WHO do you write like?

Daily I sit down, click-click-click to reach my Blogger dashboard and am delighted with what I read and see from all the friends who live in my computer.

This morning was no exception. Thanks so much Penni!

All of us, from the blogger-types to the journal jotters to the comment makers --- are writers of some sort. Some do a better job than others, but one thing is for darn sure. We all have a "style".

Check out this fun website to see who your style most resembles. Find out if you have the potential to someday be famous or should be fine tuning things before you submit your first manuscript.

Have fun at: I Write Like

Who knows, someday I may be able to say, "I knew her before she was discovered!"

Pssst...if you try this, post in the comments section "who" you write like!

"Thar She Blows!"

Just a quick update, as we breathe a sigh of relief...

Some of you may have read about our donkey Pete's adventure into 3-legged land this week. We were worried and he was miserable with a possible hoof abscess. The sudden onset lameness started 7 days ago and it's been hard to watch him try to walk on three legs.

Do you know donkeys can wince? I saw him do it more than once when he was trying to be brave and not let me notice how much it hurt.

Tonight Pete walked into the barn at an alarmingly fast clip that meant only one thing....the demon abscess had found a way out of his foot. By migrating through the inside of his hoof to softer tissue, the nasty smelling abscess blew out at the coronet band. That's where the solid hoof wall changes into flesh and donkey fuzz.



Sorry about the quality of this pic but I was lucky to remember to grab the camera. The raw looking skin at the top of the hoof wall is where the abscess exited. Now the site is all cleaned up and dried. A blob (veterinary term for glob) of ichthammol ointment is keeping the opening germ-free while it heals over.

Whew.

A happy donkey tonight and very happy owners. No more duct tape booties for this guy!

Three-Legged Pete

Donkeys will be donkeys. And when they hurt they're cattle dogs.

What I mean is...donkeys are a stoic bunch, like cattle dogs. So when they hurt they don't tell you until it's really ouchy. And you say (like to a small child), "Why didn't you TELL me you hurt?"

They look at you with those big brown, liquid eyes. How can you scold them at a time like that?



Pete started going almost 3-legged Saturday afternoon. I put a perfectly sound, 4-legged Pete in the corral at 6:30 a.m. Came home at 2:30 p.m. to a limping Pete.

I mixed his anti-inflammatory medicine with applesauce and squirted it into his mouth. "Oh YUM," he said. "May I have more?" Every twelve hours buddy.

Dr. Bob said to do an Epsom salts soak twice a day or a poultice. We started soaking but changed over to the poultice. It's quite the project and requires: a donkey, two people, a spatula and some ichthammol ointment (say that three times real fast!), Vetrap, patience, scissors, sheet cotton, more patience and the mother-of-all-sticky-stuff, duct tape.








We're keeping our fingers and toes crossed the abscess shows it's ugly self soon and Pete can start being just a donkey again. (Besides, cattle dogs don't have the cool ears donkeys do.)

The room service hasn't been too shabby though. You shout your order.



And dinner is served!

Sweeeeeeeet --- and a little salty!

Last spring I thought...what could I do someday in retirement (for fun, mind you) and for a little pocket change?

I asked myself, "Well Sandy, what do you like?" I answered, "Food." I thought another second and smiled and said, "People --- when they aren't complete idiots." So the hunt began for a hobby business that hubby and I could do, when we wanted, how we wanted, without much investment and not much training.

The equipment was ordered and arrived. We read the owner's manual and we understood it. We ran some test batches and it was delicious!

We decided to practice on the unknowing peoples of southeast King County, Washington...prepping ourselves to go "pro" someday in our retirement state of New Mexico. We joined the vendors at the Maple Valley Farmers' Market this June and started our adventure.

We're a hit!

Hubby, "The PopMaster", mixes his secret ingredients together to make an addictive concoction of popcorn and sugar. He fires up the propane burner under the 40 gallon stainless steel kettle and it sounds like a jet readying for take-off. Heads turn and people gather. Kernels heat up, pop wildly and fill the kettle. The popcorn pours into the sifting table.



At the sifting table, I sprinkle some salt on your hot, sugary popcorn. While it's still warm I bag it for you, twist tie it for freshness and hand it to your quivering hands...and take a little of your hard earned money. But you don't mind. Not one bit. You come back week after week to the Farmers' Market. You tell me it's the only reason you come to the Farmers' Market. Geesh, we love you guys!



Ahhh...can't you just smell the love?