And the Odds Are?

A million to one according to Huffinington Post! Can you imagine this happening:

"On the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on Sunday, horses wearing the numbers 9, 1 and 1 won the first three races at Belmont.

The New York City track served as one of the staging areas for workers and emergency vehicles in the days following the destruction of the World Trade Center."

Wow. Some things just leave one with questions and no chance for the answers!

9/11 A Decade Later

What is an American?

"An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan.

"An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.

"An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.

"An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

"An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.

"An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.

"When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country!

"As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.

"The national symbol of America, The Statue ofLiberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America.

"Some of them were working in the Twin Towersthe morning of September 11, 2001, earning a better life for their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.

"So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American."

This has been around the net for some time now but then the attack on the USA was 10 years ago today, September 11th. I'm posting it on my blog because it "touches" me. And it also touches me because it was written by an Australian dentist as an editoral (supposedly and I have hope that is true;).

In honor and memory of those who were lost, all who lost loved ones, and all those involved, we won't forget and our prayers are always sent and at the ready.

Thank you to all who are allies, friends, and willing associated with the US who have supported and prayed.

US Government

This isn't a political blog and I do hate getting into politics on various groups, but I have to share this insightful quote. It's not based on political affiliations, but rather the government's getting lost on the wrong path the last several presidential cycles. It's not based on current presidential status, but more to the WHOLE government with Congress being as integral a part as any current or past president.

This gave me a moment to ponder the whole fiasco of the last 10-15 years and thought you might find it worthy of thought too.

"The US no longer does decisions. It can neither stop the drug traffic nor legalize it. It can neither win wars nor abandon them, neither make money nor stop spending it, neither stop immigration nor assimilate the immigrants. Washington can beat its thumb with a hammer, yes, and notice that it hurts, but it can't stop beating its thumb. That would take a decision, and Washington doesn't do decisions." - Fred Reed

Interesting, right? Imagine if we didn't have political parties, but rather individuals who are there to serve without being hand-tied to a party!

IRIDESCENT RAINBOW CLOUD

"Pictured behind this darker cloud, is a pileus iridescent cloud, a group of water droplets that have a uniformly similar size and so together diffract different colors of sunlight by different amounts. The above image was taken just after the picturesque sight."

Have any of you ever seen anything like this in person? On tv or elsewhere? I always have to wonder when it's on the net but yet with this I am also thinking how totally amazing it would be to see it or even something similar in person. And, being it came from the net I have to wonder if it's "untouched" or enhanced. I'd love to think of this being real as it would be just phenomenal to experience.

So rather than just sit and look at it, I decided to share it with you. It came from an internet group for nature pics. I have no idea who it belongs to or who took the pic. I also don't know where it was photographed. I'd love to know the location at least!

It just "blows me away" to think of how it would look in person! Nature has a lot a miracles!

Happy Labor Day!

Satin Balls - The Original Recipe for Dogs

Satin Balls - The Original Recipe for Dogs!

Source: Wellpet.com

Ingredients
10 pounds hamburger meat [the cheapest kind]
1 lg. box of Total cereal
1 lg. box oatmeal
1 jar of wheat germ
1 1/4 cup veg oil
1 1/4 cup of unsulfured molasses
10 raw eggs AND shells
10 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients together, much like you would a meatloaf.
Divide into 10 quart freezer bags and freeze. Thaw as needed and feed raw!

Uses/Remarks from some who have used them:
"All my dogs go crazy over this stuff...but you have to be careful, it will put weight on the dogs pretty fast if you feed enough..."
"...It will put on the weight, make the coats soft and blue black (on black dogs at least, that's all I have)."
"The dogs stop all the itching and chewing at their coats/skin, their eyes get this bright look and the energy level goes out the roof ..."

Comments
Per the information received after having the Satin Balls recipe checked by several vets/labs:
Satin Balls is a total canine diet. It can be feed by itself or as a supplement, for however long you wish. My dogs have been on Satin Balls for over a year; the only time that I have fed it alone is when I had a sick dog needing to be built up or an underweight dog that I plan on showing.
The only problem with feeding it by itself is figuring out the amount. It will put weight on a dog in a few days... that's why it is so great to feed just before a show. If you have a dog that is in good weight, but you just want to build coat/endurance, you would have to figure out how much to feed (cal per kg), or you would end up with a fat dog in a very short time...
"I have been playing with the recipe. I now use the Knox Joint Gelatin instead of the plain Knox unflavored gelatin. Since this is high in Vitamin C and protein, and is good for the joints, it would be good for the dogs. They don't seem to mind the added flavor.
I am also adding Flaxseed oil.They probably don't need the added oil, but so far I have not seen it hurt anything..."

Shar's 2 cents here! Everything above came with the recipe!

I have used a similar recipe of these for training treats. I received them from a friend and they were frozen in tiny (teaspooon-sized) balls. That size doesn't need thawed so they are neater to "dispense". My dogs LOVED them and got so they were in the way of the freezer/refrigerator door being closed. They also ran for the kitchen when they heard it open! Tip: Freeze on a baking sheet and then put in freezer bags after frozen. That way you can always grab a couple as needed and not have the challenge of breaking them apart.

The wellpet.com is a good site. Every now and then I find something that I had been keeping an eye out for. This was one of them - a recipe for the hamburger dog treats. I have an older girl who isn't holding her weight and I wanted to find something along this line to give her to boost her protein and nutrition. I'll be adding some protein powder and vitamin supplement to about a 1/3rd of the recipe as she needs it. The other 3 don't need the added nutrition.

Murphy here, would enjoy some frozen treats right now with our 90* temp!

Bee Fuddling Bee Facts

This looks to have come thru a newsletter or such and I've not found the source to give credit yet. But, September is National Honey Month. It's time to celebrate the hard work of honey bees. Our honey bees have had a hard few years so maybe we should take a moment to give them some recognition and appreciation! IF you know the source of this, I'd like to know!

Bee amazed by some bee-fuddling facts

 Bees have been courting flowers for 30 million years.
 A honey bee visits 50 to 100 flowers during a collection trip.
 It takes approximately 12,000 bee hours to produce a single jar of honey.
 A honey bee can fly for up to six miles, and as fast as 15 miles per hour,
 Honey bees consume about 17-20 pounds of honey to produce each pound of beeswax.

Here are the recommended references that came with the article:
Bees and Honey: From Flower to Jar, by Michael Weiler
Robbing Bees: A Biography of Honey, by Holley Bishop
Check out the film Colony, to learn more about the way commercial beekeepers farm bees and the challenge of CCD, Colony Collapse Disorder.

September National Month Celebrations:

Children's Good Manners Month
Natl Biscuit Month
Natl Bourbon Heritage Month
Natl Breakfast Month
Natl Chicken Month
Natl Cholesterol Awareness Month
Natl Eat An Extra Dessert Month
Natl Honey Month
Natl Mushroom Month
Natl Organic Harvest Month
Natl Papaya Month
Natl Potato Month
Natl Preparedness Month
Natl Rice Month
Natl Sewing Month