Valentines Cooking

        I had all kinds of great cooking plans. I wanted to make giant heart cookies. Good idea but as usual the January / February crud got me again this year. It’s going around I know but I think I figured out that this is cedar pollen season. So with 1 trip to doctor on Monday then the ER at 11:30 pm and back home about 2 am on Thursday I’m still at the sit up straight don’t even lean back in chair or choke stage.  O2 still drops to the high 80’s. All this dope and still such a struggle to breathe with these lousy lungs. I’m going to have to try out some of the studies I have read that is supposed make lungs better.
    Well I went from scooting feet and stopping to rest to walk across room to doing things while sitting down just to just get something done! Then seems like Thursday and Friday I found energy and air to get to cooking ( which also means cleaning so I can cook lol) Everything is once again a mess but it was fun getting there.
     I had fun experimenting. Trying out a base cookies recipe that I can use for several varieties of cookies. I know it tastes good as a small cookie but I wanted to try it for the larger heart cookies. I weighed the recipe and it makes 2#'s of dough. The really large wilton heart cookie pan takes all the 2#'s except maybe a cup of the dough. I think I cooked it about 20 minutes. That was just a plain sugar cookie. 
I did the plain white icing the red and white sprinkles to give it more color. 
This one was given to the helper. I told him to stop by the house I had something for him. He stopped in and said he had girlfriend gonna help him with some of the work. I told him good! Tell her you ordered this for Valentines and you were just picking it up ! I have no clue if he did but like most boys he enjoys food. He says his mom doesn't cook so the treats he gets from me must be real treats. 
 

 

  The other 2 cookies were each 1# in a much smaller pan. Trying to figure out how long to cook all these things since everyone like a chewy cookie now days isn't easy when your concerned about them holding together when they come out of the pan. I made one into a chocolate chip. I sprinkled peanut butter and chocolate chips on top then drizzled chocolate and melted peanut butter over that then dusted with some tiny shaved dark chocolate.   

     The other cookie was a snicker doodle. ON STEROIDS ! I put cinnamon in the dough and then cinnamon sugar on the bottom of the pan (it's not like you can roll that much dough in a ball and roll in sugar mixture so figure that was the best way. Sprinkled some on the top and then did the pink and white sprinkles on that.

      The two smaller ones I took to the drug store lady. I asked her to be my guinea pig and test these out for me. I told her the snicker doodle is going to be strong so you can feed that one to the hound dogs if you need to it won't hurt my feelings but the chocolate chip should be ok. 

    After they try them I need to know if they are hard or chewy and if the flavor was ok. I said it won't hurt my feelings or anything it's just I can't test all these things out and I need someone to help me improve. I told her if they are good that is a thank you for all the bologna you put up with here. If they aren't good sorry I'm not trying to be mean. LOL

   Hubby asked why I was taking her cookies. I told him because she is always nice and has to put up with a lot of stupid stuff from people she needs something nice sometimes. 

   Boy trying to find something on hand to put those things in wasn't easy. I had to find clean cardboard and make a box then line with foil since white paper wouldn't cooperate at all!

   I told hubby if I did this very much I would have to find the right kind of boxes to put them in. That's a long way away since I have to figure out cooking times and textures and all that. 

    Still had lots of fun. Will learn more each time. 

Love

Ranchmama

I Got Plugged !

Twice !
   LOL 
I haven't had glasses in over 10 years. Just something I never really wanted to spend the money on or do for some reason. Well... They broke. They broke really good. I have the kind that doesn't have wire on the bottom of the frame but a kind of plastic that keeps the lenses in the whole frame like fishing line. I patched them with glue and called the ophthalmologist.  
   I got lucky and the ophthalmologist had a cancellation the next day. I went but hubby waited in the truck for 2.5 hrs. since I didn't know if I could drive after dilating my eyes. Poor Hubby! Well it took a while. They just couldn't get my eyes to behave well enough to get a prescription. Turns out he said I have dry eyes. I asked how that was when I always felt like they were moist and things I looked at looked like I was looking through a rain drop sometimes? I told him I drink water, I haven't had any antihistamines or anything to. He said anyone after 40 stops making as much tears as they use to.  It just so happens I have large tear ducts he said so the fluid I do make evaporates too quick and my eyes dry out. 
    So what do you do about dry eyes?? You plug them of course! No joke he has tiny little plastic silicone like plugs that will fit into tear ducts to make them smaller and keep your eyes from drying out so much. Naturally he had to fit me with the largest "plugs' for my tear ducts. I told him there ain't anything on me small. The doctor says open your mouth and say aahhh.... and he can see all the way down to my belly button ! 
    I am supposed to go back next week and use dry eyes drops until then so he can give me the proper prescription for my eyes. 
    You can rub the pugs out if your eyes itch too much. It isn't a surgical thing. He did numb the eyes some but he just looked into my eyes with some machine with a light and made things bigger and literally dropped them in with some tweezers.By the time I got home I could feel them just a tiny bit kind of like a little tiny bit of dust in the eyes but no big deal.
     I told hubby about it when I got out in the truck and he said "WHAT ????" I explained and answered a couple of questions and it was like hmmm didn't know they could that!
    Daughter texted me about appointment and I tried to explain the best you can in a text. She said what a couple of times and I finally called. Still had to explain a few times and pretty much all she could say was..... leave it to you ! LOL
   Well next week we will see what happens. 
    He didn't find anything medically wrong with my eyes. Everything looked good. I just have dry eyes. Not only is it common for people after 40 yo but also a person with hypothyroidism is also prone to this ailment and I do have a thyroid issue. 
   Well one more medical adventure! At least it was a simple one. The only thing was I could smell latex on his hands and antiseptic. He said he was in surgery that morning. I was there at 1:30 so I guess the blood hound in me was doing overtime. 

Love
Ranchmama

The Things You Learn !

It has now been 1 year and almost 1 month since my cancer surgery. I keep finding out all kinds of things!
   My daughter told me yesterday that I didn't just have one fast response with my heart. My BP kept bottoming out 3 or 4 times (trying to kick the bucket I guess) after that for some reason. They just couldn't keep it where it belonged.
   Then she also tells me they thought I had some mental deficit from the 5 hour surgery because I kept saying I was seeing angels! They asked her if that was normal for me she told them yes if nothing else so they wouldn't put me in the funny farm.  I told her no that was before the surgery I saw angels around the operating table. She said no .... you were saying you saw angels like in the corner of the room ! I told her I have no memory of seeing or talking to angels in the room! She said they had you on so much heavy duty drugs I wouldn't have been surprised if you said you saw fish hanging from the ceiling ! Well I just counted it up and I was in there 12 days. Only 1 or 2 of them were without heavy sedation maybe or at least there was only a couple of days I am aware of anything afterwards. 
   Now a doctor thinks some of the things I see, know or talk about are loony toons. A religious person would say God was watching over me protecting me. I may not remember diddly but considering I was shown the Angels around the operating table before the surgery and drugs I will choose the idea of God sending Angels to look over me and I probably was seeing them in the room. It just makes sense to me.  
   I wonder what we chatted about if we did ??

Love
Ranchmama 
(it's nice to know I'm being watched over when needed)

Cancer Doctor

Thursday Jan 10th I went to the Cancer Dr. in OKC for my 1 year check up. Actually it has been 1 year 14 days since the surgery. I showed her my latest blood test results and she said everything is great and wonderful!
     I was talking to the doctor and said just think a year ago my husband didn't think I was going to get to go home. The Dr. said ..... "yes after what I did to you you were not getting around to good." I told her yes and all those good drugs didn't help on that matter. She said she was sure glad I was moving around. ( I keep imagining taking out the insides putting everything on a table or just moving everything over to be able root around and find all the cancer. ) She said last year that there were times she didn't think she would be able to get to a area then it would just open up so she could.
     Now think about that..... the Dr. said "after what she did to me!" Doesn't sound like she was very confident of my recovery either. 
    Now I try not to make a big deal out of stuff usually. All this last year everyone including husband and several relatives that was waiting during the surgery told me it wasn't a good thing at all. I can't imagine what they were thinking when the operation took 3 hours longer than what was expected. Some of them even told me the nurses were really worried and taking extra good care of me. Hubby has told me several times during the year I was lucky to be alive! I don't remember much afterwards. I know that my daughter came to see me I think the next day and had to step out in the hall and tell the nurses I was coding. I just remember a bunch of people coming in at one time and that's it. I asked what the heck happened after that and she said basically they just loaded me up with ativan. No wonder I don't remember anything ! LOL Everything after that was a blurr until about Jan 8th when I got to go home. They kept trying to put me in some kind of nursing facility thinking I wouldn't be able to cope at home. I don't know why all I know is hubby called and told me I HAVE TO GET UP AND WALK AROUND if I want to go home ! Believe me..... it wasn't a easy task at all after getting gutted with a 12'' incision and being drugged for days and days. They tried helping me walking around down the hall but it must have been like getting a drunk to walk a straight line. I didn't impress them at all. LOL
      I don't know what normal recovery is like after a surgery like that. No clue, but evidently I was way far away from normal. They say ignorance is bliss and I guess I am proof in this case. I had no clue how bad off I was. All I know is I had to get through it. That's it. You do what you have to do at that moment. I do know I made up for lost time when I did get home. The nurse said I healed up at least 2 weeks quicker than her other patients with that incision and she had some that didn't heal completely for 2 yrs! She was in tears when she saw how well I healed. I told her God, Hubby waiting on me hand and foot, eating 60 grams? of protein a day lots of good vitamins and laying in this recliner as much as possible!
    Now we know why God sent me a protection detail of Angels surrounding the operating table. It was a rough operation. Why all my ancestors were there I don't know but I guess they just needed to be there. 
   Speaking of God. I felt a hand on my right  shoulder all the way to the doctors appointment Thursday and for a hour afterwards. I told him while your there why don't you fix that messed up shoulder. LOL 
   I asked the Dr. if other people encounter talking to dead people after a operation like that. I told her I have had people put in my path with loved ones that have died and I can connect with them and give them messages " ? ". I get tears and hugs and thank you's afterwards. I never know when it's going to happen. She said no but your special. LOL  now that can be taken a couple of different ways but lets just take it I'm not completely goofy ! LOL
    So 2019 is starting out much better than 2018 did! This year not only am I on the right side of the grass the weather is so much better! Last year hubby was having to take care of the ranch in below 0* temps all by himself and worry about me. This year it's just a wet muddy mess but I can help when needed. I spent the first 6 months recovering completely. Last year was just sooooo hard...... With my surgery, hubby had health issues... he had anxiety so bad it looked like Parkinson's with all that shaking going on when stressed even a little. Then we also decided to try and retire. To actually sell the ranch we have been doing for many years. Lots of emotional stress and physical stress. But like I said this year is starting out better. I am doing good. Hubby is doing soooo much better. We had made the decision to retire and now we can accept that easier. It's just a matter of time now and paperwork. 

Love
Ranchmama 
(Glad God thinks it's worth keeping me around )


 

Beautiful Sunny Morning Break

It’s a beautiful morning 
I’m sunning on the front porch a few minutes getting my vitamin D!
    I look out and see freshly mowed pasture and hay field all done. Cow’s enjoying the shade already at 10am. 
    Wild birds scarfing up the exposed bugs from me brush hogging 
    Best of all I have quite time without a hubby needing something!
    I might actually get the kitchen where you can see a square inch of clean counter !

I know some women complain about a dirty kitchen because the sink as maybe 2 dishes in it. No I'm not like that I swear to all that when I say 1" of clean counter would be nice I am serious! 

    4 out of 7 days I am picking up and delivering help. I don't get much done in the little time they are here. Then it's do what I can either do myself or help with outside in this crazy heat and humidity. Age does not help that at all. 

    By the time I get back in the house there is down time to recuperate and then try to feed hubby make what business calls or whatever needs to be done or maybe even do a little basic cleaning to keep things sanitary around here. It's pitiful some days!

     We are having a few rainy days this week and the hay man is coming to move 100 bales that are too far away from the house to transport on our little bitty hay trailer. So today I hope it has been a recovery day for me. Surely Friday will be better. Sometimes allergies, too busy or even me picking up on other peoples emotional or physical whatever's just knocks me for a loop!  I'm ready for a break from it all. After everything I have been doing housework is almost a vacation!

 Love ❤️

Ranchmama

Hogging With Wiley Coyote

    It's hay season again. We are having the hay baled for us but we have to move the hay. Down below the house we have about a 40 acre ? hay field. It only got about 90 round bales this year. That is 1/2 of what we got last year. They say it's because we had a cold April. I don't know but since we didn't get enough for the year we had them bale another place and got 94?? Bales. Still not enough hay so we are going to have them bale up some on another place we have. We hope to get at least 250 bales to get through winter and feed any we need to when weening or whatever.

   I was brush hogging the hay pen where we store some it at the house. The weeds and grass was 6 foot plus. We had about 25 bales left over from last year so couldn't just turn cows loose and let them graze it down. So here I was just brush hogging like crazy and when I got over close to the left over hay I must have made a coyote nervous. Kind of made me jump. All of a sudden from between the bales I had a coyote jump flat footed straight up over a bale and went running out to the now cut and baled field. It was really really funny..... I must have plumb scared the pee out of him because as soon as he quit running he hiked up is leg and just peed forever! I had the biggest giggle out of that. He kept walking across the field going from shade tree to shade tree since it was at least 100*F continuously looking back at me giving me the dirtiest go to !@@#$ look! You could just hear him cussing me from all the way down there as he walked and kept looking back at me. !@##$%^&!

       So the next day I was actually moving the hay bales and  had to move the ones that were left over out of the way so I could clean it up good. I noticed it was a little bumpy. 
       When I started to actually move the ones off the field and place them in the hay pen I kept falling into some really big holes! You know how a dog digs a hole in a damp spot trying to stay cool, well he had at least 4 big holes dug like that. I turn the tractor wheels a little to sharp in one and try to go somewhere it would rock the whole tractor like it could tip if I didn't stop. 
      When I told daughter about find him and scaring the pee diddle out of him she said I should shoot him. I said naaaa..... he's thinning out the mice and cleaning up any stray feed on the ground. 
     I tell you what..... after having to wrestle with those !@#$%^^@ holes I just about told hubby to take aim! I'm past the ruff stuff now. So I guess he is safe enough. I will just be happy with the idea that I messed up his house for a while LOL!
  Monday --- Finally got to finish up putting in the other 45 bales of hay this afternoon after picking up the help and delivering him back. I changed clothes and told hubby be ready to bring something in to eat. 
    I was on the last 3 bales in the field and going back to get another load. What do I see???... I see that same young male coyote wondering into the field. I kept coming with the tractor. He looked at me and walked then looked at me and thought about it. "Man she's still coming! She's getting closer! Forget it !!@#$% that woman just keeps on messing up my day! He took off back across the creek. LOL  
    I finished up all the hay in that field and hubby called the cows in to clean it up. You would think we hollard POOL PARTY ! They all came running and bucking and loving it all!

Love
Ranchmama
( Still sore and with at least another 120 or so bales to move somewhere at 2 at a time)

What a busy day!

I started my day out at 6am today. Took a bit to get all loosened up. Did all the breathing meds and all.

   Had a little fun giving hubby a hard time. He was sleeping in the recliner when I went into the living room. He woke up just enough to chat when I asked him what was in today’s plans. He went over a few things and wanted to go back to sleep. I razzed him about not wanting to talk to me. He has a habit of waking me at midnight when I’m finally sleepy enough to go to sleep to talk about serious stuff we have never found a answer to before. I say can’t this wait? The he goes into how I never want to talk.Then he says crazy things when I tell him midnight isn’t the time to talk about big things! It’s time to sleep! So this morning I kept waking him up wanting to talk about the day. I complained and said what’s wrong with you?? You never want to talk!! Come on,wake up and talk to me! He totally ignores me! I told him that’s ok I’ll remember that an do it to you. I just walked away laughing! Finally got him!

      I got dressed and was out the door to pick up help by 7:30. Got back with them about 8a. Hubby was leaving for a doctors appointment. 

       They got done with a little job and wanted some hornets spray so they could get into a building. I asked who could run the fastest? They did some painting for me and 2 hours later I took them home 

     Coming back through Prague I stopped in the park and bought two bags of corn. $18 for 72 ears of corn. Usually hubby shucks and I clean and process but this time it was all I could do to get him to carry in the sacks. He just didn’t feel great and wasn’t going to. I drove us to the gas tank to fill up the truck, stopped so he could vacuum out the floors and check birds. 

    Got back to the house and it was way past lunch so I just skipped it and started shucking corn. It took a while. Made one heck of a mess! I got all kinds of sore. It was almost 4 or so when I finished.

   Made a round with hubby checking cows from the road. Came back and told hubby it’s a TV dinner night! 

     I know you’re supposed to blanch the corn before freezing but my fancy stove takes forever to boil water an I was way out of energy so just put them into ziplock bags an said done!! Some are short ears because they were too long to fit the bags. The rest were long. I saved 10 ears for super.  

     Hubby wants me to try a Mexican street corn recipe so that will be interesting. I finally gave up after supper when I carried the bags to the freezer. 

    Take a look! It made a royal mess. I still have to get the sticky off the table and floor.

 

 But look what beautiful corn I have to put in the freezer ! 

They said they didn't spray their corn thank goodness. Out of all these ears I didn't see one bug. I only had to trim just a few places also. I would love to know their secret to non buggy non sprayed corn!

Love

Ranchmama