Childhood Toys

We got talking about childhood toys last night and I still have some of my favorites. Breyer Horses and my Johnny West collection.

I don't even know how many Breyer Horses I have, I'm guess over 40. They are packed away in cardboard boxes and would take some time to re-pack.

I don't have quite as much JW stuff, so I thought I'd get it out, just for fun and take a few pictures.

Anyway, here's your trip back in time.........My Johnny West Stuff. It was WELL used. Played with out in the yard and scuffed up. No keeping them safely in the box for me! The boxes are long gone, but the memories are forever!

I knew Johnny was missing a hand, turns out he's missing BOTH!! Not to worry, I have two Johnny's and one has both his hands. Here he's also sporting his plastic vest/hat and rifle with it's case!!

To the right is the whole Family!!! Johnny "No Hands" and his twin brother. The "wife" and her daughter, and who can forget Geronimo! They all have jointed elbows and knees, which are a bit rusty now. Gee, just like MINE!! I guess we've all aged! Here they are lined up with the covered wagon.

Where's the cover? I actually do still have it, but it's made of vinyl and it was folded up was a bit brittle. I wasn't willing to take the time to open it properly and I didn't want to break it, so I put it back in the box.





Here's the girls pony, Pancho...I think that was it's name?


















The Bay Horse below must have been more "modern" as it's legs are all jointed as well.









Below the whole Family takes a ride in the wagon. I still had the harness, it's pretty awesome, it has all the proper pieces. I love the details! Apparently this horse is very well trained as it doesn't need a bridle or reins! Alas, some things were obviously lost.







Finally, the red horse. He actually has wheels under his hooves, which makes the cart ride smoother. I think I might have to get these for Adam and Saphira! G

GOT TURKEY????

Well, I finally did it! I just ordered my Turkeys!
Scheduled to ship Monday 4-13-09

I'm very excited, although a bit apprehensive as I've read they can be pretty stupid. I also ordered some chicks along with the turkeys as supposedly chicks will help the turkeys find the food and water. OMG!! They can't even find food or water on their own? How have they survived this long? Then I read a suggestion that you put colored marbles in their water to help "draw" them to it. Okay, the "shiny object theory", I can SO understand!! Apparently one of the hens will need to be named Ester!

Speaking of names, it's time to start thinking of some. Okay, so I'm not sure it's wise to name birds that you're going to eat, but oh well. After much debate and research I decided on the Bourbon Reds Turkeys. They are a moderate sized bird, the toms at 33# and the hens at 18#. Trust me, that's moderate! Some get in the high 40# range!! I don't need a bird that out weighs my dogs!! Then I might as well get an Emu. Tried that actually, couldn't get Bill to go for that one.

There's that shiny object!! FOCUS ESTER!!!

Back to names. These turkeys were "created" in Kentucky, so I figure they should have COOL Race Horse Type Names. Not necessarily a famous race horse, just fun names. Such as:

A Little Well Done
Butter Me Up
My Heart Ain't In It
Or how about:
Late for Dinner

Anyway, start thinking. Bill thinks naming the birds is a VERY BAD IDEA!!!

Speaking of Bill. When I "told" him last Fall we were getting turkeys in the spring he was having NONE of it! NO NO NO!! So, I kept dropping "no too suttle" hints along the way and apparently "Back Yard Poultry" magazine was on my side, because when we got our copy in the mail it was all about turkeys!! Was that fate or what? Timing is everything!

Here's the clincher. OMG! Bill is great, he likes to keep me busy reading, which in turn "HE" thinks, keeps me from thinking up projects for him to do. He regularly picks up books for me at the library and yesterday he'd made a trip. Imagine my surprise when I saw a book on "Raising Turkeys" on the kitchen table!!! Now, I did NOT ask for him to find me this book. He did it ALL on his own. He's obviously been worn down to accepting that we will have turkeys. VBG

As I browsed through the book last night I learned a few interesting tidbits. Did you know that commercial turkeys are too large to breed naturally. So people need to artificially inseminate them!! (How would you like THAT JOB!) They have pictures and everything!! I might keep a pair back for breeding. Luckily, I'll be able to use Meme's expertise in this area. (She's a Vet Tech) I'll just have to figure out a way to break this news to her. Oh, wait, I think I just did! Luckily Meme, they are suppose to be able to breed naturally.

I had been waiting for Cackle Hatchery to open up their website for 2009 Orders. It opened a couple weeks ago, so it was time to start thinking seriously about what I wanted. I decided on 10 birds. That sounded like a pretty good number and manageable. They have a minimum order of 15, so I'd get 5 Ameraucana's too (Easter Egg Chickens) as I only have one left that lays green eggs.

So this morning I grabbed Bill's credit card and started to place my order. As I did my final research, weight/feed calculations, I decided 10 might be a few too many. First off, what if they all die? What if we can't butcher them? What if I get stuck with 300#s of turkey that needs to be fed through the winter? Okay, maybe 10 is too many. Lets start off with 6. Yep, 6 is good. That way, if I lose them it's not a huge deal and I know not to try again. Or if we can't butcher them, we know not to try again. So I decreased the turkey and increased the chicks (they are smaller and cheaper to feed).

Hopefully they will be arriving in April. Hopefully it's a warm spring. Hopefully they learn FAST!! Hopefully they don't chase Bill around the yard like the geese did. At least he'd be more willing to have them butchered!!

I wonder if you can clicker train a Turkey?? Gobble - Click- Treat!

Seeker's Favorite Toy

Last year Seeker got a toy at a Christmas Party. Actually, it was to be shared with all the dogs, but Seeker claimed it as his own. It's consists of a wide strap of nylon that is covered in canvas which makes up the body. The body doesn't have any stuffing, the stuffing is in the feet and head- the head also has a squeaker in it. We got the purple rabbit. THANKS MICHELE!!!!

For the last year this toy shows up and becomes a favorite for awhile and then disappears. It's usually located under the sofa or bed while vacuuming (which doesn't happen often enough around here) and funny enough, it's like getting a new toy all over again.

Seeker tosses it in the air, shakes his head and bangs it against his body. He rolls upside down with it and tugs while pulling with it between his feet. He really LOVES IT!!!

During the last year, "Bunny" has gone through MANY changes. First his ears went, then the squeaker and stuffing got pulled out. Now, his head has completely disappeared and we're thinking it's seriously time to find another one. I don't even know how many times it's been in the washing machine! (See evidence below)


So, last night I hopped on the Internet. I can't believe I'm actually going to look for another DOG TOY!!! We have two huge totes full of dog toys from agility trials, brand new!!! But, no, I'm actually going to spend some $$$ on a "special" toy. Is that warped and wrong or what? How much can this toy actually cost anyway??

So I check out the back of the toy and I can still make out "FAT CAT INC", I head for that web site and I can get the 3 toys above for 39.95 + S/H. Um...NOT!!!! Hello!! Look again at exhibit A above! It's NOT going to last!! Unless we vacuum less, which is always a possibility!! So, being the frugal Internet shopping, I do a Yahoo Search to see what other options I have.

I found a couple for around $10 each + S/H, which isn't too bad. Then I found the "holiday" versions on E-Bay. Okay, so the rabbit is pretty ugly, but at just under $10 including S/H it's a GO!! So, I ordered 2 (which is all they had - $18) and soon Seeker will have a brand new bunny to toss , chew and tug on.

No wonder companies make a MINT off dog owners!! This is proof positive....WE WILL BUY ANYTHING to keep our dogs HAPPY!!!! It would have been cheaper to just go buy a thick Nylon strap at the craft store!!!

Happy SHOPPING!!

KingKe's Kamp Inn

We all survived the cold weather Wednesday evening. Myrtle froze up once during the night, the 3 am hour, but was quickly thawed.

Brian and Meme (the host and hostess of KKI) survived Bill's sleep over just fine, it was the morning after after that caused the most commotion. Apparently, "It", Bill's van wouldn't start. It was of course parked behind Meme's van and so she was trapped. Brian just started a new job, so he kind of HAD to leave and so that left Bill and Meme to figure out a plan.

Bill finally called work and someone brought him a battery charger that quickly solved the problem. He could have called me of course as we have one, but he didn't thought of that at the time. He said that the whole van was one frozen piece of metal.

So, everyone made it to work. I went in for a few hours, but was paranoid about Myrt. Good thing too as she was froze up again when I got home. Today, I stayed home in order to toilet sit. Ironically we had a shift in the wind direction and the pressure tank (which controls ALL your water) froze. So I just spent an hour working on that. So now we have water again!!!

Oh the joys of below freezing temps and wild chills!! When is spring again??

Thank you Brain and Meme!!!!!!

HOME ALONE!!!

We got about 6" of snow last night. The light pretty fluffy stuff that looks like diamonds in your head lights and causes "white out" conditions for those you pass. It was a little "Western" getting to work this am, but we "got'her" done.
I took the 4X4 pick up and Sal took his trusty Dodge Grand Caravan, "It".

<<<>>>

During the day the winds picked up from the NW and proceeded to blow said snow (along with the 4-5" we got Saturday morning) all over the place. Getting home on the highway wasn't a problem. It's when you hit the gravel that it gets "ticklish".

Of course, I have the truck, so as long as the snow is below the top of the cab, I'm GOING FOR IT! It's actually rather fun, truth be told, but at 20 below outside, it's NOT the time to be walking home. So I called Sal at work to suggest he stay in town, which he did. So now I'm......

HOME ALONE!!!!!

I can run around naked (TMI), play Rob Zombie and Biggie as loud as I'd like and eat whatever I want!!!!!

Everything was going smoothly.

I'd feed the dogs the T-bone steak in the fridge that I'd been waiting to make into dog treats. Made my supper, hot chocolate, two cinnamon rolls and some circus peanuts. Grabbed my lasted book and sat down to read. Moaning Myrtle (the toilet) wasn't frozen when I got home and I was mentally thanking Sal for stacking those extra bales of hay on the west side of the house. Yep, we're Country Redneck and PROUD OF IT!! They look so purdy there up against the house, it just adds that special something. It's all in the details! G

I'm really tired, so I figure I'll try to turn in around 7. I head to the restroom and flush. CRAP, no, not me!! Moaning Myrtle is FROZEN!!! So I have to trudge down our basement stairs and hook up the space heater. I did this all on my own, now I know the real reason Sal stayed in town!!! (Actually, the real reason is so he can order PIZZA!!!!!)

Luckily, it only takes a few minutes and her arteries are clear, and she's breathing on her own. I, of course have to come up with some type of mechanism so that I don't have to get up every hour to flush. Myrtle's innards don't allow you to just adjust the float so that the water runs all the time, you have to get creative. Or as we like to say around here.....you have to "Farmer it UP". Sal's come up with all kinds of variations over time, so now it's my turn.

I've taken some pictures for you're viewing pleasure. Given a one cup measuring cup and a little duct tape, I was in BUSINESS! As someone recently told me, "If you can't duct, "F" it". I'm sure that's on a bumper sticker somewhere??





The cup is gently covering the ball. Cradling it with loving kindness in order to allow just a trickle of water down the pipe.









A closer view shows the actually measurement lines and is that a dog hair on top!! EEEEWWWW!!!! Obviously we should have gotten more Portuguese Water Dogs and fewer Border Collies!!!!!

Well, it's about time for me to go to bed. I'm afraid I'll need to set that alarm for once an hour, just in case. I guess I'd rather have a bit of a sleepless night than a burst pipe.

Meanwhile, our neighbor Alan is busy cleaning out our lane. Hopefully he'll open up the road a bit too. The ditches are so full you're never quite sure your actually "on the road". The down said of Alan doing such a nice job is I think the "paid maintainer" does our gravel last, figuring that it's already been cleared.

May your toilet always flush and your neighbor always plow your lane!!

SWEET DREAM!!

Now what Have I DONE!!!!

Do you ever want to kick yourself?

HARD?? G

Me too, some days more than others. I can't believe in a "weak" moment that I agreed to do a triathlon with Julie. Not, as in a part of it, no, the whole swim, bike, run thing....by myself!! What the heck was I thinking??? I told Bill what I'd done and he asked me, "If someone told you it would be fun to jump off a bridge, would you do it?" In response I asked, "How deep is the water." He just shook his head and walked away.

Okay, so back to this triathlon. I know the 5K run won't be a problem, however I have to survive the other two events in order to get to do that run. Looks like some planning might be in order!!!!

So today Julie asked if I'd like to go to the Lap Swim in CR for a bit. That would be great! This will allow me to how much swimming I'll need to do in order to be prepared. Heck, I swam a lot as a kid, I was on the swim team, and I swim with the dogs in the summer. How hard can it be?

We arrive at the pool. How far do we have to swim, I ask. The swim is .5K, Julie assures me that it's not very far. I'm now mentally figuring in my head, if 5K = 3.1 miles..... .5K is ....dang, where's a piece of paper when you need one! Well, it can't be that far!!

So we get in the pool and start to swim. Wow!! This is FUN!!!! I should mention here, I'm only 1/2 way to the end of the pool on the start of my first lap. I reach the end, turn around and head back. Wow!! This is a lot of work!!! I've now completed my first lap and I have to stop for a break. All I could think about was, good thing I like the group, "Drowning Pool", cause that's what I'm going to be doing!!

Julie stops to talk with me. I asked if we were done yet, she informs me, no! We need to do 20 laps before we can leave. 20!!!! She then explains that the actual swim will be 13 laps and you won't be able to stop at the end or push off, so you'd better get use to it. OMG!!!! Where's the gun just shoot me now!

We survived, we swam. Julie did 20 laps.....I'm not sure how many I did. Less than that! LOL

I called my sister Dawn right when I got to the car. Being the supportive, loving, sister she is, She wasn't home!!! She wasn't available when I needed her the most! (Did I mention that she is a certified triathlon trainer and competitor??) So, I had to leave her a "G" rated message on her answering machine as she has younger children. It went something along the lines of, "OMG!! I'm freaking going to DROWN!!! What was I thinking!! I really need to start cleaning the house so it's tidy for my funeral!!!" She called me back laughing. Yep, I could so feel the LOVE!!!

I haven't even started the bike training yet. YIPPEEE!!!! Julie did ask me if I'd want to do Ragbrai this year. HELL NO!! I told her without hesitation. GOOD GIRL TAMMY!!! "Not even one day?", she asks. "Well, maybe for one day I tell her. If it's close!"

WHAT THE HECK DID I JUST DO!!

Stranded Saturday.......

It snowed last night and today I'm rather bummed as I was suppose to go hunting down south. Travel wasn't recommended, and there wasn't tow service on the roads I'd be traveling, so I decided to say home.

I can't say I got a LOT of things done, but I did make another batch of cinnamon rolls and started an appetizer that I'd need for a party tomorrow night. I also organized some of my pictures, but I have a LONG way to go!!

By mid morning the sun was out and it was a very pretty day. Bill and I were heading out to the building to move agility equipment around and I decided I should grab my camera and let the dogs ham it up a bit.

Sometimes the boys aren't too bright.

Seeker and Kruz notice me across the yard, they come a charging.

I love Kruz's tongue coming out over his nose.

It's kind of hard to see, but it's there.

Kruz says, "NOT so fast Young MAN!! I might be older than you, but you're going to have to still beat me!! Eat my dust!"

Oh look, Poppa is coming out of the house, what does he have??? He has GARBAGE!!!!

Last one there is a ROTTEN EGG.

Seeker watch out for the PO>>>>>>> Never mind.

OUCH!

Mad loves playing in the snow. That's why her nose is all full of snow. Actually, she does love snow, but it looks like because she's looking for cat poop.

I know.....GROSS!!!

It's a Dog Standoff!! Who's going to move first!
Seeker is watching Kruz, he's not going to get beat again!

Off to the building we go.......leaving Cougar behind.

HELLO!!! Snow's getting deeper. Would someone please come back and GET ME!!!

Poor Cougar, he had to make his way after us by stepping through the dogs tracks.

He has it so rough!

Inedible Pork Plasma

What the heck???

Driving home from work this afternoon I pass (imagine that!) a Semi Tanker with a caption of "Inedible Pork Plasma" on the back!!! OMG!!

The first picture that pops into my mind (I'm a visual person) is a bunch of little pigs laying on their backs with needles in their little legs while squeezing a ball. I'm not sure how they squeeze the ball, but it was MY image, so work with me here! There are pigs collecting their $75 donation fee, and those other pigs objecting to being weighed, and of course those pigs that have consumed poppy seeds and being turned away. Totally Oinked off I might add. Oh, the ever changing saga of the Pig Plasma Bank.

The second thing that pops into my head is all those thoughtful pigs that have donated their plasma in order to save all those "ill pigs" of the world. How kind of them, for a few dollars, to be willing to take the time to donate so that other pigs can live a better life. I picture the pigs working the phones at the actual Bank, checking to see who's at the top of the list for "need". How many Pigs can be saved with a WHOLE TANKER OF PLASMA!!! WOW!!! How unselfish is that!!

The next thing I think about it is - What Trucker in their right mind wants to pull Pork Plasma across the Country? Imagine the looks they get as they pull into a McDonald's for a Pork Tenderloin! When they back up do you suppose it squeals vs. beeps?

Then you start to wonder, what do they REALLY do with this stuff. A lot of people eat blood sausage, but apparently this is "past it's prime", as it's inedible. If you ask me that puts Pork Plasma in the same category as blood sausage, but I like to combo circus peanuts and a Pepsi, so I probably don't have much room to talk.

So I searched the Internet for uses and yes, even found a couple blogs that had pictures of the exact tanker I saw. Well, I'm sure there's more than one. Pork Plasma is sold as a by product along with all those other yummy parts, tongues, ears, snouts, brains, etc.

All this talk of food has made me HUNGRY!!!

Hey Honey, would you please pass the Chitterlings!!! Maybe top it off with a little of that Pork Plasma!!! ENJOY!!!