Was washing dishes and kept hearing the tinkling sounds of water somewhere, under the sink, I thought, looked, nope, kept hearing, looked farther back under the sink, and yepper, it's leaking again.  Everything out, got to dry it all out again, start over, this time the whole setup will have to be taken apart and cleaned.  Even or especially the threads.  At least the dishes are done, for now. 

And there don't SEEM to be any mice around now, either.  I have a stickup note on the wall, and put up a mark for every mouse caught, and the total is 27.  Finally, there is peace and quiet, and no mouse-ke-turds anywhere. 

Outside, my world is white everywhere, even the sky, with black tree trunks and branches sticking out here and there.  It feels close and comfy with all this snow now.  We got about 8 inches of it altogether, and it is the sticky kind.  Trees are bent over; I should go around and shake them free.   

It is still snowing out there, those big, flapjack-size flakes, and the trees are getting laid low, so are the electric lines.  My friend came out and snowblowed my driveway, then easily drove my truck straight forward and back into my parking space.  He even congratulated me for the tremendous job I did getting it out of the snowbank.  I told him he could use my snowshoes anytime he wants to.  Personally, I think I'd rather walk - without them. 

Taking a nap after my unwarranted exercise regimen, I dreamed I saw my mother's face just drifting across a mirror in the bedroom.  That was kind of emotional.  But even while sleeping, flat on my back, I could hear myself snoring softly.  That's what woke me up - I guess this is what they call apnea?  My soft palate has become too soft.  I don't usually take a nap, or even sleep on my back that I know of, so the snowshoeing must have been quite a workout, not to mention the shoveling.  But all is well now, as long as the power lines hold out.  I did see the lights flicker once, so thought I would write while I can. 

After a restless night, finally got about 4 hours of sleep, got up at 9:00, and saw 3 to 4 inches of snow all over everything - the sticky kind that bends the trees down.  I thought it would be a nice time to get out the snowshoes and see how much fun that would be.  I had gotten a Stellar Slope 25 model pair, complete with poles, bindings, and carry case.  Never had been well enough to go out there and try, but today was the day.  I guess it was fun.  Like most of the ideas I have about what would be fun, I'm still not sure, but the scenery was beautiful, and it's supposed to work off quite a few calories.

So encouraged was I that I thought I would just clear the snow off my truck and go down and get the mail.  But backing up without any idea of what constitutes the driveway soon had me stuck in the snowbank.  I shoveled away the snow from the whole side of the truck that was buried, put gravel in front of the back drive tire, and put bags of soon to be recycled magazines over the tire in the back end.  Should have been able to drive right out and forward to my parking place, right?  Not so fast there, cowgirl!  The wheel continued to spin in place, so I reversed it and to my amazement, the truck zoomed backwards and became stuck in the MIDDLE of the driveway.  That is where I am leaving it until the weather gets better.  Who needs the mail anyway?

In other news, I have decided to do penance for this stupid stunt by forcing myself to take the tree down! for once and for all!  The good news is that I didn't make it out of the driveway to get stuck far from home and have to walk back and possibly get my vehicle struck by a snowplow.

Anybody who wants to make a comment or get in touch with me, my contact email is

shackhappy@hotmail.com

It is over 40 degrees out today, as yesterday.  This is the January thaw, I guess.  Shouldn't blame global warming for this.  But stepping outside to enjoy the warmth, I couldn't help but notice that there have been a lot of crows around for weeks now, cawing back and forth to each other and sitting in the trees, watching everything.  A couple of weeks ago, I thought they were harassing bald eagles, who I heard down by the lake.   And I know from past experience, that they harass owls when they find them.

Now I am wondering if that is what has happened to my woodpeckers.  Do crows, like bluejays, shrikes, etc. prey on small birds?  I'll bet they do.  Maybe that is why they are hanging around in the trees.  Maybe they are watching my feeders and then following small birds to their nesting or hiding places.  The number of chickadees has also gone down, and I don't think it would be from bird flu.  How scary is that - to be a little chickadee, hiding from the elements in a hollow spot somewhere, and having a big crow come and eat you?  I am wondering if I should quit feeding these little darling birds.   

About four or five years ago, we had a plague of caterpillars.  It was frightening and depressing to witness what can happen to a forest in a matter of weeks.  The moths came from Minnesota, they said, and laid their eggs(?) in the trees.  In May, when the new leaves were tender and big, the caterpillars hatched and began feeding.  You could stand outside and hear the sounds of chomping; you could also hear the sounds of droppings(!) falling to the ground.  The caterpillars then built cocoons, which were stuck all over everything, and the cycle was repeated the following spring; however, not nearly as bad. 

The point is that they said the crows were the big beneficiaries of the caterpillar invasion, because they could feed on them, and their numbers increased dramatically.  So I'm thinking now that it is a case of Koyaniscotsi (sp), that the earth is out of balance now from the caterpillar invasion.  I do not have any information on how many species benefited from the glut of caterpillars, but even the trees were able to recover, most of them anyway, and the caterpillars have moved on or been wiped out.   

I had deplaned all items from under the sink while I contemplated the mess and work to be done.  After scrubbing the shelf, I laid down new rubbery shelf liner, washed and dried all the items that were salvagable and threw away what wasn't.  I've got all the things back under there now, in order, and better organized.  Hope it stays that way. 

It is balmy out today, almost 40 deg. or will be later, and so many birds are singing and flying around.  They are enjoying it, and so are my dogs.  I can hear a lot of other dogs barking in the distance, wonder if there's a kennel over there.   I will be doing my walk later today, I'll be adding more steps.  I am up to 1,200 steps now.  Not bad for someone who could barely walk at all two years ago.  I never did get the snowshoes out, maybe this is the day for that. 

I saw a show on Public Broadcasting with Suze Orman, and I purchased her Will and Trust Kit, with a new year's resolution that I would actually get that done this year, 2006.  I paid $276.00, most of which went to a donation to PBS; I noticed that on her website, the price of the kit is something like $18.95, but I wanted to make a donation to them anyway.  Also, the kit I bought contained other money management stuff, too.  I managed to do the first part last summer, having someone make decisions for you if you should be in a coma, for instance.  Now I'm doing the Revocable Trust.  I need to get downtown to the bank and have it notarized before I can finish this project.  This is going to give me peace of mind about, well, leaving the scene someday.

I had gone to an attorney to have a revokable trust made, and he wouldn't do it.  Kept telling me I would have a stroke and end up in a nursing home, and they would take my house anyway, so don't bother.  I found out other people had similar experiences going to an attorney and not having any success getting what they wanted done.  On Suze's CD, she even talks about that as being one of the problems people face these days, so my experience is not new.  The time and effort I've put into doing the work myself, with the help of her forms and instructions, has been well worth it.      

I saw a show on TV the other night, that both fascinated and frightened me.  It was about people with OCD; of course, I'm NOT like those whose house you can't even walk through.  Those messes disgusted me.  I would call that sloth or laziness.  Well, but what do I know?  I was congratulating myself about not having OCD, but then when they were talking about their disorder, it sounded SO like me.  That girl who couldn't throw away the sticker with an odd cartoon character on it - her messes were organized, sort of like mine, I said.  I understood her reluctance to get rid of it.  I might have a touch of it myself.  I had only to begin to clean out my upstairs, the room that I want to convert to a bedroom for my grandson, to realize I'm harboring a lot of things.

And this is after I got that book, Clutter's Last Stand, and really got after a bunch of things and threw them out; no, actually, I cleaned them up and took them to Good Will so others can have them.  It still bothers me that I gave away so many dishes and coffee mugs.  I'm afraid they weren't appreciated, or that they got broken.  If I could, I would go and visit them.  I also remember doing this at other times, packing things in cardboard boxes and leaving them at the dump, hoping things would be adopted by anybody else.  Things like trivets and books written in German. 

The good news is that as I unpack the boxes and clean everything that I had stored up there, I am happy, even surprised, to see my possessions again.  I had put them up there when my mother moved in here.  I am in the process of stringing a wire across my picture window to hang all the stained glass suncatchers I had made and packed away.  I wonder if I am an OCD person.  My honest assessment right now, is that I have strong tendencies in that direction.     

I went to see my daughter and grandson today.  We had a happy visit, then he is going to live with his dad, my son.  So he was visiting his auntie.  That sounded confusing, even to me. 

I haven't seen my small woodpeckers for a couple of weeks, and I'm concerned.  They were going through 2 cakes of suet per week, and not quite one cake is gone this week.  Where can they be?  I will have to stay outside tomorrow and watch for them.  I did see and hear a pileated woodpecker, though.  The pileated has a pretty distinctive pecking sound; you know he's got to be a big bird. 

I have been walking a lot lately, and notice that the snow is deep enough now for snowshoes.  I'm going to break them out tomorrow. 

I got one of those sweater coats in black, and I'm going to be living in it, I can tell....it's already my favorite thing to wear.  I gave my daughter a new tote to take on her journey, and to my grandson, I gave a pitchpipe to help him keep his guitar tuned.   

I am so used to getting up early in the morning and sitting down at the computer to write, that I now miss it!  I thought I would be relieved and free, but NOT...so I started another novel today. 

It's a beautiful day, I've cleaned up the mess under the kitchen sink and now I've decided not to take the pipes apart, simply because I doubt whether I could get them back together again without them leaking all over the place.  So, I'm heating up water for my homemade sink cleaner.  I pour just a small amount (1 tsp.) of salt down both sides of the kitchen drain, add 1/4 cup of baking soda (each side), then pour in 1/4 cup or more of white vinegar (each side).  There is an immediate uproar of foam, and when it dies down a bit, I add another spritz of vinegar to keep it going.  But by then the water in the pan should be boiling, so then I pour boiling hot water down each side and hopefully, it will be like putting a bowling ball down a laundry chute.  I have seen crystal white pipes gleaming up at me from the great beyond-the-strainer place. 

In the case of my sink, however, this treatment had to be followed by 5 minutes of gentle plunging while keeping the hot water running.  I couldn't believe the stuff that came up!  I removed THAT stuff with a paper towel, but yes, once the crud is gone, I can see white pipes gleaming down there.  Yeah!  I don't have to take those pipes apart, and the drain is working just fine. 

If I would do this just once a week, the drains would probably never clog up.  Make a note.  And the price is right, and I think it's okay for the environment, too.  No poisonous chemicals.

Now to go for a walk with my doggie.  I have a pot of chili cooking in the slow cooker, so when I get back, it's lunch.     

I woke up this night with a sense of fear.  It was not the threat made by Osama that woke me, but the idea that our government wants to know what I have Googled lately.  What earthly business do they have doing that, when there is so much they should be doing instead. 

I have been getting up early and writing every day for some months now, and with the sending of my novel in to the publishers, I find myself sitting here wanting to write, but without a plot in my head.  This would be a good time to enlarge my knowledge of how to use this blog. 

A thing I dread doing today is the plumbing under the kitchen sink.  There is no reason for me to take this attitude; I just need to knuckle down to it.  Ick!  There is something about the insides of plumbing that makes me want to avoid it. 

I'm watching or listening to Imus in the Morning.  I think I'll just go back to bed for awhile, until all these icky thoughts pass.

On this day, very cold, damp, and snowing, I went to town and mailed out the manuscript to the publishers that I have been working on since my garden stopped keeping me busy last fall.  I have no hope whatever that it will be published, at least not in the form it's in now.  I have been putting it on a Lord of the Rings fan site, and their remarks are encouraging, but that's them. 

Now for the gardening this upcoming spring.  I have a new idea, but am not sure it will work, or be worth it.  It involves buying bags and bags of potting soil, dirt or manure, whatever is on sale, plopping these down in the garden in rows, slicing them open, and planting the seeds directly into the soil in the bags.  I would also punch holes for drainage in the bottoms or sides.  Then I would fill in around the bags with leaves, hay, whatever mulch I could find for no or low cost.  My reason for thinking along these lines is because it seems that all weeds are super growing machines.  I don't know how they do it, but they are the most successful things in the garden, year after year.  If I had the proper equipment, I would like to study the weeds and see how they do it.  If I do the above plan, of course, I will be posting about it daily.  I wonder how many bags of soil it will take.  I think at least 1/2 of my garden will be given over to this method this year. 

I recently made a list of all the seeds I have on hand, and another list of all the seeds and plants I would like to buy.  This year the cost only comes to $125.00, much less than last year's $180.00.  And this after I determined that I only needed 10 things.  Of course, I've got cranberry bushes, crabapple trees, strawberry plants, 30 asparagus plants, rhubarb divisions, and these things are what is getting the cost up there.  But I think they are worth an investment.

Overnight, my kitchen sink drain sprang a leak, and I woke up this a.m. to the sound of leaking, dirty water dripping all over everything under there.  I've gotten everything taken out of there, the old shelving paper taken up, and the place scrubbed clean; this, of course, after jimmying around with the fittings until they no longer leak.  But I have a feeling that the pipes are simply clogged to the max with that hard, waxy substance that forms in pipes.  What I'd like to do it take the whole thing apart and clean out the pipes.  I'm waiting for inspiration on that, though.  Let it dry out first, I say, then we'll see. 

I feed my dogs twice a day; they are all 6 years old now, Daphne the youngest, just turned 6 this month, Pepper in December, and Arnie last Aug.  I mix Maxximum Nutrition Lamb and Rice Formula for Adult Dogs (the Walmart brand) with Purina's Beneful in a large plastic tub with a close-fitting top.  In fact, I got the tub from Walmart, it contained Purina's Lamb and Rice dog food.  I get lamb and rice because I think there is less chance of getting meat additives such as antibiotics, growth hormones, etc. in lamb than in beef or chicken.  And the rice may not produce allergies, I hope.  Besides their portion of dry dog food, I give them a small amount of canned meat-based dog food (kept in the frig. after opening), a small amount of Soft and Moist (Old Roy) or Moist and Meaty (Purina).  This stuff looks like hamburger.  I also give them a multi-flavored dog biscuit each, a Variety Snap each (I call them cookies for dogs), and one or two Milk Bone dog treats (for training, the box says).  I have never trained my dogs to do anything.  I just talk to them, and they seem to understand me. 

I have a separate bowl for each of them geared to their size, and I keep a fresh water supply in a separate area (in front of the baker's rack) for each dog, a big bowl, medium bowl, and small bowl.  These are stainless steel and I try to remember to scrub these out and make sure they stay clean.  I have to put their water bowls on a thick rug, because Arnie, the sled dog, is such a messy drinker, he "bites" the water, causing much splashing.  If I come walking along later, I have often slipped and nearly fallen, so the rug soaks up his messiness. 

I have a collar for Arnie, the male dog, because he is apt to go off on his own, exploring and visiting.  He only got picked up once and sent to the pound.  He went to a girls' camp, and though they loved him, the counselors called and had him jailed.  He also went off on a spree with another male dog, and the two of them were found many miles away and across a large river from here.  But that was in his salad days.  Now he understands, and we let him run free only at night, he comes back within the hour; in the daytime, he is tied up in the driveway.  We just don't want anything to happen to him.  But the girls never leave home, are content to do guard duty.  Daphne is a Sheltie and Pepper is an Aussie.  I was reading a book about dogs, and Aussies were originated here in the western U.S., herding everything from ducks to bison.

One thing about the girl dogs is that after eating, they go around to each other's bowls to see what's left, and scarf each other's food.  Arnie never messes with their food; in fact, he often leaves some of his for them to get.  Sometimes.

One thing all my dogs insist on is that they get their daily treat of liver sausage.  At $1.69 for a short tube of the stuff, it's a bargain; the dogs just love it, and will do anything to get it.  All I have to say is "liver sausage" and they all come.  If I need to give them medicine of any sort, I just tuck it into the liver sausage and it's down the hatch.  Any internal dog problems can usually be headed off by mincing a clove of garlic and pressing some into the liver sausage, covering up the garlic completely; then they will just down it.  The garlic keeps their systems clean.  I give it to them if they don't smell clean and good, or if I think they might have a problem.  Once or twice usually does it.   

I must have received 20 seed catalogs by now, and most of them are works of art in themselves.  I wish I could save them for posterity, but.... Yesterday, I went through them all, and kept only the ones that have seeds for my area; at least, I assume that's how it works.  For instance, I won't order seeds from the catalogs from Oregon, Georgia, Texas, etc., but will order from catalogs from my area, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and even the northeast states, such as Vermont, New Hampshire, etc.  But last year I ordered seeds from Seeds of Change coming out of Santa Fe, New Mexico.  That's where I got the Inca Gold Corn and it performed beautifully here, in northern Wisconsin.  Yes, the seed catalogs are beautiful, and in the past, I have ordered from as many of them as possible, often resulting in a huge bill at this time of year.  But since I am getting so many now, I have to be more selective. 

Also, I went through my big plastic case of seeds, both saved and purchased, that I have from prior years, and wrote everything down, including year of purchase (or save), and I won't need to buy much at all this year.  I have everything I need, really, except for 2 beans, 2 beets, 2 corn, 1 tomato, and 1 zinnia, which is the new flower I will try this year.  That is all I am going to buy!  I promise!  Think I can do it?  Limit myself to 8 items?  But wait!  I want to put in asparagus this year, and last year, my strawberry plants never came at all, so okay, that's 10 things.  We shall see how close I am able to come to this goal. 

I have one or two chapters to write on my novel and then it's off to the publishers.  I am getting nervous, and of course, the ending of the story is critical.  I think of how I will finish it as I lay in bed nights, only to realize that I could go on forever, but I'm determined to finish it and get on with my life.

And life does go on.  My grandson will be needing a place to stay until the end of June.  His father (my son) cannot get out of his lease until then, and he only has a loft apartment, very small.  Still, he will have him come and stay for a bit, sleeping on the floor, but I am going to try to make a bedroom upstairs in my unfinished attic for him.  That's where I stayed in a tent for 3+ years while my mother lived here, but I'm going to try to finish the place so he can have a real room.  After all, he's got a window up there now, a real window (I'm so proud).  They are giving me until the end of Feb. to finish the room.  So I have plenty to do and still haven't taken down my tree, but I'll do it sometime when the mood strikes me. 

I was talking to my brother who lives in Missouri, who suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which condition has eluded me, thank you.  I am not bothered by the darkness of winter, and even now, the sun is up longer in the afternoon than it was in December.  Already it is staying light till nearly 5:00.  Who could complain?  I ask you, but apparently, there are many people who become depressed by the winter hours.  The snow and cold doesn't bother me much either; the worst thing about snow is that whatever lands on it, it is there to stay all winter, unless more snow covers it.  Some of the things stuck on snowbanks are pretty ucky. 

Still writing, not much to say, still plump, what can I tell you, no complaints really, I'm cooking up a pork chop with rice and peas for my supper, seriously thinking about taking down the tree(s), almost started doing that today, but managed to stop myself, maybe tomorrow, yes.  Dogs are happy, no ticks or fleas in winter.  Life is quiet here in the woods.  

I really have nothing to say that hasn't been said before.  I'm making soup, Hamburger Soup, and I've already put the recipe up, I'm sure. 

The weather is positively balmy today, in the high 30's, my dogs are lying on snowbanks to rest, I've had to put cedar shavings down on the pathways so I won't slip and fall. 

I had to take my truck in to have the brakes fixed again yesterday, and this should be the last time I need to fix brakes, as all the brake lines have now been replaced. 

I met my daughter and grandson for lunch at Taco Bell.  I had the soft shell taco supreme with chicken; so did my daughter, Lori, and my grandson Steve had 5 of them for his lunch.  He finished all five in the same time it took us to finish one.  Then we went shopping at Walmart and Sam Goody's. 

But when backing up into my driveway, I hit my friend's car and smashed his tail lights.  Fortunately, they still light up, but the plastic is ruined.  I think his vehicle was actually in my way, sticking out of his parking spot, and I was concentrating on not hitting any dogs, so missed the fact that I was over a bit far.  Sorry about that.

Other news is that I sent a card back to the publisher saying my manuscript would be in their hands by Feb. 15.  I have four more chapters to write by then, and the book will be finished.  I have been working on it since my garden quit last fall. 

I find myself writing every day, but then I remember that it hasn't been on this blog.  I've been writing my novel and I'm getting towards the finish, so I am a bit preoccupied lately.  But this evening, I allowed myself to open one of the 20 or so seed catalogs I've gotten so far, and I am already dreaming of a garden this year. 

Made a venison roast that was superb.  Put one cup of water in the bottom of a large soup pot (one that can go in the oven), place the meat to be roasted in the pot, sprinkle it lightly with Lawry's Seasoned Salt, lemon pepper and celery salt.  Open a can of cream of mushroom (or celery) soup and spread it on top of the meat.  Sprinkle one envelope of dry onion soup mix over that, and lay a few strips of bacon over all.  Cover and roast at 275 or 300 degrees F. for two or three hours, depending on how well you like it done.  This makes an excellent gravy right in the pot. 

A very quiet, peaceful day here in the northwoods.  Snow hangs on every branch, and in every nook and cranny, looks like cotton.  I did manage to go out and get the mail; first time I've gone anywhere in a week.  I have 17 chapters done on my novel, still don't have a name for it. 

We had an enormous feast for New Year's Eve, breaded pork chops, french fries, Asiago cheese (pronounced Oz-e-ah-go), kahlua and milk (no cream), followed at midnight by pancakes and syrup.  I made baked apples too, using Rome apples, the best for baking.  I cored them and filled the holes with raisins, brown and white sugar, cinnamon, and a dab of butter on top.  A little water in the bottom of the pan makes a nice syrup, baked for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes at 325 deg. covered. 

Another Christmas present came today from Jill, my gardener friend.  A giant squash.  Now I'm going to have to do some things with squash. 

I don't feel well today, after a sleepless night, twitching and coughing.  I took some pills, but that only made things fuzzier.  At last I slept, but do not feel like doing anything today; nevertheless, I dusted and vacuumed in my bedroom.  It always makes me feel better to see bright, clean objects around me.  The presents just keep rolling in, too.  I can't believe it.  Last night came a bottle of Kahlua and a hand-stitched quilted sofa pillow.  I got my solar light hung up yesterday afternoon in the cloudy, rainy weather, and it still glowed for hours last night, but not too brightly.  I'll bet it will do better if there is real sun.  There is none today, though. 

I had a lucid dream the other night that stays with me.  In the dream, I looked out of a window and saw black clouds all over the horizon.  As they approached, they came down to earth in a funnel shape and began to spew out birds and animals.  All the clouds were composed of birds and animals.  A "friend" standing nearby told me that they were all the killed animals, coming back to inhabit the earth.  One of the clouds opened over my lawn and out came many different kinds of animals.  One came right up to the window.  It was a capibara (sp?) from S. America.  I didn't know what to make of this dream, but it seemed to be a good thing. 

I can't believe how laziness has set in.  It's rather like a pause, I keep telling myself, before the new year begins, with all its work and trying to get things done.  I do feel that there is a change coming; perhaps in our country, or the world, or myself.  Or the climate. 

I can't figure out, even with instructions, how this pedometer thingie works.  One of the problems is that everything is entered in cm.'s, or kg.'s, etc. You have to enter your weight, height, and length of stride, all in numbers I don't understand.  Perhaps counting steps is best.  Also, when driving, I can drive to the point that I walk to and get the distance in 1/10's of a mile.  Oh, well.

I spent all afternoon yesterday trying to figure out how to play a DVD movie on my computer.  All my research indicated I needed a decoder to do so, after downloading Windows Media Player 10, and I came within a click of paying $39.95 to get a decoder.  Then I said to myself, didn't I already get all that when I bought this Dell computer?  So I looked through all my disks that came with it and found one that looked promising, and it was the decoder!  This should have put me in paradise, right?  Except their software appears to be crap, because halfway through the movie and every 10 minutes thereafter, everything freezes up and starts and stutters along.  I couldn't even watch one movie.  I am pretty disgusted with so-called technology right now.

What else?  Oh yeah, I'm still fat.  I have lost weight in the past, and I was trying to remember just how I did it before.  I think I simply starved myself for about 2 weeks, and then, the weight started to come off in a reasonable manner, with regular dieting.  Apparently, there has to be some sort of jump-start-me fasting. 

It has taken me three days to itemize everything I got for Christmas, because I keep forgetting little things, like my SpongeBob SquarePants folder.  I shouldn't discount it because it probably only cost 10 cents.  Yesterday, I got busy and actually organized all my recipes, and I used the folder to put in all the leftover recipes that I couldn't deal with then.   

The presents have all been distributed and unwrapped, the bags of paper garbage are in the dumpster, the presents I got are being incorporated into my house.  What did I get?  Well, I got a pink plaid flannel shirt with a zipper and a turtleneck to go with it, I got a solar light to attach to my porch, I got a 30-pair shoebag to put all my shoes in, a couple of books (yes, more books), a garlic jar (I still think the plastic baggie in the crisper drawer works well), a pedometer (I can stop counting steps now?), a small pair of binoculars, 2 movies, a 3/4 length winter coat, a tiny silver hookah(!? tree decoration?), a wedge of Italian Asiago cheese, a six-pack of New Glarus beer called Spotted Cow, a candy cane, a Spongebob Squarepants folder, an Orlando Bloom calendar, a meat/breadcrumb grinder (still to come), a wire basket and suet for the birds,  and I bought and kept two birdhouses for my chickadees and nuthatches.  Oh, and my dogs got a package of dog treats.

To my son-in-law, I gave a rolling office chair with arms; to my daughter, a set of Corelle dinnerware, a lamp and shade, 2 sweaters and a jacket; to my son, 50% of a guitar, an antique ukelele, a cordless drill and case with all the doodads, the movie Motorcycle Diaries, a pair of gloves, and 2 emergency space blankets; to my grandson, an Esteban guitar and case, with instructional video and 2 picks, a wallet and a hand-held video game.  To my son's girlfriend, I gave two baskets, 2 pairs of little stretchy gloves in black, a golden charm bracelet, a picture frame and a book about sewing lingerie.  To her son, I gave a dual cereal dispenser and the book, Aesop's Fables. 

My son-in-law did the cooking, and he made dinner of marinated Italian steaks, Tater Tots, salad with dressing, biscuits, and I brought 4 dozen cookies, 2 loaves of cranberry bread, a bowl of cranberry sauce, and a cherry cream cheese pie.  I had a couple of glasses of Asti Spumante wine. 

I hope everyone had a merry christmas and will have a happy new year.  I think I mentioned that I signed up for Blog Harbor, but haven't done anything about improving this site yet.  The future looks good for that, and my novel IS heading towards completion.  I am making a pot of chili and scrambling around to clean up the house for company coming at noon today.

There have been a number of deaths in the family and among friends, so this holiday season was saddened by their loss.  We are thankful for those that are with us still, and I got to see my grandson, who is here visiting since Thanksgiving.  Hadn't seen him for several years and he is 18 now, has just landed a job at Walmart!

Happy first day of winter!  I have a new book to read, "Fools Crow" by Mails.  Today, I am to bake cookies and cranberry bread.  First, I must wash dishes.  But before that, I must wake up!  I can't seem to get a move on.  It's almost noon, and I have just gotten dressed, after a very restless night, tending my dog, Pepper, who is not well.  What can be wrong with her?  Well, I think she has swallowed so much deer fur that she is constipated, and I gave her a stool softener in some liver sausage, and also a worming pill, Aricept.  She pants, loudly and continuously, all night, and that has to be hard on her heart, at the very least.

On the spying on American citizens, I just heard that Bush said something about the Constitution being "just a goddam piece of paper."  This current administration is so riddled with scandal and corruption that I cannot believe this guy is still in office.  But look at who would replace him.  It should be a double impeachment.  Speaker o/t House Dennis Hastreiter would be next.  Omg, this is why we can't impeach. 

I signed up this morning for blogharbor, and here I am, not much to post about, but I'm barely awake anyway.  I had to scrape up a zucchini off the floor as it had collapsed and become a ball of stinky mush.  And Mouse No. 22 is toying with death at the traps.  They are so cute, but as I noted yesterday, they are also cute when dead in a trap.  Sorry, but it is early and I have not much to say. 

Winter is becoming colder; this morning, the house was 60 degrees.  I barely notice the cold in my long winter duds from Lands' End and my velour bathrobe.  The only thing is that, these days, my feet get cold and don't warm up fast.  In my youth, I never had this problem; I had only to direct heat to my feet with my mind, and they would warm up immediately.  Now, I don't know.  But wearing socks works, so....

The time is getting close when I must decide what I am going to do about this blog.  Keep it and pay, or just get on with my writing in other ways.  Hmmm.

Other than that, I am busy writing my novel and it is beginning to get exciting, even for me.  When it's done, I expect to submit it to a publisher, but you know how they are.  I'll probably get a rejection slip right off.  Nevertheless.....

The snow is beautiful, we got about 5 or 6 inches yesterday and overnight, it is quiet, warm, and so beautiful out.  I'm going to go for a walk in the moonlight tonight, whether it's cloudy or not.  Hunting season is over, and my dogs have brought home many deer legs from the woods to gnaw on in the driveway.  These are their treasures. 

I am thinking I will organize my recipes and publish them, even though many are not my own, my very own, original recipes.  I could put a note on the end of each recipe to say where I got it from, if it's not my own creation.  I'll have to find out what the protocol is. 

Meantime, the presents are wrapped, with the exception of a lampshade that I just don't want to wrap, what's the point?  Anybody can see it's a lampshade....I'm confident that this will be a merry CHRISTMAS.  Can you believe the nonsense that is going on now?  Not bloody likely will I be saying happy holidays. 

My latest book acquisitions are Talk to the Hand; Eats, Shoots and Leaves, both by Lynne Truss, Aesop's Fables (soon to be a Christmas present), and a movie, The Motorcycle Diaries.  Also, another book by Pickover called Sex, Drugs, Einstein and Elves.  Very interesting.   

Yesterday, I went to town in my truck with the shiny new exhaust system, and got my dogfood, sunflower seed for the birds, and grocery items I like at Walmart; then on over to Aldi's and got the rest of my food for the month.  There were 28 bags or large bulky items to haul into the house, but I am now done for this month; no further shopping will be required.  I am getting pretty good at guesstimating just what I need for one month, plus I always have a few things left over.  I'm baking cranberry nut bread now:

              Cranberry Bread  (two loaves)

Peel and cut up 3 oranges, put them in a food processor and pulverize (enough to make 1-1/2 cups).  I also took some of the orange peel and separately minced it, just to make a tablespoon and added this to the orange puree.  Make cranberry sauce with one pkg. of frozen cranberries (follow the directions on pkg.) and put through strainer to make jellied cranberry sauce.  Save this cranberry sauce as a separate dish, it's the leftover cranberry pulp that you need.  You should have a good cupful or more of pulp.  Set the oranges and cranberry pulp aside.  To the orange puree, add 4 tblspns. canola oil, 2 tblspns. water and 2 beaten eggs.  If desired, chop walnuts or pecans enough to make 3/4 cup.  In a large bowl, place 4 cups flour, 2 cups sugar, 3 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. salt, stir well.  Heavily grease and flour 2 loaf pans, set aside.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Stir in orange juice mixture, cranberry pulp, and nuts (if desired) all at once, just enough to moisten.  Divide batter into two loaf pans and bake for one hour approx. or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Turn out on board and place loaf on its side to cool.  Wrap and store (but not for long!)

The temp. dived to below zero last night, and I put an extra puffy quilt on my bed, so that makes 4 blankets on top of me, plus I am now wearing my long winter underwear that I got from Lands' End.  I am probably going to keep them on and only take them off to wash them.  We used to turn on the gas fireplace, which put out the extra heat needed to keep the temp around 70 deg. at least, but this year, with the prices, etc. - I am trying to tough it out at 60 - 62 deg. on these especially cold days.  The underfloor heating system continues to do an excellent job; it is toasty on the feet. 

The total mouse kill number is now 17 or 18.  It will be quiet for a day or two, and then a mouse will enter the house from out there in the woods; usually, he is not trap-wary, and will blunder right in.  We don't know how they get in, but we do know where they like to run, so that's where the traps are most effective.  I am even getting used to dealing with their dead bodies. 

I also do a lot more baking these days.  Oh, I made a venison roast the other day.  Here it is:  

                         Venison Roast

Place the venison in a large pan with a close-fitting lid.  Add 1/2 cup of water in the bottom.  Sprinkle the roast with 1/2 tsp. Lawry's Seasoned Salt, 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, 1/2 tsp. lemon pepper, 1/2 tsp. celery salt.  Slather on 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, place four strips of bacon across the venison, cover and roast slowly at 300 degrees for about 2 hours, or a bit more for a larger hunk of meat.  My hunk of venison was probably about 4 lbs.

I made candied yams in a frypan, using a pkg. of yam spice bought at the store and just followed the directions; I also made homemade applesauce with a bunch of apples that were getting spotty and soft.  I put in white sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon, and barely any water in the pan.  Then I made mashed potatoes.  When the roast was taken out and cut into serving-size pieces, I made gravy with flour and water in the roasting pan.  This meal was worthy of a holiday feast and it put 2 lbs. on me overnight. 

By the way, I lost four pounds last month, but I probably mentioned that already.  I am now doing penance for the wonderful venison feast. 

I had been getting sick every time I drove somewhere; my eyes, especially, felt like they were exploding....I knew something was wrong with the exhaust system, and today I had it fixed.  They replaced the whole thing, let's see, is it a muffler? on back; everything is currently shiny and bright under there, yet, it seems I just had this done maybe five years ago.  I suppose with all the salt on the roads, the bumpy roads, the hot gases, and all that, that you have to have the system replaced quite often.  But I am sick from driving today and am mostly in bed, recovering.  Just think, that exhaust goes out into our world (we could be driving hydrogen-powered vehicles, with pure water the only emission). 

Back at the ranch, the many mousetraps we have set around the house have done their work.  I think the death toll is 15, at least, and the house is now a quiet, human-residential area.  And all this in the past two weeks, when the weather really turned cold and all the mice said, "Time to get indoors now."

I have gotten two out of three christmas trees up and I love them, I am especially in love with the lights.  All my trees are little, artificial, stand on table tops, and have mini-decorations.  I have an artificial wreath for the door and some candle surrounds, all artificial.  I am intent now on wrapping presents (at least the ones I have gotten so far).  I'm almost done shopping......  I have begun to bake for christmas now, and with the temps plummeting, having the oven going will help keep the house warm.  My dogs love the cold winter weather.   

So many things have been happening lately, and I haven't been able to blog for some reason.  Perhaps I'm a little nervous about these topics.  One is that my brother finally has to do time in prison for drunk driving.  This last event happened the day I called him last February and told him (actually left a voice mail message) that Mom had died.  He, all choked up and sorrowful, left a message for me, that he was going out now to get drunk, very drunk.  Which, of course, he proceeded to do.  And, of course, had an accident, plowed into some other car, thank god nobody was too badly hurt, but he attended the funeral with banged up ribs.  Now he's doing the time.  Before he went in, he was so depressed that he wouldn't communicate with me or anybody, the last thing he said to me was, "I'm screwed."  We are not kids anymore, so this really bothered me a lot.

So getting a phone call from him was happiness yesterday.  They let him get out for 2 days a month, so he won't lose his social security (if you are in jail for 30 days in a month, you lose it).  They charge you $10.00 a day to be in jail.  But while sitting there drying out, etc. he got an opportunity to get a job cooking right at the prison.  He's a fantastic cook, by the way.  So he and 5 other men do all the cooking and he will also get time off for good behavior:  his 12 month sentence will be over in 6 months, if he doesn't drink or do anything foolish.  Also, because he is working there at the prison, he doesn't have to pay to stay, AND he actually earns 25 cents an hour.  He is actually happier right now than he has been in a long time.  And sober.  I asked him if he gets the DT's when he goes in, but he is mentally powerful enough, so that he gets over the drinking and smoking without suffering too much.  Wish, oh how I wish, that he would have an epiphany and stop drinking altogether, but he doesn't seem able to do it.  I suppose he just lives for the day he can start drinking again.  God!  Well, this is one of the uncomfortable subjects I have to cover.

My new address will be, temporarily,

     http://shackhappy@blogharbor.com/

How I could post this new address on my old blog site at myblogsite.com is not known at the present time, so if you are reading my blog now, you are already at the new address, I guess.  I can't post at the old blog address anymore, so.....hmmm.  Maybe I need to read all the instructions. 

                         My Best Chili

Brown one lb. of hamburger in 1 tblspn. canola oil in frypan.  Add one package chili seasoning mix, stir.  Put crockpot on high, add 1 med. to large onion, chopped, 1 big can tomatoes, whole or diced, and 1 small can tomato sauce.  Add 1 clove garlic, minced, 1large can kidney beans or pork and beans, 1 can chili beans, all with sauce; add hamburger, 1 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. black pepper, 1/4 tsp. paprika, 1/4 tsp. cumin, 1/4 tsp. coriander (or cilantro), 1 tsp. white sugar, 1 tsp. vinegar, 2 medium tomatoes, chopped.  Stir well and cook on high 4 hours, or low all day long.  Serve anytime of the day or night, garnish with shredded cheese, crushed potato chips, and/or sour cream, if desired.  This recipe contains 2,800 calories altogether.   A serving of 1/8 of the recipe would be about 350 calories, garnishes are extra. 

                Festival Fried Rice

Put 2 cups water in saucepan, add 1 cup long grain white rice and 1 tsp. butter.  Simmer, covered, about 20 min. or until water is absorbed.  Fluff with a fork and set aside, keep covered.  Cook 1 chicken breast in 1 tsp. canola oil, salt, pepper and paprika to taste; when cooled, cut it up in small pieces, set aside.  One 12 oz. bag cooked shrimp, thaw and remove tails if necessary; cut up in small pieces, set aside.  Prepare and set aside 1/4 cup celery, diced; 1/4 cup green onions, diced; 1 carrot, grated.  Shred 1 or 2 cups lettuce, set aside.  Rinse and drain one 14 oz. can bean sprouts, set aside.  Scramble 2 eggs in a cup, heat 1 tblspn. sesame seed oil in large skillet or wok to med. low and fry the eggs, stirring.  Remove from pan and set aside.  Add to pan 2 tblspns. canola oil and heat to med. high.  Add celery, onion and carrot and stir fry 2 minutes.  Add chicken, shrimp and bean sprouts, continue to stir and fry.  Add 1 tblspn. hoisin sauce and 1/4 tsp. ground black or white pepper.  Add all the rice and 1/4 cup soy sauce, continue stirring and frying.  Stir in eggs and lettuce.  Serve immediately.   (Note:  I reserve the lettuce and add it to each individual plate or bowl, because I know I will have leftovers and don't like hot, wilted lettuce.)   The entire dish contains approximately 2,000 calories.