Puss meets a vulture

Actually these photos are from weeks ago. I had taken them with my phone and had trouble getting them to a place on my computer that I could access from my blog photo uploader.

The photos were taken through the window and door so I didn't interfere with this meet-up.

Puss saw the black vulture out in the yard and she wanted out the door so she could go chase it...but instead she stopped at the edge of the porch...and the vulture slowly walked toward  her.

They were about a foot apart.

I hope you can make out that photo.  The vulture is on the left, facing left, with it's beak pointed to the ground.  Is it showing submission? 

Puss just sat there and played it cool and soon the vulture strolled away.

 Puss started to follow....

But decided to hang back...

Then she got brave and went to crouch under that bush to the left of the bell post.

The vulture got fed up with all the bluffing and circled back around to strike this menacing pose...holding his wings open to look as large as possible while staring down the cat.

Then he turned and flew away.

It surprised me that the cat wanted to go out and confront the vulture because she has been afraid of the wild turkeys coming up in the yard...maybe because they are always in a group. The turkeys have also approached her, just curious like this vulture.

a mighty wind

We recently had an unusually warm (78 degrees) and very windy (44 mph) day.    It was the kind of day that you could feel the wind buffeting your car around on the road while driving.

Lonnie and I had been to visit my parents and just as we were walking out their door to leave, we heard a big "CRACK"  and saw a large tree breaking off near the edge of their woods.

I figured we would have more downed trees when we got back to our house.  There were a couple of them, but this one had been leaning already.  A Sassafras.

The other was a fairly tall pine near an area we recently had cleared.  Of course it had to fall perfectly into the cleared area so it can't just be ignored.

Someone (me) forgot to latch this screen door to the screen porch and the wind whipped it back and forth until it was demolished.

These dead trees had fallen during an earlier rainy spell over the winter.

This apple tree had partly fallen years ago but kept growing. The branches got so heavy on one side from trying to reach for the sun that the whole tree went down completely, also while the ground was saturated.

I have been trimming off the smaller branches and taking them to the burn pile.

So, there is a lot of wood to be sawed up and dealt with.  

I wish I had one of those big wood chippers. I could turn all this into mulch!

tried a new food

First up... The Sasquatch brought this cheese he found on close out at Meijers.  I think it normally sells for around $6.00 and they were clearing it out for $2.99.  He brought it over so we could all try it.

It's called "Grilling Cheese"...and can be fried to get a golden crust on the outside.

It came in a block.  The Sasquatch sliced it in roughly half inch slices, then coated the slices with olive oil.

Then browned them in a non stick skillet.

Look at these crunchy creamy morsels of fried cheesy goodness!

They were good on their own and also good to use as dippers for guacamole.

We enjoyed trying this and came to the conclusion that next time, either slice them a bit thicker or don't get them quite as browned, to leave more creamy inside.

The Sasquatch said he was going back to buy the remaining blocks of cheese if there were any left at the store.

We were wondering if this method would also work with mozzarella or provolone.

I see that the Grilling Cheese is a whole milk cheese whereas mozzarella usually seems to be part skim (I think?) That may make a difference but it's worthwhile to try it out.

Now here is a recipe that I tried out....

The recipe was in the booklet that came with my "Veggetti" spiralizer.  You have probably seen them.

It's a handheld cone with very sharp blades inside. You just twist and push a vegetable through to crank out thin spiraled strips. 

I used zuchinni.  It's actually pretty good just like this. Lightly sauteed in butter or olive oil, then add salt and pepper.

But I wanted to give the recipe a try.   I made some changes...left out the honey, used dried ginger and garlic. Didn't have chili or sesame seeds but added some hot sauce and diced peanuts.

Mine came out with a runnier sauce.

It was okay but not sure if I'd make it again.  I like the zuchinni better without the glop on it!

PS:  The "Veggetti" slicer is extremely hard to clean. Food gets stuck along the base of the blades...and they are super sharp as my thumb will attest.

quilting progress

The quilting on my flannel quilt is nearly finished.  Even though I backed it with reqular cotton fabric - it doesn't slide around under the needle quite as smoothly. I suppose because it is a bit thicker.

Maybe another reason it is going slower is because I keep turning on Netflix "Grace and Frankie"

 It's a funny show but my problem is I keep pausing to watch all the scenes that feature their gorgeous beach house.  It is the stuff day dreams are made of...with the ocean right out their back door.

Quite different from the yucky weather here.

And I have been working with the leftover scraps and have a few more blocks made for a smaller quilt.

There is enough border fabric left over that I will be able to add it to this one also.

And enough episodes of the show left to get it quilted too!