Stay

Stay !!!
I pulled into the crowded parking lot at the Local Shopping Center and rolled
down the car windows to make sure my
Labrador Retriever Pup had fresh air.



She was stretched full-out on the back seat
and I wanted to impress upon her that she must
remain there.

I walked to the curb backward,
pointing my finger at the car and saying emphatically,
'Now you stay. Do you hear me?'

'Stay! Stay!'

The driver of a nearby car, a pretty blonde young lady,
gave me a strange look and said,


Why don't you just put it in park ?

As the days turn

I am sitting here feeling just like that kitten. I have been working the 3rd shift for 9 years now. On my days off I switch to sleeping nights but I go to bed around 12 and get up at 8 or 9. Now I go to bed at 9:30 and try to sleep. Get up at 6 am. Look in the mirror and my hair looks like this!


Yikes. How do people do it? I have co-workers show up in the morning. Their hair looks wonderful. They have make-up on, smiles. They seem alert and bright. I drag in looking like that. Tired, no make-up. Can't do a thing with my hair. You can take the nurse out of her regular shift but it ain't a pretty sight. And I miss miss miss patient care. I hear the nurses chatting and taking care of the patients from my cold little office without windows. Wishing I was doing that. Missing it. A Lot. Sigh.


I was feeling pretty smug. Oh look at me with the super high pain tolerance. Able to soar through surgery at the speed of light. Super patient. Then I start the hard part of PT. They twist and turn my arm. Stretch and pull. And I...... Yes I, cried out in pain! Dang that hurts. You just can't imagine how that hurts. So I am a wimp after all. But. It is working. I scratched my back today without the back scratcher. I can reach over and touch my other shoulder. Don't laugh, I seriously could not do that. And I don't let the pain stop me. I moan and groan. An occasional tear rolls down my cheek, but I am going to get all my arm back if it kills me. And it might. Or else I will never get back to working nights and doing patient care again.

Well, enough of the whine. We are expecting the dreaded white stuff this weekend. I am hoping they are wrong. It is way to early.

The news. Lets see. The are giving the homeless in Detroit free Money! When asked where they got it they said Obama. When asked where he got the money to give them they said, I don't know. Well...... I have a pretty good idea. And I just took a pay cut too. Stop giving my money away. I need it so I don't become homeless. Sigh. They just don't get it. When I finish the new book I got maybe I will tell them.



Thanks Donna for the lovely name tag and ta all. Rick is making a great supper and I am going to take a shower.

Day Shift

Thank you Sugar for the lovely graphic and reminder. Have you had your mammogram lately? I am due. Have to make my appointment.

I don't understand why people like the day shift so much. That getting out of bed before 6 am is for the birds. And desk work. I am grateful they have work for me to do while I am not able to use my arm. Don't get me wrong. But I like patient care. I will be so happy to get back to normal. I hope it is soon.

PT was brutal today. I went in with a pain score of 3. Not bad. I left with a score of at least 7. The passive range of motion and isometrics is over. Now onto the strengthening exercises and stretching these old muscles. It feels good to stretch my muscles out but it is painful. It brought tears to my eyes today I tell you. There is a certain area when I lift my arm that is so painful. Once I get past that it is better but getting past that is a challenge. And then I had to go right back to work. All I really wanted was a pain pill and to take a nap. But. If this is what it takes, so be it.

Blue heron flying over the lakes below



Yesterday we went to a new lake Rick found so I could get some shots. Its a created watershed. Very pretty. There were Blue herons, gulls, geese, and Terns ( maybe they are plovers, I can't tell, can anyone tell by the shot below? ) all over. So pretty.


They had dammed up the area and the dead trees were stark and beautiful and a great home for fish and the birds.




What was cool was this dock was handicapped accessible. Check out the ramp leading to the lake. Click on the photos to see them full size. I love the shot below. Pretty cool I think.



Rick is making chicken and red potatoes for supper and I plan on calling it a early evening. I am too tired for anything else. This week I only work 4 days. 4 long days.

The Original Tavern Recipe

Tavern Loosemeat Sandwich

The loosemeat was created in 1924 at Ye Old Tavern-now Gus' Family Restaurant on 14th and Jackson St. in Sioux City, Iowa. Nowadays you will find the original sandwich served at Bob's Drive Inn on Hwy 75, LeMars, Iowa just a mile or so out of Sioux City, at The Tastee Inn and Out, on Gordon Drive and at Miles Inn on Leech Ave. among others. If you see a recipe for loosemeats that contains tomato juice-run! A loosemeat is a sloppy joe without the slop-so stay away from anything tomato-ey please! These little sandwiches are great for football parties, slumber parties, with a cold beer on a sunny summer day, or just anytime you want a real taste of Americana cooking that takes just a few minutes with very little cleanup. These are typical Iowa tavern fare. I loved these sandwiches so much when I was a kid that one day I ran into my Grandma's tavern/cafe and asked for a "tavern". They came served with a thin sheet of restaurant paper under them. I was so eager I ate my sandwich half way gone before I realized I was eating the paper too:-) After cooking these in the kitchen they were transferred to a portable steamer. This is the original recipe for the little dudes that were served in the Midwest.

30 min | 10 min prep

SERVES 4 -5

• 1 lb of real good ground chuck or ground beef round or ground sirloin
• 1 tablespoon fat like lard or Crisco (if meat is round or sirloin)
• 2 teaspoons salt, just enough to lightly cover bottom of your skillet
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• water, to cover
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Get out a cast iron skillet-they are the best for loosemeats-or other kind if you have no iron skillet.
2. Melt fat over medium heat and lightly salt bottom of skillet.
3. Break ground beef up in skillet and start crumbling it with the back of a wooden spoon-this is very important-the meat must end up being cooked up into small crumbles.
4. Add chopped onion while browning meat.
5. Keep working with the back of spoon to break up meat.
6. When meat is browned, drain off any fat and return meat to skillet.
7. Add mustard, vinegar, sugar, and just enough water to barely cover meat in the pan.
8. Cook, at a simmer, till water is all cooked out-between 15-20 minutes.
9. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
10. Heat your hamburger buns-they're traditionally steamed for loosemeats-I like mine toasted lightly-do it the way you like it.
11. When buns are warm, put yellow mustard on them and add some dill pickle slices-I put on lots!
12. *If you start changing this recipe and using things like olive oil for the fat and Dijon or honey mustard for the yellow mustard, you will not get the traditional yummy taste of a loosemeat sandwich.
13. Likewise, don't add any liquid smoke or Worcestershire sauce.
14. Make them just like this the first time so you can sample the simplicity of this famous Midwestern treat.
15. If you want to start making changes after that by all means do so but I'd like you to taste the original recipe at least once.
16. Serve with homemade potato salad and chips or with my Easy Cheesy Potato recipe.

Day 2 of work

Not quite as much to do to keep me busy today and I was so tired. This getting up early is for the birds. My boss says she might have me work nights as charge on some days, just not take patients and that sounded good until I remembered having to wake up in the middle and do PT. It still might work out if I can get my PT scheduled first thing in the morning. Get off work at 7:30 and go to PT at 9 and then sleep. We will see. It would be much nicer then what I am doing now. I hate not being busy.

The weather is cold and rainy. I had to wear a coat. Where is my wonderful nice weather. Boo hoo. Not ready for this cold dreary weather. I hope we get some good days before it snows. I still have my outside plants out. Need to try and get them in. They are so huge they are heavy. The cactus could poke your eye out so Rick has to be very careful. I don't know what I will do when they get even bigger.

PT went fair today. In only 2 days of not exercising as much I can tell the difference. My arm is spasming a lot and I was really tight. I have to figure out a way to get my exercise in and my work in. I get this terrible bone pain in my upper forearm. Just a real deep horrible pain that lasts a few minutes. Not sure why. But it is new and awful. Hope it doesn't get so it lasts longer.

Rick is making taverns tonight. He makes great ones. I think they call them Poor boys in some states. And it cold enough for a nice hot cuppa tea. Well, stay warm all. I am waiting for my son to call with his lab report if he got them.

Here is a link for you if you like black and white photography. Some great shots featured.

Sept Photo Challenge

The Sept photo challenge is ready to see. Check out what I found.
I had to schedule this for the right day. Anyway, check out my shots and check out the other photographers. This was so fun looking for all these. And as always, comments and any constructive criticism is alway welcome.

OK. work today. It actually went by fast. I had lots of computer and paper work to do. I hope they can keep it up every day. Bad thing is my arm already feels stiffer today. I was in the habit of exercising it all day as I moved around. Being stuck at a desk typing is going to stiffen me up some. But. The money will be nice. Especially since things are going kind of tuff at work right now. Just glad to have a job.

It is raining out and cool. Since I am not use to working days at all, never did it, it will be a early night today. Snug under my warm covers. Sounds great.

OK, things to worry about. We went to get our glasses. They wanted to check Ricks eyes again. They saw a gray area. Could be a tumor. They want him to come back in 3 months, sooner if he has any problems. I asked him if he told the doc about his mini stroke. He didn't because he would have to believe he had it, LOL. So maybe it was from that. But definitely something to watch. And my oldest son is having some medical problems. He gets more lab work tomorrow. So if you have any extra prayers hanging around send them our way.

Well, Rick is making us chicken noodles, sounds really good. Ta all...

Sumac Tea

No doubt you've seen them before. Sumac is a plant that grows wild all over. It will grow in places where it seems inhospitable to almost any plant. And it makes a great tea or lemonade from late fall right on through spring when the old clusters dry out and are replaced with new ones that will be tasteless until the end of summer.

There are several species of sumac but you want the Staghorn variety for your tea (pictured at left). Its upright cluster of red seeds and distinctive velvety feel on the newer growth is a sure sign that you are using the correct sumac.
If you are nervous about this because you may have heard of Poison Sumac, don't be. Poison Sumac is actually much more rare in New Hampshire and has white berries that droop. It is impossible to mistake for the more common Staghorn variety.Making Sumac-ade is quite easy. Gather a grocery size bag of the clusters. Take a large pot and fill it with fresh water and put the clusters right into the water. Using your hands, crush the clusters until they break apart in the water and allow them to steep for an hour or two. Drain the liquid through cheesecloth or some other clean, disposable cloth, toss the clusters in your compost pile, add sweetener to taste (for lemonade) and voila!.

If you like it as tea, you need not go through the process above but can steep a handfull of the seeds in hot water for just a few minutes and sweeten as you like it. You can also hang the pods to dry and store them for later.