8/13/08

We’re in the process of moving all our sites over to a new server. If things look wonky around here this weekend, that’s why. Fred’s going to move my site over Friday evening or Saturday morning, so things should be all set by Monday. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   In lieu of a real entry today, sights and … Continue reading “8/13/08”

We’re in the process of moving all our sites over to a new server. If things look wonky around here this weekend, that’s why. Fred’s going to move my site over Friday evening or Saturday morning, so things should be all set by Monday.

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In lieu of a real entry today, sights and scenes from around Crooked Acres.


“Hey! Can someone come babysit? I need a minute to myself…”


Momma and baby. It’s kind of freaky how pale her comb got while she was sitting on her eggs.


She’s a rock star. Actually, since someone commented that they always think of showgirls when they see the featherheads, I’ve been thinking of them as “Lola.” I think this black-crested golden polish is so pretty – I love her colors.


“Momma? MOMMA?”


I think Lola’s got a crush on Michele. She’s always hanging around him.


“I don’t know. I can’t see a darn thing. I think I need to speak to my girl; she’s not cutting my hair short enough.”


“MOMMA!”
“::sigh:: You again?”


Juvenile assassin bug, eating a fly.


I actually had a dream the other night that I fell into the wallow. It was not a happy dream because that wallow is NASTAY.


It’s a rough life.

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I made a second movie the day before yesterday (right after I made the gigantic-kittens-nursing video). I call this one “It’s good to be king.”


YouTube link


::thlurrrp::


Snoozin’ Zoe.


Kara likes to hang out atop the bookcase in the front room. I told Fred that since she’s staked out a place of her own, we have to keep her. He did not agree.


Inara gets in this box and hisses at anyone who comes near. She cracks me up, because our cats look at her like “Yeah? Your point?”

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I have no idea why Newt likes to hang out atop the truck tire, but he does it a lot, no matter the weather.

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Previously
2007: “It’s not a tumah,” he said, as is standard.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: Give me time, I’ll have fifteen different versions of “Xanadu” in my music folder.
2003: MY ARM HURTS.
2002: I think no one ever told Billy Bob that if you ANNOUNCE you’re taking the high road, then you aren’t taking it.
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.

8/12/08

You guys are cracking me UP with the goofy jokes! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   So, a few weeks ago when someone peed on the guest bedroom bed twice over the course of two days (both times on the waterproof mattress cover, under which lies a vinyl mattress cover. I am devoted to making sure no cat pee … Continue reading “8/12/08”

You guys are cracking me UP with the goofy jokes!

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So, a few weeks ago when someone peed on the guest bedroom bed twice over the course of two days (both times on the waterproof mattress cover, under which lies a vinyl mattress cover. I am devoted to making sure no cat pee ever actually touches the guest bed mattress.), I insisted that it was time for Fred to find and purchase a decent webcam “wireless IP camera” that we could set up in a corner of the bedroom, pointed at the guest bed, so that we could figure out who the fuck was peeing on the bed.

(“What are we going to do when we find out?” Fred asked. I still don’t know the answer to that. I just want to KNOW.)

We got the camera and set it up and then I installed the software on my computer and set it to record when it detected motion. At first I watched every clip the camera made, which I quickly tired of because no matter how I fiddled with the settings on the camera, if a shadow moved in the room it triggered the motion detector and I got a ten-second clip of nothing. (Except, of course, for the clip where Fred crawled into the room and around to the camera and then waved his hand quickly in front of the camera because he wanted me to think there was a ghost. Except he didn’t get low enough when he first crawled through the door and I could see the top of his head. Freak.) After I waded through all those clips the first few hours, I started just going in and checking the bed to be sure it hadn’t been peed on before I deleted everything that had been recorded without looking at it.

And then the software started being a pain in the ass, shutting itself down at random times for no apparent reason. And we couldn’t find an upgrade for the software, and as Fred pointed out “If we’re going to spend that goddamn much money on a camera, it needs to come with software that WORKS.”

So we sent it back.

Which leads me to ask:

Got a webcam “wireless IP camera” with really good software? Tell me about it!

I snagged some screenshots when I was watching the movie clips and made a quick little movie to share so y’all can see the excitement that goes on in the guest bedroom.

Miss Stinky hangs out in there a LOT. Who knew?

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So, did I mention that I originally had a hair appointment scheduled for the day I went in for my lower body lift? I called and canceled it with the intention of rescheduling it once I had recovered from surgery, but then I put it off, and then I was like “Well, I was thinking about growing it out anyway!”, and then I bought some temporary color and colored my hair to cover the grays, and then that washed out.

And I am SO gray. I would guess that I’m 50% gray if not more.

I think I’m still going to wait a while to call and make an appointment for a cut and color. The gray doesn’t bother me much, and I never look forward to sitting and having my hair done (it’s borrrrrrrrring, even though I very much like the woman who does my hair), so maybe I’ll go in September.

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This picture doesn’t even come close to showing how damn gray I’ve gotten.

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Friday when Fred got home from work, he decided it was time to mow the lawn. So I went ahead and mowed the side lawn on the riding lawnmower while he ate dinner, and then I ate dinner while he went out and started mowing the rest of the lawn. I debated sitting on my ass in front of the computer, but decided I was tired of doing that (I’d been doing it all day, after all) and so I went out and got out the push lawnmower and mowed the side and front lawns up by the road (which is too hilly for the riding lawnmower) and then I mowed the entire fenced in portion of the back yard and some of the chicken yard. When all was said and done, between the two of us we got the yard mowed in about two hours (not including the pig yard and the back forty, which Fred did yesterday).

One day I’ll surprise the hell out of him by mowing the lawn myself before he gets home from work.

(Except that I strongly suspect he’d be annoyed if I did that, since he is not much for surprises and I think he kinda LIKES mowing the lawn himself, the big freak.)

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These kittens are KILLING ME. They’re 16 weeks old and they are STILL occasionally nursing. Poor little bitty Kara, she’s such a small Momma cat, the little brats are just sucking the life out of her!

I’d shoo them away from her when they start in, but – well – it’s not MY job! Besides, they’re so happy and cute I can’t help just sitting there and watching them.

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Stinkerbelle in her favorite spot, on the guest bed. In the background, Spanky in HIS favorite spot on the trunk under the window.

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Previously
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: Right now, Fred’s upstairs trying to snooze while Mister Boogers comforts him.
2004: Does she think she’s Paris Hilton?
2003: Me, earlier today: “I swear to god, I’m going to go on a shooting spree!”
2002: ME LOVE LOBSTER, have I mentioned?
2001: No entry.
2000: It sure is good to be home!

8/8/08

If I’m allowed to have a favorite entry that I wrote – and I think I am – this entry I wrote eight years ago is still far and away my favorite. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   The giveaway page is up and running again, if you’re interested. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Laundry detergent. I’ve gotten several emails from y’all … Continue reading “8/8/08”

If I’m allowed to have a favorite entry that I wrote – and I think I am – this entry I wrote eight years ago is still far and away my favorite.

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The giveaway page is up and running again, if you’re interested.

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Laundry detergent.

I’ve gotten several emails from y’all about the make-your-own laundry detergent. Namely, is it supposed to be that thick? The answer is that yes, it certainly is. As it cools it turns into something that looks a lot like vanilla pudding, maybe a little bit thicker. You’ll want to wait ’til it cools completely so that you can break it up into smaller chunks (a big spoon swirled through it works just fine for me) and then put it into bottles. I use two old gallon-sized white vinegar bottles to keep my detergent in, and occasionally I have to jiggle the bottle to get the detergent to come out into the measuring cup, but it’s no big problem.

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Why, how much do you usually pay for a gallon of milk?

I… don’t know! For some reason I got it into my head that milk was up around $5 a gallon, but now I’m wondering where I got that from. I tend not to look too closely at the staples I buy (milk, flour, eggs. Oh wait, I don’t buy eggs ha! ha!), so I can’t honestly say how much milk’s been costing in recent months.

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we just got a new cat and while Oreo seems to get along with her MOSTLY okay, she’s suddenly taken to peeing in the bathtub, the sink, the entrance to the litterbox (we have one of those litterboxes that has “stairs” into it), and sometimes my shoes (GRRRR). So, any advice? I’m so fed up with cleaning up cat piss.

My only advice is making sure she doesn’t have a urinary tract infection, making sure she has access to the litter box – ie, that Oreo isn’t blocking her from the litter box when she heads in that direction – and maybe giving the Feliway plug-ins a try. Obviously I have no hard-and-fast advice or we wouldn’t have just bought a webcam to set up so we can identify who’s peeing on the guest bed (yes, we totally did – and no, we haven’t caught the culprit yet. More about the whole thing in Monday’s entry, if I remember).

Readers, any additional advice?

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Isn’t it funny how a cat can understand “who’s ready for the snackin’? ” Or “who wants some whipped cream?” But when they are tormenting the small cat, you scream “NO! over and over and suddenly they are retarded and understand no English? WTH? Selective hearing.

Oh, you KNOW it’s just your tone – they don’t want to hear you scream “NO!”, so they ignore it. I guarantee you, if you started saying “No” in your “Snackin! Time!” voice, they’d be all bright-eyed and running to see what you were giving them. Brats.

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I just came back from vacation and am catching up on your past week (daily reader in ordinary times, but very infrequent commenter)… I just had to laugh when I saw this comic on the plane coming home – sooooo Crooked Acres! http://www.creators.com/comics/the-other-coast/21684.html

So NOW I know why the chickens have been sneaking across the street and down the road to the dollar store!

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I just told my husband tonight that the best thing we have bought in a long time is our George Foreman Grill- the one with the digital settings and removal plates. I use it at least 4 times a week. During the summer even more, because it doesn’t heat up the kitchen so badly that we can’t sit in there to eat. It’s greatness!!

We have a George Foreman grill, but it doesn’t have the digital settings. It does, however, have removal plates, and I agree – those things are the BOMB. I always hated having to clean the plates in the old George Foreman, because I felt like I never got them clean.

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OK, I have a question about tomato sauce. The kind I like at the grocery store is chunky–diced tomatoes in sauce. I like the texture in spaghetti, and chicken parmesan, and anything else. So last weekend, a friend brought me about a dozen tomatoes from her garden, and I thought, Hey! Robyn makes tomato sauce, why don’t I? I started to boil some water to drop the tomatoes into so I could peel ’em, then de-seed them and chunk them and so forth, and then I remembered Tyler Florence puts his tomatoes in the oven to roast. And my favorite canned tomatoes are fire-roasted! So I just chunked the tomatoes, put them on a baking sheet with garlic and fresh basil and oregano and salt and pepper and olive oil, and slid them into the oven. 30 minutes later, I slid the whole mass into my mesh colander over a bowl and pressed away until I had–umm, liquid tomato juice. No pulp. (Embarrassed to say that this caught me by surprise.) So I sauteed some onions and garlic, added a couple cans of my favorite tomatoes (Glen Muir, if you’re wondering) into the saute pan, dumped in my juicy tomato sauce, added a little sugar and some more herbs and seasonings, and it was just wonderful, though a bit more work than if I’d just started with the cans. So my question is: how do you get CHUNKY tomato sauce???? What’s the process, you gardeners/ home-canners and cooks?

I don’t like chunky tomato sauce, so I’m just guessing here, but I would say that probably what you need to do next time is press half the batch through the colander, then peel, de-seed and oven roast the other half and then chop them and add them to the stuff you pressed through the colander. Maybe?

Readers? Halp?

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Naming a male with a female name is very “French”. Maybe he should have a full name of “Jean – Michelle”! Oh la la! :o)

Fred said we should name the rooster Michel, which if I recall my high school French classes correctly, is the French version of Michael!

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Did you buy the plastic strainer or the heavy stainless steel one? I am wondering how sturdy the platic one is. I am going to be processing bushels soon!

I bought the heavy plastic strainer. Once I’d ordered it, I was concerned that maybe I should have gone for the stainless steel one, but after using the strainer once, I would say that it’s definitely very solid and should stand up to lots of use. I might have a different song to sing once I’ve done a babillion pounds of tomatoes, but I’ll try to remember to report back after tomato season is over.

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My favorite kitchen tool is a large pair of stainless steel scissors. Yes, scissors. Perfect for cutting pizza into slices that are actually cut ALL THE WAY THROUGH, and for cutting up barbecue pork, and nearly anything else. They’re also there to grab when I need to cut open plastic packaging.

I actually have scissors in the kitchen – in almost every room, really – but I need to stop buying the shitty cheap scissors, suck it up, and buy the decent ones that won’t fall apart randomly! I bought Fred a pair of Joan Chen (I think?) kitchen scissors to use in the garden and I do believe they’re holding up nicely.

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At first I thought Mister Boogers was picking on Joe Bob because JB has gotten his pic on your site for the past few days. I guess that’s not the reason since he has his own site! I’m kind of afraid to leave a comment on his – is he sarcastic? Or would he just sigh and glare?

The only thing that makes Mister Boogers sigh and glare when it comes to his comments is when there aren’t enough of them. He forces me to read them to him over and over again and then he counts his (imaginary, internet) fortune and talks about what he’s going to do with it. (If you must know, he plans to buy all the catnip in the world and make a big nest out of it, not let any of the other cats have any of it at all, and hire someone to come beat up his brothers and sisters twice a day.)

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I can’t BELIEVE your cat has a web page. I don’t even have a web page!

Fred and I currently possess… counting… six? Six domains? No, wait… seven. Seven? Yeah, I think that’s right. No, wait. I asked Fred and we actually have TEN. TEN domains (a few more of them will be going live in the next month or so), which is kind of scary. Are there really people out there without web pages? I don’t understand. What do you do when you need a question answered and Google is no help? You mean you don’t have a bunch of smartypants readers who help you out?

You poor people.

Seriously, you people with no web presence at all freak me out. How are people supposed to properly stalk you?!

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Robyn, I’m sorry, I thought I had bookmarked the entry about the big buckets at Lowe’s that you use for litter boxes (the dimensions and how you cut them), but I can’t find it. Can you link to it in the Friday questions, please? I’ve recently seen my big boy miss the box by having his front feet on the floor instead of on the rim of the box (which points his butt almost straight down) and I think a bucket would solve the problem if all the cats would use them. Thanks.

It’s here. A lot of people have been searching for that lately, so I added a link to it over there on the right under the search box. Also, there’s a link to the recipe to make your own detergent. I’ll probably add stuff if I notice a lot of searches for particular pages in the future.

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Completely random, but thought this was so cute..heh. “Ham and eggs…A day’s work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.”

Ain’t that the truth!

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Big Pig, laying down and eating. The height, as Fred’s father would say, of laziness.

The pigs are going for processing on August 14th. We are spoiling them absolutely rotten as the time draws closer.

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I don’t know if anyone has asked you this yet, but have you seen or are you watching Real Housewives of Atlanta??? I love those shows, but I don’t know if I can watch the Atlanta one. I saw one episode and I wanted to jump through the TV and kick them all in the back of the throat. Oy!

I actually didn’t even know it was on yet! I did a search on the DVR and located a 30-minute special, so I’ve set up to tape that. Hopefully there’ll be people who are as hateable as some of the OC and NYC housewives!

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Also, please tell Mister Boogers that I added him to my feed reader. He will probably het that, too, but whatever.

Mister Boogers believes that he should be in EVERY feed reader across the country and does not understand why he is not.

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If you MUST have a mezzaluna, get a single-bladed one. The double bladed ones are a bitch to clean in between the blades. In my opinion, you can do just as good a job with herbs using a good quality, sharp chef’s knife. The mezz’s are cute, but they’ll end up being just another thing in the kitchen that you don’t really use very often.

Y’all realize that the only reason I thought I might need a double-bladed mezzaluna is because the guy who subbed for Pioneer Woman last week showed off his mezzaluna, right? And I saw how easily he chopped those herbs and I was all “Oooh, pretty! I need one of those!”, but y’all set me straight. Besides, how often do I chop up herbs? Uh… never? That’ll probably change when I have a little herb garden next year, but I still don’t really anticipate a special tool just for that.

Thanks again, you guys, for setting me straight! God knows I don’t have THAT much room in the kitchen to be cluttering it up with tools I don’t need.

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I also find myself saying “my friend, Robyn” in a non-creepy way.

Isn’t it the MOST difficult thing to explain how you know someone you’ve never met in person? You can say “Someone I know on the internet”, but you often get a weird look from people for that. Or you can say “Someone I know.. kinda…”, but people wonder why you’re being evasive. Earlier this week I had to say “Well, I know her on the internet and I believe she’s a really good person, but I’ve never actually met her in person!”

I generally say “My friend (whoever)” when I mention someone whose blog I read or with whom I’ve traded emails just ’cause it’s easier. And faster. And TRUE. You can be friend with someone you’ve never met. You can!

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So sorry to hear about Frick and the chick… did the other chickens seem to notice or care at all that she was dead behind the coop steps?

If the other chickens even noticed that Frick was dead, they sure didn’t act like it. Maybe they did their grieving in some special chickeny way, but I suspect that their grieving process doesn’t exist and the fact that Frick is no longer around doesn’t even occur to them.

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New kitten movie! This is from a couple of weeks ago. Remember when I said that Kara lays down and flashes her nipples at the kittens and they get all excited because they think it’s time to nurse, then she grooms them and then walks off and leaves them still hungry? Here’s proof.

See it here in MPG format.

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::slurrrrrrrrrp::

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Newtles say, “Is it time for the snackin’ yet, lady?”

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Previously
2007: And the code phrase for “Give me more money, bitch”, can you guess it? “Red velvet. Red velvet!”, of course.
2006: Ooooh, my blood pressure is rising just thinking about it.
2005: the line “I ate 212 almonds last night really fast and then puked them back so they were still kinda whole. I just washed them off and ate ‘em again. I’ve seen dogs do it.” made Fred shoot applesauce out his nose.
2004: No entry.
2003: “Hey, little kitty!” I said excitedly, as I am prone to dorkdom.
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: I will.

8/6/08

I completely forgot to answer the question a bunch of you asked the other day – just what IS the average life expectancy of a chicken? I thought for sure I had heard somewhere that chickens can easily live to be twenty years old (!), but a Google search led me to this page which … Continue reading “8/6/08”

I completely forgot to answer the question a bunch of you asked the other day – just what IS the average life expectancy of a chicken? I thought for sure I had heard somewhere that chickens can easily live to be twenty years old (!), but a Google search led me to this page which says that average life expectancy is eight years and extreme life expectancy is fifteen years.

Also, a couple asked about eggbound..ness (?). I think of it as being kinda like constipation, only instead of being unable to have a bowel movement, the chicken is unable to pass the egg. There are things you can do to try to help the chicken – putting it in warm water to relax the muscles is one thing, and there’s something else that involves lubricant and a latex glove, and I’ll just let you figure that one out on your own.

(Or read this and laugh your ass off.)

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It appears that y’all think the double-bladed mezzaluna (or even the single-bladed) is not worth the space it takes up in the kitchen. See? I’m glad I asked instead of just ordering it and letting it sit in the drawer for a few years before I tossed it out (or put it on the giveaway page)!

Speaking of kitchen appliances, remember last week when I was all “Wah, tomatoes, I hate you! :whinewhinewhine: ?” and reader Michele emailed me and said “Buy this right now, whiny! It will change your life!” and because I am very obedient I was all “Okay, ordered!”

Well, it came Monday. Monday evening before bed I took my two and a half gallon ziplock bag full of ripe tomatoes out of the freezer and left it on the counter to thaw. Mid-morning yesterday I set that tomato strainer up and got started.

Twenty minutes later I had nine cups of tomato puree. Now, let’s compare that with the weekend before last when it took me TWO AND A HALF HOURS of peeling and chopping and foodmilling to come up with 5 1/2 cups of tomato puree.

I am totally a convert. That tomato strainer is MAGIC and Michele is the reader of the week, and since I promised to name a chicken after her if the tomato strainer was as awesome as she claimed….

Meet Michele the chicken!

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Okay, Michele the chicken is actually a rooster (and I expect he will father many many pretty babies in his lifetime), but since Charlie and George are girls, I figured it would go along with the naming scheme if we gave the rooster a girl’s name, right?

I could have named one of the newborn chickens Michele, I suppose, but they kind of all look alike at that age, so at least this way I know which chicken we’ve named after her. We’ve been calling him “The tri-color rooster” and “The ‘hey guys’ rooster” (because he’s so curious and friendly), so it’ll be good to have a definite name to call him by.

So, to sum up: Reader Michele = Awesome. Tomato strainer = Awesome. Tri-color Rooster = Michele.

Now, y’all tell me – what is your number one, go-to, absolute favorite kitchen tool?

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Fred suggested last week that I try making something with chicken and eggplant, and after MUCH discussion we decided I’d made this eggplant/ chicken parmesan dish consisting of a layer of baked eggplant slices on the bottom of a baking dish, topped with shredded chicken, a good amount of Ragu, another layer of baked eggplant, then shredded mozzarella on top.

So I measured out how much eggplant I’d need, and I baked it, and do you know what happens when you bake eggplant slices? Are you ready for this? It shrinks.

I KNOW. Imagine my shock.

So I didn’t have enough eggplant, and after thinking about it for a minute, I was all “Hey! I’ve got these slices of eggplant in the dehydrator, and they’re not dehydrated all that much! I’ll just use those as is!”

Fred tried to be the voice of reason, all “Shouldn’t you rehydrate them and maybe bake them a little?” and I was all “PSHAW, no! They’ll be fine!”

They were not fine. They tasted like I’d put slices of rubber in there. Also, apparently I don’t like the taste of shredded chicken and Ragu together, because I took one bite and was like “Um, no! I’ll be eating cherry tomatoes and mozzarella for dinner tonight instead!”

So I would call that there experiment a resounding flop.

I’m not cooking dinner tonight, because I have a dental appointment at noon (I’m having a filling removed and re-filled) and then I’m going to Sam’s and then I’m NOT going to come home and cook dinner, so I told Fred he’s on his own. I’ll probably pick up a salad somewhere – unless I still can’t feel my lip from the Novocaine, in which case I don’t suppose I’ll be eating anything for dinner.

Tomorrow night I believe I’m going to make chicken salad. Upon cleaning out the freezer in the kitchen over the weekend, I realized I had several packs of boneless skinless chicken breast halves left over from when I bought them in bulk from Sam’s some time ago, so I want to get them used up. Fred’s been wanting chicken salad (made with the sweet pickle relish I canned last year), so that’s what we’ll be having at least tomorrow night, if not for several nights.

And now I’ve gotta go vacuum the house. I want to get that done before I have to leave for my dental appointment and the Dyson don’t run itself!

(Yet.)

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Living dangerously.


Kara is wily. She lays down so the kittens get excited about nursing, then she grooms them, and then she walks off and the kittens sit there like “Wait. I thought it was time to eat! Now I’m all hungry and CLEAN!”


There’s always someone around to jump into the picture and swish their tail by your face at any given moment.


Pretty Kaylee.


Pretty River.

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Joe Bob made himself a nest, and Inara came along to see what he was doing, and hissed at him. He was like “And your point is?”

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Previously
2007: (Miz Poo, upon seeing me pick up a fly swatter and walk toward her, whines and runs away. Like I beat her spoiled ass on a regular basis! I don’t, but I oughta. She deserves it.)
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: The morning I wake up and find a cricket in bed with me is the day I start closing the cat door at night, believe you me.
2003: I HAVE THINGS TO DO THAT CANNOT BE ACCOMPLISHED WITH A PORTLY POO IN THE WAY.
2002: No entry.
2001: Yeah, like YOU don’t have a voice in your head that reads things to you…
2000: No entry.

7/31/08

Reader Paula sent me a link to Suzanne McMinn’s blog a few months ago, and I checked it out and liked it and added it to my links list and Google Reader feeds and have been reading it ever since. The other day, just after Fred harvested the very last of our yellow squash and … Continue reading “7/31/08”

Reader Paula sent me a link to Suzanne McMinn’s blog a few months ago, and I checked it out and liked it and added it to my links list and Google Reader feeds and have been reading it ever since. The other day, just after Fred harvested the very last of our yellow squash and zucchini before yanking up the squash-bug-infested plants, she (Suzanne McMinn, that is) posted a Summer Vegetable Pie recipe. Since it involved things I had on hand, I decided to give it a try.

I originally intended to make chicken soup for dinner on Tuesday night with a side of Summer Vegetable Pie, but after discussing it with Fred, I decided to just add some chicken to the pie and we’d have that as the main dish, since Fred’s not a chicken soup lover. (That’s because he has no soul. HA! HA!)

Instead of substituting a cup of chicken for a cup of vegetables, I just added the chicken to the pie since I have a deep-dish pie plate. It ended up needing to be cooked an extra ten minutes (though in retrospect, an extra five would have done).

It was FABULOUS.

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Two thumbs up for McLovin pie!

Fred had me worried, because he’d read somewhere that old roosters can be “gamy”, but to my relief after three or four hours of simmering on the stove, the chicken was not tough at all, and not gamy at all. WHEW.

For dinner last night, we had another round of chicken and rice casserole and oven-fried green tomatoes. We’ll have more Summer Vegetable McLovin Pie tonight, and more chicken and rice casserole tomorrow night. That’s four meals off one chicken, if you’re keeping track, and there should be a couple of lunches left over from that, even.

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I find that, oftentimes, a crappy day starts with events that happened the night before. Getting the crap ball rolling, so to speak.

Tuesday night, after sitting down to watch TV early – it rained Tuesday afternoon, which kind of put the kibosh on Fred’s plans to weed the garden, which meant he had nothing to do and announced at 5:30 “I’m ready to watch TV whenever you are!” – we realized shortly before bedtime that the reason we were both so hot and sleepy was because I was cold when we sat down to watch TV, which made me turn the thermostat from 73 to 75, and it’s amazing the difference those few degrees will make, ain’t it? We were both HOT and sleepy at bedtime, and I got the plate of yummins for the upstairs kitties – it’s how I lure most of them into the kitten room so I can shut them in for the night – and when I went upstairs everyone but Kaylee went running into the kitten room to partake of the yummins. She can usually be lured out from under the bed (she’s the one smartypants who seems to understand that bedtime means she has to be locked in the room with her mother and siblings and cannot wander the house at will* but that night she would not be lured, and finally I was like “Fine! Stay out all night, see if I care, and I hope you don’t want to snuggle with your mommy or sisters, because I’m not getting up and letting you in that damn room in the middle of the night!” and went off to brush my teeth.

(Fred lured her out and put her in the kitten room when he came upstairs. He’s so handy.)

Then we got in bed and Fred was all whiny about “I’m hooooooot.” and “I hope I don’t toss and turn because it’s so hooooot.” and fidgeting and moving around until I was all “Goddamn! Would you lay still!” and then Miz Poo climbed up in bed with us and began her SO VERY ANNOYING rubbing-her-nose-on-everything-in-sight until I pushed her off the bed, then she jumped back up and did it again, so I got the can of compressed air off the bedside table (that you guys ALWAYS think is whipped cream when you see it in pictures, pervs) and pointed it at her, and she was all “Oh! I think I heard something downstairs I need to investigate, bye!”

So after a little while of boring, desultory, sleepy conversation, Fred said “Are you ready to go to sleep?” and I said “Yeah.” and Miz Poo jumped back up on the bed like “Hai guys! Is it time for the sleepin’?!” and Fred got up and headed for the door and then I felt something wet spray across my face and I exclaimed “Goddamn! What the hell was that?” and Fred said “What?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Something wet sprayed across my face!” I wiped my hand across my face and smelled the wet stuff and it smelled like nothing in particular, and then I heard a cat hit the floor.

“Is Miz Poo on the bed?” I asked.

“Yeah, I see her. Someone dark just jumped down,” Fred said.

“Well, I think Miz Poo [who is known to have an abundance of saliva when she’s particularly happy] shook her head and sprayed spit on me,” I said. “Can you turn the light on so I can make sure it’s not vomit or blood or something?”

Fred turned the light on, and I looked and he looked and he said “Uh.” and I said “GOD. DAMN. I AM GOING TO KILL A CAT.”

Because there was a puddle of pee on the pillow on the other side of the bed, dripping gently down onto the bed. Someone had peed upon the pillow and then casually strolled off.

“YOU FIGURE OUT WHO DID THIS!” I yelled at Fred. “You go figure out who did this, because I am going to KILL HIM.”

“How the hell am I supposed to figure it out?” Fred asked.

“GO DOWNSTAIRS AND SEE WHO’S ACTING GUILTY!” I bellowed, and I started stripping the bed. Fred went downstairs and reported that Tommy was on the couch where he’d been all night, Stinky was up in her cat tree, Sugarbutt was sleeping on a chair in the dining room. Spanky was off being good somewhere (we knew it wasn’t him, ’cause it had been a dark cat on the bed, not a light one). Joe Bob was hiding somewhere, and Mister Boogers was strutting around acting like an asshole.

Mister Boogers has been known to occasionally pee on things when he’s displeased – he peed on Fred one night – but he’s never EVER peed on MY bed, none of the cats have, so I was seeing red.

Until I went back upstairs to see if Joe Bob was hiding somewhere up there, and I pulled back the shower curtain, and I realized that the kittens had pulled the bathmat into the tub, thus covering up the drain, thus making it impossible for Mister Boogers to pee in the drain which he LOVES SO GODDAMN MUCH TO DO, and thus requiring him to register his displeasure in a way that we’d sit up and take notice.

I was still pissed, but somehow a little less pissed now that I knew there was some kind of reasoning behind the bed peeing and it wasn’t some random act of peeing. I don’t know. I’m grasping at straws and reasons not to kill that little fucker, I guess.

So I put the peed-upon pillows on the side porch (yes, I could have sprayed them with Stink-Free and I’m sure they would have been fine, but I wasn’t fine with the idea of laying my head upon pillows that have pee particles bouncing around inside them so off to the trash they went. I need new pillows anyway.) and the dirty laundry on the washer, and then I sat angrily in front of my computer and surfed around for an hour or so, and then I went to bed on my nice clean sheets, under my favorite comforter and I slept like a log.

‘Til 4:45, when I heard an odd sound and, upon taking out my earplug I realized it was the cat water fountain in the bathroom, and that the water level had gotten low enough that the pump inside was making that annoying grinding noise. We have this waterer in the upstairs bathroom and this one downstairs in the laundry room near the food bowls, and they’re both pretty popular, in fact when I let the kittens out of the kitten room in the morning, Kaylee goes directly into the bathroom and slurps up water like it’s going out of style. So I rolled out of bed, dumped a couple of cups of water into the waterer, which silenced the grinding noise, then went back to bed.

I woke again at 5:15 and after a few minutes of trying to go back to sleep admitted there was no more sleep to be had, and rolled out of bed. Fred heard me and came upstairs, and told me to come with him. He’s been telling me that the little roosters are starting to find their voices, and it sounds awfully funny when they try to crow. I followed him into the chicken yard and watched the little chickens run out of their coop and flap their wings and stretch and just generally act like little cuties.

Finally, one of the little speckled roosters crowed for us and I agreed that it was pretty damn cute.

I came back inside and posted my entry and then went upstairs to take my shower and get dressed.

All went well until about 7:00, when I decided it was time to get off my ass and make that Jalapeño Jelly I’d been putting off making. I got the jalapeños and green peppers chopped and blended and mixed them with the vinegar and sugar in the big pot, and I was cleaning up the kitchen while keeping an eye on the mixture on the stove because the recipe says that it boils over easily, and I’ve found that to be true. So I’d clean a little, then check on the pot. Clean, check. Clean, check. I was standing at the sink rinsing out a rag when I heard a loud hissing sound, and I turned to find that not only had the mixture come to a boil, it had come to a FURIOUS boil and it was pouring out of the top of the pot like a fucking fountain.

“SHIT!” I yelled. “SHIT, SHIT!” I grabbed the pot and put it in the sink, then I took the pot of simmering water (for sterilizing canning lids and rings) off the stove, and then the liquid that had poured out of the pot rushed onto the still-hot burner and I grabbed a rag to start soaking some of the liquid up.

And then the liquid caught on fire.

OF COURSE IT DID.

I thought for an instant of smacking at the flame with the rag I was holding, but immediately knew that to be a bad idea because there was so much liquid that it would go splashing everywhere and would cause a lot of fucking damage. I grabbed the fire extinguisher and stood and watched to see what the fuck would happen.

(Okay, that’s a lie to placate Fred. I didn’t grab the fire extinguisher. SHUT. UP. You weren’t here, WERE you? So SHUT UP.)

I stood and watched to see what would happen, hoping that the liquid would burn off and the flame would go out, and that’s exactly what eventually happened, though that flame got awfully high there for a moment and I worried that it would melt the microwave (it didn’t) or catch the cabinets on fire (it didn’t) and finally the goddamn flame got lower and then went out.

And then I got to clean up the mess. I dumped the mixture out of the pot and cleaned the pot, cleaned the pot that had been simmering and waiting for lids and rings to sterilize, I emptied out and cleaned the hot water canner, I used a spatula to scrape at the mixture that had burned to the stovetop (did I mention there were FIVE POUNDS of sugar in that mixture? It tends to make things a teeny bit, shall we say, FUCKING STICKY when it’s pouring out of a pot and splashing everywhere.) and then I got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed the floor in the kitchen, twice.

Then I neatly put everything away and I called Fred.

“This is Fred,” he said.

“When you get home, please go out into the garden and pull up those goddamn jalapeño plants because I AM DONE. I am never making that goddamn jalapeño jelly again in my life, WHY WOULD I NEED TO, I go through like one jar a year of the stuff!”

I babbled incoherently at him for several minutes, and then he presented a perfect target for my anger.

“Frank (Fred’s coworker, who went in with us on the pigs, and to whom Little(r) Pig belongs) wants to see pictures of the pigs,” he said. “I was going to ask you to go out and take pictures of them.”

“FUCK HIM!” I said. “I JUST PUT UP FUCKING PICTURES OF THE FUCKING PIGS LAST FUCKING WEEK! HOW MUCH COULD THEY HAVE FUCKING CHANGED IN THE LAST FUCKING WEEK?!”

“He wants to see them not all covered in mud,” Fred said mildly.

“WELL THAT’S TOO GODDAMN BAD! HE CAN COME OUT HERE AND SEE THEM IF HE’S SO GODDAMN DESPERATE TO SEE THEM! GOD, I HATE HIM**, HE IS SUCH A FUCKING PAIN IN THE GODDAMN ASS***, YOU ARE FORBIDDEN TO EVER FUCKING TEAM UP WITH HIM WHEN IT COMES TO PIGS OR COWS OR ANY KIND OF ANIMAL EVER!!!”

Then I think my head spun around and I projectile vomited pea soup.

After hanging up the phone, I had breakfast and I had that unsettled and annoyed feeling where I couldn’t quite decide what to do, so I ended up laying on the couch and watching a disc and a half of The L Word for the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon.

(I just finished Disc 3 of Season 2. I adore Shane. I think Jenny continues to be unbearably adorable. Tina kind of annoys the fucking shit out of me, which I know she shouldn’t because she’s so SWEET and all but I want to smack her really hard in the face.)

If I don’t start my period soon, I’m afraid I’m going to go on a shooting spree. This premenstrual shit is FOR THE GODDAMN BIRDS.

*Before you ask: I lock Kara and her babies in the foster room at night so Miz Poo can come upstairs and sleep with me. If I let them stay out all night, Miz Poo would be too scared to come upstairs and if she tried Kara would face her down and some sort of slapfight would ensue with lots of growling and hissing and I LIKE MY SLEEP.

**I don’t hate him.

***He’s not all that much a pain in the ass, I will grudgingly admit.

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The kittens are 15 weeks old today (at some point I suppose I’ll have to stop counting weeks and start counting months, huh?) and I’m starting to think we’re going to have them ’til they’re grown. Adoptions are going incredibly slowly for the shelter and room isn’t opening up and no one’s shown interest in adopting the little brats. I love them to pieces, but the older they get, the more traumatic it’s going to be when they leave the only home they’ve ever known and go to a new home, you know?

Ugh. I’ll just try not to think about it…

(And, no. We’re NOT keeping them!)

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Smilin’ Joe.

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Previously
2007: Pictures from around Crooked Acres.
2006: But I’ve been secretly calling it hepatootis to myself.
2005: No entry.
2004: Hawaii recap.
2003: No entry.
2002: Around the neighborhood.
2001: “SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!” I yelled.
2000: All hail Dumbass Bitchypoo.

7/30/08

My Facebook Scrabulous peeps, since they’ve disabled Scrabulous and Scrabble BETA isn’t due to be available for a few more weeks (mid-August is what I saw), there’s something to tide us over: Wordscraper. It’s like Scrabulous, it just looks a little different. If you’re interested, come start up a game with me! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Zoe … Continue reading “7/30/08”

My Facebook Scrabulous peeps, since they’ve disabled Scrabulous and Scrabble BETA isn’t due to be available for a few more weeks (mid-August is what I saw), there’s something to tide us over: Wordscraper. It’s like Scrabulous, it just looks a little different. If you’re interested, come start up a game with me!

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Zoe makes this face a LOT.

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Previously
2007: Now THAT is a signal I understand.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: My crap, is my scalp FRIED.
2003: I’m still thinking of killing her.
2002: Getting impatient, because Fred hadn’t carried the bag of food upstairs and poured some fresh food for his majesty, Tubby started bitching “Give me food, damnit!”
2001: “Remember when you moved that dresser? That was cool.”
2000: No entry.

7/29/08

I might be easily amused, but I think this video is AWESOME. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   Thanks, you guys, for your tomato-saucing ideas. I got an email from reader Michele, who ordered me to get one of these RIGHT NOW. Since I’m obedient, I went and ordered one immediately. I told her that if it works as … Continue reading “7/29/08”

I might be easily amused, but I think this video is AWESOME.

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Thanks, you guys, for your tomato-saucing ideas. I got an email from reader Michele, who ordered me to get one of these RIGHT NOW. Since I’m obedient, I went and ordered one immediately. I told her that if it works as well as she says, I’ll name a chicken after her.

Speaking of chickens, in my comments yesterday Donna-loo said “No talk about McLovin?”

Well, not really. McLovin is in the process of becoming dinner tonight. Fred processed him on Friday – if you want to read about it in detail (warning: THERE ARE PICTURES of the processing process), you can go read about it here. Long story short: McLovin was picking on the little roosters, so he had to go.

I’ll admit, I kind of miss him. He was pretty entertaining to watch and certainly very pretty. If our little roosters grow up to be half as pretty as he was, I’ll consider us lucky.

One of the little roosters – these little roosters are from the batch of roosters we hatched ourselves in the incubator, thus they’re McLovin’s sons – has no fear of us at all. He’s always looking curiously at us, he doesn’t mind Fred picking him up, and he’s a pretty little thing.

Hint to the chickens: You can ensure yourselves a long life by being friendly. I’m just sayin’.

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Our favorite little rooster.

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And his sister, who matches him nicely. I love that little pouf of a tail she has.

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Hey now you’re a Rock Star get the show on, get paid. (So pretty but SUCH a featherheaded dunce, this one.)

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At the watering hole, our favorite little rooster regales the girls with tales of his exploits. As you can see, they’re fascinated.

Also in my comments yesterday, Amy said:

Robyn, This has nothing to do with your post today but I saw the big buckets at Lowe’s that you used for litter boxes and I got some. The cats really like them and I do too. Our former litter boxes were covered and I like the uncovered better because of the access. But with the buckets, the sides are high enough to keep everything in. Thanks for a great idea!

By the way, what did you do with your old litter boxes? Our are at LEAST 2 years old…maybe more but each one cost us like…$30 and we are loath to get ride of them right away.

The bucket litter box continues to work really well for us, and I highly recommend it. They seem to prefer that one to the top-entry litter box, so we may just make it so that they have two bucket litter boxes at some point soon.

ANYWAY, what we did with the old litter boxes is keep them. I put them upstairs in the garage just in case we need them in the future, ’cause you can never have too many litter boxes. If you have the room, I recommend hanging on to them for a little while just in case. If you don’t – maybe Craigslist? Make a little money off them?

And lastly, Sue who asked if I’m watching Date My Ex, check out Friday’s entry, here.

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Sunday I never got around to taking the recycling to the recycling center as I’d intended (I had a fairly lazy weekend), so I did that yesterday and stopped at the crappy-ass local grocery store to pick up some sugar. The jalapeños have started coming in, and I needed lots of sugar to make and can a batch of jalapeño jelly.

Imagine my surprise, when I was ready to make the damn jelly, to find that I didn’t have enough apple cider vinegar. I went down to the dollar store, sure they’d have it, but the only vinegar they had was white vinegar. Since I was already out, I decided to drive to the crappy grocery store in town, because it might be a crappy grocery store that does NOT carry fresh cilantro (for Fred’s salsa, which I do not eat) but I was sure it would carry apple cider vinegar.

It did indeed carry apple cider vinegar, so I bought a big-ass bottle and got home, and then looked over my recipe (I have mentioned, have I not, that I have the horrible habit of not reading over a recipe entirely before beginning to make it?) and realized I didn’t have enough Certo and I was DAMNED if I was going to go into town for a THIRD time in the same day, so I gave up on the jalapeño jelly for the day, and made Fred’s salsa instead. Which he did not deserve because who do you SUPPOSE was the bastard who used up all the Certo so I didn’t have enough?

(Nevermind that I’m the dumbass who didn’t check to make sure I had enough Certo before I went into town. GAH.)

SO I GUESS I’LL BE GOING UP INTO TOWN TO BUY CERTO NOW IF YOU’LL EXCUSE ME.

I’m sure I’ll get home to find that the cats MacGyvered their way into the refrigerator and ate all the jalapeños while I was gone.

At least if they’re busy doing that, they won’t be vomiting in their food bowls and leaving it for me to clean up AGAIN. Except that surely they’ll have vomited the jalapeño from one end of the house to the other.

Goddamn cats.

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Recently, someone on Flickr posted pictures of her cats playing with some interesting-looking knit toys. She mentioned where she’d gotten them, so I went over and checked ’em out, and ended up buying a set of five toys for $4. As you can see, they were a hit with the kittens. And even better – all proceeds from the sale of these toys goes to a no-kill shelter. Five awesome toys for $4, and it’s like donating to a no-kill shelter. How can you beat that?

(Answer: you can’t!)

Get them here.

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::urrrrrrp:: “Oh! ‘Scuse me!”

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Previously
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: “Did you fart?” I said accusingly.
2004: No entry.
2003: No entry.
2002: “KITTIES!” I scolded, and after a moment the thumping and running stopped.
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.

7-28-08

Oh tomatoes, how you PISS ME OFF. I know that Roma tomatoes are considered the best tomatoes for making tomato sauce and such, but if the fucking things won’t grow any bigger than two inches long and after peeling and seeding them, I get maybe a pea-sized amount of tomato meat off each tomato, WHAT … Continue reading “7-28-08”

Oh tomatoes, how you PISS ME OFF. I know that Roma tomatoes are considered the best tomatoes for making tomato sauce and such, but if the fucking things won’t grow any bigger than two inches long and after peeling and seeding them, I get maybe a pea-sized amount of tomato meat off each tomato, WHAT IS THE FUCKING POINT?

I spent two and a half hours on Saturday peeling and seeding tomatoes, and before I began I was all kinds of thrilled because I was looking forward to making this tomato sauce. We never got enough tomatoes to make as much tomato sauce as I wanted last year, so this year Fred planted a million tomato plants and they’ve slowly started coming in and I’ve been popping them in plastic bags and putting them in the freezer, because once tomatoes are frozen and thawed, the skin slips right off and you don’t have to blanch them.

So after two and a half hours of peeling and seeding and chopping out the stems, I ran everything I had through the food mill, because that recipe calls for 10 quarts of tomato puree to start. Know how much tomato puree I ended up with?

Five and a half cups. Not even a quart and a half.

“How is this possible?” Fred asked when I presented him with the evidence. “Ragu is a buck a bottle. It should cost like a thousand dollars!”

No shit.

So I put the puree in a freezer bag and froze it, and maybe after another couple of months and 130 hours of effort, perhaps I’ll end up with enough tomato puree.

UGH.

DAMN YOU, TOMATOES.

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What I accomplished this weekend, in pictures.

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Dehydrated eggplant slices to rehydrate and use as lasagna noodles this winter.

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Dehydrated cherry tomatoes to use in stir-fries and chili this winter.

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Canned tomato juice. I don’t know what on earth I’ll use this stuff for (certainly not for drinking), but it seemed a shame to let it go to waste.

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Fred made his first batch of strawberry habanero jam of the year. He says it’s particularly good. I myself didn’t try it – I prefer not to sizzle my taste buds right out of my mouth.

Also, I vacuumed the house and did laundry and hung out with the kittens, but I have no pictures of those exciting activities. I also took a Saturday afternoon nap with Kaylee flopped across my stomach. I love that damn kitten.

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Summer squash season, at least for the And3rsons, is over. We’ve got enough put away until next year, so we were just eating it as it came in, but the squash bugs completely infested the plants (and the squash), and when Fred brought squash in yesterday, all of it had holes in it (and some even had squash bugs still rooting around inside the squash, yum!), so he spent the afternoon yanking up the squash plants.

We never did get much zucchini, though I got several cups of shredded frozen before the squash bugs had their way with the squash. Squashes? You know what I mean.

Speaking of zucchini, a few weeks ago Webster asked if I wanted her chocolate zucchini bundt cake recipe from Sunset Magazine, and of course I said yes, so she shared it with me, and this past weekend I made it.

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It’s really good! Fred tried it, and he said “There’s an interesting flavor… it’s familiar, I can’t think of what it is…” and I said “It’s got orange peel in it” and he said “That’s it!” I like the very slight orange flavor and the slight cinnamon flavor, and the glaze could not have been easier to make and drizzle (I put the glaze in a plastic sandwich bag and cut a hole in one corner and drizzled away, ’cause I’m fancy like that).

So, thanks Webster! In the middle of the winter I’ll pull some shredded zucchini out of the freezer and make the cake again, and it’ll taste like summer to us.

This here is the recipe, if you’re interested.

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Previously
2007: No entry.
2006: Y’all are good for my yellow ego!
2005: Maine recap.
2004: Hawaii recap.
2003: Maine recap.
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry.
2000: The cats are suddenly deciding to take closed doors as a personal affront.

7-25-08

You guys, this is the coolest thing. PetSmart Charities created this program called Rescue Waggin’: The Rescue Waggin’ ® program was created by PetSmart Charities to help save the lives of homeless dogs and puppies by transporting them from areas of high pet population (where they face certain euthanasia) to shelters where adoptable dogs are … Continue reading “7-25-08”

You guys, this is the coolest thing. PetSmart Charities created this program called Rescue Waggin’:

The Rescue Waggin’ ® program was created by PetSmart Charities to help save the lives of homeless dogs and puppies by transporting them from areas of high pet population (where they face certain euthanasia) to shelters where adoptable dogs are in demand.

If you go to this page and watch the video of Spunky taking “The ride of her life” (upper left corner), Pedigree dog food will donate $1 to the charity. It only takes a few minutes and if you’re a sap like me you’ll at least tear up a little, and then you’ve earned $1 for the Rescue Waggin’ program. How could it be any easier? Watch the video all the way through ’til you get the “Thank you” message, please.

Please just take a few minutes out of your day to watch it? Please please?

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The dancing guy video I referred to yesterday was the America’s Funniest Home Video where the wife kept locking her husband out of the house or car, and wouldn’t let him back in until he danced for her, but an email and a comment reminded me – you guys have seen Where the Hell is Matt, right? I’m linking it just in case you haven’t. (And thank you to reader Michele, who reminded me that I’ve been meaning to link to it for ages!)

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Awwww…how can you resist Spanky’s warm, fuzzy-ness?

I know this is a rhetorical question, but I’m going to take a moment to sing the praises of Spanky. He is SUCH a good boy, our Spanky. He’s the elder statesman of the Crooked Acres kitties (almost 12!), and except for a couple of urinary tract infections, he has never ever given us a single moment of trouble. He’s quiet but loves to be petted – sometimes in the evenings he’ll get up on the couch next to Fred and just look up at Fred with the Eyes o’ Love, and if Fred looks down at him, Spanky moves his head around like “HI DAD!” and meows softly.

He’s always been kind of a timid cat. I think I’ve probably told the story, back in the early days of my journal, about how I was sitting on the couch reading and I kept hearing ::THUMPTHUMPTHUMP::HISS::THUMPTHUMPTHUMP:: and it turned out that all the cats were chasing Spanky around the house. At that point, he wouldn’t fight another cat unless he was directly attacked, and even then he preferred to run away.

These days, he’s a little more willing to put the smack down. For some reason he does NOT like Joe Bob (Joe Bob, we’ve discovered recently, has taken to occasional spraying, and I think Spanky takes strong offense to that kind of behavior) and will kick Joe’s butt on a moment’s notice. (Don’t feel too sorry for Joe Bob – he, in turn, has something against Stinkerbelle and teases her horribly until she unleashes the hellcat scream.)

Every night at Snackin’! Time!, all the other cats mill around like little idiots, all “Where my snack? Where’m I supposed to be? Is it snack time? Uh duh?” despite the fact that each of them is given their snack in very specific locations. Spanky is the ONE cat who always knows exactly where he’s supposed to be, and he patiently sits in his corner until he gets his little plate of Snackin’.

Also, he’s the Bathroom Ambassador, and without his help, how on EARTH would we know where the bathroom is kept?

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If I remember right you had a “I want it” attack about key covers some celebrity had. I just found a website that sells different types. I think you later changed your mind but I thought I would insert some temptation into your life.

Give to me this url, please. I did change my mind, but my mind can always be changed back!

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Robyn, just wondering if you know what Bonnie, used to be Bontasia, from San Antonio’s website is? My computer crashed and I lost it.

Bonnie’s here now. She doesn’t write a lot, but she does drop in from time to time to post something.

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Actually, brown sugar is just less refined than white sugar. If you don’t have brown sugar handy, you can add molasses to the white sugar to make a substitute. If Fred really hates molasses, you might try turbinado (Sugar in the Raw) or Demarara sugar. Both of them are just unrefined cane sugar and might be more to his liking. I’ve used a combination of maple sugar and turbinado in baked beans, and it works well. Or is is possible that Fred just doesn’t like sulphured molasses? I like unsulphured, but I’ve never cared for sulphured.

I actually didn’t know the answer to the sulphured vs. unsulphured question so I asked him and he said “I just don’t like molasses, period.” So there you go.

I LOVE turbinado sugar – I used it the first time in a recipe I made a few months back (a blueberry coffeecake recipe where you sprinkle turbinado sugar on the top before baking) and really liked the flavor.

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I recently started watching Tori and Dean and I don’t know why but I love it. I used to think that Dean was not very good looking but he is growing on me and their baby….OMG so cute!!

I think Dean can be really good looking, or he can be kind of goofy looking, depending on what he’s doing or talking about.

I have to say, though the fact that he calls Tori “Mama” all the time annoys me, the way he looks at her – like he is the luckiest man on earth and God, how the hell did I get this lucky?! – melts my heart a little. And yeah, that is one adorable baby!

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Do you watch Chelsea Handler? If so, what do you think? We are definitely on board. Have to DVR it though, can’t stay up late to watch it real time.

I’ve never watched Chelsea Handler, but next time I’m in front of the TV, I’m going to set up to tape a few episodes and see if it’s something I want to keep watching.

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I can’t remember, what happened to Jake kitty? I think that was his name. He had been adopted and brought back maybe a couple of times.

I knew exactly which cat you were talking about, but it took the LONGEST time for me to remember his right name. Jack Frost! Jack Frost was adopted and returned a couple of times, but it appears that he’s been adopted for good – it’s been a few months and he hasn’t come back yet. Yay!

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The cupcakes look good. wouldn’t it be easier to just put a mini reeses peanut butter cup in the middle and then make the peanut butter frosting? (aside from the pain in the ass of unwrapping the peanut butter cups, that is. LOL)

Y’know, it wasn’t until you said that that I realized it was kind of silly to use a box mix to make the cupcake part, but have to mix peanut butter and powdered sugar and roll it up into balls. You’re right, it would be way easier to use mini peanut butter cups instead of dealing with the peanut butter. A lot less messy, too!

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Not that you were asking for suggestions… When we last froze corn we used a turkey fryer to boil the corn. Since it was set up outside the kitchen wasn’t so #*&$ hot, and we could do a ton of ears at a time. It may go without saying, but just in case: We filled the turkey fryer with water, not oil.

That’s an excellent idea. Am I wrong in believing that corn deep-fried in oil would be FABULOUS, though?

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You’ve seen this, haven’t you? http://www.drhorrible.com/ It’s from the creator of Buffy and Firefly. It’s truly great.

I actually did get to see all three parts when they were available on that page (they’re now only available via iTunes) and I agree – it was really good, and I liked the singing! When it comes out on DVD, I want to watch it again, though. I ADORE Neil Patrick Harris.

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There are even more great pics of the garden and how it’s laid out here: http://www.vituperation.com/2008/06/30. gave me ideas for my own (much smaller) one.

Kathy’s right, the pictures on that page do give a better idea of how the garden is laid out; Fred didn’t put it in his “Crooked Acres” category on his journal, which is how I missed it while I was looking for pictures last week.

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So dish: Is homegrown chicken significantly better tasting than store bought?

It absolutely is about ten zillion times better and more flavorful. And this was a year-old chicken (the chickens you buy in the store are about 45 days old when they’re processed), so it was a wee bit tougher than store-bought chicken, but the taste more than made up for it. Also, weighing in at just under three pounds before I popped it in the oven (in other words, bones and all), we still managed to get three meals out of one chicken – the roasted chicken we had for lunch on Sunday, then the chicken and rice casserole we had twice this week. Also, my lunch today!

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Oh I have no doubt you will eat the pigs…but I thought I read you will not be doing the slaughtering, correct?

Nope, a professional will be doing the job on the pigs. HOWEVER, Fred is already talking about getting a couple more pigs in a few months, and I’m fully aware that they will be ready to be processed in the cold months of the year, which means Fred will want to take care of them himself. And I vehemently protest this turn of events. VEHEMENTLY. I think it should be left up to the professionals. And I will be going out of town if he insists on processing them himself.

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I swear, I thought you were going to segue into saying, “and that’s why Fred and I have become vegan,” ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Fred enjoys his meat far too much to ever do that; so do I, for that matter!

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Good for you, Robyn! Personally, I don’t think I could do it. I’m reading “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” and there’s a passage in there about killing chickens. The author takes his turn at it to see what it’s like. It’s certainly better than how factory chickens are raised and killed. Have you read this book? You might find it interesting.

I own it, but I haven’t read it yet. Hopefully I’ll get around to it soon!

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I figured you had to kill chickens sooner or later. Otherwise, you’d be known as the crazy chicken lady instead of crazy cat lady. You ONLY have 9 permanent cats. Do you even know how many chickens you have these days? I had no doubt on the pigs either. You do not like them, you won’t pet them, you feed them using a long stick etc! Ha ha! I was surprised when Fred mentioned in his blog that the pigs are going in August or September. I thought it was more like November. He did mention getting a cow. Are you going to be milking it or Fred or is it going to be a steer just for beef?

We have around 50 chickens, and four of our hens are currently sitting on 17 eggs, so the population will be exploding here, pretty quickly!

(Actually, Fred spotted our first newborn last night when he was making his rounds.)

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I do, actually, like the pigs. Or at least I find them entertaining, and they crack me up when we (Fred) feeds them cookies and they chew the cookies and look all contemplative, like they’re fine gourmets who are considering the ingredients of their snack before they decide how to rate us in the Piggelin Guide.

And we feed them using a skewer ’cause they get kinda bitey when they get excited, and I’m attached (HAR HAR) to my fingers.

We originally thought it would be later in the year before they’d be big enough, but Farmwife called it when she said it wouldn’t be that long because they’d be big enough LONG before the winter. Fred measured them last week and Big Pig is over 200 pounds; Little Pig is around 145. They’re a lot bigger at this point than we’d expected!

I don’t know which of us will be milking the cow – I’ve never milked a cow and don’t know how good I’d be at it, so we’ll have to see about that!

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Hey, yeah do those undies ride up? I have to admit, I buy men’s bikini underwear because for whatever reason, THEY stay where they are supposed to be. Womens always seem to be up my butt.

When I read “Womens always seem to be up my butt”, I snickered. That sounds like a line from a rap song.

I have have no riding-up issues with my Hanes Cotton Bikini panties at all, and I highly recommend them.

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Your green beans look just like my Grandma’s. Would you please tell us how you cook them?

I use Pioneer Woman’s Fresh Green Beans One Way recipe. Her recipe calls for red bell pepper and I don’t like bell pepper, so I just leave that out, and it is still FABULOUS.

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I used to work on a poultry farm and it cracks me up that you went through the chopping method to kill your bird. We used to just put a foot on their head to hold them down and give a good yank on their legs. That breaks their necks and kills them instantly. I never had one go all flappy on me afterwards. I would never have lived through the sprayed with blood thing either. ick

and

I was told that my great grandmother lived on a farm and would just kill the chicken by grabbing it by the neck and swinging it around over her head breaking the neck.

I’ve had other people tell me that neck-wringing was the way to go, too, but I don’t know that I can bring myself to do that. Give me time, maybe one day I could, but I’m just a poor beginner when it comes to this stuff, y’know. After perusing Carla Emery’s book (we call it the Country Bible), I found that in her chicken section she listed methods of killing chickens from worst to best. The worst? Chopping its head off. The best? Using a killing cone. You can read more at Fred’s site if you’re interested; I don’t think I’ll be going into any more chicken-killing specifics in the future. I prefer to focus on the happier and less grisly side of life!

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Why does Flappy look raw in the photo?!?

‘Cause we take the skin off our chicken after cooking it. It was skinless but cooked through, believe me – nothing makes me gag faster than the idea of eating raw (or rare!) chicken. Gah.

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At first glance I thought that pattypan squash thing was some sort of muffin-like pizza dish and I got all excited, but then I read what it was and yea, the excitement was lost. Oh well, it still looks nice.

I don’t know what a muffin-like pizza dish would be, but I’m with you – I want some of that!

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Ok, if pigs don’t have sweat glands then how does one “sweat like a pig?”

Hell if I know! Maybe you go roll around in a mud hole?

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I hate squash SO MUCH (as in it makes me GAG), but that patty pan stuff kind of looks good. Can you get it in grocery stores?

I’ve never seen pattypan squash in the grocery store. The first time we found it was at a farmer’s market, which gave Fred the idea to grow it ourselves, and I know I’ve seen it from time to time at the produce stand I drive by regularly, but never in the grocery stores.

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The “little” pig? Little? Robyn, there is no longer any “little” pig. They’re both HUGE!

Well, compared to the big pig he’s little! Littler, maybe? Smaller? Smaller pig? We have to have some way to differentiate them when we’re talking about them, though the little pig is a pushy little brat, maybe we could go to calling them Mr. Nice and Mr. Pushy.

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Do your cats ever just flop down in such a manner that you have to go and nudge them, to make sure they haven’t had a stroke or something? My mom’s cat does that. Walking across the room, and BAM, on the floor.

They don’t ever flop down so suddenly that I think they’ve had a stroke, but at least once a day I’ll see a cat that is sleeping so hard that they look like they’re not even breathing, so I either nudge them ’til they look up sleepily at me all “WTF?”, or I make a kissy noise at them so they’ll twitch their ears.

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Those pigs are no longer cute lil piggies; they richly deserve the name “Hogs.” I bet they will be extremely delicious. Would you consider shipping some bacon???

I haven’t asked, so I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that giving any of our bacon to someone else would probably be considered a divorceable offense by Fred.

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A webcam on crooked acres’ farm would be most entertaining!!!

I agree! One out by the pigs, one by the chickens, one on the front porch, and one in the foster kitten room would be perfect. Fred doesn’t agree with me, though – at least, not yet!

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Will you butcher the pigs at the same time? If you don’t, will the remaining piggy be lonely without his friend to whisper secrets to?

Yeah, they’ll both be going at the same time. I don’t know if pigs are particularly social, but these two like to hang out together, they’re almost always in the same part of the yard, and they like to chase each other around, too. Partly they’ll both be going because we wouldn’t want the one who was left behind to be lonely, but also getting them there is going to be… not difficult, but it’ll take some planning as far as getting them there, and I think it’s better to do it once instead of twice.

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Robyn, what ever happened to the Spiderman you used to photograph when you were remodeling/painting Crooked Acres? I haven’t seen him in a long, long time. Did he get et by a pig perhaps?

He’s still around here somewhere. After his tussle with Malevolent Madeleine, he hasn’t quite been the same. After sitting around on his Spidey ass eating too many donuts and gaining some flab, he started working out and he’s almost back in fighting form.

Good thing – I hear there are some VERY BAD kittens around here somewhere…

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i saw this on apartment therapy and just had to share the photo with you…are you sure that’s not your house:) hehe

I LOVE it! I think Fred should build me something like that, don’t you?

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I have a question about squirrels (I know you have had your fun and games with them). Someone in the neighborhood is giving them peanuts. They are planting the peanuts in my flower garden, digging in the soil and killing all my plants. How can I get them to stop?

I’m the wrong person to ask, ’cause I’ve never even tried to stop the squirrels from the pain in the ass stuff they do – but I have the best readers in all the land, and I bet they have great suggestions. Readers?

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Are you watching Date My Ex? I keep forgetting to ask.

No, I haven’t seen it yet and I don’t think I want to. I strongly suspect that it’s going to end with Slade saying “Jo, after all this, I’ve come to the conclusion that the best man for you is ME!” and Jo will be all (in baby talk) “OMG! Slade, you’re right!” and they’ll get back together and next year will come the reality show My Big Fat Dysfunctional Relationship.

Jo bugs me with the baby talk and Slade is just so slick he makes me want to smack him.

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I cannot stand Tori and Dean, yet I watch that damn program every week. (I usually catch the 15th out of 45th rerun, or some other such nonsense.) Do you think their marriage will last, or will it implode just like about every other celeb marriage that is the basis of a television show?

Who knows? Hollywood marriages don’t have a tendency of lasting very long, obviously, but SOMEONE has to be the next Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, right?

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When making your homemade laundry detergent, did you use an old stockpot? I would really love to try and make this, but I don’t have a stockpot that is not being used for cooking food. (And I can’t use that one, lest I poison all the people in the house. Right?) Do people really have pots that they use just for non-food purposes?

I do have a pot devoted to nothing but laundry detergent, it’s a big cheap pot I bought somewhere last year and then never used. I was just concerned that after I made the soap I wouldn’t be able to get the pot clean enough to make food in it, and decided to err on the side of caution.

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I love baked beans but I can’t fathom growing navy beans when they are 29 cents a pound at the grocery store. On the other hand, I should plant and learn to tap a maple tree since I’m willing to pay $7/pound for maple sugar, which I use in my baked beans.

Well, to be fair they cost 99 cents a pound around here. Since we planted half a pound at the beginning of the summer and ended up with four and a half pounds, that’s QUITE the savings!

Okay, maybe not.

It’s less about the saving-money aspect and more about the knowing where our food comes from. And it’s just kind of cool to grow our own food and then can it as baked beans and not have to go out and buy a can when we need it. Kind of dorky, I know, but that’s us. 🙂

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The face of disgust kills me. "Yeah, I know. He KEEPS showing it to me. He thinks I WANT to see it. This is what I live with, day in and day out."

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Some cats like to sit IN the box. Not our Joe Bob – he’s a rebel.

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Previously
2007: Evan Rachel Wood! You are throwing away your youth and beauty on a talentless freak! You are wasting the pretty! Stop it right now, young lady!
2006: No entry.
2005: Home again, home again.
2004: I am a SUCKAH for the bullshit claims on bottles of lotion.
2003: Momma always said, stupid is as stupid does…
2002: No entry.
2001: Oh joy.
2000: I’m such a wimp that even a confrontation on TV ties my stomach in knots.

7/24/08

Reader Lisa says: I recently wrote an article for Compassion International, (the child sponsor organization), and am looking for people to read it and leave a comment. I know you have a huge following and am wondering if you could post the link and ask people to take a look? The article is called “Iowa, … Continue reading “7/24/08”

Reader Lisa says:

I recently wrote an article for Compassion International, (the child sponsor organization), and am looking for people to read it and leave a comment. I know you have a huge following and am wondering if you could post the link and ask people to take a look? The article is called “Iowa, Flooding and the Global Food Crisis.” It’s about how the floods in Iowa are going to effect the global food supply and those who live in poverty in other countries.

Y’all go check it out and comment on the article, would you?

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Someone did a site search on “Dancing Guy Video” yesterday. It used to be here, but it’s been removed due to copyright infringement. DAMNIT.

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How is it that a cat can get in a litter box, do his (OH MY GOD THE STANK) business and then scratch around for five full minutes and THEN go skipping off without having covered their great big nasty pile of stank? HOW? I spend half my friggin’ life using the litter scoop to cover the nastiness myself, and that just ain’t right.

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I have a confession.

I’ve been watching Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood. On purpose.

I kind of enjoy it – ALTHOUGH I should add that I’m usually playing Scrabble on Facebook (on the laptop) while I watch it.

Dean is SERIOUSLY whipped, but he’s kinda likable in a bumbling sort of way. I’d prefer it if he’d STOP CALLING TORI “MAMA”, but whatever.

Shaddup.

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A few weeks ago when I made pineapple upside-down cake, Fred asked if I’d used dark brown sugar when I made it. I told him that I had, and he asked if, next time, I’d use light brown sugar instead.

“Brown sugar is white sugar mixed with molasses,” he said. “And the darker the sugar, the more molasses are in the sugar.”

“I never knew that!” I said. Which is to say that I never thought about it – and if I had, I probably would have come to the conclusion that dark brown sugar came from a different part of the… cane than white sugar. Or something. I don’t know – who the hell thinks about these things?!

“Yeah. And you know I don’t really like molasses.”

“I know, baby.”

So yesterday when several of you pointed out in my comments that Bush’s Baked Beans have molasses in them, Fred was all “They need to look at the ingredients on a can of Bush’s! There’s no molasses in there!” Because during the bean-baking process, we’d both looked at the ingredients to what was in those damn baked beans.

“Well, except for the molasses in the brown sugar, right?” I said.

Silence.

“Because brown sugar is white sugar mixed with molasses, right?” I prodded.

Silence. And then I heard the tappity-tap-tap of a man looking on Google.

“Huh,” he eventually said. “It IS. I didn’t know that!”

So my question to you: when the Alzheimer’s gets really bad, would it be better to feed him to the pigs or just chop his head off with the hatchet?

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By the way, thank you, all of you who shared your baked bean recipes with me! I’m going to have to buy several bags of navy beans at the grocery store later so we can try them all and decide which ones we like the most.

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Hey, remember a couple of weeks ago when I dropped a bunch of bill payments in the mailbox and then realized later I’d sent them out with 41 cent stamps affixed instead of the correct 42 cent stamps?

Not only were the bills not returned to me, all the checks I sent out that day have cleared.

Kinda cool.

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“Nyah.”

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Previously
2007: (Yeah, yeah, har. I am HILARIOUS.)
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: No entry.
2003: No entry.
2002: “You mean Todd Beamer wasn’t the only one on that flight?”
2001: That’s it, that’s all the Miz Poo stories I have at the moment. I hope that’ll hold you.
2000: At the end, after having achieved a size 8, Jemima porked ALL the way back up to a 10, the cow.