Turkey-Rice Dog Food Treats

In a large frypan, brown 1 tube of ground turkey or ground turkey sausage.  In a small pan, cook 1/2 cup rice in 1 cup water (no salt) for 15 minutes (covered), on low heat until water is mostly absorbed and rice is soft.  To the turkey in frypan, add 2 large eggs, scrambling and stirring all together.  Add 2 heaping tablespoons Ultra Omega Balance (flax based supplement with soy); 2 Vitamin E capsules, broken open and squeezed (add the capsules, too); and one or two bags of soft, burger type dogfood.  Stir well.  Add rice with any remaining water and combine well.  Let cool.   Store in refrigerator or freeze some for later on.  Serve warm or cold.

I had such fun making this for my dogs, who did appreciate it, and seemed to be pretty impressed.  Nothing beats venison, though, nothing. 

                             Venison Roast

In a large, deep pot with lid, place the venison to be roasted.  Add 1 cup of water to pot.  Smear the roast with 2 tblspns. bacon grease, or lay several strips of bacon across the roast.  Sprinkle the meat with celery salt, Lawry's seasoned salt, and lemon pepper.  Sprinkle 1 package of dried onion soup mix over all.  Add 1 can cream of mushroom soup, dropping it in blobs around the meat, and one big spoonful on top of meat.  Cover and roast at 300 deg. for two hours, or longer, if roast is bigger.  Make gravy after the roast is finished.  Remove roast to slice.  Stir 1/2 cup of flour into a little water, turn heat on high, add flour/water and cook and stir until gravy bubbles.  A small can of drained, sliced mushrooms added at this point is a good idea.  Cook up some potatoes on the side. 

The dogs love this too, but I love it more.  Today, I'm going to make another dog food treat; this time, it will feature oatmeal, liver sausage, bacon, and some sort of dog food mixed in, baked and cut into squares or strips.  Will blog recipe later. 

It fell over the past 48 hours, and more is expected every day.  As I thought, it is beautiful out there now, but keeps coming in over the tops of my boots.  My friend snowblowed(?) my driveway yesterday, and it looks like it needs it again.  I have to spend some time today getting my truck freed up.  The dogs just love it outside and want to go out in the middle of the night.  In and out, in and out. 

Up and down with dogs all night, I turned on TV and, at 3:00 a.m., saw a horrible show on just what went on at Abu Graib.  I think it was called Ghosts of Abu  Graib.  Words are not adequate to describe my disgust with our current administration. 

Speaking of which, I have watched Bush in action now for these six years, and at last, I have come to a conclusion in my thinking about his motivations for the lies and unlawful behaviour.  I now believe it is the gravy train mentality.  This war wouldn't be happening if someone wasn't getting rich.  Bush and his friends are getting rich.  There's a whole snaggle of them up there that now believe they are here to rule the world, and the rest of us can go to hell.  Bush has probably always been the classic schoolyard bully; not bothering with details like following the laws of the land, he and his pals simply do whatever they want to do, then lie about it.  This is the only way I can make sense out of what the current administration is all about.

But in other, brighter thoughts, I have still been reading the books by Masaru Emoto.  In the last book I read (and passed on to someone else already), he talked about how a group of people gathered on the shores of a polluted lake and chanted, and the next day, the water was clearer.  Wondering how this was physically possible, he began experiments and found that certain vibrations have the effect of breaking up even radioactive wastes and dissipating them. 

I was talking to my friend about his efforts at wind and water power to stop global warming, and to remove pollutants from our air that are already there, I suggested that we might use vibrations of some sort to send up into the sky and dissipate the CO2 emissions already there.  My friend told me that a Mr. Branson has a $25,000,000 reward for anyone who can figure out how to stop global warming.  Wouldn't it be nice if we could clean our air with chanting or other vibrations?  Just send up some love and gratitude and watch CO2 dissipate. 

Autoimmune disorders occur when the immune system confuses normal body tissue (self) with foreign intruders and attacks it.  Some bacteria and viruses expose those parts of themselves which mimic "self" tissue called antigens, thus, the immune system attacks "self."  The immune system is composed of the white blood cells, organs and structures used to destroy bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites.  Bacteria are the smallest living organisms that can eat, grow and multiply on their own.  Viruses must invade other cells in order to live.  Fungi are slightly more advanced than bacteria and include molds, rust, mildew and yeast.  Parasites live inside
other organisms.

White blood cells are the backbone of the immune system.  Four main types of white blood cells are 1) B Cell - bonemarrow/bursa cells, produces antibodies and fights off bacteria.  2) T Cell - thymus cells, fights viruses.  3) Effector Cell - kills and eats invaders.  And 4) Compliment Cell - notifies other white blood cells of invaders and begins to punch holes in intruders.  Also, white blood cells from your spleen, lymph nodes, liver, bone marrow, lungs and intestines are part of your immune system, disposing of pollutants, etc. via the blood.  These other parts of
the immune system is called the reticuloendothelial system (RES).
A virus called Adenovirus Type 2, looks similar to myelin sheath.  When the autoimmune system attacks this virus, it can also mistakenly attack the myelin, causing multiple sclerosis, a disease whose symptoms are numbness, tingling, weakness, visual impairment, loss of coordination, etc.  There is no cure for stopping autoimmunity disease.  Doctors usually only treat the symptoms.  If the symptoms are severe, they will usually prescribe
immunosuppressive drugs.  These drugs sometimes have deadly effects.

Stress exacerbates this disease.  One half of people with MS experience spontaneous remission of the symptoms.  MS is caused by the HHS-6 Virus.  One doctor prescribes antibiotics to combat some of the diseases of the autoimmune system.  He prescribes derivatives of tetracycline and erythromycin.  These are very
safe drugs, and they only stop the germs of the diseases from multiplying.  Prednizone, chloroquine, azathioprine, and methotrexate are toxic, shorten life, cause cancer, and the patient has to have frequent blood tests.  Many doctors who have autoimmune disease actually treat themselves with the safe
derivatives (tetracycline and erythromycin).  Well, there's a lot more stuff about treatment of all the various autoimmune
diseases, such as arthritis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, etc. but that is getting way ahead of myself here.  Well, that's all I got for now.  Will now look up Adenovirus Type 2 - where does this little sucker come from?

Well, the results of my daughter's MRI are in; she has multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system.  The CNS is the spinal cord, brain, and optic nerves.  Surrounding and protecting the nerve fibers is a fatty tissue called MYELIN, which helps nerve fibers conduct electrical impulses. 

Lost myelin results in scar tissue called sclerosis, plaque, or lesions.  CNS myelin is rich in protein and lipids (fatty substances) and is produced by special cells called oligdendrocytes.  Abnormal autoimmune responses may initiate an attack on myelin. 

So it seems to be that if you could stop the immune system from damaging the CNS tissue, you could reverse the damage, because the body is capable of producing new myelin by stimulating the oligdendrocytes.  The body is capable of doing this, and now to research just what herbal remedies and other treatments could do the work.  She has an appointment with a neurologist soon; we'll have to see what they say.  All the above information was taken off Google in a frantic search to find out anything we could about this disease.  I am praying that she can heal.   

What a gorgeous day.  I've returned from my walk with Pepper, and it is so warm out, I didn't even need a muffler over my mouth.  The roofs are dripping, and strange, ugly things are beginning to emerge from the snowbanks.  It is supposed to snow this weekend - maybe that will cover up the unsightly things. 

I went with my daughter yesterday to get her cast sawed off.  The doctor was none too happy with her about having to take the cast off her arm, less than 2 weeks after putting it on....but it was giving her so much pain and annoyance, that she was unable to sleep.  He then put on a wrist brace, and we bought a sling for her arm, so she will remember to keep her arm still.  Then I took her shopping and to do chores; we hurried home with the groceries, then off again, to get her MRI and see why she went blind in one eye.  We'll have to wait for the results.

I have been taking a new supplement.  By new, I mean one I never took before - it is tart cherry extract, and it is supposed to be good for your joints, plus a free radical fighter.  I have noticed a marked improvement since I began taking this supplement.  Although I can't quite define the improvement yet, I gave one bottle of it to my daughter, also. 

I have finished Chapter 4 of my new novel.  I haven't named it yet, and won't even name the chapters until near the end.  So far, I am just writing as it comes to me.  This warmer weather, though, has me in the mood to start some sort of building or home improvement project. 

Today is the day my daughter will be getting an MRI to see why she has gone blind in one eye.  We have been looking up medical reasons on the internet and are fairly well informed, but it will be good to have this test and make sure it isn't a tumor.  I personally believe it is a viral infection of her retinal cord, due to being out of line, with that awful cast on her arm.  I know it sounds crazy, but that's what we both think.  She has been unable to sleep with it on, it is driving her crazy.  She would only need a hand brace and an Ace bandage, we think, not that huge fiberglas cast.  So we're going to the doctor this morning to have it removed, and have a lighter brace put on.  Later, she'll have the MRI to make sure it isn't a brain tumor.  Always something.....

My sled dog, Arnie, has problems again.  Now it is his ears, itching, itching, itching.  Last night, I cleaned his ears out with Oti-clens, a dog ear cleaner, followed by a little antibiotic ointment in there.  That seemed to help quite a bit, and this morning, I've put some olive oil in a spoon, added a drop or two of tea tree oil, and used a cotton ball to clean his ears out with that.  I suspect his real problem with itching all the time is that he is allergic to something in his food.

So, I've decided to start making dog treats at home.  I've assembled a list of possible ingredients that I have on hand, and some I will purchase next month.  Until the dog treats are used up, I'll intersperse the home-made treats with the store-bought treats. 

I've got (or will get):  venison, hamburger, bacon, ground turkey, liversausage, rice, barley grass, soy bran, onion, garlic, carrots, celery, molasses, oatmeal, prunes, raisins, chlorophyll/mint tablets, Vitamin E (& others).  I'm going to cook various of these ingredients together to make flavored treats; bag them up, keep them in the freezer, and thaw them as needed.  I guess I'll be making bars and cutting them up like dog biscuits.  I haven't gotten beyond the planning stages yet.

The purpose of all this is to avoid all dairy products, wheat, and corn products, which are common allergens for dogs.  Not only will it, hopefully, be better for the dogs, but it MAY save me money, as dog food has recently taken a hike, same as everything else.  I am still bemoaning the fact that my heat/light bill this month was over half of my monthly income.  That, in my opinion, is quite unreasonable. 

But away I must go to spend the day helping my daughter.  I also have to take her shopping, as they are out of food, too.  She can't drive with one arm in a cast and blind in one eye.  I told her I was going to make her a bubble-girl suit, so she can't hurt herself anymore. 

This morning it was above ZERO!  The dogs stayed outside for a long time, and I ran around in my nightie and flannel shirt, and it felt warm to me, even with bare legs. 

So inspired was I, that I made a map of my garden-to-be, and I am happy to say, I was able (on paper, anyway) to get everything planted.  I only need to enlarge the garden by about 5 feet on the south end of it.  That way, I'll be able to plant 4 different kinds of corn, 16 tomato plants, all the greens, root crops, brassicas, melons, cukes, peas, beans and sunflowers.  The garden will then be 45' x 30'.  Of course, I'll still have the side beds for asparagus, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb, and I want to plant 4 kinds of squash.  The squashes will have to each have their own separate place to grow because of their large leaves and rampant behaviour.  I will not allow squashes to grow in the main garden this year (I really mean it, this time).

And I won't be placing seed orders to the catalog companies that I receive so many of over winter.  I had a lot of seeds left over from last year, so I'm going to plant them instead of ordering more.  I will look for blueberry bushes right downtown, and the Opalka Tomato and the Patty Pan Squash - well, if I don't find them, so what.  I probably would not have room for them, anyway.  Still....

I am going to place an order today, though, for organic fertilizer, since I couldn't find it at any store last year.  It may be that they just get sold out quickly, but I want this year's garden to be all natural and organic.  I have been saving for the compost pile all winter, and my wire bin is 2/3 full already.  As soon as the weather warms a bit more, I will get after it with a pitchfork and turn it, adding leaves and water.  This should speed decomposition.  I can see the composting going on at the bottom of it already. 

So this year's expenses are going to be primarily for fencing, to keep the voracious deer out.  That was a huge problem last year, and greatly reduced the harvest.  Not to mention my beautiful grape arbor was so decimated that I wonder if it can possibly grow back this year.  And just when the grapes were becoming prolific producers, too. 

And I can hardly wait to start building my new and improved solar pit greenhouse on the south side of my house.  That by itself was the biggest boost to gardening success last year.  Ooooh, I can hardly wait. 

This would be a good day to begin planting.  If only it wasn't 3 deg. below zero.  I have had to put my spinach under a glass fishtank so it wouldn't freeze on the windowsill. 

At Menards the other day, I bought Early White Vienna Kohlrabi, a mixture of 5 kinds of hot peppers, Sugar Snap Peas, and Super Sugar Snap Peas, which claims that you can't propagate or reproduce the seeds, because it is a patented plant.  That, for some reason, always makes me want to propagate it.  Seriously, unless I see a certain kind of patty pan squash, I think this does it for purchasing seeds this year.  As I've noted previously, I have quite a variety of fresh seeds, just waiting to get started.  I hope the snow cover and straw I spread last fall will have been enough to prevent freezing of the roots of my perennials. 

This latest bit about peanut butter makes me wonder where the food inspectors have all gone.  I know two people who have had to throw out their peanut butter, and one of them became quite ill after eating a peanut butter sandwich. 

My daughter has a potentially serious medical problem, having gone blind in one eye, with terrible head pain behind the eye.  I want to go to visit her today and bring her what help I can.   

I went in to town yesterday to pay my light bill, so late that the lady cheerfully informed me that the new bill is about to come out, and so she thoughtfully put the amount on my receipt.  I believe I began to shriek when I saw it - over $400.00.  She hastily explained that it was because of all the cold weather and I have natural GAS heat. 

When I put that darn natural gas in, it was because Bush said it was going to be cheaper, and because I thought it would not pollute the environment as much as electricity (coal burning).  Of course, that was before we realized what a liar he was about everything.  Now it is very expensive, and I have heard how they pollute the water table when they "mine" it.  They only pollute the water because they can, because there are no laws prohibiting them from doing so.  Very depressing, and I am looking at having to get a job just to keep on an even keel. 

And Bush now wants to take from Medicare and Medicaid to fund his personal illegal war.  Oh, but I digress.  Easy to do when your mind runs rampant.  Are the rich experiencing such hardships?

Now we are being told by George Will that global warming is completely a "natural process" that occurs without regard to human activity.  That is such a cop-out.  While it may be a natural process, we are certainly contributing to global warming with our emissions.  Taking action now could slow things down significantly...just wait until the coastal cities start flooding.

I went to Menards yesterday, and now I can't for the life of me remember why.  All I know is that to find the stuff you have on your list causes you to wander aimlessly through the place for over an hour, searching, searching.  Being in that store causes me to inhale many pollutants and poisonous chemicals that had me frightfully ill last night.  I guess I am just a big wussy.  Oh, I remember now, it was staples for my hand-held staple gun.  I had purchased several packages last time that lasted me for a few years.  Now I needed assistance just to find the new packaging, made in India, and they had changed all the aisles and rearranged the whole store.  It's crazy, I tell ya.

And deer corn and sunflower seeds have jumped in price, as well.  I gave the lady $20.00 for two 50 lb. bags, and she said, 2 cents more please.  I said, what? sales tax?  And she said, yep, because it's like pet food.  Every month now, I get poorer and poorer; paying for Bush's war is really squeezing me.  Who said we are not sacrificing for this war?  We will never know the true cost of it until much later, after Bush is out of there. 

I did see John Edwards on The Daily Show last night, and what a refreshing change, to be told the truth about things for once.  He won't even participate in the money process (probably because it is so corrupt).  If only the Democrats would espouse the Green Party's principles, we could easily win the next election.  What's holding them back?  Afraid of business not liking environmentally friendly laws, I suppose.  Excuse me if I am crabby today.  

I don't know what the deal is, but lately, my nose gets so cold, it aches.  Also, my cheekbones also get extremely cold and they hurt, too.  What is going on?  I spend a lot of time now, just trying to keep my face warm, and I'm inside the house.  This afternoon I made bread, English Muffin Bread, and the house became so wonderfully warm that I felt very good there for awhile.  But now it's cooling back down and my nose is getting cold again.  It will be below zero again tonight, and I have to say, I am just sick and tired of this cold weather.  At the same time, I think I'm lucky that I'm not in some parts of the country where they are getting so much bad weather right now. 

I see where another bunch of planes were stuck out on a runway, with all the miserable passengers, right in plain sight of the terminal, and the airlines CAN'T seem to do anything to alleviate their suffering, like get them off the plane!  They could just leave the plane there and let the passengers go into the terminal.  They might just even have some sort of conveyance to carry the poor passengers to the terminal and back again.  OMG!  I can't believe it!  I might have been one of those poor people stuck on a runway, had I chosen to go to visit my sister.  What kind of a country is this, anyway???!!!

                             English Muffin Bread

Put 3 cups of flour into a big bowl.  Add 2 tblspns. active dry yeast, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1 tblspn. white sugar, 2 tsp. salt, stir it up well.  Heat 2 cups of milk until very warm and add to flour mixture, stirring well.  Add 1/2 cup buttermilk and 1 tblspn. maple syrup, stir well.  Add about 3 more cups of flour, and stir it up well.  Butter 2 loaf pans heavily and dust with cornmeal.  Spoon the batter into the loaf pans carefully, trying not to disturb the cornmeal coating on the bottom.  Sprinkle with a little more cornmeal on top of the loaves.  Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 to 1-1/2 hours.  Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Turn out on board to cool.  Makes 2 loaves. 

This recipe originated at the Rutherford Inn in Napa Valley, CA; but you know how I like to tweek recipes to suit my own tastes.  This, replacing 1/2 cup water with the buttermilk and maple syrup is my own tweek.  And I think it tastes so much better than the original recipe.  This has become one of my favorite bread recipes.

I haven't posted in awhile; that's because I'm busy writing another novel.  It's actually pretty tiring.  But I didn't write today; just went to visit my daughter with her broken wrist, which is now in a horrible blue permanent cast she will have to wear for another month.  I wouldn't do it.  I would find a way to get it off.  The doctor said there were removable casts, but put this one on her without giving her a choice.  I know there are also soft casts they could have put on instead of this one, that is already driving her crazy.   I don't know why they think they should make these decisions for you, instead of giving you a choice. 

But I'm home again, dogs are napping.  I love how they snore, at night, it is so comforting to me to hear the little one snoring away.  It's so cute and cuddly sounding.....

I was to have planed over to my sister's in the deep South yesterday, but cancelled those reservations due to the extreme cold we've been having.  Not that planes couldn't fly; they like the cold weather, because ice doesn't form on the wings so easily as in warmer temps.  But I can't leave my dogs or the house in extreme weather.  If my little Daphne got left out too long, it would be awful.  Yesterday morning she was shivering outside, even in a few minutes.  And the pipes, the pipes would freeze without some woman constantly using water throughout the day.  And then there's how I feel in this weather - ecch!  I feel sickly when it's this cold. 

But today, it was much warmer, so warm I even had to turn down the fireplace gas heat.  And I feel so much better.  For one thing, my nose wasn't cold today.  I've been having such trouble lately about that - my nose feels like it's frozen, and it hurts.  I got busy today and vacuumed.  But yesterday, I got out some planting containers and washed them up to get ready for spring.  I even transplanted my spinach which I've been growing on the windowsill.  Who knows how far I can get with growing spinach?  I'm so heartened by it so far, that I'm now going to plant a tray of greens and lettuce to go with it.  The spinach has developed its first true leaves.

I've been writing on my novel lately.  And I'm on Chapter 2 already.  Between this, I am editing and rewriting my first novel that I had set aside (after being rejected by a publishing house). 

Jill just came over and wanted to share this letter to the editor with me.  I thought it was so good, I would blog it.  She writes:

A friend recently asked me, "What is it you Democrats want?"  I had to stop and think a bit.  "Well," I said, "to grow the Party, to elect Democrats, to reverse the course George Bush and company have led us on."

In November, I showed up at a Party function wearing a campaign pin to which I had affixed a picture of my grandson.  I realized that I wasn't working for a particular candidate or party, so much as I was FIGHTING for this child, for all the generations to come, and more than that even, for this planet to which we all cling in fear and hope.

But to answer my friend, in concrete terms; this, in part, is what we want.

1)  Fairness.  Corporations and the wealthy should have to pay the same tax rate as the rest of us.  They don't.  Everyone knows this.  It is inexcusable.

2)  A health care system that includes everyone.

3)  Energy independence.  No more subsidies for oil companies.  That money should go to innovation in alternative energy.  Our idle factories could be producing wind and solar, and other systems, providing new technology and good jobs.

4)  New thinking in education.  Our kids aren't dropping out because they're stupid.  It's because they don't believe in the future.  Our society raises them to be mindless consumers instead of problem solvers.  We need to challenge them, involve them, invite them to participate politically and otherwise.  Education needs to be about ideas, innovation, meeting the challenges of an increasingly crowded and complicated world.  Education needs to be RELEVANT.

5)  A government of the people.  At the very least, average citizens deserve representation equal to that the corporations enjoy.  Until that happens, nothing will change.  They will just keep getting away with it.

6)  We need an acknowledgement from government and the private sector of our responsibility to the planet and all of its inhabitants.  We must accept our part in the degradation of our world and join the many nations already working to make changes, and we need to influence those who are not, to begin to do so.  This is not a political issue.  It's a matter of survival.

7)  We must demand a renewed commitment to international diplomacy.  America must lead by example, not by bullying.  We cannot afford the Neanderthal attitudes of the current occupants of the Whitehouse.  NEVER AGAIN should we allow our brave troops, our sons and daughters, to be sent into harm's way on the basis of faulty information or downright lies. 

8)  After 9/11, George Bush asked us to keep shopping, keep traveling.  For the challenges we face, we must ask more of ourselves and our leaders.  During Word War II, the public sacrificed proudly.  We need leadership that represents the best we can be.  Until that happens, we will continue to be ignored and exploited by the scoundrels in Washington. 

I will close with the words of Bob Marley, "Get up.  Stand up.  Stand up for your rights...."

Sincerely, Jill Schneider

Okay, I am getting a little tired of being cooped up in the house, especially now that it's so cold.  I was to have flown to my sister's, but cancelled due to a 5-hour layover at one of the airports on my way.  I'm going to ask the airlines to reschedule me at any later date that I wouldn't have such a long wait between flights. 

In the meantime, I have gotten out a gardening book and plan to, well, attempt to visualize what I'm going to do this summer.  I almost am experiencing a panicky feeling that it won't be enough, that no matter what I plan, it will not work.  This is typical of winter doldrums.  I just want to go to sleep and wake up to birdies chirping and green grass growing.

I had to get two brand new tires the other day - the old ones were worn out.  So besides the towing, that day cost over $200.00, and I'm just so discouraged about getting ahead.  No, it's the falling behind that is discouraging. 

I bought some white bean carb blocker, and take one pill with any meal that has a lot of carbohydrates, like pizza or pasta dishes.  It is supposed to block carbs from being absorbed into the body.  Don't know if it will work, but it's worth a try, I guess. 

I am generally discouraged, I think it has something to do with the way our country is going to hell, the global warming situation for the animals.  Why should they have to suffer, and they always do, for the ignorance and stubbornness of humans?  Why is our Congress so helpless to get anything done?  When the Repubs wanted to impeach Clinton for lying about sex, they got the job done.  But Dems can't do a damn thing about lies that are killing and maiming the young people of this country.  Where are the values?  Where are the moral leaders who have the power to change things?  I suppose this nightmare will go on until this country falls like the Roman Empire.  I think it's too late already.  And that's why I feel so discouraged.  I really can't be happy anymore while Bush/Cheney destroy our country.   

I have been having more fun with frozen pipes, this time in the bathroom, but feeling along the pipe until the cold spot is found, I turned the hair dryer onto it, and in less than a minute, the pipe was thawed and the water running.  Have to do this every morning now.  It was -20 deg. when I got up late, and the coldest it's been when I got up was -28 deg. the other day.   

But coming out to take a walk with Pepper yesterday afternoon (head almost completely covered), I discovered my truck had a flat tire, really flat.  I've never seen a flatter tire, so I called a tire place (they will fix), called a towing service, they came, and only $70 later, my truck had been loaded up and on its way to the tire place.  It was just then dipping back below the zero mark, and my warm pen froze up before I could get my name signed on the check. 

My daughter broke her wrist! by slamming it against a door frame as she reached to turn on the light switch in the bathroom.  How she manages to do these things is beyond me.  I accused her of having gremlins.  She had to go to the emergency room (AFTER the Super Bowl game got over) and has a cast on her arm now.  I want to go over and help her with dishes, etc., but I have to wait until my truck is up and running again.  By the way, I loved the Super Bowl game; it was good that the Bears got there, at least.  Manning was superb. 

I called the tire place this morning, and they informed me that both front tires were worn out!  I ordered two brand new tires to be put on, and will change the place I usually have work done on my truck.  I bought brand new tires there about 2 years ago, and they are worn out already?  I don't think so.....I hate these guys who think they really ought to do a rip-off because the customer is a woman.  Am I wrong to be suspicious this way?  I've had a bad feeling about those tires ever since I got them, and have dreamed about putting an obscure blue dot somewhere on them, but of course, never did it.  But I've never had a bad experience with the tire shop.

I really need to get to town anyway and get some shopping done, need to mail out bills, pay the light bill, and of course, submit my claim to the insurance company for the towing insurance.  I doubt they will pay the whole thing, probably about $40.00.  Maybe I'll be able to go over to my daughter's tomorrow and give her an extra hand with things.  It's supposed to get up to 9 degrees today, and even warmer tomorrow.  Woohoo! 

It's been quite a day so far.  Got up at 7:30, just as the sun was up, and discovered that it got somewhat colder overnight than they said it would.  It was 27 below zero then, and soon I discovered that our water line had frozen somewhere along the line.  After going along feeling the pipes, I determined that the freeze had occurred where I thought so, in the side room, where all the plumbing, heating and laundry stuff is kept.  A check of the temp. out there revealed 28 deg.  It's only heat is from all the equipment.

John has once again dealt with the problem, with my assistance.  He put an electric heater by the water pipes, covered the area with a large sheet of plastic, and in minutes the water was running again.  Running and squirting that is, all over the wall and floor - the pipe had ruptured.  Now to frantically turn off the pump switch at the electrical box; he did.  And drain the water lines.  At least we could easily see where the rupture was.  He pinched the pipe with a wrench to make the rupture as small as possible; by then, I had located essential hose-clamps and screwdrivers.  He took a piece of hose off my washing machine and cut off a length - not too long, and cut a slit on one side, slid it over the rupture, and got 2 hose clamps tightened over the spot.  On goes the water and we were thinking we were up and running again, but no! water began to squirt out again, so the whole process was repeated, this time with 3 hose clamps.  This time it worked and the rupture has been stifled, water back up and running.  I am so grateful.  John is a wizard at quick repairs like this.  It could have cost a fortune, and been a very long time coming. 

Now we have an electric heater set out there, with plastic sheeting covering the general area.  If we set the heat at very low, it will go on only if the temp. falls below, say 35 deg.  It is supposed to be colder still tonight, so hopefully, these precautions will save us another grueling morning.  I had saved water in a gallon jug, just in case, so we could make coffee in the morning.  But it is good that water has been restored by 10:00 a.m. 

Meantime, I ran an update, Windows Internet Explorer 7.0, which took a lot longer than the plumbing emergency.  My computer is up and running again, finally, but there are lots of strange new things on the toolbars; everything is different again.  Oh well.

I made an unusual stir fry recipe for supper last night involving pork and many veggies.  I will get the recipe together and blog it later. 

Oh, and happy Super Bowl Sunday! 

Well, I've searched and can't find the traps I had set.  Two brand new traps, missing.  If the dogs had taken them to get the bratwurst, the traps would just be laying on the floor, but these traps have gone to the mouse lab to be studied and deplored.  I nailed a new one to a piece of 2x4 board; this one was completely undisturbed, so the little varmints have learned their lesson well.  The good news is that they are quiet now, waiting for the next attack. 

I made Peruvian Chicken Tacos yesterday, mm-mm!  I found the recipe in Better Homes and Gardens Feb. 2007 issue.  Here they are:

Cut up two large chicken breasts into thin slices.  Chop 1/2 large sweet onion.  In deep skillet, heat 1 tblspn. butter and 1 tblspn. canola oil and saute the chicken and onion together.  Season with 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. black pepper, 1/2 tsp. cumin.  Add one package chicken taco mix.  Add 1 quart canned tomatoes, drained; OR one 16 oz. can of diced tomatoes, undrained.  (I have my home canned tomatoes.)  Stir well, keep heat med. high.  Add 1 large potato, peeled and diced, 1/2 cup snipped dried plums (we used to call them prunes), 1/2 cup halved green olives with pimiento.  Turn heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, remove cover, stir and simmer 5 minutes longer.  Heat flour tortillas in frypan, microwave, or toaster oven until very warm, place on plate.  Put a serving of chicken taco mixture on tortilla, add a spritz of shredded cheese (I used cheddar), and fold over.  Serve with sour cream, shredded lettuce, or habanero/mango salsa.  Bet you can't eat just one!  Of course, I tweeked the recipe to suit myself.

That habanero/mango salsa could be added to the dish before serving, but not everybody would want the same amount of heat.  And boy, was it hot stuff.  My eyeballs began to sweat.  But the chicken/taco mixture was remarkably mild - I'm going to be making this recipe again soon.

Today, I'm going to meet my daughter for lunch and shopping in town.  I need to pick up my prescription and return something at Walmart.  I wish she could come here for lunch, but she can't eat spicy things.  Fri. it is supposed to snow, and Sat. and Sun, it will be very cold, below zero for the high, so I won't want to try to go anywhere. 

I have begun to write a new novel, having shelved the old one for now.  Maybe it will become part of the new novel....