This cooking project has required reading and re-reading the same sections. My curiosity about chicken led me on an Internet search to find trussing needles and string. Apparently whole chickens should be tied to cook better. Surprisingly, trussing needles aren’t readily available. I did finally find a source for various implements and rather cheaply. My roasted chickens tend to fall apart–the legs and wings fall off. Tying them together will prevent that. This cooking project requires a few items that even I don’t have in my kitchen. I could use a few more pans–specialized pans. My reading has had me pouring over Williams Sonoma and coveting a Le Creuset pot. They are beautifully brightly enameled and expensive–a must have for browning followed by slow cooking.

I expect to have needles, twine and cheese cloth in a week, which will give me time to create a plan before going to the grocery store. So far every time I have looked at a recipe, I realize that I need to go to the store–AGAIN.

Last night around 8 pm, I reached 50,000 words. I have finally hit a turning point in my novel.

I had good returns from a recent garage sale, so the choice was buy a new TV now or get a cat. The cat won. He’s not here yet, but he’s a new breed called a Cheetoh. He will be here in a little over a week. A Cheetoh is a cross between a Bengal and an Ocicat. I don’t have any ideas for names. I haven’t even done a name search yet. I wonder what fits with Baz, Max and Zach. I probably have more to worry about than his name. I am hoping that the cats all get along. Having three cats often means two are fighting. There’s also the odd cat who gets left alone.

What is up with the Twitter porn? Twitter has been great until the last couple of months when suddenly I’m being followed by anonymous females. I always check out the person who’s following me, so when I follow their links, I end up at some porn site. Has anyone figured out a way to block these other than blocking them individually? Obviously they aren’t really following my posts. It’s all a tease. Maybe the tease would be interesting if I were a guy (the porn is directed to men). I’m sure these “followers” have some way of spamming all of Twitter. It’s time Twitter figured out how to stop the crap followers.

There was some good and some bad for 2008 in my opinion. Then again, there’s “what happened,” which is neither good nor bad. May this year be the best ever.

Wishing everyone a great Thanksgiving.

Well, True Blood is going a bit off from the novels. In the books, Eric staked Long Shadow–not Bill. Although Bill did have to leave Bon Temps for a week or so. It will be interesting to see where this particular storyline goes.

The storylines for Jason and Tara are different from the books. I had hoped that we’d have Sookie running for her life from the killer, but it looks like we will have to wait until next week.

Ana’s granite memorial showed up yesterday. Here’s what it looks like. I’m still sad she’s gone.

It’s on a 6×10x2 inch slab of granite. They did an excellent job at an excellent price. If you are interested in granite or marble memorials with photos they are the place to go. You can see the other items they have created at their website:  www.imagesonmarble.com. They do just about anything on marble and granite, but mostly have pet memorials. This memorial would have cost me about $150 elsewhere. It was around $75 with shipping.

He’s now 12 weeks old. Jasper has nearly lived here a month. I recently got a dog training book from the AKC. I’m glad I didn’t know some of the things in the book. Jasper has been able to “sit” on command for at least 2 weeks. He’s nearly housebroken. I can’t trust him alone in the house yet, but it’s coming. He heels a little. He knows “down.” He just learned that one 2 dyas ago. Once he gets a command and gets rewarded, he remembers and does it again. I don’t have to teach him over and over–just reinforce the training. He doesn’t really “come” though. He will often return to his crate. He’s known “crate” for about 3 weeks. And of course, he knows “no,” “stop,” and “off.”

I have some great photos (great camera) of my pets, so I’m looking into creating holiday cards with my pets.