Christmas In October

Finally ... a good night's sleep to make for a nice relaxing eyes-wide-open morning on the patio sipping my favorite warm concoction ... phony coffee.  I didn't stay long though, as I am always anxious to see what the foxes are doing in my back yard.

They came back again 20 times to check out the dog toy.  I really think they were hoping it would change into a big chicken leg.   

They spent a lot of time smelling it, but never touched it or moved it.  Sly and curious, as a fox should be, this one checked out the camera up close and personal.  He leaves, but just makes a big circle and comes back.  I'm sure he was hoping another egg would magically appear.  

Every time I hook up the camera to the computer, I expect to see this.  Remember this guy?  It was just 18 months ago that I was dealing with these critters!  Oh my gosh ... when I caught big mamma, I was shaking like a leaf knowing I had to pick up the cage and haul her off.  Those little STINKERS!!!!  Luckily this year I haven't seen even one, but I have smelled two that I'm sure someone killed.  Prolific little dudettes!

Although I would have preferred to camp out on the couch, I decided to get my act together and go foraging for fridge food.  I was late, so parking was at a premium and carts hard to find.  Costco was my target for some of those yummy chickens.

Who knew it was already Christmas??  They used to wait until at LEAST Halloween was over.  Two big aisles were filled with lights and decorations, followed up by THREE big aisles full of toys.  Get your grandkids those sought after toys before they are gone!!

I was happy to see eight chickens still on the warmer.  I mean really, you can't beat a 4 pound roasted chunk of a chicken for $5.00.  I snagged two before they were all gone.  I did check out some other stuff ... like some crab for a new recipe I want to try.  Twelve ounces for $39.00 ... uh that would be a NO.  

I always wonder what happens to all this stuff that doesn't sell.  This is a welfare town and no one can afford that kind of a pricey food.  They would rather spend it on Bingo!!  I did find some Foster Farms chicken breasts for $3.40 a pound, packaged individually.  That was the best of the sales for the day.  I couldn't afford the salmon or anything else they had displayed.  I'm still paying that Vet bill.

Cooper was a happy camper when I returned and he smelled the chicken.  Fresh roasted chicken is his all time favorite.  It's not the same when it's cold.  Go figure!  I spent about an hour getting it off the bones and into the fridge, whereupon I spotted the new block of cheese.  Oh yeah .... grilled cheese sandwich on the loaf of Santa Cruz Sourdough I grabbed at Costco.  I've now enough bread to last three months.

The next couple of hours were spent yet again, on Cooper food.  I picked up these packages of bony pork at the discount store some time ago for $1.99 a pound.  I threw them in the instant pot and 40 minutes later I had tender pork to chop up.  I never really know quite how long to cook it, and this came out a little dry.  No worries, he will eat it if there's nothing else around, and I get the bonus of pork tacos.

In other interesting news, our ballots for the November election were mailed out.  While cruising through Facebook, I noticed a blurb from Merced County.  It seems our illustrious Assessor is in charge of voting and registration.  That's weird, no?  

Apparently they left one race OFF the ballot for a particular precinct.  Isn't that interesting?  Yet again, more voting problems, when that office already GUARANTEED me they would never have problems or voter fraud because they are so good at their job.  Well .........

The note did not say WHICH precinct, but they would send out another ballot and contact you to be sure you filed the CORRECT one.  Does that mean we can file TWO ballots?  What if we already filed one and have yet to receive the CORRECT one?  I guess that means we are out of luck?  Just what precinct was it?

So many questions.  This is just one little podunk town ... can you just imagine how it is across the country?

So what time is it now?  Time to check the critter cam!!!!!  Thank you for stopping by.