned either though it will get cold. I can put up with cold, but when the wind is blowing, and below zero, I have a major problem with it, like trying to keep the house warm so water pipes won't freeze, and when the wind blows from the northwest a certain way, my furnace's pilot light goes out, and it is a pain in the butt to try to keep lit. Ah, the joys of winter.
Got my potato chowder on. I like mine a little thick and have some ump to it. And with it, a grilled cheese sandwich and I think that we are set for the evening.
All I do is just cut up potatoes, and I shred carrots and this time, I cheated, I used a large can of cream of celery soup, and a little chicken broth, and some evaporated milk. That's it. I didn't feel like making a soup base from scratch. I am lazy today.
I am going to lay out my garden ideas out on the table after supper, and start getting ideas for new beds and layouts. I have a very major problem with space here, since my modular is 16' wide by 76' long, I have a strip of yard that is 5 ft wide from the south side of the trailer and the full 76 feet long. I need to lay it out where I can get more plantings out of this space, and I have a plan for building vertical planting space using stringers that you use for house steps and building a more vertical space. Now I am not a builder or carpenter, but I do have this idea. I also want to do this to save water, and make it easier for me since it is getting too hard for me to bend and dig anymore, but I do not want to give up my gardening or being outside. If I had to give gardening up, I think that I would just wilt away.
I get overload when I get all of these seed catalogs. There are so many seeds and flowers I would love to try. But I have to really put a bit in my mouth and hold and buy a few new seeds to try. If I like them, I will order more next year. I am trying to take the open pollinated varieties, and each year, I go more and more to them. I want to save seeds and I love old fashioned flowers also, so I work each year to add to my stash of seeds. I was so excited the other day. A wonderful blog I read from a lovely lady who lives in the Ozarks, mentioned a type of squash/pumpkin that is open pollinated and seems to take squash bugs well. I looked and looked and the other night, I found it in one of my new garden catalogs, Kitchen Garden Seeds, (http://www.kitchengardenseeds.com/) and they have it. It is called a Long Island Cheese Pumpkin, and I think that I will order a package and try them. This catalog is nice, but the seeds are expensive, but if it is open pollinated, you get more seeds and do not have to buy any more seeds.
Well, I had best get going and finish some work in the kitchen, and in the utility room, washing some clothes or I won't have any to wear Monday morning.
Take care my friends, and have a great week whatever you are planning.
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