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One of My Favorite Recipes — Orange Salad

/ My Garden / Recipes / By / 7 Comments

With all the anticipation of getting ready for my gardening season, I’ve been cooking up a storm testing new recipes.  Cait is always very happy when this happens.  As she was munching and I was preparing, we got to talking about favorite childhood tastes.  For me, hands down, it’s my mother’s Orange Salad recipe.  It’s so simple and refreshing.

Orange Salad Recipe

  1. Peel skin off several oranges, leaving a fair amount of pith (the white inner skin).
  2. Slice and cut
… Read More

If You Could Create a School From the Ground Up…

/ Cait and Me, Life / By / 9 Comments

Spring cleaning is well under way around here. There are several projects already in varying stages of completeness. Living in an old farm house means there’s a never-ending supply. Fortunately, Cait usually likes to help. It’s a chance for us to have some uninterrupted talk time, while I apprentice her on the finer points of home repair.

As Cait and I were painting , the subject of one of her school projects came up. Her assignment was to create a … Read More

Sing Like Nobody’s Listening

/ Cait and Me, Life / By / 8 Comments

Cait loves to act. LOVES to act. And she’s actually pretty good at it. But all her middle school plays are musicals. Which means that to get a decent part, she must also sing well. But, um… she, ah… doesn’t sing well. And that would be putting it kindly.

At least, she didn’t sing well — before I signed her up for singing lessons last year.

I’m not one to get Cait lessons for every little interest or activity. I’m … Read More

Reason #34 Why Not to Get a Dog

/ Life, My Dogs and Me / By / 8 Comments

There are a hundred reasons not to get a dog. And only one reason to get a dog. On the Don’t Get A Dog side, Reason #34 is:

Mud Season

Muddy Yard

Muddy Dog

Muddy Floor.

So don’t say I never warned you.

Oh, and the one and only reason to get a dog? If you can’t live a day without unconditional love and laughter. There’s nothing else in the world quite like it.

… Read More

They Still Exist

/ Dogs in General, Life, My Dogs and Me / By / 4 Comments

I always find it interesting how life events cluster together.  Perhaps you’ve heard of this phenomenon known as “The Law of Threes.”

My little cluster at the moment has to do with healthcare. Within a few months of each other, my family doctor, dentist, and vet have retired. I’ve yet to find people to replace them. That’s because essentially they’re irreplaceable. They all came from the old school where they were human beings first and medical practitioners second. If any … Read More

How Long Will it Take Them…

/ Cait and Me, Nature / By / 7 Comments

We’ve got a messy storm blowing in, so Cait and a friend wanted to get in what may be the last of the skating for a bit.

Cait takes a moment to tighten up her laces.

nightskate1

Even though the ice is 5 inches thick (thick enough to safely drive a car on) and we have a long-line rope on the fence post, I still wind up checking on them from time to time.  My old EMT safety habits die hard.… Read More

5 Common Mistakes People Make with Dogs

/ Dogs in General / By / 8 Comments

fiveIt never ceases to amaze me how little someone can know about dogs and still wind up with a decent dog. Really, think about it. What other animal, wild or domesticated, can so readily adapt to our crazy, inconsistent, often self-centered ways?

I can hear some of you suggest that cats fit in with us just as well.  I would argue that cats are willing to put up with far less before they’ll try to avoid or escape us. Dogs … Read More

More Exciting Around Here Than Christmas

/ Nature / By / 6 Comments

I’m guessing you can tell from all the pond shots over the years, that we really love our pond.

A friend described it as sort of like a big outdoor rug,  the decorating element that anchors the room—in this case, our outdoor room.

And I’d have to agree, though I’d put it a little differently. It’s the gravitational pull of our property that draws all living things to it. For its calming, meditative effect. For its nourishment. And for the … Read More

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