Four Questions Asked, Four Questions Answered

I've been tagged.

Tracy (Petty Witter) from Pen and Paper decided to join in a question and answer session from Jenner's blog and has in turn asked four questions of her own which I'm supposed to answer.

1. You are going to a fancy dress party - what is your costume of choice and why?

I can only remember one time that I went to this type of party and my date and I dressed in Roman garb that he borrowed from our local theatre. I'm sure they weren't authentic togas/stolas, but it was a lot of fun. Given another opportunity, I would probably opt to do that again. It was very comfortable!

2. What is the oddest gift you have ever received/given?

If I'm not mistaken, the first wedding anniversary is traditionally meant to be celebrated with a gift of paper. (does anyone really follow these rules??) On my first anniversary I received a 20-gauge shotgun from my husband!! Maybe not traditional, but one of the best gifts he's ever given me! Perhaps a little odder, though, was our tenth anniversary. We gave each other rolling desk chairs.

3. Every Christmas morning we would eat tinned hotdogs for breakfast. A family we know ate a box of malteser chocolates in bed to celebrate a birthday. Do you have any holiday traditions? If not, what tradition would you like to start?

This one's easy. Holiday Bingo!! Over the years it has become the focal point of our family gathering on Christmas Eve. I'm always the "caller" and I provide lots of fun small prizes including a WalMart giftcard as the final "cover the board" prize. It's something we can all enjoy, from the youngest to the oldest.

4. You find a time machine, to which time in history would you travel and why?

I love historical fiction/mysteries and find many periods in history fascinating. However, I think I would pick ancient Rome, in particular during the time of Vespasian. I love the Marcus Didius Falco books which are set during this timeframe. Any time I speculate on this to my husband, he's always quick to remind me about things like sanitation, gender roles, etc. So...I'd want to make sure I had my finger on the "return" button of my time machine in case I found myself in a sticky situation!

Now I'm supposed to pose four new questions and tag four others to answer them. Rather than actually tagging anyone, I'm just going to invite anyone who wants to participate to do so. (and I hope SOMEone will take me up on it!!) Do your own post, answer here in the comments, or do both!! Here's your assignment:

1. What's the best (or worst) vacation you've ever taken?

2. If you could be fluent in any language (that you don't already speak fluently) what would it be and why?

3. What would be your ultimate fantasy job/career?

4. What is your favorite childhood memory?

Ponderings

Nothing earth-shattering, just something to think about.

Tell me your preferences in the comments. My picks are in green.


1. Star Trek or Star Wars?

2. Summer or Winter?

3. Cats or Dogs?

4. Sweet or Savory?

5. The Mountains or The Beach?

6. Lyrics or Music?

7. Elvis or The Beatles or The Stones?*


*My daughter and I disagreed on which two to use, so I had to include an extra.

Shadow Shot Sunday #3

Hosted by Hey Harriet
(Click above image for more photos)

Watercolors

This puzzle, entitled "Watercolors", was a freebie with an order from Bits and Pieces. It worked up quickly until I got to the sky. Not a particularly challenging puzzle, but satisfying in a therapeutic sense.

Favorite Five - YouTube clips

Our satellite internet connection does not lend itself to watching YouTube clips. While faster than dial-up, it allows a very limited amount of downloading each day before totally slowing our system to a crawl. So....although I haven't spent lots of time at YouTube, I've still managed to find a few short clips that are guaranteed to entertain me.

I'll bet most of you are familiar with at least one of these.

1. Model Falls Twice - I'm a bit klutzy and can always laugh at myself when I trip, but it's really the newscasters' reactions that are funniest here.



2. Lizard Jumps on Newscaster - You'll probably have to watch this one more than once. Keep an eye on the left side of the picture.



3. Sneezing Baby Panda - Short, but hilarious!



4. Spiders on Drugs - My favorite spider is the "caffeine" spider.



5. Evolution of Dance - Lengthier than the others, but worth the time.

Old bones!

Remember the bones I told you about in my Halloween post*? Well, it turns out they might be a little more significant than we first thought. Keep in mind this is all preliminary - it may take two years or more to get a full forensic report - but, it's possible that the bones date from somewhere around 100-200 A.D.!!

Kind of blows my mind.


* I don't think the link to the newspaper article in the Halloween post is still active. Sorry. Hopefully you linked to it when I originally posted it or can figure out from the comments what it said.

White Bread

I normally use my friend Susanna's bread recipe when baking, but decided to try something different over the weekend. I used this recipe from Allrecipes.com. My husband and daughter really liked it. I prefer Susanna's recipe.

It did make a pretty loaf, though.

Inside vs. Outside

I made a comment on an online forum long ago that I've never forgotten. Actually, it was the response to it that stuck with me. I had made some reference to my "outside" dogs and another commenter took major offense to this. She stated that if a person is going to own a dog it should be kept inside where it can be properly taken care of. Basically she accused me of abusing or mistreating my dogs! She couldn't understand how I could possibly have some of my dogs inside the house, yet make others live outside.

Our outside dogs have plenty of food, shelter from the elements, and the freedom to run free. They are spayed and neutered, given the proper vaccinations, and get plenty of love and attention. In no way are they mistreated! We've learned over the years that some dogs just prefer living outside.

Angus, our first Rottweiler was meant to be an outside dog. When he was two years old he developed a tick-born disease called Ehrlichia. We treated him with massive doses of antibiotics to cure him, but the vet said the only way to keep it from recurring was to lock him in a pen or bring him in the house. We couldn't imagine penning him up. He would have been miserable. We had several other dogs at the time and they loved to all roam the woods together. So, we brought him inside. We had never had a large dog in the house before, but it was the beginning of a love affair for our family. He housebroke easily, immediately took charge of guarding our kids (and herding them when necessary), and fit right in to our family.

Our next two rotties, Esther and JJ, were destined to be house dogs from the time they arrived at our home as puppies. However, between the time we picked them out at the kennel and they were old enough to bring home, we got Betty and Veronica. Since we didn't want four puppies inside at one time, Betty and Veronica were kept in the back yard. It was only because of Veronica's tragic death that Betty got to move in. I sometimes wonder if they both wouldn't have ended up inside eventually.

The majority of our outside dogs have been strays that were passing through and decided they'd found a good home. Most of these dogs would never have been happy as inside dogs, not after the freedom they had already experienced. Daisy Mae and Hope were perfect examples of this and lived with us for quite a few years. I debated whether to try and make a house dog of Bella, but felt Hope needed her company after Daisy died. Perhaps if I'd moved her in that terrible day in the pasture might never had happened. I can't think about that.

Anyone who has followed this blog for any length of time knows about our current dogs. Alice and Mabel (and their ten siblings) were abandoned on the side of the road at Christmastime two years ago. Blue and Mama Dog (and her subsequent litter of puppies) the following summer. Suzy this summer.

I took pictures of Alice and Mabel in the back yard over the weekend. I caught Alice with her head in mid-shake in the first one. It's hilarious and looks like she's about to warp into another dimension! Hard to believe they're from the same litter, isn't it?

Shadow Shot Sunday #2

I just used this photo in a September blog post, but it has such a nice shadow I wanted to use it again for Shadow Shot Sunday. Be sure to check out Hey Harriet for more shadow photography!

Bark at the Bazaar

It was a very busy week!

Each year the craft group at my church (I organize more than I craft) hosts a holiday bazaar. (click here for past entries) It's held from 7:00 until 11:00 a.m. on the second Thursday in November and offers a variety of items for sale: jewelry, handmade ornaments and holiday decorations, scarves, wreaths, decorative trees, baby gifts, and much, much more. Our "Trash & Treasure" section is always overflowing with items. In addition to a bake sale section (cakes, cookies, breads, jellies, pickles, etc.) we offer breakfast items for dine-in or carry-out (with free coffee for those dining in).

In addition to the usual goodies I prepare for the bake sale, I always like to try something new. This year it was a treat called "Cookie Pretzel Peanut Bark". I didn't plan to post the recipe, but my son and his girlfriend liked it so much they wanted me to.


Cookie Pretzel Peanut Bark
contributed to Simple & Delicious by Peggy Detjen of Lakeville, MN

1-1/4 pound white candy coating, coarsely chopped
3 cups pretzel sticks, broken into pieces
1-1/2 cups dry-roasted peanuts
14 chocolate cream-filled sandwich cookies, broken into chunks

In a microwave, melt candy coating; stir until smooth. Stir in the pretzels, peanuts and cookies.

Drop by tablespoonfuls into miniature paper liners or onto waxed paper. Let stand until set. Store in an airtight container.