Last day of February, and it always does go by quickly.  It was -22 degrees below zero last night, and the fire was kept burning brightly, you betcha.  Today, bright sunshine, temperatures are warming up fast, and when I go for my walk with Pepper, it will be at least 20 degrees above zero. 

After watching television last night, mostly the MSNBC news shows, I've decided to limit my viewing of political commentary shows, and just settle down a bit, try to get off politics.  This is why I'm so revved up about things every day; I'm watching too much of them, and even their replays.  I do love them, but only one show each - that's two hours, and that should be enough.  I need to change the focus of my life. 

So, I'm listing the things I've collected in my 2 boxes for this week's donation to Good Will.  There's a 500-piece puzzle; Power Foods by Gary Null; Healing Foods by Michael Murray; Yoga, Youth and Reincarnation by Jesse Stearn; Roverandom by J.R.R. Tolkien; A Hobbit Journal notebook; and others I can't remember the names of.  There's a 2-quart pitcher with lid, and a 1-gallon pitcher with lid, both very new.  And some new-fangled baking utensils for cakes and muffins, made of a heat-resistant plastic.  They are very pretty, but need to be placed on a flat sheet to keep them from tipping.  Maybe I can find a cookie sheet for them too.  That's one box. 

Today, I'm going through cupboards and soon will have cups, glasses, bowls, and kitchen utensils.  I believe I will give up my bread machine to them, as I always choose to mix and knead my bread in the old-fashioned way.  Then on to shoes, boots, and winter jackets.  There will be two boxes, plus all the coats and boots.  Soon, I will also have the back end of my truck filled with recyclables, so all the donations will have to fit in the front.  This will be a huge load going out of here. 

I need to give up my latest winter love, which has been adding cocoa mix to my coffee, along with a few mini marshmallows.  In the month I've been doing this, I've gained 2 lbs.  So starting tomorrow, no more cocoa-coffee.  All this began when I got a coupon for a free bottle of Nestle's Coffee Creamer, which comes in flavors, and when that was gone, I went right on to the cocoa mix.  So, goodbye sweet treat.  I can't afford to gain more weight. 

And soon, I will have a space cleared out in my bedroom, where I can get exercise on my big ball, that is stuck way back in the closet.  I'll just roll around on that ball and perhaps tighten up a bit.  Well, that's the plan. 

A storm moved into the area yesterday afternoon, finally; after being touted as a severe blizzard, it became perhaps 6" of driving, blinding snow in late afternoon.  It was beautiful to watch from the safety of home, but the roads were terrible and there were many accidents.  The wind continued to howl all night, but this morning, there was bright sunshine, a dead battery, and snowblowing to do.  The birds are feeding happily on the many kinds of food set out for them.  Tonight, cold temps, well below zero, are predicted.  C'mon, March!  There isn't much to report indoors, just continuing to cope with evening headaches that are very intense. 

Going for afternoon walks with the dogs.  Taking care of some sort of skin infection on the sled dog, Arnie, who is responding well to a bathing of warm water laced with tea tree oil and boric acid powder dissolved in.  Then a topical applicant of Quadricept ointment.  It seems to relieve the problem completely, and he looks at me very appreciatively.  I hope this works.  I'm also giving him one pill of black walnut hull in the evening to settle any parasites he may have internally.  I believe that when he farts badly, that it means there is internal parasites, and that has mostly gone away after just one pill.  One more pill tonight should eliminate any remaining bugs.  I don't want to give him more, because it can cause diarhhea, which would be even worse, I think.  For me, at least. 

Pepper seems to be all right, as usual, but sometimes she exhibits a little stiffness or lameness.  That could be from just lying around all winter, not getting enough exercise.  She bugs me every day to go for a walk, which is good for me, too.  She may be a little overweight, too.  I keep saying, she's not fat, she's just fluffy.  Arnie now goes for a walk with us.  He certainly loves his doghouse that I made for him.  We keep adding new straw for his enjoyment, and he luxuriates in it.  And my chicken is just a little butterball, who lets me know what she wants.  If her water is empty or frozen, she goes over to it, and pecks at it.  So I get her some water and pour it in, then watch as she drinks it, beak by beakful. 

Hoo boy! if it wasn't for my critters, what would I do?  The occasional visit with/from my kids, watching tv, reading, cleaning here and there, working a puzzle, cooking, bird watching, going for a walk....I am constantly amazed by how simple and serene my life really is.  If this is old age, then I guess it was worth the struggle to get here.  And believe it or not, I am still jerking into awareness of how it used to be, wondering what I should be doing right now, imperatively.  Can't think of anything.  The one thing I wish is that I was closer to my daughter, so I could be of more help to her with her multiple sclerosis problems.  She is between neurologists right now, as the old one left, and a new one is coming. 

Our forefathers brought forth upon this continent a government of, by and for the people...they struggled and came up with a plan for the future of this nation that made us, eventually, the best and most prosperous of all.  With the philosophy of "greed is good," this country has been going to the dogs, literally.  Beginning with the savings and loan scandal, then the Enron affair, the looting of our treasury with a forklift tractor, the ruining of the 401K savings, the elimination of other retirement funds, the Bernie Madeoff debacle, and now the bank scandal, it seems that certain segments of our society profit by simply ripping off large amounts of money whenever they feel like it.  Others claim that deregulation and lack of oversight is what has allowed these things to happen. 

Barack's speech last night hit every nail right on the head.  And it does seem like regulations and oversight will come back, as it should, to safeguard the money involved.  The Republicans still have not come up with any kind of a plan to save us from disaster.  I guess they just have enough money now, that they don't have to care about the rest of us.  All they can talk about is more tax cuts for the wealthy, claiming that this will provide jobs, etc. for everyone.  When?  It hasn't happened in the past 8 years.  They are lying and crying.  Jindal, et al. keep insisting that self-regulation is the answer for business.  So all I can say is, just eat your peanut butter sandwich and shut up.

I can feel it in my body.  Spring is getting closer and closer.  This winter weather is almost balmy, but the temps do go down to zero yet, or in the onesies.  The sun is warm now, and rings are beginning to form around the bases of tree trunks, where the snow is melting down from the darkness of the trunks.  Although putting on boots is still a must for going outside, I often tell myself I don't need a coat on for this.  And just go out there to feed the chicken, empty the compost bucket, take out the recyclables, etc. 

New beef suet has been hung high in the oak tree for the big pileated woodpeckers, and smaller suet cakes for the little ones.  Big flocks of tiny birds are all over the ground, picking up the bull thistle seed we have thrown on top of the snow.  Red polls, titmice, purple finches, goldfinches, and sometimes other kinds.  It's hard to identify them because there are so many, and they keep hopping around, and they are so small.  All the normal winter birds are here too, black-capped chickadees and the woodpeckers.  But I haven't seen any grosbeaks yet.  Bluejays horn in for the feed too, as do gray squirrels and red squirrels.

And I feel rested and well.  Maybe I needed a long winter sleep for optimum health and muscular refreshment.  It's good to feel good.  I haven't listed all the seeds I have on hand on this blog yet, and that's because I'm still thinking seriously about not ordering anything from the seed catalogs this year.  If I start, it will turn into a bigger order than I want or need.  I, of course, am making the usual pledge to do things differently this year in gardening.  I must stop the weeds for once and for all, from taking over.  I know it's the heat and the bugs that stop my weeding efforts mostly, but it is also the rampant, I say rampant, nature of the weeds, whose growth rate becomes phenomenal in June and July.  I am seriously thinking of planting things in large bags of purchased, deweeded dirt with holes in the bottom, laying these bags side by side in rows, and MOWING the grass and weeds between them.  Would that work?  I also plan to build a garden tractor cage for my chicken, let her work the soil between rows, eating weed seeds, etc. between rows, fertilizing, and moving the cage daily.  I'm sure she would be a happy little farmer for me.  She's had a very nice winter in the greenhouse and is round as a butterball. 

I was thinking that I should stop commenting on my political opinions, as politics is a bothersome subject to me, but after reading this morning what I wrote yesterday, it seems like I make a lot of sense to myself.  So what?  But today is sunny and bright, and one more week of February brings March into the picture.  I am more determined than ever to continue to give things away to Good Will or donate to thrift stores.  One of these days I'm going to start loading up books and will soon have another load of glassware.  I have been bringing 2 boxes a week on average. 

I remember spending time with my great grandmother when I was very young.  Her house was as spare of belongings as I someday hope to be.  She scrubbed the floor every single morning.  She took ashes from a covered pail, put a scoop into a bucket, added water and mixed it together.  She used a mop to scrub every bit of wooden floor surface throughout the house.  I, watching her in amazement, could hardly wait to examine the floor after she was done.  I thought it ought to be dirty, what with the ashes and all, but there remained a clean, hard, somewhat tacky surface that had a slight sheen.  I doubt any bugs or germs could have survived that scrubbing, and I was so pleased, I danced around for her on it.  Now I also see how environmentally friendly it was, too.  She was pure Norwegian.

But the rest of this day is waiting for me to see what I can do...

If I had it my way, I would let those big banks fail that made all those bad loans.  I'm sure that's not all they did....the money had to go somewhere for them to be insolvent now.  I would have given, and would now give, any bailout money to smaller, honest, community banks that exist all over this country and let them give out loans to those who need help.  And there would be regulations and oversight, as there should have been all along. 

Not only that, I would treat the bankers and Wall Street manipulators the same way as drug users were treated in this country - break down their doors in the middle of this night, seize all their assets, haul them off to jail, and make them prove their innocence before releasing any assets they might have left after their court costs. 

I notice that China grabbed the greedy businessmen who put melamine into the children's milk, and I heard on tv last night that they will be EXECUTED for their crimes.  At least one country sees that greed is a sin against humanity.  Unlike this country, whose afficianados of Reagan/Bush policies have been extolling greed as a virtue.  Can you believe they call themselves Christian? 

Yes, grab them and put them in jail, and let the full extent of their crimes be known.  Let us have justice.  They have ruined the whole world economy, and the money is hidden away.  They need a little prompting to come clean.  Let them pay with higher taxes.

And when does dissent become truly sedition or treason or calling for the overthrow of our duly elected government.  There is some nut named Keys (sp?) whose rhetoric is designed to bring out the worst in the so-called "right."  I think he should be arrested.  And the poor, poor Republicans who are crying and calling for a divorce from the rest of us!  What a joke.  We Democrats, who surely had enough fuel to call for Bush to be stopped for his crimes against humanity, we didn't carry on like this, and we suffered for a very long time. 

I always have said that some of my best friends are Republicans, and I really mean it.  It seems that many of them have very good ideas that are good for this country, and we all ought to listen to each other.  And come to agreements.  But these extremists who are calling for somebody to "stop him" are treading on dangerous ground.  Their lies continue at an alarming pace, and although they can be proven to be pathetic and dishonest, it isn't right for them to carry on like this.  I wish the Republican Party would lean on their radical brothers and call for mutual cooperation in this terrible time of economic struggle.  Don't allow this divisive behavior to go on. 

I watched the Michael Moore movie last night about our health care system compared to the health care systems of Canada, Britain, France, and then Cuba.  By the time we got to Cuba, I had tears in my eyes for the September 11, 2001 rescue workers who have been completely abandoned by the Bush administration and who still suffer all manner of ailments from that dreadful experience. 

One thing:  Michael Moore did not mention anywhere exactly what kind of taxes the people pay to obtain their health care systems.  I do believe it's a philosophy that the rich do pay more taxes than what they like to pay in this country.  But just think of the hoops ordinary people who are sick have to jump through and how much we have to pay to get taken care of.  Those horror stories were awful.  I kept thinking of moving to Canada in order to escape this inhumane system we have here in the United States. 

I've sat down with my box of seeds, enumerating them into categories such as root crops, corn, squashes, greens, herbs, brassicas, tomatoes, eggplants and peppers.  Why isn't there a category for corn, tomatoes, eggplants and peppers?  Produce that grows in the air?  One of life's mysteries.  Well, I have enough of everything to make a very good garden this year, using last year's seeds and beyond, so this is the year I probably don't need to order anything.  Also, I am not going to order plants through the mail again.  The blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb and asparagus roots do better if bought downtown and gotten right into the garden same day, instead of languishing in warehouses, delivery trucks and mail boxes along the way. 

I've made a little, very little, progress with Google Earth.  Now I've downloaded their latest version, continued to read their help manual, and now can do a little "layering," showing borders.  One thing I don't understand is the concept behind "desktop resolution," which needs to be set at 1024 x 768 minimum, for maximum operation.  This just makes everything smaller.  I had it all the way over to the lowest setting, which makes all things much larger and easier to see, and now I have everything, including this blog, smaller; I don't know why this is better. 

The temps are a little lower, and that means that when walking with Pepper and now Arnie, I don't slide out of my tracks as I walk.  Much better traction now that it's colder.  My chicken, Susie Q., is happy and large.  Her shape (something like a football, with legs and head sticking out) is quite aerodynamic and efficient.  I wish I could pet her and hold her, but she won't allow it.  I have a wand, made from a Jerusalem artichoke stalk, that I reach in with and stroke her back gently while talking to her nicely, but she just heads for the house when I do that.  Silly girl.

My son took me out to fish fry last night for my valentine.  His new wife couldn't come because she has been pretty sick for a couple of days.  It was nice to get out of the house for a change.  Winter is beginning to wear on me, making me lose track of time, missing the sunshine.  Today, I couldn't even walk properly because there is about 1 inch of lake effect snow over the glare ice and ruts on the road and driveway.  This kept making me slip out sideways, nearly falling 3 times.  The last time, I saw stars from jerking so hard to the right.  I was cussing plenty, but changed to the usual duck walk to get back home. 

I only have to build one fire each day, in the afternoon, and the heat lasts until the next morning.  It's getting near time to build a fire now; I am getting a little chilly.  Made two kinds of soup yesterday - chicken alphabet vegetable for me, and split pea soup for John. 

I keep telling myself not to get involved in political discourse on my blog, but it may be an important thing to do - get my opinions out there along with everybody else.  But right now, I can't think of anything to say, except I hope I'm not being too hard on the Repubs???  I was wondering if I am too nasty towards them.  I have been trying hard to understand them in the past few days, because their illogic is so apparent to me, that I can't even imagine how they think or feel.  I heard that a show is coming on Monday night, about that very subject, and I intend to watch, even if it makes me puke.  Can they imagine the pain and suffering that Democrats have gone through for 9 years of their administration?  I count 9 years, because the last year of Clinton's was extremely painful also, because of Republican nerdiness.  And the people are continuing to suffer and will suffer more as we try to heal the wounds left by the Bush administration. 

That's why I can't understand them.  What is it they miss now about having their constitutional rights to privacy taken away?  Why do they hate fair representation in court?  Do they need to see innocent people kidnapped into a foreign country to be tortured?  Why do they wallow at the feet of inhuman corporate entities, who promise to destroy the earth for them?   Do they enjoy knowing that the government is listening in on their every conversation?  Do they need to have a president who often can't even speak in sentences?   Do they love deficit spending into the trillions while cutting taxes on the very rich?  Do they enjoy paying for the lifestyles of the wealthy?  Do they believe every lie and talking point that comes out of the mouths of their gurus on the right?  What, oh what, is it that makes them Republican voters who sorely miss Bush now? 

The Republican ploys, especially since the efforts of Barack Obama to help our nation, are aggravating me to get up in the middle of the night to blog about my stronger and stronger feelings....

I got an email yesterday, that I, perhaps foolishly, deleted immediately from my Republican friend, showing a video clip of their hero, George W. Bush, warning us, back in 2001, that this economic crisis would occur IF SOMETHING WASN'T DONE ABOUT IT.  So...why...didn't...GWB...do something...about...it?  Why did he, instead, continue our headlong plunge with his rubber-stamping Congress into this economic recession?  Yay for deregulation!  Get rid of those food inspectors!  The money we will save for our oil war...etc. 

I will say it again - when the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are entitled to all the rights of individuals - there's where our system gave away this country.  A decision of the Supreme Court that I don't agree with?  There it is, right there. 

And now that we have a President who IS DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT, the Repugnicans are whining and puking about it.  What's the matter, Boehner, McConnell, et al.?  Silver spoon stuck in your throat?  Just look at the picture of how they see what this country should look like.  The rich and privileged, sitting at the lavish table of the Republican platform, with crumbs "trickling down" every so often to the huddled masses of the starving, the needy.  They want to destroy the Social Security system - Repubs don't need it.  They want more and more police-state control over the people.  They believe we should all end up like Saudi Arabia, India and the like, where the disparity is enormous between the rich and the poor.  Isn't it already that way here?  Closer and closer to it? 

The Republican ploys lately are focused on obstructing Obama and the American people, while spreading their pathetic lies, like the one I received that G. W. Bush "warned" about the coming eonomic recession if something wasn't done.  I've seen the map of the last election, with Republican votes in red and Democrats in blue.  What I don't understand is how the Republican people out there continue to believe their lies and still vote for them.  Don't they realize that the greed, graft and corruption of their party will eventually sink the people, in favor of the few?  And that they are, in fact, part of the people, and not the wealthy few.  Because their way of life is good only because of the goodness of the many.

Anyway, the beauty and truth of Barack Obama still shone in full in his wonderful speech last night to commemorate Lincoln's birthday, once again inspiring me and giving me hope.  In contrast to the sickening lies and obstructionist tactics of the other side. 

Two questions remain in my mind.  How did re-apportionment affect the number of votes that Republicans enjoy nowadays?  And the other question, is there "real money" involved in the numbers we are hearing nowadays?  Where is this money coming from?  Where did the money go that led us into the economic recession?  Was it real money?  Who got it?  Where is it now?  And what Ponzi scheme allowed the banks to do whatever it was that they did?  Hey, that's more than two questions.... 

Got an e-mail letter from Mr. Poersch today, giving many, many examples of what Democrats think about things, and boy, are they mad!  At Republicans, for being the obstructionist party now, when they didn't mind spending all those years on their own agendas.  Between Reagan and the two Bushes, we have racked up 11 Trillion in debt.  And they are whining and complaining about the economic stimulus plan?  It's that they really, really do not care about this country and its people, as long as they get their tax cuts. 

On a more pleasant note, last night, I made Mexican food, and the hot sauce (it must have been the hot sauce!) practically cured my everpresent cold itself.  Unless it was just time for it to leave....  But the meal we prepared last night was the best Mexican dish we have ever collaborated on.  I've just got to blog about it, even if it is not the cure for the common cold.

                                Mexican Tortilla Dish

1-1/2 cups black beans, cover with water and heat until seething.  Drain and rinse.  Place beans in crockpot and add water to cover.  Cook until soft, adding water if necessary to keep them covered.  Set aside.  (I cook them separately, freeze or use later.)  Drain off the dark water and save it aside.  Refry the beans in olive oil over high heat, adding cumin to taste and a mixture of white sugar and red wine vinegar (a few tblspns. of each) mixed together in a small bowl.  When the beans seem about to burn, add some of the reserved bean water, a little at a time.  Salt to taste, not too much will be needed.  Keep stirring and mashing the beans down with a spatula for about 10 minutes.  Set aide. 

Brown 1 lb. of hamburger in 1 tblspn. of olive oil, add 1 pkg. of taco seasoning mix and 3/4 cup of water.  Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring a couple of times.  Turn off heat, set aside.  Meanwhile, cut lettuce in shreds, chop fresh tomatoes, dice up some sweet onions, open a carton of sour cream, shred cheddar cheese, and bring out the salsas!  I tried the raspberry salsa I got for Christmas, and it was so delightful, I ate almost half the jar.  But back to cooking.  We like to take the store-bought large flour soft tortillas and cut them into thick strips or wedges, and brown them in a little olive oil in a pan over high heat for a minute or two, turning once, then drain on paper towels. 

On a plate, put a big dab of refried beans in the middle and spread it around, top with a big spoonful of taco/hamburger mix, top with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, onions, shredded cheese, salsas, and a big blob of sour cream on top.  Sliced black olives for garnish.  And stick the tortilla strips in here and there around the sides.  I had 2 platefuls and loved every bite. 

Ah, winter, the quietude thereof...Arnie came home carrying a dead black squirrel in his mouth that looked freshly killed, and he buried it with great diligence in the snow near the wood-splitting area.  I think that out of every 10 gray squirrels born, that about 1 or 2 are the variation, black.  Last night, when the dogs went out to play in the bright moonlight, Arnie laid down and ate his chilled squirrel with the air of a lord at his dining, while Pepper laid near the door, crying softly because she didn't have any.  So I told her to come in and I would give her a special treat, and she did.  Then Arnie knocked on the door, and coming in, he talked extensively about how he needed a special treat, too. 

It is raining gently today, but the roads have been freshly sanded and are in good traveling condition because of it.  I went to town and returned my stack of library books.  I didn't get new ones, because I need to finish about 4 of my own that I've started.  One is "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying" that I read a page or two at a time, in order to absorb the teachings of it.  And on my computer, I am struggling to learn all about Google Earth.  If I can manage to learn just one thing a day, that is about all my poor old brain can take.  Today, I learned to "fly" to my home town, and also how to change my desktop resolution. 

There was a show on last night about the sun and how it can, and does, affect the earth.  It kind of scared me that a sunburst, which could happen at any time, could knock out all the electricity on earth.  Major disaster, and has me thinking as I use my many, many appliances that I love, have come to rely on, and just wouldn't enjoy life without, about the even more far-reaching consequences of such an occurrence.  I remember reading a long time ago, about a Sioux medicine man's predicting that all the electricity would fail some day.  I hope that some people somewhere are making progress on the "grid."  And would be able to prevent such a major blow to our way of life.  On the other hand, the way things are going for the polar bear and other creatures endangered by global warming, has me thinking more and more about the poem I wrote many years ago...

My name is written on a bird, That flies across the sky.  The day that bird falls to the ground,  Will be the day I die. 

We are all in this together, linked by our mutual humanity, and linked to all the animals, lands, and plant life that nurtures us all.  I can only hope that people begin to see that corporate entities are not a natural part of the ecosystem, and will reverse the current trend of exploitation for capital gains at the cost of our living earth. 

It will be almost 40 degrees today, and everything is relaxing under the spell of warmth and bright sunshine.  I've been walking in the woods on a frozen trail, and it was so difficult to walk there, that I am only going to go on the road from now on.  My chicken's light bulb burned out, so I'll be replacing that, even though it's warm today.  I know the cold will return.  Usually, sometime in March, we have the annual Spring Thaw sunbathing party, sticking a lawn chair into a snowbank, putting on shorts and t-shirt, and drinking a beer to celebrate the apparent return of spring. 

I went to town yesterday, shopping for groceries at 3 different stores.  The cupboard was bare, and I even threw out, from the freezer, some stinky fish and other meat that had been passed on from other people.  They clean out their freezers, and pass the questionable stuff on to you, telling you it would be good for your dogs, etc.  No way would it be good for my dogs.  I don't want them to get sick, either.  I also took another bag of t-shirts and long-sleeved t-shirts to Good Will.  As you wash them, over time, they get wider and shorter.  If someone doesn't want them, they are turned into shop rags. 

There's been something happening to the grocery store shelves in the past two months or so.  My sister, who lives across the country from me, noticed it too.  There are empty spaces on the shelves where products used to be!  I thought maybe I was just coming at the wrong time of the week, but this is happening more and more.  Things get sold out, and they are not replaced right away.  This must be a sign of our troubled economy. 

Don't get me started!  What is the matter with the Republicans in Congress?  Don't they care at all about America?  They don't seem to care at all about the sufferings of the people...why should they?  They have all the money, and they want more and more tax cuts for themselves and their rich cronies in the corporations.  And probably, they have all their money offshore - they've become the global economic masters of the universe.  Remember that Hard Rock song I once loved - New World Order?  Yep, that's what I was dancing to then.  And even then, worrying about the real meaning of it.  My stomach churns and dances now whenever I see them on TV, obstructing the changes that we all voted for.

And Sarah Palin?  What is her problem with wolves in Alaska?  Why, in the name of everything that's holy, does she want to kill them, and with such cruelty?  Why?  Why?  Why?  Of course, there's the beluga whales, and the polar bears, too, that are in the way of her exploitative plans.   

I looked up all kinds of recipes yesterday for sweet and sour things, and decided to list the most prominent ingredients, then go ahead and just do it. 

                       Sweet & Sour Chicken and Shrimp

Thaw 8 oz. extra large frozen shrimp in a bowl of water and remove their tails, set aside.  Slice 2 chicken breasts into 1" cubes, set aside.  Cook 2 cups rice according to package directions, set aside.  Heat 2 tblspns. olive oil and 2 tblspns. canola oil in deep frypan and saute the chicken, adding and stirring as necessary:  1/2 medium onion, chopped; 1 carrot, peeled and cut small; 1 stalk celery, trimmed and chopped; 1 clove garlic, minced; 1 small jar green chilies; 1/3 cup catsup or 1 small can diced tomatoes; 1 20-oz. can pineapple chunks, drained.  Reserve the juice and add to it; 1/3 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup water, 1/8 cup soy sauce, and stir in 2 rounded tblspns. corn starch.  Add to pan, stirring well.  In a small separate saucepan, briefly fry the shrimp in 2 tblspns. butter and season with garlic salt to taste.  Add the shrimp and butter to the pan, stir well.  Add 1/4 tsp. ground ginger root, 3 tblspns. honey, salt if desired, lemon pepper to taste, more water if necessary, and hot sauce if that's what you want.  Keep stirring and adjust seasonings.  Serve over rice.   

We would never see a groundhog here tomorrow, sunshine or not.  There's lots of snow, and we are not even halfway through winter yet.  But this morning, as I stepped out to go and feed the chicken, it was sunny and felt warm at over 20 degrees.  I don't know what the exact temperature was, but the sky seemed softer and bluer and the wind was blowing in a balmy way. 

Everything is going well, and winter seems softly protective and restful.  Today is Super Bowl Sunday!  I'm looking up recipes for a sweet and sour chicken/shrimp thingie over rice.  Getting lots of ideas for other treats, too.  I've decided to quit worrying about losing weight - apparently, I never will, so I'm not going to try at all anymore.  I was able to turn off my electric oil-filled heater last evening, and hope I won't need it anymore.  I continue to dust and polish furniture, and soon, I'll have another box or drawer cleaned out.  My health is good, my dogs are content, my chicken is amused, my kids are doing fine.  Life is good.