Monday, July 31, 2017

SLOW COOKER BARBECUE PORK MEAL






I do most of the cooking at our house: I like to cook and my wife doesn’t.  

The two appliances I use most are my George Foreman Grill and my slow cooker – as far as I am concerned the microwave is only used for reheating.  







Yesterday I made barbecue boneless spare ribs with baked potatoes and corn on the cob – in the slow cooker.

I spread a thin layer of Sweet Baby Ray’s hickory and brown sugar barbecue sauce on the bottom of the pot.



I place in my spare ribs in the crock pot and coat them liberally with Ray’s sauce.

I olive oiled the outside of two medium whole Yukon potatoes – wrap them in aluminum foil and place them on top of the ribs, making sure they don’t touch the sides of the pot. 

 I cook them on low heat for six hours. 

 When they are done I clean two ears of corn, liberally slather them in margarine, wrap them in aluminum foil, remove the potatoes and place the corn on the ribs and put the potatoes back on top of the corn. 

I turn the crock pot up to high and give them 45 minutes more.  

Barbecue ribs, baked potatoes and corn on the cob along with a cold beer – you won’t buy better at a restaurant.


the Ol’Buzzard



Monday, July 24, 2017

SUMMER TIME IS NOT FOR BLOGGING




THAT’S MY EXCUSE AND I’M STICKING WITH IT.

I am not blogging much this summer.   Summertime for me is maintenance time, and last summer I fell behind when my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer – she is doing great.

I have a post and beam house and it is built like a fortress.   



The sills are 8x6 inch beams and they are covered on the outside with a spacing board that allows Styrofoam panels to be placed between the interior and exterior walls. 

 I found some rot in the outer plate covering the sill so had to remove the siding, cut out and remove a section of the outer wall, replace the spacing board and then put it all back together: a two-day job that turned out to be four because of measure twice, cut once, then measure and cut again….   It took me three tries to get the siding right because six-inch cedar siding is five and a half inches wide and I had my head up my ass.


 

It is done now and done properly.    Now I have to repaint the front of the house.   

WINTER IS COMING.  



It is also time to put in my firewood for the coming winter.



 I order firewood cut and split, but about a third of the wood is larger than I like it, so I split the larger pieces before placing them in my wood shed: splitting firewood in the winter snow and cold is not fun.


    
I also have to replace some parts on my eighteen-year-old snow blower and hope it will get me through another year.

  


There are at least a half-dozen other jobs I hope to complete before the first snow – then I can kick back, feed the wood stove, read, blog and take it easy…. between digging out from snow storms.  

All this is not a complaint: I love my life in Maine and I wouldn’t change it.    Summer work and winter chores keep me grounded to the earth.   How boring and superficial it would be to have everything done for me.

the Ol’Buzzard




WHAT IS THIS ABOUT MANGOES?



Are these things cheap to grow?   Is there a glut of mangoes on the world market?   Is there a cartel of mango dealers?  

I think mangoes are being used as a filler like lettuce at Subway.  

We buy frozen mixed fruit that my wife adds to yogurt, and sprinkles of granola for her breakfast.  These bags of fruit contain strawberries, peaches, pineapple, blueberries and a ton of mangoes.  

Since when did mangoes become the go to fruit?   There are mangoes in everything: mango salsa, mango mixed fruit, mango ice cream and try to buy a flavored bottle of water without mango in it: strawberry mango, orange mango, pineapple mango.  

I don’t believe consumers are raving for mangoes, so it must have to do with a profit margin – we are being manipulated to eat mangoes.     

RESIST MANGOES




the Ol’Buzzard

Sunday, July 16, 2017

GAME OF THRONES




MUST SEE !








the Ol'Buzzard

WINTER IS COMING








AND IT BEGINS HERE





Tonight begins the seventh season of 
Game of Thrones

 If you have not watched this program from the beginning I would advise you to skip it tonight, until you have a chance to view it from the beginning. 

The books are a fantastic read; and the series is every bit as good as the books.

My wife and I are making supper early, as last year’s Season 6 episode 9 rerun begins at seven-o-clock, followed by Season 6 episode 10; and then the long-awaited Season 7 episode 1 – the final season.   We plan to binge watch.

Like The Godfather and the Hobbit and Harry Potter, Game of Thrones is destine to become a classic.

The temperature today was 84 in Maine; but 


the Ol'Buzzard


Thursday, July 13, 2017

COVFEFE




It is raining today and I can’t work outside, so I am taking the day off.

That’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it.

Time to catch up reading blogs and sharing what’s on my mind.

Bill Maher is always complaining about the ignorance of a large percentage of American voters; and the sometimes maddeningly political correctness and fantasy obsessions of liberals.

A program on Public Radio this past week-end told the story of an environmentalist movement that decided to try to reverse evolution on one of the islands that was visited by Charles Darwin in the Galapagos group - restoring the island of Pinta to the condition Darwin found when he landed. 

A number of these islands are home to giant tortoise, but on the island of Pinta there was only one tortoise left: Lonesome George.  



Now a tortoise is a tortoise is a tortoise, but the liberal environmentalist and college biology departments involved decided that not just any tortoise would do, but the replacements should be from the blood line of Lonesome George. 

For forty years they tried to get Lonesome George to mate, but he wasn’t interested.   One College professor and his female assistant went so far as spending two years trying to jack off ole George for his semen, but to no avail.  



Finally, Lonesome George died.   One of the scientist said he was ready to shoot him anyway. 

This is the type of obsessive bull shit that liberals are known for.   Probably hundreds of thousands of dollars and many hundreds of man hours were spent on this project so tourist could visit the Island and experience it as Darwin did – what a waste of time and money.

Now as to the dumbing of the voting population:








What can I say?
the Ol'Buzzard

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

NET NEUTRALITY




I am busy as hell with summer projects...  
But had to post this. 





Dwarf porn - really?  I think it is time for the Liberal Red Neck to leave California.

It is hard to say what the Republicans are going to sneak under the radar while we are all focused on Trump the Clown.

the Ol'Buzzard

Monday, July 3, 2017

MY MORNING MEDITATION










I have a routine I try an adhere to each morning.   Right out of bed I go downstairs and drink a small glass of orange juice to add electrolytes to my body; then back upstairs, stretch out, and workout twenty minutes on my Total Gym.   I go from one exercise to the next without a break in-between and by the time I am finished I am in an aerobic state.

I turn around on the gym seat and place both my feet firmly on the floor, place my right hand in my left palm with thumbs touching, close my eyes and focus on slowing down my breathing.   After about a minute I am conscious of my heart beat and I focus on slowing down my heart rate.  That done, I focus on breathing for a few breaths and then totally blank my mind.     I spend no more than five minutes in meditation after workout – and I don’t time it.  

Anyone can do this with a committed practice.   It begins with finding a quiet, private place to meditate.   Sit comfortably on a pillow, a stool or a chair.  Close your eyes and focus on your breathing: visualize the breaths going in as you expand your stomach and visualize the air exiting as you release the breath.   Breath with your diaphragm.  Relax.   If your mind wanders bring it back to your breaths.   Spend no more than five minutes – but don’t time it.   When you feel totally relaxed open your eyes, focus around you and then gradually, comfortably, move your body and continue your normal day. 

With a minute’s meditation (even in a doctor’s office) I can bring down my blood pressure ten to fifteen points.    And you can too.    

As meditation becomes natural to you, you will find you can control anxiety, and relax your body, and focus your mind in times of stress; and with five minutes morning practice you can begin each day in a better frame of mind.  


the Ol’Buzzard

Saturday, July 1, 2017