Life, Miracles and Chicken Soup

Some of my faithful readers may remember a couple of years ago when I had a "little heart issue" that landed me in the hospital.  Well, last month, I discovered, it was back.  This time, I knew what was happening and after it hadn't stopped after a couple of weeks, I ended up going into my cardiologist office on 9/28, (to eliminate the panic that had ensued from my GP's office in 2013) -  Pulse rate - 130 beats per minute. 

They kindly confirmed what I had suspected, and changed some of my meds, that didn't work after a couple of days, so they had me come in and meet with a Nurse Practitioner.  Very nice lady who happened to take a copy of my EKG out to talk to one of the docs in the office when the Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiologist  Dr. happened by, and just in a moment of grace, saw my EKG and said, "Well, I can fix that" - A cure - who knew? 

That started me on the path to a Cardiac Ablation that was performed on Monday Oct. 12.  The pretty flowers above - they are from my sisters - to wish me well after this very successful procedure.  I have to tell you that from the time I walked into the Surgery Center at 7:30 a.m. on that Monday until the time I walked out the door at about 4:30 p.m. (*pulse rate 63 beats per minute) I felt loved and cared for.  It was really an amazing day and, quite frankly, miraculous.  (And,  I was able to be back at work on Wednesday afternoon to be at a dinner meeting that I had been working on for 6 weeks).

I feel much better now, and hopefully this will be the end of that issue. Oh, and the kitties - they stuck to me like glue for about three days after I got home.  I think they took their nursing skills very seriously!  And many thanks to all of you out there who included me (and my doctor & his team) in your prayers last week.  I'm sure it made a difference! 

One Pot Chicken & Vegetable Stew

So, what you always need when you're feeling down, is Chicken Soup, right?  I put this recipe together about a month ago - I was in an "email club for Chicken recipes" from Pillsbury.  Most of the recipes looked pretty good, but used a lot of pre-made items and mixes - and I mostly cook from scratch.  So when I saw a recipe for a "one pot chicken & vegetable skillet" - I thought - maybe I can improve on that - we still had LOTS of zucchini and I had some other vegies in the fridge that I could chop up - and ta-da "Chicken Stew" was perfected.


 Last year for Christmas I got myself a Williams-Sonoma 7 qt. Non Stick Dutch Oven.  I had (ahem) "destroyed" my big soup kettle by draining all the water out of my green beans, but unfortunately putting the pan back on the burner with the burner still on.  Ahem - really toasted that pan.  So I'd been on the lookout for a new 7 or 8 qt. pan, and boy, let me tell you, this is a nice one.  You can see more about it HERE

This pan is perfect to cook soups or stews or a "fricassee" - It also is great to steam ears of corn, cook a nice pork loin roast (because you can brown it and then tuck it in the oven and let it finish cooking).  I use it a lot. And without further chatting, here is my recipe 

One-Pot Chicken and Vegetable Stew

This recipe is based on a Pillsbury 30 days of Chicken & Vegetable Skillet recipe.  I like using fresh vegies instead of frozen. 

Ingredients

2   tablespoons olive oil

2   boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

1   medium onion, finely chopped

1/2 tsp Tastefully Simple "Garlic Garlic" granules

2   cans (14 oz) Hunts Fire Roasted diced tomatoes, undrained

1   Russet potato, diced

2   medium zucchinis - diced

1/2 head of cabbage roughly chopped

1 14 oz can of chicken stock

Salt, pepper, Seasoning Salt, Mrs. Dash original seasoning, any other herbs or spices you might like, to taste

Directions

1. In a non-stick Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat. Add chicken; cook, turning occasionally, until chicken is browned on all sides. Remove from skillet to plate.
2. To same pan, add remaining tablespoon olive oil and the onion; cook over low heat until onion is softened and golden.  Add the Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic granules and any other spices or herbs you might like.  (you could use fresh garlic here - I just prefer the taste of the Tastefully Simple product)
3. Add potatoes, zucchini & cabbage.  (I have also added chopped carrots here)  Add canned tomatoes to pot; cook 5-10 minutes longer. Add the chicken stock.  Cover and cook until vegetables are tender crisp, stirring as  little as possible so you don't mush up your vegies.
4. Return chicken to pan; if desired, season with salt and pepper. Cover; cook 10-15 minutes longer, stirring occasionally.
   Buy a nice loaf of crusty Italian bread to go with this and you'll have a tasty supper.  It probably makes enough for 6 or so people, or 2 people for two nights.  Enjoy. 
   
   

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Happy Birthday to my darling FurBabies -

George & Gracie's "Gotcha Day" was July 9, 2011.  We were told by the lady who gave them to us that they were born "sometime in October 2010"  - So I went with the best date 10-10-10 - a very lucky day indeed. 

They still sleep like this - all curled up together.  It's the sweetest thing I've ever seen.

George loves to help me with any project I'm working on - here he was helping to wrap Christmas presents.  His current favorite thing to help me with is typing on the computer.  

And any comfy spot he can find to sleep is good with him.  

Gracie prefers The Shepherd's side of the bed.  But I'll often wake to a crushing sensation - as soon as I figure out that I'm not having a heart attack or something like that, I realize that all 14 pounds of her is balanced on my chest.  Breathing issues soon arise...

So, happy birthday, my darling little FurBabies.  You have brought us much joy...

 and lots of small dead animals. 

To celebrate they got special dinners & extra Party Mix.  And maybe just a little Half & Half poured over their pate... 

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You know the old sayimg?

"I brought Mummy a Present this morning.  A real live burdy.  Then it flew away.  Someplace in the house.  We don't know where it went, and we haven't seen it all day. Oh well, them's the breaks..."

Mummy here, and Nope, that's not the "old saying" I'm thinking of...

But, he looks pretty proud, don't ya think?  

 And don't you look so nonchalant, Missy...
Yeah, you know what I'm talking about...

"Oh, Mummy,  I just don't give a rat's ass"

Yup, that's the old saying I was thinking about - seems the "MIGHTY HUNTERS" were out in force this a.m. 

I woke up to hearing George with that "gutteral Mreow" that generally means he's got some kind of a critter stuck between his lips.  I went running down the hall uttering words that would probably cost me a buck or two if we had a swearing jar.  George had something, "Oh, it's a bird."   I think it might have been a chick-a-dee, although it was awfully dark, and it flew away before I could catch it.  I don't know if The Shepherd caught it in his net, or if it is still languishing someplace in the nooks and crannys of the kitchen.

You know, there's something very comforting about sleeping with a cat sometimes - their purr is just at the right decibel to encourage healing -  sometimes they can hog the bed a little, but frankly, it was the "rat's ass" that really got me going this morning. 

Got up, took shower, got ready for church, spread up bedding - "Ick - what is that on my bed?"

OMG, it is a dead rodent - or rather HALF a dead rodent.  ICK, ICK, ICK!!!!!! 

The BACK HALF of a dead rodent, to be exact, (which my church choir partners seemed to think was hysterical - Hence coming up with the old saying "I don't give a rat's ass..." )  Luckily, there wasn't a lot of blood and gore, and after knocking half the stuff off of my bedside table trying to get to my box of Kleenex, ratty (or, what was left of him) was wrapped in a shroud of tissue and dispatched to the garbage can.  Of course, blankets & bedding had to be washed after we got back from church - like I didn't have anything else to do. 

Found this on Pinterest - thought it fit the situation... Ha ha -  Those kitties better watch it, I'll start shutting the bedroom door at night. 

Well, I'm off to write in my gratitude journal (like, "I'm grateful that rat was not alive!") and hit the sack. 

Have a great week!  

 

Meow Like a Pirate Day & 3BT

Well I missed Meow Like a Pirate Day on Friday - too much going on -

Changes at work have me feeling anxious - I'm sure everything will turn out OK - it's just like I feel like an old episode of Star Trek, venturing into the unknown, I guess. 

I made some Chicken Stew tonight with some end of the summer vegetables - It really turned out delicious - I wish I'd thought to get a nice loaf of Italian bread to go with it - maybe tomorrow - there's planned left overs for tomorrow night.  I also thought it might be good over brown rice.  I'll have to see what The Shepherd would prefer.

The Seahawks are behind - Darn!  Also,k it rained cats & dogs this afternoon and today at church we talked about Gratitude.  I was grateful that I didn't have to be out in the rain, that's for sure.

 It made me remember that I have been remiss in posting about Three Beautiful Things.  - So here goes -

Peach Cobbler - probably one of my favorite desserts - I like to make it in my Pampered Chef Deep Dish Baker so I can put LOTS of peaches in there.  I just use the old recipe out of my Betty Crocker Cookbook - it never fails.  

Ah, another food item - POPCORN!  I love popcorn, and generally make up a big sack full of it and then snack on it for several days.

I got this popcorn from Amazon.com - it never ceases to amaze me what you can get from them - it comes prepackaged with popcorn, flavored coconut oil and popcorn salt.  The idea is to dump it all in the pan at the same time, but there is WAY too much salt so I have been pouring the salt into a shaker and only using part of it - YUM. 

And pretty Yarn - this yarn turned out so colorful - (I need to get back to taking pictures of the roving so I can see how it looked before being spun)  I was hoping to get to do something with it, but I sent it and a bunch of other yarn to the Bow Little Market with my friend Donna & I'll be darned it it didn't sell - but it was beautiful.  I hope the person who bought it makes something pretty with it.

Everyone have a great week out there! 

Umm - Mummy's Sunday Selfie

We can't remember if we told you about Mummy's hurt footie sometime in the past month - well, it got worse over the Labor Day Weekend - she basically had to spend the time just lounging 'round and complaining because her foot hurt.  Finally The Shepherd had enough and said "I think we need to take you to the ER" 

What happened was she was just walking down the hall and heard a "Snap" & felt pain in her foot. right below her little piggy toe.  (This was in mid August, mind you)  So, thinking it was a stress fracture, she made a Dr. appointment and went to the Dr.  He said "Oh, I don't think it's broken, I think you sprained it" - What the heck - he wasn't listening to what she said, we thinks... but they took x-rays and nothing was conclusive, so he told her to just stay off of it and it should get better.

It didn't. 

She called back to his office and they said - "Physical Therapy"  Mummy said "NO Physical Therapy"  having had a verrry bad experience with it last year when her neck was hurting.    Ok, a referral to a Podiatrist.  (Who couldn't see her for two weeks)  Meanwhile her foot continued to deteriorate, until Friday before Labor day it got really bad - pain was up into the ankle and she couldn't put any weight on it at all. 

On Saturday, she called the Urgent care clinic for her Dr.'s office.  Turns out, if you have already been seen for your problem, they will not take you at the urgent care clinic, you have to call the Dr. on call.  So she did.  The attitude of the Dr. on Call was "Oh, Broken foot?  Too bad, so sad.  Can't do anything for ya.   Find some crutches and stay off of it"

So, if you have a broken foot, as far as we can tell, the medical profession doesn't give a diddly squat.

So, Mummy got up really early (for her) on Tuesday a.m. - (The Shepherd is already up at 0-dark-30 to do sheepie chores.  They were at the ER & checked in by 7:15.  Then some people with more urgent problems, like strokes, etc. came in behind her and she was dropped to the bottom of the list.  Waited almost 2 1/2 hours.  BUT at least they were willing to help her.  More x-rays were still inconclusive to a fracture so the good ER Dr. suggested something for the pain and one of these huge boot things.  Well, after 2-3 hours in the boot thingy the pain went away, so she didn't need to fill the prescription, and her foot is getting a little bit better every day.  She'll probably have to wear the boot thingy for another couple of weeks.  The Dr. said to follow up with an orthopedic surgeon, but she doesn't have the best insurance, and they are 'spensive.  So, she's hoping that it continues to improve and she won't need to do that. 

The weird thing is that the day Mummy hurt her right foot, The Shepherd found out that he had a broken bone in his LEFT foot, and then Wednesday evening when she got home from the Salt Mine, George was sitting by the side of the driveway holding up his paw and looking quite sad, and limping when he walked.  They ended up taking him to the After Hours V.E.T. - who determined that he had been bitten, it wasn't badly abscessed, and so they gave him a shot of heavy duty anti-biotics in his tushy.  He's all better now though.

The Shepherd has loads & loads of zucchini in his garden, so Mummy has been putting the scary green stuff in everything she cooks - at least she doesn't expect George and me to eat it.  But she has found a yummy quick bread recipe that she says she'll share with you all later this week.

And that hatched egg?  We never did find out what escaped from it, but I'm keeping my eyes to the skies, just in case. 

That's all the noos that I have for you this week.  Love,  Gracie

We think something might have hatched in the garden.......

Hi Effurrybody and Effurrykitty!

Gracie here with an odd report of things happening in the Shepherd's Garden -

We think something might have hatched.....







Mummy was out walking in the garden with some friends and they came upon one of her dragon eggs -

It was cracked open!!!!!!!!!!


We think something might have hatched! 

Mummy - you'd better get the net out - what ever came outa that egg - it looks like it might eat joocy kitties for dinner!  

To Be Continued............ 

PeeEss -  Mummy says to tell you all that things are really good at The New Salt Mine and she Love, love, loves her job.  :-) 

 

The New Salt Mine -

This is where I'm spending my days now.  I love it.  

Good people - good co-workers!  

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My "Tour de Fleece" projects

Ravelry puts on a "Tour d'Fleece" Spin along during the Tour d'France every year. 

I kind of "haphazardly" join along - this year I went for some of the new roving that I brought home from Black Sheep.  I love spinning such colorful roving - it's just fun. 

 When I got done with the first project, I started in on some Kathy Green Roving.  This color is called Mulberry - I think it is very pretty and the yarn that it made is soft and cushy.

Here is the yarn from the first project - it doesn't look very colorful in this picture - but get a load of the pic. below - 

It is Superwashed Marino - I think that there might be some Tencel blended in - I'll have to look - but it is very pretty, soft and lusterous. 

I love spinning! 

These yarns will be for sale at the Little Bow Market in Alger next week - my friend Donna is going to have them & 12 other skeins that I delivered to her last week at her farm booth.  I hope some of it sells. 







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A Visit to StoneHouse Artifacts Gallery

photo copy-write StoneHouse Artifacts

 I went to see our friend Lydia this afternoon.  She and her husband Kurt have a business called StoneHouse Artifacts   (this link takes you to their "Stone & Landscape Gallery)

They go to India and Myanmar and other points east to travel and also collect items to sell in their store.

One thing they find are these granite mortars and granite rice grinders.

photo copy-write StoneHouse Artifacts

These Grain Grinders are made of stone.  These granite mortars are traditional and have been used for centuries in India and Southeast Asian countries.

For some reason,  I really want one of these.

photo copy-write StoneHouse Artifacts

I decided that right now,  my "budget" allowed me to get one of the smaller mortars like you see in the center of this picture.  I haven't decided where I want to put it - probably in the back yard so I can see it when I leave the house. 

OK,  well, so the other reason is that those Grain Grinders are exceedingly HEAVY - and it will probably take two men or John with his hand truck and the trailer to get it home - I know it is too heavy to get in the trunk of the car that's for sure!!!  I can pick up one of the mortar bowls with one hand...



 

photo copy-write StoneHouse Artifacts

Look at this lovely garden room that Kurt put together with benches and columns - Cool beyond belief.

 
So make sure you visit their website - StoneHouseArtifacts.com and see all the other beautiful things that they have in their store!

And a BIG Thank you to Lydia for letting me use these lovely photographs off her web site, since I so stupidly left my camera at home! 

 




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Easy like Sunday .....

 Hey - you - yeah, I mean you - whatch doin? 

George here - out snoopervising Mummy on one of her recent forays outside the house...we have to follow her around and make sure she doesn't get into trouble with bees or falling over hoses... (Mummy here - "and you do a very good job, George - I appreciate your help")

Anyhow, it's Sunday, and during the summer, that means things are pretty laid back around here.  Breakfast is brunch and lunch is ... well, whenever you can wrangle some...

This morning Mummy made cream scones for The Shepherd for his brunch.  He fills them with strawberry jam and happily munches away.

And there are extras for snacks later in the day. 

 Mummy had seen a recipe for Raspberry Scones on Pinterest last week and wanted to try them this morning.  The Shepherd said he wanted his scones plain, so, she made two separate batches - plain ones for him and raspberry ones for her.  She had picked the raspberries at a friends house a couple of weeks ago and put them in the freezer - she initially froze them on a cookie sheet so they were little individual "nuggets of frozen goodness" and then put them in a freezer container.  They are luscious to snack on when you just want "something a little sweet"

The recipe called for a whole cup of raspberries, but she wasn't willing to part with that much of her stash, so she just used a half a cup - she added them while they were still frozen, so she could break them up a little bit  -  as you can see, 1/2 cup was plenty. 

You can find the recipe from Pinterest here

She left out the almonds because she didn't have any, and thinks that the recipe called for way too much glaze/frosting - she only used a tiny bit on each scone.  And, they were delicious! 

On a whole 'nother note, Mummy got this African violet from a friend, two years ago when she celebrated her 20th anniversary at The Salt Mine.  (Happened to be on July 26!)

Some of you may know that she left that job on June 12.  "Early Retirement"   was fun at first, but she was applying for jobs that looked interesting and last week was offered a part time position at a NEW Salt Mine.  She starts on Tues 28th - 22 years and 2 days from the time she started the job at the "OLD Salt Mine".   Anyhow, this African violet never had bloomed again since she got it, but it is blooming again for the first time - she figures it must be to celebrate her new job. 

So, that's pretty much the news for today.  I have to go clean my handsome furs now, so you can go away. 

We hope you guys all have a great week ahead.  I'll keep you posted on how Mummy's new job goes! 

XOX   George

Hey Nabisco ! ! !

 

BEST. IDEA. EVER.

Ok, so I couldn't show you MY package, because I ATE THEM ALL - 

Down to the very last crumb!

Thin, crispy - even after you open them - 

the package reseals and they STAY CRISPY!  

And you can still lick the frosting off the one side.

It's just the right amount!  Who'd a thought!

But the best deal is - they are thin - 

and three of them are totally satisfying  -

(OK, so I ate more than three at a time)

but still.....

Might be the biggest cookie revelation ever!!  

Bwa ha ha ha.....

By the way, I have not been compensated in any way by the Nabisco company for raving about their new cookie - this is an AD FREE BLOG and I pay for my own cookies, thank you very much. 

Your Honor, I object....

I was on Pinterest the other day - Oh, yeah, digital hoarding - that's my middle name - and there is something that's been bugging me -

My home page is a mix of food, pretty flowers, cats & funny sayings.  I have noticed a proliferation of food items with "Crack" included in the name - The one I was looking at was "Cracked out Chicken Bubble-up"   Eh?

Just out of curiosity, I typed "crack" in the Pinterest search bar.  - Holy cow -

Cheese & garlic crack bread
Crack slurp noodles
Christmas crack
Crack dip
Crack cake
Maple caramel bacon crack
and of course
Cracked out chicken bubble-up

So, I'm wondering if any of the people who named these dishes have ever tried crack?

I'm wondering if any of the people who named these dishes have any friends or family members who have ruined their lives because they actually ARE addicted to crack.

Maybe they need to look up addiction in the dictionary - a habit of activity, often injurious  -  Synonyms include:  

    bag    bent    craving    dependence    enslavement

    fixation    hang-up    hook   inclination    jones  

    kick       monkey      obsession       shot       thing

    monkey on back    sweet tooth 

OK, so I get that "Dependence Dip" doesn't quite have the same "je ne sais quoi" as Crack Dip, but PEOPLE!!  Maybe think about it when you say something is "just like crack"  -  because, unless it's going to cause you to live homeless/on the street, it isn't "just like crack"  -  

Just sayin'  

And now, a happier thought for the day -  

Gracie - a few days after "gotcha day" in 2011 - when we FINALLY let them outside to explore the big outdoors - 

 

Gracie, last month - Bless her heart.

She's our little tootsie roll - & loves, loves, loves The Shepherd.  Sometimes when I come to bed, she is snuggled up as close to him as she can get - whiskers to whiskers - it's sooo cute (but you'll just have to imagine that one folks - ...I'd be looking for a new place to sleep if I took that picture, if you know what I mean...)

Happy Gotcha Day to George and Gracie

 Four years ago today, I brought home the most precious gift - George & Gracie.  They were "barn cats" living on an alpaca farm out in the county - The farmer man had passed away suddenly and the farmer's wife had decided to sell the farm so she needed a new home for these two kitties. 

We had been catless since Sinda went to the bridge in February, and I was ready for some new kitties. 

Here is a picture of Gracie taken last month as she hid out in the coolness of the hops & kiwis arbor.  She is such a sweet kitty and sleeps on the foot of the bed most nights. 

I just have to convince her not to play "whack a mole" with my toes as she has VERY sharp daggers for claws and you'd think I was trying to murder her when I try to trim them!!

George is my handsome man - he loves to come in and sit on my lap when I am spinning - or like right now, when I am trying to work at the computer.  Sorry George, I'm busy - you'll have to come back later. 

Many of you know that last month, I was offered "early retirement" from the "salt mine", so right now I am home all of the time - they still haven't gotten used to me being around, but they are starting to run in and out now and then to say "hi"  -  especially in the hopes that I might give them a snack. 

 Here is one of the ice cream cakes that they had at my going away party :-)  

I'm looking for new employment, but don't hold out very high hopes.  There are several large employers in the area who have just laid off a fair amount of their admin & accounting work force!  I'm very glad to have George and Gracie to keep me company as I adjust to not working. 

Oh, for Pete's sake

It seems that there is an outbreak of salmonella in Washington state that has been traced to backyard chickens. 

It appears that several of the cases were transmitted because people were "cuddling and kissing" their chickens.  I've heard of "kissin' cousins" - but kissing chickens?? What the heck??

For Pete's sake people, these are barnyard animals.  You do NOT kiss and cuddle with barnyard animals!  Any farm kid knows that!

And to top it off, some of the cases were caused because people let chickens run free in their houses.  I'm sorry, but ICK!  From someone who has spent many hours cleaning out the chicken house (when we had chickens - this picture was taken in 2007 and the last two of these birds just "flew over the rainbow bridge" this past winter) -  just ICK! 

Honestly, sometimes one wonders what people are thinking!  The next thing you know the CDC will come down against small chicken flocks just 'cause some "city folk" don't know any better than not to kiss their chickens! 

OK, end of rant...



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