The Front Porch Swing

[Cearbhael]

Can you use simple solution?  It does wonders on pet odors.

I love the stuff though it is a tad pricey. We use it LOTS! Got 2 fixed males who still mark territory. My baby girl Siamese was attacked by our male Bengal while she was in the litter box. He was, and still is, the bully boy. He has managed to befriend my son's female Reimi but even she has her limits. Even my standard Poodle who WILL roughhouse with the Bengal has his limits. Any how, my tiny Siamese was so traumatized she hasn't set foot in a litter box since. She will use a small box full of shredded paper. My son will eventually take the Bengal to live with him and Reimi. Hopefully Pye can be retrained afterwards by adding litter to her paper and eventually swapping cardboard box to litter box with no top. Eventually she will use a regular cat box with scoopable litter. I fear however that any mass of paper left around will always be "litter" to her, so no magazines or newspapers can be left out.

 

[Cearbhael]

PS: hopefully Ashe, my other male cat and the oldest, will no longer feel the need to mark when his nemesis, George the Bengal, is gone.

 

[dpenning]

I love the stuff though it is a tad pricey. We use it LOTS! Got 2 fixed males who still mark territory. My baby girl Siamese was attacked by our male Bengal while she was in the litter box. He was, and still is, the bully boy. He has managed to befriend my son's female Reimi but even she has her limits. Even my standard Poodle who WILL roughhouse with the Bengal has his limits. Any how, my tiny Siamese was so traumatized she hasn't set foot in a litter box since. She will use a small box full of shredded paper. My son will eventually take the Bengal to live with him and Reimi. Hopefully Pye can be retrained afterwards by adding litter to her paper and eventually swapping cardboard box to litter box with no top. Eventually she will use a regular cat box with scoopable litter. I fear however that any mass of paper left around will always be "litter" to her, so no magazines or newspapers can be left out.

Poor girl! Hope she recovers when the Bengal moves out. I've got a male pom that marks his territory in the house. My problem is I NEVER see him do it. There will be NO more males in our house, I'm done with them. Well, cept hubs but he is already here.

 

[Cearbhael]

Poor girl!  Hope she recovers when the Bengal moves out.  I've got a male pom that marks his territory in the house.  My problem is I NEVER see him do it.  There will be NO more males in our house, I'm done with them.  Well, cept hubs but he is already here.

Oh she is not a poor girl LOL! She is the one that triggered my maternal instincts and I am as bonded to her as she is to me! She is always in my lap and she is protected by me rather fiercely! I get a kick out of her biting his ears when I am there to protect her. She may be a tiny slip of a girl (my niece says she is all of 4 lbs soaking wet! Well she is more like 5 lbs) but she is spunky and she knows all she has to do is reach me and she is safe. The Bengal does have a large soft side but it is mostly for his humans. He does love Reimi. That is a pairing that baffles me and my son, but she can flip George in a tussle and he tries to be gentle (operative word is 'tries' He doesn't always succeed) when he fails she will scold and correct him. I really love the Queens. It unfortunately a trait in Bengals that they are very dominate, the have wicked claws thanks to the 'Asian Leopard Cat' genetics at play. He scared all my cats even as a tiny kitten. Just so very aggressive, strong and rough.

 

[Blooie]

My bathroom smells like every Tom in the county lives here. But ironically I don't OWN a cat - never have! I like cats. If I wanted one I'd get one. People who have them seem to think that it's okay to let them out and leave them to their own devices. That's how the toms end up under my house, spraying, until my bathroom reeks. That's how the ladies end up under my house, having kittens. That's how I get hair-balls on the cushions of my deck furniture. I'm not a cat hater - but I could very easily become one. Don't know why folks who would never think of letting their dogs wander all over town, getting into trash because they're hungry or because it smells good, and trying to find whatever warmth they can on the hood of cars, think that it's fine if it's a cat.

When I worked for the animal hospitals in Mississippi and Chicago, we treated more cats for cat fight infections, frostbite, poisoning, feline leukemia, and hit-by-cars than any one person should have to see. But, it's cruel to keep cats confined, right?

Sorry, not intending to offend any of my fellow porch sitters. But it sure gets frustrating to have cats under my house, sitting on top of my chicken run, and using my garden plot for a cat box. Like I said, if I wanted a cat, I'd get one.

 

[zinia8]

my Gram use to have 2 siamese cats that she would let outside on a leashes. kept them from running off but gave them time outside.

 

[perchie.girl]

OK I am making my first leg of lamb... a small one only four pounds

I have never made leg of lamb before... Lamb chops yes but a leg NO.

I got a recipe for time and temperature... but read sooo many of them I forgot what herbage so I bought what I thought might work.... I saw dad make lamb once and he poked garlic slivers into the meat.

So I took a whole head of garlic and peeled every clove bigger than my pinky nail.

I rinsed the lamb cut little slits in it and shoved garlic cut in half lengthwise all over the meat on Both sides....

I cut up carrots and onions in chunks....

Then i did a heavy salt and pepper on the meat and seared it in olive oil till it was brown.

Dumped in the carrots and onions and spread them around the meat.

I had sage so I cut up a handfull and sprinkled that over the veggies....

Then I had two bags of Mushrooms so I thought what the heck and dumped those in ontop and around.

I filled the BIG Fried chicken pan with a quarter box of beef broth and about a half box of Turkey stock... What I had on hand. The idea was to bring the moisture up about half way on the leg....

OOooh Dang I forgot the rosemary.... I will put that in when i check it half way7 through.

I have mint for toppings and mint jelley.

I was amidst all this and when grandma came in she asked me what I was fixing....

Leg of lamb....

What followed was a gawd aweful sound of someone Wretching.... Apparently she doesnt like MUTTON. I said no its not mutton its Lamb.... "Ok Then Baby Mutton.... bleakch" "I was afraid of that.... I am prepared to fix something else for you" "no I can gag it down"

so much for my confidence. I then told her this is my first try at a leg of lamb if you dont like it I please feel free to tell me so."

I got her to eat mushrooms once.... so I knew that was a hurdle.... LOL she can pick those out.

I plan on double roasting some potatoes too.

The house smells heavenly and only a teeny bit like lamb.....

deb "she turns 99 in July.... she turns 99 in July.... deep breath... let it go"

 

[Blooie]

You are a braver woman than I am...I've never in my entire life cooked a leg of lamb. And I've had a lot of long to my life! <sigh> I'll bet she tries it and likes it, and even if she doesn't don't let your confidence take a hit - you got this! I have total confidence in you!

 

[KentuckyMom]

@perchie.girl
I bet it turns out delicious! I have braved making leg of lamb a couple of times. Both were gotten from a food pantry a few years back. Nobody else wanted to even try it! Although it does have a unique taste, my family all enjoyed it. It is very tender meat. I canned the broth, which was very rich and delicious, to use later.

 

[perchie.girl]

@perchie.girl
I bet it turns out delicious! I have braved making leg of lamb a couple of times. Both were gotten from a food pantry a few years back. Nobody else wanted to even try it! Although it does have a unique taste, my family all enjoyed it. It is very tender meat. I canned the broth, which was very rich and delicious, to use later.

Thank you.... I hope I didnt get too much fresh sage in there... we will see. I just put a few sprigs of rosemary in there just to extract its aeromatic goodness... No one here likes to bite into a bit of Rosemary...

Grandma opted for a TV dinner when she found out it wouldnt be ready till seven... she has to eat before or by six or she has night mares... she says... She can eat beans every day her early years from 1916 to 1928 My grandpa had 200 acres of pinto beans for their lively hood.... Meat and potatoes... her idea of a green vegetable is canned peas. And Salad has to be made with Iceburg lettuce... NO baby anything... LOL.

Its like having a picky three year old... Put lots of sauce they like on it and you can get em to eat pretty much anything.

deb