Banana Oatmeal Nut Bread

Now here you can get something good. I had some really overripe bananas given to me as a gift by a student, and needed to do something with them before they were totally unusable. So I took the classic Betty Crocker Banana Nut Bread recipe and substituted part of the flour (hard on BH's stomach) with quick cooking oatmeal. If I hadn't had some of that on hand (we really prefer the old-fashioned) I would have ground up some old fashioned. Other than being a little more "come-apart-y" than I prefer, it was REALLY GOOD.

So now this is a recipe blog too! Don't you just love it?

Banana Oatmeal Nut Bread

1/3 cup butter or margarine (I used shortening)

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 t. salt

1 t. baking powder

1 cup ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 t. baking soda

1 c flour, sifted

3/4 c quick cooking oats

1/2 c chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream together the butter and sugar, add eggs and beat well.

Mix together the dry ingredients (except nuts) and add in small amounts alternately with the bananas to the egg/butter mixture.

Stir in nuts, mixing well to ensure even distribution.

Pour into a well greased loaf pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Remove from pan and cool on a rack.

Slice and enjoy.

BH prefers in a bowl with milk, I am a traditionalist, lather mine with butter.

What can I say?

Sometimes things get dull around here. We are busy, but trying to tell it, it sounds boring! Khiow came and worked today. While she worked, I worked on typing and scanning an article that we would like to get translated into B language for a new Christian we know. But scanning and typing is boring news, you know?

Kitties are more interesting. I am concerned about Little, he seems under the weather the last few days, I think we may take him to the vet tomorrow. I am a little fearful if I see anything that remotely looks like a symptom similiar to OK's. After reading a lot about it, I think I would like to take all the kitties off of dry food. I hope that feeding them dry food for my convenience didn't contribute to OK's renal failure. Dry food isn't good for cats. The more I read, the more I see that, and it makes sense. Little's health, I think, has not been good since last year. I think he got hit by a car back then. And in February, when ALL the kitties got that respiratory thing, he was the worst. I thought for sure I was losing him. And now, when you pick him up, it feels like he wheezes or something. So I think we may take him to the vet for a overall health checkup.

I think our B. friend may depart here shortly, just seems like it is the LW. And if that is preventing the found. from completing, then we want to get things squared up with the Lord's plan.

M. is doing well, been real busy because of our new situation in P. Meetings on Sunday there too. PTL. Oops I wasn't going to talk about that.

I think my chikungunya is pretty much cleared up, so I haven't any excuses for anything. My student Jeep brought me a khanom today, and my student Gooey brought me a bunch of bananas. They love to bring teacher presents, even tho' I tell them it isn't necessary.

Two little B. girls just came by tonight, said they don't go to school at all now. I begin to think they just don't like to go to school!

Wish I had a picture to add to this exciting blog! Have a great day!

Boomerang Doesn't Live Here Anymore

Well, she didn't say "Boomerang," she said "he." For about four days I didn't deliver Boomerang back to his house. Mostly because my feet hurt and it was hard to walk, but also because I was just tired of taking him home. I would take him home, lock him in their room that they had turned into a "cage," leave some food leftovers there for him (and his friends) and come back. He stayed away until they let him out or he wriggled out, and then there he was back at my door. I was tired of it, I didn't feel good, I had just lost OK, and I am unhappy they never listened to me, that they needed to get him fixed to slow or stop his wandering. Admittedly they are not rich folks, but they have at least half a dozen cats! Why take them on if they can't look after them properly? I just don't agree with that philosophy.

So yesterday I took him home again. We were leaving for a meeting, and Boomerang kept following me to the car. I was concerned for his safety, so I said to Mike, Let's just drop him off at his house. I know he wasn't thrilled, but we did it. And the lady there, when she saw Boomerang (she doesn't know I call him that--who knows what his real name is!). When she saw him, she said, "He doesn't live here any more." It just seemed so sad, he had been so easily forsaken. We left him there and went on, but it bothered me. Still does.

People here don't believe in killing animals, that's what they say. They think that the things done in our country (like euthanasia for animals) are horrible. I agree. But it doesn't bother them to take on a kitty, or a dog, and then decide it's too inconvenient, and drop it off at the temple. Or they will bring home an animal to raise, and not be willing to spend the money to have them neutered. Then they have kittens, or puppies, that they can't afford, and they will cast them aside. So, to me, they kill, in their own way, when they "discard" an animal so easily. They just don't have to watch it, or face it.

He was back at my door this morning.

So is Boomerang mine now? I don't know. I just don't know.

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Chikungunya Hurts!

I remember an old Peanuts Comic strip where Lucy said, "Pain Hurts!" It made me laugh. but it is true!!

Today I am happy to say I think the worst of it is over. I went jogging today---three days last week I could barely walk. Every joint, every knuckle (hand and foot), was swollen or painful. I have really been blessed, because we hear stories of the arthritic pain staying for months. The worst part was my feet. If your feet hurt, nothing much else matters, you know?

Don't mean to complain, I am just glad I seem to be coming out the other side of it. Stay away from mosquitoes. And appreciate your feet.

Chikungunya Fever

no this is not a joke. I think I have chikungunya fever. This morning my joint at my foot and big toe is swollen and sore, as is the joint of my right thumb. I noticed yesterday the feeling of a low grade fever, and just now realized that I have a (pretty much) full body rash. These are things that are not normal for me. I was feeling kind of achey yesterday, and tired too, but really attributed it to exhaustion from our last two weeks with OK. But this morning these symptoms are outside of that, and are in line with what we have heard of chikungunya.

Well, from what I read there isn't much I can do about it, so I will try to take it easy and rest it out. Thankfully I don't think I can pass it on to others, we have to leave that up to the mosquitoes.

MANY people in this area have had it, I mistakenly thought the threat had passed. Well, I have been wrong before.

It's OK. Lament for a friend

"the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away" (Job 1:21). On Sept 5, 2009, about 10PM my dear friend OK surrendered. He had stopped eating ten days ago. I don't think he drank water the last day or so, and how he managed so long is just typical of his spunk. He was the only cat I ever owned that chased dogs out of our yard. (What am I saying? I didn't own him, he owned us!) When OK would see me at the other end of the walkway of our house, he would lope happily to me, miao-ing as he came.

When he first came to our house, more than two years ago, OK was totally unwanted by all of us. He got through to me first, and I started giving him the leftovers of the morning can of food that I shared between Miss Dufus, Stinkey and Dinkey. When I gave him the food, even though he was hungry, he would sniff it, and then before he ate he would walk over to me and rub against my ankles, as if to say "thank you." He slowly worked his way into our hearts, and became so dear to us. The other cats never got attached to him, but they did begin to tolerate him, towards the end. OK understood English perfectly, though he never had one lesson. And when English students came over, he would unashamedly lay down on the table at the front of the class. It was even better, in his opinion, if students would pet him while we studied.

This morning, we buried my friend OK in a banana leaf in our yard. Thank the Lord, it did not rain on him today. OK didn't like the rain. Most of his nine lives (and more) were used up in the rainy season.

I will miss him. Today it still hurts, but will get better in time, I know, and be nice memories. The phrase "It's OK" now has a lovely meaning. He was an Orange Kitty, but he was much more than just "OK." To be just "OK" is something special.

I think the Lord wanted a good kitty. Thank the Lord for him. He was a real gift, and a real blessing.