Christmas Eve Breakfast at Marletta's

Great food, great friends...MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY 2010

Family Game Night - December 9, 2009

We do "Family Game Night" every Wednesday - not to be confused with Utah's "Family Home Evening". If we forget be assured Miss Emms reminds us!

Somebody Loves Me

Here's a new music video of Charlie playing "Somebody Loves Me".

The Orangutan and the Hound

I found this on the Kim Komando site today. Here's what she had to say about it:

"Dogs really are man’s best friends. But maybe they’re just best friends in general. It’s hard to think of more unlikely buddies than these? Roscoe is playful old hound dog. Suryia is an equally playful orangutan.

Suryia lives in an endangered species habitat in South Carolina. Roscoe was a stray. They met while Suryia taking a walk with his handlers. They saw each other. They approached each other. And they played. Their friendship was instantaneous. When it was time to go home, Roscoe followed."

Anything but Love

Just got a new Kodak Zi8 movie camera - it's about the size of an iPhone - and this was its trial run:

Umbrella Dance

Charlie was playing the piano - so what's new - and Emma decided to do an impromptu "Umbrella Dance" to accompany him.

Acceptane, Courage and Wisdom

Myriad Botanical Gardens

One of my photos was recently selected for inclusion in the Oklahoma City Schmap. View at Myriad Botanical Gardens.

The Windows of St. Luke's Episcopal Church

Just Halley

Melissa, Halley and Emma at Jo Allyn Lowe Park. Look at Halley's ears - when they're straight up she's spotted "prey" - they're mostly up but she's not really serious yet - just thinking about it. There's lots of ducks and geese to consider. We still haven't heard her bark, but once in a while she whines - if there's something she wants to get - a squirrel, a duck, etc., or a dog she really wants to go visit.

We've purchased numerous "treats" for Halley - but she didn't care for any of them. So, Melissa made her some "Chicken Liver Brownies" and she just loves them. Great treat (if you can keep from gagging while making them).

Chicken Liver Brownies
1.25 lbs chicken livers
1 cup wheat germ
2 T whole wheat flour
2 C quick cook oats
2 eggs
3 T peanut butter
2 cloves garlic
1 T olive oil.

Liquefy chicken livers in food processor. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour into greased 11 x 7 or 8 x 8 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Cool/cut in squares and refrigerate.

Melissa also made her a "stew" to mix up with her kibble rather than relying on canned dog food (most of which is questionable in the nutrition department).

Halley's Chicken Stew
Purchase the largest bag of chicken thighs and legs available (I think we used about 10 pounds). Boil until tender (probably about an hour). Remove from pot (we used a large turkey roaster). Remove chicken skin and bones and chop up a bit. Now, in the boiling water add some sliced zucchini, carrots, green beans, etc. - anything you would like to eat in a stew - but NO onions! Add in a little brown rice and cook until tender. Now combine all and blend in a food processor or blender, adding cooking liquid until it looks like baby food. Package in 1 cup containers and freeze. To serve, add 1/2 cup to breakfast and 1/2 cup to dinner. Stir into kibble. (Halley likes hers warmed in the microwave before adding to kibble). We usually add 1T plain yogurt to each meal - supposed to aid in digestion.

I told Melissa that next time she needed to dip out some of this stew for our supper before blending it up for Halley. It smelled REALLY good!