Ducky Doggy Stuff!

When I was cleaning off my kitchen counters,

I kept finding dog meds and stuff.

Dog Stuff!

Instead of putting all the doggy stuff

in a cabinet or drawer

I remembered that I had this little duck basket.

I used to keep sewing stuff in the duck.

But having all the doggy stuff

in one easy to get to spot

works great.

I have lots of sewing stuff 

and it has out grown the duck a long time ago.

Good work, Ducky!

Smiles

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Garden Abuse

Well, at least it is garden neglect.

Herbs?

All I managed to do in a year

was cover the herbs with the black plastic flats this Winter.

At least two herbs survived the drought and then the rain and snow.

Amazing.

Climbing Ivy

This ivy is amazing too.

It survived the drought without being watered.

And seems to love the rain and snow.

I thought I would put these photos on my blog 

in hopes I would become motivated

into doing some gardening.

Maybe?

I do feel guilty.

It is just that all the leaves on the spa house roof

were supposed to be removed

before I raked up the garden.

and that roof job is only partly done.

And the workers left the roof rake in the middle

of my lavender plant.

Sigh...

I have good excuses.

Smiles

~:>

PS: We gave our two next door neighbors most of the
small home grown tomatoes.
Good neighbors!

Tomato Surprise!

Tomatos, lots and lots of tomatoes!

These are lovely store bought tomatoes
that Tom got yesterday.

These are lovely home grown tomatoes
that Kristine brought home today.
A sweet gift from Mary.
Thank you, Mary.

The biscuits?
Since the eye surgery my sleep patterns
have been off.
I couldn't sleep last night so at 5am I got up
and decided to make myself biscuits.
If I can't sleep, at least I can eat something I like.
So I did.

Wonder what I can make with all these tomatoes?

Smiles
~:>

Sorting Stuff

Stuff has been collecting on the guest bed

for about a year or so.

After I cleared off the sewing table

I sorted through the stuff 

on the bed and moved it to the table.

Yay!

I found my yarn.

All good stuff on the bed.

Stack of quilts that need quilting.

And lots of lovely material to sew up into quilts.

Popa Bear and Kitty Kat

are happy to have their bed to themselves.

I'm taking my time and doing a little bit each day

to straighten things up again.

I'm feeling better and I can see.

Yay!

I really want to move things around in this room

and make a space for a treadmill for walking.

I don't want to run or jog.

Just walk.

I'll search around online for reviews.

I don't know anything about treadmills.

Smiles

~:>

My Ox-tail Soup

Today is soup day.

I asked the butcher to package up some ox-tails

which he did and I froze the pkg.

Many months later...

It took a couple of days to defrost in the fridge.

So, today I cut up carrots, onion, and celery.

Found the last little bit of barley.

Put the tails in the pot and covered with water. 

After I boiled and skimmed the tails,

I added a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper, 

the veggies, barley and a pkg. of 

organic beef broth.

The pot is simmering.

This soup is so easy to make.

I'm sure there are recipes with much more things to do and add 

but I just put stuff in the pot that I have 

and to my taste.

I like easy.

Today is in the 70's 

and such a lovely day.

Not too hot, Not too cold.

Smiles

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My DIY For Today - I Voted

Yep!

Voting is my big accomplishment for the day.

These are my four little pot lid pot holders.
I need to make some more.

Yay!

I voted!

I still think that Australia has the right idea

on how to deal with non voters.

If a person doesn't have a valid reason for not voting

in a Federal Election in Australia.

They will be fined $20.00.

If they don't pay the $20.00 they can be fined up to $180 dollars

and also end up with a criminal record.

Voting is such a privilege.

Smilesi

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Eggs And Ice Water

First...handles...

See the two handles ...one black...one white.

The while handle is newer 

and fits best on the newer corning ware.

This little white corning ware pot is older and so 

the black handle fits best on the older corning ware.

I remember when I got my first corning ware in the 60"s

that it came with black handles.

The white handles didn't show up until

corning came out with the newer designs

on their pots.

At least I didn't see them in the stores until then.

Second...steaming eggs.

Do a search on Google or YouTube

for lots of info 

about steaming and peeling eggs.

Here is what I do:

Steam for 6 minutes with lid on = soft boiled egg

Steam for 10 minutes with lid on = hard boiled egg

To make eggs easy to peel.

After steaming put egg in ice cube/water

for just half a minute or so if you want hot/warm eggs.

Leave the steamed egg in the ice cube/water

until cold if you want cold eggs.

I tap my eggs with the back of a spoon to crack them.

If I am going to make a bunch of cold eggs.

I crack them before I put them in the ice water.

I start peeling on the round end.

The fresher the egg the harder it is to peel.

Since I have been buying store bought eggs

I have noticed they are easier to peel.

I do buy pasture eggs when they are available.

No work on the freezer.

Maybe next week?

I did do some work clearing up my sewing area.

Yay! I can see the top of the table.

Smiles

~:>

Hair Off The Dog

This is for the birds.

Nest building?

Kristine said she has seen the birds

flying off with doggy hair.

There was more hair than this.

Dog hair/wool trimmings.

I trimmed off way more with scissors.

And I must confess...

I did nick Morgan.

So sorry, Morgan. I tried to be very careful.

Morgan is 13 years old.

Morgan is panting less and seems more comfortable.

Next Morgan needs her nails cut and a bath.

Morgan really hates anyone messing around with her coat.

She doesn't stand for combing, etc.

I can understand that

especially after I nicked her.

So I just tried to get the long hair off her middle

and left her front and rear alone.

But now with all that dirty thick hair gone

we have a chance of getting her clean.

We will try.

Still no progress on the freezer.

Tomorrow?

Smiles

~:>

There Is Always Tomorrow

Tomorrow,

Kristine says we will work on the freezer tomorrow.

Okay with me.

So, I'm going to post about some pots.

First a photo of a super old corning ware pot

that Tom found at the local town garage sale.
Love how I can take the handle off and on.

My egg steamer.

At first I thought I would use this pot

to make rice.

But the steamer fits so well

and it only takes 6 minutes to steam some eggs.

Works great!

My newest pot.

I got this pot to make rice.

Makes great rice.

The only thing I didn't like was it had a solid lid.

So, I'm using a lid from my pyrex ware.

Fits like it was made for the pot.

This pot with the long handle is the pot 

that gave me the idea

about putting up a pot rack.

There was some talk about doing stuff today

but not much doing.

I'm going to blame the muggy weather.

The clothes I hung out on the line

didn't feel that dry even after hanging there all day

in 80+ temp.

Morgan needs a bath and her nails trimmed.

Only thing is...

she hates having her coat messed with.

I think it hurts her.

So, I'm going to give her a haircut with some

blunt nosed scissors.

Then we can try to give her a bath.

Her coat is way too thick and full of dead hair

to try and bathe her.

She automatically turns to nip the brush

when I try to brush her.

Poor Morgan.

Well, tomorrow

it will be work on the

freezer or Morgan

or both.

Smiles

~:>

Sticky Stuff Works Out

This is a pre-script:
Re: the DIY pipe pot rack
After much online research,
I decided against using galvanized or black pipe.
So, I will be purchasing a simple pot rack
that is food grade safe.
For use over the stove.
I don't want zinc, etc. falling in the food.
=================

No before photo...

here is the after photo of the side of the fridge.

I took off all the stuff stuck on the side of the fridge,

sorted through it and tossed most of it.
2015?
I need to pick up a new Farmers Market
schedule next time I get there.
Wow, haven't been there since 2015.

I kept anything magnetic, cut them in strips or ?

and then glue gunned stuff I wanted to 

keep stuck to the fridge

onto the magnetic pieces.

So, much neater look.

And I can actually find stuff I want to find.

Success!

Here is the project for tomorrow.

Ahhhh.... scary freezer!

Kristine said she will identify stuff in there that needs to vacate.

? been there tooooo long hidden away and

forgotten.

Must be stuff like that in there?

Well, so far the top of the fridge is cleaned off.

The side of the fridge is neatened up.

Kristine cleaned up the inside.

Now comes the freezer.

da, dahhhh...

Scary and cold...

tomorrow

brrrr...

Smiles

~:>

Mirror, Mirror On The Door

I heard a crash!

And ran to see what happened...

The mirror had fallen off the door.

And here is the mirror back on the door.

Well, this is a photo of the mirror fasteners.

This is a hollow door.

Nothing but trouble when it came to trying to put

screws into a hollow door.

So, I got some toggle bolts with hopes they would

perform better.

Since I had to use the original screw holes

the toggle bolts were really not that much

better than the screws at securing the mirror.

Well, the mirror is on the door.

At least, until I hear another crash.

Maybe I'll try glue next time.

My tools...

Love the hammer/screw driver set.

There is even a smaller screwdriver

in the handle.

Great tools can make a job a pleasure.

I have measured and drawn up a plan for the

kitchen pipe DIY rack.

Now I am trying to find out if it is better to use

black pipe or galvanized.

I have read that galvanized pipe flakes off zinc.

Since this rack will be over the cook top

I really don't want zinc raining down into the food.

So, more research...

Smiles

~">

Downtown

This is a pre-script:

Re: the DIY pipe pot rack
After much online research,
I decided against using galvanized or black pipe.
So, I will be purchasing a simple pot rack
that is food grade safe.
For use over the stove.
I don't want zinc, etc. falling in the food.
=================

Wow! I actually left the property.

and was downtown today.

Got my hair cut.

and

spent time in the local hardware store

looking around at

galvanized pipe fittings.

One of my new projects

is to tackle some DIY

and build a

kitchen pot rack!

Now I need to head off to the kitchen

and take some measurements

so I will know what size and length of 

fittings and pipe I will need.

I'm going for galvanized pipe.

I saw there was copper pipe but I think the

galvanized will look better with the 

hooks and pots.

Hope this idea will work out.

It will depend on how much room there is

between the ceiling post and the cooktop. 

So, maybe a set of new cookware is in the future?

Smiles 

~:>

A Small Job A Day

My plan is to accomplish at least one small job a day.

This way I won't get discouraged and

give up.

Today = the refrigerator...

Top of refrigerator and animals clean. The cow and Wilber survived the Loma Pieta 1989 earthquake. Kinda chipped a bit but all in one piece. The house didn't fair so well.

And I will have a little bit to blog about.However, boring it may be.

Sorry...

But, I will actually be  doing something

which is way better 

than me doing

nothing.

Myrtle and berry bushes.

The extra rainfall and snow this winter
has made the plants very happy.
I don't remember this much growth in the Spring.

There is a job waiting for me.
That all needs cutting back.
And the path needs clearing to the porch.

Hope the rainfall continues
and California doesn't experience more drought.

Smiles

~:>

Spring Blog Post 2016

I hope this will be the first of many posts this year.

There are lots of projects around here

that need attention.

Clean sparkly counters!

I needed to clean the clutter off my kitchen counters
and scrub the counters clean.

These counters may still look cluttered
but they are way more organized and much cleaner.

The refrigerator is scheduled to be on the task list tomorrow.

My eye surgery had some problems
but I am doing well and getting used to the change in vision.

I used to be able to see up close but not far away.
Now after about 20 inches I can see great but up close
I need to wear glasses.
Friday I am going to pick up some prescription glasses
for close work so I can get back to sewing and knitting, etc.

We still have two old hens (an Australorp and a Buff Brahma)
that are in the coop and run all the time
 because of predators.

I do miss the chickens free ranging in the woods
(and fresh eggs)
but losing them to foxes, etc.
is very upsetting.
So, we are going to keep these two locked up and safe.

We do need a new coop and run so we
won't be getting any new chickens
until that is ready.

Smiles
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