A few days ago I gave a shout-out to my facebook friends asking for good rhubarb recipes and one of them was a recipe for Rhubarb Liqueur. Last night I started the process. There are two different batches: One has chopped rhubarb and the other had "food-processed" rhubarb. We will see which gives the best flavor. I am looking forward to tasting it. I'm thinking that there might not be much better than a sweet rhubarb beverage on a cool late spring evening. :)
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On another note... it has been 3 months and 4 days since I quit smoking... YES! I don't miss it one single bit. Well, maybe when I'm hanging with friends and drinking good drinks late at night... then I miss it. BUT... I am SO GLAD that I quit smoking. I feel better, I don't smell like smoke, I'm not wasting all that money, my kids stopped nagging me to quit smoking. It's great. YEAH to 3 months and 4 days!
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This morning was a crazy morning. First a bit of good news... Skye made it through the entire night without having to go outside! YES! Bad news - he walked to the first green he saw, which was my wool rug in the living room, and peed. UG. Then, the "kitchen dogs" (Otis the Dachshund and Stinky the Chihuahua) made a HUGE mess in the kitchen. (You see they are 'puppy-pad trained' - they refuse to go outside regularly.) SO, my day started with picking up dog messes from all three dogs. I put Skye in the kennel so I could clean up messes, make some tea, etc. As I was walking down stairs to get Skye out of his kennel, I noticed that the cat puked up his food on the floor at the front door. Cleaned that up. Then went to get Skye... he pooped mushy puppy poop all over his kennel. UG! He had poop all over his kennel and all over him. Kennel went outside to get hosed off and Skye went to the bathroom for his first bath. UG.
Now, I envisioned Skye's first bath to be momentous... you know camera, everyone ooo-ing and aahhh-ing, tails wagging. Not the "OMg I can't believe I am having this kind of morning" bath with a puppy whining the whole time. Oh well - this is real life - right? :) Needless to say, I have a clean dog but no a photo of the occasion to share.
My house is back to normal (for the moment). Messes are cleaned up, dogs are cleaned and fed, cat is outside, laundry is running, kids are off to school... ahhhhh... :)
Here is a bit of Skye "eye-candy"... Happy Friday!!
Date: April 22, 2010 (Earth Day!)
Location: All over central Iowa!
So my friend Becky is a potter AND a trucker. Yep...she's a trucker too! Anyway, a while back when we were having hot pot together with friends, I asked if I could ride along with her. So, last Thursday I went and it was FUN!
I wanted to insert a video of "Truckin'" from a 1972 Grateful Dead concert here, but I couldn't figure out how to put it in the blog, so you'll just have to go visit it here.
Anyway... it was a very fun and educational day. I am a city-girl and don't know a whole lot about trucking much less farming. You see, Becky drives a truck for her family's farm.
I learned where she grew up - her house that she lives in now used to be located where an elementary school is now. She showed me the tree still on the school grounds where her treehouse and tire swing used to be and I found out that some of the subdivisions near the school were named after her family since all that land used to be her family's farm.
I learned why they put liquid nitrogen on the ground. (Side note: apparently this is not the same liquid nitrogen that will instantly freeze something. This stuff is thick and sticky). The nitrogen is sprayed into the dirt when they plow so that they can put nitrogen back into the soil - the corn just loves it and it makes it grow big and strong. :)
I learned that Becky can drive a truck... and I mean a big ol' 80,000 lbs truck. And she can back the sucker up, around a curve. I have to say I was a bit nervous and tried not to close my eyes. I for sure trust that girl driving. She is careful as can be.
I learned all kinds of stuff... some of it didn't stick. LOL. So, if you are reading this and a question strikes you... ask it in the comments! I am sure Becky will answer you!
Becky on top of the truck filling it with nitrogen
I don't remember this person's name, but he is very nice. He works at the place we loaded the nitrogen.
And yeah... Becky's truck weighed 79,280 lbs after it was loaded - whoa.
This is out a the fields. Becky's cousin is on top of the tank loading the nitrogen so it can be sprayed on the fields. (He's actually on his cell phone - heehee)
The fields.
These break up the dirt.
Becky on her truck - again.
Hi Becky!
BIG tractor.
Ok, so now they are planting the corn.
Here's what the corn and fertilizer look like.
These put the corn in the dirt.
The put talc on the corn so it doesn't get clogged.
I had a FUN time hanging out with Becky. I plan on doing it again in the fall for harvest! THANKS BECKY!! :)
