The Days Of Wyrd

Or, young boy becomes a partial Transformer.  That's what has happened to my sweet Derek.  He just got a full mouth of braces a couple of days ago, after a week of torture with rubber band spacers between his teeth.  The spacers, they say, are the worst part.  And they hurt right away.  The pain of spacers is supposed to subside within two to three days.  Ibuprofen is the drug of choice.  Oh yeah, and the spacers pop out and break alot too.  If they break and remain between the teeth, no big deal, they are still doing their job.  If they come completely out you have to replace them yourself.  Or rather, MOM is supposed to.  Well mom couldn't. 

Derek's teeth were so tight together that the orthodontist's assistant could barely get them in.  And with so much chance of slippage, (mind you, replacing them requires that you thread a couple of pieces of dental floss through them and pulling tight, then cramming the fat little rubber band between the teeth), I could not tolerate the thought of cutting my already hurting son's mouth/lips up.  So after a few tries, I pussed out.  Derek, however, brave soul that he is, was determined to do it on his own.  AND HE SUCCEEDED.  Several times because the damn thing kept popping out.  PROBLEM SOLVED.  Sort of.

We were told very little about the braces process as far as pain goes.  I think that's because they don't want to scare the victim patient.  So Derek and I turned to our knowledgeable friends.  The consensus was this:

Derek's friends:  You can really eat whatever you want.  Oh yeah, and it hurts like hell.

My friends:  You have to change your whole diet.  What do you mean they can eat what they want?  Ask them this, are YOU an orthodontist?  So what makes you smarter than one?  Oh and sure, it's two years of torture.  Lot's of blood and pain.  But SO worth it.

In the end, it was not so much about choosing what he WANTED to eat as it was choosing what it was POSSIBLE to eat.  So far that is soup, tapioca pudding, jello, and little sandwiches picked into mouse size pieces.  And mashed potatoes.  Now excuse me while I go cook something soft and mushy for the boy.

Posted by Wyrd at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Happy Memorial Day just doesn't seem like the right thing to say.  Solemn, melancholy, grateful even, but not happy.  Most of all remembering, those who served their country in the past, and those who are serving in the present.  And to all of those men and women, I say thank you. 

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And that's why you are being subjected to one more kitty picture.  Kitty ala carte (without cone).  She is frisky and severely underfoot.  And thusly she has been stepped on twice so far today.  I think wearing the cone for a week distorted her depth perception.  Or else just made her way too brave. 

She is used to sticking to me like glue, crippled by the big blue cone made for kitties with longer legs.  She couldn't always eat without help, or walk, or clean herself.  It made her very insecure and dependent, much like a two year old.  Now she's back to her bratty teenager self.  Pretty much.

In other news, it's still cool and drizzly.  According to the always wrong weather forecasts, it should be that way until NEXT Friday.  Which actually makes me happy.  It's perfect transplanting weather for the garden.  So don't sit on your couch and mope about the weather the whole holiday.  Get out and do some planting. 

Posted by Wyrd at 10:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My week has been full. An injured on the job spouse, a hurt kitty with stitches, and a teenager with spacers in his mouth in preparation for braces. In Derek's words “My friends with braces say for the first few weeks I will only be able to eat mashed potatoes and jello, and I'm not quite sure about the jello.” As the reality sinks in, I realize that for the next two years I am going to have to limit my cooking of hard and crunchy things, and lean toward soft and cut-up-into-bite-size-pieces things.

Kitty has to go in tomorrow to get the stitches out. Stitches that have been put in twice, and despite the cone, she has bit another stitch out. And just in the last 5 minutes, she managed to bolt for the door when I answered it, escaping to the great outside (she ran under the porch). She's hiding down between the bottom of the porch and the shed. Chasing her is of no use. Luckily Mr. Rubber-band Mouth will be here at any moment. He's more clever than I, (plus she loves him more), so I shall leave the recapturing of kitty up to him.

And the weather, OH the weather. Snow. Hail. Cold. Then 100 degrees. Then back to cold and rain. Rain that will stretch through the Memorial Day holiday. Yeah, I've seen that happen more than a few times.

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The past two days were over 100 degrees here.  Today was a cool and breezy 90.  Every plant on the property began showing signs of burn.  My greenhouses and the porch and the garden are all intertwined with sheets and screens.  Thank god I moved so many things out of harms way.  Harms way = almost everywhere. 

Some years we pray for a couple of days of warm, and often we get them.  Maybe an Indian summer in the fall.  But never, ever, and I'm including the Great Coastal Heatwave of I think it was '82, has it ever been this hot on the coast.  At least not in my getting-quite-extensive lifetime.   Do you realize it was only two weeks ago that we had snow, hail and freezing temperatures?  HUH????

Kitty update:  Ripped out a bunch of stitches.  Stitches replaced, drain removed, and now the poor thing is in the dreaded CONE.  Why of course I will take a picture.

Posted by Wyrd at 07:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The hot weather doesn't deter me from cooking.  I think good food is just as important when it's hot, as any other time, maybe even more.  The heat seems to deplete more than water, nutrients, minerals, blah blah.  Eating good stuff just seems to make me feel a whole lot better.  Makes the family happy too.

So I'm on a bit of a cooking frenzy.  Tonight we had hamburgers with lots of fresh tomatoes, home-grown lettuce and onions to pile on top.  And some home-made bread to make things really special.  For dessert:  Hot apple crisp from the apple pie filling I canned last year.  With real home-made whipped cream and extra vanilla.   

Here's my recipe.

Apple Crisp 

1 Quart Jar Apple Pie Filling

1 cup brown sugar, packed (I use white sugar and add a couple tsp of black strap mollasses.)
1/2 cup flour (white or wheat, whichever)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
6 Tbs butter 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat apple pie filling slowly on low heat.  You don't want too cook it into gush, just heat it up a bit.  Butter a baking pan, I like to use a glass pyrex pan that is approx. 11 X 7, and set aside.  If you like your apple crisp a little deeper use an 8 X 8.

In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together until well mixed.  Then cut in the butter until the mix is crumbly.

Put your heated pie mix in the prepared pan and sprinkle the dry topping all over it.  Bake for about 30 -35 minutes. 

Posted by Wyrd at 07:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

After the sun started to go down, it cooled to 90 degrees on the porch.  I have been watering constantly today.  Not only is this heat dangerous for plants, but it also poses a massive threat to us used-to-cool-weather coastal beings.  Thank goodness I have trees and plants, it turns my zone into a balmy jungle region instead of a desert wasteland. 

I kept the house closed up today, (mostly because kitty got herself in another scrap and had an abscess, requiring her to have a drain put in, meaning no outside), and the ceiling fan on.  Everytime I thought I was going to die from the heat, I just went outside, where it was 20 degrees hotter.  I cannot imagine that tomorrow will be even hotter.  Is this possible? 

It's a perfect evening for that walk on Sunset Beach. 

Posted by Wyrd at 04:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Because it's my last of two real workdays.  I'm exceedingly lucky however, even my work is fun.  And it's not the only REAL work I do.  Just the part of work which I actually have to leave home for. 

Anyway.

Mother's day recap:  I got a truckload of gorgeous compost.  I also sent a truckload of compost to my mommy.  Derek's present to us both was to unload said compost.  Considering the tropical weather we are having, the dirt came just in time.  Soon you will be seeing pictures of my gardening antics.  And that's not a lie, like it was the last time, when I said I would give you my bread recipe later in the week and I did not.  But don't worry.  You will get that too.  Promise.

And just to show you I mean business, here's a pretty picture for you.

I have no idea who any of these people are. 

Posted by Wyrd at 08:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A 4.3 earthquake 63 miles west of Eureka California.

There was also a 5.1 145 Km from southwest of Kodiak, Alaska, earlier today.

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It's been a cold and windy blowhole on the coast.  Big, cold destructive blasts of North Pole wind make it impossible to be outside and be happy.  Last night we actually had ice on our car windshields.  Bleah.

The basil I put out too early just shriveled up and croaked.  But did that teach me?  Heck no.  I'm still putting things out.  It's my sink or swim program.  It's also the only way I can empty out my crammed full greenhouses.  So I can start some more things.  Stop looking at me that way.

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I've always had a little fondness in my heart for Bend.  I was forced to live there for a couple of years when I was much younger, and though in the beginning, I hated the idea to the point of depression, I actually came to appreciate a few of Bend's qualities. 

It wasn't really Bend's fault that I was at first unhappy.  Firstmost, I was miserable before I ever went there.  Secondly, I am just not a snow loving high desert girl.  I am an ocean craving seagypsy.   So starting out unhappy and going to a place that was completely foreign and uninhabitable to me, topped off with a fine helping of one disaster after another made it very difficult to have any kind of a positive attitude about my new surroundings. 

Infact, I absolutely hated Bend. 

The 100 and something degree summer days.  The nights that, (considering Bend has a  growing season of about two days), could turn to frost during the night at any time.  Then there were the sub zero winter temperatures.  And oh my GOD the snow.  And the ice.  The ice that I would fall on every time I entered a commercial establishment.  That little patch right in the door that I would ALWAYS hit.  Oh and the 12 foot long icicles that threatened to pierce your heart if you slammed the door too hard and dislodged them from the roof. 

As the days moved on, I came to see the similarities between Central Oregon and my hometown.  Both were centrally located through ways for the surrounding towns and cities.  Both became landlocked occasionally, cut off from the outside world because of mostly natural disasters.  Both had their locals, who were savvy about their surroundings and true survivors.  They were originally small town people in a small town just like Coos Bay.

Bend has had its share of takers as well.  Just like the politicians that come in here and mess things up and get what they can, this story makes me realize yet another example of the corruption and disloyalty that Coos Bay and Bend share. 

Posted by Wyrd at 09:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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A 2.7 earthquake 19 miles directly west from Yachats, Oregon.  Little, but frighteningly close.

Picked up from the Oregon SkyWatch site, BLM rejects Mt. St. Helens mine.  It seems that with the high price of metals, companies are trying to start mines all over the place, even in national forests and parks.  Kind of like how they already log there. 

Our lands.  Yeah right.

Another interesting factoid of news, albeit exceedingly creepy:  Scientists Create First Memristor:  Missing Fourth Electronic Element Circuit.  According to those that know, this will enable computers to have MEMORY, to figure things out, make decisions, in essense to THINK.

Skynet has become ... self aware.

Posted by Wyrd at 09:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)