THE THIRD DAY OF CHRISTMAS .......

 It was a nice quiet morning in the central plains of the West Coast.  This valley is longer than most states.  Formed by glaciers WAY back in the day, it was actually a prehistoric lake ... Lake Corcoran.  It was the largest lake west of the Mississippi.  Who knew?  It was eventually drained through dams and canals, making a desert of sorts, to provide agricultural land for growing food and livestock feed.  So there you have it ... I live at the bottom of a lake.

Mr. Cooper doesn't care.  I spy a little bed hair this morning!

I did some real exciting things on this day ... like making sure Kitters had plenty of food in her feeder and replacing the batteries in my driveway alarm.  That was fun until I dropped that teeny tiny screw that was 1/4 inch long, right into the rock pile by the fence.  I could not find that thing to save me, so I got out my strongest magnet.  No luck there either.  At last I said ... SELF ... you need to switch the direction you are looking.  Sure enough ... there it was, right under my feet.  YAY for small favors.

Lunch was terribly unimpressive.  Thank goodness this is the last of that macaroni I made with the homemade tomato sauce.  I'm trying to eat up all the leftovers so I have room in my RV freezer for important stuff like pieces of that apple pie.

There was other boring stuff like laundry and cleaning off the kitchen counters, which was so epic, every time I walk by now, I can't believe how much space there is!!

TIME FOR RODEO!  There's actually a rider still trying to hang on to the back of this bull that is literally standing on his hind feet, smashing the kid into the steel bars.  That would be enough to make me quit the rodeo business.  Not this kid ... he rode the bull a few minutes later.

Another one ... the kid slipped to one side, got hung up and was eventually thrown under those hind feet, which came down on one shoulder.  He was just inches away from a very bad trip to the hospital.  I guess they are used to it, but that would be enough for me to rethink my priorities in life.

The good news is Stetson is the only one to ride all three of the bulls so far.  He came in second on this night.  I don't think there is anyone riding bulls that is as passionate as that kid about his sport.  It's not even about the money, and he has made millions in his career so far.  

Eventually it was time to head out to the third day of Christmas.  Part of my problem with this is the night driving.  My bionic eyes reflect headlights like search lights.  Remember those?  They were the only advertisement around here for the circus that came to town once a year.  

Speaking of which, that's kind of what my driveway looks like as I back out ... the carnival.  I'm trying very hard not to run over those candy canes.  Luckily, I knew where the location of this party was, and there was no construction.  I picked up a hitchhiker along the way .... a friends husband who wanted to go since his wife was working.

THE SPREAD!  Thank goodness there was no HAGGIS.  Or anything Scottish that I could see.  How three French Hens became Scotland, I'll never know.  There was the normal meat and cheese, and lots of veggies.  I think I mentioned they are vegetarian.  The dark one on the right was caramelized onions on cream cheese.  Delicious!!  

There was also red pepper and artichoke spread on toasted bread.  I went for that right away.  In the other room were mushrooms which looked amazing until I tasted one and discovered they were cooked in dark red wine.  

I didn't take a picture of the bar, but there were some of the craziest bottles of alcohol I've ever seen.  I went for the screw top bottle of wine, which OOWEE was WAY strong!!  1/4 cup was all I could drink!

I really had a great time.  On the left here is the Kings neighbor.  She and the Kings wife started this back in Covid.  They each put a chair out on the sidewalk and yelled across the street at each other.  When it got too cold, they moved to the washing machine in the garage, posting pictures the entire time.  Soon it turned into an appetizer and alcohol fiesta.  

That's the King in the middle ... a really great guy I enjoy working with ... and my latest cashier emergency replacement.  She was quite sick for some time, but has finally recovered just in time for me to take off.  If the other gal runs screaming out of the building, this lovely lady can take over the infernal machine.

And that was it.  I stayed for two hours before finally getting choked out by the smoke.  They lit their first fire of the year, without cleaning the chimney out.  He's a retired firefighter .... ummmm yeah.  Enough smoke was coming into the room that it set off not one, but THREE smoke alarms.  

It's okay, even if my clothes and my hair smell of smoke this morning.  I had a great time.  The good news is I don't have to attend any more, since Elkdom calls.  Tuesday is Bingo and Wednesday (the next party date) we are cooking and serving dinner to 100 seniors at the Senior Center in town.  If I'm really REALLY lucky, I'll get next Friday off!!!  

TODAY ... I'll be trying to force myself into a nice walk in the freezing cold foggy weather.  If I don't keep moving, I'm afraid I'll become a statue on the couch.