The Hunter/Gather of Surburbia

Are we where we live?

January 22, 2012

Sustainable farming

On the left side of my blog you will see a variety of blogs, one in particular is dear to my heart, Lakeview Farm. I went to high school with the owner/operator/farmer. He was the one who got away, not that I really pursued him, but I most certainly should have. But that is neither here no there. They raise meat animals in a natural and sustainable way. I hope to purchase a half of a lamb this spring. I love lamb, I really do, if I had freezer room I'd purchase a whole one. I have discovered, however, that like most store bought meat, store bought lamb is not as tasty as I remember when I raised sheep in high school.
The farm is in Halsey which in the Valley which makes it very hard to purchase the chicken, eggs, turkey, and coffee that they also sell. You can also buy a  share in a cow and receive all the products she produces. Can't buy milk, of course, because Oregon had a freak attack about unpasturized milk products. Anyway, if you live near there, not that anyone even reads my blog, you should contact them about purchasing their products.
My stomach is rumbling from a recipe for roasted chicken, of course chicken raised at Lakeview, I will try the recipe this week with, unfortunately, store bought chicken from Safeway.

Divinity has landed

Finally did it! And now of course I have eaten half of them already.





They taste good, in my humble opinion, I just needed to cook the sugar mixture a bit longer and take more time with egg whites. I'll not be sure I have it under control until I am able to replicate more than one batch. Sort of the scientific method of candy making.

January 20, 2012

Day 3 of now what is called an inclement weather day.

"Inclement weather" sot of catches it all don't you think? Flooding in my hometown of Salem caused the District to cancel classes and crazy ice shuttered schools here in Hermiston. Ice is so bad I couldn't walk on the grass, which I thought was safer, without falling down. And again it is sort of nice because I can make Emma slide the way I want her to go, which is on to the parking lot for some reason. Falling in the parking lot would have hurt, falling in the grass hurt my pride.
The sun came out and melted just enough old ice to get to make new ice. How wonderful, people still driving a bit crazy on the highway, way too fast for the conditions. Oh, and of course the one truck that zipped by was Swift truck, yes "Swift" is the name of the hauling company. Driver drove way too fast, way too fast maybe he was the same Swift driver who almost killed a few weeks ago on 395 in Power City. Which reminds me there is a Wildlife Area in Power City that I keep not going to. It is on the way to McNary Dam and I just don't make the turn, I'll do better next week since this weekend we are probably stuck here until the ice melts. I've been watching the people having to go to work this morning and even with studs they are slipping a bit before the studs catch.
I am so glad I walked to Safeway on Wednesday and got a few things and that I stopped Tuesday night on my way home from class. There is no way I could walk to the store the past two days. Watching a neighbor trek to the garbage cans hope he makes it ok. Sun is currently not winning the battle with the clouds, which means the ice is still hard as a rock.

January 18, 2012

Snow Day!

Got the call at 5:24 this morning, yes I checked my phone. I was then awake for about an hour, which sucked but at least I remembered to turn off the alarm.
Today is Black Internet Day or something, several sites are going black to protest SOPA and PIPA which is supposed to go before Congress later this month. While I do not understand the intricacies of the bills, I do understand why there are protests in opposition to them. This time it seems that Hollywood or producers of content that will end up on the Internet are banging Congress with millions to be able to block content, pull down content, etc. without due process. Not very liberal of you Hollywood. I always cite my sources so I don't think I would be a target, but then again you never know especially if the entity who wants it pulled down doesn't need any proof at all to accuse of you doing infringing on copywrite.
I think these bills are in reaction to wikileaks. What I would like to know has any person or operation or government been truly compromised by what has been leaked? And I know if the leaks were of Taliban or Al Quada, I know I spelled that wrong, no one would care now would they? Or if North Korea's dirty little secrets were aired or any of our enemies, but because it was our secrets we are all up in their faces about it. Now that I have made myself a target I will again become apolitical.
Ok, I'm never really apolitical, but  why is the Internet so slow today, or is it the weather here that is the problem? Yes, that whole sentence didn't make a lot of sense, but as I said the Internet is slow and I had wait like 30 seconds for that sentence to even appear.
Have a wonderful rest of the day.

January 16, 2012

It snowed!!

Well, it did snow last night, of course most of it is gone now, but it did snow! I will be going to see my new granddaughter in about two weeks and I am excited to hold her and get to know her a little bit. I am also going to be picking up Mouse. Mouse is a two year old pug raised by a former colleague and friend. Ok, not a former friend, but anyway, Mouse had an eye infection when he was a puppy and is now going blind. I was thinking about either a dog or kitten and Phil asked if I would like Mouse. I actually have a bit of experience with blind dogs, my own Mimi lost her sight and moved happily about our house and the backyard for many years. She was of course an old dog. I also worked at a vet's office where they had a blind cocker spaniel. She too was able to move about the vet office with relative ease. Her name was Misty.
My daughter is upset that I am not bringing over Destiny, but my lovely old Destiny is about 80 lbs and too big for the apartment. I tussled over bringing her here after she spent some time here over the Christmas Break. But the more I thought about it, the more I just knew she wasn't as happy here. Kelsey says Destiny misses me and whines a lot. I think Destiny missed the girls, Lauren and Lexi. She also whined here, but that could have been more here worrying over where she was.




This is Destiny laying on the couch with Lauren a couple of years back. I love and miss that dog, but I think farm life is better for her than being couped up in a one bedroom apartment most of the day.

January 15, 2012

Snow???

The forecast says snow showers, then later in the week freezing rain. I prefer snow showers thank you very much. I am not sure what Emma prefers, other than balmy weather. She has a great coat.




It even has a hood! Payday I will be getting her some booties in anticipation of even colder weather. I checked at Eddie Bauer, $69; and at Petco $39. Eddie's booties got more raves than pans and Petco's more pans than raves. But man, $69? I don't know. I need new walking sneakers and those run $65 to $120. Of course, at least for me, I buy one pair of walking shoes every three or four years, maybe two now that I am walking more on daily basis so the price is crazy. Emma's probably one pair every, probably ever, for her. Just worried about how she will take to them.

January 13, 2012

Since Christmas

I was so lucky to have Andrew for a whole week! I miss him so much. I miss Kelsey's girls a bunch too. That's what happens when grandchildren live with you. As my six month in Hermiston begins I am sharing the pictures of my grandkids


Andrew posing at McNary Dam Nature Area, that rock is one that came all the way from Montana during the Missoula Floods, little Lexi waiting impatiently for Thanksgiving dinner, and lastly Lauren and Jesse. Miss them all so much. When I have really good pics of my newest grandchild LilyAnne those will be posted here too.