Come as You Are Party: Meet the Critters of the Grover Hotel

There are 3 cats here at the Grover Hotel. Giorgio is the oldest. He is 17. His former human family were jerks who had him declawed and then dropped him at the shelter when they got a new cat and Giorgio behaved like a normal cat and hissed at the newcomer.

Tara is 10 years old. She was born on 9 September 2009. I adopted her and her little half-brother or cousin at the same time. Sadly, he had to be put to sleep due to kidney failure on his 6th birthday, 17 July 2015. 

I've never gotten over losing him and I have a tattoo in his memory on my left shoulder.

Bart is 9 years old. He was adopted after Giorgio's housemate got out of the apartment that my son was living in at the time and we were never able to find her. 

Giorgio was lonely and we had seen Bart at the shelter while looking for Tori. Since Bart and Tara became housemates they have enjoyed playing together. They are evenly matched and love to roughhouse and chase each other.

For those who haven't had the displeasure of virtually meeting me previously, I'm Cie, AKA the Ornery Old Lady. I'm a former home health nurse, and caregiver, now disabled. I live here at the Grover Hotel with my son Michael, who will be 30 in May. 

My son is a creative person who enjoys working with his hands. He does woodcarving, primarily chip carving, which is a relief style. If you have a design in mind, you can email me at chartley65@gmail.com and I'll put you in touch with him.

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Ghost Town Grover may seem gruff at first, but he's just protective of the ole Grover Hotel. Don't tell him, but he's just about the un-scariest ghost you'll ever meet.

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Cactus Clem is one of a kind. He's a mutant cactus man. He doesn't eat solid food, but he sure does love to drink, and he ain't picky about what he's drinking. Beer, ditch water, lemonade, whiskey, white lightning, more beer, it's all the same to Clem!

Do not challenge Clem to a drinking contest. You will lose. Alcohol doesn't get Clem drunk. He just likes the taste.

I hope you've enjoyed meeting the people and critters that reside here at the Grover Hotel. Feel free to stop by anytime. Our virtual home is open 24-7!

~Cie the Ornery Old Lady~

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Tackle It NEWsday (On Wednesday) With the Ornery Old Lady: Make Your Own Hot Cocoa Mix and More with Living On a Dime

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Greetings to all our readers! I generally do not make New Years Resolutions because those have become inexorably tied to dreadful diet culture ideals and that gods-awful mantra "NEW YOU IN 52!" Yes, unless I die, my body will have all-new cells in 52 weeks. I believe we generally have all new cells every three months. So there will also be a "new me" in 12, at least on a cellular level. And if I do die, my body will be turned into ashes, thus giving it a completely new form, and I will become a free-floating full-torso apparition. Just sayin'.

As Grover says, we don't do none of that New Years Resolution nonsense 'round here.

Grover has a pretty big aversion to Resolutions. Last time he thought a Resolution was a good idea, he ended up getting run over by a train. However, he did meet his best friend, Cactus Clem, so it wasn't entirely bad.

Cactus Clem has never bothered with New Years Resolutions because he's a happy-go-lucky feller. 

However, I made a discovery recently which changed all of our minds.

This year, we resolve to make more recipes from the Dining on a Dime cookbook! And you should too.

At this point, you may be saying to yourself:

"Now, hold on just a gol-dang minute there, Ornery! Jest what in the flamin' heck is this Dinin' on a Dime Cookbook? That sounds fishy to me!"

Well, that's what Grover said anyway, but you have to keep in mind that he was a miner during the Gold Rush, and he's used to people trying to grift him.

Now, you may wonder why Cactus Clem has an opinion about this, considering that he is a mutant cactus man who drinks his nourishment.

Well...

Let me introduce you to the best gol-durn hot chocolate mix you will ever drink. It doesn't come in a box of little envelopes or even an economy-size cylinder. You make it yourself! Before you tell me I must have been nipping at Cuzzin Hildy-Bob and Virgil-Joe's moonshine, let me tell you that it will take you less than ten minutes to make this stuff, and you will save a lot of money compared to even the economy-size cylinders of hot cocoa mix.

Here is what you will need:

10 + 2/3 cups dry milk

6 ounces powdered non-dairy creamer

16 ounces Nesquick powder

1/3 cup powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients in a big bowl. I recommend either a flexible plastic bowl or a plastic bowl with a spout on the side for pouring into your storage container. I store mine in a big covered plastic pitcher. 

This recipe makes a big batch of very delicious cocoa, which should last for a long time. I can vouch for the deliciousness. I can't vouch for how long it will last if Cactus Clem drops by your house for a visit.

To drink the cocoa, heat one cup (8 ounces) of water. Pour in half a cup (4 ounces) of the cocoa mix. Stir it up and drink it down! I recommend using a big mug. You can top it with whipped cream, Cool Whip, or mini marshmallows if you like. 

This is just one of the many fantastic, money-saving recipes you will find in the Dining on a Dime cookbook. Since it's an e-book, I believe you can order it wherever in the world you may be. If I'm wrong about that, please kindly inform me of the error of my mistake.

The Dining on a Dime cookbook is only $19.99 for a wealth of recipes. But if you're not convinced that you want to spend that much, why not give their FREE e-book of 22 recipes a try? You'll find it in the sidebar on their main page. It contains a nice sampling of the sorts of recipes you can expect in the cookbook.

For those who prefer a physical cookbook, there is one in the works, which is due to be released this month. This link will allow you to read a description and pre-order the book. I'm honestly not sure about international shipping. The books are printed in the United States.

To sum things up, I recommend the Dining on a Dime cookbook. It is full of awesome recipes! Click the link to order it. 

If you love instant hot cocoa but hate the high prices, try the hot cocoa recipe in this post! You can find the fixins in Grover's General Store at the end of this post! Note that you might be able to get some of the ingredients cheaper at your local grocery store, so check the prices. But you probably can't beat the cost of the 2-quart plastic pitcher. I paid $7.99 for the Rubbermaid 2-quart pitcher at the grocery store. The very same one is just $2.99 in the search grid below.

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors on Pixabay

Ornery Reviews Books and Stuff

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Ghost Town Grover sez: "This here cookbook is one of them scientific miracles! I can't believe you kin make good food so cheap. Ornery dang near fainted when she seen this here list of what things costed in a minin' camp back in the day. Yes sir, that's why I try to make sure the stuff in my General Store is affordable to regular folks, not jest the rich."

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Cactus Clem Sez: "I'll drink durn near anything, but I love me some hot chocolate in the winter an' lemonade in the summer. Y'all kin add in some moonshine iffen ya wanna give it a little extra kick!"

Carpe Diem #1773: Tanka: Bury Me on the Lone Prairie

Image Copyright Aubrey Danielle

when my time is done

I want my last breaths to be

on the lone prairie

not in a hospital room

I leave with the whistling wind

~Cie~

Notes:

You happier chappies are probably saying "ugh, there goes that gloomy old Cie with another gloomy poem." But I don't think this poem is gloomy. I think it's real.

I worked in long-term care for most of the 25 years that I was in the medical field. I think that people who work in this setting tend to become very adamant that we do not want to end up dying in a medicalized setting.

My father died in a hospice center. It was a peaceful place with a spacious, comfortable room. He was in constant pain and losing his capacity to think and remember things. It was much better than being in a hospital or nursing home. But for myself, I don't want my end to be even that medicalized. I want to look out the window and see my Lone Prairie before I rise up and walk away on the wind that constantly blows in these parts.

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Ghost Town Grover Sez:

"Dagnabit, Ornery, ya morbid ole cuss! Ya done went and made Cactus Clem gloomy with all yer chatter about croakin'. Now, I know I'm a ghost, but I've been a ghost fer near to 110 years. We ghosts like to whoop it up on Halloween night, but I ain't gonna be doin' much whoopin' it up if I've gotta be tryin' to cheer Cactus Clem up. So, what the heck are you gonna do about it?"

Image by nancy sticke from Pixabay

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Cactus Clem Sez:

"Aw, thanks Ornery! Them ghost puppies is jest the thing to cheer a feller!"

Happy Halloween from the Grover Hotel Gang