Happy New Year 2011

December 31,2010 7:02 am

This year on my blog I will be posting each week 7 new photographs
That's a whopping 365 images folks....not sure if they will be
portraits or landscapes or ? But I hope this photo stretch for me will
be intriguing and entertaining for you.
Happy New Year! and here's the link:

http://kathewsnapaday.blogspot.com/

December 31,2010 7:03 am

Four Haikus -Magpie Tales #46

Two empty hands

Palms up lacking promise

Lacking care

~~~~~~~~~~

OR

Warm soft gloves

Keep lovers hands cozy while

Clasping mine

~~~~~~~~

OR

Two lost gloves

One right - one left make a pair

When desperate

~~~~~~~~~~~

OR

Left behind

and on the other hand

you're right

~~~~~~~

Happy New Year !

Christmas of Today and Christmases Past

Christmas of Today

and Christmases Past

Today is much simpler

With only stockings to fill

But I miss the childish chuckles

In the early morning still

Of sweet children opening gifts

Of toys so wanted and admired

Whispered softly in Santa's ear

What those little hearts desired

And in that early morning

As parents yawn and smile

They watch their lovely children

Past remembrances beguile

XYZ-last of the ABC recipes

XYZ is for...... Christmas recipes, Yams  and Zest!

Above is the Olive Bread that Grace made.

It was very tasty! Thanks Grace!

This year I am trying out a variety of new recipes-

some are vegan and some vegetarian. We aren't

vegetarians per se, but we have found that the older

we get the less meat we eat the better we feel.

I am also including the revised Steamed Carrot Pudding

from my maternal Grandmother. No longer does it have

suet in it (yuck) -but just a bit of butter in place. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Quinoa Pilaf with Dried Cranberries

and Toasted Almonds

serves 3-4

1 T olive oil

4 scallions white and green parts separated

and thinly sliced

1 cup Quinoa rinsed and drained

2 cups low sodium veggie broth

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/4 tsp salt or to taste

freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup slivered toasted almonds

In medium nonstick skillet with a lid,

heat the oil over med heat. Add white parts

of onion and cook, stirring constantly for 1 min.

Add Quinoa and cook, stirring constantly

for 2 min until dry. Carefully add the broth,

cranberries, salt and pepper; bring to a boil

over high heat. Reduce heat to med low, cover

and simmer for about 20 min til liquid is asorbed.

Remove from heat, stir in almonds and reserved onion.

Cover and let stand for 5 min. Uncover and stir/toss

well to mix ingredients. Serve warm.

~~~~~~~~~~

Brown Rice and Lentils

serves 4-6

3 1/2 cups low sodium veggie broth

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup lentils rinsed and picked over

3/4 cup brown rice

2 T olive oil

1T onion powder

( I am using 1/4 finely chopped onion)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

(I am using 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic)

1/4 tsp salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

In a medium pot bring all ingredients to a boil

over high heat. Reduce heat to med-low to low,

cover and simmer until rice/lentils are tender.

Stirring occasionally about 45 minutes.

~~~~~~~~~

Fiery Sweet Potatoes(Yams)

10-12 servings

Time about 2 hours

5 pounds sweet potatoes/yams

1 cup coconut milk

1T Thai red curry paste

1/2 c dark brown sugar

4 T unsalted butter

1 t salt

1. Heat oven to 375 F. Bake potatoes on a baking sheet

until very soft-about 1 hour. When cool enough to

handle, peel and mash.

2. Heat coconut milk with curry paste over low heat.

Mix coconut mixture, 1/2 the sugar, 1/2 the butter

and all the salt into the potatoes. Keep warm until

ready to serve or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

3. At least 30 min before serving, 

heat oven to 425 degrees F.

Put potatoes into baking dish, 

cover with foil and bake for 20 min.

Uncover potatoes, dot with remaing butter and sugar and

broil until brown and crusty on top, checking often so

they do not burn!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~

Stuffed Winter Squash with Long Grain

and Wild Rice, Pecans and Cranberries

makes 4 main-dish servings

(or you can cut squash in 1/4's for 8 side sevings)

2 medium Delicata or Acorn squash- 1 1/2 pounds each

halved,seeds and membrane removed

1 T olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 T dry sherry

1 large garlic clove chopped

2 1/3 cup low sodium veggie broth

1 6oz package long-grain white and wild rice (3/4 cup)

(do not use seasoning packet)

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup nuts* or sunflower seeds**

(*pecans,walnuts or slivered almonds)

(**use toasted sunflower seeds if some are allergic to nuts)

2 T chopped fresh Sage

1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

Pre-heat oven to 425F (220c)

cut a small slice on bottom of squash halves

to keep from wobbling. Place squash cut sides down

in a shallow dish just big enough to hold all

in a single layer. Add about 1/2 inch of water, cover

and bake for about 30-45 min til fork tender. Remove

from oven, pour off water and turn cut sides up. Set aside.

Reduce oven temp to 350F (175c)

While squash is baking heat oil over med heat in medium

sauce pan. Add onion and cook stirring til soft about 3 min,

 add sherry and garlic-increase heat to high-cook stirring constantly til sherry has evaporated about 1 min. 

Add the broth, rice mixture, cranberries,pecans

(sunflower seeds if allergic to nuts), 

sage,salt and pepper. 

Reduce heat to med-low to low and cover simmering

for appx 25-30 minutes. The rice shoould be moist not dry.

Remove, let stand overed 5 min. Uncover, fluff with fork.

At this point everything can be cooled

 and refrigerated up to 24 hours before

 continuing recipe. Do add 10 minutes or so

to final baking time. 

Mound equal amounts of rice into squash halves, bake uncovered until heated through appx 10 minutes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grandmothers Steamed Carrot Pudding

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 T cinnamon

1/2 t each ground cloves and nutmeg

2 t soda

2 t salt

2 cups dark brown sugar

2 T melted butter

2 cups grated potatoes

2 cps grated carrots

2 cups chopped raisins or 1 cup each dates and raisins

1/2 cup hot water

Mis all dry ingredients in large bowl. Either hand grate or use

food processor for grating potatoes and carrots.

Chop raisins ( and I buy pre-chopped dates)and mix with

grated carrots and potatoes. Mix dry and wet ingredients together add hot water and melted butter 

and mix thoroughly. Put in well greased mold, 

cover with foil if it doesn't have a cover

and steam for 3 hours.*** see below for steaming

Serve with:

Hard Sauce 

1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons brandy
1 teaspoon grated orange peel

( You don't have a mold? 

Use large 28 oz cans in place of a mold)

Leave at least 1 inch at top of mold to allow for rising.

***Place steamer rack in large pot. Place pudding mold on rack. If you don't have a rack place several canning rings to cover bottom of the pan. Fill pot with enough water to come halfway up sides of mold. Bring water to boil. Reduce heat to medium. Cover pot and steam pudding until tester inserted near center comes out clean, adding more boiling water as needed to maintain level, about 3 hours. Using oven mitts as aid, remove mold from pot. Uncover and let stand 10 minutes. Cut around top center and sides of pudding to loosen. Turn pudding out onto rack and cool 20 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead.) Cool completely. Return to mold; cover and chill. 

Resteam 45 minutes to heat through, then turn out of mold.) Transfer pudding to platter. Cut pudding into wedges; serve with the Hard sauce.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ps: So, now you are asking- where's the Zest? 

Hah- the zest is in how you approach your life and your cooking... I'll take the zesty

approach to life and food. Spice it up! Happy New Year!

Read more:
 http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Gingerbread-Christmas-Pudding-with-Orange-Hard-Sauce-106022#ixzz18xemyL2v

Jingles Poetry Potluck

Week 15 theme: reflections, interpretations, and musings.

Reflecting upon this past year

Over mistakes made and

Good deeds gone well

Interpreting words spoken

Were they cruel or just the truth

Musing over mistakes, deeds and words

I realize it's up to me

To improve or ignore

~~~~~

Just Do It!

Yeah...I'm sick of saying Happy Holidays!

...so far the Political Correctness Police

haven't messed with Happy New Year!

Six Word Saturday

The Cage Free dog boarding bus

http://www.doubledogranch.com/Pages%20DDR%20II/DDRIIMain.html

New kitty has changed our life

New blog for fun and games

Magpie Tales #45- an Early Christmas Gift

Not being the religious sort I was a bit stuck on what
I would write for this weeks Magpie Tales. But then
I thought about the new little life that had just come into
our home. A darling little kitty had been roaming our
neighborhood some days back and we were going from
door to door trying to find her family. After a few days
we realized that indeed she was a stray cat and most
likely had been abandoned. We had been catless for a
few years- resisting getting another as we figured
that at some point a cat would choose us and she did!
So rather than write about Christmas I decided I would
write about my favorite saint...Saint Francis!



On July 16, 1228, he was pronounced a saint by Pope Gregory IX. He is known as the patron saint of animals, the environment and one of the two patrons of Italy (with Catherine of Siena), and it is customary for Roman Catholic and Anglican churches to hold ceremonies blessing animals on his feast day of 4 October. It has been argued that no one in history was as dedicated as Francis to imitate the life, and carry out the work, of Christ in Christ’s own way.

~~~~~~~~~~~
Love for all

Small creatures and the earth at his feet

Blessed humility

~~~~~~~~

And here is our darling little kitty....no name yet.
Any suggestions? She is all gray with one white spot on her chest.
I want to call her "Spot", but Russell says that is a silly name for such a beautiful cat.
*****please note that the kitty now has a name-because of her loud purr we are calling her Evy which is short for Evinrude! Thanks everyone for all your great suggestions! Merry Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas? Ha Ha Ha Ho Ho Ho

My toes know it's almost Christmas..............















My goodness Grandma what big teeth you have!
(those are actually bear teeth...not a doggie there
on the floor)





















Russell posing at Froelick Gallery's Holiday Party















Here's a photo of our backyard
taken during Christmas 2008
when it snowed so much no one
could get any where and I called
it the "Home Alone Christmas"
and below is a hilarious take on
Christmas by Steve Martin.
I totally stole this idea from
a fellow blogger and here is her link:


http://thingy-thingy-ponderinglife.blogspot.com/

She has a great blog-read it-it's witty, sharp, acidic and irreverant-I love it!

Magpie #44....and 44.5

Snowy Days

Let's grab our sleds

and head for the hills

The really steep ones

With thrills and spills

Remember all the fun?

Come on-let's take a run!

When I was a child living in Cambridge, Massachusetts I went to a school that actually had sleds and such in the recess shed. What glorious times we all had piling onto the sleds and sliding down the hills. We might end up being soaked and shivering from the snow, but we'd go back into the warm school happy and relaxed from such wonderful play. Good old Flexible Flyers!

Here's some silly bits.... just for fun....

Thrashing through the snow
In a Red two person sleigh
O'er the hills we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on parkas ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to laugh and sing
A sledding song tonight

Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a Red two person sleigh hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a Red two person sleigh

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wreck the hills with screams so jolly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Tis the season for lots of folly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Don we now our snow apparel,
Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
Roll out the ancient sledding barrel,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

See the blazing fire before us,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Drink the cocoa and join the chorus.
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Follow me in merry leisure,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
As I fall off the snowy pleasure,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Dreams, Visions, Reveries-Potluck Poetry

Dreams, Visions and Reveries

Dawn

Remembers

Each

Awakening

Muzzy

Sleepyhead

}~~~~~~~~~{

Vigilant

Images

Skate

Icily

Over

Naked

Skies

}~~~~~~~~~{

Reverent

Eulogy

Vocalized

Elegantly

Remembering

Instances

Endlessly

Still

}~~~~~~~~~~~{

W is for Winter Squash Gnocci

This is one of our winter favorites as a main course or as a side dish to accompany chicken, pork or even fish. We grew Delicata squash this year and had a bumper crop, but any winter squash will work!

Winter Squash Gnocci
Ingredients
1 Butternut, Acorn or Delicata squash (about 1-1/2pounds)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Sage Butter Sauce
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
12 fresh sage leaves
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup)
Salt, to taste
Fresh ground pepper, to taste

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 F.

Cut the squash in half lengthwise, through the stem end, and place on a greased cookie sheet. Roast until tender, about 35 minutes.

When cool enough to handle, scoop out and discard the seeds. Remove squash flesh (pulp) and place in a sieve. Set the sieve over a bowl to catch liquid and allow squash to drain in a refrigerator overnight. NOTE: Some squash does not need this step-not all are watery after baking.
The next day, puree the squash in a food processor. Transfer puree to a bowl and add the eggs and salt, stirring to combine. Add the flour and blend thoroughly. The dough should feel sticky and soft.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Using a teaspoon, form walnut-sized pieces of dough and push them off the spoon and into the water with your fingers. Alternately, use a pastry bag and a small knife.NOTE: don't worry about being precise about the shape of the gnocci. I just take a tablespoon and scoop up some squash and slide it off into the boiling water.

Cook the gnocchi in small batches, 10 to 15 pieces. Once the gnocchi have risen to the surface, poach for exactly 2 minutes. Remove gnocchi with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain. Repeat until all the dough is used up.
Sage Butter Sauce Prep
Place butter in a large skillet and cook over medium heat until the foam subsides and the butter begins to lightly brown. Add the sage leaves and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Add the gnocchi to the butter, brown each side slightly turning over to coat. Sprinkle with Parmesan ( and freshly chopped Italian parsley if available) and serve immediately.
Partner this with a salad and bread and you have a wonderful meal fit for Royalty!

U is for Unbelievably Easy Cookies......... and V is for Vegan

(Above is a photo of the shortcake cookies)

Our good friends Bill and Ewana are both superb cooks.
Here is one of the latest recipes they shared with me:

Molasses Ginger Cookies

2/3 cup canola oil

4 T Molasses

1 tsp ground ginger

1 cup sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 egg

Mix ingredients together. Add 2 cups flour

Mix with spoon or hands and knead.

Roll into balls and dip in sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes or longer.

YUM

and as a bonus here's another easy cookie recipe:

Cranberry Walnut Shortbread Cookies

Makes about 4 dozen

1 cup ( 2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup powdered sugar sifted ( I didn't)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour sifted ( I didn't)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries ( I didn't)

1/2 cup chopped finely walnuts ( I DID!)

1. beat butter,powdered sugar and vanilla with wooden spoon til smooth

Add flour and salt, sti til just combined. Stir in cranberrries and nuts.

Divide dough into quarters.

2. On parchment paper or waxed paper, shape each portion into a log

and wrap. Chill 30 minutes or up to one day.

3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. With a sharp knife slice dough in 1/4" slices.

4. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet ( I reused paper I used for chilling)

and bake 20-22 minutes. Let cookies cool on sheets and transfer to wire racks.

Store in an airtight cookie tin. ( Yeah right as if they'll last a day...burp)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now...onto vegan .....it really isnt that difficult.

Baked potato and steamed broccoli with a nice green salad on the side=Vegan just leave off the bacon bits, butter and sour cream on the potato :-) Substitute chopped green onions and diced avocado on your potato

Garlic Spagetti is a perfect vegan dish=saute in olive oil til almost carmelized garlic, crimini mushrooms and onions while cooking your egg free pasta of choice drain pasta and immediately stir in sauteed veggies. Spice it up with red pepper flakes and enjoy.

Serve with a grain rich bread and a salad. Yummy

Magpie #43 Snow's Up!

First snowflakes

Softly fallen from the sky

Look for happy feet

Poetry Potluck: Nature: Plants, Creatures and the Cosmos

Nature:

Plants, Creatures and the Cosmos

Emerald green home

It's beauty turns into wings

And heads to the stars

T is for Thanksgiving recipes

Brought back from my archives is the following post-

I am so far behind in my ABC recipes that I am cheating

Next week I will have U and V recipes. Hope you all had a great

family weekend-wherever you are! Cheers!

What the heck you say? What does this

alien in a car have to do with Thanksgiving recipes?

Not a gosh darn thing-but it got your attention....right?

Well- it's only October 30th, but our darling 

Grace wanted several recipes

for Thanksgiving as she and Radu will be having

their first Thanksgiving in New York City!

So- Grace and Radu this blog is for you!

Love and kisses and bon appetit!

Kathe's Turkey Dressing

(as taught to her by her sweet Mother years and years ago)

One package dry stuffing mix with herbstwo chopped celery stalks, one med onion

one egg, some milk and a blender is handy! Pour bread cubes into a large!!! bowl add herbs

(if you couldn't find stuffing with herbs add some sage, parsley and thyme)

Add the chopped onions/celery and egg to blender. Pour about a cup of milk into the blender. This should then be poured over the dressing and mixed well with your hands.

Now you are ready to stuff the bird! Turn the turkey over and stuff the backfirst and secure it with toothpicks or metal picks. Then turn it over and stuff the front. I kind of compress the stuffing a bit with my hands to make it less messy as you stuff it. It goes in easier. After you have stuffed the front tie the legs together with some string and pop it into the oven following the directions I wrote below! If you have leftover stuffing you couldn't get into the bird- just take a oven safe container and put the stuffing in it with a bit of the stock added for moisture and cover with a lid or foil. Bake for 30 minutes

 after you take the turkey out.

Keep in the fridge until you bake it.

Roasted Turkey a la Kathe

Allow one pound of turkey per person plus a bit more if you want leftovers. So a 10 pound turkey would be a good size for 6-8 people. ( I don't think they come any smaller)

Buy fresh if at all possible, otherwise you have to thaw the turkey and that sometimes becomes problematic. Remove all the turkey parts from the inside of the turkey-

do this the day before to make sure the turkey isn't frozen inside-and check both ends as sometimes there 

will be a surprise if you don't!

Put the inside parts in a pot with some roughly cut up onion and celery. Add enough water to cover and some bay leaf and thyme and sage . Bring to a boil and lower to simmer for several hours. This will be your stock for the gravy. Refrigerate this if you are doing this the day before.

Meanwhile, put the turkey on a rack breast side up

 and place that in a roasting pan. At this point you will 

stuff the turkey with the dressing and rub it with

a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper it and pop it into the 325 degree oven on the lowest rack for appx 15 min per pound. However, test doneness with a meat thermometer. The thickest part of the thigh should register 170 degrees and the stuffing 165 degrees. Remove the turkey from the pan to a platter, cover with foil and let rest for 20 minutes befor carving.

This gives you time to make the gravy!

Kathe's Gravy (as taught to her by her dad years ago)

Use the roasting pan that has all the browned bits as

 your pan to make the gravy.

Carefully tilt the pan and skim out most of the fat.

 Turn on the burner to med/med-high. Add

3-4 Tablespoons of flour to the pan and stir/scrape to incorporate all the flour into the browned bits and juices to make a roux (just like making a cream sauce for onions). Once all the flour has been incorporated add at least 3 cups of the stock you made. Stir quickly with a wisk to blend the floury bits with the stock. After a bit it will start to thicken and become gravy. Add more stock if it's too thick. Once done pour into a gravy boat or whatever is handy to use for serving the gravy. 

An ordinary sauce pan with a lid works just fine!

The Ubiquitous Mashed Potato

Take as many potatoes as you need- figure one - two medium new potatoes per person, cut in quarters, put in pot of cold water to cover, boil/simmer for 20 min or until soft when pricked with fork, drain, put in 1 tablespoon butter per potato, smash with potato masher, add hot milk- just enough to smash and make the right consistency-add a bit til it seems right. That's it! I also like to put in finely chopped fresh parsley or minced green onion tops for added flavor. Surprisingly-parsley is yummy. You can also put in whole cloves of garlic in the pot with the potatoes and it will cook with the potatoes-then carefully drain so they stay in the pot after the potatoes are done and smash in with the rest. FYI I do not peel my potatoes.

Also you can use a mixer/beater to whip the potatos if you prefer. YUM

Kathe's Cranberry Sauce
One 12 oz package cranberries,1 cup sugar, 2/3 cup water,
orange zest from one orange, cinnamon to taste
add berries, sugar and water to sauce pan
cook berries with sugar and water til berries pop
and sauce is slightly thick add orange zest and cinnamon
Let cool and serve or refrigerate for up to one day.


Paul's Requested Dutch Apple Pie
( discovered last year...now will forever be a tradition)


click on the photo above to enlarge so you can read it! 

I use parchment paper on the bottom

and the sides of the springform pan. 

That way nothing sticks! Very rich and yummy.

Happy Cooking!

Magpie Tales 42-On the Edge

On the edge

Meanly tarnished from abuse

Just push me

Magic & Miracles, Wonder & Wizardry-Potluck Poetry

Magic
Grab a wand
With a twist of the wrist-poof!
It's amazing

Miracles
Give a hand
With a smile helping someone
It's happiness


Wonder
Open your eyes
To our beautiful planet
Cherish it

Wizardry

All of us

In a blink of an eye
Can be magic

Can be miracles

Can be wonderful

Can't we?

Magpie #41 Tick Tock

Tick tock tick tock

That tireless clock

It's only demand
Is for my hand

To turn and wind

Be ever so kind

And then it will

Continue to till

The furrows of time

While I write this silly rhyme

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bong bong bong

I skitter along

Closely on the floor

Zipping to a door

I can't get caught

My nerves are taut

With fear I shake

I don't dare make

The slightest noise

As it annoys

That damn cat

looking twice

For cute little mice

~~~~~~~~~~~

Magpie Tales 40, 40.5 Monkey Business and Jingle Potluck

Traveling in Mexico has kind of

shortened my ability to blog.

So I am cheating a bit and using the following

for both Magpie Tales and Jingles Potluck Poetry.I hope that's okay?

First I googled Capuchine Monkeys because of Willow's photo prompt for this week's

Magpie Tale and came up with this website:

http://london.dootee.co.uk/capuchine-monkeys-for-sale-iid-73349701

How dare they????????

Capuchine babies for sale

How many dollars per tail?

Ripped from their mothers hearts

How could anyone take part?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After I posted the above- I wanted to write something a lot more posisitve-so here's a second try for Magpie Tales and also for Jingle's Potluck Poetry:

Magpie 40.5 and Jingles Potluck Poetry- this week's theme is Moods, Feelings and Emotions

My children are little monkeys-

hanging from trees and swinging with ease-

life is so simple wanting only to please-

their thoughts are wise under those blond curls

much more valuable than a string of pearls

~~~~~~~

When my youngest son was only 4 years old he said to me-

"Are you happy because it's a sunny day?"

With a start I heard those words and realized that I was allowing the weather to affect how I behaved. From then on I viewed each day as a gift and not a bother if it wasn't a sunny day. He helped me see how ridiculous I was to let myself get into such a bad habit. A wise child indeed.

A Kitchen in Mexico

A Kitchen in Mexico

Exquisite

Peaceful family space

Simply done

Waterfall Paradise

Yesterday we went 1 1/2 hour into the Sierra Madres where we spent an enjoyable day hiking up to the falls, playing in the falls and having a delicious picnic. All of this surrounded by countless butterflies. Here are only a few of the photos I took of our wonderful day.

Part of the falls-there were pools we could climb

into and soak our cares away...oops-we're

in Mexico and we have no cares here!

Lunch is served-yummy beef stew, tortillas,

rice, refried beans and an avacado sauce that

was superb! Our drinks were from a dried Jamaica flower
Very refreshing.

Swallowtail

Later after we were back our hotel the baby turtles
were released- those are Dave's feet....

We had a stellar day!

We love Zihuatanejo!

Good old Zihuatanejo........we come here every year

and always always have a wonderful time....

The view from our breakfast table...

My artist studio on the beach!

For more photos click here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katheworsley

Magpie 39...Roosters

I am not Chicken Little

My world isn't falling down

I am King of the Backyard

From sun up to sun down

My hens run in front of me

Turning up great bugs to eat

I am such a lucky rooster

Life here is such a treat

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Years ago we began to have backyard chickens.

Only hens and just for eggs and garden pest eradication-

plus the bonus of sheer entertainment for us watching them.

At one point we only had two hens as we had "lost"

3 hens due to racoons, neighborhood dogs and hawks.

So Russell fenced the backyard and we got some

fertile eggs from a neighbor and I slipped the eggs under our

broody hens. 21 days later the chicks began to hatch

and as fast as they would hatch the hens would kill them.

What the heck? Fortunately, I rescued one chick and the

two last eggs not hatched. It was early morning and so I

went back to bed with the injured chick and two eggs with a

slightly warm heating pad. By the time I had finished the morning

paper the remaining eggs had hatched. Russell got a small box

and we placed the three chicks under a light bulb for warmth

with their water and chick food.

They thrived and grew and as the days went by we had

to get bigger and bigger boxes to accomodate their growth.

The last box was the largest moving box that we could find.

At that point they resembled popcorn as they attempted to fly.

We figured they were big enough to graduate from living

in a box in Russell's den and it was time to go to the coop.

The hens were a bit perplexed about the teenagers showing

up, but after a bit of adjusting the pecking order all was calm.

Until the chick that had been injured grew up to be a rooster.

HAH! There was a bit of chicken justice doled out to those hens.

Eventually we sent Rocky and his harem to our friends

farm as his crowing was beginning to bother some

of our neighbors. Now we just have hens and we replace missing

hens with young hens. We still love watching our hens scratch

around in the dirt eating up the slug eggs and being so cute in

their chicken social ways. Not to mention the very delicious

eggs that they give us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are on vacation...ole!

We are gone for almost 3 weeks- not sure about posting abilities

BUT- I will be reading my favorite writers/authors and

you know who you are........all of you...my literary community!

Cheers- til later on...........I love you all..........