Summing it Up...

Now, that I'm way on the wrong side of sixty, I feel that being true to self is important. "I yam, what I yam." Kindness and smiles are to be given away. Women are strong. Men are more vulnerable than we believe. Husbands may come and go...but one thing I know for sure is that I will NEVAH live without a corgi or coffee in my life if I can prevent it. Come piles of dog fur or hot water!

Monday, April 26, 2010


For the perfect garden...

PLANT THREE ROWS OF PEAS:

1. Peace of mind
2. Peace of heart
3. Peace of soul





PLANT FOUR ROWS OF SQUASH:

1. Squash gossip
2. Squash indifference
3. Squash grumbling
4. Squash selfishness

PLANT FOUR ROWS OF LETTUCE:

1. Lettuce be faithful
2. Lettuce be kind
3. Lettuce be patient
4. Lettuce really love one another

NO GARDEN IS WITHOUT TURNIPS:

1.. Turnip for meetings
2. Turnip for service
3. Turnip to help one another

TO CONCLUDE OUR GARDEN WE MUST HAVE THYME:

1. Thyme for each other
2. Thyme for family
3. Thyme for friends

WATER FREELY WITH PATIENCE AND CULTIVATE WITH LOVE. THERE IS MUCH FRUIT IN YOUR GARDEN BECAUSE YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW.
NOT BAD, HUH?!

Friday, April 23, 2010

FYI~Dog chew info



Several of you doggie mamas have asked about the teeth cleaner chews that Dozer and Coop's mommy shared with me...
http://www.healthypets.com/cetheprchwic.html
This is the place. Addie's teeth do need to be professionally cleaned, they are very dark on the sides and back. But...I do feel these chews would help keep them clean once they are white again!
I inspected Ad's toofies tonight only to find that she has broken a front fang! Her gums are red and slightly puffy. Good heavens. And she has some fatty tumors. Off to the vet we go!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Well, gardening season is on the nigh. Preparations have to be made. It's still too early to set out plants, without taking the risk that a frosty night will kill 'em dead, that is. I've been hauling out my pots and containers out of shed and getting the soil ready for flowers, and green beans. Hammer and long nail have made some drainage holes. Something I forgot to do last year, with dire results!



A new project, one that I have high hopes for is straw bale gardening. I lugged home two bales of straw in the trunk of the Malibu, and have been conditioning them for a week now. They've been staked, plastic was placed underneath them, and they require daily watering. I hung around the farm service place, where all the farmers go to get their lime, fertilizer, seeds on Saturday. Even had my bib overalls on!
The farm lingo may as well have been Latin to me though...I could not understand one word they were saying. Who knew that farmerese was such a complex language? The two office gals, both older than my 58 years, were twittering and giggling like high school girls. Men were plentiful in there. (Next time I'm single, I'll know where to go to cruise!)
Oh yeah, yeah...we're talking about straw here.....

Conditioning involves a layer of manure....and high strength nitrogen. Nitrogen is hard to find...that's why I donned bibs, and went farm girl to Custom Farm Service!
Miracle Grow, a gardener's standby, has only a smattering of nitrogen...this is the stuff the farm boys use in the field. Every other day, I sprinkle the bales with these granules, then wet down the bales. This encourages the breakdown of the bales, into a compost, which will be a more conducive soil home for planting. By the time this twelve day process 'happens' it'll be near time to plant.



As you can see, the gathered field stones will enhance my water drainage, and makes the garden prettier. I call the scarecrow, 'Dirty Dan' in honor of my ex. 'Nuff said. I can poke him, and spray him with the hose, whenever the mood strikes, he hee.

Ok....that's my farm entry for today.
There's more than corn in Indiana, y'know!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Farm girl antics...


Glorious weekend weather wise here...a bit on the chilly side, but perfect.
Jim made it home for a twenty hour lay over. Just enough time for me to make him a tasty, home cooked, supper and breakfast, do his laundry, pack up food and water for the week. He's on his way to Houston. Look out Holly...Texas has become a weekly trip!
(This majestic flowering crab is right outside our living room window!)

I packed up the corgi kids, went to our local hardware store and bought a light weight electric weed eater, luckily, on sale. Got my senior java, then set off to visit the sheep field. The herd of thirty or so were right up to fence, less than five feet away from the open car windows. They were enchanted/entranced by one calm corgi and one bouncing, yipping, frenetic female, Addie, not me! They don't blink, it's eerie...they just stare, twitching their tagged ears, en masse. Herd mentality is alive and well in sheep. If one runs, they all run. If one stares, they all stare.

Remember the old folks out for a Sunday drive when you were a kid sitting in the back seat, begging the old coots to hurry up and get to nowhere? Lordy...I've become one of them~the old coots, sigh.
I hunt for turtles on logs in swamps, Canadian geese, wild turkey...so many things trip my trigger these days. Today, it was a field stone hunt. The fields are getting plowed in these parts, unearthing these treasures. I keep gloves, buckets, a blanket in the trunk, and wear old shoes...all at the ready, for collection purposes. It's a spring thing...I love 'em...my brother loves 'em, we're just rock people...it's in the genes. Two hours after arriving home, the weed eater was totally broken in, and tired. Me too! Will share with you all tomorrow about my straw bale garden venture this year.

On another note, thank you to Dozer and Coop's mommy, I ordered the C.E.T.Xtra chews that clean teeth, as she recommended, and they are working out very well! The medicinal smell is high, so I banish them to the back yard when they do their chew therapy. Even then, the house smells like a vet's office, as it's on their front paws. I have high hopes for the outcome, and can tell that Addie is chewing away...a rare thing...so it's getting the job done!

Friday, April 16, 2010

I take no credit...but wanted to share!

CLEVER IDEAS WORTH KNOWING:

Bananas
Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.
If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster..
I didn't know that!

Cheese
Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil.
It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Bumps
Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Frying
Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef.
It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

Eggs
To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of
Spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

Brownies
For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Garlic
Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste
Of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Candy
Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm.
This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.


Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up.
Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg.
Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.


Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size.
You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread

To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in
A microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food
Moist and help it reheat faster.


Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers,
Put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and for-
Get about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not
Get through wet newspapers.


Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-t ip t o pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

No More Mosquitoes

Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.



Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it. (Wonder if this works with rabbits? Sure gonna give it a try)


Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... At DA! ... Static is gone.


Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water.
Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such
As peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.


Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Re opening envelopes
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include s om ething inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.


Conditioner

Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.


Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup an d gone forever!


Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
(This will definitely try!!!)

INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material .. I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well .... the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit.You can't SEE the film, but it's there.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Sunday Scenes...

This is how I got religion today...didn't feel like congregating.
With senior coffee in hand, a slow foot on the gas pedal, and camera at the ready, the corgis and I did our daily jaunt in the country.



The paints on the highway, across from the college..down our street.






A beaver dam...






A favorite barn...

Corgi Tooth care Question...

Addie isn't a chewer...she doesn't go for toys, or hedgies, or nylabones. Jake's teeth are white as snow because he does all these things...but Addie's mouth is a nightmare. She had her teeth'professionally' cleaned several years ago. I hate to have her put to sleep to have it done as her heartbeat is irregular occasionally.
But....her teeth are so awful...so discolored...nasty. Ahem, a mama hates to admit this about one of her furkids....but....believe me, the corgi dog tooth fairy would skip our house if she ever lost a tooth!

Anyhoo....what do you other corgi moms do about your kids teeth? Do you brush them?
Something has to be done, her gums are starting to look bad. Am I going to have to bite the bullet and take her in again and let the vet tech do a serious cleaning and them go from there? Please comment and let me know what you'd do.
Here's the face I get when I trim her dewclaws. Since she was going to be used for breeding from her previous owner, but never went into heat, which is why she was given to us....they did not remove her dewclaws. It's a bother I must say to keep them trimmed.
(My photo date thingie is off by six years for some reason. It happened when I changed the batteries in the camera. Anyone know how to totally remove the date from photos?)

Yesterday Jim and I trimmed back a couple of trees in the back yard. A redbud and maple were trimmed, and an annoying, bird planted six foot cedar tree was removed totally. Ahhh more sunshine in the flower beds and room now to do my straw bale gardening. More on that later. We added new river rock on each side of the back door, and stocked up on my gardening needs at Menard's. We were SO pleased to see the little American flag on many, many packages there. Menard's is trying to stock as many American made products as possible, we were 'totally' impressed! It's a huge store in the next town eighteen miles away. Jim put a doorbell up last night and fixed the latch on the front door. His honey-do list is shrinking! What a good boy!

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Sorting, scrubbing screens and finding shorts!


Well gals, it's that time of year....time to open up the house, let in the birdsong, and shake off the dust that settled over winter.
What is it about a change of season that makes us want to clean, sort, and make room?
It's a real need...it festers....and it HAS to be done!
Yep...the fire has been lit inside ol' Corgidogmama, and the corgi kids are running from room to room, to escape the dreaded Oreck!

Yesterday, I went shopping....in my basement! Ever do that? I rotate clothes and bag them as our little Hollyhock Cottage on the hill only has two dinky closets. Not much room in 720 square feet! A big bag is going to Goodwill, and a big bag is getting washed. I fit in clothes that haven't been worn in five or six years. The much beloved red pantsuit that I wore to my daughter's wedding shower fits again! Okay...these clothes are a tad out of style, but I've never been trendy, so "oh well." Anyway...my choices are plentiful, and I feel rich! Eighteen pounds gone makes me feel positively skinny! Just so I don't look in a mirror....my self image can remain intact! Denial, is a wonderful thing!

Dust is not our friend. Clutter is cruel. Maybe a husband will be swept out in the mix....nah....only kidding.....or am I? Depends which day it is, and if he's cranky!
Okay, too much information...no dirty laundry aired today, he hee!
Hugs~

Thursday, April 01, 2010

Soulful sightings...

Happy April Fool's Day ladies...

Today, before going into work at one, the corgi kids and I did our daily country road therapy. The sun was so warm, and the sky blue, we were all grinning and panting with our tongues out. A turtle was crossing the road from a marshy area. The radius of its shell was like the size of a ten inch pizza. His head and tail were WAY out...catching rays possibly. As we turned the corner, up on the hill the red horses were out, switching tails and heads were down, chomping on warm new grass peeking through the ground. A young mallard sat on a sunny log as his mate swam in the shallow marsh, surrounded by woods. Turtles line up on that same log later on in the summer, so I always peek in through the trees as we go by. The three sheep are still woolly, as they haven't been sheared yet. One is a little more roly poly than the others and I'm wondering if she's with lambkin. The big black horse is ready to have her baby any time now. She's wide and full, and it looks a little ouchy. The old mare, pushing 28 years old, still looks good, and was busy ripping up the grass along with her buddies in the field. We saw a blue heron in someones pond. I did the window down, and Addie yipped. It took off in flight of course at our intrusion. Their shades of blue and gray are so, so pretty. Their wide wingspan and long legs makes me think that they are prehistoric. Have always loved herons.
I hope, that for your own sanity, and mental respite; you have your own way to reconnect with nature in order to soothe your soul. Life is tough these days. Marriage isn't easy. Financial worries plague many. We all need to find "something" that basks us in peace and quietude. This is what I do. Want to share what you do?

Y'all come back now...

Y'all come back now...

Everyone is special, and counts!