Notes from my Life

The calendar says spring, but the thermometer says otherwise.  Nevertheless, the birds are vocal and active, as are the owls and the frogs.  Driving home last night the car's dashboard read 30 for the outside temp...but we could hear frogs.  Nature will not be stopped.

I've been crazy busy with work, and that will not abate for another 45 days.

Angel is still in lockdown mode, which has kept her out of trouble, and Daisey out of her grip....except that last evening, Dexter had a tumble with Daisey.  He wasn't being mean-spirited, just playful.  She would have none of that and energies escalated.  That escalation happened near Angel's lair, and she was quick to .  There was a hop on pop moment, but I was able to grab leads and get everyone disengaged without any, including me, coming into harm.  My body sprang mechanically into action, no yelling, nothing but grabbing leads and pulling mightily. Trailing leads on my troublemakers is key management tool. 

It is necessary to keep the energy levels down among this group.  Sigh....

I had to breakdown and buy a new computer.  My current computer was purchased in 2009, and was decently outfitted with 8 gb of ram.  But I have found myself running out of resources when using Excel too frequently, and the machine itself has some noises that are disconcerting--the latest of which was the hard drive clicking.  Otherwise, I would have just upgraded the memory.  I tried to upgrade the memory previously, but despite my best efforts to ensure compatibility, the machine froze.  I didn't want to fool with it again.

 I splurged and got a workstation over a desktop machine.  I don't really use my computer for pleasure, but rather to power through work. The upgraded technology in terms of memory and speed is very helpful in my work.  No crazy noises.  No out of resource messages.  I networked my computers, which does give me some flexibility.  These were not things that I paid attention to before, and it was nice to figure a few things out.

The new computer is equipped with 16GB of memory, and a Quadro K4200 video graphics card.  I probably do not need that, but I was in "why not?" mode.  Perhaps I'll be a CAD designer!

Admittedly my stress level is through the roof and diet/exercise have been neglected.  Not smart.  But I've been doing a decent job on staying organized, and that has allowed me to stay focused and productive.

May Spring visit us soon...


Corned Beef

On a home archaeological dig, I unearthed an ancient clay artifiact:  my Rommertopf Clay Pot. I've had it for more than 20 years, and I've not used it in 15.  I dusted it off.  Roasted a chicken.  Perfect.  My sister was coming into town, and we've done a good job keeping up with my cousins during her visits.  My cousin, Val's, home is convenient for all.  She cleaned, and I cooked.

What to cook?  I woke up the next morning with the inspiration of cooking corned beef and cabbage.  We were just a few days shy of that great holiday (which also happens to be the anniversary of our first blind date 36 years ago), so why not bring that dish forward?  We tested the waters of our guests and all said fine.  (Though my other cousin Diane later confessed that she had some misgivings remembering corned beef and cabbage of yonder days----cabbage mush and meat boiled beyond saving.

I've made corned beef and cabbage many times over the years, but I wanted to try it in my clay pot.  I found this recipe over at Food.com   I combined that recipe with Elise's (Simply Delicious) method of braising cabbage and found myself with one of my "Top 10" meals. Points to make:

  • boiling and draining the meat removes excess curing agents.  You will not wake up parched in the middle of the night, and your dish will not suffer.
  • The clay pot perfectly cooks the meat
  • I removed the meat and 1/2 the liquid from the cooker and added quartered red potatoes (large), onions and halved carrots.  The cooked beautifully.
  • I used the brown sugar, clove (ground, I didn't have whole), lemon zest, sherry vinegar (I didn't have sherry wine) and Grey Poupon mustard to coat top of roast and bake further.  The harmony of the the spices and the zing of the zest and vinegar were outstanding.
  • Braise the cabbage separately to have flavorful, good on the tooth accompaniment with your meal...not mush.
The meat was fork tender, aromatic, moist and flavorful.  I will NEVER cook my corned beef another way--to include using the sweet/tangy topping of which you can find several renditions all of with complement the meat.




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March!

I've been away slogging through life on a topography that has been rugged and unforgiving.  My mother in law passed.  It was a merciful release.  So much of what she suffered from could have been addressed by simply going to the doctor.

She made a choice to pray v. simply visiting the doctor.  Sometimes people ask too much from God, when they simply can take care of their issues with a simple medical intervention.  Her approach to her life would have been fine, except seldom do our approaches--our individual choices--involve only ourselves.  Rather, the string of choices that we make wraps everyone up in our axle.


On the dog front, Angel Marie began hunting down, Daisey.  First is was skirmish at the front door, then it became seek and destroy.  My husband got caught in the middle. Angel bit him, though we are confident that he had his hand in an inopportune place.  Though she did not intentionally bite him, she was ready to do harm to Daisey.  I must add that this certitude came after several hours.  The first reaction was, "Angel is going down."  In fact, I had a vet appointment that day.  My redirect was simply to have her euthanized v. her checkup.  Simply put, we could not have a dog actively seeking to harm another dog in our household.

A dog bite sets off calls to the local authorities.  It's a big deal. We ventured to Patient First who punted us to the emergency room. I hadn't even parked the car when I got a call from the animal control officer.  I told him that we were going to put the dog down (this is before Mark reflected more on what happened).  He said the dog had to be kept for 10 days.

A dog dies in 10 days from rabies, and the dog cannot transmit rabies unless it is symptomatic.  Therefore,  the quarantine ensures that if the dog is alive at the end of the time, it most assuredly does not have rabies.
 
Angel most assuredly was not symptomatic--she just had developed a distaste for Daisey that cannot be assuaged.

The bite was not a terrible wound--but deep and of course from a dog's mouth.  They put in 4 stitches==loosely to ensure drainage.  Antibiotics and soap and water.

I took Angel to the vet.  We discussed several things, to include an animal behavioralist.  Right now, Angel is on lock down.  She has no freedom.  She is tethered in the kitchen...her place of choice.  You see, prior to having an OCD with Daisey, Angel simply ate, slept and went outside briefly.  She punctuated her normal, sedate, old-dog routine with "I'm gonna kill Daisey" activities.

So far the management of the situation has worked well. Ella goes out with Angel--Ella, my little ambassador.  Daisey goes out another door.  And to her credit is paying more attention to me and my commands so that she does not get in Angel's space.

I have Euro style lead that allows you to configure the lead a multiple of ways.  I actually thought it was a martingale harness, and I'm not sure where I picked it up in my dog rescue travels.  (I didn't buy it).  Nevertheless, I saw one advertised, and I realized I had such a gem.  It is great for tying a dog off quickly in your home as it has a clasp at both ends, and rings through the leash body to clip onto. Zip the lead around a table leg and fasten to a sturdy metal ring.  Fast, effective and strong.

I hope that March is more tame.....