The first harvest

The radishes are the first up! These were practically jumping out of
the ground.

Name that pup!!

We are taking suggestions for the new one.

In for the day

Between rain and snow, I think the captain has the right idea.

The Doctrine of Preemption

In the spirit of the upcoming inauguration, and on the last day when the "Doctrine of Preemption" will be a guiding principle behind US policy, I'm posting this photo and taking ownership of this event before any of my students find out this photo is on the web.

Yes, that is me next to my friend Marcus Divita roaming the halls of Green Mountain High School dressed for "twin day" or some such nonsense.  Yes, that is my real hair, and, no, we were not fans of Wham!  Depeche Mode, Aha, and Duran Duran, but not Wham!.  Never Wham!.  Thanks to Marcus for bringing back these happy, carefree days.  I wish I still had the shirt.

In a further tribute to tomorrow, I seem to recall Marcus and I running for student body president and vice president, respectively.  At least, I think that was Marcus.  In any event, we didn't win, saving the world from our fledgling political careers.  We are better off with Barack and Joe.

To tomorrow!

Butter!

This will sound completely bonkers but, apparently, if you take regular cream and whip it like mad, past the point of soft peaks, beyond stiff peaks, past where little curds begin to separate, and a little bit further than that, you get...butter.

I know! It was quite a sight to see. SG and I have always had a problem because our home delivery dairy doesn't have unsalted butter. I'm a bit of a butter nazi when it comes to unsalted butter. Since I mostly bake with it, there ... must ... not ... be ... salt. So I've been stuck buying crappy grocery store butter and suffering in "silence".

They, SG finds a blog post describing how to make butter from whipping cream. I can't believe nobody ever thought of this before! What a revelation. Imagine how much happier the cows will be.

And the butter tastes just like cream! Amazing!

I can't wait for breakfast.

ps.  That stuff in the jar?  Butter milk!  For making pancakes!

Introducing Captain...back to Utah

Captain and I returned from Socorro on Sunday to find the house buried in several feet of snow.  Thanks to a debilitating condition I would rather not discuss (brought on by too much road food and too much time in the car) I was hardly up to the task of clearing the 30 feet of compacted snow and ice from road to driveway.  I did try, until I realized the next shovel full of snow would likely wreck my back as well.

Plan B was much simpler:  I locked the hubs on the F250 in our second driveway, threw it into 4x4, blasted out of the drift (think Steve Martin and John Candy in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles with Captain playing the role of Dell Griffith) and then drove over the snow in the driveway behind the truck to flatten in.  I beached the car and walked from there.  

But today, I have triumph.  It only took three days, but as I slopped the last heave of ice out of the way, I held the shovel above my head and howled "I have done it!!!!".  This had the added benefit of scaring away the two college punks looking at the rental house across the street.

But Captain is the real star.  He stood by me watching the street, rolling in and biting at the snow, and generally being a good dog.  I think he'll like it here.  

Later:

I just realized: I was playing the role of Dell Griffith, since I was driving.  I didn't want you to get the idea I let Captain pilot the truck.  I'm also sure I said "we need to rock it a bit."

Always listen to your spouse

When she says get a pup, get a pup!!