Sophie is Growing Up and Other Unrelated News

Puppies grow so fast. Take a look at how big our little Sophie has grown.

That's Maddy beside her. I do not know how to get rid of those eerie eyes. Maddy weighs about 20 pounds, so I am guessing Sophie is over 10 by now. Sophie is chewing on my lambswool duster, which I no longer own. It had to go directly into the trash by the time she finished with it. The joys of having a puppy in the house!

We now have a hidey hole! This is the shelter before it was surrounded by concrete and topped with its sliding lid. I tried to take video for you, but the little video camera needed a charge. Two guys arrived at 7:00am and immediately began to work.

They promptly removed a big chunk of garage floor using a wet saw and the tiniest backhoe I've ever seen (you can just see it in the background). Then the digging commenced. A trailer full of dirt was hauled away and the wonderful guy in this picture began to clean up the mess they'd made. By this time it was only 10am. While waiting for the concrete to arrive, he proceeded to pressure wash my entire driveway, saying, "Well, ma'am, I'd rather stay busy than sit here and twiddle my thumbs." After the concrete was poured and finished and the top set in place, we ended up with this:

There is room for all five human members of the family, three dogs, two cats, and a fishbowl. Actually, we could probably get two or maybe three more adults inside in a pinch. Inside, you can latch the lid with chains. If the worst happened and we ended up with a car, or parts of the house on top of the shelter, a come-along (or hand winch) is installed to save us from ending up trapped in a shelter. We also registered the shelter with local authorities, so in the event of a tornado in our neighborhood, the firefighters ought to know where we are. All in all, I feel a bit safer.

It's Official: I've Totally Lost It

A week ago Saturday, we added another puppy to our family. I know, crazy. We now have three children, two cats, three dogs, and a fish tank. I spend all of my time feeding people and animals, then cleaning up their messes.


My husband, for some odd reason, is in the mood to acquire, which is quite out of character. He recently surprised me with a Kindle and about a month later, with a new laptop. I love the Kindle and am using it non-stop. There are so many wonderful titles available on Amazon for nothing at all; it's like having a lending library at my fingertips 24 hours per day. The laptop was quite overdue. It's nothing really special, just a Dell Inspiron, but it's brand new and shiny and fast. Then last Saturday, hubby took us shopping under the pretense of buying new collars for Jack and Maddy. The little guy and I had been talking about some cute schnauzer puppies we'd seen at our favorite pet store. Another customer had failed to spay in a timely manner and ended up with a litter of puppies. They asked the pet store to offer the whole litter for sale. There were three little salt and pepper puppies, like Jack and Maddy, and one little solid black female. I fell in love with her immediately and the little guy couldn't stop talking about her.


Not long ago, I bought my son a flip video camera from Amazon for $59, which is a steal. So, this morning I spent ten minutes taking a video of the dogs, new puppy included, uploaded it to the laptop and within two clicks, had the following movie. Please be kind; I have never used a video camera of any kind before. I left the original audio because I think Jack's play growl is so cute. The puppy, Sophie, is about ten weeks old and weighs all of five pounds. Jack is largest and is wearing a black collar. Maddy's beard is mostly white and she's wearing a pink collar. In the grand tradition of WillowTree, enjoy this immensely boring pet video:

spring comes for an early visit

As I'm sure many of you have heard, tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma on February 10. The storm was a bit out of season and completely unexpected, at least by me.

I had driven to my parent's house after dropping the little guy off at school. Middle son was feeling ill, and at 15, I thought, old enough to stay home alone with his cold and the animals.

My mother was injured this past Saturday (another story all to itself, which I promise to tell in the next day or so). I was driving the two hours up the turnpike to give Daddy some much-needed time for farm chores and wash Mama's hair. When I arrived, her injuries had worsened somewhat, so we decided instead to have lunch then drive to the doctor's office.

The appointment was scheduled for 1:30 pm at an office no more than five miles away. At 1 pm, I started getting mother ready and pulled my car up to the porch of their house. After much whining and maneuvering (and that was just me), we got her into the car. At the doctor's office, I went inside for a wheelchair even though Mama thought she could walk. When I came back to the car, she was sitting with her legs on the ground and said, "Maybe I could use that wheelchair after all." The doctor took a look at her, gave her a prescription and we made our slow way back out to the car. After returning the wheelchair, I drove down the road, filled the prescription and took Mama home. I commented on our good luck with the weather. It was a beautiful day with cotton ball clouds in a clear blue sky. We reversed the exit manuevers and got her into her recliner. Then I noticed the light on my cell phone (which I'd left on the coffee table) was flashing. I'd missed several calls from my husband.

A tornadic storm was ripping through Oklahoma City not far from where he works. The storm was moving quickly and violently in a northeasterly direction. On its current course, it would be no more than a few miles from our home and the little guy's school. At the time, my husband didn't tell me he had watched a funnel cloud flatten an apartment complex about a mile and a half away from his office building. Thank the Lord for small miracles.

Immediately, I called middle son's cell phone. He had dropped it from the top of a friend's back yard shed two days before and I had yet to replace it. It rang but he didn't answer. Turns out, he couldn't; we thought just the screen was busted but the entire phone was worthless except for the incessant ringing. Unbeknownst to me our power was cycling on and off. In between cycles, I got a call from him. After telling him where to find the corded phone, we lost our connection mid-sentence. Five minutes later, another call from him came. He had found the phone, plugged it in the laundry room jack, gathered the dogs and the cats, a bag of Milky Way bars, and his ipod, and shut himself into the laundry room. About then, the power went out, this time for good. I stayed on the phone with him, but had no idea where the storm was traveling.

The little guy was in lock-down at his school with no power and therefore no phones.

Our lovely daughter's high school is twenty minutes to the southeast and was never in any real danger. Thank the Lord she insisted on transferring back to her old high school when we moved.

The children were brave. I was not. I talked to middle son with tears coming down my face. I could not get to him. My husband could not get to him. There was nothing to do but wait and hope.

Three tornadoes went through Oklahoma City and the surrounding metropolitan area that day, not to mention the devastating and deadly tornado that hit Lone Grove, Oklahoma later that night. Our house is just off Kelly past Waterloo Road. The square mile to our south is completed by Santa Fe Road on the West and Sorghum Mill Road on the south. The tornado crossed Santa Fe south of Sorghum Mill and proceeded to take out the fence of the horse ranch there. It moved northeast into Sorghum Mill Estates where it damaged upwards of twenty homes and completely destroyed at least one. Then it crossed Sorghum Mill Road and went through the corner of Oak Tree taking roofs, trees, electric poles, and the entire top of one house with it. On the same northeast track, it crossed Kelly and tore across the golf course taking out fences and the driving range backstop. Behind the country club, it took another four homes, one of them belonging to the head of my husband's department at work, before crossing Waterloo Road, wiping out a fence around a pasture, and flattening an auto body shop and three other businesses. Our vet's new building was spared, but his old building that he uses for storage is just gone. I don't know what happened after the tornado crossed the next road to the east, but it was on the ground for several more miles. Luckily a lot of that country is pasture land, and there were no more reports of destroyed homes.

When I drove home that evening it was about 6:00 pm. Kelly Road was completely closed a mile from our neighborhood. I drove west down Sorghum Mill and almost hit a tree that had fallen over the road. We were without power all evening but it came on sometime after we had gone to bed. We were so incredibly lucky. I cannot even fathom the alternative.

All the homes in our neighborhood are in some state of receiving a new roof. Ours hasn't been assessed yet by the insurance company. Even though our house is only two years old, I am betting on replacement. We had high winds, marble sized hail, and a tornado passed as close as a half mile away.

I was born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and grew up in Nowata County. I lived in Topeka, Kansas as a young adult. Tornadoes are not new to me. I am not afraid of them. But you can bet we're getting a storm shelter. Pronto.

All photos are images from news coverage of the February 10, 2009, tornadoes. The damaged home is in Oak Tree, just down Kelly Road.

simple pleasures

I am not on a diet.

I am eating healthy, varied foods that happen to be high in fiber and low in fat. More fruit, less cheese. More vegetables, less meat. I am exercising at least a bit every day.

I have given up Dr. Pepper.

Except for the Dr. Pepper, it happened almost entirely by accident.

It's funny how easily we can fall into patterns of behavior. Even though I stay at home, I spend many mornings running errands. After dropping the little guy at his school, I would drive to the 7-11 and buy a Dr. Pepper before commencing my shopping or what have you. On the way home, I would frequently get a snack or lunch at a drive through. I started to feel a bit run down and tired more often than normal. Then the holidays hit, which throws any routine I have into a tailspin.

Hubby had gained five pounds and asked me to cook healthy dinners and pack his lunch to help him take the weight off again. I pulled out the cookbooks and started planning dinners. I went grocery shopping and avoided the snack food aisle. The result in my own food intake is just a byproduct, but it's been stunning.

I had forgotten how much I love simple foods. Shirred eggs. Baked apples. Steel cut oats. Roasted butternut squash and asparagus. Whole wheat bagels smeared with a bit of peanut butter. Pasta with mushroom sauce. Yum.

Here are a couple of this week's favorite recipes:

Oeufs en Cocotte
(Shirred Eggs)

Grease a small ramekin with a bit of butter or olive oil. Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Break one or two eggs into the ramekin, depending on desired serving size. Sprinkle with good salt and pepper, a little paprika; you can add some fresh herbs, milk or cream, ham and sauteed mushrooms, or just about anything you desire. Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and serve. I like mine baked plain then dolloped with sour cream and a spoon of salsa.

Mushroom Sauce

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 minced shallot
I minced garlic clove
4 cups thinly sliced mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons sherry
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 cup evaporated skimmed milk
2 tablespoons low-fat or non-fat sour cream

In a large skillet, heat oil. Saute the shallot until soft, about two minutes. Add the garlic; cook one minute longer. Stir in the mushrooms, sage, salt and pepper; cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are tender, about six minutes.

Increase heat to high; cook until almost all liquid evaporates, about three minutes. Add the sherry; cook one minute. Stir in the flour; cook, stirring constantly, until smooth. Stir in the evaporated milk; reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about seven minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.

Serve over pasta, chicken, or turkey.
Serves four.

after the eating

The most glorious thing about having Thanksgiving at my house is the actual state of my house. The floors are all clean, the laundry room is neat, the granite in the kitchen is polished to a high sheen, and there are even tablecloths on both my tables. There is no dust, grit or grime to be found. Even the children's bathroom is still in a state where I will use it in a pinch. That, my friends, is saying something.

Last Sunday, I made a big meal for my side of the family. And I do mean big. There are five of us, plus my parents, my brother, and his girlfriend. I roasted a 17 pound turkey, made stuffing, three side dishes, cranberry sauce, gravy, and two pies. I worked for two days. Due to unforeseen circumstances, my brother and his girlfriend did not attend. I managed to not kill my mother. I was quite proud of myself. We had enough leftovers to feed a small army. The children happily ate leftover turkey, dressing and such for two or three days.



On Wednesday, the older two kids left for San Antonio, and I started cooking again, this time for hubby's family. I scaled the turkey down to twelve pounds, made a wonderful dressing with roasted garlic and mushrooms, changed the sides up to suit his family, and left off the baking, since hubby's mother brought lovely Marie Callendar's pies. I served it all with a bottle of Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling and two bottles of Georges DuBoeuf's Beaujolais nouveau. Talk about wonderful. I fell into a pleasant stupor from the combination of turkey and wine. We watched Dirty Jobs, stared at Mike Rowe (well, we girls, anyway) and laughed a lot, then watched the Cowboys play the Seahawks. My lovely MIL cares nothing for football and was quite annoyed that we chose to watch the game. SIL and her husband are Seattle fans, while hubby and I and our nephew all pull for the Cowboys. Obviously, half of us were very happy campers when the Cowboys ran away with the game.

After everyone left and the leftovers were safely stowed in the garage fridge, hubby and I opted for naps. He woke up sick. I mean sick. I spent the last two nights sleeping in middle son's bedroom to avoid the plague. At least I think that's what he's got, based on the sheer amount of whining, moaning, and pleading coming from my bedroom. Of course, this raging sickness has given me the perfect excuse to avoid shopping for anything at all during the nuttiest shopping days of the year!




I have learned several things from this experience:

Number one: always, always offer to cook for Thanksgiving. No travel and a sparkling clean house are included.

Number two: middle son's bedroom is actually quite nice, and his bed is incredibly comfortable.

Number three: sleeping alone is preferable to sleeping with a sick, whiny, snoring man. I actually slept through the night, in the perfect temperature, without waking once because of snoring or a big hand being draped over my chest. I even read in bed until I fell asleep without once hearing, "What time is it? Aren't you sleepy?"

Number four: always, always offer to cook for Thanksgiving, because of leftovers. I haven't cooked for two days!

The dogs and the cats have been in hog heaven, too. Turkey! Stock poured over their kibble! Strange, wonderful people to scratch their ears and their bellies. Sleeping in middle son's bed with the mama! Who could ask for more?

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and avoided all of the stores on Black Friday. Now I plan to sit right here on my sofa and pretend that Christmas is still more than a month away. I think I can get away with it until at least December 12th. But when our lovely daughter's birthday is over, I'll probably have to face up to reality and start decorating and shopping like the rest of the free world. Bah, humbug.

ingredients for a perfect morning

home baked scones, warm from the oven, slathered with real butter

(diet be damned)





the sweet little noises of contentment coming from sleeping dogs




a brand new terra cotta pot waiting to be filled with soil and my newest plant




lovely new patio furniture and a cloudy summer day with a cool breeze blowing







orangey red, ripening tomatoes waiting to be picked from the plant







sleeping children




two new gardening books




and an empty calendar

spring in Oklahoma

It's 9:30am on Monday morning and I just sat down after a whirlwind morning of showers, breakfasts, lunch packing and phone calls.

With five in the family, our morning is a carefully timed and executed routine. Hubby rises first around 5:00am for coffee and a bit of solitude. Our lovely daughter is up at 5:45am for her shower and middle son is off to walk the dogs and give all of the animals their breakfast. Meanwhile, hubby is in the exercise room on the treadmill or the bowflex doing his daily workout. I am awakened by the sounds of him shaving about 6:30am. I get up to prepare breakfasts and lunches. By 7:00am the three of them are out the door. The little guy gets up about 8:00am and walks out the door about 8:40am.

This morning, we all slept until 7:15am. Our power was out after the storms came through last night.

I'm a bit of a night owl. Last night while reading after everyone else had turned in, I heard the Emergency Broadcast System's familiar beep sound over a rerun of Medium. The message scrolling across the top of the screen indicated tornado watches for a couple of counties to the west. Being a lifelong Okie, I ignored it and continued reading while Patricia Arquette dreamed in the background. Two or three messages later, I was becoming quite annoyed and looked up to see a neighboring county added to the list. By now it was 11:30pm. I could hear the storm beginning to pick up outside, heavy rain pelting the glass and the brick on the north side of our home while the wind whistled and roared. Hubby got up for a bottle of water, saw the message scrolling across the screen, and went back to bed. I heard our television go on in the bedroom, so I turned off the living room lights and television and joined him. By midnight the first storm had passed and we went to sleep.

An hour and a half later, heavy hail woke us. We turned the television on just in time for the power to flicker off for a few minutes. Quickly, the television came back on. Another storm was approaching. Earlier it looked like this storm would miss us, but we were now directly in its path. When a funnel was sighted four miles south and three miles west of us, we dressed and gathered candles, flashlights and a radio. Just as we were leaving our room to wake the children, our power went out.

We woke the children and had them dress by the light of a flashlight or candle. Hubby insists on full dress, complete with socks and shoes. I'm sure he's right, but the optimist in me always wants to throw on a robe and slippers.

I lit a candle and walked to the kitchen for batteries. Every blessed radio in this house requires a 9 volt battery. I had a package of two left over from changing the smoke detectors' batteries when the time changed. Batteries went into three separate radios from three separate rooms in the house. Nothing. Nada. Not one of them would come on. We were in the dark with the children, the cats, and the dogs with no way to hear how close the wall cloud might be or if the storm had passed.

About 2:30am, the wind and rain died down, calming to a mere whisper. I walked onto the porch in the dark while hubby went into the garage to find some news on his car radio. The only signs of life in the entire neighborhood were disembodied, moving lights. Against the dark, hulking shadows of the homes, and the dark, cloudy sky, lights moved here and there as our neighbors ventured out to check the storm as well. The floating lights reminded me of an eerie legend from my childhood, the ghost lights of the town of Alluwe, which had been flooded during the creation of Oologah Lake.

I went inside and hubby met me in the hallway. The storm had passed and we could all go back to bed.

The boys had a bit of trouble settling down, and decided to sleep together in one room. We are well outside city limits, and with the power out in the neighborhood, the night was black. The air felt close with no fans circulating the air or creating the customary night noise. It was some time before I was able to fall asleep.

The electricity came back on this morning around 7:15am. We woke from heavy sleep, the kind of groggy awakening you have after spending a restless night. We sped through our morning routine and while the children waited for hubby to drive them to school, we turned on the news. We saw pictures of that intersection four miles south and three miles west. One house had no roof, another had the garage door rolled up like a blind. A mother with her children had escaped after hiding in the laundry room of their brick home while they watched the roof blow away. "It's just stuff. We're alive," she said, looking at a child no more than three, held in her arms. "That's all that matters."

We had no idea a tornado ever touched the ground.