#Pussywillows

It must be #Spring. The catkins on the pussy willows are probably ready to be cut. Our Canary is enjoying our Sun-room. It is the first day this year we are using it. It is only a Three-Season room. The sun is shining hot and heating it up, with the help of an electric heater. I can hear the little guy singing from my office in the basement. I see the sunshine only through the window. Too many things to do. We came back from a two-week holiday in Cuba and now we have to catch up with all the stuff that’s been accumulating in those two weeks. I’m also busy smoking a couple of Whitefish, so I’ll be outside in the afternoon. The water in the aquariums needs to be topped up and I have a few batches of wine to be filtered, transferred and bottled. And I’m going to look at my seeds that need to be seeded in flats for my garden.

Oh yes, there is no shortage of work. Most of it, of course, self-created, but that’s okay. Keeps me in shape and my mind sharp. Before I retired, I asked a friend who was retired what he was doing all day long with all the free time he has now. He just laughed and said, “What free time? I’m busier now than ever (He keeps bees). I don’t know how I ever had time to work before I retired.”

Now I know what he means.

There is no reason for anyone to ever be idle and bored. Stuff to do is all around us. That is why I cannot understand why the members of our native population living on the reserves are so bored and turn to drugs and alcohol, even committing suicide. Perhaps they should look around and start cleaning up all the garbage that is everywhere and fix up their houses, like painting them and repairing the damage that somehow occurred inside the houses. We have no holes in the floors and walls in our house. We never made any in the first place. I have a garden that keeps me busy in the summer and shrubs and flowers in the yard that need to be tended. No shortage of work that needs to be done—ever. All that is needed is the will and drive to do it. And to enjoy everything you do.

Nothing to eat? Raise rabbits for meat and goats for milk, chickens for eggs and meat. We did that after the war when there was nothing to eat in Germany after the war.

Just saying.

A couple of days I saw my first goose in the field and yesterday a small flock flew across the highway. I also say the crows that live all year around in our yard. I have no idea where they went for the winter. They are looking at the old nest in the tree in our neighbor’s yard. I wonder if I’ll catch enough mice this year to feed to the crows.

In February, I bought a new pair of glasses from Costco. Progressive and transition. I paid extra money for a frame made from Titanium, which is stronger than other metals. Well, that strong titanium frame broke into two pieces on our second day of our holiday, which means I was left without glasses and sunglasses for the entire two weeks. Not a good thing when the sun is blaring down from the sky and reflecting from the white sand and the ocean. Fortunately, I had an extra pair of reading glasses along, so I could at least read my electronic reader. I have no problem seeing without glasses, but reading is a different story. That’s when things become blurry. Anyway, I’m picking up my new glasses tomorrow. I hope that strong titanium frame doesn’t break again. In all my years of wearing glasses I never even broke a lens, never mind the frame. And none of them were made from any special metal. It proves again to me that expensive does not mean better. Sometimes it is best to stick with the old, the proven stuff, but there is always somebody popping out the woodwork who claims to build a better ‘mousetrap’. I’ve had those also already—mousetraps made out of plastic. Half of them have already given up the ghost.

This was supposed to be only a short blog, but, as usual when I begin writing something it turns into a novel.

Enjoy the rest of the day and the next and the next and…….

Puzzled

Sometimes I wonder about the mentality of people. Actually, I wonder a lot. My wife watches The Price is right and once in a while I stick my head out of my office and watch part of it. What really bugs me is when somebody bids, let's say $800.00 and the next person says $801.00. With that move the first person loses  any chance of being called up on stage to play the game. However, today one woman bid $801.00 and the next person said $800.00. Even Drew Carey wondered about that. He laughed and made a comment; of course, he needs to be careful what he says.

Now I ask myself, the same question Drew Carey probably had: What the hell was going on in the second bidders brain? He literally took himself out of the game. And he didn't even seem to realize that. Now, the woman who bid $801.00 made it onto the stage and ended up winning the showcase.
My other question is: Did that woman play a shrewd, psychological game by bidding $801.00?

This happened before, by the way.

Pussywillows: Is Spring here?

It has been cold for a few days now. Back to normal winter conditions, because the 'heatwave' we've had for a couple of weeks was not a good thing. This morning when I looked out of the window I noticed the catkins on the pussywillows are already out--almost large enough to be picked. That is much too early. Usually, I pick them around Easter Time.

Last week, a big, gray squirrel came to the bird feeder. Much of the snow has melted and now it is getting cold again, which is not good for the plants. They don't know what to do. That insulating blanket of snow got thinner.

I went ice-fishing yesterday, an event our club 'Seven Oaks Game and Fishing Association' puts on every year at this time. The ice was still thick enough to drive on with trucks, but the surface was bumpy. We jumped all over the place.

My son, my grandson, and I caught 3 small sauger. There were others who caught fish, but the action wasn't that great overall. A couple of years ago, I bought 'Fisherman's Delight' soap, to attract fish. I used it for the first time this year. All I have to say it was a waste of my money. It didn't help at all. Much of the stuff they are selling in the stores to help catching fish is useless.

The sun came out only in the afternoon for a bit, but most of the day it snowed. It was still a lot of fun anyway.We ate hot dogs for lunch, talked with other members of the club and when we got cold we warmed up inside our heated collapsible huts. Technology is wonderful--sometimes.

Even though it's only February, I'm beginning to think about my garden. I already bought some seeds and soon I'll be making my garden plan. That is important, because I'm moving the various vegetables around to different spots in the garden, making sure I don't plant tomatoes in the same row as last year or even the year before. It  needs to be done to cut down the chance of picking up diseases.

I sometimes don't understand the people who complain about being bored. I think it's just being lazy. There are not enough hours in a day and not enough days in a month for me to do all the stuff I want to do. I have no dull moments and I have no time to dwell on things that bother me. I've got 8 batches of wine sitting to be either filtered or even bottled. I have my aquariums to take care of, I plan my garden now and in the summer I work it. There is plenty of work in the yard, things to fix in and around the house. I write my books and promote them. If I have a bit of free time I go fishing, hunting in the Fall. When it snows I have to clean the driveway. I could go on.

All those people who complain they have nothing to eat or they live in a dump: How about planting a garden? How about raising rabbits for food? Or keeping a couple of goats for milk? We did that after the war in Europe. How about fixing the broken stuff in and around the house? How about cleaning up the yard and house? A coat of new paint does wonders. How about cooking instead of buying ready-made junk food? Make a soup, it's easy and doesn't cost much. Being busy keeps you from taking drugs or getting drunk or falling into a dark mood.

Sorry, got carried away.

Speaking of writing. My books #Codename Salamander and #Bullet of Revenge are on sale right now for $2.99 from my publisher Melange Books

http://www.melange-books.com/authors/herbertgrosshans/codenamesal.html

Have a wonderful Sunday and a great week

#Turkey/Vetable Soup

There is something about soups that gets me excited. I love soups. Soups are so versatile, delicious, and are easy to make. There is nothing complicated about cooking up a large pot of soup. Anyone can do it. I’m proof of that. I’m always surprised when young women claim they don’t know how to make chicken soup. To that I’ll say: Get off your butt and learn. When we got married, my wife knew the basics of cooking and baking, but she was by no means an expert. She learned and she is a great cook and baker. I count my lucky stars to have married a woman like her, because I love food.

We used to buy soup in cans. The problem with ready-made soups is they are salty and the salt-free soups have no taste. After a while I got tired of the taste, so I decided to make my own. With a little help of my wife and research on the internet another soup-maker was born. My wife doesn’t mind. After all, if I cook the soup she doesn’t have to. She leaves me alone in the kitchen, because she can’t bear to watch the mess I make, and that’s just fine with me. I need to be my own man when I cook soup. I clean up when I’m done.

Yesterday, I made a pot of turkey/vegetable soup. We use a pressure-cooker. It goes much faster.

We throw away very little food. In fact, almost nothing. I grew up during and after the war in Europe and I was raised not to waste food. It was scarce and we appreciated everything we could get. I get upset when I see people waste food, be it at a buffet or anywhere else. People who do that have never experienced bad times. They don’t know how it feels to have nothing to eat. We are spoiled here in Canada and in the USA, because of the abundance of food available.

When my wife cooks broccoli, she saves the water. That’s where all the vitamins are. We put it into containers and freeze it. We save the carcass of the turkey we eat for Thanksgiving or any other time. It also goes into the freezer, along with the neck, the wings, and anything else they leave inside. We do the same thing with the duck we usually eat for Valentine’s Day. If we have beef bones, we save them also. They make a good beef-soup.

I don’t have a real recipe for the soups I make. I use whatever ingredients we have in the fridge or freezer. This is how I made my last soup. All the measurements are approximate.

3 cups of Broccoli water
2 cups of no-salt-chicken broth
Part of a turkey carcass with some meat on the bones (broken into smaller pieces)
1 chicken leg and thigh  (sometimes I use two if we want more meat) -I remove the skin and fat-
½ cup of frozen peas
½ cup of frozen yellow beans (cut into ½ inch pieces)
4 large carrots (chopped)
3 large stalks of celery (chopped)
1 small turnip (cubed)
1 potato (cubed)
½ on onion (chopped small)
Spices I used: (I don’t measure. I just shake it out of the container)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp marjoram
Dash of ground cumin
Dash of club house original one step seasoning
Dash of Seasoning salt

I put everything into the pressure cooker, let it come to a boil (until the steam comes out of the vent) Then I turn down the heat and let go for 10 minutes. Then I shut off the heat and move the pot away from the element. Once it cools down I taste it and if it needs more salt, I add a little until I get the desired taste. We use very little salt.

We remove all the bones and meat, scrape the meat of the bones, pull it into smaller sizes and put the meat back into the soup.

The soup tasted delicious. I ate a bowl, kept enough out for two more meals and the rest I put into smaller containers and freeze it. I still have a few containers with different soups in the freezer, but I eat a bowl of soup almost every day. This means once in a while I have to make more. There are still more turkey bones in the freezer. Enough for another batch of soup. Next time I may put in some parsnip and maybe some frozen corn. In the summer, when my garden is producing, I put in Kale or cabbage. Or maybe Kohlrabi and Kohlrabi tops. The possibilities are endless. I might even use different spices.

I enjoy making soups and eating them. Soups are nourishing and don’t make you fat.

Oh, so yummy

#Million Dollar Quartet

Went to the theater last night. The #MTC (Manitoba Theatre Centre) in Winnipeg. Saw ‘Million Dollar Quartet’. The performers (Elliot Loran as Jerry Lee Lewis, Greg Gale as Johnny Cash, Matt Cage as Elvis Presley, and Kris Ulrich as Carl Perkins) put on a convincing and fabulous show. Kris Ulrich rocked with his unbelievable guitar-playing and Elliot Loran was entertaining and funny. He did not just tickle the ivories on the piano—he owned them. What a talent!
The only complaint I have is with the theater-goers. The people who have seats in the center of the row, why are they always the last to come in? So annoying and inconsiderate.

And that idiot in the parking lot? I admit, finding a parking space in that area of Winnipeg is always a challenge. I'm always there early and I found a spot in a lot where most of the spots are monthly parking for 24 hours a day, but there are a very few that allow parking after 6:00 PM and they charge $7:00 for the evening. Which is reasonable. Other parking lots charge $12:00. Robbery, as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, when we went to drive out of the lot, there was this car parked right behind us in the middle of the lot, which wasn't a parking space. This idiot just parked his car right there. It wouldn't surprise me if this person was one of the ones who had a seat in the center of the row in the theater. Got there late and couldn't find a spot.

Fortunately, I never just back out fast in a parking lot. I make sure there is nobody behind me. It could be a person walking by. The thing was, the parking lot was not well-lit and the car was difficult to see. If I had an old car with a steel-bumper I might have been tempted to back up fast and...you know! What a jerk! He was lucky his car wasn't towed away.

Otherwise, we had a great time. Listening to all those old rock-and-roll songs took us back many years. The majority of guests were older people who can relate to that area in our history. No terrorists in those days. You could relax at any gathering and enjoy life.

#Alone

This was the first time we watched an episode of the TV series 'Alone'-- the first episode of this season. It is the third season for that show. My wife and I are interested in it, but not yet hooked. We’ll see after we’ve watched a couple of episodes.

Sometimes you wonder how some of these contestants make it to the finals. There are 10 survivor specialists chosen from thousands of applications. Apparently, these 10 are the ultimate survivors who can survive under the most difficult conditions.

The first of them lasted two days. What a disappointment he was to the viewers, us included.

I don’t want to belittle these people. Just to make it to the final 10 is already an achievement, but come on! Quitting after 2 days of being alone in the wilderness? I consider myself to be an outdoors-man of sorts. I love hunting, fishing, camping and enjoy spending time by myself in the forest, but I’m not sure how long I would last being completely alone with just a few tools to survive. More than 2 days, of that I’m certain. The nights in such a hostile environment must be the worst, especially when you know there are wild boars and pumas around. Not exactly my ambition to be there in a makeshift shelter—without a gun or rifle, or even a bow. First thing I would make myself would be a spear.

What really made my eyebrows go up, was the fact that this macho man missed his wife and his three sons. Nothing weird about that. Now here is one thing though that wasn’t quite clear to me. When they showed him in his home environment he played with two dogs. He talked about adopting three sons. I hope he meant three human boys and not his dogs. Anyone calling a dog his son makes me wonder about his mental state of mind. A dog can be a friend or companion. I understand that. In fact, dogs make great loyal companions, more so than any human would, but they are not sons. Never sons or daughters! Unless a guy has sex with a female dog and somehow from that union a human-dog creature is born. But let’s not go there. That’s a totally different subject.

We have a bird—a canary. Sometimes I call him ‘my boy’ when I talk to him, and that is already weird enough. I make sure nobody is around when I do that, except for my wife, of course.  In the end, he is still a bird, cute and affectionate in his own way, a great singer, but only a little animal—not human.

So far on this first episode of Alone, they showed only four different people. I liked the woman. She caught fish, collected berries, and she made a chair for herself out of bamboo—for comfort. She came across as calm and competent. We’ll see what she does with building permanent shelter and preparing for colder weather, and how she makes sure she has food for those days when she doesn’t catch fish.