Sunday, December 9, 2012

Annie the Dog

Steve and I got Annie the Dog from the El Reno Animal Shelter In June of 2011. She's a little red Shepherd mix gal, and quite a gal. The vet estimated she was about nine months old when we got her, so we count her birthday as October 2010, currently just over two years old. She has come a long way. My beloved husband went to Heaven in October of 2011, a terrible loss to me, and Annie misses him, too.

We thought we'd let her sleep with us, but she wouldn't come up the stairs, which turned out to be okay because she was such a character to EAT everything she could get her mouth on! I always warn visitors, "You better pick that up if you want to keep it - Annie will eat it!" So upstairs turned out to be a haven, a safe place, where you could take things and not worry about Annie getting them.

Hmmm, until today, maybe. Son Michael and I had gone on an errand and when we got back, Annie was UPSTAIRS!  She seemed a little startled, reminding me of someonw getting caught red-handed and acting like they didn't know anything about it - "What? Where am I? How did this happen?" We talked her to the top of the stairs and she managed to come downstairs under her own steam. Mike and I went upstairs for a status check, and it looked like the only thing she's done was slick up Cookie's (one of the cats) food dish. While I was up there Annie came BACK upstairs, but then ran back down when she saw me see her, funny little dog. Of course Cookie is NOWHERE to be found, and I don't know when I'll ever see her if Annie starts sleeping with me, but I'm pretty sure Cookie'll get over it eventually.

I guess we'll see what happens. Meanwhile, I'll have to be extra diligent to keep Cookie's (upstairs) cat box cleaned out and find a place up somewhere for Cookie's food. Never a dull moment, huh?

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Bread


The recent news of late about that huge bakery outfit (makers of Twinkies and Rainbow Bread) going out of business put me on alert. I flashed to uh-oh, big bakery shutting its doors - bread prices are going to skyrocket, and then what?  Then I remembered that there are many different brands of bread on the shelves these days. While the demise of one brand is tragic enough in its own ways, i probably will not precipitate food riots and empty store shelves. But it did remind me about baking my own bread.

My beloved late husband has been gone over a year, now, so I know it's been at least that long since I last made bread. I am pleased to say that we enjoyed times where I made all our bread and we went months without purchasing commercially prepared bread in a store. 

Following is a reprise of a blog entry that I posted in another blog early in 2009. Be advised, I present a chatty narrative here, but if you can follow the narrative and the instructions, I promise you can make a lovely loaf of home-baked bread.  

A million or so years ago when my kids were toddlers I read Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit and Let's Have Healthy Children by Adele Davis. She had in one of those books a recipe for whole wheat bread plus a particular technique in making it. Been a while since I made actual whole wheat bread, but I do still use the technique I adapted from her instruction. The great feature of this technique centers on waking up and feeding the yeast and then developing the gluten so the bread rises nicely and holds together well. 

You will want a timer, such as a one hour wind up kitchen timer, and while not required, a stand mixer or electric mixer are extremely handy for this technique. A cooling rack is helpful as well.

Ingredients:
3/4 c hot tap water
1/4 c honey or maple syrup (real Maple syrup, not a name-brand "maple flavored" syrup made with other ingredients)
1 T or 2 packets yeast
2 eggs
2 t salt
3 to 4 cups unbleached flour (I like King Arthur)
1 1/2 T cooking oil

Turn on the hot water faucet until the water is hot, but not so hot you can't stick your hand in it. You want it to be hot enough to wake the yeast up, but not so hot as to kill it. When the tap is hot, run your 3/4 c water as noted above. Then set the two eggs in another container deep enough that you can cover them with hot water. Set the eggs (in the hot water) aside to warm. We are warming the eggs so they won't chill the yeast mixture and put it back to sleep.

Into the 3/4 c hot water, pour 1/4 c honey or maple syrup. Being cooler than the water, it will sink to the bottom of the water in the measuring cup, so stir gently to combine and pour into your mixing bowl. Add the yeast to the sweetened water mixture in the mixing bowl and stir gently to dampen. Set your timer for ten minutes.

When the bell rings look at the yeast mixture. It should have frothed up a little. This is good - it means your yeast has awakened, and that it likes the honey or syrup you've fed it.

Add the salt and the now slightly warmed eggs, and two cups of the flour. With regular mixer beaters, or the flat mixing beater if you happen to have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, beat the batter on a medium to low setting (number 2 on the Kitchen Aid) for ten minutes. If you don't happen to have an electric mixer of any sort, make a note to put one on your wish list and beat by hand for ten minutes. All this ten minutes of beating is important as it activates the gluten. By the end of the ten minutes your batter should be starting to get sort of a rubbery texture to it. When you pull the beaters or the spoon out of the dough it should look rubbery-stringy, a little like the texture of Silly Putty. This is good - this is the gluten - sort of a rubbery textured protein.

At the end of the ten minutes, turn the mixer off and lift the beater(s) out of the batter. Scrape any excess batter from the beaters back into the mixing bowl, and the beaters can then go into the wash sink. If you have a dough hook, put that onto the mixer. If you don't have a dough hook, look forward to a one-armed work-out!

Having a cup or two of flour handy, start gently stirring the batter with the dough hook or a very sturdy spoon or spatula. Gradually introduce flour into the mixture, about a quarter cup at a time. Sprinkle in the flour and mix it in. The mixture will get stiffer and stiffer as you go. This is where you will really wish you had at least an electric mixer, and at best a quality stand mixer. Remember: wish list. Keep slowly adding flour and mixing it in until it pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. Keep it up, slowly adding flour and mixing it in until the dough forms a ball.

On a flat working surface - wooden cutting board, ordinary (CLEAN!) counter top or the like - sprinkle a little flour, and tump your dough ball out of the bowl and onto the flour. You'll want to scrape out of the bowl any that might have stuck to the sides, although there shouldn't be much of that if you mixed in enough flour. Set your mixing bowl and the rest of your utensils in the washing sink. We'll get back to them in a minute. Wash your hands with warm water and soap, rinse thoroughly, and dry them with a towel. Remove bracelets, watches, and any rings you don't want to get in the bread dough, or don't want to get bread dough into, and knead your bread. I push down into the dough and away from me with the heels of my hands, give the dough about a quarter turn, then push with the heels of the hands, and so on. Knead until - I want to say until it feels right, but that is a vague term if you haven't kneaded bread much before - so knead about a dozen to twenty times.

I will pause here to say that I have heard people say, "Oh, yes, I love to knead bread because it's such a great way to release tension, to get aggression out."

I say, "No, no, no!" I do not release aggression into my bread, and don't you do it either! When I knead my bread I imagine a column of bright, glittering white light entering the top of my head, filling my being, and coming down my arms, out my hands, and into the bread. I imagine blessing, blessing and light, flowing into the bread as a gift to anyone who partakes. It gives me goose bumps of ecstasy right now just to think of it. Bless your bread!

Back to making: Once you have kneaded your bread and it feels firm, uniform and cohesive, leave it to rest while you prepare a bowl for rising. I use the bowl I mixed it in. In that case, take a moment to wash the bowl and all the utensils used so far. Dry the inside of the bowl with a towel. Pour the oil in the bottom of the bowl. I specified 1 1/2 T because that is about how much it comes out to be, but really, if you just pour about a half-dollar sized puddle in the bottom of the rising bowl, that is fine. You can eyeball it.

So you have a clean rising bowl with a little oil in the bottom. Take your dough ball, smooth it, dust off any loose flour it might have picked up from the kneading board, and gently plop it, smooth side down, into the rising bowl, and then turn it over so the smooth oily side is up.

Most recipes at this point will say "let rise in a warm place," etc. I make a warm place for my bread to rise, and here's how: Get a large bowl or pan, large enough to set the rising bowl into, and fill it up to about three and a half inches deep with hot water (again, hot tap water is quite sufficient). I don't recommend using the sink for your warm water rising because what if someone should come by and, oh, say, wash their hands, or whatever, and splash soapy hand-washing water into your blessing filled bread dough? Eww! So use a big dish or some sort of pan that you can set by somewhere not-in-the-sink to rise. Once that is all set, cover the rising bowl with what we used to call a "tea towel," which is a kitchen towel made of a smooth, close-weaved fabric like cotton or linen, and take care to keep the towel out of the warming water.

Set your timer for one hour and go do whatever, keeping your ear tuned for the timer.

When the bell rings, come look at your dough. Hopefully it has risen noticeably. Now (Wash your hands first!) you will "punch it down." Again I say, do this matter-of-factly and with love, without aggression: form a loose fist and press your knuckles into the dough, pressing the air bubbles out. Press, press, press the bubbles out - you'll hear them go "phht! phht!" - and then pick the dough up out of the bowl, form it back into a ball like shape with a smooth side, and set 'er back in the rising bowl. Lay the towel back over the rising bowl, set the timer for another hour, wash the oil off your hands, and go do whatever until the bell rings again.

This time when the bell rings, you'll want to start with getting your loaf pan ready and turn the oven on to 350 F to preheat. If you're using a metal loaf pan you'll want to grease all interior sides with shortening. Not oil, because the bread will stick to the pan if you use oil. If you are using a glass pan, grease it, and you'll want to preheat the oven to 325 instead of 350. If you are so fortunate as to have such as one of those Pampered Chef stoneware loaf pans, you may want to give it ever so light a spritzing of non-stick spray if it's not yet seasoned.

Once the loaf pan is ready, punch your dough down in the bowl, and then tump it out onto the kneading board. Knead, this time with attention to popping as many little air bubbles as you can, as well as kneading for smoothness. Knead, press, roll, press, roll, press, roll, and so on, until you have an approximately loaf shaped giant stubby cigar of bread dough. If it has a seam (from pressing and rolling) set the seam side down in the loaf pan. We're going to let her rise thirty more minutes before she goes in the oven (kitchen timer again).

When that thirty minute timer goes off come take a look at the bread. It should have risen noticeably . It will rise even more in the oven. Place in the oven, making sure there is enough room for the loaf to rise without getting stuck to the roof of your oven (Voice of Experience says, "That's a drag, getting bread stuck on the roof of your oven!"). Set the timer for thirty minutes and pay attention! When that bell rings, come look at the bread. Should be a nice golden brown toasty color. Carefully remove from the oven. You should be able to either turn the pan over and tump the loaf out, or lift it out with hot pads or mitts. If it doesn't want to let go, use a table knife or some other dull slender blade to run around the sides of the pan. Should come right out then. Handle delicately at this point! It's nice if you have a rack to cool it on. Let it set for at least ten-fifteen minutes before you try to cut into it. A knife with a long, sharp-edged blade is best for slicing; they make knives specifically for this purpose.

Man, oh, man, I'm tellin' you, fresh home-baked bread, filled with blessings and love, still warm from the oven, slathered with sweet cream lightly salted dairy butter - one of the great pleasures of life!

So go bless someone and make some bread!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Pizza

While I was not-watching TV the other day, somebody ran a pizza commercial that implanted itself into my subconscious so that I've had a hankering for pizza ever since. Come about supper time today, then, I asked Michael, who's been under the weather with a flu, if he felt well enough that I might interest him in some pizza, and off we went to Mazzios.

We learned that Tuesday night is Family Buffet night at Mazzios. So many children! And it isn't so much that the children themselves were all that loud, but when you get that many people in one place, all trying to be heard, it does get loud. We got to practice focusing our attention to exclude distractions.

Mike seemed to be feeling a little better after he got his belly full, and any wish of mine for "pizza" has certainly been more than conquered. I don't think I'll have to go looking for pizza again any time soon. Or should I say, "a wedge shaped, pizza-like substance." No offense, Mazzios, but I have had real pizza before (thank you Tino's of Cold Cheese fame). It's pretty hard for chain restaurants to measure up to the standard set by the Real Thing. Next time I go to New York we are definitely setting a day by to go to Oneonta for some Tino's.
Meanwhile, I think I'm good now, thank you.

After we got home from our noisy adventure, and upon reviewing today's calendar and previewing tomorrow's, I discovered that I completely forgot about that invitation to a dinner where I was to be given a certificate of thanks for being an election worker. Dangit! Oh, well, maybe next year. I'll email my apology tomorrow...if I don't forget that, too!

(Sigh)

Cookie the Cat wants me to stop typing and come to bed so she can curl up and keep me warm, so, nite-nite!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

The Paper

I don't get the paper every day. I'm supposed to get it on Wednesday and Sunday, maybe Friday, too. Sometimes I get one on Friday and/or Saturday, but I have definitely been getting a paper on Wednesday and Sunday for a while now. Living in the country, initially I had to go round and round with them to "train" them as to exactly where my driveway is, but when we finally got that ironed out the guy said, "I'll bring it right to you at your front door," and I said, "Oh, okay, then, I'll need to bring the dog in and open the gate," and he said, "Oh! I can just make sure it gets inside the gate," which he did.  I have not had to call about a missing paper since then, as they have done a good job of remembering where the driveway is and they have been good about getting the paper inside the gate.

Until about the last month or so. Lately it's been hit-or-miss as to whether the paper gets inside the gate or not. As time goes by, my newspaper delivery has been getting sloppier and sloppier. One day last week it was in the ditch such that I was unable to retrieve it. That paper is still in the ditch because I can't reach it.

Every time the paper is outside the gate I get mad. I wonder who is throwing my paper and grumble under my breath about it. Then I go through a big "How Important Is It" debate with myself. I know I could call and complain, and insist they get the damn paper inside the gate, but, from the Choose Your Battles Department, I don't want to fight that fight or be that customer. I have more important things to occupy my attention than getting involved in a power struggle with the newspaper delivery people over where the paper lands when they throw it, so I just decided to cancel the paper instead. I'm not that involved in reading the paper anyway.

It took me a few days to figure out exactly where to call. There's all kinds of numbers to call to place ads or to subscribe to the paper, but not much information available if you actually want to cancel the paper. Since it's bill-paying time, I got the phone number from the credit card statement.

A machine answers the phone when you call. If you know the extension of the party you want, that's the first option, and then they give  you options one through nine for various other departments, and of course none of them say, "if you want to cancel your paper," but the very last option is that you can press 0 to speak to a live human, so that's what I did.

I am very happy to report that I got a very nice woman with good diction (no accent, easy to understand). I told her I needed to cancel my paper. She pulled up my account, and of course they want to know why, so I explained as calmly and matter-of-factly as I could, that I live in a gated property and that I really want the paper on the inside of the gate, and they've been real good to do that until recently, and that for about the last month or so, sometimes the paper is in the driveway and sometimes it's in the ditch. Occasionally it's still inside the gate where I like it, but increasingly often it is outside the gate. I told her I didn't want to get into any big battle of wills to try to "make" whoever get the paper inside the gate - don't want to fight that fight, don't want to be that customer - so it's just easier for me to cancel the paper.

She was very accommodating, but when she tried to access my account information and it was locked! Couldn't cancel it! I said, "Oh, dear, I didn't want to have to go through the credit card company to cancel this," so she did some kind of behind the scenes hocus pocus and then called me back when it was all done to let me know the paper is canceled as of today. I shouldn't be getting any more newspapers over the gate, in the driveway or in the ditch. Problem solved!

Paper in the ditch, right about the middle of the picture.

Thank you El Reno!

Just wanted to give a shout-out to all the nice folks who stopped by my booth yesterday at the El Reno Arts Festival! Delightful event, presented by the El Reno Convention and Visitors Bureau. It was held on the grounds of the Canadian County Historical Museum, and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.

Some guys came up from the Song Writers Association of Norman to play and sing for us in the morning. Each one did his own work (no covers) and they were so much fun to listen to! One did a song about Pluto - lyrics included advising Pluto to "put on a little weight," (in order to to be restored to 'planet' status) and "You'll always be a planet to me." Hilarious!

Made friends with a nice family next to me, the Muirs, who make wooden things, and stained glass panels. Struck up a solid friendship with their darling little eight-year-old, Hope, who came over to look for a gift she could get and surprise her Mom, and in return, got me a really good deal on a birdhouse! Hope and I had lots of fun throughout the day, sweet little girl.

Anyway, thanks again El Reno, and all the awesome folks who stopped by to see me yesterday! 

Friday, October 26, 2012

Life and Death on the Farm

When I went out this morning to feed the chickens & let them out for the day, I discovered one of the little black Polish birds dead and severely mauled in the chicken yard. Clumps of frizzy feathers lay scattered as evidence of the struggle.

I immediately went into "Counting Chickens" mode, and was able to account for every one except the other little black Polish bird, whose body I found inside the chicken house on the floor, next to where they typically slept.

Once my chores were completed, I gathered the little birds up and brought them well away from the chicken house, and then alerted my son Michael. He went with me out to the chicken house to "investigate the scene of the crime," good naturedly scolding me for having moved the bodies (I watch crime-solving shows on TV).

We examined the scene and determined that some sort of predatory creature - I'm thinking raccoon, Michael thinks it was a wild cat of some description - had climbed up the fencing and entered  through about a six-inch gap between the fence and the roof over the chicken yard. It appears that the predator killed the two birds and then attempted to leave with one, but couldn't maneuver the little Polie through the opening, and dropped him back in the chicken yard where we found him. That may have been about the time Annie the Dog was outside barking like the end of the world at something out there last night.

Usually when Annie barks at something outside, I just ask her what she's barking at and she comes right in. Sometimes I'll look to see if there is any suspicious activity, but I rarely consider venturing into the dark to see what the trouble is. Annie's pretty good at frightening off anyone or anything I wouldn't like to be out there, as I think she probably did last night. We lost two, but Annie probably kept it from being more than two.

I am sad that these two little guys are gone, and we are already looking at what more we need to do to keep the rest of the chickens safe. I certainly am not above going all Mammy Yokum with a loaded weapon if I have to! But first we're trying additional security measures. (Heavy sigh.) Predators, Be Advised! You are now on notice!

(as if raccoons read blogs)

Monday, October 22, 2012

Caution...!


 On Monday October 8, I got the following email. It arrived on the day I was traveling to new York to visit my daughter and her family for a week. I am obscuring any identifying information, such as email and postal addresses.

 On Oct 8, 2012, at 11:53 AM, [email obscured] wrote:
 

Am ordering from Ukraine . I want to place an order from you. I know the difficulties encountered when shipping internationally, But that will not be a problem because,i am registered with a shipping company whom i have used severally without any delay nor problems with my goods. Before i place this order, i want you to notify me if ,i am able to place the order and most important: If i can make payment with my credit cards Visa/Mc (Issued in the United States) because that is the only way we are,set for payment without no delay. I don't place online orders ,can i e-mail my ORDER needed then you can give me a quote here and make charges to my cards manually on your end ? Pls Clarify.


I have shipped to Ukraine before. It was an eBay order, with all the protections involved therein, but in this case I was wary.  I have heard about a variety of scams set to take advantage of small businesses, and some of them are quite convincing. That the respondent did not want to place an order online was a bit of a flag, but just in case it was a legitimate offer, I replied:

On Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 4:19 PM, Vicki Newby <[email obscured]> wrote:
Thank you for your email.
Yes, you may order from me.
Yes, I take Visa and MasterCard as well as Discover and American Express.
I have shipped to Ukraine before.
I ship once confirmed (cleared) payment is received.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
         Vicki Newby
~ Sent from my iPhone ~


Shortly after I sent that email my phone rang. It was the respondent calling. This was awkward since I was on an errand with my daughter and granddaughter, and couldn't really conduct business at the moment.

He said he had sent me another email and wondered if had I seen it yet. I had not, but told him I would look it over as soon as I could, considering that I was out on an errand, and would get back to him after I had a chance to look over his email, which follows:

On 10/9/2012 3:36 PM, [name obscured] wrote: 

Hello
Am sorry for the late Respond,Thanks for the  swift response, below is the item i am interested in

Necklace Garnet Nuggets & Sterling Clasp...............50 in qty
SKU: NE875

Lavender Amethyst with Butterflies Peeper Keeper Eyeglasses Leash..................50 in qty
SKU: GL1824

Earrings: Amethyst Nuggets on Gold-Filled Earwires..................50 in qty
SKU: EAGF1227

Anklet Garnet and Sterling Silver..................50 in qty
SKU: AN94

Earrings Gold-Filled Pearl Drop Studs................50 in qty
SKU: EAGF1248


MY DELIVERY ADDRESS
[address information obscured]
Ukraine

Concerning the shipping , the likes of UPS, DHL and others  always don't take care of the charges down here.Charges like handling,customs and duties etc.  We have experienced  such situation before and i don't want to experience such thing again,you do not need to worry about the stress involve and all documentations because i have  a shipping company that have delivered to me in the past,i really like their services so i will like you to contact them about the shipping.I will be glad if you contact this shipper ZARTED FREIGHT LOGISTIC LTD for the shipping quote. Here is there email address ([email obscured]@yahoo.com) They will take care of everything including handling,customs and duties,Tax, insurance etc,also you will be responsible for payment to ZARTED FREIGHT LOGISTIC LTD then all costs as far as shipping, taxes, duties, and insurance in addition to the costs of the product should be sent to me in a proforma invoice to be paid in advance of shipment.Always send me the copy of email you send to them ,pls email them with pick up address,shipping address and the weight of the order and also you can also notify them with my customer (Id#[number obscured]) .Pls get back to me with the following once you hear back from them..

Total Cost Of Items..........
Shipping Cost Via  ZARTED FREIGHT LOGISTIC LTD ........
All Additional Cost (Transfer Fee To  ZARTED FREIGHT LOGISTIC LTD.....................
 
I will be looking forward to hear back from so that i can e-mail you my
credit card details for you to charge the total cost from and get the
shipping fees settled,then my order can be picked up asap.

Warmest Regards
 
Now that I am home from all my travels and catching up on office work, I am following up on this huge Ukraine order business. I Googled "ZARTED FREIGHT LOGISTIC LTD" and the only relevant result I could get was a fraud examiner website where another individual had queried this exact situation - a request to order by email, ship to Ukraine, via "ZARTED FREIGHT LOGISTIC." The only differences were that the respondent's name was different and Zarted had a gmail email address instead of yahoo. Other than that, the verbage of the Ukraine order request - verbatim.

The expert that answered on this fraud examiner website is an experienced consumer protection consultant who said that this type of order is often paid with a fraudulent credit card account or a counterfeit cashier's check. Typically the scammer wants you to ship before the payment fails, and said that it does sound like a scam. It's sounding more and more like a variation on the old "Woops, I sent you too much money, can you send some back" scam.

With this in mind I composed a reply to my would-be customer.  As I review it here, I see that I missed one of the items in my reply, which would add another 2000.00 to the total presumed order, bringing it to over $10,000.00.

My information about international orders that there are likely to be customs charges, taxes and other charges, comes from previous employment experience, from other vendors I know from networking groups, and from vendor education courtesy of eBay, as they seek to educate vendors and customers for the best possible purchasing experience.  Here is my reply to the respondent:



Thank you for your interest and I apologize for the delay in responding. I have been out of town and have not had time to research your request until now.

Item Number Description Quantity Price Each Extended
NE875 Necklace Garnet Nuggets & Sterling Clasp 50 $52.00 $2,600.00
GL1824 Lavender Amethyst with Butterflies Peeper Keeper Eyeglasses Leash 50 $30.68 $1,534.00
AN94 Anklet Garnet and Sterling Silver 50 $38.74 $1,937.00
EAGF1248 Earrings Gold-Filled Pearl Drop Studs 50 $40.00 $2,000.00

Merchandise Total:

$8,071.00

The prospect of such a large order is very exciting, but I must tell you that I am a lone artisan making these pieces and do not have the quantities of finished pieces in the styles that you are asking for. I can certainly get to work making these pieces for you, and will be happy to let you know when I have them ready. We are probably talking about a time frame of eight to twelve weeks for these 200 pieces since I will undoubtedly have to order additional supplies in order to complete the number of pieces you have requested. I will also have to complete the pieces before I can get a shipping estimate because I don't know the weight of this many finished pieces with their packaging until I have them done. In the meantime, I have some questions and concerns.

Regarding international orders, it is my understanding and experience that when shipping international orders, there are import duties, taxes and charges that are not included in the item price or shipping charges and that these charges are the buyer's or the importer's responsibility (you being the importer or buyer). I recommend to any international buyer to check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be before ordering. It is my understanding and experience that these charges are normally collected from the buyer (that's you) by the delivering freight or shipping company and I have been advised to remind my buyers not to confuse them for additional charges from me, since these charges are levied by the government of the country to which the items are being shipped.


I will be happy to contact the shipping company of your choice, but I have some concerns about Zarted. Other than your mention in this email, I cannot find any record of a shipping company called ZARTED FREIGHT LOGISTIC LTD. I am also concerned about the fact that their contact information is a "Yahoo" email address. I understand that you say you have used them successfully before, but, for my part, if I am to entrust over $8000.00 of merchandise to a shipping company, I would like to know a little more about them. A more professional presentation from their end would be a good start.


And finally, I'm sure this goes without saying, but nothing leaves my studio until I have received payment, and that payment has cleared, which can take up to 15 business days (about three weeks) from the time I receive payment or payment information. That will probably go much faster if you can make payment through PayPal.


So we may be looking at up to 12 weeks to get these 200 pieces ready to go, up to 15 business days (3 to 4 weeks) for your payment to clear (faster if you use PayPal), plus how ever long it takes for the items to go through customs, paperwork, and be delivered to you. I just want you to be aware of all this at the outset. Given the time frame we're looking at, you can let me know if you're still interested in going ahead with this order.


Sincerely,


Vicki Newby

Eight Susquehanna

Anyway, we'll see what happens. I'll keep you posted!


Monday, October 1, 2012

Hawk Warning!

Well, I guess I knew the day would come that hawks would discover the chickens.

I had just come back from an errand, had carried my things in the house and had taken Annie out for a walk. Back in the house, I had unleashed Annie and turned to look out the window to survey my realm. What I saw was chickens scattering to the bushes and a big, pretty hawk, gliding through the clearing and into a tree. The chickens knew exactly what to do though - they all ran for cover!

I immediately went right back outside to create a presence, hopefully deterring the hawk, and to reassure and count the chickens, hoping everybody was okay. The Barred Rock roosters are every bit as big as that hawk (maybe bigger!) and the hens and the two old roosters are big enough to give any hawk a run for his money, but I do have four smaller birds those big hawks could pretty easily get away with if they could get a good hold. And even if they couldn't carry off one of the bigger chickens, they could sure injure one pretty badly in the attempt. So I put on the mind of Mammy Yokum and marched out there - Stand back!

What a racket those chickens were making! "Bawk! Bawk! Bawk! Bawk! BaGAWK!" sounded like "Look! Look! Look! Look! LookOUT!" I was relieved to count seven in the willow thicket and eleven under the sweetbush - all eighteen of them (big sigh of relief)! While I was standing out there, though, the hawk glided over again. Interesting to note that when the chickens saw the shadow of the hawk they all went completely silent.

They seem to be getting over it now, but they are staying pretty close to the underbrush where they can run for protection if they need to. Smart chickens :)

Friday, September 21, 2012

Almost October already?!

I had the opportunity recently to hear an inspirational speaker tell her story. In telling where she came from, she related a story about having ended up in the legal system and having to report to a parole officer for a drug test. She really thought she would test clean, but the test came back dirty and she exclaimed, "What? How did that happen," whereupon the P.O. snorted and said, "You know how it happened!"  It's pretty funny when she tells it.

Anyway, I thought this might be a good time to check in with "No, Really," and was astonished to see that my last post was in June, and here it is after the middle of September. My first thought was, "What? How did that happen?" followed by, "You know how it happened!" As I've been telling so many of my friends lately, "Life is what happens when you've made other plans."

I just glanced back over this year's blog entries and I'm thinking, "Dear Blog, I'm sorry I haven't been very attentive lately. Yes, I've been spending a lot of time with Facebook lately, but please don't think for a minute that it means I don't still love you. I'll try to do better. Look! here's a post now! Love, Vicki."

Wow, I completely missed blogging about my chickens

In April I stopped by the Tractor Supply store, really just to walk around and look at things, see what they had. As it happens, I happened to choose "Chick Week" to go in, which is when they really stock up on chicken supplies and get baby chicks in the store. Big sigh.

The chicken house was not suitable for housing chickens yet as part of the fence was down so we could store equipment in the covered chicken yard, and the entire chicken house itself was full of other stuff being stored. I performed a little mental scrimmage, though, and determined that baby chicks have to stay inside under a lamp for a while anyway, and it'd be weeks before they'd be big enough to go to the chicken house, so I came home with six red pullets, six barred rock straight-run, two black polish frizzees and two buff Bantam Cochins.

Kept them in a box in the house for a week or two, just like we did the first time we got chickens when we lived here before, and them moved them out to the studio until it was time to move them outside.

Meanwhile, Michael's then-girlfriend's grandparents had been politicking to send a rooster or two of theirs with Michael to bring out here. Once I brought baby chicks home, he got on the ball and got the stuff from inside the chicken house relocated, along with all the stuff from the chicken yard, and got the fencing and chicken wire back in place so they'd have a nice secure yard.  As soon as that was done, next thing you knew, we had two roosters out there! 

Now, I've had chickens before. I know that established adult birds will pick on any additions to the flock, especially if they are younger, smaller, or more vulnerable in any way. I wanted to let the babies get as big as possible before trying to put everybody together. Soon enough, the day came that I went out to the studio to tend the chicks and one was perched up on the edge of the box. Moving Day! Time to go to the chicken house!

Fortunately we were enjoying a fairly mild spring, so I hustled the grown roosters out into the chicken yard and closed the little access door between yard and house before taking the smaller birds into the chicken house. For a while I had two flocks of birds - the Odd Couple out in the yard, and the sixteen youngsters in the house.  Before long the young ones looked to be big enough to hold their own against the bigger ones and I slid that little door open for a meet & greet.

Things went well between them. It was amusing to observe that while the younger chickens would go on back inside the chicken house at night, the "Odd Couple" would sleep out in the yard like they had been doing.  I don't know exactly when that  changed, but everybody goes in together at night now. They're kinda funny - they all have Their Spot where they sleep - I know that the one Frizzee will be inside the old wood stove, the other one will be on top, along with two barred rock roosters, a red hen, and one buff Bantam. Over on the roosts, one red hen will be on the lower roost, and all the rest of the chickens will be on the upper roost, usually in a particular order.

The hens have been laying eggs for a few weeks, now, and a couple of weeks ago I started letting them out to free-range during the day. Oh, man, they love that, and so do I, seeing chickens about the place. I have a couple of favorites, and another that "favorites" me (I call him Paul). One of the older roosters is the dominant, Alpha character, complete with harem. Those hens come when he calls, where they ignore the other roosters, and they ignore me, too! The young barred rock roosters are almost twice his size, but he is still King of the Yard, and pretty too. He reminds me of Floyd, another pretty, Alpha rooster we used to have.

Of the eighteen birds present, about half are boys and half girls. Both of the Bantams are boys and  I know at least one of the Frizzees is a boy, not sure about the other one. So far, all those boys don't fight too much. Perhaps they were listening when I told them what happens to bad roosters under my care - they get "invited" to dinner!

All in all, they're a lot of fun to have around, to observe. Chickens are smarter than most folks give them credit for. I'm sure I'll write about them again.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Tonight's supper

Mike and the girls went fishing today. They caught three pretty good-sized catfish and three little bluegills. Brought them home and cleaned them up, but it'd been a while since he had cleaned fish, so he had some questions. I called my dad for a fish cleaning consultation but I got voicemail. Tried to think through my contacts list as to who else I know that might know about cleaning fish, and made a couple of calls but got voice mail there too. Mike figured it out though, and cleaned the fish just fine.

Meanwhile, I had harvested some potatoes and onions and while Mike was cleaning the fish I came in and put together a dish of scalloped potatoes. Simple and delicious - fried fish and scalloped potatoes - a meal fit for a king.

While we were eating I got a text from Dad. He said, "I was in a noisy place and didn't hear the phone.
To clean fish, use baby shampoo. That way it doesn't burn their little eyes." I laughed so hard I could barely read it to Michael and then we both fell out. I replied to dad, "good, then we did it right!" I'm still laughing about the baby shampoo. Funny Daddy!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

How it is in Florida

Here's how it is in Florida: hot and humid. When you go outside your glasses fog up. Then moisture forms all over your body. Some of that could be sweat but I think most of it is condensation - I know I don't sweat that much in Oklahoma. Then again is my sister has just pointed out to me, "You haven't been moving house full of stuff In Oklahoma." True. Anyway I thank God for air conditioning. And Siri, who types a whole lot faster than I do.

Moving Dad

In Florida with my sister to empty Dad's big house. Mom died two years ago and this huge lovely house is way more house than he needs. He put it on the market, it sold, closing is next week. Movers have been here the last three days - first to move some things to a much smaller house up in Bradenton, and then to pack and load the rest of everything else to Oklahoma. They left yesterday.

The packers we had on Tuesday were suitably thorough, but when the people showed up yesterday (a totally different crew) they complained bitterly about how slow the previous day's crew were, and how little they got done. Kathi and I tried to defend the "slow" crew, because WE knew they had been working all day and we saw how they packed - carefully, as if these were their own precious items. The "fast" packers - not so thoughtful. We'll see how everything arrives.

Other than that, it rained a frog strangler yesterday and we awoke to thunder this morning.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Days Like This

I'm grateful that most days aren't like this one.

It's a pretty enough day, sun shining, and all, but everything reminds me of Steve. Every freaking thing. I want to tell him this, show him that, ask him about something else. Then the (expletives deleted) hospital is badgering me for that last few dollars, which reminds me that the business office was CALLING HIM IN HIS ROOM, GOING UP TO BADGER HIM for a fairly hefty payment before he left the hospital.

Always trying to bring light to a situation, he said he told the woman he was sorry, but he didn't think to tuck the checkbook into his pocket when he had the heart attack. When he had to ask me to call the ambulance. When he actually Followed the Light to the Other Side before the ambulance arrived. No, grabbing a checkbook on the way out the door wasn't even at the bottom of his list, it wasn't on his list at all. Mine either, for that matter.

So I guess I'm actually still angry about the insistent woman badgering him for money -  a weakened, sick man, died at home before the ambulance even arrived, they had to zap him with the defib on the way to the hospital, spent the night in the cath lab, still in the CCU, for crying out loud, and this woman is pestering him for money as if he'd bought one of those pay-day loan cars on 29th Street, "When can I expect a payment?" Now they're sending bills with (expletive deleted) on them like "We... sincerely hope (you enjoyed your stay)" or whatever. Liars. (Expletives deleted) liars! Lousy effing greedy corporate bastard liars! (got tired of deleting expletives)

So there's all that, and every freaking thing in my life reminds me of Steve, which reminds me that he's not here any more, which reminds me how much I miss him which reminds me how much I wish he were here. Most days I can trudge through okay. Most days - and then there's today. I'm driving the Kilpatrick turnpike opening the car windows and taking deep breaths to try to keep from breaking down in tears because I'm driving in traffic and I have to see people today and talk to them. I'm pretty sure they'll understand if I 'm sad, but it really is actually difficult to carry on a conversation when you're blubbering. That's the kind of day today is.

I "closed" the business we had together because it's nothing without him, but I have to leave the company checking account open until one more check comes in, so I called those folks again. It's on the Workman's Comp policy. There's a "minimum payroll" the owners have to meet, and in the final audit they charged up to the same minimum for Steve that they did for me, even though he was dead about half of that time. They said I could appeal it - the woman I spoke to was very kind - but that is yet MORE paperwork and MORE delay and on this day I just can't bear it. I just can't. I'm played out over that damn hospital (don't get me started again....).

And then I get the sweetest thing in the mail. I go open the mailbox and there's this sweet little yellow envelope addressed to Aunt Vicki.  I have no idea, no way of knowing how she could have known this would be exactly what I needed today. It was from my niece Melissa, this pretty little envelope in her beautiful, tidy penmanship, a little slip of paper that simply says,

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could."
                                                            ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

It actually makes me cry harder each time I read it, and yet at the same time is somehow oddly reassuring. I've tucked the slip of paper in the frame with the picture of Steve crossing his heart with his hammer, taken the day he nailed up the last piece of redwood clapboard siding onto the house.

Okay. Deep breath, drink some water, wipe face off. I still have a lot of stuff to do today, and more tomorrow. 'Fraid I'm probably not through crying yet, but maybe I can get on through the rest of the day now.

Thank you for reading.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Lupin Flour

My daughter asked me, “Hey, Mom, do you remember posting a link about changing your flour from standard wheat to some other kind of … well … flour and you can change your health? Do you remember anything about that, like what was the other kind of flour or anything?”
 
I did remember posting something like that and I thought it was something unusual that one might have to order online, might not be easily available locally. I looked through my own facebook timeline for said post, but there are so many posts there I couldn’t find it either. I thought it might be Spelt, but that is a grain  (with gluten) and I was pretty sure that wasn’t the one she was looking for. Then I thought, coconut? and I found some links, but I didn’t think that was it either. Then I searched my own computer for the term “flour” and came up with something about Lupin flour. I think that is the one my daughter is asking about. Here is the link of which I believe she was inquiring: http://wrightnewsletter.com/2011/07/07/lower-heart-disease/
 
Lupin flour looks pretty promising. There are some “be-carefuls” regarding lupin flour, though: the article recommends the diet be changed to 40% lupin flour rather than a total conversion.  Part of the reason may be that lupins contain certain isoflavones and alkaloids that can be beneficial up to a certain point, but potentially toxic in large doses. See more information here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupinus.  It is also noted that people who have allergies to peanuts should probably avoid lupin beans (and lupin flour) as well. I’ve never noticed lupin flour in the health food store (but I wasn’t looking for it).  If you’re interested in trying it, I suggest asking your local health food store first. if that doesn’t turn anything up, check with Irwin Valley, an Australian company specializing in lupin products.
 
Best wishes, and if you pursue lupin flour, please let me know how it goes for you!
 
Thanks for reading,
Vicki
 
 

Friday, January 20, 2012

Tires and road hazards

Somewhere in my recent travels, either on the way back from Georgia or shortly after I got back, I hit a really bad pothole. I thought at the time, YIKES! It was so bad, I was actually surprised it didn't blow out. Surprised, but certainly grateful!

But then I forgot about it until the other night, when I picked Annie up from the vet's. On the way to the car, I noticed a couple of scary looking bubbles on the side of my tire and a dark scuff mark on the rim. Holy cow! Sure scared me. I carefully drove home and did not drive my little scoot again until today when I brought her up to Hibdon's for some new shoes.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Monkey River Tour

Robert's Grove, where we are staying, is about four miles north of Placencia, Belize and the mouth of the Monkey River is about fourteen miles down the coast from Placencia.

On this day we went to the marina at eight AM to meet our guide who took us by boat the eighteen miles down the coast to where the Monkey River meets the Atlantic Ocean. We rode through mangrove swamps and open ocean to get there. He's been operating these tours for some thirty years and really seemed to enjoy stopping to point out crocodiles, herons & egrets, plant species, and places where mankind had altered the environment in some way that produced an unintended outcome.

At the mouth of the Monkey River is a little village, population: 310. We pulled into a dock there where we took a potty stop and ordered lunch, and our choices were beans and rice with fried or baked fish, or baked chicken. Then we got back on the boat and went about eight miles up river. Along the way our guide pointed out many kinds of flora and fauna.

Morning Glories grow wild and prolifically along the river banks. We saw their purplish pink flowers as far up the river as we went and beyond.

We saw a particular type of grassy weed, one of the plants they use in thatching their roofs (rooves?). We saw yellow bamboo that grows in huge thickets along the riverside. We saw Great Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, "regular" white egrets, a juvenile Tiger Egret, several crocs, turtles that look like giant versions of the little ones we grew up with in our terrariums, a big old' snappin' turtle, cormorants, frigate birds, pelicans and so many other birds I can't even remember them all, and even a pair of tiny brown proboscis bats that had bunked for the day on a bare tree stem in the river.

About eight miles up the river we pulled over and parked alongside some other boats and disembarked. We had already been warned to wear closed-toed shoes and to spray everyp centimeter of exposed skin with bug repellant and so we were ready. We walked carefully through the woods, stopping every now and then so our guide could explain or point something out. The monkeys we saw were howler monkeys. Pretty little black things, about the size of an extra-large domestic cat, maybe a little larger. They make their way through the canopy and never offered to come down or to make themselves more visible to us Relatively small creatures to make as much noise as they do! Here and again you'd hear a guide hollering his special sound to elicit a response from the howler monkeys, and their responses were dramatic! The path was quite muddy and we saw even more interesting things in that jungle, which I might tell you about another time because right now I am very tired. It's been a busy and exciting day and I'd like to see if I can get some sleep now.

Sunday in Belize

Last night was World Famous BBQ night here at the resort and after dinner some of the younger ones in our party (younger than me!) ventured down to the village to check out a local joint called The Barefoot Bar. Seems a good time was had by all and they put in a pretty late night while they were at it. In the various narratives of their adventure this morning, they all allowed as how The Barefoot was not only a bar, but had some pretty decent eats, too.

So today some of the older ones of us allowed ourselves to be spirited down to the village to see what we could see. The resort called ia taxi for us and our first stop was a place called Tutti Frutti, which is an ice-cream & gellati (sp?) place. They had frozen treats in many favors. I got a cone with lime and kiwi flavored scoops.

After Tutti Frutti, we walked back up the main thoroughfare toward The Barefoot Bar. Being Sunday, many places were closed, but we did find a very patient vendor from whom we collectively purchased over $200.00 (USD) worth of clothing and accessories.

An aside: I joke about "island time" --
--"What time is it?"
--"it doesn't really matter...."
and while everyone involved does work to honor reservation and appointment times, beyond that you better just be okay with waiting because nothing happens very quickly down here, especially in food service. The best approach is one of good humored acceptance. You certainly won't make it go any faster by pitching a fit!

I am telling you, it takes for freaking EVER to get anything you ask for, and I have no idea why that is. So if you come to Belize you better come with someone you like to talk to, or else bring a really good book or three to read to occupy your mind while you're WAITING FOR FOOD. Criminy!

That said, the Tamarind Chicken Nachos I had at The Barefoot Bar were absolutely worth the wait. OMG, they were delicious! And tonight we had a seafood paella which was also dee-lish, and the best lemon merengue pie you could ever hope for in this life - mercy!

What else? Oh, we got a little rain this morning, and the sea was considerably choppier than yesterday. Tomorrow we're going on the Monkey River Tour and I'll tell about that tomorrow. That's an 8:00am-at-the-marina departure, so I'm going to wrap up & catch some z's.

Thank you for reading :)

Saturday, January 7, 2012

First Full Day

Awoke to a stunning sunrise this morning. Hung around with my sisters and some of their kinder, purchased stone carvings from a local vendor - little Mayan women bring things carefully wrapped in tissue and transported in backpacks. Their calls to purchase are gentle and insistent. "Hand carved honey dish? Butter dish?Handmade wooden necklace? Bracelet to match? Anklet for your daughter?" (Sorry, Misty, if you want an ankle I'll make you one.) My brother-in-law David got a three-strand wooden bracelet that looks like a watch band from across the table (only it doesn't have a face) and he says, "This is my new watch, how do you like it? Yes, it's Island time!" Funny David :)
My sisters talked me into getting into the water, and I did. Don't think I got too sunburned either, so that's good. Soon as I finish this post I'm going to go to Robert's Grove's World Famous Saturday night BBQ with my fam.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Going to Belize

OKC to Houston
Houston to Belize
You have forms the airline people have you, one because you're a visitor and one for customs.
When you get off the plane on Belize you go into the terminal and there's a sign indicating returning residents over here, visitors over there, and signs saying "NO PHOTOGRAPHY" with icons one each of a camera and a cell phone with the red circle and line indicating, "NO!" I pulled out my trusty iPhone to post a check-in and discovered that I have NO SERVICE, so I am creating this blog post offline, to post when (if?) I get maybe some wifi at the resort.
Anyway, you stand in one of these first lines and give your visitor form. Make sure you've filled out ALL the blanks!
Then you go retrieve your checked luggage. BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR LUGGAGE TAGS! On this trip there were TWO sets of identical bags belonging to different people. One set found their rightful owners (because they read the tags) but the other set - the guy did NOT read the tag and ran off (seriously, the dude shot right outa there) with my niece's bag. I guess he looked inside after he got to the next place and found mommy clothes and baby gear because he came back to see where HIS bag was. So. Always read your tags.
Got through customs without incident and headed over to the connecting terminal, which actually sounds a bit uppity, comparing this airport to, say, Houston. BTW, there's a little shop in there that sells the "world's best ice-cream," which you can tell because they have a sign that says so (Elf). They charge a 75 cent baggage check fee before you can get back on an airplane. It's all very casual (compared to Certain Other Places) and quite an adventure so far.
We caught (more than one) fourteen passenger puddle jumpers over to the resort, one of which I am riding as I compose this post. I am going to stop now and look out the window and enjoy the view as we fly along the coastline.
L8er....

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Real ... What?

I'm on the road coming back from taking two of my granddaughters back to their home in Augusta Georgia. I wanted to get back west of Atlanta before Monday morning traffic, so I'm in this hotel on the Oklahoma side of Atlanta, where I happened upon a TV show called "Real Housewives of Atlanta." I thought , hey, why not? I am in Atlanta, after all, right? Might be fun to see how it's done here.

So... it looks like they do live in Atlanta, these women, and some of them are, at the time of taping, or have previously been at some point, married (per definition of the term "wife") - but I must say, if these gals are "real housewives," I can only guess that I must have missed class that day. Not much of anything I've seen even remotely resembles anything I'd think of as a "housewife" or even as "real wife" -ly behavior at all. Crazy.

I think I'd call it "Loud, Over the Top, Self-Serving..." um.... Something like that.

Think I'll catch some z's and thank my lucky stars I'm just a regular person instead of one of those "real housewives." I never saw one of them plan a meal or buy a grocery. Go figure.