Baklava .... Epic Fail !!!

You just have to laugh when you bake your favorite dessert that has NEVER failed ... and the taste test results in a fail of epic proportions!!  Baklava ... one of my all time easiest recipes to make ... baked itself into oblivion.  With my first bite, my teeth became permanently glued together.  I'm not kidding ... and did I mention I just came from the dentist?  I started to panic a little, with visions of myself at the hospital, not able to talk.  With nothing working, I made a quick cup of hot coffee to try and melt the hard candy holding my mouth shut like a mouse trap!!  The syrupy sweet liquid you pour over the treats had become hard as granite.

When I finally got my mouth open, I breathed a big sigh of relief ... no trip to the dentist will be required.  The worst part was still to come.  How on earth am I going to get this mess out of my one and only baklava pan.  I tried cutting, heating, banging and finally chiseling (with hammer and chisel) after soaking it in water... all with zero results.  I would have taken a picture, but you would have lost your cookies, if you know what I mean.  I seriously considered throwing the pan away and getting a new one, but it's bad enough that I have to toss the inedible treats.  I finally filled every pot I owned with water and put them on the stove.  After 6 quarts of boiling water, it melted the goo on the bottom enough to come out in one large chunk.  Just for fun, I even whacked it with a hammer once it was safely in the garbage can ... and it did NOT break.  Maybe I should pay more attention to the recipe next time!!!

The morning sunrise made it a little better.  I was shivering due to the cold breeze, but couldn't help just staring at the sky.  Actually, I'm hoping not to see this sight every morning.  I would really like to be able to sleep in!!  Trouble is, the time change will soon have me up at 4:00 am instead of 5:00.

As the sun finally came over the edge of the earth, it looked like everything was on fire.  That definitely got my mind off the baklava!!

With three more spools of thread in stock, I was able to finish stitching the main sections together for my quilt.  The orange and brown are for the borders, but I'm not sure I like those colors now.  Maybe a trip to the quilt store in Sonora is in order.  They are always so much better at choosing fabric than I.

Most people don't know I'm a music fan.  I played in my grammar school band for three years, even making the Honor Band.  Learning to play the guitar was always on my bucket list ... I tried playing banjo for awhile, but it's pretty hard to find instructors in this part of California.  So here's my new "guitar/banjo" ukelele!! Bet you never thought you'd see THIS at my house.  I've already learned five chords (You Tube baby) and my fingers are bloody.  I do remember having to play every day until calluses build up to make it easier.  I ground off all the fingernails on my left hand, unfortunately exposing the quick underneath.  This learning curve is going to be painful!!

I'm doing some smoking today ... the BUTT kind of delicious, tender morsels of pork smoking.  At least I can't mess that up ... just put it in the smoker and turn it on!!  Hmmmm maybe I better zip it ... no use awakening the BUTT fail Gods!!!

THE GIANTS WIN THE WORLD SERIES ... AGAIN!!!

If you didn't watch Game 7 of the World Series, you missed the biggest and best game ever played in baseball!!  The old saying, "when you gotta good horse, ride em" couldn't be more true.

Twenty five year old Madison Bumgarner recently signed with the Giants for another 7 years at a measly $35 million.  That's cheap in baseball language!!  He's been a good pitcher ... but the games he pitched in this World Series were the best in baseball ... EVER!!!  He's a tall lanky kid that just couldn't miss.  He kept striking out the Royals players one after another.  Most pitchers pitch one game in five.  He pitched a full basically-no-hitter game three days before.  Last night he came out and threw another FIVE full innings to win the World Series.  Most great pitcher's earned run averages are in the 1.XX range.  Madison's World Series ERA was .25 ... the lowest in the world.  He's a legend in baseball!!  That's never happened before and probably won't ever happen again!!

Kudos to Manager Bruce Bochi for keeping him in and riding that horse to the winners circle!!  Bochi did say that he tried to stay away from Madison because he was afraid the pitcher would say he was getting tired.  But Madison had no intention of letting his team down.  At 6'5" and 235 pounds, he had what it takes to become a LEGEND in San Francisco AND Baseball history!!!

The Boy Scout Motto ... BE PREPARED!!

I never was a Boy Scout, or a Girl Scout for that matter.  Those privileges were awarded to the kids who lived in town.  We lived out in the country, so it wasn't a group we could easily access.  Never the less, we DID learn to be prepared for mechanical breakdowns and the next depression!!  I definitely keep this in mind when traveling alone in my rig, so when Nick Russell posts his "must haves" for RV owners, I pay close attention.  My latest purchase is an air compressor for keeping my tire pressures pretty constant.  I figure new tires will cost a fortune ... digging into my depression savings ... so I better learn how to take better care of them.  Tom Westerfield has a great setup ... a carbon dioxide tank, you know, like the off-road people use?  They dump the air in their tires to climb rocks, but then need to refill them to get home on the highway.  It's pretty slick, but anything in a scuba-like tank is a little scary ... even MY scuba tanks!!  So here's the new unit.  It's not very big, is light enough for almost anyone to carry and should work just fine.  Now if I get any slow leaks, I should be able to air it up enough to get to a service center, instead of sitting on the side of the road ... alone ... in the dark ... trying to explain to someone 2,000 miles away EXACTLY where I am so they can come help!!  I know I can fill tires from my rigs air tanks, but that 40 foot hose weights more than this compressor!!

As far as that depression part, I'm finally learning I really don't need to save all those pieces of aluminum foil and TV dinner trays like my mom told me!!!  It's funny when I return from a trip in the RV, how I go around the house throwing things away that I don't use.  I like the minimal living in an RV ... I mean really, how many USB cords do I need when I don't even know what they go to???

I'm always prepared when it comes to my camera.  It sits on my counter ready to grab at a moment's notice!!  Here's why ... it rained a couple of days ago (in California .. real water from the sky), and I noticed this beauty sitting on top of my back fence.  Too bad my long lens was still packed away in the rig.  THAT will come out today and sit on the counter also!!  He's pretty big ... maybe 18 inches tall.  As I clicked away, he turned around ......

Then did a dive bomb to the ground inside the corral, where he disappeared in the bushes.  I figured he must be after a gopher.  As he flew back up to the fence, I didn't really see anything in his beak or claws, but apparently he had something!!

Must have been a big worm ... he sat on the fence and used his beak to tear it up and toss it down.

Next thing I know, he does it again in the opposite direction.  I guess that little bit of rain brought some goodies to the surface.  After an hour of fence dining, he flew away.  What a beautiful Red Shouldered Hawk!!  He's been back two times since, so I'm headed to the rig for the lens ... in which case I probably won't see him again, but at least I'll be prepared!!

I wasn't prepared for this either ... I finally got those 300 pieces sewn together and I ran out of thread!!  How frustrating is that!!  Just when I was going to see what the first section will look like, I'm dead in the water.  

I've got a REAL exciting appointment today ... the dentist .. Ouch!!   Followed by the Contractor ... ouch in the pocketbook!!  It's going to be an OUCHY day!!!

Who Said Cowgirls Could Cook??

It certainly wasn't me!!  I felt bad about that chicken soup disaster a few days ago, and I'm running out of room in the horse corral.  Maybe a nice quiche would make me feel better!!  I should have chosen something easier.  First off, I probably should have had all the ingredients the recipe actually called for before starting such an ambitious project.  Ham - check.  Eggs - check.  Milk - well I've got cream, maybe that will work!!

Somewhere I'm SURE my mom said you can just mix water with cream and basically it's milk .. but I'm here to tell you that is NOT the case!!  It looked beautiful, but by the time it cooled off, there was a layer of water on the bottom, made worse by the fact that I used Maple-Glazed ham, which tasted like chunks of candy, in the eggs that curdled.  Since I forgot to take the trash out to curbside for pick up, the quiche went to a watery grave!!  Big sigh .......

I really need to bake something I've done before so my heart isn't totally crushed ... banana bread!!  I made sure I had exactly the ingredients required and whipped up a batch.  I thought I would try baking them in the Breville Oven instead of my big one which uses so much more power.  They came out PERFECT!!!  Yay ... I feel better now!!

While in Albuquerque I picked up what's called a jelly roll ... not an edible one, but one made from strips of fabric that you sew together to make a quilt.  They had a sample in the store of an unusual pattern, so I thought I would give it a try.  You cut each of those fabric strips into different sized pieces, throw them in a pillow case and shake them up.  Then you pull them out one at a time and stitch them together randomly.  No fair peeking at the colors before you sew.  THIS was hard to do ... you have to give up control over what pieces go where ... the exact opposite of what quilting is usually all about!!  Here's my stack of jumbled mess after cutting!!

It took two days, but here they are all stitched together into one long strip.  Now to fold, cut and stitch until it looks like a quilt top.  It will take a day or two before you see it again!!

There's so much on my list of things to get done, it's almost overwhelming.  The rig isn't empty yet, nor have I made any appointments for it to see the doctor for an oil change and slide adjustment.  In the meantime, I HAVE made reservations for three more rallys and arrangements to help glue flowers on the Rose Bowl Parade floats in January.  Be sure to look for the City of Glendale float, since that's the one I will probably be working on.  

I finally got in touch with another contractor, since the last one hasn't returned any of my four phone calls.  The windows at the ranch-house rental are falling down because the sill has rotted out.  I'm sure this will become another expensive repair project.  I've already dealt with the fact I won't get my RV cover for another year at least ... which may be a good thing if I decide to move.  According to my property tax bill, house values have risen a LOT ... so it just might be time to sell and get out of this awful one-horse town!!   One last totally uninteresting note is that I seem to have become allergic to my at-home laundry detergent (different brand from what I've used for 6 months).   It's the only thing I can think of that's different.   Yikes ... where's the Benadryl!! 

Not Your Ordinary Pumpkin Patch!!!

Before we take a trip to Hunter Farms Pumpkin Patch, I want to sing a little ditty for a good friend!!

HaPPy BiRthDaY To YoU !!

HApPy BiRThdAY To YoU !!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy DeaR DANNNNNNN !!

HaPPy BiRThDaY To YOOOOOOUUUUUUU !!  CHA CHA CHA

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN CHANCE .... HERE'S TO MANY MANY MORE!!

What better way to spend a day than at a Pumpkin Patch ... and this one in particular, set up by my friend Will Hunter and his son, is one of the most fun for the kids.  They grow almonds, donating tons every year to our soldiers overseas.  This is what they do for the kids in our area on Halloween!!

This is what you see upon arrival, along with thousands of pumpkins for sale .. CHEAP.  If you look REALLY close, at the far right under the wagon, Kitty has made the best nest for sleeping EVER!!  There are market umbrellas everywhere for shade, but the weather has been cool enough to not need them.

Here's a close up of Kitty ... snoozing away while hundreds of kids pass by.  It's probably a good thing they don't see him!

This used to be an old dairy.  They kept the barn and outbuildings, along with all the concrete slabs and pipe corrals.  Perfect for stacking hay, on which hundreds of home grown pumpkins sit, just waiting to be picked.  Here's Will on this year's new "ride".  He went to Army Surplus and bought six trailers ... like the ones used to carry your luggage at the airport.  Then he built cars on top to make a train that he pulls around the corn field.  As you can see, there are beautiful flowers everywhere!!

It's so popular, he had to set up a hay barrier waiting line.  Although they do charge a nominal fee for a wrist band ... ride all you want ... Will doesn't do this for the money.  He does it for the kids.  During the week, local schools bring the children out by the busload to experience the entire farm!!

This year they grew more varieties of pumpkins than I knew existed!!  Cinderellas on the right, Warts in the middle and some weird gray/green variety I've never seen before ... just to name a few.  

Ooops ... sorry, the photographer jumped out of the bushes as we were going through the 10 foot tall corn to the petting zoo.  There is another lovely old building in the back with picnic tables so you can have lunch.  There is also a Knights-In-Shining-Armor stage, complete with castle, for the kids to play on.

More Warts ... these are so unique ... I LOVE them!!  And they come in many wonderful colors!!  Who knew there were so many cool pumpkins!!  

At Will's insistence, I jumped on the train ride and we headed out through the corn.  The stalks had to be 10-12 foot tall ... and making that lovely sound when they blow in the breeze.  The first scene we came upon was a Gold Mine ... yup, right here in the middle of California was a Gold Mine, a miner, his dog, a running sluice box, two ponds and a cabin.  On top of the entrance to the mine was a coyote!!  The kids went wild!!  The next circle brought us to the Indian village!  I'd sure love to have this teepee in MY backyard!!  Here there was even a waterfall with a cougar perched on top, deer, turkeys and a snarling wolf hiding in the corn!!  The kids screamed again!!!

THEN ... we came to the D I N O S A U R S!!!!  Two velociraptors fought over the T-Rex nest of eggs, one just hatching, as "MOM" got ready to snatch them up.  The kids went crazy wild, screaming and laughing!!  I couldn't get more images because of them jumping up and down as we cruised by.  This is totally a labor of love for Will ... there's well over $50,000 worth of dinos here ... I know because I checked out their source.  I thought they might be a nice addition to my back yard!!!  You don't think so????  I guess I'm just a big kid!!

Every kid that jumped off that ride at the end, wanted back on ... and most did ride it again!!  I forgot to mention the "real" hay ride ... sitting on bales of hay in the back of a big wagon as they ride through another corn field ... and the corn maze you can walk through, not to mention the pyramid of hay 20 feet high that the kids can climb all over.  More unique pumpkins ... or maybe gourds, these green Swans are used as water vessels in Mexico.  I bought one to see if it will dry on it's own and make a musical instrument.  Plus they have regular old pumpkins in every size you could ever want.  From three inches to thirty inches, they sell for cheaper than reasonable prices.

Here's one the kids love ... as you walk down to the petting zoo, you must pass under this CAT excavator boom.  It's set up so the kids can climb in and play equipment operator.  It's also in the perfect location ... next to the power lines, where they place feed for the blackbirds.  With the exception of the dinosaurs, this is the scariest there is ... but creepy none the less.  As you walk by, the birds all squawk!!!

There are lots of photo opportunities for you and your kids, including this old Ford flatbed truck and an old tractor to climb on.  There was a big line of moms posing their kids while dad took the photos!!  What a GREAT place to spend the day.  You can also bring along your picnic basket for lunch at one of the many picnic tables set up throughout the farm.  You can even schedule PARTIES here ... birthday parties, pumpkin carving parties, any kind of party you want can be held in the back of the barn, separated by the pipe fencing (sorry, no beer parties).  There were actually two going on while I was there and the kids were having a ball!!

Every year THIS pumpkin patch is bigger and better than the last.  I can't wait to see what they have in store for next year!!  Kudos to Will and his son for making so many kids happy for pittance in their pockets.  I bought $50.00 worth of pumpkins just to help out, and gave half of them away!!  Here's the rest just hanging in my wagon!!!  That was so much fun I think I'll go back again today!!

My WOODEN WAGON Is Here!!!!

How did you guess???  I knew Barbara and Tom would know immediately!!  It's about the only purchase they haven't seen on the blog!!!  It's  B E A U T I F U L!!!!  It took me all of 10 seconds to rip open the box, but from there, things went a little slower.  They pack this puppy so well to make sure there is no damage, that it takes a little tape-cutting to get it out of the box.  The box was a little worse for wear, but the wagon is perfect!!

Originally this business made cars ... the Wisco car to be exact, but it sold for over $900, so Henry Ford quickly put them out of the car manufacturing business.   Naturally, they went into kids toys .. ???  Here are some of the oldest they have been able to find.   

How do they know they are the oldest??  Because each and every wagon has a plaque with a number on it.  They can trace this number back to the date it was made and who it was sold too.  How cool is that??

See the axles and braces?  All of these metal parts are cut and shaped by hand on 100 year old pieces of equipment. 

This is Nate ... he spends hours designing jigs to make the cuts.  Previously, they cut everything freehand!!  Now they don't have to do so much sanding!!  They both sand, lacquer the parts and paint the names

Kirk assembles all the parts and pieces, then boxes it up for shipping.

All I had to do was unpack it, slip some washers and wheels on the axles and secure them with a cotter pin.  Lastly, I snapped on the hubcaps ... or rather hammered them on with my hand, since I didn't have a rubber mallet!!

The handle was an easy install ... just bolt it on.  Isn't she beautiful???  I'm ready to hit the nearby overpass to see how fast she can go!!!  Surprisingly, it's pretty heavy, but boy does it pull nice!  Those Wisconsin ball bearings are just like glass, making for an easy pull!!  I should just SCREAM downhill in this baby!!

Of course you can't have a wagon without sideboards to keep stuff from falling out ... like your grandkids.  Well not mine, since I don't have any ... and they won't keep ME from falling out because I don't fit in the first place!!  They are just cool ... and include two small latches at the top to keep them snug!!  I wonder if Cooper will fit??

And the BEST part of all ... they will put your name on the back ... or whatever name you want, AND they will paint it any color, or just leave it the natural brown color.

I'm so happy to finally get my wagon!!  If you want one, just go on-line and place your order.  You will probably have to wait awhile however.  They get pretty busy towards Christmas!!  There are three or four different wagon sizes, and they make other toys, including rocking horses.  They are not cheap, or cheaply made ... hand crafted with such care never is.  I guarantee however, that it WILL last you a lifetime ... probably two or three lifetimes, providing your grand children and great grandchildren with years of fun!!  

Come on Cooper and Jessie ... lets go for a ride!!!

And You Thought LED's For Your RIG Were Expensive!!

Has anyone retrofitted their motorhome with the new LED lights??  I know they are pretty expensive!!  Thank goodness my rig, with it's fifteen lights in the main living area alone, came equipped with LEDs.  It definitely helps extend the life of the household batteries when you have a regular fridge.  Just before I left, I changed out most of my home lights for CFL's (whatever that means).  All I know is they light up pretty slowly and were NOT cheap, but they were supposed to last 5 years.  All but two burned out.  When I got to Lowes to purchase more, the new LED's were on the shelves.  Averaging between $8 and $13 each, I figured I would start the replacement process, since I had to buy bulbs anyway.  THESE are supposed to last 22 years!!  Do you seriously think that's going to happen???  I have a bridge I want to sell you ... or better yet, a house in California!!  At the very least, I hope to reduce my already low PG&E bill.  I'm a lot more conservative at home than I am on the road.  I just HATE giving money to a company that pays their top guys millions, then declares bankruptcy.

At any rate, if you think those lights for your rig are expensive ... this little bunch here cost me $143.00 !!!!!  HOWEVER, I should never have to buy another light in my lifetime!!!  Right???

Actually, when I turned on the lights over my counter, they were VERY bright.  Nice!!!  Since I couldn't find any of the Halloween pumpkin decorations I was looking for anywhere else, I finally stopped in at Walmart.  They had nothing ... except cake mix and cupcake decorations!!  Okay, that will do.  Guess I'll worry about Thanksgiving next month!!  And no, I don't know what the heck this thing in the middle is ... maybe a rat ... an owl ... a scared dog??  It was on the website!!

These creature stick-ons are gummy treats.  I was looking for black plastic spiders ... I know there are several on my garage floor from years past, but I was looking for clean ones.  After four stores, I gave up looking!!

These are my favorites!!  Maybe boyfriend Slim would like three or four.  He can stand the extra pounds!!  I simply couldn't turn down the eyes, also gummy treats!!  There's nothing like a green eyeball staring at you while you eat your cupcake!!

About 4:30 pm the UPS truck rolled up my driveway.  I know because the dogs go ballistic!!  They dropped off a HUGE heavy box.  I had no idea what it might be ... what the heck did I order NOW????  I'm pretty sure I cancelled that order for the small Bradley Smoker!!  As I pulled out the packing sheet, I started jumping up and down!!!  It's HERE!!!  Unfortunately, my readers will have to wait until tomorrow to see the neatest treasure yet!!  You know when I'm home it's hard to find interesting things to write about ... except when people are shooting each other ... so I'll wait until tomorrow for the big reveal!!

How Did I Miss Halloween???

I know I've been a little sidetracked, what with unloading the rig, finding a place for all my new treasures and dealing with the attempted murder in the driveway, along with explaining yes, that WAS my house on the news, but it was NOT my driveway!!  Somewhere in-between all that, Halloween just disappeared!!  I made my usual foray to Michael's yesterday to pick up a couple of things for my front door to scare the little kids!!  Not that anyone will ever come to my house again after the "incident".  The thought crossed my mind to make up a dummy and place him face down on the lawn with lots of fake blood, but figured that might be in bad taste!!  Maybe NEXT year!!

There were about 5 pumpkins outside Michaels on the sidewalk and NOTHING inside.  What happened to Halloween???  I couldn't even find anything for Thanksgiving.  It was Christmas, Christmas, Christmas!!!  When I asked the salesgirl, she said there was a rack of sale stuff I could check out.  Yeah right ... all the "stuff" no one wanted to buy was stacked on one small shelf in the corner.  You know, the bags for treats (who puts treats in bags??) ... the gaudy cheap plastic trays for your fancy Halloween party appetizers ... the molded cookie trays to make yummy fingers ... nothing that was on MY list!!

So when I got home with NO bags of cool decorations to hang up, I pulled out my old boyfriend, Slim.  He's lost a little weight since I hung him in the closet, but this gave me a GREAT idea.  If I can't decorate my house, I'll decorate my car and rig.  From now on, this guy will be my passenger in the Jeep and my Co-Pilot in the rig!!  That should help bring Halloween the attention it deserves!!!

First thing on the list today is the crock pot ... I'm going to fill it with chili verde ... dinner for a week at least ... but I was sidetracked by the beautiful sunrise!!  Yup this is a RISE, not a SET!!  Pretty gorgeous, don't you think??

The amazing part was that it covered the entire sky.  This shot is looking East ... 

With this one looking West a few minutes later.  Pretty cool .... literally.  In the morning the light is always cool and blue.  In the evening, warm and golden, hence the Golden Hour, which is the best for taking all those family portraits!!

Time to get to work ... look out pork butt ... I'm coming to chop you to pieces!!  Dinner's calling.  Maybe a little later I'll check out the Dollar Store for a couple of table decorations.  

Absolutely NOTHING Happened Yesterday!!

I suppose that's a good thing because I DON'T need any more excitement like Monday, but really ... I miss traveling and seeing new places already!!  (Sigh!!)

I made a few more trips to the rig, but really think that's coming to an end.  Gee ... I didn't buy as much stuff as I thought!!  I had lunch with my Property Management girlfriend who was picking up my mail for the last six months.  This big box and all the small boxes were stuffed to the brim.  This is the trash that's left over.  About 90% was junk mail!!  I know there are mail services, but does anyone live at HOME and have a mail service??  I'd like to set something up, but have no idea which way to go.  How often do you have your mail sent to you??

I'd love to haul all of this out to my trash can, but my Gardeners, in an effort to save a few pennies, dumped green grass in the wrong bin.  I'd empty it so I could put my five bags of accumulated trash, along with what you see here, in the CORRECT bin, but it's WAY too heavy for me.  I'm hoping they show up in the next day or so, or my trash will be clear out to the front yard!!

That's it ... that's all I have done!!  A little laundry of course, and I watched the Giants lose last night. Hmmm ... this could get pretty boring!!

I'll take the rig to my local Elks RV Park for a final dump and sanitize the water tank when I return.  Then it will be time to set up appointments for maintenance.  It won't be too long before I'm on the road again and things need to be greased, oiled, filled up and adjusted!!  In the meantime, I'll try to work on my photography a little bit ... and those four quilt kits I purchased!!!

I'm LATE ... I'm LATE!!

But not for a date ... I'm late with the blog this morning because of "that darned internet"!!  I've had my computer for over 5 years now, and you know the more you upgrade, the more trouble you have!!  It just didn't like me this morning at all and I had to spend the last two hours rebooting.  Seems it couldn't find anybody home ... even though I know SOMEONE must be out there!!

The hullabaloo over the attempted murder has died down some ... the guy in the hospital is still in critical condition, but improving ... they think he will live, although he may not want to with one bullet still in his head!!  At any rate, I'm closing the door on that one!!  We have had lots of looky-loos driving by, but thankfully no one has stopped.

SO ... onward and upward with another 10 loads from the RV!!  This beautiful piece of granite countertop is a lazy susan.  What a great gift idea ... go to your local granite store and ask for the broken pieces ... glue a lazy susan apparatus to the bottom!!  Sell for big bucks!!!  OR just blue rubber bumpers to the bottom and add a small knife ... perfect cheese board!!

While on our trip, I think we saw an example of this flatware, at which time Barbara said that's what they had purchased, and was used by their son, Chef Jason.  At our Crew Party after the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, here it was again ... hand forged steel with curly-ques on the end.  This would go PERFECTLY with my rustic cowboy kitchen, so I got on-line, found them on Amazon and had them shipped.  LOVE them!!!  Just to show you how well designed they are, when you don't know which side of the plate they go, just look at the curly-ques on the end!!!

Like everyone else at the Crew Party, I decided to recreate the chicken soup for my World Series Baseball Party of One!!  After the first disaster, I went to the store and bought all fresh ingredients!!  It came out wonderful!!  There's even a piece of chili cheese cornbread hidden at the bottom ... the bread is just for looks!!!  It was YUMMY!!  The game couldn't have been any better either!!  GO GIANTS ... WE WON THE FIRST GAME!!!  

Another thing on my list was this Breville Oven.  This is the one Miss Terry cooks all her wonderful cookbook recipes in  ...  Miss Terry's Kitchen!!  My old toaster oven was on it's last leg, so I figured I'd give it a try ... maybe I won't have so many kitchen disasters!!  It's big enough to cook a whole chicken, but not too big for the rig.  If I can find room for it, I would love to take it on the road!!

This is the Kachina I found in Williams that was so well packaged it took me 30 minutes to get it unwrapped!!  The White Ogre ... he fits in to by Cowboy and Indian family room very nicely!!

Lastly, here's the Boomer group that crewed for the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque.  Quite a big group ... and a blast to be around!!  Even though many of the Happy Hours and the Potluck were cancelled due to rain, we still had a great time!!  Come on out next year and join the FUN!!!

I expect there will be a few more loads from the RV before I start the maintenance work ... and lots of errands to run, along with a huge box full of mail to wade through!!  Hopefully no excitement today!!