This part of my blog is all about the things I collect or the things I make myself. I love so many things, I paint and draw and want to learn oils and pastels. I knit and crochet but want to learn tatting. I embroider and can turn my hand to most things given a chance. So much still to learn and do. I live in hope of some day reading all my books, learning all I want to learn and now I am learning to blog. You will often find my original poems, poor as they are I offer them here. I also appreciate other people art and will feature things I find that I have enjoyed. That includes pictures of fairies and fantasy or maybe just anything beautiful.
I try to use my own photo's as much as possible, sometimes I borrow from the web. If I inadvertently use your picture without giving credit, please do let me know and I will either credit or remove it, I hope you will do the same with mine.
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Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Skunked.........so I made chicken soup...................

Oh boy, there I was drifting back to sleep. Gerry had got up at 6.30, letting the poodles out as usual. Well Bijou came bouncing back to bed after and that is unusual. Then the smell. It smelled at first like electrical wires burning. I hopped out of bed and unplugged the diffuser that I had by the side of the bed, that's all I could think of. Then I noticed Brea had come upstairs as well and was under the bed. Oh boy, the smell the smell. Where was it coming from. I rushed downstairs. Gerry was just getting ready to lay back down on the couch. Then it hit me..............skunk. Yep, the girls got skunked.
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Now normally skunks do not bother me. The smell when they spray outside is not so terrible, yes it's stinky but well, I have smelled worse. Try a field of rotting cabbage for example. This though, well it had to be a direct hit. Both of them had oily patches on their faces. Bijou being white was obvious because there was a yellow patch on her face. So, here we were washing the victims at 6.30am. They were not happy but neither was I.
Later in the morning I went to Pet Smart. I got some skunk stuff and some body wipes and bought them each a dress. I figure it would keep the good smell in and stop them wiping anything on the furniture that was now stripped of everything. Using some of the skunk stuff on a cloth I wiped down all surfaces and washed all blankets and pillows.
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Both girls got another bath first, then they went outside for a bit. Feeling much better no doubt.
I polished the tables in the living room. I cleaned the windows on the doors. I vacuumed and dusted while I was at it. I stripped our bed and washed everything opening up the windows and put on the fan. I had done all I could I think. The house still smells. Not too bad though. Bearable

The girls looked so cute in their new dresses.
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Bijou's was a bit big, I must hem it as she keeps stepping on the hem.
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After doing all I could,( it took all day to complete the laundry)...........I put on some soup, I figured that I may as well make the kitchen smell good.
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I was not expecting much, just chicken soup/stew..............but, it was awesome and so I will include my recipe. If no one else sees it at least I will have it on record.
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Oh my, it was so good I had another bowl. That's really not the way to go.
When I went to the doctor on Monday he finally diagnosed me with Diabetes. Well, it's just over the border into type 2 diabetes now, but he gave me some pills. Supposed to take twice a day. I will only take one a day for now with the evening meal. We will see how that goes. My plan is to cut back on salt. Sugar is not my downfall it's starches. So no potatoes, no rice, no pasta and no bread (oh how I will miss bread and potatoes) I did it last summer and lost weight and got my sugar numbers down. I did well until Thanksgiving and winter meals kicked in. Then put back what I had lost. So.............now to get serious. I hate it if I eat one piece of candy my feet feel like they are on fire. Same with wine. Just can not do it. So the dinner tonight was basically chicken and veggies but came out tasting really great. Here is the recipe.
Chicken stew.

3 chicken breasts. No skin.
I - 8oz can of diced tomatoes
I - large box of chicken broth
1 - can of cream of chicken soup.
1 - 8 oz can mixed vegetables
2 - table spoons of Minced garlic
1 - tablespoon Basil
1 1/2- tablespoons of Rosemary
2 - large Bay leaves
1- teaspoon of salt (or to taste I always taste first)
Couple of sticks of chopped fresh celery
added a handful of baby carrots
When almost done I added 1/2 a head of cabbage.

I set the crock pot on high and cooked all day (my chicken was frozen)
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This made my kitchen smell so good after washing the girls it was divine. It tasted so good when I tested I just could not wait to sample it. As I said, I ate two bowls. I had decided to begin on portion control today but that went out the window.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Janice oh dear the poor dogs and poor you having to wash everything,thankyou for sharing your soup recipe.

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  2. Oh, skunk smell on your cute dogs must have been horrible. Every once in a while a skunk will get hit while crossing a busy road near our home. It is horrible smelling even from that distance. The first time it happened, before the odor got real obvious, I was doing the same thing you were, sniffing and looking for some kind of electrical problem in the house, then my nose realized what I was smelling. It is breath taking for me, it actually sets my asthma off. Skunks are well known for carrying rabies, I hope your cute pups are up to date on their vaccinations. We have lived in this house for over 35 years and never smelled a skunk around here until about two years ago. In the past two years these dead skunk in the middle of the road skunk incidents are happening more and more often. I guess the skunks must be finding easy food sources somewhere in our neighborhood.

    Your poodles look adorable in their little outfits! Your chicken soup looks delicious, too.



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  3. Your soup sounds and looks wonderful!
    SKUNK! That smell is like NO OTHER!

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  4. Your poor puppies! I feel for you too! All that cleaning! I must say, your girls looked so cute in their new dresses! Your chicken stew looks so good! Yummy!! I know you will do good with your weight! I have faith in you!!! I wish you all the best! Big Hugs!

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