Boo! Its Halloween! We Have Selfoweenies!

The last day of October! That means a few things.

First its Sunday, first day of the week and time for our peeps to leave us for a bit as it is time for Church.

Second, it is Halloween. We do not actually take part in this 'festival', but we do dress up our pups (and our kitties in the past), just for some fun...and then we just go about our regular business...we do not do trick or treating, and living outside of town, there are only a few tiny peeps indulging in that activity here, sometimes we don't see any at all. The direct neighbors with children know of our stance on this, so they don't ring our bell...we think this so called holiday is not in keeping with the way we practice our religious beliefs, (and no we are NOT Jehovah Witness, who celebrate nothing...), we are ordinary protestants with Calvinistic views of life.

Anyways, October 31 is also Reformation Day, commemorating when Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the doors of the church in Wittenburg, Germany. The year he did that was 1517. So therefore we celebrate this event with special church services each year. Wow, over 500 years ago!

OK, enough of that stuff...

Petcretary and our yard continue to get pummeled with bazillions of those awful walnut balls. We had a storm on the night of the 24th - 25th, and  along with large limbs falling off the catalpa tree, and smaller ones off the walnut tree, those dang walnuts were coming down like the worst hailstorm ever. The load when she cleaned them up was 3, almost four garden-carts full. YUCK! (She has actually lost count of how many garden-cart-loads she has brought to the big wood pile in the far back of our yard, maybe 2 dozen!) Dalton, being of small stature could almost disappear in that one pile...sheesh! We had almost 4 inches of rain along with all of that...Friday there were 2 shopping bags full...wow, we have never ever had that many in one season...and there are still lots more hanging waiting to crash down...even after two nights of frostiness. We sure need to rid ourselves of this menace...sorry squirrels, you will have to stick with the acorns and walnuts in our backwoods...LOL! (And there are plenty there too, but we don't bother cleaning them up...LOL!)

The 'Guilty Tree'!

The ugly walnut harvest

More walnuts, UGH!

The other night when *she* was cleaning up all those walnuts, it was around dusk, and suddenly there were three deer, in the field across the street...and then they ran into the road to cross it, but of course they never look to see if its safe...this time no vehicles came by, but we have seen deer get hit right where they ran over the road. Us pups had fun barking them till they were out of sight in the brush next door. That WAS exciting for a few moments!

Yup, I had to wear that witchy hat, too...

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This past Tuesday at Teddy's Teaser-Ween, petcretary got in the door first with one other, and she got the right answer, too, only she wasn't first...BOL!  She got this badge for being first in the door:

 And this one for being right, but not first:

There was also a costume contest at the same time. We pups added last week's 'ussie' into that contest...well, we were not the winners, but it still was lots of fun to see everyone else wearing their fun or spooky costumes.We got a badge for that too:

Maybe we should have entered the costumes we are wearing for our selfies this week...but she hadn't taken the pictures by then...tee-hee!

I prefer this clown hat, BOL!

This witch hat at least has no green hair, BOL!

 

Here is a cute joke for Halloween:

Why did the skeleton not want to visit the haunted house or cemetery??  Because he had no guts!! LOL!

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We are participating in The Sunday Selfies, a weekly feature hosted by The Kitties Blue, at The Cat On My Head. We love joining this fun blog hop, and we are thankful for their continued faithful hosting each week.

Boo! Pre-Halloween Selfies!

 Well, its Sunday once again, which means its selfie time!

So here we go! 

Yikes, the bed got destuffed! See the little hole?? BOL!

I'm sorry  I tried to destuff that bed...

 

We are ready for Halloween! BOOO! Thanks Miss Ann from Zoolatry!

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Well, last Tuesday, petcretary provided the guest picture for Teddy's Teaser Game.She fooled everyone, in that no one was able to guess or even came close to naming the location! Ha!!

That teaser picture was taken from our Hotel when we were last in Washington DC. The hotel is in Washington, but the scene is mostly of Chevy Chase, Maryland, near the Friendship Heights subway station. DC is a big square and it sits in the middle of other states. 

The Microsoft side of the street is in Maryland, and the structure with the pyramid glass skylights is a condo, on the DC side.

Hubby’s childhood home is about a 5 minute walk from the hotel, (In DC), but none of these large structures were there when he lived there. In fact when we were married over 30 years ago, only a few of the buildings were there, our Hotel was not. Nor the condo...I think it replaces a nursing/medical facility.
DC an its suburbs are a busy, bustling city, it never seems to not be, even at night.
Our sons have been there with us, and have walked the same street, and even seen the hotel, though they have not been in there, LOL!
I think the subway, when it expanded to this area just before we were married in 1987, changed the whole area, from a more or less quiet suburban feel, next to a residential area and churches, to a huge shopping/sleeping and office metropolis.

She got this badge:

I sent in a real whopper of a photo for Teaser Tuesday on October 19, 2021 and NOBODY GUESSED IT RIGHT! YAY FOR ME!

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 Last week all of Blogville was saddened to hear that Ruby had become an angel pup. We helped petcretary make a memorial card for her:

Ruby

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Sunday Selfies are Hosted by The Kitties Blue, at The Cat On my Head. We thank them for hosting so faithfully each week! We love them and we love Sunday Selfies!

Ruby ~ In Loving Memory

You can visit Ruby, Here.

Ruby was such a special pup, and she will be missed by all who knew her. We send our soft aroos and lots of love and hugs. 

Fly free, Ruby! Have fun chasing squirrels and refreshing yourself with as many margaritas as you want...and cookies, too.

Sunday Selfies, Mid October

Wow, its already the middle October! We have been inside a lot past few days as it is soggy, and wet outside...the sky is crying about something or other. Petcretary picked up 4 big garden cartfuls of walnuts this week, all still from that selfsame tree as she reported about last week. And she has lost count of all the limbs and branches she has cleaned up, they are still coming down. Maybe from all the winds we've been having, though not stormy winds, we think they are weakened and the slightest breeze brings them down...or a fat squirrel running over them, LOL! We heard the peeps chatting about likely cutting that offensive tree down, its so huge, they are worried that if the winds were right it could do big damages to our house. We'd then plant a nicer tree in its place. We have lots of oak and maple saplings we could transplant to that spot. There are a lot of other walnut trees in the back of our yard, but they are not such a trouble, though they too have made a bumper crop of those dang walnuts. One can hardly walk there, its like a field of ball bearings! 

Yesterday was our Auntie's Birthday; we can't go there right now (Canada), but perhaps next month, if the border would be open. It remains to be seen, because of Covid, the situation changes almost every day. Stupid virus. Petcretary had a long chat with her on the phone; at least they can stay in touch that way.

Well, here we are from a sunnier day!

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We had to say goodbye to one of the kitties of our hosts for the Sunday Selfies, The Kitties Blue; this week.

Giulietta was suddenly very ill and gained her Angel Wings. We posted about that  HERE.

But none the less, we'll show you the card we made in her honor, again.

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We send our love and hugs to The Kitties Blue, at the Cat On My Head, and thank them for continuing with this weekly blog hop, known as The Sunday Selfies, despite their sad hearts at this time.

And we all need to keep the purrs, POTP and pawyers coming for Sawyer, he continues to deal with all those seizures, poor little kitty.

Click here to join the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop! You'll be glad you did!

In Loving Memory of Giulietta

Giulietta of The Kitties Blue has become an Angel. You can visit here.

Giulietta

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!

May you all have a wonderful day! Count all your many blessings. And give thanks!

A Boring Week, But Wait, Its Selfie Time!

 Yup, it was rather a boring week here. 

Petcretary picked up at least them more bags of squirrel lures...oops, she meant walnuts. And really, she needs a hard hat, one clunked down on her back just as she was bending over to pick up another for the bag...ouch! At least it did not hit her head...this time. Today there is yet another load ready for more pick up duty. We really are thinking of cutting that tree down. Its more mess and a nuisance than the light open shade it gives. If we do take it down, we'll plant another species, maybe a sugar maple, or even maybe a red maple, they are so pretty. Something without nuts to clean up every fall...

I, Dalton, like to try to lick her face when she bends over, then she's right at the right height for little me:)

I, Benji, have decided its fun to find half eaten walnuts, and to try and finish eating  them...so the squirrels won't get them, LOL! But...um...well, nevermind! (Lets just say, black walnuts are an old fashioned remedy for various intestinal issues...) And Me and Dalton have had fun while *she* is at work or doing errands and we have excavated a large section under our weeping cherry tree...there are snakes and moles under a skid that is there for the time being with the shed (in a box), the pawrents soon will have built...We try to help our peeps to not have those varmints:) We don't understand why she gets so vexed when she sees our handiwork, no wait, our pawtiwork!

The other day, we heard a big crash and a yell...petcretary had placed a board across the entrance to the living room...a barricade...Phooey...well she had to back in there and she forgot it had been put there, (by herself, mind you!), and she tried to walk right through it...yikes. She skinned the toes on her feet, and crashed into the coffee table...and almost broke our new ceramic mini-us-es...they thankfully were OK. She has bruises on her knees and her pride has suffered a blow as well! Tee-hee! She is OK, and was able to do her work at the nursing home with no issues. Except now she has to try harder to remember to practice what she preaches about safety to the residents about falls, LOL!

Petcretary 'rescued' an African Violet from the trash can of one of her ladies that she was caring for, about a year ago. That lady told her she didn't think it would 'make it', but she said it was OK for Petcretary to take it home. So it was given much TLC and after a while it began to look a lot better. Well, that lady passed away a couple months ago, and right now that violet is putting on a beautiful show. It must be giving tribute to its former owner. Petcretary just wishes she could have taken it back to her and shown her how it had revived...so now each time that she looks at it, Petcretary remembers fondly that lady, whom she really had enjoyed taking care of, they had lots of good chats about many things...RIP, Mrs W.

I, 'Violet', am showing my pretty blooms in honor of Mrs W, who was my first 'Mom'!

 

Now here we are...a couple of really bad images, but they will have to 'do' this week! BOL!

Why are you getting so close with that camera thing??

Hi, Petcretary, Whatcha doing? I am a good boy, see the dirt on my schnooter?? BOL!

 

Petcretary was once again a 'firstie' at Teddy's Teaser, she had the right answer, but was a bit too slow in posting it...which allowed our good blogging friend 'Timmy' have a double Firstie...Wow! Congrats to him and his Dad!

I was one of FOUR First Commenters on the Teaser photo of October 5, 2021!!

 Hmmm, was it really a boring week??

We are joining with The Kitties Blue for their weekly fun feature 'Sunday Selfies'. We love it, its great to see so many friends there and we thank Miss Janet and her kitties for so faithfully hosting this each week. We are on week 373!! You can join up too, just click on their icon/badge.

Sunday Selfies, week 373!

In Purrsuit Of Flavours ~ The Season Of Stew

We are joining up with Tyebe and Shoko of The Canadian Cats, and DaPhenny and DaNelly of EasyBlog in this month's Purrsuit of Flavours....

When the season changes from the hot Summer times to the cool crisp days of Fall, sometimes we want something hearty and filling...so Stew seems to fit that description. Therefore we are presenting our stew...but its not quite 'traditional' its a keto recipe, but it would work for Paleo too, if that's your style. I know some of you do not do tomatoes, not sure what you could sub in for that, maybe some more thickened broth?

Easy Low Carb Keto Beef Stew Recipe

This easy keto beef stew recipe takes just 10 minutes to prep, with a secret ingredient that tastes like potatoes. Low carb beef stew is rich and hearty - without the carbs!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 6 servings 

 

Ingredients
* 2 lb Beef chuck stew meat (cut into 1-inch pieces)
* 1/2 tsp Sea salt
* 1/4 tsp Black pepper
* 2 tbsp Olive oil (divided)
* 1 medium Onion (diced)
* 2 medium Carrots (peeled, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick-circles)
* 2 cloves Garlic (minced)
* 1 tsp Italian seasoning
* 1 lb Celery root (weight peeled & cubed; from ~1.5 lb with peel and stems)
* 6 cups Beef bone broth
* 1 14.5-oz can Diced tomatoes
* 2 medium Bay leaves 

Instructions
1. Season the beef with salt and pepper. (It will be a light amount because the broth will be salty.)


2. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add the beef in a single layer. (Work in batches if you can't get the beef in a single layer on the bottom of the pan.) Sear for about 8-10 minutes total per batch, moving only every few minutes after each side has well browned. Remove the beef and set aside on a plate.


3. Heat another tablespoon of oil in the same dutch oven. Add the onions and carrots. Saute for about 10 minutes, until soft and lightly browned.


4. Add the garlic and Italian seasoning. Saute for about a minute, until fragrant.


5. Place the beef back into the dutch oven. Add the broth, diced tomatoes, and whole bay leaves. Scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.


6. Bring the beef stew to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 45-60 minutes, until beef is tender.


7. Add the celery root. Increase heat to bring to a boil again. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, until tender.

 (TIP:  This will be our keto friendly stand-in for potatoes! Add the celery root at this later step so that it doesn’t get too mushy. It takes about 15-20 minutes to get soft, similar to boiling potatoes.)
8. Remove the bay leaves. Adjust salt and pepper to taste if needed.


Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 cup

Is Beef Stew Healthy?

Yes, this easy homemade beef stew is healthy! It’s made with beef chuck stew meat, onion, carrots, garlic, celery root, beef bone broth, and diced tomatoes.

So much good stuff and just 11 grams net carbs in this hearty and satisfying low carb beef stew. While that is a bit more carbs than some Keto Soup recipes, it’s not bad for a hearty dinner that feels like a carb lover’s soup!

How To Thicken Beef Stew

This beef stew keto recipe doesn’t need any thickeners! It thickened up really nicely all on its own.

But, if you want it more of the consistency of gravy, you can add some gelatin. Here is how to do that after your keto stew is done cooking:

1. In a medium bowl, sprinkle 1 tbsp gelatin over 1/3 cup water and let sit to bloom for 2-3 minutes.
2. Ladle 1 cup hot liquid from the soup and whisk into the gelatin mixture until dissolved.
3. Stir the gelatin mixture back into the pot of soup.
   
   

Can You Make Healthy Beef Stew Ahead?

Yes, you can definitely make this healthy beef stew recipe ahead. Most soups and stews taste even better the day after they have been made and this one is no exception!

Simply let it cool completely, and then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Microwave or heat on the stove top until hot, once you’re ready to eat.

Can You Freeze Easy Beef Stew?

Yes, this recipe for keto beef stew freezes very well! Let it cool completely and then place in the freezer in a freezer bag or airtight container.

TIP: If you freeze your low carb stew in a bag, lay it flat in the freezer. Once it’s solid, you can store it vertically for easier access. (If you want to freeze this stew, don't add the celery root, until you are ready to thaw and reheat, or it will be very mushy.)

Let it thaw out overnight in the refrigerator and then heat in the microwave or stove top until hot. Serve!

What To Serve With Keto Beef Stew

This beef stew keto recipe is a meal-in-a-bowl, but if you’d like a veggie or bread side to go along with it, I’ve got you covered!

• Keto Mashed Cauliflower – If you love your healthy beef stew with mashed potatoes, try this mashed cauliflower recipe for a low carb – but just as tasty – alternative.
• Keto Bread– The easiest way to ensure you don’t leave a single drop of low carb beef stew in the bowl! (There is a recipe for this in the archives of our Purrsuit of flavors posts, Here.
  

Nutrition Information Per Serving

Calories: 410 | Fat: 22g | Total Carbs: 14g | Net Carbs: 11g | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Protein: 36g

October!! Sunday Selfies For October Third

Wow, its October already! Nine out of twelve months all used up for 2021...sheesh, the time just keeps on flying by!

Yesterday was our unfurbro-the-elder's Birthday... but we didn't get to kiss him for that occasion, as our peeps went to his town to get him a nice dinner. Locally sourced noms, a lot of organic food, and simply yummy all around. Desert too. Well ya have to go all out on a birthday, right??

The younger unfurbro was there too...the place was booked solid, and it was hard to get a table reserved. That never has happened before at that place, I guess that is a good thing but maybe we need to book stuff a month ahead?? LOL!

They did NOT bring us any doggy bags. Phooey.

The weather has been pretty nice, we can go out and not cook, the mess in the yard was all cleaned up, except for the larger limbs and trunks, which need a chain saw...and we are seeing the peeps eat things from all the patio pots out there.  There were at least 8 bags of walnuts picked up...and there are still more on that tree. Too bad they all have yucky worms in them...though that doesn't stop the squirrels from enjoying them...or hiding them for future reference. Petcretary found a big stash of them in t he back shed...they must be entering through that hole in the roof...they must think its going to be their cozy winter home...LOL! 

Benji

Dalton

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Petcretary was fast fingered this past Tuesday and was one of three first commenters at Teddy's Tuesday Teaser.

But while she was right in her guess, she was a wee bit too slow in getting her answer to the post...LOL!

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We made cards for two new angel pups this week...

Many of you former Dogster members may remember Bacon. Well, Dogster is no longer there, but his family is on Facebook, so you can leave a message there is you wish. Another Dogster legend has left the earth...sigh..

Sadie was a good friend of Hermes and Dora at Its A Wonderpurr Life.

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Enjoy all the Sunday Selfies at The Kitties Blue, who are the weekly hosts of this fun feature. Thank you very much!