Trees of Tomorrow Tanka

  

Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay

could I be so bold

to see what the future holds

keep searching ahead

shall we plant a fence of trees

that will outlive you and me?

~cie~

The tree pictured above is an American plum. My son and I want to plant trees that are low-maintenance, suitable for Colorado's nutrient-poor and often dry soil and will attract pollinators. As an added benefit, the fruit of these little beauties is edible, and I spent part of my disability back payment to buy a nice water bath canner. I would like to try my hand at making jams and other preserves.

If we take good care of our trees, they will beautify our little town and bring happiness to future generations. It is our goal to leave things better than we found them. We all need to take better care of our world if we want it to keep taking care of us.

The Prompts

April PAD Challenge

Day 2: Write a "what does the future hold" poem.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2021-april-pad-challenge-day-2

D'Verse Poets

https://dversepoets.com/2021/04/01/oh-my-its-april-fools-day/

Haiku My Heart

https://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/2021/04/haiku-my-heart.html

Mindlovemisery's Menagerie Music Challenge

Keep Searchin' (We'll Follow the Sun)

https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2021/04/02/keep-searchin-well-follow-the-sun-challenge-179/

NaPoWriMo Day 2

Write a "road not taken" poem.

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-two-8/

I...um...sort of followed the prompt. This poem is about a road that my son and I are looking down but haven't taken yet.

The Icky, Sticky, Nit-Picky Legalese If You Please (Or Don't Please)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

This work is the intellectual property of Naughty Netherworld Press/Poetry of the Netherworld.

Reblogging is acceptable on platforms that allow it. Odysee’s reblog function is called repost, which makes things confusing since reposting is considered a no-no on most platforms. It’s fine to share the post using the repost function on Odysee. It is not okay to copy-paste the material into a new post.

Sharing a link to the post is acceptable.

Quoting portions of the post for educational or review purposes is acceptable if proper credit is given.

Want more?

Get it here!

http://bit.ly/getmorepoetry

Join me on Odysee

http://bit.ly/OdyseeWithMe

If you're interested in looking into the Ball Electric Canner for your own canning adventures, you can follow this link. https://amzn.to/3cIdDjR

I do receive a small commission from Amazon for anything bought through this link, which goes to fund the care and upkeep of the ole Grover Hotel and its peculiar but mostly harmless residents.

I Bought a Freezer

 

Hi friends.

I finally qualified for disability, and I was entitled to some back pay. So I bought the freezer pictured here.

This is the Frigidaire FFFU16F2VW 28" Upright Freezer with 15.5 cu. ft. Capacity, Power Outage Assurance, EvenTemp Cooling System and Door Ajar Alarm in White. It is self-defrosting which is great for people who are allergic to defrosting their appliances. Like, you know, me.

At the time of this writing, the freezer is currently on special for $692. It is rated at 4.5 stars. Most of the complaints seem to be about the supplier rather than the freezer itself, which gave me a little pause. Hopefully, all will go through without a hitch. We really need a freezer. The one in the fridge has decent capacity, but we want to be able to take advantage of specials at Costco and from the butcher and the webstaurant.com store.

You can check out the freezer for yourself by following the link provided. I will get a small commission from Amazon for any purchases you make following this link.

https://amzn.to/2QsCD6c

When the freezer arrives, I'll let you know how things work out.

I hope to become more active with this blog again. I have been swamped with writing projects and that has taken up most of my time. This blog actually means a lot to me and I want to give it the attention that it deserves.

Ornery Owl Has Spoken

https://bit.ly/winfreevanilla

Enter for your chance to win free Watkins vanilla plus approximately $100 worth of other good stuff. No purchase is necessary.

We Don't Quite Fit

 

Image by Aline Dassel from Pixabay

This is a response to a poem by Jae Rose.

http://jaerose-jaerose.blogspot.com/2021/03/relations.html

A beautiful poem. It makes me think of my son and me.

"We don't quite fit

Do we"

We're happier living in a literal ghost town (population 154) in the middle of nowhere than we ever were in the city. And even here, we don't quite fit.

Dark Hearts Love Too: The Plain Truth

Dark Hearts Love Too: The Plain Truth:   Image by Lucija Rasonja from Pixabay I feel an all too familiar pain in my soul As I look out through foggy glass surrounded by weather...

This is the first poem that I've written in over a month. It's both mercilessly and mercifully brief, touching on the topic of my troubled relationship with myself.

... MICHAEL DI GESU ... ... ... In Time ... ...: AS WINTER SURGES....AN IWSG POST.

... MICHAEL DI GESU ... ... ... In Time ... ...: AS WINTER SURGES....AN IWSG POST.:   Hi All, and welcome to another IWSG Post.  

There hasn't been much snow here on the Northeastern plains of Colorado recently, but it is bitterly cold. 

The old house that my son and I live in needs a lot of work, but we love the place.

Aunt Cie's Attic: This Old School Face Cleanser Is Tried and True

 

Between endocrine problems that tend to result in dry skin, a tendency to eczema flare-ups, and the dry weather in Colorado, I tend to be unhappy with my complexion. I don't have the budget to try expensive cleansers and creams, so I decided to see if an old favorite from my youth might still be around. Happily, it is.

Noxzema was first released in 1914 by the Noxzema Chemical Corporation. It is currently owned by Unilever. My mother used it and I started using it too. Back in the day, it was packaged in a beautiful blue glass jar.

I'm not being hyperbolic when I say that the first time I used Noxzema again my skin felt better right away. Instead of feeling bumpy and flaky, it's softer than it's been in years.

You can get six twelve-ounce jars of Noxzema for $29.34 from Amazon. This works out to $0.48 per ounce.

https://amzn.to/3jwbWI8

This is going to sound strange, but I find that using a bamboo paper towel instead of a terry washcloth is helpful too. Bamboo paper towels are thicker and softer than regular paper towels. They are reusable and machine washable. One roll of the kind I get from Amazon is $8.99, or you can save by subscribing for delivery.

https://amzn.to/2ObfX9g

If you have trouble with dry skin or eczema, Noxzema is an inexpensive product that may be helpful. There's a reason that it's still on the market after 107 years!

C'mon up to Aunt Cie's Attic!

Free use image from Pixabay

Visit Aunt Cie's Attic on LBRY

http://bit.ly/AuntCiesAttic

LBRY is a decentralized content marketplace. I price the PDF versions of my work at approximately half of the Kindle price because I receive the entire amount rather than a royalty percentage. 

You can get a free LBRY account through this link. You can earn LBC for viewing content on LBRY as well as from selling your content.

https://bit.ly/LBRYCard

Sunday Dinner at the Grover Hotel: Baking Brookies

 

Image copyright Betty Crocker

Brookies may seem intimidating, but they're really no harder than making chocolate chip cookie bars and brownies. The original recipe comes from Betty Crocker. I made a couple of changes which I will detail following the recipe.

This post contains affiliate links. If readers purchase a product through these links, I earn a small commission from Amazon.

Cookie Layer

3/4

cup granulated sugar

3/4

cup packed brown sugar

1

cup butter, softened

1

teaspoon vanilla

1

egg

2 1/4

cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour

1

teaspoon baking soda

1/2

teaspoon salt

1

package (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

Heat oven to 350°F. Line 13x9-inch baking pan with foil. Spray foil with cooking spray.

For Cookie Layer: In large bowl, mix sugars, softened butter, vanilla and egg. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff). Stir in chocolate chips. Press dough evenly in bottom of pan.

Brownie Layer

2/3

cup butter or margarine

4

oz unsweetened baking chocolate, cut into pieces

1 3/4

cups sugar

2

teaspoons vanilla

3

eggs

1

cup Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour

For Brownie Layer: In 1-quart saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly. Cool slightly. In medium bowl, beat sugar, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on high speed 5 minutes. On low speed, beat in chocolate mixture. Beat in flour just until blended. Pour on top of dough in pan.

Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack, about 2 hours. Remove from pan; pull away foil. Cut into 5 rows by 4 rows.

I used a box of Ghirardelli brownie mix to make the brownie layer, substituting 1/3 cup of melted butter for the 1/3 cup of oil called for on the package. I did not line the pan with foil. I melted the butter for the brownies in the pan and put the cookie layer directly into the pan.

Amazon Links

Ghirardelli brownie mix:

Best price per ounce (6 mixes)

https://amzn.to/3oBR2sT

Best variety 

6 mixes, two of each variety

https://amzn.to/3oKNAfP

Chocolate Chips

Best Value

Ghirardelli Semi=Sweet Chocolate Chips

6 12-ounce bags $16.68

https://amzn.to/2XvgJzi

13 x 9 nonstick baking pan

Wilton 2 pans for $17.36

https://amzn.to/39hXVsR

These are the ones I use and I have been very pleased with them.

I use Watkins baking vanilla, which can be purchased from my consultant page.

http://bit.ly/watkinshomebiz

You might also consider Monin Mexican Vanilla extract at $11.63 for 33 ounces. I have not tried this brand, but it has a 4.5 star rating on Amazon.

https://amzn.to/3i0KoK6

With a dessert this decadent, all a diabetic like me can say is, thank the deities of medicine for insulin!

Also, yum!

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors on Pixabay

This post was featured at:

http://www.goodstufffromgrover.com

http://bit.ly/ornerycooking