3-6-08

Last night I was laying in bed reading, and I kept hearing the most annoying rubbing sound, so I finally put my book down and looked around to see what the hell was going on. Tommy was on the floor next to my cedar trunk, and he was rubbing his entire body against the trunk … Continue reading “3-6-08”

Last night I was laying in bed reading, and I kept hearing the most annoying rubbing sound, so I finally put my book down and looked around to see what the hell was going on. Tommy was on the floor next to my cedar trunk, and he was rubbing his entire body against the trunk and purring very loudly. Finally, he stopped rubbing against the trunk, and just flopped down next to it.

And then he started licking it. He must have licked it for two or three minutes straight, until there was a big wet spot on the side, and then he stumbled off, looking for all the world like he was high.

I know that when Fred cut down the cedar tree in the back yard last year, some of the cats could smell the cedar on his clothes, and they acted high. This is the first time any of them has had that reaction to the trunk in the bedroom, though.

Have y’all ever heard of the smell of cedar making cats high, or is it just my freaks?

Since y’all had so many questions about edamame (pronounced “ed-a-MA-MAY“), here’s some information. First of all, edamame is (are?) young soy beans, picked when they’re first ripe, then usually boiled and frozen immediately. I buy the big-ass box of Imperial Gourmet Edamame at Sam’s Club. They’re separated into 8 microwaveable bowls of edamame. I pop the bowl into the microwave for 3 minutes, and voila! Ready to go!

I don’t eat a whole bowl at once, because it’s kind of a lot, so I take what I want and put the rest in a Tupperware container and keep it in the fridge. You can eat edamame hot or cold, but I prefer cold.

With fresh (not previously boiled or steamed) edamame, you boil or steam them for 4 or 5 minutes (add a little salt to the water if you boil them), run them under water to cool, then eat.

If you’ve never eaten edamame before, you might not know that the pods aren’t edible. After the edamame is steamed, you can either go through and scoop the edamame out of the pods into a bowl with your fingers and eat them all at once, or (this is what I do), squeeze the beans out of the pods with your teeth and eat as you go.

I’ve also seen packages of edamame in the produce section at Publix, and I believe I’ve heard that Costco carries them in their freezer section as well.

We’re going to grow our own edamame this summer!

Any other edamame questions?

After my hair appointment yesterday, I ran to Sam’s Club because we were completely out of Splenda, and getting dangerously low on edamame. While I was there, I picked up some blueberry bagels for the pigs, and a three-pound bag of about-to-go-bad grapes for the pigs and the chickens. I’d say we’re going to go broke feeding these pigs, but most of the stuff we (I) buy for them is the cheap stuff, and Fred’s got people at work bringing in stuff they’d ordinarily toss in the trash, which helps a lot.

Fred stopped by Wal-Mart the other day to see about getting their about-to-go-bad produce and day-old bread and stuff of that sort, but found out that they won’t do that, they can’t – company rules dictate that they have to toss all that stuff into a compactor and turning it into trash instead of giving it to someone to feed their livestock. Same with the local grocery store. Ridiculous, isn’t it?

When I got home, I went out to the pig yard to bring a bagel and some grapes and egg shells to them (yes, they eat egg shells), and they were at the very back of their yard. It took them a moment, but once they spotted me, they came at a run. They didn’t run right up to me, but it’s clear that they’ve made the person-entering-yard = FOOD IN OUR DISH connection. When they got about 15 feet away, they veered over to their food dish, sniffed around, and gave me expectant looks. I dumped the food in their dish and backed away.

They made very short work of that food, let me tell you.

Later, after Fred got home (with a box of Little Debbie snack cakes for the pigs – because, hey, that’s cheap stuff, too!) we went out there and coaxed the pigs to come close.. I’m not really interested in making friends with the pigs, because I’ve read how aggressive they can get, and I have no desire to become dinner, so I keep my distance most of the time. However, I think their ears are really neat, and so I wanted to touch them and see what they feel like. After a lot of hesitation, they finally came close enough that I could reach out and touch one of the big one’s ear and have my question answered.

They feel cartilage-y, like human ears. Go figure.

I don’t think Miss Momma and Newt have spent much time out near the pig yard since we got the pigs, but when we went out for a walk around the back forty the other night (before it rained and turned the back forty into a swamp), Miss Momma followed us out and sat near the pig yard, staring at them with big dark eyes. Hopefully she won’t try to go in there – I have a feeling that given a few more weeks, the pigs would enjoy a little kittycat tartare.


One of the many other women in my husband’s life. She LURVES Fred. She’ll lay next to him in the evening when we’re watching TV and just stare at him all evening long.

Previously
2007: Did I mention my hormones are all out of whack?
2006: “And they’ll have to call it Wipe the Ass!”
2005: No entry.
2004: No entry.
2003: Want some cats?
2002: I had no idea what to say – “Well, of COURSE you’re only going to date someone you think is cute!”? Then I’m anti-ugly.
2001: Except for that crying at the drop of a hat thing, she’s just fine.
2000: Do y’all ever do that, have moments where the startling realization that you’re a complete dumbass smacks you in the face?