There's a fox hanging around my back yard. She's a little shy. But she keeps coming back to the same spot. I guess it's too bad for the rodents and rabbits. I'm not sure if I should be concerned about it though. I'm a little worried for one of my neighbor's dog. He's a little guy and old and worn out now. He doesn't have many teeth and has even lost his bark.



It's not the best pic I've ever taken but wild life doesn't take directions well.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and all the best in 2011!

I posted a vid and photo for said contest.
I had envisioned a more clever vid but it's hard to do when you are your own cameraman.
Here is the recipe. I posted metric conversions after the recipe.


Blueberry cake. Simple and delicious.
You can use fresh or frozen blueberries.

Ingredients
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, unsalted at room temp
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/2 cups blueberries, rinsed and drained
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly grease and flour a 9 inch spring form pan.

In a medium bowl whisk together 1 cup flour with baking powder and salt, set aside.

In a large bowl beat the butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy (medium speed).

Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time and beat until blended.

Reduce mixer to low and slowly add flour mixture and beat until just incorporated.

Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly.

In a medium bowl toss the blueberries with the lemon juice and the remaining sugar and flour.

Spoon blueberries evenly over the batter (do not press down).

Bake on the middle rack of the preheated oven until a tester inseted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.

Cool on a wire rack, use a knife to loosen cake from sides of pan if necessary.

Transfer to cake plate.

Serve warm or cold, if desired sprinkle with confectioners sugar

Conversions
1 cups = 237 milliliters
0.5 cups = 118 milliliters
1 teaspoons = 5 milliliters
1 Tablespoons = 15 milliliters
2.5 cups = 590 milliliters
350 Fahrenheit = 177 Celsius
1/8 teaspoon = a pinch

Have a very Merry Christmas and all the best to you in 2010!

I just realized I've been here more than 5 years. Lots of good memories. That lifetime membership sure was a bargain.

Looking forward to the next 5 years )

It's not so bad. She washes dishes and mops the floor and doesn't drink my beer.

You can pick your friends but you can't pick your family.

My sister is a good person who has made some bad choices. The problem is, I don't think she realizes how bad some of those choices have been. To make a long story short, she has found herself homeless. So, she needs a place to stay for a while. She arrived here on Halloween. Maybe I can have a positive affect on her. Or maybe not, lol.

I lost a can today. No, not a beer can (I checked, all those are accounted for). My yard waste can. It's green and has wheels. We had garbage pickup today. As always, I had my garbage, recycling and yard waste can set out overnight. This morning (alright, it was late morning) I was sitting on the throne and glanced out the window. I saw the recycle box was upended (that means it was picked up) but I didn't see my green yard waste can. There was a smaller grey can in its place. So I figured the yard waste guy threw one of my neighbors here and threw mine there. Well, I went outside and looked around and didn't see my green can. I took the gray can to one of my neighbors but he said it wasn't his. This evening I called the other neighbor and he said it's not his either. So, who's can is it and where the hell is mine???

No, this is not some stranger than fiction internet story, this is in fact a factually story. I don't know if I should call the UFO society (maybe aliens are responsible, and no, not the alien named Jose) or if I should call some fringe political organization (maybe the gubbermint is responsible) or if I should call the David Letterman Show (he likes funny small town stories). I know if I should use the grey/gray can some neighbor from down the street will see it and demand it back, thus leaving me with no place to put my yard waste.

Shit, this is giving me a headache, time for a beer.

The bunny rabbit has taken up permanent residence in my tomato patch. I have a pretty dense stand of chives on each side of the row with a bare spot in the middle and she sits there like a fixture. She doesn't seem to mind my pressence, I was able to get pretty close for this pic, it's uncropped.



I found a Swallow Tail fluttering around. Looks like she has been through a battle, part of her tail is missing.

Was it great? Just OK? This little fellow liked his.