TA-DA!! PROBLEM SOLVED

REST ... what an elusive idea.  You know how you get something in your mind and you just cannot let it go?  Yup .. that was me.  Sitting on the couch at 5 am trying to come up with a solution.  By 5:15 I was on the phone with the kitchen supervisor.  No worries, she's up as early as I am every morning,

But not until I got a big laugh out of this girl.  I have to keep moving the scratch posts around so she stays away from the chairs.  As with most kitties, lying UNDER the chair and dragging yourself along with your claws is THE most fun they can have.  Thankfully, she seems to like this one because it's tall.

You can also tell she is well fed.

Kitters would much rather play with Mr. Cooper, but alas, he sleeps most of the day now.  Oh so sadly, he is going downhill pretty fast.  His distance eyesight is pretty much gone, but at least he can still see me up close and makes it around the furniture with no problem.  If only I could sleep as good as he.

So with lots of quiet and time to think, I came up with a solution.  Simple is always better.  The cooking crew gets to leave right AFTER the break, and we will do all the cleanup and putting away.  That means they will get to leave 30-45 minutes earlier, and we will have a MUCH cleaner kitchen.

My gal said YES!  Great idea.  So she called the labor union boss and he agreed.  All of that nonsense for nothing.  All they had to do was ask.  Problem solved, though one person is still trying to cause trouble.  It's okay, we'll just ignore that part and continue on.

On to other frustrating adventures.  Yes, I'm STILL trying to get some starter going for sourdough bread.  I think it might be much easier to just buy the bread, but there's something about eating a piece of the bread YOU baked. 

So I ordered starter from King Arthur Flour, as well as a package of their bread flour.  It was not as I expected.  The started was 28 grams in a teeny tiny jar.  I followed their instructions exactly.  Since my home is so cold (because I'm so cheap with the electricity), I also ordered this warming mat as suggested by Cindy Warner from Utah.  If anyone knows about cooking and canning, it's her.  

You are supposed to feed it, then wait a full 24 hours before feeding it again.  By 9:00 last night, there was not one single bubble, the sign that the yeast is working.  I was disappointed and ready to finally chuck the entire idea.  Maybe I'll leave it for one more night.  

Sure enough this morning ..... WE HAVE BUBBLES.  Not that it has doubled in size or anything, but bubbles mean it's working.  I now have to feed it for three days before having enough starter to make a loaf of bread.  The mat is a little too warm, thus the plastic "lift".

I'm not holding my breath on this one, but maybe, just maybe it will continue to work.  Where's the OTHER one you ask?  It's in the fridge.  I'll bring it out and give it one more shot in a day or two so I can tell the friend who gave me THAT one, that at least I tried!

The rest of the day was spent resting.  Too much brain power had to be used to calm the screaming in my head at the people who caused that problem, when all they had to do was say hey, we need to talk to you.

I spent the better part of the afternoon into the evening, watching the Clovis California Rodeo.  At least the Rodeo Channel has not gone PAY-PER-VIEW only, as baseball has.  I haven't watched a single game since none of them are being aired on regular television.  It's pay to play now and I STILL would not get to watch the Giants play ball.

Here's a new kid praying he doesn't get bucked off and stomped on.

They started out with 40 kids entered, whittled down to 10 for the finals.  My TV pictures aren't all that great since I'm still using the old TV, but it's all I've got at the moment.

It was edge of your seat watching when my fav Stetson Wright could not get his bull to stand.  It finally came out and fell down, so he got a re-ride.  In the end, he WON the event with a 93 point ride.  Boy that kid can ride a bull!!!

Lucky for me, I have one more day of rest before attending THREE events representing the Elks Lodge, two of which involve food.  There is no dieting when it comes to Bingo donation events.

Hope you all have a great day!!