Snow

We got snow. One newspaper said 8.5 inches; it it was probably about six inches. Two guys came by and wanted to shovel the walk and cleared a path to the van. That was just fine with me-worth it. I went to get my snow shovel out the other day and the storage room door was frozen shut. This snow will probably melt off fast as it is supposed to start warming up and then rain. I am thinking this may be the last gasp of wickedly cold weather. Not springtime yet, but maybe the bitter winds will slack off to a more "normal" season. I'll ask Al Gore if it is safe to think about a garden. NOT.

On Monday I think I will probably post a short notation on a "prepper" tip. I am a minor "prepper" and a "Teabager." Nothing exciting, but something to think about in lite of the disasters that are reported daily. Don't trust the government to be able to take care of you or be able to come to your aid if something untoward occurs here, there, or even in your own backyard.

Now I am going to microwave some bacon and fry some potatoes-then eat more cookies.

END

COOKIES!

Cookies! We got cookies! Yum-they are good. Made them myself and I intend to eat them myself, gluten that I am.

I used a box of lemon cake mix, three eggs, and about 1/4 cup of vegetable oil and walla...cookies. Bake about 10 minutes and eat.

This is about the easiest way I know of for making and baking in cookies. You can add nuts or raisins or even chopped fruit. They seem to turn out pretty good and I am happy as I am not the best baker/cook in the world.

I will have milk and cookies before I go to bed.

School was canceled today in expectations of snow. Well, the snow was a "no show" today, but now they say it will arrive tonight and most of Saturday. We'll see.

Our local TV station sent a young reporter to Hatti to cover the earthquake recovery. I don't know why they went to the time and expense. What little that was aired was small sound bits on the 9 O' Clock news. Mostly they showed their truck braking down and rubble. They showed very little relief work. I guess TV ratings are coming up.

I got my utility bill today. I am not happy about that. I can't understand some of it and there isn't much of an explanation on the back of it. So what are all those little letters/initials mean? Does anyone really know what the are being charged for? Am I smarter than a 5th grader? Maybe not.

The moon is full and when the moon is high in the winter sky, round and silver, I want to howl and bay at the Wolf Moon. In other words, when the moon is full...I don't sleep well. But I should sleep tonight "cause I got MILK 'N COOKIES!!!

END

Snowman cometh

It is cold. It is 26 degrees at this moment. We didn't get rain. We didn't get sleet or ice. We may get snow. Who knows...it may go "thataway."

The sun was brightly shining in the morning and afternoon even 'though it was cold out. By mid-afternoon it started to cloud over and chase away the sun. No matter. I have books to read and seed catalogues to consider. Life is good when you have seed catalogues to mull over.

I am always disappointed in the fact that most of my family are not followers or express much interest in my endeavors. Maybe I need to rave and rant, curse like crazy, become psychotic and or paranoid, to get their attention...nah(sometimes my spellchecker fixates on a word).

Anyway, there just isn't much going on. Even the traffic on the street has slowed and become quieter. I think I will read a little bit and go to bed early.

Books

I went to the library today. It is one of my favorite places. I took two books back and picked up three more. I do not find Obama-vision entertaining and he is on TV all the time. I would rather read a good book because his speeches are always the same, just in a different guise.

So, I did get out a little before the expected foul weather come in from the Northwest. It looks it will skim by this area and affect the southern folks more than where I sit. Still, we may get some freezing rain-sleet or a little snow. I don't want any of it, but we get what we get.

I probably should have stopped and picked up some milk and goodies. I'll get by well enough, but when your stuck inside it is nice to have a bit of junk food-yes, I know...it isn't good stuff for the waistline.

I took some blouses to the Goodwill Store. They are in good condition, but for some funny reason they won't button up the front. HA! I washed them and folded them, but did not iron them. Someone else can do that.

My next trip to the Goodwill Store I hope to take in some old books and pamphlets. Of course, when you get rid of stuff you are just making room for more stuff and I don't need more stuff.

I also stopped to see how they were doing on the old Nash. I guess it has brakes now. I asked them at the garage to replace the top radiator hose as it has a split in it and to put an inner tube in the front tire. It keeps going flat. After that I may put it up on e-bay.

Again, I am living life in the slow lane because there isn't much to do when it is cold out or I just don't wanna. Hmmm, I think I just don't wanna.

END

Bread

The bread I made didn't turn out looking this good. It is edible, but not as pretty. I can't find my recipe book for making bread in a bread maker. It is a small booklet. One of these days I'll run across it. In the meantime I ad libbed a recipe. Not awful, but I have done better, but with peanut butter and jelly it will fare well in the tummy.

The temperature was 39 , but the wind chill factor was 9 degrees because of the wind. I stayed in. Tomorrow it is supposed be around 40 than get cold, rain, then turn to snow. I may go out before it all goes downhill. I need to take books back to the library.

I found a bunch of old seeds while I was looking for my bread book. They are mostly flower seed and old. I may try them in the front yard in the spring. They are of different varieties. Maybe I will mix them up and see what grows.

I wish I had something new and exciting to post. It's just that I stay close to home when the wind blows. Have a slice of bread!!

END

"it" has returned

The cold weather has made a comeback. I was out today and the wind was sharper than a knife and just as cutting. I really don't like winter, but I suppose it will be over before we know it and than we will complain about heat and humidity.



I looked at electric start lawn mowers and a tiller with an electric motor. I can't pull a start cord anymore, but I still hope to put in a good garden in the spring and keep the yard up. I suppose you might think it's too early to plan a garden, but it isn't. The best gardens are well thought out. Last year Chuck planted half my garden in flowers which I will not do. You can't eat flowers. I'll have flowers, but it won't be the the main theme of the garden.



Debbie brought me some wine bottles for the next batch of wine and and I gave her a bottle from last years vintage. It should be well aged by now.



There isn't much new going on except that I am going to stay in where it is warm. I am even going to pay my insurance by phone. It spit snow off and on today and is supposed to do the same most of the week. Last year on Jan. 25 there was a massive ice storm. The weather can go bad very quickly. So, in I stay.



End

I've been sniffin' glue...literally. I been trying to fix a drawer with wood putty/ plastic repair filler and that stuff makes my house smell like a sniffer's paradise. Very strong stuff. I feel like my brain has packed it's bags and left the building.

I should be exercising my inner cranium, but my ears are slightly ringing and the top of my head feels a little tight...now I know not to do these little repair jobs inside the hut...er..house.

Better not tell the young and the restless of a new source of glue. Whew!

It's a good thing tomorrow is Sunday as I don't write on the Lords Day. I am suffering from brain drain along with an effected sense of reality.

This evening(before sniffing)I had a craving for starch or pasta. So I prepared a package of Raman Noodles and ate the whole thing. I still have chicken, dressing, green beans and rice, but I wanted something different. Now I want hot chocolate to make my head feel more balanced. No more sniffing, America...Intentional or otherwise!!!

END

Bulls

I don't have much to write about so I have been surfing the news. I found an article of a bull attack in upstate N.Y. between Howard and Canesteo. A guy was chasing cows in for milking and a bull attacked him. They have a tendency to do that, you know. Anyway, the guy wound up in Strong Memorial Hospital, banged up and with a broken femur. Lucky , I say.

What was interesting was he and another man were milking over 400 dairy cows. I didn't know there was room for a 400+ dairy farm in that area because it is all hills, vally's, swales, and poor farm land.

When I was very small I can barely remember the bull getting out in the dark of night and my father going after it in an old car with running boards. The name of that bull was "Wicker's son"(Wickerson) and he had a matching reputation. When I was around 11 or 12 another bull on the farm went "crazy," putting his head under the fence and pulling up the fence line. That bull was put down and it's head sent away for testing. It turned out that the bull had been eating local "loco" weed that was growing in its pasture.

So, I have always been afraid of bulls. They are not friendly bovines as that fellow found out when he was being crushed against a steel gate. He was lucky. The other fellow got behind the gate and pulled him up to safety. Both men are Mexicans and don't speak English. Apparently the farming operation employees other Mexicans. The moral of the story is that they are probably doing very hard labor and not getting rich at it. But I suppose in that area-any job is a good job, as it is a depressed area and always has been, It is beautiful country, but poor country.

Well, I don't know much, but I thought this might be of interest to family members and anyone else that may wander through.

I still can't figure how they got a dairy farm that large into that general location.

END

Pumpkin Bread and stuff

Yes, I cheated. I am not a hard core, fingers in the dirt, survivalist. I look for the easy, inexpensive way to do things or cook. The Pumpkin Bread came from a box and here is why.

By the time you add the cost of 1 can of pumpkin, flour, eggs, sugar, nuts or raisins and cooking oil, time and energy in the baking, the price of the Pumpkin Bread has become expensive. A box of Pumpkin Bread mix usually cost around or 99 cents or less. I can make Pumpkin Bread from scratch, but this is a much cheaper baking project and what I can add what I like. I am partial to Walnuts and raisins.

I got a plastic "jar" of Peanut Butter out of the freezer. I bought several "jars" last summer when they were on sale and stuck most of them in the freezer for later use. Now is later. When it thaws out I intend to make a Peanut Butter Pie. Contents in plastic containers will freeze OK and I have already used some up without a problem.

I am digging into my can goods and freezer supplies and happy that I have the foodstuffs on hand. If the snow is coming down or the rain is flowing, I get to stay in and watch the people in the street hustling along in misery. By spring most of my stocking up stuff will depleted and it will be time to start the process over.

P. S. I have already cut into the Pumpkin Bread and it is good...yum.

END

sand...period

I used to be a 'wanna be' writer, but I can't spell worth a hoot and I will be the first to admit it. T/G for spellcheckers. Spellcheckers don't always catch my errors, but captures enough for me to get by with as I blog or write. I learned very early the difference between to...two...and too and the proper usage of said words.

The problem is I don't speak THE KING'S ENGLISH or English. I speak American. The American language is a compilation of German, Latin, Spanish, French, English, and whatever else gets cooked up in the hash. Thus, I speak "American."

I have a tendency to spell words as I hear them, or mis-hear the word. That doesn't always work out as there are so many words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and even have different meanings. I have had to "teach" or correct myself many times. I am not above criticism or corrections because I want to learn or re-learn.

There are common words such as plain and plane, there and their, where and ware, war and wore, blue and blew. The list of common sounding words goes on and on. See my dilemma?

Most of them I remember, but the spellchecker doesn't catch all the nuances, meanings or subtleties. The spellchecker may say a word is spelled right, but it may well be wrong in the grammatical sense or usage.

Thus, a problem for the next great American novel..which isn't me. I try to edit my efforts by dong the spellchecker thing and then/than re-reading the script several times. I made a mnemonics for then and than. Then is when-Than is other. It works for me. I still recite.."i before e except after c." Guess what..there are exceptions to that rule, too.

Well, I may not be the next Steinbeck, Stephen King or even Poe, but I give it my effort. Feel free to correct me...I won't mind. Life is a LivingLesson.

I used write poetry, some good, some OK, some awful. Here is a poem to torment you.

SAND

A grain of sand

within my shoe
an irritant
shake it out
carry on

a grain of sand
not a pebble
not a stone
shake it out
move on

There is a difference between prose and poetry, structure and puncuation. Poetry is forgiving: Maybe I sould write more poerty.

END

All about You

It's all about you...or me. Actually it isn't. We are only here for a short time. Make the most of it. We..and thee, are like a whisper in the wind. Think of yourself as a dry leaf carried on a breeze. As a leaf is subject to the wafting of the tidal airs that flow, you will be as the currents of the sea. You will not know where the waters will take you.

We all worry about the most insignificant trivia. We don't have time for it. We could be gone in the blink of of God's eye. You could be the most beloved person on earth and suddenly...no more. You may be the most reviled individual that ever walked in a pair of shoes and live a long life of misery. Maybe, like the victim's of war, disease and earthquakes, become just a sad memory.

Don't waste your time and days wailing and gnashing your your teeth or bemoaning your fate. Make your days count and savor them. The night may be long; tomorrow may never come.

Be like the "Lilly's of the Field" or the "Birds of the Air." It isn't about you; It isn't about me. It just is.

Don't be a "vampire" personality. They suck all the joy and happiness from a room and anyone in it. Bring sunlight into your proximity. If you can't have some joy in your heart you can not share joy or happiness.

I know that when I am gone from this earthly plane my absence will hardly be noticed, but that is OK; it's not about me.

I did cook the chicken. It turned out well. I will have enough for several meals. Now, I just have to do the dishes.

END

Chicken Can Can

I got a chicken out of the freezer. I haven't cooked it yet. I am waiting for it to thaw out and beg for mercy. I should be able to put it into the oven tomorrow or Wed. I am letting it thaw out in the refrigerator. It should make several meals.

I went to the Dollar Tree today to pick up some Peanut Butter crackers. I take my medicine with the crackers in the morning.

I am trying not to spend a lot of money for food. Instead, I am using up what I have in the freezer and pantry. I have a lot of zucchini and some yellow squash to utilize. I'll cook some with the chicken, along with dressing.

For some reason I seem to be very tired. I may be anemic from noteing the color of my eyelids. I better eat more greens. Basically I am a meat eater 'though I like veggies. I just don't bother to cook them, but I vow to improve.

Yesterday the temp. hit 52, but today it is 39. Mother Nature is a fickle old girl and has her ups and downs. I expect she isn't finished with us yet.

I am a person that hates bad or foul language. I can't say I am without blemish, but it takes a lot to make my tongue spit fire, but it can and does happen on rare occasion. Generally it is because I am vexed to the point of no return.

I need to start shopping for garden seeds and supplies. I want a really good garden this summer. The price of food continues to rise and I hate to dole out more cash for less groceries.

I can can, can. Can you do the can can? I can.

BUTTERMILK PIE

Buttermilk Pie

1 1/2 c. sugar

3 whole eggs
4 1/2 T. buttermilk
4 1/2 T. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla

1 unbaked pie crust

Beat eggs and sugar. Beat in buttermilk and butter: stir in vanilla. Pour into unbaked pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes until firm. Let cool and enjoy. You can add whipped cream if you wish.

This has been a slow day and I don't have much to add, which is probably OK with anyone who happens to be reading this. The snow is gone.

END

GIVE ME LIBERTY

I went to a Tea Party meeting that is trying to get organized here. It was pretty interesting and I want to go again. I don't know what I could do in such a group, maybe something not to arduous.

We need some changes in all branches of government. Our local Mayor has been arrested twice for selling alcohol to minors and gotten off twice. That is not the only bad behavior he has been involved in and some of his former backers are calling in loans he has "defaulted" on, plus a few other tidbits.

Anyway I did enjoy hearing the speakers. They don't want to rock the world; they just want to have government serve the people according to Scripture and the Constitution.

I am tired and had a very late supper so this is a short post. END...END

Security

I had to go and get my licence renewed yesterday as I forgot to do it and I was 14 days over due. So, I got myself to the city building to comply with the the rules and get my privilege to make other drivers shiver and quiver and cuss me out as they think I am over cautious-slow.

Anyway, I had to pass through the gizmo arch to make sure I wasn't an elderly terrorist. My shoulder bag, full of keys, folding tools like the Swiss Army Knife and other metallic junk, passed through the X-Ray machine with nary a sound. As I walked through the security gate/arch the alarm sounded as I knew it would.

I explained about all the hardware in my arm. The security staff, laid back, retired, and semi retired peace keepers of our local domain, were very nice. They didn't even ask me to remove my arm so they could examine it and make sure that I wasn't a danger to myself or them. Yup, no questions asked-they let me keep all my plates, pins and screws right were they were implanted.

While I make a joke of this and I appreciate the no hassle-no problem, lackadaisical attitude of the security staff where I could just walk right on in, it makes me aware of how easy it would be for bad boys to do their deeds in smaller cities and government buildings.

So...I think they should get a nice, little barky dog for added/enhanced security. Dogs are intuitive-have that paranormal sense of impending -"up to no good"- kind of awareness. Now cats, while very intelligent and cagey, just won't "bark" unless you rub their fur the wrong way in a dark closet. Even then, they will not bark, but they will let you know that THEIR world just isn't safe. So don't get in it.

I went to the Doctor to get my Medicare papers updated or corrected. Corrected should be the byword because it was all done in October. Even the Doctor was confused and his staff said this is just the "tip of the iceberg."

We had a heat wave: the temperature made it up to 51 degrees today. I actually got too warm and had to come out of my sweater. Winter is far from over and it is supposed to get a little cooler tomorrow and rain. Rain will take away the rest of the snow.

You can never have too much information and I just ran out of anything of interest.

END

Short Shifting

Of course, the news is full of what has happened in Haiti. A grim reminder of one of the reasons that we should take actions on own behalf for whatever the fates may hand us. Take it seriously and prepare accordingly.

We have such luxuries. Even the poorest of our poor, have agencies, churches, programs, food banks, government support of some type or another to lean on...for now. As the Corporate Government of America squeezes your purse tighter than a rusty nut on the White House Door... I think all our "fail safe" expectations of social legislation will become nil...hard to acquire, if at all.

Social Security has already felt the pinch as there will be no cost of living increase. The once inviolate fund was taken and poured into the General Fund to balance the budget more than 30 years ago. It isn't the Social Security that broke the bank; blame a free wheeling, free spending, "borrowing" congress. That reminds me: Wern't they supposed to pay that back? HA!

I went "short shopping." Which means I didn't spend much money. I spent more on gas than I did on groceries. $15 bucks for gas, just enough to get where I had to go and for food, $13 bucks. I am really, really glad I stocked up last summer ...really.

Again I just couldn't write about angles. I am sure they are there, I just couldn' write about them.

END

Bad Tidings for Haiti

I didn't intend to write about write about earthquakes, but as it is in the forefront of the evening news and will be again tomorrow it is a good time to remind everyone that; Anything can happen any time to anyone. Be prepared.

I sit very near the New Madrid fault. When the New Madrid fault shifted in the early 1800's it created a whole new lake; Reel Foot Lake. It can move again at any times and is overdue. California has multiple faults and seismic activity. New York state has some cracks in her beauteous underside. Yellow Stone could pop her bustle and show us what she flaunts in such splendor. We don't live on a static little ball of mud. Something geographical is happening all the time everywhere. We just don't notice in most cases.

So...again I say be prepared. Have water. Have non- perishable food. Have warm clothing. Have needed medication. Have a way to cook or heat your abode, wherever or whatever it is is.

I don't worry about the government taking my money 'cause I don't have enough to worry about. I do consider the elements of Mother Nature a more frequent threat to my health and welfare than all the "Golden Hordes" of of Apocalyptic Bloggers.

The picture on top is not from the earthquake in Haiti. The real time pictures coming over the Internet are not a happy sight. You will see the really bad stuff soon enough. "NO ONE KNOWS THE TIME OR THE DAY" It could easily be us, here, now and bad, just as it is in Haiti and around the globe.

There is plenty of information to be found online about preparing for bad times and bad days. Even the government says to have emergency supplies on hand for at least three days. Do you?Have you?

I was going to write about Angles. Now, I hope the Angles are abroad this night in Haiti.

END

Mystery Wine

This is a mystery to me. I finished syphoning off the rest of the home made wine and observed that the wine in the bottom of the jug was much lighter than the first. I would have thought that the fluid in the bottom of the jug would have been darker than the wine drawn of from the upper portion because the sediment is is in the bottom. I can't tell the difference in bouquet (smell) and I haven't really tasted either one. The darker bottle is the first one to have been drawn off. A mystery to me. Maybe Beverly knows.

Just about lunch time it started to snow real hard and came down for about an hour or so with flurries now and then. Looking out the back door watching the short "snow job" I could see the birds attacking their "feed bag." I wanted to get a picture or two, but they didn't stay sill long enough, flying and swooping in and out. I saw the cardinals get driven off by the Grackles and another kind of black bird. The Grackles always do that-they are bigger and more aggressive. However, there is plenty for all the feathered feasters and as it was cold on the back porch, I came back in.

For Sunday evening supper I cooked Spam' n Eggs. I found that frying the Spam makes it much more palatable and cooks some of the salt out, whereas I didn't need to add salt to the eggs. Using left over bacon grease gave it a more "Ham 'n Eggs" flavor than a Spam 'n Eggs blah-ness. I broke down and got some sliced pork roast out of the freezer, which is itself in the freezer,(back porch) as I came back in from bird watching.

It is time for a cup of good, hot, black tea to warm me up- and maybe a couple of Beverly's cookies.

END

Wine revisited

You don't need to be a wizard to make home made wine. You need very little in supplies or equipment. You just need a big jug, sugar, and yeast and time.

I started this grape wine way last back in the fall of 2008, before I fractured my creativeness. I am just getting around to bottling some of it. I already bottled about 1 liter to give away at Christmas. This evening I syphoned off some into the smaller jug. Half the fun is in the syphoning off the final results.

The tubing is old, but clean oxygen tubing. The red thing is a balloon. You just don't need much more other than your ingredients: juice of your choice, 5 to 7 cups of sugar, a couple packages of plain, ordinary yeast. I used bread yeast with good results. If you want to "cheat" use a couple cans of frozen juice, add the sugar and yeast, fill the jug with water and place a balloon over the top of the jug. Make sure the balloon is on very tightly because it will fill up with gases as the brew ferments. Lots of bubbles and action going on within the jug before you know it! Place jug in a dark place and forget about.

The more sugar and juice you add the higher the alcohol content. I used real grapes from my grape vine. If you use frozen juice you will not have much residue. My jug has been sitting in the back room for months on end because of my arm. I have another jug back there awaiting attention.

Don't strain until the wine has stooped bubbling. After you strain it you will have some residue in the bottom of the jug. That is when you syphon of the clear fluid into a smaller wine bottle and cap/cork it. You can drink the residue if you want-dregs in the bottom of the big jug-but why would you?

You can buy all kinds of supplies for making wine on line, but this is the easiest and least costly method I know. I like the path of least resistance.

Don't think I am a drinker because I am not. I have home made wine in the frig that is many years old and well aged. I find it a fascinating process.

Yesterday I actually lifted my sewing machine with my right arm and carried it a few few feet, not far, but a few feet. Progress?

END

Food for me and some for the birds

In the aluminum pan there is a conglomeration of stale leftovers, pork fat and even chopped up tangerine skins. I put it all in a orange mesh bag and hung it outside for the birds. The birds can not get food as getting to their sources are under the snow. I was late getting it out. My back door was hard to get open, but it finally moved. I just wore my fleece top and bottoms out and soon was aware that people lose their body heat fast and freeze to death quickly in this type of environment. I left the storm door open and the inner door open so that I could get back in quickly. I was only out for about 5 minutes. Most of me warmed up pretty quickly except for my feet. I have had "cold feet" since I was a little kid and my feet tend to perspire a lot, even in the winter. If I can keep my tootsies warm and dry I am warm all over.

This set me to thinking: You should always have a couple extra pairs of socks in your pocket or on your person if you are going to be out in the cold for long. I also have extra gloves in case one pair gets wet. I just couldn't find them yesterday-I have them now, ready.

In the top right pictures is the crock pot full of good, home made vegetable soup. You can tell I have been enjoying it by the high(low)soup ring around the top. It turned out pretty good. I will freeze part of it and eat the rest-until I get tired of it.

By making up the bird dish I really got rid of a lot of stale stuff in the refrigerator. I had been saving up fat from my cooking just for the birds just in case we had such weather. Last year I didn't do a very good job of taking care of the birds during the big ice storm. This year is a definite improvement over what I was doing at this time in January.

If your joints are all aching, and your stiff and pained, blame Global Warming...not. I know it was warmer 25 and 30 years ago, as I was able to till the garden in March. I would till several times before spring planting time. I am looking foreword to warmer days come to come.

Cans and Spam

This my 300 th post. Do I get a prize?

I have to apologize for not posting photos of the newly fallen snow. There just wasn't enough to get excited about. There is more snow to the west and north of where I am. Blowing, powdery snow, yes: cold and miserable winter weather. Is only12 degrees right now at 5 P. M. and getting colder.

I found a good way to clean the bristles of my broom. Just sweep the snow off the porch and any dirt comes out with the snow. Really.

I went outside a couple of times to do a some things, but you can't bet I didn't stay out long. The cover I made to seal the foundation didn't work as I wanted it to because I made it too big. I tried to kick it in place, but it isn't a good solution, I will try again tomorrow.

I finally got the big crock pot of homemade vegetable soup going. I used a half a can of Spam instead of chicken because I want to use up some of what I have. Last summer when Spam was on sale I bought a number of cans for $1.00 each can. As I am not crazy about Spam I am looking for ways to use it.

I also intended to get the sewing machine out and do some minor repairs on my slacks. It was a good intention..and I will get it done, but not today.

I will soon start to save empty soup cans. I will rinse them out and put them aside to start plants in, around March. If anyone does this, remember to put a couple holes in the bottom of the cans for drainage. I can't see buying starting pots when I toss out good containers on a daily basis. I will be looking through the seed catalogs, too, getting ready to order.

I may have said this before: My Mother used empty cans with both ends removed to collar tomato plants in order to deter cut and tomato worms. You can also use to empty paper paper cores from bathroom tissue and they are biodegradable. Hey, live cheap-die rich? Or is it the other way around?

As my feet are cold and it is getting later I will end here. Stay warm. END

Blowing Snow?

Maybe, just maybe, I will have some photos of snow tomorrow as the forecast is for a couple of inches of ivory soap stuff. We shall see.

I went to Wal Mart this afternoon and wished I had stayed home. People begin to get hyper with the barest mention of snow. The store was packed. Giant cart loads of food and supplies were being hustled along by patrons who probably were remembering last years ice storm. No one was expecting what came slip-sliding down out of the northern hinterlands on the. Winter Express.

This year everyone-well, not everyone, is taking the weather predictions a wee bit more seriously. As they should. What was funny was some of the stuff people were "stocking" up on. Are 24 packs of soda pop a necessity for survival? Well, perhaps in some circles, like in a house full of rambunctious kids.

Didn't the Government advise that everyone have a least 3 days of food and water on hand? Don't you know when things get tough the Federal Government is going to "Bunker Down" and unable to rise to the occasion? The Democrats are already in their "Bunker Down Phase" 'cause they know what coming-wholesale disenfranchisement for their party. Hey, did you notice that Democrats ends with "rat" and the rats are jumping ship? Rats are always the first to jump off when the ship flounders and goes down. Smart rats.

Back to the point. Not everyone, for one reason or another, is able to stock up and "weather" the coming storms that will beset the economy. I wish all could and those that can, would listen and be prepared. There is a bumpy, rutty road ahead and I hope your springs are good and your tires better 'cause the way is long and winding.

My ambition kicked in a little bit, from first gear into second gear. Maybe I can even shift into third and get some more little jobbies done. I did get several loads of cloths done. The one thing I didn't get done was to cover an opening(ventilation) in the foundation under the bath room. If we don't get too much snow I will try to get that done on Thursday and wrap the outside hydrant. All thing in good time...or as I can do them.

I think I posted that the old Nash is in the shop, getting new brakes all around. If I am repeating myself...remember my brain is old, too, like the Nash. It is 50 years old and counting.

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Snow moving in

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Just in case no one remembers: I told everyone several times that we would have a long, hard, cold winter. I also encouraged stocking up on all essentials and needed preparations to endure the season and weather. I wonder if anyone took the advise. Well, I won't say "I told you so."

I have been enjoying big slices of Pumpkin Bread slathered cheese. Tonight or tomorrow I intend tart a crock pot of vegetable soup. Nothing better than good, hot soup on a cold day or evening.

Here is what I intend to use.

1 can of Hunts spaghetti sauce.
1 package of frozen vegetables.
1 package frozen tomatoes.
1 small can of chicken meat.
various herbs and seasoning to taste.

Pretty simple and the crock pot will do the work. I have all of theses items in the freezer or the pantry and some of the frozen up if I am to start over in-from my next garden the spring-I hope.

I dragged out some heavy clothing which I intend to put through the washing machine to freshen them up. The weather is supposed to get much colder and I want to be ready.

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Cold, front and Center

Are we cold yet? The temperature in the early hours of Sunday were down to five degrees. Does that make your toes tingle? Does it still feel like global warming affecting the tip of your nose? I know I put an extra blanket on my bed.

The thing about the hyped-up global warming saga is that man will adapt. It's how the human species has survived on this little green spitball. If man gets too cold he will move south and if he gets really too warm he will turn up the air conditioner-move north. And in the epochs of any climate change we savage beasts will evolve physically, biologically and even mentally. We are an ever changing entity traversing through time and earth cycles.

So, I don't get too excited over Al Gore's great verbal and printed insistence/assault-that the planet is getting too warm. Good. I like warm, especially right. Bring it on and my toes will glow with comfort and my nose will not resemble Rudolph's.

Taking a shower is an intrepid endeavor even with an electric heater on for an hour. The floor is cold and the bottom of the tub is like icy ice. I used to have carpeting in the bathroom, but decided that it was easier to clean tile than what I had; it looked nice and was definitely warmer, but wasn't altogether the easiest to care for.

I went to the store for a short time this afternoon. I think I spent all of nine dollars and maybe that is more than I should have spent. But, I am pretty well set for any snow storm that is predicted for the center of the week. I need to get brave and get my snow shovel out of the shed.

I listen to talk radio when I go to bed. Last night I heard the expression that "we don't have government; we have corporations." I have been wondering for a long time now, what ever happened to the anti-trust and anti-monopoly laws? Obama is a man of three Gods: Banks, Corporations, and Socialism. Well, I suppose that we should all be thankful that he BOWS DOWN AND PAY HOMAGE to some kind of deity(ies). He is a man of GOD(s), yes?

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Too cold

I really can't think of much to post this eve. I seem to be still tired from my little fling with the flu and I want to sleep. I did stay up all day and it is now 10:20 P. M. I didn't do much today, either.

It is cold: it is supposed to be down in the single didgets overnight, about 15 degrees below normal. I turned on the electric heater in the bathroom for several hours to keep the chill down.

Years ago a resident of the nursing home told me that when her bath water was too hot or too cold she had pain in her artificial metal knee joints. Now I know just what she meant. I theorize the the two plates, pins and screw in my arm are contracting or expanding with the changing climate conditions as the weather shifts form day to day. That's why I call my right arm/elbow my "weather arm." It seems subject to the whims and vagaries of Mother Nature.
My left hand is now trained to act as a brace to my arm/elbow so that is it doesn't "dangle" loosely through the night, holding it in a "loving embrace."

I did finish off a good book about Kentucky. It was a collection of satiric short stories about south western Kentuckians covering an era from 1920 to 1950. Anyone of the short stories would have made a pretty good little movie in the Hallmark genre. The title is "Zions Cause" by Jim Peyton. I picked it up from the library for a dime as it was withdraw and on the sale table. Pretty good entertainment for $1o cents.

I have not been too ambitious these past few days and I don't care. I did get the dishes done and that is about 25% of the chores that need to be done. Well, I' catch up by springtime...I hope. Maybe tomorrow, even 'though it's Sunday, I'll show show more signs of gitty-up-go.

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TUMMY BUGS AND BLOGS

Well, I haven't kept up with reading the news or the bogs these past couple of days because of the Tummy Bug, also known as the Kentucky Flu, 'though I'm pretty sure it is everywhere or coming to a theater near you soon. As I seldom get sick it was surprise to me; I just thought I was getting fat..er or lazy..er. Actually I was getting bloated and had severe stomach cramping. Still, I got off lucky as many were suffering from both ends of the...ahh...spectrum.

I didn't eat much for a couple of days as I finally got it figured out. I drank fluids and ate some olives to get the vinegar (acid) into my system. Bugs don't like acid. Bugs do like sugar and sweets...makes them grow and multiply like Tummy Trolls. Don't drink colas or sweet drinks.

I decided to go to bed and "sleep it of." I slept about 14 hours straight through the night and into the day. I felt a lot better so I decided to cook supper and eat as I hadn't eaten much in at least two days. I cooked rice (bland), okra and pork riblets. Probably not the best choice, but it was good. Not sure if I ate too soon, but I needed food...nurishment...even though I wasn't hungry.

So, I have not kept up with the dire predictions, prognostications, negative perspectives and downright meanness and some of the nastiness that is hidden in blogs and postings. Maybe the world will fall apart or fall in, like a big balloon that loses its air and goes fizzing off out through space and the universe. Would inflation cause deflation? Probably. I suppose it all in how you see the "end" coming. Will we collapse from the financial weight we are being loaded down with or will America just become a second world country? I am inclined to think that we will become a second world country/power. If worse comes to worse we may even become a feudal society and even worse, an anarchy. I know there are some out there that would just love a loss of law and order; thus they could make their own laws or become the victims of it.

Who would be the first to go or be sacrificed in such a scenario? It would be the elderly, the infirm, the mentally and/or the physically challenged. It's already in the works in that Social Security is already feeling the first effects. OH NO, you say, OH YES, says I. The NWO is working overtime getting all the little duckies lined up and ready for slaughter by attrition.

So, says I, Americans with any ounce of sensibilities should get all their own ducks lined up for the hunt and in the next coming (season) elections-vote out the politicians that were elected on false hopes, promises and outright lies; the next thing to being traitors of the Constitution. Of course, that is just what politicians do best, isn't it? VOTE THEM OUT!

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