Category Archives: Pets
Critter Cam
Homer is a bit territorial, he refuses to share his picnic table with this raccoon.
Guess Who Is Three Today
This guy!
He’s one month old in this photo. We hadn’t even met yet. That was this day:
It was love at first sight. Not much has changed over the years:
He just keeps getting bigger:
He is not full grown in the photo above – he towers over me now. Really need to update that photo.
Being Bixby is exhausting:
Party on big guy! For all his adventures, including Bailey fun, click here.
Great Dane Gardening: Strawberry Patch
Look what I get for lunch today:
I went out to check to see if they needed water and my one strawberry from yesterday turned into an entire bowl today. Woot!!
I guess I owe Bixby an apology. Clearly every strawberry patch needs a Great Dane to tend to it – dig in it, sleep in it, snuffle around in it. Bixby:1 Me:0
Tidbits
Mrs J made a pass around the blueberry bush and made a better haul than expected!
We made blueberry syrup from them and had plenty left for blueberry pancakes…
…and French toast.
The Day Lilies have busted out. They were hit hard by that late freeze but came out of it pretty well. Of course it was just the green, early leaves that died back. There was enough vigor left in the bulbs to push out plenty more.
Chili! The minced green peppers are of my first jalapeno of the year.
Here is a cute kitteh. He’s about 6 weeks old and has already been spoken for.
Here is another view of the same kitteh. Both pictures show him looking at something above – Ceiling Cat, maybe?
Tidbits
That ham we bought on sale had a big joint in it that had to be boiled a long time to get anything out of it. That made a nice stock to cook the beans. I don’t know why I didn’t think of the pressure cooker for that job – I did cook the beans in it.
My jalapeno bush has started putting on peppers, these will be ready in a few days.
Our blueberry bush is starting to bear, we will be lucky to beat the birds but we might get enough for a few pancakes.
Cute kitteh!
Mmm… another fine BELT sammich.
The cherry tomatoes will be putting out enough to do the sauteéd tomato with fresh basil pasta dish. One of our summer favorites.
The little pies made on tandoori naan are quick ways to scratch that pizza itch. This one has ham, garlic stuffed olives, provolone and other cheeses on a base of my Awesome Sauce.
Random Wildlife
The camera made a lucky capture of this Kingbird dive-bombing a Crow. I’m not positive of the Kingbird ID but there is a pair hanging around that area and they are territorial.
That same camera caught Gabe a few days earlier. He is growing into a Handsome Boy.
Tidbits
Like I said, the killer app for steaks is sous vide. These spent the afternoon at 136°F. A quick sear then a rest while a pan sauce was made from the bag liquids, butter, wine, and soy sauce. That was a big rib steak, even I didn’t eat the whole thing.
A veggie beef soup follows leftover steak at our house. A smoked pork sammich turned the soup into a real meal.
Kitteh! The kittens were recipients of a round of claw clipping, they were a bit disturbed and needed a firm grasp to hold them for the task.
I told Mrs J to mention that too firm a grasp causes their little kitteh eyes to bug out.
Teeny weenies! Hash browns and eggs! Mmm… breakfast for dinner.
Mrs J spends most of her volunteer time in the kitteh house but she does catch the occasional pupper. This little girl came in when her owner passed. She’s heartworm positive but is expected to be fine.
Fried fish for the win! I made a tartar sauce with fresh dill, lemon juice, lemon zest, minced dill pickles, and mayo.
I’ll finish with an adult cat. No info at all on this one but Mrs J days she’s very friendly. She’s been at the shelter for a week or so.
Greetings from Spring in Colorado: Bixby, Bailey and the Big Waterfall
We are under a flash flood watch – rain and snow melt have raised the rivers considerably. See video (I left the sound up, so you might want to turn yours down):
We are watchful because you may remember our horrible flash flood Sept 11, 2013 – photos and video here, still heartbreaking and breathtaking three and half years later.
On happier news, here are the pups as we enjoy a late evening walk yesterday.
And some moments of Zen:
I only have my cell phone with me on walks – there is no way to juggle a camera and 280 lbs of dogs – even digging the phone out is risky. But it did pretty well on the video and photos.
I’ll be doing a house update later today. Hope you’re having a great holiday weekend.
Tidbits
Worm sign! Mrs J drew my attention to this Swallowtail caterpillar on one of the parsleys, it appeared suddenly and was gone the next day. 
Moar kittehs! Mrs J brought back several good pics of the current kitteh crop at the shelter from her last volunteer stint.
We decided it was time for another smoked pork shoulder. This one spent the day with peach chips smoldering under it, then it finished in the oven.
I made a batch of buns for it, I think I’ll do some tacos later.
A couple of times a year I’ll trundle the mower down to the back pond to knock the weeds and grass down. The pond is murky from recent rains, it will clear up over the summer. We have it stocked with bass, redear and bluegill.
We both favor these BLTs and are satisfied to make them for either lunch or dinner.
Moar kittehs! As TaMara once quipped, “it looks like the kitty printer is running low on toner”!
Tidbits
Lasagna! Each of these holds just enough for two. I used egg roll wraps again for these because I am lazy and they work very well.
The layers were Italian sausage in tomato sauce, plain ricotta with a couple of eggs whipped in, and various shredded cheeses. We ate these right away, the others were portioned and frozen, then sealed in vacuum bags.
Kittehs! Mrs J says they have a good crop at the shelter – nearly 30 that are still with their mommas.
Smoked chicken, just out of the smoker. No seasonings other than granulated garlic. I bought a case lot of those aluminum pans a couple of years ago and they have proved handy.
Ginger Boy has filled out, he’s not as big as Toby but that’s not from lack of appetite.
I canned a bunch of tomato soup one year, put it up in quart jars. That is the perfect amount for two servings. 
