Not A Day Of Rest!!

Sundays should be a day of rest, but that wasn't the case yesterday.  Several little things have been hanging over my head, and I needed to get them done so they wouldn't keep me up at night any more.

First I went into town and finished the bookkeeping job I was working on.  It's pretty time consuming to start from January 1 and enter every check for 5 accounts, but that's my fault for being gone all summer and not keeping up!!  It DID net me a huge bag of sweet potatoes, of which I'm NOT a big fan.  If they are smothered in marshmallows, I can eat a few bites ... these weren't.  They are however, very good for you, so for dinner, I baked another chicken and a couple orange chunks of potato.  Peeled, sprinkled with brown sugar, a touch of butter and about half a cup of Dakin's Pure Maple Syrup from Vermont ... Grade A ... they were absolutely delicious!!  I have to thank the Westerfield's for taking me to Dakins Farm for a taste test.  This syrup is like GOLD!!!  I can make dessert out of sweet potatoes!!  Who knew???

I picked up the drapery hanging stuff on the way home ... the whatchamacallits are called plastic anchors.  Yoda was hanging out at the lumber store.  I'm not sure how big the market is for Yoda stockings ... there was a pile of them still laying in the box.

The drapes were hung by the Texas Star with care .... sorry, I'm not able to get a good image with so much light coming in those windows.  I love having it open though so I can keep an eye on my horses that are no more.  (Big sigh)

Next up was to check out that cotter pin coming loose at the top of my awning.  That's when I discovered ANOTHER problem.  Geeze ... I guess I haven't learned it's always something!!  I hit the switch ... the awning began to unfurl, but the braces didn't.  The awning slid nicely down the side of the coach.  YIKES!!!  I hit the button to close it and thankfully, the material rewound itself.  Hmmmm looks like I'll have to climb on top to check that pin.  Might as well take a bottle of Aerospace 303 up with me and start the big wipe down.  I had to be inventive, but with a screwdriver, a pair of pliers and a piece of wood, I was able to get the cotter pin back to it's original location, like the second pin.  Looks like this one just wiggled loose.  Still the awning won't open out ... hopefully I can get it repaired in Indio!!

Now for some hands and knees work.  I wiped down the front section of the roof and sprayed it with 303.  Directions say to keep wiping until it dries, as it will not dry on its own.  That's weird.  So I wiped and wiped and wiped some more until it looked dry.  I can't tell the difference at all, but hopefully this will keep the sun's rays from oxidizing the coating so much, keeping it off the sides of the rig.  Unfortunately I didn't get far.  There was just too much moisture on the roof.  My pants from the knees down were quickly soaking wet and the roof too damp to continue with the application.  THIS one will stay on my mind for another couple weeks I think.

Back in the house, I didn't sit down ... time to cut those Salted Peanut Squares up and box them for gifts.

I could have eaten the entire thing ... I'm definitely a fan of sweets AND peanut butter.  Here's the easy recipe.

3-1/2 cups dry roasted peanuts, divided in half

1 pkg (10oz) peanut butter chips

2 tablespoons butter

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme

36 miniature Snickers candy bars, chopped

Sprinkle half the peanuts into a greased 13 x 9 pan.  In a large microwave safe bowl, heat chips and butter at 50% power for 1 minute, then 20 second intervals until melted.  Stir until smooth, then add condensed milk, stirring until well mixed.  Cook in microwave 1 minute on high, uncovered.  Stir in marshmallow creme and candy bars.  Spread onto peanuts in pan (hard to do ... better to drop by spoonfuls) and kind of press down to even it out ... it will be sticky.  Sprinkle with remaining peanuts, cover with plastic wrap and press down evenly over entire pan.  Refrigerate until set ... I didn't wait long enough before taste testing and it was still gooey ... cut into squares and store in airtight container.  This is a perfect recipe to use up that leftover Halloween candy!!!

I also had a request regarding the Breville oven both Terry Russell and I have.  Miss Terry found it first and uses it for all of her baking.  Since my toaster oven was going out ... you know, the one I heat all my taquitos in?? ...  I went online and ordered this Breville 800XL.  I think there were two available models.  This one is a convection/bake oven, meaning you can either bake, convection bake or broil.  The rack inside can be set at three different heights.  It's also a toaster, with easy to use controls.  The buttons let you pick the type of cooking, the temperature and the time.  It measures 14 inches deep, 19 inches wide and 11 inches tall.  I LOVE THIS OVEN even though it wasn't exactly inexpensive!!  It also comes with a pizza pan and broiler pan.  Since it's so much smaller than my big ovens, it uses MUCH less power if you are cooking for just one or two.  Nick will attest to it's great pizza baking abilities.  If you want this for your rig, my advice would be to find a cardboard box the approximate dimensions and try it out before buying to be sure it fits your countertop.  It's definitely going with me on this next trip!!

I see from other blogs that it's apparently the time of year for amazing sunsets and sunrises!!  

Unfortunately there won't be one for me to watch THIS morning ... my trusty WeatherAlert radio went off early, warning of dense fog.  If you're driving in the San Joaquin Valley, be VERY careful.  

With this much moisture I won't be finishing the 303 bottle anytime soon and my planned trip to the quilt shop 60 miles south is cancelled due to fog.  Maybe today will be my day of rest!!