iPod Roulette - June 2011

As usual, not the best cross-section of what's in my iPod.  I guess I can't really expect it to be with the wide variety there.  Take a look at what popped up and tell me if anything speaks to you.

*note to self - always check volume before inserting earbuds and turning on iPod!*

1.     This Window - GlassByrd

2.     Elegy for Dunkirk - Jeff Beck (feat. Olivia Safe)

3.     Arto - System of a Down

4.     You Make Me Feel Like Dancing - Leo Sayer

5.     I Can't Dance - Genesis

6.     Heat of the Moment - Asia

7.     Band on the Run - Paul McCartney

8.     Good Times Roll - The Cars

9.     The Most Beautiful Girl - Charlie Rich

10.   Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees

11.   Theme from Miami Vice - Jan Hammer

12.   Let Me Be the One - The Carpenters

13.   Holding On - Yes

14.   The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - Genesis

15.   Rubber Biscuit - Blues Brothers

Pickling again

Some of you will remember I had an instructional post last summer about pickled squash.  It was the first I'd made in many years and I managed two batches (12 jars) before the squash gave out.  I anticipated having more space this summer with our "pool garden" therefore planted extra hills of squash and purchased 24 canning jars.  What I didn't anticipate were August temperatures and lack of rain in mid June!  We've watered, but the hot, dry wind has taken its toll on our garden.  The squash is not producing like I hoped.  At least we haven't been plagued with squash bugs like many folks in our area. 

So far we've had steamed squash and onions twice and given away a mess to someone who shared their potatoes and sugar snap peas with us.  Even though I haven't gotten to make my squash casserole yet (a favorite!), I was determined to pickle the next harvest.  Vidalia onions were all I had on hand and there was only enough squash for four jars, but ... can you spot the other difference in this batch?  The peppers also came from my garden!!  It's the first time I've grown them! 

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

The "Stephanie Plum" series by Janet Evanovich is formulaic, prone to ridiculously unbelievable situations, and probably needs to be brought to an end.  That said, I still found myself laughing out loud in parts as I read the latest paperback installment, Sizzling Sixteen.  It's filled with the usual (and that's part of the problem...it's so much of the "same ole") antics from Stephanie, Lula, Connie, Vinnie, and Grandma Mazur along with the usual tension and indecision concerning Morrelli and Ranger.  The premise for this one?  Vinnie is kidnapped for ransom over some major gambling debts.  Add in stink bombs, a guard alligator, cows, Hobbits, Moon Man's special brownies... wait.  I don't want to give away the entire book!

I'm a glutton for punishment, so I'm sure I'll read her latest (Smokin' Seventeen) when it comes out in paperback.  Oh, and according to IMDb the Stephanie Plum movie that was due out this month is now set for release in January 2012.


This book completed the What's In A Name 4 Challenge (book with a number in the title) and the Cozy Mystery Challenge for me. 

Shadow Shot Sunday #34

Shadows deep in a beaver lodge

(Not the same lodge featured here.  This one appears empty)

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What Am I ? (#9)

1.  My surface includes several interesting landmarks such as Rachmaninoff, a 170-mile-wide, double-ringed impact basin and the Debussy crater, site of a billion-year-old major collision (one of my most recent!)

2.  My iron-rich core extends three-quarters of the way to the surface and makes up 60% of my mass. 

3.  Although my daytime temperatures exceed 800 degrees Farenheit, radar studies indicate that I have vast deposits of ice within the perpetually dark, frigid craters at my poles.

4.  On March 17, NASA's Messenger spacecraft completed a seven-year journey and settled into orbit around me.  Over the next year Messenger will capture 75,000 images of me, helping scientists understand my many intriguing quirks.

Have you figured out what I am from my clues?  *  Scroll down for the answer.




























I'm the planet Mercury!

* Facts provided by the June 2011 issue of Discover Magazine.

Cows, cows, and more cows

We've been experiencing July/August temperatures in our neck of the woods lately.  It's been so hot in the late afternoon that my husband decided we needed to try fishing in the morning instead.  It turned out to be a good idea.  So good, in fact, that I was too busy catching fish to bother with taking photos from the boat!  My real plan, though, was to take some pictures of the cattle after we stopped fishing.  My husband always checks them and takes a head count each morning.  I knew it would be a good photo opportunity.
Remember, you can always click to enlarge the photo.



There's something about grazing cattle that seems so peaceful!  If you're quiet enough you can hear them!   I attempted a Haiku about it one time:

   Cows attack the grass
Tearing apart the silence
Heads never look up

This one decided to look up.  Excuse me, am I disturbing you?

Looks like the cow on the right is doing some baby-sitting. 
Would that be calf-sitting?

Uh oh.... they don't like it that Jed and Suzy came to the pasture with us.
The calf on the left looks like it's about to charge at them!

                                             This group is keeping in the trees. 
                                Looks like they're keeping an eye on the dogs, too.

Look at the cow in the background! 
She's grooming someone - or maybe it's a dominance thing. 

Peeking over the hill to see if I've got anything for her.

More cows peeking....including Kelly (on the right in case you don't recognize her).
What's going on over that hill?

It's a shady watering hole - and there's Bully!!
It always scares me just a tiny bit when Bully makes eye contact with me.  After all, were're talking a good 1800 pounds of beef here!

Kelly and another cow have joined Bully for a quick dip.

My, that was refreshing!
(Kelly just can't seem to take her eyes off of me!)

When we first got our cows I took pictures of them all the time.  My original Yahoo360 blog was filled with cow pictures.  This blog, as you can tell from the small number of cow entries in the tag cloud, not so many.  Times change.

The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree by Susan Wittig Albert



Susan Wittig Albert has done it again!  I shouldn't be surprised since she's been putting out consistently good stuff for almost twenty years.  I've read all nineteen of her "China Bayles Herbal Mysteries" (plus a collection of related short stories) and the twelve books in the series she wrote with her husband under the pen name of Robin Paige.  She also has a "Beatrix Potter" series which I haven't started, though I have a few of them on my shelf.

The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree is the first in a new mystery series by Albert.  Set during the Great Depression in the small, fictional town of Darling, Alabama, we are introduced to the ladies of the "Darling Dahlias" - the local garden club.  We first join them in May 1930.  The ladies have unexpectedly inherited a new clubhouse and garden from a member who recently died.  That's not the only excitement in town, though.  There's an escape from the nearby prison farm, rumors are flying about troubles at the Darling Savings & Trust Bank, and the cosmetics girl (aka blond bombshell) from the local drug store disappears.  Oh, and there's also the ghost that's been seen digging in the garden behind the clubhouse at night!

Albert does her usual fine job of setting time and place.  The characters are likable and believable and I enjoyed that it wasn't just one storyline, but several woven together.  As with her Herbal Mysteries, Albert included a few recipes at the end of the book - these in keeping with the time period.  In addition, she included a list titled "Makin' Do:  12 Ways to Stretch Whatever We Have". 

I've had this book on my shelf since last summer.  The advantage?  I don't have to wait long to read the next one!  It comes out in July and I already have it pre-ordered! 

This was my eighth book for the Cozy Mystery Challenge. 

Shadow Shot Sunday #33

Shadows at the watering hole

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Ponderings #7

Am I the only person on Earth who...


Never read the Harry Potter books?

Never read any Jane Austen?

Never watched a James Bond film all the way through?

Refuses to set up a Facebook page?


Please, tell me I'm not alone!

Pond Ramblings

For this group of photos you're going to wish I had a decent zoom lens on my camera.  Be prepared to click and enlarge these and maybe find a magnifying glass for additional help!


See MamaDog sitting on the bank?  What does she see?

In the middle of the photo, right in front of the grass in the water, there is a small beaver.  He turned and went the other way once he realized MamaDog was on the bank watching him.  He's making quite a wake behind him!

Here is where the beaver lives.  We can pull the boat in and fish all around the lodge.  We're not sure exactly how many live there.

Can you see the tiny little birds sitting on the top branch of the dead tree?
Good fishing spot!

This one is much harder to see.  Try looking at the dead limb right in the middle of the photo that looks almost as if it's lying on the edge of the grass.  You might be able to make out the grayish bird sitting on it, almost in the water lilies.

I bet you can see this one just fine!  Suzy and MamaDog have been terrible this year about trying to swim out to us while we are fishing.  They have ruined more good spots for us in the process!!  Suzy got all tangled in the grass one evening so I felt sorry for her and dragged her into the boat with us.  Nasty!  On this occasion we just waved her on.  She easily made it to the bank where she proceeded to shake and roll (but not rattle).

I'm sorry my photography is so poor.
It doesn't do justice to the beauty at our pond.

Finger Lickin' Dead by Riley Adams

This is the third book I've read by Elizabeth Spann Craig and the second written under her pen name, Riley Adams. 

Finger Lickin Dead by Riley Adams is the second in the "Memphis BBQ Mystery" series and it was a real treat to once again visit Lulu and her quirky gang at Aunt Pat's BBQ on Beale Street.  This time around there is a vicious restaurant critic on the loose in Memphis.  It's bad enough that "Eppie Currian" turns out to be Evelyn's unfaithful ex-husband/current boyfriend, but then he turns up dead!  Of course there's no shortage of suspects and Lulu (assisted by her granddaughter Ella Beth) decides to get to the bottom of things. This was an entertaining mystery and I look forward to more adventures with Lulu!   

Considering the best pulled pork BBQ recipe ever came from the back of the first Memphis BBQ Mystery, I was thrilled to see more recipes in the back of this one.  Despite my current efforts to shed (quite) a few pounds, there are a couple of recipes I'm going to have to try!


This is my seventh book for the Cozy Mystery Challenge so I've technically met the requirement.  However, I picked out nine books when I signed up and plan to read all of them before I consider the challenge completed. 

Shadow Shot Sunday #32

Shadows on Jed

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Vegetable Frittata

After reading several of your comments on my Baked Frittata post, I decided to give it another shot just using vegetables.  I think I liked this version even better!

6 eggs
1 sweet orange pepper, diced
1/4 of a purple onion, diced
about 5 ounces of fresh spinach
7 ounces Gouda cheese, grated

Whisk eggs then add remaining ingredients.  Pour into a greased 8x8-inch cooking dish and bake at 375F for approximately 20-30 minutes.

Random stuff

I stepped into the back yard to scoop poop this week and realized something.  The cicadas are gone!!  I'm not sure exactly when I last heard them, but I think it's been awhile.  I'm glad their lifespan above ground is short and I'm also glad I won't have to listen to that again for another 13 years!

I'm getting excited about our pears.  Wait, let me back up for a minute...  My husband has always wanted to have pecan trees and fruit trees.  When we first moved to the country, he planted quite a few on a spot he cleared at the north end of our property (pre-pasture/livestock/pond days).  Despite meticulous care, they didn't make it.  I think the worst was when kids(?) on ATVs destroyed quite a few of them by running over them!  He tried again when we were big into the goat business.  Well, you can imagine what happened with that.  Just think goats, horns, and the need to butt things.  A few years ago he decided to give it one more try with three pear trees in our front yard.  Two of them have fruit this year!!  I'm hoping to at least get a pie or cobbler out of the deal if we can fend off the bugs, birds and whatever else might get in the way.

For this final item you might want to quit reading if you're the type who switches the channel when the lion starts chasing the antelope during the nature show.  My husband was working in our new "pool garden" (which deserves an entry of its own) and I was standing on the back steps calling for Alice and Mabel to come in while taking in the heavenly aroma of our gardenias that are blooming.  All of a sudden we heard a huge crashing noise and I saw something fall from a tree.  Immediately Suzy and MamaDog went tearing into the woods.  My husband asked "What was that??" and I told him I thought it looked like a squirrel fell out of the tree.  He looked a little skeptical and said that squirrels were very sure-footed creatures.  I said maybe the branch broke off when it jumped on it.  Before he could counter that, here came Suzy prancing out of the woods with a live squirrel in her mouth looking very pleased with herself.  I'll stop my story there.  Besides... I decided it was time to come back inside at that point. 

 

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

I had never heard of Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts until I posted my intention to participate in the Global Reading Challenge this year and Marion recommended it as a potential book.  Based on its length (a whopping 933 pages), I was wavering until the title came up again in a review by Bragger.  I decided to go ahead and put it on my list.  Saving the longest two books chosen for this challenge for last, the time came to pick it up a few weeks ago.  Yes, it took me more than two weeks to read it, but I'm really glad I did.

It's difficult to sum up this book in just a paragraph or two.  Loosely based on the author's real-life experiences, Shantaram takes place in 1980s Bombay (Mumbai), India.  As the book opens we are introduced to Lin, the central character, as he arrives in Bombay using a fake New Zealand passport, having escaped from an Australian prison a few years prior.  We follow his story as he lives and operates a medical clinic in the slums, becomes involved with the Bombay mafia, fights his way through Afghanistan as a gunrunner, then returns to Bombay and the mafia. 

Often when I finish a book that I've enjoyed, I like to go back and read some of the reviews at Amazon... in particular, the bad reviews to see what they disliked.  I can relate a little to some of the complaints.  The prose was a little flowery for my taste at times and some of the "philosopy" did seem a bit cliche.  However, if I were one to underline or make notations in my books there were many things in this novel I would have marked.  I loved the characters and especially loved the setting.  From what I can gather, Roberts did a fine job of representing Bombay and the people of India.

I'm so glad I didn't let the length of this book and my short attention span deter me.  It's a marvelous tale filled with love, hate, action, adventure, danger, horrors, sorrow and joy.  If you enjoy lengthy, sweeping epics I highly recommend it.  It was certainly worth my time.


This completes my Asia portion of the Global Reading Challenge.  One more book to complete the entire challenge and it's another lengthy one! 

Shadow Shot Sunday #31

Shadows in a Pear Tree
(rather than a Partridge in a Pear Tree!)

Shadow Shot Sunday
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My Rubber Chicken

I remember when I got her.  It was August 2006 and we were in Memphis, TN.  I purchased her with tickets I won playing skeeball in an arcade.  Just over two inches long from beak to talon, she sat in a special place by my phone where I could pick her up and play with her while talking.  In time her neck broke and hung by a thread.  The final straw was when her "egg" broke.  I had to throw her away.

My younger daughter sent me a text earlier this week while on a day trip with her boyfriend.  She told me she'd gotten me a surprise.  Yesterday she came to visit and brought it with her.  A new chicken!!!  This one is huge in comparison to my original (more than seven inches long), but just as entertaining. 

Here you can see her "egg" peeking out.

You have to be careful not to pop the egg out while squeezing!
See the yolk?

"Ack!  Let go of my neck!"

Chilling in the chair.



There now.  You've either been entertained or grossed out.  At the very least, you're now convinced that I'm a little "touched". 

Rosemary Caper Chicken

I had every intention of taking a picture of this dish as soon as it came out of the oven... even had the camera sitting on the kitchen table.  We were hungry, though, and everything smelled so good that I got distracted and forgot until it was too late. 

Rather than use olive oil I sprayed the pan and the chicken with olive oil cooking spray.  Worked out fine.  I'll definitely make this again.


Rosemary Caper Chicken contributed to Angels on Earth magazine by
Stephanie Thompson of Edmond, OK

1/4 cup olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
lemon pepper seasoning
3 fresh sprigs rosemary
1-1/2 tablespoons capers

Pour olive oil into a small casserole dish.  Place chicken in dish and turn so that both sides are coated with oil.  Sprinkle seasoning on both sides as well.  Add sprigs of rosemary on either side of the chicken and one on the middle.  Cover and bake at 400F for 15 minutes.  Add capers and bake uncovered for 15 minutes or until done.