Well Done Thou Good And Faithful Servant.

We lost our beloved Faust this morning. No one's exactly sure what happened, but he fell gravely ill yesterday and was definitely in Septic Shock. We suspect he may have been suffering from ulcers, but the only way to know for sure, we'd have to do surgery and quite honestly, it was already too late. When we got to the animal hospital this morning, he'd given up and was no longer responding to anyone. So we made that tough decision and had him put down and he'll be cremated along with his "baby" (a stuffed dog that looked just like him that his Grammy gave him. He loved it and he loved her.) As I'm writing this, there are tears just pouring down my face. There was no one that ever met that dog that didn't think he was the most wonderful dog in the world. Even my grandma, who lived her 90 years around dogs, thought he was the most special dog she'd ever met.

Part of the reason, I think, that I fell in love with my husband originally was because he was the type of man who would adopt a dog because the shelter was about to put him down. And he loved that dog. In fact, on our first date he showed me the picture of Faust he keeps in his wallet. Faust was also in our engagement pictures.

There will never be another dog like Faust. And a light's gone out in this world.

Things that REALLY Bug Me.

Maybe it's just because parenthood is looming on the horizon or something, but I've pretty much had it with Burger King. I don't eat fast food that often, but I do enjoy the Burger King sandwiches and I love me some Mocha Joe. However, here's the thing- their marketing director should be drawn and quartered for the sake of society's children. (I'm not actually advocating physically harming the person.)

First came the incredibly inappropriate SpongeBob Squarepants commercial which parodied the 80's song, "Baby got back" which prominently featured young "ladies" with what appeared to be phonebooks in their skin tight pants shaking it for all their worth. Way to promote a kid's meal guys.

I promptly decided to boycott Burger King until the ad was removed. This morning, on the way back from my MRI, I had to grab something to eat quick so I could take my medicine. I hadn't seen the ad in a while, so I declared the boycott over and stopped at Burger King. Lo and behold, they are no longer featuring SpongeBob, they are now giving away Star Trek toys. Now on the surface I don't have a problem with that- I watched Star Trek as a kid- but then I started thinking. Generally speaking, the Kid's Meals are eaten by kid's about 10 and under. Star Trek was rated PG-13. Do we see the problem there?

In fact Common Sense Media ran an article on it.

But my question is this, are they marketing to young, or are they taking things they know kids'll enjoy and making them to sexual and/or violent so they get the higher ratings? And do parents ignore the ratings and let their kids watch? Or are the marketing campaigns not working on the kids?

Just curious.

Saturday Morning Cartoon.

Whatever happened to cartoons like this and Tom and Jerry and Woody the Woodpecker and all the classics? You could watch a normal TV station, without cable, on Saturday mornings with your parents and neither one of you would be bored. And your parents didn't have to worry about what you were watching.

Paid Programming killed the cartoon star.

Today is a bad day.

Oh it's 8AM and I want to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over my head. Yesterday I managed to get into the ortho's in the city and found out I most likely tore the cartilage in my knee. I have an MRI scheduled for Monday and then it's probably surgery time. I asked about a brace and crutches and the doctor told me that I should just stay in bed until then. Yeah, like that's gonna happen.

Then there's my poor husband. Since I can barely hobble he's had to cook, clean, do the laundry, fix the tractors, do the grocery shopping, fetch me things, get the ground ready for planting, take care of the dogs and the chickens, shuttle me to the doctor's, deal with a drugged up wife, and all sorts of other things I forgot to mention. Plus go to work everyday. And he's done it without complaining.

Until this morning when he got up to find our new coop had flipped over in the night and is lying on its roof about 50 ft from where it's supposed to be. It's supposed to storm all day and he had no choice but to throw up some temporary fencing and go to work, hoping for the best.

Now there's no way I can just sit in the house knowing that the animals in our care are in danger. For those of you who don't know- a wet chicken is a dead chicken. I foolishly tried to flip the coop back over or push it closer or something. It didn't work. (Are you surprised?) I tried to coax them to the old coop. That didn't work. Meanwhile there's a nice big hawk circling overhead. The only thing I could thing of to do was walk down to the road and grab the garbage can (thank God it was garbage night) and drag the big garbage can up the hill into the back pasture. I put it down on the ground and threw some food in. Hopefully, the stupid chickens will think to get into the garbage when the storms hit. It's not really big enough but it's the best I can do.

It's survival of the fittest at our farm today.

Ugh!

So this is the story of my knee.

We think we know what happened. We think I dislocated it when I was walking last Saturday, but it didn't hurt at all right then. But it might have hurt before that, I can't remember. Basically I didn't think much of it at the time because well- I'm used to knees hurting and stuff. I wasn't concerned until my knee felt like it wasn't going to support me anymore. So I called the doctor.

I go to the doctor and without even looking at my knee the doctor came in and said, "Well you need to lose weight." I said, "Yeah I know- you told me that last time and I'm working on it." I tried to explain that for 5 days we'd been eating out and not excersizing cause, well, I can't stand long enough to cook and there's to much that needs to be done outside for FarmerGeek to be taking the time. Then we spend time discussing my weight and what I'm doing. We puts me on a diet pill, which turned out to be an amphetamine- but not an amphetamine. Finally he starts asking about my knee. Basically I spent money to go in to have my weight checked and referred to an orthopedic surgeon. He couldn't prescribe Ibuprofen because it interacts with the medicne I'm on for the insulin resistance. So he prescribes prednisone. Now in case you don't know that's a steroid. So now I'm on a steroid and amphetamines. Yeah. Think that through. Not to mention the three pages of drug interactions the pharmacist gave me- after I asked of course.

So I call the ortho and guess what? They can't get me in until the 27th. Are we in Canada? Seriously, not one appointment until then? Not only that but they want me to call the GP and have him order X-rays to be sent to the ortho. Fine whatever.

Now Saturday comes around. My butt has not moved out of the chair for a couple days. My knee is killing me, I'm in tears, and my baby toe is all pins and needles. I figure the least that will happen is they will give me an MRI, brace it, give me crutches, and tell me to call the ortho. Yeah no.

I walk into the hospital to be greeted with a "Swine Flu Alert" they suspect there was a case of the swine flu there. (Unfortunately, it was a 4-month-old little boy who passed away.) OK it's not like I care about swine flu. I come in, give my name and problem, and go sit down. The triage nurse called for me and watches me limp on my cane and FarmerGeek's arm all the way from the waiting room to triage before going, "Oh did you want a wheelchair?" Uh DUH?!?! So this is the upside of what happened. I got an X-ray which didn't show anything, aced bandaged completely wrong that made my leg hurt so much worse I'm just bawling, and a prescription for Ultram which "works like a narcotic- but is not a narcotic." And sent home. Not even a "call the Ortho and see if they can take you."

So I left in more pain than I showed up in.

Now, for those of you who are keeping score- I'm on an amphetamine that's not an amphetamine, a steroid, my regular insulin medicne, and a narcotic that's not a narcotic. Supposedly the amphetamine and the narcotic like drugs are supposed to do the same thing as the actual amphetamines and narcotic but are non-addictive. My only thought here is, isn't part of the reason why those are addictive is because they work? I mean, I took the Ultram (narcotic) and was out of pain and loopy and feeling happy and silly. Isn't that part of the problem? And if weight starts pouring off of me after all these years of trying, do you think I'm going to want to stop taking the medicne? (Well actually yes I would, but I'm terrifed to take it in the first place.)

I have a whole point here, but my brain's a little foggy. Did I mention I'm on drugs?

The Return of Saturday Morning Cartooms

I was just talking about them this week on Facebook.

People, People....

So basically, even though I have an organic farm, belong to the Arbor Day foundation, am finding alternative fuel sources for my home, and raise chickens, because I don't agree with your version of global warming, I'm destroying the environment?

Ok fine, now get in your H3 and drive away....

In other news... my favorite band is going to have a song called Yarmouth Town on Ugly Betty tonight. Check them out at www.greatbigsea.com

Back from Blog-cation!

Hey all, sorry my blog-cation took so long, but there's been so many things going on that I haven't had time. Of course, none of these things were earth-shattering, or really that interesting, so I didn't think to post them anyways...

Since I blew out my knee, I have plenty of time sitting here with it elevated until my doctor's appointment. So here's a synopsis of what's going on.

1) We are in the waiting period of the homestudy. Everything's completed, our worker just needs to write it up and have it approved.

2) Our duck's gone broody. Two of our homesteading buddies were nice enough to donate nearly a dozen eggs, since Muscovies are supposed to be able to sit on 15 or so. Well, we looked under her and there was only two left? We can't figure out exactly what's going on. Anyways, that'll lead to number three...

3) We put up a new chicken coop/shed. We bought a metal shed kit and moved them over for now. The only bird in the old one is Duckster and her eggs. Does anyone know if we put chicks under her, will she think they hatched?

4) We sold our pick up to buy a mini-van. I drive a mini-van. Sigh.

5) You have no idea how filthy a country home can get in the spring. Even if you clean it twice a week.

Anyways, I'm back- I've missed you all. Are you still out there? Leave me a comment so I know. (And you shouldn't need a blogger account to do that.)

Saturday Morning Cartoon.

Since I'm busy cooking and getting ready for Easter dinner tomorrow, I hope you don't mind that I wrote this earlier in the week.

Because of the importance of tomorrow- a day that changed history for the entire world, believers or no- I am breaking with my usual flashback cartoon and going with a new cartoon that means so much more.



God bless.

What the heck?

Picture 1


Picture 2


Picture 3


The first person that can accurately guess what is going on in each picture wins the honor of being right and I'll mention you and promote your blog/website right here on DivaHick's blog! (I know, I know- but it's all I can do this week.)

Spring and Fall

If you know me, and you know what's happened this year, you'll understand why I've posted this this week. Forgive me if you don't hear from me this week. But you understand.

Spring and Fall
by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you will weep and know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sorrow's springs are the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What héart héard of, ghóst guéssed:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.

Happy Palm Sunday

So a few years ago, I took FarmerGeek to his first Palm Sunday mass at a Catholic Church. This was after we were engaged and after we found out that we needed to ask for a special dispensation from the diocese to get married since FarmerGeek, although Christian, was never formally baptized. (If you have questions go to his blog ask him because I never explain it right. Then ask him why Fr. Al offered to set him on fire. It's a great story.) ANYWAYS, part of Palm Sunday mass is a renewal of your baptismal vows and the priest will sprinkle holy water on the congregation as part of the blessing of the Palms.

Now my fiancee (now my husband) was not knowledgeable of the ways of the Catholic Church and I have a wicked sense of humor. He responded with an "I do" doing the renewal of the vows (for those that he did believe). As soon as Fr. Al started to come around with the holy water, I told him he had to duck, because if he got hit by the holy water after saying the vows, he'd be baptized Catholic. (Which is patently not true, but really funny.) You should have seen the look on his face. You should have heard the horror in my grandmother's voice when I told her what I did. You also should have heard Fr. Al laughing when I told him during our Pre-Cana.

Well I thought about it this morning, and whispered to him he'd really better duck since he was on the end. After Fr. Tom (we moved) came by with the holy water, I looked at Farmer Geek at said, "You didn't duck?" with wide-eyed surprise. He informed me that he'd actually gotten hit twice.

After Mass we went to grab a bite to eat and I noticed on his neck and chest there was a rash starting.

Obviously welts from where the holy water hit...

Happy Holy Week.

Saturday Morning Cartoon.

I love this one...

And I really do love cartoons. Innocent happy cartoons. I wish that Saturday morning cartoon would come back. Who's with me?

Friday Free For All

Oh yes people, there will be rambling, there will be incoherence, there will be run on sentences, there will be a Friday Free For All!!!!

So here's what I hate about spring. It seems that every year something bad happens to my family in the spring. Every year. I'm just waiting for the shoe to drop this year. It could be some many different things. Then I hate the allergies. And I hate that this part of spring is always like a holding pattern to me. I want to plant, but it's to early there's still frost. I want to hatch chickens but as we recently found out the county can't license our home for foster to adopt if the chicks are inside and Marc and I can't agree on whether we should buy eggs and try to hatch them in the coop. Also there's so many things I want around my home but since we didn't live here last spring and last fall was so horrible we didn't get them planted. Things like a lilac bush and strawberries. I really miss lilacs. Although I'm allergic to them.

Things I like about spring. There's crocuses (or is it croci?) in the yard. And some sprigs that look suspiciously like asparagus, but aren't in a spot that make any sense for someone to plant asparagus. I like the clothing I get to wear. And I can walk around and dream and plan. And the chickens are laying again. And I get to plan out the garden etc...

Btw I'm watching reruns of 90210 (the original) and Dylan is supposed to have cracked ribs. Do you think you could yell if you had cracked ribs? Or make out?

Just curious.

And do you think getting a wringer washer's a good idea if it's electric? A hand cranked one could be mighty useful, but...

And I'm getting my hair done at the fancy salon tomorrow!!! I'm driving into the city to do it!!! (I've decided we now have a "town" a "city" and "a big city". What used to be the big city is now the the city and the place we went shopping is now the big city.)

March Went Out Like a Lamb

This is an expose of the local politician eating the brains of his candidate.

April Fool's!

Anyways, if you are addicted to blogs, you've probably seen this, if not- it'sreally funny.

Now I'm going to take a nap. Why does 5AM insist on coming so darn early?

Happy Happy Shopping Day

If you can jump in the car and be at a nice mall in less than half an hour, then this story will make no sense to you. However, if you are like us and the two hottest clothes store in your area are Wal-Mart and Goodwill, you can probably feel my pain here.

Don't get me wrong, I love Wal-Mart and FarmerGeek has developed an obsession for Goodwill "finds". But occasionally, I feel the need to indulge in retail therapy. Since our tax return came in, we were able to do our part to stimulate the economy. We decided not to go into our nearest big city, we would drive an extra half hour to go to the bigger city that actually has a Barnes and Noble, JoAnn's Super Store, Berean Christian Store, Bed Bath and Beyond, Body Shop, and Michael's. (No half of these stores are not in our closest big city and NONE of them are in our town. Our anchor stores at the mall nearest us are Elder-Beerman, J.C. Penney's and a scrapbooking store!)

The day was dubbed "Happy Happy Shopping Day" and I had looked forward to it for weeks.

I woke up in the morning with a mild migraine. Now "mild" with "migraine" is an oxymoron. A mild migraine for me means that I have blinding, agonizing pain shooting through my brain, am completely unable to tolerate light and sound, but I'm not nauseous. I knew the right cocktail of OTC meds and it subsided. Then I just felt wrung out and used up. But I resolved I would go.

The choring was done, the house ready, and I only felt like ass instead of honey bunches of ass, so I went to get ready. The bathroom door hadn't been closed even 5 minutes when I heard the noise. BBBRRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPTTTTTTTTTTTT squirt. Now I knew FarmerGeek was sleeping upstairs, so it wasn't him. (Is it bad that I automatically thought it was him? Or is it conditioning?) Then before I could figure it out, the stench- oh the stench!- wafted out to me. GAG! Sure enough, the older dog caught what the puppy had and it was everywhere. Luckily we hadn't put the rug shampooer away yet.

Well all was said and done, we didn't get out of the house until nearly 2:30- only 2 and a half hours late! We plugged in Carmen the Garmin and set out for the big city. One of the places we really wanted to go was Barnes and Noble. Sure enough we found one in the Garmin, and as we followed directions we realized it was indeed taking us to a Barnes and Noble- only the Barnes and Noble was the local college's bookstore!!!! Sigh. So we put in Lane Bryant. I had coupons and a merchandise credit! Oh joy! Oh bliss! Oh wait- there's a mall over there... I had to stop. I just had to. (Even though "in point one miles, arrive at Lane Bryant, on right".) So we pulled into the mall parking lot (recalculating) and I took a deep breath.

Ah the smell of gratuitous commerce.

There we found a Body Shop, and spent money. (YAY!) We spent enough to get the free shower gel. Then we decided to stroll around and look for the Lane Bryant (which we found out was in the mall). Unfortunately, it was kids' and families' day at the mall. I think there's a video game in this- dodging strollers while trying to get to something. Anyways, we find the Lane Bryant. I don't know what happened, but suddenly their clothes don't fit right. The shoulders are too big, the waists are too high, and my absolute pet peeve is the horrible cut of every skirt they make. They're all the same mermaid cut no matter how long it is. Ugh. Finally I bought a ridiculously expensive shirt and some Cacique stuff. The lady said they were "throwing in a Figure magazine today". I'm thinking BONUS- free stuff total, one shower gel and a magazine. Yesterday I looked at the receipt and I got charged for it. Note she never said FREE magazine. We strolled around some more, and didn't find anything else at the mall. So we left and went to find a Borders. We had to get the rest of the Twilight series. So we dropped the $35 for the last two books. (Ugh!) AND there was a Michael's across the street!!!! I didn't even know that there was one, I couldn't find it! Only, I couldn't find anything I wanted there. So we went to JoAnn's. Which was good enough. I FINALLY found the yarn I wanted, in the color I wanted. So it started to look up. As we were leaving, I spotted-was it- it was! A BARNES AND NOBLE!!!!!! Oh joy, oh bliss! We walked through the doors and I saw the escalators. I'm afraid to say, I drooled a little bit. Although I was in shock over the prices, it was still nirvana.

On the way home we decided to stop for dinner at a major chain that boasted southwestern grille and has a phallic symbol for a mascot. (You know who it is...) It was disgusting. The soda/pop was off, my plate got put to close to the heat lamp and my mashed potatoes were actually burned. I was eating the chicken and it had that gross hard mystery piece in it. Gag. Not to mention that the service sucked. It pretty much capped off my day. By the time we got home the dog had been sick again. He managed to get sick on the power strip that the router and modem were plugged into so no internet until we got it cleaned up.

I guess I just shouldn't spend money on myself.

Dog Poop and Other Liquids

I was going to post about our disastrous shopping trip, however, instead I am searching the house for dog diarrhea. I guess during the night Faust got sick in the upstairs hallway. I found it this morning. He hid it. It's disgusting.

So I went to the vet to pick up some medicine for him, and while I was gone, he or Dante pushed into the boys room and Faust got sick on the hardwood floor.

And like all little brothers, Dante has decided he's the only one in the house that gets my attention and I'm not even allowed to pet Faust (much less take care of the poor thing) without Dante jumping on his head, lunging at my face, or generally being an a$$hole.

And I felt awful yesterday, so now I have a pile of laundry, dishes stacked up, and the usually Monday chores on top of the fifteen million trips to the door, locating that smell that is permeating our house from another mystery spot in the house somewhere.

Shopping trip from hell story late tonight or tomorrow...

Saturday Morning Cartoon.

This one's for Farmer Geek

Heroes and other Regular People

Every morning I get up, get going and read my blog list. This morning, one of the blogs had me in tears. I'm not sure why, it's a happy post. Yet here I sit, bawling my eyes out.

I never met the person who write the blog, never talked to her in real life. I'm not sure, but I don't think I've even exchanged e-mails with her. Yet the fact her "baby" girl made it home safely from her tour of duty in Iraq has me tearing up again as I type this. (If you'd like to read her blog it's www.dylnz.com)

For those of you who don't know, there's a group I found through facebook called "Hats 4 Heroes". They make hats, scarves, slippers, and other homemade items to send to our troops overseas. There are guidelines of course. I support them, and when (if) I ever learn to knit well enough I'll be sending stuff over there. www.hats4heroes.org Take a look at their website. Perhaps you can't knit or crochet or anything, but they could also use help with postage etc....

As a last thought, I leave you with John 15:13;
"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."

One TRILLION Dollars!!!!

What does one TRILLION dollars look like?

All this talk about "stimulus packages" and "bailouts"...

A billion dollars...

A hundred billion dollars...

Eight hundred billion dollars...

One TRILLION dollars...

What does that look like? I mean, these various numbers are tossed around like so many doggie treats, so I thought I'd take Google Sketchup out for a test drive and try to get a sense of what exactly a trillion dollars looks like.

We'll start with a $100 dollar bill. Currently the largest U.S. denomination in general circulation. Most everyone has seen them, slighty fewer have owned them. Guaranteed to make friends wherever they go.

A packet of one hundred $100 bills is less than 1/2" thick and contains $10,000. Fits in your pocket easily and is more than enough for week or two of shamefully decadent fun.

Believe it or not, this next little pile is $1 million dollars (100 packets of $10,000). You could stuff that into a grocery bag and walk around with it.

While a measly $1 million looked a little unimpressive, $100 million is a little more respectable. It fits neatly on a standard pallet...

And $1 BILLION dollars... now we're really getting somewhere...

Next we'll look at ONE TRILLION dollars. This is that number we've been hearing so much about. What is a trillion dollars? Well, it's a million million. It's a thousand billion. It's a one followed by 12 zeros.

You ready for this?

It's pretty surprising.

Go ahead...

Scroll down...

Ladies and gentlemen... I give you $1 trillion dollars...

Notice those pallets are double stacked.
...and remember those are $100 bills.

So the next time you hear someone toss around the phrase "trillion dollars"... that's what they're talking about.

From: http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/index.html

"I is a lap dog..."

... says the 70 pound dog....

Saturday Morning Cartoon.

I'd post a Saturday morning cartoon (or kid's show) that I miss and hope you all enjoy it!

Happy Spring!

I decided to post this this morning instead of yesterday. As of the moment this is posted, it's officially SPRING! We made it through the winter! And this is what we get for it.

It's been a hard year with a lot of loss for us. This little bloom reminded me that there's always a spring after a winter. Always.

For those of you who don't know, FarmerGeek and I moved into this house at the end of last summer. By then, of course, all the spring blooms had wilted and were gone. So finding the little sprouts popping up through the dirt was doubly amazing. Finding flowers that had been planted by someone else last year (or even years before) was like a... like a...

Miracle.

Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day

I have another post coming later, but I'm feeling pretty off today. For some reason the death of Natasha Richardson hit me pretty hard. I mean it's just horrible. All she was doing was learning to ski with her kids. Anyways, I thought I'd post this to cheer us up...

Announcement!

Even though we haven't finished up our official site (it's coming soon) our business venture has it's own blog. Hop on over to cadwellgardens.blogspot.com and see what we are up to!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Here's some pictures of my trip to Ireland a few years ago. One misty, foggy morning, I found myself in a field in Galway with a camera. If you look really closely you may even be able to spot a pooka or two. Actually, you can't see it in the pictures but there's a fairy mound right near my feet.

Just kidding, it's not from my trip to Ireland. Our backyard is just really foggy this morning!

Brewing Up a Little Pot of Passion

I like the Tazo Passion tea. That and their Refresh are my favorite.

I don't know about where you live, but out here in the sticks it was a gorgeious (I had to add the i for emphasis, it was a moral imperative) day. I would guess it was low 60's, high 50's today and bright and sunny and gorgeous. My friend and her man came out to help us do stuff to get ready for the increasingly looming homestudy. I turned the inside of her nose blue. Don't ask.

Where was I going with this?

Oh yes, it was such a beautiful day I thought I'd brew up a pot of passion and walk around in the gloaming.

I love that word. Gloaming. Gloaming. Gloaming. It's so.... Scottish...

I hope wherever you are, or whatever you did, tonight you are sitting with someone you love and thinking, "This was a good day."

GiveAway Winner!!!

I used www.random.org to get my winner (it wasn't hard at all). And the winner is....

CELESTE of etsyitup.blogspot.com/

Celeste, I'm going to be e-mailing tonight or early tomorrow morning to get arrange a mailing date. (BTW I like the song on your blog, who is that?)

There will be another giveaway coming soon soon! With more than one winner!

Big things are happening at the farm, stay tuned to our blogs for updates.... and giveaways...

Thanks everyone for playing!

Contest Closed

My contest is now closed. Winner will announced at 5:00 tonight (EST) so I have time to figure out randomizer (and when I can't, I'll have enough left over time to pull a number out of a hat.)

Thanks all- and good luck!!!

Thanks for trying.

Well all, thanks to those of you who tried to support my blog through looking at the advertisements on the sides. However, just as they were supposed to send our first check, Adsense decided to disable our account and thereby not pay us. There was no reason given except that we were "detrimental to the finances of their advertisers". Which basically, to me since there was no explanation, means that their advertisers would have to aqctually pay for the advertising we gave them. I have appealed their decision and assured them that we had not violated any of their terms of service. Again we were denied.

So thank you all for trying.

It must be nice to be able to get something for nothing.

And if Google doesn't like this post and decides to shut my blog down, wait a few days and check www.divahick.com or . If I have to, I'll pay for the domain name and blog there. Otherwise keep checking here to see who wins my giveaway Saturday morning.

75th Post! (And giveaway)

Hello all! This is my 75th post. And I've just come back from the dentist (which has nothing to do with anything, but I thought I would mention it). And I saw a bunch of robins. Which means only one thing....

SPRING!!!

And because of it, I thought I would have a giveaway. The gift is going to be something to get you ready for spring, but a surprise. All you need to do is leave a comment on my blog with your name or screenname or something to identify you as well as whether you'd want a male or female gift and you'll get entered once. If you forward this on to your friends, and they drop by and mention your name, I'll enter you again (and I'll enter them too!)

All entries must be posted by 11:59 PM (EST) Friday night.

Good luck and happy entering!!!

New Pringles Flavor

OK, if you are like me, you saw this can of Screamin' Dill Pickle Pringles and said "Ew..." We were standing in Wal-Mart and FarmerGeek showed me these and said they were really good. I think I made vomitting noises.

But he bought them anyways.

And we brought it home




















And we opened it up...















And you eat one. And gag cause it's a ridiculous horrible dill pickle flavor coated in salt.

But there it is, just sitting on the table saying, "This time it'll be better. C'mon you know you want me." And of course it's salty goodness, so you do...

And you do...

Maybe you'll try another one...

And another....

Cause after all, they really are good... if you can get past the first one...

(By the way, that's not me in the pictures, my beard isn't that thick.)

Hey

Does anybody know where the camera cable is? I thought I left on this shelf, because it doesn't really have a home, but know it's just gone.

Could someone please return it so I can blog with pictures again?

Thank you,
Management

Friday Free For All

My brain is going through random stages today, so I thought I'd share with you all about the nonsense that is going on in my head. Be prepared...

I really like Country Sampler magazine. I wonder how my splurge went from high end cosmetics to a home decor magazine. And for that matter I love shoes. I miss buying shoes. My new hot pair of shoes is going to be a pair of Wellies to slog through the mud. Speaking of mud, it can't be spring yet, I haven't finished the fall cleaning. And my mother-in-law (God bless her) is coming on Sunday to help with the house. I'd love to take her to our favorite Chinese place. They make everything extra spicy for Marc. You can actually see the difference when they bring his dinner. The movie that's on Hallmark just said that they need a permit for anything over $300 in the house. I wonder if we need to file permits for anything we're doing at our house. I doubt it. I have to shovel the dirt back on top of the septic and I think it would be neat to plant our spring bulbs over it for next year. I read somewhere that it'll warm up sooner and they'll pop up sooner. That makes sense. I need to reorganize my kitchen this spring and put in the dishwasher. I want to brighten up the place for spring. I love spring colors but I hate spring. I can never breathe in the spring. Do you think I should replace the curtain on the front door? I was trying to figure out how and finally I thought that putting in a Roman shade would brighten up the place. Maybe a yellow flowery one. You know, the last time we went to Lehman's they were out of lamb butter molds. (There really is a logical jump here, we always have butter lambs for Easter, which is in the spring. Yellow flowers=spring.) HEY did I tell you my peas are sprouting up pretty good? I have to start my tomatoes tomorrow night. And we have lettuce and spinach growing in the basement. I really hope that the homestudy doesn't think we're growing pot, I really worry about it. I love the wind and I wish I could rip off all the storm windows and open the house wide to the wind and let it blow my bad mood away.... and maybe my thoughts will blow around in a mini tornado of leaves blowing against the corner of the house. And they'll collect in to coherent thought.

Thanks for reading this far, if you've made it to here... You win a cookie! (Not really, cause that wouldn't mail well.)

Compassion

Compassion: sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it. -Webster's Dictionary

I don't know how many of you read The Pioneer Woman's blog, but she is constantly giving away things on her blog. Gift cards to Lowe's, Amazon.com, Kitchen Aid stand mixes, knives.... you name it, but it always has to do with something in her life. A couple months ago, her husband and two older children took a trip to the Dominican Republic to visit the children that they sponsor. Everyone in her family sponsors a child, but it's so much more than writing a check. You write letters to your child and pray for them and their families. It's a responsibility. P-Dub (as she refers to herself) didn't feel her family could take on any more children when it came to that responsibility, but they are fortunate enough to have more to be able to give. That is why she chose to give away 10 sponsorships to her blog readers. Now for those of you who need me to do the math, that's about $4000 a year.

Well, I was lucky enough to be one of the people who got to be a sponsor.

After I submitted our names, I started to panic. Mostly, what were we going to do next year? I can't imagine committing to someone and letting them fall by the wayside. I should have known the people at Compassion International had thought of that. They partnered us with a girl, excuse me, young lady who is turning 18 this year.

I only got my packet a few days ago, and I've written her once. Already it's changed me for the better. There's someone on the other side of the world who's waiting to hear from me, who is happy that I'm part of their life. I've never met her, but I worry about her and wonder about what the future brings. I'm already figuring out how we can pay for a sponsorship for next year. If we just skip one dinner out a month, it'll more than pay to help change this child's life.

Today on the radio, they said it was The Day of Compassion. I invite you to stop over to their site and learn as much about them as you can. http://www.compassion.com/

I've never won a stand mixer or a gift card, but I think I won the best thing she ever offered.

WARNING: RANT AHEAD

OK, I had this awesome blog planned about the new Pringles flavor, but that's going to have to wait because something torqued me off.

You know this "octo-mom"? I don't really care that she has so many kids or how she got them (since when is her medical record public knowledge? I thought there were HIPPA laws?) Anyways... everyone and there brother has an opinion about it, and well... I'm here to tell you mine....

1. No one should be able to regulate the size of your family except you and the father of your child(ren). So all these people who say that the doctor should be brought up on charges for doing this when she doesn't have money are wrong. Who's to say how much money is required to raise a child? Now if you say that the doctor should have seen to her other medical needs (including mental health) and that possibly the procedure itself was unethical, that's fine. But coming from someone who's done the whole infertility treatment herself, let me just say it's a business more than health care.

2. I should have the choice as to whether or not to donate money. I'm not saying we don't have a Christian duty to help mothers like her, or even a responsiblity as Americans. In fact I emphatically believe that we do have a responsibilty. But I can't say that anyone else has a right to take my money and decide who is the recipient of that charity. People do realize that the government doesn't actually have money right? It's yours and mine and everybody else's. If you think what this women did was wrong, don't give her money for it. If you think the doctor was wrong, well, don't vote for universal health care so he gets your money. But we aren't given the choice.

3. And once again, universal health care. Sigh. You realize we will be setting up this situation over and over again with that? How many other women would put themselves into the same position if they had the money. Don't worry, we'll pay for it for you! Then we'll give you money to raise the kids. Don't mind the fact that we can't afford to grow our own families because of the amount of money taken out of our checks in taxes....

4. If one more person tells me that it's not right for her to be living in a house with three bedrooms, I'll scream. OK, I'll grant you with her parents there it probably isn't unless the mom is sleeping on the couch. That's a bedroom for the grandparents, the mom, and only one for the kids. But guess what? Each child doesn't need their own bedroom, or heck, even their own bed. They don't need a ton of clothes, just clean clothing. They don't need name brand sneakers, just something to put on their feet that's in good condition. It's also not the parent's responsibility to provide their college education, it's a gift you can chose to give your kids. It's not easy to earn your way, but it can be done. As long as they have a roof over their heads, clean clothing on their back, food on the table, a chance at the basic educational requirements, and live in hygenic conditions, that's all the parent is required to do. (There's that whole love thing too...)

5. Imagine you (if you are male) or your significant other (if you are not) get a knock on the door and someone hands you a letter stating that you (or your SO) is the father of a child you didn't know about. And suppose the judge states that as the father you are required to pay child support and it's being garnished from your paycheck. Oh and btw you have no say over your child or their upbringing. (Granted this does actually happen...) Now the mother of that child decides to clone the child. Repeatedly. They decide you have to support all those children because a DNA test revealed you are the father. Now money is automatically being taken out of your paycheck to pay for children you didn't try to have, have no say over, and you can't control how many children there will be. But at least you got the fun part with the mother at the beginning. The rest of us are getting screwed in a different way, because money is being taken out of our paychecks and given to people to raise children and we have no say in how their raised or how many children they have.

6. Have you heard of Catholic Charities? Their purpose (among many) is to help out families in this exact situation. People CHOOSE to give their money to Catholic Charities. Families in need recieve services from Catholic Charities. It works. (There are others, I just can't think of any names...) The question was brought to me in argument, "Well they only have just so much money, what happens to families when they run out?" I responded, "Well the government only has so much money, what happens when they run out?" Oh the answer to that is simple, they'll take more from people who may or may not be able to afford it. Then those that couldn't afford it will be asking for help and drawing from that resource pool and the government will need more money and take more from people who may or may not be able to afford it.... Do you see?

I guess it all boils down to this. It's none of our business how many children she has, or how she got them because it's not our responsibility to raise them. But if it becomes my responsibilty to help her financially, then I want a say in the matter.

Sorry I'm in a cranky mood and this set me off... Pringles post coming tomorrow....

First Blog Award

Hey I won an award!

HermitJim gave me an "Excellence in Blogcasting Award"! I don't know why, it must have been my titillating story of a faux romance between ducks? Or the fact I feed my family Rubber Chicken?





Now it's my turn to pass it on. That's the rules, once you win you have to pass it on. Here's my list.





1. FarmerGeek (cause he's my husband- and he's really cute.)


2. ColdAntlerFarm (cause I'm addicted...)


3. Dlyn cause she's way better at taking food pics than I am


4. Just Trying to Survive (cause she almost always makes me smile)


5. American Way Farm (cause I like her videos)


6. A Homesteading Neophyte (cause the pic on the front page is classic)


7. Muddy Boot Dreams (cause I can't wait to get mine dirty too)



So now you may take this award and award it to other blogs you like (up to 15).

Rubber Chicken

I know we are all trying to save money. Even though most of us aren't directly affected by the economy, we've all seen what could be coming in our future. This is why I'm sharing the story of a rubber chicken.

I got the idea from Leanne Ely at Saving Dinner and if I remember correctly, she used a rotessarie chicken from the deli? I thought about it and thought about it and well, I'm a little scared of those chickens. Who knows how long they've been there and what chemicals they've been juiced up with? Giant Eagle had whole chickens on sale buy one get one free, so we stocked up.

Right this second I have a 6.56 lb chicken getting ready for tonight. It is labeled 12.36, but remember I got one free with it! Tonight we roast the chicken whole. Then after dinner, we'll take the meat off the bones and portion out enough for stir-fry tomorrow night. I think I'm going to throw it into a marinade. Then there's enough left for one more meal, you could make pizza or casserole or an omlet. Whatever floats your boat. We are supposed to cut out certain foods right now for health reasons, mostly refined carbs. So we're having a stir fry and omlette.

But wait-there's more!

Then I take the carcass and whatever veggies are leftover from last week and put it in my biggest stockpot to simmer for a few hours. I strain it (twice because I'm obsessive) and start making soups for FarmerGeek to take to work.

Today was salsa soup
Sautee carrots and celery and rosemary in olive oil. Add in stock and some salsa. All amounts to taste.

Tomorrow is Oriental Soup
I happened to have dried mushrooms but whatever... had I had fresh I would have chopped and sauteed in sesame oil, added tarragon, stock and frozen peas. (Note: Next time I would use onion, minced, chopped, or even those little baby onions...)

Wednesday Italian
Stock, basil, diced tomatoes, and a can of cannellini beans

Thursday Southwest
Stock, black beans, corn, shot of tabasco, can of green chiles, cumin

Now for the record, one $12.36 chicken will make us three dinners and four different soups for lunches. Or heck, for dinner. All low carb yumminess....

As you can see the possibilities are endless!!! Did an idea for soup just pop into your head? If so, feel free to share it here!

A New Little Video

OK, this video isn't exactly in my normal vein, but hey! I just learned how to embed videos and this is my favorite one cause I've been there- who hasn't at some point or another? Take the time to watch it then read the note at the bottom.

Now whether you share my faith or not, just know, believing what I believe, I cared enough to share this with you. Reflect on that, and appreciate the choreography as an art form and move on. It's like the whole "God Bless You" thing. You might not believe, but I do and I care enough about your sneeze to ask God to bless you when you do. Say, "Thanks you very much" and move on...

Duckster: A Love Story Part 3

As soon as Duckster's poor little webbed feet hit the ground, she got away from us as fast as she could and waddled her fluffy feathery butt into the coop. (Another way I knew she was definitely Duckster, she knew right where the door was and how to get in and no one was afraid of her--- well no more than normal.) From the other side of the fence we could hear her swearing at us in there.

Duckster: "You stupid sons of a (female dog who's had puppies) I was getting my groove on with Horace across the street and you (plural version of a part of the body that allows excrement out) come and drag me home. I swear to God when I turn 18 I'm out of here. And then you CLIP MY WING!?!?!?!?! I mean SERIOUSLY what if I WANTED it to look like that? And what do you mean I'm grounded???

DivaHick: Now Duckster, you may not speak to me that way. And you are far to young for that kind of language.

Duckster: #*($@ OFF!!!! ::Duckster angrily storms out of the coop::

DivaHick: Ok that's enough, you may not see that duck again, he's from the wrong side of the road.

Duckster: I do what I want! I LOVE HIM....

(I apologize to all my readers, I've been watching Maury again... well not really.... ok just the once.)

At this venture, Clyde comes over to see Duckster. He rushes over to her when suddenly the entire world slows down and they begin to waddle toward each other...

Clyde: Oh Duckster, I'm sorry it took me so long to get over the death of Bonnie. But time has healed my wounds, and I realize now that I love you. Please, please forgive me and give me another chance...

Duckster: Oh I do forgive you my feathered friend, and I love you... but... I may be carrying Horace's child.

At this precise moment she squatted and laid an egg...

Clyde: Is it... his?

Duckster: What does it matter, I'm not feeling broody anyways.

Clyde: Do you think, could you...?

Duckster: Oh Clyde, I do. I do love you!!! I'm so sorry about my fling with Horace and I promise to stay home where I belong from now on (at least until I molt).

Then Clyde embraced her, and did that thing male ducks have been doing to female ducks since time immemorial...

Happy Valentine's Day

The End

So basically, our duck flew away, we got her back, clipped her wings and mated her to our male Muscovy and I made a three part story out of it... and you read it all... suckers...

Duckster: A Love Story- Part 2

I know you've been waiting with baited breath for the continuation of the scintillating love story between Duckster and the Duck From the Wrong Side of the Road. And I shall bring it to you.

There the devastatingly beautiful DivaHick (hey throwing myself a bone here...) peered out the kitchen window, straining to see beyond the yard through the swiftly swirling snow. (OK- TOTALLY busted out the English degree there...) Alas, looking for a white duck in the snow was like, well, looking for a white duck in the snow. When, oh when, would the FarmerGeek return to the homestead full of wit and wisdom and an answer on how to rectify this situation. She wrung her hands and fretted. She paced the length of her immaculate kitchen whilst something yummy simmered on the stove and she twisted her apron in her perfectly manicured hands. (Can't you just give me this one please?)

Finally, FarmerGeek returned to the completely paid off homestead (I just had to get one more in, I'm sorry) and announced that there was nothing they could do, the search would have to be called off due to weather. Of course, they tossed and turned in the warm bed worried over the fate of the beloved duck. What if she didn't go across the road? What if a mink or fox got her? Oh no OH NO! Finally the alarm went off and it was still snowing. Not only that, but the farmers across the street would be gone for the day. Dare we risk the wrath of Sam the llama in our search? No we decided to wait another day before raiding the farm. We did however, go into the back sixty and comb for any suspicious patch of white feathers with our stealth bloodhounds. To our great relief, nothing was turned up.

Finally, the next day, the DivaHick caught a glimpse out her window of a group of ducks and there was just something about the one... Could it be? FarmerGeek donned hat and coat and gloves (remember the teeth and nails thing) and headed over. He found the duck in question, but really how does one tell one white Muscovy duck from the other? FarmerBrother1 from across the street answered that quickly- they clip their ducks' wings, if the duck doesn't have a clipped wing... (ouch- OK I know I know...) So they wrangled the duck into the position and clipped one of her wings. Now before PETA starts flaming my blog, they trim some of the feathers on one wing to throw off their balance. It doesn't hurt and will have to be redone when she molts.

So our prodigal duck had returned, older, wiser, yet discontented with her celibate life. As she was put back into the run she hissed angrily "Let go of me you bastards, there's no way in hell that I'm getting back into Castle Anthrax" to which we responded "There are men in there you silly goose..." And Duckster furiously hissed back, "Watch it bea-atch I'm a duck not a goose."

How will Duckster cope being separated from her lover? How will the other hens handle a more experienced bird in the house? Will more birds escape? Will Hermione and Harry ever cheat on Ron and Ginny? Will I ever stop asking stupid questions? Find out tomorrow on "As the Coop Turns" (or should it be "Eggs of our Lives" or "General Homestead"?)

Storm Damage

So we had an amazingly bad storm last night. Unfortunately for the very beginning of it, FarmerGeek and I were outside trying to batten down the hatches. And a very good thing that we did too, because the one side of the chicken coop's roof isn't attached anymore (the screws ripped out) and it would have been GONE!

Also since the winds were blowing at a sustained rate of 50-70mph (and our hill is usually the windyest place in the world) the puppy couldn't sleep all night because of the noise.

Luckily we didn't completely lose power. You know the guy at the electric company that's in charge of getting power back on when an outage is reported? Yeah he lives in the "big house down the road".

Anyways, here a pic of the tree from the yard next door.

To quote Walter, "We love it here!"



















PS- Oh Mom- Go Steelers!!! Happy?

Let It Rain

It ain't the "the good ole days" but for today... it's enough...

HELP WITH BLOG

Can anyone tell me, how on earth do you upload video from youtube onto blogger?!?

There's something I want to share with you...

PLEASE leave me a comment with instructions if you know!

Some Homesteading Medicne

This is the story of an asthmatic woman who is allergic to everything. This is also the story of a woman who's goal is to grow her own food, raise her own chickens, and make her property pretty. Year after year, she would medicate herself with pill after pill like Benadryl and Claritin. This cost roughly $1-2 a DAY! That was roughly 210 bucks a year! That doesn't take into account the emergency inhaler she would also have to carry with her everyday just in case.

There has to be a better way!!!

So last year, this woman read a couple articles. One was about milk allergies and asthma. She stopped drinking milk and guess what- the asthma attacks dropped to basically non-existent. Then she read in several places that eating a tablespoon of honey (preferably comb in honey- or even just the comb) everyday would help alleviate allergies. This made a lot of sense for people who had pollen allergies. I mean, what is honey made out of? So if you can eat honey without a problem, there's a good chance your body might be able to build up a tolerance for pollen and alleviate the symptoms. It seemed to work! She only used Claritin some days, not everyday.

Isn't it amazing how when the Lord said He'd provide, He provides?

By the way, it goes without saying that the FDA didn't approve any of these treatments (not that I bothered to ask them), and you should consult a doctor before trying them, and this website isn't intended to diagnose, treat, or provide medical advice. Did I cover it all?

Duckster: A love story

In honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd tell you about barnyard romance...

In our coop, we have two Muscovy Ducks- Clyde and Duckster. They came to us earlier in the winter from a friend who found herself having to move far away and not wanting to worry about moving her livestock AND children. So she had to get rid of one or the other. Although her kids are stinking cute, and we would have kept them, she decided to give us the ducks and roosters instead. Luckily, her circumstances seemed to have changed so that she may soon be able to take back her ducks (don't worry, she still has her kids too!).

Meanwhile, we have Clyde and Duckster. Who may or may not be father and daughter or brother and sister, I have no idea. I probably should have asked. But I had this hippie idea that we shouldn't clip their wings because it's cruel. Let them FLY! We have land and a creek.... The only problem there is well....

Our neighbors definitely have "free-ranging" poultry. In fact, they are so free-ranging that they have a tendency to waddle over and visit our place. On one such visit, Duckster fell in love with a Muscovy from across the street. Yes he waddled over to the fence, and she came out of the coop into the run and their eyes turned into the cartoon hearts. So she flew over the fence to be with him... Clyde couldn't bear to see his love go, so he flew the coop to retrieve her. At this auspicious moment, a well-meaning, innocent (yet striking beautiful) DivaHick wanders into the yard with a puppy. Lo and behold there are now four Muscovy ducks to the side of the house and three very hennish hens gaggling in the front of the house.

I- I mean she- very quickly dumps the poor puppy in the house and goes after the hens who are trying to cross the street. None of them got hit by a car. (Hey this is Ohio- people AIM for livestock.) She sprints over to the side yard where two Muscovy males lit out for home. Now wandering around our yard are the lovebirds. (Get it? Lovebirds?) Have you ever tried to separate two Muscovies in love? It's a lot easier than you think. Run full tilt at them and the male runs home (ok waddles quickly) and the female will try to get through the fence by running at it as hard as she can like it's Platform 9 3/4.

But no amount of chicken wire could stop their love.

It's true, just a few days from then I see Clyde waddling around the coop. He does not want to get back in the coop. Now for those of you who don't know Muscovy ducks or Clyde, well he's probably 8-12 pounds and has teeth and nails. This is not for the weak of heart friends. Luckily I had the puppy out and this time on a leash. Now here's how this would go peoples... I run one way around the coop chasing Clyde, and Clyde would naturally run away. Then guess what? Our little puppy would keep him from going to far. But I- I mean she, this is all in 3rd party voice right? Yeah, yeah SHE would chicken out and fail to grab the duck with teeth and nails. (Like how I remembered what voice it should be right then?) Finally she gets the $%(*#$& duck in the coop and return to the house. Yet something haunts her...

Trepidaciously, she returns to the coop and lifts the lid. One, two, three, four.......ten, eleven, twelve. TWELVE? Who's missing? OH NO DUCKSTER!!! There's only one place she could be, and that's across the street with Romeo. But, building on the dramatic nature of story, snow begins to fall. Soon it begins to swirl around and around. The entire area has been socked in by a snowstorm and the search for Duckster has been called off due to inclement weather.

Coming soon... Part II...

A Simple Woman's Day Book

For today

Outside my window it is... beautiful with a cool night, a sky full of stars and a (nearly?) full moon.
I am thinking about... adopting children.
I am thankful for... our quiet life.
From the kitchen... I am getting ready to make oatmeal butterscotch cookies even though roasted chicken is still in the air.
I can hear... the dog chewing on his leg. Weird dog.
I am wearing... beat up jeans, a black SHORT sleeved tee and the gray fleece hoodie. With obligatory LL Bean mocs.
I am reading... a Tracie Petersen book- lost track of which one.
I am hoping... that when I call the case worker tomorrow, she says we have a shot at getting those kids.
I am creating... two bedrooms and scarves.
Around the house... it's too quiet.
One of my favorite things... is a clean kitchen.
A few plans for the rest of the week are... to finish up the kids rooms.

You are invited to participate in The Simple Woman's Daybook where you will get to meet many others doing just as you are, sharing little aspects of their day.

Springtime!

OK, the temps are supposed to rise above forty tomorrow!!!!! Woo HOOOOOO!!!!!! And I'm feeling spring, we're going to start some seeds this week and Jenna over at Cold Antler Farm is holding the Great Pea Off (wait that doesn't sound right...) anyways, the deal is that you plant a pea seed on your windowsill on Feb 15. Peas can climb the window panes and you'll have a yummy indoor treat long before the ground is ready to plant. (OK, hopefully not LONG before, but still...)

Meanwhile, we're also itching to get planting. This weekend we are going to be starting some spinach, salad mix, and starting some tomato plants in the basement.

FarmerGeek has also been working on a website for our farm and we're thinking about selling some tomato starts. Anyone interested?

Winter Blues

I hate feeling sick... I spent much of last year feeling that way until I found an endocrinologist who finally figured out what was wrong.

Unfortunately, with our temps bouncing around, and being around paint fumes and all, I'm having a bit of a problem with a chest cold. I hate it. HATE IT.

But still, life has to go on. Chickens and puppies need to be let out. Paperwork must get done, and training classes have to be attended.

I'd rather crawl into bed and sleep.

Sleep...

Sleeeeeeeepppppp zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....................

My New Year's resolution was to learn a new old timey skill a month. This month I was determined after many years of trying, that this time I WAS going to learn to knit. These are pictures of my first completed project. I used size 50 needles which are essentially vampire slaying needles, and Lion Brand's Thick and Quick Yarn. This took me about two hours to do the actual knitting and the rest of the day for FarmerGeek to get home and show me how to bind off.

(Doesn't he have such pretty hands?)


Anyways, on to February's skill!

Superbowl Sunday

It wouldn't be right to endorse one football team on my blog. (Cough: STEELERS!) I mean, that would be wrong to use my blog to support one team over the other. (STEELERS- YAY!) And I plan on knitting our way to a ring. (If I knit we win... go figure, last time we won a Superbowl, it was cooking.)

But if you are going to watch the Superbowl, you MUST eat! It's true. It's just anti-American to not pig out while watching the pigskin fly. (Go STEELERS!) But my question is, what on earth should I cook?

FarmerGeek has requested edamame- which sounds weird, but that's what they do in Japan.

I was thinking about Pioneer Woman's Steak Bites. Because, well, look at them. (HERE WE GO! STEELERS! HERE WE GO!)

Maybe I'll bust out the indoor grill and grill up some shrimp? Or just shrimp cocktail?

Maybe I'll make my baked potato chips with curried mayonnaise? Or balsamic sweet potato chips? (PITTSBURGH'S GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL...)

I mean, there's only two of us. (HERE WE GO.) But when I get nervous I eat. And I tend to get nervous during football. Especially the Superbowl! (STEELERS) I can't help it, I grew up in Buffalo- Superbowls weren't exactly our strong point. (STEELER SIX-PACK, HERE WE COME!)

Leave me a note, and tell me what you're doing on Sunday!

(GO STEELERS!)

Aren't you glad I stayed impartial? (WOO HOO STEELERS!)

*No Cardinals were harmed in the writing of this blog

He Ain't Heavy...

...he's my brother!

A GiveAway!

Hey all I came across this giveaway on the Fabric, Family, Fun blog by way of Chronicle of a Country Girl's blog. I thought I would pass it on to you. She's been in business for a year and that deserves celebration, consideration, and contribution.

I was thinking we should have a giveaway here, but I might need some convincing. Leave me comments and if we get enough DIFFERENT people commenting, I might have an awesome giveaway to pass along to you!

By the way, it's a crappy day out here, and you know that it's true when a snow plow is off the road with flares....

Healthy vs. Healthful

Healthy or Healthful?

This is the eternal debate in our family. Well that and the words to Finnegan's Wake. I swear to all that is holy and on Tommy Makem's grave that the words are, "To rise in the world he carried a HOD" not HAT! But I digress...

ANYWHOO....

FarmerGeek contends that healthy is not correct when referring to food because well, the food (hopefully) is dead and therefore it is no longer healthy, being dead. It is healthful, being full of health for your body.

I, however, busted out my English degree to state that healthful means "full of health" and the food is no longer full of health being (hopefully) dead. It is in fact healthy meaning carrying the properties of or pertaining to health. Since it carries nutrients to your body it is healthy not healthful.

What say you?