Photo Finish Friday - Almost

The Bag Lady has had a busy week (where the heck does the time go, anyway?)

She has nothing, however, to show for her busy-ness, which is par for her course. Oh, yeah, her house is reasonably clean, and she has paid attention to a few things that were clamouring for it, but really, there is so much more that needs to be done! She couldn't possibly be slowing down a little in her dotage, could she? It certainly does seem to take her a lot more time to get a lot less done. Perhaps part of the problem is her ARADD (age-related attention deficit disorder) - she is starting to get a wee bit forgetful - if standing in the middle of the hallway with a vacant mind expression, wondering why (and sometimes where) she was going - is indicative of forgetfulness. (Where the heck was she going with this story, anyway?)


(imagine picture here)



Blogger would not let her upload a picture for Photo finish Friday, which is why you ended up with this disjointed, pointless little tale of woe..... sigh.

Have a great weekend!

Saucy

The Bag Lady took this picture quite some time ago, thinking she would blog about making salsa with completely home-grown ingredients.... and then promptly forgot to post it. She also forgot to take any more pictures, although she DID remember to actually make the salsa.

She has one last bowl full of tomatoes that are finally ripe, but there aren't enough of them to make a large enough batch of salsa to can, so she will probably just cook them up and make spaghetti sauce. A few tomatoes, some onions, garlic and ground beef will make a tasty sauce, don't you think?

Photo Finish Friday - Lava Beds

Driving from Boise, Idaho to Missoula, Montana, you drive through an enormous lava bed, covering hundreds of miles. The Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve has incredibly interesting and informative displays and pamphlets, and the Bag Lady wishes she had spent more time exploring the park.




Photo Finish Friday is the brainchild of Leah, over at the Goat's Lunch Pail.

Kittens

The Rancher decided he needed barn cats. The neighbour had kittens in his barn. The kittens were duly moved to the Rancher's barn, then to the barn at the Rancher's mother's place. There is hay stored in both barns, and the Rancher's mom loves kittens, but the Princess doesn't. Every time the Rancher went out to feed the kittens, the Princess tried to have them for breakfast, so the Rancher moved them for their own safety.



The Bag Lady was on her way somewhere the other day and happened to see this bird on the side of the road. There were actually two, but the one on the other side of the road was quicker at getting out of the way. The Bag Lady thinks this is what is referred to as a partridge in these parts. Or it could be a prairie chicken. It's definitely some kind of grouse.


After she took the picture and went on her merry way, she spied a coyote at the end of the road. She hopes he didn't see the grouse. She is choosing to ignore the fact that later on in the day, traveling on the same road, she spied a pile of feathers.

Photo-Finish Friday - Western Movie

While on their vacation, the Bag Lady and the Rancher drove through a canyon that made them feel like they were in a western movie! You know the movies involving canyons with really steep walls -- either the posse is chasing the bad guys to their hideout, or the wagon train is being watched by Indians lining the canyon walls.



The Bag Lady admits a slight sense of disappointment that there were no Indians in warpaint and a greater sense of disappointment that John Wayne was nowhere in sight.

Photo-Finish Friday is the brainchild of Leah over at the Goat's Lunch Pail.

Baggie, Get Your Gun

Yesterday, the Bag Lady came home from work to a bit of drama. About half of their cows are at the Rancher's mom's, still on fall pasture. In the morning, the Rancher went down to his mom's and learned that there had been a couple of dogs chasing the cows.

The Rancher didn't see the dogs but his mom did, and she said they were both really big. Later in the morning, the Rancher took a walk through the pasture and happened to notice that one of the really old cows didn't look quite right, so he took a closer look. He was dismayed to find that the cow had been attacked.When the Bag Lady got home from work, he took her to the pasture to show her.

This is one of the first cows the Bag Lady bought, many years ago. The Bag Lady is inordinately fond of this cow, and has vowed that she will never again know the horror of the auction market.
She is really, really old and slow (the cow is, too) and deserves to live out the rest of her life in peace.


From a distance, her injury is scarcely noticeable


But when you get a little closer, it becomes apparent


Something had her by the ear and tore it




The cow was very nervous when the Bag Lady was taking pictures of her - she kept stepping from foot to foot, unsure whether she should try to run away. Sadly, she is too old to run, which is probably why she is the one who was injured.

The Rancher called the municipal district office and was told that there is no animal control officer (dog-catcher) in our area. He was advised to "take matters into your own hands", which, if the dogs come back, will be exactly what happens.

It's a Wrap

Last week, the Bag Lady harvested her garden, and one of the items was a very small cabbage. She wanted to do something different with it.

First, she cut it up:



Then she mixed it with some ground pork, spices and a few other ingredients, and wrapped it in home-made wonton wrappers:



Fried them in hot oil:


And, voila! Deep-fried wontons:


They were PDG (pretty darned good), if she does say so herself!