The circle of life continues....

The circle of life continues....

Life in the country is wonderful, simple, but also sometimes difficult and  heart-breaking.

We just received a new batch of chicks from Honolulu - week-old meat birds. They are all cute, happy, healthy, and eating as if that were their sole purpose in life. Oh, wait, it IS their primary purpose and obsession for their entire 8-week life! And, well, to be honest, I don't know if they are happy; I just assume they are happy because they are chirping and running from one side of the brooder box to the other. I interpret that as happy chick behavior.

Then, the next afternoon, a small pack of dogs came into our yard and mauled our tenant's prize rooster (yes, to death...). There were tears, sadness, and rage. Our tenant was so angry, he drove down the street, followed the dogs home, and confronted the owner. The owner had forgotten to tie his dogs up in the morning, and was super apologetic. Paid for the rooster (generously), and came by later with a truckload of avocados. He said, "I'm bringing this many avocados every week until I feel I've done enough." 

The real Aloha that lives in a small town on the island of Hawai'i.... 

Crazy Cake

I made this cake again, which reminded me that one of my friends asked me to share the recipe. She reads my blog, so here it is:

Crazy Cake (that's what we always called it at my house - I've heard others call it Chocolate Road Oil Cake - when I make desserts for others, aka catering, I call it Vegan Chocolate Cake because it is)

Ingredients:

3 c flour

2 c sugar

1/2 c powdered cocoa

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tbl vinegar

2 tsp vanilla

2/3 c cooking oil

2 c cold water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix and bake in one 9" x 13" pan. Add all dry ingredients and mix with a whisk or a fork until well-mixed. Sprinkle the vinegar, vanilla and oil over the dry ingredients. Pour the water into the pan. Mix carefully until well-mixed and almost smooth. Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Eat... Hot... Warm... Cold... With ice cream... With whipped cream.... By itself... Small pieces stolen from the pan every time you walk through the kitchen... Guaranteed it won't last long!

Living in the country

From day to day, I live my life, and sometimes I start thinking that I live an ordinary life. 

And then some little thing happens to remind me that I truly live "far from the madding crowd." For example, we had some business matter in Ohio, and the result was that we would send our representatives a check. I asked when they needed it, and they said something about "dropping it in the mail today" and they'd get it in a few days. I found myself explaining, with a straight face, how that wouldn't be possible because

Our business bank is online-only, having no branch in Hawai'i. We never found a bank with a branch in Hawai'i that could conduct business and wire money, etc. Therefore, to transfer money would take 3 days.

But even if I could write the check today, I don't get mail service at my house (or piped-in water, either, for that matter). So I have to get in my car and drive to the post office and drop it in their box.

I could do that today, but I might as well do it tomorrow because there's only one pickup per day.

That's when it dawns on me that I live out in the country. Way out in the country. I live in a town with no stoplights. In the evenings, we can hear a car driving by our house from three blocks away. Then hear it fade away again. The nearest Starbucks is an hour and a half drive away. However, there's a great kava cafe that also serves expresso and Italian creme soda only 8 miles away (20 minutes). I may not be up to date on the latest fashions, or know the newest trends in music, but I love living in peace and quiet and closer to the earth. It's worth the small inconveniences.

The name game

Ok, I usually don't criticize people for how or what they name their pets our their children (or their bobby parts for that matter). It's their business, and they are the ones that have to live with the consequences. 

I try to use great care, however, when I name things, especially living things.

Let's start with pets. I try to avoid people names whenever possible. I mean, I wouldn't want to name my dog after my best friend out my mom, now, would I? Or even after someone I don't love or even like, considering how often I will be calling that name in the course of the dog's life. "Here, Althea!" "Come, Althea!", "Sit, Althea!", "Bad girl, Althea!" Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, does it? I used my mom's first mane as an example. I used to go hiking with a friend and her dog, Susie. Now, because my name is Susan, it did sometimes get complicated. My dogs' names were Hunny and Geea (jee-ah). Pretty easily distinguished from most human names. Only problem, we found out too late, was that while we had that dog, we had to abandon "Honey" as a term off endearment. Each time we forgot, the dog showed up!

Another notable pet example was our French-speaking landlady in Belgium. She got this golden retriever puppy and named him Fred. 1. It's a person name. But that's okay if you don't know any Freds. What's worse is 2. The name is not an English-language pronounced Fred, which one can maybe call when the dog is missing, the name was the French-pronounced Fred, with the guttural "r" sound. If you speak French, try it, "Frrrred!" Now really loud, as if you were calling the dog across the field or from down the block, or anywhere other than right next to you. It's very hard. Broke my throat. What WAS she thinking when she named that dog?

I have an even funnier story that cannot be blogged.....