Starbucks Takes Another Hit

From Yahoo news this week -

Remember when Starbucks seemed like an unstoppable force? Those days are gone, kids. The troubled retailer, already suffering from falling profits and a slew of layoffs, was dissed in a recent coffee study from Consumer Reports. The ad-free mag ranked Eight O'Clock Coffee as the best-tasting coffee and noted that Starbucks, which costs considerably more, didn't even merit an honorable mention. 

Well, I still love Komodo Dragon and Sumatra, even if the critics panned them.  But I also think Eight O’clock is a really good coffee. ~ jan

Here’s what the Chicago Sun Times had to say about all this hoopla -

The best ground Colombian coffee taking into account taste and price? Eight O'Clock Coffee 100% Colombian, at $6.28 for a pound, according to the March issue of Consumer Reports, which came out Tuesday.

The magazine tested and rated 19 ground coffees and put a "very good" Eight O'Clock ahead of runners-up Folgers, Maxwell House and Starbucks -- the country's best-sellers.

Taste was a big reason. Its panel of coffee experts liked Eight O'Clock's "complex blend of earthy and fruity."

The price was right, too -- about half what Gloria Jean's, Peets and some other brands go for.

Next in the Consumer Reports ratings, and also ranked "very good," were Caribou Coffee Colombia Timana ($11.76 a pound) and Kickapoo Coffee Organic Colombia ($14.33).

Decafs didn't match regular in the tests, but the top-rated one was Dunkin' Donuts Dunkin' Decaf ($10.25 a pound).

Birds and trees and gentle breezes…

I’m a nature lover, but days of ice and snow have left me restless, tired of bright white snow and naked trees.   Yesterday I heard a bird singing on the patio, and for just a minute, in my mind it was April, warmth and green, soft winds and the earthy smells of springtime.

It isn’t far off, I keep reminding myself.  Fields of winter wheat will soon start to show color, the pussy willow branches will start to swell,  crocus will be popping thru the ground.  I’m ready now, tired of cold and snow, longing to be outdoors again.  We have 60 degree weather forecasted this weekend in Heavensville, and although it’s just a tease, warmer days aren’t far away….

Happpy Valentines Day to me….

You’ve heard me talk about how great ebooks are for days now.  And while I love reading books on my laptop, I don’t want to be tied to it, so hubby bought me this Sangria Red Sony Book Reader.  It’s coming today and of course I’m absolutely estatic…

We’re having warm weather forecasted this weekend in Heavensville.  I can throw this in my purse, grab the M&M’s, go to Burdette Park, sit and enjoy nature and read! I did all the homework, and Sony Readers are the only ones that accept Adobe PDF files, which is the format the libraries use.  It holds approximately 160 books, but I can insert a memory card and it will hold thousands!  And I’m getting a rebate from Sony bookstore for 100 books to get me started!  You have 7500 page turns before recharging, too.  I could read War and Peace on one charge, yeah, like I’m going to read that, you all know I just read trash!  It only weighs 9 ounces, comes with a snazzy red leather cover, I can throw it in my purse and I’m off!  Cheapest place to buy it is B&H Photo, no shipping no tax.  I saw it at Borders Booksellers locally last week, I saved $50 by ordering it online.

Oprah gushes about the Kindle, from Amazon, but it wasn’t an option for me.  It’s big and clunky looking and you can only download books that you buy from Amazon on it.  No thanks, I like free books!  There are plenty of online sites for free books, remember I’ve already snagged 85 novels by Nora Roberts and the entire works of Agatha Christie…  You can also put your own .pdf files, word docs and pictures on this.  No color, though, that’s a couple of years away before they introduce these things with a color screen.  You can also download audio books and MP3 music files to this, but you have to use headphones for audio.

My version is the 505, they have a new 700 series touch screen out now, but it wasn’t for me.  Screen is  not as clear, there is a built in light, but it’s like neon around the edges, and it’s $100 more.  The people on the mobile forums much prefer this model.  It comes in silver, too, but I wanted the red!

Are you interested, too?  Here’s a video I found on You Tube that demonstrates it…

TOMORROW I will eat healthy!!! Pinkie swear…

Daydreams…

“Just write something down each day, large or small, it doesn’t really matter what it is, just do it.”

Five things I’m dreaming about

1. Sitting on the patio on a warm evening, listening to the frogs, smelling the wild honeysuckle, sipping Jasmine tea.
2. Planning an early morning ride on Milly, the M&M’s riding shotgun as we tool around the neighborhood.
3. Breakfast outdoors, hot coffee, fresh scones, blackberry jam and fresh squeezed orange juice, all consumed whilst reading the morning paper.
4. A visit to the nursery, perusing the greenhouse, looking for the perfect speciman to plop in a fat clay pot.
5. A filled bird feeder, with chickadee’s galore feasting in the warmth of the sun.

Someday….

Snowfall at Willow Lake

This book is by one of my favorite authors, Susan Wiggs, the 4th of a series of Lakewood Chronicles. I’ve read all the others so I’m looking forward to reading this tonight, sitting by the fire, with the M&M’s snuggled beside me on this frigid February evening in Heavensville.

After two years of grueling work for the International Criminal Court in The Hague, an international terrorist incident prompts divorced lawyer Sophie Bellamy to recognize that her work is meaningless without her two children—Max, 12, and Daisy, 19—who are living with their remarried father. On the snowy night Sophie returns to Avalon, N.Y., she meets the handsome bachelor veterinarian Noah Shepherd, who's looking for the right lady to mother his kids and live in his rambling farmhouse with him. While Sophie is happy to be part of a community, get reacquainted with her kids and care for her grandson (Daisy has an infant boy with a recalcitrant father), she is thrilled at Noah's sexy attention until she learns he's 10 years younger than she—29 to her 39. In her latest Lakeside Chronicles title, Wiggs (Dockside) jovially juggles the lives of numerous colliding characters and adds some winter-favorite recipes for a festive touch.

I just got notification from the library in an email that my ebook was available.  I logged into the library, downloaded the book, and seriously, in less than two minutes I’m reading it.  I’m telling you girlfriends, these ebooks are WONDERFUL!

I didn’t understand at first why some of them were on a waiting list.  They are digital, the library should have an unlimited supply, NOT!  I asked about this on a mobile forum, they told me that these digital books are licensed, libraries  pay the publisher for every copy that they license,  just like they have a specific number of a certain book  in the library, they have a specific number of an ebook, so if all of the the allotted copies have been downloaded, they put a hold on it and you have to wait until it’s available.

But just think, they sent me an email that the book was available to download, I didn’t have to get out in 5 degree weather, go to the library, park, trudge inside, wait in line, check it out, get in the car, come back home, not to mention returning the darned thing.

A few mouse clicks and it’s on my computer and I’m reading it!

S-WEET!!!!

She still has it….

I watched Wynonna on GMA this morning.  She has a new album, and some of the songs are amazing.  I’ve always been such a fan, Ang, too.  That woman has a set of pipes like no other…

She’s such a presence, Wynona.  If you want to hear some of the soundtracks from this album, here’s the click… My favorite tracks, 4, 7, 8, 9 and the best one, 10, Anyone Who Had a Heart, Burt Bacharach’s 1964 song that he wrote for Dionne Warwick.  Fantastic!  Ain’t No Sunshine runs a close second, though… 

And see if you can listen to The House Is Rockin’ without shakin’  your bootie…

Geezy Pete, I just wasted two pounds of green beans….

That smoky seasoning was absolutely, positively dreadful!  My green beans tasted like they had been on a smoker.  I took one bite, and knew they were headed to the garbage disposal.  Hubby took my advise and didn’t even taste them…

So, ignore everything I said about the seasoning, what do I know anyway.  I’ve only been cooking green beans, for what, forty years now!  Blecht!  It’s back to the bacon for this old girl, screw even trying to find  salt pork, after tonight’s disaster, I’m sticking with tried and true!

YUCK!!!!!

And how is your day going????

We’re back in the deep freeze in Heavensville.  I’m dreaming of warm spring days, rides on Milly, yeah, that’s what I’m doing, DREAMING!

Nisha told me how good a little bit of salt pork was in green beans, hubby went to meat market, they didn’t have salt pork, so he came back with some kind of smoked meat seasoning, they smoke their own meats, so it’s pork rind with some meat on it, really, really smoky, and now I have that smell on my hands and it won’t wash off.  So here I sit, typing and my hands positively reek.  The dogs have become best buddies with me, however, they are lovin’ my hands.  ;0)

I’ve been making killer green beans, 2 lbs. of frozen green beans, onion, seasoning (I’ve been using a strip or two of of bacon, but today I’m trying the smoky seasoning) in the crockpot, high for one hour, low for an additional 3 hours – they are WONDERFUL.  No liquid, the water from the frozen beans as they melt is enough.

Our family loves green beans, if you do, too try this.  It’s great!  I’m usually not a fan of frozen green beans, but this is awesome way to fix them…

I’m still working on this page, I’m rebuilding my breeder’s dog pages as well, I’m a busy little bee this week…

Later…

I’m still tweaking….

The page you’re looking at it just a prototype, I still have major changes to do to it, comments don’t work either.

It’s a nail biting experience, changing the whole format of a webpage, especially when you’re not into XML coding.  I work awhile, then I pace, I work a bit more, I play with the girls, I keep going back to it, and mostly I just spin my wheels, drink multiple cups of coffee and try not to stress eat.

I really admire people who “understand” how this all works.  It’s not easy, girlfriends, trust me…

~ jan

Jennifer Hudson was awesome!

In case you missed Jennifer Hudson singing the National Anthem tonight, she did an amazing job.

Wish I had a piece…

John sent Dad this picture from his Blackberry.  It was vegetable soup, homemade bread and pie for Superbowl at his house tonight.  I’m thinking he probably had a little help with all this cooking… 

I’m building a new web page…

I was tired of the old format,  I’m trying a new style, a cleaner look, so if things look a bit “odd” it’s because I’m working on it.  Knowing me, it may look “odd” for quite a while, until I get all the kinks worked out and my modules up and running…

Fox News this morning…

They’re talking about the woman that just had eight babies.  She is thirty-three years old, a single mother, she already has six children between the ages of seven and two, she lives with her Mother, who by the way declared bankruptcy last year, in a small tract house, and now there are fourteen children in that house under the age of seven.

WTF, is this woman bat shit crazy????  She must have mental issues.  It’s going to cost $1,000 per baby, per day for these children to stay in the hospital, they are guestimating the total bill to be $2.5 million!  Who’s going to pay for this?  Hello, taxpayers…

What I don’t get is why would any ethical doctor implant eight eggs in a womb of a woman with no money who already has six children under seven years old?   Mentally stable???  Duh, it’s not rocket science.

Of course she will be on the cover of People, there is talk about her being on Oprah, she will generate cash, but think how much money it will cost to clothe, feed, educate these children, who might possibly have health issues due to multiple births.  Not to mention taking care of eight infants, plus twins that are two years old, plus the other four, it’s totally impossible!  There is no way….  Does she work?  Of course not, she couldn’t possibly work.  Welfare mother?  You do the math…

I just don’t get it, I suspect none of you do, either…