Sausage Biscuits

For those who know me, I'm a pretty good cook. My specialty is not froo froo gourmet foods, rather, it's just good ol' southern comfort food. Naturally, sausage biscuits fall into that category. We have these far too often, but their so quick and easy and make a great little breakfast.

John woke up and asked if he could have some, to which I replied - "as long as you make them!" He did the entire cooking process without my being in the kitchen!




I came in at the end just to make sure he wasn't burning down the house. =)

He cooked the biscuits perfectly...



And he even added just the right touch to make them extra tasty...


Yep, as soon as the biscuits come out of the oven, run a stick of butter over the top... just a little and it will make such a difference in how the biscuits taste - flaky and buttery!

Well, I do believe I have me an apprentice chef in the house. How cool is that?

One more look before they disappear...

24/365 - Brown Pelicans

I woke up at an ungodly hour to drive an hour and half to Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island and meet a group of photogs for my first organized nature shoot. I absolutely hate getting up early and questioned myself - why am I doing this???? I now know why... the morning light is so magical!

I've never, ever been able to capture a flying bird without it being a complete blur and I am very pleased with my progress.

This photo represents to me a huge improvement in my skills and I'm just so thrilled! Can't wait to learn more.

If anyone is interested in taking photography classes, I highly recommend the Photography Institute of Naples.

My computer is on the blink and I'm having a tough time with loading any photos. Hence my spotty appearance the last couple of days... It seems my older processor and small storage capacity are not liking my recent photography sessions. I hopefully will be finding a solution this week.

23/365 - The Other Woman

This is my husband's passion... the other woman.

She's a classic Italian beauty - shows no age...

She's got a perfect, hard body - she's red hot...

She's high maintenance - only accepts "premium" treatment....

She enjoys going topless - has a reputation for being "fast"...

She lives a pampered life!

21/365 Just a flower...

Hello my sweet friends! I just didn't take the time to do a proper, meaningful photo. I'm just so tired today!

Pat and I are about a month away from our 1st KYU test and decided to add an additional day or hour to our weekly training. We did two hours last night and that second class was a real killer! We trained another hour tonight plus our usual weapons class and I'm just exhausted. I'm not particularly enjoying my weapons class yet, but I'm hoping eventually I'll warm up to it.

In homeschool today we watched a documentary on Reconstruction. Boy, I must have been really tired, because I found myself nodding off! LOL! John had "home economics" today. He wanted sausage biscuits, so we turned it into a cooking class. He says he really enjoys cooking with me. Speaking of home economics, last time my friend Kim was visiting, we "cooked" up a plan to have her daughter come over once a month so I can teach her how to cook. Maybe I should start a "Little Chefs Academy" - what do you think?

I hope everyone had a good day.

Special prayers to my best friend Steph - I'm thinking about you girl - good luck tomorrow!

This is My Flag

This is my flag. "Old Glory", the "Stars and Stripes," the "Star-Spangled Banner" and "Red, White and Blue." I have a deeply patriotic soul.

Having the privilege of homeschooling has given me a chance to re-learn about the history of America. There are so many rich details that never get taught in school and it saddens me. I am constantly in awe and reverence of the ordinary individuals that undertook extraordinary measures to give this country birth and ensure everlasting freedom.

Inauguration Day in America is always an historical event, however, today is more symbolic than most. We are inaugurating an African-American president. His inauguration represents a narrowing of the chasm of hatred and prejudice. Whether his presidency inspires hope in some or fear in others, we can all stand together and be proud of the "process." Our Constitution and Bill of Rights have stood the test of time and the process works every time.

There's no place in the world I'd rather be than the home of the brave and land of the free. This is my flag...

God Bless all of you!

19/365 - Florida Gator

I went out to check on the status of one of my geocaches and then thought we'd hit some of the other really remote caches out here. Man, we were out in the middle of freakin nowhere! We wound up at Dinner Island Ranch, which is thirty-four square miles of pastures, sloughs, pine flatwoods and oak hammocks that connect the Caloosahatchee River with the Big Cypress Swamp fifty miles to the south. We saw a plethora of wildlife, including deer, wild boar, wood storks, hawks, egrets and several pastures full of cows.

Oh yeah, and we also came across this guy. Scary!

I often ask myself why I go out in the middle of the woods and swamps, battling scary spiders on spiderwebs, ants, bees, mosquitoes and other various agitators. Being such a girly-girl, it's really opposite of all the things that I am. I don't recall being so adventurous when I was younger... maybe I've decided my life needs a bit of excitement - even if that means running into an alligator or two!

Whatever the reason for this new found insanity, all I can say is that I'm just having a blast!

We came across some white-tailed deer... Venison anyone? Look at the size of that doe!



We also saw a couple of nice, fat wild boar... then we went to Rib City for some baby back ribs - what can I say - they made me hungry!

Just so you have some brain food for the day, here are some interesting facts you may not know about alligators:

• In ancient times, the teeth of an alligator were believed to be a magical ward against snakebites, as alligators were thought to be immune to the bite of poisonous snakes.
• It has been said that an alligator can outrun a horse for a distance of 30 feet, due to the fact that they can run up to 20 mph for short distances.
• Alligators have a specialized valve in their throat called a glottis that enables the gator to capture its prey underwater. However, in order to swallow its food and thus keep itself from drowning, an alligator must lift its head out of the water.
• The courtship rituals of the alligator are quite complex, involving touching, rubbing, the blowing of bubbles and some vocalizations.
• The American Alligator (Alligator Mississipiensis) is found only in the southeastern part of the United States, from the Carolinas, down to Florida and over to Texas.
  

I hope everyone had a great day!

Rum Cake

My good friend Kim always asks me to make this when she visits. She and her family visited today for an afternoon of football and delicious food. When dinner was finished, we ate the whole cake! It's that good! Try it.

Cake:

1 cup pecans or walnuts
1 18 1/2 oz. package yellow cake mix
1 - 3 3/4 oz. package Jell-O Instant Vanilla Pudding mix
4 eggs
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup Dark Rum

Glaze:

1/4 lb. butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 Dark Rum

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour 10-inch tube or 12-cup Bundt pan. Sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan. Mix all cake ingredients together. Pour batter over nuts. Bake one hour. Cool. Invert on serving plate. Prick top with toothpick. Drizzle and smooth glaze evenly over top and sides. allow cake to absorb glaze. Repeat until all glaze is absorbed.

Glaze: Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in rum.



General Cooking Tip: Whenever a recipe calls for eggs, break the eggs into a separate bowl, or break them first into your mixing bowl. That way, if you accidentally get a piece of egg shell in the mix, you can remove it easily.

17/365 - I found it!

Today was absolutey gorgeous weather and I took the opportunity to go on a 3.4 mile hike in Picayune Strand State Forest. I have a hobby called geocaching. Being the techie/gadget girl that I am, I like hunting for "treasure" with my gps. Geocaching is world wide and its such a blast!

Today I did what is called a "multi-cache." You are given one set of coordinates and you have to find the treasure, which in turn gives you another set of coordinates, and so on. This one had five stages. I didn't have any paper, so I had to write the instructions on my hand. In the end, I found the "treasure," in this case, an ammo can. Once you find the cache, you sign the log to say "I was here." Sometimes, there will be trade items inside, as well as special coins for tracking and something called travel bugs. Travel bugs are in the shape of a dog tag and are meant to travel from cache to cache. Sometimes they have a mission, such as, "I want to visit every state capital in the country." Then people will take them to a cache near their state capital, then the next person, and so on...

If you're looking for a fun hobby that takes you to places you would otherwise not visit, then you should try it! If you want to learn more, go to geocaching.com. Type in your zip code and you'll be amazed how many are close to you.

14/365 - Kaelee

14/365 - Kaelee, originally uploaded by Sassygeogirl.

We have a girl in the house! Yay! I'm no longer the only female! Everyone, I'd like you to meet Kaelee. She is a six month old whippet. In November I was asked by Whippet Rescue to do a home inspection for Kaelee's prospective family. I gladly went to their home and gave them all the information they needed to happily raise a whippet. This family had two parrots - conures. Whippets are very prey driven - it's genetic. No matter how well trained a whippet can be, they can never ever be trusted around something they would consider prey. Now, before my whippet friends protest, I know - there ARE exceptions, but to be safe, I very strongly informed the family they needed to be alert to this tendency. I also told them if they had any problems whatsoever, to call me right away, before they made any decisions about the dog, as many problems can be worked out before they become a permanent habit. Fast forward to Saturday. I received a message from the husband of the family saying they wanted to give her back to rescue. My heart sank. I spoke to the husband and he proceeded to tell me that Kaelee almost got one of the birds and every time he's walking her, she wants to chase after birds, lizards, frogs, squirrels, etc. She also wants to be outside all the time and they don't have much of a yard. And because of THAT they can't keep her. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.... First, she's a PUPPY! Second, I TOLD them to expect this. I'm just so pissed about this I cannot tell you. After our trail ride on Sunday, we went to pick her up. The wife started to cry as soon as she went to speak. Hmmm.... I think there's more going on than meets the eye or what they told us. I think the husband must be the bird lover and didn't like the fact they couldn't be out whenever they wanted. What were they thinking - that dogs don't chase birds? It goes without saying that there could have been a happy medium, but they didn't even want to try.

This sweet dog is amazing! They taught her to ring a bell when she needs to go out, she's friendly, loves kids, loves other dogs, listens well, will sit on command... all in all a wonderful dog! My dogs, even my old, grumpy rescue, immediately accepted her and she has fit in as if she's always been with us. My son was wiping her off the next morning, as she was wet from the grass, and I said to him "Don't fall in love with her now..." He said "Too late! I'm totally in love with her!" Sigh. This is the hardest part of rescue.

Well, yesterday I was informed by the Hub that he and the Kid have decided that they just can’t live without Kaelee. So, after considering having 3 whippets again and “sleeping on it,” I contacted rescue to see if they would allow us to keep her and we got an answer back today saying that we could! So, here’s her first photo all snuggled up on my bed… Isn’t she adorable?

DOG... the Rabbit Hunter

DOG... the Rabbit Hunter, originally uploaded by Sassygeogirl.

"Shhh... Be wary, wary quiet... I'm hunting wabbits"

I'm brushing my teeth, getting ready to go into town and my son comes in and informs me that Shiraz caught a rabbit. "Is it dead?" I ask. "Yes!" "Are you sure Shiraz caught it?" "Yes! I saw him." Oh geez... This dog has chased hundreds of rabbits on our property and never actually caught one. He has, however, taken down a coyote along with two of his compatriots, so I know he has some hunting skills...

I look down to see that my son has allowed the dog to come into the house with blood all over him and the dog is now rubbing his bloody face on my pants! Ack! I hurriedly remove the offending dog outside and trudge through a wooded wetland area on our property (we have 5 acres fully fenced) to where the poor little rabbit bit the dust. His tail had been removed and was laying a couple of feet away and the rabbit had a big chunk missing with all his wonderful insides exposed. He was also missing a leg, which, I can only assume was eaten by my dear dog because I couldn't locate it anywhere.

Yuck. Yuck. Yuck! I hastily washed the dog outdoors and he didn't even shiver from the cold water - he was so hyped up on the "thrill of the kill!"

I swear, this is a very sweet, obedient dog and it was a real shock to see him actually do what his breed was bred to do so long ago.

Such excitement we had today! And no, we didn't have Hassenpheffer for lunch. =o

I've blurred the yucky portion of the rabbit. Sorry if this offends anyone!

UPDATE: We found the missing leg - one of my other dogs was discovered chewing it. I'm actually relieved he didn't eat it - I was worried about him trying to digest a bone and don't know if the rabbit could be sick. =P

12/365 - Girls Night Out

12/365 - Girls Night Out, originally uploaded by Sassygeogirl.

I made a new friend recently - the gal in the middle - and she called me out of the blue yesterday and invited me for drinks "and maybe dinner." Since one of my goals this year is to really work on developing better friendships, I decided to take her up on her invite. I didn't have any time to change, since it was last minute and thank goodness I had dressed nicely today. (That's me on the right - yes, I'm wearing a tank top in January in an outside bar - ha ha).

This is the first time I've been out on a "Girls Night" since I moved to this part of the state over 4 years ago. I've had a really hard time making friends, since we live in a very remote part of the town. We did a little bar hopping - my friend, who's husband ran for a local election recently, knows half the county and it was a constant stream of people saying hi. What was the most fun for me, is I had several offers from "visitors" for everything from a motorcycle ride to a golfing date. Too bad they had to learn that I was married! Hee hee - it definitely boosted my self esteem, something I constantly struggle with now that I'm getting older and cut my beautiful long hair short. (I'm letting it grow back out - can't stand it short). Anyway, one of my "visitors" saw my camera on the bar (aren't you all proud of me for remembering?) and asked to take our picture. So here it is, the girls having a very fun night, but being good girls too... =D

I got home a little late last night and couldn't upload till today. Thanks for stopping by!

10/365 Naples Pier

10/365 Naples Pier, originally uploaded by Sassygeogirl.

So I inform my family I'm going to the pier for sunset photos and they want to go too. I almost didn't go, there was so much bickering and fussing in the car on the way there I wanted to go home. >/ But, cooler heads prevailed and got there in plenty of time to set up. The kid went fishing and caught a lot of fish - he was a happy camper.

I hooked up with a seasoned photographer who was also there and he helped me with my exposure settings - I'm still learning... Took about 130 photos - but liked this one the best. I'm thinking now I may have cropped it weird. I *did* set up the thirds grid in PS and it looked good on there. Oh well. Any suggestions would be helpful. I want to improve!

The weather was clear today and I was happy to see some clouds as the sun set. This was about 20 minutes after the sun went down.

Nothing like going to the beach in January!

The hub was waiting for me in the car and said "what were you doing for so long?" Sigh....

We stopped for ice cream on the way home and picked up a movie from Blockbuster... "Hancock." After the grumpiness today, we needed something happy and funny!

Visit to Dr. Needle

Visit to Dr. Needle, originally uploaded by Sassygeogirl.

And no, I'm not joking, the doctor's name IS Dr. Needle - FOR REAL! LOL! Now can you just imagine, here's a guy who goes through all the medical training to become a doctor with a name like that, and then, to top it all off, he specializes as a pediatrician =o Seriously, what was he thinking? That kids are just going to be so excited to go see "Dr. Needle?" I have to believe that at some point in his career, someone has pointed out the irony of it all.

The Kid had to get a flu shot today. He's a big boy, but of course, is milking the sore arm for all it's worth! They gave him a Snoopy bandage, which isn't really "cool" at his age, but he didn't complain all that much.

He talked me into getting him a "special snack." Can you guess what it was?

Just paint...

Just paint... 7/365, originally uploaded by Sassygeogirl.

A random shot for my Day 7 of the Project 365. I had another shot in mind to take for today, I brought in a big tin of home made fudge to share with everyone at our dojo since we made so darn much over the holidays. My hope was to shoot the tin with a bunch of little hands in it, the timing of catching them eating it didn't work today. Oh well, life doesn't always go as planned, and, in my case of late, never does. At least my photo is a bit more cheery today!

Not Giving In...

Not Giving In..., originally uploaded by Sassygeogirl.

Well, here it is, my first self portrait.

We've been dealing with unemployment for 8 months now and can no longer pay our mortgage. We saved and saved for 8 years for retirement and now it's just about gone...

We learned yesterday that our mortgage is not owned by our bank, but Freddie Mac, the bank just manages the account. Even though the government has a "mortgage assistance program" we were told that you must be employed and making close to what you were in order to get assistance. If you don't have a job, you're out of luck. Freddie Mac received a trillion dollars from the government for a bail-out, but they won't provide assistance to those who need it.

So, unless a miracle occurs, ya know, it's raining money, or somebody gives us the winning lottery numbers, we're going to lose our house. Soon.

We moved to this part of the state for a job promotion and it's been downhill from the day we moved here.

It's depressing. Everything we've worked so hard for, for so long, is going to be gone. All of it.

I'm determined to not let this situation bring me down and drag me into the pit of depression. I'm going to fight it. The demons are at me... I can't sleep, I'm hyper-emotional, and very blue. But no, I will NOT let them win. I will survive somehow...

I'm reminded of Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone With the Wind" ... "What will I do? Where will I go?"

And the government says... "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

Eye See You!

Eye See You!, originally uploaded by Sassygeogirl.

I was playing around with my 50 mm lens which I never use and decided to photograph the dogs. I got some cool shots, but this one was just different. It's my Day 4 photo for my Project 365.

Eli has been out of sorts ever since Devo died in February 2008. He turned nasty and bit poor Shiraz a few times and just became quite difficult and destructive. He really missed Devo. He didn't accept our new puppy at all and Shiraz took to having to guard the puppy and it just caused so many problems. We had to find another home for the puppy. I was afraid she wasn't going to survive if left alone with Eli.

As long as there isn't a thunderstorm nearby (and no puppies in the house) he's okay. Whatever happened to him in his puppyhood really has messed him up. He's come SO far since we adopted him almost 7 years ago, but still has the scars emotionally.

All we can do is love him and love him we do.

Project 365

Yipee - it's the new year! Rather than setting out a list of resolutions that may or may not be kept, I've decided to try ONE major goal for this year. It's called Project 365. It's taking one photo each and every day of the year. The goal is to see your life in a different way and a new perspective. The upside will be to record life's every day comforts that we take for granted, as well as the ones more memorable, and maybe just help me broaden how I see my "own little Idaho." It will definitely make me a better photographer and push my creativity to it's limits.


Why do it? Well, imagine being able to look back on any given day in the year and see what I was doing - or just remembering that fabulous winter day hiking while we're waiting out a hurricane in the summer... I'll be able to recall who I've met, or what I've learned, what I had for dinner last week, or just a funny moment lost in my vast brain files of memory.


I'm not the only crazy to take on this challenge, oh no, I'm not THAT clever... If you want to join in the fun, you can check out the Flickr 365-1 group pool (479 members and rising) and sign up to stay motivated, or just look through all those participating and showing their photos. Either way, it will be a fun and interesting project! Won't you join me in this challenge? I think it would be great fun to share our pictures with each other!


I'm hoping that I'll be able to create at least one scrapbook page a week documenting the highlight photos and that way, I'll at least keep up with my scrapbooking instead of always being behind.

And so, I'm off to upload my first photo - you can follow my Project 365 photos by clicking

www.flickr.com Have a blessed day!