Category: Life

Life

Trader Joe’s is worth the trip

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Trader Joe’s is sort of new to North Carolina, so it might not be a name you’re familiar with. TJ is a unique grocery store chain.

Trader Joe's Cary Location
Trader Joe's Cary Location

Each store stocks a variety of organic produce and other items, including meats and dairy. If you’re looking for high quality without the high prices, you can find it at Trader Joe’s. After hearing my California friends brag about what a great store this was, I was glad to finally get to experience it myself. I visited the Cary Trader Joe’s near Cary Parkway.

Trader Joe’s Cary
1393 Kildaire Farm Road
Cary, NC 27511
Phone Number: 919-465-5984
Trading Hours: 9:00 am – 9:00 pm

Trader Joe’s Chapel Hill
1800 E Franklin St
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Phone Number: 919-918-7871
Trading Hours: 9:00 am – 9:00 pm

Trader Joe’s Raleigh (746) – Coming Soon
3080 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh, NC 27609
Phone Number: tbd
Trading Hours: 9:00 am – 9:00 pm

Web Site: http://www.traderjoes.com/

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Piles of stuff to do

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UNC Hospitals Chapel Hill
UNC Hospitals Chapel Hill

This has been a busy week.  On Thursday, I took a friend to UNC in Chapel Hill for surgery and spent most of the day there. UNC is an impressive facility.  I used to spend a lot of time at UNC when that was my home base for treatment.  It’s not a terrible place to have to spend several hours.  On Friday, I was able to go back to pick her up to take her home.

This week I’ve been feeding some feral cats for someone who’s on vacation.  There are three small colonies in Southern Pines that rely on this person for daily food and water. Some have been trapped, spayed or neutered and released.  Tomorrow is my last day for doing that, I think.

I have a friend’s yard to mow this weekend.  I should be doing it now, before it gets too hot.  I have to do my own, too!

On top of that, I’m watching someone’s dog while their family takes a short trip before school starts. He’s an old timer, so he’s no extra bother.  He gets along well with my dog and the cats. He’s jumped into the pool before, so he does have to be supervised when he’s out in the yard.

On Tuesday, we went to the National Night Out Against Crime event at Memorial Park in Southern Pines.  Jacob had a lot of fun watching the canine unit demonstration.  I have some pictures of that I can post later.

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Kittenocity

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Cute kittyKittens are the cutest things on the planet, there’s no doubt.  I could watch them for hours.  There are times when their kittenish antics make me laugh out loud. The kittens’ mothers are getting a little tired of their offspring though.  They want to be let out of their room to roam the house, and it’s harder to get them to go back in there than it was a couple of days ago.

I’d like to encourage those seeking companion animals to look for a local animal rescue group from which to adopt. They usually vet the animals and make sure they’re suitable for a particular situation.  In my case, I now know that the mother cats are completely accepting of other cats and dogs, and are not at all aggressive. They like children, too. None of the cats flinched when I turned on the vacuum cleaner!

Animal Advocates of Moore County is going to be having an adoption fair soon:

Where: Local Armory on Morganton Road

When:  July 11th 2009

Time:  Noon to 6 PM

Rabies Shots Given by Frank Ringleberg of Animal Control….$5.00
Nail Trim by famous groomer Karen Richardson……$5.00

Nail Painting by Karen Richardson……………………$5.00

The Lunch Box will be selling Hot Dogs and Drinks

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Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe – No Eggs – No Cooking

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I copied a friend’s recipe to spread around for people who’re making ice cream for the 4th of July.

Deb’s House Concerts

This is the easiest recipe I found. It uses no eggs. It requires no cooking. It’s super-easy! :) That’s what I like for my “Cooking for the Motivationally Challenged” posts. :) And, that’s what I like for myself, too! ;)

Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe for a 1.5 Quart Ice Cream Maker

Stir the following together and chill in the refrigerator for several hours, or overnight, before pouring into your ice cream maker. (The only variation I made is that my freezer wants only 4 cups of the recipe, and it expands to 6 cups while it freezes. I mixed the recipe below, then poured in 4 cups and saved the rest for the next batch.)

No-Cook Homemade Ice Cream
Southern Living , Aug 2004 by Dosier, Susan

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 cup evaporated milk

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons vanilla

2 cups whole milk

That’s all. That’s it. It’s that easy.

Just be sure your freezer tub insert has been in the freezer long enough to freeze liquid on contact. And, chill your ingredients long enough to have it really cold before adding it to the freezer. And, after the ice cream is ready, put it into an airtight container and put it into your freezer (if you don’t eat it all in one sitting!). :)

Two Recipes of Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

I made two batches today. Actually, I mixed up the recipe last night, and made the first run this morning. Then, I thought the freezer can was still cold enough, so I mixed more and poured it in. (I did not follow the instructions to chill the ingredients before freezing or to add them to the freezer can straight from the freezer.) The second time it didn’t work. So, at this point, the recipe ingredients are cooling in the refrigerator and the freezer can is in the freezer. Maybe I’ll freeze the second batch tomorrow.

Get a WordPress blog like this for your website!

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Invasion of the kittens

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Peeps
Peeps

The Animal Advocates of Moore County (AAMC) did a huge favor for me.  In February, a cat started hanging around my house. It was pretty cold, and I felt bad for her.  I started feeding her and tried to coax her into the house.  I finally tricked her into coming into the house on her own.  I called AAMC to see if they knew of anyone who was missing their cat.  She was extremely sweet and a beautiful cat.  Someone came to get her, and she was taken to a vet to be checked over.  She was such a great cat that I decided to keep her.

About a month after her arrival, Peeps developed paralysis in her back legs. I took her to a few vets to see what could be done for her. They had me convinced that she’d never recover and we’d eventually have to have her euthanized. It was heartbreaking. I emailed AAMC to find out if anyone there had any experience with paralysis in a cat. Barb, from AAMC, actually came to my house and picked her up to take her to their vet!  She then kept her for a few weeks while Peeps underwent treatment with steroids (yuck). Peeps was able to walk when she got home!  So, I owe AAMC big time.

Today I received a couple of mother cats and their litters of kittens.  I think there are 7 kittens.  I’d have to count to be sure. I’ll keep them here until homes are found for them all. Fostering these cats is the least I can do to try to repay the folks at AAMC.

Would you like to adopt a kitten?
Would you like to adopt a kitten?
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WordCampRDU

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Stop by WordCamp RDU and see us!

This was the cake we were served during lunch.  Boy, was it good! We met lots of great people.  Matt Mullenweg is a charming and entertaining speaker. He made me fall in love with WordPress all over again.

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Flashing lights

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Southern Pines Police car flashing lights This evening was the second of eight sessions of this year’s Southern Pines Police Citizens Police Academy. If your community’s police department has a program like this, I encourage you to get involved. It doesn’t seem like eight weeks is enough time to learn all there is to know.

During the first session, we had an introduction to the department and its functions given by Chief John Letteney, Community Services Coordinator, Bob Temme and the department’s chaplain.

Today’s lecture and demonstrations were conducted by Sgt Austin, who described the functions and responsibilities of the patrol division. We got to tour the department offices and take a look at some of the equipment used in patrol cars.

We talked a lot about impaired drivers and the methods used to determine the level of impairment by officers on patrol. Can you believe that there are people who think they can alter the results of breath alcohol detection instruments by putting a penny in their mouths?  Weird, I know.  I said I think we should start a rumor that putting a cat turd in your mouth will cause a negative reading.  I’d love to imagine drunk drivers sucking on cat turds when they get pulled over.  We laugh when we hear the stories about how impaired drivers bumble through field sobriety tests, but there’s really nothing funny about it. Drunk drivers are potential killers who have no care for the safety and well-being of others. I barely remember him, but my uncle was killed by a drunk driver.

Next week I’ll have some more pictures!

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Tadpole Salad

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This is a video of some tadpoles that live in the water that’s collected on top of my pool cover. They’re eating some salad greens I tossed onto the water for them. There are hundreds left, even though I’ve given at least a hundred away for kids to watch as they develop into toads or frogs, or whatever they’ll be. They don’t have legs yet, so it could be some weeks before they leave. If you’re local and would like some pollywogs for your classroom aquarium, let me know.

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