A Happy Childhood Memory

This morning, as I was sitting at the kitchen table watching, sparrows, juncos, and chickadees at my birdfeeder, I was reminded of a small bird I used to be fascinated by when I was growing up in New Zealand.

This small bird is called a Fantail, they mostly live on forest edges and in scrub habitats, but can often be seen in town in parks and gardens. We were lucky enough to have many trees around our home so the fantails were plentiful.

Fantails occasionally eat fruit, and berries, but they mostly eat insects.

It was when the fantails are catching insects that they are most interesting.

When catching insects in the air they are true acrobats, as they could change direction very quickly, they would dive and swoop, their tails would fan out, and they would almost come to a dead stop.

I spent many happy hours watching fantails in our yard.

I AM SO LUCKY

My honey, Mr. C made my birthday a special day indeed.

On Saturday morning, after my usual kiss and hug goodbye from my honey, I left the house to put in my half day at work.
Upon my arrival back home, Mr.C met me at the door and said, " you had better go check your email" My first reaction was, what has happened, my brain was not in the 'birthday mode yet'.

As I entered the den, the first thing I noticed was an envelope propped up on my computer keyboard leaning against a black monitor. "BLACK MONITOR, wait a moment, this is new, it is a flat screen, this is my birthday present !!! " Whoo Hooo!!!

When I had finished jumping up and down, I opened the envelope, to find a computer created birthday card, how cool, how special.

As all this excitement was going on Mr.C was standing there with a smile on his face, enjoying my reaction, he then told me to check out his blog as there was a message there for me.
"A message for me on his blog, I wonder what that is all about."

I very quickly, click, click clicked my way to Mr Completely's blog and found, well I am not going to tell you, you are going to have to go there to find out for yourself click HERE

Thank you Mr. C for a wonderful birthday.

KIWI WORD OF THE WEEK

SQUIZ: as in " Have a squiz" to take a look at something;

"Giz a squiz" - to ask for a look at something.

Happy Birthday To Me

Last night, I went to dinner with five women I work with.

We all share the same birth sign Aquarius, so you can imagine the fun we had.

This morning I have the pleasure of working half the day. OK, so I lied, it is not exactly a pleasure, then this afternoon, my sweetie is taking me out to dinner.

Recipe: Hot Chicken Salad

Triticale the Wheat/Rye Guy
is going to be hosting Carnival Of Recipes, a Potluck, over at his place. You are all invited.

I am taking Hot Chicken Salad which seems to be a crowd pleaser.


2-3 cups cooked chicken cut in chunks
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
3 cups diced celery
1 small onion, minced
1 cup mayonnaise
6 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 cup slivered almonds
3 tbsp. Lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste
3 cups crushed potato chips

Mix all ingredients except potato chips.
Put in casserole and top with potato chips.
Bake 375F for 25 minutes.

Variations:
Add 1 4oz. Can diced green chiles to chicken mixture, and top with jalapeno flavored chips.

Top with cheese flavored chips.

Spring Is On The Way

After all the wet dreary weather we have had, it is wonderful to see all my primroses in bloom.
I have to really control the urge to rush to the garden center and buy new plants, as it is, no where near time for planting yet.

I am sure most gardeners would agree, the first sight of flowers after a long winter, makes you quiver with excitement. You start looking through all the garden catalogs, and even stop by the garden center to see what is new.

Primroses (Primula) provide you with early spring blooms in almost every color of the rainbow. They prefer cool temperatures, a rich humus soil (lots of compost and leaf mold) and partial shade. They appreciate full sun in the spring, but must have semi shade as the temperatures warm. They are quite tolerant of being transplanted, even when they are in bloom.

Tuesday Chuckle

Walmart announced that they would soon be offering customers a new discount item:

Walmart's own brand of wine.

The world's largest retail chain is teaming up with E&J Gallo Winery of California to produce the spirits at an affordable price, in the $2-5 range.

Wine connoisseurs may not be inclined to throw a bottle of Walmart brand into their shopping carts, but "there is a market for cheap wine," said Kathy Miocene, professor of marketing. She said, "But the right name is important."

Customer surveys were conducted to determine the most attractive name for the Walmart brand. The top 10 surveyed names in order of popularity are:

10. Chateau Traileur Parc

9. White Trashfindel

8. Big Red Gulp

7. World Championship Riesling

6. NASCARbernet

5. Chef Boyardeaux

4. Peanut Noir

3. I Can't Believe It's Not Vinegar!

2. Grape Expectations

1. Nasti Spumante

The beauty of Walmart wine is that it can be served with either white meat (possum) or red (squirrel).

Hat tip to GrampaPinhead

GOOD LUCK SEAHAWKS

RAH ! RAH ! RAH ! GO SEAHAWKS

RAH ! RAH ! RAH ! GO SEAHAWKS

Mr. Completely and I will be watching the game and cheering the Seahawks on. We are not huge football fans, but we do like to see our Washington State team win.

Update:

WE WON ! NOW, ON TO THE SUPER BOWL

The Carnival of Recipes #75

The Carnival Of Recipes is up over at Morning Coffee & AfterNoon Tea.

Christine, you have made a 'scrumptious' journey, collecting and organising all these wonderful recipes into a feast for our eyes.

Thank you from one chocoholic to another.

click HERE to visit and drool !

Getting Older

Getting older is like visiting an all-you-can-eat Buffet

What should be hot is cold

What should be firm is limp ...

And

The buns are bigger than anything else on the menu~!

How To Speak Kiwi

Ear roebucks - Exercise at gym

Adults Only Brownies

These brownies are not for those of you, who are *faint of heart* when it comes to cholesterol or calories!


2 sticks butter
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. cocoa
6 eggs, separated
1 tbsp. Of your favorite coffee liqueur
1 c. sifted flour
2 c. nuts

Cream butter, blend in sugar and cocoa. Stir in egg yolks; when well blended, fold in by hand sifted flour, chopped nuts, egg whites which have been beaten to stiff peaks and liqueur. Pour into long pan (8 x 12 inch or similar). Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. After cooling, spread with coffee icing.

COFFEE ICING:

1 stick butter
1/2 c. cocoa
1/2 c. cold coffee, (the stronger the better.)
1 tbsp. of your favorite coffee liqueur
1 box powdered sugar
Pinch of salt

Cream butter until whipped light. Alternate sugar, coffee and cocoa (cocoa depends on ones taste for cocoa, up to 1 cup can be used). Add liqueur and pinch of salt and blend thoroughly.

You may use more liqueur if you wish, if you do, adjust the amount of cold coffee or add more powdered sugar to get the desired consistency.

OK! If you must serve these brownies to the kids, substitute vanilla for the liqueur.

Thursday Chuckle

How to retire in style

About 2 years ago my wife and I were on a cruise through the western Mediterranean aboard a cruise ship. At dinner we noticed an elderly lady sitting alone along the rail of the grand stairway in the main dining room. I also noticed that all the staff, ships officers, waiters, busboys, etc., all seemed very familiar with this lady. I asked our waiter who the lady was, expecting to be told that she owned the line, but he said he only knew that she had been on board for the last four cruises, back-to-back.

As we left the dining room one evening I caught her eye and stopped to say hello. We chatted and I said, "I understand you've been on this ship for the last four cruises." She replied, "Yes, that's true." I stated, "I don't understand" and she replied, without a pause, "It's cheaper than a nursing home."

So, there will be no nursing home in my future. When I get old and feeble, I am going to get on a Princess Cruise Ship. The average cost for a nursing home is $200 per day. I have checked on reservations on a Princess and I can get a long- term discount and senior discount price of $135 per day. That leaves $65 a day for:

1. Gratuities which will only be $10 per day.

2. I will have as many as 10 meals a day if I can waddle to the restaurant, or I can have room service (which means I can have breakfast-in-bed every day of the week).
3. Princess has as many as three swimming pools, a workout room, free washers and dryers, and shows every night.

4. They have free toothpaste and razors, and free soap and shampoo.

5. They will even treat you like a customer, not a patient. An extra $5 worth of tips will have the entire staff scrambling to help you.

6. I will get to meet new people every 7 or 14 days.

7. T.V. broken? Light bulb need changing? Need to have the mattress replaced? No Problem! They will fix everything and apologize for your inconvenience.

8. Clean sheets and towels every day, and you don't even have to ask for them.

9. If you fall in the nursing home and break a hip you are on Medicare; if you fall and break a hip on the Princess ship they will upgrade you to a suite for the rest of your life.

Now hold on for the best! Do you want to see South America, the Panama Canal, Tahiti, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, or name where you want to go?

Princess will have a ship ready to go. So don't look for me in a nursing home, just call shore to ship.

PS : And don't forget, when you die, they just dump you over the side -- at no charge.

I am making my reservation ahead of time!

Just a Thought

Ladies, wouldn't it be wonderful if we could save up our * hot flashes* and recall them, to use when we felt cold.
This idea came from my honey, after I complained of being very cold, after a day at the gun range.

A Chilhood Memory

CHOCOLATE

Isn’t there a rule which says? “ you must consume chocolate every day?” No, well there should be.
Why I love chocolate so much today, is probably a result of not getting enough chocolate during my childhood.
OK, I thought this was a good excuse, it is my story and I am sticking to it.

When I was a child, chocolate was kept for ‘special occasions’. Every Easter my two brothers and I would receive a large hollow Cadbury’s egg. The boys would have theirs eaten that very day, but mine would last a whole lot longer.

I always unwrapped the beautiful colored patterned foil very carefully and smoothed it out so I could keep it with my other kid treasures. I would then nibble a small hole in the top of the egg, just enough so I could reach one finger inside and break off small bite size pieces from around the hole. Over the next few days I would break off small pieces, enjoying each morsel, until the egg was finished.

When my brothers would ask me for some of my chocolate, I would always tell them, in true kid fashion, "you should not be so piggy, and make yours last longer!" Of course, this led to all kinds of name calling, which Mum had to come and stop before it led to blows.

Christmas was one other time the family enjoyed chocolate. This time it was a large box of ROSES chocolates, mmmmm soft cream centers, nuts, caramel, etc. and Mum held out the box so each of us could choose our favorite, foil wrapped chocolate, thereby stopping any squabbles between us kids.

Christmas was always when my family went on vacation. Here in USA, in some states, we freeze our buns off at Christmas, in New Zealand we enjoy the warm days of summer.

This one particular vacation we did not have the usual box of ROSES chocolates, instead Mum brought out this humungeous block of SOLID CHOCOLATE, it seemed it was about eight inches by eight inches by one inch thick, you can imagine the look on us three kids’ faces, I am sure our chins, covered in drool, hit our chests.

Mum then proceeded to break off nice large chunks of the chocolate for us, ooooooooh I still remember the feel of that chocolate melting in my mouth, and that much chocolate at one time, if this was heaven, I had arrived!

No wonder I am such a Chocoholic

Chalk Drawing

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For your enjoyment on this Monday, a sidewalk drawing from a talented artist.

I ain't telling!

Next week's carnival will be hosted by Morning Coffee and Afternoon Tea.
It is suggested that the recipes include, tea, coffee or Chocolate.

This afternoon,I whipped a batch of the "goodies' I will submit for the carnival, and of course I had to eat a couple of the "goodies" ooooh! I think I just gained several pounds. I also made Mr.Completely eat two, so I would not feel so bad.

I did not have any dinner as the two ?????'s I ate filled me up, and supplied enough calories for two meals.

You are just going to have to wait until friday to see my recipe.

PRISON VS. WORK

Just in case you ever got the two mixed up. This should make things a bit clearer.

IN PRISON.. you spend the majority of your time in an 8X10 cell.

AT WORK... you spend the majority of your time in a 6X8 cubicle.


IN PRISON...you get three meals a day.


AT WORK...you only get a break for one meal and you pay for it.


IN PRISON...you get time off for good behavior.

AT WORK...you get more work for good behavior.


IN PRISON...the guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.

AT WORK...you must carry around a security card and open all the doors for yourself.


IN PRISON...you can watch TV and play games.

AT WORK...you get fired for watching TV and playing games.


IN PRISON...you get your own toilet.

AT WORK...you have to share with some idiot who pees on the seat.


IN PRISON...they allow your family and friends to visit.

AT WORK...you can't even speak to your family.


IN PRISON...the taxpayers pay all expenses with no work required.

AT WORK...you get to pay all the expenses to go to work and then they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners.


IN PRISON...you spend most of your life inside bars wanting to get out.

AT WORK...you spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars.


IN PRISON...you must deal with sadistic wardens.

AT WORK...they are called managers.

Have a Great Day at WORK

Hat Tip to my blogger friend, Grampa Pinhead

Carnival of the Recipes #74 has arrived.

The Common Room has done a wonderful job of putting together a whole bunch of recipes from breakfast to dessert.
To see all the recipes click Here

Where are my Gumboots?

Yikes! we have had 26 days of rain, I am considering finding plans for building an ark.

It is not so much the rain, as the lack of sunshine. It is sooooo gloooomy, I think buying some of those special UV lightbulbs and installing them around the house may brighten things up a little.

I am complaining about the rain, but, I would rather splash around in the puddles than slip and slide on ice and snow, been there and done that!

There are folks over on the mainland who are dealing with flooding and mudslides, so I had better quit my whinging (kiwi for whining) find my gummboots, (kiwi waterproof boots) and count my blessings I am not having to deal with floodwater and mud.

KIWI WORD OF THE WEEK

You ain't wrong: That's right, yes.

Aztec Chili Salad

1 pound ground beef
1 package chili seasoning
½ cup water
15 ¼ oz. Can kidney beans, undrained
14 ½ oz. Can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained and cut up.
½ cup sour cream
3 tbsp. Mayo
1 fresh medium tomato, diced
¼ cup chopped cilantro
½ tsp Lawry’s seasoned pepper.
1 head lettuce
1 red bell pepper, sliced
¼ cup sliced green onions
1 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese
¼ cup olives.

Brown ground beef, drain. Stir in chili seasoning, water, beans, and canned tomatoes; blend well. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.

For dressing, in blender or food processor, blend sour cream, mayo, fresh tomato, cilantro, and seasoned pepper. Refrigerate until chilled.

On 6 individual plates, layer lettuce, chili meat, bell pepper, green onions, cheese, and olives. Drizzle with chilled dressing.

Sliced jicama wedges go well with this salad.
You can also use ground turkey or shredded chicken instead of the beef.

LOVE LIVES ON:

As a kid, I would see this gentleman riding his bicycle around town, and was always impressed how a blind person had the courage to be out on the road with all the cars going by.

He would ride alongside a sighted person with one arm reaching over and resting on his friend's shoulder for guidance.

Jack Shortt never let anything, or anyone, hold him back from what he wanted to do

Jack Shortt has named his birthday gift for his wife. She was a shorthand typist who learnt braille and he learnt to type so they could send love letters to each other.


It's the blind leaving to the blind. Jack Shortt's 90th birthday will be celebrated on Saturday, but the Palmerston North man is doing the giving.

Mr Shortt, who has been blind since he picked up an Army shell at Foxton Beach when he was 12, is giving his life savings of $45,000 to the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind to fund more talking books.

Reading is one of his main "time fillers", says the Savage Crescent resident, along with ham radio, his garden and working with cane. He also played cornet in the Blind Institute Band of the 1930s and '40s and is an indoor bowls and rowing champion.

He's a fit 90 year old.

The story goes that several years ago he was told off by his neighbours for climbing the 15-metre tower in his backyard when the aerial cable for his short-wave radio set came undone.

He climbed down, waited for nightfall when no one was around and went back up again to fix it.

Mr Shortt has made the donation because he loves reading.

News from Down Under

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Now, how often do you find a piano on your local beach? This one was found on a beach not far from where I grew up.

PIANO MYSTERY:

The Piano
10 January 2006

It may not be in quite the same league as Jane Campion's movie masterpiece, but the discovery of a piano on Turakina Beach, about 20km south of Wanganui, has local residents wondering what's going on

Writer and actor Peter Hawes, pictured, who lives at the beach, said news of the find at the weekend spread quickly and it is already becoming an icon. The origin of the Walter Collinson upright is a mystery, but Mr Hawes says a piano of the same make was recently offered for sale on the internet trading site TradeMe by a Palmerston North resident.

Kitty Heaven

One day a cat dies of natural causes and goes to heaven. There he meets the Lord Himself. The Lord says to the cat, "You lived a good life and if there is any way I can make your stay in Heaven more comfortable, please let me know."

The cat thinks for a moment and says, "Lord, all my life I have lived with a poor family and had to sleep on a hard wood floor."

The Lord stops the cat and says, "Say no more" and a wonderful fluffy pillow appears.

A few days later 6 mice are killed in a tragic farming accident and went to Heaven. Again the Lord is there to great them with the same offer. The mice answered, "All our lives we have been chased. We have had to run from cats, dogs, and even women with brooms. We are tired of running. Do you think we could have roller skates so we don't have to run anymore?"

The Lord says, "Say no more," and fits each mouse with a beautiful pair of roller skates.

About a week later the Lord stops by to see the cat and finds him snoozing on the pillow. The Lord gently wakes the cat and asks him, "How are things going since you have been here?"

The cat stretches, yawns, and replies, "It is wonderful here. Better than I could have ever expected. And those Meals On Wheels you have been sending by are the best!!!"

Birdie House Bargain

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I was going to tell you all about our weekend adventures but you can go read about it at Mr. Completely's.

On the way out of Washougal we stopped at a Bi-mart.

On my first sweep up the sale aisle, I noticed the Christmas bird houses , which were priced at $7.99 , down from $22, I thought it was a great price and maybe I would buy one after I had checked out all the other goodies.

On my second trip down the Christmas aisle, I mentioned to one of the sales associates, who was standing near by, that the price on the bird houses was really good. She told me ALL Christmas items were selling for 25 cents each, I could hardly believe I heard her correctly.

We came out of the store with all four bird houses which were left, a few other decorations, and four tins of Danish Butter Cookies for 25 cents, which Mr. Completely discovered, just as we were about to leave the store.

Oh! how I LOVE a bargain!

Mini Vacation from Blogging

I will not be doing any blogging until probably Monday.

Mr. Completely and I are heading down to the Portland area for both business and pleasure.

On Saturday we are meeting up with one of our blogger friends, Rivrdog, and will get in a little range time. We will also work over some of the final details and equipment for the pin shoot to be held on March 11th.

Sunday all day will be spent in Washougal, Washington, a small town just over the border from Oregon, installing a computer system and training the employees how to run it all, then back home late Sunday night.

I Got to Choose!

BackPack Picnic Set

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Once a month, at our Fishin' Club's meeting, we raffle off several cool prizes. Mr.Completely always buys a bunch of tickets, I buy a few, depending how many dollars I have in my pocket.

Last night when we arrived I went to see what I could win, and there was a cool picnic set, I mentioned to Mr.C "I would like that"

When the tickets were drawn Mr.C was lucky to be the first winner and told me to choose what I would like to have, of course you know what I chose.

I was lucky to be the third winner, so I chose a very nice flashlight. Can't have too many flashlights around the house when you live in an area of frequent windstorms resulting in power failures.

The picnic set includes, 4 place settings featuring, knives, forks, spoons, plates, picnic wine glasses and fabric napkins. little wooden salt and pepper shakers, a cheese knife, wooden cutting board, multi-function tool, including a bottle opener, corkscrew and blade.

The backpack has two storage pockets, an insulated inner pouch, and a detachable insulated wine bottle holder.

I can hardly wait for warmer weather to get here so we can go on a picnic.

How To Speak Kiwi

Munner Stroney-Soup

RECIPE: Tomato Ham and Vodka Sauce

4 tbsp. butter
1 onion, chopped
1/4 lb. cooked ham, finely chopped (prosciutto)
1/2 c. vodka
1 c. canned crushed tomatoes
1 c. heavy cream or Half & Half
3 dashes Tabasco sauce

Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the ham, tomatoes, and vodka and simmer until the sauce has been reduced by about one-fourth, 10 to 15 minutes. Slowly add the cream and Tabasco. Stir until well blended and hot. Serve over hot pasta (penne is recommended).

Tuesday Eye Teaser

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No blogging today, work calls, so I have left an eye teaser for your enjoyment.

2006 is here and there are Things To Do

2006 is here, all the Christmas and New Year celebrations are over, so now, as
Mr. Completely says 'Back to the Grind' We already have many fun things planned for the upcoming year. Go on over to MrCompletely's site to see our schedule.

I know one thing I am going to do, and that is, get more exercise, and limit my chocolate treats! I am a true 'chocoholic'.
I have put my jar of chocolate treats up in a very high cupboard, and need a stepstool to get the jar. IT WORKS!! It is an effort to go find my stepstool to get chocolate, so I do not bother.

You would be proud of me. Last night I was craving chocolate, just one, ("just one? yeah! right, until you get into the jar") I hate the little voices in my head, anyhow, I really had to tell myself it was way too late at night for sugar, so forget it. I went to bed without chocolate. WHOO HOO ! victory.

Another thing I am going to do for my self, is take advantage of the free massage, I get every month, at the spa where I work.
I was there this morning for a massage, and OH! BOY do I ever have sore spots, in spots I never knew I had, I gotta' them worked out.

Now I have to get my behind away from the computer and do some real work!

CARNIVAL OF RECIPES IS UP

Caterwauling Says

TIME FOR CINDERELLA TO BE ON HER WAY TO THE BALL

In any event, I was thinking about the holiday season and realized that you just can’t have it without circles like wreaths, and also balls. (Get your minds out of the gutter, people!)

But think about it — we make tons of cookies and appetizers and side dishes, and everything starts as a lovely, one-inch circle before it bakes up all bubbly and chewy and tasty. We put glass balls on our Christmas trees. Even mistletoe comes in a ball (although the sprig is prettier, but you get the idea).

You can find all the mouth watering recipes over at Caterwauling