Text 36452, 206 rader
Skriven 2010-04-04 22:37:58 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
  Kommentar till text 36416 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
Ärende: Catching up...AGAIN! :)                                  [1]
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Hi Ruth,

Hope you folks had a great Easter :)  My daughter and her family came by so we
enjoyed ourselves here.... except I cooked and cooked (vbg).  Her husband and
the boys are now eating grass-fed meats (only), so I made a pot of sauce and
meatballs and Rigatoni for lunch.  I was lucky enough to find a 5 1/2 lb. Leg
of lamb at the health food store so we had for dinner with roasted potatoes and
Italian spinach.  Now my daughter still isn't eating meat - she requested clam
sauce and linguine haha.. so I made that while the roast still had about 45
minutes to go.

>> > We're over in Margaretville for a few days, helping out my parents.
>> but > we'll be up again around the end of June.  I was reading your

>> Hey, if you folks want to stop by in June or whatever, just give me a
>> ring.. I'd need to at least pick up the doggy papers Lol.. They're

> Sounds like a nice idea; we'd love to see you & Ron again.  We'll also
> get to meet the new critters.

Yes, that would be super :)  If you have some spare time this week, give us a
buzz - you don't have to wait til June (g).  Whatever works for you.  Ron and I
both have doctors' appointments on this Wed. and Fri.  IIRC, they are both
early morning apointments.  I know mine is on Friday .. darn I hate going to
those before it warms up outside (g).

>> working with them to get them to use the doggy door (as you can
>> imagine, I'm sure :))  They're a bit small for it right now, but I'm
>> sure it won't be long.

> They will be there before you know it!

We took them outside today to play with the kids.. it was quite a scene to
watch. Drew, the little guy who is 4 now, would run straight back through the
yard.. Sophie and Indy right behind him.. by the time the kids left, the dogs
were flopped on the floor exhausted :)

>> Yes, he should give it a go.. Ron made the bed 'frames' with cedar
>> wood we bought and some anle brackets, but unless I'm mistaken, you
>> can get them "premade" at some gardening shops, etc.  They cost more
>> If you add it to the garden bed after plants are in it, the manure
>> could burn the plants.. just some notes :)

> OK, we'd need to make them on the hig side as he's restricted on the
> amount of bending/reaching he can do.

That is the nice thing about raised beds.. you can make them as high as is
necessary.

>  It would be a multi year project
> at best.  He admitted today that he's not really interested in getting
> into too much gardening any more; I guess he's beginning to reallyfeel
> his age.

I hope this early spring agrees with him.. I know right now I feel pretty
wasted but I attribute that to the changing temperatures.. (freezing one night,
then suddenly the switch to 80's).


>> That's a great idea.. and I'm glad he's thinking of it.. it's good
>> exercise. If his doctor has restricted him from "gardening", then
>> maybe he'd do better with containers as you mention and maybe his
>> doctor wouldn't mind... that way he wouldn't have to bend, etc.  A lot
>> of vegetables can be grown in big garbage pails, I'd think.. I know
>> Hap mentioned a site where the author discussed potatoes growing in
>> garbage pails :)  Not sure if I still have the link here since I had a
>> hard drive change since Hap mentioned it :)

> We can probably find some information (What can't you find?) on the
> internet about garbage can gardening.  The local bears like garbage can

That's the truth :)  It's become a popular way of doing things.

> diving so we'd have to watch out for that.  One of them knocked down the
> bird feeder Dad had re-installed last year after a bear got to it but
> this year the bear was unable to knock down the pole.  Dad had added
> about 240 pounds more of concrete to the base when he put it up last
> year.

I'd hope they wouldn't care about vegetables but who knows.. if they get into
garbage pails, then they just might want to see what's so interesting :)

>>> new pups :) They are two yellow-lab mix puppies, really little guys :)
>>> Only about 8 or 9 weeks old!  They are little devils but they get
>>> along with Toby, so that's great :)

>> > Sounds like you've got quite the mad house there with young puppies
>> and > year old kittens.  Toby looking over all of them like an old
>> grand dog? > (G)

>> haha.. yes, it is indeed a mad house :)  The kittens as you can
>> imagine, were very much into running through the house before we got
>> the pups.. they still do it, but the pups follow right along!!! Talk
>> about having trains blasting through your house haha.. They as so cute
>> though, it's insane :)

> I can imagine the fun they must be.  I'd love to have a couple of
> kittens but can't so I enjoy cats & dogs whenever I visit others.

These are feral kittens.. sadly, when we got the pups at first they were very
very scared and reverted to their earlier shy behavior.  They wouldn't come out
at all..  Finally Lulu, the largest of the kittens, decided to try a face on
meeting.. she still comes out now and then to see what's going on haha..

I'm hoping the other kittens will follow her lead.

>> I feel bad for Toby sometimes because as wonderful and patient as he
>> is (he's really incredible sometimes, putting up with the pups jumping
>> all over him), he's accosted by the pups day and night.. and right
>> now, they are mostly teeth and nails :)  I'm still putting the pups in
>> the 'extra kitchen' at night though after 10PM, with a child-gate,
>> just so Toby gets some peace when he's sleeping :)

> Poor old guy.  Sounds like Rachel's older cat--when they got a puppy a
> couple of years ago, she started harassing the cat all the time.  The
> other cat told the pup off quick so she doesn't bother him but the older
> cat only fusses at her from time to time & so gets picked on more often.
> The other cat is shyer too so hides away most of the time.

I'm glad we have the room to give the kittens a 'safe room' where none of the
dogs can get in.. well, they can't unless one of the kids leaves the gate open
as happened today Lol

>> pill.  Then she > turned into a little tigeress--shredded a pillow
>> case we'd popped her > into (with just her head sticking out).  On top
>> of that, she spit the > pill out.

>> Sure, they can be ferocious - pillow case was a good idea (grin).. I
>> usually use towels since they provide a modicum of protection  :)  And

> We didn't know about the towel trick; it might have worked better than
> the pillow case.

Yeah, the thicker the better.. you can hold the cat in the towel without losing
your eyes (vbg).

>> Priscilla before the poor baby died.. Finally, I had to wrap the pills
>> in a very small chunk of hamburger so she'd wolf it down before she
>> could think about it (g).. That worked,but it was too bad she couldn't
>> be helped finally :(

> I know; you always hate to lose a pet you've had for years.  We had Sam
> for almost 8 years before we adopted him out before we went to HI. (At
> the time HI had a strict quarantine & he had health issues to where he
> wouldn't have made it thru that.)  It's been 9 years and at times, but
> not quite so often now, I still look around for him.

That must be so sad to think of.  I had friends who's job took them to England
several years ago.. they also had to find a new home for their border collie.
The rabies laws were so terrible.. but I understand why they have to do it.

>> It didn't seem to matter
>> to her that this wasn't our first dog :) :)

> Sometimes it's better to bite your tongue and just say "thanks, but no
> thanks; we've changed our mind."

I think so, especially in this case.  It was surprising also that the girl let
it slip that this dog was an abused dog.. their page never mentioned that :(

>> > Do you know their date of birth so you can make a cake next year?
>> (G)

>> Close at least :)  They were 8weeks old on 3/27/2010.

> So, late January--early puppies.

Yep (g)..

>> I saw the funniest cake on one of the cooking channel's programs.. a
>> dog's birthday cake.. made with cake and dogfood YUCK :) :) :)  I
>> think I'd skip stuffing it with dogfood :)

> Yes, but the dog probably enjoyed it. (G)

It looked like it on the TV :) :)

===Clam Sauce and Linguine===
Serves 4

2 1/2 lbs of clams in the shell
3 tablespoons virgin olive oil
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 red onion, sliced thin
6 oz. clam juice (bottled)
3/4 cup white wine, or lemon juice or water 1/2 tsp. thyme
good sprinking of red pepper flakes fresh parsley

Heat the olive oil in a large pan.  Add the garlic and saute until just browned
(don't let it burn).  Add the onion slices, the spices and the liquids and keep
the heat at med-hi.  Put the clams in the pan, and cover tightly.  The clams
will open in about 5 minutes or so. Discard any clams that do not open. Remove
the tops of about half of the clams after they open.  Stir in the fresh
parsley.

Sometimes I add about 1/4 cup lemon juice even when I have the white wine.
Sometimes I add about 1 tablespoon butter after the clams open, as well.

Serve over linguine.
===

Take care,
Janis

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