Food Talk--an Ice Cream Treat

This is what I was hoping for.

For several days, I had been thinking about ice cream--specifically mint flavored Klondike bars. I love them but don't get them very often for all of the obvious reasons like they're a high calorie, expensive treat that we don't really need. However, several days in a row with temperatures in the 90's had me spending more time than I needed thinking about the cool mint, creamy ice cream of a Klondike. So one evening when my will power was waning, Ward and I jumped in the car in search of my obsession.

However when we got to the store, I was feeling a little guilty, so I decided to compromise. We got a box of vanilla ice cream instead and a bottle of fudge topping--the kind than forms a hard shell.  Also something I like but rarely get for the same reasons as Klondikes.

No one ended up with chocolate on their ice cream.

When we got home, I immediately began to dip the ice cream. It had started to soften from the warm ride home and was the perfect consistency--easy to dip, but not melted. This was looking like a good idea and I had almost forgotten about the Klondike bars. While Ward dug into his bowl, I started to prepare my fudge topping. Hard shell topping needs a lot of shaking to mix it up before pouring. I shook for a while and not much seemed to be happening, so I thought maybe a little zap in the microwave would help. And then it happened. I took the lid and seal off and saw it. What the topping was really made of. Staring at me was something that looked like Crisco with no chocolate to be found. (Obviously, it was below the fats, but was out of sight all the same.) That sight changed my mind about wanting to put it on my ice cream. In fact, I wanted nothing to do with it. So, I had a bowl of unadorned ice cream. Good but not very exciting.

Then the next day, I made one of the hardest decisions of my life. (Okay, that's an exaggeration, but it was hard.) I threw out both bottles of the fudge topping. Did I forget to mention, I bought two bottles of the stuff because I was hungry when I went to the store? Once again I proved the rule of don't go into the grocery store when you're hungry. But, I digress. At first I thought I should keep them and they would seem more appealing another day. Then I thought, I should offer to them to someone else who might like them, but I rationalized that they wouldn't be good for anyone else if they weren't good for me.

So I plopped both of them into the trash can. I threw away perfectly good "food". I felt guilty because I didn't even try to save the bottles. I didn't like looking at what was in them that much. So while trying to save a little money, I caused myself several days of distress.

It's hard to beat homemade ice cream. It's even better than
Klondike bars.

Now, as I recount this story, I sound a little ridiculous to myself. Putting so much time and emotion in on a simple treat. But it is what it is. Sometimes I sweat the small stuff.

So what did I learn from this? Nothing I didn't already know. Homemade food is usually the best because you know what's in it and usually it's cheaper. It' okay to treat yourself sometimes. And if you're going to eat junk food, it's better to not know what it's in it :)

A Second Look--July 29,2015

The bird boxes are empty of birds now. Let's hope this is good news. The last time I checked on the baby wrens, the nest was empty. That either means that they were precocious and fledged a few days early at 11 days (15-17 days is typical), or something got them. The nest did not look disturbed, so let's hope they flew away from the nest early. On the other hand, the baby bluebirds spent a comfortable 18 days in their nest before they fledged (17-21 days is typical for bluebirds). I didn't see them leave, but I did see their mother feeding them one evening and the nest was empty the next day. It is getting late in the season, for any more eggs to be laid, so that's probably the last of the baby birds until next year.

Here are a few things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

Day lily

Black-eyed Susan

Young rabbit. We are seeing a lot of rabbits this year which usually correlates with a low fox population. 

Volunteer celosia that came up in a crack in the sidewalk. 

Speaking of volunteers, the coleus and baby's tears in this planter are volunteers.

Hummingbirds are one of a few birds that can fly backwards. They usually fly so fast, that I never notice which way they are flying. However, this one flew straight back for several feet. Very unusual to see.

This may have been one of the last easy meals that the baby bluebirds got. 

Tiger lily

Balloon flower bud. When I see these buds, I always think about the Rocky and Bullwinkle episode, Pottsylvania Creeper, that features a man eating plant looking something like this--except a lot bigger.

Thankful Sunday--July 26, 2015

I am thankful for a visit with Theo.

I think I am typical of most mothers. I always enjoy being with my kids. Well actually, there were a few times when they were growing up, that I was happy to be away from them. But these days, it's a pleasure. And yesterday was one of those days when we got to see Theo in his element at horology school. Clocks and watches can be complicated, beautiful machines and we found it interesting as he explained some of them that he was working on. For this time together, I am thankful.

Cat Problems, Lucky and Lucy

Although cats are known to be standoffish, they can be demanding--especially if you aren't doing just what they want. And with the four at my house that usually involves food, petting, and more food.

Lucky, doing what all cats do--get into bags.

Two of my cats, Lucky and Lucy, have needed a lot of attention in these areas recently. They are both elderly so when I noticed they were losing weight, I was upset, but not surprised. This had been a pattern in other older cats I had had before and the cause of their problems was failing kidneys. Cats have fragile kidneys which often fail as they get older. When the kidneys aren't filtering well, toxins build up and take away the cat's appetite. Thus, they eat less, and lose weight. You can treat the symptoms of kidney failure, but can't really stop the progression of the disease. Ward and I talked and agreed on how far we were willing to go with treatment before I took them to the vet. We were ready.

Part of our suspicions were confirmed when we found that they had both indeed lost weight. However, followup blood tests showed that both of their kidney functions were good as well as all of the other screening tests that were done. That was a relief, but something was still going on. What? This was uncharted territory for us. Follow up blood work showed that Lucky had hyperthyroidism, meaning his body was burning off more than he was eating. And many other followup tests showed that Lucy had pancreatitus--meaning her body was not digesting her food enough to absorb it.

Luckily, both of these conditions are treatable IF the cat decides to cooperate. Lucky's treatment is not too bad. It involves putting gel on the inside of his ear flap once a day. He tolerates this well except when he runs away or flattens his ear making it hard to get the medicine inside. However, he is responding to treatment and gaining weight.

Lucy demanding better food.

When howling doesn't work,
she tries the pleading eyes.

Lucy is another story. She has what on paper seems to be a simple treatment. Powder gets sprinkled on her food containing the enzymes she needs to help her digest it. However, Lucy wants nothing to do with this altered food. We have tried multiple foods, both wet and dry, commercial and home cooked. We have also tried feeding her with a little powder and no powder, separately and with the other cats, or just she gets the powder or all of the cats get the powder, We've also tried feeding frequently or not so often as well as giving her B vitamin shots and appetite stimulants. We've tried everything we can think of with very limited results. In the beginning she went for two days without eating anything because of the enzymes. (Not a good thing for an already emaciated cat.) Now, she will eat a few kibble with a very slight dusting of powder in the bowl--sometimes. The vet said that Lucy is acting very typical for a cat and to keep trying. She may give in and slowly adjust. I hope so because I'm getting tired. However, as the vet pointed out, we've only been at this for a week. My how time doesn't fly when you aren't having fun.

I hope Lucy adjusts and we get a lot more time with her. However, if this simple treatment doesn't work, we're in for some difficult decisions ahead. In the meantime, Lucy is begging for more food (she's been here howling three times since I stared writing this) because the last time I fed her, I put enzyme powder on her food. And in her eyes, that's just not acceptable.

A Second Look--July 22, 2015

While the flowers are very pretty this time of year, it's the critters that have been getting my attention this week--specifically the birds and the bees and the bugs.

A few weeks ago, I showed a picture of a wheel bug nymph. Adult wheel bugs are fearsome looking with their big size and gray and brown armored looking shell.  So I was surprised when I discovered, the slim, green insect I found was the nymph for it. While identifying the nymph, I found the wheel bug was also called the assassin bug because it pierces its prey and sucks out the insides to eat. The nymphs feed this way also. Well, this week I actually saw this happening. The nymph I found was a little older that the one I saw before and some of its green had to turned to gray, but it was definitely identifiable as an assassin bug.  The bug was clinging to the underside of a coneflower with a lifeless bumblebee clutched in its legs while its mouth pierced the abdomen of the bee. Just like I had read about. Amazing to see! Despite the fact this one was eating a bee, assassin bugs are considered beneficial garden predators eating things like Japanese beetles and caterpillars.

On more pleasant insect news, the swallowtail butterflies have returned this week. I haven't seen them in great numbers yet, but I hope more are to come. The skipper and cabbage butterflies are still flitting around everywhere.

The baby finches are continuing to grow and the mother is still very protective of them. I thought that maybe the baby bluebirds had already fledged, but when I saw the mother go into the box, I took a look. They are still there, but they are mostly feathered and you can see some of the blue on them. I would like to see them fledge, but not surprisingly, the mother tries to do that when there are no threats around and in her eyes that includes me.)

Here are a few things I saw this week 

during a Second Look. 

A few of the flowers that are in bloom right now.

Adult assassin bug from last August. Notice the wheel on its back that gives it its other name of wheel bug. Next notice the antennas on its skinny, long head. Bent under it's head, is its long, deadly mouth.

Assassin bug nymph from a couple of weeks ago. If you look carefully, you can see its orange mouth under the antennas. 

With some studying of this picture, I hope you can see what I saw recently. The assassin nymph is holding onto  the coneflower with its back legs. Its front legs are wrapped around the bumblebee.  Once again see the long, orange antenna. Under them is the orange mouth that is stuck into the bee. It's just under the bees wing. 

Tiger swallowtail butterfly

The wren's have grown a lot in the last week.

So have the bluebirds.

Thankful Sunday--July 19, 2015

I am thankful for:

Fresh berries 

Sweet corn on the cob

Grilled squash

Tender green beans

Crisp lettuce

Marinated cucumbers

and especially Tomatoes right off the vine.

In other words, I am thankful for summer harvest time.

A Second Look-Part 2, July 16, 2015

For yesterday's Second Look post, I showed you several pictures of baby wrens. Today I'm going to show you a few more pictures of things that have a bit more color to them. Because despite my focus on the birds, I did see a few other things around the yard besides wrens.

Here are a few more things I saw this week during a Second Look.

Day lily

Young milkweed beetle

Fritillary butterfly

Cone flower. This is a volunteer under the bird feeder. Finches especially like their seeds.

Silver-spotted skipper butterfly. The injured wing didn't seem to be affecting its movement.

Tiger lily. The other morning was the first time I noticed that the tiger lily leaves start out straight before they curl all the way back. These observations always make me wonder. After all the tiger lilies I've seen, why is it I've never noticed this before.  It also makes me happy that there is still so much to see even in the common, everyday things.

Bumblebee

A Second Look--July 15, 2015

Ask me what I did last Sunday. Well, I spent most of the day running back and forth to one of nest boxes watching some house wrens hatch. It was one of the most interesting things I've seen in a while and I'm going to share it with today's Second Look. There are great videos all over YouTube showing this kind of thing, but I did it the old fashioned way. I stood on a chair and peered into the top of the box and then did a point and shoot picture. As you'll see below, sometimes they turned out well and other times they didn't. The camera was very good at focusing on the nest and not as good on focusing on the birds.

During all of my peering, which lasted over several hours/days, the mother was very attentive--usually on a nearby branch giving a loud warning call when I got close to the box. However, when I got about 10 feet away from the box, she would stop. Luckily, she didn't dive bomb me, but I wore a hat anyway. I really don't like it when a bird swoops by my head close enough to give me the wind blown look.

Here's this week's Second Look.

When we last saw the nest, there were five eggs in it.

A few days later when I checked, there were 3 hatchlings one of which had not quite freed itself from its shell. I watched as it wiggled and shook its wing trying to get the shell off. It was quite active. What you are seeing: In the picture above, there are two intact eggs in the lower left part of the nest with one chick draped over them, and two parts of a recently split egg above them that the chick was trying to get out of. There are three chicks in the above picture, but one of them is in the lower part of the nest hiding under a feather.

The next time I looked, half of the recently split egg was missing. The mother usually eats the egg shells both for calcium and for protection. When not in a protected box, the newly hatched shells could fall to the ground and alert predators that there are some tasty baby birds around. What you're seeing: In this picture, it's a little easier to make out the three hatchlings and eggs. Note the half shell at the upper right of the nest.

A little later, the other half of the shell was gone, and things had been neatly rearranged in the nest. The two remaining eggs were off to the side and the chicks were neatly around the edge of the nest. The chicks move around a lot on their own, but this has the look of a mother's work.

This time as I approached the box, the mother flew out. When I looked inside, I saw what she had been doing--feeding. What you're seeing:  At the top of the nest is one of the chicks with a grub in its mouth. (To me, it actually looks like it choked to death). It slowly was able to work this grub into its gut.  Pretty amazing to watch because this grub was almost as big as its head.

The instinct to beg for food seems to be working well in these hatchlings.

The next peer into the box found four hatchlings and no partial shells. Maybe because the mother was a afraid of me, she was cleaning things up quickly.

I checked several more times on Sunday and the last egg had not hatched However, sometime during the night it hatched and I found all five chicks Monday morning. Note that the first two hatched chicks already have more "fur" on their head than the later three. Your job is to see if you can find all five chicks in the picture.  Hint: In the lower part of the nest, one of their heads is covered up by another and you can only see its bottom.

Now after you've gone blind trying to make out the wren pictures, here's one that a little bit easier to see. These are baby bluebirds from another nest. Besides starting out a lot larger than the wrens, they are about a week older. You can see that they are starting to get their pin feathers.

Three Quotes

Out in blog land, some bloggers are taking the three quote challenge where they share three of their favorite quotes. Lois at TheEcoGrandma has shared hers and tagged me to do the same. It's not as easy as it sounds. As we all know if you have access to the internet, you also have access to endless numbers of meaningful, humorous, or helpful quotes.  So picking just three was next to impossible. However I "tried not to sweat the small stuff" and pick three that I have gone back to then and again over the years.

1. Everything you've ever wanted is one step out of your comfort zone. - Anonymous -

I am a cautions person by nature. I like to have things planned and predictable. My sisters say that I like to have control over things and I think they're right. That's how my cautious personality feels the most comfortable. And most of the time, planning is a very good thing. I find I waste fewer things including time and money when I have a plan. However, I think I miss out on somethings when I am always trying to be in control. 

One of the views from our spur of the moment hike.

So while I wouldn't exactly call me spontaneous or a risk taker, I am trying to get out of my comfort zone more often these days. For example, one time while driving the long drive back from my mother's house, I suggested we stop at one of the parks along the way for a hike. Usually the only stops are bathroom stops because we "have" to get back and do our laundry and whatnot to get ready for work the next day. Well, we did stop and had a lovely hike that took us to a great view. And we didn't really use up that much time. Now this is a favorite stop of ours. That was a small step out of my comfort zone, but one that had a big payoff.

When I thought about the quote more, I realized that I have more examples to share where I have stepped out of my comfort zone that have really made a difference for me, but it's time to move onto the next quote. I'll share those another time.

2. Despite the gardener's best intentions, Nature will improvise.  ~Michael P. Garafalo,  gardendigest.com

Anyone who has tried to grow anything can relate to this one.  No matter how hard you try to plan (see quote #1), you have to realize that you can't control everything--especially Mother Nature. It might rain too much or it might rain too little. Storms may blow down branches (or whole trees) or hail may pelt your plants into oblivion. The bugs, birds, deer, rabbits, groundhogs, etc. may eat your whole garden one morning for breakfast. I've had all of these things happen to my gardening attempts--many times. When these things happen if "I didn't laugh, I'd cry."

The rabbits eat more than their fair share of what I don't want them to, but they sure are cute to watch.

So how do I deal with it? Sometimes not very well, at first, but then I remember Nature is a much bigger force than man/woman will ever be able to control and and you'll drive yourself crazy if you think you can. Then I try to shift my attention away from my garden to other parts of nature. How do thunderstorms form? Where are the rabbits' nests? What kind of bug is that? How many eggs did that bird lay? And I find that I get such enjoyment out of learning about those things that I forget about when my gardening doesn't work out the way I wanted. Well, I really don't forget about how all of my hard work was "changed" by Mother Nature, but I do try to "make lemonade out of lemons." That has been the whole purpose of my Second Looks. :)

(By the way, does anyone remember the Chiffon Margarine commercial from the 1970's with the quote, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!" That is what has been playing in my head since I started writing about the gardening quote.)

3. He who laughs.....lasts. Erma Bombeck

Erma Bombeck had a great sense of humor especially about every day things and she was a great role model for us all. I try to channel my inner Erma and when I'm not in the best of moods, I try to remember that "Laughter is the best medicine" and do something to have a good laugh. It might be watching an old Andy Griffith show or a funny video on YouTube. Or I may just take a trip down memory lane and remember some of the silly things Wally and Theo used to say. Or maybe I'll check an Erma Bombeck book out of the library to read. 

Now for our laugh of the day, take a look at the titles of some of Erma's books.

• Just Wait Until You Have Children of Your Own, Doubleday, 1971. Written with Bil Keane.
• I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression, Doubleday, 1974.
• The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank, McGraw-Hill, 1976.
• If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?, McGraw-Hill, 1978.
• Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession, 1983.
• When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It's Time to Go Home, 1991.
• A Marriage Made in Heaven ... or Too Tired For an Affair, 1993
• All I Know About Animal Behavior I learned in Loehmann's Dressing Room, ISBN 0060177888 HarperCollins 1995

Thankful Sunday--July 12, 2015

Our library group lining up for the parade with the stacks of books and signs we carried.

I am thankful for the community I live in.

I live in a small community that was originally a rural farming town. While there are still farms around, it now might be better described as a suburban bedroom community for Washington, D. C. However, it still has its small town feel from years ago. That was evidenced this past weekend by Celebrate Mayfield* Days. This is an annual event that brings the area together for a little old fashioned fun. Friday night was a parade with fireworks afterwards and Saturday had the streets lined with vendors and activities for everyone.

Friday night I marched in the parade with my coworkers representing the Mayfield library. We were joined by 80 other groups from churches, youth organizations, and local businesses. And as always, Santa was the last one in the parade for a little Christmas in July. Whoever didn't happen to be in the parade was set up along the route with their picnic suppers watching. Although it was hotter than I would have liked, I had a lot of fun walking along and hearing the crowd cheer for the library as well as waving to my friends along the route.

Fireworks from Mayfield Days

After the parade Ward joined me at the fair grounds for the fire department chicken dinner which is one of their big fund raisers every year. As we were finishing our dinner, it was getting dark and it was time to find our spot to watch the fireworks. While there were plenty of people around, we had no problem finding a place for our blanket. The fire department put on a good show.  I could get a little mushy here and say that Ward and I felt like we were dating again. He has been working a lot of overtime recently and we haven't had much time to see each other. However, Friday was just about perfect as we snuggled together watching the lights in the sky.    Yes, that was a little too mushy. :)

Saturday had flea markets, a banana split eating contest, and a fun run among many other activities. I think you're getting the idea. I live in a place where simple things are still enjoyed. And for that I am thankful.  

*The name has been changed to be consistent with the Leave It to Beaver aliases.

A Second Look--July 8, 2015

Here are a few things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

The goldfinch are particularly bright during mating season.

Even though the deer have eaten most of the day lily booms. I can still find them here and there.

Grandaddy long leg's spider.

Hosta bloom

Can you find the well camouflaged toad?

The trumpet lilies are starting to fade.

Cameleon plant--This is a very pretty ground cover that the deer leave alone. However, like many ground covers, it really spreads. Knowing this, I planted it in a small area surrounded by concrete on all four sides. However, it has still managed to escape, but is not out of control.

The wren has added another egg and more feathers to line the nest.

Usually we see the hummingbirds hovering over the feeder as they drink the nectar. This one decided to stay awhile and rest her wings while she was sipping.