Custom Vans

My son's girlfriend was painting a pair of shoes for a present. Here are a few photos of her working on them. Here's her art site: http://tasukisflame.deviantart.com/

What to Do with that Leftover Turkey

MAKE SOUP!

Here's how to do it.

First you have to take the turkey off the bone, being careful to select the best pieces for soup and leaving the larger slices of meat - those are best for sandwiches (which will make a wonderful lunch).

When you've picked out the best pieces, you set them aside

Okay, then you need the broth. You can use the leftover gravy and a couple cans of chicken broth. Or, you can boil the bones of the turkey for a couple of hours and strain out the juice for your stock. Then you need to chop up the ingredients. Here's what I used:

1) three cloves of garlic
2) two stocks of celery, plus the heart of the celery with the leaves (that's the most tender part)
3) two pounds of chopped carrots
4) 1/4 minced sweet onion


Then, I made some homemade egg noodles using the following ingredients:

1) 4 eggs
2) 3 and 1/2 cups of flour
3) 2 teaspoons of olive oil

You will need to beat the eggs and then slowly add in the flour and olive oil. Knead until it forms a ball and then roll out until it is as thin as you like (if you have a pasta machine - it's even easier). Then I roll it back up like a yule log and slice the pasta into strips.


I added the noodles and then boiled for about 20-30 minutes. Before serving I salt and peppered and WAH-LAH! Homemade turkey noodle soup.

New Year's Resolutions

Another year has come and gone and it's time to assess and reassess what we've been doing with the time we have.

I've been thinking about resolutions, which are something I'm not good at making because I don't want to set myself up for failure but this year I'm thinking of GOALS not resolutions.

Here are a few of my GOALS for 2012:

1) To sign up for a class - maybe photoshop - maybe a new language...
2) To run my first marathon;
3) To be more consistent in my training for the marathon;
4) To have more patience - at things I try to do (like knitting)
5) To spend more time with friends (I usually spend most all my time with family - neglecting friends)

How 'bout you? Do you have any GOALS for 2012?

BOOKS you read in 2011

Or Should Have Read

This book does more than just tell people not to breed or buy wolfdogs. Part Wild will touch the hearts of everyone not just owners of exotic pets because it is a story about love and loss.



I read PART WILD by Ceiridwen Terrill.

It's "One Woman's Journey with a Creature Caught Between the Worlds of Wolves and Dogs".

I would definitely recommend this story to anyone who loves animals, has dogs or is even interested in wolves and/or dogs. It's a good story and well-written, with moments of humor and heartfelt sadness. Plus, I thoroughly enjoyed the scientific explanations of the differences in dogs and wolves (call me a nerd, it doesn't bother me--in fact I'll take it as a compliment ;)

And, I could totally sympathize with Ceiridwen's frustrations at having an "escape artist" hybrid. Believe me! And, if you don't think I can relate, read about Sasha my Siberian Husky who has escaped my totally fenced-in yard on too many occasions.

So, you might think that (since I have a notorious escape artist) I'd totally sympathize with Ceiridwen. And, although I think she tried to make a good home for Inyo, I couldn't feel as sympathetic as some other people might. One reason is that I find it difficult to understand why anyone would want to have three VERY large dogs, especially someone renting a tiny place.

My backyard has a fence that is over six feet high, all the way around. And my dog can leap like a deer. Luckily she can't scale our backyard fence but that doesn't mean she won't dig. We keep an eye on the tunnels and fill them in with bricks (and my yard used to be so pretty:(

I would think any renter would have serious trouble renting a home, apartment or trailer with a Wolf hybrid then add in a Cathoula leopard dog-pit bull cross and a German Shepherd/Doberman mix and I would think it would be nearly impossible to find a home with those three large dogs as pets.

I have one mid-sized dog in a house that is fully fenced and it can still be a humongous challenge keeping her contained (and I make sure she gets plenty of exercise. I take her with me on my marathon training runs).

So, one thought that kept running through my mind as I turned the pages of Part Wild was, "What were you thinking?"

It also bothered me to read how often Ceiridwen chained Inyo up. I've read that animals who are kept chained up get terribly frustrated and sometimes turn that frustration into anger, which can manifest itself in harmful and dangerous ways. So, I kept thinking, this is a recipe for disaster.

Plus, Ceiridwen had other challenges facing her. She and her husband were dealing with issues like obsessive compulsive disorder and bipolar disorder - then top that with the stresses of serious financial woes and studying for an advanced degree and it wouldn't have taken a wolf-hybrid to send me over the edge.

What I took away from the story was that love can't fix everything no matter how much we wish it.

I'm not saying that Ceiridwen had many options available to her in the end, which is what makes the story so horribly sad but I also think, in other circumstances, Inyo might have done much better.

But...I'm not recommending that anyone get a wolf/dog hybrid. I have a husky and I wouldn't recommend that breed to anyone who isn't training to run a marathon (and willing to take their dog with them on training runs), and has a fenced yard with someone home during the day to keep an eye on those Houdini hounds.

Still, I think this is a good book and I would recommend it to anyone who loves animals.

Did you read any books in 2011 that you WOULD recommend? Please share them in the comments section, as I'm always looking for another good book to read :)

Scarves

One of my favorite presents was a scarf I got from my MIL. It is one piece of fabric shaped into a circle. It is stretchy and I just throw it over my head and wah-lah I'm so much warmer. I just love it.

How 'bout you...any favorite gifts that you got?

Have You Ever Forgotten . . . ?

Huskies may not be the most difficult breed but they are definitely up there in rank when it comes to challenging pets. And, I should know, because I have one.

Sasha, my dog, is a very loving dog but she is also a notorious escape artist. She has eaten our back fence . . . twice. My husband rebuilt the fence twice and finally he had to reinforce the wood with metal rebar. But, she still knows how to open gates...if we forget to put the carabiner back through the latch.

Luckily she doesn't have an opposable thumb. Just the other day, my husband took out the garbage and forgot to put the carabiner back on the latch. He went grocery shopping and Sasha saw the opportunity to go for a fun run. She snuck out by lifting the latch and going for a multiple mile run all by herself.

Luckily, when my hubby came back home, Sasha had jumped the fence and was sitting on the front porch waiting for him :)

But that's only one of the problems we've encountered raising Sasha. Another cause for concern has always been her LOVE of food. She will eat just about anything...including my couch. She actually ate one of our couches but she also eats metal, plastic and glass...yes, glass. Last year she ate the Christmas ornaments right off the tree and a few of the packages that were stacked below.

So...this year, I was afraid to put any presents beneath the tree. Instead I hung the packages from the branches--just to be safe. When she left those presents alone, I started piling the packages down beneath the tree.

And, maybe it's because Sasha is three now, and has finally passed out of the terrible twos but this year she left the tree completely alone.

So, the humorous point to this story is all about presents. I forgot about four of them. They were stashed inside the branches as a test to Sasha. Luckily she left them alone. But, then I forgot all about them.

I found one of my son's presents and gave it to him last night then I saw another present tucked safely inside the tree. My brother stopped by today to pick up his present.

Now, all I have to do is get one present to my sister and another one to my b.i.l.

So, tell me, have you ever forgotten to give a present that you already had wrapped and ready?

If so, please share the reason you think you forgot.

Christmas Presents

I love homemade gifts and this year we got a lot of them. It makes the gifts so much more special...at least to me.

Here are a few of the homemade gifts we got this year:

This was a portrait that Kathryn painted of me and my hubby. Of course I think she should become a royal portrait painter. She sure knows how to make people look better than they do in "real" life. In the olden days, when a portrait painter painted a King or Queen, they had to make sure the royal was happy with the portrayal--else they'd end up on the short end of a noose.


Then I got this dress that Jovan designed and sewed just for me.

Jovan also made homemade soap and candles

And then Bo gave us some homemade jam from his own berry field in his backyard

I also got some knitted gifts but I'll save those for another blog.

How 'bout you...did you get or gift any homemade presents? If you did, please share what they were in the comments section.