Hill Jack or Beverly Hills?...

I went to my local dentist today and the bad news has come true, my tooth must come out. So, Friday I’ll be at the dentist again having the sucker taken out. The dilemma is this, do I go the Hill Jack route and just have the tooth taken out and have a big hole in my mouth or do I go the Beverly Hills route and find $3000 to have the implant done. I’m still researching the option of having it done by students, but there is still going to be a cost because of the supplies needed, I just don’t know what the cost will be and if it is an option. I just can’t decide if one tooth is really worth $3000.

So fun readers, what is your opinion? Hill Jack or Beverley Hills?

Newbies on the Farm...

This past weekend, I discovered there were a few newbies on the farm.





However, one of them was camera shy and of course only came out after my camera was back in the house. Oh well, he missed his blog debut.

Also, Happy Birthday to Mr. A. HUMM, Humm, HUMMMMM--Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, the Cubs stink like your shoes, happy birthday to you.

Just kidding-I'm sure the Cubs rock.

Did You Know…

Few items are made in the US these days. I find myself looking for the “Made in____” on many products. I’m willing to pay a bit more to keep a job here in the US when possible. It’s refreshing to learn what items are made here.

I recently learned Dum Dums are made right here in Ohio. They are made in Bryan, Ohio to be exact. I’ve never been there that I know of, but I have tasted my share of Dum Dums before. I did a bit of research and found a few interesting facts, in addition to where they are made.

*There were 7 original flavors: lemon, lime, orange, coconut-pineapple, cherry, grape, and butterscotch.

*The suckers got their name because the original sales manger felt Dum Dum was something any child could say. Great marketing!

*You can actually take a tour of the Dum Dum factory.

*Currently Dum Dums come in 16 flavors and then of course there mystery flavor which is a mixture of any two current Dum Dum flavors.

*The company make about 10 million Dum Dums a day!

And now you know!

Pig Tails Amuse Me...







Butt, hahahha, then again it takes very little.

Spring!

The Tooth of the Matter…

I went to visit my local dentist today. Good news and bad news.

Good news the surgery is healing properly-yeah!

Bad news, it did not fix the problem. They are still unsure of the problem. I had another specialist guy come in and probe around in my mouth and he can’t say for sure why there is still pain.

So, plan D now, to schedule another appointment with another person and have a mouth guard made. If that does not work, the I’ll likely have to have an implant. I didn’t even ask how much that cost. This is not something the student side does, at least not that part of the student side, another one might-hopefully. ARGH!

I look forward to a day when my mouth returns to normal. I can only hope that this guard will do it and it can be made quickly-I’ll find out next week. So stay tuned for another installment of “As the Tooth Turns”.

Pig Sale...

This past Saturday, my Dad held his 2nd annual pig sale. These pigs were purchased to be taken to local county fairs. It was a long day, we were in the barn at 5am to load the pigs, then off to set up for the sale. Everything had to be ready by 730am and the sale began at 830am. It worked like a silent action, bidders gave their bid and their bidder number, it was written down and if someone wanted to up the bid they could. This year ran smoother than last, I think we kinda had a clue this year of how to get everything done quickly. 50 pigs were taken to the sale and only 12 came back to the farm. They will either be raised for future sows (an adult female pig that has had a litter of little pigs) or butcher pigs, yep sausage.

This was taken right after set up. If you look closely you can see poster boards on the building in the back, this is were the bids were written down. There were two pens of pigs, divided by size.

This pig was chilling in the cool morning air. We got lucky, the rain held off and didn't visit us during the sale or even later, it actually was a nice day.

That's me in the pen with the pigs. They were tired and started laying down to rest. The people buying wanted to see them walking around, so I had to climb in and keep the pigs moving.

This little dude, thought if he slept sitting up, I wouldn't notice and leave him alone to nap. He did this time after time. I felt kinda bad for them, they had been up walking around for over a hour, toward the end, I would let them lay down for a bit, then I'd have to be the bad guy and say, nope not yet, get up!

Look at these hams, all wanting to be in the picture.

Hams, hahahaha, oh I think I needed a bit more sleep and less caffeine, I'm slap-happy.

If I can you can too...

WOW! It's been ages since I actually took photos of something I created in the kitchen. You all don't even know I got a new stove. It's super exciting. The oven actually keeps the same temp the entire time something is baking. YEAH!!!

Would you like to see my new stove...

It's so nice and clean. Give me time, give me time.

Ok, lets make something. Let's make a Rhubarb Cake. The official name of the recipe I found on the Internet is Fabulous Rhubarb Cake. Let's see if it is.

First Pre-Heat your oven to 375 degrees. Then start with your ingredients.

You will need 1 cup of brown sugar--add to big mixing bowl.

Next pour in a 1/2 of white sugar.

Then soften a stick of butter or 1/2 cup in the microwave-add to bowl and "cream" according to the recipe. I believe this means mix or at least that's what I did.

Now add in 1 egg.

Next add to your mix a cup of apple sauce.

You will next need to add in a teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of baking soda--the recipe just had soda, I'm guessing they didn't mean a teaspoon of Dr. Pepper.

Mix in a teaspoon of vanilla.

Then mix in 2 cups of flour.

Of the fun stuff, clean your rhubarb and chop into small pieces, I actually did this before getting started.

You will need 1 1/2 cups, I used two, why not, it's tasty.

Pour the well combined mixture into a 9x13 baking dish, covered with non-stick spray or oiled before pouring.

Then you will mix 1/4 of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Now, I realized at this point, I was out of cinnamon, I know how can you be out, but I was. So I used brown sugar and pumpkin spice--it's all good. Shake the mixture over the top of the cake.

Pop it into the oven for 30-35 minutes, and you get this.

Yummers! Now I think I like my Mom's recipe better, but I wanted to try something different. One of these days I'll share Mom's recipe.

Yep, I'm one of those people. See I'm taking this tonight to dinner with the marrieds. However, I needed to taste it make sure it was ok since it's the first time I've made it, so I just cut out a piece. They love me, so they will not care, at least I hope not. Ms. A and Ms. A do you care?

So, I would not call this cake Fabulous, but it was tasty.

Happy Baking!

Nothing…

What does one write about when they have nothing to write about?

How about some random trivia?

*A "clue" originally meant a ball of thread. This is why one is said to "unravel" the clues of a mystery. (Just a tidbit for those crafty kids out there.)

*The official soft drink of the state of Nebraska — Kool-Aid. (Really, a state needs an official soft drink? Time and money were spent on this?)

*About 2 billion tons of animal manure are produced in the U.S. every year. (I think I’ve seen and pitched my fair share and don’t need to see anymore.)

*A giraffe can go without water longer than a camel can. (I think I need a drink.)

* The heart beats faster during a brisk walk or heated argument than during sexual intercourse. (Who knew?)

Happy Wednesday kids, happy Wednesday!

A Day in the Barn...

Sunday I spent many hours in the barn. What in the world were you doing for hours, you might find yourself asking. Well, I was helping to shave and tag pigs for the sale next weekend. Below are are few pics, forgive the quality, they were taking with a very low res digital camera and the flash was not great either.

This is one pen of little pigs there need a hair cut and their ears pierced.

This is another pen of little pigs. They only need their ears pierced.

I don't know if you can tell, but he is holding a shaver in his hand. The little pigs get a "quick" shave. I was shaving their left side and Dad was shaving the right. This worked out well so the pig could lay on the fence and not have to move around a lot.

This is the ear tagger (piercer). Each one will have a unique number for the sale.

Max too got a shave, but not Sunday, sometime last week. I didn't recognize him. I thought my parents had gotten another dog.

In case you need a reminder this was Max in March.

People Out of Place…

Over the past few days, people that I don’t really know, but that I have seen at the same location over and over had been somewhere other than that location and it kinda freaks me out. Examples? Ok.

1. My landlord. I have seen him in his garage working, in my apartment fixing something, in my backyard mowing. However, when I recently saw him at the same restaurant I was at it threw me a curve ball. It was just out of place and I didn’t like it.

2. The doorman. The regular doorman at Byrnes, I see him when I walk in, he checks my ID, and I’m off on my marry way. The other day I saw him driving down a side street near me. I’m sure he was going to Byrnes to work, well not sure, but find it most likely. However, it just again it threw me. I don’t expect to see him driving, I expect to see him at the door at Byrnes.

It's Friday! It's Friday! It's very Ireland out today, warmer, rainy, grand!