Sudokuaholics Anonymous 7

CynB.... great news about the new business. Tell Colin I wish him

The dogs are barking hysterically, and I haven't gotten dressed yet. Or had brekky. I should do something about it.

SUZY, the operations were obviously successful, no baby kitties here and they were spayed 5 and 4 years ago. I think perhaps they still have hormones though, cause they seem to have PMS about the time the boys begin to come around. they hiss at each other and even take swipes at each other.

Does the barking mean an intruder? They can't want food - it's not dinner time...

Oh HEIDI, I can imagine the noise level of that many dogs just barking, without the hysterically part added. Hope they settle down quickly. Are they asking for their breakfast?

Kitties with PMS!!! Now that's funny! I've just had d2 with severe PMS. d1 asked very quietly (didn't want d2 to hear or it would set her off again) if she was that bad...

HI SUZY, glad to see you are still here. I am glad you enjoyed having your mom visit and yes, I think everyone's Mom does something to anoy them. Well, except me, I am sure my children could not find any fault with me.

hehe MizT. I don't think I ever annoy my children....

I have just put a tuna noodle casserole in the oven. It is not the one I often made as a young bride, HOW did we survive that much fat in our foods back then? But to give it a hint of that taste, it has just a touch of low fat mayo in it.

Old recipe was a bag of crushed potato chips (crisps?) and a can of tuna and a cup of mayo, and a can of garden peas.
As I said OH THE FAT.

A cat was taunting them from the other side of the fence.
My cats seem to delight in driving dogs mad. They'll stay just out of reach on the other side of the fence and roll onto their backs, waving paws at the dogs.
While my cats have been neutered, we still have numerous stray males show up and start fights. If I hear cat fights, I will interfere by settling live traps for them, or if they get really bold, I'll give them a case of lead poisoning. I'm responsible for the peace , care and security of MY cats only.

Today's recipe has whole wheat pasta, peas, a 16 oz jar of sweet red peppers, and low fat cream of mushroom soup, a tin of mushrooms, and about 1/4 cup of low fat mayo. A LOT more veggies, a lot less fat, and some added fiber.

It is smelling very good.

We are still eating high fat MizT, and it's soooo bad for us. We are starting to pay for it too.

Last night we had a BBQ for Mum and a friend of hers. I was so tired and Mum's friend stayed and stayed and stayed. I thought she would never leave. Then I laughed at myself as she actually left very early for someone who is invited for dinner! (Before 10).

Heidi, wonder where I could find a trap for this annoying male who likes to fight? I think the people behind us claim him, and I know they cannot make him stay home any more than I can make mine stay home.

I wonder if I invite him to leave enough times, will a pellet gun for reinforcement, he might learn? I have never shot at a cat before mush smaller target. Now I do not set the pellet gun to kill or even wound, just to get their attention and invite them to go where there are not stinging noisy things bothering them!

I have 'trained' several neighborhood dogs to stay out of my yard with this avoidance therapy, might have to try it with the cat. I do not need reoccurring vet bills having his wounds treated. He still might have to go with that one over his eye, we are watching it.

My mother told me on this trip that she is the happiest she has been in her entire life. Her move to the middle of nowhere means she is in a place where she is respected and valued more than she has ever been in her entire life. She has been doing stuff to raise the profile of the town and 'improve' it - such as putting 'people' in the old courthouse, painting murals etc. I am glad she has found a place where her talents are appreciated and rewarded.

Suzy, you can start trying to reduce the fat in your favorite dishes, they are often lower fat substitutes that families will accept if they are introduced slowly. We have very low fat hot dogs and lunch meat that works well for us. We add fancy mustard, or I make flavored mayo to add new flavors. We also add other foods to a sandwich that add flavor ( fat has a lot of flavor that is why we love it). One I love is sliced pears on a turkey sandwich, yummy.

Now bologna and hot dogs address this issue and are seasoned and taste better than the ones with all the fat!

You can probably borrow a trap from your animal control official. I know that ours lends traps of all sizes.... it makes his job easier having someone else do the trapping. Then just return the trap to him with the cat in it. (Keep Phantom locked in the dome or house so he doesn't get caught... just bait the trap with canned cat food)

I think it will be easier when I get my bifocals MizT (not that I've made the appointment for those yet). I will be able to read the labels of the food I buy! Right now I am a bit hesitant to buy most low fat foods because for many of them they add lots of sugar to make them taste 'good' without fat. When I can read the labels I'll be able to pick the good low fat foods and leave the bad ones on the shelf.

Suzy.... THAT is WONDERFUL! Perfect symbiosis!

Not the fat..... your mother.

Now off to do the puzzles.

Suzy, yes, you have to read those labels! How about a hand held magnifying glass till you get the new glasses?

HEIDI, WHAT animal control officer?? We live in a very poor rural county, there is no such thing as animal control, not even in the small towns. It is sort of up to each individual and most problem animals are just shot. THEN hope the owner does not visit you with his gun. That is why I developed my aversion therapy for the dogs that were a bother. There were a couple dogs learned so well, if they happened toward my yard, all I had to do was show they the pellet gun and they changed direction, fast.

They wouldn't do it here Heidi - it's not illegal for cats to wander. They can legally go wherever they want and can only be trapped if they injure native animals or people.

SUZY, the very most important thing you can do is eliminate trans fats from your diet. Strive for none, but that is almost impossible. Here, manufactures have reduced what they use to the point they say 0 trans fats on label, but if you read ingredients ( OH even smaller prints) you will find the word hydrogenated, or margarine or shortning. That means there is trans fat, but less than 0.5 grams per serving. OH they have also reduced the size of listed servings sometimes to get these 0 trans fats also. So you have to be diligent, but that one thing will pay off big dividends.

Sneaky! I often wonder about the people who think up things like reducing the serving sizes so they can meet 0 levels. What kind of person? Ethical?

I've just decided not to do the hard puzzle today. Not this morning anyway. My brain is tired and does not want to think.

A large percentage of cats and dogs found wandering loose here are former pets dumped in farmland by irresponsible owners who don't want them any more, and figure that the farmers will take care of them. Some do, but the numbers can be staggering. I wish there was some way to prosecute them, but they'd have to be tracked down first. Our animal control guy (Jim) is really caring, but he covers a few counties. He's picked up several stray dogs on our farm.... mostly coon hounds, and one delightful chocolate lab (who actually was lost, and her owners were thrilled to get her back. I told Jim that if her owners weren't found, I would take her.) The county started out, when we moved here, by having Jim shoot all dogs and cays that weren't claimed in a week (jim hated that) but switched to my Vet euthanizing them (I got a couple of my rescues from the Vet that way). The strays now go to a no-kill shelter in a neighboring county, and the adoptable ones get put on "Petfinders", a nationwide website.

It's getting to be time to go outside and do chores. It's only 14 F (-10 C) outside.

Good Morning SA7, hope you are all well.
No time to catch up on the posts. Catch y'all later.

MizT, was it you who posted how to freshen up self rising flour? A bit of baking powder or something I think....

Suzy, the portion of Baking Powder to plain flour to make it self raising powder is 1 raised teaspoon of baking powder to 1 cup of plain flour. I would just use the amount you think you need to 'freshen' your SR flour. (got that out of a Baking Powder cook book)

Something weird happened this morning. Hubby has a work car at the moment - just for a few weeks. Apparently all the work cars are linked into a GPS tracking system (they did that after a backhoe was stolen). The car hubby has was moved 'early' this morning, which set off alarms. It doesn't make any sense - the thing was parked under our bedroom window, and was parked exactly where he left it last night. Surely we would have heard it start? Why would it have been returned to exactly the same spot? Huh?????

It is mandatory to micro chip all cats and dogs here. Our cat is not chipped because we have had her before it became law.It means stray animals can be traced.

Thanks June! I found an unopened package of unknown age. It looks fine, but is probably several months old. If it wasn't for this site I wouldn't even know that it loses it's rising ability with time!

Our two flowers look well together.

Maybe something 'interupted' the signal between the car CPS and the satelite tracking station.

Good morning everyone!
Suzy - don't know if you have seen the "Symply Too Good to be True" cookbooks, by Annette Sym? -they're readily available at newsagents. I found those books fantastic when I was trying to lose weight - and when my daughters moved out they all wanted their own copies.

I like those cookbooks because they're full of "ordinary" foods, that a fussy family will actually eat, plus lots of advice and helpful hints. Also advice on managing diabetes.

What are the chances I could turn the page?

Everybody's gone back to bed?

Could be June. That makes more sense than the alternative. We don't know how 'early', but Mum was awake at 4am and surely would have heard a car driving down the driveway!

Judy, I'll look out for the cookbook. It sounds good. My girls are already asking for their own cookbooks!

Ok I'll go for it!