The End...

Well, it seems that Ralphetta had more wrong with him than we thought (as if having your eyeball pop was not major enough). I was hoping one more day of rest would help him get better, but I was wrong. A friend and I just went out to check on him and the poor little fellow was dead. He was a good little birdie while he was with us, and at least this way he did not die a violent death in the jaws of some random neighbor cat or under someone's tire. I do however hope that he was not in pain or suffering.

Having this little birdie in our house the last few days has brought a few questions to my mind. In the wild, or in the city, where exactly do birds sleep at night? Where are they when we don't see them? How do they stay warm? I suppose their feathers are designed to keep them warm, but still it seems they could get chilly. Just some random thoughts. I'll have to do some research later...something else for me to lookup on the internet while procrastinating doing chores.

Ralphetta Part III

Well, as it turns out releasing a bird back into the wild, even after only a day of captivity is not as easy as it sounds. I'm not sure what exactly Ralphetta's problem is, but he/she/it will not fly. Also, since it is now partially blind, the bird runs into things and wanders out into the road when cars are coming. Oh what will we do with you little birdie? The kids and I decided it was not safe for him outside, so we found a bigger box to put him in. He's pretty irritated at us keeping him captive, he's hopping around a lot and not at all pleased with his new home but that is all I could think of to do at this point.

I did get an email back from the Audobon Society saying that they would take him in if his release doesn't go well, so that may be what we need to do. Oh, and she told me that he is most likely a Golden Crowned Sparrow. He's actually a nice little bird. I'm not sure if it's blindness that is making him so friendly, but he walks all over the kids feet and will come in our direction when we whistle at him.

Dave says "you're something else". I guess that pretty much sums it up...

On another note, I started thinking of the quote I discussed earlier "be the change you wish to see in the world". I suppose that this little act of kindness is one that I'd like to see other people duplicate, especially towards animals and yes, even birds. So, here I am, starting at home with saving the world, one Golden Crowned Sparrow at a time. Really though, for those of you that know us, we started with saving animals long ago and have saved our fair share (over 50 German Shepherds so far with a few cats and mice in between). This is however, our first bird.

Here are some pictures of our feeble attempt at Ralphetta's release.

Ralphetta's Progress

Well, good news! I think we may be able to set Ralphetta free when we get home this afternoon. He/she/it is doing much better. I have been giving it water regularly, and the last time I went out to check on him he hopped out of his basket and out of the car. Not wanting to leave him miles away from his home I scooped him back up and put the lid back on his basket so he couldn't escape again. I read online that birds will sleep if they are in the dark, so I covered his basket with a towel in hopes that he will rest some more and be strong enough to be set free later today. He is clearly blind in one eye, but he doesn't seem to care much about that.

I guess I'm glad I saved the little fellow now, and I really hope that he will do more than just sit in the bushes when we set him free. If not, we may have to go to Petco to find a bird cage...though I have also read online that it is illegal to keep wild birds in captivity, and as Rebecca commented, apparently they carry fleas and diseases. So, that may not be the best idea. I will have to re-think my options at that point.

The Audobon Society has yet to return my email, so I'm glad he's doing better. For a while there I wasn't quite sure what we were going to do with him. A friend at work did suggest that I make Ralphetta a patch for his eye, so I may have to look into that when we get home. Cheyenne got an "i-dog" thing the other day at Burger King that came with a pirate costume, perhaps we can modify parts of the i-dogs costume to fit little Ralhetta. They're about the same size...

It'll peck your eye out!

So, the latest in our life. The kids and I are pulling out of the driveway this morning when I spot something in the alley that looks like a piece of wood or charcoal. For some reason or another, I decide to pause and actually think about this thing in the road, even though we're running late. Finally, I come to the conclusion that it should not be there, so I get out to investigate. Upon closer inspection, I find that it is an injured bird and I am so relieved that I didn't just run over it thinking it was nothing. However, at the same time, I'm quite confused as to what to do. If I simply drive around it, the next person that comes through the alley will run over it. If I try to move it I will get scared and scream! At last I think to myself, I have some newspapers in the car, I will scoop it up with those and place it in the bushes. So, this is what I did. Of course, when I did this, I thought for sure that the little fellow would shake off whatever it was that was ailing him and take flight before we returned from school and work later in the day...(insert dramatic music ensemble here)...I was wrong.

Upon our return 8 hours later, we found the little guy exactly where I had left him. My immediate thought...this is not good. Especially once I looked closer and saw that his eye was swollen and full of blood. Dun dun dun dun...I took the kids inside, let the dogs out to potty, thought about the situation briefly and then me and the kids headed back outside to act. I had already completely screwed natures process up by moving him out of the road, so now it was my responsibility to fix this situation. But how in the hell do you care for an injured bird? I don't even really like birds! I glanced around the front porch, I found a plastic crate so I grabbed that and an old dog towel and went back to the car for the newspapers. When we got back to him, his eye had popped, and he had blood dribbling down his face. He was now obviously blind in one eye. Poor thing. I scooped the little fellow up once again and this time placed him in the crate. I put a piece of cardboard over the top to hold some heat in and then me and the kids raided the bird feeders next door to find him some food.

When we left for dinner we left him with a small handwarmer for heat. He was sleeping with his head under his wing when we left, and also when we returned two or three hours later. I brought him inside, fed him some water with a straw, which he drank a lot of and gave him three more handwarmers. He is now on top of a shelf in the living room, in his little crate with cardboard on top. He has a bottle cap full of water, and some bird seed and his three little handwarmers. I'm not sure what to do with him at this point. I'm going to have to take him with me to work tomorrow since he can't stay at home with the dogs all day...I've emailed the Audobon Society, so I'm hoping they can help. Dave is just hoping that we don't have a bird flying around the house in the morning...he is apparently more optimistic about Ralphetta's recovery than I am.

Now, I must sign off so I can stop Jimmy from trying to bury his cucumber (yes, that's right, he's got his own cucumber now, it's half eaten, but it's his) in the couch and see what Bonnie is eating in the other room. I'm hoping it's not the bird (Ralphetta). If anyone has any suggestions on how to care for an injured wren please do share.

American Pie

Well, it is that time of year again, time to peel and slice apples and make pie! About 5 or 6 years ago I got a pie recipe from a friend at work (thank you Susie) and since then, I've turned into a regular Bree VanDeKamp! I even took a quiz online that told me so! Ok, all kidding aside, while I do not typically like to toot my own horn, I really do think my pies are pretty good and have had a few complements about them from time to time. Unlike Bree however, I am not afraid to share my secrets.

The first year I tried making the crust, it was to say the least, a disaster. I was in tears, I couldn't get it rolled out right, I was screaming, the dogs were cowering in the corner wondering what in the hell was wrong with their mother, it was a nightmare. I finally threw my hands up and my husband took over and got the job done. At that point I vowed to never take on a project like this again, I'm not good in the kitchen and I never will be. The next year however, I picked more apples (I cannot pass up anything that is free) and decided to try it one more time. Since then I've mastered the pie crust making skill and come to realize that the crust does not have to be a perfect circle, it will work no matter what shape it turns into.
To make things easier this year, I trusted the kids to peel and slice the apples for me which was a HUGE help. You see, I'm the type of person that must do everything for myself and won't usually accept help but these kids were relentless about wanting to do this chore so alas, I finally gave in and set them loose, hoping they wouldn't cut their fingers off and we'd have to make a trip to the hospital. Let me just say though, that those apple peeler/corers are an amazing device that everyone should have. While they are sharp and slightly dangerous, the kids were able to operate it with no work related injuries.
While they were peeling and slicing, I got the crusts ready and within a couple of hours we had three beautiful pies. The crust is by far the best part of my pie, and I'll even tell you the secret ingredient so that you too can make a pie to die for. Get ready...drum roll...are you sure you want me to tell you? Okay, the secret ingredient is butter flavored Crisco! Yep, that's the trick. Another secret, which is one I always forget about is to brush the top with egg whites so that the crust is shiny. I am always just so excited that I've pulled it off once again that I forget that step. So you see, it's really not as difficult as it may seem to make your own crust so give it a shot. Look at what you could be eating for desert tonight if you do. And not to worry Dad, I got more apples yesterday so we'll make a sugar free one for you.

Also, a side note for all of you that might take this on, they will freeze wonderfully and last until Thanksgiving and even Christmas. Just put some wax paper over them and put them in a freezer bag and stick them in the freezer. When it's time to eat them you can warm them up in the oven and everyone will think you worked all night on it.

Be the change..

This famous quote by Gandhi was brought to my attention following the death of a friend, and since then I have been pondering it almost daily. I understand what it means, but what I have a hard time with is how I can apply it to my life. I have so little time in my life to simply get the things done that I need to, how can I possibly fit in saving the world? And an even bigger question, how do you explain this way of thought to children so that they too can be the change they wish to see in the world. Do they even wish to see a change in the world at this young age?

I do see my kids leading by example when we go to a restaurant and they are sitting quietly at the table waiting for their food while staring in horror at other kids that are screaming and running around. During these rare moments we are so proud of them, but if you take the horrible children out of the picture, then our kids can turn into those screaming, running kids very quickly. My point is that for some of us, or maybe even most of us, we tend to ignore or shut out all of the bad stuff around us unless we are faced with it directly. We don't try to change things until they're right in our face, and by then it's often too late. I know we all have very busy lives and not much time or money, but perhaps we need to all start thinking about the bigger picture a little bit more and figure out exactly what change we do want to see happen, so that we can start at least changing our own lives to start moving in that direction.

This blog really hasn't helped me figure out what change I'm working towards, but I suppose in some way, maybe it will help with the bigger picture in getting more people to think along these lines.

Please post comments with ideas on what changes you'd like to see and how you're changing things at home to lead in that direction. Maybe if we all brainstorm we can save the world faster.

Master of the One Course Meal

So, as some of you may know, I don’t cook well at all. I can make casseroles, and I can bake pies, but other than that, it's pretty scary when I'm set loose in the kitchen. I of course will normally eat anything I make, but others find it extremely unpalatable. As of late I’ve been making large batches of white rice, and then the next day turning them into fried rice, with veg-all and eggs. The first batch turned out quite disgusting. The second batch was better. Last night I remembered this rice dish that I had at the Miami Airport at an authentic Cuban restaurant (La Carreta). The dish was called "Yellow Rice with Chicken". I ate the same thing when we were in Miami going TO Curacao, and then again when we were there for 13 hours on our way BACK from Curacao. It was sort of the highlight of our entire trip actually since the rest was pretty miserable. Anyway, as you can guess it was yellow, and it had eggs, chicken, and vegetables in it. So, I started to think last night that I might be able to make something similar. While it was not quite the same, I think I sort of pulled it off and Bubba even said that he liked it! Cheyenne of course picked at hers but she just doesn’t really like rice so I think that was the main reason for her disfavor.

Anyway, feel free to tell me what you think of my little combination of ingredients.

Here goes;
White Rice
Veg All (or any vegetable(s) would work really)
Water
Chicken Bouillon
Garlic Salt
3 pickled Garlic Cloves & some juice
Cumin
Turmeric
Cooked Ground pork cooked with Paprika
2 Fried Scrambled Eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Basically, I just mixed it all together and voila! I did cook the ground pork and the eggs separately however, and added them at the end.

So, would you eat it? It's actually similar to a Spanish recipe I found online called "Paella", minus the saffron, which I did not have. I'm happy with my concoction, and if I could I'd make it again. I never measure anything though, so chances of that happening are slim. All in all, it was a good night in the kitchen and definitely something to blog about.

Amazing

Those that know me know that I do not like to brag or toot my own horn much, but today, I simply amazed myself. A hobby of mine for the past few years has been creating and maintaining webpages, mostly for our own personal use, or for causes close to our hearts. After putting off the (should be monthly) update of our German Shepherd Rescue site, I finally decided to sit down this morning and do some work on it. I did the usual updates through my free web design program that I use. Now, keep in mind it was free, so there are some major hurdles I have to go through to update the pages each time I change things. I really can't explain what has to be done, but I do seem to amaze myself a little bit more every time by learning new and quicker ways to do things.

Today, I'm particularly proud of myself for learning about CSS code (for those that do not know it's cascading style sheets). While I find it way more complicated than plain ole' HTML, at least I was able to figure it out so that I could edit what I needed to. The thing that I am most amazed over however, is the fact that I FINALLY figured out how to make the title of the web page appear in the Web Browser. I have been thinking about why it hadn't been working, and it finally dawned on me tonight that it was all because of the re-direct that I have set up. So alas, the Oregon German Shepherd Rescue page now has an official title at the top of the Browser. Wow. I'm so happy. This just might inspire me to work on the other sites that have been needing attention for a while now.

Sorry if this post is boring, but I really am quite proud of myself and just had to share! The dogs don't really find this kind of thing exciting and the kids went to bed, they wouldn't understand anyway...

Computers, can't live with 'em...

...can't live without 'em. Personally, I cannot live without my computer, but often times, I feel like throwing it across the room too. I guess you could say it's a love hate relationship. For the last 3 days I have been trying to upgrade my Anti-Virus Software, the software that seems to say that it is expired every other month or so. I swear I just paid for a new year long subscription, but yet again, I got the notice saying that my computer is "unprotected". Can you imagine? "Unprotected". It sounds so awful, so, what's the word I'm looking for, vulnerable. Well, I have now tried to install the upgrade 3 or maybe even 4 times, it takes several hours, and not once has it installed properly. Oh but it installed all the annoying pop up blockers and safe internet site stoppers so my web browsing is now ultra slow and I can't play the games I normally play because they won't load properly anymore. I feel like screaming, but it won't help, so I've finally given up and am searching for a free virus protection software to download. I've found a couple, and tried to download both of them, the first one failed, the second one says that it has 2 days and 12 hours remaining on the download. Bear in mind that I supposedly have high speed cable internet that I pay out the you know what for. For the Love of GOD. I'm frustrated and really feel that it might be beneficial at this point to go watch Office Space so I can see that other peoples lives suck this bad too. Yes, I know it's just a movie but for someone to actually write that kind of a story, they must know the same kind of pain that I live everyday of my life in.