November 24, 2009

• TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

  I Worry About Baron Today

  Yesterday, when the Beast returned home, it was obvious that Baron was happy to be home.  He was so excited he ran up to me and almost jumped up but caught himself.  He winded himself around me like a cat, ran quickly around the house to make sure everything was where he remembered it.  He hadn’t eaten so I opened up a can of his favorite (expensive) dog food from Pet Depot and he ate.  That was the last normal thing he did until late today.

  Once he ate, he went into our bedroom and discovered I had the electric blanket on top of the quilt and it was turned on low.  He jumped up on it, curled into a ball and stayed there for the rest of the day.  When the Beast went to bed, he reluctantly got off the bed and curled into a ball on his bed next to ours and went to sleep.  He was still in that ball when I went to bed later and I reached down to pet him briefly and feel his nose to make sure he was feeling well.  He was so I went to bed and slept soundly although I halfway expected him to wake me up to let him out back to do his business.  He didn’t.

  When the Beast woke up and got out of bed, Baron (as he usually does) got up on the bed and curled upon top of the electric blanket again.  When I got up a bit later, he jumped down, stretched and went to the back door to be let outside.  He quickly did what he needed to do and came back to the door to be let in.  He trotted into the bedroom, jumped up on the bed, curled into a ball and stayed there all day long.  He wasn’t interested in eating, playing, taking a drink of water, just stayed in that tight curl and slept.

  Since he is only 2-1/2 years old and, for a Doberman male, that’s still a kid, this is NOT normal.  The Beast finally went and prepared some chicken with some nice cooked vegetables for him.  He came into the bedroom and fed him some of it by hand and then carried it out to his stand and left it there.  Although he had eaten the food out of the Beast’s hand, he didn’t seem to be interested.  That lasted all of about five minutes.  He did, eventually, get down off the bed and go eat.  He cleaned out the bowl and went back to the bed.  It was at that point that I told the Beast, if he is still acting like this on Tuesday morning, he is going to the vets.  He agreed.

  Later, after dark, Baron got up and needed to go out.  The Beast grabbed his jacket and went outside with him so that he might take his time.  He seems to like it when one of us is out there with him.  While he was down in the yard, something in the dark (and it is VERY dark outside here in this area at night) caught his attention and his head jerked up.  He went into the typical Doberman *alert* stance and suddenly barked.  He then took off running (chasing something we couldn’t see..and, yes, I had joined them).  We could hear something and it wasn’t small but we had no idea just what it could be.  Once he knew it was out of the yard, he trotted back towards us, acting very proud of himself.  It was like he was almost smiling and saying *See?  I kept you safe!*

  That was the end of his curling on top of the electric blanket.  After that, he joined the Beast on the recliner (which is normal behavior for him and never fails to crack me up when I see that huge dog trying to be a lap dog).  I gave a sigh of relief.  Whatever it was, Baron seems now to be acting more normal.  I may regret being happy about it but for now, it works.

  Buttmunch emailed me yesterday and wanted my nut cup recipe.  I wrote it down for her and emailed her right back.  Then, this morning, she called me to ask for it again.  She hadn’t gotten  the original email so I got it out of my Sent Mail and resent it to her.  She got it while we were still on the phone.  Later on, as I was putting mine together, I realized that I had made a basic mistake on the recipe (sometimes you can’t rely on memory) and I called her right away.  Too late.  She had made them and I told her what the problem was.  She thought they were fine but called me later, after they had cooled, and said she discovered what the problem had caused.  But, since it was minor and they tasted fine, it worked for now.  She had just used twice the amount of butter needed in the filling so the crusts ended up rather greasy.  But, since it IS butter, it’s at least tasty.    She will know for next time.

  I’ve always been the type of cook that could tell more by the texture, taste or look of something I was making whether it needed to having ingredients adjusted.  MY great-grandmother taught me a lot about baking and the texture of cookie doughs and other things that have served me well over the years.  The problem comes in when I try to tell someone these same things without the benefit of actually having them with me while I am making them.  It’s so much easier if THEY can feel the way it NEEDS to feel to be *right*.  That’s how great-grandma taught me.

  I also learned that a little bit of spices goes a long way.  Most spices taste grows stronger when cooked or simmered so you shouldn’t *taste* it and keep adding more of it until you think it’s right because once it cooks, the taste may overwhelm you.  Add a bit, cook or simmer, taste then make an adjustment if needed.  Of course, we ALL sometimes forget this…LOL.

  The Beast and Baron have gone to bed now.  I’m going to post this for your reading pleasure? for morning or whenever you get around to it.  Love you all.  Have a wonderful day.
  

  • 12:02 am
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