Zara

The past few months have been very difficult in our house. After Jethro left us on Oct 5th, 2011 our Red Heeler X Kelpie dog, Zara, went into a complete funk. She was really depressed for several weeks and when she came out of it, she was crazier than ever. She was always a neurotic dog, but she missed Jethro and her behaviour was crazy. It didn't matter how many times I threw the ball for her, or how much time I spent with her - she had lost the plot. She invented a new game to keep herself occupied and it involved stalking the horses!!! Over a couple of weeks, she went from stalking them to make them run away from her - when she would give chase - to actually hunting them. I was aware she was doing this, so kept her inside with me or chained up when I wasn't outside. One w/end DH had been away and I was distracted when he got home. I heard Zara's tell-tale lunatic barking which told me she was stirring the horses up. I yelled at her, it went quiet & I thought nothing more about it ... completely distracted by DH describing the vintage cars he'd seen over the w/end. I went out to feed the horses about 45 mins later. Diego had a very nasty bite mark high up on one hind leg, with a second not so bad one on the other leg. As soon as I saw it I knew that Zara had got him. It was still bleeding freely so I cleaned it up, treated it & went looking for the dog. DH found her lying beside her kennel and she was also bleeding. I examined her gently and saw that her bottom jaw was broken, some teeth were missing and she appeared to have a head injury as well. I have no doubt that she had 'got' the horse with her first bite, but then he 'got' her when she went back for a second bite ... and he has shoes on. She'd taken a hard kick to her head and face. By now it was around 9.30pm on Sunday night. Luckily I had some Ketamine (a strong sedation) which I had been using when treating one of the horses for a serious eye infection. The horse dosage was 3 mls, so I gave Zara 2 mls. If that was too much for her, did it really matter? She was out of it within 30 minutes and was not in any discomfort throughout the night when I checked her several times. We took her to the vet first thing on Monday morning. The date was 5th December ~ only two months after Jethro left us. She was 12 years and 2 months old. She was a crazy, neurotic dog but we miss her.
R.I.P. Zara.

Lanark Park Scots Dragoon

After Jethro left my life, I was devastated. I knew I would be upset, what I wasn't prepared for was the on-going raw grief and how much I still miss him. My DH was worried about me as I literally cried for days. I couldn't sleep. I needed something to keep my mind occupied; as well as keeping me actively engaged. My retired old (26 yo) Pinto, Diablo, keeps me fairly busy but I decided I might like to start riding again. To make sure this wasn't a whim I went on a few rides at Ironbark Trail Rides and decided I would start looking for another riding horse. DH & I spent days, weeks, driving to look at horses for sale. What a wasted and very frustrating exercise!! There were quite a few false starts and mistakes made on my part. Then finally, after about six weeks, I went to see the boy in the above pics. He was in very poor condition, he hadn't dropped his winter coat yet, his pot belly told me he had a heavy worm burden, his feet & teeth were in dreadful condition ... but I bought him anway! After I rode him and spent an hour or so with him I knew I could not leave him the 'care' of the mongrel who was selling him. The first photo was taken the day after he arrived at our property. The next one, where he's gleaming like a gold ingot, was taken 5 weeks later. He didn't have a name when I got him. 'Palomino' is a Spanish word and we already have Diablo (The Devil). I decided to name the new horse Diego .. so now we have God and The Devil in the back paddock. LOL

I tracked down Diego's background, age and registered name (using his brands and markings) through the Arabian Horse Society. Finding out how old he really is was a bit of a shock, but he is a very young 25 yo. He has put on even more condition since the second pic above and he is looking fan.tas.tic. I ride him 3-4 times a week, but he doesn't cope with the hot days too well so on those days we both have a rest. He is quiet & sensible to ride. His 75% Arabian blood gives him a bit of fiestiness which he hasn't lost. He is good in traffic and nothing much really fazes him. I always feel good when I get back from a ride in the bush and the old boy enjoys it too.

Steamed Chicken With Rice or Noodles

This is an economical recipe. I usually get three meals from it. It's an excellent 'go to' when I am feeling sick and/or have symptoms.

Take a tray of organic chicken "Lovely Legs" which are the thigh either on, or off, the bone. I prefer the ones on the bone as they have more flavour and produce more gelatin.
Simmer the chicken in enough Campbell's Chicken Stock, to cover the meat. Make sure you use Campbell's as there is no onion or garlic in this stock, so it shouldn't cause symptoms. If you are really sensitive, just use water. Simmer on low heat until chicken is tender .. I usually give it 45 mins to an hour. If you are hungry when they are cooked, eat some and put the rest (pot and all) in the fridge. When they are completely cold (overnight), scrape any fat from the top and eat some more. By now they will be gooey, soft and gelatinous. This gelatine is a real tummy soother.
There should still be enough left for a third meal.
I steam some plain white medium grain rice as a side; or sometimes I add rice vermicelli directly to the pot as the chicken is re-heating on the stove top. Slice the green part of a spring onion and some coriander for a very tasty, easy-to-prepare meal.

My veggie garden is going ballistic!

All that hard work I did months ago setting up the raised beds is now paying off. Everything has gone ballistic with the warmer weather we've been having recently. The dark grey container has 3 diff types of tomatoes growing in it. I had them wrapped in clear plastic tents until about 10 days ago and they are growing very strongly now ~ way ahead of the old advice of never planting your tomatoes until after the Melbourne Cup! The big silver container has butter beans, button squash (those little yellow ones) and 2 diff types of zucchini. The Kipfler potatoes are going great guns in their funky special growing bags. The cut-off 44's have silver beet, Gold Nugget Bush pumpkins, herbs, cucumbers and strawberries in them. The strawberries have loads of fruit & the bird netting is there so I get to eat them - not the birds (or the chooks!) The green plastic chair is where I often sit on gorgeous days to relax, read, have a cuppa and soak up some extra Vit D in the hope of getting my level closer to normal - which reminds me, it's almost time to have the next blood test to check and see how I'm doing with the Ostelin D3 supplement. That green chair is where I was sitting when the brown snake slithered beneath me 3 weeks ago yesterday. That snake had been terrorising me for 4 summers and I am pleased to say its days of terrorism are over!! *wink* There are also peas, Queensland Blue pumpkins, Butternuts, Purple King beans and lots of Marigolds growing in various other containers. We have already been eating silver beet & bok choy; some of the peas are almost ready to harvest. I am feeling a lot of satisfaction that it's worked out so well after the weeks of getting it all together from scratch. I even managed to grow it all from seed!

Rabbit Stew with Dumplings

Sorry about the cute little baby to the left ~ considering what I am about to post. I've been hankering for rabbit stew for ages, but couldn't find rabbit meat anywhere. Then, saw some in a local supermarket - at $17.80 for one bunny! ZOMG!! Oh well, grabbed one anyway. I cut it into pieces and put it into the slow cooker with 500mls of chicken stock, some chunks of carrot and a few frozen peas; with some chives and a few leaves of curry plant (not curry leaves! Curry plant is a herb with small, soft leaves). It cooked for 6 hours on Low. Then I transferred it all into a large saucepan, made a basic dumpling dough and cooked it (with the lid on) on medium heat for a further 15 minutes, until the dumplings were done. That bunny stew with dumplings sure tasted gooooooood! I'll def make it again.

Meatball & Noodle Soup

I've been making this recipe quite a lot recently, using different variations on a theme. It's pretty safe for most people with FM and/or food chemical issues; and is very tasty. As ever, please be aware of your tolerance/s.

500g minced lean meat
[I've used beef, pork, veal, turkey, chicken; or a combo of them]
3/4 cup bread crumbs or corn crumbs
1 teaspoon ground Cardamom
1 teaspoon ground Cumin
1 large egg
1/3 cup Sunflower oil
Chopped chives or the green part of a spring onion, to taste
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well with a fork or spoon. Wet your hands and mix really thoroughly, then shape into bite size balls. Brown in batches and set aside.
Place 500mls Campbell's Chicken Stock in a large saucepan. Add the meatballs and 150g noodles of choice.
(Vermicelli, Singapore, Hokkein, etc)
Add some grated carrot and allow to simmer gently for approx. 30 minutes, stirring gently occasionally.
Turn heat off & add some Bok Choy, just allowing it to steam/wilt before serving.

Banana and Yoghurt Muffins

While bananas are no longer as horrendously expensive as they were in Oz, I still couldn't bring myself to throw three VERY over-ripe ones in the bin ... despite the fact that they were now loaded with amines! I went searching for a recipe I could adapt and found this one. It's a ripper! Having yoghurt as an ingredient only increased its appeal for me because I make my own. I have no reaction to one or two of these muffins ~ spaced well apart throughout the day ~ but please make sure you are aware of YOUR tolerance to them.
INGREDIENTS:
1 and 3/4 cups unbleached organic self raising flour
1/2 cup caster sugar (or substitute with stevia, etc)
1 cup plain yoghurt (I use my own lactose free low-fat homemade yoghurt)
1 large egg (mine are homegrown free-range ... lucky me!)
2/3 cup oil (I use Crisco 100% Sunflower oil. No additives at all)
2 large bananas, mashed with chunks
1 teaspoon mixed spice
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease a 12-hole muffin pan. Sift flour, sugar and mixed spice into a bowl. Combine yoghurt, egg, oil and banana in a second, larger bowl. Gradually add dry ingredients, stirring until JUST combined. [If you overmix, the muffins will be tough and won't rise]. Spoon mixture into muffin holes. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. Stand muffins in pan for 5 minutes, turn out onto wire rack to cool. They are very moist and stay that way for 2-3 days. If any are left on day #4, nuke them for 15 seconds & spread with butter.