Easy like Sunday - -

 Just a few things I've been meaning to show you -
The bounty from the garden went to our choir potluck - I like to steam my corn - it doesn't end up so watery that way - and you can get a few more ears in the pan if you are just steaming them.

It was the best corn ever this year - especially after The Shepherd built a fence around the corn patch to keep the raccoons out!

This is our weeping giganticum -  It is now missing it's whole left arm and streamers hanging down.  That part of the tree split and landed on the house (luckily no damage to the house) during the windstorm two weeks ago.

I'm missing summer - so are the kittehs - one of George's favorite spots to sleep was on the hood of the car after it was all nice and heated up.  Funny cat, that George. 

I had a small patch of sunflowers growing in the back yard - I always meant to cut some and take them into work - but, #1 - I am always running late in the a.m. & #2 - sadly, there really is no room on my desk for a vase - I miss that. 

It was very exciting to be featured on MOUSEBREATH last week - That Jan and her Feline Funny Farmers - what a busy lady - she does a lot to get cat bloggers to get to know each other - 

The aforementioned corn patch - with the annual pumpkin patch in front   We still have much of the pumpkin that i froze last fall left in the freezer - it was just too hot to bake from May - October this year. 










My little sphinx girl - Gracie and George will be three years old next week (Tues. 10th) - it is incredible the amount of joy they bring us.

We've been blessed here in the Pacific NW this summer - idyllic sunny days and nights where the warm breezes wash over you like a tropical ocean wave.

The cats have begun to demand extra food - are they storing up for a long cold winter?  I hope not.  



Have a good week. 

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We're on MOUSEBREATH!!!!!!

Hello Effurry Body and Effury Kitty -

We are thrilled over the moon because we's been interviewed for MOUSEBREATH - What's MOUSEBREATH, all my "non-kittyfied" friends are asking...

MOUSEBREATH is an Award Winning Lifestyle e-Magazine written by cats, for cats and cat lovers.

Think LIFE magazine, for Cats...

How cool is that?

Our furriends the Funny Farmer Felines are reporters for MOUSEBREATH and write about different Kitties every week.  And this week, it is US!

And we get to proudly display this badge that will always link to the article.  Woo Hoo.  

 

So we say HELLO to everyone who has come to visit.  We hope you'll stay a little bit, check out the farm, find a recipe that you want to try, and maybe leave a note for the kittehs - they love having visitors!  

Happy Birthday to my Baby Sister

NNT circa 1956

Well, saying Happy Birthday to my "Baby Sister" on my blog is kind of pointless, I guess, because she doesn't READ my blog - (to quote JarJar Binks "how rude"), and, even though we don't always see eye to eye, (what sisters do...) I still wish her a happy big 6-0 - 



PS - Stay tuned on Friday for big exciting noos from the kittehs! 



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Easy Like Sunday -

Hello Effurry body & Effurry Kitty! It's Caturday!

We dragged Mummy out into the garden today and made her take pictures of us. 


It's probably the last nice weekend day we're gonna have for a while, so it was a make hay while the sun shines kind of day.





Mummy says that George is the George Clooney of cats - I just don't get what she means - yes, his name is George, but what's a Clooney???

















The Shepherd's Gardens are looking pretty spectacular - even though it's been a dry summer.


















They look lush and green - and Mummy likes the little bits of color that peek out of the bushes. 














I think Mummy must have spilled a little bit of breakfast on Bella - George is fixing that problem. 

These are grape tomatoes and they are delicious (according to Mummy - I'm not much into tomatoes...)

She was wondering if anyone ever takes the little bitty green ones and dredges them in an egg wash and flour then fries them up for Fried Green Tomato Balls.  She thought that sounded kind of fun...

Mummy & The Shepherd have church tomorrow then she said they would have to hurry home because there is a SEAHAWKS game on!  She's gong to make Steak Fajitas and Green Corn Tamale Pie  - (She says that more people have visited that page in our blog than any other!) 

We'll have some big exciting news for you soon - so keep checking back!

Love, your roving reporter, Gracie

The world's shortest Hollyhocks...and other earthly delights

We have the world's shortest Hollyhock plants!  These are maybe six inches tall - if they stretch -

When I was a kid, my grandma's yard was full of tall Hollyhocks.  Our yard was full of tall Hollyhocks - with loads of flowers on them. 

Did you know that you can make a fancy dancing lady with two Hollyhock blossoms - one fully open and one still closed?  You need a pointy toothpick - pluck the blossoms off the tall stems.  Put the fully open one so it sits flat on your surface (see the pretty skirt that it makes -with the fancy green shawl?)

Take the blossom that is still partly closed up, hold the colored blossom part to the top and the green part will match up with the green part of the "skirt" and poke the toothpick in the stem of each one and stick them together - green to green - My sister & I used to make trays of our dancing ladies and have Hollyhock balls - You learn to make do when you live way out in the country and 50 years ago, cablevision? What was cablevision???





The maple trees are beginning to set seed.  Even though the forecast is for near 90 degree weather by Wednesday, fall is starting to show her colors.










Gracie is doing her morning yoga - The kittehs have "loved" a big divot in the side of this post. 

I had some other garden pictures for you, but The Ebil Blogger loaded them, and then took them away.  Isn't that how life goes sometimes?

Work is busy, church is back in full swing and I have a cardiologist appointment tomorrow morning - early! So, I think I'll hit the sack.

Have a good week!  

Why I didn't get my shower this morning...

This is the hose bib out by the barn (where it connects to the under ground water line).  It had been running at a trickle, and when you have 8 sheep and a plant nursery to provide water for, a trickle just doesn't make it.  So The Shepherd decided that since he had the day off (Labor Day) that he would use it to labor and replace the darn thing.

Unfortunately one of the parts cracked when he was digging it up and he had to turn off the water to the whole place and run into town - the part that cracked was the only part he didn't have extra of! Thank goodness Home Depot wasn't closed for labor day!!

Darn - I had forgotten that he was going to do that - and that's what I get for sleeping in...

Of course he had no lack of supervision. 

"Do you need me to jump down there and check things out???" 

Looked like too much work for Gracie...

Bella & Gracie had a solution to my "no shower" woes. 

"There's nothing better than a good dust bath, Mummy"

Roll this way and that, and then do a few lickety lick licks.

You'll never know you missed that shower.  

"Yeah, right,  Fresh as a daisy..." 

A Tribute to the Fire Fighters

My sister's nephew is a fire fighter for the forest service.  He sent his dad these pictures of a day at work and his dad forwarded them along to my sis.  I think she said these were taken over Idaho. His dad says he has done 16 such rappels. 

Such courage!  A tip of the hat to these brave men and women who lay it all on the line to protect our beautiful country.

May they stay safe. 


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900th Post, a Caturday Report & a Recipe!!

Hello Effurybody & Effury Kitty! It's Caturday!  And it's the lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer around here.


First off, Mummy asked me to thank you all for your good wishes at her recent health scare
adventure.  She is feeling much better now!

We's just all hanging out and nappin as much as we can, soakin in the sun for we know that the cold grey days of the rainy season will be coming soon.  But till then, it's naps for us.

Since this is her 900th post, Mummy was looking at the stats for her blog that are provided by the ebil blogspot - and she wonders why there would be 100 page views from Russia in the past week, or why sometimes it lists the referring sites and it is a web site that sells "medicines for guys" - She wonders what the heck that is all about...

The Shepherd is harvesting his cabbage crop this afternoon and Mummy will chop it all up to make coleslaw for their church BBQ tomorrow.  She's also going to snap 7 pounds of green beans - they are expecting about 30 people - so she'll be busy this afternoon.

Speaking of Green Beans, I know that she also promised you the new recipe that she came up with for Bean Salad earlier this summer.  She said it was so good that she and The Shepherd were both eating it by the bowl full!  She said you could put any combination of beans and vegies in it.  The fresh green beans really added a lot to the flavor and texture.  It might also be good with fresh broccoli or cauliflower bits in it.  or throw in a can or corn and add some Chipotle pepper sauce to the dressing - Yum.  But she made it with the following recipe -

Marinated Five-Bean Salad Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 can dark red kidney beans, drained
• 1 can yellow wax beans, drained
• 3 cups fresh green beans (or one can, drained)
• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 large onion, quartered & sliced very thin
• 1 medium red bell pepper, quartered & cut into thin slices

DRESSING:

• ¾  cup Cider Vinegar
• ¾ cup White wine vinegar
• 1 ½  cup vegetable oil
• 1 ½  cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. Tastefully Simple “Garlic Garlic” or 1 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon coarse-ground pepper

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine all vegetables. In a 3-quart saucepan, combine vinegars and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, whisking to emulsify oil & vinegars. Pour vinegar mixture over vegetables. Mix well. Cover and chill overnight, stirring several times. To serve, scoop with slotted spoon into serving dish, saving marinade to make more bean salad. Makes 6-8 servings (about 8 cups). Note: Salad can be stored in refrigerator up to two weeks, but it is so tasty, it won’t last that long.  You can keep adding more beans & veggies if you want.  If you double the recipe for a picnic, etc.  don’t double the dressing, just go half  again as much  - doubled, the salad fills my big yellow Tupperware bowl. 

So that's all the noose I've got for ya - Hope everyone has a fantabulous weekend.  Love, your roving reporter, Gracie!  

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Well, That was an Adventure!

Post # 899 -Who'd a thought, when I started this blog over 7 years ago, I'd still be telling you my stories and showing you my photos? 

I certainly didn't - - -

Now here's the "funny" part - I started my blog so I could keep my family and friends up to date on a "health issue" that I was having - and here, almost 900 posts later, I'm about to tell you a new story of "a health Issue" that came to a head on Monday.

This pretty little orchid?  A gift from a friend, who visited me in the hospital. 

THE HOSPITAL?? Yup, the hospital.- for some of you, this may be TMI - feel free to CLICK HERE

For a couple of weeks I've had problems breathing - several of my co-workers have had coughy-snotty colds - I thought maybe that's what I had - but then, it seemed more like an allergy - and taking an antihistamine did seem to help - till last weekend.  by Sunday night I could barely walk across the room, barely get my breath.

So, Monday morning, I called my Dr.'s office - they could see me at 9:30.  I felt bad leaving work - I am the main phone answering person - I have three back-up people - one was on vacation, one had called in sick.  The other, whose husband is a nurse, said :"You get out of here and find out what's wrong"  -  Little did she know...

My regular doc was on vacation, so I saw one of the other docs in the practice - probably a good thing, because, I think that a new Dr. will often see things that your regular Dr. might miss - but in this case it was pretty apparent - they took my blood pressure - pretty normal -  took my pulse - 140 beats per minute.  ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY???  Well, I said, what is normal?  60 - 100 beats is normal - An EKG was done - I was proclaimed to be in atrial flutter and Dr. M. said "I'm on the phone with the cardiologist office in town to see if they want you there or at the ER - Can someone come get you?  Well, I drove myself here, I said - No, I'm afraid you may be having a heart attack - you are not driving anywhere.  The final verdict - They wanted me to go to the ER ASAP (or is it STAT?) and the Dr's office printed up some official paperwork that would get me in faster than a speeding bullet.

Hrmphhh - The Shepherd was working "out in the county" (translated - about 45 minutes away) - 
                 An ambulance would probably cost me about $750.00
                
I guess I could have called a taxi, but calling my boss seemed to be a better idea.  Bless his heart, he came and got me and took me to the hospital and dropped me off at the ER door - Did I mention that I work for really nice people?

So, long story / I'll try to make it short - I check into ER and they take me back to a little cubicle = by this time, The Shepherd had arrived -  They did another EKG, several shots of medicine (through an IV) that were "supposed" to drop my heart rate - and didn't - a chest ex ray, a CAT Scan (when the lady asked me if I'd ever had a CAT scan, I replied "Only of the four legged feline variety" - she was nice enough to laugh) (Can you hear the "cha-ching" noise running in the background?)

Now on an IV drip of the medicine that was supposed to drop my heart rate - Going down, but only slightly - and then there was that "A-flutter" thing to worry about.  They took me upstairs to the cardio unit and got me settled in a bed and put me on a heparin (blood thinner) IV in the other arm, so I didn't develop a blood clot and have a stroke.   

Everyone kept asking me "Didn't you notice that your heart was beating so fast?" Didn't you feel the flutter"  "Are you in pain?" 

All I could say was "No, I didn't notice that my heart was beating so fast, because I was focused on the fact that I couldn't breath"  And after the 10th time that someone asked me if I was in pain, I just started my conversations with people - "Hi, and NO, I'm not in any pain -  "

Did you know that they do not intend for you to sleep in a hospital - at least not at night - 12:00-vital signs, 1:00 blood draw, 2:00 check the IV's, 3:00 another blood draw, 4:00 - vital signs again - this time she wanted me to get up so she could weigh me - "I just got comfortable" I complained - "Can't you do it later?"  - She allowed as how she could - so, yup, 5:00 - in she comes to weigh me.

At about 7:00 Tues a.m. Dr. D - the cardiologist (young - cute, and looks like I could easily be old enough to be his mother) came in to chat with me and give me some care options -  My heart rate had slowed down to about 107 by that time -

Option #1 - they could load me up on medicines & send me home - hope that it continued to drop - and they would still have to do a procedure called a cardo-version to try and shock my heart back to normal rhythm - I would also continue to have the breathing problems.

Option #2 - do an esophageal ultrasound of my heart, if there weren't any blood clots, then do the cardio-version right then.  If that worked, and my heart beat returned to normal, then I could probably go home within a few hours. 

It didn't seem like rocket science to me - I went for Option #2 - and it worked - my heart "converted" back to normal - After passing a "walk about the halls" test with the nursing assistant to make sure it wasn't going to revert - they sent me packing.

Yay, home sweet home.  And things seem to be getting better - breathing issues are pretty much gone - in fact, we're going to Portland for a wedding in the next couple of days -

They never did figure out why my heart was beating so fast - The Shepherd thinks it's actually been building up to this for a month or so - I guess I just didn't notice until it "smacked me" last weekend.
I took Wednesday off to rest from no sleep the night before - and was back at my desk on Thursday.

The kittehs stick to me like glue  - I have to take an anti-clotting medicine for a month - it's a "new" one -  my insurance only pays for generics - it was $276.50!! - luckily I only have to take it for a month. 

I have moderately good health insurance - but I figure my part of this adventure will be in the $1000's of $$$ - and I was just about to get my knee replacement from 8 years ago paid off. 

You know what they say - Nature abhors a vacuum...  So it's back to The Salt Mine's I guess. 

Saturday's Simple Pleasures

 Last Sunday was the annual "Around The Corner Cafe Summer Picnic"  This small restaurant was only open for a couple of years in the early 1990's - but the friendships made during that time have endured 




We have watched each others kids grow up, have grand kids, or grand cats - what ever -








Many thanks to Maria (in the blue shirt) for keeping us organized.

The day had dawned sort of cloudy and cool, but the clouds quickly burned off to a lovely afternoon.

Denise was the last to arrive, with her legendary chocolate cake.  (she mentioned this year that she had tried bringing something else one year and was kindly (or maybe not so kindly) reminded that the chocolate cake was her responsibility -  Ha, ha - and she believed us!!

In the very foreground is Jo's spaghetti & cheese casserole - Like Denise's chocolate cake, we all look forward to her addition to this picnic.  Maria generally brings chicken wings, but this year she brought a chicken, grape & pasta salad.  It was delicious!

I'm kind of a wild-card - this year I brought Marinated Five Bean Salad (I'll tell you more about it later this week) - There were chips and hummus and a wonderful margherita salad with homemade pesto! 

Look at it and weep -

Do you see why we ask Denise to bring her legendary chocolate cake year after year???


So, another year's summer picnic in the bag - it was great to see everyone, and we'll all look forward to the Christmas Cookie Exchange.






Meanwhile, back at home, George is taking in the simple pleasure of stopping to smell the flowers.

And Bella does what Bella does best - lay right in the middle of the driveway and take a dirt bath.

Oh, you wanted to use this road?

No, sorry, I own the road - you'll have to get out of here some other way. 

Thanks, Bella. 




Have a good weekend everyone! 



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Happy Sunny Sunday!

 The Shepherd, Outstanding in his Field...

He put a fence around it today because the critters are after his corn.  And they don't just pull of an ear, here or there, they pull up the whole darn plant, little buggers...

We went to an open house and potluck yesterday afternoon - he took our hostess a broccoli that was almost twice the size of this one.  She was so impressed that she put it in the center of the table.

I put 4 quart bags of broccoli in the freezer today.  It will be nice to put in soups and stir fry next winter.

I wish you could smell how sweet these sweet peas smell - truly delicious.  

And the coral runner beans are out producing his wildest dreams - I may try freezing some of them - maybe just a quart or two - that way, if they end up mushy, I won't have wasted too much  

Our Rose of Sharon is in full bloom!

I'm off to make cream of broccoli cheese soup for dinner.  I made 5 bean salad to take to my potlucks this weekend - I'll give you the recipe next week - it's the best I've ever made!  

HAPPY SUNNY SUNDAY!!!

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