How to dry a cat

Just for laughs, this is one of my cats, her name is Madison, Maddy for short, and this is where she decided to lay while I was cooking dinner  tonight.  If this is too gross for prudy's then don't look, cause its a cat on the counter.

Burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Good Afternoon everyone
Well, its here,  the four letter word, SNOW, only I have other words for it, and they are not fit for the blog to read.
We don't have a terrible amount on the ground, maybe less than an inch, but we do have 30+ wind with a 50+ gust and we are in a wind advisory, so I'm not going out today, folks.

This morning, I felt ambitious, why I don't know.  Fixed oatmeal, with brown sugar and I guess the sugar got me going, so I had some somewhat tart oranges from my prairie land food paks this month and I made Orange marmalade.  Wow, talk about where the energy came from.....

I even had some photos taken by D, so, don't look at the kitchen or the stove, they are a federal disaster area.  I don't like my photos taken at all but I'm in there, hope it doesn't break your computer monitor.
Anyway, got some photos, and I hope that the marmalade turns out, this was a complete shoot from the hip from my head recipe.  Won't know until later if they set up.\

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season with family and friends, and everyone made it safely home from traffic, and weather, and the general public.

Tomorrow, I hope that I have some energy, I'm going to do some Granny Smith apples. These were in my paks also, and I don't like to waste food, so I made do these for use on oatmeal, or bagels.

Really other than that, not too much is going on.  I have been reading several blogs I follow and I am afraid the winter is decending upon most of us.  Guess we just pull in, keep busy, start planning gardens for next year, which is what I do, to keep the winter blues under control and then visit some blogs that have the most beautiful tropical florals ever, I don't think that the blog owner would mind me mention her blog, it is the lovely FlowerLady, her blog is listed on my as Flowerlady's Musings and she and her hubby live in a magical, charming cottage with wonderful gardens, and it will surely get your through the winter.

Well, I think that I am going to fix some lunch, probably leftover turkey on homemade bread and then I will tackle the apples and get them done, I already have everything set up for canning anyway.
So, please take care all and I will try to post later in the week.

Love and thoughts to all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving Holiday in the States.  And to my overseas readers, have a wonderful end of the week and weekend.
I will try to get to blogging next week.  It is pretty quiet here at the present moment, for which I am so very thankful of.
I will be hosting my parents and my ex for Thanksgiving. Really not too much.  Movies and eating til I am stuffed, like a beached whale.  The cats and dogs in the kitchen hoping that I drop something on the floor..... preferably the turkey. And if you are all going out on Black Friday, try not to get trampled, stabbed, or a black eye. lol
Anyway, enjoy the time with your families  and the holiday and we will catch everyone later.

Have a wonderful Holiday

Slip-sliddin' away

Good Morning readers,

I apologise for the delay in getting a blog listed.  Had tons of work, then a migraine headache, then some cold symptoms, so had to get that under control, as since I take care of elderly parents, I did not need to spread a cold to them.

Not too much is happening here except the fact we had freezing drizzle overnight here and the roads are covered with "black ice".  That is something that scares me to death, and from my over the road truck driving days, I hated to see.

Black ice you really don't see until you are driving on it and then the next thing you know your in the ditch or skating around and you not sure where you will end up at.  It is so very dangerous and you really just don't drive period until it melts.  Even if the roads are treated with salt or road cover, it doesn't help.  I can put up with the snow, and snow is better to drive on than ice, I can tell you that.  It's just nasty stuff to deal with, and we seem to get a lot of this here year after year.

So, I'm not going anywhere today.  I will call my parents, and see if they have to have anything, which I think they won't, and I'm staying in.  People here do not drive good anyway, and we have a lot of pickup trucks with people who think that if they have 4 wheel drive, they can drive faster, and get better traction than anyone else, and generally cause a lot of accidents and general mayhem.

Sunday, I was ambitious, I made a loaf of bread, and some cinnamon rolls.  The rolls didn't turn out too good, I think that my yeast is not up to snuff, so I need to get some new.  I bought something that I probably shouldn't of, but I bought 2 Lodge loaf pans and a muffin pan, and I love them.  When my grandparents and aunt and uncle passed away, we broke down the house and grandmother's loaf pans  were never found.  I have my grandmother's and great grand mother's cast iron dutch oven and pans, and I just adore them, and I will never part with them.  I guess I don't spend money and it seems that when I spend a considerable amount of something, it makes me feel bad, why, I am not sure.  It is not a foolish purchase, but I guess, when you live frugally or simple, spending money on something gives me a guilt complex. But I sure do love my pans.

Im' already getting a few garden catalogs.  I love garden catalogs, I love to look at seeds, and I love to start planning my next year's garden.  I can hardly wait. I do know that I will be doing things different, and I am planning on building raised beds, and I am planning on something so I can grow mushrooms better.  I started growing some last summer, but I didn't have luck on one species, I know because of the heat, so next year, I have a spot for them with a better layout for wood chip mulch and better cooler access.

I know in my last post I was mentioning an article about what was in a McDonald's chicken mcnugget, in the fact that there isn't anything good in it.  I tried to get the article to my blog, but since I am some what blog challenged, I didn't get that done, but if you wish to read the article and many other articles pertaining to health, please go to www.drmercola.com
and search articles about McDonald's, or key in chicken mcnuggets and you should come up with a few.  Please read and be glad you don't eat them.  I make my own nuggets, isn't that hard anyway and they are "real" chicken meat.

I am confused anyway, on things like this article and as to why the FDA and USDA and other government entities are griping now about obesity and allow fast food to function very well knowing what is in it and why the public is sick with all sorts of garbage and cancer and ADD and other afflictions of every nature.  Now, because of the health care issue, now the government is howling because it has to take on the obese and health challenged and because of the locations of a lot of these fast food joints, the urban poor have no other food options or cannot even afford healthy food.  I have my theory on this, and I won't mention it, as I had been getting somewhat challenging comments about how the government is trying to save people from their own destruction,  I simply deleted the comments and go on.  People are responsible for their own actions and if they want to eat healthy, they will seek it out however they need to.  I do not want the government to support me and tell me I have to eat this or that.  I will make my own supper, thank you very much.

And on the subject of comments, I had also been receiving some very lude comments from overseas.  Now, I know that I have readers from all over the world, and I love the readership, but I don't like and will not put up with lude behavior about where some males anatomy is and what he wants to do with it.  I'm sorry but I am quite sure you can find blogs where that sort of thing is put "so to speak" and if that is your thing, then do it.  The homesteading blogs I read and the people I hear from do not put up with this behavior either, and I will not post this nor will I tolerate it either. I love homesteading and simple life blogs because I learn from all of you and enjoy the fellowship it brings, not some sexual enlightenment, which I can't figure where that fits in with simple living, maybe my light bulb is burnt out and some of you can explain  it to me, but it does not float my boat at all.  So if you want to do this sort of thing, please go elsewhere and do it.  I am not going to tolerate it and I will not let my readers read it.  So go float your private parts somewhere else.

Anyway, I had better get my hind end in gear, I have to put some ice melt on my steps or I will have another session of slipping and sliding around which I don't want to do.  Everyone have a great week.

As Always,

Salute to Vets everywhere

I  want to say "Thank you" to all vets this very special day.  I want to spiritually thank my relatives who proudly served and died for my rights and all of you fellow readers.
I had 1 uncle who was in the Battle of the Bulge, my mother's dad who stormed the shores of Normandy and was shot in France later in the campaign.  My other uncle was in the Pacific in the islands. My dad's dad was in WWI, my dad's brother was in Korea.  My dad was in the Navy later in the WWII serving on small ships and was on the crash crews for aircraft.

Have a blessed Veteran's Day

Snow? or just pull'in your leg

Well, it's 34* and it rained a little during the night.  This is the first of some weather moving through the area and the second punch is supposed to move through Thursday afternoon with some SNOW?  Not sure how much but your never know here in the Plains of  Nebraska.

Last year in October, we had over 60" of snow from 3 storms that whacked us.  This year is different, as they generally are, like us natives like to say, " if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes and it will change".  Like the 49' blizzard that hit here, it was in the 70's before that hit and they really aren't sure how much snow that dumped on everyone and the area.

I really don't worry about weather, if its going to storm, I just make sure I have everything done, gas in the car, pantry is stocked anyway, and I have oil for the lamps and backup kerosene heater ready if I need it,  I usually don't use it unless I have to.  Since I'm in a trailer, I have to keep the plumbing warm or I will have a major problem with frozen pipes if it really gets cold and the wind really blows, if the electric grid goes down, which it does, when we get 60 mph blizzard winds blowing or a major ice storm.  We seem to get more ice storms than we usually did a long time ago, and those I think are worse than the blasted snow.  That's usually when we lose the grid.

Still working on the cupboards and cleaning, my back is screaming when I do this, crawling around on the floor and the cats looking at me like I lost my mind, wondering why is mom on the floor, and whether I am getting any food out of the cupboards for them.

Didn't get the rest of my outside work done either.  I am sure I have ADD or something, first inside, then I take a break and do something outside.  I'll just have to work at that too.

Thank you from all of you for suggestions for the fleas.  My vet recommended the Advantage for the dogs for a few rounds and she found a spray that is eco friendly as she knows I don't like to use sprays and pesticides, but we treated the dogs for a little bit and will do the brewers yeast for the cats and a spray for them that is eco friendly also.  It is hard when you have a multi animal house and try to control bugs and crawly stuff and not have major buggy problems in the house.  I vacuumed the house Sunday, and had a trash can outside with spray in the plastic bag and a cover and dumped my vacuum tray in it and covered it up and then wrapped it and dumped it in the big trash bin we have here in the park  and will go over the house again and do the spray she got me and just watch.. This spray she found is similar to the spray they are using for bed bugs and sand fleas overseas. 

I will try to see if I can post this article that came over my health news email a few days ago.  It is about the Chicken McNuggets at McDonalds and what it in them, and according to the article, its not chicken meat!  The chemical ingredients that were written about is not even for human or animal consumption.  I don't eat fast food, and didn't eat it, even when I was a teen, my parents just could not afford food anyway, and I didn't get to run around town like the other kids and eat at  the fast food places that were creeping up here in town in the 60's here.  McDonald's was the first here of the chains.  We had some little drive ins that were hometown people who did hamburgers and things like that, but it was pure beef and "real" food, not the processed crap that is mystery meat we have now.  My grandmother would not let me eat fast food period.  She would not hear of it.  And people wonder why everyone is sick from eating fast food.  My neighbors eat nothing but fast food, the woman that lives there doesn't cook at all, and they eat nothing but fast food, and I'm quite sure they spend a small fortune in fast food every week.  They make very little income and its all spent on take out and soda.
I offered one time to teach her cooking skills and she looked at me like I lost my mind, and she told me she doesn't cook at all and never will.  OK, that's fine, starve when we have an upheaval in the economy.  I won't share my stash.

Anyway,  I'd better quit ranting, can't change anything or anyone anyway.
So,  everyone please have a great hump day, and up coming weekend.  I'll keep you posted on the snow situation if we get any.

Bye

Weekends get me in trouble

Well, I'm in the kitchen, cleaning out the cupboards.  Oh, what a mess!  And then you find something else that needs your attention and there is where the trouble starts.  Its like a snowball, just keeps getttin' bigger n' bigger.

So, I'm just working a little bit at a time, one cabinet at a time, and I'm getting rid of things that I don't need or want or just plain throw away.  I have a pile outside on the porch for the GoodWill donations, and then the junk pile.  I close my eyes when I throw as I don't want to drag it back and find a spot for it. Don't have no room for anything in this dumpy place I live in.

Also found a damn flea, I usually find a few jumping around this time a year, so I guess Monday, off to the vet's to get the spray and some Frontline, and then a few bombs, looks like I will have to bomb the rooms and move the cats to the car and the dogs outside til the bombs get done fumigating the rooms. Damn.... Always something.....&*$@

I am going to fix some ham and navy beans tomorrow, since I am now in cleaning mode and once I am in this mode, I do not stop, I have some energy so, look out, I'm in gear and on the move. And I hate to stop and cook, so out comes the crock pot, (found that finally, buried in the back of the cupboard).

I have been reading a few blogs and this is what a lot of my fellow bloggers are doing, cleaning and de-cluttering.  Boy, when I de-clutter, I have a whole winter to do it.  I am going to start tackling each room as I can, probably a room a week.  And just heave it, (wish I could just throw it out the door and throw some kerosene on it and throw a match), but I would have a 3 alarm fire here, don't want that.

Anyway, hope all are well, and sounds like everyone is cooking or vegging out, so enjoy the weekend and all that you find enjoyable and restful in your lives.  Will be back to blog about some things on my mind.

Till then
Bye!