Kindle!

Kindle, Wi-Fi, Graphite, 6" Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology  
 
Love the kindle, downloaded another book today, my kids also have kindles!  Although no color pictures etc.  they're fantastic to cart around instead of books, and we no longer need to worry about where to keep all the books.

The Last Child

Rain rain rain.....The Hunger Games

Its been raining for days, we luckily missed any tornado's that were touching down in Nebraska.

I purchased a book on Amazon for my kindle on Saturday afternoon, and I was sucked in really fast, a book I never normally would have purchased, but it had such good reviews.

The Hunger Games

I finished it in record time and purchased book 2 and 3 in the series and just finished those too.  The best books I've read in a while, I downloaded them to my son's kindle too!
Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games)

Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, Book 3)

From Amazon: the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives. Collins's characters are completely realistic and sympathetic as they form alliances and friendships in the face of overwhelming odds; the plot is tense, dramatic, and engrossing.

Lovely Day!!

A beautiful sunny day today, after hanging laundry I got stuck into my veggie garden, lots of weeds to pull. 

I still have work to do, but its coming along nicely!  I have to make some tomato cages, and fence off another area for the squash, pumpkins and watermellon. 

Peas

Rosemary

Momma duck and one of her babies

Summer is hereeeee - Ice pops are in the freezer!

I recently purchased the following ice pop molds:
Orka A47221 Ice Pop Molds, White Base
Tovolo 80-8003Y Yellow Groovy Ice Pop Molds, Set of 6
Tovolo 80-8002G Green Star Ice Pop Molds, Set of 6

I made some last night, some with juice for the kids and I made 4 star shaped ones with Mocha coffee.  I used about 2 cups of coffee (leftovers from my morning) I added 3 tablespoons of torani white chocolate syrup
Torani Original Mocha Sauce, White Chocolate, 16.5-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 6)

A dash of Vanilla coffee creamer, mixed it all up and poured into the molds.  4 hours later I had an Iced Mocha on a stick!!

I'm currently trying a Jello/juice mix to see if I can make the ice pops easier to eat, and not ROCK hard as the plain juice ones are.  I mixed a 3oz package of Strawberry Jello, with 1 cup boiling water, 1 cup cold after all the jello powder mixed in.  2 cups of V8 light juice.  poured into molds and now we're waiting on them!

Trenton

Gillian

The jello added to the juice mix makes for a much better texture, like the ice pops you buy in the store and not a solid block of ice.

Dog food for Ginja

We've been feeding Ginja a raw diet since she was a few months old.  The benefits are MANY and when all is said and done, its not that much more expensive that dried kibble type food.
Benefits include:
1. no doggy odour


2. naturally cleans teeth - no need for toothbrushes, de-scaling jobs, or gum disease

3. the time it takes for a dog to chew a raw meaty bones give their stomach adequate time to get the acids moving

4. much less stools produced - and they are firm, and turn chalky after a couple of days or hours even.

5. decreased or non-existant vet bills (your dogs are healthier!)

6. less cost for dog food - commercial dog foods are ludicriously expensive

7. mirrors what a dog would be getting in the wild - and certainly even the modern day dog has a digestive tract exactly the same as a wolf

8. puppies develop at a more appropriate rate - and quick growth spurts are avoided. A GOOD breeder will want to stop fast growth in any pup.

9. the ripping and chewing involved in eating raw meaty bones develops the jaw, neck, and shoulder muscles of the dog. Commercial dog foods will never assist in this important muscle development
 
That said, I prepared a batch of food with veggies and rice today, I cut off chunks of chicken off the bone (she gets the bone and leftover meat attached raw)  I cooked up the cut off chicken, with garlic, onion, chicken broth - a can, with a can of water, carrots,  (let it slow cook for a few hours at this point) added a cup and a half of rice (let cook for an hour longer ) added corn, peas and broccoli.... turned off the pot and let the heat cook the remaining veggies.
That all made a stew fit for a human!  I bottled it all up - enough for 6 meals and popped the jars in the fridge.
 
 

Sick....

So seldom do I get sick, but on my return from South Africa I got something weird.  

I finally went to a doctor and was promptly admitted to the hospital overnight.  Some IV
antibiotics and fluids later - I went home the next day, feeling much better but not a clue as to why I was so sick. 

Waiting for test results to come back......................

6/23/11 - I finally got the test results back and wouldn't you know it, but they haven't a CLUE what was wrong with me.  All came back negative, all the blood work and cultures for Malaria, Yellow Fever, Dengue Fever, and Typhoid.  No answers, I am just glad I got over it!

Inkwenkwezi Elephants

During my visit to South Africa (April/May 2011) we went to see the Elephants at Inkwenkwezi.