Saturday, June 9, 2007

Muffin Recipe

1 1/2 c. ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 granulated sugar
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup marmalade
2 egss
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. soda
1/4 cup coconut (I use unsweetened)
1/2 cup chopped dates
Bake 350 degrees for 25/30 minutes

This also can be used as a bread and baked in a loaf pan. I often double the recipe, Kathi.

Pat, I know that you speak with kindness in your heart and I know also that the other end of having animals 'dropped off' may cause problems for someone else, but I ask you this: is it better to relocate an animal that is causing problems than to shoot it?

We have three Australian Shepherds here who could possibly pick up Leptosporosis from raccoon urine. Aussies have an MD1 deficiency, please don't ask me to explain that other than giving you a reference to the Aussie L board. It means that Aussies do not always survive the Lepto serum shots as has happened to several close calls amongst my Aussie breeder friends. When an animal such as a raccoon starts coming out during the daytime and eating beneath my bird feeder, my concern is for my dogs, not for the wild animal. That said, where they are dropped off is in an area that is a woodland but knowing the raccoons penchant for visiting human habitats, they will make their way easily to the nearest source of 'food', some human habitat in all likelihood.

Living in the country is not like living in an urban area. I've done both and had raccoons in both places, once inside my city home, at the end of my son's bed, having come in through a soffit that was not closed in properly due to construction at the time. I am aware that, although I am against the use of guns, country home owners sometimes do have a need to shoot animals on their properties. A gentleman who lives several sideroads north of us shares my feelings about guns but has one because porcupines were eating the cables on his machinery on his property as well as his car.

It's a delicate balance between nature and humans in the country but moving them elsewhere is the most humane way that we can deal with it, at the moment.

Rosey

9-11 Ken

My brother in law, Ken, the one that was hurt in 9-11. He is in the hodpital for his heart. The stents are not holding up and he needs by-pass. They are going it on Monday, so please keep him in your thoughts..
I will let you know if I hear anymore...
Donna, LEH,NJ

Nuisance animals

Ladies, I would encourage you to find a deterrant rather than capturing the animals and moving them elsewhere. Having been the person who was the unhappy recipient of some of these animals when we lived in the country, I can only assume that the people who dropped them off didn't stop to think that we wouldn't want them, either.

Pat in Rockport, TX




I everyone. I am reading each day and trying to keep with you all. I love reading about what is happing around the world.



I just popped in to remind you that Jill has kept the Yahoo group up and running for the gals that are still having a problem getting into this site. There are files there that we can post receipes and such. I know how the spammers have attached the original site. It is a shame, but we have moved on. The blog is great to be able to put a photo right there with our message. We do' have to go to another place to see what we just described in the message.

It has been so quiet here as well as the other groups I am on. I hope it is just spring fever, or is that almost summer. Everyone must be outside enjoying the sun and the beautiful weather we have been having. I am just north of Atlantic City and I know everyone has been enjoying the beach. Here are some photos I took at Wildwood. You can see the storm coming in over the water. The next day there was a sail boat way out in the water, but I justed the zoom to get it closer... It was cool, but sunny weather. We had a great time.
Donna, LEH,NJ

Friday, June 8, 2007

Banana Marmalade Muffins

Those sound WONDERFUL, Rosie. Do you share recipes for things like that? I miss the cooking part of the old BB. Is it still there? Or have the spammers taken that one over, too?

Good job on catching the wily masked bandit. I'll look forward to hearing Al's deterrent, too. We aren't bothered with them at the new house, but some of my family members live in places where they are a problem. Does the deterrent work for skunks, too? DD has had problems with those trying to visit her henhouse.

Kathi

Wahoo! Al's coon deterent....

Jane, I am waiting with 'baited' breath for Al's special remedy for getting rid of raccoons. Jock thought it a good idea to spray their bottoms with red paint to see if the same ones returned. Meanwhile, we are chaffeuring them down to the lovely township of Caledon, a high-end district where the garbage will definitely be first class...lol. Glad your had is mending and the friendship but interesting that you are full of allergies...was it ever thus for longtime quilters...molds especially. Remember to consider the phenol that the serum is placed in...get yourself tested for a reaction to phenol. I've had one and have stopped the shots for now. It can be placed in glycerin as well, I think.

Today was one of those delicious weather days until it got too hot (94F) by noon but after a humungous rain storm went through about 4 pm, after the air was pregnant with an impending storm, the temperature has cooled off thankfully and is back to being pleasant. The week-end weather promises to be pleasant as well. Oh to bottle this weather for six months from now.

Has anyone heard from Linda in Wisconsin and wonder what she is doing now?

Off to use up my soft bananas and make banana marmalade muffins for our guests breakfast tomorrow morning. And I have a quilt nearing the finish of binding it. I need the dining room table for morning..always a good reason to get cracking.

Rosey

Raeann

Only just saw your message yesterday - emailed then. Did you get it?

We have been busy with visitors. DS#3 has returned from 10 months in Canada, studying. Brought back his American GF - they've been going out together since about Thanksgiving, I think. We love her (sigh). Wonder what the future will hold for them both.

Off to take them back to Adelaide in an hour or so.......... Raeann, we'll be home late Sunday, so if you email I can reply then. In case you didn't get it my addy is gfmasonatbigponddotnetdotau

Hope everyone has a great weekend
Fran

HELLO

I'm still among the living. The hand is fine and the friendship with the cat owners is on the mend. Had the varicose great saphenous vein in my right leg removed and that's fine. The procedure is almost painless and done in the office. Ain't technology grand? Had allergy testing on Monday and it seems that the earlier testing four years ago wasn't competently done. I am in need of being laminated as I'm allergic to almost everything in my environment. The shots will begin in a few weeks whenever the serum is ready. The list includes oak, maple and eastern cottonwoods, grass (the legal kind), dust mites (actually that's dust mite excrement), mold(that's the worst), cats and yes, dogs. Fortunately the dog reaction was slight. Not so the cat reaction. I already knew that cats and I don't mix well.

After gaining back the 7 pounds I'd previously lost, I've managed to get rid of 5.5 of it. Vascular surgeon discharged me with orders to walk 30 minutes a day but no gym for a while. I've far exceeded the walking requirement and returned to gym yesterday. It was brutal. It had been almost a month and it's like starting all over again. I'm going to approach it slowly but regularly.

I'm struggling to get caught up around the house and especially the quilting. The DGSs' birthday approaches in a week and once again, the quilts aren't done. I'm also getting caught up on the guild mystery quilt.

That's about it. I know it's a thrill a second. I'll write again soon with the saga of Shadow's latest mouse hunt.

Rosey, I still intend to give you the scoop on the Al Brown 'coon repellent but have to get my act together to go to stitch 'n bitch.

Jane in NC

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

more travelogue stuff

If you're not interested, scroll on by. ;-)

DH and I visited the National Museum (of Natural History) in Dublin during our trip. This was another "must do" on the itinerary. The museum is excellent. The highlight of our visit there was an unexpected surprise: the display of bog men, or bog bodies.
You can visit this link http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4632296.stm to read about them, or just "google" the words bog bodies ireland and you can read to your heart's delight. LOL All in all we found the mummified people quite fascinating and the bodies were on full display there, carefully preserved in climate controlled display cases.

On most of the golf courses there were little wild Irish roses growing in what is called the rough, on a golf course; the tall unmowed grass that one does NOT want to hit their ball into. These things ranged anywhere from six inches high to 15 inches high and all were blooming! Even the little six inchers, blooming on one stalk. I was quite taken with them, as well as fascinated. On one golf course I saw a few short (6" high) yellow thistle plants. I wish I had taken a photo, since I didn't see any more.

All the gorse was in full bloom while we were south of Dublin, and it was spectacular. That's also another part of the golf course one does NOT want to hit their ball into. Consider it lost. LOL

The plants in Ireland (as well as Scotland) never cease to amaze me. There are all sorts of flowers growing wild that are difficult to cultivate in our own gardens here in Tennessee: foxglove for example. Roses growing with hardly any blackspot (...sighs....) and spectacular blossoms. Palm trees. Palm trees! I've seen them in Scotland also. We have none of that in Tennessee. :-o

Welp, that's the garden report. LOL If I think of anything else that might be remotely interesting, I'll post it. :-)

Doris W. in TN

Caught 'it'...

Sara, after reading your post last night and after watching this raccoon eat bird seed beneath my feeding station from 6 pm to 8 pm last night (which is more than reason to trap it given that they are nocturnal animals) I reset the trap directly beneath the feeding station, sprinkled bird seed in a track towards the entrance of the live trap into the grass, sprinkled a trail right in and over the plate that shuts the trap door and we caught him about 8:30pm last night. I watched how it dug down into the grass for seeds and also watched it put its paw through the crate wire into the area where the food was located so think this is how they emptied the trap without getting caught. He was freshly caught and vicious. If you ever thought to think that raccoons are cute, don't. He snarled and snapped and growled at Jock when he tried to pick the cage up by the handle. Unless I miss my guess, we likely have an endless supply of these animals.

It's spa-day for the Aussiedogs. Always welcome given the amount of hair they dispose of at this time of year around the house.

Jane, any further word from you on your bite?

Rosey

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Of 'coons, Ireland, and sew on

Rosey: let me know how the yogurt works. I used a small can of cat food. The friend I borrowed the trap from said to dig a small hole and put the can of food in it. The 'coon will go into the trap and dig for the food. (The trap is sitting on top of the food)
Has anyone heard from Anna in Spain? I guess she can't get onto this board, but I do want to keep up with her. Did her DH get his disability?
Doris-loved the travelogue of Ireland. I guess fast food is everywhere. Hard to think of Subway sandwiches and Ky. Fried Chicken in another country! I wonder if it is as good as in the south. Fried chicken is a speciality of mine, and only about once a year, as it is such a mess, and not all that healthy. As my Mom is fond of saying "Fried chicken is NOT fast food".
Right now our plans are on hold as far as vacations go, waiting for DH to hire some help in the A/C office, someone who can be there to answer the phones in the mornings, and do office work. Good help is hard to find! We are looking at Ireland for Sept. '08. Our 30th anniv. is that year, and both of us will turn 60. Oh, that sounds old.

I'm doing a demo of a small project I found in Art Quilt mag. on coffee sleves. The cardboard things that go around the coffee cups. It is quilted like a crazy quilt.
For tonight's guild meeting. Hopefully my GF who talked me into joining this guild will show up.
Yesterday and today I spent the morning at DD's house fixing up the closet in one of the DGS's bedroom. There was nothing in this closet except for a few cherrios on the floor and dust bunnies. The other GM and I painted the room and the closet a royal blue about 2 years ago, and there has been no progress since then. I found a light that uses 2 AA batteries and looks like a regular light blub. Then I hung those wire closet maid shelves. Man! Are they ever wicked. Drywall screws, wall anchors, etc. They came out level, and will stay up if no little monkeys hang off of them. That was 2 day's worth of work. Hopefully I can sweet talk DH into helping for about 45 min. on Thursday morning, to finish the corner bracket.
Then maybe the boys can hang some clothes in there. There is a shoe cubby to put together also, but I think the older boys can help do that.
Rain- Yes! We had about 4 inches on Sat. thanks to the tropical system that hit Florida on Sat. last. The whole state needed it. I believe all the fires are out except the one in the Okeenofee swamp. That one is about 50% out.
Tomorrow is a big work day here. Hopefully the tree people will be here about 7:30 to start on the two large trees in the back. The grass needs cutting, so hopefully the kid I hired will be here at 10:00 AM, maybe I can get some quilting done.
Sara in Fla.

Monday, June 4, 2007

The Coon Battles cont'

I am now quite familiar with the sneaky little beast that is tumbling our bird seed can over end down the incline to the lot line and who is somehow reaching in past the trap door to eat the food that I leave for him/her....it has a name...saddleback...because it has a wide brown band around it's middle, why I don't know. War has been declared tonight...the live trap is nailed into the ground, a large rock is on top. And in the back, behind the trap-flap is a lovely tuna can full of yogurt. I figured that it would not be a quick swipe of the paw to dislodge yogurt. Tomorrow morning will tell the tale. Surely one raccoon cannot outsmart two people.

This morning I drove to the city at 7:30 and spent a delightful 1/2 hour snorting car exhaust in a bumper to bumper traffic jam. A trip that in the morning takes 1 1/2 hours, at noon on the return takes under 50 minutes. It's allergy-testing time again.

If anyone wants to see a good movie (males excluded) go and see Georgia Rule, with Jane Fonda and cast. I won't explain the story-line as someone just recommended the movie to me and I called up two friends, one, minister friend, Penny, the other, Virginia, both chums from high school and living now close to me here in the country. We are all getting 'on' this year and we sat there in the show, three birds in a row, laughing and enjoying the movie which doesn't have a laughing story about it but for the subject matter is very well done.

It's plain yogurt, by the way...good for a raccoon's tummy.

Rosey

Reporting in

I finally kept my measurements long enough to compare them. I've lost almost two inches since then, mostly around my thigh and hips! Yeah! This is without dieting, just by eating sensibly, and walking the dogs (vigorously!)
On a quilty note, I've begun working on a summer weight quilt for my parents. I'm doing drunkards path blocks. I'm trying to decide upon layouts. I'm tending toward snaky paths, but there are "block" layouts too. I guess I'll ask Mom which she prefers.
I'll be in Montgomery for the rest of the week, beginning tomorrow.
Laura in Alabama

Sunday, June 3, 2007

Fran in Australia

Fran, would you please email me privately. raeann at missvalley dot com

Raeann in MO

More on cat bites

Jane, I'm so sorry about your horrible experience with the cat bites.
How are you doing?
After working 30(sigh) years with cats at the cat clinic we take cat
bites very seriously. I think there are a couple reasons they are so
susceptible to infection. Their teeth are small & can penetrate deeply
and most importantly because they are small they seal & heal very quickly
trapping bacteria deep under the skin while often the surface of the skin heals.
This is how the cellulitis & ensuing infection begins. Cat's can carry bartonella
bacteria (the cat scratch fever bacteria) & it can be transmitted from cat to cat
by fleas, so it's not uncommon & is being diagnosed more easily now with better
testing methods.
The most important thing you can do after getting bit is to head to the tap
& run cold running water hard & fast while squeezing the bites & running water in
them until the pain is unbearable! We do this for probably 5 minutes.
Obviously the cat didn't have Rabies but I think all hospitals have to report bites
to animal control & they have to proceed in a standard way.
Are you on zithromycin? Just curious.
I hate getting bit, but i still think I'd rather get bit by a cat than a dog.....
in a veterinary situation you usually get more warning from cats than dogs
that you are about to get nailed.

Sounds like a wonderful trip Doris. Was the weather good?

Boy, I just don't know what we did to deserve this warm sunny spring. It has
been glorious & I should have my yard in order, but oh no....it's just endless.

No quilting time lately, so that's why I have to talk about cat bites.

Congrats on the weight loss Jean, good for you.

We have strawberries! I'm in heaven & they are even on the diet!

Jill

Bite wounds/cats

Given that I work with wild cats and spend a silly amount of every summer trapping them and transporting them about the countryside, after stealing their kittens when I can find them, I am something of an expert on the resulting injuries! LOL I do not think that cat bites are inherently more dangerous that any other bites. I think the main consideration is that they are puncture wounds and are equally as dangerous as any other puncture wound. I have a little card in my wallet with the date of my last tetanus shot on it, so I don't end up getting a new one every time I get bitten -- it is vital to have a tetanus shot if you get any sort of puncture wound. I don't know what nasty little bug was growing in your wound, Jane, but it sounds very similar to one I got off a scratch I picked up in the chicken run a couple of years ago -- about 20 hours after the scratch I was in the ER hearing I was at risk of losing some or all of my hand.... I was lucky, but I can still see the depression in the back of my hand where I lost tissue. But that has never happened to me from a cat bite or scratch!

Doris, I had a great grandmother from Ireland, although I know nothing about her or her family. My great grandfather married her and took her back to London when he was involved with the British Survey of Ireland, and then some years later they came to Canada with their children. She lived precisely where I live now -- my house is situated on the spot where they had their cabin. Maybe someday I will try to find out more about her background...

But now I am heading off to pull a few weeds while the sun is still shining and the house guest is away for a while...

Jean

Thanks, Doris,

for the travelogue; it's the next best thing to going myself. :-) I had read about Ireland's boom and am glad for them.
Speaking of travelogues, has anyone heard from Helene (was she in Dubai last?) I miss her posts. And Ronna, with her sailing adventures; I miss those too.
Brenda in Nn Ontario

Jane in NC . . . and a brief travelogue

JANE IN NC - Wow, I never knew a cat bite could be so dangerous. It is a good thing you got that hand looked at. I have always heard a tetanus shot is needed after a dog bite but I don't know why. We once had a dog that could not be trusted with others. It got really old, telling visitors "Don't touch the dog." When she finally showed aggression toward our son, we'd had enough and found another home for her before she bit someone. Life is too short.
BTW, dogs rule, cats drool.

BACK FROM IRELAND - The DH and I returned home on Friday from our two week vacation to Ireland. This time we traveled the eastern half and, my-oh-my, it is quite different from the south west corner five years ago.

The east is more heavily populated and the traffic was pretty bad in all the major towns. Their economy is booming and population is growing, and out-growing their roads at the same pace. It was a bit of a culture shock to run across all the immigrants from Eastern Europe (e.g., Poland, Latvia, Rumania, etc.) that live there because they can find well-paying jobs. This, in a country that used to lose thousands of emigrants every year (including my own grandparents approx. 100 years ago) to other countries because there wasn't much work. How times change! I'm glad for Ireland, though. They've been due this economic boom for ages.

Our other culture shock was the number of ethnic restaurants, Italian and Chinese being the most popular, everywhere. Finding a good old-fashioned pub that served food in the evening was like finding gold. I think Ireland is so over that and ready to move into the new millenium. Can't blame them. I suppose it would be like someone visiting us down here in The South and hoping to find good old southern cooking at a mall area or food court? Right. LOL We like our ethnic foods here, too. So, like I said, that was a bit of culture shock because we weren't expecting it. Thank heavens the good old Full Irish Breakfast is still revered and served everywhere. (more hoorays!) We saw lots of Kentucky Fried Chicken and Subway restaurants. :-o

They really pile on the food in their servings, too. We had forgotten that they're worse than here in the U.S. Much as I hate to leave good food on a plate, I had to after the first week. I'm afraid I gained 5 pounds (drat!) so here I go again . . .

Housing prices were interesting, too. Average price of 300 Euro per square foot for homes . . . and these are not mansions, just everyday normal homes. With today's USD conversion that comes to $400/sq. ft.! DH and I decided that even if we wanted to, we could not afford to retire in Ireland, we'd have to live in a tent, and would never buy fabric or play golf again.

We saw lots of abbey ruins, old castles, and neolithic, etc. burial mound sites. We did visit Trinity College and see The Book of Kells exhibit and the book display. That was a *must see* on my list. We also visited the NewGrange (Bru-na-boinne) DH and I are amazed at how much we packed into the trip, along with his rounds of golf, yet we took our time and paced ourselves. The weather cooperated (hooray!) too. We're glad to be back home and driving on the right-hand side of the roads again. (grin)

If this post doesn't make sense, it is because I have not figured out how to "preview" and then edit the thing for changes. Oh well, I guess I've not made it too far into the new millenium. ;-)

Hugs to everyone!