I Was A Whirling Dervish!

 Oh my GREAT AUNT SALLY!  It's 61 degrees this morning in sunny California, heading on up to a whopping 81 by 3pm.  I think spring only lasted four days and we are diving right off into summer.  No, I don't have a Great Aunt Sally.  

If I did, this blog might be a bit longer.  My bad on this day, I didn't get hardly any photos to share.  I did run across this one however, and I think it suits me just right, except I will be jumping out in Levis and boots.

Nothing, absolutely NOTHING, can make me clean house faster than a friend calling and saying they are stopping by in an hour.  Things magically disappear, tables get dusted, the floors swept and things stuffed into drawers faster than the speed of light.  I was a whirling dervish!

I rarely EVER have company, but when they call to say they want to donate not one, but TWO microphone systems to the Elks Lodge, I immediately become available.  She wishes to remain anonymous, which is fine with me.  Obviously they are Elk kind of folks with a giving nature.  Even Cooper put on his best show of affection.

I admit, I was tired.  My tip of the day is do NOT try to stitch up pieces for a quilt when you are tired.  In no time, I had 18 pieces, all sewn together WRONG.  Talk about hanging your head ... mine almost hit the ground.  It took ten minutes to stitch it up and 60 minutes to take it all apart.  I wasn't taking any more chances.  I put it away for another day.

In the blink of an eye, it was time to head out yet again.  This time I was all dolled up in my tux, wishing I had a black skirt that fit.  The second I hit the door and the HEAT, I went into slow motion mode.  A skirt would be SO much cooler.  Even the lodge air conditioning didn't help.

The minute I arrived, I was cornered to discuss scholarships.  We give out a LOT of them to students with good grades ... most of them in the top 5% of their class.  This year we surprisingly have so many applicants with outstanding records that we need to find more money.  I'm sure we can come up with it, I just need to do some research.  

It was BIKER night at the lodge.  Surprised?  Most people are.  We have a huge contingency of motorcycle riders who are supported by our club to the tune of 235 dinners on this night.  I think the raffle after dinner was a record setter.  Or maybe it was the 16 ounce ribeye steaks that were cooked to perfection.  

There was lots of business to be conducted at the meeting after dinner, meaning it was a VERY long night.    There were not one, but TWO written ballots to be voted on ... that's always fun ... along with the passing of the budget which we almost forgot to do.  Another 30 folks were initiated and we are up to something like 1595.  That's amazing since most clubs in our neck of the woods are lucky to have 200 folks.

At long last we were out of there like rats leaving a sinking ship.  No one ever hangs around long, but I did this time to get the phone number of the newest Trustee just elected.  Remember ... DELEGATE!!!

Dogs and Halos

 You say tomato, I say tomahto.  Some call this a sun halo, others a sun dog.  You just never know what you are going to see from my back yard.    Wasn't I surprised when I went outside yesterday to hang out in the hot sun, hoping to pass over Hump Day WITHOUT working.  

When I sat down on my lounge chair with my cold drink, book in hand, and looked up, THIS is what I saw.  Not in all of my many years have I seen this here.  It's supposed to be good luck, but really, it's just ice crystals forming in the air which is supposed to let you know there is a big rain storm on the way in the next 24 hours.  

Well that's weird because the weather guessers say we'll have sun for ten days in a row.  It's a sign .... of what, I'm not sure, but it's a sign.  Over an hour later, it looked like this.  Again, those clouds are a distinct sign of rain ... or so the Indians of old say.  It lasted for quite some time before disappearing into the blue sky.

Maybe it was a sign I'm going to get my side yard fixed.  Since no one bothered to contact me, I called them.  I explained to the gal that this was not just a minor little spill and that I needed to talk to the owner. She was pretty shocked when I told her it was 15-20 (or more) gallons of product that soaked into the ground.  I even mentioned the 150 square feet of sod that had to be replaced.

I knew they thought the kid was exaggerating ... but he wasn't.   They are supposed to stop by tomorrow, so we'll see what they have to say.  It's going to take them awhile to dig out all that stuff that soaked in before it hit the fence line.  

I took one short sunning break since I needed to hit the store for some Jonathan food.  Cole law .... he gets lots of Cole slaw.  The last time I was there, I picked up a roasted chicken ... mostly for Cooper.  I know, nowhere near as good as Costco.  This time it was terrible, so I mentioned it to the cashier.  

She said to write down my name and phone number.  Back home on the lounge chair, I was pretty surprised when they actually called me back.  I didn't want anything from it, I just wanted to tell them their chickens tasted terrible.  She immediately offered free chicken, or chicken with a lot more seasoning.  

No thank you ... I just want a chicken that tastes good.  My spidey senses kicked in.  You are buying grass fed chickens, yes?  It's the same bad taste that comes from grass fed beef.  Are you buying Foster Farms chickens?  Because they are the biggest producer around here with millions of birds being processed just down the highway.  

No she said ... they come from Tyson.  That answered my question.  Tyson doesn't have the best reputation when it comes to chicken.  She offered TWO free chickens this time.  No thanks ... I'm not into eating bad tasting chicken.  I guess Costco, though farther away in another town, will be my go-to.

I laid out a little longer and admired my roses.  These are the only thing I've ever been able to grow with some success.  

And looky here ... yet another gorgeous flower from the cuttings chopped off in Sacramento.  I discovered the whole 5 foot square area is covered with flower buds.  It seems however that they will only bloom one at a time.  That's weird.  I don't even know what it is called, but the colors are amazing.

Sufficiently cooked and now sweating up a hot storm, I gave up on sun sitting and went back inside.  More rodeo ensued because you know, watching cowboy butts is not a bad pastime.  I'm just thankful none of my horses ever bucked like the ones they ride nowadays.  Good grief those horses are WILD and CRAZY, mostly the new crop of young ones coming up in the rodeo circuit.

There was a little sewing going on, but not much.  That center block that looks a bit darker, is MUCH darker in person.  I've only got five big squares to go, but have lost a bit of momentum when it comes to sewing.  This is the busiest month of the year for the Lodge, so maybe things will slow down now.

Dinner was short and simple.  I discovered these individual sized pie shells a while back, making it SO much easier not to cut a wide swath in a big pie.  This is key line pie ... one of my summer favorites.  I know it's not summer yet, but it sure tasted wonderful.

It's lodge night once again ... with an initiation of another 30 people into the club.  We used to have maybe 30 people in an entire year join up, but now we are having 30 people every single month.  Yessirree that means another penguin suit night.  It's always a black tie affair.  

To make it even MORE fun, it's going to be the first of many safety inspections to be done.  Hopefully my LAST since all I have to do is show the new victim ... I mean recruit ... what HE has to do.  I should be home free after that.  It's all good because he's a VERY good looking cowboy who looks GREAT in those Levis!!  

Passing It On Again

 Good Morning California!!!  It's a fabulous 57 degrees on this lovely morning, which means a high of around 78 this afternoon.  I think Spring has finally arrived!!  I am happily opening the morning door and turning on the fans to bring in the lovely smell of moldy grass.  Hey ... it's better than moldy manure.

The sunrise was a nice one.  It's just so weird to me to take pictures looking this direction.  It seems to be 90 degrees to the left of normal.  Is that right for this time of year??

In the meantime, you know what this picture is ... the Magic Castle of Elkdom.  I'm beginning to wish I was a little younger.  Maybe I would have a little more stamina!  The first meeting began at 11:00 in the morning.  If it weren't for having to gain some sanity from Cooper every few hours, I would just set up my sleeping bag in the attic.

The meeting ... way too early in the morning for me ... resulted in no results.  I came back home hoping for a little nap, but could do nothing but think about how to resolve the problem.  Nothing ... I got nothing!!!

Well hello Magic Castle ... I was back at 2:00 to sign a pile of checks.  I also ran into the last two Trustees who resigned, and I thanked them for telling me all about my duties.  Truly, they told me NOTHING!!  I can only laugh.  I discovered quite by accident that I have to do a safety inspection from one property line to the other, and from basement to attic.  EVERY MONTH.  The list is long.

I have been told many things in my long life, and one is DELEGATE.  In other words, pass off everything you can so you don't have to do it all.  I'm taking advantage of that one.  I'm gathering up the other three guys and passing on my newly acquired knowledge.  This may not be what they were talking about when they said PASS IT ON.

It was finally time for my all time favorite game (okay, not my FAVORITE) ...... BINGO!  The crowds came in, the money flowed and the bingo cards were lost, along with THREE red tickets.

I fooled everyone this time.  I smiled like the Cheshire Cat!  I am very engrossed and concentrating on every dollar that goes in and out, so I rarely look up.  One of the problem children was at the register.  All done, all sold ... she just stood there.  I went straight on to the next customer.  I handed her the correct amount of change and went on to the NEXT one.  

I looked up just as the second one said ... where's my change.  Ummmm I handed it to you?  Nope ... the first gal had grabbed the change AND the red ticket ... WHEN SHE ALREADY HAD HERS.  You can't tell me she didn't know what she was doing.

Everything came to a screeching halt while I chased her down and made her give it all back.  My fault ... but she COULD have said that wasn't hers.  Alls well that ends well.  Or at least that's what I thought.  The King brought up not one, but TWO MORE red tickets he found on the floor.  Oh yeah ... I was just waiting ....... like a cat ready to pounce on the mouse who said I didn't give him a red ticket.

Well guess who it was .... the lady who took the change that wasn't hers.  KARMA!!!  We all had a big laugh, she got her ticket and normalcy returned for the rest of the night.  Well most of it anyway.

There is always someone who calls Bingo when they don't have one, or they call it so quietly that the caller can't hear them.  If he calls the next number, you lose.  It happened twice.  The torches were lit and the pitchforks came out.

Did I mention my Fairy Godmother is back?  Oh YEAH!!  Come to find out, SHE ended up winning that game, and TWO MORE to the tune of $1,600 in total.  No kidding ... that girl is a lucky charm.  I told her the next time she goes gambling locally, to take me with her.  Maybe she can change my luck!!

And so ended another lovely night in the dungeon, though on THIS night there was no blood.  Lots of scratches, but no blood.  

Now for a long days rest!!!

Panic Sets In

Laughing is good for you.  I gets you through the tough spots and makes you feel better when you're alone.  I try to laugh a lot, which is why I spend way too much time on my phone.  That's when I found this.  This is looking into the mirror by the bed in my Class A, probably in 2013 or so.  Keep in mind, he slept on it for a year now, before finally seeing himself in the mirror.  Turn your sound up ... WHO IS THAT??  Mr. Cooper makes me laugh a lot!!

But hey ... let's start the day off with some panic.  I made a quick trip to get fuel and mail my taxes.  Fuel is once again through the roof.  Yes, the problem lies in California's tax, but also their program to lower emissions.  

Here's the breakdown ... Calif Excise tax 54 cents.  Federal Excise tax 24.3 cents.  Calif gas emissions 23 cents.  Add to THAT the cost of processing gas and diesel in California AND big time producer profits, and you have a whopping $5.25 per gallon.  I'm thinking of buying an electric scooter!!!!  There are two roaming my neighborhood and they look like a blast!

A couple hours later, for no reason whatsoever, I decided to check my back account and see if the money had been transferred to pay the taxes.  

INSTANT PANIC!!  OMG ... they put the money in the wrong account.  That's not the account I wrote the checks from.  I raced to my computer and double checked.  Yessirree ... wrong account.  That would have been a nice surprise when I bounced a check with the Federal Government ... the one I despise the most!!

Another quick transfer and I think I am saved.  There's no way the post office could have delivered that envelope in one day.  Whew ... that was a close one.  It actually happened to me about 30 years ago and my bank was kind enough to call me and move the money over.  Nowadays, you don't get that kind of service.  I laughed ... sort of ... just a bit of a chuckle to remind me to triple check next time.

Another laugh ensued when it came to those carrot fries.  Whoever thought this was a good idea was wrong.  Maybe if they were deep fried in oil?  I cut them up fairly small so it wouldn't take too long to air fry them.  

I tested one half way through ..... RAW.  Almost burned, but that can actually give them more flavor.   I finally pulled them out.  Time for a taste test.  Oh good grief .... they tasted like carrots, and not in a good way.  They were stringy, tough and terrible.  Here's my hint of the day ... don't waste your time.  Go for potatoes or sweet potatoes.  These went in the trash.

Now THIS ... this is NOT a laughing matter.  I guess I'll call them today or tomorrow and force myself to deal with it.  I just hate problems like this.  I haven't paid them, so there's that, it's just having to deal with it that bothers me.  Of course there is always the threat of turning them in.

It's going to be a long day of problem solving at the Elks Lodge starting at 11:00 this morning.  If I'm really lucky, I'll sneak in a quick nap somewhere along the way.  That helps in the LAUGH department when it comes to bingo.  I'm absolutely determined to smile and have a GREAT night with NO problems!!

CAKE OVERLOAD!!

 Though I expected to see some sunshine when I looked out the windows this morning, alas there was only dark clouds.  I have to admit, I smiled.  That means a dark gloomy rainy day, my excuse to stay inside and do nothing.  I seem to be doing more and more of that lately, which is completely unacceptable.  That meant a nice long walk with the pooch.

Straight out of the door, he ran right into the flower beds, now full of 2 inches of water.  It bothers him not to get his feeties wet.  He walked the entire length in water without batting an eye, and we were off down the street.

By the time we got back, he had designated this his territory for half a mile in each direction.  He also owns every mailbox.  What a kid!!

Since I got up so late, I skipped breakfast, still full of cake from the night before.  You would think all that sugar would rev you up, but it has the opposite effect on me.  I saved up for lunch instead.

Here's the latest Hello Fresh meal, and the one I've been waiting for.  Barbara Westerfield made this for me when I visited them last.  I can't thank her enough, because this was an epic creation, taking lots of time and energy.  AND it was the best shepherds pie I've ever eaten.  

I have since learned it's probably "cottage" pie since it's not made with lamb.  (Thank you Elva). You actually get to choose which meat you use in these recipes.  I chose ground beef.  TA DA!!!  It even actually looks like the picture!

What makes this is the thyme ... one of my favorite herbs.  I could have eaten the entire thing if my stomach wasn't still full of cake, or rather frosting.

It's even better than my grandma made!  I know ... Elva told me I was throwing grandma under the bus, but this had carrots, celery and of course the thyme.  All my grandma's had was beef and peas.  This one has white cheddar cheese on top too!

I savored every bite of this one and I have three more servings!!  I will definitely be making this again.

Then I blew it all by having a piece of that cake.  Honestly, I've never had one with 1/2" frosting all over the outside, as well as inside.  Just thinking about all that grease I ate made me a little queasy.  I cut up the rest and put it in the freezer for a time when I'm craving sugar and crisco.  AND it was NOT as good as the cake we had on OUR table.  Just sayin'.......

That was pretty much it for the entire day, except for some exceptional rodeo going on in Nevada.  I sewed a little, but truly, that frosting slowed me down a bunch.

Later in the day, once his legs dried off, Mr. Cooper and I spent an hour together, trying to trim off some of his way-too-long poodle hair.  It begins to mat up if you don't brush it out every day.  He wasn't the least bit happy about it, fidgeting the entire time.  

I'm probably the WORST at it.  I use my old pair of horse clippers since the fancy dancy ones I bought just for the job, don't seem to work well at all.  Maybe it's just me.  

In no time I had hair all over the counter, the nearby chair and the floor, but he was done.  I took the towel he was standing on outside for a good shake.  Here's my hint of the day.  Never EVER shake the towel if there is even a HINT of a breeze.  By the time I was done, I had his hair all stuck in MY hair, as well as covering my black shirt and finding it's way up my nose.  Sneeze Sneeze!!

BUT ... isn't he CUTE??  He knows there's a treat coming, thus one foot up in the air.  It's his signature stance for "I'm so cute I need TWO treats"!!

Lucky for me, this time I actually have TWO days to rest up before Bingo ensues.  There's only two things on the to-do list at this time ... mail the taxes at the Post Office and call the Weedman about the dead grass.  They were supposed to come look in two weeks.  We are past that deadline.  Pictures tomorrow!!

Another Saturday OUT .....

 Two Saturdays in a row?  What's up with that??  I can't believe I was actually going to be out late once again, since Saturdays are my usual stay-at-home days.  But there I was ... heading out into the rain.  This is what it looked like beginning at 10:00.  It was not a downpour, but a very steady rain for the next ten hours.  

Here's why.  This was the forecast that seemed not to move the entire day.  That is a rarity where I live.  It really was quite nice because there was no wind at all ... just a steady rain that filled up my flower beds and watered the lawn ... of course just after I got the sprinklers fixed.  

This time the benefit dinner was for Love INC (In the Name of Christ).  It's the one and only place in town people can go to get help for anything, though they do specialize in helping children in need.  Several of the items of furniture I had left over from my move went to them.  I am amazed at the number of people that do not have beds.  

They also do everything they can for the homeless, including setting up shower and laundry locations.  Add to that all the education they provide, especially to older children so they can go out on their own and survive.  I don't know of any other organization that does that.  

So ... it's time to Cowboy Up.  They couldn't have picked a better theme than that.

I got there early because again ... parking is at a premium.  I was surprised to find these appetizers at each chair.  That's a new one on me!!  In no time we had 16 people from the Elks Lodge browsing the side tables full of silent auction items.

There was going to be another DESSERT DASH, so I checked out the cakes, pies and goodies.  

Just WOW!!!  It was FOUR TABLES LONG!!  Here's how this works, just like the last one.  Your table puts as much money in an envelope as they want.  When it's counted up, whatever table has the most dollars donated, gets first pick of the desserts.  

But first ... let's have a little entertainment.  Country music .... right up my alley.  There was just two of them, but boy could they sing.  They reminded me of my Dad, who was so good, he even recorded a few records.

In no time the place was packed.  This is a huge building, with only a small part of it shown here.  All around the outside were the silent auction items, 50-50 raffle and live auction items.  

Sadly ... though maybe not this time ... there was another puppy to be auctioned off.  I hate it when they do this.  I always worry that the puppy won't have a good home.  This is a standard poodle.  He's going to be a BIG boy at probably 55 pounds.  Thankfully, he went to a very nice lady who fell in love with him.

At last ... dinner.  We were all served individually at our table.  I must say, it was REALLY good.  My tri-tip was cooked perfectly.  Those beans ... probably the best I've ever had.  I think maybe pork-n-beans mixed with pintos and ground beef??  The potatoes were actually FRIED mashed potatoes.  YUM!!!

As I mentioned, their biggest thing is beds and dressers for kids.  They asked for big donations, but when they got down to $100, I raised my bidders card.  Wasn't I shocked when suddenly my Bingo associate grabbed my card and raised it AGAIN!!  WAIT!!!!  It's okay he said ... and he handed me a $100 bill.  Okay then ... 

And so as the live auction moved on, surprisingly not garnering nearly as much as the last one I attended, we came to the Dessert Dash.  We came in about 4th place I think, and our DASHER gal picked a beauty.  Actually, I'm sure it was made by the same cake maker from the last fundraiser.  

Does that cake stand look familiar?  Most every cake was sitting on a cake plate made from old glassware glued together.   Oh yes, I've made a few of those!!  It took some time to cut through the zip tie holding it together.  We made a big mess ... but the cake made up for it.  YUMMY!!!

I'm now completely stuffed and miserable.  My fault for cutting the cake slices too big.  I was just trying to get rid of it so I wouldn't offer to take the leftovers.  I was a very good girl as I started to walk out with nothing in hand.  Oh I bid on many of the silent auction items, but didn't win any of them.

That's when I saw it.  The Elks SECOND table left HALF of their cake intact and walked off.  WHAT?  Oh no ... you can't be wasteful ... there are starving children in the world.  And so this baby came home with me.

I had to laugh when I told them it was the exact same cake that we ate last Saturday night.  They didn't realize it because the cake cutter destroyed the decorations.  SAME CAKE ... same GREAT taste!!  I'm going to gain ten pounds.

And so ended another Saturday OUT.  It was a great time with great folks who like to pass it along.  What could be better!!

Once Again ... Death and Taxes

 Well my friends ..... it's that time of year again.  Whoever started the idea of paying taxes should be shot!!  It's so out of hand, it's ridiculous. You work all your life to make money so you can have property, and then when you want to sell it, they take all the profits.  I surely can see why folks nowadays don't want to work hard or accumulate anything.

Set up an IRA they said ... you won't pay taxes until you take it out when you are OLD and your tax rate will be SO MUCH LOWER.  They lied.  I've never paid such a high tax rate in my entire life as I do now.  

And so I spent the morning writing out checks, gritting my teeth and spitting fire.  I probably wouldn't blink an eye if I thought it was going to be spent in a judicious manner by conservatives.  I won't tell you how much, but it would make a down payment on a new house!!  Okay ... rant over.

Let's go outside and burn off some of that negativity.  Mr. Cooper and I hit the back roads.  Sadly, we didn't get far before he was covered in stickers.  If there is even one tiny little piece of dry grass sticking his skin, he comes to a complete halt.

Sometimes he won't even WALK until I find and remove the culprit.  I try hard to keep him in the road, but of course all the good smells are in the grass.  How could I turn down this face??

Back home, after brushing from top to bottom, he gets a treat.  He's not spoiled ... not spoiled at all!!

After once again reorganizing all the paperwork that got thrown on the counter the night before, it was actually lunch time.  Here's another chicken sandwich, which actually hit the spot.  No I haven't made those carrot fries yet, though I did think about it while I recuperated on the couch watching the San Antonio Rodeo.  

Dessert this time was kind of a let down after that pineapple upside down cake.  It was thick, way too sweet (even for me) and was rather like eating glue.  I'll pass on this one next time.

Finally feeling a little energetic, I switched out two more sprinklers and repaired EIGHT drip lines cut by the weed whacker.  You prune the bushes with a weed whacker????  Honestly, I try to miss the gardeners every time they show up.  I just might do something I shouldn't.  Not that they would know, because they don't speak English hardly at all.

Two broken sprinklers have been replaced, and I have two more to go.  Just in time for the inch of rain we are going to get today!!  My neighbor stopped by with a great idea.  They place big heavy rocks on the back side of the sprinklers that stick up above the ground level.  Aha I said ... they can't mow over big rocks.  I'll be heading to the mountains soon to pick some up.  Better yet, maybe a nice tall piece of steel pounded into the ground.

Every time it rains, I pray my RV roof doesn't leak.  That seems to be a recurring theme in my RV groups.  On the other hand, they told me where to buy these little fridge drain plugs.  I took mine out to be sure it was not plugged up, and it crumbled in my fingers.  This keeps the flying critters from making nests up inside the line, so it's a rather important piece of plastic.  Luckily, there are TWO just in case I have to replace it again.    

That was it ... a perfect sunny warm (but not too warm) day to recoup, just in time for ... wait for it .............. yet ANOTHER fundraiser which will happen tonight.  This used to be a nice small party run by a local church.  Now it's grown into a HUGE deal to be held at the fairgrounds.  Once again, dinner is compliments of Bingo and our RV park.  

These folks do it a little differently.  If you need help you can get it, but along with it comes lessons in how to handle money ... how to budget ... how to repair things ... it's not just a free ride.  They also provide free counseling along with big furniture items.  It's for a good cause and is one of our Bingo regular donations.  Hopefully I don't fall asleep half way through!!!

Me And My Bunny Slippers!!

 Yessirree ... this is me.  Bunny slippers and all. Especially after a night of bad dreams where I was a prisoner in an awful prison, escaping down the steep mountainside to the tourist train below.  Sometimes I wonder if I've been reincarnated a number of times and these are memories.  It was just too weird this morning.  Thank Heavens for COFFEE!!  It can be a game changer.

It was a perfect 62 degrees in the morning, quickly ratcheting up to almost 80.  Our first warm day of the summer sent me straight to the lounge chair to soak up some vitamin D.  I can't believe I'm saying this ... it was actually HOT.  

My now blooming roses kept me company as I fielded message after message about the meeting happening at 6:00.  I had a stack of papers on my counter 6" high.  It was going to be a long one.

And then THIS happened.  Yikes ... that was a bit of a shock until I realized it wasn't moving.  Neither was the breeze at ground level, but up higher in the sky, the winds were making everyone think we were at war.  I have to admit, that's one bad thing about everyone having a smart phone these days.  Pictures, and sometimes panic, spread like wildfire!!

I did a little more weed pulling, which was a big mistake.  You already know I have ants around here.  Fire ants in particular.  I spray and put out stuff all the time to keep them at bay, but nothing works.  Wouldn't you know, one nasty bugger got on my finger and bit me.  He's now in a million pieces, but my finger is a little worse for wear.

It now has a big white bump on it which made my finger expand like I smashed it with a hammer.  It doesn't hurt, buy boy does it itch!!  I'll have to operate today in the hopes of excising the venom.  For such a little thing, it sure packs a big wallop!!

Since there would be no time for dinner on this day, I cooked up the next box of Hello Fresh for lunch.  The absolute best part about these meals is you don't have to go to the store NEARLY as often.  The not so good part ... carrots.  They must be in season, because I'm getting them with practically every order.  I think I need to make different choices.

These are not sweet potato fries, but CARROT fries.  Who's has ever heard of that?  I wasn't feeling it, so I now have six carrots in the fridge.    

Anyhoo ... this is a fried garlic chicken sandwich with a sweet mustard aioli.  This is of course what it SHOULD look like.

First off, the buns are three inches tall.  I sliced it up into three sections, taking the middle piece out.  In order to cook the chicken easier, it said to hammer it into your cutting board.  I actually used a mallet for that, but maybe got a little carried away.  It spread out so much I cut it into FOUR thin pieces instead of two.

The panko bread crumbs came out nice and crispy, but the garlic flavor kind of disappeared.  I don't fry food often ... it makes too big of a mess that I have to clean up ... but this came out very nicely.  It was topped with a mixture of mayo and sweet dijon mustard.  I substituted chips for the carrots.

All in all, it was a pretty good fried chicken sandwich.  I have to say, their serving sizes in all these meals is so much more than I can eat at one sitting.  Today I'll try making carrot fries and let you know if that works.  It just might beat out sweet potatoes.     No, no it won't.

At 5:00 I was off to the Board Meetings.  Good grief ... so much stuff to sort out, so many problems to solve.  The good news is we are so popular in this area, that while other clubs are celebrating having 300 members in their club, we are trying to figure out how to have LESS members than our 1565, soon to be 1595 next week.  

I suppose that means we are doing a bang-up job, but it also means it's taking more and more time to wade through these meetings.  Four hours later, I finally walked in my door and crashed on the couch.  It's my last day to hang out on the patio before the thunderstorms hit us on Saturday, which by the way will be hitting hardest when I head out to the next fundraiser for LOVE Inc, another charity we support.  Maybe the Rain Gods will take pity of us.   Yeah, I doubt that too!!

SPRING HAS SPRUNG .....

 I cannot believe my luck, even though mostly it's mediocre ... just look at this beauty!!  I almost missed it.  With warmer temperatures for the next few days, my lawn could use a drink of water.  One by one I turned the valves on, then ran to see what the damage was.  

In checking the drip irrigation I spotted this one quite by accident.  You just cannot imagine how gorgeous it is in person.  My Sacramento friend Cyndae brought down a bunch of cuttings from her yard.  Well not exactly HER yard ... I think they came from the center divide in downtown Sacramento.  I was sure they would all die.  

It took a year for them to grow into a 4 foot square section of ground cover.  And then this happened.  Neither of us had any idea this would appear.  Even better, there are about a dozen more buds ready to bloom.  YAHOO!!!  Spring has sprung!

The sprinkler news wasn't good.  The river Broken Sprinkler flowed down the side yard like the Mississippi.  It appears there is a break in one of the main lines.  I doubt I can fix it.  Further analysis resulted in three more broken below the dirt level.  This is going to require major surgery.  Dr. Nancy is on vacation, so hopefully I can find someone to do this for me.  

While wandering around looking for rocks to mark the bad sprinklers, I heard the familiar screeching in the sky.  These guys were WAY up there!  The hawks circle around while the Moms and Dads protecting their nearby nests, dive bomb them.  

Not the best of pictures, but they got smacked on the head several times before finally flying off.  Another sign of spring.  I can now hear the babies in the nests screaming for food.

Speaking of the birds, I have so many finch in my back yard hanging out in the rose bushes that I thought I might give them a little lunch.  I ordered this finch feeder online, mostly because I see everyone else has something similar.  Filling those socks with seed wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done, but here it is hanging on the tree.  It looks like some kind of alien.

Thirty minutes later, I discovered the local wasp population thinks it's just dandy.  I'm guessing it was the color?  There were four more underneath.  These guys can sting like nobody's business, so I grabbed my flyswatter and went to town.  Hopefully they discovered the landlord was not hospitable and won't come back.  I won't hold my breath.  Sadly, not a single finch has set foot on this feeder.  NOT ONE!!

While waiting for the sprinklers to finish their run, Mr. Cooper decided it was play time.  This kid ... he rolls the ball (what's left of it) under the chair, then barks until I throw it.  I'm amazed this video turned out since I was sitting IN the chair, bending over upside down to take it.

Sadly, our aim isn't so good any more, nor is his eyesight at 14 years of age.  It's okay though as he loves playing this game over and over and over.

My plan to lay out in the now WARM California sun didn't last long.  I had a lunch appointment with an Elks friend for some Mexican food.  She's one of the best Bingo volunteers ever.  I've never in my life seen an enchilada as big as my computer.  It took some time to make it disappear, but boy was it good!  Sadly, no picture.  The best part, I was so full, there was no need for dinner.

About bingo ... I usually only tell you the not-so-good parts because they can be hilarious.  But truly, the 123 other players at Tuesday's games are just the best.  They laugh, tease each other and just have a good time.  They can make my day in a nanosecond ... which is why I keep going back.  They can make a bad day pretty special.

Tonight should be fun .... three more Lodge meetings (yup all in one night) where I will present the budget.  If nothing else, this Elks stuff is keeping me busy.

I see that fickle Miss Spring is already going to take another break this weekend.  They are predicting an inch of rain here on Saturday.  I wish she would make up her mind!!