I Think I Can .. I Think I Can

Good morning Arizona!!  There wasn't even a 3:30 train to wake me up this morning ... I was awake anyway.  It's unsettling when you hear something (or someone) in the bushes and the dog next door starts barking.  Probably just these guys out for a morning browse.  In spite of no rain for the last week, the green grass is still growing wildly, so there's lots for these guys to scarf up.

This was the day after I fixed the water trough.  Neither the javelinas nor the coyotes stopped to drink.  They smelled around the entire area and left.  Gee ... do I smell that bad??

I hit the store yesterday for new batteries and the camera seems to be working.  When it gets light out, I'll retrieve it and see if anyone has been visiting.  No way am I going out there in the dark. 

I don't know what happened to me, but I got the crazy idea I wanted waffles for breakfast.  I think that's a first.  But wait .... no syrup.  No problem ... I think I can make my own like my Mom did back in the day when we couldn't afford syrup.  I kept telling myself that ... I think I can.  By the way, there was no thrashing around outside at 6:00 am getting hurt doing chores on this day.  YAY!!

First up ... waffle mix from scratch.  I cut the recipe in half.  No use eating these for the next two weeks.  Weird "before" picture.

The syrup was easy.  Brown sugar, white sugar, water and maple flavoring.  I'm sure there's a reason I have maple flavoring in the cupboard, but I can't remember what it is.   Ice cream ... I think I made ice cream with it.  Anyway, boil it for five minutes or so and VOILA!!  Syrup!  

Okay, maybe not so much.  It was like flavored water.  I boiled it some more because the recipe said it would thicken up.  Nope, not happening.  It will be fine.  Let's make waffles.

I drug out the waffle machine left over from the 60's.  Of course the first waffle went in the trash ... kind of like the first pancake is always terrible.  COME ON!!  If I can drive a caterpillar, I can make waffles!!  The second one came out pretty okay.

I poured on the runny syrup, which completely disappeared in seconds.  Maybe a little more.  By the time I took this picture I think used a cup of syrup and it had expanded to twice it's size!!!  Maybe it's a good thing I don't have a husband.  He would never talk to me if I tried to feed him this!!!  

I ate half of it, adding a little more liquid sugar, before the rest went in the trash.  Too bad my cooking skills aren't as good as my machinery skills ... except I got the chainsaw stuck ... okay, a CHEF I am not.   That's why I took all the ingredients for shrimp and grits over to Patty's house.  I'll relate THAT story tomorrow.

For the most part, I enjoyed the flowers blooming everywhere, although I didn't stay in the yard long.  It's just too hot at the moment.  The Mexican Bird of Paradise are blooming nicely .....

Along with this orange flowered thing I've been trying to kill for five years.  It doesn't like the cold, so it dies back completely, leaving big brown sticks.  When it warms up again, it comes out everywhere.  

I have no idea what this one is ... I planted it about four years ago and it hasn't died, so that's a good thing. Once a year it gets beautiful purple flowers, obviously happy right now.

Oleanders grow pretty well here ... in fact too well.  They are also blooming with the recent rains.

Luckily, there were no more evil critters crossing my back yard the entire day, least not that I saw.  Only hummers, quail and eight praying mantises.  

Since I'm unable to quilt right now ... a big boo boo ... (I have a 13" pattern and only 6" of fabric left to quilt.  The Help Line was closed all three days) ... I began working on this latest quilt.  Rarely do you find southwest patterns, let alone southwest fabric, so I snatched this one up at the new quilt store in Green Valley.

You'll probably see this one again, since I have a bin of leftover southwest fabric from Yuma I can use in another quilt.  

I finally did brave the desert for a few minutes, walking down to the railroad tracks, knowing of course nothing would be out during the daylight hours.  It's interesting to note that the bunny population is practically zero right now.  It's light outside ... time to see if anyone is on the nighttime game camera.