The Moose & the Maul

Our friends have become regular evening visitors here at Mountainjoy. These three moose have been traveling nibbling through our property each night now. The night these photos were taken, I was sitting by the fire trying to get warm. I looked up and out the window and there was the big moose. She was standing so still, for a moment my brain just accepted it as natural, "oh, there is the moose." Followed by "Oh my gosh, it's as big as the Scouts!!!" Okay, maybe not as wide, but the moose are taller.

As we watched and photographed them, my husband began to realize where our wood-splitting maul went. You see, his favorite maul went missing a few days earlier. He'd looked around in the newly fallen snow but did not find it on the ground. We watched as the moose licked everything he had recently touched. They licked the cars, nibbled on dead aspen leaves, and really spent a good deal of time by the wood splitting station licking our other maul. When we saw this. My husband claimed the moose had taken his maul as a chew toy. I didn't really believe at first, I figured he just left laying down. Truth be told though, the moose did take the maul. We figure it was the big mama one because she really liked the second maul. She didn't go very far with it at least. We found it down in the meadow and are happily chopping wood again. We are careful about putting them up at dusk now though when we expect our friends to visit.

It is wonderful to be seeing moose in person as they have been a part of my life for quite a while. I'll tell you now how they tie in with my quilting and cooking apsects of life. A few years ago, I traded a quilt with moose motifs on it for a cord of wood. We were pretty broke, but as usual, quilts kept us warm in more ways than one. My first introduction to moose was Chocolate Mousse of course. As a little girl, I learned a very simple way to make an unsophisticated chocolate mousse. You just mix up some chocolate pudding and whipped cream in even ratios, put in individual dishes, top with whipped cream, and eat. There are many much more sublime versions of mousse out there, but this is a great quick fix.

Honesty in Marketing

I have been looking for a job since October. It gets depressing fairly quickly. Recently, I ventured forth again, searching with renewed gusto. I had a great lead off of Craigslist for an office position. After getting my hopes again and spending a good deal of time at applying, I find out it is bogus company and there are other hopeful girls like me that were ensnared. After a little thought, I decided it was an affiliate marketing scam.

Being an affiliate marketer myself, I find this practice abhorrent! These people were wasting time of others who are working hard to find work. That is just pitiful. I am truly disgusted by the way people prey on one another. The lies and deceitfulness has become increasingly tricky. I am an advertiser. My integrity demands that I only promote products or companies that I agree with. It also demands that I be completely honest, which is not a great trait for the marketing field. I believe that if the products are exceptional, there is no need to make anything up. I simply let people know my favorite new things and links to get there. I do receive commission on sales. Marketing is not my money-maker though. I just started because winters are really hard up here and this is a fun way to learn computer skills. I also get to talk to the world on this blog site. So, I'll leave today by telling the world about the incredibly delicious looking Valentine's Day collections that Vosges Chocolates have put together this year. They are featuring: The Sweet Coquette collection - an aphrodisiac truffle collection

The Love Tower - full of exotic truffles and caramel toffee

Bapchis's Caramel Toffee Heart - caramel toffee tucked into a purple heart (my favorite!)

Le Chocolate & Rose Truffles - dark chocolate champagne truffles rolled in a rose bud poudre The Gatsby Collection - an elegant collection of truffles swirled with champagne and topped with red rose petals

So, follow the link for fabulous chocolates to send to your loved ones this Valentine's Day.

Enjoy the day, spread the love, and always be honest.

CAT-ITUDE

Catitude is a word I (and maybe others as well) made up to describe some of the personalities of cats. Their aloofness and independence are well known. I took this word a little further last night when my cat, Shadow, suddenly infected me with Catitude. I walked into the room he was in and he stretched and yawned and cast that spell. Immediately, I was yawning and stretching myself. All I wanted to do was curl up and take a good nap. You see, my animals try to tell me all the time not to worry.
They continually tell me, "Take a lesson from me. Relax. You don't see me worrying do you? Just spend a minute and love me. All will be well. Maybe you want play instead?"
Animals are the best at reminding us to try to enjoy life. A dog's life is a good life, especially for my spoiled sultan of dog. Listen to your animals on occasion and go for that walk, toss the ball, curl up and take quick nap. Your spirit will feel better for it and that is what brings health!

Love and Chocolate

I love how I can tell what season it is by what candy is being sold in the grocery stores. Looking around, I see Saint Valentine's day is coming up soon. I always love a good romance and whichever of the many stories to believe, St. Valentine was a romantic. There were three saints of the Valentine name and all three were martyred. We are not even sure if this day celebrates one of the saints, all three, or if it is just another adaption of older pagan holidays.

Anyway, according to the tales, Saint Valentine performed marriages in secret, against the laws of the time. He either married Christians or soldiers, neither of which were allowed then. He was imprisoned and died for his efforts. (That is how one becomes a martyr you know.) According to one tale, while imprisoned, he wrote a love letter to a woman. Possibly she was the jailer's daughter. It was signed "Your Valentine", and became the first valentine card in history.

It certainly was not the last though. Sending loved ones a token of our affection on this day has become increasingly popular. Cards, flowers, and chocolate get sent around the world. All sorts of delicious chocolates go on sale to tempt our hearts.

Chocolate.com is ready for this holiday. They have marvelous boxed chocolate collections and with the attached code, you can get 10 percent off your purchase. Visit their site and pick something perfect for those you love. They will be happy to help make Valentine's Day special.

Hope in the New Year

It is coming up on mid-January. This is when I get really geared up for the next year. I don't really make resolutions to lose weight, quit smoking etc. These are things that are part of life if you want to keep living it. The decisions I make are more like: "I will finish that wedding quilt for my brother before they have their 3rd child." And maybe, "I will gain financial ground this year." One not to be forgotten is, "I will hold on to hope."
Hope is such an important thing to hold on to. We can lose just about everything else but if we have hope, we will continue onwards. It is just something we do as adaptable humans. We almost all possess a strive to do something, to leave an impression, to have a purpose. It dosen't have to be a huge purpose. We all want world peace and an end to hunger. As a teenager, I realized I could not accomplish those things. So, I simply try to make the world around me a more beautiful place. I try to enrich the lives of those around me with artwork, peaceful gardens, fabulous foods, and lots of laughter. This is my interpretation of 'Think Globally, Act Locally'. It is one of the ways I refill my well of hope. That's a funny thing about hope, whenever I think it's gone, some little miracle reminds me. May we all pay attention to those little signs and never, ever lose hope completely.

Visitors

This past week, Mountainjoy saw several unexpected visitors. Four of them were dear friends that appeared earlier than we thought. It was wonderful to get to be with our friends. When you live way off the beaten track, it takes friends a great deal of effort to find you. We are so happy when they do. The older I get, the more I realize how important it is to hold on to my friends.

Some new friends that came by were three huge moose! Some people don't realize or believe that we have moose here in Colorado, but we do. These three came through the yard the other day while I was dancing in my living room. Halfway through a spin, I came around to see a big moose butt bounding off right in front of the window. He was the small, young one. The two much larger ones were not far off. They might have been mom and dad moose. The largest did have a nice rack and I could not see the third all that clearly. I grabbed my camera and ran out into the blizzard to take some photos for proof. I know better than to get off my porch when filming moose, bears, mountain lions, etc. So please, forgive the fact that this is not a great picture, just proof that moose were in my yard.

Reflecting on Those I Love

The new year always makes me so very reminiscent and thankful. I go over the past year and count my blessings. Each one has a name, and each one has helped pull me through some very difficult times recently. To all my friends and family, I can never thank you enough. For my best friend, I make biscuits.
He's my dog, Bo, and he loves me faithfully. I never thought my best friend would be a dog. Of course, I never considered a lot of things in my life. If you have a faithful companion, you can make them these biscuits. They are quite simple, tasty, nutritious, and Bo waits by the oven (playing dead) the whole time their cooking. My husband likes the taste too. Bo's favorite are the peanut butter, but you could substitute chicken or beef bouillon as well. If you are at sea level, use 1 teaspoon of baking powder.

Bogie's Mommy Biscuits
1 3/4 cup flour ( I use 1/2 white and 1/2 wheat)
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup peanut butter (original recipe says creamy, Bo & I prefer crunchy)
2 Tbs Vegetable Oil
2 Tbs Honey (original recipe called for more, but I don't think dogs need too many sugars)
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
3/4 cup water (if using bouillon, melt in water first)

1) Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Much hotter, and the honey will burn.
2) In large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup flour, oats, wheat germ, honey, peanut butter, oil, and baking powder.
3) Add 3/4 cup water and mix to form a thick paste. (This is where peanut butter really gets mixed in instead of being lumps which don't cook well.)
4) Mix in Remaining 3/4 cup flour to make soft dough. Knead a few minutes to bring together.
5) Roll out dough on floured cutting board to 1/4 inch thick. Using dog bone cookie cutters or such, cut all dough and place on baking trays. Re-roll and cut until all used. Note: I usually just cut mine into squares. It is quicker & I don't think Bo really cares about the shape.
6) Bake for 20-40 minutes. Check regularly for burning. I usually flip part way through. You are wanting them to dry out and harden mostly. If you use sugar instead of honey, no worries about burning and you can cook at higher temperature.
I hope your furry, four legged friends enjoy these. Like all my cooking, not an exact science but always well worth the effort. I'm going to go make Bo some now. Have fun, go for a hike, and Happy New Year to All