It's The Cheesiest!!!

 The patio is entering the realm of hot in the mornings.  😳  Sitting drinking hot coffee isn't as pleasant as usual, although the good news is NO shooting and NO sirens.  It's quiet as a mouse.

Here's the fire update for today ... the Oak Fire has burned over 19,000 acres and is 48% contained.  They are blaming the entire thing on global warming ... no surprise.  Does that mean the leaves got so dry they just magically ignited?  At this point it's still "under investigation", but they are claiming global warming.  

It has been noted however, that the original settlers of this region, the Indians, also practiced control burns.  In my lifetime (let's just say well over 50 years), there were no huge destructive fires like this until the decision was made to stop control burns and shut down the lumber industry.  We've been going downhill ever since.  Maybe when some big politicians house burns down, their policy will change.

In the meantime, I have a new project.  The last time I was out with the fifth wheel, looking to see who was at my door was like wearing a blindfold.  You can't see the steps out any window.  This will make it much easier to differentiate between a known good guy and a possible bad guy.  

I discovered too late it requires at least four hands to install.  It's easy they say, but I'm not Vishnu.  Don't ask me who that is, I just looked up four hands.  I'm hoping when I get to Quartzsite in January, I can sweet talk some nice person into helping me.

Back to my company, I tried not to wake Cyndae who's a late sleeper, while Cooper barked every time his ball rolled under the chair.  Finally up and at em, we headed out on a quick trip for gas and a quilt-store pickup.  Let's take the easy back road and not the ridiculous freeway!

Our first stop needed to be for fuel since the light was on.  Cyndae forgot to tell me that until AFTER I missed the turnoff.  I was thinking quilt store, not gas.  We were by then 12 miles out and still had 12 miles to go to get gas.  Panic set in.  Just how much fuel do we have, Cyndae?  When she said the light had been on for some time, I resigned myself to walking a very long way.  

Lucky for us, we made it to the station on fumes.  Regular gas is now $4.89 a gallon, up quite a bit from Trump era $2.89.  Although the government has stated they have NO control over fuel prices, they are now taking credit for the recent 50 cents a gallon drop.  

Anyway, after dropping $80 to fill her tank, we headed off to the quilt store for a quick pickup of the next months fabric for my block-of-the-month project from Hell.  Even the gal who works there said she would NEVER try making that one.  I wish she had told me that sooner.

Lunch time came around quickly, so I directed Cyndae over to Hilmar Cheese.  In case you didn't know, they make REAL cheese for Sargento, or at least they used to.  I haven't checked on that recently.  

They carry lots of specialty stuff, along with their own brand.  Although they usually have many types of cheese to taste test, they only had two on this day.  Squeakers and cheddar.

The reason for stopping is their lunch counter.  They make the best sandwiches I've ever had.  Although everything seemed to be pared down since Covid, the quality has not changed in the least.  This is a Monterrey Jack grilled cheese with sweet tomatoes and pesto.  It was the cheesiest!!  I could eat this every day.  The potato salad is like mine, red potatoes with the skin on, along with dill and lots of crunchy things like onions and celery.  It's also huge ... half my sandwich was already gone before I took a picture.

Stuffed to the gills, we made it back home in time for a little rodeo and some puzzle piecing.  Although I wanted this puzzle to last me a week, Cyndae made quick work of it.  It's okay, I'll just squash it all up and start it again.  I was hoping it would keep me out of the fridge.

In the afternoon, Cyndae took off for a hair appointment and came back with these from a thrift store that I thought was completely closed down.  YIKES ... 1,000 pieces?  This is NOT a big box, so I imagine they are tiny tiny!!!  That should keep me busy for quite a while!!  What a great friend she is.

Cooper is chomping at the bit for his morning walk, so we'll be off shortly.  Yes I've been keeping track of the solar production, and the last three days have been high usage, over 10 kWh per day.  I imagine that's because of having another body in the building, along with running the AC a lot more to keep it cool while she's here.  I've since moved the settings back up and am back to salads.  YAY!!  No cooking!!  We'll see how it goes.