This Week's Lessons

1.) A dog trapped in the bathroom sounds remarkably similar to someone trying to break down your door.  One is much funnier to find at 3 AM than the other.

2.) When you buy something, write down who's to get it when you die, it'll save time and drama later.

3.) Wills, Beneficiary information, and other legal documents should be reviewed about every five years for the same reason as #2. 

4.) The horse community, in general, is the antithesis of the gun community.  No amount of wishing will change that.

5.) Sometimes, referring a customer to your competitor is the best solution.  You no longer have to deal with them and they do.

Biscuits

This is my basic biscuit recipe.  I found it years ago in a cookbook and fixed it.  Simple to make, fast to bake and very easy to turn into cheesy-garlic biscuits.


2 C Flour
4 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/4 C lard*
3/4 C whole milk**

Sift together dry ingredients.  Cut in lard with a pastry knife until it's crumbly then fold in the milk.  Use your hands to finish combining the dough but don't go overboard.  Pull off chunks and place on a baking pan.  Into the oven @ 450º F for 10 minutes (or golden brown).

Best served with hot bacon and fresh coffee.



* If you use Crisco or butter, you will be disappointed.  Try local grocery chains or mom & pop type stores, if they don't have lard, odds are they can tell you who does.  It seems to last forever in the fridge, so no worries about having it go to waste.

** Yes, whole milk.  I was raised on 2% but started buying whole milk in college because it lasted longer.  Now I'm hooked & can't go back.  Some of the recipes just don't turn out the same with 2% or (God forbid) skim.  Though I have been known - in an emergency - to used dried milk mixed with half & half  (roughly 7 parts re-hydrated milk to 1 part half & half) 

Welcome

Hello there! *waves*  Thank you all for visiting my little corner of the blog-o-sphere.  Many thanks to the Gun Blog Black List for my recent surge in readership.  If you direct your eyes to the right-hand side of the screen, you'll see I've corrected my previous non-linkage to their fine site (my apologies!)  Stick around, I'm sure more free ice cream will appear in the near future.  God knows the dogs are bound to do something post worthy!

It's Electric!

The most satisfying sounds ever:  *POP* *Rwaarrr* *skritter*

aka: the neighbor's cat getting ~2300 volts off the fence around the flower beds.   Guess it won't be leaving any more presents amongst the bushes!

Better than Squeakies

While they're not *technically* dog toys, I have it on good authority that those Angry Bird plushes are wildly popular with the four-legged crowd.  You'd think I'd given them a live squirrel!

Gunny Dream

I had my first gunny non-nightmare last night.  I've had plenty of "trigger doesn't work," "can't reload to save my soul" and "bad guy won't die" nightmares that seem to come with the defensive shooter territory, but I've never had a "save the day" gunny dream.  Sure, I've thought through what I would do during an attack, anyone who has their ccw permit has (or should have).  Over 3 years ago, I made a serious introspection of whether my life was worth someone else's, came up with 'yes,' and haven't looked back. 

Still, that dream was oddly comforting as it wasn't a bit of conscious 'what if' woolgathering.  My subconscious-self acted in a realistic and characteristic manner.  Showing, in a way, that I was mentally honest when I decided to get my ccw.  I'll even protect myself in my sleep :-)

Strange how realistic dreams can be: I wasn't a 'hero,' just an ordinary shopper going about their life.  I felt fear & the adrenaline rush; heard screams and breaking glass.  When knocked to the floor in the general upheaval, I groped the pistol out of my purse looking for my 'wallet' and ended up shooting from a few feet away, kneeling and landed at least 2 solid chest shots.  Then I woke up... at 3 in the Blessed morning, ugh.  Even with it being a 'good' dream, it was like waking from a nightmare, which is how I imagine the aftermath of shooting someone would be - a nightmare. 

Not sure there's a point to this rambling, just felt the need to share.  Has anyone else had a similar dream?  Did your dream-self act like you feel you would in real life?  Have you ever been shaken about your abilities due to how you reacted in a dream?  Just curious really.  In the end, I greatly approve of Bill Watterson's take on dreams in Calvin & Hobbes - just a few little guys rattling around in your head splicing reels together in the dark.  Nighty-Night!

Go hence and laugh

If you need a pick-me-up for the evening, pop over to Adaptive Curmudgeon's post about the glorious Chevy Volt.  Beverage Alert folks, I nearly ruined my keyboard!

Funny of the Day

Watching my 100lb German Shepherd plow into the baby gate only to get rebounded.  Shake it off buddy and walk away, it ain't goin' nowhere!

Praise Long Over Due

Back story:  In October, my wonderful other-half shipped out to Parris Island for 13 fun-filled weeks.  Before he left, he hid notes and surprises all around the house since he knew communication would be next to nil (yep, he's a keeper!).  In one of those notes I found out I had free rein on a holster from Dragon Leather Works *Squee!*  Which gave me an idea for him for Christmas, another holster  :-)  So I called up Dennis in November to see what we could come up with.  I had some really awesome ideas; unfortunately, I'm very good at asking for impossible things.  While he tried to make them happen, silly things, like copyrights held by the US government, stood in the way.  So I gave Dennis free rein instead - sounds like a good idea, no?

 

 

 

Fast forward to January 7th (also known and second Christmas) and Heath & I squeed liked little girls over these:

 

 

 

 

His & Hers matching holsters with hair-on accent!  Dennis, you truly out did yourself this time, I really can't thank you enough.  I love the feel of the flatjack, it's like carrying air and it melts right into your outline.  Even that plastic brick manages to stay concealed and feel unobtrusive (I tried Heath's on for kicks and giggles).  Still, I don't think mine's going to be covered over much, it's too pretty not to OC! 

 

 

 

 

*Note to anyone who cares: the holsters were bought & paid for.  Kiss my knickers.  

Enrichment

As a hat-tip to Daddy Bear's '30 days of Heinlein', I'm doing something I'm rather chagrin to admit - I'm finally going to read some of Heinlein's books.  They've been on my 'need to read' list for years but haven't made it off the shelf and onto my nightstand.  So, I've snagged The Moon is a Harsh Mistress to start tonight; any other recommendations? 


*Edited:  3 hours later and 10 chapters in & I'm having flashbacks to college days of buying a new book and reading until dawn, uh-oh!