Category Archives: animals

What I Will Miss

October 21, 2009animals, church, family, home, nature, travelGretchenJoanna

I’m driving home tomorrow, and look forward to seeing my
dear husband, and cat, and garden. Also joyfully anticipate going to church!

But I will miss:
1) The quiet and understanding presence of my daughter.

2) The soft cheeks of Baby C., the sweet smell of his head, and milk on his breath.

3) The calm and contented feeling that comes when Baby falls asleep in my arms.

4) The deer grazing and ruminating on the lawn front and back. It’s their home, and the fawns even take naps out the back door.

5) The forest.

6) Three cats who are different “people” from my cat. The one pictured here is Hannah, who lost an eye to an infection as a shelter kitten.

7) The whistle of the train as it passes several times a day.
Right now I’m just very grateful for the past twelve days. Glory to God for all things!

Waiting-and Ropas Viejas

October 10, 2009animals, family, food and cooking, travelGretchenJoanna

I’m at my daughter’s in the north country, waiting on Baby to arrive. And I brought the recipe with me for the spicy shredded beef the Mexicans call Ropas Viejas. Several people said they would like that recipe after I mentioned having made it in my last post. I got this recipe from Sunset Magazine a long time ago.
This is just a photo copied from my first post about this place, because it’s a shame not to have a picture, it is so lovely up here. As soon as I arrived I glimpsed another part of the deer clan that call it home as well, Crazy Doe and her fawn, and Split Ear (young buck). Maybe I will get some more deer pictures while I am here.

Ropas Viejas

2# boneless beef chuck, trimmed of most of the fat
Place in a 5-6-quart pan with 1/4 cup of water. (I always use cast iron, but I don’t think it’s necessary.) Cover and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes. Uncover and cook until liquid boils away and meat is well-browned; turn as needed.

Lift out meat. To pan, add 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar; scrape to loosen browned bits. Stir in 1 1/2 cups beef broth, 2 tablespoons chili powder, and 1 teaspoon ground cumin.

Return meat to the pan, bring to a boil, cover, and simmer over medium heat until meat is very tender and easily pulled apart, about 2 hours.

Let meat cool, then tear into shreds. Mix with remaining pan juices. Use to fill enchiladas or burritos.

Not Spot or Ocelot

September 5, 2009animals, homeGretchenJoanna

I’ve written about Spot before, here and here. As I was stalling on what to call her, B. decided on Ocelot. A few days later she arrived wearing a collar with the name CASSIE on it, and her address, just a few doors down the street, at a house belonging to a very responsible family I have met. So, she doesn’t need a home! She is like a kid in the neighborhood (maybe an only child?) who likes to roam around and hang out at other people’s houses, eating their food and breaking their rules.

In fact, when we were still feeling more compassion for her, she went into the depths of our abode, on a high shelf in a closet, and knocked boxes and clothes into a heap on the floor. That is definitely a no-no.

But she never cared about or for us; we knew it by her growls. She likes Gus. Now I’m less welcoming to her, but I still like to call her Ocelot. And she is an independent girl; yesterday she arrived without a collar again.

Deer I Didn’t See

September 2, 2009animals, family, garden, travelGretchenJoanna

Over the last months I’ve collected a few more pictures of deer, better than the one I took at Tuolumne Meadows in July. Two of them were taken by my children, so I feel that I almost saw them! Last week when I was in the mountains I only saw one, and I was driving, so I slowed way down (there’s not much traffic up there) and took a very short video in which you can’t tell what on earth it is supposed to be of, because of the dirty windshield and the quick deer. So I will share others’ pics with you. Probably none of these is a large enough file to see very well, but I think they are worth it anyway.

This photo was taken by my son-in-law on the property that he and my daughter recently bought. The lovely natives who checked them out when they were only considering buying are probably the same ones who are now enjoying their tomatoes.

I found this picture on the National Geographic website. It shows how deer have often appeared to me, though I’ve never seen them leaping in three different directions. It also could be an illustration for the poem I posted when I wrote about deer the first time here.