PUMPKIN BUTT

 Welcome back to Sourdough 101.  Isn't she beautiful????  This is one of the best looking ones for me because it's not over baked.  At 7:00 I had the oven on to a scorching 500 degrees.  Oops ... forgot to put the dutch oven in to heat up too.

Did I mention my oven is about 50 degrees off in temperature?  I bought a new temp gauge to keep inside, but who knows if those are accurate.  It's a good thing I took a look before I put the dough in.  The temperature read 500 degrees ... the same as the oven.  That's a first!!  I dropped the dough into the pot and grabbed my razor thingy to make the cuts.  

I'm new at this.  Previously, everything I used to cut didn't work well at all.  Can you see the pumpkin??  My main cut across the top was WAY too deep, so I tried to be nicer with the pumpkin.  So here she is .... PUMPKIN BUTT!!  That butt sticks out SO much further than the rest of the loaf!  LOL

The pros make all kinds of crazy cuts with this thing to make gorgeous looking loaves.  Hopefully I'll get a little bit better at the decorating part.

The crumb?  Not bad at all.  I used my handy dandy hand slicer so I could package it up for the freezer.

Yes of COURSE I had a piece freshly toasted from the oven and smothered in butter.  Oh my ... this is the best tasting loaf I have ever made.  The flavor is perfect!

Unfortunately, I made a big mistake.  I have two jars of starter.  Instead of using half of one and making another starter out of the rest .... I used it ALL for that loaf.  Too bad Charlie ... that is the one that had all the flavor.  The other starter ... not so much.  I split the other one into two jars and set up these two for the next loaves.  I know it just won't taste the same, but I guess time will tell.  

Here's another must-do for sourdough.  Yes, this is a nasty kitchen drain.  It will be clogged up completely if you make many loaves of bread without the little netting placed over it.  If you let any sourdough starter go down the drain, it will turn into concrete in the pipes and plug them up.  Pull it off and drop it in the trash ..... no bill from the plumber.

With that now done, I was determined to go on a shopping spree.  It's probably been a year since that happened.  I was headed out for Marshalls ... the only store we have in this town.  But first ... I was down to 1/8 tank fuel in my truck, and even less in the Jeep.  Time to get maybe half a tank of diesel.  Luckily for me, the highest priced place nearby was DOWN to $7.98 a gallon.  It was $9.00 two days ago.  I got $150 worth ... not even half a tank full.

That put the big kibosh on my shopping spree.  Good grief ... Marshalls has stocked up for Thanksgiving, so much so that you can barely walk through the aisles.  Mostly because people just pull stuff off the shelves and throw it on the floor. WHY do they do that????

The clothes were packed so tightly you couldn't even pull something out to see it.  I ended up with this $16.00 purse.

After picking up six bundles of washcloths off the floor, I found these stuffed way in the back.  I needed some new ones ... and a cute little bundle of two hand towels.  Do you have any idea how many little plastic things I had to cut off those towels to get them apart?  TEN .... TEN plastic thingies was definitely overkill!!!!

What a shopping spree.  That's all I got ... one cheap purse and these towels.

Dinner was of course a grilled cheese on sourdough.  I don't know about you, but I'm VERY careful about how I butter my bread so when it's put in the pan, the pieces fit perfectly.  Except this time.  I buttered the wrong side and of course it didn't fit the bottom piece.  Not even close.  Oh I ate it with no problem, but I got parts and pieces in my lap the entire time!!

As the sun set, I remembered it was a full moon night.  Time to get the camera out.

Oh but wait ... the batteries are all dead.  Truly, I haven't done much with photography lately, and it shows.  I plugged in both batteries, having no idea what the green lights meant.  I thought that was how much charge they had, but one never got above 50%, yet it was fully charged.  

I ran outside to get a few pictures ... it was just coming up amid the clouds.  But for the life of me, I could not remember which way the settings went.  It's a pro camera with dozens of buttons.  Oh I remembered which ones did what, but not the order.  My finger muscle memory is gone when it comes to that quick shot.  I guarantee you it won't look like this.

Also known as the freezing moon .... yup it's COLD .... and the falling leaf moon .... yup the leaves are falling .... it was when the Indians would hunt for deer after their corn harvest was done.  

It was a VERY nice moon, but I doubt I got any pictures worth posting.  I'll check them out this morning.

Cooper never liked the cold or the falling leaves.  He would much rather sit on the couch with his Mom ... and his ball!!

MAKING DOUGH!!!

 It's finally here .... FALL!!  Not that the leaves are falling, because they aren't ... but because running now requires long pants and a long sleeve shirt.  The leaves aren't turning yet either, that's just the color from the sun rising as I headed out and around the corner.

It was slow going.  Breathing ..... check!  Arms ...... check!  Legs .... OMG I didn't even get 100 feet before I could feel them.  My how quickly that being in shape thing goes away.  I kept at it, in spite of the spiders hanging out two streets over.  I made it all the way to mile 3/4 before turning around.  Yeah, not my best running day!!

My excuse however is the time schedule required to bake another loaf of sourdough bread.  I'm guessing the ladies in the 1800's didn't have much to do around the house, because this is a L O N G process.  First off, you have to get your starter started.  If it's been sitting in the fridge for a week, you have to FEED it some flour and water in specific proportions.

So specific that you have to measure them in grams on a scale.  The flour SHOULD be bread flour, the water just the right temperature and the exact number of grams of each.

Once stirred up, it goes in the warmer at about 81 degrees.  Every house is different, and if I don't use this little gadget, it will take 8 hours because my house is too cold.  Once all bubbly and more than doubled in size, which took 6 hours on this day ... THEN you can begin to make the DOUGH.  You thought I meant dough as in MONEY.  Nope ... it's BREAD DOUGH day!!

Don't miss this step ..... HAVE A COOKIE while you wait.  I tried to tidy up a bit ... sewed on the quilt a tad and generally tried to pass the time until the starter was ready.

Next step ... autolyze ... that's just adding water to flour and letting it sit until it's all soaked up.  This is definitely NOT the fun part.  Let that sit for 30 minutes.

The next step is the worst.  I put on a plastic glove and dump the starter into the hard dry flour and water mixture.  The starter is a pile of sticky gunk that you have to try and incorporate into a big pile of glue.  And don't overwork it!!!  

Now that has to sit for 30 minutes.  Kitters and I had a little talk and she got lots of pets.  

Wash your hands and clean off all the kitty hair.  Yes, that's in the recipe book.  Uncover the bowl, grab a corner,  S. T. R. E. T. C. H.  the dough and fold it over ..... three times.  Let it rest another 30 minutes.  There's THREE of those 30 minute sessions before you stick it in the oven with just the light on, to rise for an hour.

Have another cookie, because this is an all day process!!!  I had a small plate of leftovers for dinner.  It is now 6:30 at night.  

Take it out of the oven, and drag it kicking and screaming out of the bowl, onto a floured surface.  Let it sit there and sulk for another hour.  

This is a banneton, and it's what you gently put the dough in before sticking it in the fridge for a good nights sleep.  Yeah, no one ever said this was an easy or quick process.  

This morning I will turn the oven on to 500 degrees and stick my dutch oven in to heat up.  To cover or not to cover .... that is the question!  To bake it uncovered so the crust will get crunchy, or covered so old teeth can actually bite into it.  Today I'll try the 35-10 method and see what happens.  

All this work ... an entire DAY ... to get one beautiful tasty loaf of homemade sourdough bread ........

Worth every minute!!!!!

TIME FOR SOME BASEBALL!!

 It was a normal morning with remnants of the storm greeting me.  I love seeing clouds like this.  It's a little chilly however ... perfect running weather.

The first order of the day ..... get out that electric blanket!!!  It's never easy to get it square on the bed, especially when the cords are a little short.  No worries, I prevailed.  I LOVE THAT BLANKET!  Seriously, there is nothing like crawling into a WARM bed when your house is 68 degrees.

It is probably partially why my electric bill is so low when the temperatures are too.  Here's how I sit according to PG&E.  As I said, I'm pretty conservative when it comes to giving them ANY of my money.  

Unfortunately, I was off early to the lodge once again to meet with the King/Treasurer.  Yup he's also the Treasurer ... and he is leaving THAT job also.  They know not what they did!!  All of the bingo volunteers are only there because we like him so much.  And since we have all been there going on ten years, I think most are going to disappear along with me.

We spent two hours discussing "stuff" until the bartender came in with donut holes.  The conversation ended in a flash as holes filled our mouths.  I signed a bunch of checks keeping an eye on the bank account before heading back home.

That's when I found this.  I've wanted to go to Bryce Canyon for a long time.  I was there once as a kid and have not returned.  Has anyone heard of this Loop Trail?  Anyone actually hiked it?  Just curious.  The landscape looks amazing ... and I'm hoping to have lots of time to travel once again in the spring.

That's when I got the phone call.  Could you please come and sell raffle tickets at Friday Night Dinner?  That has always been the officers job, but apparently they are just too busy.  I begrudgingly said okay because it was a good friend that asked. 

That was until I took a look at my calendar an hour later.  This is the opening day of the World Series.  NOPE ... not selling tickets.  I called and cancelled.  The Brewers have only been to one World Series once in 1982 and lost.  This year I think they have won more games than anyone.  I'm a big baseball fan ... and this is actually aired on a television station I get.

This is how you stand when you listen to the National Anthem.  Someone needs to have a little talk with the WNBA.  They are THE most disrespectful RICH-KID players ever!!  They should take notice.

And so I stayed home to watch a great baseball game.  Of course I don't recognize any of the players.  It's been way too long since I was a ticket holder and went to every game in San Francisco.  

In case you were not aware, Baseball now has instant replay also.  They reversed two calls that were questionable ... one by mere centimeters ... that may have helped the Brewers win.  And WIN they did in the last minutes of the last inning. It was a nail biter for sure!!!  

Unfortunately, they are playing the Tampa Bay Rays, who have only been to the World Series twice, and also never won.  I don't have a dog in this fight, because there will be a huge celebration no matter which team wins!!  It's on Fox every day at 5:00 Pacific time in case you are interested.

Thank you everyone for your perspective on my volunteering.  I think you are all correct ... I need to find something else to do.  This is just way too stressful to continue.  I should get back into photography and traveling.  

This guy ... he could make it all better just by staring at his ball!!!!!  It makes me laugh every time.

RAIN RAIN COME AGAIN!!

 Here's a first for the year ...... it's FOGGY!  Even worse than it looks here because the camera takes a lot of it out automatically.  The best part ..... it SMELLS GOOD!!  Finally, the weather guessers were right.  We actually got some rain very early yesterday morning.

That kept Kitters inside most of the day.  She's no dummy ..... it's WET out there.  Hopefully that means all the lizards ran away with the rain.  She parked most of the day on the back of the couch, just inches from my shoulder.  It's not the same as having a puppy ... not even close ... but she is becoming pretty good company.  At least she is someone to talk to and is a GREAT gopher hunter.

I wandered around the house all morning, thinking I really needed to do something, but nothing came to mind.  It's bad when I don't even feel like going out for a run.  I really am looking forward to not working Bingo any more.  I really like the people, but those late nights are killing me.  

Or maybe I will quit the Trustee job, since that one seems to cause the most trouble.  They don't like being told they don't have the money.  They never look at the profit and loss statement or the bank account, and truly, they don't care.  In return for telling them our situation, I get yelled at and called a liar.  I'm trying to hang in there for the Old Guard, but it's more stressful every day.  So there you have it.  A difficult decision to make.

Too bad the rain didn't wash all that away like it did the dust and dirt in the air.  Ooops ... I left the sprinklers on too, so everything got a good soaking.

When I heard the rumbling outside, I thought maybe it was the garbage truck.  Nope ... it was actually thunder.  We rarely EVER get thunder here.  You will have to turn your speakers way up ... this is NOT Arizona!!!  It was nice to hear however and it poured shortly after!!!

The good news .... LOOKIE HERE!  My solar panels are clean as a whistle.  Yesterday they were almost the same color as the building.  Now they are sparkly clean and working like a charm.  As you know, I'm super conservative with the power, and have not paid an electric bill in three years.  That's almost $15,000 in savings and the whole thing only cost me $20,000.  Last month my bill was $3.59.  With the Mother Nature cleanup job, it will be back to zero.

I fielded a few phone calls before deciding I didn't need to answer it any more.  I walked in and out of the sewing room several times before staring at this stack of parts and pieces for the tenth time.  I finally sat down and began sorting.

I stitched together enough to make the second row on the side.  That's when I realized the last WHITE row fabric didn't match the INSIDE white row.  RATS.  I ran out of that fabric.  With a big sigh, I decided to use the REAL white I have.  No one will notice, right?  It is actually a pretty close match.  I just might get this one finished before year's end.

Dinner was leftovers, trying not to be wasteful.  A little of this, a bite of that and of course a cookie ... heated up for 30 seconds in the microwave!!!  YUM YUM!!

It looks like we are done with the rain and winter is arriving with a chill.  The next ten days will be down to 36 degrees at night.  I'll be putting my electric blanket on the bed today!!

But first, I have to go meet with the King.  I'm sure he wants to talk me into staying at Bingo, but since the mucky mucks worked so hard to get us all to quit, I have no intention of staying on.  I keep asking myself ... why do you care so much whether they make it or break it, because no one else really seems to care.  Maybe I should dump the Trustee job and stick with Bingo.  Decisions decisions ... I am not good at decisions!!

ACCOUNTING .... BIG SIGH!!!!!

 OOOHHHHHH it's a lovely 50 degrees this morning after pouring rain woke me up twice. Too bad my handyman has not gotten back to me about fixing my gutters and painting the window sills that now have no paint on them at all.  I guess there is always NEXT summer!!

This is going to be really short.  It apparently was not my day, and the black clouds overhead reflected that.  I got called in to the accounting job at noon, just as the rain began to fall.  I was hoping it would fall hard enough to wash off my solar panels.  Unfortunately I never saw one drop because I was sequestered in the back room behind the computer.  

Talk about nothing working right .... it seems in spite of all my warnings, the other gal did not enter things in the right accounts.  There are about ten ... maybe more.  When it comes time to balance against the bank statements, absolutely nothing worked.  She had paid things out of the wrong accounts.  What a mess that was.

Literally six hours later, it was mostly repaired with the exception of one.  That is going to take the CPA to straighten out.  No kidding .... it's one big fat mess.  Three little mistakes make for a mountain of repairs.

That's it ..... that's all I did the entire day other than be on the phone for 90 minutes about the things happening at the lodge.  They may just be seeing the first light of the actual problems.  We shall see where this goes.  No worries ... I will NOT be working Bingo for long.

I would probably be sleeping much better if my sweet boy were still here to cuddle with.  He always made it all better!!!

BINGO FIASCO!!!

There's a lot to be said about living in the country.  Unfortunately, I now live in a subdivision in the country.  That means neighbors ... and you KNOW how I love them!!!  Someone is smoking skunk weed every single day.  No, it's not a skunk ... there is a difference.  Skunk weed smells worse than a skunk!!  Every morning now I wake up to the stink.  I can smell it before I even go outside.  It's so bad in our area that when I drive by Home Depot, it's SO STRONG it makes your eyes water.  I would so much rather smell garlic or even COWS!!!  Cows would be a nice relief!!!!

Anywho ... it's Bingo Day ..... so get ready!!!

It started out a little cloudy .....

And turned into a tiny bit of sunrise.  

I was already awake because of the kitty screaming outside my bedroom window.  I was pretty sure it was Kitters guarding her territory.  Sure enough ... that was it.  I know you love seeing the evidence!!  This is foxy scat.  Apparently they got a little too close to her Mom's bedroom windows and she gave them what for.  I found her sitting quietly by the door, keeping watch.  What a GUARD DOG she is!!

Breakfast was a quick egg McMuffin.  There's avocado and tomato under that egg.  Sadly, it's not just like McDonalds, but close enough for me.

That's when I got the call.  Can you please come in EXTRA early?  That means Bingo turns into a marathon 10 hour day.  Now they are wrangling about the chips.  Not potato chips ... but the chips people buy to give to others in the bar so they can drink the next day or the next week.  

Here's the problem with that.  We raised the drink prices $2.00.  They wanted to buy 50 chips so they didn't have to pay the increase in price next week.  Gosh ... can't anything just be easy?  Maybe you can just have 4 drinks today instead of six.  Wait ... I have to get something out of my truck ............. I slipped out the back door.  Yes, yes I ghosted them.

Dinner came about after setting up for Bingo.  Woohoo ... Kettle Corn.  Dinner of Champions!!  The owner of Hunter Farms Pumpkin Patch brought in a bag to share.  It was the calm before the storm.

So here I am all set up and ready to roll.  Hmmm I wonder where my Girl Friday is.  In no time the line was across the room, so I grabbed one of the players to count and opened the doors.  

The very first purchase was with a debit card.  We only accept debit cards because credit cards charge us 6%.  Debit cards only 3%.  Besides that, gambling on credit cards is only allowed at casinos.  I looked down to see the INFERNAL MINI ME machine say NO PHONE CONNECTION.  

Yes, you have a phone connection.  I reset it.  Nope ... reset it twelve times, unplugged and plugged it in, before I finally gave up and called the King.  We tried everything, but nothing worked.  It kept giving me an XV53 SOCKET error.  I've been trying to get them to replace that socket for two years.  Maybe now it will happen.

It took twenty minutes to get the only other machine from the bar.  The pitchforks came out and got WAY too close.  The new machine was disgustingly dirty and sticky to boot!!  With a new cord, it stayed connected, but the card reader refused to work.  By now I was WAY behind in selling.  I had to swipe every single card, meaning it ran them all through as credit card transactions.  Some worked, some did not.  People weren't too happy when they had to go across the street to the bank for cash.  

To make it worse, we pay out 100% of what I bring in.  Take the credit card fees from that and we just lost $200.00.  Hopefully today the machine company will show up to fix and/or repair whatever is wrong.  We have eight more Bingos to go before we all exit the building.  Yup we are counting the days!!!

To add insult to injury, this borrowed machine usually stationed at the bar, had not been cleared.  It kept asking me if I wanted to X the 38 tips in its memory.  NOOOOO .... no x'ing.  But X it did, meaning all that data was lost from the Saturday party and the total of my bingo account came to $5,280.  Nope ... we have never had more than $4,000.  

That meant I had to figure out how much the big Infernal Machine said we had, count the cash and the bank I had left and try to come up with the amount actually charged on our Bingo folks cards.  Yeah ... that's an accounting nightmare.  I finally got it, but I feel bad for the bartenders whose tips disappeared.  Oh well .... that's the infernal machine for you.

It was 10:15 by the time I got home.  WAY too long a day for me.  I would love to rest up, but alas, I'm back to the big accounting job at noon.  Hopefully we don't have any of these problems there.  I'm a pincushion from all the Bingo pitchforks.

STOOD UP AGAIN!!

 LIZARD COUNTER:  26

I can't wait for COLD weather.  No, not because it's hot and I want some relief, but because the lizards will all go into hibernation, or whatever they do, and not be available to play the WHERE'S THE LIZARD game.  

I could tell by the sounds of SOMEONE batting something around.  I saw her lay down and roll over.  That can only mean ONE thing.  She's playing with a lizard.  At least now she doesn't try to EAT them.  Sure enough, as soon as I got closer, she got in YOU CAN'T HAVE IT mode.  Oh yes I can ... and in two seconds, it was out the front door to the bushes.  This is THE LOOK that ensured.

About an hour later, she froze and looked at the bookcase.  I know THAT look too.  She made a beeline for the built-in shelving.  NO WAY ... there just CANNOT be a lizard up there too.  Famous last words.  She jumped up and stuck her nose in the corner.  I dumped her unceremoniously on the floor while I scanned the shelf.  

OMG ... there's a HUGE one!!  Luckily he was dried out and slow.  I caught him immediately and out the door HE went.  With no water nor food, they will die .... but EWWWWW!!!!  I'm now contemplating closing the doggy door, but then I will have to get up and let her in and out 15 times a day, not including her midnight raids.  BIG SIGH ....... Cats can be a PAIN!

Obviously not the least bit happy I stole her fun.  This is her sixth most favorite place to hang out, right behind my head.  

In no time she was fast asleep.  No one told me this CAT thing was going to be so much trouble!!!

By noon I was out and about.  I had a 1:00 meeting with a big time Elks member at a restaurant in town to discuss the recent happenings.  I drove over and parked in the empty parking lot at 12:47.  There was not a single car.  What's up with that?  I waited until 1:10, then walked over to the door to find it said OPEN, while it was locked up tight.  I waited a few more minutes before leaving.  STOOD UP AGAIN!!  That has happened a few times in my life, and Nancy was not a happy camper.

Back home, now starving, I decided to make another new recipe.  I figure if I keep trying, SOMETHING will turn out good.  This one could not be more simple.  Brown sugar, ketchup, dry onion soup mix and a little water.  Bake for one hour.  These were thick chicken breasts, so this time one hour was appropriate.

While that cooked, I realized I had not received part of a Walmart order.  I checked my account.  Sure enough, it was supposed to have been delivered on Sunday.  It said ATTEMPTED.  Um no ... I was here all day Sunday and no one attempted to deliver anything.  

Just try finding a phone number to call.  Apparently this whole process is run through some building somewhere ... and NOT at my local store.  

The first guy I got said to HOLD ... then came back on to say HOLD again.  Ten minutes later I hung up.  I called again and asked for a Supervisor.  I was told the wait for that was 45 minutes.  I hung up again.  After scanning through multiple pages, I read that my order could be picked up ... I had 4 days to do so.  I'm sorry, but I PAID FOR DELIVERY.  

I gave up when the timer dinged for dinner.  It looked pretty good and smelled DELICIOUS!!  It was a tad bit sweet, mostly because my brown sugar was hard as a rock and I couldn't measure out 1/4 cup very well.  Add to that 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup ketchup and one packet of onion soup mix.  I LOVED IT!  This will be going in my keep-the-recipe drawer.  Thank you Linda!!!!!

It was late by the time I remembered I had also made up some ice cream and left it in the fridge to cool.  I took the freezer part out of the freezer (it lives there just in case I have an ice cream attack) and turned it on.  Literally ten minutes later ... ICE CREAM!  Once again this is peanut butter.  I really would rather have something like rocky road, but that's a lot of work with ingredients I didn't have.

That's when I saw a car in my driveway.  Ummmm wait ... he disappeared around the side of the house.  Maybe ... just MAYBE ... that's my washing machine cleaner.  Sure enough the guy jumped out and very nicely laid the package on the ground.  Walmart finally came through, so maybe those phone calls worked after all.

OH JOY ..... now I can clean my washing machine!!!  

Just for fun and giggles, I called the guy who was supposed to meet me at the restaurant.  He didn't sound the least bit cordial.  He actually told me he was there ... in the parking lot at the front door ... for 20 minutes.  I'm sorry, but NO ONE was in the parking lot but me.  So did he stand me up or get the time wrong.  I know MY time was correct because I checked my watch six times wondering where he was.  I'm thinking now there are TWO of us who are mad.  AND the restaurant he told me to go to is closed on Mondays.

So this morning, I'm donning my armor for another rousing night of BINGO.  I can tell you, the attitude of everyone has changed since the announcement of the Kings retirement.  MY attitude probably more than anyone.  He's a good guy ... and they should not have treated any of us the way they have.  Oh well ... life goes on!!!  Those of us who volunteer will enjoy our remaining time.