Newsletter September 21, 2014

I'm just waking up from a nap because yesterday was a very long day. A long, fun day. We spent the day in San Francisco attending the Silent Autumn festival.

You see, every year the Silent Film Festival runs in early summer in San Francisco, and we have been going for years. However, with one scheduling conflict or another, we have not been able to make it to the festival since 2009. Well, this year they added a one-day event called the Silent Autumn festival, so we spent the entire day in SF.

It's great--five films over the course of the day at the historic Castro Theater. Live musical accompaniment, and works by Laurel & Hardy, Chaplin, Valentino, Keaton, and those wacky German expressionists! But it also means that I didn't get back home until around 1am, so I guess I had some catching up on my sleep to do today.

So anyway, I hope you all had a good week, and I hope you are enjoying your weekend. We have been nervously watching the news these last several days, what with the various fires burning around the state of California. The biggest threat has been the King fire in the Tahoe region. The firefighters are working very hard to keep that one away from several communities. Nobody wants to see a repeat of what happened to the town of Weed, which was all but wiped out a bit over a week ago. These are scary times for us up here in northern California.

Other than that, I have been mostly working. I have been blessed with a flurry of projects so far in September, so it looks as though I may live to be able to pay my bills for another month! :D

Well, I hope you all have a great week coming up, and we'll talk with you later!

			Chatter News
	A Note from the Dude		Chatter News		Prayer Requests		Vaca Blog

	Sharoot	Sharoot's featured pictures can be found at the end of each newsletter, under Photos of the Week. She says that since they are located at the end, then "Sharoot's the Caboose!" Sharoot's Caboose is the same as last week and features a photo of a another pretty little lady. Sharoot and her hubby have been out adding new birds to their life list and she promises us some great photos for next week.

	Jes63	Jes has been trying for quite some time to get a glimpse of the International Space Station as it crosses the sky above her home. This week we got this message from her: *I actually timed it right, working with two web sites, to see the International Space Station pass over.It does go really fast and even at 9:20 pm the sun was still hitting it to view though it was dark here.* Took me forever to time it right. About a month.**

	TwoClubs	Twoclubs shares with us the story of a little guy she has rescued twice recently. She writes: I think his girl friend lives across the street. My guess is that he weighs about 50-60 lbs and yes, I picked him up, Very Carefully! He was thrashing and snapping and not easy to hold but I was able to move him onto the grass only to have him turn around and head back out towards the street. I asked a woman to call Animal Control and when Frank showed up (swooning here!) we got TurtleWax into a bin and moved him to the retention pond behind our houses. Off he went, swimming away, no wave of thanks. Just like a turtle. The other day I was driving along and there he was again. This snapping turtle sure has a big territory and a hunger for his girl friend. This time I got some yard workers to pick him up and move him to a nearby stream. Bye Bye TurtleWax...til we meet again!


		Twoclubs also sends us a picture of a street obviously named after Vobble's Dutch Cousin. :)


	ChatterChopz	CC has celebrated her one year anniversary at the library. She's still loving volunteering there. They really seem to appreciate her help (and her cheerful spirit). She's been invited to a BIG reception honoring library volunteers.

	Amb15229	Amb shared this as her reason for not helping write storytime last week. "I will miss you all! I'm at the beach... Here's a photo!"
		(If she can email the picture from the beach, why can't write a story from the beach? )

	*Elsalynda*	Elsalynda's latest column entitled Nature in the City: End of Summer Musings, is available online here: http://waltham.wickedlocal.com/article/20140916/NEWS/140918784

	We'd love to include more news of VacaChatters. If you have something you'd like to share (something about you or your family) or if you know of exciting news about another chatter that they're just too shy to share, please send it to us! (We won’t run it without that chatter’s permission, however.)

	*KSBorn*	KSBorn was in regression for lymphoma and breast cancer. It has since returned and she's going for Chemo now. She and her doctors are attacking it vigorously and she needs our prayers. She needs our prayers for healing, for the Lord to guide her doctors, and for the peace and strength as she undergoes the treatment.

	*Jes63*	Rest in peace Miss Jonesy. November 29, 1997 to August 29,2014 Jes is, of course, hurting and grieving. Please keep her in your prayers.

	*VacaDude and his cousin, Kevin*	Keep VacaDude's cousin, Kevin in your prayers as he battles cancer.

	*BugGirl*	BugGirl is recovering well. She's still not allowed to drive, though.

	*Marilyn Crabb*	We received this message this week from a long-time Molly watcher: I don't join the online chats but I read the newsletter and was a Molly watcher from the beginning. Last week, I was diagnosed with stage 2B (or greater) breast cancer and am undergoing lots of further tests and will begin chemotherapy on Tuesday. Please add me to the prayer list. UPDATE: Thank you for your prayers. I'm doing really well after my first chemotherapy treatment. One week down - nineteen to go. Then surgery and radiation. I have more tests scheduled to see if the cancer has spread beyond my armpit but so far it does not look like it has. My screen name was/is MarilynLA on UStream. (Marilyn from Los Angeles)

	*Littleguys*	LittleGuys had a lumpectomy on Thursday, July 17 and had another procedure performed on July 28. She is still requesting prayers. Her doctor says she will probably do six weeks of radiation. She wants all to know that even when she can't make it to chat, she's thinking of everyone.

	*Caboval*	Caboval is in need of our prayers for her dog, Joey. You can read more about Joey and his struggles here: http://gfwd.at/1n8NU0h.

		UPDATE on Joey! Caboval writes: “Joey is in remission but the chemo almost killed him. He was in liver failure and the Dr gave him a 50/50 chance to live. He made it through that and we have had 3 really good weeks. He was so happy and acting like a puppy, but now he is starting to not eat again and he vomited today so I don't know… It's a rollercoaster. I have a feeling he is having liver issues again. I do really need those prayers!!!”

	*Elsalynda*	We got this message from elsa last week: Hi all, Thanks for all your prayers. This computer is so hard to type on. I dislike it but will have to use it for now. I saw the MGH sleep specialist today for consult and got some scary news. My apnea is severe and REM behavior disorder is rare and correlated with parkinson's disease. There is not much treatment available for the REM but I will try what there is. Please pray for me again. I am worried. Your elsalynda

	*GentleDoe*	It was great to see GentleDoe in chat last week. Here is the latest update from her: Dad: My sister has taken him out of the assistive living complex she had put him in. He is now in her home receiving hospice care. My sister is not contacting us or answering my mother's calls so we are only receiving second-hand updates from an aunt. As of last weekend, August 23rd - 25th, my father had a urinary tract infection. There was problems with his medication. They did not get his depression medication ordered before the weekend so he was without his medication the weekend of the 23rd - 25th. Also, since he left the assistive living home, he has been overdosed on his seizure medication. As of last week he still had the UTI & was not lucid. My aunt could not get him to understand who she was on the phone & he kept referring to my sister has his wife. My mother does not know this yet. Mom: She has been doing better with her medication with the latest change of a reduction in her blood pressure medication. Her cardiologist has recommended water aerobics which we are looking into. The lack of communication with my father has her very upset & depressed. Me: I've had some health issues since last Wednesday. My doctor is away until after the Labor day holiday. I'm still experiencing a good bit of pain as well. I'm trying to take care of mom, birds, bunnies & all of the various issues with my father/sister situation. It is so sad that my sister now has complete control over my father & everything in his name. My mother nor I have been able to speak to my father in over two weeks now. I'm concerned that if the lawyer does not get moving that we may not get to spend any time with him or give him our love before he passes. I do not know his medical condition, other than what is told second-hand to me or my mother! Friday, AT&T cut off my mother's phone service. We were told it was an order that the phone service was moving out of the area. I spent several hours Friday evening trying to get it straightened out with AT&T & was told it would be back on within 2 to 4 hours at 8 PM. Saturday morning still no service, called again spent from 9:30 am until after 12:30 PM when we were cut off without it being resolved. Called back & got another customer service person who was no help & could not get a supervisor. Had to rest for a bit & did not get anyone before AT&T was closed for the long Labor day weekend. My phone service has also gotten messed up with AT&T. I had my phone service moved to my mother's since I am now staying with her for now. They installed the Uverse internet & phone service but did not disconnect my home line at my house. Still haven't found out about what is happening with my AT&T cell phone. I may totally stop my AT&T phone services if I can't get this straightened out. Please keep my family in prayer especially that things can be resolved so that my mother & I can have contact with my dad as well as the other issues over my dad's POA (my father put my mother as the person on his POA but somehow my sister has taken over), my mother's health, & me with my health issues, surgery may be in the near future. My big prayer request is that my mother & I get to spend time with my father before we lose him, mentally or physically. Hope to see everyone in chat.

	Shari in Memphis	UPDATE!!! Just received this from Shari: "So kind of you to keep prayers going for me. I was hospitalized in November for an event (that just yesterday my doc said was severe enough that it could have killed me) and have pretty much been sick ever since. I'm trying to be patient as doc said it would take 6 months to a year, to fully recover."
	Shari in Memphis


	Thank you for your prayers and good thoughts for owl our wonderful VacaFamily members! If you have any prayer requests, updates or news of answered prayers, please let us know. Email us with the information so it can be included in the next newsletter.

	A Message from Zorro		StoryTime News		StoryTime Archives
							Recipe of the Week


	*Next StoryTime*	Sunday, October 5 3:00 PM PDT/6:00 PM EDT

	*Title*	*Tauntz and the Intruders!*

	*Invitation*	We need story writers! Please consider dropping in and checking out the fun we have writing the stories. Honestly, it's not at all difficult to join in and you'll surely be glad you did.
	*Invitation*

	Hello Vriends,
	I'm just waking up from a nap because yesterday was a very long day. A long, fun day. We spent the day in San Francisco attending the Silent Autumn festival. You see, every year the Silent Film Festival runs in early summer in San Francisco, and we have been going for years. However, with one scheduling conflict or another, we have not been able to make it to the festival since 2009. Well, this year they added a one-day event called the Silent Autumn festival, so we spent the entire day in SF. It's great--five films over the course of the day at the historic Castro Theater. Live musical accompaniment, and works by Laurel & Hardy, Chaplin, Valentino, Keaton, and those wacky German expressionists! But it also means that I didn't get back home until around 1am, so I guess I had some catching up on my sleep to do today. So anyway, I hope you all had a good week, and I hope you are enjoying your weekend. We have been nervously watching the news these last several days, what with the various fires burning around the state of California. The biggest threat has been the King fire in the Tahoe region. The firefighters are working very hard to keep that one away from several communities. Nobody wants to see a repeat of what happened to the town of Weed, which was all but wiped out a bit over a week ago. These are scary times for us up here in northern California. Other than that, I have been mostly working. I have been blessed with a flurry of projects so far in September, so it looks as though I may live to be able to pay my bills for another month! :D Well, I hope you all have a great week coming up, and we'll talk with you later! Until then--cheers!
	Cheers, VacaDude

	Check out VacaDude's blog! Don't forget to send VacaDude your comments to let him know how much you appreciate him, his time & his talent!
	http://vacadude.wordpress.com/

	Hello there, Everbuddy!
	It is your pal Zorro again. We have been taking a little siesta time here today because yesterday was such a long day! I went with the Dude to San Francisco to watch movies. That was so much fun--although I think I kind of overdid it with the organic popcorn. But it was SO delicious! And it was fun to watch all the silly two-leggers on the screen. You people do such funny things! I did see a few fellow four-leggers, too. However, I do not think they were mice. Unless you are talking about really HUGE mice, with great big humps on their backs. Those were in the Valentino movie "Son of the Sheik." The big mice with humps on their backs ran around in the desert while carrying the two-leggers PLUS all their baggage. I have never quite understood that--with six legs between them, why is it always the two-legger that gets to ride on top of the four-leggers? It seems they should take turns. But anyway, that's enough for mousie logic today. Have a great week, y'all!
	Yours Most Whiskerly, Zorro

	Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas
	Ingredients
	1 large whole chicken 2 cans diced chilis and tomatoes (or 2 cans diced tomatoes and 1 can diced green chilis) 2 onions 2 packages taco seasoning, divided 1 quart chicken broth 20-25 tortillas 3 cups shredded cheddar, divided 2 pounds Velveeta Chopped chives, optional

	Directions
	In a large stock pot, boil chicken in water until falling-off-the-bones tender. Remove from water and allow to cool. When completely cool, remove all meat from the bones, discarding skin and bones. After chicken is picked off the bones and all skin and bones discarded, chop or shred remaining chicken into small pieces. Drain tomatoes and chilis (reserve all juice). Mix tomatoes and chilis into chicken. Chop two onions and microwave for about one minute. Add to chicken mixture. Add one packages of taco seasoning mix. Mix in enough chicken broth to make the chicken moist, with no juice standing in the bottom of the bowl. In a separate bowl, combine 2 cups shredded cheddar, one loaf of Velveeta, the reserved tomato and chili juice and one packet of taco seasoning. Melt in microwave, stirring frequently. Stir in enough chicken broth (about 1-2 cups) to reach a nice smooth consistency, but not too thin. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease 2 9x13-inch pans. (You may also need one or two 8-inch square pans.) Place a very thin layer of the cheese in the bottom of each pan. Place a generous spoonful of the chicken mixture down the middle of a tortilla. Roll the tortilla around the filling and place it, seam side down, in the prepared pan. Repeat until you run out of filling. You should fit about 12 in the larger pans and 6 in each of the square pans. Pour the cheese sauce over all tortillas, covering them well. Sprinkle additional shredded cheese over the top. Cover with greased foil. Place pan in preheated oven and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly and starting to brown. Remove from oven and let sit for about 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with chopped chives, if desired. Serve with lettuce, olives, sour cream, tomatoes, onions, salsa and/or guacamole. This can be frozen for future use. Freeze uncovered. After well frozen, wrap well with plastic wrap and cover with foil. To reheat: remove plastic wrap, grease foil and place back on top. Place frozen enchiladas in 350°F oven and bake for approximately 45-60 minutes or until heated through. Remove foil for last 15 minutes of baking.


	Chocolate Pound Cake
	Ingredients:
	1 cup butter or margarine ½ cup shortening 3 cups granulated sugar 5 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 cups flour ½ teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 4 to 5 tablespoons cocoa 1 cup milk
	Directions:
	Beat butter and shortening; add sugar and mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition; beat in vanilla. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl then add alternately with milk to creamed mixture. Bake chocolate pound cake in a greased 10-inch tube pan at 325° for 80 minutes, or until chocolate pound cake bounces back when touched lightly in the center with finger. Can be frosted with a chocolate ganache, if desired.

	Owl Cams				Other Nature Cams		Video Picks of the Week		Inspiration
			Other Bird Cams

Barn Owls
	Nicassio Owl Box Salt and Pepper	http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nicasio-owl

	HOP - MAGC Barn Owls	http://www.ustream.tv/channel/magc-owls

	Owlceanside Mel and Sydney	http://www.ustream.tv/channel/owlceanside

	Felix Neck Owl Cam Martha’s Vineyard	http://www.ustream.tv/channel/felix-neck-owl-cam

	The Owl Cam	http://www.ustream.tv/owlchannel

	Barn Owls in Minden, Nevada	http://www.ustream.tv/channel/barn-owls-in-minden-nevada

	Port of Stockton Barn Owl Cams	http://www.portofstockton.com/owl-cams

	Hosted by Cornell Lab of Ornithology Located in Texas	http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/42/Barn_Owls/

Other Owls


	The Caring Owl in South Africa	http://www.thecaringowl.co.za/

	PPO (Potted Plant Owl) in South Africa	https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pot-Plant-Owl/148721154229

	Alessondra’s Owl Cam in Oklahoma City	http://ustream.tv/okcowlcam The three owlets have fledged.

	Rusty and Iris in Houston, Minnesota	http://www.internationalowlcenter.org/ourowls/rustyandiris/livecams

	Burrowing Owls Tri-Cities, Washington	http://wdfw.wa.gov/wildwatch/owlcam/video_burrowing2.html

	Project Snow Storm	http://www.projectsnowstorm.org/

Puffins
	Shetland Islands Puffins	http://www.shetland.org/puffincam/

	Sea Island, Maine Puffin Burrow	http://explore.org/live-cams/player/puffin-burrow-cam

	Sea Island, Maine Puffin Loafing Ledge	http://explore.org/live-cams/player/puffin-loafing-ledge-cam These pages also contain links to numerous other nature cams.

Eagles
	Black Eagle South Africa		http://www.africam.com/wildlife/black_eagle_webcam The first egg hatched on June 6!.

	Decorah Eagles Decorah, Iowa	http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

	Berry College Eagle Cam Mt. Berry, Georgia	http://www.ustream.tv/channel/berry-eagle-cam

		http://www.pixcontroller.com/eagles/index.htm

Peregrine Falcons
	PA Falcon Cam Harrisburg, Pennsylvania	http://www.pacast.com/players/falcon.asp

	Commerce Tower Peregrines Kansas City, Missouri	http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/wildlife-cameras/peregrine-falcon-web-camera Cam not live now but should be returning soon.

	Pitt Peregrine Falcon Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	http://www.aviary.org/PF-NestCam1

	Gulf Tower Peregrine Falcon Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	http://www.aviary.org/PF-NestCam2

	Emily Falcon Cam Caloundra, Australia	http://www.ustream.tv/channel/emily-falcon-cam

	RFalconCam Rochester, New York	http://rfalconcam.com/rfc-main/

Talking Birds
	Watch the Birdie Bibi, the African Gray	http://www.ustream.tv/channel/Watch-the-Birdie

	Disco Talking Parakeet	https://www.youtube.com/user/MsJumpinJude/videos

Other Birds

	California Condor San Diego Zoo Safari Park San Diego, California	http://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/cams/condor-cam

	KC Zoo Penguin Cam Kansas City, MO	http://www.kansascityzoo.org/penguincam

	Whidbey Island Back Porch Whidbey Island, WA Rufous hummingbirds and other assorted birds	http://www.ustream.tv/channel/katersch

	Hellgate Ospreys Missoula, Montana Sponsored by Cornell	http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/27/Hellgate_Ospreys/

	Ostrich Chicks (Live Again! New Chicks!)		http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ostrich-egg-cam-live

	Streaming Bird Cams List of many cams	http://www.beakspeak.com/

Pandas
	San Diego Zoo Pandas	www.sandiegozoo.org (click on live cams) or http://www.ustream.tv/sandiegozoo. Zoo's blogs: http://blognew.sandiegozoo.org/category/animals-and-plants/giant-pandas/

	Twin Pandas at Zoo Atlanta	http://www.zooatlanta.org/1212/panda_cam#ff_s=aDIEl

	Giant Panda Cam National Zoo Washington, DC	http://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/webcams/giant-panda.cfm

Bears
	Kansas City Polar Bears Nikita and Berlin	http://www.kctv5.com/category/244581/nikita-berlin-polar-bear-cam

	Brown Bears and Salmon Katmai National Park Alaska (off season- will return)	http://explore.org/#!/live-cams/player/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls (lots of other cams at this site, as well)

	Black Bears Ely, Minnesota	http://www.bear.org/website/live-cameras/live-cameras/holly-bears-den-cam-live.html

Other Animal and Nature Sites
	Golden Paw-Prints Classic Golden Retrievers Oshkosh, Wisconsin		http://www.ustream.tv/channel/golden-retriever-puppy-cam EIGHT beautiful puppies!

	San Diego Zoo and Safari Park	http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/

	The Pet Collective (many live cams)	http://www.thepetcollective.tv/livestreams/

	Critter Chat Cams Multi-Critter Site with Chat	http://critterchatcams.org/

	Friends of Felines Rescue Center Defiance, Ohio	www.ustream.tv/ffrc

	Little House Prairie Village, Kansas	http://www.tomnliz.com/Livecam/

	CC's Page of Links (scheduled for updating)	http://chatterchopz.com/links/camslinks.htm

Other Sites of Interest

International Space Station Links
During a recent broadcast the Dude talked about the websites where one can view the spacestation and the view that the astronauts have. Here are the links: This one has the map, but no chat. http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/HDEV/ This site has a chat room. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/iss-hdev-payload

A San Francisco Owl
Molly chatter, Owlsome, shares with us this photo taken by Bill Carey via San Francisco Street Photography on FaceBook. This is Post Street in San Francisco.

			Fun Animations and Pictures		Photos of the Week				Zorro's Word of the Week
	Just for the Fun of It						Kyle's Jokes of the Week

	Kyle's well known among his friends for his "triple groaner" riddles and jokes. Now he shares them with VacaFamily. Enjoy!


	What do you call a pirate droid? Argh2-D2

	What did one snowman say to the other? Does it smell like carrots to you?

	THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE 2000 B.C. - Here, eat this root 1000 A.D. - That root is heathen. Here, say this prayer. 1850 A.D. - That prayer is superstition. Here, drink this potion. 1940 A.D. - That potion is snake oil. Here, swallow this pill. 1985 A.D. - That pill is ineffective. Here, take this antibiotic. 2014 A.D. - That antibiotic doesn't work anymore. Here, eat this root.

	What do you get when you cross a deer and a lemon? Sour Doe Bread