IT'S A MIRACLE!

What a day, what a day!  Miracles DO happen!!  

To start the day off, it was cold.  Definitely a sweatshirt morning.  Sadly, I didn't even get in a walk with Mr. Cooper.  That's because company is coming, plus I had to be at the lodge at 1:00.  This is getting to be a bad habit ... this lunch thing every Tuesday.

I usually get more REST days, but this week just didn't work out that way.  Mr. Cooper snoozed instead.  A fun side note however ... we were serenaded by coyotes on this morning.  I haven't heard them in a long time and they made me smile!!

And SO ... off to the lodge for lunch with some of the Bingo crew.  On this day there was a new face.  Her name is Aggie, one of the Head Nurses in all of the Navy.  How she got to this little town is beyond me.  She was introduced to us by our member, a retired Commander in the Coast Guard.  We're talking upper class here.  

She is ending her year as President of the biggest Rotary Club in this area and was looking for somewhere else to spend her time.  Well let me just show you around!!!  Actually she has been a member here for about two months.  My cohort Kathy got her to volunteer for Bingo and steered her my way.  

She thought she might just WATCH.  Oh NO girlfriend ... I'm putting you to work.  I put her right to the test on the infernal machine.  Hee hee hee!!  Oh my gosh ... she picked it up in less than three seconds.  I counted the cards while she rang up the charges and gave out change.  She did a BANG UP job!!  

IT'S A MIRACLE!!  The hardest job in the place and she was a pro within seconds.  Not wanting to scare her off, I didn't go through all the payout and balancing stuff.  She had not expected to stay anywhere near that long, so I encouraged her to take off.  No use scaring them off on the first night!!

Aggie has a great personality and a no-nonsense aura ... so the peasants were very polite and patient.  That was the SECOND miracle!!  I simply cannot believe I have another victim ... I mean FABULOUS VOLUNTEER to help me out.  Maybe I can even get a week off now to use my RV!  Nancy did a little happy dance!!

The rest of the night went surprisingly well.  We only had 100 bodies playing at the Magic Castle.  By the end of the month everyone is out of money.  Next Tuesday will be a CRAZY day since they all get paid.  There was one lady ... "I only got one of these" ...  who talked one of the Knights into handing her two more ... but I have her number now.  

This TV screen ... it's why we had to shut down two weeks ago.  There is a camera on the Bingo board that sends a picture of the next ball called to this screen. A heads up so to speak.  That is what refused to work when we had to close down for the night.  I think it was talking to the infernal machine, because the next morning it worked just fine. 

And so the night ended ... me walking on cloud Nine hoping Aggie returns next week, while trying to gather up bodies to attend this event.  As I have mentioned before, this small town Elks Lodge donates a ridiculous amount of money to various non-profits and schools around town.  This one is for the Boys and Girls Club.

Okay, to be honest, GALA DINNER is a little over the top for a tri-tip dinner served by the Club kids.  This is small town America on the south side of the tracks.  They auction off lots of big ticket items like Pro Basketballs (signed), Pro Baseball stuff (signed) and big trips to Costa Rica and Africa.  Yeah, it's a hard sell since no one here can afford that stuff.

Anyway ... the Elks bought a table for eight, so on short notice, I'm trying to find eight people to attend.  FRIDAY ... it's this Friday.  That makes five events this week, and did I mention company?  Yes, she wants to go out to dinner.  

Maybe, just MAYBE, if I'm really lucky, I can get in a snooze today ... after the gardener spends two hour mowing and the Weed Guy two hours spraying ... you know, 30 minutes before company arrives.  

Here's to a gorgeous sunny day!!!

A Big Mistake ... BIG

 There is one good thing about this part of California on this Tuesday morning.  There is nothing waiting just outside the door that wants to kill you.  This is it.  The most dinosauric thing there is, catching some rays outside my back door.  No big spiders, no snakes, no Gila monsters ... nothing trying to unalive you.  You can't say the K word on the internet any more.

He's actually very tiny.  I rarely ever see them bigger than about 4 inches.  This guy was belly to the ground.  I even thought he was toast until he raised his head to give me the eye.  The best part?  They eat ANTS!!  I stepped over him on the way to the fabric store.

To be honest, I'm getting rather tired of the fabric store.  They are a flowery, cutesy fabric store ... with not much in the way of military colors or prints.  I was able to pick up one piece for the backing of a Marine quilt.  I think I need to widen my horizons.

On the way back, I stopped in for fuel in the Jeep.  Regular gas is $4.21 a gallon.  Diesel is about the same, down from the $5.50 mark two months ago.  Oh there are still stations that have ridiculous prices, but they also have very few customers.

A really big smile came upon my face on the way back.  Some guy went screaming by me because I was only going 12 miles over the speed limit.  I love playing race car driver, but NOT on the freeway.  This guy thought he was the WINNER until those red lights started flashing.  He made a BIG mistake.

Our little town now has not one, but TWO Highway Patrol on MOTORCYCLES.  Woohoo!!  I'm guessing that guy got a really BIG pricy ticket!  I waved as I passed them parked on the side of the road.

So this picture pretty much describes what happened next.  I knew I had nothing in the fridge for dinner.  KFC is not only on my road home, but at the stop light.  Since I had to stop anyway, I went IN the OUT driveway and got in line.  Big mistake ... BIG.

These fast food places ... they have too many choices.  It takes way too long to peruse all of them, so I just said ... keeping my diet in mind ... 8 pieces of chicken please.  This will be the last 8 pieces I ever eat.  When I got to the pay window, wasn't I SHOCKED to find it was $22.05.  NOT KIDDING!  

To add insult to injury, it was THE MOST OVERCOOKED chicken I've ever had.  There was skin hanging off everywhere, as well as chunks of chicken.  It had almost disintegrated in the fryer and yet they served it up like it was edible.  There is not even $5.00 worth of chicken here.  

What a shame they have fallen to this level.  There will be no more KFC for me.

Seriously, even Cooper wouldn't eat it.  Speaking of which ... one look at those skiddy socks Jim and Barb got for Zoey, and I was on the internet ordering some for Coop.  

So here they are, though very hard to see.  It was hilarious trying to get them on his feet.  I didn't attach the velcro thingies, so of course the first time he ran around the corner, they fell off.  But boy do they work well!!!  Surprisingly, he didn't even walk funny ... just ran like a puppy.  

Too bad they lasted only 30 seconds.  I'll give it another try today.  When he moves quickly, his feet come out from under him, which is scary in an old kid.  It's kind of like trying to get socks on a baby, but I will persevere for the kid.  I'll let you know how it goes.

There was a little more cutting and stitching last night, but I realized this is the last lap quilt that is required for this year.  I still have six to quilt with embroidered names, but I had to whittle that down to five.  The first one is now together, but has way too much thick embroidery for my longarm.  I would rather have a pro do this one so I don't mess it up.   So back to the quilt shop I will go.  I imagine it's going to be pricey, but I would rather pay than cry.

And so ended another overcast, cold, windy spring day.  Come on Mother Nature ... give us some WARM!!

And of course you know what TODAY is ....... it's time for BINGO!!!

CUPCAKES!!!

 AND ....... it rained yet again.  Pretty chilly as it were.  I didn't turn the heat on, but I donned my heaviest sweatshirt and big fuzzy slippers.  

It must have been the one tiny glass of pinot Grigio I drank.  Honestly, I didn't even drink the whole thing,  I felt really hung over on this morning.  Maybe it was the crab!!  

The barking finally made me get up and look out the window.  It's raining Coop ... you have to wait to go for a walk.  An hour later we haltered up and were out the door for about 30 seconds.  The rain had NOT stopped after all.  Maybe later kiddo ........

I worked on the dreaded puzzle, finding another five or six pieces.  I'm getting to the point where the pieces are all the same dark colors.  I found a couple of mistakes and moved pieces around, but good grief ... they all fit in three different spots!

Lunchtime for me came quickly.  Yeah, I'm still trying to eat up that ham I thawed out.  This omelet thingy (yes I like them brown for flavor) has ham, onions, cheese and tomatoes, topped with that big container of guacamole I bought.  Gosh ... once you open the container, it turns brown quickly.  I tried lime juice on top, plastic wrap .. and nothing will deter that yummy look.  Maybe the cheaper container wasn't the best choice after all. 

I did my best impression of a slug on the couch most of the day.  Definitely nothing to write home about, or put in a blog.  

At last I decided I HAD to get some exercise.  I didn't see any raindrops, so off I trotted around the block, to the accompaniment of screaming peacocks.  Either their flock has grown, or other houses have procured some of the gorgeous kids.  Their ELLLLLP ... ELLLLLP sounds permeate the trees.  That's because they are IN the trees at four different houses now.  I never saw them, but they let the neighborhood know I was close by.  

The second I walked in the back door (after 2 miles), I head THESE screams.  The cupcakes wanted OUT of the fridge.  Who could resist?  The word diet slipped my mind completely.  I decided to eat just ONE.  I even went for the one I like the LEAST, hoping I would hate it and throw most of it away.

Yup ... the blueberry.  That didn't work out like I had hoped.  That cupcake made me like blueberries.  I'm not kidding ... it was one of the best things I've ever eaten.  I must be SICK!!

I quickly covered the rest back up and shoved them back in the fridge out of sight.  Today I'll stuff them in the freezer.  Out of sight, out of mind ... I hope!!

Though I did a little cutting and sewing for the next quilt, I did VERY little.  Not that I've ever been a big race fan, but the Talladega race was on .... how could I miss that?  Okay, I'll tell you.  Way back, eons ago, I traded in my little '57 Chevy that I should have kept, for a Pontiac GTO.  She had four twos, a 389 and a hurst shifter.  It belonged to Benny Two Can who got too many tickets and had to sell it.  After two cans of beer, he never could see the po-po coming.

At the time, I really didn't know what I had, but I soon found out.  Every time someone wanted to race me at a stop light, I won.  I got pretty good at it actually and had legs of steel, which is what it took to push in the clutch and let it out without killing it.  

It also happened that at the same time, I went to work in Yosemite National Park.  I had to drive back and forth the first month ... a 90 minute ride that I turned into 60.  Yup ... race car driver!!!  I only had to outrun the Park Rangers twice.

And that's why I watch these races on occasion.  How they can drive that close together, bumping the lead car, on slick tires sliding over the rough spots and not crash, is beyond me.  Though they DO crash.  It seems to me it's all luck ... if you miss the wrecks, get fuel at the right time, and stick with your teammates ... you MAY end up in the pack close to the front and scream over the finish line first.  That's what this guy did.  Cindric won on this day!

That was it ... a do nothing day as rain and cold kept us at bay.  The rain seems to have snuck out the back door, but the cold will remain for the next ten days.  Good grief, isn't it MAY already?  Shouldn't we be heating up a bit?

I've still got two things on the burner ... the embroidery (no word) ... Bank of America (a lot of BAD words) and another trip to the quilt store to find backing for a Marine quilt because it doesn't match anything I have.  In the meantime, I'm trying to block out the screeching coming from the fridge.  THOSE DARN CUPCAKES!!!

Crabby Crab Crab!!

 And ..... it's raining once again.  The farmers say we need it, so I'm not complaining.  It's also a VERY good excuse NOT to go out walking and come back soaking wet.  Oh DARN!!!

After a nice cup of Joe and NO breakfast yesterday, I slowly headed for the longarm.  It's not been as nice to me as it should, and I was pretty hesitant to start another quilt.  The little gizzy under the gadget for the bottom thread needs to be bent again, but I can't for the life of me remember which way to do it.  That means the tension is off.  

You cannot quilt if the tension is off.  It results in miles and miles of stitches that have to be removed.  Yes it did it again and I did NOT remove the stitches.  No one will notice ... I hope.  After praying over it six times, the bobbin thread ran out literally with the last two stitches.  HALLELUJAH!!!  It's done!!

I have two more ready to go, but first I have to fix the gizzy!  On to more fun things!

Our High School Marching 100 Band, winner of dozens and dozens of Band Review First Places, requires money.  As with most schools nowadays, in spite of all the cash they get, they give none of it to the band.  I bet you didn't know I played in the band.  Yessiree ... I played Trumpet.  Who knew?  

It was the only instrument available when I was in fifth grade (I think) and truly, I just wanted out of class.  Turns out I was pretty good at it, and could probably play today if you handed me one.  And SO, when they asked the Elks Lodge Bingo for a big donation, we gave it to them.  In return, we got 8 seats at their first ever CRAB DINNER.  We didn't know it was their FIRST.  

Our Pull Tab Boss and I arrived a little early to find our table was right up front, next to the stage ... the first to be served.  Woohoo!  UPON the stage was the band, mostly brass, who began playing.  In two seconds I was up ... ladies, could we please move to a table further back?  They didn't hear a word I said.  Point made.

We moved to the farthest table in the place where we could almost hear our own thoughts.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE a good brass band ... and they were VERY good ... just very VERY loud!!

We were serenaded for an hour with BIG BAND favorites, like we were in an arena the size of a baseball field.  It was a very small building, so not much conversation ensued.  We did however, peruse the silent auction items.  

My pictures are less than appetizing, and I apologize for that.  I didn't want to get THE LOOK by taking pictures.  We were finally served a huge pan of quite tasty salad, along with a second one of bread.  It didn't quite make it around the table however, so they brought us another.  Good service!!

Next up the pasta, which was amazingly GOOD!!  Whoever made this, knew what they were doing.  The pasta was not overcooked, with a very tasty meat sauce that was quite spicy.  One of the connoisseurs at our table thought it had curry in it.  You couldn't tell by me because I inhaled it!!  

Lastly came a huge pan of crab.  I admit, some of it was undersized, which I only know because my ex-father-in-law was a crab fisherman.  I've eaten many a crustacean in my life!  I was completely surprised that it was COLD, as in icy.  It had been cooked with some spices and stuck in the fridge.

The bowl-o-butter came from a crab dinner pro who brought everything with her.  The only tool I brought was a REAL fork ... the better to stick into the end of a claw and pry it apart.  This by the way, was my FIRST EVER crab feed.  Next time I'll bring the butter, though they were nice enough to share. 

In a flash, everyone's hands were covered in CRAB, smelling absolutely LOVELY.  Next time a wet rag in a ziploc will be in my purse.  They brought us TWO MORE PANS of crab that the table quickly finished off.  I stopped before I got miserable ... also a first!  Best crab I've had in AGES!

Next up ... the dessert auction.  This is when we found out they have never done this before.  They didn't have a time schedule or an auctioneer and only one person to say YES for each bid.  And to bid, you just raised your hand.  It was pretty much the honor system!

Things were going WAY too cheap in my opinion, so I started bidding them up.  These kids need the money, so I had my hand in the air for every item.  I mean really, $30 for a huge cake just doesn't hack it.  I finally got these six lovely cupcakes (which I will uncover in a photo op later today) for $50.  Ooops ... I only had $40 in my purse, so one of the guys loaned me ten bucks.  

Suddenly, before the auction was done, they took a 30 minute break while the band played and some gal sang.  She was very good ... and LOUD ... so much so that we all just sat there and looked at each other ... and again, we were in the back of the room!  

Finally, the silent auction was called at 8:30 (me having been there since 5:00).  I bid on six items ... three were In and Out Burger gift cards and three from a local restaurant.  Some gal kept outbidding me, but still things weren't even going for the value.  One last trip around and I bid HIGH!!  In the end, I came up with TEN .... count them, TEN ... In and Our Burger gift cards for combo meals for $175.  Geez ... that's about what they actually cost!

It was a learning experience for the Marching 100 Band group, and I need to remember to bring more cash, though they did finally bring out a credit card machine so folks could pay.  We had to stay another 30 minutes while the REST of the desserts were auctioned off.  One couple at our table wanted the very last item put up ... and they won it!

A great time was had by all!  I have to give it up for our Bingo group ... they are the best, and we all like to help out organizations, especially for the kids.  And so today is recoup and recover day.  I'll be unpacking those cupcakes that I'm not supposed to be eating and will stick them in the freezer.  

The best part?  I can take NINE people out to lunch at In and Out!!  

Here Comes The Rain

 Isn't that a song?  Here comes the rain?  It began sometime early this morning.  I know that because it was a downpour that made my gutter downspout sound like a Mack truck.  Oowee it came down in buckets.  It's raining less now as I made a mad dash outside in my slippers.  My sprinklers were on.  Nothing like a morning wakeup call!

Mr. Cooper was already sound asleep on the couch after his morning snack.  THREE pieces.  If he doesn't get THREE, he follows me around barking.  You can tell that on this day, I counted correctly.  

Other than a haircut, there wasn't much on today's menu.  I keep hoping for four days off in a row so I can head over to the coast, but so far that's not happening.  Instead, I risked my life for y'all once again.  One of those internet recipes keeps popping up.  You know the drill ... I try these out so you don't have to.

Believe me ..... THIS TIME ..... you don't WANT to!!  Okay, what could go wrong here.  Cake mix, cool whip and one egg.  Maybe I should have opted for FULL SUGAR Cool Whip.  

Dump it all in a bowl and beat the heck out of it, because this stuff instantly becomes GLUE.  No surprise since I'm sure most of the ingredients in zero sugar Cool Whip are the same as you would find in glue!

You then drop the glue (the batter) into a bowl of powdered sugar to coat.  It was so soft, it wouldn't roll around, meaning you had to use your hands, which instantly got sticky stuff all over them.  My fingers were covered in more powdered sugar than the cookies were.  

Plop on to a parchment paper covered pan.  A HUGE pan.  As you can tell, sugar went everywhere.  On the counter, on the floor, on ME!  What a mess to clean up!!

Bake for 13-15 minutes at 350 degrees.  WOW!!  How pretty!!  Well at least they WERE.  They stuck to the pan, just like glue.  It took a knife to clean off the spatula for every cookie I scraped off the pan.

Time for the taste test.  Okay .... they are SO SOFT they said ... but they forgot about the glue part.  They really didn't taste too terrible, but they stuck to every crack and crevice of my teeth, making it extremely hard to eat.  Kinda like ..... GLUE!

And so my friends ... from your taste tester of extremely ridiculous recipes from the internet ... THIS is a BIG FAT NO.  Sadly, I now have 24 to eat.  Maybe they will be better after having sat for awhile in the freezer.   

Literally an hour later, I'm still cleaning powdered sugar from the stove.  Mr. Cooper did a nice job of cleaning up the bits still on the floor.  

I did get one nice surprise when I checked my bank balance.  Way back ... and I'm talking the real dinosaur ages, I set up an IRA with a very small amount of money.  I'm sure back then I thought it was a fortune.  

All these years later, I haven't touched it ... I'm guessing about 55 years ... and now they are forcing me to withdraw some every year.  I received a very nice check in the mail.  Of course I have to pay taxes on it now ... AT A HIGHER RATE than back then!  I think I will take the after taxes part and splurge on something. What I've no clue ... but SOMETHING!!  Using it for my gas bill just doesn't sound like fun.

The rest of the evening I spent stitching up yet another quilt.  This was for a Navy man.  I now have three more to quilt.  Maybe today I'll be motivated enough to do just that.

Oh yeah ... as you can guess, the rest of the night was spent cuddling up with the kid.  

It's Saturday ... my usual day of rest.  But TODAY, I'm going on a DATE!  Not really ... I'm just getting a ride to a Crab Feed to benefit one of our local high schools that Bingo donates to.  That's one of the perks of being there every week to cashier.  I get free tickets to all the big events.  Pictures tomorrow!!!

Mr. Chiken

 Well ..... we are back in the tree.  Anyone remember Jurassic Park?  I loved that movie ... and all the ones that followed.  

Well .... we are back in the rain.  Sunny California is taking yet another break into rain and cold for two whole days.  I'm hoping that doesn't set my tomatoes back too far.  Just look at all the fruit!!  I can't wait for them to turn red.

The zucchini ... at least I THINK this is zucchini, because I forgot to mark which one is which .... is growing like crazy.  I'll thin these down to one plant soon.

Ta-DAH!!  Even the crookneck decided to show its face.  Pretty soon I'll have enough squash to put on all my neighbors porches at midnight so they don't know where it came from!

The morning went by fast.  In fact, I got absolutely nothing done except sit on the couch and watch rodeo.  I always feel terrible when I do that ... like there is so much to do around here and I was slacking.  I did check the propane again, and so far it appears to be holding.  Time will tell I guess.

I finally did some laundry ... another not so fun job ... and even cleaned off an entire table of stuff that needed to find a home.  Truly, I should probably throw it away ... things like cable TV cords for the RV which I've never used in 14 years, broken leveling pads, the three charging cords that I can't figure out what they belong to ... you know the drill.

And then the craving hit.  SUGAR!!!!!  I NEED SUGAR!!!!  That dark chocolate and coconut stuff just isn't doing it for me, not to mention that I hate coconut flavor.  My excuse was that Jonathan needed some salad.  I found out when he was around 45 years old that he loved Cole slaw ... or cabbage of any kind.  I try to eat most of it because it doesn't last long in the fridge, but the last one spoiled in a matter of four days.  Why is that?  Didn't it used to last at least a week?

And so I hit the most expensive store in town.  Save Mart.  There are only three to choose from, so there's that.  I picked up whipping cream ($5), cream cheese ($5), Jons salad ($4) and a big box of mini tomatoes ($6) which were on sale.  I passed on the $5.00 small head of broccoli, as did everyone else.  Do you ever wonder what they do with all that expensive stuff that doesn't sell?  I mean Walmart is doing a bang up business with lower prices.

So I'm checking out and the lady drops the huge container of tomatoes and it breaks open.  Tomatoes EVERYWHERE!!  Thank goodness it wasn't ME that did that!  So the line got held up while Tony went to find the tomatoes for a new box.  I noticed Mr. Chikin sitting on the counter.

My measly purchases came to $114.00 (YIKES!) as he finally showed up with a new box.  The checker says YOU WANT THIS FOR TWELVE CENTS?  What?  Chicken wings for 12 cents that have been sitting on the counter for how long?  SURE ... why not.  

Weirdest thing I've ever seen.  These wings are individually frozen in water, THEN packaged.  Makes me wonder why they are going for 12 cents.  Maybe they thawed out, though they are all still covered in ice.  These must sell for $10.00 a bag.  Says Air Fryer READY ... so I guess we will try them out.  Four meals for 3 cents each can't be ALL bad!!

No, I did NOT buy any cupcakes, but I sure came close.  They spread that stuff out across half the store now, trying to get folks to buy.  Truly, if they don't want to throw it all away, they should lower the price.   Hilarious, both Patsy and I posted this same picture on the same day!!  Apparently we think alike!

Instead of cupcakes, I tried this new recipe.  Cream cheese, whipped cream, a little powdered sugar because I can't stand the taste of the fake stuff (I wonder if it's actually good for you) and some real cocoa.    By golly it's not bad.  Not devoid of sugar, but contains very little.  The recipe actually called for cottage cheese too.  NOPE .. not going there.  This hit the spot ... at least for now.

That was it ... not a very exciting day.  I did panic for a few seconds when I thought I had not changed my medical insurance payment, adding another $50 a month.  I'm now up to $630 buckaroos for health insurance, and I never go to the doctor.  I'm thrilled that I'm healthy, but mad that I have to pay so much when I use the services less than once a year.  

I'm thinking I should cancel that supplemental program that comes to $300 a month.  It just irritates me that I'm throwing money down the drain for no good reason.  Anyone else have this problem?  Can you add it back later on?  With my luck, I'd cancel the supplemental and break my leg.  

Hope y'all have a GREAT day ... I'm going to get my umbrella out!

Screams of Joy!

Creeping ..... slowly creeping.  We are sliding back down the thermometer to the 40's at night with rain for the weekend.  I put my Levis away, only to drag them back out, along with my long sleeve shirts.  Someone just can't seem to make up their mind.

Backtracking a bit, here we are at the Quilters Guild meeting.  I've only been twice now, so wasn't familiar with their program.  On this night they had four tables set up for demonstrations.  Of course I picked the Gadget Lady's table first.  I like tools, and anything to make sewing and quilting easier, is a plus in my book.  

On the other hand, this is a lot of stuff I would never use.  Good grief, where do you KEEP all these things.  There was one I was interested in though ... that little pet groomer shaver.  What in the world would she use THAT for?  Long seam ripping!  Who in the world thought of that?  And I just happen to have one for Cooper's feet.  What a great idea!!

The next two tables were things I had no interest in ... quilt as you go (I have a longarm) and squaring up blocks (I have square rulers for that), so no pictures.  I didn't want to be rude either.  But the LAST table was EPIC!

It was BINGO!  No kidding .... she had bingo cards with words on them instead of numbers, and little tiny clips to use for covering up the ones called.  Right up my alley, YES?  There was one little problem.  Every single card had the exact same words, several of them in the same order.  So if ONE person called BINGO, so did two others!!  The blackout part was hilarious when we all yelled BLACKOUT at the exact same time!  

Lastly, I was able to speak to she who handles the money for batting.  Oh yes, she mentioned the short check right away.  I nervously explained what happened and that I would try to get them another check later in the year.  The lady standing next to me said "Oh no problem, we have plenty of batting"!!!  I silently screamed OKAY!!

On the other hand, you know what THIS is.  My handy dandy box of tools.  Honestly, I've used this thing more than anything else on the property, which of course means I have ANOTHER problem.  

I finally got up the hutzpah to go to a strange gas station with a weird propane tank location to fill my now empty tank.  I need to test my leak repair and see if it will hold the propane.  I unhooked the battery charger and everything else, raised all the blinds, put all the sunscreens away, locked all the drawers and cupboards, closed the fridge door and started her up.

Finally, I hit the gate opener.  Nothing.  I hit it again ... and again.  Nothing.  This scream wasn't silent.  I was locked in the back yard.

 

Yup here I am again sitting in the rocks at the gate control.  I tried resetting the garage GFI which seemed to be part of the problem last time, but nothing happened.  At least now I may have an inkling of how to fix it.  I removed the panel, turned it off and back on, then hit the reset button.  Nothing.  

There are no instructions, so I tried it again, this time holding the reset button down longer.  All I got was click click.  Well RATS!!  I walked back around to turn the rig off, and just for kicks, hit the button one more time.  IT OPENED!!!  YAY!!!  Screams of joy!  My power has gone off for just a second on two occasions, and I think that's what makes it require a reset.  

And so I was off to the gas station, to find no place to park. There were three people in line in front of me with 3 cylinders each.  I of course, had to back in.  I laughed when they all ran out of the way quickly. and one guy frantically got in his car to move it!  

The nice kid filled my tank.  Yikes ..... it was $4.25 a gallon!!  Nothing seemed to be leaking, but of course I could smell propane from him filling the tank.  I drove home with my fingers crossed.

Happily, the gate opened!!  I parked and first thing, grabbed my spray bottle.  NO BUBBLES!  I'm not counting my chickens yet ... time will tell if I still have a small leak.  Hopefully I'm done worrying about THAT problem!!

Dinner was nothing to write home about.  I had a can of pork n beans in the cupboard (remember I bought the wrong kind) that I didn't want to throw away.  I chopped up a bunch of ham and threw it in.  Not bad ... something we used to have on the ranch a lot.  Cheap beans and dead cow.

To spice it up a bit, I toasted up a piece of Sheepherders bread ... my favorite!  I know, it's not on my Good Eats menu, but boy did it taste good.  What?  My little friend?  Isn't he the cutest?  

Back when I managed a Gun Club where they shot five stand and skeet, I also prepared lunch for the guys every day.  Usually tri-tip from the barbecue, sliced thin for sandwiches.  Those guys were always pranking me, so one day I found these nice big fat cockroaches and decided to prank them.  It's okay, they are plastic.  

I stuck them in their sandwiches and OOWEEEE you should have heard the screaming!  When they found two spiders baked in the chocolate cake, they chased me out of the building.  All in good fun!!  

I can't believe I still had these in my tool drawer.  I may just have to stick them in my pocket the next time I go to Bingo!!!

Another Day At The Magic Castle

 Good morning sunny California!!  It was another gorgeous day to bask in the sun, but there was no basking going on today.  Instead, the nice warm sun has brought out the garden weeds like I've never seen before.  Where there was nothing, there was now a carpet of 6" tall green things just begging to be pulled out.

Isn't this Japanese maple just gorgeous.  It did at one time resemble an ACTUAL Japanese maple until about three years ago when it got hit by a gardener with a hedge trimmer.  Now it's a bush ... but one that's 16 years old and been transplanted twice.  She's hardy, I'll say that for her!

I pulled weeds until my fingers ached, then went to admire the gazanias still blooming.  

I just can't get over the color of these things and just how amazing they are up close.  I've only seen the likes of these in Hawaii, and here it is growing in my back yard.  I mean really, I'm the black thumb of the neighborhood.

The bottle brush is also blooming.  Lucky for me, anything that I do NOT touch, seems to grow just fine.

And then the time of peace and quiet was gone in a flash.  Off to the Magic Castle I went.  Apparently I'm doing the Mothers Day Breakfast ... I SWEAR for the last time!  I had to meet with our Club Manager to go over the order.  It's going to be a wallet breaker.  We will have 7 or 8 Denver omelette casseroles, along with scrambled eggs, so you can imagine what the cost will be.  I'm not backing down.  They cancelled our last breakfast because of egg prices ... we are not doing it again.

Once there, I went completely off the rails and had a BLT sandwich for lunch, made all the better with a plate load of onion rings.  BAD NANCY!!  We are now all set with the food ... I just need to find people to help prepare it the day before and serve it the day of.  Won't that be fun!!!

That's when I got the call.  No one sent the Bingo reminder to our players for this night.  After being closed down LAST week, that doesn't bode well.  Come to find out our "reminder" guy ended up in the hospital in Las Vegas.  Good grief!  It's just a reminder that we are all getting older.  I was finally able to talk to him and he's okay, saying I wasn't getting rid of him THAT easily!!  

And THEN I remembered on this night we were giving out tickets to a drive-thru chicken dinner.  Here I was still celebrating that I didn't have to hand out any of those darn RED tickets ... and now I have a handful of WHITE ones ... 100 in total!  

To make it worse, I had to explain to everyone how and where it's going to happen, and please do NOT take a ticket if you are not going to pick it up.  Give the ticket to someone else.  I can count on one hand the number of people who did not take a ticket .. and I'm one of them.  It's to benefit a recently hired fireman who had a motorcycle accident.  I won't give you the gory details, but he saved his own life.  With no insurance, his medical bills are sky high.  Hopefully this helps.

Amazingly, there were no flaming torches and no pitchforks in our faces on this night.  Maybe it was the chicken dinner tickets, maybe having three of the best callers, or maybe they were just happy to see us after last week's cancellation.  I love it when that happens. 

 I was happy too until the end of my night came along and I tried to sneak out the door early.  Wouldn't you know, the infernal machine strikes again.  It ran out of paper at the worst possible moment, and tried to erase its memory.  I whacked him upside the head and stopped THAT, but in return, he didn't balance.  Good grief .... I was $200 OVER in my cash box.  There's no WAY!!!

We fought back and forth for 30 minutes before I discovered operator error.  You knew that already, right?  The Bonanza sellers on the floor give me their money, which I put in the cash drawer.  At the end of the night, I actually key that info in to the register.  Yup I forgot!!

At least I remembered BEFORE I got to the third stop light on the way home.  I keyed it in and VOILA!  I balanced.  Whew!  That was a close one!

I got home to my sweet boy going crazy because I was gone so long.  He never fails to make me smile!!  I was NOT so happy when he woke me up at 4:00 am to go outside.  

What about the quilt guild meeting?  That's the story for tomorrow.  

An Eagles Tale

WHERE IS HE??  He's been out all night long.  Just wait until he gets home!  He's going to get an EARFUL!  Leaving me here alone with these kids screaming and complaining.  Who's supposed to bring home the bacon, or fish as it were!  I work my little claws to the bone, and he's out playing with the boys catching salmon and stuffing his beak!! 

Mom ..... I'm HUNGRY!!  Where's the fish?  Where's the BEEF?  Where's DAD!!  Scoot over .. you're in my space.  MOMMMMMM!!!  He's IN MY SPACE!!

Well it's about time.  Where have you BEEN?  I'm here all night long, listening to these two squabble over everything, while you're out having a great old time with your buddies.  How many fish did you eat, huh?  HOW MANY?  I'm cleaning ... I'm dusting ... I'm kicking out poop ... and all the while you're out with the boys!!  

I'm sorry ... I'm sorry ... I lost a couple of feathers and I couldn't fly back.  I had to find another feather the perfect size ... an old dirty one from the GROUND ... and have it sewn back on.  It wasn't a good fit, so I ended up walking all the way home!  

Yeah right ... you smell like salmon to me!!!  You better be bowing to the Queen!!

Mom ... what are you doing?

I'm cleaning out the nest!  All day, all I do is clean, clean, clean.  The sticks are crooked, there's bugs down there, I know it!!  Move your butt out of the way!!!  MOM!!!!!!!

Hey ... I said I'm sorry.  Maybe if I feed the kids she will calm down.  Here you go boys ... some nice rotten fish that's been sitting in the nest all night long.  Come and get it!!

I don't know why I put up with you.  I'm going shopping and I'll be gone ALL DAY!  It's your turn to take care of the kids ... by yourself!!  I'm outta here!!  And don't wait up for me!!

Ooweee Dad ... she was MAD!!  Yeah yeah, I know, but I sure had fun out with the guys last night.  I'm so full of salmon I can hardly fly!!  Time for a nice long nap on the branches.  Someone turn out those lights so I can sleep!!

Hopefully she'll be back by 6:00.  I'm meeting the guys down at this great little sand bar on the other side of the lake where she can't find me.  There's a cute little fish down there I have my eyes on!!!