Sudokuaholics Anonymous 7

Now I can do my krow. I will be back soon.

everybody...does anybody know where the morning went?
Gail...I tried to read the convo between you and the birthday boy and I would like to say I think you are both warped....hehe...sounds like a case of the pot calling the kettle black...doesn't it!!! He certainly now understands why we get along so well...warped sense's of humour abound!!

BTW...thanks for nagging him to make me a coffee..he wasn't listening to me!!! [Not sure he has had time to think about or wonder how you knew I wanted coffee...or how you you knew it was his birthday...]

Some friends of ours have a hog farm about 6 miles from us. A few years ago, they woke up at 5 am with one of the buildings on fire. At the time, they had about 3000 sows, 1/3 of which were in that barn. By the time the fire was spotted, the building was engulfed in flames. 10 different fire departments were called in, and every available friend and neighbor rushed over to help, including me. A bunch of us went into the burning barn repeatedly to rescue sows, since each was locked in individual pens. Over a 12 hour period, while the firemen were trying to extinguish the blaze, and spraying as much water as possible on the trapped animals, we got almost 300 burnt sows out of there, and moved 1/4 mile to another facility, where my best friend (a Vet) was doing triage and treating the worst wounds. Some of the sows didn't want to leave the barn because they thought their babies were in there. (That barn was where sows were put when their piglets were weaned.) I still have nightmares about going into those flames, and all the horrors I saw in there. But we saved ~300 animals that the owners didn't think could be saved.

That's amazing Heidi. I can't imagine how frightening that was. How wonderful for the saved sows, how sad for the ones who didn't make it...

Heidi what a nightmare! I don't know if I would have the guts to go into a burning building - that's pretty amazing.
Hi everyone, hope you're all well! Seems to be only bad news today - it's left me feeling quite sick every time I look at the reports. Been a bit under the weather for the last few days, but seem to be back to normal today.
Gail, I'll make sure I spend up big at Coles on Friday.

Heidi, that is an amazing story. I would have thought no less than you doing that to save an animal. Hope you are having a great birthday.

These awful stories of the fires in Victoria have brought those memories to the forefront of my brain. I have always been afraid of fire, and nothing else would have compelled me to do that. As I've said, I can't stand seeing animals suffer. My heart is breaking for all the wildlife that're in that inferno.

One of the hard things about looking at the fire reports and the maps is that these are familiar places - we've been for picnics here, pleasant Sunday drives there, bought a nice lunch in this little town that's just been wiped off the map...
Rob comes from Yea, and we know many of these places pretty well - it just makes it so much harder to deal with. Every new report is more horrific and you end up just wanting to cry.

Evening all - that is, for me.
Heidi - that is an amazing story about all those sows you guys saved...bless your hearts.
Of course, the part about going into the flaming barn???? Well, for that one I need your drooling smilie. For me, that was the best part of my job as a firefighter - actually dealing with fire - loved it. Of course (and this is good for citizens, but not so good for fire personnel) there are not so many structure fires these days with such successful prevention measures.

Beanie - how was Mr. Bean's dinner last night???
Scrumdeliocious? Did he love the watch???

Good night everyone, I hope that tomorrow brings good news to all.

Lee and Heidi, hope you both have wonderful birthdays.

Tami.

Now I need to go out and do a late night cow check, then feed the Collies.

Happy birthday to Lee and Heidi - hope your day is great! :)

Hiya Judy!!
I'm off to bed now - wishing everyone a good day/night and big hugs all around.

Hi Vici
Dinner was very nice...Turkey with cranberry Wellington [turkey tenderloin wrapped in puff pastry], potatoes and a scrumptious salad with beans special dressing. When Pete eventually got around to making some coffee we had the most decadent and delicious vanilla slice EVER to go with it.... have a very nice little shop around the corner.YUM!!
He said he had the best birthday ever and loved the watch...looks really nice... highlight of his day was probably the most nonsensical conversation on IM with Miss Gail!!!!

aw! this is more like it. the kids are in bed, house is sorta clean, and i have a lovely caff. free diet coke beside me. i had chocolate for breakfast today too suzy- lindt truffle squares. i could use some more for a bedtime snack!

Sounds great Bean! Think I'll look up a recipe for Turkey with cranberry Wellington...

oh man that sounds sooo yummy bean! glad your hubby had a good day.

Hubby just sent me an email asking if I want to see Gerry and the Pacemakers on our anniversary. I opened up You'll Never Walk Alone on Youtube then flipped back to the news stories I was reading - about the fires of course. Was that a weird feeling...

Bean, I saw a vanilla slice in a bakery a couple of months ago and my mouth started watering - so I couldn't resist. It was terrible! Worst I'd ever had! I was so disappointed. Think I want to go to the shop near you....

hiya suzy and bean. i think i see vici around too, but not for long i guess.

a vanilla slice of what?

a slice of slice mariana

hehe

http://www.fareshare.net/slice-vanilla.html

We Aussies call it a slice and I'm racking my brain to think what it might be called in the US, no luck so far... picture at the link though! There are variations, some of them look much scrummier than this pic!

http://melbournedesserts.com.au/pastry/the-french-lettuce-vanilla-slice.html

Here's a yummy looking one...

Hi everyone. Haven't caught up on all the reading yet so am behind the times.

Suzy and Mariana, the picture and recipe reminds me of cream puff cake.

it looks like a really light cheese cake. now i want some. dang. i don't thinke we get those in utah!

Hi Becky
The base and top are puff pastry. And they are generally pretty thin compared to the vanilla flavoured middle. (drooling just talking about it). Is that what cream puff cakes are like?

I'm off to pick up the girls...

holy cow! my got up for hot cocoa! and now they are fighting over the lasagna i made yesterday. excuse me while i tuarn into a monster mom!

Hi Mariana and Becky.
Suzy... The French Lettuce is one of my favourite cake shops...they make the best EVERYTHING...not exactly round the corner like 'Jenny's' but certainly worth the drive. Needless to say it is the sort of place I try to keep away from...I have enough problems without being seduced by these delicious morsels. I'll take you there when you make it south.. The vanilla slice pictured looks just like the ones we had last night..Pete LOVES them...I bought them instead of making a cake.

Suzy, yes the top and bottom are a light puff pastry with vanilla pudding in the middle and drizzled with chocolate sauce.

Suzy the only cream puffs I know are made of choux pastry .... filled with cream and dusted with icing sugar... also called profiteroles and commonly filled with custard mixture...
A good CWA puff, like I grew up on, is the size of large bun and is a few mouthfuls of heaven....
Now I am wondering if that is the same as a cream puff cake...

Hi Bean, a little "reward" never hurts. That's what I keep telling myself.

Vanilla Slice !! Did someone mention Vanilla Slice !!

I LOVE Vanilla Slice !! My Favourite !!

DROOL DROOL DROOL

I want one !!!

Bean, I think they're the same thing. Cream puff are individual servings and the cake makes around 20 servings.

You people are truly evil!

Am I going to have to send you all dribble bibs to keep your keyboards dry?

heheh Beckey !!

Rolanda, how's the weather treating you?