Finding a vet for Frogdog and cooking beef stew with oysters and beer

I finally registered the dogs with a vet here in Aberdeen. I decided to go with Ashgrove Veterinary Centre Ltd. We went to see them today because Frog is still very thin, and I am concerned. The vet said that he only weighs about 22 lbs, which is very small for a French Bulldog, and he did weigh 28 lbs in Houston. You can see his spine sticking out on his back. He is on a good brand of food (vet confirmed), and feeding him more than usual hasn't helped him to gain weight. She also said that his heart rate is low. I am taking him in Tuesday for blood-work and a urinalysis. Hopefully we can figure out what is going on inside of him. He is acting normal. He plays with Angel, runs around in the park, goes on walks with me, plays with toys, and is eating normally. I really hope that this is something that will be easily solved. He's almost 5 years old. He's my buddy.

Moving on. Tonight I made beef stew with oysters and Belhaven beer. I got the round steak from the butcher and the oysters from the fishmonger. I'm not writing the entire recipe here, but if you'd like it, just send me a message. I can e-mail it to you from my cookbook.

You have to roll out the steak to make it thin, but the butcher did it for me. :o) 

You cut the steak into strips. Then, you have to get the oysters out of their shells. Be careful how you hold them because they can cut your fingers. Pry them open with a sharp knife just enough to get a spoon in and pop the shells apart.

You cut the oysters in half. Cut some strips of streaky bacon into thirds, and then roll the oyster half into the bacon. Then, you roll the bacon into the steak strip.

After that, you roll each one in a mixture of flour, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and salt. Put it in a casserole dish. Pour some of the beer over it and bring to a boil. Finally, you cover and put it in the oven for 1.5-2 hours. I didn't get a good picture of the finished product. I haven't perfected my presentation skills. Anyway, I served it with roasted red peppers and mashed potatoes. It was really good! Thank you Randi for the cookbook. I'm working my way through it pretty well I think! However, I still don't have any desire to try that trout mousse. Sounds yucky.  :o)

Dog vs. Snowman and a tip to curve those winter blues

It has been snowing off and on here today. I love the snow; it's so pretty.  It does make walking the dogs a bit difficult. You have to use different muscles to walk in the snow than on dry ground.

Funny story.

My dog, Angel, is afraid of snowmen. hehe. We were walking in the park today, and as we came near a very large snowman that somebody had built, she froze. Then, she took off like a rabbit but hit the brakes as she came within 10 feet of the great snow beast. She started barking and circling wildly. With the way she was standing and shaking, it reminded me of those cartoon cats that arch their backs, hiss, and hop up and down with stiff legs. Circling continued. Then, perhaps she decided to challenge the snowman. She started kicking her back legs aggressively through the snow like a bull about to charge. Her friend Eddie (another French Bulldog) was running around confused and seemingly unsure of whether he should bark, run, or attack an unseen threat. Eddie kept looking at Angel and then the snowman, but didn't come to the same conclusion that the snowman was evil. After about 2 minutes, Angel decided to walk away. Did she win, or was she conquered? Who knows?  What I do know is that the second time we walked by the snowman, I had my camera ready to take a video, and that goofy dog acted like nothing was amiss. I circled the snowman and even kicked it. She just followed me around the snowman like it wasn't even there. Darn! It would have been so fun to have that on video. Next time, folks. Dog vs Snowman. Who's the alpha? I'll let you decide. :o)

Moving on. I hear many people complaining about the sunless days and the cold here. It puts them in a "funk" leaving them sort of tired, depressed, and unmotivated. I have learned this week that one of the things that cheers me up and gives me energy is the presence of fresh flowers in the house. You can buy cheap ones at the grocery store. Sit them somewhere so that you can smell them as you drink your tea/coffee or read a book. If you can't have the sunny days of spring as soon as you'd like, maybe smelling them and having a tiny bit of it will cheer you up. :o)

Mud, snow, and 5 things about me!

Dogs are miracles with paws.

-Attributed to Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy-

They are also like walking stamps. God bless them for being cute, because otherwise they'd be in big trouble. I turned around after closing the door and thought, 'AAAHHHH NOOOO!' I tried to grab them, and of course they ran making more tracks and smearing others. The good thing about mud is that it cleans up from tiles pretty easily. I would like to extend a big 'thank you' to Swiffer.

Moving on. The rain and snow is back in Aberdeen. The snow that was on the ground is melting, but I still got pelted with sleet while walking my friend's dog (my friend has the flu... no fun). More is moving into Aberdeen.

From BBC Weather:

• This Evening and Tonight

  Wintry showers turning increasingly to snow early tonight and becoming more frequent and heavier. Stonehaven and Banchory will have clear spells with fewer showers. Cold with a widespread frost.

Just for Fun:

It seems that I've inadvertently been tagged to do something the day I began reading Mary's blog. :o) I like to be a good sport, so here it goes... 5 little things about me:

(1) I am a lucid dreamer. I usually remember 2-3 dreams each night and can often control many things within them. My favorite dreams are dreams about zombies (see number 3), having super powers, and dreams about flying. My least favorite dreams are those about tornadoes or about trying to run from something but it feels like I'm running in slow motion down an interminable hallway. It's so sloooooowww and frustrating.

(2) I'm both confident and anxious in social situations. I know who I am and accept who I am, but it bothers me that others may not or that I might say something stupid that hurts somebody's feelings.

(3) I am a gamer. I enjoy spending my time playing my XBOX. I even have an earpiece with a microphone so that I can play online.... and I will destroy you. ;)

(4) I get really excited about new appliances and yummy food. I even have what Steve calls my "happy food dance" which occurs when I'm thoroughly enjoying myself.

(5) I have a huge and growing collection of shot glasses from places we or friends visited and a growing collection of rocks (good thing I married a geologist). I've been picking up rocks from places I've visited since I was a kid, and I still have them all.

So there you have it. Now you get to tell the world about you! Either post it in the comments (anybody without a blog or who doesn't want to put it in their blog) or post a link in the comments! You've been tagged Laine, Christi, Jill, and Jessica!

Cheers!

Costs of petrol and flights to Scotland and cow's milk substitutes

One thing I've learned living here is that it doesn't have to be warm outside for your laundry to dry. You just have to leave it out there for a LONG time. Then, you put it in the dryer for about 20 minutes to fluff it up. Yes, we finally got a new dryer so no more crispy towels!

Anyway, I went to the petrol station today to fill up the car. Gas is about £1.28/liter. I hit about £60.00 filling up our Honda Civic! Don't convert that to dollars. It's better that you don't. Speaking of costs, my parents finally booked their trip to Aberdeen! We found out that it's almost $1000 cheaper for them to fly into Glasgow, so I'm driving there to pick them up at the crack of dawn! I'm really excited.  Tickets for 3 adults and one child were about $5400 total. It's pretty expensive to fly across the ocean, but so very worth it! It's the first time for all of them to travel to a different country. I'm so excited for them.

Anyway, I'm not writing much tonight because I'm too anxious to continue reading my book! My mom recommended this series. I have liked every series she has recommended! Right now I'm reading Mortal (The Book of Mortals Series) by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee. I love it. The first book was a little harder to get into, but it just keeps getting better!

Photo from: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/mortal/

Just for Fun:

I've been told (although I should do more research) that cow's milk is harder to digest than other types of milk. We tried goat's milk, but Steve said it tasted funny with his cereal. Soy milk also has a pretty strong flavor. Lately we've been drinking almond milk. It's pretty yummy. You can get it sweetened or unsweetened. I prefer the unsweetened for every day use. The sweetened type is pretty good in tea and coffee. Steve said he couldn't taste anything using the unsweetened kind with his cereal; I guess that was the goal. :o)

Exploring new restaurants and an ice cream parlor

Part of the secret of a success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.
-Mark Twain-

Sometimes you have to indulge, not worry about how unhealthy the food is, and just enjoy it. The keyword here being "sometimes." :)

Friday morning I went to a Nia workout/dance class. It was fun. It was very different from other styles of dance, and it involved really getting outside of your comfort zone. After the class I went to lunch with some great ladies at The Beautiful Mountain Cafe. I had some fantastic onion rings and even better macaroni and cheese! I liked the cafe. It was cute inside (although cold so bring a coat if you go), and the service was good.

View from our table

Friday night, Steve and I decided to just stay at home. We had mozzarella/pesto/tomato sandwiches with leek and potato soup. We eat soup and drink tea more often than we did in Texas. The cold weather makes you want it. Anyway, we stayed home and rented Skyfall. It was good. It was neat to see the scenes filmed in the highlands since we were just in that area a few weekends ago. We were further north, but the land and mountains in the movie looked the same as where we were. 

Saturday we went to Stonehaven with Jessica and James to try out The Bay Fish and Chip Shop. It won the National Fish and Chip Award last year, so we've all been wanting to try it out. It was really good. The fish batter was crispy and not as greasy as some others. They let it drip through racks, so it's not sitting in grease the entire time. A standard haddock supper was about £6. You have to try the homemade tarter sauce if you go there. It was really good too! There is nowhere to sit so plan on eating outside or in your car if it's cold. We ate in the car. For desert we went next door to Aunty Betty's. The link to their Facebook page is here. It was a really neat ice cream parlor. They had lots of candy, and they also sold dog treats and duck food (if you want to feed them outside). It was random but cool. You should have seen the candy though, if you haven't already. There were loads of licorice and gummy things. There were gummy rats and gummy snakes. I'm not talking about the small worms; these were about foot-long gummy snakes. They make some really neat cakes too!

Jessica and James

I love the way they decorated his ice cream. Steve said it looked so pretty that it almost made him not want to eat it!

Just for fun:

At the book club meeting at Falene's house, she had a glug glug jug. It was shaped like a fish, and I had never seen one before that night. Anybody who knows me knows that I love fish (house decor, education degrees, tattoos....etc.,). Well, I was in an antique store a few days ago, and I found one! I love it. It makes me giggle to hear the "glug glug" as I pour water from it. You have to enjoy the little things in life.

Also, on our way to the Blue Mountain Cafe, we popped into Juniper. They had highland cow figurines. I want to have some nice things to remember Scotland when we leave. I want things that will last, so I got one of the iron highland bulls. Isn't he cute?