Robin's Nest

Well it's been a while since I have been able to squeeze a post into my day.  It would have been shorter if the two that were in draft form had ever made it to the finish line.  However that is neither here nor there.  Lots has happened this past month to include two lightening strikes and the loss of two modems, the final crack in the pool filter and the rush to save 14,000 gallons of water, and emergency trip to the vet for a cat and emergency trip for the author for  an suspected MI after surgery and most recently a rowdy girls night in for all the granddaughters, biological and stolen :). It as been an adventure trying work and recover, I have had to leave early more than once and when you are used to driving yourself every where, being chauffeured is hard! Honestly, I never thought trying bounce back would be so, so challenging. Life goes on, I guess. That was the last surgery I will agree to willingly for sure.  The weather has been cool at night and h...

Do you ever sit and reminisce about the days without cell phones? I confess I have but mostly when I leave the thing somewhere and it takes a total stranger calling me to let me know they have found it. That was the case this week. Father's Day was a fun day and seemingly benign for events... sort of.  So on with the week! Monday was just another day at work it seemed and then it was time to go home. During the day DH decided to clean the fish tank. Our conversation the day before revealed that he was feeding the fish in addition to me feeding them before I left the house each day. This explained why the thing was so stinking cloudy you could hardly see any fish! I arrived home to the usual "what did you get me?!" from the youngest. All residents except cats and puppies were outside to greet me. Dinner was decided on and we went inside to get started on the evening. I started the main part went up to the second floor and saw all the fish in a big bowl! The really dirt...

Today was Father's Day, at least in the United States anyway.  Fun was planned by the youngest of the oldest group of kids so off we went to her home with kids and puppies in tow. Mary is usually the child to host the holiday events and this was different only because no one showed but us. She had food for an army and ... well we are not an army.  They have direct TV so DH is always willing to go and sit on their couch and slee... I mean watch whatever game is on.  Lunch was burgers and brats by the menu plan, however when it turned out that we were alone, the seven of us instead of 19 the meal was adjusted and Philly Cheese steak sandwiches were enjoyed. After the feast it was water ballon time for the littles! Of course the bigs had to fill the water balloons for the littles and they ended up just as wet.  The puppies all got bathed by Mary and I and they were just as cute and quiet as puppies could be. With all that excitement it was soon time to return home and...

This post is going to be a little different.. I have an accomplice.  She is a co-worker and we both were up for a little adventure yesterday.  The day started off early and she had offered to come in and cover the cart while I went to my pre-op appointment.  When she arrived we had no plans of doing what we ultimately ended up doing.  She took over the cart and I headed out to my appointment.  Then the daughter of one of my favorite resident's called and asked if I would meet her at her Dad's house and pick up a tangerine tree that he had planted years ago.  She is having an estate sale and did not want the tree to go to just anyone.  She and have become friends over the years and remained friends even after her Dad's death last year. In fact if I had a drinking buddy, it would be her. We share food porn (when my phone will let me send pictures) and secrets that I would never tell anyone else...ANYONE! So of course I will go over and meet her. The plan...

This has been very hard to be without a phone... in some ways very "freeing" and in others very frustrating.  Now it seems my new phone was delivered but I cannot find the package.  UPS does not always leave it at the door.  Probably because it can be confusing trying to find the correct door.  But the web site says it is here and I will find it before it rains... I hope.  T here are plants that must be put into ground tonight too. A last minute run to Walmart yielded more things for me to try and kill. With 18 minutes left on the instant pot for chicken noodle soup I think I will go stick them in ground and look around for the phone too. Back inside with one minute to spare! And we found the phone! Now for the soup and then put the phone together. Oh  my  it wants me to insert the SIM card but there isn't a little tool to open the tray... Surely there is a little tool in this house somewhere.  I may just put this in the car and try to do it a...

 Another fun night of making bone broth. Of course it still needs another hour of cooking in the instant pot but that is just something that must be done. I hope it turns out as I did not include a pig foot or a beef foot in the pot. :( During the procedure I discovered that my particular pressure cooker will only do up to an hour at a time so the process as whole took longer than the directions called for. We will see what happens. I am waiting for the pot to "release" so that I can set it for another hour and then head out the door. I intend to leave work by noon so that I could take the kiddos to monkey business and get some studying done while they play. Right now they are on the trampoline and have been since 0555 this morning... good thing our closest neighbor is a group of pigs! The "natural" release process is going very slow and I need to leave for work so.... I might just try to speed things along. Tomorrow I get to be at work at 0600 to pass meds....

Yes! I am roasting Ox tail as I type this... wasn't my first choice to make bone broth with but I want to try to make it in the instant pot and it calls for 2 pounds of meaty bones and Ox tail was suggested. The package that I picked up with all the other soup or dog bones as some refer to them as, weighed two pounds. It was also meaty and on the list so in the oven it roasts. There are five minutes left on the timer, then it goes into a pot to simmer. The original plan was to do the 48 hour method on the stove over the Holiday weekend but since I am blessed with the honor of working all weekend the instant pot method was more appealing. So the ox tail is roasted and it really doesn't look bad! I suppose if I came in and didn't know it was Ox tail I might think it was a "rib" dish or something. It is "golden" looking as the recipe says it should be and into the instant pot it goes with 3 quarts of purified water and two tablespoons of apple cider...