Here Chick, Chick....There Chick, Chick.....

Good Morning To All,

I am sorry for the gap in posting.  It seems Blogger got its issues straightened out, and I can comment and read my favorites now.  I am not sure at all what went on, but I am glad its figured out.  I was afraid that I had issues with my blog from hackers or something.  Also, remember, I'm a boring life entity, and right now, its cold here, even though we are having 50's and 60's here with an average of 40's on a daily basis, with very little snow. Its supposed to be close to 60* F today, for pity sakes! Where's winter? But I still cannot do anything in the garden, period, everything is frozen solid, and even though I love the fairly warm days, they are sure deceiving and all you want to do is start gardening.  I can't even start some seeds yet, even though its starting to get a little warm.  I am planning on bringing a couple of my ghetto buckets around to the south side to start warming up.  It will  take most of February to do this, and by then, in March,  I can get my greens seeds in, and cover with my greenhouse plastic and just wait.  Something that I haven't heard of is the fact we are getting Sand Hills  cranes here now.  They usually start showing up the end of February, but they are flying and some are gathering west of town along the North Platte river and out in the corn (maize) stubble the farmers leave for the cows to graze in.  I have heard them overhead, way up high, but I have not seen them yet.  I am sure, we get a few nice days I will start to see them fly closer down where you can see them.

Last weekend, I pressured canned the broth off of the  turkey carcasses I had in the freezer along with the meat that was left on the bones.  I was so proud of myself, Miss afraid of the pressure canner here.  Today (Sunday, Jan  29th), I am having chicken dinner tonight, with the trimmings, and I am going to do chick broth and leftover meat and can that.  I look back thinking how much of a wussy I was with pressure canners, and how much I have missed out on not being able to do what I wanted to do years ago,  Funny how bad experiences with things alter your outlook, but then the need out ways the fear of getting things done if you have to provide food for your table, or need food for your health.  Payday, I am hoping that I can spare a little extra so I can purchase a box of beef shanks so I can process the meat and broth. I need to purchase shanks here as when spring rolls around my part of the country, I can't get shanks anymore until next winter.   My doctor wants me to get more beef  broth, since I am showing signs of bone degeneration, since I do not have a thyroid,  he urged me to take better care of myself, since I am caring for people, and I need to take time for me also.  That's hard to, but I am taking his advice. Like he told me, sometimes the caregivers poop out before the people they care for by just being like a shrew, and burning your candle at both ends.  Is that what it is? :-) I'm a shrew.  I feel like a hamster, sometimes, in a wheel, but not a shrew.


I have retired my in home chef-ing for a while.  A lot of my people are really cutting back on things, and expenses so all of us agreed upon stopping.  My clients were struggling with coming up with money, I was struggling with trying to get them their meals, and yet providing for my parents and my charges here, including me.  We all agreed that we were going to see what the spring brings and go from there.  If there is improvement in the economy, I sure don't see it, at least here.  I see so much poverty around me, funny that the rest of the community doesn't see it.  But 90% of the poverty that is going on here in my community is the fact that it is brought on by people who are drug addicts and alcoholics and would prefer to buy their habits with money that should be used to provide for their families, which the families lose out, and then it falls upon the community food banks and churches to provide for these people who, by choice prefer their habits before their families.  I shed tears for  these kids and families who have parents or a parent who waste their life away with something so very fleeting.  I sit here and thank each day I am able to wake up and be me, whether I feel good or not.  What makes me angry is the fact that these parents make everyone else provide for them, just so they can have their habit,  I am for giving a helping hand "up" but I do not like giving "hand-outs" to these people.  I have had incidents here where I live where the renters wanted me to give them produce from my garden, which I would be so very glad to do, BUT, I had a stipulation that they come over to help me weed or water or trim in the garden for about an hour to help me out.  The answer was always "no", and so I refused, simply on the fact that I feel you should work for your food, which I do as I have to provide as much as I can as I cannot go out and get help for my meals and no one is going to do it for me.  I will assure you, I have made many enemies while the renters where living here.  Oh well, off of my soap box.

Well, I need to get off of my fanny, and get my pans and chickens  ready to start dinner for this afternoon.  Then I will get my broth ready tonight, let it chill and then skim and can this tomorrow.  I will have more time tomorrow to do it. I like quiet and peace when I do this.
Well, until I can come up with something else.  I will leave all of you to have a wonderful, up coming week.  Please take care all.
Hugs