DIVE BOMBED!

 This is the view in my house every morning.  Treats are a big thing around here, so I try to make them sort of healthy and not give them out too often.  This face however ... it wins me over every single time.  That means the treats have become smaller and smaller.  He doesn't care one little bit.  

THIS on the other hand ... this one gives me the LOOK every morning as I type.  It does not matter what's on the desk or what ends up on the floor ... she has to be CLOSE.

I only had one project on the menu today.  One of our wonderful (very young) Elks girls has a knack for sourdough.  She volunteered to give me a piece of her starter to get my own started.  That would require me to ride out to our Elks RV Park for the Stag picnic.  Isn't this gorgeous?  Our guys keep this place immaculate.  

It comes with a big canopy building and a full commercial kitchen.  On the menu today is steak (I'm so tired of steak), Cole slaw, chili beans and a roll.  Sounds like a Thursday night dinner.  Who would have thought I would get so tired of steak I would not want to eat one AT ALL!  I passed on the food.

What I did get was a jar of delicious cabbage salsa.  I have a Bingo friend who is the Queen of salsas.  Every single one she makes is amazing.  HOT .. but amazing.  I have to take four tiny bites to get used to the heat before actually having a REAL bite with chips.  The jar was full when I got home.  Somehow it magically disappeared.

And so I picked up my tiny little cup of starter and tried to understand the directions.  10-50-30.  What the heck does THAT mean?  I tried and tried to understand the explanations, but was completely confused.  What the heck!  Now I have TWO of these things to feed.  

Sadly, mine had turned to liquid, meaning it's meant for the trash can ..... and HERS.  Well this morning it looks just exactly like it did yesterday.  Nothing ... not a bubble to be seen.  I used bread flour and mixed it according to the directions, but there's NOTHING.  Big sigh.  Apparently I was NOT meant for sourdough making.  How disappointing.

I landed on the chaise for awhile, even though it was quite chilly.  Fifteen minutes later I was burning up.  I tried my hardest to stay put for another 15 minutes, staring at the shadow of my earring, but the sun won out.  I headed inside to the kids.

Mom gets a snack time the same as they do, so I grabbed a Rip Van wafer.  You know how you are trying so hard to diet and not eat sweets?  So you buy stuff you have never tried before?  They sounded good ... low sugar, low carbs ... but sadly, that equates to THIS TASTES TERRIBLE!  That crunchy exterior tastes like three week old dry bread, with a mildly dark chocolate flavored center.  This is SO bad!!  

On the other hand, I bought them ... and they were not cheap.  So I'm going to eat them if it kills me!!  My tip of the day is DO NOT BUY THESE.

That brought about a flurry of tree trimming.  Yes, I have no idea what I'm doing here, but I cut all those little branches off the tree trunk and piled them on the lawn.  If the gardener isn't going to do the trimming, he can do the carting off.

Right next to the tree is the REAL miniature bottle brush that is currently covered with honey bees.  I try to stay clear, but there were some very healthy weeds growing beneath it.  While trying to pull them out, I was dive bombed by this guy.  No kidding ... an Anna's Hummingbird smashed into my hair trying to get to the flowers.  This has to be the most gorgeous thing in our neck of the woods.  

This was the thrill of the day, though he didn't stay long.  Gramma you were SO very right about hummers liking bottlebrush.  I'll be keeping an eye out for more.  

Now if only my starter would START and I could get to baking some lovely sourdough bread!!  In case you don't know how stubborn I am, I ordered starter from the internet.  An entire big bottle!!  Lucky for me, it comes with SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS on how to keep it going.  Whether it works or not, remains to be seen, but I'm not giving up yet!!