Looking For A Zebra in a Flock of Ducks

So, Tylor has been sick for 15 days. He is nauseous, dizzy (even laying down), no appetite (has lost 6 lbs so far), and food/liquid makes matters worse (doesn't matter what kind). We have been through one, "If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck then it's probably a duck.", visit to the doctor and two other, "Well, it's not (blank, blank or blank).". Tylor has taken blood being drawn to the Medieval Torture level involving two smallish women, two regular sized guys and an Uber-mom hauling, dragging, kicking (I have bruises to prove it!) and screaming bloody murder, and I do mean bloody murder, to get done. We have now moved on from lower intestinal virus (still possible) to hepititus (nope) to liver issues (none) and several other things that weren't imortant enough for me to remember to an ultra-sound this Tuesday of his gallbladder. I told him it was brain surgery next ... made him smile. So, I was wondering if in our wealth of knowledge anyone has any thoughts on Zebras?

Report from the Bunker

Day 28

No "scurvy knaves" here.

We may not have much produce in the bunker yet...but we have a start. This morning I pulled up some radishes, snipped off some baby spinach leaves, pinched off some chives and then there's the parsley for garnish. Not too bad for someone with a "black thumb".

Only 4 days to go...including today.

From Trash to Treasure

So, I got a call on Monday from a very thrifty friend of mine that she was wrapping up her garage sale & would I like to pick through a bit before she hauled it off to G-dub. Now, I don't know what this says about me, but whatever, I get a lot of free stuff because I am cheap. She had just been given a hand-me-down day bed from a family with 6 kids of which 4 had used it. It was a little too old-fashioned for her and missing a couple of bolts. Mind you, most of her wardrobe is from the '80s, & she carries it off. Ever the optimist, & knowing that a little black spray paint goes a long way, this is the result. I took the tacky brass off the bed and painted them silver with left over paint. Then roughed up the already roughed up '80's wood and gave it a new black shine. Total cost $10.22 for paint, $0 for bolts (because I am my father's daughter), $0 for the bed.
Niiiice!

Will Work for Pizza

We just got home from 8 or 9 hours of home and garden improvement - over at Stephanie's house. Nathan pressure washed the back deck and helped weed whack. Alex and Danny traded off mowing and weed whacking the back (and front) forty. I primed my little heart out in the back bedroom. The bedroom that has dark real wood horizontal paneling. Which I hate. Which I really hated doing the second coat. Steve installed a shelving system in the pantry. And then had to modify it after I pointed out that none of Stephanie's tall canisters would fit on the shelves. Danny removed the handles from the upper kitchen cupboards and pressure washed the front steps. Alex helped paint and then scrubbed the stove.

I was feeling mildly guilty for eating the Little Caesar's pizza that Cory brought home for lunch. But it didn't spoil my appetite. Yes, the pizza was not from "the bunker" - but we didn't ask to be fed - and I sort of feel we earned a meal.

Garden update

Hopefully the frost we had yesterday wasn't too bad - it doesn't look like anything died today...in the garden. The spinach and kale that I planted from seed are coming up just fine - I need to thin them out a bit.

I thinned my radishes a little today - they are starting to look like radishes...and taste like them too. I am not overly fond of radishes myself - if I eat one I better really be in the mood for it, cause I'll be tasting it the rest of the day. Right now I'm kinda looking forward to that - it's funny what a lack of fresh produce will do to a person.

Savoury Zuccinni Pancakes

Here is a super easy pancake recipe that is good and good for you. No picture now- we ate the evidence too quickly.

1-2 small zucchini (about 1/3 zucchini per pancake) shredded and drained.
2-3 lg eggs (proportions on these two is as you prefer- but zucchini should be the 2-1 fave here)
3 T chopped parsley or something green- I used dried cilantro-it was good-spinach would be good.
A little salt or season salt ( your choice).
A little black or white pepper-depending on who you're cooking for.
Finely chopped green onion ( or any other onion finely chopped).
( I can think of a lot other things I could add but I stopped here-this time)

Heat a good skillet with a little olive oil in it on medium, medium high. Pour batter out in pancake size dollops. Flatten a little and let cook until brown on the cooked side and pretty well cooked through. Flip and cook until brown on that side too.

At this point you can top it with a little parmesan cheese and eat it plain or top it with ranch dressing made with low fat sour cream (we chose this- it was great!)

Makes a great brunch, lunch , or even dinner.

Kitchen Science

We finished off a container of honey a couple of days ago - so I needed more. I have 2 half gallon containers of honey in our food storage - one was newish, the other oldish. The oldish one was nearly completely crystallized. I sort of dreaded spending a lot of time gently heating it so that the crystals would dissolve.

Then I had an idea. I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of it - but it still seemed pretty genius to me...put it in a crockpot. I put 3 jar rings in the bottom, loosened the lid on the honey, placed the honey container on top of the rings, then just filled it up with hot water and turned the dang thing to low. Worked like a charm. It took about 4 hours - give or take. I didn't have to constantly watch it - about once an hour I took it out and shook it up a little to see how it was doing.

Wahoo. Clear honey!