Weird Reasons to be Thankful

Thanksgiving is creeping in. Let’s be thankful.

I am thankful that I didn’t die when my house exploded. (Full Story Here.)

 
I am thankful for the amazing banana bread that I love to make-and eat. (Recipe here.)

 

I am thankful that even when things in life appear to be prickly, beauty can be found at the end.

 

I am thankful that I had this weird cat for eight years of my life. R.I.P. Cowboy.

 

And, I am thankful that Biceps convinced me to sell one of our houses by tempting me with a trip to Europe.

What are your weird reasons to be thankful?

Cheap, Organic Produce Cleaner

I like my produce to be sparkling clean, free of naughty dirt, and free of the money wasting store bought so-called “Fruit and Vegetable Wash”.

This recipe is super cheap, smells great and hardly costs anything. This is my simple solution to keep your produce sparkly and ready for consumption.

 

Here’s what you’ll need to make your very own Produce Cleaner:
1 TBS Lemon Juice
3 TBS White Vinegar
3 Cups of Water
Spray bottle (I bought mine from Target for $3)
Funnel

 

Using your funnel, measure out and pour in your 1 TBS Lemon Juice.

 

Next add your 3 TBS White Vinegar.

 

Pour in the 3 Cups of Water and attach the spray nozzle. Give it a bit of a shake.

 

Ta-da! That’s it. Now go get your produce sparkly clean. Have fun.

The Chicken Man

I shared with you just a few days back about The Chicken Lady that I met while doing research for the article I wrote called, Urban Chicken Farming, for This Land Press. I met several urban chicken farmers inside of Tulsa’s city limits and began to understand the movement to raise one’s own chickens within the city.

This man lives just a few blocks from me, so I biked over to interview and photograph him. He thought I was “pretty green” for doing so. In reality, I felt like a little exercise and I hate driving if I don’t have to.

The hens roamed the entirety of the back yard, but escaped to the coop at night to steer clear of any potential predator’s mouths. What are they-chicken or something? Heh heh.

The chicks clucked around, avoiding surly confrontations with the cats, the dogs, bees or anything else this man had going on in his backyard. It was a real zoo.

Raisins treats allowed me to get up close and personal with this golden lady. So pretty. So clucky. So demanding of the raisins.

After a couple minutes interviewing the Chicken Man, he offered me some eggs to go. I cooked a couple up for lunch, shocked by the color deep orange color of the yolks. These backyard eggs were different than any store-bought-even the organic, cage-free eggs. And they were tasty. Very tasty.
The odds are that I will be housing some chickens next year. I am slowly becoming more and more a fan of this idea. Now, to I just have to get the neighbor’s dogs on board with this idea….

Ancient Fire Station in New York

Biceps and I have been keeping a secret from all of you, dear readers.
We want to start a family. Let’s be honest-I’m gettin’ old.
But in order to do that, we knew we had to make some radical changes. Biceps went back to school, got his EMT certification and is on the path to become one of Oklahoma’s finest Firemen.
Mustache and all.

He is volunteering at a local station in Oklahoma while we’re home. But financially-it’s just that-a volunteer position. While we are pursuing this career switch and waiting on a paid position, we are still touring around with stinky bands. Due to all of this, our little eyes have become more keen on fire stations around the country.

 

This fire station (built in 1895) is one of the oldest and hottest fire stations in New York. Tee hee.

 

It’s been converted into a venue-which is why we were here with the band.

 

Our fire stations back home are mostly made out of the same thing that our churches, cattle yards and strip malls are built out of-gigantic metal buildings with absolutely no character.

 

Nothing like this.
Bicep’s mustache grew an extra centimeter just laying his eyes on this here station. And my heart skips a beat thinking about the possibility of our life being somewhat “normal” and pro-creating. So, my dear readers-there you have it: our big secret. I know you’ve all been wondering about us and why we’ve waited for so long. Wonder no more…