Hello, I'm Bz and I'm a Laundry-Room Eater

Ohhh, am I stuffed. It is the day after Thanksgiving and I had this feeling, that I thought that I would learn from, yesterday. I mean, gees, I can understand when a year passes between this feeling ...or even a month (Christmas), but the next day... I obviously didn't learn.

The thing is, when you have fabulous food sitting right under your nose and mouth... and you are hungry... it's instinct, instinct I say, to eat.

Just an example: take a gander at the photo (you can click to enlarge). It is a tin of leftovers that we got to take home from my mother-in-law's house. Look in the upper right of that tin of food, you will see a bit of potato salad. Yes, there was more, but I tried the potato salad last night... then I find myself eating it right out of the tin. The meld of flavors reminded me of how the mouse felt in the animated movie, "Ratatouille" when he first combines wonderful flavors for a whole new world of taste... well, that's what it was like for me... as I stand next to our laundry room's refrigerator... gobbling down potato salad.

Well, the present stuffed feeling comes from, I kid you not, the most scrumptious dressing any holiday has seen (and, let me tell you, I am not superfluous with dramatic language). I am fortunate in that this dressing is made by my mother-in-law, thus I have had delight before in stuffing myself miserably on such wonderful fare. Perhaps the only thing left to figure is how to enjoy such foods without stuffing to a stuffed feeling... well, I know the answer to that as I type- "Stop eating"... or slowdown and give that ole Hypothalamus time to register... yeah, yeah, that is it. That's what I'll do from now on.

Ha.

Remember Walkman Earphones?... how about WalkDog Earphones

So I am in doing laundry and checking on a Little Someone every two minutes. Last I left her, she was in the guest room rummaging through the drawers of the desk in there (not much in the drawers). Knowing I have another (approximately) two minutes, I come back in to put the remaining clothes in the washer... when someone comes running in exclaiming, "Momma, Momma, come look. Smudge has earphones on!"
Well, sure enough the old pair of plug-in walkman earphones, that were in the drawer, were on the dog's head.
...and someone was very proud.
and the four-legged someone was... let's just say, she's such a good and patient dog.
Then our little someone says, "Come on Smudge, let's go walking." ...as though this is a newfangled type of leash.

FALLing just past Spectacular

This burgundy red Nuttall Oak leaf was more brilliant than this, but I did not capture its most spectacular moment. It was a lighter and brighter crimson red- just gorgeous. We have two types of Red Oaks at our place; the Nuttalls and the Shumards. Though the trees are very similar in rate of growth, leaf shape (though Nuttall lobes have a deeper cup), size, & spread, we prefer the Nuttalls for their color.

Here's more info for kicks-N-grins...

The Nuttall Oak tree's Mature Height is 60 - 100 feet, Mature Spread 50 - 70 feet, Soil Type Widely Adaptable, Moisture Widely Adaptable, Mature Form Round Crown, Irregular, Growth Rate Moderate, Sun Exposure Full Sun, Flower Color Yellowish, Green Insignificant, Fall Color Reddish Brown, Foliage Color Green, Zones 5-9.
The Nuttall Oak tree, Quercus nuttallii, was not distinguished as a species until 1927. It is also called red oak, Red River oak, and pin oak. It is one of the few commercially important species found on poorly drained clay flats and low bottoms of the Gulf Coastal Plain and north in the Mississippi and Red River Valleys.The acorn or winter buds identify Nuttall oak, easily confused with pin oak (Q. palustris). The lumber is often cut and sold as red oak. In addition to producing timber, Nuttall oak is an important species for wildlife management because of heavy annual mast production.
Nuttall Oak trees are a good choice for low poorly drained locations. During winter, squirrels find a ready supply of acorns, since many acorns remain on the tree into January. Acorns are favored by deer and also eaten by turkeys.

This is Such a "Small" Blog...

...that I will help a commenter out directly (plus, the more relevant things to write about are going to take a bit of energy & time~both of which have not been exceedingly great lately). In the previous post, a commenter asked me to remove the cat & toothbrush pic, as they cannot get it out of their head when they brush their teeth. So, because brushing is so important and in effort to help this individual out, here are some different pics regarding teeth brushing ...and, as the last will show ... why brushing is so important.

This one was a little ... painful to post. For the women around him, I would think this is 'birth control'.

Why Food/Drink Taste Bad After We Brush Our Teeth

I saw the headline above and thought, "Well, I know the answer to that." I formulated a nutshell answer in my mind and proceeded to read to see if I was right ... well, I was wrong. I thought it was a PH difference thing going on and the sudden switch from one to the other (toothpaste to food/drink) caused the yuck-factor. Nope, below is the answer. Found it interesting.

(copied from Matt Soniak on Yahoo Buzz)

If you have no idea why I'm pondering that question today, go brush your teeth real quick and grab a drink (orange juice, iced tea, beer—anything except water). Awful, isn’t it? You can thank sodium laureth sulfate, also known as sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES), or sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) for ruining your drink, depending on which toothpaste you use. Both of these chemicals are surfactants – wetting agents that lower the surface tension of a liquid – that are added to toothpastes to create foam and make the paste easier to spread around your mouth (they’re also important ingredients in detergents, fabric softeners, paints, laxatives, surfboard waxes and insecticides).
While surfactants make brushing our teeth a lot easier, they do more than make foam. Both SLES and SLS mess with our taste buds in two ways. One, they suppress the receptors on our taste buds that perceive sweetness, inhibiting our ability to pick up the sweet notes of food and drink. And, as if that wasn’t enough, they break up the phospholipids on our tongue. These fatty molecules inhibit our receptors for bitterness and keep bitter tastes from overwhelming us, but when they’re broken down by the surfactants in toothpaste, bitter tastes get enhanced.
So, anything you eat or drink after you brush is going to have less sweetness and more bitterness than it normally would. Is there any end to this torture? Yes. You don’t need foam for good toothpaste, and there are plenty out there that are SLES/SLS-free. You won’t get that rabid dog look that makes oral hygiene so much fun, but your breakfast won’t be ruined.

It's the Little Things in Life

For some time now, I have realized that it is the Little Things in Life that make it what it is. I, absolutely, maintain that assertion. And here is a prime example...

We lived in our house for almost seven years before the below 'Little Thing' made it's way into making my/our lives better. Though our home was custom designed & built, there are a few things -had we known- we would have done differently. I'm sure that is the case with most people that have had a home built. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Anyhow, our 'toilet room' is a room unto itself, as our bathroom is a larger open room with the bath, shower, & his/her sinks. Our toilet ...room... closet... it's like little closet, it has a shelf for books & bathroom whatnot, it has room for a little trash-can and a basket of toilet paper. We put a specialty picked timer for the vent fan- so we can turn it on and leave, allowing us to think of the next occupant, yet we don't have to remember to come back and turn it off... okay, that's a 'little thing' too.

Anyway, we thought that we had thought of everything with this little toilet room. Alas, we had not! For it was dark upon entering at night. A nightlight you say! ...no can do, there was no outlet. We have a mild nightlight in the larger bathroom area, but did not have one in this little offshoot of a room.

Sooo, I bought a clock with a 'luminescent' dial ...haa! That was a joke (and let me tell you, I searched the Internet over). Okay, so after sending this clock back, my handy other half says, "I can wire a different cover-plate with a plug". You can WHAT?!? ...well, why didn't you say so!?!

So, this is a "Little Thing" that has made all the middle-of-the-night trips to that little room so worthwhile. See the itty-bitty nightlight under the switch and next to the timer dial...
(sorry for the blurry resolution, wanted to show light while illuminating,thus couldn't use flash)
And let me tell you... this soft little green glow lights up the joint! We leave the bathroom door cracked and, in the middle of the night, one can be drawn like a moth ...without being blinded.

It's a great Little Thing.

Dandy was a Dandy

I was given an unregistered German Shepherd puppy when I was just 16 yrs old. I vaguely recall that my mom was out of state (had gone to visit family in Oregon) when the pup came home. Funny, as my dad was home, but somehow the pup made it into my/our lives.
She, Dandy... her full name was "Just Dandy" was just that, 'Dandy'. Got her name while perusing the school dictionary that could be found in the wire baskets under every desk in high school. It was a history class with coach Williams- big burly, sweet man who was a Jeopardy show fanatic and would often gets spit collected in the corners of his mouth because he could talk a blue streak on one breath alone.
Anyway, I was bored as usual with class and had this pup at home that was on my mind... and she needed a name. So, I got the dictionary out from the wire basket and started flipping pages. Can't begin to remember the words/names I passed or considered because, obviously, the one that stuck was when I got to the word 'dandy'. I read the definition. Went something to the effect of: something or someone of exceptional or first-rate quality.
Well, that was enough for me, I knew the pup well enough to consider her as such and she got her name, however masculine it may have been.
She was a good dog... wanted to please, please, please- like most in the herding group. Trained her to hand signals from as far as she (or I!) could see. The only thing I couldn't train her different about was cats, but that's another story.
I had Dandy until the day she was put down at 13 1/2 years old. She is buried under our big pecan tree. Was not an easy task and one that I had made an appointment for once already and cancelled.... won't go into it. If you're a dog-lover, you know... not an easy thing (sighhh).
Anyway, here are a couple of pics. Had her trained to ride the old mare I got was I was 14 yrs old. Had to put a saddle pad under a blanket on the horse, as even trimmed dog nails can poke.
This second pic is a painting that was done from a picture of Dandy. A friend of my mom's did it for her... for me. It hangs at the end of our long hallway in our home... kind of a relaxed old sentinel keeping watch.

The Fall of the Garden

Fall is here. It's not so much cool right now- although we have had a cold snap already come through, but it's the rain. For me, it signals the changing season. Hence, no more garden. Yes, some people have a Fall garden, we don't. Well, we haven't yet... perhaps if congress adds another hour to the day (I won't get started on wanting to be like Arizona or Hawaii and the blasted time change).
ANYway... our garden~ this pic was taken a couple of weeks ago. As it stands now, most of the old plants have been taken out as we pass the garden here and there on our way to the barn. It hasn't had it's Final Clean-out yet though.
We did get some mighty nice foods from it this year. However, with the exception of one, I did not take any pics. This is the one I did take. We LOVE cherry tomatoes and we had a plethora of yummy ones that just kept coming...

This fruit is not from the garden, but from the our Florida Prince Peach tree. It was the tree's first crop since we planted it. The peaches were small, but quality/taste abound. They should be bigger this next time around as the tree has done much growing and settling in...

Honey, Call Me Quirky.... or Corney.

I like good Cornbread ...and I like it with honey. So, in effort to get the max ratio of honey to cornbread-without having to refuel (the cornbread with honey), this is what I sometimes do...

When I bake the cornbread, I make mini-muffins. This way, once dressed with honey, they can just be popped in one's mouth. To get the max honey benefit without getting it all over, I ...here goes the quirky... I poke my finger in the middle of the muffin and fill it with honey (gees, I almost feel like I've taken off a piece of clothing after that) ...anyway, it sure makes eating this dynamic-duo easy.

Let me say, for the record, I do eat honey and cornbread in the normal fashion too.

Ohh, and have got to add, this Orange Blossom Honey is/was fabulous- didn't hit too hard, was smooth and sweet, but not 'over-sweet' if you can imagine any honey not being over sweet.

Living in the Land of Nine Year Olds...

Good short story to post...
The most eye-opening civics lesson I ever had was while teaching third grade. The presidential election was heating up and some of the children showed an interest. I decided we would have an election for a class president. We would choose our nominees. They would make a campaign speech and the class would vote.
To simplify the process, candidates were nominated by other class members. We discussed what kinds of characteristics these students should have. We got many nominations and from those, Jamie and Olivia were picked to run for the top spot.
The class had done a great job in their selections. Both candidates were good kids. I thought Jamie might have an advantage because he got lots of parental support. I had never seen Olivia's mother. The day arrived when they were to make their speeches Jamie went first. He had specific ideas about how to make our class a better place. He ended by promising to do his very best. Every one applauded. He sat down and Olivia came to the podium. Her speech was concise. She said, "If you will vote for me, I will give you ice cream." She sat down. The class went wild. "Yes! Yes! We want ice cream."
She surely would say more. She did not have to. A discussion followed. How did she plan to pay for the ice cream? She wasn't sure. Would her parents buy it or would the class pay for it. She didn't know. The class really didn't care. All they were thinking about was ice cream. Jamie was forgotten. Olivia won by a land slide.
Every time Obama opened his mouth, he offered ice cream- and fifty percent of America reacted like a nine year old. They want ice cream. The other fifty percent know they're going to have to feed/milk the cow.

Unbelievable... on so many accounts.

Yeah, they say when a country learns that it can vote themselves a handout, they will. That's the start of the decline... although, slowly, but surely, redistribution of wealth has been going on for a while. I can only wonder if it will now occur at supersonic speed.
So, for that and many other reasons, I will be adding to my wardrobe. I like the three shirts here and really feel the sentiments of this first one (O shit!). But, will pass on it as I'm not a cursing person- especially around 2 y/o and I can't see explaining it very well.

Sooo, that leaves these two below... I like both for different reasons and will be ordering one of them. If you get a chance, tell me which you prefer... or, if you happen to be one that doesn't find either humorous, then save your time.

Be Very Afraid...

....yeah, I am. It's Super-Tuesday and I have all but held off on thinking about the possibilities. It has been easier to think of it only in passing, but really pondering the possibility of... let's just say, I've put it in the back of my head ~ can't do anything about the outcome anyway... well, short of my little vote. So in less than 24 hours, either way, history will be written. All I can do is cross my toes... and, sadly, I can't do that very well. I can only hope that.......
Geez, I don't want to bear the thought.

Halloween was 'Buzzing' with Excitement!

Our first Halloween went off without a hitch. Our Little Someone had a grand ole time. And, though a little shy here and there, never did she want to take her costume off or get fussy or upset like I hear so often happens with little ones. I think much of that has to do with preparation in talking about it/explaining ahead of time what we'll be doing and making sure nap time is not put on the back-burner... who knows, maybe we just got lucky.

The first three daytime pics were taken at a little Halloween gathering in a neighboring development near us. Our little Bumble-Bee had fun seeing the other "silly kids dressed in costumes".

Look at me...
Our Blue-eyed Bumble-bee...

This pic doesn't show all the kids running around. Here, you see our someone was holding onto her pumpkin that she picked out...

Our first Trick-or-Treating door!...

Looking at all the 'silly decorations'...

(those are big round 'ghost' earings hanging off my ears).
Starting to catch on...

Whoo-hoo! I like this, "let's go to another house"...

Momma and her little Buzz...