Wednesdays Whims

I know, shut up. ::P I've been working on this post all day, it's not actually Thursday until I press post, dammit!


Day Two of the Seventh Month. Smack in the middle of summer. Hot, humid, and strangely enough I already have the urge to delve into the fall/Halloween stuff. ::P


I can't wait for the Fourth. ::D I love fireworks! Can't get to any of the big events, but we've got our own stash just waiting to be used. Just need it to stay dry long enough so the ground isn't a party pooper. Hopefully I'll be able to get some decent pics of them too, though I'm usually the one lighting and running, so we'll see.


There will be food. ::) I've been adding to my Fourth of July pin boards for a couple weeks now and while a lot of great ideas are just not what I'm prepared to dive into yet (like most of my pin boards) I have more then enough recipes to attempt in another adventure for my mediocre cooking skills.


I really do need to treat any holiday or theme like it has a huge run up time like Christmas or Halloween. Choosing just a few recipes to try is like trying to buy just a few strands of beads - damn near impossible! So often I wind up pulling a Griswold. You know, high unreasonable expectations leading to inevitably falling short. It only gets worse when I leave it till the last three or four days and try to cram it all in in a marathon cooking fest. Little more pressure, little less fun once the kitchen is hot enough to bake outside the oven.


Not to mention that it means any posts about it all are late, since I'm too busy cramcooking to actually post. ::P


For now, though, I thought I'd do a kind of massive round up of all the little random things I had jotted down over time to include in a post while I was off...er, not posting, so I can organize the bigger ideas without all the clutter. Sooner or later I'll get this thing rolling in an organized fashion, and then we'll have some real fun. ::P I'll prove that there actually is more to my life and activities then chickens! (Though maybe not much)

~*~

It's been a week since my self induced misery, and thankfully it's been uneventful. No relapses, which often happen after a bad attack, and only one real day of queasy all-food-is-evil fall out afterward, so all in all I'm back to normal. Cutting back on the portions hasn't given me as much trouble as it usually does, even when confronted with lemon linguine - one of my favorite recipes, SO GOOD! Pats on the back for that is kinda like getting a participation award, though. It's still only the absolute minimum I need to do.


Without getting as much exercise as I used to, just from working and getting from here to there, I need to cut back kinda drastically on carbs and such so my sugar actually goes down where it needs to be. Which is where the hard part really comes in. Cutting the carbs is so hard! ::/ I love carbs, carbs are awesome.


I'm working on the exercise though. No gym access, and we don't live on a road where it's safe to go running or walking, but I do have a Wii Fit. Just need to replace the balance board that was one of the many things lost/left behind in our last move. Not the most sophisticated exercise plan, but it's something. Even the most basic exercise builds up eventually. I don't have the space for storing much equipment, so it'll work.


It's also surprisingly difficult to remember to drink water. I dislike water just by itself, but I can drink it if I'm hot enough, or if it has flavoring like sugar free Kool Aid, tea, fruit infusions, something. I just don't think to drink steadily, then I get monstrously thirsty and gulp down a couple jars at a time. I'm pretty sure various levels of mild dehydration is part of my problem.


And of course the food diary. I've been noting down what and how much I've been eating, but I still have to write it up in a useful fashion. Kind of the import part that I haven't done yet. ::P


Gardening and chickenry have pretty much taken over all our lives. Pretty much everything has taken a back seat. I'll admit that procrastination plays its part, what with the weather switching into full on steam broil and triggering that 'Guh! Too hot and muggy, don't want to do anything!' reaction far too often. But really, watering three times daily, harvesting, planting, weeding, battling bugs, and all the chicken stuff. It's no wonder people back in the day needed large families to keep the farm running smoothly.


I didn't get around to doing anything for St. Patrick's Day or Easter. Had ideas, but didn't get rolling soon enough and then lost motivation, so I let it go.


I desperately need to get back up to speed with the crafting. I've got stuff to list for Etsy, I need to make some new displays, and there are lots of things I should at least be poking at experimentally. I need to give my creativity work outs too.

~*~

Are you ever amused by your pets personal routines? I am. ::) It's funny how I'll go from hardly seeing Dusty for weeks, to her practically being attached to me all the time. I'm pretty sure she's driven just by the weather/temperature.


In our old house I had a bunk style bed/couch set up, and during the summer she'd always lay on the top bunk, while I usually just slept on the couch in front of the computer. Irritatingly, it turned out that the top bunk made me nervous. Then during the winter she'd spend most of her time either laying on top of me (hips and ribs were her favorite) or under my heater blanket. Or both if she could manage it. ::P


Here she seems to be equally attuned to the temperature, but also maybe boredom. When it was cold she got me into participating quickly. Every morning when I got up I'd separate my blankets so the heater one was exposed, and she'd come over and lay up against my leg and snuggle while I was on the computer. She wouldn't jump up unless I pulled back the top blanket. Once summer hit and we began turning the air conditioners on more regularly, she started spending most of her time in TMUs bedroom or closet. Hers is a smaller room, so the A/C cools it down better then mine, which has three rooms and a hallway to deal with. Then this last couple of weeks she's been hanging out with me again, even though my room isn't any cooler then it has been. She's talking a lot more too. ::) She's always been a talker, I've always loved that about her, but lately she seems to either want something, or just want to chat.


I wish I spoke Cat so I could figure out what she wants. Being Dr. Doolittle would be nifty. Maybe she's bored. She won't play with her toys - admittedly the catnip is old - but she keeps going to the food whenever she gets up from laying on me or the bed. I need to get her some new stuff at some point.


Speaking of cat routine quirks, below are pictures of what was Dustys favorite box.

(Pretend there are cute cat pictures here. They actually will be here when the site lets me add them)


It was one that was going to be used for our Etsy shipments, but she decided it was better suited to her then some stranger online. ::P She spent weeks snuggled in that thing, then all of a sudden abandoned it. Before that it was her plush cat bed in my closet beneath my clothes. I wonder where she's going to end up next?

~*~

I remember thinking last spring: "I keep forgetting how much I like being outside." It's a silly thought, but not. I always have led a more indoor lifestyle then I probably should. Always was the one without too many friends, generally happy with hanging out on my own or with family whenever we went somewhere together. Just running errands was good enough to count a lot of times. Which is probably a sad commentary on my life. ::P But still, after winter, when it's just turning warm enough to hang outside, and the birds are starting to show up, and all the chickens are racing for the first blades of grass to crop down, I always think: "I really need to spend more time outside."


There's always plenty of excuses to stay inside. Chores, cooking, projects, work. A lot of it can't go outside, and even what can always seems to be discouraged by winds just strong enough to be a hassle, or rain. It's still a goal.


And then of course we get into summer and most of the time the last place I want to be is outside in the heat. ::P It's hot, muggy, there's no breeze at all unless a storm is coming, and THE BUGS! AUGH! I do what I got to do and rush back inside, no lingering necessary.


All we really need is to set up the yard properly and eventually it will be nice to spend time outside, even in the summer. Just have to work ourselves out of the mindset of "if we're still here down the road..." and just start working on stuff.

~*~

Do ever have weird dreams? I'm sort of notorious for mine. At least I like to think of myself that way. ::P TMU always seems to think I'm touched in the head, at any rate. Can't really blame her, either. I mean, really, the shit my brain spews out? Really is freaking weird sometimes.


I've had dreams where I'm being chased by levitating scissors and don't quite make it out unscathed. Dreams where I've killed things, been other things, and once literally had a whole original movie, with a plot and everything, play from almost the beginning to end. That one wasn't really weird, but it was EPIC. ::D Considering the kind of stuff I like to watch (horror, shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files and Supernatural among various others) and how much I like to read (murder mysteries and paranormal romance nearest the top of the list out of the fiction section, true crime out of non-fiction) the dream content isn't really surprising.


Sometimes I remember my dreams, and if I write it all down immediately I can catch a lot of details, but often I don't remember as much as I'd like to. I've always wished that I could hook my brain up to a VCR or something and record what I see in my head to rewatch later. The last one I can remember having isn't as weird as some I've had, but it certainly had TMU laughing.


I dreamt I lived in a dorm or some other similar type of communal building, and for whatever reason we all did our laundry the old fashioned way, except we didn't have the old machines so we did them by hand in the tub. Not because it was set in a bygone age or a post apocalyptic world, it was just how it was done, a normal part of life. Anyway, slowly it starts going around that peoples clothes are being stolen while soaking in the tub. Through the drain. I don't remember if we knew that because someone saw it happen, or it was just the way dreams work where you just know the crucial plot points. At one point it happens to me. I remember shouting obscenities down the drain at whoever stole my clothes. Later, which I think was weird because no one else ever got theirs back. Maybe. Some of them are somehow tossed back up, and when I notice this, I shout down something about not liking my style.


Here's another one, though it's even more convoluted since apparently I didn't write it down all that well. I should really stop trusting my memory to remember all the details of something just from shorthand notes I jot down in a hurry.

I'm at some kind of important event, I don't know what. Maybe some sort of party, it doesn't feel casual. I'm wearing a black suit with my hair down. I had been talking to someone, but I left to go to the bathroom. I passed lots of people on the way, including Kurt from Glee. Who probably only turned up because my outfit was part of the plot. The bathroom is full, there's a line, so I'm waiting. For whatever reason, from whatever catalyst, I realize that while I had thought I'd looked pretty good, and was proud of that, I've actually been looking like an idiot the whole night. Someone hassles me about it, I insult them back - I hope it was a good one, I have no idea what I said. More waiting, and then I see the same persons (I think it's the same person, anyway) eyes turn black. Demons eyes. I reach for holy water (from where I had stashed it in my outfit?) dared them to treat me like a normal person (am I supposed to be a hunter in this?) and start exorcising. But instead of them going to hell they turned into a dog, ran into the bathroom, under the stalls, then all of a sudden I'm in someones apartment chasing it.


And that's all I remember. ::P Told you, weird. This one apparently was hatched during the crossover period when I started watching SPN (probably have some posts on that later) and still cared about Glee.

~*~

*Coffin lid creaks upward*

Well....that didn't take long, did it? It's been...jeez, about four months since my last post. Is four months long enough to count for a dead/vampire joke? Who cares, it's funnier in Enochian then getting sucked into a black hole.


I'm an idiot. Not usually what someone trying to blog would say about themselves I suppose. Particularly one who has written practically nothing, but there it is. What good is there in putting your words out for all the world to see if you're not unflatteringly honest? /sarcasm


So, here follows some probably whiny venty introspection. Pirates, ye be warned.


Since my last post there has been plenty of stuff I could have posted about. Little things it occurred to me to share, projects or things I could have done to blog about. Some things I could/might/will still do, others that seem kinda useless to include now that so much time has passed since they popped up. Obviously I didn't get around to any of them.


What started this post, though - aside from realizing how I'd once again fallen off of something I'd started - was the twelve-ish hours of misery I put myself through because I'm just that big a moron.


For years I've had these weird stomach attacks, for lack of an actual diagnosis. It goes from just feeling over full (or sometimes comes from out of nowhere and just hurts) to feeling like I have balloons inside of me stretched so taut they'll burst if I pull the wrong way, and it all hurts. It hurts to take a deep breath, or stand up straight, hurts my back and sides from being so tense. Pacing helps distract me in the early stages, but if it lasts long enough I always wind up hanging out in the bathroom, feeling sick and hoping that will make it all better, or sagging back against the wall, if I can, hoping I can just rest already.


I have no idea why they started or what actually causes them, only theories based on what seems to trigger and alleviate them. My gall bladder or a hiatal hernia are the two front runners. I haven't been to a doctor about them simply because at first they weren't very common, and then they seemed tied to what or how much I ate, so it seemed easy enough to either avoid or deal with them.


Over time they've gotten more frequent, lasted longer, needed Pepcid and such to help keep a handle on them, but as long as I didn't overdo the eating I was generally fine.


Hence the "I'm an idiot" part. Because I've mentioned before that eating and my weight was one of my biggest stumbling blocks. Night before last I ran right into it.


I ate WAY too much - and it wasn't even a special dinner or a holiday, so not even a flimsy excuse - even though I damn well know better, and spent the next twelve or so hours alternately pacing, throwing up to try to relieve the pressure, and soaking in water as hot as I can stand hoping it will help. It was the worst one yet by about three hours. By the time it was over it was dawn the next day, I'd run three or four baths of really hot water, and TMU had been up with me most of the night even though there wasn't anything she could've done.


This time left me tired enough to sleep till six yesterday evening, then some more probably starting after midnight, and for the time being really not being a fan of food. Macaroni salad, oven baked chicken, ranch dressing and squash/zucchini are going to be bad triggers for awhile.


You'd think with all that being the consequence it wouldn't be hard to reign myself in, right? You'd think. For now, yeah, I'm wholly committed to eating less and hopefully better. Guaranteed though the next time there's pizza, or awesome muffins, or my favorite chips, that will be in danger of being chucked right out the window. Again.


It's so stupid, because how simple is it for a thirty three year old adult woman to think "it hurts when I have an attack, don't want that again, I shouldn't eat anymore" and just stop? But I keep going, because I'm not yet mentally satisfied and it's really good and I want more, or maybe there isn't much left and I might as well finish it. Or maybe it's some leftover childish food jealousy or something where  who knows if any leftovers will last till I get them?


Makes me wish I could physically kick my own ass. Every time I have a bad one I fear having something permanent happen, or needing to go to the hospital, something we really can't afford right now. Yet I haven't changed anything. I just keep going.


It's much the same with everything. I've gotten completely nowhere with my goals. I could blame it on homesteading taking so much time, or I just work slow in general, or needing to break off of the computer more cause there's too much stupid stuff on it I'm afraid I'll miss out on.Or maybe it's more that I just don't want anything badly enough. Truly want. I want to improve myself. My health, my skills, my life. But in the face of actually putting in the effort to make it happen being lazy just a little bit longer always seems more appealing.


I'm pretty sure I've crossed the line from lazy into pure sloth. Or maybe it's inertia. I've been inert for so long, through my own choices, just going with the flow, it's hard to get myself moving forward. I don't really know what direction I want to go in to begin with.


It seems like I just keep waiting. For a wave of motivation, energy, creativity. For a shove to make me want to do something. Something as simple as taking care of myself properly, taking care of what needs to be done around me, or something great, or interesting, or just fun for the heck of it. Be something. Instead of just deciding I'm going to do this. I'm going to figure out what I want or who I am. I'm going to just get done what needs to get done so I can realize there is much more time then to do other stuff I'd like to do, rather then get bogged down in not wanting to do it. I'll stop acting like such a lazy teenager.


What the hell will I do when I'm actually left alone?










Ok. Now that this sounds more like a stupid kids journal then an adults blog....lets move on.

Another one lost. Blackbird.

I refrained from a cheesy song lyric for the title.

We lost Blackbird (formerly known as Scruffy Butt) last night. She'd not been doing well for two days. Lethargic, didn't want treats, wouldn't eat or drink last night. We'd hoped she'd get better since until last night she'd still been roosting with the others, but she didn't. We're not really sure what was wrong with her. She had no wounds or bites, the others hadn't been picking on her or acting abnormally around her. After some searching on Backyard Chickens our best idea was she was either egg bound or had some kind of infection.

There wasn't much we could do. I gave her a couple warm baths and massages to try and help if she was egg bound like was suggested, but she hadn't been leaking nor did her abdomen feel like there was a hard lump in it (described symptoms of egg binding) so I don't know that it did anything helpful. She kept making these sad "I don't feel good" noises, and I just didn't know what I could do. I feel like we did something wrong but I know it's just the way it happens sometimes. A friend said Lorpys are like that. They don't show they don't feel good until they're ready to drop. Since we have no car currently we couldn't take her anywhere, if there even is a vet that sees chickens in the vicinity. It's hard enough to find a vet that takes more then the usual pets, let alone in a small town. We did the best we're able. She fell asleep in the lower nest box last night and apparently never woke up. Poor girl. It's just Mal and Elphie out of the Lorpys now. Seven left total.

I chose Blackbird as a Lorpy name as more of a Glee reference, not because I'm a particular Beatles fan. She was always the one getting in trouble first. Running around the front, breaking away from the others to make it harder to supervise them all, trying to hog all the food. It's how I noticed she wasn't well, she never spent that much time just chillaxing.

Expectedly, our egg production is way down now, with three eggs being a really good day. It was starting to seem like the Lorpys were carrying most of the laying duties, and now with only two left it's looking like we'll have to be getting some new chicks this year if we can afford them. It will be a bigger challenge then the last two times, since now we don't have the same amount of room to keep them indoors and separate until they're old enough to be outside as we did before.

It's pretty certain we won't be getting Lorpys again. We don't really understand why they're the only ones we've had problems with. They've lived in the same coop, with the same conditions and feed as the Americaunas but they're the ones having issues despite being the younger group. Course I'm sure the Americaunas will start having their own problems eventually, they're getting on in years. Not sure what breed we'll go with, we'll have to do some research. TMU is thinking just more Americaunas, but I'm hoping for variety. I like having different colored eggs from different groups, and heaven help me if we do get Americaunas again and I wind up with more lookalikes. The Lorpys were bad enough!

We found a website that sells fertilized unhatched eggs. TMU was interested in giving that a try, but it requires more equipment then chicks do. A friend just has one of her hens be the hatch momma, but not knowing how well any of ours would do at that I don't know we want to risk it and waste the eggs if they don't do well with them. Also found a site through Pinterest to help with techniques to raise chicks to be more cuddly. Our girls are sorta friendly and tolerate us but they're not exactly snugly, even the Lorpys, which are supposed to be a more affectionate breed.

In the meantime we're continuing to perfect our chicken stuff as much as we can. I've built a new extension pen just for Bertha that I'll make a post on next. We've got a new plan for feeding them that hopefully stops them from throwing food everywhere once we get them - can you believe it took me this long to think of using pet food dispensers?? Pinterest always has plenty of ideas for treats and toys and tricking out nests to have as happy a coop as possible. Hopefully it will be awhile before we have more health problems.

Taken the first day she was sick.

Life goes on.

Valentine's Day, Part Two

The second and final day of my VDay festivities was a partially themed dinner on Valentine's Day itself.

I know, not a lot of fanfare. Especially compared to what I tend to plan in my head. We've established by now that mental!me has a lot more energy and a lot less liking for sleep then real!me. She huffs at me regularly. ::P

As much as I enjoy our theme projects and activities, it doesn't mean I'm not just as bad about arranging them as I am about anything else. I tend to forget to plan stuff far enough ahead, so by the time I remember it's sorta last minute and there isn't time to do much, or I've forgotten to make sure we had the supplies needed for something or other.

Smaller holidays are kinda weird. They're as hyped as Christmas or Halloween, but people don't do as much physically for them. I mean, you have your roses and chocolates and romantic dinners for Valentine's Day and baskets and egg hunts for Easter, but in terms of decorating or prolonged themed activity? You look a little weird if you bust out much of anything before a week or two ahead of time. Even the people I do know who like to decorate for all of them usually only do a fraction of what they'd do for bigger ones. I guess that's the point of being a smaller holiday. Maybe it's just that they tend to all happen early to mid month, whereas the later holidays all happen at the end of the month.

I remember a house in our neighborhood when we lived in Maine. It was right on the corner of an intersection in the middle of town with a tiny little yard. It was actually a cute little bitty place, but you wouldn't have paid it any mind if it weren't for the fact that it was painted bright purple and always completely over decorated for every holiday. It was kind of an eyesore, like a singular embodiment of Wal-Marts seasonal sections. You couldn't help but think the owners must be a little kooky...but at the same time it wouldn't have been a normal day without that house there like it always was, kooky and all.

I'm rambling on now, but I guess the point (if there is a point) is that it's easier to indulge in the simple enjoyment of holiday hype when others are doing it too. Otherwise it feels too childish, like you're wasting time doing too much because what purpose does all that serve if you don't have kids around or a lover or it's not one of the holidays where that doesn't matter?

I always have grand plans of doing and trying all this stuff, but the everyday stuff gets in the way or I lose momentum and I end up trying to cram what I can in in a day. I need to get better at spreading it out, even if it feels too early or too silly. Cause waiting always winds up with it feeling too late. Not a lot of point after the fact.

But enough ruminating.

I did heart shaped cheeseburger calzones (is it still a calzone if it isn't pizza?). Cheeseburger because I didn't have pizza ingredients but I didn't want to do philly cheesesteak again. Paired with heart shaped rolls, spaghetti, and mozzarella sticks. A 'hearty' fake Italian meal.

Hang on while I smack myself for that awful pun...

I was really happy that the rolls kept their shape. Simple thing to be happy about, but sometimes I have problems with even the simplest things. Actually, the simple things give me the most problems the majority of the time.

Calzones came out great too. None came apart or anything, and they tasted SO good. What is it about wrapping things in bread that makes anything so much better? It's as effective as adding butter or bacon, the awesome is multiplied.

I did make some red chocolate chip cookies for dessert, but forgot to take pictures. I had planned on making them heart shaped too, but I just didn't have the energy to mess with that. The red was enough, even though they look like play dough cookies.

So, there you have it, the entirety of my Valentine activities. Well, not all. I did get a ton of VDay pins collected on Pinterest. ::P

Here endeth the post.

Valentine's Day, Part One...and Cookies of Unusual Quality

A whole five days after Valentine's Day, I'm posting what I did for Valentine's Day.

I don't really remember when it started, but it's been a long established habit of TMUs and mine to try and theme each month around the holiday that inhabits it. Probably it grew out of our Christmas traditions. The decorating, the food that only comes out that time of year, and overloading on non-stop Christmas music and movies. At some point it just slid over into the other holidays. Partially at least, we don't decorate big time until fall hits.

For TMU this mostly means just what movies we watch. For me it's about the food and the crafting too. There's just something fun about soaking up the holiday and the season with the projects around you. Course, I need to get better at working on my holiday crafting for sale a whole lot earlier then three weeks beforehand, but we'll ignore that for the moment. ;;) We haven't been as gung-ho about it as we used to be, but it's fun.

Usually we'll try to watch nothing but whatever type of movie fits the holiday, if we have enough of them, starting with Charlie Brown. Christmas is well covered, TMU hardly ever wants to take The Santa Clause series out of the computer and I usually have several versions of A Christmas Carol on rotation amongst all the other Christmas movies we have. I watch horror all October long (Freddy!) and while July doesn't have too many we see plenty of ID4. Months that don't have a holiday we theme as well. We figured we get the urge to watch nothing but other themes of movies sometimes too, so why not?For example,  January is disaster movies, the cheesier the better.

February, of course, is romance movies. Except for rom-coms, at least for me. I've always kind of hated them. I'm sure it's weird, but I don't like watching people humiliate themselves. Instead of laughing at them, I cringe. I'm known to fast forward through those parts in some movies. A habit that makes watching Glee really hard sometimes. We intended this year to watch our top favorites first and then work our way through our whole collection alphabetically, any movie where romance is the main plot would count. Much to TPUs boredom. ::P He still gets his time though.

We didn't actually get too far, being...somewhat preoccupied...with Supernatural and re-watching Downton Abbey on DVD (both of which TPU has much more enthusiasm for) but we got to a few.

Julie and Julia was first. I like how Valentine's Day is its focal holiday, so few movies focus on that as opposed to romance in general. Then it was Return to Me and The Love Letter. What is it about timey whimey stuff that's always so romantic? Sadly that was kind of it, though since St. Patrick's Day has even fewer movies then Independence Day we might just keep working at the romances. Or there's always Dracula 2000 for Mardi Gras.

I did pop Legend in by myself (TMU can't stand it) but the fantasy outweighs the love story. I keep forgetting this is one of the few directors cuts I don't like. I love directors cuts and extended editions, I just love more in general with movies, but this one sorta sucks. Not the extra story, more the music. It's really distracting, jarring. The soundtrack in the theatrical version is much more magical, it fits better.

~*~


 The FOOD!

Once a week I try to do a bit of mass baking so we have cookies/pancakes/snacks/whatever to munch on easily the rest of the week. It's easier then baking every day, and makes for quick, convenient breakfasts when we don't really feel like cooking. Back on the fourth was one such day, and since I thought the Olympics would be dominating our lives over Valentine's Day I threw in some of the more basic VDay ideas I had wanted to try from Pinterest. It's become a challenge to see what I can pull together for a theme with mostly only food coloring and the occasional cookie cutter for supplies. You'd think I'd be better at planning ahead. ::P

I started off with two different kinds of heart themed pancakes. It turned out I didn't actually have to make pancakes that week since we still had two bags in the freezer that I'd forgotten about (though half were the buckwheat, they don't count) but you can never have too many pancakes stashed away.

My workspace.

First was heart shaped pancakes. Just our usual pancake recipe cooked in a heart cookie cutter I managed to dig out.

I didn't think these would turn out as well as they did, but I was happy I was wrong. I'm no great cook. I tend to not fully plan ahead and totally forget about the little things that make life easier. Like oiling the cookie cutter so the batter doesn't stick to it. ::P

For the most part I pulled it off early enough that not too much stuck to it, but sometimes I didn't and had to stomp it out.

Of course, those were the best shape wise, but I really didn't want to spend that much more time for prettier pancakes when we were hungry.

The other ones were regular round pancakes, but with fruit laid in in heart shapes as it cooks. As simple as it is, I didn't think of it till I saw it on Pinterest. Here is the source. I used blueberries as well as strawberries for some variety. They doubled as hidden mickeys. ::P

Mine weren't as pretty, but they still tasted good!

Paired with sausage and homemade cinnamon apple jelly, we had a pretty Valentine themed breakfast.

After recharging, I moved on to cookies. Started with chocolate chip for TMU, then cinnamon oatmeal, then regular oatmeal. Nestles came out with these awesometastic cinnamon chips back before Thanksgiving, one of the recipes on the back is the cinnamon oatmeal, and it's easily one of my top favorite oatmeal cookies of all time now. Once we tried them we grabbed a bunch more bags, though not nearly enough. Sadly we're almost out. ::( Maybe regular red hots might work....

The one problem is that they don't melt like chocolate chips do in the oven, which makes it hard for TMU to eat them currently. Each time I've made them I've tried a different way of adding them to make them softer, but nothing has worked. Only one left to try is melting them outright. This last time I tried breaking them up into smaller bits. I'll have to remember this whenever I need to work out some anger issues, because dayum these suckers are hard. I thought I'd break the counter before smashing the chips.

That bag was not reusable after I was done. ::P The end result, while unfortunately still not soft enough for TMU, was nonetheless as tasty as always for TPU and I.

The regular oatmeal raisin didn't turn out as good, though it was still good enough to eat. Just more like granola then cookies. OO_o

Not sure what I did wrong with the recipe, but they didn't cook normally and I had to leave them in a lot longer, so they were really dry when they finally weren't doughy anymore. Ah well, I like granola too! I might play with the additives and make it even more granola like.

I ran out of steam soon after that, but finished the cookie list the next day with heart shaped peanut butter and sugar cookies.

They tasted a whole lot better then they look in picture form, I swear.

I wasn't at my cookie baking best those two days. ::P The peanut butter cookies couldn't be as crunchy as most recipes make them, but it meant they didn't hold the decoration properly. Here is what they were supposed to look like, the pressed fork ones. The sugars were not only a fail!pin also, check out the intended prettiness here, but I messed up the baking part too. Wanting to make them softer, I rolled the dough thicker, but forgot to keep that in mind when I baked them. So they would up a little weird in texture, and still too close to normal crunchiness when they were baked long enough.

Isn't this such an inspirational blog?? ::D

The pink ones were pretty though. The sugar on these is that edible glitter recipe found everywhere. Sugar and food coloring baked in the oven. It's leftover from last Easter, actually.

But despite the dubious cookie results, we still wound up with plenty of ready to bake dough in the freezer. I always freeze most of the dough of any cookie I make, it's so convenient to have them already made up and ready to pop into the oven at a moments notice.

Part two will hopefully come tomorrow, and then on with the randomness. This weeks mass baking is looking to be a mix of cookies and muffins, I think.

Here endeth the post.

Call Me Fife

I know, weird title. Call it a clue to the random Disney reference included in this post just for S&Gs.

This post was supposed to be about how awesome the Olympics were in general, how fantastic the skating is, and how great the guys asses look. Like this:

"I've always really enjoyed the Olympic Games. ::) I like the summer games (gymnastics!) but the winter ones are my favorite. More of the sports are fun to watch (though last summer games I was surprised how much I liked the volley ball competition, and the swimming was more interesting then usual). I like how just like holidays or the super bowl everyone piles in to watch together. I like just sitting back for hours watching the events I like, crafting while listening to the ones I don't, and generally enjoying myself with my people.

The various forms of figure skating is my favorite sport, though I have grown to enjoy other events. Snowboarding, downhill skiing, occasionally short track skating, though that was mostly just to cheer on Ohno last time. I'll try any event if it seems interesting or there's someone in particular to check out/cheer on.

Let's not forget the opening ceremonies! Outside of the sports themselves this is my favorite part of any Games. Seeing what they come up with and how it's presented, how they pull it off and ESPECIALLY what they do for the torch lighting. (I still vaguely remember the one where the torch came up out of the water as the best). I wish I had kept the tapes of the few other ceremonies I had taped at one point. I wanted to have a tape of nothing but them. That would be awesome if there was a DVD collection somewhere, but I doubt it. It's one of those things you just never see on DVD, though I don't know why. I'D buy it, isn't that enough?? ::P

But as I said, my top favorite sport is ice skating. The skill (obviously) but also the costumes and music and routines, the whole package. There's so much more packed into the sport then others for me. It's the same feeling as when I watch So You Think You Can Dance. It's weird, but despite how much I enjoy the sport, I never remember to follow it every year. Even when we had cable, I'd just never get around to watching the aired competitions, or look them up online. I just always forget about it. So by the time the olympics roll around with all these fresh new faces that have become famous I never know who they are. It makes me appreciate the returning faces I do recognize all the more though.

Since I haven't been following the hype about the games up until now, the only one I recognized this year so far is Evgeny Plushenko. He didn't wow me as much as I expected he would back in 2010, but he's still one of the greats, I always look forward to seeing his routines -"

Unfortunately, it's not about that. Instead it's about how we haven't been able to see pretty much anything. Yet. I'm hoping we still have some luck on Youtube since we're a few days into it now.

Not having TV in the house isn't as big a deal as you'd think. Everything comes out on DVD pretty much, and what doesn't you can often find on YouTube. Then you have Hulu (whose alien commercials I still think are awesome). There isn't much you can't find on the internet.

Which just demonstrates that living without TV isn't a problem. Living without the internet, however....

As I mentioned in my superbowl post there are a few times when not having cable of some kind kinda sucks dirty bog water. Times when you'd really like to watch something the day it actually airs, but you can't and you'll be lucky if someone posts it online in one full video instead of minute long visual bites. The biggest of these are, of course, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and other Thanksgiving showings, the Rose Parade, and the Olympics. Things that you won't be able to buy on DVD later.

We were thrilled when we saw that NBC would be running complete live coverage on the whole thing, but our happiness didn't last. Once again we ran into that 'have to have a cable account' thing. Sadly for us, this time it was real. Almost four routines into the coverage of the men's individual short program figure skating qualifications we got cut off. Apparently those without a cable account were allowed thirty minutes free on their first visit. After that we're allowed a full five minutes every day. How generous!

We tried YouTubing after that but of course it was so early on not much was up, and any video that was more then a commercial or a set of still photos was completely blank. We haven't really bothered much since then, partially out of disappointment and annoyance, partly out of the need to give it time for people to post stuff. We'll start sifting again in the next few days and see what's available.

Still, what the fuck? Seriously? It's really freaking annoying. Just what is the point in only being to watch if you have cable? Half the point of having it on the internet is so that we who don't have cable can still see it. For anything except the Olympics, which of course has too much going on to show all on tv, if we had cable we wouldn't need to see it on the internet in the first place. I really hope this doesn't become standard practice, because this is a rip off. We want to see too! (Disney reference, can you guess?) Guess it just sucks to be us.

Sigh. Ok, enough bitching. How about some rambling about what I did see instead? I don't pretend to be any kind of commentator, I just feel like talking. ::P

From what it sounds the opening ceremony was very well done. Two of the few clips that were actually viewable were a short clip of the horses in the beginning, and the rings opening up. Which were cool despite their malfunction. The technology used in the ceremonies always impresses me. I still remember the one in China (I forget the city, d'oh!) with the huge LED screen and the cube thing we all thought was machinery but was actually people! I appreciate the ingenuity involved a lot.

We caught exactly 3.75 of the men's individual short program qualification event before the free pass died on us. I wish we knew that was the first visit only ahead of time, we might have been more choosy on when we used it. Anyway, the ones we saw were Matthew Parr, Paul Benifacio Parkinson, Yakov Godorozha, and Evgeni Plushenko. Of those I liked Parr's costume the best, the last half of Parkinson's music was good, Godorozha had a pretty good routine and of course it's always a pleasure watching Plushenko jump. We weren't able to see it, but I read that our guy, Jeremy Abbott, screwed up thrice. Too bad, though Parkinson didn't do too much better. I was expecting him to miss all of his jumps after falling on the first two.

I don't know if doing poorly or somewhat poorly is good or bad so early. It can either throw off the rest of your game or destroy you entirely, or give you that "I've already done my worst" attitude that maybe hauls you back up. Nervewracking. I'd probably never do well in a competition.

I suppose I can still include a short word on asses, too. ;;) I admit a lot of my attention was on the butts. I know, shallow considering I should be paying attention to the skill and artistry, and I was, trust me. But come on, a lot of those moves they're leading with their rear, and when the camera is rightthere I'm gonna pay attention. ::P Those costumes seem to be designed to make most of their butts look great. Their legs too. Though occasionally those high waist ones don't do great things for the abs. How can athletes like that look like they have pudgy abs?

Of course TPU was unenthused while TMU and I stared intently at the screen. ::P Dusty joined me for awhile. She was annoyed that I was sitting at the computer instead of the chair where she could sit in my lap, and employed a pitiful cry to express that. I plopped her up with me on the work in progress t-shirt rug TMU had started and she settled down in my arms while we watched. Figure skating and a purring feline, it doesn't get much better then that. ::)

Next post will probably be moar chickens and a bit of random yard stuff. I haven't done as much as I would like for Valentine's Day, so I thought I'd just save it all for a couple posts clustered around the day itself rather then post when I actually do it.

Here endeth the post.

She Never Did Get Her Proper Name, Properly. Scrawny Neck.

It's odd. I feel like I'm running behind with this blog, even though I never planned to post on a schedule or particularly often. I've just always liked having things in order. If you're the type to keep a journal you tend to write about things as they actually happen, or at least I always tried to. I hated having a ton to catch up on cause I'd forget details. I started keeping notes throughout the day if we were on a trip, to write into an actual entry later. Most of the time I never did. In this case not having each post be novel length is a goal too, as well as sorta kinda keeping each theme or event separate. It doesn't really matter how on time or late I am, I keep trying to remember that.

Yes, I'm doing a memorial post for a chicken. Deal with it.

This post is for Scrawny Neck. Diablo. I'd have called her Dia if I had remembered that was one of the names I'd wanted to use once I was able to tell them apart.

She was just a chicken, an Australorpe bought with four others. If I'm honest she wasn't even a particular favorite of mine, but despite all of the girls not being as cuddly as I had wanted to work them to be they're our pets as much as our livestock.

~*~

Hawks have always been on our radar as one of the biggest predators to watch out for. When we lived out west there were a number of predators we had to be careful of but hawks always seemed the worst. I have a friend who lost their entire flock over the course of days, one by one, to hawks. Another recently had one try to break through a cage to get to one of hers that's particularly special to her.

They've still been on our radar here, though for some reason we thought they weren't as big a problem. I hardly even ever saw a shadow of a big enough bird, so they never really weighed heavy on my mind.

Until I looked out our front window and saw one sitting on Scrawny Neck two days ago. I'd never seen a hawk up close before, I had to look twice to make sure of what I was actually seeing. Might have been a red tailed, not sure what breeds are common in this area. It was a handsome bird.

Poor Scrawny Neck. We hadn't even seen it flying around or saw it's shadow. We didn't hear any squawking, noise, anything. Just complete normal silence and suddenly there it was. We checked on the others immediately after running it off, they were all back in or around the coop. I don't know if they had run when the hawk attacked, attracted by a group of chickens in the open, or if they had already headed that way before the attack, and a lone vulnerable chicken was tempting for lunch. We shut everyone in, Bertha included, and good thing too. That little shit was still hanging around in the trees.

We haven't let the whole group out since, only Bertha just today because her current arrangements are so small. She still stuck to hiding up against the big coop and the house. Not sure if it was because of the hawk or it being colder and windier today before it started raining and we put her back in, but I don't remember her ever spending large parts of the day like that, so I can only suppose she's either afraid or actually saw more hawk activity.

This is the second chicken we've lost. Soon after we moved into our current home we lost the first one to what we think was sour crop. That was Black Beauty, retroactively named once I was able to tell the remaining ones apart. Our Lorpys are having bad luck. I know we've actually had a lot less problems then we could have, and I'm grateful for that. Losing only two out of ten over the course of years is pretty good, especially when others have lost whole flocks to hawks and raccoons. Still.

I feel like such a crappy chicken owner. Most people say they only let their chickens out under supervision because of the hawk/predator issue. We'd probably stick to that too, except we're not set up to spend a lot of time outside just yet and the coop we were able to put up when we moved is not large at all. We were pretty rushed when we got here. We're pretty sure boredom and the size of the coop led to them harassing Bertha, so we started letting them out until we were able to actually expand their run.

That needs to be a priority now, up with several other things we also need to focus on first. We should be able to expand the run easily enough with more chicken fencing and sturdy posts once we get them. It wouldn't be the freedom they have now but it would at least cover back to the end of the house and extend out towards the brush we haven't cleared out of the back yet, a pretty large space to start with. Should give us more time to work on the coop/nest boxes themselves.

We're doing the best we're able but I still feel guilty. The whole 'if you can't afford to keep the pet the way it needs then you shouldn't have it' thing. I'm probably being over dramatic. They're not unhealthy, just cooped up a little close. We're just going to have to spend more time outside. Working in the garden, working on what crafts we can outdoors.

~*~

Scrawny Neck was and is the sorriest looking chicken I've ever seen who still had her feathers on.

One time when she was on the perch in the coop, she looked up and turned her head in just the right way while her feathers were ruffled up. She looked like Albert Einstein, or a Chinese Crested Chihuahua. We're finally figuring that Maleficent was behind her constant bad hair day state. She thinks she's a rooster, so she keeps trying to breed. Apparently Scrawny Neck and Scruffy Butt were her harem, I've never seen her mounting the others. We were planning on getting saddles/sweaters for them if we could, or making some. We'll still try for Scruffy Butt. I know they all serve a purpose, but I can't decide which looks most hilariously ridiculous: the saddles/sweaters, or the booties/hats for winter.

None of the Lorpy's really stood out much when they were chicks, even personality wise.

Bertha checking out the newbies the first time we brought them out to visit.

Twinkie doesn't look too sure about them.

Here though, as adults with more room to roam, Scrawny Neck's personality came into it's own. She was definitely not shy, always one of the first to start running over to see if you had treats what was going on. All of them would push and shove to get the treats first, but Scrawny Neck was one of the few who would lunge and jump for them if I wasn't careful. More then once she grabbed a bag entirely out of my hand and tried to run off with it. If that didn't work, or I wasn't fast enough to give her her own, she usually stole from one of the others. For being the runt of the flock she was one of the biggest pigs.

I never saw her flapping up on top of things, not like Glinda does, but she was funny to watch run. All of them, especially the Lorpys, look like they're racing around in bloomers when they run. Scrawny Neck looked like she wore a particularly large pair. She always looked indignant when we herded them back in after straying too far too. She'd stretch her neck out as high as it would go as she trotted ahead. She was one of Bertha's bullies, never hesitated to take a punk at her when she had the opportunity, especially if they were roosting next to each other on the perch before we separated Bertha.

She was a nest hog. Occasionally she'd kick one of the others out so she could brood the eggs, but usually she just never got up. Unless treats were involved.

She wasn't my favorite, in fact she annoyed me because she went after Bertha so much, but she was ours. If we ever get more Lorpys, or if any other new hen fits the character of Diablo, I'll put the name back into action. Diablo the Second.

Until then, Maleficent remains without her henchchicken.

RIP, pretty girl.

Chicken Pictures and Other Randomness

Two posts in a week, look at me go! ::P I doubt I'll keep this up. Actually, I doubt I'll keep up once a week, but who cares?

A completely random post. I just felt like it. No real point, even in the context of this blog, but I have such a hang up for doing things in order. It was going to be the fourth post, but the super bowl distracted me. V-Day stuff will be coming up and this will have even less point if I don't do it now.

~*~

Food Coma

I was definitely still suffering from a food hangover today. My get up and go got up and went sometime before I got up, and somehow I still felt full. Breakfast didn't help. I ran smack into one of my bad food habits - habit itself and bad portion sizes. We ate kinda late for breakfast so TPU and I had eggs on burger patties (it's really good, especially with cheese and onion and barbecue sauce and relish, and a few dehydrated pepper flakes sprinkled on the eggs) while TMU just had eggs. We threw in the last standing corn dog muffins and mozzarella sticks to finish them off, there weren't many left. I set up their eggs, two for each, and my own single egg.

It wasn't until I had served them and was plating my own that I realized I had fried two for myself instead of one, shorting TMU completely by accident. They'd had scrambled so she hadn't noticed, but I felt bad. She doesn't like her eggs with all the crap I put on mine, so I couldn't even share to make up for it. I'm just so used to making two eggs and I must have gone on autopilot.

As yummy as it was I couldn't finish half of it, and spent the rest of the afternoon feeling that special brand of crappy from when you've eaten too much too many days in a row. I made a point of not eating at all the rest of the day, only drinking water and soda. Clearly need to let my system clear itself out more.

~*~

Signs of Spring

Just because I happened to notice the buds on the tree outside the house today.

~*~

Happy Chicken Stuff


Musical Dust Baths

Last week sometime I happened to look out the window at the chickens doing their thing, like I do anytime they're let loose. I love just watching them.

Dust baths for our chickens are like nightclubs. One or two spring up and everyone wants to go to THAT one, and will harrass whoever has it till they move and the next one temporarily takes their place. Then as soon as it rains and packs the dirt down again - or not even, just another one springs up to distract them - they abandon it. I want to build them their own little sandbox that's out of the weather so they can always happily throw sand around anytime they want. They never seem to go for the same ones twice.

We've been working on hoeing out the garden plots to make sure they're ready for spring planting. The garden isn't fenced off yet, so the girls spend as much time there as they do anywhere else in the yard. Which we certainly don't mind, less fertilizer we have to add! The loose part of course became a target for dust bathing, Twinnie especially seemed to prefer it. Apparently it became the latest hotspot when I wasn't looking, because this is what I saw:

The communal baths of Rome reborn. Hope they're not bringing back the Vomitorium too. O_o
Rooty, Twinnie, Scruffy Butt and Baldy.

Usually they all run to me expecting treats when I go out, so I was surprised they stayed put long enough for me to take a picture. ::D I went back in, happy with my random chicken pictures. While clearly enjoying the freshly tilled earth, they were apparently dissatisfied with the perfection of those particular dust baths. I found one or the other of them in two more spots within an hour or so.

Can you spot the chicken?

There she is! This one is Bertha.

Twinnie's final choice for a dust bath leaves something to be desired...

It really was like they were playing musical chairs, cause there were smaller numbers each time but always in a group. No idea if they ever found that days perfect dust bath, but it was funny watching her try!


Foraging

Taken just before the sad chicken stuff.

Glinda, Scrawny Neck, Maleficent and Scruffy Butt.

Glinda's Photo Shoot

What? I'm busy!

I see you back there...

Talk to the fluffy butt.

She reminds me of a Velociraptor here. Chickens look mean up close. ::P

Bertha and Twinkie

She didn't feel like posing today.

Twinkie with a tail!

~*~

Sad Chicken Stuff

We lost Scrawny Neck today. She'll get her own post a little later. Like I said I like doing things in order and she deserves her own post, even if it's a short one, but I wanted to mention her. She got picked off by a damned hawk half her size not long after I took the above photos. Just there it was perched over her, out of the blue. Really crappy way to see your first hawk up close. Thankfully the others are OK, but....poor Scrawny Neck.

~*~


Bath Time.

Why do I always get ideas at the most inconvenient times? I keep a notebook handy at all time because I always seem to think of something in the car, in the store, wherever. At home too, repetetive tasks like chopping tomatoes seem to trigger my brain. Trying to sleep is probably the most common time, this is why I have a flashlight handy so I can see to scribble without getting out of bed. Not that I can read my writing the next morning of course. But the other day took the cake. I got an idea that I just HAD to write down before I forgot it.

While I was in the tub.
Shampooing my hair.
Sigh.

I've also discovered that Dusty quite likes this particular tub. She's always been the type to follow me into the bathroom or sit outside the door till I come out (scent marking the doorjamb) but she usually gets bored quickly and wants out when I'm soaking in the tub. This time she followed me right in, wandered around while I got settled, then jumped right up on the ledge of the tub and laid down on my towel. She stayed there the whole time. Even while I was splashing around getting clean, as climbed over her to get out, and while I was drying off and nearly hit her with the corner of the towel. Of course I got a second towel. She looked up at me and mewled when I reached for mine and hugged it tighter. Really.

That cat didn't move till half an hour after I left.

Did the same thing the next night. I planned ahead and got her her own towel. Nearly killed myself climbing over her because she jumped up and laid down before I'd even got in, and this is a deep tub with a wiiiide ledge. With a cat who doesn't want to be disturbed on it.

It's a good thing she didn't decide to follow me tonight, I wouldn't have had the energy to contort around her. When am I going to learn not to run the water quite so hot right from the get go? I thought I was going to melt or throw up. I keep forgetting the fan I bring with me doesn't do that much good when there's that much water that hot. Though of course it helps, I probably would have thrown up without it. I like the sting of hot water to begin with but I've always been the warm one. I've been known to run the AC in winter. By the time I realize I'm a little too warm, it's too late. Even cold water doesn't help much. Short bath tonight.

And to think I had been contemplating a warm cup of coffee when I got out. I'm not a coffee nut (that's TPU's territory, it's practically all he drinks) but we haven't made any sugar free cocoa recently, and anyway it has less sugar and carbs as long as I east up on the milk. Though coffee is better with some sort of flavoring.

~*~

Here endeth the post.