She's back, but will the Turkey Lady live to see another day

Thanksgiving blessings to one and all

As a Kiwi living in USA, I sure do enjoy the tradition of Thanksgiving. Not only all the delicious food, but a time to stop and really consider what we are thankful for. I am thankful for many, many things and will reflect upon them today as I go about fixing a traditional dinner for my honey and I.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers, family and friends.

Cool stuff and thought for the day

Thought for the day:
Life is an endless struggle full of frustrations and challenges, but eventually you find a hair stylist you like.

Tuesday chuckle

Thank you for thinking about us

We really appreciate the food on this cold day.

So many yummy seeds to choose from.

Just love this suet.

My toes are cold!

TGIF

Whew! thank goodness the weekend is nearly here. I have had a long busy week at work and am still not feeling up to par, so a couple of days rest will be nice.

The forecast is for rather cold temperatures coming up, so we have to be prepared. Have to put insulators over the outside faucets, make sure any plants which can't take the cold are protected, and bring in some firewood so I can sit by the fire and read.

I may get a few things for Thanksgiving prepared as I will be working right up 'till the day before, and I hate rushing about on the day, trying to get it all done. Kinda' takes some of the fun out of Thanksgiving when you are too tired to enjoy it.

Cool stuff and Thought for the day

Thought for the day:

Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric. Bertrand Russell

Cool stuff and Thought for the day

Thought for the day:
If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

Asian chicken noodle soup

1 tsp. vegetable oil
3 tsp. grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, grated
3 T soy sauce
1 tsp. granulated sugar
4 cups chicken stock
2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
2 heads baby bok choy, thinly sliced, green and stalks separated
1 cup cooked chicken meat, shredded
dash of rice wine vinegar
4 eggs
1/2lb angel hair pasta, cooked rinsed and tossed with sesame oil
sliced scallion and red pepper flakes for garnish

1. Heat oil in a medium soup pot. add ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant. Add soy sauce, sugar, chicken stock, sesame oil and bok choy stalks.Simmer 5 minutes. Add chicken and bok choy greens. Simmer until chicken is heated through and bok choy is bright green.
2. bring a wide shallow pan of water to a boil, reduce to a bare simmer. Add a dash of rice wine vinegar. Crack one egg at a time into a small dish and gently slide each one into the simmering water. Gently poach until whites are done and yolks are still runny. Remove with a slotted spoon onto a plate.
3. Divide noodles between 4 bowls, creating a nest like pile in the center of each bowl. Ladle the soup into the bowls, and top with a poached egg. Garnish with chopped scallions and red pepper flakes.

I made just half of the recipe for myself, poached the egg until the yolk was a little firmer, as that is the way I like my eggs, and enjoyed the soup for my dinner. I will have the other half for tomorrow's lunch, minus the egg. It's not that I don't like the egg, it is just that I watch how many I consume in a week. Besides, the soup is just as tasty without an egg on top.
I really enjoyed the second bowl of soup for my dinner last night, as I am feeling somewhat puny with this viral infection I have, and have lost my appetite. The red pepper flakes kicks the dish up a notch making it very tasty.

Ruger in Prescott Arizona

On Thursday during our stay in Prescott AZ we were very fortunate to be able to tour the Ruger factory where some very nice firearms are being manufactured. Just a little information about the facility: it is located adjacent to the Prescott Airport and does not conduct tours for visitors, but at out annual Gun Blogger Rendezvous, we happened to mention to Lori Petoske, marketing support coordinator for the company, that we would be in Prescott in October, where their manufacturing facility was located, and how much we would like to be able to visit and look around. Lori spoke to the right people, and voila! we were able to take the tour.

There was a fairly stiff breeze blowing, but I did manage to get a photo of the flags on the front of the building before the wind whipped them into a crumpled mass.

This bronze sculpture of a cowboy sits in front of the Prescott, Arizona manufacturing facility of Sturm Ruger.

The inscription on the plaque at the base of the statue reads,

“An Honest Days Work”
by Fred Fellows.

In the vast reaches of the American West
the work ethic still exists.
The man who makes his living on horses
that are bound to buck, earns his pay.
A good hand is loyal to his outfit, meets a challenge,
and takes pride in an honest days work.

The factory is huge, this is just a very small area of the facility.

This gentleman very kindly allowed me to take his picture. As you can guess, our visit was just before Halloween and he was celebrating in his own way, by wearing this very stylish witch's hat *grin*
Something I noticed as we walked by the workers, is the pride they take in their work. A couple of the guys were only too happy to show us the parts they were working on, and I could clearly see the pride shining in their eyes. I think Mr Ruger, (since passed away) who bought the cowboy sculpture to grace the area in front of his facility, felt the cowboy creed and work ethic of A good hand is loyal to his outfit, meets a challenge, and takes pride in an honest days work. is just as important today as it was yesteryear.

As we were guided around the factory by Jim Elliott, Plant manager, he explained how the system of manufacturing parts was undergoing a revamp. Formerly a particular part, say for instance, the barrel of a gun, starting out as a solid piece of metal, went to the first machine, where it was worked on, placed in a wire basket then sat around until it went on to the next machine. Now the whole way of manufacturing a specific part has been, and is still undergoing re-organization of the machines so they are all in lines. This means the barrel, which starts out as a solid piece of metal, goes to the first lathe/milling machine goes through the first process, then is passed to a worker on the next machine, and so on down the line, until the finished product comes off the end of the line. This is a very efficient use of floor space, and means there are no baskets of parts sitting around all over the facility for days, waiting to go to the next stage to be worked on.

This was the next to last place we visited. This is where every weapon which is now fully assembled, is put through it's paces. About five rounds are shot through every gun so as to find any possible problems in it's performance, and if one is discovered then there are baskets of new parts to be installed before the problem gun is once again tested. The final action before the weapon is sent on, is one more round is fired, the casing placed in a small envelope which is put with the gun, so the buyer of that particular weapon knows it has been thoroughly tested.
From here the tested weapons go right next door, where they are boxed and made ready for distribution.

This was a very interesting tour of the Ruger plant, and I am sure you, the women readers of Keewee's Corner, are asking "what on earth do you find interesting about a factory which manufactures guns?" Well, my answer is this, as far back as I remember, I have always been fascinated by what makes things tick, so to speak. Watching the lathe and milling machines performing their very accurate machining, then seeing the end result, was very interesting, and of course, being a pistol shooter, it was great to see what goes in to making a gun.

My thanks goes to Lori Petoske, who helped to make the tour happen, and to Jim Elliott, plant manager, who took time from his busy schedule, to show us around and explain how the facility functions.

HERE is Mr C's blogpost on our visit to Ruger

Back from our mini vacation to AZ

We arrived in Prescott Arizona, late in the day on Wednesday October 27th, to a sky tinted rosy by the setting sun. It was starting to cool off from the 70 degree day we had been enjoying while driving from Phoenix where we flew into and picked out, yes that is right, we had three SUV's to choose from at the vehicle rental agency. We chose a nice silver grey Jeep, which was fairly comfortable, considering it was a 4 wheel drive vehicle, also designed for off road driving.

I loved the beautiful blue sky which greeted us every day. during our five day stay.

After checking into our room at the Best Western Prescottonian, we decided to eat dinner at the on premises, Mexican restaurant, Casa Bonita. When we stepped inside the door, we were greeted with a profusion of gorgeous bright colors. The back of all the chairs had been hand carved and painted in a riot of color. I can imagine what a delight this would have been to a young child, knowing how much they love the brightness of primary colors.

This wall mural was on the wall right above the booth we sat at.
It was difficult to choose from the extensive menu, but I finally settled on chicken fajitas. When the meal arrived my eyes nearly popped out of my head. First came a plate with all the fixin's including a small ramekin with delicious savory beans, and then arrived the plate of sizzling chicken, onion and bell peppers, and the warm fajitas. Oh my! how was I going to eat all that. I did not even manage to chow my way through half of it. I had them box up the rest, and took it back to place in the refrigerator in our room. Sadly the leftovers were tossed out, as every morning we ate a very hearty breakfast at the free buffet which was included in our room rate, then we used to eat out on they way back to the motel after a days outing. Sheesh! my jeans are tight, must of shrunk in the wash or something *chuckle*

Cool stuff, and Thought for the day

Thought for the day:
People only see what they are prepared to see.