Cloudy, Rainy and Cold but it is FRIDAY EVE- woo hoo!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday slowly crept by for me... ever have one of those days? It's a day when you feel like it's just never going to end and you can't wait to get back home? Well, I can't wait to get back home every day but especially when it's like this. At 9am I was thinking about lunch...lol that's pretty bad.

I fixed myself a chicken noodle cup-a-soup and got back to my work. By 9:30 I was clock-watching again... rather than force myself to try and stay focused I figured I'd take a break from it and get a posting on the blog for all of you who have nothing better to do that read what I write...lol  who's worse?  ha ha ha

Well, I started the update only to be interrupted by work demands... so this posting is a combination of dates all smeared together.

Update on the puppies - well, they got their first lesson on being on a chain. They have to be able to go to the vet and as unruly as they are, it would be difficult to keep them off the other animals. We don't want to break their spirit but they do need to listen better than they currently do. So they were each hooked up to either end of a long chain. The middle of the chain was looped through the hook on the 4 wheeler and Wally sat out there with them teaching them to come to him when he called them and he taught them how to behave on the chain.

Ruger wanted nothing to do with it. He wouldn't even move. Even when Wally tugged on the chain and called his name, he just planted his feet and held tight. Of course he eventually caved in but he was a tough little cookie.

Colt had no problem being on the chain, he just didn't want to get anywhere near Wally. That's nothing new. He won't come up to either of us like Ruger does. Once he gets used to being held and petted I'm sure that will change. In the meantime...more training to be had.

He gave them dog biscuits and petted them when they came to him and after 45 minutes or so they forgot they were on the chain. When he unchained them and told them to go play, they just stood there looking at him. I guess they didn't realize they had been freed... cute little guys.

They were cute until I saw where they had turned over one of my planters with the tulip bulb deeply nestled within. Ha! That dirt was strewn all the way across the porch and the bulb was so close to the edge that it was almost over it...darn little varmints! They're lucky I didn't catch them in the act or I would have had to pop them on their noses for a lesson in what "no" means when it comes to my plants...lol This is going to be a fun spring!

(Wednesday) Update on the weather. Well, as I said above, it's cloudy and it's been drizzling rain on and off all morning but nothing really substantial out this way. As for tomorrow...that's a whole different story. They say (keep in mind "they" are typically wrong...) that there will be some light snow flurries over night and into Thursday morning. Okay, no big deal. "They" say it won't be enough to have an impact on our roadways. Cool. Thursday's low is supposed to be 18 and the high is supposed to be 46. That's a huge difference...hence the reason I say "they" are typically wrong...lol!

Friday is supposed to be sunnier but the low is 16 with a high of only 25 degrees...now doggone it that's cold. You are still planning to come see us, right? hahahahahaha  Hey, if I can handle it, surely you can too...lol! Dizzy Debbie says no way could she handle it but I checked the temperatures in AZ and her lows are in the 30s and 40s...I think it really only matters if you HAVE to be out in it, which I don't unless I want to be.

Driving to and from work is actually relaxing these days. There's something about the winter that has a calming effect on the landscape and thus on me. The activity of the animals in the woods is minimal, the rustling of the leaves can't be heard from within my car but surely the sound is there for I see the leaves blowing in the wind. The great, huge icicles that cling to the mountainside hardly have a drop on the ends of them as no matter how big and bright the mighty sunshine, even it can not penetrate the cold air thoroughly enough to begin melting down those blocks of ice. They look like oddly misshapen pieces of glass hanging without fear from those rocky sides.

There are hundreds of different kinds of bird all over the place. They fly by my window at work, they converge on our front yard and they line the telephone wires as if there were no tree limbs for them to rest upon. I thought that birds flew south for the winter - apparently this is as far south as some of them plan to go. Who knew southwest middle Tennessee would be their winter resting place? Surely not I :) I watched a show the other night that told how thousands of Sandhill Cranes have made this area their year round home site. In just 8 years the population has gone from about 200 to thousands... pretty popular place, huh? lol Good for them - it wasn't so long ago that they were on the endangered species list so it's nice to see this many of them.

So apparently I offended a few of you when I wrote about the rabbit? I didn't intend to offend, after all, it's just food. These aren't like the furry little pet bunnies you see at the flea market or pet store or wherever...these are farm-raised purely for the purpose of, well, being eaten. Just like fish, shrimp, cows, pigs, etc. All are raised for the purpose of feeding the human population and so on down the chain. I just happen to enjoy trying a variety of foods that extend beyond the main 3...chicken, pork and beef. I believe it was my very own sister who said she would never, ever try rabbit. Only after I stuffed that little morsel into her mouth while she was talking did she get my point. She went back for more.

A big thank you again to Mr. Bill Hollihan for helping out at the club that day. Joe and Joyce I believe donated the rabbits from MEAT bingo. I cut them into pieces and seasoned them while Bill cooked them outside on that old grill we had. mmm mmm good! Everyone who tried it, really enjoyed it. Those who didn't try it, well, they just didn't know what they were missing out on...lol! The beef tongue was a whole different story...I'll tell it another day :)

Should we ever be forced to live off the land like our ancestors did, I'm betting rabbit will be one of the first animals to show a decline in population. The flavor is mild, nothing like chicken (hello) and it has to be cooked either really, really fast or very low and very slow. Anywhere in the middle results in a tough, chewy meat that is virtually flavorless. Unfortunately rabbit meat has no real nutritional value so unless it's cooked with a variety of vegetables, herbs or spices you aren't really getting anything out of it other than full... lol!

But enough about rabbits. Tuesday Wally took me to lunch at a place called Porky's. They serve BBQ'd pork, beef, sausages and the single most wonderful BLT I have ever laid my lips on! WOW was it ever good. I love a good BLT with the bacon just salty and crispy enough, the tomato sliced thick and sprinkled with black pepper and a pile of fresh, cool, iceberg lettuce... oh my! The bun was buttered and lightly grilled so it was warm and crunchy :) There was so much bacon on this sandwich that I had trouble finishing the whole thing. Don't get me wrong, indeed I did finish every last little tidbit, but it took some doing for certain. I couldn't even finish one glass of tea for being so full of good bacon-y-ness. It was delightful :) It's making my mouth water for it again...lol!!

Talk about good timing... Beverly Duncan has some really good timing. Wednesday we arrived home and happened to check the mail. Low and behold, there was a package awaiting us. Upon opening it, I found that she had sent us both a sweatshirt. If the weatherman turns out to be right, we couldn't have been given  more appropriate gifts, nor could they have come at a better time!  Thanks Bev, for being so thoughtful and for having such good timing :)

So here it is Thursday and there's just one more day left in the workweek for me. As it turns out, it's supposed to start raining and snowing around 3pm this afternoon and continue on until about 6am Friday morning. Not to worry - they say it won't amount to very much and shouldn't cause any problems on the roadway...hmmm, where have I heard that before? lol

Even though it does get cold here, it's nowhere near as bad as I feared. I thought I would just be freezing all the time but that's not the case at all. My work building is cold - my hands are always freezing - but that's the case whether it's 20 degrees outside or 90 degrees outside. As I recall, my hands were always freezing in the Orlando office too. I have to sit on them to get them warm...lol! For that matter I was almost always cold in the Oriole's building...lol just my nature I suppose.

It seems this is the time of year when the folks here begin to yearn for springtime. The talk is all about buying seeds and ordering plants and what will go where and when. As I wrote when I first started the blog, I'm here in time for this planting season and plan to spend the better part of my days off, doing just that. I'm ready for those rocks to be dug up and I'm ready to get my hands in the dirt and plant something.

Meanwhile, I'm anxiously awaiting the first sighting of greenness in my pots where the daffodils and tulips are planted. Remember those mystery plants? Well they are starting to show green leaves emerging from the ground. We all know they won't bloom until sometime around May but that's okay this year - seeing as how we know what they are now! lol! The capacity of a bulb never ceases to amaze me :)

I made a super low carb chicken parmesan last night and it worked out really well. I used a recipe from Giada De'Laurentis and was very pleased with it. You can find it on the Food Network website if you're interested. It has no breadcrumbs, just chicken, cheeses, sauce and a little bit of butter. This is the second time I've made it and somehow I never make enough. The chicken seems to shrink while it's cooking or something...I don't know. We had enough for dinner but not enough for me to bring some for work today. 
:( Bummer :(

To go with it, I wanted yellow squash but it was in the outside freezer with a 50 lb bag of sweet feed on top of it so that was out. I didn't feel like lifting that bag right then...lol I know - lazy! Anyway, instead I took out a red pepper, a green pepper, some mushrooms, some hearts of palm and some artichoke hearts. I chopped up the peppers and mushrooms and poured on some Good Seasons Italian dressing. While those soaked, I chopped up and added pieces of hearts of palm and some artichoke hearts. I put a little salt & pepper in with everything and gave it a good stir. Was that ever good! We had whole wheat English muffins that I split, buttered and sprinkled with garlic salt then heated under the broiler and that was our dinner. I was so proud of myself for not burning the bread! lol First time for everything :)

I think with the weather being what it is some sort of stew or chili or maybe even spaghetti should be on the menu for tonight. Brrrrr  :)  but you know me, I love soups so I'm glad it's cold enough to warrant a big ol' pot of something hot and bubbling lol!

Looking outside my office window, the mountains in the distance are shrouded in a thick white mist. I guess it could be snowing over there already. It sure is a pretty sight to see when the people who live up there build fires in their fireplaces and I can see the smoke drifting up through the trees into the sky. You just know it's warm inside that house wherever it may be... 

I can't wait to get back to mine :)

What does the weekend hold for us? I have no idea :) We haven't made any plans other than to be at the cabin playing with the puppies and taking care of the animals. Of course we'll be watching the playoff games on Sunday...GO PACKERS!!! LOL  In reality, it's almost better if they don't make it (for me anyway) because then the pressure is off. When they go to the Super Bowl, it just makes me so nervous I almost can't watch. Sometimes I don't. lol!

The Super Bowl is on Feb. 6th and then only two short weeks away from that comes the Daytona 500 - finally!!! It seems to take forever to get back to racing. I still don't have a driver but maybe this will be the year I pick one out of the line-up. It won't be either of those Bush brothers (sorry Kris - just can't do it), it won't be Jeff Gordon (please) and it certainly won't be Jimmy Johnson (NASCAR's golden boy - no offense but no thanks). So who is left for me? Time will tell :)

I'm enjoying the winter as days go by and I hope my limited postings haven't bored you. This season too is very special to me even with the cold weather. I'm learning so much about how to dress to keep warm, when gloves and scarfs and hoodies are needed and how to plan meals when frozen foods don't thaw as quickly as they used to. I find that I don't mind being inside as the view of the mountains across the way keep me returning to the front door over and over.

The back yard view is so serene and completely peaceful that I can't help but kneel on the couch and look out those back windows. My bird feeders are hanging out there but the birds are infrequent visitors to them now that the snow has melted. They have nests built on the porch rafters so I do get to watch as they come and go from up there.

The back yard is lit up all the way across to the woods on the side of the cabin so I can watch as the roosters fly up at bedtime. I watch as the puppies stand at the edge of the woods barking at whatever hoodoo or creature of the night might be wandering around out there foraging for food. It is a winter wonderland that looks just like a picture post card. I wish I never had to drive away from it...

I hope your home brings you the same feeling :)

"There are compensations for growing older. One is the realization that to be sporting isn't at all necessary. It is a great relief to reach this stage of wisdom." Cornelius Otis Skinner