Another zucchini recipe

The following was the post I had about ready to publish on Monday, and then of course I lost Emma. Thank-you all for your condolences; it IS hard to lose a pet of any kind. I got Emma 17 1/2 years ago from a local breeder and hand-fed her; she's been my little buddy ever since. The only pet I've had longer was our cat Ozzie, who died last summer at age 18. I'd like to take a long break now from losing creatures I love....

Since you guys were so appreciative of a good zucchini recipe, I had to paw through my recipes looking for something more to please you. See how well I respond to positive feedback?

I can't share a photo of this recipe because I don't have ripe tomatoes in my garden yet (can you believe some of the grocery store prices for tomatoes???), but this salad always gets gobbled up at home and at potlucks. As a bonus, the leftover dressing (and you WILL have leftover dressing!) is great on tossed salad, too.

Zucchini Tomato Toss
4 cups thinly sliced zucchini (I use a mandolin)
2 medium tomatoes (I usually use more; sometimes they are halved cherry tomatoes)
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (I don't like green onions, so I use yellow onions, or even minced dry onions)
1/2 cup white or cider vinegar (I often use clear balsamic vinigar for part or all; I get it at Trader Joe's)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sugar (or less, if you use balsamic vinegar)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh basil (I usually use dried)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper, optional

Prepare and place first three ingredients in a bowl. Combing remaining ingredients in a jar or Tupperware with a tight lid, and shake until all is dissolved and thoroughly mixed. Pour dressing over vegetables and toss gently to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least two hours before serving.

A different kind of "yum"Blizz's fleece is practically making me drool. It's very soft, has beautiful variations of color, and is developing lovely crimp. He's still for sale, but can stay here and produce wonderful fiber for as long as it takes to find a good home for him!

That's it for now from . . .

R.I.P. Emma

Little Emerald, 1/22/1991-7/28/2008

Late last night when I got home from the airport with my sister in tow, there was a cool wind blowing, so I went upstairs to lower the window for Emma. She was laying on the floor of her cage, gone. It was quite a shock, as yesterday she had been chirping at me and eating like always. This morning, my office is achingly quiet. Good-bye, little friend.

That's it for now from . . .

All God's creatures

Yesterday morning I was up early (allergies) and checked my email, only to learn my dear friend Lois' sad, sad news. I thought of how special each of the creatures are that God has created, and how attached I am to each of those He has entrusted to our care here at Boulderneigh. I decided then to commemorate each of them in this post, as sort of a tribute to Lucy, the humans who loved her, and the God who created her (and loved her, too).

First, there's Emma, my little office companion, who was right there with me when I read about Lucy.

When I headed out to do chores, Oreo met me at the house, something she doesn't often do. It's hard to get good photos of Oreo; she's either rubbing against me or leaving.


I put Braveheart in his pocket pasture (no photos of him, but you saw plenty of him at BSG), turned the ewes and lambs out for salad, and tried to get some good candids of them. Bevin came right up for lovin'; everyone else was too busy eating to smile for the camera. (They ran when the horses spooked them.)

Next I fed and watered the chickens. They are hard to get good photos of, too.

Then I cleaned the horse stalls, gave "prisoner" Russell his hay and turned Sam and Ollie out on pasture. (Good news on the "Muscle-Man" front: last night Rick ultrasounded him, treated him with shock wave for the third and final time, and gave me the go-ahead to start riding again at the walk.)

Jackson, of course, was my constant companion during all of the above. My little digital camera is not good at action shots, but Jackson obligingly flopped down in the lawn on our way back to the house so I could include him in this tribute.

That's it for now at . . .

Surrounded by fiber and feathers

The upstairs bonus room in our house is my graphics office, internet cafe, fiber and spinning haven - and aviary. Here resides Emma, my 18-year-old peach-faced lovebird. After a undetermined health crisis over a year ago, she continues to do okay most of the time. Periodically, though, she seems to lose her equilibrium completely, which is quite distressing to both of us.

The chicks are also living up here, in a big box under the lamp on my desk until the Chicken Palace is done and they are bigger. The other day when I peeked in on them they were laying there like four limp noodles!

That's it for now at . . .

My Little Emerald (for Kathy)

My Little Emerald (Emma, for short) is a peach-faced lovebird I bought from a breeder as an unweaned baby 17 years ago. She (well, probably "he" since Emma has never laid an egg) has been a fun, cheery little companion ever since. No, she doesn't talk (although she used to perfectly imitate the beep of the microwave we used to have!), but she likes attention and will chirp back when I talk to her. I've always left Emma's wings unclipped so I could let her out of her cage to fly around. Gotta watch the papers and books, though -- lovebirds LOVE to "hole punch" paper!

This winter Emma had a health crisis of some sort, rendering her less coordinated and unable to fly. I took her to an avian vet who examined her, exclaimed over her age (apparently pet lovebirds live an average of 4-6 years, even though they CAN live to 30), pronounced her healthy in every other way, but had no answers. Since then, she seems to have completely lost her sight, suggesting a brain tumor or other neurologic problem that's progressing. Still, she's eating well and is so comfortable with her cage environs that very few people would notice anything. It's sad that she can no longer come out and fly about, but she's still a beautiful little emerald of a bird, so as long as she's not in distress, I will continue to be blessed by her presence.

That's it for now at . . .