The Benefits of Bingo

 HOO-WEE!!  It's a lovely 35 degrees this morning as I lounge in my warm-er house.  I finally turned the heat up a tad in the mornings.  I guess just the thought of dollars spinning in my head when it runs has made me keep it cold inside too.  I think Cooper is happier and I KNOW Jonathan appreciates it.  

It was hard to get up this morning, as it always is after a long night of Bingo.  By my time, it's midnight before I get to bed with visions of kicking and hair pulling in my head.

But first ... I was off yesterday at 8:00 in the morning, a rare occasion indeed.  I never leave the house before 10:00, even if I DO get up at 4 am.  I was off to Walmart ... my only option ... to find these batteries.  There was one guy at the door and only ONE checker in the entire store.  

That became a problem when the 25 foot long case of batteries was locked up like Fort Knox.  No one had a key and no one seemed to know where it would be if they HAD one.  I stared longingly at the batteries I needed, lounging behind the glass.

Both people said they would call someone.  Fifteen minutes later, I'm still standing there.  I walked to the office door, banged on it like I was breaking in and FINALLY someone came out.  It took her another five minutes to find the key before I paid and left.  Yes I could have ordered them on Amazon, but they would not be delivered until December 7.  That would mean trying to figure out how to bypass the motion detector EVERY SINGLE DAY or listen to the incessant beeping until then.  

Sadly, I paid MUCH more at Walmart than they are on Amazon.  Almost double in fact.  The good news is I got it back in place and it works!!

Just to make it more difficult, as soon as I plugged it back in, I got yet ANOTHER error message.  For this one the tech guys have to come out.  I made it perfectly clear I was NOT paying for this call.  They should be here this morning.

As for the paint, it is the consensus of the paint store and three local painting contractors, that it is in the paint itself.  It is sort of like a white residue that is coming out of the paint due to the cold.  I'm not sure I buy that, but Kelly Moore agreed they have had it happen a few times with this particular (and very expensive I might add) paint.

Yesterday my painter wiped it all down and it completely disappeared.  It's got three coats on it, so we shall see.  Yes I would prefer they paint it again.   Just another bump in the road.

And so I was all geared up and OFF to Bingo!!  The Knights all showed up this time and we had lots of laughs in the Castle tower before heading down to work.  I don't know how I got so lucky as to find Jackie.  She's like a ball of fire that girl, and runs on and on like the Energizer Bunny.  I don't have to do anything but sit down when she's there.

On this day however, the ER wanted to learn everything about the infernal machine.  I warned her, but she persisted.  She watched me for about ten minutes before saying she missed everything I did.  I tend to go really fast to keep the line moving.  It makes the peasants very happy.

I finally let her take over while I watched, catching a couple of mistakes and showing her the shortcuts.  She actually did VERY well.  YAY!!  Another VICTIM ..... I mean Helper ..... for when I'm gone!!  The other gal that cashiers was so thrilled to have help, she was doing a Happy Dance.

Here is a big PLUS when it comes to Bingo.  Some of these players cook the best Mexican food EVER.  I learned quite by accident that a couple I love to see, who speak very little English, make tamales.  Yes I make them too, but they are a lot of work.  Last week I ordered THREE dozen.  If they are going to make them for you, you have to make it worth it.  

OMG ... these are the best tamales I've ever eaten.  They brought them right out of the steamer, and they are huge like I would make, with plenty of masa and a delicious filling of chicken and green chilies.  I'll never make another one as long as I live if this couple will make them for me.

I stashed them in the fridge at the lodge until I was done for the night.  Most of them are now sleeping in my freezer.

Then it was on to more training ... how to close out the night.  I explained to her about the infernal machine and why that was it's name.  She was very surprised at the amount of work it takes to do my job.  I was extra careful to be sure we balanced to the penny.  That way they want to come back and do it again!!

Oh there WAS one player ... she must have taken a bath in marijuana.  No kidding, I smell drugs on some of these folks a LOT ... but THIS!!!  This was the worst.  She must have just come in from a little smoke outside.  Woohoo, it was STRONG!!   I happen to be allergic, so lots of sneezes ensued.  Thats why so many people didn't show up the night we said the Sheriff's new dog was going to visit.

There were no fights and no hair pulling this time.  Just one small disagreement on whose name was on that exact chair.  We made them draw straws.  So much for another fun night at Bingo!!

I'm headed to the fridge next.  I'm having amazingly delicious TAMALES for breakfast.  See, there actually ARE some benefits to working Bingo!!!

Trying To Figure It Out

 Life's a jigsaw puzzle.  I'm guessing a 5,000 piece puzzle of teeny tiny pieces that never seem to fit together just right.  I'm always trying to figure out something.  Most times it's easy ... just sit on the patio and drink my coffee.  Just when I'm feeling good ... something like this happens.

This is the new paint job.  What in the world is THIS?  Actually, it's already happened once ... and they repainted it.  Something is bleeding through the paint and making white splotches.  It has to be something they put on because it never looked like this before.  Any ideas?  Any suggestions?  

The only one to show up yesterday was the young kid who is painting the window frames.  Thank goodness he's doing a really great job.  I mentioned this and he said yes they knew about it, but were off on another job.  He also said the guy would stop by, which he did not.  

So here we go again ... another problem jumping up and slapping me in the face.  This is costing me a small fortune and is NOT acceptable.  I need a drink!!!

I worked on the puzzle for awhile and air fried some chicken for both Cooper and I.  That's when I found a short bit on air fryers.  Do NOT leave them plugged in at your house or RV (which I never do thank goodness) because for whatever reason, they are catching fire.  Back to the puzzle for a little more frustration, as Deb so astutely pointed out.

So hey!!!  Let's get even MORE frustrated by trying to fix the motion detector.  I watched several YouTube videos about how to remove them from the wall, all of different models, none of which were mine.  

I finally called the alarm service, but it was 4:00.  I talked to a nice Tech guy who looked up the model numbers.  It didn't help me one bit.  Ten minutes later I called back AGAIN to find they had all gone home.  Nope, there's no one here to help you.  No techs?  No night team to repair stuff?  No ma'am ... no one is here.  That made me feel real safe.

I was finally able to push it up from the bottom with a screwdriver and it came off.  SUCCESS!!  It was short lived however.  I finally got the battery cover off and the battery out.  Of course it's a kind no one has in stock.  That's when the alarm system started beeping and beeping .... and beeping.  

I won't tell you the words I said.  I called them back, where upon they had to look up my system again and tell me what buttons to push to bypass it to stop the beeping.  Her directions were wrong the first three tries.  At last I got it done, just as she noted I would have to do that every single day until I get a new battery in.  I had hit so many buttons, I have no idea how to do it again!!

My frustration level now at an all time high for a single day, I sat on the couch and cuddled up with Cooper.  It worked.  Maybe a little hand sewing will help even more.  This is the last quilt to be finished up from the eight I started out with.  

LOOKY HERE!!!  In between sewing, I worked on the puzzle until it was FINISHED!!  Can you believe it?  Yeah well, me either.  After knocking many pieces off the table every time I moved the quilt, I threw it all in a zip lok bag and stuck it back in the box.  Hopefully I got all the pieces off the floor.  What a relief knowing I don't have to look for pieces I cannot find!!  No trying to figure it out!!!

This morning, if I can get my act together, I'll be out scrounging the neighborhood for the lithium batteries I need for that motion detector.  Thank goodness the rest of the system works just fine without it.  More fun will ensue however, since as I look around, there are three DIFFERENT types of detectors, meaning three more frustrating adventures in removal to replace THOSE batteries.  

The perfect start to a night of BINGO!!!!

I'm Puzzled

 Is it just me or are the days screaming by faster than a speeding train?  It feels like Groundhog Day.  Except today ..... the painters return.  My mornings of wandering the house in my 35 year old bath robe are gone.  Yessirree ... I've had this bright red floor length beauty for 32 years and it's still going strong.  It came from an era when they made things to last more than six weeks.  Too bad there will be no more lounging until the painting is finished.

Here's my first fifteen minutes ... every morning.  It's why we can't have nice things in our house.  It just took me 30 minutes to figure out how to air drop it to my computer.  I was puzzled because my email provider only allows 38 mb to be sent over the airwaves.  My file said it had 31, but it refused to send it.  Now I just have to figure out how to block every other person or business in the world who will be sending me stuff.

My second trip Saturday was to the fabric store.  Where else would I go on a busy holiday and have to brave the traffic except to buy fabric.  I was shocked that hardly anyone was on the highway and NO ONE in the store except me.  I thought maybe I had stepped into the Twilight Zone.  

Sadly, it only took me five minutes to find these two pieces.  I didn't even walk the store to see what else I might find.  I've got painting to pay for, so NO Nancy ... you can't have any more fabric!

BUT WAIT .... what should I see but a jigsaw puzzle about quilting!!  I didn't even know they made these, let alone sell them at the store.  It was even on sale ... but not really a bargain.

Once home I immediately spread it out on my huge coffee table.  It doesn't look so big here, but it is ginormous and now completely covered with puzzle pieces.  This will certainly help wile away the hours.  I spent two whole hours just getting those small pieces at the bottom together.  Patsy ... HELP!!!!  I am SO puzzled now!!

Having finally polished off the last of the cookies, I thought maybe I had the ingredients for another glorious batch of brown butter beauties.  Has anyone ever tried this?  You have to brown the butter in a pan before adding it to the rest of the ingredients.  

That's two cubes of butter .... or at least it WAS.  Good grief ... I even had it on the smallest burner at mid heat.  Suddenly it started to foam up.  I stirred.  It foamed more ... I stirred faster.  In a flash, even as I lifted it OFF the heat, it overflowed like lava with no end in sight.  I grabbed a BIGGER pot from the drawer below and dumped it in while I watched in horror as it just kept expanding and expanding!!

Too bad I wasn't fast enough on the draw.  I looked down to see butter running off the counter down the entire front of my beautiful wood cabinets.  I'm sure the neighbors heard me yelling NOOOOOOOOO!

Big sigh ..... I cleaned up the mess (scrubbing outside the drawers, inside the drawers and the entire floor), plopped another cube of butter into the pan and began again.  This time ... with a gallon pot ... nothing boiled over and I made these lovely cookies.  Too bad they are not as good as the first batch.  I didn't have any caramel bits and I only added white chocolate chips.  All white chips are not alike.  Buy the good ones, not the cheapies with no flavor.  It's okay ... you know me, I'll eat them anyway.

I'm also puzzled by a beep beep beep I heard this morning.  It's nothing like I've ever encountered before.  I walked one direction ... nope it's back there.  I walked that way ... nope, it's over there.  I'm again puzzled because I don't have any devices that beep like that.  It's not even the normal fire alarm battery beep.

Finally I realize it's my alarm panel.  Apparently I have to replace the batteries in the motion detectors?  Who knew?  This should be fun, right?  Another device that I have no clue how to open up, let alone replace the battery.  And what size battery?  I guess that will be my problem of the day to solve.  

Of course if there's one, there's six more!!  This should be good for a laugh!!!  The perfect way to start off a Monday!!

Watching The Paint Dry

What a beautiful sunrise I got to witness yesterday.  I'm usually still typing away when the sun rises since the patio is too cold for chair sitting.  As you can tell, palm trees were very popular when these houses were built.  Thank goodness there are none on my lot ... they are almost messier than my sycamore trees.  

Our chance of rain has been pushed back to Thursday.  Thank you Mother Nature.  Now they will be able to finish up painting without me worrying about watching the paint dry.

Here's the latest critter cam video.  This is Kitty Kitty.  I'm pretty sure he belongs to the neighbors, or at least I see him heading into their garage quite often.  I never realized cats were so nocturnal until I put up the camera.  They are out all night long, coming by often to check for morsels.  This guy got all the turkey I put out for the foxes.  He certainly got a belly full!

It's funny this guy does NOT eat dry cat food.  Neither do the skunks, raccoons, foxes, possums or any other critter I've had wandering around the yard.  Wading through 33 videos was like watching paint dry.

The first order of the day, after watching the Kitty Cam, was to retrieve this fabric from the mail box.  As you can imagine, it's pretty hard to find Halloween fabric during Christmas, so I ordered it online.   YIKES!!  $45 to finish up this one little wall hanging.  Then they sent a message saying it was no longer available.

RATS!!  A week later, I see it back on the web at the same store.  I ordered it again, figuring I would get another message, whereupon I would say "then WHY is it on your site again".  Lo and behold, they delivered it for HALF PRICE.  Add one more to the "needs quilting" pile.

Next I had to brave the city crowds to pick up my new CD player.  I was amazed to find hardly anyone on the streets at 9:00 am on Saturday morning.  Did I miss the memo?  Was there an evacuation?  Literally NO ONE was in town.  

I parked and sent a phone message that I was there.  In less then 5 minutes, out came a guy with a HUGE box.  Here's the kicker .... I was going to have it sent to my house, but it would arrive on a Bingo night.  I knew it would get stolen, so I opted to drive all the way into town to pick it up.  They charged me $1.25 MORE because I was picking it up.  WHAT THE HECK??  Shouldn't it be CHEAPER?

So I made it home, unboxed the thing ... which is gigantic ... and began to remove the old one from this stack.  See all those wires in the back?  It's a rat's nest of craziness due to the whole house movie-theater stereo system.  I had three things to unplug and plug back in.  How hard can that be?  

Well first off, I choked from the two inch layer of dust and dirt covering everything.  I couldn't take anything out, I could only move it side to side about 3 inches.  I got nervous when the TV kept going off and on, praying I didn't unplug something and not know where or how to fix it.  It's the big thing in the middle with the green light.  Even the DVD player below is smaller.  

Finally, with everything plugged in, I tentatively hit the power button.  Woohoo!!  The thing opened, I put in my favorite CD and it began to play.  EXCEPT ... everything is programmed into a remote that doesn't recognize this unit.  I can figure out any computer, but THIS .......  

At long last LET THERE BE MUSIC!!!  Yay!!  I danced around the living room turning it up full blast.    Today I'll see if I can program the fancy dancey remote to include this frequency.  I don't think that's going to happen, so I'm writing up a post-it note so I can remember how to connect it to the speakers.  Hey, isn't this MAN'S WORK?

By the time I finished up with that, it was time for dinner.  I had some broccoli that had been lounging in the fridge WAY too long.  Weird, but my neighbor posted she was Thankful for broccoli cheddar soup.  That's a GREAT idea!  It's GOT to be better than the turkey soup that made me sick.

Super easy recipe ... butter, onions, a tad bit of flour, chicken broth and broccoli.  When cooked, add in cheese and whatever cow stuff you have in the fridge.  I used part cream and part 2% milk.  That makes it diet-y, yes??

Pretty tasty and I didn't get sick.  It's a win-win!!!

Cooper and I cuddled up on the couch as I finally finished up the binding on this quilt.  One more down and one more to go!!!

I did make one more short trip, but I'll relate that tomorrow.  Right now Cooper is giving me THE LOOK, because he hasn't received his morning snack.  I'll be dancing in the living room to my new CD player.  By the way, it has room for SIX cd's ... and I can only find TWO.  I guess I need to pick up a few more.

Let The Emails Sing!!

 It's that time of year ... not only are we bombarded by crazy singing and dancing ads for J C Penneys and every big box store NOT in our town, but scammers are out in full force, sending dozens of emails every day to try and relieve you of your money.  Although I'm sure I can find all my Christmas presents in one of the six 99 Cent stores available here, it would be nice to have a REAL store to shop in ... and Walmart does NOT count.

As for the scammers, I can usually see them a mile away ... but when you are awaiting a package from Amazon or the Post Office, they can easily tease you into opening it just to see if it's the real thing.  DON'T DO IT!!  Instead, go to your actual account and see what it says.  Never EVER click on anything inside an email.  You will get burned for sure!  They are getting smarter and smarter, making their emails look more and more like the REAL thing.  Especially the ones that say Confirm Your Email or Confirm Your Account.

I put out this warning because one of my friends happens to work in a bank.  His client clicked on a link inside an email and had $20,000 removed from her bank account in a flash.  Luckily she contacted him quickly and he was able to restore her money and report the bad guys.  Just a warning to be careful ... it only takes ONE click.

Here's my sweet kid with that "I need a snack" look on his face.  He's become very adept at communication.  I wish he had learned that 13 years ago.  After all these years, if he needs to go out, he gets right up in my face and looks at me like this.  It's also the same look when he sits by the bar and growls, which means SNACK time.  He's pretty smart .. every time I sit down for lunch, he stands under the counter of goodies and growls for a snack too.

Luckily he doesn't mind sharing the food he refuses to eat with the foxes.  Sadly, there are no more fox videos.  You are probably happy about that!  Batteries don't last long in cold weather, and by the time I figured out what the problem was, the foxes had gone into sleep mode.  

They don't hibernate exactly, but they do return to their dens and sleep for weeks at a time when the weather turns cold.  All I've been able to capture in the last week is Kitty Kitty.

That took all the excitement out of my day.  I'm now relegated to finishing up those last two quilts.  I probably could sew the binding on by machine, but it never turns out as nice as when I do it by hand.  Cooper thinks that's just fine since it means he can snuggle up next to Mom while she stabs herself in the fingers over and over yelling DARN IT!!!  Or something like that.

My new CD player from Best Buy should be in today.  It was there yesterday, but there was no way I was going out on Black Friday.  We used to have a huge store, but now it's basically the old Sears pickup window.  They don't keep much in stock, so you order everything, then go pick it up.  

From now until Christmas, the grocery store is your safest best.  Believe it or not, in this small town, we've had three pedestrians killed very recently from crazy drivers not paying attention and another three from accidents.  One was a motorhome head on.  I can't believe how much damage that resulted in.  So PLEASE be careful while driving!  Be on the lookout at all times for those guys running stop lights.

By the end of the day, Cooper was exhausted from all that laying around sleeping.    

It's time to get my act together, dress up like a human and head out into the Christmas crowd.  Hey, it's better than sitting down and finishing up the Indio Rally agenda for January.  That's coming up much faster than I ever imagined.

Happy Saturday .......

EAT HAM ... OR HAM-BURGER!

 What a GREAT day Thanksgiving was in California.  Gorgeous warm sunshine covered my house all day long.  Too bad the warm doesn't last longer at night.  I'm a light sleeper ... and when I say light, I mean I wake up from hearing Cooper breathing.  So it's either be awake from the heaters roaring or be awake from freezing, my choice.  It didn't help that someone at my neighbor's house decided to sing at the top of his lungs around 2 am.  What are you doing over there??

Needless to say, I'm a little groggy this morning, still hung over from that turkey soup.  It felt pretty much like food poisoning.  The turkey?  The leftover corn?  Who knows, but come Christmas, I'm taking this guys advice!!

It's hard to find something to eat when you're hungry but you don't want to do ANYTHING to make your stomach worse.  I tried a few crackers, then found those frozen hamburgers recommended by friends Patsy and Bill.  Well let's just try THIS!  What could be better than a barbecue bacon cheeseburger?

I quickly fried up some bacon in my air fryer.  LOVE that kitchen appliance for bacon!  Then I drug out the barbecue from the garage, heated it up and slapped on my burger.  There's an art to cooking frozen meat and I do NOT have it down.

When I went back out to check it, it was a huge ball.  Never poke the ball!!  Grease went flying everywhere, which of course brought flames up to my eyebrows!  Luckily I didn't catch on fire.  I layered on the cheese and even grilled the bun.  Add to that some Pringles (an impulse buy at the checkout stand) and Thanksgiving dinner was served.  I only ate half of it, not wanting to overdo my celebration, but it was GOOD!!!!  The second half was dinner.  Thank you Patsy and Bill for the recommendation about 6 months ago.

I'm very thankful there were no ill effects from eating.  After plunking down on the couch to watch football for awhile, only since they are no longer playing their kneeling trick, I decided to walk around outside and check out the painters work.  

Not a great picture, but this is the BEFORE.  The paint was almost completely worn off this side from the effects of mostly the sun.  

Here it is now ... the hardest part of the whole project to paint.  AND they fixed the gutter along with some wood rot on the left hand side.

This was the garage BEFORE picture.  The garage door molding was brittle and breaking off, not helped by the three times I hit it with my truck mirror.  They don't make parking spaces or garage doors for trucks!

Much better, yes??  It's nice to know I don't have to even think about gutters, peeling paint or rotting wood every time I come and go.  What a relief, even if it is costing a chunk.  I'll report on that part when it's done.

I didn't have a dog in the football fight, so it didn't matter who won, although I was surprised to see the Vikings beat the Patriots.  I am however, all about the fashion!  I thought the Detroit Lions were playing in their onesie underwear, or maybe their sweats.  Gosh guys, if you are going to wear gray, at least wear a colored pair of pants.  

And so ended the day with Cooper jumping up to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.  I don't know what got in to him ... he NEVER does this!!

I hope you had a wonderful day ... remember EAT HAM for Christmas and don't spend all your money since it's BLACK FRIDAY!!  I have to admit, some of those 70% off fabric ads are tweaking my little brain!!  Maybe some leftover Halloween candy will help allay the urges!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

It's finally here ... Happy Thanksgiving to each and every one of my wonderful readers who help me get up every morning so I can write about some silly thing that happened.  I appreciate you more than you know for helping me keep in touch with the world outside my four walls. 

Now ..... FINALLY ..... we can concentrate on Christmas!!!  Just kidding ... we've got Black Friday tomorrow, just in time to cause havoc at your local stores.  Around here it won't be bad because we don't have many local stores any more.  Thanks to being locked down, they all closed up and went away.  

The best we have to offer is Kohls and Hobby Lobby.  Oh ... and Walmart.  It's okay though, because this is me after Thanksgiving.  I'm so miserably full, I never can see how anyone could get up at 4:00 and park themselves outside the door to get that $100 television.  It is rather weird that I haven't seen ANY of those advertisements on television this year.  No Elmo, no cabbage patch doll, no robot or even a stuffed unicorn.  What's up with that?  

So this was me after I cooked that turkey, and again yesterday after I made turkey soup.  It was so awful I threw it all away.  Besides that, it gave me a terrible stomach ache and I've no idea why.  I'll stick to leftover mashed potatoes and gravy today.

I spent all of yesterday hiding out inside while the painters worked around the entire house.  I'm so very thankful for this two day holiday so I can relax, not get dressed up and fix my hair because they just might be looking through the windows.  At long last all the "top" work is done and they only have windows to paint.  YAY!  I can wear my old tattered robe around the house ALL DAY!!

While being locked up, I finished the borders on this quilt.  Oops ... I forgot to make the patterns match on the top.  Oh well ... you should always make at least one mistake in a quilt because only God can make things that are perfect.  Top left corner.  I'll get a feather to hang over it.

So a big HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone.  Count your blessings and enjoy the next two days because CHRISTMAS is coming!!!!!

Maybe It's Aliens

You just never know what's going to show up in your ordinary day at the office.  Things happen ... and sometimes you think ..... maybe it was aliens.  (or NOT!!)

For once I got plenty of sleep without the usual two hours of nightmares.  That was a big plus to begin Bingo day.  While perusing the nighttime happenings on my phone for my local area, I noticed there was a post about lights having been seen about half a mile away.

A bright white light they said ... triangle in shape ... with flashing green lights, crossing the sky until it stopped perfectly still in one spot.  The first ten answers to the post were DRONE.  That was followed up by aliens ... definitely aliens.  

In nothing flat, it was aliens that spray a mist of something every night that makes us sick.  That's why everyone is getting a cough and runny nose.  We are allergic to it, causing flue-like symptoms ... and it's KILLING US.  My oh my ... someone has a good imagination.  I voted for drone.

With that, I went back to work sewing on that quilt, which is now all sewn together ... except the borders.  No aliens involved there at all. 

The next thing I knew it was lunchtime and the painters left, leaving my garage doors open due to wet paint.  Really, this is a nice upscale neighborhood, but we all keep a look out for porch pirates which abound.  Cooper barked, so I looked out to see a car parked at the end of my driveway.  He got out and went for a short jog.  That's weird.  Maybe it's an alien.

I looked out the back to see a Fed Ex truck next door.  AHA ... he's waiting for the truck to leave so he can snatch that package.  No luck though, someone came to answer the door.

I stood there with my mouth open.  The guy turned around and jogged right up my driveway to the back of the painters truck.  I ran to the back door, threw it open and said WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING ... in my best Crazy Lady accent.  Well actually I used a few different words.  He turned tail and ran.  Little brat thought he was going to get some good tools I guess.  Definitely NOT a UFO alien, but most likely an ALIEN.

In no time it was the hour of BINGO.  I made sure the painters got the message to put everything in the garage and close the doors before they left.  I boom boom boomed all the way to town, playing that one song over and over.  I turned the speakers up LOUD and felt the truck vibrate as I thought about what CD's I would buy next.  This is better than McDonalds!

Something happened ... maybe alien abductions ... because there was not a Knight to be found at Bingo.  Am I going to be the only one?  At last I spotted three people, but we didn't have enough to officially open.  At long last we had a skeleton crew and the onslaught began.

It was weird, because in less than an hour, our line had disappeared.  Definitely alien abductions, because these people wouldn't miss Bingo for anything!  Our crowd totaled 95 instead of the usual 140.  That's 50 people who decided buying food for their family was more important.  I was shocked!

Out of the blue I heard .... yes ma'am ... they fly over at night and spray us all.  I hear them all the time.  That's why we are all sick!!!   I said Gosh ... I thought it was my sycamore tree!!  

Thats when it happened .... the infernal machine spit out a tape that said RO.  That's short for received on account.  I don't use that key ... EVER.  Mostly because we never receive anything on account and it's hard to clear that out.  The infernal machine hangs on with gritted teeth.  

AHA ..... it IS ALIENS!!!!  So that made for a very long night as I punched keys right and left to correct it and make the infernal machine give up a ticket that I balanced with.  Lucky for me, the Castle Peasants were patient (which was a miracle) while waiting for their winnings.  I finally got home at 11:30 ... ugh ... and up at 4:30.  

At this point, the aliens can take me.  Won't they be surprised when they see all my nightmares!  I'm pretty sure they would throw me back.

And so I'll be asleep on the couch, since I know my neighbors are keeping an eye out for those triangle flying things with blinking lights.  As long as I stay inside, I should be fine.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!

I'm not coming to you from the frozen patio this morning, but the desk near my front windows where I can see the frost on the pumpkin.  It's another 32 degree morning.  Even though I had solar put in, I'm still chintzy when it comes to electricity.  The heaters are on, but only set to 67 degrees.  I look like a mummy sitting here with three layers of clothing on.  Somehow spending more time in Arizona has changed up my temperature gauge ... or maybe it's just old age.

I was SO excited yesterday to be heading straight to the Sound Encounters store.  If you pull up beside someone and you hear that obnoxious BOOM BOOM BOOM, you know where it came from.  These guys have been doing this for almost 30 years.

As I have mentioned before, the CD player in my truck died while eating one of my CD's, may it rest in peace.  Driving as much as I do, most times the only stations I can come up with are in a language I really don't speak.  Last year I got an estimate that made my eyes roll into the back of my head, not to mention the fact that they were back ordered for about 8 months.  No thank you ... I'll practice my language skills and try to figure out what words are being sung.

Just for kicks, I stopped in again last week, to find the delivery to be THREE days.  Let's DO IT!!  And here she is ... a gorgeous new NAVIGATION program ... like in a NEW truck ... but it cost me less than $80,000 for a new one.  

Not only that, but the CD player WORKS!!!  I've now got BOOM BOOM with the best of them.  It took me an hour to figure out the equalizer and the fade though.  

Guess what I'm doing here!!  Yup ... playing my Chris Stapleton CD and rocking to the musica.  Of course everything has a learning curve, and this is a big one.  What else does it do?

I've got a microphone on the steering wheel now ... a bluetooth connection to my phone, so no more yelling COP and putting the phone down.  I can call up Siri any time, tell it where I want to go and it navigates there.  

Even better ... I can actually connect it to my phone and call anyone on my list, I can view text messages ... photos, emails ... AND I can play any music that I have downloaded to my phone.  Whatever my phone does, this does.  This thing is crazy!!  

One more thing, I can plug in my iPod and play THAT music!!  I can't believe I waited so long to do this.  Need a traffic camera?  You can add that.  Need a backup camera?  You can add that too.  

So as you can imagine, I spent most of yesterday just sitting in my truck jamming to my favorite country music.  Another plus, it's wired to my steering wheel controls and On Star.  Nancy is a REALLY happy camper, in spite of that terrible turkey dinner.

Speaking of the dinner, I discovered yesterday that it's the dark meat that tastes so bad.  I've been able to eat the turkey breast.  Even the gravy tastes a little better, so it didn't all go into the trash.  

Honestly if I told you what they feed those turkeys, you probably wouldn't eat ANY of them except Butterball because they feed corn and oats.  How do I know that?  I dated a Supervisor at Foster Farms chicken and turkey processing plant for awhile.  I learned more than I ever wanted to know.  Even your dry dog food is involved, but that's disgusting, so we won't talk about THAT!

I did pry myself away from my truck long enough to finish the squares for this quilt.  I didn't dare go outside to check on the painters, because every time I do I end up in a long conversation that wastes WAY too much time that I'm paying for.

The painting is coming along nicely, but SLOWLY.  It seems there is always something MORE that needs repair.  I suppose that's a good thing, since I will never have to do this again, and it ups the value.  It's only money, right?

I'll be in my truck ....... rocking out!!  

Thanksgiving Cooking Tips

The calm before the storm!!  Here we are, snuggled up in front of the fire, contemplating a great Thanksgiving dinner.  I decided to cook my turkey ahead of the big day ... no reason really.  All of a sudden I realized it was past time for the turkey to go in the oven. 

TIP # 1        Do not under any circumstances, buy a turkey from Target.  

I know, don't complain, it was free.  A "prize", if that's what you want to call it, from Bingo.  Turned out it was a big SUR-prize!!

TIP #2        Buy a butterball turkey, no matter what the cost.

So the turkey is in the oven, smothered in butter and roasting away at 325 degrees.   Since I had three hours to wait, it was time to throw the pie together.

TIP #3        Buy a pre-made pie shell.  Marie Callendar makes nice ones.  

I took the pie dough I made out of the freezer and let it thaw.  Then I made a spectacular looking shell that was to die for.  Isn't it pretty?

I mixed up the pumpkin stuff to perfection and just like my Mom ... I placed the pie shell inside the oven BEFORE pouring in the filling.  The Bad Voodoo Gods were not going to get me today!!  Trouble was, I couldn't pour in all the filling because the oven was not level.  A couple of well placed forks solved that problem.  TAKE THAT!!  

Bake for 35 minutes ... but it wasn't even near done.  So I baked it a little longer, and a little longer still.

TIP #4        Just eat the pumpkin cheesecake with oreo cookies. 

Pretty, yes?  It took almost an hour to get done and my mouth was watering.  But FIRST .....

LET THERE BE TURKEY!!  

AND GRAVY!!!  Hmmmm this gravy doesn't taste quite like it should.  Probably because I used a secret package of TURKEY gravy mix along with potato water and turkey drippings (like my Mom used to), instead of the usual BROWN gravy mix.   No, that's not it.

Here's my beautiful plate ... a Thanksgiving dinner I couldn't wait to dig in to.  Oh yeah, those are roasted Brussels sprouts, one of my favorite vegetables.  

TIP #5        Refer to TIP #2        

The turkey tasted terrible ... like yucky fat.  Rancid maybe?   Almost as bad as grass fed beef.  This is the worst turkey I've ever had in my life.  That being said, the gravy, made with the drippings, tasted JUST AS BAD!!  All this trouble and I could hardly finish the plate.

TIP #6        Refer to TIP #4         Eat the cheesecake instead of the pie.  

Oh my goodness ... I thought it would get the taste of the turkey and gravy out of my mouth ... a nice big piece of pie with whipped cream.  I took the first bite.  Actually it tasted really good, but I needed a big steak knife to cut the crust.  I'm not kidding ... I'm throwing that recipe away.  It was tougher than the old leather harnesses I have for my horses.  How could that be?  I didn't overwork it and it has a cube of butter in it.

TIP #7        Here's the phone number for Denny's Restaurant.  722-2549

All that work ..... all that time ..... and dinner was awful.  The only redeeming factor was the potatoes and Brussels sprouts, which I'll be eating for the next two days.  It's a good thing I wasn't having company.

Cooper on the other hand, thought the turkey was quite tasty.  That's good because he's got a lot of it to eat!!!

Happy Early Thanksgiving!!

Sweeping ... I Just LOVE Sweeping

 Freezing cold 32 degree nights have been followed up with mid 60 days.  If you stand (or sit) in the sun long enough, it does warm you up a tad.  Needless to say, I'm not spending any time outside.  Cafe-au-Jo is now consumed on the couch cuddled up with a blanket and Cooper.  

Since it is WAY too early to be up and about, we play scrabble games on our phone with friends far away, after writing the blog that is.  It's amazing how fast the time flies by before I finally relent and put on something to look presentable ... you know, in case Amazon shows up.  Yup they even deliver on Sundays around here.

Remember those pumpkin pies I was going to bake?  It turned in to no-bake pumpkin cheesecake.  A super easy recipe of sadly only one cup of pumpkin out of that 3-1/2 cup can, a little brown sugar, some spices and whipped cream.  What could be better?  

Well ... being able to lick the bowl and the beaters, that's what!!  Oh my goodness this is soft, pillowy and DELICIOUS!!  Into the fridge it went to set up.  Oh ... and there are 20 glorious toffee crunch Oreo cookies for the crust.  Guess I'll have to make TWO to use up the pumpkin.

Ummmm well pictures are worth a thousand words.  It was great until I took it out of the fridge to unmold and eat a slice.  In spite of following the directions to a T, the crust obviously didn't set up very well.  If you think THIS looks bad, you should see the floor!!!!  

My idea of setting it on a large plate to cut up, didn't work out so well.  I finally got it cut into pieces and stored in containers both in the fridge and the freezer, without much crust attached.  It took me 30 minutes to get the floor clean, sweeping and sweeping.  So much for the Oreo crust idea.

HOWEVER ... that pie is amazingly good and not too sweet like most of them!  And I didn't even have to smother it in whipped cream ... because I forgot.  NEXT time for sure!!!

I spent most of the day sewing that bear paw quilt ... all those tiny pieces.  It's pretty tedious, so I wandered outside to see what the painters had done.  Here's a piece of the molding that was replaced.  Nice that they found the exact same stuff.  This happened on three windows.

Since I was already practiced at sweeping, I swept up the entire garage area that was covered with dead paint chips and dirt.  Next time I'll use my old vacuum cleaner.

Talk about doing the job right ... they found some cracks in the facing, but the lumber was still good.  They filled those spots with epoxy, doing the same around the vents to keep water from rotting the wood.  The last painters did nothing like this ... they just climbed up the ladder and painted without even cleaning anything off.

They were even able to clean up the cupola, which I was sure was on it's last leg, and primed it for painting.  Happily, there are no big dry rot sections anywhere.  The job these guys are doing will pretty much insure it won't happen in the future.  YAY!!

I literally spent the rest of the day sewing on that quilt.  But TODAY ... I'm cooking that big turkey from Bingo.  My Thanksgiving is starting a little early, mostly because I'm out of food for the kid.  That 15 pound turkey will make a lot of freezer food for both of us.  PLUS ... I'll get some of my favorite mashed potatoes and gravy!!!

Here's a morning laugh for you .... I laughed out loud!!  If you don't have young grandchildren, you may not be familiar with Elf On The Shelf.  Poor kitty .... the elf flies down from the North Pole and sits on your shelf, to keep an eye on the kids and report back to Santa.  NO touching is allowed.  Every night they fly BACK to Santa to make their report.  Upon their return, they land in a different spot, which the little ones have to find every morning.  

One of my friends had a traumatic morning when she found the dog used Elf as a chew toy.  She ran all over town trying to find another to replace it.  Her son was devastated that the Elf didn't show up for breakfast.  At least this wouldn't be QUITE as bad ... you could always say he landed in the reindeer barn.

And just like that, another day has passed by at the speed of light.  Oh ... and just for good measure, I have a sore throat this morning.  Hopefully it's nothing.  Hopefully!!!