January 7th I took my kitty, Vega, to a discounted spay/neuter clinic here in Knoxville, TN; our regular vet charged double the price. Here is a photo of Vega right after surgery.
A few days after her surgery, she started to develop a hard lump underneath her incision, which caused great concern. I called Fix-a-Pet and they said it was normal, but if her condition changed to call my regular vet. Gee, thanks. I’ve had my share of female kittens spayed, and I’ve also seen surgeries done when I worked as a vet tech; I’ve never seen any lump of the sort. Notice above, Vega has no lump. Below shows the firm, non-painful swelling under her incision.
I called my regular vet, just to pre-warn them that I may be rushing her in at any moment, should she become listless or stop eating, etc. In the meantime, I looked this lump subject up on the internet, in which I found the best (and re-assuring) advice:
Question: Is this post abdominal surgery (i.e. spay) lump “normal”?
Surgical closure of the incision
For traditional abdominal surgeries, most vets do what is called a 3-layer closure. The first (inner-most) layer is the strength layer. This closure is sutures up the body wall. The second layer is the subcutaneous layer; the connective tissue (and fat) between the body wall and skin. The final layer, the one everyone sees, is the skin closure.
Pets will often lick or chew at the suture line. Some animals just a few times, other animals will be obsessive about it; possibly removing sutures in the process. Cats are particularly adept at removing sutures prematurely (before the recommended 10-14 day time).
It is important to note that many vets bury the sutures with suture material that dissolves, so there are no sutures to remove. Additionally, some vets use surgical skin glue to speed closure and healing. Your vet will give specific post-surgery instructions upon discharge.
What is “normal” for post-surgical healing?
This varies of course, with the suture materials used, the doctor’s technique, and the patient. It is very important to keep your pet from licking and chewing and to keep your pet physically quiet (no vigorous activity) while healing during the 10 - 14 days post surgery time. Any redness, painful swelling, and drainage should be mentioned to your veterinarian right away, especially if your pet is listless and not eating.
A lump can be “normal,” sometimes
A firm, non-painful swelling under the incision that appears a few days or a week after surgery is fairly common, particularly in cats. This the body’s way of working on the sutures, called a suture reaction. Some animals “react”, most don’t at all. These types of lumps can take several days or weeks to shrink to normal. If you notice a lump, call your veterinarian. They may want to check it out and make note of it.
When a post-surgery lump is not OK
If you see any redness, swelling, pain, or drainage from the incision, or your pet is listless and not eating, this may be serious - call your veterinarian as soon as possible.
In Vega’s case, she turned out to be okay. Her lump went away about a week after I noticed it. Just wanted to post about this, just in case fellow kitty momma’s were concerned with the same issue.
Early January, 2010, we had a light dusting of snow here in Knoxville, TN; roughly an inch. The birds came out of the woodwork, desperate for food. At the time I only had one feeding station, so I added a second feeder, about 30 yards away, in the brushy area of our backyard. Several “new to me” birds introduced themselves, including an Eastern Towhee, a Dark-eyed Junco, a Woodthrush and the ever-so-frisky Carolina Wren.
Eastern Towhee
I dug out several of my backyard birding books looking for what particular foods these “new” birds ate; I wanted to keep them around! One bird in specific, I noticed the Carolina Wren constantly hopping around my main feeder. The wren’s diet is mainly made up of insects, but they will eat seeds and berries, although rather infrequently. Reading that many birds love suet - and I figured it being winter - what a perfect time to try a homemade version!
There are several suet recipes readily available online as well as cheap suet blocks for sale in almost every local grocery store; however, I simply used whatever I could find around the house, since I didn’t want to wait to go to market. Plus, I was iced in and couldn’t drive for the day.
Easy, Simple Peanut Butter Suet
1.) Place 1/2 cup Criso (or shortening of your choice) and 1/2 cup peanut butter in a saucepan and melt on low heat, stirring occasionally.
2.) Add 1 & 1/2 cups plain cornmeal. I used the Jiffy Cornbread from the box. Stir until combined.
3.) Next I added a handful of Quaker Oatmeal, sunflower seeds, craisins and some dried blueberries. You may also add raisins, apple chunks, bread crumbs, bird seed, mixed fruit, nuts, grated orange peels or any other bird friendly foods. Stir again until combined.
4.) Pour into a plastic container lined with aluminum foil (I used a cool whip container). Place in the fridge to cool. It won’t take long to harden.
5.) Once cooled, cut into squares and place directly into your suet basket or cage. Refrigerate any leftovers. Double recipe for an extra winter supply.
Melted Homemade Suet
Hardened Homemade Suet
Not only did this recipe attract Carolina Wrens, but the Downy Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse and several chickadees enjoyed snacking on it as well! Not only was it a treat for them, but a treat for me to watch!
I’ve posted a short (not so great quality) video of a Carolina Wren happily enjoying some sunflower seeds, as well as the homemade peanut butter suet. So fun!
This is the third or fourth cake I’ve made from Sky High, which is the Halloween Sweet Potato Cake - and it’s delicious! This cake is probably my favorite cake I’ve made thus far.
While I can’t post every recipe, I am going to explain a couple of alterations I had to make. First of all, I set my oven a little below what the directions called for. My pans are dark pans - and I have an oven that tends to bake a little bit darker than usual. I always “watch” my oven when it comes to a new recipe. You don’t want to waste/burn all of your hard work away!
Also, I mixed the egg whites after I mixed the other ingredients. I found that when I mixed the egg whites when the directions called for it, when it was time to add them, they had “fallen”. And this is probably my fault entirely, as I am a little slow, as well as a perfectionist (which causes me to re-read the directions a million times)! I still added the egg whites the way they were, and I think my cakes “fell” a little (see photo), but again, they still tasted wonderfully.
When the recipe suggests piping an edge of frosting on the cake (see my photo above), do so. My cream sauce and icing was a little thin, BUT I did leave my butter and cream cheese out for a couple of hours while making this cake. I know the recipe calls for room temperature, but I think I went a little overboard. The piping does help keep the orange cream frosting from running. Also, don’t overfill the middle, or it will run out, making it difficult to ice the outside of the cake. After successfully icing the entire cake, I put it in the fridge (covered in a cake pedestal) and the icing was perfect.
Last, I couldn’t find my food processor to blend the sweet potato. I baked the potato for an hour, which turned out perfectly; however, trying to use a blender doesn’t work. Well, our shotty blender we received as a gift doesn’t work, that is. The sweet potato is suppose to be purified, but I went ahead and just blended it on high with my hand mixer and went on with the recipe. I’m not sure how the texture difference is suppose to be, but again, it made no difference in the delicious taste of the cake. The cake was dense, yet light, had the perfect moisture, and the icing was the best icing, so far, the book has called for. A must try, this recipe.
I can’t wait to try pumpkin next!
Check out Alisa’s work in person at: Loveless Cafe. I’m only three hours away and can’t wait to visit!
Micrathena gracilis is a spider in the family Araneidae, commonly known as the Spined Micrathena. The dark-spotted, whitish abdomen surrounded by 5 pairs of black-tipped spines distinguishes the female of this common woodland spider.
I’ve followed this spider, daily, since July 10th, 2009. I assume it’s a female (the black tipped spines mentioned earlier), as males do not construct webs after attaining sexual maturity. Reading about this particular spider, and not much information is to be found, these spiders are known to be found in woodland and dense forest areas. However, this little lady has taken up residence on our front porch, connecting her web from the porch post to a shrub, which is about four feet from the ground. She’s an orb weaver, which means she re-creates her web daily.
“The female’s web is a small orb, 3.0 – 7.5 inches in diameter, typically three to seven feet above the ground in the understory. The viscid spiral may be vertical or sloped skyward up to 45 degrees off vertical. Webs are found in large open spaces in the shaded understory, where they are exposed to a diversity of flying insect prey. Females rest in the open hub during daylight, sensing vibrations from prey striking the web. They hang head down in the center of the web, with the abdomen horizontal and parallel to the ground. The brown and yellow undersurface of the abdomen faces upward and blends with ground litter and vegetation. The light colored upper surface of the abdomen faces downward and camouflages the spider against the light blotches of the canopy. The orb is renewed daily, but the triangular or rectangular silk frame may persist for days or weeks in the same position. At dusk, the female ingests virtually every strand of the web except frame threads, on which she remains until morning. She rebuilds the orb at dawn.” - Anthropod Museum, University of Arkansas
The webs are selective for prey size, retaining mostly flies larger than 3 mm, even though most insects striking the web are smaller. Females are slow moving and almost clumsy, allowing many insects to escape their webs. Of the insects retained by the web, the spiders elect to attack and consume mostly larger flies. About two-thirds of the prey are flies. Beetles, wasps, bees, ants and other similar insects make up most of the remainder of the diet. Unlike other Araneidae, the spined micrathena bites it prey first, then wraps it in silk.
Every morning when I go outside to feed the birds, I see her. The bird food is stored right next to her web. This morning I didn’t see her and fear she may have been plucked out of her web by a hungry bird. Her weaving was a bit messy when I observed it this morning; hopefully she’s hiding - maybe just had a bad night.
July 4th, 2009 marks the year anniversary of our house being listed for sale in Knoxville, TN. This is the story of how Frank Goswitz, Knoxville’s Remax, changed our lives.
I posted a similar post, at my (old blog), regarding Remax’s Frank Goswitz back when he was still our real estate agent. This was back in September or October, 2008. He demanded that I remove the post, which I did. We were just glad he knew how we felt about what happened to us. The fact that he found the post and emailed October 16th, 2008, was amazing. He must google his name daily for self-inflation.
He emailed: “Remove your slanderous blog immediately.”
This time, I am not going to remove the post. Two reasons why I am not, maybe three:
1.) Freedom of speech.
2.) People need to know what a dis-honest, lying, uncaring person Frank Goswitz is.
3.) According to the Tennessee Real Estate Commission complaint form, number 3 states:
Please be advised that all information you submit to the TREC will be a matter of public record and as such, subject to disclosure pursuant to the Open Records Law. In Tennessee, the Open Records Law requires that any and all documents received by TREC be made available to anyone who requests such files and/or documents. This includes, without limitation, the news media, respondents, the courts, attorneys and any member of the general public.
This post does not include anything different from the complaint being submitted to the TREC, which grants me permission, and a duty, to post such information on my website and on the internet.
Let’s get started. FYI: This is going to be a pretty long post, being both therapeutic to me and hopefully informative to anyone who reads it.
July 4th, 2008: Listed our home with ReMax, Frank Goswitz as our agent
August 12th, 2008: Signed a Confirmation of Agency Status, which states Frank is Janet’s agent. He never told us he was working as her agent. We didn’t realize it until later in the process, which proves to READ WHAT YOU ARE SIGNING. Frank should have told us he was representing her. That’s a big one at the TREC. In the future, I would never work with an agent representing both the Buyer and Seller. In our case, it was such a conflict of interest, because he continuously told us he had no idea what was going on with her.
August 13th, 2008: Negotiate with Buyer, Buyer changes mind, due to roof not being brand new (and we can’t afford to replace it).
August 19th, 2008: Signed a contract with a Buyer. This is where it gets completely complicated and misleading. Closing set for September 12, 2008 at 2:00pm.
Frank, representing both parties, which we weren’t aware of until about half way through closing, wanted us to give, so he could take, take, take. Why we EVER signed this contract was beyond me. Like I said, read, read, read, negotiate, negotiate, negotiate and never settle. We were so anxious in moving to Arizona, we weren’t “on our guard”, which we should have been. The contract consisted of the following:
- $77,500 was the amount offered.
- Seller to contribute $4650 towards closing costs
- Seller to pay Nehemiah Grant of $2335 plus process fee of $499
We learn later, because I called the TREC once we got to Arizona, that the Nehemiah Grant was dissolved and should have never been included in the original contract. The gentleman then sent me to the FHA Mortgage website, where it states the grant was dissolved JULY 30, 2008 by President Bush. Our contract was signed 8/19/2008. I contacted an attorney in Arizona, discussed the situation and he then advised me to contact an attorney in Tennessee; that we had a case. This was not an option at the time, being we were in Arizona.
August 21st, 2008: Had a home inspection. The inspector was from A & H Home Inspection, who was the Buyer’s friend; his name was Jason Garrett. We do not recommend this company for any future Buyer. He’s definitely not thorough at all. | See Report | Since he admitted to not being qualified enough to inspect the roof, the Buyer wanted some estimates regarding the roof being replaced.
Somehow, at this point, we got into negotiating some roofing options. The buyer wanted to finance the replacement of the roof. We went through five estimates, sent over by Frank, $3500 being the cheapest and $7000 being the most expensive. One company didn’t do financing, so we had to go with $4000, I believe.
At this point, we had no idea what was going on. Basically, we had a contract, Frank kept adding more and more expenses to our contract and telling us he’s got some “magic numbers” he’s working with. We never got a straight answer, we never got that magic number, and his assistant was worthless when it came to anything. She told us one thing and Frank told us another.
One of the roof inspectors told us that there was severe hail damage and to call our insurance company to have an estimate done. We had actually had a severe storm on July 21st, which produced pea to penny size hail, and lightning struck a tree across the street. So we called Farmer’s, they came out for an estimate and handed us a check for $3000. The only stipulation was, the roof needed to be fixed within six months, or the money had to be given back.
See video from the July 21st, 2008 storm:
Hail from July 21,2008:
So once Frank found out about this (his assistant wanted our claim number and all of our insurance information), which later turned out to be a bad idea. From this point on, Frank, selfishly, bent over backwards for his client, the Buyer, and repeatedly tried to screw us. We explained so many times that I can’t even count, that the money we got need to go towards our move to Arizona. That was our ONLY way of getting to Arizona. We also had to bring over $1000 to closing, which is ridiculous.
The deal was, the Buyer was going to put a new roof on the house, have it financed. We may have been paying for half, which was included in the house. We have no idea because we never received paperwork and we never got any straight answers.
Two weeks before closing, Frank stops by to put a SOLD sign on the For Sale sign. He’s telling me that it’s pretty much a done deal, everything was fine, that we’re just waiting on paperwork from the Buyer’s husband. I asked what that was about and he said, “I don’t know, I guess he lives out of state. I don’t know the details or anything about it.” First of all, Frank did this all the time. He represented the Buyer and constantly told us he never knew what was going on. Either he was lying, which isn’t hard to believe, or he didn’t do a very good job at finding out information. I specifically asked Frank if this was going to be a problem, waiting on the husband to get the paperwork in. He was like, “nah”. As soon as Frank left, I called me mom and told her, “I bet this is a problem, being that Frank never listens or takes care of anything. I guarantee it.”
September 2th, 2008: Reserved Penske truck. Pickup is 09/10/2008 and price was $1,431.30.
September 5th, 2008: Received an email from Title Partners of ETN to Frank (never use them) - Good Afternoon Frank, I received the title work back on this and everything is good to go on that end. Janet Beckner¢s husband is not local so I have informed the bank that we needed documents early so that I can send the husband the few documents he needs to sign for the closing. Other than that we should be on schedule for the 12th at 2:00pm. Thanks and have a good one.
September 6th, 2008: 6 days before closing, Robert and I have a garage sale for money towards the move, expenses for bills, food, gas, etc. We sold everything we owned: furniture, beds, our brand new dryer, a de-humidifier for the basement, everything we could. We had already put notice in to leave our jobs; I had already left my job in order to pack. Frank’s assistant had the nerve to ask if she could have our hedge trimmer and our washer. We left the washer here for her and she never took it. They did take our cleaning supplies and a table in the basement, though (we left the cleaning supplies for the Buyer). Frank called us to tell us our fridge smelled; it was because we turned the electricity off. Frank wanted to charge us for “cleaning the fridge” (we cleaned it before we left). We told him it smelled because we turned the A/C off and to wad up newspapers and toss them in there, which helps the smell of unplugging a fridge.
September 9th, 2008: Walkthrough set for September 10th. Just received an INCORRECT Settlment Statement, which shows what we need to bring to closing, title fees, closing fees. We had NO idea what to expect at closing.
September 10th, 2008: Pick up truck, internet, phone and cable shut off. Walk through apparently happened. Closing set for Friday, the 12th.
I don’t remember the date of when Frank and his assistant came over, but it was when I was packing - the week of closing. They congratulated me and I asked if they wanted a beer, as a joke, to celebrate. Frank said no, because he was “on the clock”, but his assistant got right in that fridge and popped one open. I asked if closing was 100% and Frank said, “Ask Darlene” and she said, “Definitely 100%”.
September 11th, 2008: Dentist appointment, loading the truck.
September 12th, 2008: More loading the truck, cleaning out the shed, leave at 1:00pm to take some books to McKay’s to sell. We hadn’t had TV, news or radio for three days. We stop to get gas and it’s $4.99. We the lines of people at the gas stations if the world was ending. They said it was because of Hurricane Ike. We’re freaking out over the gas prices and traveling 2000 miles in an 8-12mpg truck at $5.00 a gallon. I run in to grab a newspaper (click each photo to read article):
September 12th, 2008, 1:40pm, 20 minutes to closing: Frank’s ASSISTANT calls to cancel closing, not Frank.
September 12th, 2008, 3:30pm, an hour and a half after closing: We meet at Frank’s office, Robert and I. We meet at Title Partners of ETN and are reassured that they are just waiting for paperwork and that closing should close by Monday. They told us to go ahead and move to Arizona, since we have the truck for 7 days, we could sign our share of the papers and come Monday, the latest, Tuesday, all paperwork should be in order. And the Buyer can sign their part then. Amy at the title agency said she’d mail all of our paperwork. She never did.
September 16th, 2008: We arrive in Arizona. Email Frank. Receive this reply:
Hi Tiffany,
Still waiting on Lender. I checked with them today and hopefully we will get the clear today and close the Buyer’s side tomorrow. I will let you know. Glad you guys made it!
So now we’re told we are waiting on the lender?, which is COMPLETELY opposite of what we were told the delay was for. We were told they were waiting on paperwork from the husband of the Buyer! If that was the case, we wouldn’t have moved. Several phone calls, emails and days later, we’re somehow conned into another closing date with the Buyer, schedule for October 3rd.
September 27th, 2008:We weren’t aware the house was back to having showings. We’re expecting a closing for October 3rd. Frank emails: “We have already put the home back on the market and have had showings here recently. We are hoping to hear good news about Janet’s loan on Monday. We are keeping our fingers crossed.”
October 1st, 2008: Frank refuses to speak to me or email me, due to the several disagreements we shared. Robert has to email him and tell him that he is at work and to email me. We haven’t made our September house payment and October’s is due now. Closing is “sometime” Friday. No answer from Frank, as he won’t tell us anything. September 30th, there’s a fight with Frank, myself and my dad, over the phone. Frank, again, fed us with “it’s the economy, the market is bad, no one is getting financed, blah, blah, blah.” My dad then told Frank, “Frank, my wife and I just sold our house for over $300,000. If you knew about this financing problem, you shouldn’t have had Robert and Tiffany move.”
We also have another offer.
October 3rd, 2008: We go through more bogus contract signing, but the deals falls through due to the original Buyer not getting financed. Now we have to worry about putting a new roof on within 4 months because of our claim with our insurance company. The Buyer was “suppose to replace the roof”.
October 6th, 2008: Finally received our money from the title agency. Do NOT ever use Title Partners of ETN. They are extremely rude. They also never sent us paperwork from the original closing, and they “lost” a set of our keys.
For two months, the house has been “off the market” waiting for this closing. Two house payments are due. When we “closed” on 9/12th, we brought $1123 to closing. Frank wanted his title agency to hold that money and “wait”. Then he had the balls to ask us to make our house payment. We had to fight and fight that title agency to get our money back. We were able to finally make our late September house payment and October’s house payment.
October 7th, 2008: In an email from Frank, he states “All earnest money will have to be disputed through an interpleder and judge at the courthouse. Janet’s mortgage lender is supposed to send me a letter regarding her not qualifying? It is probably not worth pursuing since Janet did not qualify according to her lender. You will have to be present to dispute the earnest money at the courthouse”, which is NOT TRUE. You do not have to be present.
October 16th, 2008: Buyer has inspection. He knows that the roof is good for two years, according to the roofing contractor, but backed out at inspection because of it.
October 23rd, 2008: Receive email from ReMax regarding my complaint about Frank. It reads:
Dear Tiffany and Robert:
We are in receipt of your email concerning problems you have encountered with Frank Goswitz, Sales Associate with RE/MAX Preferred Properties in Knoxville, Tennessee.
As you may know, RE/MAX International, Inc. is an international franchising organization made up of thousands of independently owned and operated real estate offices. Although the offices are licensed to use the RE/MAX® name and service mark, each is a separately owned business. Real estate sales associates work as independent contractors out of each office. Neither RE/MAX Kentucky/Tennessee, which has been granted the right to sell franchises in the state of Tennessee, nor RE/MAX International, can legally manage or control the day to day activities of either the independently-owned office or the individual sales associates who work within the office. Both RE/MAX International and RE/MAX Kentucky/Tennessee are also independently owned and operated. Nevertheless, when a situation such as this is brought to our attention, we want you to know that we care and do what we can to try to assist in resolving problems. Since receiving your letter, I have forwarded a copy of it to RE/MAX Kentucky/Tennessee for their review. If you would like to contact RE/MAX Kentucky/Tennessee yourself, you may do so at: 678-389-0100 and ask to speak with Bob Sutton or Bree Lake.
We at RE/MAX International, Inc., believe that the RE/MAX Network of offices and sales associates is the finest real estate organization in the world. Our excellent reputation is the result of a commitment on the part of each RE/MAX Affiliate to provide the finest in professional real estate services. As with any business, however, occasional problems such as those expressed by you will arise. It is our sincere hope that this matter can be amicably resolved. It is our further hope that all involved will benefit from this experience and will have improved relationships and communications in the future.
Your willingness to communicate your concerns to us is not only appreciated, but is extremely important to our organization. We are committed to finding better ways to serve the public and while we cannot change your experience, we can try to learn from it as we strive to improve our services to the public.
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.
October 28, 2008: Received email from the Vice President/Regional Director of ReMax/Kentucky-Tennessee, which reads:
Dear Tiffany & Robert:
I am in receipt of your correspondence concerning a complaint you have involving Frank J. Goswitz, who works as a Sales Associate at RE/MAX Preferred Properties, Inc. - West.
As RE/MAX International, Inc. (“International”) may have advised you, each of our brokerages, while licensed by us to use the RE/MAX® name and service mark, is an independently owned and operated real estate office. Further, each of the real estate sales professionals work from the brokerage as independent contractors. Neither RE/MAX of Kentucky/Tennessee, Inc. (“Region”), which has been granted the right to sell franchises in the state of Tennessee, or International, can legally manage or control the day-to-day activities of either the independently owned office or the individual sales associates who work within the office.
We at the Region, along with our colleagues at International, believe that the RE/MAX network of offices and sales associates is the finest real estate organization in the world. However, as with any business, occasional problems such as those expressed by you will arise. It is our sincere hope that this matter can be amicably resolved. It is our further hope that all involved will benefit from this experience and will have improved relationships and communications in the future.
Since receiving notice of your complaint, I have forwarded a copy to RE/MAX Preferred Properties, Inc. - West for their response. If you would like to contact the Broker directly, you may do so by calling 865-694-8100 and speaking with Richard Levenson. Once I receive their response, I will forward it to you at the first opportunity.
In the interim, should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 615-417-3557.
Sincerely,
Bob C. Sutton
Vice President/Regional Director
RE/MAX of Kentucky/Tennessee, Inc.
————————————————————————————–
Never heard anything further. I even emailed Richard. Nothing back.
October 31, 2008: We were obligated within 6 months by our insurance company to put a new roof on, so my dad and I come back to Tennessee to replace the roof (and we come back to a mess of a house). The last inspection left fireplace dirt all over the floor; it was disgusting.
When we came back to Knoxville, all of our cleaning supplies, a table in the basement and other items in the shed were gone. We remembered that Frank wanted to clean the fridge, but we had degreaser and other cleaning products missing. We had a trash can in the house, which was full, but no cleaning supplies were thrown in there.
Frank later fired his assistant. She was a real estate agent, turned assistant, for a good reason. They were a good team, though; both unprofessional. For them to try and charge us to take care of the house and then possibly steal items from our house, is a complete break of trust.
This is another, very important, reason to ask your realtor what kind of recommendations or willingness they have to take care of your home, should you move out of state or far away enough that you may need to depend on him/her for some help. If a realtor isn’t willing to do a little bit of cleaning or replace some light bulbs when needed, don’t hire him/her. That is simply bad form.
Before we came back, Frank made it sound that if the roof was replaced, the house will definitely sell. He referred us a cheap roofer (why he didn’t refer this guy in the first place, beats me). We used Jason Ritchie (865-548-9663), who was excellent. See photo below:
December 28th, 2008: A few weeks before Franks contract is up, we have another offer. The Buyer offered $74,000, closing set for January 30th. Buyer changed his mind because he didn’t have a job and was afraid he wouldn’t receive his last paycheck from his previous job in time to make a house payment. Why Frank was even showing this guy the house, let alone have him make an offer, was beyond me.
As soon as our contract was up, we changed to Realty Executives. Robert and I moved back to Tennessee, another long story, but have a closing set for July 31st. If it falls through, we’re going to take the house off the market, which won’t be a bad thing. We’ve got a really cute house that we’ve fixed up and put a lot of money and effort into. Our house payment is low and we can wait out the tough times.
Bottom line, the last nine months to a year have been a nightmare. We would have never been in the situation we are in, should we not have moved to Arizona in September of 2008. We sold everything we owned, ruined our credit due to the move/waiting for closings, are behind on our bills and are still a house payment late. We would have had to foreclosed if it weren’t for my parents. Use caution if/when working with Frank Goswitz and please, for anyone selecting an agent, do all the research and interviewing you can.
Edit// July 31, 2009: Our home sold, closing went fine. While we wouldn’t recommend the agent we used at Realty Executives - and Realty Executives, we were glad our house sold. We’ll just leave it at that.
An immature black widow spider has taken up resident on Robert and my cactus in the front yard. I’m thinking it’s a male and hoping there aren’t more nearby. I haven’t had the heart to kill it, since widow spiders are not aggressive (in fact I hate to kill any bug, insect, etc., so I’ll just leave it be).
Click images to enlarge:
(c) BMGN 2009
The immature stages of both sexes and adult male widow spiders may have many red or red-orange or yellow spots and strips on the top of their abdomen. Immature females can be colored gray or pale brown, with numerous banding patterns. Darker coloration increases as they get older. The presence of an hourglass pattern on the underside of the abdomen occurs throughout their development.
(c) BMGN 2009
Male widow spiders are much smaller (about 1/4 size) than the females. They usually are not black in overall color, instead appear light brown or gray and banded. Male widows may have an hourglass pattern, but coloration often is more orange and sometimes yellow. When mature, they have large knob-like structures originating from the head. They are similar in appearance to immature females.
(c) BMGN 2009
Widow spiders build loose and irregular mesh-type webs (which are extremely strong), often on plants, in loose stone or wood piles, or in the corners of rooms, garages or outbuildings. They do not produce the symmetrical web typical of orb weaving spiders or the distinctive funnel pattern web of the funnel weaver spiders.
For more information on the black widow, visit Desert USA. And be kind to spiders.
For Mother’s Day, my mom and I decided to bond and bake a cake together - a triple-decker boston cream pie cake. We certainly didn’t need the bonding, we’re close enough; however, it did take two of us to whip together this, what seemed complicated, version of a boston cream pie cake.
Be aware: this cake takes fourteen eggs! 8 whole eggs are separated and used for the cake. 6 eggs yolks are used for the vanilla custard. If you don’t want to throw away the egg whites, you may freeze them for future use in a soufflé or meringue. Some cooks like to freeze single egg whites in ice cube trays and store them in a plastic container or a freezer bag. If that’s too complicated, or you simply don’t want to mess with freezing six egg whites, use them to make a delicious, low-calorie spinach egg white omelette for later!
If you’re short on time, make the cake part ahead of time, along with the custard. Throw each cake in a separate gallon size plastic bag and toss the bowl of custard in the fridge. The day of, prepare the chocolate and assemble the cake. The vanilla custard will be nice and chilled and the cake just as fresh - and ready to eat!
Triple-decker Boston Cream Pie modified from Sky High
Cake Ingredients
2 cups cake flour (we used Pillsbury Softasilk Cake Flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ cups sugar
8 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (we used pure vanilla extract, which made
the custard really strong in flavor)
Vanilla Custard (see attached recipe)
Chocolate Glaze (see attached recipe)
The first time I had (paid attention) to seeing a Red-winged Blackbird was June of 2007; my husband, Robert, and I had not moved back to Arizona yet, but we flew out to visit, to see what Robert thought about the harsh desert state. On our drive back to Tennessee, we drove through Arkansas, where my dad is from. When we were in the car, my dad pointed out a Red-winged Blackbird flying past the windshield. I was astounded; I had never seen one before! For a “blackbird” (yeah, they get a bad wrap), it sure was pretty. I hadn’t seen the bird since; until this Easter, 2009!
Two years since I’d seen a particular bird, one would think I was crazy to even think this was a big deal. Well, it was, and is, a big deal to me, still an amateur birder. It’s amazing getting used to the “desert birds” and “desert wildlife”. Yes, I lived in Arizona for twenty years prior, but I was not very into “nature” and photography then, but more into zoo animals and my kitties.
So I see my first Arizona Red-wing on Easter Sunday, 2009. On the way back from hiking, I screamed “there’s a red-winged blackbird” while driving past a farming field! Robert about ended up in the ditch. If I had known there were hundreds of them, I would not have been so startled into thinking this was a rare sighting; however, they are all over the agricultural fields. When I get a new camera one day, I’ll have excellent shots to post. For now, these will have to do.
One of the most abundant birds across North America, and one of the most boldly colored, the Red-winged Blackbird is a familiar sight atop cattails, along soggy roadsides, and on telephone wires. Glossy-black males have scarlet-and-yellow shoulder patches they can puff up or hide depending on how confident they feel. Females are a subdued, streaky brown, almost like a large, dark sparrow. In the North, their early arrival and tumbling song are happy indications of the return of spring.
Whenever I drive by and see Red-wings, they are sitting on top of field crops or flying back and forth over the road. They are omnivorous, so they feed primarily on plant materials, including seeds from weeds and waste grain such as corn and rice, but about a quarter of its diet consists of insects and other small animals (considerably more so during breeding season). It prefers insects, such as dragonflies, damselflies, butterflies, moths, and flies, but also consumes snails, frogs, eggs, carrion, worms, spiders and mollusks. The Red-winged Blackbird forages for insects by picking them from plants, or by catching them in flight, which makes sense as to they they are always sitting on the top of crops. In season, it eats blueberries, blackberries, and other fruit. These birds can be lured to backyard bird feeders by bread and seed mixtures and suet. The Red-winged Blackbird will feed in open fields, mixed with grackles, cowbirds, and starlings in flocks which can number in the thousands.
Check out my short video below of the bird’s sound (sorry about the wind, it’s crazy here). Otherwise, it may be heard here, where a closeup of the bird may also be seen.
.JPG)
