I love pear tomatoes. I planted red and yellow ones. The red ones always ripen first, then the yellow ones begin....they are stingy, they take so long to ripen, but the golden pear shaped tomato is worth the wait. I plant them in garden containers. The red ones have been very prolific, they have grown over the top of the tub and grown down to the ground, they are loaded with small pear shaped globes. I find my self going out there several times a day, just to pop one in my mouth, hot from the sun, and so tasty. YUM ! They produce just enough each day for the salad or sandwich, and that is it......I faithfully water them and watch them closely. Today the yellow ones finally gave in, and I had four in my hand to go along with a couple handfuls of the red ones. I know I will itch, and probably break out again in hives, but I love tomatoes. I even love tomato jam. Tomatoes on pizza, a tomato sandwich with a little sugar sprinkled over it, nothing else, scooped out and filled with a macaroni salad, put in soups during the winter....I never tire of them.
Benny went into MY bathroom to wash his hands for supper and
came out laughing....."Hon, now don't flip out, but there is a
snake in your bathroom." He knows I cannot stand them....and
there have been snakeskins found in the attic, plus we have had
a few which met their demise in here if I have seen them. "He is
just a bull snake, so don't hurt him, okay?"
"I am not making you any promises if I see him, I will probably make a hole in the
wall with my silhouette running out of there if I see it..." "Well,
you could give it a little milk every day......warm milk, like my
grandpa used to do when he milked, he kept them out in the
barn and gave them warm milk." "Well, if you think I am going
to warm milk up for a dumb snake, you have another thought
coming, buddy boy, no way in Hades will I warm milk up for
that creepy crawler," He now tries to appeal to me to be kind to
the snake...."He will catch mice, and he won't chew up any
clothes. " He keeps laughing, I finally get a flashlight and go
into the bathroom, I hunted everywhere but could not see the
snake. "He just laid up there on the sink, then slithered over the
handles on the sink when I washed my hands, he was about
two feet long"....."Oh dear Lord, sometimes you send me trials I
will really have to pray hard about.......You know I cannot stand
snakes, Lord, even if you made them......and look what that one
did in the Garden, Lord, You even made him crawl on his belly
the rest of his life.....and all of his kin included, and Lord, just
have mercy on me and do not let me close to that creature !" I
have had some good talks with the Lord, and I hope He answers
my prayers, and that snake finds a good exit route out of my
bathroom !
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This has been a tough week for me....DH found my neutered goat, HoHO, dead inside the barn, as if he was coming out the gate and just was gone.....that was three days ago. This morning I went out to feed JayJay and Cookie Face, and JayJay was laying dead on the ground. I buried her, covered her good with lime, but amid the tears, I had to tell myself, maybe it was old age....they were at least eight years old. However, the oldest and crippled ones, I have two of them yet, are even older. They are just pets now, over the years they provided good milk and beautiful babies, so they are just enjoying the last of life's journey in the pasture now. They hobble around, but seem to be in no pain, and enjoy life. Cookie Face has cried most of the day, she misses JayJay, which was her mother. I figure Cookie is about 6 years of age now. I hate to loose anything, but the day does come when we have to say goodbye. I look for the two old pigs to go anytime, they are REALLY OLD ! I am not going to replace any, I am getting too old myself. I just really feel sad tonight. I lost my pals, they brought me so many laughs. I will just enjoy the stories you write about yours,and keep the memories alive.
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Benny came in the house to inform me he had found my goat, Ho Ho, deceased. He was laying inside the barn, right by the gate. Just yesterday, I thought he looked so tired and old as I passed by him to do my barnyard chores. I gently reached down and rubbed his nose as I walked out the barn yard. For us, it would be the last farewell. He was so special to me. He came to us on a cold wintery night, and was totally unexpected. I had a doe due anytime, and had been out checking on her frequently that Christmas Eve night. Sometime after midnight, I woke up and went outside to check on her, but could not see her. The flashlight was being stubborn, and after a few good whacks, I gave up on it ever lighting again. I could hear a baby goat crying so weakly, but could not locate it. I could not find my doe, Ditzy, I kept walking around in the dark and feeling with my hands .....I think I know every tree, feeder, tub, on the place. I finally gave up, and started out the gate....I heard the sound again, and feeling around my feed barrels, outside our gate, I found him.....his umbilical cord was still attached...how in the world did he come to my place ? He was so cold, I brought him in the house, doctored him as well as I could, yelled for Benny to come help me, and we began rubbing him with warm blankets. Surprisingly, he made it through the night. He was not like my Nubians, he was a Spanish goat, and was pale tan in coloring. He took to the warm bottle I offered him quickl;y, and since it was Christmas Eve, we named him HO HO. The next day, Ditzy had the twins, which we named Jingle Bell and Noel. So we began the season with three babies, and how they grew, what joy they brought into our lives, and now, years later, it was time to say farewell to my dear frind. I tried to get outside the house without Benny seeing me....I would dig his grave myself, he would be buried in the barnyard he loved, but in a few minutes, he was beside me digging as well. HO HO now sleeps forever, he can still be around his friends, Cookie Face and Jay Jay. They have cried more than ususal this week, I know the girls will miss him....he was such a hog at feeding time, demanding they stay back until he had his fill. It is strange how we get attached to some of our critters, they are like family, and I tend to wipe the tears away at times. He had a good life, he was dearly loved, and he will be missed.
We never did find out where he came from that night......we live on a farm to market road and the highway is dangerous to animals.. The barnyard gate is less than fifty feet from the highway. We figure he may have heard our goats and just followed down the fences. It is still a mystery. Benny believes someone just dumped him out, knowing we would take him in as our own.
Today Benny went down to the lake to help out a friend.
His school buddy, Wayne, had a problem with his toilet,
so since Benny does plumbing, he went down to help him.
Wayne took Benny to lunch, and the practical joker that
he is, he ordered, then told the waitress that Benny
could not read, and the waitress READ THE MENU TO
BENNY !!! I told him they better have left that
girl a BIG tip ! Benny said he was so surprised, he could
not open his mouth, so he and Wayne sat there like two
teenagers and giggled about it.....I have had to laugh to
myself all day since Benny told me about the joke Wayne
played on him. He assured me the tip was worth the laugh.
1/4 cup instant coffee
1 cup water
2 cups sugar........heat till dissolved
add to:
1 gallon vanilla ice cream
1 gallon chocolate ice cream
1 quart milk
Mix and enjoy !!!
Someone made this for a school party today. It was wonderful....very creamy....I could have drank the whole punch bowl.
Boogie hesitated about getting into the dog carrier in the old pick-up. He was not a happy camper. He had to be shoved in and the door locked, then he looked at me with such a pathetic look on his face. I pulled the carrier door up close and shut the tail gate on the truck. I opened the window at the back of the pick-up and talked to him....did little good...and down the road we went...almost 35 miles later, we pulled up to the Vet's office. He was ready to get out. He had to stop on the way in, water the grass, and then we were inside the office. He was being very good, he was on his leash, and when I told him to sit, he minded me. He looked up as a family brought in a cat. He is used to them, he did not even bark, but when the cute little dog came in, he let her know he was there...LOL...then it was our turn to go in and set him up on the table...he weighs 25 pounds, estimated he is six months old, maybe some Lab in him. He got his rabies shot, a booster shot ( I had already given him his Parvo one) and next came his nails. His nails were trimmed and he licked the vet's fingers, he laughed at him. We had him checked to see about having him neutered, yep, they were there, he gave the vet a strange look and looked at me like I could not be thinking such a thing....next, he had to swallow a pill to be dewormed which he did without any problem, and lastly, he got his heartworm meds for the next six months. Back into the box he went, while we had to go to the CPA. He was totally unhappy with us, but we were not in there very long, everything was ready, gave our CPA all the paperwork, and he will call when it is ready. Since we are carrying most of the renters, Benny asked if we could use them for dependents this year, but he laughed and said we could not. My little renter was in tears the other night, afraid she would have to move, but we reassured her we are all in this together, rent or no rent, we would not turn them out, we would work with them. We will have a big garden, so we will all make it one way or the other. I love them like they were my own kids. They work so hard, and their work has really shut down the last couple months. I feel times will get even worse in the months ahead. By the time we got home, Boogie Bear was drooling all over the place, just anxious to get out of the carrier. He was so happy to get back to his fenced yard. Then the neighbors came over, they had a loss in their family, they lost a sister, so we told them to not worry about anything, we would pick up the paper, the mail, did they need us to take the dogs, but they already had them placed. The daughter-in-law came by to visit for awhile, we had lost another friend, and she was with the family at the Funeral Home. We offered our house across the street to any of them that needed it, so they could rest up, or stay the night, but they had a place up at Abilene, got in the house and the phone has messages, one asking for prayers for a friend who had a 4-wheeler accident and thought he was okay, but just kept feeling worse, so today he went to the ER and they diagnosed him with a bloodclot in the brain. Yes, it has been a very busy day, and will be another one tomorrow with a funeral to say good-bye to a friend. Our time here is shorter and shorter, the days go so fast, and as it says in the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam....The moving finger writes,and having writ moves on...neither piety nor wit can lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all thy tears erase a word or it.....
Deep Dish Pizza Redux
or my way....
TORTILLA PIZZA
7 large ten inch flour tortillas
2 1/2 cups of shredded Cheddar Cheese
3 cups of shredded Mozzarella Cheese
2 cups prepared pasta or pizza sauce
3 slices of deli- sliced ham, smoked turkey, or your favorite sandwich meat, chopped fine
1 small yellow onion, very thinly sliced
1 large red bell pepper, finely chopped
9 slices of Pepperoni, finely chopped
3.8 oz. can of sliced black olives
3 TBSP of jarrred jalapeno pepper slices
Heat oven to 350 degrees.Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Set aside 1/2 cup of each cheese to use on the last tortilla at the end.
Place one tortilla in the center of the baking sheet. Spoon 2-3 TBSP of the sauce evenly over the tortilla. Spread about a third of the deli-sliced meat over the sauce. Top with a third each of the onion and pepper.Sprinkle a bit of each cheese over the vegetables, then place the second tortilla over the toppings.Gently press the tortilla with your hands to lightly compress and flatten it. This helps the tortilla and fillings to stack evenly.
Spoon another few TBSP of sauce over the tortilla, then top with a third each of the pepperoni, black olives and jalapeno slices. Top with more cheese, then another tortilla, pressing it gently into place.Repeat with remaining ingredients, alternating the fillings for a total of 6 layers (3 of each), gently pressing the stacked tortillas and fillings before adding each new layer. Top with a final tortilla, a bit more sauce and the reserved cheese.
Bake on the center rack for 35 minutes, check frequently during the final 5 to 10 minutes, to ensure the top does not burn. If the top seems to be browning too quickly, tent it with a piece of aluminum foil.
Remove the pizza from the oven and let it stand for five minutes. Use a sharp knife to cut the pizza as you would a pie.
It continues to rain, the trees are budded out, some are blooming, and may get their bloomers frozen off if the temps drop much lower. I want to cast flower seeds out after the rains have stopped, but I am still afraid of frost or a freeze until the mesquites have come out and I see the first scissortail. The purple martins have arrived... I have still not seen a single one in the new bird house we put up last year...will just have to wait and see. I know the sparrows will always take over if they can, so some bird will have a nice condo.
Boogie Bear, the pup, will go to the vet next week for his rabies shot. I am going to ask the vet if she can cut the chicken killer out of him ! He killed one of my favorite hens this morning and he knew he was in deep doo doo. He hid most of the day. I was very upset with him. I figure the hen had tried to eat out of his feed bowl, and he is very selfish, so she got her head lobbed off. Poor chicken. I cannot win at times.
We are on Spring Break from school, so I will have a week to try to get some cleaning done, work on my craft shop, and just sit on my rear.... and maybe read a good book.