Beavers and Salsa

 Another day in paradise has faded away.  It's not your normal paradise because it's colder than a frozen water trough you have to take an axe to every morning so the cattle can drink.  Woooeeee I even went out to turn the heat on in the fifth wheel.  

The propane tanks were a little bit of a problem.  I should light the stove burners more often I guess.  The spark on one isn't working at all, but I finally got two going to clear the air out of the lines.  My tank sensor battery died, so I had to practice my surgical skills to replace it.  It's a Mopeka in case anyone was wondering.  I love that thing.  It sticks on the bottom of the tank with strong magnets (haven't lost it yet) and the app on my phone tells me how much fuel there is.  

In fact I love it so much, I just bought another one on Amazon for the second tank.  Now I can tell if a tank is leaking or empty.  No, they are not cheap, but SO worth it.  You can buy two with a "reader" that hangs on your wall inside, or you can just use your phone to check it.

Though you would expect paradise to come with a housekeeper, she does not.  I can always tell when we've had a breezy day.  If I HAD a housekeeper, I could leave her notes in the dust.  I spent two hours cleaning ... my least favorite pastime.  

Since I had all that lovely chicken for tacos, I had to make another run to the store.  What I didn't have was salsa.  Salsa is not just for tacos and burritos.  Beaucoup years ago on the ranch, we would deep pit meat for social events, like branding or maybe my grandmother was coming to visit.  I've mentioned this before.

It's cooked low and slow in the ground for 6 to 8 hours.  When you cook beef wrapped in gunny sacks (the ones that came full of grain), it tends to dry out.  It's probably a good thing there were no health inspectors back then.  The meat needs something, and our version of salsa worked perfectly.

That required ingredients I didn't have, so off to the Mexican store I went.  There's no buying the wimpy version ... this bouquet is large enough for a wedding!!

I also picked up tomatoes.  I don't know what's up with them these days.  Does this look like tomato salsa to you?  Oh they were bright red and beautiful on the OUTSIDE, but chop them up and the inside was almost white.  Sadly, it didn't have much flavor either, even though I put in more jalapeños that I should have.  Not as good as the potatoes and gravy from Thanksgiving, but it worked.

Going along with the weird sun dogs in the sky, were weird sightings of the moon.  That one little patch of clouds seemed to follow it up into the sky.

What a beauty.  This is the Beaver Moon.  Okay, that's different, so I looked it up.  This is the time of year when beavers would stock up on resources in their den to ensure they survive the incoming water from winter.  A good indication that the humans should do the same.

Apparently it is often shrouded in clouds.  Who knew??

And finally it rose high enough in the sky to be seen more clearly.  It makes me wonder what all the dark spots are.  Mountains?  Clouds?  Poisonous gas?  Okay, probably not gas, but pretty to look at.  

I cut and sewed on and off throughout the day, before plopping down on the couch for dinner.  Easy peasy .. just heat up the last of the leftovers and pile it high on a Kings Hawaiian roll.  Boy do I love those things.  For Barbara and Tom ... I saved the last of the rolls in the freezer to make bread pudding after the pumpkin pie runs out.

And so ended another day as I tossed and turned all night.  If nothing else, I should be getting in my 6,000 steps a day just in turning over in bed.

AND ... it's TIME FOR BINGO!!!!!  YAY!!!!!