USMB Coffee Shop IV

Gracie · Jul 2, 2020

Well...tomorrow is the day I send Abby over to Rainbow Bridge. I hav e been putting it off for too long now. She can no longer hold her bladder, she has that double eyelid thing going on, and she rarely wants snuggle time any more. She just sleeps all day and at night, she goes out on her own, but goes next door to sleep under the cars in the water department lot. She's just not having any fun and I have been selfish with not wanting to do this again. I thought Karma would be the last but nope. Now I get to send Abby too. Sigh.

Foxfyre · Jul 3, 2020

Gracie said:
Well...tomorrow is the day I send Abby over to Rainbow Bridge. I hav e been putting it off for too long now. She can no longer hold her bladder, she has that double eyelid thing going on, and she rarely wants snuggle time any more. She just sleeps all day and at night, she goes out on her own, but goes next door to sleep under the cars in the water department lot. She's just not having any fun and I have been selfish with not wanting to do this again. I thought Karma would be the last but nope. Now I get to send Abby too. Sigh.

So sorry Grace. We all know how difficult it is. All we can do is care. But we do.

Foxfyre · Jul 3, 2020

Good night darlinks. I really do love you guys.

And we continue to pray and/or send good vibes and/or positive thoughts and/or keep vigil for:

Harper
Pogo’s friend Pat and special comfort for Pogo,
Montrovant for continued progress in his transition.
Kat for wellness
JustAnotherNut for wellness
Mindful and healing for her shoulder.
Good results for Nosmo's step nephew dealing with difficult surgeries.
Beautress for wellness.
Prayers/positive vibes for gallantwarrior and impending surgeries.
Peach in the passing of Mr. Peach
Ringel and Ms Ringel - comfort, wellness, peace, love for both.
Corazon for wellness.
Gracie and Mr. G. for continued progress for solutions and saying goodbye to their Abby.

And we leave the light on so that those who have been away can find their way back and we hope they do.

SFC Ollie · Jul 3, 2020

Ringel05 said:
Foxfyre said:

Ringel05 said:

MarathonMike said:

Ringel05 said:

For the last few days the wife has been hinting she wants beef tips with gravy. Today I finally made some for her and they are good considering I don't remember ever making them before.

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That looks good! How did you prepare the tips? I assume you did the rice separately.

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Normally it calls for top sirloin but all I had on hand was a couple of rather large ribeyes.
3 lbs meat cubed
1 small onion diced
2 cloves garlic crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup flour
1 Tsp ketchup
32 oz beef stock
tsp Worcestershire sauce

Mix flour, salt and pepper
Cube meat and dredge in flour mix
Dice the onions, crush the garlic and add to skillet (with a couple of Tsps oil of your choice)
Cook over medium heat until onions are translucent
Turn up heat to medium high and add a couple more Tsps of oil and dredged beef
Cook beef until seared then add the beef stock, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce plus a little more salt and pepper to taste
Simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes
Cook type of rice you like per package instructions

You can thicken the gravy any way you choose, I made a small batch of roux and added that.
Serve over rice

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Looks wonderful.

I make something similar but use somewhat cheaper stew meat instead of the more expensive cuts. Skip the flour but cook it longer until meat is falling apart tender. I stew it with the onions and garlic, salt & pepper to taste, and in soy sauce combined with worchestershire instead of ketchup. Serve over egg noodles.

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I think there are at least thirty or so different recipes for Beef Tips, some with gravy, some without.

I do this on occasion but with noodles instead of rice...

Foxfyre · Jul 3, 2020

Can't you just imagine this is GW's kitchen? You may need to click on the image. . .

beautress · Jul 3, 2020

Gracie said:
Well...tomorrow is the day I send Abby over to Rainbow Bridge. I hav e been putting it off for too long now. She can no longer hold her bladder, she has that double eyelid thing going on, and she rarely wants snuggle time any more. She just sleeps all day and at night, she goes out on her own, but goes next door to sleep under the cars in the water department lot. She's just not having any fun and I have been selfish with not wanting to do this again. I thought Karma would be the last but nope. Now I get to send Abby too. Sigh.

Bless you for your courage in doing the right thing, Miss Gracie. :huddle:

beautress · Jul 3, 2020

May beauty surround you,
May God stay and found you,
May peace walk before you,
May Heaven adore you,
May all kindness warm you,
May no evil harm you,
May good health be given you
May justice live in you
So satan will fear you
When you keep God near you.

This poem I wrote, and sent to al my beloved friends one Christmas, years ago. I love all of you and Foxy so much for contributing this amazing thread that has gone on for many, many years, and I love the thread and all you who post here. Love, beautress/ aka freedombecki back when.

beautress · Jul 3, 2020

beautress said:
Foxfyre said:

beautress said:

gallantwarrior said:

We found a brand new turkey poult yesterday. Funny thing is, the tom has been dead since last Sep. I recalled a term I learned in biology classes and looked it up as it pertained to turkeys. Seems turkey hens are capable of parthenogenesis. One mom, no dad, imagine that. Little tyke is in a plastic tub in the kitchen now. Unbelievable how much noise a few ounces of fluff can make.

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Wow, Gallantwarrior, that's wonderful!!! I've been enjoying 30 baby chicks, and just a month later, they're pullets. I've been noticing they grow about a half an inch a day! It started out at Tractor Supply. They had an area with all this little "peep! peep!" going on, although it wasn't very loud since newborn chicks don't have opera skills right off the eggshell.

Oh, and I've been offline a long time. My new boyfriend complained I was online just one too many times, when I dismantled the computer and took the whole works upstairs to my late husband's office, where I wasn't going very often since it made me cry every time I went in there. But he's been gone 4 years, and I need to use the space for paperwork that needs doing from time to time. Not much of an excuse, but it's the truth. Needless to mention, I was in withdrawal because of the people right here that I love and enjoy their posts and what they think.

Last week I was hospitalized with a gall bladder problem, and was threatened with a shortened lifespan if I didn't get a surgery last Monday. Since I had to wait 11 hours for my issue of excruciating pain in odd places, I started feeling a little better 9 hours later with no treatment whatever. I was so very annoyed by the time my turn rolled around, I made the decision not to engage a surgeon, but to read up on gall bladder problems and what you could do about it sans surgery. I found several references, and they all said the same thing: apples.

So I'm on the apple diet for 5 days in which I can have apples, apple juice, filtered apple juice, and sugarless apple pie without a crust or topping. <giggle> And today I felt so good I spread 9 sacks of pebbles from Home Depot into the holes created by 3 days of lightening and thunder storms that rained the same amount of water on my little 14 acre place that would have been a flash flood anywhere else. My 2.5 acre lake became a 3 acre lake in the meantime, but it's all good. That was water coming down on us like nothing I've ever seen in my life.

It took me about 3 hours to get myself back online this evening when all the work was done. And I better go get some unfiltered apple juice because it's working. Instead of dying, I think I will be eating at least 2 apples a day as soon as my 5 solid days of apples is over. The darndest thing about apples is that even if that's all you get, you're really not hungry for other foods.

Look forward to getting out there and seeing what's going on in USMB discussions, which I have so sorely missed. Love you all. ~

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Sorry you're had the problem with your galbladder Beautress, but glad you found the solution for your problem. Is this the same boyfriend or a new one?

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We were engaged for 4 months. The engagement is officially over.

Oh, since I wrote that, we kissed and made up. lol. I forget that sweetheart quarrels come and go sometimes. Old age ain't fer sissies. <giggle>

Gracie · Jul 4, 2020

She is gone. It was not easy for me, or for her. They couldn't find a vein, but eventually did but they had to give her two shots to knock her out to do it. She fought it. Which made me wonder if I made a mistake. I said so to the vet, but the vet said she was so very dehydrated, and it was the worst they've seen in awhile, and I was doing her a mercy. I doubted it until they finally got the catheter in. Then abby just laid there, aware but unable to move. Vet asked me if I was ready and I said HELL YES IM READY AND SO IS SHE, but I whispered it because I didn't want Abby to see how stressed I was. Just as she injected the finale' shot, Abby looked at me. Saw me. And I think the look in her eyes was relief. At least, that is the impression I got. I told her I loved her, only had her for 8 months but it felt like forever, and I thanked her for being my friend. I reminded her to come soon and let me know she found Gracie and Karma. I called them last night in prayer...telling to please wait at the gate...that Abby was coming. She is family too.

Alley cats don't live long. Lymphoma, cat leukmia, fights with bigger cats, dogs, mean people. Their lives are rough. She was on her own up to 10 months. But for 8 months, she was loved and taken care of. She was only 1 & 1/2 years old.