Category: da rez blog

we bought an air fryer in an effort to be healthier. that will cut down the grease in our diet. thats gotta be good. i dont know if i am getting old or caught up in a fad. i do like the air fryer though.

we made baked potatoes in it. they were better than ones we made in the oven. i had to have two potatoes both times we made them. we also had pork chops. they were good. we also had fried chicken. it had a slightly different taste but i can live with it.  i wanna try some buffalo wings made in that thing.

i am tryna get healthier. i have been on the treadmill twice now.  i occasionally lift some weights on the weight machine in the basement. my cholesterol must be better. the doctor said i dont have to take that pill anymore.

i kinda have to get healthier quick. i am scheduled to get a stress test. it is merely a precaution. it is to check to see if my heart is working okay. it will also prove that i do actually have a heart. i had a stress test a few years ago. it was after i was sent to emergency to see if i had a heart attack. i didnt have one. the test was to see if i had a previous heart attack. i didnt.

the stress test will have me walking at a good pace on a tread mill. i had to walk fast and for a while. i had to get my heart beat up to a certain level. it was a work out. thats why i have to get on the tread mill. dont wanna be unable to finish the test.

patrick mahomes is cleared to play in the game tomorrow. i am glad to hear that. it looked like a choke hold to me but he had to go thru concussion protocol. i hope he is okay and doesnt have any more problems. he is young and has his career ahead of him. i want to continue to follow him. he will give us many good games.

KU plays basket ball today. i will be tuning in. we are on a two game losing streak. we have lost 3 in a row only twice in the bill self era. i think we will win. this team is good. they just need to put it all together. most likely we will lose a few more games before the end of the season. most teams will. it wont be unique to KU. i am a fan all the way.

i have my chores to do before game time. gotta feed and water my dog and my chickens.

this warm winter has my chickens laying eggs. i am getting about 7 eggs a day now. some are still kinda small. the first eggs are usually small. they will get to be big, brown eggs. some already are. my feeding and watering the chickens every day is paying off. i can eat fresh eggs for breakfast because of my labor.

this past year i had a problem with raccoons that killed my chickens. they killed all of my flock. i caught a couple of the raccoons with live traps. after that i got some new hens i bought off craigslist.  they were hybrid chickens. some of them got killed. i set more traps and caught more raccoons. i havent had a problem with them since.

i wasnt pleased with the new hybird chickens. they wouldnt roost. they laid eggs on the ground too instead of in the boxes i built. i butchered most of them.  they made good soup after i fattened them up a few months. i have two of them left that i will clean before winter is over.

i replace those hybrids with rhode island reds. my favorite chicken. i also got some barred rocks and a couple of brown hens. i like these chickens. they finally reached the age where they are laying eggs now. i have fed them for the past few months. i am finally getting a return.

i had some of the deer meat left that i sliced up for jerky. i wanted some that had a hot taste to it. i marinated it in the hot sauce i made with the habanero peppers i grew. i put it in the food dehydrator and it got done. i havent tried it yet but i know it is probably good.

i braided one ball of rug yarn i had for my next roach. i buy it when it has a good price. on the auction sites it goes for 5 to 10 bucks for a skein. i wont pay that. i get it at garage sales and flea markets. i stock piled the yarn. i have big bags of it. i knew i would use it in my roach making. the yarn i braided is orange. i dont have that color roach on hand. i will make other colors as i get more done.

i will get to that roach after i sort more porcupine hair. i want to be able to make several roaches at once. i dont mind sorting hair. i have so many pounds of porky hair that it will take me months or years to sort it all. i will make roaches in between sorting it to break up the monotony. it is nice to use my hands to work instead of my back.

no work today though. i checked the mail and this indian got his stimulus check. its too late for trump to pardon me for what i thought about him when my check didnt come yet.  time to head to town. gonna deposit my check. aint no rush to spend it. it will get spent. i dont have the luxury of blowing it on things i dont need. i will treat myself to a sit down dinner though. i had my first vaccine shot. i feel safer bout going out. i will wear a mask.

i took my daughter back to the airport yesterday. we dropped her off at the gate of the airline where she was catching a flight. we didnt have time for a sit down meal. we stopped for a sandwich at a bbq place on the way.  we would have preferred some Kansas City bbq but we would have had to wait in line.  we got it in topeekie and ate on the road.

on the way back we took the  route thru leavenworth. i wanted to see scenery other than the turn pike. we passed by the federal penitentiary where i worked with native brothers for bout 5 years. it brought back some memories. i thought of all the native brothers i had met and gone into ceremonies with. i will never forget them.

i made some deer jerky for my daughter to take home. i told her it was good trail food. she likes to go on hikes. the jerky was good. i made it out of a couple of roasts that i cut into thin slices.  i marinated it over night before i put it in the food dehydrator. now i have to wait on one of the home boys to bring me some more deer. we have one roast left.

after we got home we watched the KU basketball game with baylor. it started to look like a blowout. they doubled our points but we came back a number of times. we couldnt finish it. baylor had more fire power than we did. we did beat the point spread. we are now 3 full games behind in conference standings.

our jayhawk fans get all weirded out. they probably havent seen that duke, north carolina and kentucky are all unranked. our team is still competing against ranked teams. at the moment we are missing a little something. we get better as the year goes. we will be in the ncaa tourney again this year. i wont give up on our team.

i got an email from a fur dealer. we agreed on a price for all the quills off a porcupine. he will pull them from a hide he has on hand. i told him i would be interested in all the quills off of about 5 porcupines. we are starting with this one first. i want to buy from him every year if possible. i want to try quill work. so does my wife and daughter.

tomorrow we are going to try the grits i made. i am looking forward to seeing what they taste like. i am planning on making more. it will be a change of pace for breakfast eating grits. i’m not from the south but i do like corn.

i havent got my second stimulus check. i went to the ‘where’s  my check’ web site. it only said that it would be mailed january 6th. that was almost two weeks ago. still no check. i didnt get the first one sent to my bank account even though my banking info was on file. they sent a check instead. typical government bureaucracy. i am in no big hurry, i like to know that it is in my account and not out there somewhere.

got to start sorting hair.

got busy making some hominy. i bought some whole corn kernels that is suppose to be good for hominy making. i got it online. it is yellow corn. i wanted white hominy but yellow is good too. i used baking soda instead of wood ashes. i have used that process a number of times. it is considered safer and probably easier.

i have two quarts of corn kernels left. i will try wood ashes next time i make hominy. the only reason i havent used ashes is because i dont know how to. i looked it up online. i have an idea. i will to try it. once i have it down i will decide which way i will use there after. taste would be a big factor in choosing which method i choose.

i ended up with 3 quarts that i put in freezer bags. mishmot (menudo) tastes better with home made hominy. i also got half a jar of grits. grits are just dried hominy that is ground up. i used a food dehydrator to dry the hominy. i want to see how these grits are. i may make a big batch another time.

i got my end of the year invoice from the feed store. i spent just over $500 there last year for chicken feed and dog food. i take care of my animals. they give me fresh eggs and companionship in return.  doing my daily chores of feeding, watering and bringing in the eggs keeps me busy. i know my animals appreciate me. 

my feed bill should be slightly down but it actually went up. there was a short time when my chickens got wiped out by raccoons.  i didnt buy any feed then. i got more chickens after a few weeks. i am down to one dog too. my dog food bill should be lower since i am feeding one dog.

we got some snow. that will be good for the garden. it puts moisture in the ground when it melts. hopefully we have moisture down deep so when it gets dry we will have water for the plants.

i fed the chickens inside the chicken house while snow was on the ground. it is dry in there. i noticed the wild birds scratched up the snow to get at what feed was on the ground. they eat with the chickens all winter. i dont mind feeding them. i was told it will bring you good luck if you feed wild birds.

no KU basket ball game on today. the other team has covid problems. i have to wait til tomorrow for the kansas city chiefs. two of my children are going to the game. i will watch it on t.v.

i heard from a trapper i buy porcupine hair from. he will forward on my email to another trapper. i may still get some porcupine quills this winter. i want to try that art out. i have a fan i want to put quills on. the handle will be birch bark. it will be decorated with porcupine quills. that is if i can do it.

i have some deer meat cut into strips. i had it marinating over night. i will put it in the dehydrator to make deer jerky. my daughter wants some to take home. i will have it ready.

it is windy as a politician out. the basket ball goal we put up for andrew was moving back and forth. we will have to adjust it back to 10 feet high. the screw got worked loose and it dropped some. it is solid enough that it was holding in the wind. we laid it down til this wind is over. dont want it ruined.

i have to pick my daughter up at the airport tonight. been a few months since i seen her. she is back for the general council meeting. she will be busy so most of our visiting will be when we pick her up and drop her off at the airport.  her plane lands at 8:51. that means misho wont get home til late. i am having an extra cup of coffee now.

i want to eat supper at a cajun restaurant in legends mall on the way.  i may be a country indian but i really like cajun food. i want blackened catfish on dirty rice and gumbo. i order the same things when i go to that place. i should try new things but i love the blackened catfish and i dont get to eat gumbo very often.

i had my first vaccine shot. that makes me a little braver about going out. i have been cautious this entire time. well i am a home body so staying home wasnt asking much from me. i always wear a mask and practice social distancing. i dont feel my freedom is threatened by wearing one. i am laid back enough that i dont get outraged over a trivial matter.

going to the airport in kansas city is just a short jog but i havent been off the rez much. i do go to town for groceries. i preserve a lot of my food but i still need to pick up things. i also have to get chicken feed and dog food for my critters. so i could use the road time.

i got another seed catalog in the mail. it may seem its too early to think of seeds but it isnt. i will leaf thru the seed catalogs i got. i will see what seeds i may want to order. first i have to look at what seeds i have on hand.  i did buy a heat pad and grow lights last year. i will use them to start seeds with.

talking about gardening. i found a dude that has the lumber i need to make more grow boxes in my front yard. he said when i am ready to build to come see him and he will fix me up. not having the lumber was the only holdup in making more. i wasnt gonna pay the higher cost for new lumber.

now i can add more grow boxes next to the dozen i already had. i prefer using grow boxes now. my field gardens’ soil will pack down hard by the end of summer. not so in raised beds. and i can get two crops out of my grow boxes. i plant early crops and replant after i pull them.

gotta sort more hair before hitting the road.

i am still sorting porcupine hair. i dont mind doing that. i got my routine down. i dont have to force myself. i just do it.  i know it will pay off in the end. i could sort just enough to make one roach. or sort a bunch at a time and make multiple roaches. i have done both. i prefer to sort lotsa hair and make a number of roaches at the same time.

i watch tv or listen to music while working. i like to keep up with the news. some times though i get tired of hearing it. i will tune it out when i dont want to hear anymore. i will either do some binge watching or i will watch an educational program. i constantly try to learn something new. thats why i know so many trivia facts.

i worked some with the rug yarn i use for the roach base. i unraveled it and wound it into a ball. next i will braid it then sew the base. i have multiple colors of yarn.  i try to get the primary colors first. then i will use other colors of yarn. i try to have a variety of different colored roaches. never can tell what color some one will want.

yesterday we got our commodity buffalo burger. last month we didnt get any. didnt hear why. when i was in traditional foods i heard that other tribes used their buffalo to supplement target groups diet. it would be given to diabetics or people with high blood pressure. etc. they would kept track of how it affected their health. makes sense. that would be better than selling our buffalo at below market value.

our eggs are getting bigger. i knew it was only a matter of time. i am getting maybe half a dozen eggs a day. one day i got 9. this warm weather is helping. chickens tend to lay less during the winter. temps will be in the 50s for a few days. my chickens are earning their keep.

i will take advantage of that warm weather to toss more wood into the basement. we are getting low again. we have kept our fire going. it is pleasant in our home. i breathe better when i have a fire going in the wood stove.

we did buy an air fryer. i wanted it so we would eat healthier. less fried foods. we ordered a meat bundle from the meat plant. it is a mixture of pork and beef. i want to try a steak in the air fryer. i know their bacon is my favorite. thats why i dont run to town or the casino to eat breakfast. we have the best breakfast with fresh eggs and meat from the locker.

i have only got on the tread mill once so far. mary has been walking regularly. i have to do that. i have been too busy sorting hair. i dont like to break away from that. i have done a few reps on the weight machine when i go down to stoke up the fire. i will get my walking down sooner or later.

KU mens’ basket ball will be on tonight. i will be watching. we play oklahoma state. they have one of the best freshman guards in the country who may be a lottery pick. yeah we will give him a game. rock chalk.

i say i am retired but am i really? for the past 20 years or so i have put aside money like per cap.  i would use it to buy porcupine hair. thru my website i established contacts with trappers who sell their porcupine hair to me. we cut out the middle man–the supply houses. it was a deal that was beneficial to both of us. i saved money and they made money.

i looked at it as investing in myself. i planned on making roaches as  my retirement business. i knew i would get my money back. i now have plastic storage tubs full of porky hair. i bet i easily have over 17 pounds of hair. it takes about an ounce and a half to make a roach.

this past week i started sorting porcupine hair again. i havent done that in a while. thats a chore that has to be done before i even begin to think making roaches.  roaches look much better when the hair is sorted. 

i worked for 3 days the past week sorting hair. i work at my own pace. i am the best boss i  ever had. i put  in several hours a day. i can watch tv or listen to music while working. i did get a lot done. i will keep it up the rest of the winter.

at some point i will also tie a few roaches. maybe when i get bored sorting hair i will make a roach with the hair already sorted. i have a wooden box of the hair i have sorted the past few years. i didnt just start sorting hair this winter. i have been doing that for years.

i will make the bases for roaches sometime too. i have been buying rug yarn for years. i have a stock pile of it.  the company that made it is out of business. the cost of rug yarn has gone up greatly because of that. i used to buy it at garage sales for a quarter to a dollar apiece. now it goes for 5 to 10 bucks each.

i will dye some deer tails i use for trim on roaches. i also have been buying them for some time. i also stock piled the dyes i use. the cost of the dye and deer tails have gone up too. its good that i thought ahead and stocked up on materials i use to make roaches.

i gotta admit i should have been doing all of these tasks while i have been staying home. i could have made time. i was busy doing other things. i could have had several roaches done by now. dont matter. i will still get it done.

i went to a website to check on my covid check. it said it was to be mailed on January 6th. i have been checking out my mail box. no check yet. i imagine it will come this week. i am in no big rush to get it. it will be deposited in the bank and will get spent as needed.

bring on this next week.

i had my quarterly lab and med check today. my lab results were good news. my blood pressure is the best it has been in over a year. i am happy about that. and my blood sugar has gone down. i will take that too. my only downer was i am slightly anemic. i was prescribed a new medicine for that.

i had to go to town to get an over the counter vitamin C supplement. i have to take that with the anemia medicine. it will help my body adsorb it better. i went to a place where i have a rewards card. i get a discount at that place.

the doctor asked about my feet since i am diabetic. i said they okay. they are rough because i go bare foot most of the time. real country indian. she said i cant do that anymore. i should wear a house slipper with good support. i ordered a pair and will get them on tuesday.

i remember my brother bubs. when he would come see me, the first thing he would do upon entering is take his shoes off. my other brothers were like that too. i know i am like that. now i have to wear slippers. this indian gonna get civilized yet.

seen my sister when i was at my lab. i told her its ironic that when i was growing up i didnt get pop and candy. now i am diabetic. i guess indians might be predisposed to diabetics because our systems werent used to refined sugars. who knows.

a good check up better motivate me to  get on the tread mill. if i am doing okay now it will only help me more when i walk. i have hit the weight machine several times going to the basement to stoke up the fire. i will continue to hit the weight machine.

wearing masks has changed our lives. when i am out i meet people i know. since they are wearing a mask i cant tell if they are giving me a real smile. or if they are just giving me that running for office smile.

that first snow of the year is history now. most of it is gone. andrews’ snow man melted. only traces are in the shade of trees or bushes. we will get more snow later this winter. i am glad we didnt get more ice.

i went to the irs website. i did the where is my check thing. i got a reply that it is scheduled to be mailed january 6th. holay. i will get it in a few days. this indian will be heading to town. hell yeah.

i was watching news last night. it was when congress reconvened after the uprising. they were meeting on the counting of the electoral college vote.  republican and democrat alike all spoke about preserving our democracy etc. i was sitting there wondering who the hell are these guys. and where have they been these past years.

gonna head to the basement to hit the tread mill.

yesterday i got a call they were giving out covid vaccines at our clinic. mary and i headed over there. we checked in and got in line. i passed people i didnt know. made me wonder who the hell are these people and where did they come from.

it took us maybe half an hour to get our vaccine. we waited in line longer than it took to get the shot. the shot just took an instant. we had to sit for 15 minutes after getting vaccinated to make sure the shot wasnt causing any side effects.

i got the moderna shot. the ones that got the first shots had pfizer.  i have to go back in 4 weeks to get my second shot. i guess after that i am good. i didnt get a sticker like they give when we vote. woulda been cool if i got a sticker that said ‘i got my vaccine’.

i felt a little soreness in my arm where i got the shot. it didnt hurt but i was conscious of it. today the slight discomfort is about gone. i would rather deal with that than have covid. i am glad i got the vaccine especially now that they found a new strain of the virus.

i have been staying home. when i did go out i wore a face mask. i tried to do what i could to avoid catching the virus. and no i wasnt afraid. nor was i blindly following.  i was careful because i care for the people around me.

the county the rez is located in has lifted the mandate to wear face masks. the numbers keep going up. a vaccine may be our best defense. many around the country refuse to take precautions. no way you can convince them that their actions have consequences.

i have started sorting porcupine hair. i got motivated after receiving my last batch of hair.  i put in a few hours a day for a coupla days. it is a monotonous chore. i need to wear my glasses and have good lighting go see the slight variations in color. roaches look better when the hair is sorted.

i am going to need an extra cup of coffee today. KU basketball is on at 9 pm. that means the game will run past 11. i will be up late watching the game.  i have to see how the team bounces back from the loss we had last game. we have a couple of injuries. that means someone else will have to bring their game.

coffee reminds me of when i was young. we were taught to offer something to any one that came to our house. we didnt have much so most of the time it  was coffee. as i got older i helped make the coffee and served it. after awhile i started drinking it as i sat down to listen to the old folks visit. thats why i became a life long coffee drinker.

gotta do my chores.

we got about 3 inches of snow on da rez. andrew wanted to make a snow man. i told him it was cold outside. he wanted to go anyway.  what andrew wants, andrew gets. we told him to bundle up first.

he built a small snow man in the front yard. he insisted on using a carrot for the nose.  we had broken tree branches for the arms. he used rocks for the eyes and mouth. i had to take his picture.

our first snow gotta be as good a reason as any to take down our christmas tree. we have left it up a long time in the past. this time it came down earlier than usual.

the first snow makes me think of rabbit hunting. i keep an eye on the front yard. rabbits ate from my garden this year. its only fitting that i have them for dinner. that is known as the cycle of life or some thing. gotta eat rabbit in the winter to observe the passing of the season. i will set my live traps some time.

for the new year i made a big pot of mishmot. well big for us. i bought cow tripe and a coupla cans of mexican hominy from a migo store. that tripe had a reddish color. i bought some more tripe at walmarks cuz i didnt think i had enough. the walmarks tripe was bleached white. the two together weighed about 5 pounds.

i seen menudo mixes for sale but figured i would make my own. i added two teaspoons of my hot sauce, cilantro and fresh onions when i dished it out.  not suppose to brag on my own cooking but it was good.

i remember an old guy used to say he wanted buffalo tripe. he said not even cleaned. he wanted it with the green still in it. i wouldnt mind trying some buffalo tripe to make mishmot. dont know where i would find some though.

i didnt get my stimulus check. but it wasnt me that vandalized pelosi or mcconnell’s houses. i made a deal with the wife. when we get our stimulus we are going in halves on an air fryer. dont know how good they are or if they are just a fad. the idea of cooking without grease appeals to me. indians eat way too much fried foods. perhaps an air fryer would be healthier eh.

i am getting between  3 to 5 eggs a day. we are eating our own fresh eggs now. they are still small but that forces us to eat a little less. i know the eggs will get bigger. i wanted the breeds of chickens i have because they will lay some during the winter.

the chiefs are playing today. it is a meaningless game. i hope we dont have any injuries. gotta have everyone healthy during the play off run. i wont be disappointed with any result of this game. not like i was with the  jayhawks game yesterday. the sun still came up this morning even if K U  lost.

will see this week if this country indian’s name was added to the “dem indians that gonna get the vaccine” list.