ozzy's new digs

Ozzy wants to thank Aunt Trina for all the food toys & beautiful cage.

It pays to be a compulsive reader

A friend bought a swimming pool for her kids. Her husband went out & bought a sturdy looking hose to fill it. Not having an outside faucett, he hooked it up to the washer's faucett & turned it on. They didn't have much pressure coming out of the hose, but they figured that it would fill eventually. After about 30 min, she went into the house & yelled to her husband " the hose is leaking all over....Yes, he had bought a soaker hose.

When I see the written word, I read it automatically-maybe not all the small print, but most of the big stuff.I can't imagine buying a hose & removing the packaging without seeing the word "soaker"...maybe he read it & didn't understand what a soaker hose is. He sure does now!

Home made laundry soap

Does this mean I have too much time on my hands, or that I'm just a cheapass. I just made my own laundry soap. I hope that it's good stuff because I made a double batch-4 gallons.

Hot water
1/2 cup Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
1/3 bar fels naptha (grated)

In a large pot, heat 3 pints of water. Add the grated bar soap and stir until melted. Then add the washing soda and borax. Stir until powder is dissolved, then remove from heat.

In a 2 gallon clean pail, pour 1 quart of hot water and add the heated soap mixture. Top pail with cold water and stir well.

Use 1/2 cup per load, stirring soap before each use (will gel).

My little wren

Sitting in her nest. There's at least 3 eggs. This morning they were hunting bugs & came close to the window where ashley was watching. Ashley hit the window pretty hard.

digital cameras

I own 2 digital cameras. A 4 year old Panasonic DMC-tz1 small 5 mp camera with 10x optical zoom that I keep in my pocketbook-fair pictures & an 7 year old sony dsc-f717 -5 Mp w/ 5x zoom (Carl Zeiss lens) that takes better pictures, but weighs 1.5 pounds.

Last week a kitty knocked my Sony off the table & It started acting funny-the flash was locked out & I couldn't turn it on, every time I pressed the shutter release, it would take 3 pictures & the battery would deplete after less than 20 pics. I figured that it was on it's way towards toast, so I started looking on ebay for another 717. I bid on a few, but didn't win. They're going for $90-150. I finally decided to go to the Sony website to look at new cameras. I fell in love with the idea of the cybershot HX1-9.1 mp, 20X!!! optical zoom, sweep panorama mode ($379.00) (just over 1 pound):
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=16161&N=4294966339&Name=Cyber-shot+Digital+Cameras)

I was ready to order it, but decided to explore the Sony troubleshooting first. Amazing! somehow my old Sony had gotten set in the "burst mode" which I had never used. It takes 3 pictures in succession & locks out the flash. A few button pushes & it was fixed. I went on ebay & ordered a new battery for $8.00. (I am still using the original.), but it was too late... I kept thinking about the HX1 & went back & ordered it. My f717 will be a dedicated ebay camera.

Note to turkey Vultures-I'm back & I'm alive

I just spent a 3 day/2night all expense paid (or most I hope) trip to the Lock Haven Hospital.

Sorry. Vultures, I'm alive-it was only diverticulitis. I thought that I had gotten food poisoning at a picnic on Saturday, but by Sunday, I decided to go to the ER. Yep, no strawberries for me this season. Look what was waiting for me at home-turkey vultures:

Charlie's tattoo

Here it is-Charlie's new tattoo with his ball python, Tyke.

Bearclaw necklaces finally done

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of ours gave me a paw that had fallen off of his bear skin rug & told me that he wanted to comission 4 necklaces. I encased the claws in beaded buckskin & added turquoise, coyote teeth, 2 jasper zuni bears, bone beads & for the last one, 2 raccoon bacula.

So, you think that you really love garlic?

After cooking cream of garlic soup a few weeks ago, I decided to come up with a variation.

Creamy garlic mushroom soup

Bring to a boil:
1 qt chicken stock
1 chopped tomato
1T pesto
all the peeled cloves from 1 head of garlic (Yes you read that right-a whole HEAD of garlic
simmer 20 minutes & then process in food processor or blender with
2 T flour.
Saute:
12 oz sliced mushrooms
in 2T butter until done
Add the processed liquids & bring to a boil until thickened. Turn off heat & add:
1c milk or cream.


Singing "There ain't no bugs on me..."

Gumbo my way

I made a powerfully good gumbo this week. I read a couple of recipes & then winged it. Here's an approximation:

Saute together:
1/2 pound hot sausage cut in bite sized pieces (I used Italian)
1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breast in bite sized pieces.
Remove from pan & add:
2T flour
cook stirring until flour browns & then add:
4 minced cloves garlic
1.5c chopped onion
1c chopped celery
1 chopped red bell pepper
Chopped hot pepper to taste (I used 2 jalapenos)
2 pound can diced tomatoes & a canful of water
1t salt
1t pepper
1T Worchestershire sauce
1/4c minced fresh parsley
3/4c sliced okra
The cooked sausage & chicken
Simmer for 1-2 hours & then add:
1/2 pound shrimp
2c cooked brown rice.
cook until shrimp are done (5-10 min)