Sweet As Sugar

Sugar
Originally uploaded by sujaco.

Sugar, Robin's dog, has become my Mother's constant companion. Mother felt she looked a little sickly so we took her to the vet today to be checked out.

She's fine. $89.20 fine.

There is nothing wrong with her whatsoever but you can't leave a Vet's office and not be charged anything. They gave us preventative meds in case she might get sick.

Okay. 'Nuff bitchin'. You can't really put a price on peace of mind and Mother is now assured that her baby is in tip-top shape.

I hope you AND your pets are fine and well today.

Very Strict Schedule

If my dear sweet Mother couldn't follow a schedule, I hate to think of what might happen. While her dog was at the groomer's today, Mother automatically opened a can of dog food at 2:00 and put it down for Sugar to eat.

Sugar is AT the groomer's but she normally eats at 2:00pm PROMPTLY every day. Evidentially whether she's here or not. Would you say that is following the schedule to a T? (Does this help you understand my rebellious nature growing up a little better?)

Mother's still sharp and bright and maintains her sarcastic wit so she's not losing her mind or anything. She just always sticks to her self-imposed schedule that's even more strict as she gets older. Maybe it helps her try to keep control of her life a little easier this way.

Bless her heart. Thanks for listening.

Jack Wax

Make Jack Wax Maple Candy

Maple Syrup and snow makes a nice treat. Did you ever eat snow in a recipe?

Mother made us Snow Cream. It was snow and cream and a little sugar and was a fun treat on a snowy day.

Blogged with Flock

I'm downloading two things, someone's uploading one of my songs, and I expect to surf on a dialup while all this goes on? Just barely! I need some more driving music. Some more variety. I'm watching the Tennessee Titans play the Buffalo Bills. It's halftime. Mother has gotten me interested in the Titans. (Titans Won!)

We've got dark fudge and peanut butter fudge and chocolate oatmeal cookies and oatmeal and raisin cookies. And those pecan balls that are dipped in powdered sugar and there's chocolate chip cookies. Family members always request the standards so there's seldom anything fancy or hard to make.

In the salty department I've made two batches of Chex Mix and have never varied from the original recipe. I do have a recipe for White Chex Mix that looks yummy. I decided that no matter how much I bake and cook, there is always something missing so I may fix some Buckeye Candy and these Hershey Kiss Cookies couldn't be easier to fix. All easy peasy.

Please help yourself to the recipes I've uploaded so far.

At this point I'm not even hungry for dinner...

Everybody Needs Somebody

It's good when you have pets that you have more than one. Then they have a playmate and aren't so lonely. Two cats like Shirl has is a good way to go. And now I have two dogs. Mine and Robin's. Robin's dog, Sugar is so smart. My dog, Buddy, well.. "bless his heart" as they say here in the south; the phrase that's usually followed by someone's shortcomings.

When I ask Buddy, a male chow/retriever mix, if he wants to go outside or if he wants to eat I get the same response. So I open the door for him and open a can of dog food and see which one he responds to. But I adore him.

Robin's female black cocker spaniel, Sugar, is as bright as can be. Sometimes when she gets excited she turns around in a circle. I looked at her earlier and made a circle motion with my finger & hand, asked her to turn around and she did so promptly. You show her something once and she totally gets it. She seems to understand exactly what you say to her.

They have fun playing together, fighting over toys and chasing each other. Everybody needs somebody. This goes for pets, too.

Yummmmmm! I'm just finishing up a nice slice of Pecan Pie. I haven't eaten that in some time. I wonder if Pecan Pie may be a southern thing, but it's probably nationally appreciated. We probably make more of them with the abundance of pecan trees just as I imagine that in Kane's neck of the woods, a Key Lime Pie is more popular.

I do believe I'm in the midst of a sugar attack. Nurse? A molasses IV....stat!!

Now for the tedious or regular stuff. My neighbors and friends, new and old, will recognize some of the local info I'll spout forth.

Just back from stopping at White's Grocery and florist, Felty-Rowland. We bought a nice Peace Lily plant for our next door neighbor who passed away yesterday morning. He was only diagnosed with cancer 4-6 weeks ago. He had a lump on his neck and was feeling weak so he went to see about it. So sad. He was probably mid to late sixties. About two weeks ago I saw him riding his golf cart (which is a popular way to get around our neighborhood as we're beside the golf course). He drove to the 15th tee, directly behind his house. There was a foursome getting ready to tee off and he was talking and laughing with them. It was the first time I'd seen him since I've been back in Tennessee, my childhood home since 1959. He threw his hand up so high, shaking his whole arm, and grinning said, "Hi, Susan!" He radiated such joy that day. I later told Mother that it may be the last image I'll have of him. Turns out it is.

Came back and fed the sweet doggies, Sugar and Buddy. Does anyone ever call their pets by their given name? I call Sugar, Sug Avery, from the movie, The Color Purple. And I call Buddy, Bubba or Bubbie. My husband calls Buddy, Mr Cook and Mother calls him Mister. Do you do that? Or am I just weirder than I thought I was? Ha!

If I could speak to Robin right now, she and I would be laughing about what we always called the "Februarys".

Something I made up decades ago to describe the blahs I felt during the winter months. Each year in January I'd say to her that I was having the Februarys early this year. And she'd remind me that I always got them in January.

It helps to rush Spring by planning your flower gardens, ie- buying seeds and bulbs, reading garden magazines. Outdoors I've been rearranging wind chimes and garden path stones and birdhouses and various yard paraphanelia.

I have a hummingbird apparatus that you can make sugar water to put in and they have like a dropper to drink from it. It's a real coup to see a hummingbird in your yard.

There's also cats who love to come around so you keep this in mind as you put up bird food. And squirrels. My neighbor told me of a hawk who's been on the prowl recently. She also has a lot of bird delectibles in her yard beside mine. And about once a week we see a flock of geese fly over. I don't know if it's the same ones or if geese are actually travelling north right now. I don't think they're coming to the pond on the golf course (there's a large net on the bottom of the pond that they pick out golf balls to use for range balls).

Our property connects to the 14th hole on a golf course. That's why my father picked out this land in the first place to build his house on. Golf isn't a sometime thing; it's a lifelong passion for golfers. As a young girl I used to work at the grill there and worked on the driving range picking up balls in a cart with a thing on the back that scoops the balls up.

Okay. Enough rambling. Time for something productive. Like internet shopping. =)

Daughter dear is still asleep. She went to a football game last night with friends and was home by 11. Hubby and I were discussing decadent pastries and breads and he decided to go to the bakery on Main Street and see what they have good this morning. Since moving to Hendersonville, we really enjoy the quaint Main Street vibe here. Literally. It has a thriving night life with several outdoor cafes and a few little clubs that have live music so it's always lively. The old bakery has an old wooden plank floor and is a small, shotgun style building. I'll have to look for some photos of our little Main Street. Can't wait to see what hubby comes home with.

UPDATE - 10.42am
Hubby came home with a box of goodies. I'm more of a plain jane when it comes to food where he loves all the fruits and frills and extra flavors, etc. He brought home key lime cookies, wedding tea cakes, coconut squares, lemon bars, date bars, bear claws....that's all I believe. I'm eating a coconut square and it's SO rich, I can't tell you how rich it is. I could only eat half of it. Maybe have the other half tonight. Excuse me while I drift off into sugar shock......mmmmmmmmmmm

Ahhhh. I got the best neck snap, crackle, pops this morning. I arrived early to yoga class, and I was stretching and warming up on my little mat overlooking the lake outside the window. (when it's warm, we go out on the deck) It's not done that in years and feels great. Let's see. What's newsworthy that my friends and relations might want to hear about?

No Pants Day?

My husband asked me years ago not to use his real name online, and I'm thinking hubby and husband sounds a little condescending. His name also begins with an "S", so I started calling him any other name that beginning with an "S". Stu, Stan, Sam, are some I've used. I just felt a little annual clarification was due.

So anyway, Sylvester's sugar numbers were 130 last night. This is good news. Between 100 - 150 are normal, I believe. He's been over 200 for several weeks now. After adding insulin shots and changing insulin pill doses recently, I believe he may finally be stablized. It sure has been hard on him this last year.

Where'd that snow storm go? I had an early appointment in the city and got a hotel room with other friends so I could assure a safe arrival because of the snow storm we were expecting. We were to get 6-12 inches between 3 and 6am. When I got up at 6, we had about 2 inches and traffic was breezing along nicely. After the appt, we went to Bruegger's Bagels and indulged our caffeine and sugar fixes. So I've not been to sleep yet, but I wanted to unwind a moment online and then I'm putting it to bed. Right after I visit a couple of blogs....just a few. Then. I. will. sleep......

Update on Family:
A few people have asked about my family members lately and I thought I'd go ahead and address it now. Robin now has cellulitis in her legs, but is trying to get around with a cane. She previously had worn a hearing aid in one ear, but after the 3-wk hospital stay around Christmas, the antibiotics she had to take were so strong that her hearing is almost totally gone now. Mother, after a hospital stay with pneumonia, is now using a walker as she's not very steady on her feet, her appetite is picking up somewhat. She barely weighs 100 lbs. We're all short and little bitty in my family. And hubby, as a newly diagnosed diabetic, went from the insulin pills to the needle today. He thinks it's the end of the road but I'm trying to reassure him that he should now feel better on the insulin shots without so many ups and downs in his sugar levels.

It saddens me to report that my sister's dog, Missy, 13, has passed on. They were extremely close as she's always been a house dog, or a lap dog who was part of her family.

I've invited Robin and Mother to my house for Thanksgiving Dinner. That's some good news. I asked them to bring the dessert and I'm fixing the rest of the goodies. I'm fixing a ham this year for the first time at Thanksgiving. I've always had turkey. As far as I can tell the side dishes will be what I always serve with my turkey. The ham will be glazed with brown sugar and pineapple slices and cloves. I'll do my shopping this evening. And I'm beginning to get hungry thinking about it all.