Bogieblog

Feb Hasn't Given Up Yet

The weather guessers indicated that we would get 2-4" of snow last night. A piffling that wouldn't interfere with WS's sledding plans. I fed the dogs shortly before 5 this morning and we had about an inch on the deck. WS went out and got the paper about 7 and there was about 3" of snow, which he swept off the porch. By 9, we had 7" of snow.

 
Ws has spent a lot of time snowblowing and shoveling off roofs (all of the sheds. I shovelled my usual rounds (WS did the path between the deck stairs and the stone stairs for me though) and cleared off the roof to the dog house as well as shoveling a path to the oil tank and electric meter. So far we have gotten a total of about 8" today (more on the way tomorrow).

 
He is finally ready to go out sledding as soon as the neighbor is done with his driveway.

Oh, and when I went to get the camera to download the above pics, wouldn't you know it, a flock of Redpolls were at the feeders. I don't remember seeing redpolls for a couple of years and had to look at the bird book to make sure I was identifying them correctly.

 
I counted 8 Redpolls, several doves, lots of chickadees and juncos, a couple of white breasted nuthatches and some blue jays. Not that it counts towards any of the bird counts . . .

Pics for February

Since I posted WS's sledding pics, I figured I would put up some others I have taken recently:

The bird feeder is about 3 months old. the wood platform feeder that it replaced was 15 years, if it was a day, and I only replaced because the wood was so rotted that it didn't keep any snow or rain out of the seed bin. The squirrels keep knocking it off the railing and the metal can't take the stress of landing 7 feet down (or 3 feet, as the snow piled up). As of now, one of the rivets is broken, so the roof is only held up by 2 struts, not all 3.

Tory on the back of the couch and Fuzzy on his towel.

 

Missy and Prince

 

 
And Fuzzy - no contentment there :)

Sledding Recap

WS remembered to take the camera while he was sledding yesterday. The group went to Mt. Kearsarge and they put on about 106 miles (miles are a lot tougher/slower on a sled).

 

The second pic is of the people that WS rode with: G, his daugher, and Jimmy (almost hidden). They always have a good time together and it shows.

Proof of Bust

Cop Car posted her list of birds for the GBBC and it was extensive. Here are my pathetic lists:

For The NH Audubon Winter Bird Survey:

1. Junco: 4
2. Chickadee:  7
3. White Breasted Nuthatch: 1
4. Tufted Titmouse:  1
5. Gray Squirrel:  2
6. Red Squirrel:  1

For the GBBC:

1. Junco:  4
2. Chickadees:  6
3. White Breasted Nuthatch: 1
4. Tufted Titmouse:  1
5. Blue Jays:  5
6. Downey Woodpecker:  1 (by WS)
7. Gray Squirrel:  2
8. Red Squirrel:  1

At least we are consistant with the birds and squirrels that are fed around here.

This weekend (not that it counts for anything) I saw 4 doves. I'd say that that is a sign that spring is around the corner, but they are here thru the winter. The only time I haven't seen doves is during the 2 weekends of bird counts.

Corn Bread

This morning, I started 16 bean soup (with Ham, of course) in the crockpot.

This evening, I fed the dogs, and gave them the last 2 eggs with their kibble.

My plan was to have cornbread with the ham and bean soup.

This may seem like unorganized rambling, but does anyone see a problem that ties them all together?

If you thought that I needed some eggs to make the corn bread, DING, DING, DING, you win a prize (of no consequence, no color, no smell, no feel, I'll send it by air mail).

So thinking I couldn't have been the first idiot to have given the eggs that were for the corn meal to her dogs, I got on the internet. Although no one fessed up to having fed ingredients meant for their evening meal to their pets, there were plenty of people that had no eggs, had a hankering for corn bread, and were to lazy (broke, out of time, other) to go to the store. here is the recipe I decided to go with, along with my modifications:

• 1 1/2 cups soymilk (I used 2% milk)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar (I cut back to 1 TBL after reading some of the comments)
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour or 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (I used 2 TBL of soy flour and the rest of the cup filled with rice flour for a gluten-free bread)
• 2 tablespoons raw sugar or 2 tablespoons other artificial sweetener (I used 1 1/2 TBL of Splenda Baking Mix)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt (I used 1/2 tsp)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons oil (I used 2+ TBLS of bacon grease)

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. Blend the milk and vinegar (see, you want sour milk) and set aside.
3. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.
4. Add the milk mixture and the oil (grease), and stir until just blended.
5. Spread the batter into a nonstick or lightly oil-sprayed 9-inch square baking dish.
6. Bake 25-30 minutes (25 for me).

Test for doneness by the toothpick method, in the center.

It came out very good for use with bean soup (or chili). The taste is low key and won't compete with the soup. If you are looking for something that is more toward eating with just a bit of butter on it, up the sugar content and use butter instead of oil or bacon grease.

Different Things

I will be looking at something interesting Monday. Can't say what, where or who, but it will at the very least do something to satisfy my curiosity about something which has been intriguing me for about 1 1/2 years.

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When I took my new job, the medical benefits (and deductibles) were better than what WS had been getting thru his work, so we switched. Friday WS said that his company was dropping their contribution to 50% (it had been 70%). They are also completely dropping their contribution to the 401k. Looks like I picked a good time to find a job that has good medical and contributes to my 401k (my previous employer had dropped 401k contributions a couple of years ago). They also laid off one person - things aren't looking good for them right now.

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We got 11" of snow on Friday. This morning WS went out sledding with Jimmy and some other buddies, He left about 11:30 and is projected to get home about 8:30 (he called a couple of hours ago). He leaves again tomorrow to sled with the neighbor. Now that he finally got the sled fixed, he has to ride it like he stole it before the rain and warmer temps come in later in the week.

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WS has lost another crown. this one has come off before (last time we were in Kansas) and there is barely any tooth left above the gumline to glue it to. We wil probably have them yank the tooth and look into implants (which he could use for the other 5-6 teeth he is missing - all molars). Probably won't yank the tooth yet as he has already used most of the dental benefits for the year and as long as it doesn't bother him, it should be okay.

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The Last Great Race on Earth starts March 5th.

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And that is it for the short taks from the bogie household.

Daytona 500 2011

I didn't pay much attention to the race until the last 30 laps. Told WS that it would be nice for a new guy to win. Was rooting for Bayne in the last couple of laps. Told WS that it couldn't last, but it would be nice if it did.

Trevor Bayne pulled a nice blocking move on Carl Edwards at the end of turn 4 and came away with a win. Fantastic ending where it wasn't Jimmy, or one of the Busch's or one of the household names.

Good Stuff!

NH Music Videos

The Super Secret Project is at it again. First is was a NH spin on the rap song New York State of Mind:

Now it is the Plow Guy Boogaloo (as featured by Fritz Weatherbee of New Hampshire Chronicle):

 Both songs are great fun. The second features many of NH's famous people (Matt Bonner, a writer etc). If nothing else, check out at 4:46 mark, that is what many of us go thru and say when the street plow goes by!

There is also original rap sond/video, The 603, from last year (or maybe it was 2 years ago - can't remember):

 That is it for your NH cultural entertainment today.

Amaryllis Anguish

Buffy has an amaryllis that she was going to throw out, but has rethunk that since it is growing a bloom stalk.

Her post reminded me that I put away a couple of amaryllis in the lean-too and was going to reanimate them for Easter. I'm guessing that won't happen as the lean-to is not heated and the bulbs aren't supposed to be good for cold temps. I believe that -22 qualifies for a cold temp, so I'm not real hopeful that they will come back.

I better go take them out of the lean-to now and let them warm up. Will still see if they revive, but won't get my hopes up.

Birds are a Bust

Cop Car hasn't seen as many birds as she would like for the Great Backyard Bird Count. We have been counting for the last 2 weekends (last weekend was the NH Audubon Winter Bird Survey) and we are definitely a bust.

Last week I saw a total of 13 birds (of 4 species) and 3 squirrels (red and gray). This week I've seen less birds, but one more species; I saw 1 Blue Jay. Now who sees only 1 Blue Jay? They almost always travel together, or at least call their friends after finding a food source.

Haven't seen the cardinal that we glimpsed a couple of weeks ago. That isn't unusual as we usually (never until this year) don't see cardinals in the winter. Nor have we seen any downey woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers, or redbreasted nuthatches. We haven't seeen the woodpeckers or nuthatches all winter - very unusual (as in, I don't remember a winter that those haven't been around).

We may not be seeing birds, but someone has seen yellow cardinals (in Kentucky). Pretty cool looking!

The GBBC goes on thru tomorrow, so the birds still have time to beat a path to our feeders.