National Diary Day

In honor of National Diary Day, I felt I needed to post at least one small post. So here it is. I’m sick – been down with an ear infection and Bronchitus for about 5 days now, can’t lay down – cough cough. Can’t think. Can’t read. The days are passing in a blur, especially when my fever is up. Thank god for hot tea.

Local Robbery?

Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. Last Tuesday, as my son was walking across the yard to the bus stop, he stopped, bent down and picked something up. “Look mom, he yells, it’s a cash register, and it has money in it.” I didn’t really think that could be true – but it was a cash register drawer, torn from a register and still holding some coins in it! This is fodder for a mystery story! More later as I tell you about the police investigation….

Plum Buckle?

OK, I’ve heard the word before [buckle] but didn’t really know what it was when I came across it in a book I was reading a while back. Soooo…. I did some research on Plum Buckle and found out it’s basically a buttery cake with fruit bubbling on top. OK, that sounds good. Sounds just about like most of the Dutch Oven cakes we make anyway, so I’ll give it a go. I made one, but used two fruits so I could try it both ways.

Fire up the coals, making sure you have enough for what you are cooking on the grill with a few left over for the good old Dutch Oven dessert! Tonite we are having: Grilled Chicken Tikka, Veggie Shish-Ka-Bobs and Plum (Peach) Buckle. The Grilled Chicken and Veggie Ka-bobs you can make any old way you like. I happen to love Chicken Tikka (marinated from this AM with yogurt, fresh ginger, chile, coriander – the spices from my garden) and the veggies splashed with just a bit of soy sauce and olive oil. For the veggies today we have small green tomatoes, fresh yellow squash, pimiento peppers, bell peppers and small onions. Each Chicken Ka-bob has a slice of lemon on one end and a couple slices of peaches. Yes, the lemons and peaches are from my garden as well as the veggies and herb seasonings.

OK, the grill is hot, the chicken and veggies on the grill, now it’s time to Buckle up!

Fruit Buckle

Line your Dutch Oven with foil and oil VERY lightly or use a cooking spray on the foil. Instead of the dump cake method, I took my store bought cake mix, left out the oil, used only 1/3 of the water it called for and stirred till damp.  I spooned this into the lined Dutch Oven, then I sliced a half stick of salt free butter over the top. On top of this, I placed on one half some sliced ripe plums and on the other half some sliced peaches, barely overlapping the edges. It took 3 of each fruit. I carried the pot outside, pulled the food off the grill, removed the grilling screen and set the Dutch oven into the coals. I put about a dozen coals on top of the DO, and went in to eat. After about 30 minutes, I checked the Buckle, decided it was done and we proceeded to eat it. Now I am love with Plum Buckle a la Dutch Oven! (The peaches were great too)

If I were to make this recipe in the oven, I would preheat the oven as indicated on the package, prepare the cake mix as per directions, pour into greased pan, top with fruit, then bake as indicated on package but ADD 10 minutes to the baking time.

Don’t forget the snake!

Not to be outdone by our early morning visit of the scorpion (patient is doing well, by the way, just his side and arm are real sore) – tonite as I was coming in the front door, I saw from the corner of my eye a slight difference in the pattern on the brick.

From the title of this note, you must have guessed it was a snake! It was clinging to the bricks that edge my front door. Quietly, so as not to disturb it, I went into the house and got my husband out of bed by asking him if he would like to come catch a snake for me. [Of course he would!]

 

 

 This picture is of a somewhat smaller snake than ours, but the unique head markings are quite similar.

As soon as we came out to spot the snake again, it lunged aggressively at my husband and fell to the porch. Using a paper plate to scoop it back away, the snake kept attacking and attacking. His head was larger than his short body with patterns similar to a rattler (Eastern Diamondback), so we were being very cautious. My husband coaxed it into a jar and we brought it into the house to identify. If it was venomous, of course, it would probably have to die. If not, we can release it back into the garden.

In minutes, I had pictures of it identified; this is a very young Texas Rat Snake. They grow around here over 7 feet long! This little guy is just over a foot long. Did I mention how aggressive that little dude is? Fortunately, no painful bites and he can go back out to play in the morning; after I show him to my son.

Snakes don’t bother me as much as the type of biters & stingers I mention in yesterday’s post. I often find snakes when out in the woods on various camp outs or teaching my Hunter Education classes. Nearly every gun range I have worked at, especially at Boy Scout Camps – no, I think every range including, yes, need I mention – the range in New Mexico – has had a snake that had to be relocated or disposed of. Nearly all of them are Rattlers of one type or other and they love to get into the sheds attached to a gun range or up in the rafters of the shooting area cover. I have snake stories to tell about nearly every gun range I have spent some time on. Some to laugh at, some that just chill your bones. I use a very realistic fake snake along my blood trails and have to be careful that I don’t scare the living daylights out of anyone; these are generally people who carry guns, remember? I’ve seen parents complain when their little munchkin tells them how they got scared, so at times I have to modify my training so as not to ’scare’ anyone. Usually that happens when I have someone under 14 or some big, giant, beefy convicted felon in my class.

Scorpions, ants, ticks and more

OK, I’m ready for the hot summer to go away. The past couple of days here in Texas the weather is (still) near one hundred degrees and even the bugs are getting meaner.

My son woke me up at about 4AM today to tell me he had been stung by a scorpion. [mega OUCH!] Fortunately, it wasn’t a very venomous one and he’s back asleep now, but it still was cause for concern and a bit of pain. I treated the sting and dosed him up with an antihistime and ibuprofin, then applied a topical itch med and ice. Then, I caught the stupid scorpion and looked him up on the internet to make sure it wasn’t one of the more dangerous kinds. It’s not – it’s the common Stripe Tail found all over Texas, a young adult male from the looks of him. Still, I’ll have to watch over him (my son) for awhile and make sure he doesn’t show any allergic reactions.

Now yesterday and the day before, I was bitten by a tick and half a dozen fire ants. So I’m treating those as well. But Sheesh! The collection of biters and stingers on my counter is growing. Two ticks (dead now) and a really angry scorpion. The ants I don’t bother with. But the ticks (common dog ticks) I keep around for awhile in case I develop some weird symptoms that may be indications of Spotted Tick Fever or Lyme’s disease and the scorpion in case I have to take my son to the doctor for an anti-venom treatment in the event of an allergic reaction.

I have to say I’m sure the hot, droughty weather is contributing to the upswing on bug (or arachnid) activity. Scorpions are coming in to escape the heat and the ticks are new to my yard. I’ve pulled ticks off the dogs, my husband [sans bite] and myself. Each time we go out into the woods, we are coming home with these little gems. Now I think they are trying to breed in my yard. For the first time ever, my dogs’ flea and tick meds aren’t working and another first – I think we are going to have to poison the yard with something. In eight years in this house we’ve never had to put much poison down (we have a nature friendly yard) – only spot treat the random fire ant mounds. Now I may have to declare war.

I may as well mention the other little buggers – mosquitos. We haven’t had many of them this summer and I’ve gotten out of the habit of spraying myself when I want to spend some time outside. After the tiny bit of rain we got over a week ago, they did seem to come out again for a few days and of course, I am the one that attracts them the most and reacts to their bites. Fortunately, with my Koi pond, geckos, anoles, horned lizard, frogs and toads around my yard – the mosquito population doesn’t get too badly out of control. There are even a few bats in the area to contribute to the feasting.

Now, the wasps and bees – well, they are useful polinators so I tend not to try and drive them off too much, but they seem to ‘bee’ getting more aggressive as well. The Ruby Throated and Black Chin hummingbirds have to fight them off of the feeders to get to their nectar. The bees aren’t too bad; they give way to the hummers normally – but the wasps are generally the winners in a show down I’ve noticed. I’ve taken to flicking the red wasps off the feeders to let the hummers in because when it comes to a stand off, the hummers usually back down first. It’s interesting to watch the two (wasps vs/ hummingbirds) go at it. But the bees just fly over to a plant. I did notice a place in my yard where the big fat bumblebees (I think) have popped out some holes in my yard and yesterday I saw one flitting around the Rose of Sharon in my back yard. They don’t seem aggressive at all. The wasps like to buzz me though – and hang around my front and back door just waiting to zip in the house. I think they are looking for cooler air as well. Of course, all these things may be attracted to me because of my coconut hair shampoo, my Wild Freesia deoderant and my Frangiapani body mist – I must smell like a smorgasborg to them! When I go out in the woods or to hunt, I generally use non-scented products, but at home – well, I like to smell nice!

I can proudly acclaim that the chiggers haven’t gotten me [yet] this year. So that’s one little bitey thing I can scratch off my list for a few more days. I’m sure they will get me the next time I hit the woods to teach one of my classes, even with all the precautions I take to spray my pant legs and boots. Oh well, the battle with mother nature is going to get fierce around here the next few weeks.