Super Supper.

 Super Supper.

 

The soup is re-heating up on the stove at the moment. Yes, roast beef, onion, celery, mushrooms, tomatoes, and spices make a pretty decent meal. The day does not exactly feel like a soup day, but supper feels necessary, and the soup was simple.

 

Played with the dogs a bit outside throwing the ball and watching Thompson beat Sylvia to it. She is sneaky, but he is just as fast as greased lightning. No, have no idea how many miles per hour greased lightning might go, but maybe faster than Thompson. But he is getting on in years now, so we can’t expect him to go faster than we can see. Love these silly dogs. They may have their hair all over heck and half of Georgia—well, at least all over this house—and they smell just like dogs that live inside a house instead of like all outdoors, but they are part of my life, so they have to be loved and doted over.

 

Sylvia just brought a toy to me that still had ONE squeaker left in it. So now she has gone to the couch with it to see if she can find the squeaky one. She is so funny. She nibbles on Thompson as if she is working on fleas or something—the same with her toys. Nibbles.

 

Have mostly read today instead of doing anything very useful. Sometimes it feels as if cleaning the floors is useless since it has to be done at least once a day to even seem like it matters. Right now, grass is on the floor in front of the couch. Not sure if that was one of my shoes that brought in the grass or one of these dogs. Guess it really does not matter since it is already there and not going anywhere until yours truly gets busy and cleans it up.

 

Put my compression gloves on this morning while messing around at my desk. Funny how they make my fingers feel better when they ache. Not sure why they ache unless it might be arthritis. Well, it could be just pure orneriness leaking out. A good horse that bucks a few times in the morning has to be ornery and buck a few times for a person to know it has good intentions. Guess my fingers have good intentions.

 

Sitting here thinking about those birds in the backyard. Rhody’s feathers are coming back in on her back and look pretty funny. The feathery part is just beginning to show good. Won’t be long until she gets all her feathers back. Hope it does not get too cold before she covers up again. As it is, her wing feathers are drooping slightly and getting ready to fall out. Think she might have three to a wing right now—definitely not a full wing.

 

Do you know that egg layers in these factory farms don’t get days without light? About 400 million hens are kept in long barns with lights on 24 hours a day. This keeps them eating and producing eggs. But they are not given large quantities of protein because it is more expensive than the mash they are given, so the hen eventually becomes deformed or ill in some way. Some hens are used for food after they leave the cages of the egg farms, but it is usually as soup stock or broths. Anyway, now that you have something to think about when you have your breakfast tomorrow, maybe you might want to find better reading than this blog. Just sayin’.

Wiki is one of the places that makes me appreciate having information that matters to me. How did we ever function before we had Wikipedia? Well, some of us had encyclopedias—you know, three rows of books in alphabetical order with language that could puzzle anyone under 20 years of age. Our first set of books like this were easy to read. In fact, think Mom read through that first set after Sterling had them sent home. He thought that Mom would enjoy them. And she did. Dad would look things up, but usually wanted Mom to do it for him. Think his eyes were bad even back then. Some welders do get their eyes burned badly, and he had. The set of books we bought for our kids were really too advanced for them—the children’s set were ok for their reading level, but the others were almost beyond mine! Have wondered more than once if the writers were just trying to impress someone or exactly what they were trying to do. Almost every article had references to other books in the set as well. Sitting here shaking my head and remembering having three or four books around me at any one time. Oh well. So glad my reading and writing are much simpler now. Maybe that is why wiki is so neat—simple language that anyone can understand!

 

The wind gusts today are around 30 mph, and while it is about 81 degrees right now, it is supposed to freeze tonight—well, it will get down to 32 degrees. Guess the hens might need the heater on tonight. If the stupid wind does not set, the roofers won’t be able to put on the new roof. At least they won’t die of heat exhaustion! It is only supposed to be up to 62 degrees tomorrow. This weather is pretty loopy—one day cold and the next two back up to 78 or 82. No wonder we get sinus headaches! Plus, the pollen count just keeps going up—especially with ragweed! Oh! Joy to the world!

 

Have been enjoying the games in this interactive advent calendar that Carla Beard sent. Today it also had some recipes in among the goodies. Nope, not making any of that stuff. When actual meals take thought, you know that some off-the-wall recipe that calls for ingredients like “caster sugar, madeira cakes, leaf gelatine, trifle, muscovado sugar, sultanas, or black treacle” are not going to be found in this old woman’s pantry! Oh well. Will just stick to plain ol’ food. Meanwhile the music to go with the calendar is pleasant and not silly or obnoxious like what they have in stores. Now THAT matters! Soft music might make folks feel better this time of year. Just a thought.

 

Have to warm up some dog food here in a bit. Each gallon bag takes care of one day for the dogs. Sometimes they get a little bit more than that or extra treats, but generally they seem to do ok with just a quarter of a bag at a time. Not sure how it would be possible to figure out what the ratio of meat to veggies is within commercial dog foods, but have a feeling they get a better deal with this stuff in my fridge. Pardon my misconceptions if they are getting cheated, but they at least act happy.

 

Saw that Mariellen Rose had posted from her home about the leukemia. She seems so chipper and happy. SO glad she is better and might get over this mess. Then my friend Lisa said that her little dog has pneumonia of some kind. Yes, no comparison with a sick grandmother type, but some folks feel as strongly about their critters as they do their uncles and aunts! Rolling eyes and thinking about an old uncle in our family that had three places he would go during the holidays: the couch (where he fell asleep), the table (where he refilled his plate multiple times), the bathroom (where he offloaded what he had put on his plate the meal before). He was not Granddad’s favorite visitor. Mom used to say that was probably the best meals he had all year. Nodding head and figuring she was about right. Old men don’t usually eat very well unless they find someone to feed them.

 

Let’s think about those who have no meals right now. If we can help those in our small part of the world, it is a good thing to be a blessing to others. It always irks me to see or hear about folks who donate to all these places where a dime of every dollar donated actually might be given in food for hungry people. The other 90 goes in some dipstick’s pocket. If you want to give, think about local food pantries or churches that are actually feeding the poor. Sorry, putting away soapbox.

 

Pray for peace and safety. Let us be grateful for all blessings.

 

Rest and take care of yourselves. You are loved.