Is It Cooking, Or Is It Memorex....

Silly me... you know how I am about fun titles. I try real hard to amuse myself figuring that I will amuse anyone that stops by in the process, but I would like your opinion...

I am, what I fetchingly like to call myself, a survival eater. Basically that means I eat when I'm hungry. I rarely plan a meal and at times in my life when I've lived alone and been responsible for my own survival, food-wise, I'm very off the cuff, as it were... I can cook a passable meal, but I really don't much care to about 97% of the time. I am fortunate enough (or smart enough) to be surrounded by people who can cook. My friend that I have lived with for years is an excellent and creative cook. Same with my middle brother, Bro, who lives with us. I have a multitude of family and friends that are good cooks, and in our discussions about meal preparation the question arose, "what is cooking?" My contention is if there are three steps involved it is cooking, such as getting a can out of the pantry, opening the can, dumping the contents into said pan on the stove and turning on the fire under the pan, that's more than three steps, so that is cooking, plus an extra step. Missy, my wonderful cooking roomie, and other friends have decided that cooking requires more than one item, adding one or more ingredients into the basic mix, before it can be called cooking, instead of just heating food to eat. Last night we had what we affectionately call a 'root-hog' night which basically means no one is in the mood or feels like whipping up dinner and everyone is left their own devices to root around in the fridge or pantry to find something to eat. I got out a can of spaghettios, opened it, put it in the pan, turned on the stove... therefore, in my opinion, cooking. Then I got a hot dog out of the fridge, cut it up and put it in with the spaghettios, turned and asked Missy and Bro if that meant I was cooking by other people's standards....

Now back to the question... what, in your esteemed opinions, constitutes cooking? Or have you all gone to sleep after trying to read through all the above idiocy?

I thank you all and appreciate your opinions...

Ahhhh, Home, Quiet Home...

Finally, I can get back to a normal schedule. While I love my friend, stuff that I do around the plantation doesn't get done because I feel I have to be around, in the house, visiting. I got out Friday and yesterday and mowed and started the weed-eating. I still have more to do with the weed-eater, but I'm sore today from all I did yesterday, so I'll take it a little slower today until I un-stiffen...

In thinking about having guests, I decided that I should see about finding a small trailer, even a pop-up. That way I could have a guest "suite". I think that's a great fix. You wouldn't feel obligated to be around all the time and the guests would feel like they had a place to "retire" to and have some alone time. Of course that might encourage longer visits, but as long as they're are out of my hair...

OU kicked baaahoooty last night! They looked really good.

That's all from red dirt land for now... Enjoy your Sunday.

Re-Tired-Ment...

Yes, I know it's spelled wrong, but it fits for me this week... We have had company since Saturday and they will be here a couple more days and while these friends don't require entertainment, one does need to consider things like food, sleeping arrangements, clean towels, clean dishes... you see where this is going. And although I love my friends like family, it goes back to the old saw, after a few days visiting family and fish start to smell. I gave up my kingsized bed, because, like a lot of folks, we don't have a guest bedroom. I've been sleeping on a twin mattress on the floor of the living room with dog beds next to me on either side. When I wake up in the morning to let the fur babies out, instead of going back to bed as I sometimes, well, often times do, I have to get up and fold up the bedclothes and move the mattress out of the way so people can get out the front door to go places and do things... So I'm trying real hard to not be grumpy, to be a delightful and witty host-person, and all the while I'm thinking I just want to go back to bed in my own bed. But it's just until Thursday (or Friday) and then I can crash out for a day or three. It seems like to the best of my memory when we had company at home when we were growing up mom was never tired, dad was always witty and in a good mood and us kids didn't give a shit because we got to sleep on the feather mattress on the floor. We always could go outside to play and our routines were never really interrupted so it didn't really faze us. What I want to understand is how my mom did it without wanting to behead people...

I've always thought that when I got old enough to retire that I'd be ready for a laid back life and be able to do things around the house like I've wanted to for years, such as art work and jewelry making. It seems like I'm so damn tired from just having extra people around that I haven't done anything that I've wanted to do for just the past four days. I don't think I do very well with longer visits, and it will certainly make me re-think how long I stay when I go visiting. In the meantime, please excuse any growling noises you hear coming out of your computer while reading this... Come Friday it will be all better.

Welcome To Oklahoma....

Hello Madam Pres to be and Mr. Sock Monkey. We here in the great state of Oklahoma are so proud to welcome y'all. Your supporters have been anxious to meet and greet you for a while and we are so glad you came for your visit. While you're here, if you get hungry, how about home cooked black eyed peas, fried okra and some fresh tomatoes? I've got plenty of okra and am going to pick some fresh tomatoes today.

Did you realize that it's the middle of September? We were talking just yesterday that before we know it, it will be Thanksgiving (no...Henny Penny is NOT for dinner) and then Christmas will be here... so in honor of the visit from Hallie and S.M. I decided to share with you a photo I took when I was in Ft. Worth visiting family for Christmas last year...



I figure that by the time he gets to his post in WalMart to talk to all the little children it will be the day after Thanksgiving, so it's not too early to remind you all to be thinking ahead. I figure Mr. Monkey will be having an XXX rated request for Santa to deliver so with all the campaigning that Hallie is doing she will need to be monitoring her running mate with an ever more vigilant eye. I would suggest, Hallie, writing a letter to Santa so's all the little ones don't get a start on sex ed while waiting to get on Santa's lap.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy your visit and wandering around my little corner of the world. I'm right proud y'all are a-visitin' !

Okra In Oklahoma...

This is our little okra patch. Being novice gardeners, we decided that okra was something we needed to try growing, along with squash, cucumbers, onions, potatoes, garlic, green beans, blackeyed peas, watermelon and cantaloupe. Oh, and corn. But this is about okra. We planted two rows, about 20 feet long and we have had okra out the kazoo... Now, I love fried okra, but I'm going to have to start freezing it, I guess, because I've sent 3 batches to Texas to family and friends, I've sent several batches to friend around here and we've still got okra coming on...



This is a closer photo of some of the plants. There are some plants that have grown to over 5 feet tall. This shows the flower and also an okra pod.



This is the spent flower. Inside the flower the okra pod (or whatever you call it) is forming. As the pod grows, the flower shrivels up and sheds off as the pod gets longer...



Here is the flower, and in the background to the left is a spent blossom and you also can see, directly at the left of the bloom, the okra pod that is ready to cut off, take inside, cut up, roll in corn meal and fry up for supper with fresh out of the garden sliced tomatoes.... I would've taken a picture of that but was too hungry and I ate it allll up... burp... excuse me.



Here's a "did you know" for you... Did you know that okra is a member of the hibiscus family? I sure didn't and when I commented to my Bro that the flower sure looked like our hibiscus, he said, "duh... because it is a member of the hibiscus family." Well, duh, Mr. SmartyPants, if I had known would I have made that remark!? (If you click on the image, it will show you a bigger image and you can see how beautiful the flower is...)

Sibs... Whatever would we do without them...

After The Storm...

If you were here, on my front porch or the back deck, you would truly, truly understand why "Oh, What A Beautiful Morning" was written for the play "Oklahoma". It is absolutely beautiful here today. Everything is crisp and clean, fresh washed by yesterday's rain, a 15 - 20 mph wind, a beautiful blue sky and 72 degrees. The sun is shining and everything is looking good and the internet is up. What more could one ask for?

My Little Zipper Princess...

My wonderful little SueSue had to have surgery Tuesday to remove a couple of growths. It was not a bad surgery, everything went well and I picked her up in the late afternoon of the same day. When I got to the vet's they took me into an examining room to go over after care and instructions about pain meds and anti-biotics... That's when it got interesting:

Anti-biotics - Twice daily for two weeks. She will love that because she gets her pill in a pill-pocket treat.

Pain meds - Twice daily for up to two weeks, if needed. See above.

Suture Removal - Sutures to be removed in two weeks. Inspect daily for any signs of infection or chewing. Cover with a baby shirt if she tries to scratch or chew. Okay.

Keep on a leash to go outside - This might work for 2 days. Mom is in doubt...

Do not allow pet to play with other pets in the home - Now it started to get questionable, but Chloe is older and not as active as she once was..

No running, chasing or ball or frisbee playing - Okay, this is down-right near impossible. Not the frisbee, because she doesn't much care for it, but the BALL!! NO BALL!! Please, mom, don't take away my ball for even 24 hours!! Obviously whoever wrote these instructions never had mini-schnauzers.

When we got out of the car and headed toward the front door there was a ball laying by the steps. She stopped, looked at me with her tail wagging and that 'let's play' look in her eyes. I had to look into those baby browns and tell her no...

But I did tell her that her little pink zipper looking sutures were really pretty. Somehow I don't think it made either of us feel any better.

I Think Somebody Needs A Life...

I just read a story on the net about a guy that,because of his o.c.d. (he says), ate 23,000 Big Macs in 36 years... Now I don't know about you, but if I'm gonna have my 15 minutes of fame, I think I would want it to be something with a little more ooommph to it than eating 23,000 B.M. (pun intended) burgers. Maybe painting a picture so incredible that it would make grown men cry, or raising flowers so beautiful that women would faint. Laying the Fifth fleet or getting a boob job that would embarrass the Kissing Bandit... no, I don't think I would want the back ache from either of the above, but surely if I ever get my 'moment in the sun' I wouldn't want it to be for eating burgers and then blaming it on my o.c.d.

How about you all? What would you want your 15 minutes of fame to be? I've really never thought about it before reading the article, but it would be a good topic for discussion... and after momentarily thinking about it, I think I could handle my 15 minutes for winning the lottery... if I can only remember to buy the dang tickets...

I'm Baaaaacccckkkkkkk....

Well, lousy spelling, but it gets the message across that we have our satellite back!! Gustav really messed with our satellite feed. We didn't get much rain here in central Oklahoma but what we did get was enough to shut us out and everybody in the house was so relieved when we finally started getting an uninterrupted signal. That is definitely one of the downsides about living in the country when you've become a blogging/blog reading junkie. There is just so much that happens out in our blogging world that I've missed, and then I have to say to myself, "SELF...it's only been three days!!!", and then go check another blog to see what I've missed. I've got to play catch-up on my e-mail and I've need to see what's up with my sibs, but I just had to pass this on....

Hallie at WWOW got all 50 states signed up for her presidential campaign and will, at some point, be visiting my little old podunk blog!! I can't think of a person more dedicated to preserving the greatness of our wonderful country, insuring the production of Diet Coke (and maybe Diet Pepsi if we beg) and influencing our sense of fashion with her pledge of a Prada on every arm (or shoulder that wants one as long as it's not fancier that hers). We should all get behind this great American fighter for the freedom to dance on tables (or bars) and protector of the rights of weiners...

Stand (or sit) with me, my fellow or female Americans, in welcoming this hardworking, outspoken (especially on Morbid Mondays) and Atkins-driven-to-this-insanity candidate and let's follow where ever she may lead!!!

************************************************************************************* Picture here a big American flag waving since I haven't quite learned how to put stuff like that on my blog yet, but I'm working on it...
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Have a good day... I've got to go try to learn how to get a flag on here.

I Have A Dream...And A Question...

Well, not really a dream, but I do have a question. I had to run into town to the grocery yesterday and I do I lot of my thinking on these short trips. I had a real good idea for something to write about on my blog. It was one of those flashes of brilliance that don't come too often and I thought it would be such fun to write about and I was enjoying writing it in my head... Then I parked and went in the grocery to pick up a ham. I came out,loaded the groceries and headed back home, stopped at a little quick stop closer to home for ice and proceeded to come home. I unloaded the groceries and the ice, and sat down at the computer.... and realized I had a really good idea earlier and now could not remember squat about whatever it was... I have been trying to think of it for the past 24 hours with no success, and that makes me just crazy... So what do you all do in situations like this? Do you have memory tricks? Carry a note pad? A tape recorder? Or do you just say, "Oh, well..." and figure that it will come back around and you'll catch it then?

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated...

Frustrated in Oklahoma