Happpy Halloween!

Halloween Decorations

I didn't feel like putting up very many Halloween Decorations this year so I got out the skeleton dolls I had bought from my sister. She used to make them to sell. I arranged them with some of the other things I already had sitting out. Then I found an old guard in the yard that had first been a birdhouse. The top with the wire to hold it in a tree had broke and it was just rolling around the yard. I decided the hole for the entrance for the birds could look like a mouth and I added eyes, eyebrows, and ears. Then I added a ceramic frog I had that had its front legs curled so it can hang on a flower pot. Perfect. Looks like the frog is crawling out of the jack-o-lantern mouth.

Okra and Friends

Don't know if other gardeners raise much okra or not but I tried my hand at it this summer. The first photo is of an okra plant with it's big, jagged leaves and two of the okra pods. For those that don't know about okra it is a really good veggie that likes hot weather and a good bit of water. The long pod is full of white seeds when picked and black seeds if mature. It is best to pick okra when it is small and tender. These two were almost to big but good for the photo. I prefer okra cut in small chunks and fried in butter or oil but it is good boiled, too. It does well in soups and casseroles. Try adding some boiled okra to a zucchini casserole. The second and third photos are of the okra flower and I think it is very pretty.

This is one of the dozen small watermelons we raised. Next photo is of my one and only cantaloupe. Last photos are of a couple of gourds I raised this year.

Cash Back Scam

I saw this one FaceBook and thought it needed to be added to my blog so that others could know about this Scam. I think I have almost had this happen to me.

 

 

THIS SCAM

 

CAN BE DONE ANYWHERE, AT ANY RETAIL OR WHOLESALE LOCATION!!!

It happened at a Wal-Mart Supercenter a month ago.

I bought a bunch of stuff, over $150, & I glanced at my receipt as the cashier was handing me the bags. I saw a cash-back of $40. I told her I didn't request a cash back & to delete it....
She said I'd have to take the $40 because she couldn't delete it. I told her to call a supervisor.

Supervisor came & said I'd have to take it! I said NO! Taking the $40 would be a cash advance against my Discover & I wasn't paying interest on the cash advance!!!!! If they couldn't delete it then they would have to delete the whole order.
So the supervisor had the cashier delete the whole order & rescan everything!

The second time I looked at the electronic tab before I signed & a cash-back of $20 popped up. At that point I told the cashier & she deleted it.

The total came out right. the cashier agreed that the electronic pad must be defective. (yeah, right!)

Obviously the cashier knew the electronic pad wasn't defective because she NEVER offered me the $40 at the beginning.
Can you imagine how many people went through before me & at the end of her shift how much money she pocketed?

Just to alert everyone. My coworker went to Milford , DE Wal-Mart last week. She had her items rung up by the cashier. The cashier hurried her along and didn't give her a receipt.

She asked the cashier for a receipt and the cashier was annoyed and gave it to her.
My coworker didn't look at her receipt until later that night. The receipt showed that she asked for $20 cash back. SHE DID NOT ASK FOR CASH BACK!

My coworker called Wal-Mart who investigated but could not see the cashier pocket the money. She then called her niece who works for the bank and her niece told her This is a new scam. The cashier will key in that you asked for cash back and then hand it to her friend who is the next person in line.

Please, please, please check your receipts right away when using credit or debit cards!

This is NOT limited to Wal-Mart, although they are the largest retailer so they have the most incidents.

I am adding to this.... My husband and I were in Wal-Mart North Salisbury and paying with a credit card. When my husband went to sign the credit card signer, he just happened to notice there was a $20 cash back added. He told the cashier that he did not ask nor want cash back and she said this machine has been messing up and she canceled it.
We didn't think anything of it until we read this email.

I wonder how many "seniors" have been, or will be, "stung" by this one????

BEFORE LEAVING THE CASHIER'S STATION!!!!!
CHECK YOUR RECEIPT
BEFORE LEAVING THE STAND. I'VE SEEN PEOPLE DO JUST THAT. NOW I'LL START!

PASS THIS ON TO YOUR FRIENDS, KIDS, LOVED ONES
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chili Peppers

New  Mexico is known for their Chili Peppers. Here are a few of the ones I grew this summer (as well as a couple of okra that I grew, (green veggie at the top of the first photo) The long skinny red peppers are cayenne peppers.

 The second photo is a green jalapeño pepper, New Mexico's pepper, the state fruit, with a red one in the third photo. Actually the same pepper. They are green to start with then turn red but can be picked at either stage for eating. It depends on the color and how much water, fertilizer, and the type of soil it was grown in how hot (not from the heat used to cook it) the pepper will be.

This photo shows a green jalapeño and one that is a starting to dry out a little beyond the picking stage. I will be keeping most of mine for seed to raise them next year as I don't care to cook with the fresh ones. The juice from fresh peppers can burn your skin and a lot of people use plastic gloves when working with them. Some people can even have asthma attacks if in an area where they are ground into dry chili  powder for cooking with. I have been know to start choking just from running hot water into a pan where I heated enchiladas sauce. As always the question here in New Mexico is 'Green or Red?' It isn't about Christmas. They are asking if you want green or red chili sauce on your Mexican food.

After Surgery

It has been 3 weeks since I had the para-esophageal hernia surgery. According to my Dr. I am doing great, but I feel like I'm taking a lot longer to get well than I expected. I am still feel weak as can be. Seems all I can do is sit around, watch TV, read, or play simple games on the computer like Bookworm or jigsaw puzzles. I have been doing the few dishes we use and a bit of laundry. Even then hubby fusses at me for doing it. He has been so good to me, doing all the chores by himself. Housework as well as yard work and taking care of the horses, dogs, and cats. I keep trying to do more but don't seem up to it.
     But eating has been the worst problem. For the first 2 weeks I was on nothing but a liquid diet. Broth, ice cream, pudding, yogurt, and a ton of pills that had to be crushed, mixed with food and taken that way. Some of them were awful tasting and the best thing I found was to mix them with some chocolate syrup. The first suggestions of applesauce, and yogurt didn't work at all. In fact the applesauce was the thing that caused me to want to throw up the most. And I was told not to throw up or could pull out all the stitches that were used to pull my stomach back into place.
     Now I am able to eat a small helping of cream of wheat cereal, soft scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, cream cheese on a Ritz or Graham cracker, (I take a small bit and let the cracker soften in my mouth then chew it about 15 times until I can swallow it.) I plan on trying some noodles with butter for supper tonight.
    I had thought I'd be eating more by now and the Dr. told me I could have small amounts of anything I wanted except bites of meat and raw veggies. Everything needed to be well cooked, and ground or mushy. Of course not eating meats isn't a problem. No, I am not a true vegetarian but well on my way to being one.
     This is not the best way to be loosing weight, even though I needed to loose a few, but I am. About 10 pounds so far and my clothes are starting to hang on me. But still I am swollen enough around my waist that most of my pants are to tight. Don't think I've ever worn PJ's and robes this much.

Twinkie & Murphy

A conversation between Twinkie and Murphy. Murphy, "Can I whisper sweet nothings in your eat?"

Twinkie, "NO." Murphy, "Are you sure?"

 

Twinkie, "Hissssss." Murphy, "Alright, be that way."

Murphy, "I'll just pretend there's a bird out there."

Summer Flowers

Even though we had drought and to much rain my flowers didn't do bad. Here are some photos I took about a month ago. My althea, or rose of Sharon, tame 4-o-clocks, geraniums, morning glories, and one white cosma.

Para Esophageal Hernia Surgery

I know you are saying 'what a heck of a name'. But, yes, that is the kind of surgery I had to have last Friday, which was Friday, the 13th, of all days. A Para esophageal hernia is when part of the stomach bulges over into the diaphragm and pushed on the lungs and heart. It's nothing to mess around with, or at least that is what I was told when it was discovered on  August 16 when I had to make a trip to the ER at our local hospital. It was discovered with a quick CT scan. The next day I was sent home but then I saw several different doctors who all said that surgery was the only way to take care of it. So a month later I had the surgery. They were able to do it laparoscopicly with 5 small incisions that make me look as if I have been stabbed. If their had been problems the doctor would have made a large 6 inch incision and I would have been in the hospital for a week. With the small ones I got to come home late the day after the surgery. The worst part is that for now I am on a liquid diet and it is getting old very fast. I can have lots of ice cream, jello, yogurt, broth, tea, coffee, sherbet, and popsicles. I look forward to some cream soups next week.
     Why did this happen to me? Well, partly it is hereditary. My sister had the same problem. But the doctor said the rest was just bad luck. I think I might have had it for some time, as I have had stomach problems for years. Like Reflux, indigestion, heartburn and such. But all the doctors I mentioned it to just said to take over the counter stuff for it. I recommend that if you are having constant problems like this ask a doctor to do a little more testing; at least to rule out a stomach hernia.

Flooding in New Mexico

It was a true Friday the 13th this past Friday. Colorado had already had a lot of flooding on the west side of their state a few days before. New Mexico didn't think they would get that much of it. But we did. These are the photos that hubby took of the little bridge that crosses the arroyo (ditch) that is about a half mile from our house. We can see it from the back yard but we were much higher and safe from the water. There wasn't that much rain right here. Most of it came from north of us. We are west of the bridge. The photos are looking north east. The water came so fast with so much dirt, rocks, branches, and other stuff that it got caught rapidly under the bridge causing the water to rise above the bridge and over it. With in a few hours it was over except for the mess.

 

 We were lucky that this is all we had. Much of the state suffered far worse and many people still can't get to or out of their flooded homes. The little dirt roads going to of the mountain or desert communities became rivers with lot of damage including sink holes, boulders, drop offs and fallen trees. Many people had to be rescued and a few are still missing. We hope they make it to safety.

Flashfloods

As soon as we left the Valles Caldera it started raining. It poured for a while so we pulled over and had some snacks of canned beans, chips, and cookies. When we got back down to Jemez Springs we could tell it hadn't rained as hard there but there are several low places on the road through town where the water pours across it when it rains in the higher elevations causing some smaller flashfloods. Flashfloods can be deadly if you get caught in a big one. We had seen were the road crews had be doing some work in these same areas when we had come through in the morning. Now they were going to have to work them again. In fact we had to wait about 15 minutes at one place to let the grader make it safe enough to cross. Here are some cars that were in front of us as we went across the bad places and some of the water running on into some natural ditches beside the road.

In this wash out the pavement had let go and there was a drop off of about 5 or 6 inches and then you had to go back up on the other side.

Much worse than these and the road would have been closed.

Caldera Wildlife

It is the wild animals that everyone always wants to see and photograph or at least I do. On this trip I got some good photos of a chipmunk that was eating grass at one of the places we pulled over to take some scenic photos.

At another place a pair of these birds were catching bugs on the ground. So far I haven't been able to identify them yet. They had a lot of yellow/green on them and were just larger than a sparrow.

These prairie dogs were in a large village of them on the drive from the paved road to the Visitors Center at the Caldera. We did see a badger run across the road in front of us but I couldn't get the camera up in time. The Center people said there were lots of badgers in the prairie dog village trying to catch them. The badgers help keep the rodents down. The 'dogs' are cute but leave lots of deep holes in the ground for deer, elk, horses, cows, and even people to step in and get hurt.

 From the paved road we saw a herd of about 30 elk but they didn't want to come close to us. We could barely see some smaller ones, probably this years calves running and playing.

 There were elk in the trees here.

We also saw some deer but again couldn't get a photo before they were gone.