Thank-you Eileen! I'm sort of around these days. Working everyday as always. Developed shoulder problems last summer and have been on meds that whack me into another world. I hate amitriptyline which helps with the pain but gives me crazy dreams and makes me cry over nothing. I still have my job but work is a hostile place these days. Plant Manager shields me from most of it but the day he is reassigned I expect to be fired. I woke up today and remembered that I forgot to initial a document yesterday... I may be written up and suspended for that today. In better news I have a new dog in the house... Maddie. I'd put up a picture but villagephoto seems to be history. Maddie is a Lab/Collie mix female. When she was little last spring I handed her to Dolly and said, "your puppy not mine". They bonded instantly... not a whimper or lonesome puppy whine ever. Maddie is almost full grown now and has a wonderful "big dog" bark... no doubt when someone is coming up the driveway. On the cat side of the house Leelee has moved in with me. Leelee is a 10y/o gray tabby girl. She was raised by a teenage girl that moved to a place where animals are not allowed. Leelee loves/expects to cuddle in my lap while I'm on the net. Many mornings I wake to Leelee having her head on my pillow... somedays cheek to cheek. Impossible not to love Leelee. About it for my world... not much other then work, animals, and health problems. My cooking has suffered... almost living on tunafish and refried beans. Almost time for me to get ready for work now... : ) lyra

Here I am. Thank-you Nancy for giving me a pointer in this direction. I'm fine and I'm not. Off work at the moment with health issues. Hopefully nothing but I'm having problems. Doc found my thyroid out of whack a few months back and that was a major stride forward. Mostly healthy enough to make it to work and have a drink after work. Work is half the problem. Mostly stress issues that I suspect are not helping my personal health. Telling myself that I'm strong enough to beat the stress. Expected blow-back from my getting control of the chemicals situation. I think I have control... or more so then in the past. Some new issues but all I've had to do is e-mail and things get taken care of. That is all I ask as a safety person is that things get looked at and a rational decision made. Some recent personal attacks that I have weathered fairly well so far. Ahh... work place drama! Some serious consideration to going off on disability. Almost enough to live on... almost. Kitties are all fine. Favorite moved to the garage and has pet door access to the great outdoors. She turned into a world-class mouser... pity the small rodents in her sights. Leelee moved in and her former owner was a young girl. Leelee has this whole surrogate baby syndrome going on so she sleeps with her head on my pillow and lays on her back in the crook of my arm. Impossible not to love her. Yoko is getting old and spends more time sleeping in warm spots then I care for. Annie and Jessy remain litter mate close and are seldom apart from each other. Three watermelons on the vine in my garden this week! : ) lyra

Love venison and live on it when I can. I'm guessing you mean whitetail venison... mule deer and elk are different meats all together. My current lust is cajun venison. Hot frying pan of bacon grease and toss in venison coated with cajun spice. I like mine rather rare... it will turn to jerky if you go for well done (which is not all bad). If it is home butchered watch close for any stray hair. One stray hair and the whole pan will take on a oily gamey taste. The hair has a protective oil that keeps the deer dry when they run around outside. Home butchered is often best given a quick rinse with cold running water before it hits the pan... I don't rinse but then I have years practice butchering so no stray hair or other booboo. If you pan fry it and it strikes you as gamey I highly recommend A-1 steak sauce... that should keep it edible to even the most sensitive taste buds. I don't recommend tomato based dishes unless you eat venison regular. There is a chemical in many meats that gives the "gamey" taste. After awhile your sense of tastes adjusts so that it is not remarkable. Tomato will bring out that taste and highlight it... as in venison chili. I eat venison chili but vension is regular table fare for me. My dad always likes a stroganoff dish. Fry venison, make cream sauce, stir in cooked noodles (kluski!). My grandfather's favorite burger was half venison and half pork. I don't recommend boiling venison. It won't be ruined and I boil scraps from butchering for my animals. I have tasted boiled venison... not bad. My cat Tuna loved it that way and could eat her own weight in just a couple days. For human consumption you want the meat juices to get on the hot pan and turn to a sweet brown carmel... the browning on meat. Buffalo venison I don't recommend as anything other then ground meat. It is so lean it starts shoe leather tough and gets tougher. Elk is one of the finest meats in the world. More fat then whitetail/buff so it can be panfried. The sweetest and mildest of the venison family that I have tried. Mule Deer are fairly fatty with a beef like texture. I find it stringy but tastey. So... don't let it sit in the freezer! Get out a package and make something. If it tastes bad give it to the dog and try again. Letting it sit until freezer burned is a waste... it won't improve with age. : ) lyra

I agree with you michael. I hate posing for pictures too. It is nice to see a few more posts on this topic. I spend all day working on computers that i don't always want to be near one when i get home. Anyway, I am a male, and i love my powertools. My favorite has got to be the recipricating saw. That is why the first part of my name, the second part came from my youngest daughter. Someone asked her where i worked and without missing a beat told them i was the computer geek for the schools. She wants to be one too when she gets older. I already have both of them trained for running all the wires and cables for my house. The are still young enough to not realize that this is really work. lol. Well hope you all had a great day!! Mike