September, Sweet September

We have rain. Weather has cooled.

I haven't smoked a cigarette since the middle of August. Am slowly adjusting to this self imposed change. Doubt that I will ever "Quit" but the patches I'm using do stop the craving. I don't have anything to prove, not doing this for any reason other than I am tired of the inconvenience of running out and having to make a trip to buy more.
I do miss the Second Hand Smoke smell because I grew up in a home of smokers.
I don't wear the patch but 16 hours a day because I don't smoke in my sleep.

POO is enjoying his play dates with his friend who lives across the street.

Summer produce was a disappointment. Hope fall crops will be better.

This is my version of baked Okra
I use several pounds because I like fresh baked Okra and I save the left-overs in the freezer to add to soups.

Heat oven to 450 degrees.
Line Jellyroll pan with non-stick foil.
Slice Okra 1/4" thick and place a single layer in pan.
If you want to use Salt and Pepper or any other dry seasoning you can do it before baking. I don't use anything on the batches I plan to freeze.
Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes and remove pan from oven and use two spatulas to turn and return to oven and lower temp to 425 degrees. Check every 10 minutes.
It is done when you decide it is done.
Yes, POO likes it too.
Best,
towwad

August 09

We have had an occasional shower or two but the weather has been brutal. Usually when the Al antic hurricane season arrives we catch a break in the heat. Hasn't happened yet.
POO is enjoying his play dates with his new friend. She is a year old and has reached her full size of 3 lbs.

Food has been a disappointment because of the problem with potatoes and tomatoes this year.
The beans we have on the patio are still alive but I don't see any sign that there will be anything to harvest.

I went in to have my ears cleaned out and now I can hear again but my equilibrium is out of whack.

Not much going on in the cooking department. I think I'll go with the imposable pies for a while.
Later...
towwad

Drunk Again

It is a few minutes into Saturday morning and I can tell you that Friday was a busy one for us.
Started earlier in the week when POO went in for his rabis shot. He was still overweight--I have started defending his weight issue by saying, "Ah, that's just his jewelry and extra fluff.". He now will sport 10 vaccination tags. So he struts his stuff with a jingle-jangle.
I got a bottle of medicine for his gum problem. We started the eye dropper thing again.
And we are still working on his red tear stains. We also made an appointment for him to have his teeth cleaned on Friday.

And here is how our Friday went:
I make it out of bed and get myself together long enough to run POO to his clinic.
Get back and have my morning coffee.
Make sure that I have taken my meds, including the extra stuff I need for my stomach every few weeks.
Sit at my PC and read the news and mess around.

Start collecting things to wear. Found my "good" sneakers. Had to actually open my special drawer to find a bra. Got a new disposable undie from the package. Couldn't find any clean socks in the dryer and didn't think of looking on the wide sock shelf of that closet--when I got home I discovered one unopened pack of 6 pair and another new pair. Don't remember when I bought them. ( I'm a wash and wear here at home--just can't see the effort of folding ).

My only pantie hose were white and I was in a dark mood so decided to go bare legged but I added a long legged black pantie girdle for something "underneath".
Then I open the double doors of the closet that has clothes I deem worthy of putting on hangers. I have an array of beautiful dressy things in several sizes and lovely colors for every season and fabrics that feel good to the touch. I have been given every one of them but two dresses I bought in 1981. For some reason I do not understand, women give me the most beautiful clothes. I only wear one of the dresses I got in 1981. If it is too loose, I need to gain weight. If it is too snug, I need to lose some weight. Besides I feel good wearing it. I like the fabric and everything about the style except for it's 3/4 length sleeves.
I like the silky tone on tone embroidered blouse in white but don't want to go with skirt and blouse. I spy an understated black with tiny white dots silky dress that buttons to the collar which has long sleeves and mock French cuffs.

Get my Hair pulled to the nape of my neck and tied tight and look around until I find my black fru-fru thing that is hiding on my PC desk between the hammer and flashlight and finish my hair. ( It stays there when I'm home )

With hair done I slip dress on and notice the belt is not long enough. Humm. Discard the belt because the dress doesn't need it. Besides, I don't like belts. Then I start with the buttons and remember why I wear my favorite dress. It does not have any buttons.
I get the cuffs first. Then I have to struggle with the buttons from the waist up. At the neck is a tiny snap and a hoop for the button at the throat. So much tedious work getting the buttons done and when I smooth the front of the dress and look in the mirror I realize that the damned things are hidden and all of that work was to not disturb the tiny white dot pattern. It worked. Looked good. With my hair pulled back and that severe dress I probable looked stern and somebody not to be messed with. Would have been better if I could have worn my black or white pumps but my crippled feet are not capable of that yet. I keep praying about them. When I get in my car and notice the dress if sunlight I discover it is dark navy blue.

I have some time to kill so I stop in at a local family eatery and start by requesting a spoon to eat my meal and a word with the manager. Bet you can guess where this is going.
I get the hamburger steak with speckled butterbeans, collards and beets. Yes, I wanted the onion and mushroom gravy. Unsweetened tea.
The way to judge if a family owned eatery is going to have good food is by it's bread.
If their homemade bread is good then the other things will reflect the same consideration. These yeast rolls were not mile high. They were just high enough and nearly 4" square. Very good. Somebody cares about the food here!!
Eventually I got the spoon I needed and the manager came by. I explained my Handicapped American with a Canine Assistant desire to come there and asked if there would be any problem. Not a problem for her. She would mention it to the owner.
I thanked her for her time, hunted up my waitress and handed her my tab with a specially folded bill and gave her a hug and left.

One nice thing about being late for my doctor's appointment was that I didn't have to wait long. Got to know the new nurse. Liked her. Miss the one who retired.
I scared myself when the nurse mentioned my weight at 139+. Put my doctor in a good mood. We had a good visit but thing are hinkey with my lab test and I will have to go back more often until we can get a grip of my problems.
I get an appointment with another specialist and, "No problem about having the dog with me.".
Then I wander down to the lab and, because POO is not with me, I cry a little.

Then I'm off to get POO. Traffic is bad and gets worse because a police car needs to get through and we drivers are making a hole here and there as best we can. Wouldn't you know, one block after I turn into my Vet's parking lot I see the police car stopped.
I'm early but that is fine by me as there is a new cat in the house. This is the biggest long haired yellow cat I have ever seen. He is a good cat. He is huge. I ask to play with him. He lets me scratch behind his ears a little but I smell like POO and he prefers to avoid POO.
Eventually POO is brought out. He is totally zonked. He can walk, he doesn't seem to care where. I pay his tab and eventually get him in the car. He passes out. Wakes up when we get home and makes it to the door on his own after falling a couple of times.
When we get inside he has enough presence of mind to present himself to me to have his harness removed.
I take my afternoon meds and sip some milk as I start this familiar vigil of waiting and helping him until he is alert. About 6PM we take a nap. This time he chooses his lower bunk which is an 8" thick fold out bed/chair up against my bed. I scoot over to his side of my bed and lay my head on the edge so I can watch over him. I reach down and rub his back now and then. I dosed off for a little while and when I checked on him I noticed he had moved closed to me. I got up, drank some milk and went back to lay on his side of the bed. He would respond when I rubbed him. I slept again and during that time he moved around and ended up laying right under my face. I got up in time for my 11PM meds and he got up with me. Unsteady, but definitely awake.
I think he had another tooth pulled and thought he would not feel like food so I put a cup and a half of puppy biscuits on a plate by his water bowl. He fooled me. I put a cushion beside his rocker and he started going to the kitchen and getting a biscuit and bringing it back to the cushion to eat. This went on and on for over an hour and during that time he drank half the water in his bowl. He got full, went to his papers and has gone to bed in his quarters. He is still walking stiff legged and he looks rough.
I'm not going to get him up for the eye dropper.
Well, I spoke too soon. I will not do the eye dropper meds for his mouth but he is up again and gotten a special good cookie with a pill hidden inside and he is working on the puppy biscuits again. The more he moves around and eats and drinks and eliminates tonight will help him feel better tomorrow. He still rocks back and forth when he stands still.
Maby he will sober up in the morning.
And folks, I'm tired.
towwad

Hot, hot July

My, my! Has anybody noticed that the temperature goes up in the summer?
Now that I have all 4 of the bulbs in my living room light fixture burning I can see well enough to read again.
Bought some books about PC Game Programming. While I immediately realized the amount of work involved in making a game, the material I have covered has been straight forward and code for the various and sundry items needed to help build a Library is included along with an .exe.
At the moment I'm still reading up on the old DOS games and my XP doesn't seem to like Running them. I usually end up with a Reboot to get my system back.
I confess I would be more excited about the book's writer if the games were not Bang-bang, shoot and be shot. I live in an area which has one of the highest murder rates in the country and would rather spend my time in a less volatile atmosphere.

Besides I have enough everyday challenges.
My car's battery cable needs to be replaced. I found a dealership which can get the original part for $32 + change. However, it will cost me about $179 to have them get the part and install it. I was going to go for it this month but my neighbor's friend made a thought provoking point when he mentioned that since both of my cables are mis-matched that changing out just one of them might not solve my problem.
So here I am string my heavy extension cord out to the car and hooking the battery charger up for 10 minutes. Presto! Cranks right up. And I scream dirty words at it.
By the time I have let the car run for 20 minutes while I put everything back up I have to spend a long time in my wheelchair with my bottle of heart pills.

POO has been having a problem of his own lately.
Lately when he is not in the room with me I will find him on my bed snuggled against my pillows. At night he has started to sleep with me. That would be ok but his idea of sharing my single bed is that he wants his half in the middle of my half.
I keep explaining that I really need for him to move over enough for me to get both of my legs on the bed.
He no longer gets up to go with me to the bathroom at night, just moves up on the bed to keep my pillows warm. He will come to the kitchen and sniff, if I'm eating something he wants he comes in, if not, he cuddles up with my pillows until I come back to bed.
I do not know how he knows but when I'm sitting at my kitchen table suffering the side effects of my heart pill he comes to my feet and lays down.

Garden has about a dozen beens growing. Don't know if I'll actually harvest any beans.
Food has been oven roast tenderloin. I cooked 2 of them and they were "Spoon tender".
I broke them apart with a spoon and then used my favorite food processor to grind the meat very fine. Put a pound in each of six containers and passed them out to my neighbors with some sauce. One of them actually said, "Thank you.".

My used to be favorite grocery store has reopened, but it is not in the same location and so I'm still looking for some of the things I can't get where I shop now.

That's it for now as POO has decided to lay in my lap and I can't reach across him to the keyboard.
towwad

June_09

Here we are and the year is speeding along. Garden is dieing. POO is on the mend enough to be playful again. Car starts...most of the time.

My refrigerator problems have been fixed. It will take me the rest of the year to replace the food I lost.
The grocery store where I shop doesn't understand what small sized pasta is and my efforts to help the manager haven't gotten me what I want. In the past I could go to another large store and get all of the shapes and sizes I wanted along with yogurt and specialty items. That store changed management and went bankrupt in short order. I didn't like the new and last manager and that is why I stopped buying from them exclusively.
So I guess I will start making my pasta here at home.
In the mean time POO and I are enjoying summer fruit ( he decided watermelon is tasty ).
I'm very happy for him because he has lost 2 lbs. He is at 14 lbs. but the best I've been able to get his weight down to is 11 lbs. He is 10" at the shoulder but because of his breed defects he is 15" long. In other words he does not come close to conforming to poodle standards. And every time he suffers because of his breed defect problems I get really mad and think mean thoughts about puppy mills and the mindless merchants who support them.
Got myself a blender to go with my food processor and I'm off to find some ways to make pasta.
Oh, oh, here he comes again and he is after me for something.
I'm off to see what he has done this time-
towwad

Too-Fat-POO

We got the rest of POO's meds and his Rx food. I misunderstood his weight. I thought he weighed 15 lbs, he weighs 16 lbs! For a toy poodle which should weigh 10 pounds he needs to loose more than half his body weight. And since he can not run I am going to have to help him walk more.

I have been eating too much fast food for the last two months.
Now that summer is here I can go back to the fresh fruits and vegetables I enjoy.

I have a yogurt maker and a soy bean juice maker...it is actually soy bean juice, same as any other vegetable juice, and I think it is silly to call it Milk.
I drink cow milk.
I cook with soy juice as I do not like to drink the flavored varieties...too sweet.
The thing I enjoy most about having the soy bean juicer is I can make tofu at home.
I don't make much at a time because I like it fresh made and still warm. I don't do anything to alter it's flavor. I usually eat the whole batch.

This is a favorite way that I eat rice and beans. It is based on the famous chick pea puree. Any cooked dry bean or pea can be used and it is easy to keep a stock of these canned peas and beans. Tip: Green peas work well too.

Drain the peas or beans and reserve liquid. Use food processor to puree adding reserved liquid if needed. Flavor to taste...I like garlic. Place in microwave safe bowls and refrigerate.

The grain called Wild Rice, Brown Rice and all of the different colored varieties of rice will work better than White Rice for this. When I use Wild Rice, for example, I cook a pound at once because of the longer cooking time and this type of grain holds it's texture when frozen and reheated. For a pound of cooked rice you will want to stir in a Tablespoon Olive oil before freezing. More importantly divide the cooked rice into usable portions.

So when you want your meal. Heat the amount of Rice and the amount of bean puree you will use.
I use 3/4C Rice and place it on my plate, then mash the center down to form a Rice Ring. Then I spoon some of the heated bean puree in the middle.
Add some Seamed Vegetables and have an Apple and melon fruit plate for dessert.
You do not need bread with this meal.

One more thing you can do with the Rice Ring is to put Carrot Salad or Cold-slaw in the middle.

Our beans are up and running...another 4 to 6 weeks and I should be able to harvest a few.

Back to being...,
TOWWAD ! ( I missed the little guy while he was sick. )

Happy Birthday POO

He is back home and a lot better. Pom-pom tail is up but not waging. He still can not stand on his hind legs and place his front paws on my knees for me to pick him up but he lets me help him climb up in my ( his now ) rocking chair and, with a little help, he climbs in the car.
First thing he did when he got home was to check out the patio garden. Our green beans have sprouted and started to leaf out.
The strict diet has not been helpful for weight loss. But he is not moving unless he has to. We have to go back and get more meds and different food so I hope that in a few weeks he will be able to run again.

Today is his 9th birthday and he is entitled to some sick leave.
So far he has gotten a dog bone from our bank teller, and I will give him green beans. I hide his arthritis pill in a small cube of processed cheese and give him four of the "cheese pills" each morning and he gets 1 cheese treat each afternoon and evening for reminding me to take my meds. And I have bag of soft kibble which we use for play time...I toss a piece of kibble and he goes and gets it. That's it for exercise.

If our garden works out we should have the green beans, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, kale, mustard greens, and sweet peppers. No need for me to grow tomatoes as I can get good locally grown ones within walking distance of our home.

He feels good enough to get excited about the "Go" word so we are off to shop.

towwad