Leigh’s February 2023 newsletter from Featherstones Comfort Pad

Hi! It’s Leigh’s February 2023 newsletter from Featherstones Comfort Pad! Volume 2, Issue 4

Greetings, everyone! And to think – this is my last newsletter of winter 2023, already! So, I have to know – are you seeing geese flying north, too? And daffodils starting to peek through?

I don’t know about where you are, but here on the South Shore of Massachusetts, except for a brief deep dive into negative digits a couple of weeks ago, we’ve had a fairly balmy season. A few snow scrapings, and that’s it. But geese flying north – and they started in January? Why do they bother going south at all, for what, a few weeks?

We’re reading, however, that some Canadian Geese don’t migrate at all or very far any more, so this could just be a local effect. But those daffodils! Canada Goose Migration: A Complete Guide

Call it climate change, call it I don’t know what. But we haven’t had a real snowstorm in five years! Now, this isn’t to say we won’t get clobbered in March, though the Old Farmer’s Almanac says it’ll be mild. Long-Range Weather Forecast for 2022-2023

Our first March together saw Scott and me without power for a few days of dinner out after work to stay warm and charging phones in the car, followed by a flannel-clad dip under the layers. That inspired us to get a portable generator when we moved into our current home in summer 2018 – we’ve used it only once, fall of 2021. Because we have to flip the incoming circuits, the big challenge with the generator is knowing when the power comes back on – how do you know? Our neighbors had to tell us! Lol!

This has also been wild turkey dance time. Turkey strut time. Tom Turkey competition time! OMG, our toms have been strutting their tail-fanned stuff. The “dance” is all about the wild toms sizing each other up to see who gets the lead in the mating thing soon to happen. They call (gobble) to their potential partners – loudly! Then they prance around, tail feathers fanned, dandy boys impressing the ladies. Once the pecking order has been determined – for boys and girls – they settle down a bit to focus on the deed at hand. Here’s some insight if you’re interested in turkey lore: How Do Turkeys Mate? What You Need To Know!.

The thing is, mating season in this area isn’t supposed to start until spring – another sign that it’s just around the corner! Dozens of wild turkey peck through the yard every day. They hang out under our bird feeders, getting the spillover.

So, that’s our semi-winter update! We hope you’re safe and sound, cozy and warm!

Leigh Lench Smith

Comfort Block news

I mentioned our new Featherstones Comfort Block last time. The Comfort Block is a 3x5x2 version of the Comfort Pad – same foam, same medical-design Pleather cover. Boston Children’s Hospital, which has been successfully using the Comfort Pad in its MRI Department since last spring, liked that so much that they asked us to consider this new size, designed for certain head and joint use in MRI environments.

Well, the verdict is in! They love it! And we just received a commitment for an order! So, woo hoo!

And not only is Tufts Medical Center testing both the Comfort Pad and the Comfort Block, as we reported last time, so is UMass Medical Center. The UMass folks have reported great results, especially with the Comfort Block, and they have moved the Pads and Blocks to their central MRI unit for more extensive testing.

Inch by inch, step by step. Such a slow process. But such promise of the institutional market opening up to us. And we’re talking with a chiropractic rep company about carrying the Comfort Pad. We just put together a video for them, of a doctor and patient discussing and demonstrating its application. So – we’ll see!

Featherstones Comfort Blocks

Custard cook!

Fingers crossed, knock on wood! Scott and I are so fortunate to have reasonably good health. Actually, pretty darn good health. We barely knew we had Covid last spring, and we rarely get sick. But I have to tell you, I got walloped with a sinus infection that came out of the blue mid-February and knocked me for a woozy loop! Thank goodness for antibiotics.

And for Scott adapting to the situation and coming through with the one and only thing I craved – custard! He’d never made it, but he looked up recipes, and I found an old standby, and together they turned out a dandy custard that was just the right recipe for me.

In his own words, here’s the final formula that he used. He thinks.

Ingredients

  • *3 eggs
  • *1/3 cup sugar – we both use Sugar in the Raw, one of the many things we learned early on that we had in common (we also used the same toothpaste and drank the same coffee, among other things 😊)
  • *A few shakes of salt
  • *Vanilla
  • *2-1/2 cups of whole milk
  • *Nutmeg

Directions

  • *Put the milk on the stove to scald. Not knowing what “scald” actually meant as a cooking term, and not giving in to ask Alexa, I heated the milk on medium until it nearly bubbled up and over and decided to turn it to way low as it bubbled lightly and until it just started to skim. I thought I remembered my mother doing this when I was a kid. Which was a long time ago. But maybe she really didn’t know, either. I mean, there was the time my mother mixed baking soda into scrambled eggs and insisted it was really good as the rest of us took a tiny taste and then didn’t know what to do. So, anyway, I decided that meant scalded. Leigh wasn’t watching, so I could pretty much do whatever I wanted and who’d know?
  • *Beat the eggs a bit – just get them going; whisking is yet to come.
  • *Dump the eggs, sugar, salt and some splashes of vanilla into a sizeable bowl. I might have added some cinnamon, not sure. Whisk it. Whisk it good. (Get it?)
  • *Add the somewhat cooled milk a bit at a time. Add, whisk; add, whisk; add, whisk; add, whisk. Whisk some more. Let’s whisk again, like we did last summer!
  • At some point along the way, heat water in a kettle. Line six ramekins in a baking pan, think about it, and then take one out.
  • Ladle the custard mix into the ramekins.
  • *Fill the baking pan with hot water to about a half inch from the top of the ramekins. Pour the water where the missing ramekin was, so as not to pour it into a custard. With a small cloth grab the removed ramekin and put it back into the now hot pan.
  • *Sprinkle nutmeg heartily over the tops.
  • *Pop the pan into a heated 350-degree oven and bake for 45 minutes. (Our oven has to be set at 360, odd oven.)
  • *While it’s baking, look up the origin of the word “ramekin.” It’s such a great-sounding word; what is the etymology?  Did you know, according to Wikipedia: “The term is derived from the French ramequin, a cheese- or meat-based bowl baked in a small mould. The French term is in turn derived from early modern Dutch rameken, which translated to ‘toast’ or ‘roasted minced meat’, itself apparently from ram ‘battering ram’ + -kin ‘diminutive’, but it is unclear why.” And that, “ramekins are commonly used for preparing and serving individual portions of a variety of dishes, including crème brûlée, French onion soup, molten chocolate cake, moin moin, cheese or egg dishes, poi, macaroni and cheese, lasagna, potted shrimps, ice cream, soufflé, baked cocottes, crumbles, chakra póngal, or scallops, or used to serve side garnishes and condiments alongside an entrée.” I clearly have more ramekin magic to make!
  • *Consider all that for a while, until the timer goes off. Take the baking pan out of the oven without spilling boiling-hot water on you, and then do the knife in the custard test to see if it’s done. If not sure, call it done. Otherwise, you’d have to tempt all that boiling-hot water again, both putting it back in and taking back out again.
  • *With that small cloth, take the individual ramekins out of the pan and set them down somewhere to sit while you decide whether to eat any warm or put them all into the fridge.

Serve your ill loved one a custard and small spoon, so it lasts longer, and feign nonchalance as she quivers in delight when eating it and naming you the best caregiver ever!

Comfort Pad special

Quick note – we put the Coral Garden Wave Comfort Pad on sale for Valentine’s Day – the perfect color and all – and decided to leave it on sale through February. So, if you’re in need of one, grab it now through the 28th at a special price, which still includes free shipping! Just visit https://featherstonesinc.com/comfort-pad and order yours now!

A request, with the sincere thanks of a grateful entrepreneur!

If you enjoy your Comfort Pad, please, right now, this very moment, leave a rating and brief review. Just go to https://featherstonesinc.com/comfort-pad and click on the pad model you own and you’ll see where to do it. Reviews help immensely with our marketing, so, sincerely, thank you!!!

It’s also very helpful for you to share our social media posts so like-minded people in your world see them. Here’s where to find us: @featherstones.comfort.pad on Instagram and @FeatherstonesComfortPad on Facebook. We post a mix of business, info and fun Monday through Friday. 😊

And please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think might enjoy it – if they like it, they can sign up at the website. We’ll never sell or give anyone’s info away!

As we say in our posts: “Featherstones – pass the word!”

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A joyful rest of winter to you!!!

And let us know if you make Scott’s custard! It really was good!

Featherstones Comfort Pads

With love, Leigh

leigh@featherstonesinc.com
https://featherstonesinc.com/comfort-pad

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