  First off, don’t forget to comment to enter our newest giveaway for this heavy, heavy, marble and wooden rolling pin and package of a Made In Oklahoma mix to roll out! Winner will be announced Labor Day weekend. As many of you have experienced yourselves, or have heard on television, Oklahoma, and its neighboring states, is experiencing severe drought. Our food prices are going to go up, I assure you. The corn crop is steadily worsening and that means higher meat prices this winter. We got a teasing of rain yesterday, but it was only just enough to remind us that we do have windshield wipers on the cars and that multiple 110º – 113º days basically disentegrates them to flopping, rubber, uselessness for rain. Here, at the Oklahoma Pastry Cloth™ acreage, the drought has reminded us that crops can be the least of our worries. With dying cedar trees, grass that crunches and a lack of water, some traveler’s cigarette butt or heat from a car muffler can turn this land into a horror movie. Such was the case this last week. A little over six miles from us, on Thursday, a fire started that became a three day inferno of Hollywood proportions. Over 100 homes and buildings were burned and, tragically, one person was unable to leave their house in time to avoid the flames. Ash rained down on our area and smoke filled the air. Everyone held their breath that no ash was hot enough to travel and start a new fire this direction. Firefighters from many Oklahoma towns converged on the Cleveland county fire, while battling other fires across the state as well. There have been plenty. Things like this have to remind us of what is important. It doesn’t matter how well you have planned and saved, it can all be gone in the blink of an eye. We have no guarantees that life will be smooth. But hearing the people talk who have lost their homes here is just such an inspiration. One man and his son had to make a dive into their pond to avoid being caught in the flames. Their home and buildings were destroyed. With a huge grin, showing sparkling, white teeth, the father simply thanked God and chuckled. He was grateful to be alive and felt that everything else could be replaced. Below, I just thought I’d give you a picture of what it looks like here right now. Not really all that pretty.  This is some of our pastureland two weeks ago. You can imagine what the weeks of triple digit temps have done to it now!!  The grass is dying and leaving bare spots. Very little green is left.  The sumac trees that make for amazing Fall foliage are wilted and dying. I don’t think that they will make it to Fall.  Even with Mr. Fix-It trying to keep everything watered, we are losing precious trees. This gargantuan Silver Maple is curling up. Mr. Fix-It is working hard to try to save it.  This is a picture of the fire nearest to the OPC™ digs.  Another fired burned at the same time, north.  While other fires rage on in other parts of the state.  I have discovered something in this hot-as-the-Sahara summer. Even with drought and all, periwinkles are miracle plants for the flower garden. I am now in love with periwinkles. It doesn’t matter if it’s 109º for a week in a row with just the bit of water that Mr. Fix-It can offer them to drink every so many days, the periwinkles seem to say, “Bring it on!! We’ll show you!!” and not only continue to bloom, but spread their foliage and blossoms in the meantime. I’m calling them my “drought flowers.” God has a way of giving us color and beauty within the desert to remind us that He is still in control!!! If you would like to donate to help victims of these fires, you can do so at the Central Oklahoma Red Cross website.  |
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Archive for the ‘A Day In the Life Of An Okie’ Category
The Reality of Fire
Wednesday, August 8th, 2012
Learning To Make Soap!
Monday, July 16th, 2012
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I assure you that this is going to be one, clean post. And yes, it’s about bars, but not the drinkin’ kind. I had so much fun the other day, I left in a lather. And, ok, I’ll stop now. What am I talking about? Last week, some of my friends and my daughter and I took a soap making class at the headquarters of Laughing Rabbit Soaps, under the tutelage of Charlotte Hayer. Charlotte is funny, excited about her craft and 100% on a mission to get others in Oklahoma to join her in soapmaking. For $25, we joined in the process of making 30 lbs of soap, each getting one pound to scent and color however we chose. One pound makes 4 bars of soap. And of course, you know me – I threw myself into the project with complete abandon, camera shutter flying. I am so excited about making a first attempt on my own. At that point, I’ll do a step-by-step. I am seeing all kinds of possibilities for soaps!! Just to let you see what we did, here are a few pictures.  First, Charlotte melted a mixture of solid fats and liquid fats in a large stockpot on the stove. She uses tallows or olive oil, palm oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, etc., depending on what type of soap she is making. She used a thermometer to determine that the temp of the oils was correct.  She showed us that there are all kinds of additives that one may use in soaps, including goats milk which should be added cold or frozen. She said that canned or cartoned goats milk can be employed if one does not raise goats.  Charlotte had mixed her lye into three separate containers of water several hours prior to our arrival in order for it to cool She did the three containers because she was making a triple batch of soap. She made sure that we understood that one always adds lye to water – not water to lye. The lye water was added to the oils.  Here’s something that I’m going to have to find because it works soooo well!! – A stick blender or wand blender to some people. The mixture of oils and lye were mixed together until it began to thicken and “trace”.  At this point, Charlotte filled plastic refrigerator containers with the liquified soap – one for each one of us.  We were given bottles of many types of essential oils, bags of ground flowers, herbs, cocoa and colorants. We used pipettes to transfer the oils to the soap and spoons for the dried materials and we just guessed at amounts.  As ingredients were added, the soap was stirred. I was amazed at how forgiving the soap is. We had plenty of time to make choices and experiment.  I added oatmeal baby cereal for gentleness, rosemary and peppermint essential oils, chopped vanilla bean for specks and cocoa for color.  The soap was covered to allow to cool slowly.  Charlotte used the leftovers to pour into one of her large molds. She colored her soaps with blue and pink, swirled. Very pretty.  Of course, Mr. Fix-It remains my hero. He helped me make my own mold for my first soap project and I think it is just pretty nifty. This mold will hold 4 lbs of soap and we will be making another one to match. I’m thinking of making a larger one as well. I have found my new adventure!! Stay tuned. |
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Homemade Ice Cream Like No Other!
Thursday, July 5th, 2012
 Happy July 4th week. We had such a special day. We got to spend it with the oldest daughter, her husband and their little girl – yep – that grandbaby again!! We ate and talked and ate and watched old home movies and ate and shot off fireworks (since we live way out in the country) and then stopped eating. The grill got fired up for bratwurst, hot dogs and luscious hamburgers infused with olive oil, liquid smoke, garlic powder, salt and worchestershire sauce. Dinner was good. But dessert was better! Now, I have to interject here that I have never – and I seriously mean never – made a decent batch of homemade ice cream. In fact, I can truthfully say that I’ve never EATEN a decent batch of homemade ice cream. I grew up on the stuff and, I suppose I need to apologize to family, but I always hated it. Just hasn’t ever been my cup of tea – well – bowl of ice cream. It was always so fragile that it turned into soupy stuff too fast, was grainy with ice crystals and was just too, too sweet. Putting chocolate syrup on top of that made it sickly sweet. And then, when leftovers were frozen, the result was a brick the shape of the container that no jackhammer could chip! Just a big waste of ice, salt and electricity to me!  Last Father’s Day, we got Mr. Fix-It a fancy, schmancy wooden ice cream freezer that can either be used with a hand crank, or made so much easier with an electric crank. Sadly, the gift had never left its box and so on the 4th, Mr. Fix-It announced that he wanted homemade peach ice cream, made with peaches from our trees. I was bound and determined to find a recipe that would knock his socks off. AllRecipes.com came to my rescue!! In order to make this recipe, you have to plan ahead because the base needs to chill in the frig overnight. That is very important. I made the base at about 9 in the evening on July 3rd, poured it into a bowl and allowed it to cool for 20 minutes, putting it in the refrigerator to cool thoroughly all night and even about half of the next day. When we poured the custard mixture into the hopper of the ice cream freezer, Mr. Fix-It was a little nervous at the amount. It looked like there was very little in the barrel. However, as it churned, that amount doubled and then tripled and believe me, we had plenty of ice cream! When the ice cream freezer stopped, we packed the canister in ice for two hours before serving. I was amazed at the result. It was the creamiest, most solid, not too sweet confection I’ve ever tasted. I was ecstatic. My daughter and son-in-law had two helpings each and oohed and ahhed over its creamy texture. However, Mr. Fix-It was not a happy camper. I had not made the fragile, soupy, ice crystal laden, ice milk with which we had all grown up. He was so disappointed. He was visably disappointed. But tasting that creamy peachiness, I just couldn’t feel bad. I was so excited over my results that I just couldn’t feel bad. However, I guess that next time, I’m will get two machines going: one with junket-style, old-fashioned, ice milk style stuff and the other with this new recipe!! I can tell you ahead of time which one will disappear first! Mr. Fix-It will be happy to have one ice cream freezer all to himself! So, try this out on your next hot weekend and let me know what you think. Thanks, AllRecipes.com!!  1 cup heavy cream 3 cups half-and-half cream 8 egg yolks 1 cup white sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 tbsp vanilla (I added 2 tsps Mexican vanilla because it is so strong) Optional: 1 cup pureed fruit like peaches, apricots, strawberries, raspberries, bananas, etc. or 1/2 cup cocoa can be added to the egg mixture in the second step for flavored ice cream. Instructions: 1. Pour the heavy cream and half-and-half cream into a heavy saucepan, place over medium-low heat, and heat until barely simmering, stirring frequently. Turn the heat down to low. 2. In the meantime, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. (Make any additions here) 3. Slowly pour about 1/2 cup of hot cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Repeat three times more, for a total of 2 cups cream added, whisking thoroughly before adding each additional 1/2 cup of hot cream to the egg yolk mixture. Pour the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hot cream, and whisk constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens and will coat the back of a spoon, 5 to 8 minutes. Do not let mixture boil. 4. Pour the ice cream base into a bowl and allow to cool for about 20 minutes; place in refrigerator and chill overnight. The next day, pour into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions. Remove the ice cream, pack into a covered container, and freeze for 2 hours or overnight before serving. At this point, I removed the paddle and packed the canister in ice instead of removing the ice cream to another container. I only put the leftovers into a plastic container to store in the freezer.  Even after freezing overnight and the next day, it is still just as creamy as can be. |
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It’s 105º And Soup?!
Wednesday, June 27th, 2012
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The good news is that my meds seem to be working and I don’t feel like I’m burning up from the inside out, with the accompanying clammy persperation from a metabolism gone haywire. And my eyes are a teeny tiny better and that is awesome. Thank you so much for your kind words, thoughts and prayers. But the bad news is that it is 105º outside. There was a roadrunner on the drive, carrying a frilly, little parasol to beat off the heat as she looked for a lizard. OK. So, I’m exaggerating a little. It was actually just a tiny fan.  I have to tell you about my adventure with our little Ellie-dog, our long-haired mini dachshund, in this heat. I was driving on the interstate, after having made some deliveries, and Ellie went along for the ride. She was in the front seat, panting from the very hot day and trying to get comfortable, when all of a sudden she jumped down to the floor. I told her to get back into the seat, but she dove under the car seat to the crackling and rustling of paper and plastic wrap. Backing out of her hideout, she jumped into the seat with a stale, partially eaten, chocolate cupcake. Chocolate can be deadly to dogs and I knew it. Just to give background: A few weeks ago, in a moment of absolute insanity, I had purchased a packaged “Super Chocolate” cupcake from a huge pile on a table at the grocery store. The pile was so inviting to a person who is supposed to be totally abstaining from such things and besides, there was a big, big sign that declared, “SALE!!”. They were on sale. That’s a siren song to this coupon shopper. I had to have one. So I did. When I got to the car, I opened the package, took one bite and thought, “Bleh! That’s awful!!” and put it back into its plastic wrapping, intending to toss it in the trash. That was a sale down the drain. I don’t know if my separation from such things made that cupcake taste bad or if it was just a sorry product, but whatever, my picky tastebuds saved me from myself. I placed the wrapped cupcake in a small bag and put it on the floor of the car, where I promptly forgot about it. I must have stopped fast or something, because that little bag rolled under the seat where it went to live in a cupcake no-man’s land. That is, until Ellie found it. As soon as she had grabbed that cupcake, she jumped onto the seat cushions on the passenger’s side of the car while, at the same time, my hand shot out to grab her nose. Now, remember that I am on the interstate going 70 mph. Ellie was trying with all her might to wolf down her treasure before I could pry her mouth open. Driving with my left hand, I stuck two fingers of my right into the back of her jaw, opened her mouth and scooped out wads of slobbery cupcake as Ellie tried valiantly to grab it back along with my fingers. I yelped. Using the elbow of my left arm, with hand on the wheel, I managed to get the window open partway in order to toss the offending cupcake onto the highway. I figured that it was so slobbery that it would decompose and that wouldn’t be considered littering? I managed to hold Ellie’s collar in such a way that she could not move to grab the chocolate pieces that had broken off and scattered all over the seat. And I mean ALL over the seat. Instead of heading back to work, I made a detour to the vet and plopped my silly puppy onto the table, stating rather foolishly, “She ate a chocolate cupcake. Not all of it, but some of it and it said that it’s a Super Chocolate cupcake!” The vet dubbed her Cupcake Dog and did an exam, using the name frequently. He determined that she was just going to have a really bad tummy ache because – yes, we read the ingredients on the cupcake package – there wasn’t even enough chocolate to call it just a Regular Chocolate cupcake, much less Super Chocolate. False advertising indeed. And so, Ellie, Cupcake Dog, did fine and I bandaged my fingers where she had been unable to distinguish between them and globby cupcake. No harm done. Better for you than preservative-filled, pretend chocolate cupcakes are the veggies in your garden. You do have a garden, right?! If not, then start thinking about next year! If you are like me, your garden is coming in all at once right now. It makes an overwhelming task to deal with mountains of tomatoes, potatoes, corn and every other kind of vitamin-filled vegetable that show up at this time of year. At the request of a reader, who asked what other kind of soups I process that use potatoes, I thought I’d share a recipe that my friend Janis invented and shared with me a number of years ago. She serves it every cold, Halloween night to volunteers who help with her community project. Her method of making this soup is the “dump” method and the ingredients include the “kitchen sink” but I put together a batch and measured what I did so that I could pass that on to you. The nice thing about this soup is that it makes so much that you are able to can it in the pre-meat stage and then cook up your meat prior to serving so that it is fresh tasting and delicious. The recipe makes about 8 pints of base soup. Of course, you can make this large batch for a crowd and add your meat at the end, without worrying about canning it. So here you go: 6 – 8 cups fresh tomatoes that have been blanched, skinned and quartered or chopped. (You can use canned tomaotes if you do not have fresh, one can being Rotel tomatoes) 1 can chicken broth 1/2 to 1 jalapeno pepper diced (not needed if using Rotel tomatoes) 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 3 medium new potatoes chopped with skin left on 3 carrots, chopped 1 cup corn (frozen is fine) 1 cup green beans (frozen is fine) 1 cup fresh or frozen peas (optional) 1 large onion chopped 1 1/2 cup cooked pinto beans or kidney beans or a can of drained Ranch Style Beans 1 26 oz can of your favorite brand of spaghetti sauce – I like Hunts To Serve Soup (For 1 quart) 1/2 lb hamburger 3 cloves garlic salt and pepper 1/3 cup shell pasta  Drop tomatoes, whole, into boiling water and watch for the skins to split. Remove to ice water when the skins split. Slip skins off of tomatoes and quarter or dice tomatoes and place into a large stock pot.  Add can of chicken stock to tomatoes and bring to a boil to stew.  Add jalapeno  Add chopped new potatoes and carrots. Continue to boil until carrots are tender.  Add chopped onion  And just a little hint. When using fresh tomatoes and cooking them, often they have a slightly bitter taste. If you make spaghetti sauce or even juice from fresh tomatoes, this can be a problem. The solution is to add about 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to the tomatoes as they cook. They will foam up like the top of a volcano! But this cuts the bitterness totally and gives a more smooth, nice taste. If using commercially canned tomatoes, this step can also be necessary. Note: Do not add soda if you are going to can tomatoes only, using the waterbath canning method. This cuts the acidity and reduces the safety of using waterbath canning. For this particular recipe, we will be pressure canning it, so reducing the acid will be fine.  Add green beans, corn and peas (peas are optional). I am using frozen here, but fresh is great.  Add beans  Add spaghetti sauce  Put soup into jars, either pints or quarts, and process in a pressure canner on 10 lbs of pressure for 60 minutes for pints and 75 minutes for quarts.  To serve, open a jar or two of the soup base and put into a deep pan. Add one cup of water for one quart of soup base. For 1 quart of soup, cook 1/2 lb of hamburger or ground chuck with 3 cloves of pressed garlic, salt and pepper, until browned.  Add beef to the soup. I like to add pasta shells too. Boil until the pasta is tender and add more water as it cooks to thin if need be.  Serve hot with fresh cornbread. This is a wonderfully quick dinner on a cold, winter night. Also, just for information, this is great for camping. Dehydrated hamburger can be purchased at many hunting/camping stores, as well as at Costco. This meat can be rehydrated and cooked with the garlic and salt and pepper and then added to the soup. Great meal for around the campfire or when the electricity goes out! |
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The Final Episode
Thursday, June 21st, 2012
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For the past two days, I have been posting about my experiences with the medical community and autoimmune diseases. I am hoping that it reaches one person who can use it in their search for answers. Today is the last post on this subject and I will get back to normal stuff!! If you will remember, I ended the last post on a good note, thinking that all was cured and life was going to go back to normal. One might think that would have been the end of it. But no – there was much more to come. Within three months, my heart was racing, I was nervous, I chattered like a Magpie (I only chatter like a Mockingbird, normally) and I could leap tall buildings in a single bound, without the cape! I was hyperthyroid and getting more and more hyper by the day. A second endocrinologist took one look and said, “I’ve never seen anything like this. I don’t know that much about Hashimoto’s, but I’ve never seen anything like this!” That gave me great confidence in how my dollars were being spent and I opted for a third opinion. Endo number three determined that Endo number one had misdiagnosed me and that I actually had Graves Disease and not Hashimoto’s. I asked if one could have both. I have to admit here that I had done enough internet research to know that in rare cases, it is possible. This doctor declared, “Impossible!! They are mutually exclusive!!” He never called me to set up tests and never returned my calls to attempt to set up tests and so I figured that was another copay down the drain and that I didn’t want him either! It was at this point that I suppose I needed abuse to go on top of everything because I made an appointment with my cardiologist, in hopes that he would refer me to a young woman at OU Medical Center whose research on hyperthyroidism had intrigued me. I found her on the internet. Yes I did. In big, blue letters next to her name, the website indicated that she had only been in practice for 8 YEARS, like a warning to run from this sweet, young doctor wannabe. I was not deterred. My visit with the cardiologist began with the normal salutations and he asked me to give a synopsis of my concerns. I synopted and then made the mistake of saying, “I have been doing some of my own research on the internet and have read the book, “Hope For Hashimoto’s” when he looked at the ceiling and said – I kid you not – “Oh God help us!!” He lit into me like the Tasmanian Devil on Bugs Bunny only with gray hair and a stethoscope. Evidently, according to him, I am the kind of patient who wants to treat myself and looks things up on the internet to tell doctors what they need to be doing instead of just trusting them to take care of everything. According to him, I am a doctor hopper who doesn’t get the diagnosis I want and just goes to the next one because I have already determined my treatment. So what if the doctor is inappropriate, or admits ignorance or doesn’t even bother to set up tests? I should have just been satisfied to accept things as they are. He ended his tirade with, “STAY OFF THE INTERNET!!!” I reacted in the way that most women react. I’d like to tell you that I stood up, put my hands on my hips and told him that he was a jerk. I’d like to say that I grabbed my belongings and told him to take a flying leap. But I didn’t. I did what so many women do when they are mad – I cried. And I didn’t just cry. I hiccup cried. I sobbed. I told him that he didn’t know what he was talking about and that sometimes patients have really good reasons for seeking multiple opinions. He blew me off. He told me my heart would be fine, in spite of the high thyroid numbers, that I have Hashimoto’s Disease and that it is not possible to have both Hashi’s and Graves. He assumed that I was wanting a new endocrinologist and hinted that his desire was for me to see his friend of 30 years. I requested the sweet, young thing at OU and he balked. He explained that she had not been a doctor very long. I said that was fine. He said that his friend had been a doctor for very long. I said I didn’t care. He sighed and made the appointment. Then he walked out the door with a last, “Stay off the internet” admonition. I might add here that a few days later I wound up at the ER with Afib and a heart rate of 165 beats per minute, requiring Cardioversion which is basically shocking your heart back into reality. So he was wrong on that count too. I was sorely tempted for the ER doctor to add a note at the bottom of the charts to my cardiologist that said, “She checked on the internet and determined that her heart rate was too fast!!” But that would have been disrespectful….. I have now seen the young doctorette. She is awesome. She is kind, soft-spoken, well-educated and decisive in her observations. She explains in detail and lays out a plan. And she follows through! She even called me at home one morning to give me an update. Her diagnosis? That I have the autoimmune disease that presents itself as BOTH Hashimoto’s and Graves Diseases with both types of antibodies. I’m not nuts after all!!! So, bam, bam, bam, she has set up a million tests that have been taken, meds have been prescribed and I will also be doing a 10 day radiation treatment on my eyes for Thyroid Eye Disease in hopes of nipping that in the bud. It has been a long, long trip, but I feel like I’ve reached a destination point. This will be a life-long battle with my body, but I feel like I now have an advocate who will join with me in the fight. So don’t be afraid to take responsibility for your own health. Nobody cares about you as much as you do – except for God and He has given you the tools to make good decisions that lead you to better care. A great doctor is amazing, but, as in every profession, there are some not so great ones and you don’t have to be satisfied with not so great. I hope that you can gain something from my experiences. It will have been well worth it, then!! And I promise to do a demonstration post next!! |
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And The Beat Goes On
Wednesday, June 20th, 2012
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Yesterday, I started you onto a short version of my seven year journey into weird diseases. Today is a continuation of that explanation in hopes that someone out there has a lightbulb go off with their own symptoms and is able to get help. I’ll just give you a glimpse of some of the hurdles that have had to be overcome, especially in the medical community, and what led me to write this post. In 2005, my hair began falling out. Shockingly, prior to that, in one year my hair had gone from reddish brown to silvery platinum. (notice I do not say, “gray”!!) My hairdresser was astounded. My doctor was resolute – “Hormones,” he said. But despite replacement therapy and lots of money, my hair kept falling out in handfuls and the next year a dermatologist rendered the verdict that I had male pattern baldness. Rogain was in my forever future, according to this man. As you will see, he was wrong. In the meantime, I had a lump in my throat. Swallowing was difficult and annoying. Our family doctor did blood tests, but I was told that I was fine. No worries. All in my head. This continued for years with my occasional plea for more tests and normal results that indicated I was a hypochondriatic fruitcake. And then…in 2010 the weight gain began. I have always been pretty mindful of my diet and exercise and I have never really had much of a weight problem, but all of a sudden, on minimal calories, I started packing on the pounds. Now, we women have been accused of being overly conscious of our appearance, but the fact is, the men who make that accusation are pretty durned picky about how they want us to look!! And so, it is a natural dismay that surrounds a woman who watches the needle on the scales start ticking more and more to the right for no reason at all!! Mr. Fix-It has been the unusual man who has wisely kept his mouth shut about such things and I appreciate it. It was in May of 2011 that I gave up on our family physician and went to a Naturopath/Nurse Practitioner who actually felt my throat when I complained of pills getting stuck. Lo and behold, there were nodules on my thyroid and I had confirmation that I am only partially off my rocker!! Many tests, including a biopsy on the nodules, later confirmed that my thyroid was a wasteland of holes and lumps, with autoimmune disease-style antibodies present and the diagnosis (by an extremely inappropriate if not downright vulgar endocrinologist) of Hashimoto’s disease. I made the decision not to go back to this doctor because the red flags were waving all over the place. I found out later that I wasn’t the only one with that complaint. But I was put on desicated thyroid and felt good for the first time in a long time. I thought we had conquered the beast. Little did I know…. And stay tuned tomorrow for the rest of the story. |
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In Hopes This Helps Someone!!
Tuesday, June 19th, 2012
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I’ve been debating how to approach occurrences of the last few weeks for you all. Life has been a bit strange in that time frame and I feel like I should explain in the hopes of possibly helping someone else who might be in the same boat as I. That boat seems to be a bit rickety and is letting in water, but it is the boat in which I find myself, none-the-less. I have been diagnosed with an unusual form of autoimmune disease that exhibits itself as both Graves and Hashimoto’s diseases. In other words, my white cells really hate the rest of me! Most people have one or the other of these diseases, but I am one of those people who is termed, “unlucky,” as I have both. You might surmise that there is more than one reason why I don’t play poker or go to the casinos!! Over the past couple of years, I have done a LOT of internet searching for information on my various symptoms, as doctors seemed to want to diagnose me as “a little crazy.” It has been a long journey from 2005 to the present accurate diagnosis and I have a few things to say to anyone out there who is having a health struggle of their own. (1) Trust your instincts: If you think something is wrong, then act on it. Seek help and don’t stop until you have a doctor who takes you seriously, who acts responsibly and who treats you with respect. (2) Do not be satisfied with anything less than the best in care, follow-up and scheduling. You are paying for services. Therefore, YOU are the customer and the doctor and his cohorts are serving YOU. Don’t be intimidated and don’t accept abusive behavior from anyone! (3) Be willing to change doctors and hospitals until you have accurate answers and top-notch care. (4) Educate yourself. The National Library of Medicine is an excellent source for research, etc. as is The Mayo Clinic site. For my particular issues, I was delighted to get information at the University of Michigan’s site. Many of the university medical schools have sites where one may research any disease. Read books. And don’t let ANYONE discourage you from educating yourself. (5) Be willing to look at alternative forms of treatment. There are natural approaches that far outweigh traditional medicine in many cases. For example: A year ago, I was told that I would have to have regular epidurals in my back for pain and eventually a rod placed in my spine for curvature of the spine. THAT sounded fun. (sarcasm there, folks) I am now under the care of a chiropractor who has succeeded in ridding me of any back pain and who has actually been able to straighten my spine significantly, without medication or surgery. (6) Pray for discernment and direction: My son made a comment to me one day when I was very discouraged with the progression of my disease. He reminded me, “Mom. There is a healer so much greater than any of these doctors!” He is so right. Healing can come in spite of doctors. Healing can come as God uses doctors. And healing may never come. But one thing is certain, healing of the spirit is more important than anything else. With that peace is acceptance and an ability to overcome in the midst of disease. I am going to make this a three day soap opera for you! Tomorrow, I’ll add the next installment. Will Dr. Moan find spots? Will Nurse Jane be able to draw blood on the first attempt? Stay tuned, as the world turns!! |
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Canning A Refreshing Drink
Wednesday, June 6th, 2012
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Boy, do I love this time of year…I think. Everything is coming in at once – peaches, apricots, nectarines, raspberries, blueberries, potatoes. And all of these things have to be processed before they go bad. Waste not – want not!! God has been good to us Okies this year and what we are given, we must use!! It just means that the kitchen becomes our sole domicile for awhile, along with the heat and mess that includes. I am a messy cook. I DO wash dishes as I go, but it just seems that I can’t keep up with those dishes or the juices and goo that come from my various food sources. By the time I am finished, hard as I try, I’m still walking slower than usual as my shoe soles stick to the floor and I’m trying to reach gummy splatters on the walls two feet over my head, wondering how in the world they got there. And then of course, there’s my stupid choices of cooking utensils as happened with my first run of strawberry jam his year. I don’t ever seem to remember that I flunked the spacial perception test in the 8th grade. 1st Law of Jamming: Attempting to make jam in a pot that is too small always results in an overflow of thick, sticky jam onto the stove surface and under the stove top, down the front of the oven door and pooling in an oozing mess on the floor. 2nd Law of Jamming: The number of rolls of paper towels needed to clean up after making jam or jelly is directly proportional to the lack of spacial reasoning of the cook. It was with joy and relief that I was introduced to a recipe for my newly picked strawberries, by reader Margaret D., because it did not require boiling and the subsequent mess associated with such. She shared this amazing and refreshing fruit drink and of course I had to try it. Oh my. Delicious!! And what is so neat is that the drink is canned in jars to be used all summer, and even winter long! The process is easy – well, minus all the juicing required but if you have an electric juicer, no big deal – and the result is a concentrate that can be added to tonic water, ice water, Sprite or Ginger Ale. Here is her simple recipe: 6 cups hulled strawberries 4 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (or lime juice) 6 cups granulated sugar Note: Blackberries or raspberries can be used for the fruit. Have a waterbath canner ready with warming water. Place lids into hot water to soften and have jars sanitized, warmed and ready. This recipe makes about 7 pints of mix. I did a combination of pints and half pints since there are only two of us.  There’s an excellent opportunity for strengthening arms if one uses an antique juicer like I did!! If you have an electric juicer, congratulations! I made this recipe with lime juice because we love limeaids.  Puree the strawberries in a food processor or a blender. You CAN strain the juice of any strawberry seeds through cheesecloth if you are a hardworking and organized soul. I decided to live with the seeds!!  Liquify the berries.  Add sugar to the berries and stir until incorporated. I mixed everything in a large bowl and transferred to my pot, but you can mix directly into the pot if you like.  In a large stock pot, heat the mixture over medium-high heat. Using a candy thermometer, bring the liquid to 190º while stirring once in awhile.  When heated to 190º, remove from heat and skim the froth off of the top. Just for info, I put the froth into a jar and threw that in the frig. Adding ice water to that made a wonderful drink! But removing the froth makes for prettier jars, especially if giving for gifts.  Pour hot liquid into jars  Wipe the rims of the jars of any drips with a warm, wet washcloth  Place lids onto the jars and attach rings. Tighten and then back off slightly. Process in a waterbath for 15 minutes. Allow to stand and cool for 24 hours. Check seals. You can remove the rings and wash both jars and rings in soapy water to remove any residue. Replace rings when they are totally dry and the jars are totally dry.  Reconstitute mix with equal parts of either ice water, tonic water, Sprite or Ginger Ale. Isn’t that a pretty drink? And so tasty too!! So thank you so much for sharing, Margaret!! |
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Here Comes Peter Cottontail
Friday, May 25th, 2012
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You might remember that in our family, we have one Sir Flying Ace who lives in Northwestern Oklahoma in the town of Alva. Sir Flying Ace is a man now…strong, mustached and goateed. He flies, repairs aircraft and works for a company that makes aircraft interiors. He combines wheat for the fun of it and hunts with his buddies in season. So you get the picture. He’s a man! Well, Sir Flying Ace has a dog. His dog’s name is Belle, as in Blue Belle. She is a blue heeler and Tenacious is her middle name. This past week, as she romped through the back yard of her western Oklahoma digs, she did exactly that…she dug. And she dug. And she carried a present to Sir Flying Ace to deposit at his feet…a little brown, furry thing. Now Sir Flying Ace, not having encountered too many little, brown furry things except a raccoon or two, called me to inform me that he was trying to warm up what he thought was a baby ground squirrel. It’s eyes were still closed and Sir Flying Ace had run to the local WalMart to grab some puppy formula to attempt to feed this tiny animal. He took a picture with his cell phone and sent me the photo of the critter. It was not a ground squirrel. It was a teeny tiny bunny rabbit.  I received a text message shortly thereafter that Belle had produced another bunny rabbit and by the evening, Mr. Sir Flying Ace was playing mommy to six little rabbits, all with their eyes closed. Belle had discovered the nest under the apricot tree and had ruined everything for Mama Rabbit.  For three days now, my son has been feeding baby bunnies. Unfortunately, one of them did not survive, but the rest are thriving. Using a syringe, without the needle and with a tiny tip, he pushes just a little bit of milk into their mouths until they start sucking it out. He is pretty smart, I have to admit. He knew that if he took the box of rabbits to work, all of the young ladies in the office would go crazy and beg to get to feed them. He was right. In fact, one woman took the thumpers home overnight to feed every hour, so that her children could see them. But of course, she brought them back.  Today, the cottontails’ eyes opened.  And they started cleaning each other with little tongues. And they are semi-hopping on the floor. It won’t be long until Sir Flying Ace will have to let his babies leave the nest. But I am very proud of him for taking such a serious and gentle interest in the little orphans. He’ll make a good mama someday…I mean, husband! 🙂 And yes, now he is going to kill me. Love you son!  UPDATE: Just got back from visiting Sir Flying Ace and I got to feed the bunnies! They are sooo cute! Here are a few pictures that I took to share. They are growing up!  After feeding, the bunnies pile up together to sleep. They are eating grass clippings and pieces of apricot from the tree.  They are getting bigger!  Sir Flying Ace is giving the rabbits time in the grass each day to get them used to being out on their own.  But they are all still pretty small! Still too young to be turned loose. |
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Random Travels II: Woolaroc
Saturday, May 19th, 2012
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Last post, I took you to my birthplace of Bartlesville, Oklahoma. As part of that day trip, Mr. Fix-It and I made a detour to the gorgeous landscape of Woolaroc refuge. If you are ever out our way, you have to go see this place. It is beautiful. And the museums are amazing. You can read about the park here.  Established in 1925, Woolaroc was the precious retreat of oil businessman, Frank Phillips of Phillips Petroleum fame. The name, Woolaroc, is taken from letters of ‘woods’, ‘lakes’ and ‘rocks’, highlights of the 3600 acre property. Located just outside of Bartlesville, Woolaroc has been preserved to offer visitors a step back into the late 1800’s and early 1900’s and to remind them of the rich heritage of our state of Oklahoma.  Most people think of Oklahoma as “the plains” where the wind comes rolling down (according to the song in the musical), and there are parts of the state where that is true. However, in the Bartlesville area, the Osage Hills offer lakes and forests that are quiet and breathtaking.  Teepees dot the glades near the Mountain Man Camp on the property.  Frank Phillips searched all over for wildlife to populate his retreat. He turned the acreage into a preserve. We saw buffalo and several albino deer in the pastures.  There are several museums on location, but this particular one is incredible. Packed with artwork of the west, Native American artifacts and even buggies and wagons of the Land Run days, several hours must be set aside to see everything.  One of the spur collections in the museum. Even today, cowboys on the ranches still use spurs when working on horseback. A quality, handmade spur is a thing of beauty and a source of pride.  The collection of Native American artifacts is extensive. This display of head dresses, as well as displays of numerous beaded, leather outfits are just gorgeous.  Western artwork is on display throughout the museum. This painting by Frederick Remington is just an example of the fine collection.  Right in the middle of one of the large rooms is a full-sized schooner wagon with complete setup for heading out onto the plains in search of land to call home!   The infamous outlaw, Belle Starr, is imortalized in bronze near the gardens  This friendly statue is at the entrance and the exit of the park to wave ‘hello’ and ‘good-bye’. Be sure to go online to the Woolaroc website to see all of the events and opportunities that are offered. And if you are looking for a fun vacation place to visit, put Woolaroc on your list! As the song says, ♪♪ “O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A! Oklahoma!! ♪♪ |
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