Right now, I'll go ahead and tell you that I KNOW that this is not the healthiest recipe that I'll ever share.
And it ranks right up there with strange things that work out very well.... recipes that you look at and say "what?!!!".
You know how sometimes you need a batter for things that you want to fry?
Like those first tender, sweet squash, or stuffed squash blossoms, or green tomatoes or okra or onion rings...
I could go on.
This recipe makes onion rings that I promise you, are unrivaled.
And it doesn't require any special tricks or equipment.
It does require that you do NOT taste one as you're cooking,,, unless you're home alone and you expect to eat dinner while standing at the stove. They're addictive and quite, quite yummy. If that IS the plan for dinner, then go ahead... knock yourself out... you have my permission.
When I make onion rings, as I did this evening, I peel and slice up a couple of large white onions. Separate them into rings. Get some oil screaming hot! Toss the onions into the batter. Use a fork to grab one and toss it into the oil. Very quickly, it should sizzle and 'float' to the top. Flip it once and let it turn a nice golden brown, then take it out to drain on a paper towel.
I don't have a deep fryer... I simply put a cup and a half or so of cooking oil into a saucepan. I don't fry food often enough to use a deep fryer, and when I did have one, it required an awful lot of oil, that I had to store and reuse, and it made such a mess. Better a saucepan and an occasional 'frying' event.
On to the recipe:
Batter for Frying
3/4 cup of plain flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt (depending on what's being fried, I might make this 1/2 teaspoon of salt)
2 Tablespoons of corn starch
3/4 cup of water
Whisk all ingredients together. Will make a very watery batter. So watery and thin, in fact, it will not look like it's going to work,,, but go ahead and do it anyway... you'll see! Dip your veggies, which have previously been prepared, into the batter, let the excess drip off and put it in the hot oil. It should pop up off the bottom and start to float pretty quickly. Turn the battered veggie and let it cook until it's a beautiful golden brown.
Drain on paper towels. Try HARD not to eat one... really hard... and try to keep the boys/girls/spouses from starting in on the goodies before you get them on the table, because otherwise, you're gonna need to go cut up some more veggies and mix up some more batter....
... ask me how I know.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Graduation
So, the youngest one graduated from high school.... and except for the moment when his sister mentioned that this was the first time in 12 years that there wasn't one of my children playing "Pomp and Circumstance" in the band ensemble, I kept my chin up.
Luckily, there was a malfunction of the equipment that would have played the DVD of photos of all the graduates set to the sort of music that makes mothers dissolve into helpless puddles all over the gym.
So, I escaped having to snort and sniffle my way through the last hour or so of the ceremony.
I've been a mom for a long, long time...25 years, to be exact, and I'll tell you, nothing feels quite as right as
realizing that the kids are going to be ok in life, regardless. Ten years ago, I was critically ill and there were days that it did not seem that I might see this day. For this day, I am grateful.
Solid education, multiples of diplomas and degrees represents several things. It does represent the fact that their father and I have consistently demanded a high standard of achievement. As a parent, I do believe that you have to require their best. But more than anything, it represents kids who have been sturdy and capable in doing what was required of them, by their parents and their teachers, professors and mentors consistently and constantly for years. It represent their understanding that hard work, day in and day out, pays off. It represents that from the oldest to the youngest was a steady stream of excellent examples and support of each other... they've been each other's best cheerleaders. It represents that they have been blessed with bright minds and healthy bodies and solid character to do the job at hand.
It represents a beginning...the taking in hand of all that they've learned and setting forth on life's journey, better prepared and ready and willing to work hard and undertake the tasks that they'll come up against in life.
For these young adults,,, my children,,, I have prayed every day, every single morning and night of their time on the planet, for their lives to be as God would plan. I have prayed that their educational road will serve them in the lives that they are meant to lead. I expect them to use their knowledge and their skills to the best of their abilities and I pray for them to have family and friends who love them and support them on their journeys, not just on the happy days, but when the days are long and hard and when the struggles come, as they certainly do. I pray that they always have each other to stand beside, shoulder to shoulder, arms around each other, love and support that only siblings can know. I hope and pray that their closeness as siblings, continues through their lives of work and busy-ness.
I pray that their world of work and their spiritual journey are not far from each other, so that they may serve God and mankind as they were made to do.
I pray that I live to see their lives unfold and that they know how much their mother loves them every single day of the rest of their lives.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
How not to be bored
Last year, about this time, I realized that more than half the teenagers that I know were spending a LOT of time posting on Facebook about how bored they were.
Now early on, as a parent, one of my pet peeves was the whiney intonation "I'mmmmm bored!!!!"
I made my children the ultimatum that if I were to so much as hear the B word (bored) that I'd be arranging for them to do the very many things that I could think of that needed doing.
And as they are smart children, it did not take very many times for them to 1. learn to entertain themselves better and 2. develop a widely ranging vocabulary of words that were synonyms for 'bored'.
Anyway, last year, I wrote out the following and issued it as a challenge to the group of kids that I love most in the world. I'm sharing it here, because we're right at the cusp of summer, when so many parents will begin to hear those fateful words... I'm so bored...
Share the list... and share with me the amazing things that happen when you employ the list...
Things to do to prevent boredom
Here you go, kiddo's... and I don't want to hear anymore about being bored!
1. Take your UNhappy little hinney outside for a walk, a run, a bike ride.
If THAT bores you, then pick up a broom, a rake, a shovel and rearrange dirt, dust or landscaping (check with parents first about that last one). Walk the dog, brush the cat, teach them new tricks. Take a nap under a tree, camp outside overnight, even in the back yard. GET OUT!
2. RUN, do not walk, to the next nearest home of an elderly person (do NOT mistake 50 for elderly!)
Knock on the door, introduce yourself, and then procceed to 1. sit and visit and 2. ask them what they need help with. then DO IT! This should keep you busy for quite a while... and you will learn some valuable lessons and loneliness will be averted on more than one count!
3. Find a kid... preferable another kid that is being bored... Not one your age, but one younger than you. Think (*yes, you can do that in the summertime) of 3 things that you know, or can do that this kid cannot and TEACH them. Spend some time making, building, working on something. Take them on a walk and see how many different birds you can identify. Teach them to make lemonade. Build a sculpture of found objects. Get creative!
4. Pick a new skill,,, something that YOU want to do, or have been interested in. Get your parents on board here... do some research... figure it out. implement a plan for learning about your new passion and be better for it at the end of the summer!
5. Do a good turn daily... a good deed... even small ones... You will smile at yourself when you're all alone. Pick up some trash and put it in the proper place, return the shopping cart to the store, smile at the angriest person you see. YOU will be better for it.
6. Go fishing (catch and release), take a hike, a serious hike... there's a state park IN THIS COUNTY with two trails 2 1/3 miles) that is free for you to walk. Take a bottle of water and explore the outdoors.
(THEN you will not die of heatstroke that first two days of band camp!) Ride a bike.
7. Make a plan for your family and implement it... how can you reduce and recycle? Your parents are tired of telling you to turn off the lights and not waste stuff... they get worn down...you pick up the charge for a while and see the savings (of finances AND the planet!).
8. Be an official volunteer... The local hospital has need of volunteers,,, the local nursing homes...
take your instrument and simply practice in the day room at the local nursing home... get three friends together and play together...brighten the day of all who live there and all who work there. Smile while you play!
9. Thank people... thank a police officer, thank a teacher, thank the folks at the YMCA, thank the person who checks you out at the store. If you have time to be bored, you have time to sit down and write a thank you note,,, to your parents, your grandparents, your friends, the mailperson!
10. Catch up with folks who have moved away. Sit down and take pencil and paper in hand and WRITE a letter.
11. Clean your room! Move the furniture around (amazing what you find under the bed!) REdecorate. Do a good job and your parents will be stunned... stunned, I tell you!
12. Clean something that is not your room... the fridge (do you KNOW how happy this makes parents?)
the laundry room, the utility closet... Your parents will wonder what is wrong , but they will NOT question this!?!
13. Go the public library and use this free resource... read magazines while you're there and read a BOOK A WEEK over the summer. (some of you can do way better than that, and if you do and report it to me, we shall find a treat!)
14. Practice that instrument DAILY. Annoy your family, the neighbors, the animals in the neighborhood. Practice early and late and in between. Become the BEST at what you do!
15. LASTLY, Study for the SAT... I don't care what age you are, what grade you're in, what you're doing after highschool... go online to the study places and DO it. Go to the public library and check out the study books. DO NOT ROll your eyes... you KNOW I'm right! If you each send me (or post) a word of the day from the SAT lists, then we're all gonna learn a lot of new words this summer!
Do not waste the summer! Wake up each day, every single day, and make a plan.
Dont' get to the end of it and only be able to say "I was so BORED!".
Report what you're doing... I shall be so proud and you shall not have to work at Camp Weaver all summer!
hugs all around,
dawn
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
You wanna go for a walk?
Such sweet words... when said while clearing the dinner table...
.... from the oldest brother to the youngest.
They'd eaten more in a few short minutes than I can remember them eating in a while, which reminds me to step up the meal planning and preparation to keep up with the new demand of having both boys at home for a while. The leftovers consisted of a single half ring of a slice of red onion and less than a half cup of baked beans...
Dinner was full of good natured jostling and recounting the day's tales.
Stories broken by serious chowing down.
And then the older one said "you wanna go for a walk?"
Quiet settled in as the old door creaked shut behind them.
I count my blessings that they're good brothers to each other... that they love each other and crave time to spend together. I love that they're outdoorsy and are competent in the wild. I love that being afield and in the woods brings them peace of mind and I love that it brings them together.
.... from the oldest brother to the youngest.
They'd eaten more in a few short minutes than I can remember them eating in a while, which reminds me to step up the meal planning and preparation to keep up with the new demand of having both boys at home for a while. The leftovers consisted of a single half ring of a slice of red onion and less than a half cup of baked beans...
Dinner was full of good natured jostling and recounting the day's tales.
Stories broken by serious chowing down.
And then the older one said "you wanna go for a walk?"
Quiet settled in as the old door creaked shut behind them.
I count my blessings that they're good brothers to each other... that they love each other and crave time to spend together. I love that they're outdoorsy and are competent in the wild. I love that being afield and in the woods brings them peace of mind and I love that it brings them together.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
jumping off place, indeed or Landscaping run amok II
This last week, as I have already reported, we've had a little too much snake action.
Part of the problem is that I live in the country, in the wilderness, where nature abounds... snakes are part of nature, you know.
I do not begrudge them their place... it's when they encroach upon MY place that we began to have issues.
I do not mind an occasional slither by... I DO mind discovering a satisfied, lumpy snake in my chicken coop.
I do mind looking down while I'm hanging out the laundry, to discover a 7 footer 'smelling me'....
...uh. no...
This leads me to conclude that it's time to mow. The grass has been mowed this year, a time or two.
Admittedly we take a very relaxed view of mowing... as mentioned before, we don't have a lawn, so much, as we have a grassy collection of stuff in the general vacinity of the house, barns and hundred acre wood.
When we were first married, the Chief Grass Mower Man wouldn't get the job done before he started over, spending every waking moment that he was not at work mowing the grass... not fishing, not napping, not playing with the kiddies... mowing the grass. Sort of like once upon a time, I mopped the kitchen every night before I went to bed...
Really.
Then, somewhere along the way, we caught on to the fact that the children were growing faster than we could imagine and by doing all the repetitive chores with obsessive compulsion we were missing out.
That, and when it takes 15 gallons of gas to mow to the place and gas is $4 a gallon, then we can also use the excuse that it's simply ecologically sound to let the permaculture take over.
Until the snakes of spring arrive.
Yesterday, after a snake relocation event and another 'getaway' failed attempt at the second relocation of the day, I'd had all I could take.
I set off to mow the grass. Now here, I'll refer you to the previous story of my moving mowing experiences on the new mower. Yesterday, I dutifully sunscreened myself, fixed a water bottle, grabbed a hat and toodled off down to the barn to do a little rearranging of the snake habitat. To discover that there was no key...
With the assistance of the now fully engaged side effects of tamoxifen, I became rather furious. After searching for an hour for the key, to no avail, and sending several obnoxiously repetitive text messages to the Chief Grass Mowing man, demanding to know the location of the key, I abandoned all hope of fixing the problem and moved along to something else.
I spoke to the Chief Grass Mowing man on the phone later in the day, from work, and felt rather foolish, to discover that the key had been, all along, right on the hall stand, front and center in front of the door, for all the world to see. Like I said,,, I'm gonna blame fury on the drug....
Anyway, this morning, I watched the kid get off to school, ... really there's not so much to do when they're 17, sort of a 'tell me your schedule, do you have your suit for the concert?, have a good day!' sort of thing.
By 7:15, I was out the door, key in hand, sunscreen in place, to take advantage of the early morning cool.
Alas, filled the tank and attempted to crank to discover a dead battery. Now, I'd been warned that this might be the case... so I had to 'jump off' the mower, so that I could hop to it~!
I'd never jumped off a mower before... luckily, I grew up pretty self sufficient and luckily we have the necessary equipment on hand. For a few moments there, I was literally, in the jumping off place.
Anyway, finally,,, finally... I was off an mowing. While I mowed, I had time to think about a list of things that one should know when mowing with one of these machines:
~ I know I repeat myself, but if you remove one hand from the control bar of the speeding demon, to, oh, say wipe your nose or get some spider web out of your mouth, it WILL begin to spin... in circles... at full speed. Yeah... Remember that next time.
~ There is no intuition on the part of the machine when you are too close to things,,, laundry lines, specifically... If your hand/eye coordination fails you in that moment and you zip on under the laundry line, at full speed, of course, you just MIGHT get snagged by the adjustable drawstring of your apron, which was innocently minding it's own business on the clothesline. Luckily for you, the adjustable feature of the apron strings, after a nice firm tightening around your neck, gives way, leaving you with a rakishly good looking 1 inch wide 'scarf'. Refer to item above as to why you cannot use your hands to remove the rakish apron strings turned scarf.
~ If after two hours of mowing, you feel the call of nature AND you need to do things that you should have done before cranking the machine, like move the water hoses, giant tree limbs and all the stuff that puppies can drag about your yard, and you stop... you have to jump the machine off again. It's ok... was time to re-up the sunscreen anyway!
~ You should never let things distract you... beautiful wild roses... tiny wild strawberries...wild daisies blowing on the breeze... because, again, you are traveling at warp speed. The tiniest lapse in attention can net you a newly cleared path through the hedges or the excitable enjoyment of coming upon an embankment too fast, AND the understanding of how these things happened in the past...
~If during the middle of mowing, at warp speed, you suddenly round a bush, to discover a 7 foot version of the EXACT reason why you are doing this chore, all coiled and excited and ready to strike, and you do NOT react quickly enough, it IS possible, instead of running over the innocent snake that it's coiled body can be lofted onto your right foot (with which you were attempted to apply the non-existent in this machine brakes) and subsequent to which you MIGHT scream like a little girl and shake your foot violently. (No woman or snake was harmed in this incident, by the way!) The snake escaped to the pasture across the road, probably to come visit with my chickens tomorrow.
~ You realize that it's time, again, to do some serious trimming of low hanging limbs and some of the aforementioned permaculture. You realize that you should not turn so that the grass clippings land on the ornamental pond and float there, like so much green confetti to amuse the fish. You consider changing the shape of things like the herb bed to make it more easily mowed around (and give you more room for basil).
You decide to mow 'paths' in places where footpaths are, in the direction of the river and the woods.
~You might get to thinking that this is just the most fun you've had since the last time you rode a rollercoaster, or at the very least, any theme park ride where you don't know what might happen next. You get kind of 'revved up' and 'wide open' and all kinds of delighted with how the yard begins to look. That's a good thing... you need to be wide awake when you're on this mower!
So, I have put the snakes on notice... please, pretty please, go back to the woods and to the river, or visit the neighbors and leave me to my yard and chicken coops undisturbed.
Part of the problem is that I live in the country, in the wilderness, where nature abounds... snakes are part of nature, you know.
I do not begrudge them their place... it's when they encroach upon MY place that we began to have issues.
I do not mind an occasional slither by... I DO mind discovering a satisfied, lumpy snake in my chicken coop.
I do mind looking down while I'm hanging out the laundry, to discover a 7 footer 'smelling me'....
...uh. no...
This leads me to conclude that it's time to mow. The grass has been mowed this year, a time or two.
Admittedly we take a very relaxed view of mowing... as mentioned before, we don't have a lawn, so much, as we have a grassy collection of stuff in the general vacinity of the house, barns and hundred acre wood.
When we were first married, the Chief Grass Mower Man wouldn't get the job done before he started over, spending every waking moment that he was not at work mowing the grass... not fishing, not napping, not playing with the kiddies... mowing the grass. Sort of like once upon a time, I mopped the kitchen every night before I went to bed...
Really.
Then, somewhere along the way, we caught on to the fact that the children were growing faster than we could imagine and by doing all the repetitive chores with obsessive compulsion we were missing out.
That, and when it takes 15 gallons of gas to mow to the place and gas is $4 a gallon, then we can also use the excuse that it's simply ecologically sound to let the permaculture take over.
Until the snakes of spring arrive.
Yesterday, after a snake relocation event and another 'getaway' failed attempt at the second relocation of the day, I'd had all I could take.
I set off to mow the grass. Now here, I'll refer you to the previous story of my moving mowing experiences on the new mower. Yesterday, I dutifully sunscreened myself, fixed a water bottle, grabbed a hat and toodled off down to the barn to do a little rearranging of the snake habitat. To discover that there was no key...
With the assistance of the now fully engaged side effects of tamoxifen, I became rather furious. After searching for an hour for the key, to no avail, and sending several obnoxiously repetitive text messages to the Chief Grass Mowing man, demanding to know the location of the key, I abandoned all hope of fixing the problem and moved along to something else.
I spoke to the Chief Grass Mowing man on the phone later in the day, from work, and felt rather foolish, to discover that the key had been, all along, right on the hall stand, front and center in front of the door, for all the world to see. Like I said,,, I'm gonna blame fury on the drug....
Anyway, this morning, I watched the kid get off to school, ... really there's not so much to do when they're 17, sort of a 'tell me your schedule, do you have your suit for the concert?, have a good day!' sort of thing.
By 7:15, I was out the door, key in hand, sunscreen in place, to take advantage of the early morning cool.
Alas, filled the tank and attempted to crank to discover a dead battery. Now, I'd been warned that this might be the case... so I had to 'jump off' the mower, so that I could hop to it~!
I'd never jumped off a mower before... luckily, I grew up pretty self sufficient and luckily we have the necessary equipment on hand. For a few moments there, I was literally, in the jumping off place.
Anyway, finally,,, finally... I was off an mowing. While I mowed, I had time to think about a list of things that one should know when mowing with one of these machines:
~ I know I repeat myself, but if you remove one hand from the control bar of the speeding demon, to, oh, say wipe your nose or get some spider web out of your mouth, it WILL begin to spin... in circles... at full speed. Yeah... Remember that next time.
~ There is no intuition on the part of the machine when you are too close to things,,, laundry lines, specifically... If your hand/eye coordination fails you in that moment and you zip on under the laundry line, at full speed, of course, you just MIGHT get snagged by the adjustable drawstring of your apron, which was innocently minding it's own business on the clothesline. Luckily for you, the adjustable feature of the apron strings, after a nice firm tightening around your neck, gives way, leaving you with a rakishly good looking 1 inch wide 'scarf'. Refer to item above as to why you cannot use your hands to remove the rakish apron strings turned scarf.
~ If after two hours of mowing, you feel the call of nature AND you need to do things that you should have done before cranking the machine, like move the water hoses, giant tree limbs and all the stuff that puppies can drag about your yard, and you stop... you have to jump the machine off again. It's ok... was time to re-up the sunscreen anyway!
~ You should never let things distract you... beautiful wild roses... tiny wild strawberries...wild daisies blowing on the breeze... because, again, you are traveling at warp speed. The tiniest lapse in attention can net you a newly cleared path through the hedges or the excitable enjoyment of coming upon an embankment too fast, AND the understanding of how these things happened in the past...
~If during the middle of mowing, at warp speed, you suddenly round a bush, to discover a 7 foot version of the EXACT reason why you are doing this chore, all coiled and excited and ready to strike, and you do NOT react quickly enough, it IS possible, instead of running over the innocent snake that it's coiled body can be lofted onto your right foot (with which you were attempted to apply the non-existent in this machine brakes) and subsequent to which you MIGHT scream like a little girl and shake your foot violently. (No woman or snake was harmed in this incident, by the way!) The snake escaped to the pasture across the road, probably to come visit with my chickens tomorrow.
~ You realize that it's time, again, to do some serious trimming of low hanging limbs and some of the aforementioned permaculture. You realize that you should not turn so that the grass clippings land on the ornamental pond and float there, like so much green confetti to amuse the fish. You consider changing the shape of things like the herb bed to make it more easily mowed around (and give you more room for basil).
You decide to mow 'paths' in places where footpaths are, in the direction of the river and the woods.
~You might get to thinking that this is just the most fun you've had since the last time you rode a rollercoaster, or at the very least, any theme park ride where you don't know what might happen next. You get kind of 'revved up' and 'wide open' and all kinds of delighted with how the yard begins to look. That's a good thing... you need to be wide awake when you're on this mower!
So, I have put the snakes on notice... please, pretty please, go back to the woods and to the river, or visit the neighbors and leave me to my yard and chicken coops undisturbed.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Happy Mother'sssssss Day!
But not the pretty, quiet, happy Hallmark version...
No... not us...
We hugely prefer to be original in our approach.
Just a little before midnight last night, Stormy made a discovery about poisonous snakes.
She discovered you should not try to eat one.
After several hours of obvious pain, hysteria on the part of the paternal unit here, and admittedly, significant worry on the part of the maternal person, we have a tail wagging, swollen head, I survived eating a copperhead dog.
We didn't sleep very much last night.
After sleeping in and enjoying a late breakfast with our 'just home from college' boy, we settled into various pursuits about the farm.
During my (very late) run to the chicken pen, I discovered a little Mother's Day surprise...
right on time, we began this adventure every year, usually early in May...
It's called...
Snake relocation program... or "GET DOWN HERE and get this snake out of MY CHICKEN PEN!"
Prior to marrying my husband, when this happened on the farm, we dispatched the snake with no questions asked and no friendly hands-on relocation program.
Then, I married this fellow and he preferred to catch them and relocate them.
I am now convinced, especially if I don't have to do it by myself.
So that is what we do now....
We take them for a scenic drive about the country. Often they are accomanpied by people in varying states of country dress, because it next to never happens at a convenient time when we are properly dressed for a Sunday afternoon drive.
The snakes never seem to mind.
We make sure that our snakes get a nice location to began their new lease on life, someplace other than my chicken pens.
This is Sis... You will notice that Sis is nice and trim... this means that we need to look for the kittens.
Happy Mother's Day, Sis!
Sis is the provider of barn kitties, which keep us rodent and snake free... obviously we need to step up the work on that front...
Truthfully, Sis has been trying to do the job alone, after coyotes and dogs took a toll on the barn kitty population. I'm sure we'll be reporting on the new additions shortly.
I watched the boy working in the garden for a while this afternoon... I'm so glad he's home.
He helped his daddy put up the deer netting around the garden ...
...after a while, I wandered down there to see what it was that he was up to...
He was adding his own special touch. You see, he's a fan of deer hunting AND gardening and especially cooking fresh wonderful things from the garden. We'll see how these new additions help in the never ending job of trying to keep the deer at bay.
And last, but not least, Daisy came up missing this morning or late yesterday... she's so quiet and good you don't notice her, but we do miss our creatures if we come up short. After a bit of searching and angst, she reappeared this afternoon, so we are no longer worried.
The boys are presently lighting the grill to grill some dry rubbed chicken and I'm looking forward to a late meal and things settling down.... we've had enough excitement for several days.
No... not us...
We hugely prefer to be original in our approach.
Just a little before midnight last night, Stormy made a discovery about poisonous snakes.
She discovered you should not try to eat one.
After several hours of obvious pain, hysteria on the part of the paternal unit here, and admittedly, significant worry on the part of the maternal person, we have a tail wagging, swollen head, I survived eating a copperhead dog.
We didn't sleep very much last night.
After sleeping in and enjoying a late breakfast with our 'just home from college' boy, we settled into various pursuits about the farm.
During my (very late) run to the chicken pen, I discovered a little Mother's Day surprise...
right on time, we began this adventure every year, usually early in May...
It's called...
Snake relocation program... or "GET DOWN HERE and get this snake out of MY CHICKEN PEN!"
Prior to marrying my husband, when this happened on the farm, we dispatched the snake with no questions asked and no friendly hands-on relocation program.
Then, I married this fellow and he preferred to catch them and relocate them.
I am now convinced, especially if I don't have to do it by myself.
So that is what we do now....
We take them for a scenic drive about the country. Often they are accomanpied by people in varying states of country dress, because it next to never happens at a convenient time when we are properly dressed for a Sunday afternoon drive.
The snakes never seem to mind.
We make sure that our snakes get a nice location to began their new lease on life, someplace other than my chicken pens.
This is Sis... You will notice that Sis is nice and trim... this means that we need to look for the kittens.
Happy Mother's Day, Sis!
Sis is the provider of barn kitties, which keep us rodent and snake free... obviously we need to step up the work on that front...
Truthfully, Sis has been trying to do the job alone, after coyotes and dogs took a toll on the barn kitty population. I'm sure we'll be reporting on the new additions shortly.
I watched the boy working in the garden for a while this afternoon... I'm so glad he's home.
He helped his daddy put up the deer netting around the garden ...
...after a while, I wandered down there to see what it was that he was up to...
He was adding his own special touch. You see, he's a fan of deer hunting AND gardening and especially cooking fresh wonderful things from the garden. We'll see how these new additions help in the never ending job of trying to keep the deer at bay.
And last, but not least, Daisy came up missing this morning or late yesterday... she's so quiet and good you don't notice her, but we do miss our creatures if we come up short. After a bit of searching and angst, she reappeared this afternoon, so we are no longer worried.
The boys are presently lighting the grill to grill some dry rubbed chicken and I'm looking forward to a late meal and things settling down.... we've had enough excitement for several days.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Graduation
Today, my middle child, my oldest son graduated from college.
We had to get up LONG before the sun arose and for the first time in years, I had to run around the house waking everyone up. We stumbled around and dressed and drove into a heavy,thick fog in to the capital city.
In the last three days, more than 6000 students received degrees from the University of South Carolina.
And in the midst of the mayhem that comes with that, my boy received his degree in Biology, with honors.
This past Thursday, in a downpour of rain, we moved him home...from his apartment, with all his worldly belongings. His younger brother, who will head to this same college in the fall, helped to move his brother one more time. He lovingly points out that he has been moving people to colleges for more than 9 years now.
It's good to have a brother who loves you.
As we found seats in the arena where the 9 am service was held, with thousands of other happy families all around us, the younger one said "Man, I'm hungry... does this place have hotdogs?"
No, son... no hotdogs at graduations....
We sat with his girlfriend's family and we anxiously watched and waited while the graduates assembled until we saw our own take their place.
And then that familiar, beautiful ceremony, the conferring of degrees, took place.
And somewhere in there, about the time he got up to take his place in line, my heart filled until tears poured from my eyes. In an overwhelming moment, in a single flash, I recalled two things.
I recalled that for virtually every single day that I was pregnant with him, I was on bedrest.
I laid, on doctor's orders, on my left side and I prayed so very hard for him to come to be and for him to be alright.
And he was.
And then I thought about when he was not quite three and through a series of medical issues that began with the flu, he and I spent weeks in a pediatric care unit, some if it in intensive care, as he fought for his life and as I prayed, again, for his life to be spared and for him to still be alive to be my child.
And he was.
For this, I am so grateful.
His very life has been an extraordinary gift to me, in so very many ways.
For his being so many good things... honest and hard working, calm in the face of trouble and life, in general, sensible and sensitive and funny, intelligent and a very thoughtful and loving man, I am so very grateful.
I am thankful for this young woman, who is a special part of his life. She, likewise, is one of the most genuine, sincere and beautiful young women that I have ever known. We are all blessed for her presence in our life and I am delighted by the love she shares with my son. As she continues her education this fall, she will be in my prayers continually.
And so today, as he stood, tall and handsome, clad in the garb of academia, striding forward to take what he has worked so hard to earn, I prayed again, for this amazing man, who is my son. I wish him every hope and dream come true, but I also wish him a life filled with love and family. I pray for strength to face all that his life will bring him, for through him, I was brought to realize how fragile, how very tenuous is that attachment.
We had to get up LONG before the sun arose and for the first time in years, I had to run around the house waking everyone up. We stumbled around and dressed and drove into a heavy,thick fog in to the capital city.
In the last three days, more than 6000 students received degrees from the University of South Carolina.
And in the midst of the mayhem that comes with that, my boy received his degree in Biology, with honors.
This past Thursday, in a downpour of rain, we moved him home...from his apartment, with all his worldly belongings. His younger brother, who will head to this same college in the fall, helped to move his brother one more time. He lovingly points out that he has been moving people to colleges for more than 9 years now.
It's good to have a brother who loves you.
As we found seats in the arena where the 9 am service was held, with thousands of other happy families all around us, the younger one said "Man, I'm hungry... does this place have hotdogs?"
No, son... no hotdogs at graduations....
We sat with his girlfriend's family and we anxiously watched and waited while the graduates assembled until we saw our own take their place.
And then that familiar, beautiful ceremony, the conferring of degrees, took place.
And somewhere in there, about the time he got up to take his place in line, my heart filled until tears poured from my eyes. In an overwhelming moment, in a single flash, I recalled two things.
I recalled that for virtually every single day that I was pregnant with him, I was on bedrest.
I laid, on doctor's orders, on my left side and I prayed so very hard for him to come to be and for him to be alright.
And he was.
And then I thought about when he was not quite three and through a series of medical issues that began with the flu, he and I spent weeks in a pediatric care unit, some if it in intensive care, as he fought for his life and as I prayed, again, for his life to be spared and for him to still be alive to be my child.
And he was.
For this, I am so grateful.
His very life has been an extraordinary gift to me, in so very many ways.
For his being so many good things... honest and hard working, calm in the face of trouble and life, in general, sensible and sensitive and funny, intelligent and a very thoughtful and loving man, I am so very grateful.
I am thankful for this young woman, who is a special part of his life. She, likewise, is one of the most genuine, sincere and beautiful young women that I have ever known. We are all blessed for her presence in our life and I am delighted by the love she shares with my son. As she continues her education this fall, she will be in my prayers continually.
And so today, as he stood, tall and handsome, clad in the garb of academia, striding forward to take what he has worked so hard to earn, I prayed again, for this amazing man, who is my son. I wish him every hope and dream come true, but I also wish him a life filled with love and family. I pray for strength to face all that his life will bring him, for through him, I was brought to realize how fragile, how very tenuous is that attachment.
Friday, May 6, 2011
WHAT?!!?
So, I go into the chicken pen to feed up and collect the eggs... I toss out some lettuce and some leftover grits and other assorted 'treats' from the 'compost' bucket...
and about the time the food hits the ground, the chickens explode....
... I mean they literally explode into my face, squawking, flapping... they hit me with full force and I dropped the feed bucket that I was carrying.
It is then that I realize that a very quiet German Shepherd has entered the pen behind me...
I almost had a heart attack... and though my girls had gone nuts.
There was no bad behavior... merely curiosity, so I didn't scold, but it was one of those 'have a heart attack moments' that you get sometimes.
I suspect the same is true for the chickens... who went back to feeding as soon as the situation was corrected. Dog outside, calm reigns in chicken land.
and about the time the food hits the ground, the chickens explode....
... I mean they literally explode into my face, squawking, flapping... they hit me with full force and I dropped the feed bucket that I was carrying.
It is then that I realize that a very quiet German Shepherd has entered the pen behind me...
I almost had a heart attack... and though my girls had gone nuts.
There was no bad behavior... merely curiosity, so I didn't scold, but it was one of those 'have a heart attack moments' that you get sometimes.
I suspect the same is true for the chickens... who went back to feeding as soon as the situation was corrected. Dog outside, calm reigns in chicken land.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Daisy sits!
So, it's cold... and no, though my personal thermostat is rather wonky, I'm pretty sure that it's cold.... in South Carolina... in May!
And I have my baby tomato plants outside hardening off and my even more precariously small pepper plants...
and an angel wing begonia, which had actually reached the ceiling in it's indoor location, that was repotted today...
and the two penis plants...
Ok, so they are actually plumaeia plants that I could not resist after we'd taken the tour of the greenhouses at Disney World some many years ago. We have lovingly (ok, begrudgingly) cared for these two plants for years and years and we never get anything more impressive than two massive phallic stalks.
I mean we jokingly said that we'd grow them for wedding flowers for our then early teenage daughter. And every single spring and summer we coddle and fuss and make all kinds of 'to do' over the plumarias, which reward us by standing sentinel and stately and occasionally bearing a few awesome leaves on top. By 'we' here, I mean me... with the exception of the boys giving them the awesome name of 'penis plants', the plants have been my personal cross to bear.
The daughter has grown up, gone to college and to medical school and gotten married with nary a plumaeia blossom having shown it's face.
Sigh...
Anyway, they can't get below 40 degrees or some such....
and it's cold outside...
And for some reason, I still care...Perhaps I should go watch the weather to find out WHY is so unseasonably cold tonight... but I digress...
Anyway. I went out onto the front porch to retrieve the plants and when I opened the door, Daisy sauntered in....
Now Daisy has lived here for many years... and for the most part, she asks for little, and she likes to be left alone. Most days, she dislikes, immensely being singled out for petting and she especially despises any sort of need to get in the car and go, oh, say, to the vet. In all this time, she has NEVER come into the house.
I open the door and here she prisses...
Daisy... in the house...
She goes right over to the table with the dog treats on it, barks twice and SITS DOWN.
Daisy has never , ever, never, ever sat on command.
That little rascal... she has been watching the pup training,this week, as I've been working with Tank, and she has been looking in the door apparently, to see where the treats were coming from.
The little bugger walked right in, barked and SAT.
Daisy got a LOT of treats... and she got petted
and then she freaked, because freaking is what Daisy does best.
She barreled out the door, mouth full of treats, back to her pillow on the porch.
Maybe the plumeria will bloom this year...
And I have my baby tomato plants outside hardening off and my even more precariously small pepper plants...
and an angel wing begonia, which had actually reached the ceiling in it's indoor location, that was repotted today...
and the two penis plants...
Ok, so they are actually plumaeia plants that I could not resist after we'd taken the tour of the greenhouses at Disney World some many years ago. We have lovingly (ok, begrudgingly) cared for these two plants for years and years and we never get anything more impressive than two massive phallic stalks.
I mean we jokingly said that we'd grow them for wedding flowers for our then early teenage daughter. And every single spring and summer we coddle and fuss and make all kinds of 'to do' over the plumarias, which reward us by standing sentinel and stately and occasionally bearing a few awesome leaves on top. By 'we' here, I mean me... with the exception of the boys giving them the awesome name of 'penis plants', the plants have been my personal cross to bear.
The daughter has grown up, gone to college and to medical school and gotten married with nary a plumaeia blossom having shown it's face.
Sigh...
Anyway, they can't get below 40 degrees or some such....
and it's cold outside...
And for some reason, I still care...Perhaps I should go watch the weather to find out WHY is so unseasonably cold tonight... but I digress...
Anyway. I went out onto the front porch to retrieve the plants and when I opened the door, Daisy sauntered in....
Now Daisy has lived here for many years... and for the most part, she asks for little, and she likes to be left alone. Most days, she dislikes, immensely being singled out for petting and she especially despises any sort of need to get in the car and go, oh, say, to the vet. In all this time, she has NEVER come into the house.
I open the door and here she prisses...
Daisy... in the house...
She goes right over to the table with the dog treats on it, barks twice and SITS DOWN.
Daisy has never , ever, never, ever sat on command.
That little rascal... she has been watching the pup training,this week, as I've been working with Tank, and she has been looking in the door apparently, to see where the treats were coming from.
The little bugger walked right in, barked and SAT.
Daisy got a LOT of treats... and she got petted
and then she freaked, because freaking is what Daisy does best.
She barreled out the door, mouth full of treats, back to her pillow on the porch.
Maybe the plumeria will bloom this year...
Random thoughts
Things have been crazy busy here the last little bit.
Spring is in full swing (we are all polinated, sneeze, snort!)
People are winding down college careers and beginning to move. The shift of worldly belongings that has happened here for 9 years (wow... time sure does fly!) will happen again this week. The old house will finish squeezing to near bursting and things may or may not settle down to a new kind of normal. When the graduate gets home, we'll sort through his things, and some things I've been waiting to have sturdy help to do.
The baby chickens are growing ... crazy growing... I must get some photos... they're at the wonderful, juvenile, oh-so-ugly phase... it's awesome.
The dog has outgrown my wildest imaginings, but continues to learn and be an amazing companion. We have managed to capture a clip of her 'singing' to the baby on a phone... she is a delight.
People are finishing up highschool careers and planning the move to college. Ironically, the same college that will be shedding one of our own, will be gaining a new one in the fall.
A bit of gardening, though not much to see yet...
A bit of sewing....
A bit of complaining, on my part, about generally feeling like I've been hit by a hay truck.
The side effects of Tamoxifen are beating me about and I was growing increasingly irritable until yesterday, when I saw the doctor, to discover that that wasn't all. Medication for bronchitis and a sinus infection should help to clear up some of what I've found so oppressive this last couple of week.
I left the doctor's office, feeling somehow instantly better, as though having a valid reason for the puny-ness of late. I have a physician who is so gentle and so calm and who both listens and hears what I say. One of life's greatest blessings is having a doctor that I'm comfortable with, who serves as my medical 'home' and who listens and weighs in and helps me find a balance on the health care see-saw that I've been on lately.
I didn't need to be anywhere on a time schedule, so stopped at the local library in the big city.
I love libraries. I love the little local library. But I've been needing a couple of resource books so decided to stop at the bigger library, where I proceeded to get lost in the reference area for quite some time. I didn't realize exactly how lost I was until I heard giggles and looked up to see an adorable teenage girl reversing herself to go down another aisle... because I was seated, cross legged in the middle of the aisle, shoes off, reading, as though I were right at home.
Home to cook dinner and get in the last of the eggs of the day.
Petting the pups and the old dogs, herding in the chicken escapees...
A little weaving, a little reading till the kid gets home...
A late meal, conversation, coordination for the next few days, so that we're on the same sheet of music, so to speak.
The last thing that I did before bed was change over some laundry. Having forgotten to hang it out, it was much too late and the weather had been storming pretty fiercely earlier. As I worked in the laundry, I noticed the night noises coming through the open window. Frogs and bugs and night animal chorus, refreshed from the rain and the cool of night. A large moth fluttered softly against the screen, which kept it from it's journey to the light and as I turned off the light and headed to bed, followed by the thumping of Stormy's feet and her nose, cold against my leg, her singular vocal yawn which signals that it's time to rest for a while, so that we can get up tomorrow and do it again.
Spring is in full swing (we are all polinated, sneeze, snort!)
People are winding down college careers and beginning to move. The shift of worldly belongings that has happened here for 9 years (wow... time sure does fly!) will happen again this week. The old house will finish squeezing to near bursting and things may or may not settle down to a new kind of normal. When the graduate gets home, we'll sort through his things, and some things I've been waiting to have sturdy help to do.
The baby chickens are growing ... crazy growing... I must get some photos... they're at the wonderful, juvenile, oh-so-ugly phase... it's awesome.
The dog has outgrown my wildest imaginings, but continues to learn and be an amazing companion. We have managed to capture a clip of her 'singing' to the baby on a phone... she is a delight.
People are finishing up highschool careers and planning the move to college. Ironically, the same college that will be shedding one of our own, will be gaining a new one in the fall.
A bit of gardening, though not much to see yet...
A bit of sewing....
A bit of complaining, on my part, about generally feeling like I've been hit by a hay truck.
The side effects of Tamoxifen are beating me about and I was growing increasingly irritable until yesterday, when I saw the doctor, to discover that that wasn't all. Medication for bronchitis and a sinus infection should help to clear up some of what I've found so oppressive this last couple of week.
I left the doctor's office, feeling somehow instantly better, as though having a valid reason for the puny-ness of late. I have a physician who is so gentle and so calm and who both listens and hears what I say. One of life's greatest blessings is having a doctor that I'm comfortable with, who serves as my medical 'home' and who listens and weighs in and helps me find a balance on the health care see-saw that I've been on lately.
I didn't need to be anywhere on a time schedule, so stopped at the local library in the big city.
I love libraries. I love the little local library. But I've been needing a couple of resource books so decided to stop at the bigger library, where I proceeded to get lost in the reference area for quite some time. I didn't realize exactly how lost I was until I heard giggles and looked up to see an adorable teenage girl reversing herself to go down another aisle... because I was seated, cross legged in the middle of the aisle, shoes off, reading, as though I were right at home.
Home to cook dinner and get in the last of the eggs of the day.
Petting the pups and the old dogs, herding in the chicken escapees...
A little weaving, a little reading till the kid gets home...
A late meal, conversation, coordination for the next few days, so that we're on the same sheet of music, so to speak.
The last thing that I did before bed was change over some laundry. Having forgotten to hang it out, it was much too late and the weather had been storming pretty fiercely earlier. As I worked in the laundry, I noticed the night noises coming through the open window. Frogs and bugs and night animal chorus, refreshed from the rain and the cool of night. A large moth fluttered softly against the screen, which kept it from it's journey to the light and as I turned off the light and headed to bed, followed by the thumping of Stormy's feet and her nose, cold against my leg, her singular vocal yawn which signals that it's time to rest for a while, so that we can get up tomorrow and do it again.
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