Will I Ever Post Again?

Since the arrival of the Poopettes one week ago, I've been busy looking after them, trying to do daily chores without stepping on them at every turn and ensuring they don't become puppy chow for our larger dogs.

My daily routine hasn't been very routine in the past week and I barely have time to read and/or comment on many blogs, let alone trying to write a post myself, so I apologize for lack of appearances.

Back in November, I won a calendar in a  'name that cheese' contest from Nicky and friends at We Work For Cheese.  The calendar contains recipes for cheese dishes, one for each month of the year, and I promised Nicky that I would try each and every recipe.  January called for cheese rolls.  Great.  My bread making skills are severely lacking, particularly in the moist and rising departments (not a euphemism).  I followed the recipe to the letter but the rolls didn't come out as cheesy as I was expecting although that could have been my fault in determining if it was supposed to be a 1/4 cup of cheese, grated or a 1/4 cup of grated cheese:  in baking, this apparently makes a difference.  Also, bread does not like me - if I merely pick up a glazing brush, my bread falls even before I get near it with the egg wash.  The rolls were good, bigger than they should have been, but they dried out after a couple of days.  I blame it on the climate and our sea level or, maybe, I just suck at it.  No worries, I'm looking forward to this month's recipe:  Chocolate Cappuccino Cheesecake!

In other news, I recently won an award for a caption contest hosted by vicki (aka vickilikesfrogs), a very funny and snarkastic blogger, at Glitter Frog.  Her contest is presently on sabbatical but will return soon. Check her out when you can.

Thank-you vicki!!

We are experiencing a mini heatwave right now - I am sooo not looking forward to summer - but I feel sorry for all of you who are stuck in the cold weather, particularly those in the northeast, for having to endure all of that snow.  So, in the hope of bringing a bit of levity to your situation, my cousin (who is a 'custodian' himself) sent me this link:  Janitor's Revenge.  I hope it makes you smile.

Now, I have to get back to chores.
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Turdpulls

Today is Theme Thursday - Pets.

I wasn't going to participate this week as I had nothing prepared, but someone hopped in this morning, bringing back a fond memory.

A few years ago our pool would get green from lack of maintenance - okay,  MY lack of maintenance - and frogs would come by and breed, leaving their clutches of eggs floating around in the pool. Soon thereafter, the eggs developed into tadpoles and since I didn't have the heart to shock the pool and kill them, I scooped up as many as I could and deposited them into an aquarium, complete with gravel, a water filter and food.

They soon matured into these tiny little frogs that were no bigger than a pinkie finger's nail and would hug the sides of the aquarium for days.  When they were large enough they eventually escaped, making me chase the little buggers all over the house.  Upon recapture, the froglets were liberated to our garden.

These rescues went on for a couple of years, but I had since learned to cover the aquarium with a screen.

Once again, breeding season has arrived and every night we are inundated with the very loud and obnoxious croaks of their mating rituals.  Oy.

This morning, while having my coffee, I hear this moist thud on the floor not four feet away.  At first I thought  a small bird had smucked itself into the door and fell inside.  A closer inspection of the thud revealed it to be a large frog.  Once again, I had to chase the larger little bugger around the house, this time to save it from becoming the latest "toy" for one of our dogs, who was also not four feet away from it's arrival.  This particular dog doesn't play with the usual dog toys, oh no!  Instead, she chases lizards and cats and plays with coconuts, brooms, watering cans and pretty much anything else that may be within reach.  I once tried to get her to fetch a tennis ball.  She ran away from it.

I let the frog go in the garden and I thought to myself, "I wonder if it was one of those I had saved and came back to thank me".  Probably not, but I would like to think so.