Coffee and...For, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006

Morning All,
Here is the daily con't from
http://davesgarden.com/place/t/573416/

Have a good day,
Kelly

Still up. Just posted in yesterday's forum. I am so revved up, it may be awhile before the drooping lids hit me.

But to everyone, have a good night.

Morning everyone- got up and noticed that I left my heating pad on HIGH all night - good thing I found it and not DH! I do it so often....mind's a going!!! He gets really upset when he finds it.

DS and DGS were over for dinner last night. I made a huge dish of goulash. DGS didn't like it- he could see the celery in it!! I picked out as much as I could see, but he still was eating one piece at a time. Oh well. DS son said " oh it is so nice to come home and have dinner ready" = he works until 6:30pm every night, then has to come home and make dinner (DW doesn't cook) Poor kid, I told him to plan on coming here one night for dinner.

I went to the library and got a book out on organizing - I really need to get busy on that!! After I read it I may tackle a room. On a positive note, I did find a set of corelle dishes that have been missing for years. They were underneath a bed encased in plastic, but you wouldn't believe how dirty they were!! Guess I need to move the bed and really vacuum good!! That was the highlight of my day!!

Molly that landscaping you are doing looks great. I love walkways bordered with things. You bought some monster plants too! Good for you!! I tend to get the tiny ones and they take forever to get big! I'm already planning on what I would like to move around, but when the time comes, I ususally just leave things as they are - I have a mismash of things and colors. Some year it pleases me and some years it looks awful! I'd love to start over with a clean pallette!

This morning is my 2 hr talk with my sister- thank goodness for free long distance on the weekends. It used to cost me $15 dollars a week to talk to her!! We did that for years before I got a cell phone.

Well, behave yourself everyone - time for breakfast!! (and a few chapters of my book!)

Mary, I never have a grand master plan for gardening. Last year I tried doing the plan of tall plants, medium and shorts in one bed with bulbs. The bulbs sprouted but never bloomed and it ended up looking worse than my beds of dissarray.

I was flipping through a landscaping book at a store and came up with the ornamental grass plan. So I had a general plan in my head and started from there. The grasses I was able to buy at the home center are the simple ones, fountain grass, 2 kinds of liriope and long bladed iris and such. I am on the lookout now to find more interesting grasses to add to this plan.

Sarv, Darius sat down in the dirt yesterday and divided the variegated liriope so we could have it lining both sides of the stepping stones. They were small to start with but didn't look any smaller after she finished.

They are predicting 50% chance of rain here today. Unlike S Florida weather predictions, they are pretty close here in North Central Florida. Certainly they are right in the temps. They predict freezing....and it does. And we'll have more cold tonight.

Well, let me try to get some more accomplished in my garden diaries.

Molly
:^)))

Oh gosh, I just caught up on yesterday and here we are in tomorrow, I mean today.....LOL

I didn't have a recipe for the crab rangoon, I looked it up on the 'net, some of the recipes had a lot of ingredients, and some just a few, so I sort of picked from here and there and ended up using an 8 oz. pkg of cream cheese, and added a little soy sauce, and some grated Ososweet onion for the filling along with a can of lump crab meat. It made a lot. I used wonton skins for the outside, they get pinched together around the filling corner to corner. (I'll take them out and take a picture because I don't know that I'm explaining it all that well.)

I have a deep fryer....somewhere.....but since I was only going to cook a few and freeze the rest I just heated about 3" of peanut oil in a small sauce pan and used that. I saved the oil, in a separate bottle for later use. You eat them with either sweet/sour sauce or that hot chinese mustard. Wonton skins are thinner than egg roll skins so they cook pretty fast. I don't deep fry enough foods to keep the fryer handy so it's buried in the back of the cupboard somewhere.

Carat I found the poster at a place called World Market, and it was pretty cheap. Mostly got it for the color! At least I don't have to look at that plastic anymore, and the poster will be easy to store when it's not in use. Great minds think alike, hmmm? LOL

MaryE, it's getting colder here too. I've been running around with just a light jacket for the past two weeks, but yesterday I had to get out my winter gear, as the wind shifted and it got cold. Especially if you are up on a horse, the wind always seems worse, so bundle up! We can't have you getting sick. Some scientific org. just came up with the realization that if you get chilled, you are more vulnerable to catching a bug. Well, duhhhhh! Like every mother in the world doesn't know that.

Oh, I finally got those five little blue willow plates I ordered from a seller in the UK! Took five weeks to get here in that rowboat, but they were going for about $5 USD, which is very cheap, as here they go for that much for one. They are perfect. Postage was about $12, so I still got them for less that the $5 they go for here. I have to go give some nice feedback for him on Ebay.

Hello to all, have a great day, we're going out for breakfast with some old friends and catch up on their family news, etc. so I need to get ready so my hair will be dry before I go out in the cold. TTYL

Sheila

Good morning all and Happy Birthday to BabsERNurse!
Hope you all have a good day.

I'm starting to look at my Hosta wish list for the spring. ;-)

Ann

Hi all
On the run this morning but wanted to drop by to say happy birthday to Babs if she should stop by. Will catch up with y'all later.
... Elaine

Happy Birthday, Babs!!

Happy Birthday, Babs!

Good morning, everyone!

I haven't been able to stop in for several days, so I'm afraid I'm clueless - again.

Sheila - I love crab rangoon, but have never tried to make it. You made it sound so easy, though; I may have to try.

Molly - just had a peek at you diary and the place looks great.

Sarv - be careful with that heating pad! You know it's not good to keep heat on an injury that long anyway.

Ann - I have been thinking about hosta quite a lot lately, too. Does Sandy have some nice ones in her gardens? ;-}

Bonnie - goodluck with your DM's party. I hope you all have a wonderful time.

DH, DS and I are driving to Illinois for a visit today. I haven't seen my mom for awhile and DS would like to introduce his GF to his grandma. I hope the roads aren't too bad. I checked online and they are supposed to be snow covered and slippery from here to Madison, but good after that.

Have a nice day, everyone!
Jody

Edited to add:

Good morning Elaine and Darius! I was writing while you posted.


This message was edited Feb 4, 2006 9:18 AM

Jody,

Yes, Sandy has some nice one. And she has the space for big ones. ;-)
I think her total is approaching 100 different varieties.

Ann

Good morning. It's just getting light here, I can see the horses checking out the bare patches of ground in the pasture, ever hopeful for green grass to nibble. There isn't any but they are hopeful. They also believe in levitation, but so far have never been able to levitate any hay bales across a fence. If they stare at the house that works better to get the hay. No, Carat, I don't have a cat that even wants to ride on a horse. Somewhere I have a picture of a horse sniffing at a cat with the cat looking very worried. They walk through the pasture but when the horse gets interested or starts moving fast they skeedaddle. We did have a cat we would put on the back of a very tame sheep we had years ago, he immediatly starting those front feet making bread.

Meezer, how do you get those wanton wrappers to stick together for frying to keep the filling inside? Stick them with a little water? I make something called Lumpia ( a Philippine version of the egg roll or spring roll) and get them to stick together that way. Ummmm, I haven't made them in ages. We dip them in a sauce made with tomato juice, ginger, soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar and cornstarch. I used to always make them when our church had their missions conference potluck where everyone was asked to bring a foreign dish if possible. Once the folks knew what they were those disappeared fast. When I was making them my hubby would always ask if I was leaving any of them home, and a couple of times I just made a second batch because we never seemed to get any of them at the potluck. The filling was ground pork or chicken, onions, garlic, cabbage, grated carrot, soy sauce. Lumpia wrappers are impossible to find around here, and the nearest Asian market is at least 100 miles away. The last time I was at one of those the clerk didn't speak any English and just shook her head when I said lumpia.

This morning I woke up to howling wind, so I don't know what the day will bring for riding weather. It doesn't look too bad right now but could be totally different in a couple more hours. I would like to ride Breezy again today. I start slowly to recondition them, so it takes a lot of small rides of an hour or so before I go too many miles. That reduces the posibility of injury. There is another big wet storm coming, my husband is probably driving in it right now on I-5 going from Salem, OR to Bremerton, WA today. I emagine he got an early start to try to beat the Portland rush hour, and will get an early start to drive home tomorrow. He said he would drive farther going back down I-5 to Portland again coming home to avoid having to cross Snoqualmie pass in WA. Over the mountains is shorter when the road is good but not this time of year, the pass is often closed or just a huge mess.

It's time to get myself some breakfast (oatmeal again) and get the horses fed. Have a great day everyone.

Edited to add a Happy Birthday to Babs, I missed it before I went back to read everything that had been posted while I was typing.

This message was edited Feb 4, 2006 8:14 AM

Happy Birthway Babs!!!!!

:^)))

Mary, hope your husband is ok driving. It was so so nasty here last nite. This morning is is still blowing a gale and raining. I had to go outside to see how my baby plastic greenhouse was doing and it was about to blow away. I just tried to anchor it down some more but need to go outside to see if it is still standing.
What a storm it was!
Am surprised that we didn't lose power!

Well, it is my turn to be the down one here.
Two days ago, my younger son (18 years old, senior in hs) complained of his arms going numb while wrestling. Then on Thurs., he wrestle, pinned the guy, but came over after the match and says he can hardly feel his arms.
So we went to the physical therapist yesterday. He did lots of tests on him and was very concerned. While he pressed down on the top of his head, his arms would go numb.
He is sending him to a physiatrist (a doctor of physical therapy) on Monday. He says at the base of the skull there are ligaments that hold up the head may be damaged.
He is in the last 2 weeks of wrestling. Districts and then the state tournament!
Is so sad for him to come this far as a senior and maybe not be able to finish. He has/had a good chance on placing in state and maybe even go to college to wrestle there.
And not it will probably not be possible.
So please, any prayers or good thoughts, send them my way. I truely need them now!

Well, am off for a shower and then to the indoor farmers market to wonder around and dream.
Later, Carol (DR)

OH pfattt DR- what luck for your son and with the finals coming too.. Give him an extra hug from all of us!! Hope they find out it isn't anything serious..

Well, drains are filled up and aren't draining at all today!! DH has dug up the septic thingy and is just about ready to lift the lid with the tractor. He says he won't augar it out himself, but will call to have it done. Now it is the weekend!!! And I have two sinks full of dishes and need badly to take a shower and wash the hair! I have a funeral tomorrow!! I called one DS and asked if I could come shower- they are up north fishing! I have their house key somewhere here, I'll need to find it!! asap!!

Babs....have a happy one - hope you don't have to work on your special day!!

Crappy weather is heading our way...Tulips and hyacinths are up about two inches - how do you say freeze!! I don't have anything to cover them with - few flowers this spring I fear...sob

Well, better go offer to lend a hand...wish I could talk DH into augaring the darn thing out himself....I need drains TODAY! LOL

Ah, Sarv, I hate septic tank problems. Been there, done that too. Hope you get it all taken care of soon so you can bathe. So you don't smell too bad around people, hehe.
Just take some branches of like your old Christmas tree or any shrub and put over the tulips and hyac. Just cover them with anything, even a towel with a rock holding it in place.
Thanks for your comments on my son. Much do appreciate!
Carol (DR)

DRAINS ARE UNPLUGGED!!!! I had to go sit on DH legs so he wouldn't fall in the stinky pit!! He was laying on his stomach and pushing the heavy wire into the drain/hole. With my help he could use two hands instead of one. So I feel like I am partly responsible for getting it unplugged. When it was unplugged, he said 'there - I've taken care of your Valentines gift. I thought to myself 'ahha - now I can spend the $$ that we would have paid the septic guys on flowers! ' We've both happy !! LOL ...now I am doing laundry, have the dishes soaking and will hop in the shower!! PU gone!!

Dr- fake Christmas tree here - huge beds with tulips/hyacinths scattered thru out. Can't cover...whaaa oh well mother nature takes her vengence again!!

Oh oh Carol ... am sending prayers for your son. That's just terrible. Please send hugs to him and tell him he has lots of people pulling for him.

Sarve, yea girl! So glad that's all done for you. My DH has still got to go out and work on ours. Maybe y'all could give me that 2X4? Would someone do it for me? I'm such a wimp! LOL

Well, I've been going through my seeds today to see what all I'm going to plant and what I'm putting in the fragrant RR. I have a few things I'll probably be putting up for trade or maybe just SASBE or something. don't know yet. Have got to do more research. Oh oh oh, my tomato seedlings are still living. Have posted pics in the tomato forum. The DH has been a *real* Darling. Come to think of it ... never mind on the 2X4. Will pass this time. ;)

Ann, that sure sounds like nasty weather you're having. Hope the DH makes it home safe.

Okay out of here for now.
... elaine

Hi All,

Just popping in to say hello to everyone. Read all the posts ,,however, I do remember wrestling,,,oh, I Hope and pray that things won't be too bad.

Elaine,
How fun,,,your tomatoes are doing well.

Well, I think I'm going to have some lunch and then take a nap.

See you later.

Kelly

Afternoon everyone! Sure is dreary here today with a forecast of heavy rain all day and evening - just don't freeze please!!!!
Have a problem trying to make a special dinner tomorrow and thought Maria and her friends on Coffee could help me.I have lots of sour cream on hand (or white cream as my DH refers to it as) and have been asked to make Beef Storganoff. I havenb't made it in years and my memory says I used Round steak cut into strips but all the recipes I see say ground beef. What to do, what to do? Some say serve with white rice, others say noodles...... again what to do, what to do??? Please help I don't want to look like a fool tomorrow and have a Ho Hum meatloaf to serve described as Mystery Stroganoff. Thanks so much!! Dmail me if you like so I won't clog up this thread.
Ann, I live south and west of Ottawa near Westport. We are a pretty small village - in the summertime with all of the fishermen we might be all of 300. North of the village of Harrowsmith not the home of the magazine.
All your talk of tax time really gives me the heebies..... I hate that time of year. Last year I tried to save us an accountant's fee, bought a programme, installed it in the computer and then to my horror found it it spewed out all sorts of this and that except the one main thing I needed- assistance with Capital gains Grrrr, back to the accountant.
Sarv - your man is a hero in my books. Yuck what a job!!!
Maria how is Samson, your back?We all sound like such a healthy bunch - don't ya just love winter???
Hope you can help me out with the Stoganoff.
Dianne

Dianne, my mother made beef strogonoff with eggnoodles and sliced or cubed beef? send you the recipe on D-mail in a little while

Hi Diane! My mom used to make stroganoff using round steak sliced realllll thin and noodles. I haven't made it in years either, but I do remember to add the sour cream at the very end or it curdles (hope this doesn't scare you LOL) Good luck - hope it turns out delish! I'm thinking of take out pizza tonight- I'm sick of cooking....

You ladies talk food so much I hope you do not act on it like you talk about it.

lol, oz, I hardly eat anything but love to cook for my friends and family

I'm with Maria!!!
Dianne

Hi, All... The oldest of my half brothers is here in Gainesville for a VA appointment for a MRI. He's on his way out here now to fetch me back to town for dinner. I haven't seen him in several years, maybe 4? So, it will be a pleasure!

Hi all
i have been laid low with a cold or something. thought it was just allergies (mine are bad) but got to uncontrollable sneezing and had to Benadryl it. half a tablet puts me under for about 18 hours. I hate to do it, but thought the next step was the emergency room!
Today I'm barely sneezing and wheezing.Still a sore throat but happy to be conscious

Carol~ I hope your son gets good news, something treatable, for instance. That is very frustrating!

darius~hi, have fun with your bro!

sarv~so GLAD you can flush! Oh i HATE septic problems!

Mary~ LOL about levitating the hay bales! they do have that hynotic stare, don't they! Hope your dh gets home safely. our weather hasn't turned nasty yet, but it should tonight.

Elaine~congrats on the baby tomatoes!! Oh joy, spring will come! (a lot earlier for you, though!)

m5! no sammi fix for us today?

Molly I will have to check your diary for garden pictures!What joy to be in the garden!

Hi Maria,Ann, jasmerr, bonnie, oz,and everyone I might have missed.
Oh - OZ- how was fishing the other day?

Happy BirthdayBABS!!

Good afternoon/evening, whichever you have.

Darius, I hope you have a nice visit with your brother, it's so nice of him to take you to dinner. I hope that his needing an MRI isn't an indication of something really serious. I guess it has to be somewhat serious to need it at all.

Carol, I hope your son can continue his wrestling, and I will be praying for him. Let us know what they find out.

Ummm, stroganoff sounds very good, I'll have to make some soon. I'm also thinking tacos since I have a lot of leftover sour cream. Could use some of it on baked potatoes too, you got me thinking. I cleaned the fridge, oh yes, those sour cream containers really do have sour cream in them, not something else that got stored and not labeled. Good thing too, because if they had anything else in them it would be history by now. There were a few misc science projects that went to the compost pile too, and now there is suddenly room for new things in the fridge.

Do any of you grow aflalfa sprouts? I found some seeds in a jar in the cupboard when I was looking for something else, and started a batch this morning. 2 tbsp of seeds makes a quart jar full of sprouts. If I make tacos I'll use them instead of lettuce.

When I had the tv on this morning they said that 300+ had been rescued alive from the sunken ferry and hope was dwindling. The first rescuers on the scene were 10 hours getting to the area, that's an awfully long time for anyone trying to keep their head above water if they are not in a lifeboat.

I went riding for about an hour and a half today when the sun was out, and got cold but not as bad as yesterday. I need to get tough again I guess, today it was cold ears but as I am sitting here now my legs feel cold. Now it looks like the wet part of the storm may be about to reach us. There was some wind when I was out riding but it is much worse now and the sun is gone.

See you later, I'm gonna drive down to the mailbox (a mile from the house) and get the mail before it gets really nasty out there. I took a letter down there when I was riding but was getting too cold to want to ride back down after it was time for the mail carrier to have been there. I always worry about dropping something and not noticing it.

This message was edited Feb 4, 2006 3:17 PM

Carol, that's scary news about your son, I hope it's a temporary thing and will clear up. We're pulling for him that it's not serious, and hope whatever it is can be taken care of without long term treatment. He's young enough to heal well, so we'll keep you in our thoughts.

Icky day here, had a spate of snow last night but not enough to cover the ground. Very cold wind.

I've always used round steak cut in strips for Beef Stroganoff, and noodles for the carb. It's pretty much like a pot roast or a stew as the beef is not the most tender cut. You do have to wait to add the sour cream though at the very end. Haven't made it in years. Would be a good item for the slow cooker, no?

I'm making Elaine's shrimp dish tonight. Sounded pretty tasty!

MaryE, I just use water to seal up the wonton wrappers, it sort of makes paste and then they stick ok. I only showed you good ones, some of the early ones are much less attractive. You only seal the part over the filling and leave the corners sort of fanned open...so you can drizzle the sweet/sour or mustard in the little openings. I've had lumpia, a friend was married to a phillipino girl, but they got divorced and she went home, so haven't it for many years.

I love spring rolls.. .all that asian type food, but it sure is a lot of work. We had delicious Malaysian food when we visited Australia, at a small steamy restaurant located in the Queen Victoria building which was converted from a residence (a freaking HUGE residence) to three floors of shops and restaurants.

Yay, Sarv has drainage!! RidX won't do much for the pipe clogging up, that's usually the result of grease hardening at the cold underground end, and then other.....ahem....."stuff" piling up behind it. Ugh. They should pay people a ton of money to do that kind of work. P. U. And how come that's your Valentines present? He doesn't use the shower or the toilet, or have his clothes laundered? Better make that lots and lots of flowers!!!

I want Spring. I have a terminal case of Cabin Fever.....!

OK here's your Sammi torturing Mini who drapes her tail over the edge of the coffee table knowing full well he will attack it and give her an excuse to whine. I think she is a closet masochist, because she follows him around everywhere, and now they end up napping together.

One more, the poor thing will have eye damage from all the photos I take of him. He's as flexible as a rubber band, gets into all kinds of contorted positions....

This message was edited Feb 4, 2006 5:26 PM

LOLSammi !!He'sgetting so big! Although Mini would probably not want anyone noticing, I thinkshe likes him!!!(In a cool, distant, sophisticated sort of way, of course!!)

DR, good thoughts and prayers aplenty for you and your son.

Sarv, I am so glad you have clear pipes. And extra money for plants. Couldn't think of a better outcome..

Darius, how wonderful to be able to see and spend some time with your half brother. I hope you have a spectacular time.

Mary, I had to laugh at your horses and their tactics to get food. LOL

Meezer, I think little spammie has a friend in Mini. It's only fair since the Huckster is so bent on being anti-kitty. I wake up and have my toast with Huck and Souky each morning. Its an addiction now. LOL

DMCDEVITT fishing was not so good but the day was nice. all I caught were a couple of fresh water drum on bass lures. today the wind was blowing from the North about 25 mph ant it was down in the 30's. I seen these different boats screaming up the lake about 60mph in to that wind(Iimagine was a tournament today) and spray and I had to wonder how in the owrkld i used to do that. I did though. I remember winning a tournament this time of the year and came in with 3 inches of snow in the bottom of the boat. Nutty younger person.

SARV I bet you do not have as many pictures of your kids as you do of those two cats. But I understand that.

I'm another who hasn't made stroganoff in years, but ....
- if you freeze (or nearly freeze) the beef first, you can cut it into thinner strips. I think I used to use round steak too. If you cut it across the grain it is more tender.

- I remember that I used worcestershire sauce in the the stroganoff

- I often used light or no fat sour cream, but you have to be even more careful to add it at the end. If your sauce is thickened a bit with veloutine, flour or cornstarch, it won't be so likely to curdle.

Dianne, I've been to Westport and maybe through Verona too? It wasn't too bad this a.m. in Ottawa, but is raining now. Winterlude, of course, is more like Waterlude.

For those who aren't from this area, Ottawa, Winterlude is our annual Winter festival which runs for 3 weekends in February. Fortunately, they do more events off the canal after weather which was too warm a few years back. It was red flags only on the canal today with huge puddles everywhere. Hopefully, the other too weekends will have more seasonal weather.
http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/bins/ncc_web_content_page.asp?cid=16297-16298-22877&lang=1
http://winterlude.brainsip.com/

dmc - hope you are on the mend from that cold or whatever it was that laid you low.

sarv - good news about the clear pipes

We are just in from the FC annual volunteer party. It's too busy at Christmas to have a party so we do it at the end of January or beginning of February. We always have a potluck dinner (true potluck - no asking in advance what people are bringing) and the food is always magnificent. This year it coincided with my retirement; so it turned into a sort of retirement party. There is a client who is often working on beadwork while waiting for food. They asked her to do a rendition of the FC logo in beadwork and it is lovely. It is done now, but the intent is to have it framed for me. A VERY nice memento. (I had told one volunteer that if she heard of anyone collecting for a gift for me to squelch it, but this is very nice.)

Hope you all have a good night.

Ann

Tomorrow's daily is up in the Parking Lot,
Here's the link if anyone needs it
http://davesgarden.com/place/t/574069/

Good Night All,
Kelly

Ann, How wonderful ... a combination party! A *true* pot luck is so much fun. That's such a lovely gift, and I know you will treasure it for years to come. It was a very thoughtful gesture. Maybe you could post a pic of it later.

DMC, so sorry to hear you've been under the weather. Hope you'll be feeling much more like yourself tomorrow. Hugs being sent your way. :)

Carol, still sending prayers to your son. Will send extra ones on Monday.
Darius, hope you had a good time tonight along with a tasty supper. Do tell! Inquiring minds want to know. LOL

M5, sounds like those 2 are really getting along quite nicely, *even* though they don't want people to know. Sounds like true siblings. ;)

Well, I've got Bert's Bees lotion on my hands and feet. Feel like a greased pig. LOL I'll probably have to hang on for dear life so I won't slip out of the bed tonight, but maybe all these cracks and wrinkles will be gone tomorrow. One can hope, right? ;) Better sign off so I'll feel like getting up in the morning. Have church and then that birthday party for my little friend. Will see y'all late tomorrow.
Hugs all way round. ... elaine