My sweet Valentine and I spent the day in Fort Worth with our Valentine, Jdubs. It was a good day for all.
Valentine
Category: Random Stuff
Murphy Monday
Murphy’s Law ruled today … Sometimes you just have one of those days … and today, Murphy showed up. Every fool thing, one after another, went haywire. (Although you rarely see hay with “wire” anymore.)
At 3:30 I stepped in steaming pile of dog poop and said “That’s It!” (really I said something much more foul, but for my saintly mother’s sake we’ll just go with aforementioned quote.)
Let’s recap… on second thought … let’s not.
Translation= 400 words into my diatribe, I hit the delete button.
I’m going to take my horsepill of sinus-infection killing antibiotic, then off to bed to hit the restart button.
I will say … the day ended up OK … with my lovely husband giving me flowers – thanks babes!
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Sweet Baby Calf: Jingle
One of the sad parts of raising cattle is that occasionally a baby calf is orphaned. But God made ranchers who take those baby calves and feed them by a bottle. Then it becomes something sweet you can share with a little kid.
I remember caring for many orphaned calves throughout my childhood. One year my dad and I found a 2- or 3-day old calf sitting next to his expired momma in the snow. We were so surprised that the coyotes hadn’t gotten the calf. He was later named “Milk Dud,” and became a fixture in the barn long after he was weaned.
These little bottle babies can become pets. One thing I’ve always noticed is that they just never do as well as the calves that have mommas, even if momma isn’t that good. Today was Jdubs first time to bottle feed a baby calf.
It was precious and Jdubs decided to name him “Jingle.” On the way out of the barn today, Jdubs said, “don’t worry Jingle, you’ll be big someday.”
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Spring: It’s Coming
I started cleaning up and getting my greenhouse ready to start seeds. Today is February 11, but our last average frost date is about March 20. That means it’s time to start thinking about the spring garden. Even as we have a harsh cold snap, I was making way for planting tender annuals from seed so we can transplant after the danger of killing frost.
As for most gardeners, my ultimate prize is a crop of beautiful, tasty tomatoes. Next week we’re taking Jdubs for a checkup at the ENT in Cowtown, so we will have to stop in Poolville on the way home to visit Wilhite Seed. Many sellers of seeds only produce a few of their own (if at all), the rest they resell from other specialized plant breeders/dealers. Wilhite’s domain is melon seeds, especially watermelon seeds. All the seeds I bought from them were exceptional quality, with near 100% germination rates.
Even my county extension agent was surprised. I have no idea what was so extra special about last year’s seed starting exercise – but everything I started from seed did really well, until the heat set in. I knew we were in for it last year when we had a 100-degree day on April 8, 2011. That just set the tone for the rest of the summer.
Last year’s weather was horrible. We had a record-setting hot, dry summer. Nothing would grow. There was no rain. It was abysmal, even the okra was eaten by the grasshoppers. Needless to say, I’m looking very forward to a better year, for growing vegetables and herbs.
That’s the beauty of spring … it’s the time for beginnings … starting seeds, nurturing and caring for them, watching them grow, then harvest. Nothing is better than eating something wonderful that you grew.
More gardening posts to come …
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A Shot in the Arm (or Bum)
Every year about this time I do battle with my sinuses. Cedar and juniper pollen is very high in February/March in our area. In a 20 minute drive south of my home, the landscape changes dramatically and becomes dense with cedar trees. They are highly flammable and tortuous in the early spring for seasonal allergy sufferers.
I got in to see my doc today to get my annual steroid shot in the bum. It’s remarkable how much better I feel in just a few hours post shot. My teeth were hurting because of the pressure in my sinuses. I even resorted to using the neti pot, which I refer to as the evil torture device. With a good rain about two days ago, I would have probably been able to make it out sans sinus infection and resulting shot in the bum. (The rain literally washes the pollen out of the air for a few days. And without the pollen my body can catch up.)
The doc looked at my medical history and for the last four years I’ve had a sinus infection between February 5th and March 20th. Steady-Freddy results for seasonal allergies.
I told Jdubs that the doctor gave me a shot so he put a picture of himself on my bedside table. He said, “this is so you will always be able to look at me and make your shot not hurt.”
Momma loves you, Jdubs.
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Homebrew: Just the Beginning
Tonight we started our first batch of homebrew beer. Actually my Husband and his Runnin’ Buddy started it. I took pictures and smelled the aromas.
It’s a complicated process that requires specialty equipment and ingredients. Fortunately Runnin’ Buddy and my Husband went on a man-date Monday to get the necessary supplies. Runnin’ Buddy’s daddy-in-law provided the equipment.
The process of making homebrew beer goes through several phases and takes about a month, for the shortest cycle and up to two years.
The smells of the ingredients and brewing process itself constantly reminded me of feeding cattle in the winter while gnawing on a cowcake cube. The malt extract and the milled grain smell remarkably like finishing feed for cattle. (it’s the same stuff).
Through the process, we all kept talking about how people figured out how to make beer. Considering all the sanitation we did in a modern kitchen, I can’t imagine how the monks did it.
I wonder how many people got sick or died from drinking bad beer? And who thought of adding hops? Back in the dark ages someone figured out that hops was a natural preservative. So it makes sense to add it to the brew, but who knew? By the way, hops are part of the cannabis plant family, a curious fact indeed.
We’ll be posting more about the steps and process to making your own homebrew. Being the foodies we are, I’m not surprised we are attempting this. But unless you have a burning desire and a good friend who will loan you the equipment, it’s not for the faint of wallet or novice in the kitchen.
I can’t wait until next month when we can uncork our own bottles of brew. More fun to come from Arcadia. But for now, we have a wort in the closet, fermenting. (I hope we can find the vacuum). The step-by-step recipe will be on Its way to a blog post soon.
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Music and Theater in Arcadia
We have a wonderfully restored theater here in Arcadia … it’s grand and musicians, thespians and one-act play troupes alike comment on its greatness. (And it’s here in po-dunk, just another gem that few outside of our town know about).
Most of us who live in an arcadian utopia couldn’t go to the theater, to concerts, to plays– either the ticket cost or logistics of travel keep us from such cultured enrichment.
Every year the Graham Concert Association puts together an incredible series of performing arts that is a true service to our community because it brings the arts to us.
The quality of the performances and the variety is incredible. The concert association has hosted children’s theater, symphony orchestras, Grammy-award winning musicians, and performing artists from around the world. It’s underwritten by many donors in our community.
You have to purchase a season pass, but they have student pricing available for kids. The price of a season pass is less than a floor seat at a hot concert in Dallas. A season pass is worth every penny to be able to see and hear all the wonderful artists, experience the talent and culture right here in our home town.
Tonight we saw the Quebe Sisters Band … Wow. (more on that in another post.)
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Random Awesomeness in Photos
I had plans for a different post tonight … a recipe post. Unfortunately I’m still working on it. I even got up at 5 a.m. today to get all my stuff done and, well it’s after 10 p.m. Just out of gas.
Recently I installed PhotoShop, so I’m learning to use it. One of the exercises is to go through all your photos and organize, categorize and tag everything. So here are a few of the ones I looked through yesterday. Some you’ve seen, some maybe not.
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Buffalo Chicken SuperBowl
This was our dinner tonight …
Buffalo Chicken dip with homemade croutons and celery.
It was delicious.
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Americone Dream
Any of you Jon Stewart fans will know that Stephen Colbert comes on right after the Daily Show.
Colbert is rather sardonic but also can explain lots of complicated political scenarios with humor. Lately he’s been on the super PAC loophole, which allows campaign contributions to political candidates with total anonymity and no limits. Great campaign finance reforms 
A few nights ago I was watching The Colbert Report. He announced his new revenue generator to fund his super PAC.
Colbert has his very own Ben & Jerry’s flavor: Americone Dream.
Thursday night we ran out of milk and laundry detergent. So I went to my local Wally world — our Walmart is pretty hit or miss but I happened to be in the ice cream aisle (shocker).
And there it was … Americone Dream. it is delicious!!!
And Stephen Colbert is very funny. But the calorie content is not! (but it was worth every bite!
The Arcadian Experience 