Category: Pets

Posted on

and above all, have fun

August 15, my birthday eve day…a beautiful day.

Yesterday was hot, smoky, stuffy…a little miserable weather-wise. But overnight, a cold front whooshed through. And it rained. And the morning dawned cool, clear and fall-like.

Not only is today my birthday eve day but it is also the anniversary of Julia Child’s birth and this year is the 100th. Julia Child is a recent inspiration to me. I love and admire her fearlessness and passion for life.

“The best way to execute French cooking is to get good and loaded and whack the hell out of a chicken. Bon appetit.”*

Bon appetit, indeed :) !!!

This evening, Bear, Bob and I shared a space of proximity that I thought might be impossible a year ago.

“Learn how to cook — try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless and above all have fun.”*

Oh, yes.

*Julia Child

Posted on

Another episode of Wild Kingdom

Despite my prior very poor batting average at identifying birds…and especially birds of prey…I believe this is a Cooper’s Hawk.

And, I have to credit Bob for seeing it at all :( !!

Bob was where you see him, but instead of looking at me, he was looking up – with GREAT intenseness. His tail was thwap-thawapping on the porch.

So I looked also – and saw the hawk. Hawk was my first thought but when I was looking at the photos and thinking about my past experiences, I wasn’t sure…young eagle???

I settled on Cooper’s Hawk as it fits other photos I found on the web AND the behavior fits as well. According to my reading, the Cooper’s Hawk is at home in the “forrest”, is an extraordinary flyer capable of darting among the trees in a dense wood. And they typically perch low. That was my other quandry…I had NEVER seen a hawk – in the woods – and as low as this bird at maybe 10 feet off the ground.

Earlier in the day, I had a somewhat terse conversation with God regarding the mice that have been frequenting my house in the night. Despite traps, despite Bob and Bear, despite me picking up every bit of tempting food…in they come, leaving their little poopie calling cards here, there and everywhere. (traps, Bob and Bear have dispatched a number of them, but in more of them come!!)

So…seeing the hawk, I gave thanks. God sent a hawk to help with the mice! But then I read that the Cooper’s Hawk hunts small birds…like chickadees and nuthatches… I have no quarrel with the little birds and would hate to think of them being hunted even though I also love the birds of prey and know everything has to eat… hmmm. Ultimately, I decided that it was not an issue that was mine to trouble over and the circle of life must go on.

Still earlier in the day – earlier than the hawk and mice but later than the moon and Venus…Bear and I were on the last leg of our morning perimeter walk when Bear alerted and ran toward the house but down on the game trail below the footpath that I walk.

A bear! A smallish bear, but not a cub and it stood quietly by a tree as Bear approached and then stopped. All was a standoff until Bear barked. The bear went up the tree, Bear rushed to the tree and stood on it barking. I was a little concerned as the tree was sounding a bit stressed…approximately 120 pounds of black bear went up a medium-smallish tree with a LOT of noise and branch breaking. I had visions of tree and bear toppling on to my Bear…I called and he came and headed straight for the front door and in the house.

Bear (the dog) was trembling with adrenalin and I was not far behind. I praised Bear, hugged him tightly (I’ve found this calms him … it doesn’t hurt me either!), removed his collar and got his normal treat.

He was not interested in the treat, but ran for the bedroom to watch…and to sniff. The windows were open.

That is not a smile…he is gulping scent. He gulped scent, barked, watched and stuck his nose up and sniffed. I stayed back and let him figure it all out. I am sure he now knows what a bear smells like and what a bear is. It was a good first experience for a ‘Jersey dog’ without western wilderness experience.

Later when we went out he was calm. We have had two outings…just like normal. Hoo rah Bear!

Posted on

A Thursday

My Wednesday did not go according to plan from the get-go.

One thing that slipped was a trip to town for supplies.

This morning, Thursday morning … in a “kill two birds with one stone” frame of mind, I whistled Bear into Wild Thing for the gathering of supplies, the download of some large files on town’s 4Glte (!!!) and who knew what else.

The morning was beautiful: cool and misty as the sun rose over the mountains and through the woods.

Bear was ALL in for a bit of RV adventure!

We stopped on the way for a walk, parked in a shady spot near the grocery for the download and supply gathering…we both had our breakfast “on the road” – and then headed for home to make it just in the nick of time for a late morning work/meeting session.

Later…

Thursday, is CSA garden day.

Yesterday, I got to thinking about it being August… and we’ve had some heat and sun and …WOW, the garden might start spewing forth some different things pretty soon!

And it did! The bag felt like 10 pounds: beets (WITH greens!!), ‘taters, peas & carrots, a head of lettuce, parsley, basil, KALE!, some “spring green” mix. I called on neighbors and friends to share.

Last week’s bag was good and I used it all…nothing new to report but I continued to enjoy the shredded carrot salad, the pea pesto (my absolute favorite non-basil pesto), a broccoli salad, chard-spinach-mushroom stir fry…

Next week’s cooking from the garden – it should have some new stuff.

Meanwhile, Thursday evening…Bear did his “it is too hot” version of the perimeter patrol and then found a shady spot to have a treat. I let Bob out and he sprawled near us on the porch. I told them, that their nearness to each other and me – it was the absolute BEST birthday month present they could give.

We all sat together and enjoyed. It was 85 but not unpleasant in the shade with a soft breeze and my good boys. Actually, it was heaven to me.

Bear ultimately decided the cool of the house had appeal. I got the camera and tripod to capture a moment with Bob…who has apparently forgiven my passe taste for white wine…well, I am the one who dispenses the food, allows access to the bed, puts fleece cat blankies hither and yon…

A Thursday.

Posted on

Eating from the garden (and the orchard!) : week 12

Years ago when I subscribed to an organic vegetable delivery, I learned that it was interesting and fun to plan my meals around the week’s delivery. I’m doing the same this summer and it has resulted again in discovering new ways to use the garden bounty. It is actually easier now with the plethora of food and cooking blogs.

I am not a fan of what odd ingredients can we mix in this week…BUT, then here I am with some unusual – at least to me – combos this week.

Carrots have been in the garden bag for the past several weeks. First there were a few baby carrots. They have been getting bigger but are still wonderfully sweet and flavorful. I have shared some with neighbors and the rest munched as a snack or added to my pasta salad.

This week, though, I remembered a potluck salad of grated carrots, raisins and ??? I looked at a number of recipes and then made a carrot-dried cranberry-chard-walnut mix with a pineapple ginger creamy vinaigrette dressing. Oh boy… I was glad to see in the garden email this morning that there were carrots again this week because this salad was goooodddd!

I paired it with some Copper River Red Sockeye Salmon and raw – fresh from the garden – peas.

Peas…there were still some peas. Fresh peas – so good and sweet.

My recipe searching turned up several variations of sweet pea pesto. You’d think I would have had enough pesto, considering I’ve turned every green thing from the garden into pesto…but no. I took from several recipes and ended up blitzing the peas, lemon juice, sunflower seeds, sunflower oil, parmesan, salt, pepper and garlic. And then… I used that sweet pea pesto on a pizza…

Sweet pea pesto, leftover salmon, Vidalia sweet onion, mozzarella…AND SWEET CHERRIES!

It was so good, I had 3 of the same this past week although the last 2 did not include salmon. The sweet pea pesto and sweet cherries was the bomb!

And last night, Wednesday, August 1…the first full moon in August night…I finished pitting my twenty pounds of cherries purchased last weekend. Some have been blitzed with basil and sugar into syrup and frozen. Some just frozen. Some used on the pizza and some in my cereal and some eaten as a snack. I hope to make either Cherry Preserves or Cherry Marmalade this weekend. The rest I hope are a wonderful surprise treat through the winter.

This Summer has been going well. It got a bit of a late start which is fine with me. Since then, the heat has been moderate and short-lived…broken up by cool spells. Eating from the garden – the research and planning has helped me enjoy a time that is not my favorite.

This morning was cool and beautiful. Bob and I have been having some time together on the front porch as Bear does not like to be out when the sprinklers are going. He has a thing about spraying water…

So, Mr. Bob and I have our quiet time together while Bear takes a morning nap.

The sun rose through a few clouds into a blue, blue sky.

Smile Bob!! Time to start Thursday… well… I think that is his “sit down and drink your coffee and stop pointing that darn camera at me” expression. So, I did. Happy Thursday!

Posted on

different drummers

A warmish afternoon at 84F.

In the bedroom, it was 71F which is warmish for a beardog.

“These percale sheets are cooler than the flannel for these hot days, but maybe we should consider a higher thread count next time???”