That Hole In The Wall ....

So here I am in the old ghost town of Snelling California.  This little town was formerly known as Snelling's Ranch.  Charles Snelling opened a hotel here near his cattle ranch in 1853.  This was the lower end of the gold mining craze as it ran along the Merced River.  It was also the County Seat from 1857-1872.  

The first courthouse in this County was built in 1857, but I'll get into those interesting stories at a later date.

The courthouse is still standing, although it needs a little repair here and there.  

Anyhoo ..... I was starving since all the restaurants, or at least the ONE restaurant in Coulterville was closed.  The same was true as I drove through La Grange ... another fascinating piece of history.  My last resort before wasting away was Freddy's in Snelling.

You know how sometimes you find a real hole in the wall looking place to eat, but you go inside and you are just amazed?  Well that's not this one.

I thought ... how could I go wrong with an amazing new paint job like this?  This used to be the best burger joint in the County ... certainly in this neck of the woods.  Maybe that's just because we were Harley riders and starving.

You know how you go to a hole in the wall recommended by someone who has eaten there before and the service is fabulous with a menu a mile long?  Well that's not this one.  There wasn't a sole inside and the menu was pictures hanging on the wall.  No prices ... just pictures of food.  What do you do?  You're already in the door .... it would be rude to just walk back out. 

I stared at the wall for a time because the pictures were really blurry, covered in plastic, making them very hard to see.  Truly, I was looking for price tags.  There were none, so I settled on the plate that looked like two enchiladas, rice and beans.  

I heard the gal behind the counter say THREE ENCHILADAS, but it didn't quite register until it was too late.  Did she up charge me??  She asked if I wanted chips.   Well of COURSE!!  That will be $15.89.  YIKES!!!  By then it was too late to run out the door.  

In no time ... about ten minutes because you know how busy they were ...  she brought the chips.  Always be wary of Mexican restaurant salsa.  I took my first bite and I was ON FIRE!!!  I started coughing .... the waitress says, oh ... would you like some water?  I coughed out a yes please.

Fifteen minutes later my food arrived.  You know how when you go to a hole in the wall restaurant expecting to find the most amazing food you've ever eaten so you can recommend it to all your friends?  Well that's not this one.

I guess you can't say they didn't give me my monies worth.  See that red tray?  It's one of those big cafeteria trays.  See that plate?  It almost covers that BIG cafeteria tray!  It didn't look too bad, so I dove right in.

These are chicken enchiladas.  I cut the first one open to see a mixture that was the same color as the beans.  I was absolutely positive this was beef ... tiny pieces smothered in a red sauce.  Remember that amazing lunch you had at the hole in the wall joint in Texas?  Well that didn't happen here!  Gracious ... I couldn't really tell you what it tasted like, I was just thankful it wasn't as hot as that salsa.

It was edible ... sort of ... and I was able to choke down 1-1/2 enchiladas along with some rice and beans.   I paid a chunk for this food ... I'm not wasting it.  I left the blackened avocado on the plate and asked for a to-go box.  Not that I had any intention of eating the rest of it .........

What they DID have was a chest of six different ice cream flavors.  I thought that might soothe my stomach a little and stop the salsa burn.  She made up a two scoop cone, then dumped it into the cup, saying it was easier to eat that way.  The soup spoon she gave me made it a little difficult, but I persisted.  It was VERY good ... for $3.65.

And so ended my culinary experience at Freddy's top notch fine dining establishment with a Michelin rating of negative sixteen.  The next time I'm in the neighborhood, I'll just go to the tiny grocery store and buy a box of crackers.

In the meantime, I've got COMPANY!!  Sadly it's not Prince Charming, but my gal friend from Sacramento.

Aliens and Ghosts

Back on the trail in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, you have to be careful where you drive.  With all the water, there have been rock slides and bridge washouts galore.  You wouldn't think much of this little creek, but just a few weeks ago it turned into a torrent that almost washed out this bridge.  That would be a bad thing for the people who live here since it's one of only two ways for them to get home.

For once those aren't bugs on my windshield or crud on my camera lens.  Those are a huge group of starlings that live under the bridge. 

Every once in awhile I would find something beautiful like this lovely white flower growing all alone.  

This is a narrow road that winds through the hills, giving you great views.  Mr. Chance will recognize all of these pictures since we rode these areas many times on the motorcycles.  This is overlooking Hunter Valley.  There's one road in and one road out which you probably shouldn't drive on unless you know someone there.  

These people are VERY protective of their little piece of heaven.  My horseshoer lived here, and one time I had to make a visit to pay him.  I got the stink eye BIG time from neighbors, so I didn't mess around.  Sadly, this entire valley was ravaged by fire not too many years ago.  It's coming back nicely, but there are basically no more trees left.

It's spring time and the red bud is in bloom.  They only grow at certain elevations.  This little section was covered with them.

If you knew exactly where to look, you would find several mines over on the hills.  Of course like any good OLD folk I cannot remember the name ... maybe Dan remembers ... but at this site a fort was built to keep watch over them.  Claim jumping was big back in the day.  If you had enough men, you just killed everyone at the mine you wanted and began processing the gold yourself.

Just around the corner was this.  I remember this road from our motorcycle days, as a very narrow STEEP hold-on-to-your-shorts road that we took quite often just for fun.  I think mostly because there was a bar at each end.

Old habits die hard.  When you are driving cattle trucks loaded with four legged critters, you have to be careful of turns.  Go too fast and the cattle will shift their weight, tipping you right over.  So to make it easier on you AND the cattle, you would straighten the road out as much as possible, crossing over the yellow lines.  

Wouldn't you know, out in the middle of NOWHERE, while "straightening" out the road, up behind me comes a Sheriff.  Well RATS!!  I slowed way down and even pulled over to let him by.   He waved his finger at me as he kept going.  I'm sure I'm not the only one that does that ... every local probably does the same thing.

That's when the alien showed up.  I did a double take when I drove by this little cave ... probably someone's attempt to find gold way back when.  See the white guy on the right?  He even has pointy ears.  No I didn't go in the cave ... for once.  Seriously, I couldn't take my eyes off it, it looked so real.

Interestingly enough, this is the Merced River as it comes out of Yosemite Valley.  At this point, before our 92 degree days, it's very low.  

All the water has filled the dams, and THAT is what's got the river at flood stage.  When the snow melts, this will be a raging river again.  In order to "save" the dam, they will release whatever it takes, which will result in flooding below.  We say build another dam to hold the water, stop flooding and supply farmers throughout the summer, but the Sierra Club and the environmentalists get it stopped every time. 

Around the next corner is the little town of Coulterville.  This little town was settled by George Coulter and originally named Maxwell Creek.  For a time, George lived in a tent, flying the American Flag, causing the Mexicans to call it Banderita.  In 1852 a post office was set up and they cast lots to name the town.  Coulterville won out.

This is the Jeffery Hotel, built in 1851 as a Mexican Fandango Hall with 30 inch thick adobe walls.  George Jeffery bought the place in 1852, rebuilding it after every fire ... and there were several in this area.  It got bigger and taller every time.  

This sits on the back road to Yosemite, so it had its share of "regal" visitors, including Teddy Roosevelt.  It is also said to have its share of ghosts peaking out the windows as you drive by.   

I've never stayed at the hotel which has 11 rooms and 7 bathrooms.  It sold not too many years ago (Mr Jeffery is buried in the local cemetery), but has gone downhill ever since.  My plan was to stop in for lunch, but the hotel is apparently being used as a private residence now.  The restaurant and bar is completely closed down.  What a shame!  Here's a look at how it used to be.

Here's a picture from the early 1900's.  I think it would make a great QUILT store!!

 As you can imagine, there are lots of stories about the outlaws that roamed the mountains.   Joaquin Murrieta and Three Fingered Jack were the most name worthy, taking advantage of the Chinese who worked the mines.  

There were originally nine members of their gang, but at some point the group decided Joaquin and Three Fingers needed to go.  Too bad for them, their ambush failed.  Revenge was in the works.  They got the seven outlaws to enter a cave (probably told them there was gold inside), whereupon they killed every one.  That left them free to gather up all the gold they wanted from the Chinese.  Why just the Chinese?  Because they were Mexican ... and they didn't want to take anything from the many Mexican miners.  Nice guys, yes?  Several years later, those seven bodies were found and reported to the Sheriff.  

Back around on my big loop, we are again at the bottom of the Merced River, below the lake.  Here's hoping the snow melts slow enough so people downstream don't get flooded out again.

My trip is not quite over.  By now my stomach is screaming I'M HUNGRY!!  My two planned stops for food were a bust.  I have one more small gold mining town to check out where I KNOW there is a restaurant.  A Mexican restaurant.  How bad could it be????  

As High As An Elephants Eye

 At long last I couldn't stand it any more.  I had to get out of dodge, if only for the day.  I probably should have thought this through a little better and not gone the day after a long night of Bingo.

My first stop ... the Merced River which comes out of Yosemite National Park.  At this particular point in its journey to the valley, you can usually walk across it.  It's so shallow people ride down it in inner tubes and get stuck all the time.  To see this is pretty crazy.  It's partly because the snow is melting fast, and partly because they are trying to lower Lake McClure above, so it can hold more water when the REAL snow starts melting.  It's a dance with epic consequences.

There is actually a small boat ramp I was standing on when I heard squawking like you wouldn't believe.  Okay, there's an eagle around here somewhere.  After looking through my camera, I found her, or him, sitting on their nest.  It's unusual to have them so low in the valley, but we have two pair that nest here every year.  She's very unhappy with the buzzards circling overhead.

Another shot of the river almost at flood stage.  This is usually a little creek in the bottom of the riverbed.

It was the perfect day for a ride, just before all the grass turns brown with our three 90 degree days.  As I came around the corner, this looked like a cemetery.  We don't HAVE a cemetery here, so I stopped to take a look.  

The grass is as high as an elephants eye.  Those are bee boxes, stacked three high and you can barely see the tops.

Cattle are everywhere this time of year.  As with any group, they have one or two leaders.  Everyone goes where they go.  Since springtime is also biting fly time, you will see them all standing in mud puddles.  Why you ask?  Because flies bite their legs.  Ever had one bite you?  It's not a nice feeling.  Imagine a hundred of them on your legs.  Standing in water keeps them away for a time.

Since it's spring and the grass is high, cattlemen have moved their herds to these fields for food.   You never leave them in one spot very long, but move them again to another field to keep them from eating the grass too short.  If you don't, it takes much longer for the grass to come back, so you have less feed next time.  It's a balancing game.

I admit, I was not surprised to see this on the hill.  Look closely ........

Cattlemen and ranchers are pretty conservative and extremely patriotic.  They are also very hard workers and think everyone else should be too.

At last I pulled in to the lovely little town of Hornitas.  That was the original name when the post office opened in 1856.  In 1877 they changed the name to Hornitos, meaning little ovens.  That's because the old Mexican tombstones were built to look like little square bake ovens.

This highway looks exactly the same as when I was here as a kid driving cattle trucks through town.  That's the general store on the left and the gas station on the right.

The general store is still in operation today.  It's run by Eric Ericksen and his wife Megan who also have a cattle ranch up here.  We ran cattle on their place back in the day.  I didn't get to talk to her much today since PG&E had the entire town's power shut off.  

Sadly, the gas station is falling apart.  Although this used to be quite the active little town, there are only 38 residents here today.  What a shame to see it going downhill.

This sign has been here ever since I was a kid.  Back in the day, they were serious about speeding through town, mostly because the streets are barely 20 feet wide.

Gold was the main attraction, which brought Domingo Ghirardelli to this little town.  His fortunes were not to be found, so he opened a general store in 1856.  He perfected his chocolate recipe in that store, selling it to the miners who did hit it big.   Eventually he headed off to San Francisco.  What's left of that adobe building is across the street from this one, which was the grocery store when I was a kid.

This plaza was famous for the phone booth at the right corner of the building.  It was the one and only.  The post office is just to the left under the sidewalk cover, followed by a tiny restaurant called Roy's Cafe which is now closed.  It was a fun place to visit when we were hauling cattle up here.  

In 1855, this was another general store, owned by Mr. Brownfield and his partners.  After several fires (no mention of how they started), he sold it to Mr. George Reeb who moved his meat market here.  He ran that store until his death in 1913.  Finally in 1940, the family sold it to another man who opened a bar in the front and lived in the back.  It's a fabulous adobe building that sadly doesn't look like one.  

One of the better preserved buildings, this was built from native rock in 1873.  In 1875 it was purchased by the Freemasons and is not only the smallest, but the oldest in the State.  It's been in continuous use ever since.  

Although it seems to be disappearing, this little town is still kicking.  Once a year they have an enchilada feed that raises money for various projects, one of which is keeping up the adobe church and graveyard.  

There's much more to this trip, but I'll continue it tomorrow.  I'm still trying to recover!!!

Hug A Plumber!!

Good Morning sun!!!  All of a sudden, it's summer in California, meaning my lawn is turning a beautiful shade of brown.   That's one of the reasons I got solar.  The electricity to run my pump costs more than my food bill for entire month.  I have yet to figure that out.  Maybe some nice green DYE would help.

In case your life isn't exciting enough, I have a new pastime for you.  I have a friend who scans the internet every day to discover what National Day it is.  It's really quite interesting, and sometimes pretty funny.  She picks out one from the list, and partakes, since many times it involves food.  That means her husband has to take her out to dinner.  She's a smart cookie.

It was rather coincidental that National Plumbers Day happened to be the day the plumbers were coming to install my new kitchen faucet.

As I mentioned, I was slouching on the couch when I got the call.  I raced to change clothes, smeared some quick makeup on my face, tamed the crazy hair and picked up all Cooper's toys.  I was in the midst of moving all the junk off the kitchen counter when the doorbell rang.  

There stood a good looking 20-something kid with a VERY nice looking older hunk.  I gave them the box-o-faucet and pointed to the old one.  They went right to work.

The main problem was the reverse osmosis setup under the sink.  It's been there ever since I moved in.  About that thing ... I knew it had filters, but had to idea how to replace them.  I previously called in a plumber who dinged me a chunk by saying the tank needed to be replaced.  What do I know.  Of course he replaced it with a much bigger one (not necessary), and never once said to change the filters.  

At this point, it had been dumping water down the drain continuously, so I had completely shut it off.  THESE plumbers said it couldn't be fixed, or at least they did not work on them.  I told them to just take it out since I hadn't been using it for 6 months anyway.  That took 30 minutes before they could even start on the faucet.

That's when I checked my phone to find it was National Hug A Plumber Day ... which I stated loudly.  They laughed.  Okay, so that didn't go over very well.  Maybe I should opt for National Pretzel Day instead.

It took a little longer because the older guy was actually teaching the owner's son the ins and outs of plumber-hood.  That is so awesome to see kids going into the trades instead of wasting money on college (my opinion only).  And so TA-DA ..... there is my beautiful new faucet.  I love the pull down sprayer.  They even plugged the hole on the left from the osmosis water thingy.

Figuring it was useless to mention National Plumber Day again, I explained my problem with the other faucet in the laundry room, but they said it could not be fixed ... I needed a new faucet.  BUT the Knight at Bingo said all I needed was a new cartridge.  I'm heading off to Lowes today to see if I can find one.  It's worth a shot, and will save me the $119 an hour plumber fee.  No kidding ... that's the price to have a plumber work on your water supply. 

I was pretty much in shock when I heard that ... it would have been worth it if I got that HUG!!  Instead, I just went though all the bottles of cleaning stuff under the sink.  In my defense, half of it is for cleaning leather saddles and bridles.

I spent the rest of the day going through more garage junk.  That's when I found this picture.  I don't think I've shown it to you before.  Yessiree, that's me when I was MUCH skinnier and actually had a huge head of hair.  That's Jonathan I'm feeding.  When my grandmother passed away, she had a big collection of those little silver spoons from all her travels.  That's what I used to feed the baby birds.

I had a dry formula that I added water too, then heated it on the stove.  The temperature had to be just right for them to eat.  I still have the table I'm sitting at ... it's a 145 year old drop leaf.  I fed many a baby cockatiel, parakeet, parrot and cockatoo at this table.  

With no hug from a plumber, I decided to wander off into the Sierras for the day.  It was probably not my best move since it was the night after Bingo.  I pretty much crashed when I got home.  I'll post those pictures over the next couple of days.  Of course the best part of the trip involved FOOD!!

The Knight Causes Trouble At Bingo!!

 Some days just seem to fly by in the blink of an eye.  Other days, it's Bingo time!!  Bingo never seems to move faster than a snail on my dry concrete sidewalk.  It's much less work than all that shoveling however, so I don't understand why I'm so sore and exhausted the next day!!

It was truly a beautiful morning until I got that phone call.  I finally broke down and bought a new kitchen faucet with a pull-down sprayer.  The plumber said sometime in the next two weeks.  I was pretty surprised when he called at 8:30 and said he would be right over.

YIKES!!  I'm still in my jammies with Cooper in my lap and the craziest night hair you've ever seen.  But I'll save that story for tomorrow ... let's get on to Bingo!!

The Knights of the Castle have not been meeting up in the turret like usual.  I don't know what happened to our little band of Musketeers, but sitting alone is not my cup of tea, so I went down to the dungeon.  The wonderful Jackie, she who is in charge of setting up absolutely everything, was hard at work doing all my work for me.  I don't know where this Fairy Godmother came from, but I LIKE HER!!

As we sat counting out the last cards, we could hear the peasants beating on the doors with pitchforks and sticks.  At 4:25 they came flooding in and the craziness began.  It's all about who gets to choose their cards first ... the ones with the winning numbers.  They dig through my stacks like gold miners looking for the Lost Dutchman Mine.  Don't you DARE touch ANY of those papers until the person in front of you picks theirs.

If the fight gets out of hand, I just grab the packet and rip it apart.  It goes straight in the trash.  That one was bad ... pick another one please.

It all went pretty well until the next Hotball game was won.  If you win our Bingo with the chosen hot ball number posted on the wall, you win OUR pot AND the hot ball pot of $1199.  That's a nice haul of $1449 all in one fell swoop.  That is ALSO why they are all so crazy about the specific numbers on their cards.

They all cheer and yell for whoever won.  Then they come up to my table and complain about the winner ... how she STOLE that card!!  It's too funny.

The biggest problem on this night was the half-time break, which caused the Half Price problem.  If you come in very late, you are allowed to play the second half of the games for Half Price.  My brain wasn't working by that time of the night.  The gal who came in EARLY, wanted to add on games for half the cost.  My favorite Knight was sitting there and said SURE.  He's no longer my favorite.

That would be a NO from me, since the cost would be $2.50.  I don't HAVE $2.50 on my infernal machine and we have NEVER done that before.  The accountant went crazy THIS time.  I finally let her go, but told the Knight ... now you've done it!  Now they are ALL going to want the same thing.  Sure enough, FIVE MORE PEOPLE came up to get more cards at $2.50.  

As soon as I could, I corralled the King to get it straightened out ... you get the first TWO cards at half price. All others, no matter when you buy them ..... are $5.00 each.  Next week I'll have to fight with all those people who will say ..... you gave it to me LAST week for $2.50!

I do want to thank everyone for the Corn Dog prayers.  IT WORKED!!!  Although half the size of a normal dog, they were quite tasty for ...... wait for it ...... $2.50 each.  Woohoo!!!  Even better, my stomach doesn't complain one little bit!

I got home just in time to give Jonathan a squinch.  He says he's not getting the same blog time as Cooper.

This morning I've got the second day shoveling woes.  Maybe I'll take Cooper out for a walk so we can loosen up a bit.  

The plumber story is for tomorrow ... because it was NATIONAL HUG A PLUMBER DAY.  

Shoveling Is Good Exercise

 What a gorgeous day it was in sunny California.  Spring isn't going to hang around long however.  It's going to be 92 Thursday and Friday.  I'm thinking I need to go find a small horse trough and fill it up.  Especially after yesterday's yard work. 

But first, I have a question for all you RV folks who work with this stuff.  This being such a long heavy cord, I decided to roll it up in this plastic box for ease of loading and unloading.  Someone on a group site asked what they could do with their long 50 amp cord.  

I posted a picture.  About half the people said great idea and the other half said NO ... you will ruin the cord.  So what say ye?  Maybe I can find a bigger box.  I'm thinking this one is 16-18 inches square but I haven't measured it.  Do I need to do this differently?

As soon as breakfast was over, I headed back out to tackle this creature once again.  It turns out there is a really big lawn sprinkler INSIDE the flower bed.  My first question would be WHY?  At any rate, for the last year, not a drop of water hit the lawn.  It all went directly to the roots of this growing mass of frustration.  I think if you walked by too close, it would swallow you up.

Probably one of the first things we learned on the ranch, was how to handle a shovel.  The ranch was entirely irrigated pasture with levies throughout to direct the water over the entire field.  When the levy was full, we opened the wooden box to allow water to flow to the next section.  Whether at lunch time or at midnight, you had to open those boxes.

Rubber boots and a shovel were required to remove the three or four slats of wood pushed down into the side slots in order to let the water out.  Crawdads were a problem.  They like to dig deep into the soft mud around the box and hide ... waiting for their dinner to come along.  The next time you irrigated, the box would float right on out into the pasture.  DISASTER!!  In other words, you better know how to shovel and get that box back in place before all the water ran out.  I had arms of steel!!

Who knew I would use those skills 60 years later to remove the green goblin from my flower bed.  Today I feel like I got kicked by a horse, but that's okay.  It will work itself out when I keep digging to remove the tuber-like roots.  I just keep saying shoveling is good exercise!!

Once that was gone, I vegged out on the couch with Cooper while sewing yet another binding on a quilt.  Gee ... only three more to go!!

It's rather weird that my phone camera distorts the color so badly with this quilt.  It shows up bright Christmas red, when it's really a very pretty rust color.  I adjusted the image to make it look more like it does in real life.  

Finally, now beginning to really feel the shovel work, I instant-potted a huge chunk of pork loin I found at the store for $1.99 a pound.  It's a win-win since Cooper loves it too.  This is a sweet and sour version that turned out quite tasty.  Too bad I didn't have any veggies to throw in the empty side.  These went directly in the freezer ... my very own lean cuisine.

By the end of the day, we were pretty beat up.  Sadly, I can no longer shovel like a kid!!

It's time to start gearing up .... it's BINGO night .... oh the fun!!  At least it's not a full moon night.  Say a little prayer for CORN DOGS to be on the menu.  Those things are SO GOOD and I'm sure will help my sore muscles!!

Cow Camp and Sunday Fun Day!

I'm starting to get the heebie jeebies.  Sitting around the house all day doing chores is not my cup of tea.  Here's one more day at the Cow Camp back before roads were built.  As you can see, even the little kids were packed in along with all our food.

Just down the hill to the left was the stream where we got water.  That was one of my jobs, carrying the metal bucket down to be filled and hauled back UP the steep hill.  It was kept on the wooden table inside the cabin, along with a dipper for a nice cool drink.  If you wanted to wash your hands, you went BACK to the creek.

There were no clean clothes to be worn, but at least once a week, we had to jump in the freezing cold creek for a bath and a hair wash.  Gosh that was teeth chattering COLD!!!

The creek ran through the meadow and down the hill, about 3 feet wide and maybe 2 feet deep.  It also held the best native trout you've ever tasted.  To this day it amazes me that we had fresh fish every day from such a tiny stream.  That's where I learned how to catch and clean a trout.  Sadly now, there are no fish left.  Not one.

You can also see on the horse to the left, that we were always prepared for anything, like any good cowboy.  That's a rifle for "just in case", and most carried a handgun.  I remember missing a small buck one day, but hitting several rattlesnakes.  There were ALWAYS rattlesnakes.  Skinning those to be fried up for dinner was not fun AT ALL.   To this day, it surprises me that us kids survived and NO ONE got snake bit. 

Though we had a couple of dogs, they were not allowed to go.  Obviously, too many snakes.  I admit, they were a lot tougher than this kid.  Sweet potatoes are good for puppies ... or so they tell me.  Since I had half of one for dinner, I thought I would share.  Cooper seemed to love it.  That's weird, he never eats anything like this.

And apparently there's a good reason, because 30 minutes later, it all came back up.  So much for healthy dog food!!

On with the day ... it was time to put on my Plumbers hat.  I've done this before ... and in fact, I think it was this same one I changed out.  Now you see it ......

Now you don't.  It's not hard to do, just unscrew the piece on the bottom and it lifts right out, letting water stream out the hole to the floor.  I was prepared this time, with a bowl that almost overflowed.  Note to self ... next time get a bigger bowl.  

Too bad everything nowadays is made of plastic.  I'm sure this one won't last much longer than the other one.  I tightened the plastic nut on the bottom, then hooked up the water line, again with a plastic nut.  Okay ... here goes ... turn the water on very slowly.  

No water came streaming out, but I left a towel on the floor just in case.  An hour later I checked it and sure enough, it was leaking a tiny bit.  I was afraid to tighten the nut too much for fear it would break.  A tad bit more and another hour later, it wasn't dripping.  Hopefully it's seated and will no longer be a problem.  I tested it a couple of times and it worked perfectly!  Maybe I should go into business.

Next up ... a new toilet seat.  Same here, it's all plastic, even the bolts.  This is the THIRD one I've replaced.  This time I got a Kohler seat.  Although still very lightweight plastic (which to me means cheap), the hinge is made differently and will be a breeze to clean.  To make it even better, it actually had METAL bolts!  Woohoo!  It's the little things.  

With all that done, I took off my plumbers hat and headed for the couch to watch the finals of the Red Bluff Rodeo.  Sadly my favorite guys are in a slump, but watching 8 and 9 year old kids hanging on to wild ponies, then jumping on their backs for a 2 second ride made up for it.  When you're a ranch kid, you're TOUGH!!

It's good to know the lifestyle continues and hardy stock still rides the countryside instead of sitting on the couch all day playing video games.  Well at least SOME of us don't spend all day on the couch!!

Thanks for stopping by.  If you need a plumber ... give me a call!!!  But not faucets ... I'm not doing that faucet.  I'm calling in a REAL plumber!!