A little of this 'n' a little of that ...

First the new dog treat testing ...

I decided to end the trial run with the C&Cs as they were causing a smelly bum ... likely the result of diarrhea and long feathers ... I know ... more information than you need ... but also because Kenya so obviously did not enjoy them ... and a treat ... even a healthy one ... should be a treat.

#2    Iams Tartar Treats (TTs)

These look like little brown nubbly tooth brushes and Kenya spent a lot of time chewing and drooling the first time she ate one (Monday, May 10, 2010).  I suspect this is healthy for her gums and for the stimulation of teeth cleansing saliva.

The recommended amount for dogs 10-20 lb. is one per day.  I think I will give my 90 pound dog 2 per day ... one each morning and night.

I was a little concerned about the cautions regarding size of treat.  Kenya doesn't gulp down large objects so is unlikely to be in danger of the "harmful or fatal" results of swallowing the thing whole ... but if I had a Lab ... or that Mountain Dog puppy ...

No mention of calories on this one ... I like to know.

Here are the ingredients:
wheat gluten ... uh oh
sodium caseinate
water
glycerin
tapioca starch
corn oil
gelatin
pea protein
natural chicken flavour
calcium carbonate
potassium sorbate (a preservative)
potassium chloride
titanium dioxide

Basically a cookie made from fairly innocuous ingredients that give it the consistency of hard rubber plus those last few chemicals which I will check out ... I suspect they are teeth cleansers.


I don't like the fact that the first ingredient is wheat since Kenya gets diarrhea from too much wheat.

Titanium Dioxide is a fine particulate produced mainly in China and used in almost every sun screen, name brand vitamins, and most anything requiring whiteness.  It has been listed as a possible carcinogenic, but not for those who ingest it, rather for those who inhale it.  In other words, all those Chinese workers are likely to get lung cancer from inhaling it by mouth so that the dust goes down the trachea to the lungs or by breathing it in as they work in not-too-well-controlled factory conditions.  Kenya is unlikely to be in danger as this is not a cookie that crumbles, but I am not overly impressed by the addition of something that could be toxic for anyone.  Just how important could whiteness be?

Potassium Chloride is saltpeter, and the calcium is the same thing found in bone strengthening pills for osteoporosis.  Not too worrisome.  I don't think she has a sex drive to diminish, and strong teeth and bones are good, right?

The sodium caseinate is just milk with acid added.

Next ... glass work ...

I had trouble controlling the little tube brush that dispenses the fake lead lines.  It was all right on the smaller test piece, but long flowing lead lines are hard to manage.  My first little table top has blobby lead lines.

I thought when I finished that it might be fun to actually make a top out of bits and pieces of stained glass ... and my lead or solder lines would be neater.  However I would have to learn to use lead if I wanted small pieces because solder only works if you can wrap the edges in foil.  Tiffany glass lamps shade, for example, are all made with channeled lead and the other , less finicky, modern types of construction join copper wrapped pieces by soldering them with lead (speaking of toxic products).

Something to think about.

What I am reading ... 

I have almost finished Khaled Hosseini's newest book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and can recommend it without reservation.  I find it hard to put down.

  I have been trying to read Birth of a Nation, the story of Kenya's biggest and best newspaper, but it is heavy going.  The author doesn't know what to leave out .  So, while the history is accurate and interesting, the flow is like my lead lines ... blobby.  It is an easy book to put down.  I am sending it on to a friend who is younger, more academically inclined, and even more interested in Kenya's socio-political history than I am.  Like me, she read The Nation every day while living in Kenya ... and continues to read it on-line.

I enjoyed Twenty Chickens for a Saddle and would recommend it to anyone interested in Africa, simple alternative life styles, and home schooling.

I am also picking away at the square foot gardening book ... chock full of good ideas.


And that ... for today ... is that ...  Have a great week.  I think I will finally go to town this week to get new frames for my glasses ... and make the trip a Costco run as well ... My tummy is finally feeling as if it might hold up for a trip to town.