THURSDAY, July 17

[zip2play]

Good news:

We have tickets to see Antonio Banderas in NINE tomorrow night. The score is soooo beautiful. Last time I saw it was with the late Raul Julia and I was singing the songs fopr 6 months!
I don't often really have a burning urge to see another musical...but this will be SPECIAL!
Tonight a NICE Italian Dinner (really top-notch restaurant) with an old friend. We'll even have their dessert speciality: Profiteroles.
I guess even if we're still home, we're making believe we're on vacation.

Break in the rain, but there will be spotty showers for the forseeable future...gosh I hope we don't get a mosquito bloom- I'm the tasiest piece of mosquito meat in New Jersey (for real). People invite me to picnics just to guarantee nobody else gets bitten. They eat burgers; I eat Benadryl!

[OrchidCactus]

Morning gang!

Still a bit cooler here, but we'll warm up soon enough. It's been nice these last couple days not sweating so much! Sunburned area is starting to itch....driving me batty (short trip)

Zip, what a shame your vac is cut shorter, but you still have a good one coming up. Our Lexmark printer does a pretty good job, but we'd like to get one that is photo quality and has bigger ink cartridges, preferably one that has 4 (one for each color and a black). Don't even know if there is such a critter!

Shawnee, I know what you mean about getting dragged out in the heat. Hoping you get some nice temps so you and Pup can go play happily outside!

Julie, I use a bark/sphagnum moss/perlite mix that we make here in bulk. It would probably be a good idea to check the mix your o'kids are in just to be sure it is not broken down. Lowes carries bags of premade mix, and I would just add the good clean orchid moss (that's what's on the bag) to it for moisture retention. For the ones you have, I'd use clay pots, unglazed--just good ol' boring clay with no cache pot. The roots need to breathe, so this works best for us. Or, on the mix, pm me and I can hook you up. There's a really neat orchids board on Gardenweb that you may want to check out too (I'm the same screen name there)

Linda, I think every company has it's own ding bat. Maybe an eeoc requirement? LOL We have ours where I work....

Loretta, any more fishing in the immediate future for y'all?

Susan, you sure do a lot of prep work...I know you'll be glad when it's over. Reckon you'll take on another preggy class now that you've done your studying?

Waving to Pam!

Off to lurk for a bit...

[Jewels]

Roger,
I hear ya on mosquito's!!! If there is one 10 miles away, I'll get bit. My DH never seems to get bit. Guess it has to do with our breath. Can't change that but sure do suffer. Found some Benadryl cream and that seems to work if I get it on it fast.

We have a Lexmark printer/scanner/copier too. The pics I try and print suck!! I agree, Lexmark just isn't very good. maybe you have to spend a fortune on printers to get a good pic. I don't know much about them but sure disappointed about ours.

Ginny,
Thanks for the info again!!! I did pm you. I have mine in plastic pots w slates in the side to breath. Do you think I should repot them? Will look for a new potting mix. They are in bark now but how do you know if it's broken down? It looks pretty healthy.

Suppose to be cooler today and I'm in heaven. 75 is just great for me. Off to lunch with my GF. Suppose to go tomorrow but have to babysit DGD who's almost 4. A real livewire!!! She will have a brother soon and she will be so jealous. Check in later...Julie

[LoveMontana]

Cool and raining again here. I'm off to work and the fair with our anger management group, UGH!!

Roger, lucky you Antonio Banderas is great!! Can I come to too?
You might as well get an early start on the vacation. Enjoy dinner. Treat it like a CALP reward meal.

Ginny, I don't mind this cool weather at all, not even the rain. Sorry about the sunburn and itching.

Julie, Have fun babysitting. I'll be cat sitting till monday for my son. I love cats, but this one is just mean. LOL

Watch those mosquito bites gang. West Nile virus is not a fun thing to get. Cover up and use a good bug spray with Deet. It's dangerous stuff but a tad bit better than that disease. Some people die and others wish they would.

Waving to Loretta, Shawnee, Pam and Susan.

More later.

[Loretta V]

Hi Magnificent Gang

Those mosquitoes don't bother me as much as the chiggers. They are hiding in the tomato forest and ready to get me when I enter. Those bites or what ever they do last for about a week or 2. I have been spraying myself before I to in there.

Zip can you describe those Profiteroles. Interesting name, I would like the Italian resturant also. By the sound of your schedule you and Bob have started your vacation there at home.

Ginny I am not going fishing for a little while until I catch up on some things I want to do in the garden and house. I feel that I was MIA there with my company. A friend of mine has some mulch for me and I want to get that and spread it around. Any news on the kitchen project?

Julie hope you get caught up on your doctoring before your DDIL has the baby. I know she is very anxious for that to be done with. Enjoy that lunch with your GF today. I will hopefully be having breakfast with my GF tomorrow. Last time we scheduled we had to cancel. I want to know how many flaxseed muffins you eat for breakfast. I had 2 the other day and thought that was ok, they were on the small side.

How about you Linda and the muffins? Do you have any kind of carb counts for those? I will make them again but my try it in my nuker in the round pan and have wedgies. There was a muffin recipe in the book and I will use the cooking times for that. My micorwave has a feature called CrispWave and you can bake in it also but I never got around to using that feature until now. It worked great on the Rye Bread.

Hi to Shawnee and Pam.

Will check in later.

[OrchidCactus]

Julie,

PM'd you....

You can dump the orchids out of their pot (gently) to check the mix. Bark should be firm not mushy and smell good. The sphag should be loosely packed, not tight as you said it was. You can repot with the sphag, but keep it looser so it drains well....

[Loretta V]

It has been awhile for some eye candy so here goes:


My Cannus blooming


This is my Elephant Ear. It is really big.

Loretta

[Jewels]

Loretta, that was wonderful eye candy!! Thank you!!

About the muffins...I make a double batch and get about 20 muffins. I eat 2 every morning and it keeps me going. LOL True and for me thats a miracle. Any special reason to make them in the micro??? Never had luck doing those baked goods in the micro myself.

Ginny, thanks for your email addy. Wonder why our Lowe's doesn't carry the same stuff. They seem to have a lot of the brand "Peters." I think the bark is ok for now but will keep a watch on it.

Linda, the fair in the rain??? Sure hope it quits before you take all you patients. I think cats are nice but am allergic to them. If I even sit in a chair that a cat has sat in, my eye's swell and itch and nose runs too. Mainly eye's though. Hope he doesn't get mean with you. Have you got a crate in casse?

Where is Shawnee, Susan and Pam today? Must be busy. Julie

[shawneesioux]

Hi Y'all

Wonderful day, topped out at 80° with a nice breeze. Pup and I felt like we'd been released from HOT Prison Of course we put in plenty of yard time; she supervised and I did the grunt work.

My son is leaving for an Alaskan vacation tomorrow...gee, wish I were going too. Those Glaciers sound pretty darn good after all this heat.

ZIP, your evening sounds devine. Will you be giving us a personal review on it?..and on the FOOD too, please. Glad to hear you've worked out a plan for your vacation,...and starting early at home.

Loretta, good for you! Love it that you've gotten the Nuker Bug, and and are forging ahead with NO FEAR! LOL We've sure come a long way in the cooking and recipe departments, huh?
Talked to my Mentor today, and she mentioned making Pumpkin custard in hers...I made some Yeast Muffins, and then some regular ones like biscuits...I wish everyone would start experimenting and enjoying it . My DGBrat is becoming a NO FEAR experimental cook too, I'm so pleased.

Yes it has been too long with NO pretty pics, so THANKS for your beauties. Your yard looks like a Park, just wonderful. The leaves on the E. Ear look sooo perfect!

Ginny, how sweet you are to share your wealth of info re the Orchids. If I ever find one that's gorgeous, healthy, and affordable...( I'm cheap!)..its coming home with me. Thanks for wishing I'd get some Outdoor time..LOL..I finally did, and it felt marvelous. Hope all your FurBabies are well and happy.

Montana, the prices on the Printer Combos are sure coming down....replaces 3 or 4 pieces, and cheaper than what one cost a few years back. I have an HP I'm happy with...but when its old and tired, I'll go with at least a printer/scanner combo.
How is Gerard doing? Hope you and the Cat can call a Truce. Tried Nuking anything yet?

Julie, isn't it fun to eat home-grown toms? I have one cuke that's about ready, and a couple small zucchini. The reasons I love to bake in the Nuker are: its so fast, and NO oven heat.

Hi to Susan and Tink...hope life is treating y'all well.

Shawnee

[SuSUN]

Hi Magnificient Ones!

Got home about 10ish from the PG Class! Tired, watched a bit of ER as I was unpacking the car. Got into my "snuggies" as Linda says and I am just saying I'm here before going off to watch Jay Leno to wind down with! Gotta keep those endorphins coming from laughter!

Loretta, how beautiful! The eye candy sure is a treat! A sight for sore eyes!....much needed. Hopefully I can get back to the Garden Centre tomorrow to fill my cart!

Talking about mosquitos! I heard that we have the first case of West Nile Virus in Ontario. A man about 2 hours away from here. Yikes! Use 30% DEET for adults less than 10% for children over 6months. Empty any stagnant water every 48hours so they cant breed around your place. That include draining saucers around plant pots. Store tires indoors, store small boats and canoes upside down. Our city has been larvacing, so we should have less around, to break the mode of transmission. One type of Mosquito carries the virus and bites a Bird, another mosquito bites the bird, then bites man. 80% of folks dont sufer any symptoms, those that do usually have a mild flu like illness for about 4 days. Then 3% have the severe form of the illness, headache, stiff neck, mennigitis-encephalitis. Less than 1% die but the disabilty caused by the virus is the problem here not deaths. Keep covered, long sleeve and long pants, if outdoors at dusk or dawn when they are out, or avoid those times to be out.

Ginny, yikes, not sure about another PG Class, just glad to get this one out of the way! Yipppeee! only two nights to go!

Gotta run to catch Leno!
Back tomorrow!

[Jewels]

Shawnee, if I decide to nuke the flxmeal muffins, how long do I cook them? I have a 1200 wt. micro.I guess I'm one of the chicken ones. Is the pumpkin custard made without milk? LOL My orchids were real cheap. Not the big one...$19.99 but the others were $2.00 and $1.00 They were done flowering and guess nobody wants to buy them then so she dropped the price for me.

Hi Susan, How long will be off working then? Good info on the mosquitos.

Ginny, I went to the gardenweb and think I'm a little intimidated. Lots of interest here though. Roses, african violets, all houseplants, tomatoes etc. My DH said as I was signing up, that we were going to have to move the puter into the restroom though. I'm involved in so many forums. LOL

[LoveMontana]

back again for a few minutes before bed. I'm really pooped.
The fair went well except one of the patients avulsed a rather large flap of skin on her arm on the van door. UGH. Medics took care of it, cleaned and dressed it. Blood all over my jeans. She was totally ok with it and didn't want to go back to the facility at all. My call so we stayed at the fair. They had a ball!! Got back and I had a ton of paper work and incident reports to fill out. &%#@$ NYS and the paper work.

Anyhoo,

Loretta, I haven't a clue as to the carb count on the blueberry muffins. I do know that Bob's Red mill flax meal is 4 carbs per 1/4 cup with 4 grams fiber for a net of 0. Depends on if you use splenda packets at 1 or Davinci at 0...plus the eggs at .7 per large. Baking powder and baking soda??? I just know the stuff is great!

Lordy girl, thanks for that eye candy. Those plants are magnificant to say the least!! Your yard does look like a park. Wow!

Julie, I'm allergic to cats too but had our Inky for years. One of my asthma triggers. What we do for love, eh?
Fortunately it didn't rain a drop and we even had some sun at the fair. One of the male patients wandered away from my co worker ( his to watch) and got on a ride called THE ORBITOR
He got off with the biggest smile on his face and was so happy. Said he had to grow another set of B@lls to get on it but had a blast.

Ginny, you are a doll for helping everyone with their Orchids. Lordy, you will put me on your ignore list when I finally get one.

Susan, Great info on the West Nile. We got a lecture very similar to what you wrote from our infection control nurse about it two years ago... Want to come work at our place?
Humm, I forgot about ER. It used to be one of my favorites, but I haven't watched any regular programs since 9/11. Unfortunately I can't get away from the news, except on Sunday evening when I may watch an hour of HGTV. I'm trying to ween myself away from Fox and CNN by watching the weather channel new program, Storm Stories. Just can't seem to get into that stuff anymore. Talk radio has caught my attention too.

Shawnee, My God it finally cooled off there? Thank heavens for you and pup. Glad you two got out to enjoy some yard time.
Did try nuking some blueberry stuff in there. This is a new nuker but a bit more power than the old one. The stuff came out fine.
Thanks to your encouragement, I'm doing more with it. Even dug out my old nuker cook book.
Gerard is almost back to normal. Had his last ( hopefully) x ray and made an appointment with the Uro in two weeks. He is really drinking his water now, by God..

Julie, I always make my custards with heavy cream and water.

Off to catch up a bit.

Sleep well everyone.

[LoveMontana]

OH LORDY!! Look at this
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/st...072404339.html

[shawneesioux]

Hi again...
Susan, thanks for the info on that nasty Nile Crud...that meningitis-encephalitis stuff scares the hell out of me! Its amazing how much water can collect around a home, in places you'd never think to look I make sure the water in our little pond is constantly circulating...and hope the goldfish will eat any larvae. I hose out the three birdbaths daily.

Montana, GEEZ, you had quite a day...seems some of your group had fun, injuries and all I agree, anything made with Flax is gonna be more LC than any other "flour" such as almond or oat.

Yes, those Wildfires are just terrible...we are having them in WA and OR also....one near Bend OR close to my relatives. I sure hope it rains, but none predicted for us. The Dry Lightning is a real problem in those fire areas.. our heat reprieve will be short-lived, going back to high temps soon..boo-hoo.

Julie, I suggest you look in your Nuker recipe book for TIME. My book is just Instructions, with a few recipes...NONE for muffins...(1300 WT)..so I nuke them for 2 minutes,..check for firmness...then continue nuking in 30 sec increments. The thing is, they need to be removed before they are totally done, as they will continue to cook afterwards for awhile...(those busy little molecules are busy vibrating...LOL)

I take mine out when they look and feel firm on top...the bottoms seem a bit "damp"..but they firm right up and "dry" within a few minutes of cooling. Better to undercook a dab...cause once they are over-cooked, they are only good for crumbs.

There are tons of Nuker recipes on the Net.

Here's an easy custard one, just sub cream and water for the milk, and Splenda for sugar:

http://kmacb.tripod.com/mycookbook/custard.html

This looks good, just sub in cream/water for the milk...and nuke it til the center is ALMOST set.
http://www.whatscookingamerica.net/PumpkinCustard.htm

Shawnee

[shawneesioux]

.......found this doing a search

NUKER FLAX MUFFINS

6 T butter - melted
3 large eggs
¼ cup whipping cream (or half and half)
Beat these 3 ingredients together, and then add:
½ cup Splenda (artificial sweetener)
1 T maple flavoring
1 T vanilla
Mix the following together and add to the above:
2 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
½ rounded t baking powder
½ rounded t baking soda
1 cup ground flaxseeds
¼ cup soy flour or Atkin's Bake Mix ( I'd use Gluten instead)
4 oz black walnuts, chopped (optional)

Put into 12 paper cupcake liners in a muffin tin and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes. You can also double the recipe and get 18-20 larger size muffins.
These have been recommended as "very good with lots of fiber". About 4 carb per muffin but over 3 is in the form of fiber. Other flavorings have been tried - banana, pineapple or unsweetened coconut also taste great. These muffins freeze well, too.

These can also be made in the microwave. In a 1000 watt microwave, 12 muffins take about 2 minutes and 10 seconds.