GET 'ER DONE

 Oh my gosh .... it's a lovely COOL 57 degrees this morning.  Our high for the next ten days is 83!!  How could that be?  I guess I will now be forced to head back out on those walks that always make me feel better.  Too bad they don't give me a little more motivation along with it!

Jonathan was highly motivated on this day!  Since Cooper got a bath and NANCY got a bath, I guess it was HIS turn.  He dunks his head into the bowl, raises up and shakes it all around, showering him self with drops.  

After about ten minutes of this, he comes out looking like a drowned rat.  I know he thinks he's very clean, but that was his drinking water from yesterday.  Clean?  Not so much.

While this kid slept, I snuck out the door.  That way I don't get THE LOOK of abandonment which requires a treat.  He would live on just treats if I let him.

Finally, after two weeks of thinking about it, I was off to Home Depot.  I discovered quite by accident that this wasp spray kills those ants that sting and bite me every time I walk across the lawn.  I also needed more emitters for the flower beds.  Cheap plastic they are, so they don't last long.  I almost lost one of my prettiest shrubs out front because I forgot to check the water lines.  

The MAIN reason for the trip however was for these.  I should have stock in this wood company.  I cut them up with my pruning shears so Jonathan can have a chew treat.  He goes through about one every four days.  I've tried hardwoods, but he doesn't seem to like them.  If he doesn't chew, his beak will grow so long he can't eat.  That means an expensive trip to the Vet.

Back home, we ate tomatoes, watched rodeo and fussed over the longarm.  I didn't even want to call and get the bad news ... so I didn't.  Maybe tomorrow!

Since it was GET 'ER DONE day, and I knew what was coming up next month, I called to see about getting my diesel truck smogged.  It's ridiculous that we have to do this.  Just for your information, California does NOT follow the Federal Smog Guidelines.  They made up their OWN guidelines which are more strict than any other in the entire nation.  

If you ever drive here for any length of time, you will see that a good chunk of vehicles aren't even registered, so you KNOW they aren't smogged.  It was never a problem for diesel trucks and shouldn't be now with all the crappy diesel fuel they make us buy.

Okay, rant over, I went to the Smog Shop when she told me they were the slowest.  It's first come, first served.  I was at the door at 2:30 and you know what?  She was right.  There was no one there.  It cost me $66.00 for a test (probably more than anywhere else in the U.S.), but she passed with flying colors.  Truly, I was surprised since she's been running a little rough lately.  I think from the crappy fuel.

I would take her to the doctor, but not until I gather up some more bucks.  Why you ask?  Because of THIS little bottle.  My sweet boy Cooper is slowing down with arthritis.  You wouldn't know it by the video of him running.  

We ran out of the guaranteed easy to feed liver flavored pills which he hates and won't eat.  I have to smash them into hard boiled egg pieces or pound them into his treats.  Lucky for me, this bottle will last six months.  But wait until you hear the price ....................... $325.00.  No kidding ... that's ridiculous, right?  But the alternative is to see him walking stiff as a board.  Yes we tried all the glucosamine stuff, but he's allergic.  Since I don't require anything like this ..... yet anyway ..... that money is going for him.  He's worth every penny!!

And so I came home broke, but got him to eat one with the "I'm HOME" treat he always gets.  No wonder he's always so happy to see me!

It was a Get 'Er Done day which ended with paying the truck registration and the jeep insurance.  That added up to a $1,400.00 day.  OUCH!!  It's like ripping a bandaid off I guess ... just do it all at once!

Today is ... you guessed it ... BINGO day when I drop off the nachos ingredients in the kitchen, and run so I don't get killed from the looks of the cooks who work tonight, but were NOT in on the decision.  Check back tomorrow for the results!!

A Do Nothing Day

 It was a day to relax ... no stress ... no problems ........ but you know that never happens.  Truly it was a day to recover from eating too much delicious food, so Mr. Cooper and I headed out for an early morning walk.  

It's nice to know that I am not the only one in this area who can't grow flowers.  Tomatoes, yes, but flowers, not so much.  

Still, they survive on no water, literally growing up through cracks in the pavement.  It's been 85-105 degrees and these beauties survive.  I water mine, tend to their every need ... and they die.

Walking the kid is always a treat.  It's a slow go on the way out as he smells every rock, stick and blade of grass.  When he decides to head back, it's a different story.  I'm walking as fast as I can and he's still pulling on the leash.  

That was followed up by yet another trek through the tiny garden.  These peppers were SUPPOSED to be bell peppers.  At least that's what I wanted ... and that's what the little tag said.  What am I going to do with these?  They smell hot, so I haven't tasted one.  Maybe make salsa??

The day was slipping by quickly, so I headed for the long arm.  To say things did not go well is an understatement.  Halfway through the first row it died.  The computer just quit.  I turned everything off and walked away.  An hour later I went back to it, only to run out of thread and have to give it directions to the cross street where it stopped.

And that's when it happened.  That horrible crunching noise, like the needle is hitting the bobbin.  I took everything apart, put in a new needle, and did everything within my power to get her back up and running.  It was all for naught.  Big sigh!!  

I think it is the little spring in the bobbin ... or maybe the bobbin case ... but the only way to find out is to haul this beast 60 miles south where they will charge me well over $500 just to walk in the door.  They are terrible people ... if you didn't buy it from them, they don't want to see you EVER.  The last time I drove it to the repair shop, they broke it even more than it was originally.  I'm very disheartened since I love quilting so much, but my career may just be over.  I think getting a repairman out to my house will be impossible.

That pretty much ruined my day except for this guy.  He kept bugging me for some unknown reason ... maybe he could feel my frustration.  We went in and out the door numerous times before I gave up.  If only you could speak my little friend.

In the end, I decided he really needed a bath.  It's been WAY too long.  That seems to cool him off a bit and ward off those itchy feet.  I can't complain ... he will be 17 years old in three short months.  It amazes me he acts like the above video at that age.  

And so I spent the rest of the evening crocheting.  Look here ... I just noticed this when I uploaded this picture.  These were the exact same two rolls of yarn, yet look at the pattern.  Same yarn, same crocheting pattern, yet they don't look alike at all.  What the heck?  No matter I suppose, since my hot pots and pans won't care.

And so ended another day in July.  Not the best day I've ever had, but I suppose not the worst.  Today I'll call the quilt machine repair shop and see if they can send someone down.  I may only need a new bobbin spring.  I had this problem once before and was able to fix it myself.  We shall see what happens THIS time.

Hula Hula To You Too!

DANGER ... DANGER Wil Robinson.  What can I say.  I'm an accident looking for a place to happen.  There's a bloody picture below for those that don't want to look.  

On the other hand, I deleted the RED pictures of the tomatoes.  Like you haven't seen enough of them already, so there's no use showing you yet another bowl full.  Instead, here a few I stuck in my breakfast bacon and tomato taco.  

I mean really ... how does this happen?  All I did was try to remove the silver thingy covering the top of the fertilizer bottle.  Next thing I know ... OUCH!!!  There was a piece of sharp plastic on the rim.  There is another trip to the store in my future because I used the last bandaid I had.  I think I need stock in that company.

I trimmed bushes, this time wearing gloves, cutting back Lady of the Nile blooming (now dead) branches and generally did a clean up in the back yard.  The front needs it too, but I'm leaving that for another day.

I considered quilting, but I have to be in the mood for that.  It's an early morning job when you are fresh in the brain.  

Late afternoon brought a phone call.  Four of the people who were coming to the Luau and who would pay me for the seats I purchased, canceled.  No problem ... I'll just bring home four to-go boxes of food.  It's funny how things work out in the end.

And so I arrived at the HulaFest Luau event ... the only one NOT dressed in a flowery dress.  Nothing even remotely like that lives in my closet.  Oh there is one way in the back from my days of flying to Hawaii every couple of months, but I know it no longer fits.  I didn't even TRY.  I donned my usual Levi capris pants.

I hit the bar running because I knew in one hour, the wait would be LONG.  They always have specialty drinks that our illustrious (and famous around here) Bartender makes for the occasion.  This is a Pineapple Upside Down Cake in a flashing thingy glass.  Yes that's a PLASTIC straw with an umbrella attached.  It went down SO smooth ... and I could feel it almost instantly.  

Lucky for me, the rest of our friends arrived along with three more people who had not purchased tickets.  I laughed because the husband made sure his WIFE sat next to me ... so she could talk he said.  And talk she did.  I didn't care, I was on drink #2, a rarity for me.

Dinner was the best I remember from ALL the times we have had this event.  Pulled pork, huli huli chicken, Hawaiian macaroni salad, mashed sweet potatoes (OMG good) and green salad.  I cleaned my plate like a good girl and was miserable the rest of the night.

Here's what you've been waiting for.  We have quite the number of Polynesian dancers in our area.  Weird since this is cowboy country.  Come to find out, this lady called Aunty has a school of sorts not far from me.  Maybe this will become my newest pastime.  ALOOOOO-HA!!!

Next up ... and my apologies there are no pictures ... was the oh-so-cute 18 year old kid who just got back from Sacramento because he was taking the test to become a Realtor.  I mean really ... he's only 18!!!  He danced like a mad man in the traditional dance of the men.  I was so WOWED, I was too late to get pictures.  Man that kid could dance!!   He's also on his way to the Finals Dancing Competition in Las Vegas.

The dancing went on for over an hour with dancers of every age and skill level.  What a show!!!  Here's a snippet of this amazing gal showing off her stuff.  She too is one of the award winners and just made this new costume for our event.  Oh to be that flexible once again, yes??

ALOOOO-HA!!  As the dancers left, the Rock Band began ... with rock music of course.  You would be surprised to see the number of folks who dance at these events.  Nothing like the above because we are all stiff as a board, but it's fun to watch.

In no time, all that food hit bottom and I headed for the door.  It was a very fun successful night for our Chairman RaeLene.  Next up ... Bourbon and Brisket.  I'm not a fan of bourbon, but the brisket is calling my name!!!

The Big Box Bonanza ... and Kitties

 Good Morning California!!!  The weather has cooled off just a tad with a little breeze thrown in for good luck.  It also flings all the flowers off the trees and bushes, so don't get too close.  No really, don't get within ten feet or you will spend an hour getting these things out of your hair.  Ask me how I know!!

Every morning ... pick the fruit.  Here's the weird thing.  If you buy veggies in the store, they last in the fridge for at least 3 or 4 days before going soft.  The cucumbers and squash from the garden?  You better eat them that day, because by the next day, they are soft and "flexible".  Still edible, but not crunchy any more.  Why is that?

Of course Mr. Cooper doesn't care ... he only eats MEAT ... and a little dry dog food.  It better be FRESH meat too.  Three day leftovers get a what-were-you-thinking look!

There was yet another bout of bookkeeping, which lasted four hours.  Seriously, I thought it would take minutes, but the second bookkeeping program I had to use, though the same company saying it was ALMOST the same, lied profusely.  They put everything in a completely different place and used different descriptive words ... so I played a LOT of Hide and Seek.

Back home once again with a full stomach of tomatoes ... no kidding, I can't believe I'm getting tired of them ... I got to work on the quilts.  I have two to finish on my longarm today.  Two MORE (still at the embroidery gals house) and I'll be done with the Veterans quilts for this year.  So yeah ... that's FOUR more.

Next on the list is to do something about this.  Anyone else have this problem?  This is what happens when you live in a small town that has no shopping.  We are lucky to have one grocery store and one Walmart.  Literally everything I need is ordered from Amazon, or some company that lives on the other side of the U.S.  

That's the blue recycle cardboard bin in the back, already full to the brim.  I'd set it out for pickup, but I can't get to it.  This means BOXCUTTER.  Yeah, I'm a little dangerous with that thing in my hand, so we'll see how it goes.

I spent the rest of the day watching my newest adoptees.  Yup ... turns out there are TWO!  This is the original brave kid who showed up.  He went for the Meow Mix in the bird bath, but someone beat him to it, so I put out another half cup.  

That's when I spotted THIS guy.  Interesting color on this kid.  I don't know if it's he or she, but she sat here and watched while the other one scarfed down the food.  Then she laid down in the flower bed, hiding flat to the ground.  There was lots of tail flicking, so I don't think they are exactly buddies.  

Thinking this kid wouldn't get anything to eat, I did my best mime act once again and dumped a little more on the concrete.  She made a beeline for it.  More pussy footing happened as they slowly eyed each other before the other one gave in and left.  This kid has the longest legs I've ever seen on a cat ... VERY tall but oh so thin.  I guess the feeding will continue.  I see a 50# bag in my future.

And so ended another fun day full of fixed assets and equity rolling through my brain, followed by big smiles as I watched the kitty kitties!!  No worries Cooper, you are still NUMERO UNO!!

Tonight should be interesting.  I'm going to a LUAU.  No you won't see any hula dancing from me, nor any poi eating, but the pulled pork and flashing-light-girlie drinks should be delicious!!

Are Black Kitties Good Luck?

A cooling trend has ensued in the beautiful central California farming area.  For the next ten days we won't see anything with a "9" in front of it.  I'm all for that.  In fact, I actually had to get up and find a blanket last night.  I scrounged around in the dark before throwing two pair of Levis on top of me since a blanket was elusive.

We were up early as usual.  Truly, if I slept in, I would think I lost half the day.  Though I seriously need to get back to quilting with the long arm, there was yet another accounting meeting.  But FIRST ... oh yeah ... tomato and cucumber breakfast.  If nothing else, I should be losing weight!!  

At least this time the tomatoes were the bigger, tastier ones from my friends garden.  I'm waiting for the WHAT CAN I DO WITH THESE phone calls I'm going to get in two weeks when hundreds of them ripen all at once.  I'll be prepared with your suggestions!

On to the meeting ... this time with a really nice commercial realtor (not mine) and the actual tax accountant.  Two hours later I was overwhelmed and regretting I signed on.  Too late now girlie!!  I'm hoping this has a happy ending.

With that finally over as I snuck out the door, I headed off to Smart and Final.  I finally got permission to serve Nachos at Elks Bingo.  We have a kitchen crew every week who serves up hamburgers, hotdogs and chicken tenders, but we are all getting pretty tired of the same ole same ole.  

The supposed "One In Charge" (who really isn't) who only wants to play Bingo, has refused to add anything to the menu that actually causes her one second of work.  How hard is this?  You order it from the Club Manager, you open the can and dump it into a crockpot.  Maybe opening the bag-o-chips is just too much.  

Next Tuesday .... NACHOS with jalapeños (which we already have) for $4.00.  By the way, all the kitchen money goes into our Building Fund for repairs.  It's going to take a lot of nachos to pay for that air conditioner we just had to replace!!

Back home to my boy Cooper, who always greets me like I've been gone for a year, we stashed ourselves on the couch for a little rodeo.  Since there's nothing better than snacking on cheesecake while you watch TV, I rounded up the supplies for mini lime pies.  

In the hopes of not killing my diet completely, I forgo the graham cracker crust and just dump the ingredients into these little containers.  Those get stashed in the freezer.  Any time I'm in desperate need of dessert, I bring one out and eat it frozen.  Perfect for those hot summer days.  And yes, that's yet ANOTHER bowl of tomatoes.  Thankfully they are finally slowing down the production.  In another week I think they will die a sad death, though I won't be crying.

There was more computer time before I finally yelled UNCLE.  Dinner for me was the last of the Mac n Cheese.  I'm glad that's gone now so I can get on to better things, like that leftover turkey lunch meat.  It's really a good thing I'm not trying to produce meals for anyone else!!

Oh but wait ... I actually AM.  Remember some time back I noticed a very skinny black kitty kitty in my back yard, so I got a bag of cat food?  Every night I put out half a cup, and every morning it's gone.  I used the game camera a couple of times, and sure enough, it was the black kitty.

On THIS day, she came early at 5:30 and jumped up on the bird bath where I feed her.  Rarely do I get to see her.  But WAIT!  What's that under the rose bush?  ANOTHER BLACK KITTY.  She sat quietly waiting for the other one to leave, which wasn't going to happen until all the food was gone.

I borrowed one of Jonathan's bowls (he won't mind) and very slowly, quietly, one step at a time NOT looking them in the eye (because they will run away) walked until I could set it on the grass.  The next breeze that came along wafted the smell her direction.  She made a beeline for the food.

So now I'm feeding TWO black kitties.  I'm sure there's good luck attached to them, yes?  They are so very skinny ... maybe they will even snag that gopher, the one that ate all my flowers and two squash plants.   Today I'll set up a buffet of some kind.  You can't leave food on the ground because of the ants.  

Which reminds me, I've discovered these ants have pretty much taken over my entire back yard.  Every time I walk out there, I get bit once or twice.  I'm calling a Pest Service to see if they can help.  I've tried lots of stuff to get rid of them, but most involve some kind of granule ... and I can't take a chance of Cooper accidentally eating something.  I'm hoping there's an alternative ... like electric shock!!!

The Good Lord willing, I'll be back here tomorrow.  Have a GREAT day!!

 

How to Slice Your Thumb In One Easy Lesson

HELP ....... I'm turning into a tomato!!  Good grief ... I've never eaten so many tomatoes in my LIFE!  I now have to put them in bowls by date so I know which ones to eat first!!  My Early Girls seem to be very late to the party however.  There are more and more on the vines, but all are a pretty shade of green.

 I didn't spend much time outside however, since this was going on from 5:30 am until 6:30 pm.  Turn your speaker up to get the full effect.  I'm guessing this is the pool construction?  Once again I had to turn my TV up LOUD in order to block it out.  I could still feel the BASS DRUM!

In spite of that, Mr. Cooper and I went for a short walk.  It's been way too hot to go very far.  This was the end result.  I tried to cut my thumb off.  I now know how the neanderthals and their later ancestors skinned and tanned hides for their clothes.  This is just crazy!

I spotted this amazing rock in the middle of the road.  Are there any geologists in the building?  I should have been one because this stuff fascinates me.  What is it made of?  I picked up both pieces since it was broken in half.

The inside looked just like the outside.  I brought it home and washed it off in the sink, scrubbing with my fingers.  BIG mistake.  Those edges are sharper than all my kitchen knives and it sliced my thumb quite nicely ... and quite deeply.  I could cut material with this thing!!  No wonder they were able to process hides without having knives.  I'm curious to know what it is and where it might have come from.  I've never seen anything like it around here before.

Now injured, I spent the next couple hours on my phone.  You know how you see these do-it-yourself videos and you think ... hey, that might work?   Well yes and no.  Someone took a leaf blower and blew the spider webs off their porch.  AHA .. I can do that!!

My patio has this plaster with rough spots in it for ambience I guess.  They are a magnet for Daddy Long Legs because their webs stick so well.  I'll just blow off a few around the light fixtures.  

SHOCK AND SURPRISE ensued.  Are you kidding?  Huge sections of webs came off like blankets, rolled up and flew through the air like it was raining.  I was ducking and running from one side to the other.  It was like a scary movie!!  You truly could not see ANYTHING on the ceiling until the blower hit it.  

Now it was a big MESS because of course most of those "blankets" stuck to the edge and refused to budge.  This was a TERRIBLE idea!!  I finally got the light fixtures fairly clean and called it a day after blowing huge piles of webs off the patio onto the lawn.  It was seriously like my entire house was covered in spider webs.  EWWWWW!!!

By this time I was starving and contemplating ANYTHING other than tomatoes.  Please PLEASE let me find something in the fridge to eat.  Ugh ... only that terrible Mac n Cheese.  That's when I heard my Grandmother's voice .... BAKE IT.  

I have become too complacent over the years and did not take the time to "casserole it".  I knew it would end up in the trash if I didn't do something, so I smashed it into a casserole dish, smothered it in more cheddar cheese and stuck it in the oven.

SUCCESS!  It tasted MUCH more like the Mac n Cheese of the old days.  Note to self, remember what your Grandmother said next time!!

Mr. Cooper and I snuggled the rest of the night watching the Salinas California Rodeo, the next in line of money making options for the kids.  My fav Stetson Wright has healed up over the last two years and is back in great shape, winning with a score of 89 on a bull that had not EVER been ridden.  It just amazes me how good that kid is.  

Maybe I can get in on the action!  We have a new cowboy bar in town that will soon have a mechanical bull.  I mean really, just WHO would not accept THAT challenge!!!

I'm back to bookkeeping today, not near as exciting, but at least I will be free .. FREE .. of the tomatoes for a few hours!!

Pull Tabs and $$$

 Wait .... give me a second to wake up.  Maybe an hour would be better.  I'm yawning like crazy this morning.  You guessed it ..... it was a rousing night of Bingo where my brain had to work overtime.

But first ... some puppy love from my little kid who will be 17 years old in three short months.  The Vet and I are both amazed he has lived this long and is still in good shape.  His twin brother passed away at 12.  It's a miracle he's still so active!!

Every morning he accompanies me outside for the tomato run.  Yup ... another red breakfast, accompanied by sliced mini cucumbers with a little zucchini thrown in for good luck.  I admit, I'm getting a little tired of eating this for breakfast.  I long for a big fat English muffin.

SOOOO .... I baked this.  Another cowboy quiche.  It's not too bad for you, let's me use up the last of that block of cheese, the remaining 1/2 cup of cream that I usually end up throwing out and some milk just before it spoiled.  Add in all the squash I had collected along with the last of the bacon .... it's a Fridge Cleanout Quiche that tastes like Heaven.

I definitely needed the quick start on this day because I received a text message at 1:00 that the back room Pull Tab boss would not be arriving until after the "I turn into a pumpkin" hour.  Okay ... I'm new to the back room, but I'll do my best.  The alternatives are sketchy.

The good news is my Fairy Godmother knows everything pull tabs because she's a BIG player!!  This gal does so much for Bingo she should get a medal.  First she sets up all the equipment and turns on all five televisions, making sure everything is working.

Then she sets up my bingo card selling station before pulling the boxes of games for the back room.  They look like this and come in boxes of 500 to 1,000.  These are pull tabs ... aptly named because you tear off the tab to find a small instant win like $1 all the way up to $10.  If you find 3 NUMBERS instead of little pictures, you get to play those like a bingo card.  If you win THAT game, you win $500 up to $1199.  Now you know why these little cards are the bees knees.

We pulled the boxes, put tags on each one with the games name and number before taking them one at a time out to the floor for sale.  They go like hotcakes for $1.00 each.  Don't take too many boxes out at a time, because we have to sell every card before calling that game.  Timing is everything.  Who knew there was so much to this?

After we have sold 3 or 4 boxes, I go up onstage and call those games, making some folks VERY happy.  Then we go back to selling one box at a time until all eight are sold.  Those games will be called much later in the night.  

A short 30 minutes later, I'm once again sitting on the stage getting ready to call our Early Bird games.  Only five games, which are regular one line Bingo.  Amazingly, there were no slings and arrows this time because I called it perfectly.  Woohoo!!!  It might have been better if I could have remembered the spiel you are supposed to give before and after each game, but they didn't care.  

With that done, I'm back to the game selling table to make sure our new Infernal Machine Operator did okay.  She did not.  It seems she remembered how to do everything except wake up the monster and how to void incorrect sales.  If you don't open its eyes first, it turns $150.00 into $15.00.  Even worse, it will show you refunded money when you did not.  ALL of which happened.

In the end, we were $53.00 short ... but I imagine that had something to do with the refund and I wasn't in the mood to spend another hour correcting it.  Luckily the King agrees ... it is what it is.  

Oh wait ... one more thing ... I spent 30 minutes practicing how to get the ancient walk-in safe open where all the game boxes live.  Good grief ... it doesn't like me much better than the infernal machine does.  I thought we were locked out for the night.  Luckily the King came to my rescue and we put everything away.  Another day ... another dollar for the kids through Elks Lodge donations.

Mac 'n Eggs

 We are currently hanging out at around 90 degrees on this July 15th day.  Time is flying by so fast I'm going to get my Christmas tree out of the garage.  I swear it's going to be Christmas tomorrow!!

Here's yet another harvest from the garden.  We go out every morning to water the one huge tomato plant that's in the completely wrong type of pot.  It's a hard foam material, meaning it drys out by 3:00 every day.  The tomatoes are getting smaller, but it's still producing.

Who eats tomatoes and cucumbers for breakfast Patty asked.  Anyone with a garden I answered.

You know I can't sit still, so I went out to turn on everything in the van and give it the once over.  It took some time for it to reconnect and get the inverter to turn on.  Maybe I need to do this a little more often.  I left everything on for awhile before returning and shutting it back down.

I tell you one thing though ... that engine battery is a pain.  The last time I drove it, I did not reconnect the battery charger.  Nine days later and it was down a LOT.  There's just way too much electronic stuff inside.  Note to self ... be SURE you take the battery charger with you when you go adventuring in case you need to be parked for more than a few days.

Back inside, I got harassed by the kid.  He's just so picky about what he eats.  Plain dog food just wasn't working on this day.  I have all these eggs ... which he loves ... and was wondering if they were still okay.  Some of you mentioned the water trick ... and weirdly, it popped up on my phone at the exact time I was thinking about it.  Can these things read your mind?

So here it is ... how to test your eggs, right from the eggs mouth.  Eggland even gives you pictures.  I could have used this a month ago when I threw away maybe five eggs that floated just a bit.  When you're single and have to buy six dozen at a time from Costco, this is handy to know.  Of course they also want you to buy MORE eggs.

I finally opted for something other than tomatoes for dinner.  Yesterday was National macaroni and cheese day.  I'm not sure if it's my taste buds or how they make products nowadays.  I definitely notice the different between Walmart and Barilla pasta products.  I made this the same way my Mom used to make it, but with the last of the Walmart shells.

It wasn't even close in flavor.  Maybe I lost my taste buds completely in my old age, though bacon still tastes the same.  It's disheartening to be SO ready to taste the goodness of Mac 'n Cheese ... only to be disappointed in the flavor.  I'll try better pasta and MORE cheese next time ... sharp cheddar ... instead of trying to use up that old mozzarella and parm with MILD cheddar.  The bacon .. now THAT was delicious!

Another day, another dollar.  I guess you already know what day it is ... it's BINGO TUESDAY!!  I'm not doing a lick of bookkeeping.  Mr. Cooper and I are going to have some couch time after I check the garden.  Maybe even a nap before putting our armor on.

I got a few complaints last time ... I called too fast.  You want to know how fast that was?  TWO SECONDS.  I called the number TWO SECONDS too early.  Shame on me.  I will do better tonight so as to duck the flaming arrows.

Peaches and Cream

 I can feel it on the breeze ..... a cooling trend in Central California.  Today we will be all the way down to 98 degrees!!  I'm missing my horse trough already!  

Though I really wanted to just vegetate on the couch with Mr. Cooper, Sundays have become breakfast out with two of my Elk friends.  Of course breakfast isn't on my diet, but the friendship is worth every calorie.  I ate every bite of French Toast and sausage smothered in syrup.

Back home, Mr. Cooper and I wandered around the garden for a bit before it got too hot.  Oh yes, there was another harvest of mini tomatoes.  Nothing else on this day ... just the good stuff.

I passed all those tomatoes on to my neighbor, because my friends have their own vegetable department in their back yard.  Their early girls have finally begun to turn red.  They still need a few days on the counter, but I ate the ripest one.  You know what ... there's not much better in the veggie world than a fresh ripe sweet tomato.  I'll be air frying a package of bacon today to go with it.

I was quickly distracted from that .... the Calgary Rodeo finals were on and I wasn't going to miss out.  I remember back in the day, the rodeo kids I hung out with were 25-30.  Nowadays, they are 19-22 and making $50,000 a pop.  I admire them since it takes a huge amount of grit to ride those Class A bulls.

These are primo peaches stolen from the massive Dole orchard a few miles away.  Hey ... I didn't steal them, my friends neighbor did, but he works there, so I guess it's okay.

Our lodge makes the best EVER peach cobbler.  People ask for it at every event.  It couldn't be more simple.  Dump a can of peaches in a pan, add lots of cinnamon, sprinkle a box of white cake mix over the top with more cinnamon, followed by a stick of butter cut into small pieces.  Bake.  

Sadly, I didn't HAVE any cake mix, so I googled once again for a homemade recipe.  I halved the recipe for this smaller dish, but maybe I didn't halve the baking powder?

Good grief ... it swelled up and ran all over my oven.  Smoke started pouring out like crazy, which of course caused the alarm to go off.  GEEZ ... I just wanted a little peach cobbler.  I stuffed it all back in the pan, smashed it down and let it cook another 15 minutes while my exhaust fan cleared the smoke.

THIS made up for all that time spent wracking my brain with numbers.  It was quite tasty, though not as good as the one from the Lodge.  I didn't use enough cinnamon, and ice cream would have been better.  No matter, it was the perfect end to a very nice day.

I do have some sad news ... one of our best Bingo workers passed away from massive heart failure.  Literally one day he was fine, laughing and kidding around, and the next he was gone at a very young age.  So don't put off that trip you've been thinking about and hug your husband or wife.  You never know how long life will be.