Happy Easter!!!

 Christ the Lord is risen today!  I hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed day with their friends and family, even if that only includes their fur friends.  

I have to admit, my little guy was a pain in the butt all night long.  I'm hoping it's just tummy troubles because he had me up three times.  I finally gave up at 2:30.  Maybe it's because he just can't wait to get to those chocolate Easter eggs.  Just kidding, he doesn't like them.  No, I don't give him chocolate!!

I take it all back about not being sore yesterday.  As soon as I stood up from the desk, it hit me like a hammer.  I could walk but my legs complained every step.  It quickly became a shuffling walk to the bottle of aspirin, which I now carry in my pocket.

Aren't these eggs just amazing?  I have a friend from Budapest who used to get these when she was younger.  It's rather like painted rocks on steroids.  No way do I have the patience for this, but I look forward to seeing them ever Easter.

By the time I finished my first cup of coffee, the rains came down from the Heavens.  It was truly a downpour, which is great because we really need the water here.  Sadly, it showed me where three more problems live ... up on the roof with my gutters.  One is over 14 feet high and has never been cleaned.  I did get part of it unplugged after removing the piece at the bottom, but it still needs work.  

Somehow two have come loose, allowing water to go underneath them instead of INTO them.  I guess I'll be back up on the ladder later in the week.  But not until it rains three more times!!!  

I had a rather healthy breakfast before heading off to the grocery store for things like Cole slaw for Jonathan.  Like little kids, it's hard to keep their diet varied enough to keep them eating.  He's almost as bad as Cooper!!!  Yes, these are sweet potatoes fries.  Just throw them in the air fryer and BINGO you have a tasty treat.  It's vegetables, right????  These were mine, not Jonathans.

By 8:00 I was out the door.  It's funny who you run into.  This very sweet elderly lady ... I say elderly because I'm sure she was older than me ... was calling out for "Ray" to come help her as we stood by the most expensive beef I've seen in awhile.  The SALE sign caught my eye.  Prime Rib for $6.99 a pound, a right nice price considering it was $26.99 a pound last week.  

I have no doubt they are still making money at the lower price.  In fact, this is probably the same meat they are now trying to get rid of.  This under 5 pound roast was still $33. 00. 

The sweet lady told me to have them cut one since they were out of small ones, and have them season it with Pappy's Prime Rib.  They'll do it for free she said.  And if you need it, tell them to wrap it in freezer paper.  It will stay fresh longer.  She knows the names of all the guys behind the counter, teased them about someone's nose growing like Pinocchio and finally walked out with TWO roasts and two plastic bags for good measure.  I don't know what the bags were for.  

Believe it or not, I saved $56 on one shopping trip, $37 of it on two meat purchases.  They tell you so you will feel better about getting deceived and completely blowing your budget.

We never saw a prime rib in our many years of raising beef.  It was always left for the butcher, along with the tenderloins, for payment.  If we wanted tender meat, we had them hang it in their cold box for two weeks before wrapping.  Now the best restaurants age their own beef and charge you accordingly.

So here comes the hard part ... roasting it.  I've never had one turn out like it's supposed to.  For one thing, they fool you nowadays.  I don't think anyone even knows about prime meat because I haven't seen any in years.  All you get is Choice and more often Select.  The simple truth is because of that, meat is no longer tender.  It's feeding grain that makes it so much better.

Here's a good example.  The fourth grade on the list is standard.  Even though they make it look pretty by making kabobs, THIS meat is tough as nails.  I kick myself for wasting $13 on these.  I guess you're supposed to take it off the sticks and marinate it for days before cooking.

Instead I just stuck it on the barbecue.  Even after cutting it into smaller than 1/2" pieces, I literally could not chew it.  What a waste!!

So today I'll try to cook the prime rib.  If it turns out not so good, I'll recook it in the Instant Pot until it falls apart and make stroganoff out of it.  I did that once ... when prime rib was really "prime" tender ... and never heard the end of it.  I guess it's the same as taking fillet mignon and making spaghetti sauce.  Yeah, I did that too.

Hopefully this afternoon, I'll be like the sleeping bunnies above ... snoozing on the couch with my sleep walking kid Cooper.  I'll let you know how the roast turns out!

More Snow On The Way?

 I suppose it's just part of getting old, this sleepless night thing.  Seems the four hour bell rings in my head after the first good four hours.  From there on, it's dream after dream with a few nightmares thrown in for good measure, making it impossible to wake up feeling refreshed.  The good part is the tapping of little feet on the covers next to me because he sleeps like a rock all night long!!!  AND half the day!

This is a pretty good reflection of my morning pre-coffee demeanor, not to mention my feelings about the weather.  At least it has warmed up with expected rain for the next five out of seven days.  That's okay since we desperately need the water.  I should know better by now since winter never seems to give up until May.  Mother Nature fools us with a couple of warm days, then throws some snow on the hills.

I actually got up off my lazy butt and went for a run in the beautiful morning sun.  On this morning I ran into four dogs trailing their owners.  I've never heard so much barking, which activated the barky alarms on either side of the road, followed by peacock screaming.  There's no way you can sneak around this neighborhood.

I did a half and half this time ... half walking and half running.  I call it running, but honestly, it's jogging which continually gets slower until I can't breathe any more.  Then it's back to walking to finish off the 2.25 miles.  Hmmm maybe that's why I'm so tired during the day.  Amazingly, I feel pretty good so far with no sore muscles.  

It was a no makeup no hairdo day ... just laying around until I discovered Cooper was out of food.  Every time I find beef on sale, I buy a package or two and freeze it.  Time to drag it out and heat up the instant pot.  Not that it needs to cook quickly, it's just so much easier on the cleanup.  

Once he hears the "done" beep, he sits by the counter and barks until I get it out and he gets a taste or two.  I'm so well trained.  You would be too if you had to listen to that sharp little "I'm hungry" bark!!!  Little does he know I always steal some for tacos.

That's when I discovered via a Facebook group that a recall is out on the refrigerators in Grand Design Reflection rigs.  There have been several, but up to now, none have been on my model.  It's something about a wire behind the fridge that isn't nailed down, which could spark and cause a fire.  Just what you want to hear.

I haven't received any notices, so I called, but of course it was Good Friday and Easter weekend, so no one was home.  If nothing else, the internet is certainly good for things like that!!  Of course there's no way I'm going back to Lazy Days to get it fixed.  RV dealers seem to have become nightmares, even worse that what my little brain can come up with!!  

I have to give it up to Grand Design ... they have a huge list of mobile techs.  They give you a phone number and you get it fixed just about anywhere you are.  I'm holding good thoughts for not being on the "freak out" list.

I hope everyone enjoys their Easter weekend and celebrates the real reason for this holiday, for He has risen!!  May your deviled eggs not be overcooked, your ham not burned and be thankful you're not eating at my house, because I just described dinner.  

Michael Jordan Is Not Next Door

 Well today I can't say it's a beautiful day in California.  I'm so tired my brain doesn't want to compute even a little bit.  Not only did I have a very long day of getting stuff done, but the night was even longer as the neighbor kid and his loud buddies played basketball about 50 feet from my bedroom window.  I screamed in my head for over an hour ... HOW RUDE CAN YOU BE? ... but it didn't help.  Even if they heard the voodoo curses flying out my window, they ignored them.  

It might have helped had they been better shots, but they hit the rim with a bang EVERY SINGLE TIME! Michael Jordan they are not!  Even ear plugs and a sleeping pill did nothing.  Ugh ..... I wish I was back on the ranch in the middle of nowhere.

The mornings critter cam didn't find much.  When I see those up close and personal white whiskers however, I utter the words OH CRAP, sure that the skunks have returned.  This time it was a light colored kitty, giving some cheek rubs to the red lights.

My neighbor caught this guy roaming my back fence around 3:00 am.  It looks like daylight because she has a brand new fancy dancy phone that takes amazing pictures in the dark.

With no time to lose, I was off to the Vets office with Cooper.  I took a minute to admire the bottlebrush on the way out.  It's growing really nicely and blooming like crazy.  Wow ... something I can plant and not kill.

Cooper loves to go for rides until I pull into this particular parking lot.  I don't blame him.  There's always at least one big dog that never stops barking the entire time we are there.  I don't know what he's saying, but it makes Cooper shiver ... poor baby.  

Not wanting a huge bill, and having read the article posted on my blog about over-vaccination, I opted for one Parvo shot.  It's pretty prevalent around here, killing hundreds of dogs every year.  I passed on the other three shots.  He got an A+ from the Vet, making Mama a happy camper.  He suggested I buy some sheep shanks, antler or beef bones for Cooper to chew on.  

Antler was $25.99 for a six inch piece.  Are you kidding me?  Beef bones it is, except Cooper never has been a chewer of bones.  For Cooper's buddy Gibbs ... I got three at PetSmart for $7 that would keep him busy for days.  Cooper wouldn't touch it.  I grabbed my biggest hammer and smashed it into three smaller pieces.

I'm not saying my sweet puppy is dumb, but he thought it was a ball I should roll to him.  He pawed it, barked at me and generally spread greasy bone marrow all over the living room for two hours.  Sigh ... I don't think there's going to be any chewing.

Next up ... head BACK to town to get my new brake controller installed.  The Tekonsha P3 was most recommended and it ran $200 for the whole shebang, installation taking an hour.  Now to hook it up to my trailer and adjust it.  Interesting thing about this one ... if you pull four trailers, you can set it up with four different settings, then just pick the trailer you are hauling.  

Now exhausted and dreaming of a good night's sleep, I was back at the Elks Lodge for three more meetings.  We are usually out of there in 90 minutes max, but on this night there seemed to be lots of problems.  I got home after almost four hours.  

Follow that up with Michael Jordan wannabes next door and I've got a headache like a party animal!!  Where's the couch?  I think there will be lots of holding it in place today!!!

Bingo At The Castle

 It's a beautiful, finally not quite so cold, California morning.  It's dark and quiet, just the way I like it.  Obviously nothing can top a red fox dumping on your dinner offerings, but Bingo always comes up with something.

My girl Friday was going to be late, so I grabbed a relatively new player who I thought was "with" it and plunked her down at the counting chair.  If she was that excited about helping out, and therefore being first in line to get her bingo cards, she would be perfect for the job.  

I also checked out her hands.  No inch long fingernails studded with half carat rhinestones to get in the way.  I'm happy to say she did an excellent job!  She's on the payroll, which pays a hamburger, fries, drink and maybe a soggy apple crisp dessert.  The best part is she's YOUNG, so she'll be around for quite a while .... I hope.

It actually went pretty smoothly, with only two riots by the peasants.  The caller, a relatively new guy with a good sense of humor (you have to have that here), called a right number but a wrong letter.  Something like G75, which should have been O75.  The lynch mob instantly appeared with torches lit and pitchforks waving.  That's a BIG no-no in the Bingo world.

To make it worse, it happened not once, but TWICE!!!  I covered my ears.  SO many bad words went flying across the room!!  They only settled down when I told them the payouts would be $250 for every single game.  

About half way through I realized I would again be out of cash to pay the masses.  We do give cash back in many cases, depending on how much paper they purchase.  The night ended perfectly for me as the infernal machine spit out a tag that matched my numbers.  I love it when that happens.

It's been long days and even longer nights for me, but I did remember to put the critter cam out.  This was a cool catch ... literally ... as the kitty kitty kept an ever watchful eye out for Foxy!!  Wish I could jump like that.

At long last, practically running on fumes, I decided to fuel up my truck for the coming rally trip.  I drove the ten miles to my favorite station, hoping to see some good numbers.  Wasn't I surprised to find they were 15 cents a gallon MORE than the Gas Buddy app showed.  I quickly looked across the street at the TA Shell station to see $5.99 a gallon .... even CHEAPER!  That's never happened in all my years here.  I quickly pulled across three lanes of traffic to pull in.  

THIS is how long it took.  This is ONE purchase of fuel.  I went inside and put $300 on my card.  I think I could have finished a jigsaw puzzle by the time it stopped.  But WAIT ... it only pumped out 26 gallons.  I need 40.  I couldn't get it to work ... it just said THANK YOU.  

That was the first trip inside.  Every one of these tickets represents a trip inside!!!  No matter what I did, or what they did, it wouldn't pump.  I switched credit cards, then switched debit cards.  Nothing!!  I finally moved to another pump.  STILL nothing!!  Is it just me?

At last I gathered up all the receipts and drove to my more expensive station across the street.  I couldn't believe it ... must be my magnetic personality!!  It didn't want to pump either.  I finally moved to yet another pump and got fuel enough to fill the tank.  

Interestingly enough, the nice lady that I always talk to there said all of their fuel prices are determined by a company in New York.  Sooooo ... New York is setting the prices of fuel in California.  Every morning they call her and say what the numbers will be.  Who knew?

Happy my tank was now full, I parked the truck.  Both my Jeep and truck get the same fuel mileage, but diesel is obviously more expensive.  The Jeep wins that game as I headed off to a budget meeting at the Elks Lodge.  

That meant another long day and a very short night, followed by yet ANOTHER long day today.  I can't wait to just sit on the couch all day Friday!!!!

The Restaurant Critics Speak!!

I've never been known for my cooking, although I can bake a mean Marie Callender's Dutch Apple Pie!!  I must have thought I was though, because at one time I was the cook at a pack station in the high Sierra mountains, serving between 20 and 40 people at every meal.  There was also some search and rescue in between, which is the only reason I took the job.  

I started at 4:00 in the morning by lighting a fire in the wood stove.  Between cooking and dish washing (by hand) I worked until 7:00 at night.  I never got any complaints.

To be honest, I think they hired me because I was the only one who could fry that many eggs over a wood stove and not break the yolks.  As for my culinary expertise, the red fox said it all in this first video.  

I was shocked!!!  Since the other canned dog food didn't go over well at all, I put out some of Cooper's expensive Science Diet kibble.  I mean really, what are they eating?  There's absolutely nothing in my back yard that I'm aware of other than a kitty or two, or maybe a lone gopher.  I guess the restaurant critics have spoken, and it's definitely NOT in my favor.  Check out THIS video!!!!  

Sorry, but I cut off the end of the movie.  I doubt you really want to see THAT image!!  Well that sure added insult to injury!!!  Yup .... in this video there's a nice little pile-o-poo right where the first gourmet offering was spread all over the concrete table.  I was caught between laughing uncontrollably and pure shock!

 Kudos to the Magpies and whatever that second bird is (I tried to look it up but got nowhere) who weren't near as picky.  They ate every bit of dog food, leaving the pile-o-poo for me to clean up.  So much for my culinary presentations.  

With beef prices so high, there won't be any meat scraps for them.  They would probably thumb their nose at it anyway!!

It was another late night at Bingo, which I'll tell you about tomorrow.  Getting in late and up early doesn't compute well, which will be followed by a visit to the vet for meds (for Cooper, not me) and yet another Elks Meeting.  Maybe I'll even sneak in a few minutes of shut eye.

Rollin' In The Cow Pies!!!

 I don't know how many of you have been on a ranch, but I've found over the years that it doesn't matter where it is.  Dogs love to roll in stinky stuff.  Our ranch dogs would find the biggest wettest cow pie they could find, and spend ten minutes rolling in it to give them the perfect perfume for the day.  I think it hales back to the wolves.  Stinky stuff masks their scent so they can hunt undetected.  Heaven forbid there was a dead anything around, because that was our dogs A-One Acme Company perfume preference.

So when I watched this video, I was shocked into laughing out loud!!   I'll just let you watch it.

Who knew that even the sly fox did the same?  You see ... there was this can of dog food that Cooper refused to eat.  I thought why not let the fox have a free meal.  Knowing they are not fond of paper plates or tin pans, I just dumped it on the sidewalk.  I guess now I know why Cooper wouldn't eat it.  It must have been pretty bad!  This is hilarious!!

Now wide awake, I decided I've been sitting WAY too long.  It's time to get outside and hit the roads for some exercise.  I started out walking, but if you've ever been a runner, it doesn't take long before you just can't stand it ... you break into a trot.  I went a lot farther than I thought I would, not having run for so long.  It was about half a mile before I was gasping for air, so I slowed to a walk as I marveled at this Mother Nature creature.  

The males wander the rooftops while the females sit underneath.  Although quite far away from my house, I can hear them call out every morning.

Just look at how long that tail is!!!  I don't think I've ever seen one this magnificent!!

I ran another half mile on the way back home and hit the aspirin bottle, just in case there were going to be residual effects.  Surprisingly, I'm feeling pretty good this morning.  My plan was to then hang out and get some rays from Mr. Sun, but Mother Nature stepped in and said no.  It rained lightly for a couple of hours, forcing me into the sewing room.

I'm liking this one a little better I suppose, but I equate it to those cow pies.  It's probably not one I would like to roll in, but we shall see.  Maybe it will grow on me.

I'll try to get another run in this morning since it's going to be a busy day later on.  I have to meet at the Elks Lodge at 2:30 for a speech writing session, then it's BINGO, followed closely by crashing, hopefully before 11:00 pm.  Cooper's doctor's appointment is early Wednesday.  He's not going to like me much ... it's time for  s  h  o  t  s.  

Hanging With The Bulls

 I'm so excited.  These two beauties showed up again last night and graced my back yard.  I've a pretty good idea why they hang out here ... when I left there were four gopher holes in the back flowerbed. Now there are none.  What better pest control could you possibly have?  What floors me is they jump over that 7' tall fence to get in.  Nature sure is fascinating!

Cooper and I hung out on the patio as usual, but only after a quick flashlight journey around the yard.  Even though there have been no skunks around for a year, I'm not taking any chances.  Nor do I want Cooper chasing a fox, or worse yet, a kitty like Jessie used to do.  Cooper picked up many bad habits from Miss Jessie and kitty racing was one of them.  

He ignores the lizards completely, or maybe at his 13 year old age he just doesn't see them.  This is a rare sight around here.  He was about six inches long and not the least bit scared as he caught some rays.  It's been cold the last couple of days.

After some brain games to keep the old grey matter grey and some of that yummy casserole (just as good as when it was cooked), I finally got motivated to repack the rig.  There's lot of stuff that has to go to this rally and little space to put it in.  I downsized as best I could, getting rid of things I really don't need.

I put the very heavy easy-up inside and had no room left for the 30' 50 amp electric cord.  SO ... I unloaded the easy-up, deciding it would have to ride in the back of the truck.  More rearranging came about when I discovered I have a heater vent into this area.  That's good to know if it gets down to freezing.  

With the sun shining brightly, although I could hear the blast of a breeze here and there, I dressed appropriately and headed out for some rays.  You know how it is when you're retired ... sometimes you have to think of something to fill the hours.  Getting toasty warm while reading a book results in a nice tan so you don't blind anyone when you wear shorts in Arizona.  Yes, it's a problem!

It lasted all of fifteen minutes, by which time I was freezing.  We've been in the low 60's, down to the 30's at night.  Try as I might, I just couldn't take that cold breeze blowing 20 mph across my lounge chair.  

Inside, I finished up the binding on this quilt, but not before I sewed my thumb to the edge.  Did that make you cringe?  You should have been me.  I was so shocked, I just looked at it.  Hey dummy, pull that needle out!  I can't even begin to tell you how much pull it took to remove it, followed by copious amounts of blood.  I guarantee THAT will never happen again!!!  

Now injured, I switched the TV over to the Cowboy channel, who had a BullFest going on.  These cowboys ... they have guts where their brains should be.  I get it, it's an adrenaline rush like no other, but the chance of a painful ending is not one I want to take.  See the bull trying to jump over the gate?  These guys are mean mean mean!

One poor guy got hit in the head with a massive horn and passed out while still tied on to the bull.  These guys are the best of the best and still they get badly hurt.  It's like watching a train wreck ... you just can't look away.  I hung out with the bulls for about three hours.  

That didn't last long however, since SOMEONE required attention.  This occurrence happens all afternoon and half the evening.  Cooper's idea of fun is to roll the ball under something, whereupon he barks like he's waking up the dead, and waits for me to retrieve it.  As you can see, he's good at directing me.  This is why I have rugs stuffed under everything from the stove to the couch.

As much as I'd like to get a little more sun today, it's supposed to rain.  I suppose I'll be forced to do something crazy like vacuum the house.  Sadly, I have to go find fuel today for my truck.  I'm sure it's going to be a record-breaker, somewhere close to $300.  Now THAT makes me cringe!!!

  

Just Like Micky D's .. I'm Lovin' It!!!

 Sometimes it's not all that fun getting out of bed in the morning, even if you know what awaits you.  I'm in dire need of a new mattress, but am too cheap to put out the bucks when there's more important things ... like pizza, dog food and RV stuff to buy.  It was a pretty achy-breaky experience, making for lots of moaning and groaning while stretching on the floor, followed by many doggie kisses, which made it all better!!

After that first cup of coffee, I headed to the fridge to bring out my newest creation.  Super easy this one, with everything done the night before.  Just put the frozen tater tots in the bottom, cover with mild country sausage you browned along with some chopped onions (I left out the peppers) and smother in eggs with half and half, seasoned with salt, pepper and my secret ingredient ..... Cajon seasoning.  Oh, and don't forget a liberal dose of cheese.  Although I don't care for some of the Pioneer Woman recipes, this one turned out to be a keeper too.  Does this not look delicious??

I baked it for an hour total.  It was hard to wait once that smell began to permeate the kitchen.  It's in a cake pan because I only made half the recipe.  This isn't exactly fat free and I didn't want to eat it for the next three weeks.  

Boy am I LOVIN' IT!!!  Just like McDonalds ... this was delicious!  I did add an extra egg and will probably make that two for the rally.  THIS my friends is a good breakfast casserole.    

With that out of the way, I went out to retrieve the critter cam.  I remembered when I left that it would not download the images.  I figured the camera was toast.  Wasn't I surprised to find two images on the SD card from November.  Wait til you see this one!  Just WOW!!  I had no idea ... and check out the entrance ... right over the fence.  I looked and there is nothing on the other side, so they had to jump up and over.

  Boy am I LOVIN' THIS!!  It seems my wild child found a girlfriend!  How fun is that!!  And yes, I'm sure this is who I ran into in the back yard.  Wild kitties around here run the instant they see you.  This guy just froze and watched me for several seconds before slinking off.  The tail was the giveaway.  AND I caught him on camera at the same time I let Cooper out.  

As to the Elks Lodge happenings ... I'm a little on the fence.  I've been back for over two weeks, seen just about everyone at one time or another, and no one told me about the change in "uniform" for the meetings.   We have had a changing of the guards, meaning a new person in charge.   I was the only one out of step, not that I care really, but there is this thing called a telephone.  

Then, quite by accident, I found out there had been a budget meeting I was supposed to attend since I'm a trustee, except no one told me about that either.  Makes you wonder, right?  Almost in the same breath I was asked to help out with the Mother's Day breakfast.  Hmmmmmmm!!  I have lots of time to ponder that one since it's not until May.

For now, I'm trying to get the rig organized to make room for all the stuff I have to take with me to the RV rally.  No tables since they won't fit, but the easy-up might fit in the belly .... if I can get rid of some junk.  These smaller fifth wheels don't have all that much storage room.

Right NOW however, I'm headed back to the critter cam to see what frolicking happened over night!!  The anticipation is exciting!!!

Shrinkage ... It's Happening All Over

Too many late nights and early mornings have taken their toll.  I actually slept in until 5:00 this morning, so it's time to shake off the fairy dust and get back to normal.  What could be better to start off the day than a French toast casserole!

Knowing I would never finish off the 9 x 13 pan it asked for, I used a smaller cake pan, with mixed results.  As you can see, it exploded in the pan, eventually shrinking back down to normal.  I'm not sure what I was expecting with this recipe.  I think maybe more of a custard-like consistency.

As it turned out, it was truly just like a slab of French toast, but with a very crusty top.  As usual, I poured on a big slug of syrup.  Syrup makes EVERYTHING better!!  I wasn't feeling that this recipe was going to work until I took that first bite.  Yaowee!!!  This stuff is delicious!  I quickly decided this would be recipe #1 for the RV rally.  If you would like to try it, look up Pioneer Woman french toast casserole

Speaking of syrup, while scrounging around in the fridge for that little bottle, I happened to see a couple of pull dates on my condiment stack in the door.  Good grief ... there was mustard from 2018.  I know it lasts forever, but even that's a little too long for me.  

A further check found four bottles from 2019, and some very suspect ketchup dated 2020.  I cleaned house ... well not the house, but at least the fridge door.  Now I've got room for so much more!!!

That's when I remembered on my last foray (Wordle word) to the grocery store I had picked up some Easter candy.  Self control was never my best attribute!  These are perfect for when I need something sweet, but would never eat an entire bar.  Body shrinkage has never been in the cards for me, probably because of that awful sweet tooth!

I tried my first one yesterday.  I was shocked!!  Look at this teeny tiny piece of candy!!!  It has shrunk by 50%.  Just like toilet paper, I'm telling you they are diminishing the size of EVERYTHING, yet charging the same price!  So much for the good feeling from eating only ONE ... now I have to eat TWO!!

With nothing scheduled for yesterday ... on purpose ... Cooper and I hung out on the couch discussing the thing I caught in the back yard yesterday morning.  Honestly, I have no idea what it was, I just saw two big eyes when I flashed the flashlight around.  I do that now every single time he goes out in the dark.  I want no repeat of the skunk festival.

I rushed back to shut Cooper in, then found it slinking away .... not running, just sneaking off.  Weird, it's back end was almost on the ground.  A kitty?  It was big enough to be a fox, but I've never seen one walk like that.  I really couldn't say what it was, so I set up the game camera last night.  

Due to lack of shuteye, we both feel asleep on the couch and napped for over an hour in the evening ... a rare occurrence for me, not to mention Cooper.  He's usually begging me to throw the ball.

Oh and one more thing ... Arizona sent the title for my Jeep.  Now I wonder what I'm supposed to do with it.  I've got my plates and registration.  I think I'll just stick it in the safe and see what happens.  I'll probably get arrested, but at least the horrible food in jail would help with MY shrinkage problem!!

My How Things Change

I scrambled yesterday morning.  Just like my usual morning scrambled eggs, I was all over the place trying to get my act together to drop off my truck for some coffee of her own.  I'm always up very early in the morning, but I never leave the house before 9:00.  Getting out the door by 7:30 is a big stretch for me.

I went prepared with a crossword puzzle book and a REAL book to read, along with my phone charger since my battery never seems to last even two hours any more.

I pulled in and no one was home.  Come to find out, they were actually there, having snuck in the back door.  I politely asked if I could have the truck back by 3:00 since I had Elk business to attend to.  Then, in my best non-street-walker imitation, I headed out to walk the eight blocks to the lodge where I would sit while my truck glugged down some $$$$.

Gosh, has this town gone to the dogs.  I see prostitutes walking the streets all the time, along with many homeless guys, all who seem to have puppies, but THIS .... this surprised me.  There are so many buildings in disrepair that are falling down.  This one, a Kentucky Fried Chicken staple of town, was gone altogether.

I was really shocked at the number of empty decrepit buildings in spite of the City spending millions on new one-way streets and wide sidewalks.  No one goes down there any more except people looking for a place to spend the night in the bushes.  My how things have changed.  I was pretty happy I didn't run into any of them as I walked along with a stranglehold on my purse.

Here's the worst part ..... it smelled.  It smelled like someone's bathroom, right here in downtown.  That shouldn't be surprising to me since it IS the bathroom of many homeless and drug addicted folks.  Just WOW!!!

I knew there was a bakery on the way, so I stopped in without reading the sign.  It's now an Asian bakery, and full of the biggest fattest donuts I've ever seen!!  I was so entranced with this amazingly delicious piece of pastry that I almost forgot to take a picture!!

I made it to the Elks Lodge, and now I'm sitting at the bar with my phone plugged in enjoying this treat.

The kitchen crew had their music on BLAST!  Don't get me wrong, I love country music and I run mine pretty loud, but this was more than I could handle.  I escaped to the back parlor where one lone chair was calling my name.  I spent three hours here, mostly wasting time on Facebook.

Sometimes when walking around town at 8:15 in the morning, you find something that trumps the garbage covered streets.  Sinaloa, a small restaurant that has been open in the same place since I was a kid, was out on the street selling their burritos for breakfast.  

I like supporting hard working folk, so I grabbed a carne asada burrito to go for lunch.  First bite ..... YUM!!  Then I accidentally put it down on top of the salsa to get out my camera.  The salsa fell over and smothered the burrito on the bottom.  Oh well ... how hot can it be?  Well let me just say ...  LIKE FIRE!!!  Woohoo did that wake me up!!

To my great surprise, they called at noon to say my truck was done.  Okay then ... now I have to walk the gauntlet BACK to the other side of town.  I passed two street walker gals in their tightest, shortest and finest wear, who gave me the evil eye since I was in their territory.  Really girls, no one is interested in this old lady!!  

Now for the REAL shock factor.  It cost me $589 to get the oil, transmission fluid and rear differential fluid changed.  I suppose that's cheap since I can't remember if the last two have EVER been done.  Lucky for me, they found no pieces of metal in any of the fluids.  I'm good to go for another 120,000 miles.  

Then it was off to the house where I tried to get things caught up before heading out to the Lodge meeting.  That turned out to be something completely unexpected also, but I'm too tired to relay it now.  I got home at 10:30 ... WAY past my bed time.  It's a three cup-o-joe morning!!!

Testing ... 1. 2. 3

 In spite of all the political garbage in California, and it is plentiful, it was another sun filled beautiful day to hang outside.  While I drank my coffee on the patio way later in the morning than I should have, Cooper patrolled his property.  

Someone, or something, wanders the yard every night leaving signs for Cooper to sniff out in the morning.  So far I've been lucky ... there haven't been any skunks.  Until today!  I didn't see any, but I could sure smell them.  I'm hoping all the grubs they've been after are now dead since having the corrals sprayed.  I'm trying very hard to be retired from the Skunk Hunter business.  I guess it's time for the critter cam.

The roses when crazy in the last two days, blooming like never before.  They actually put on their very best dresses twice a year, making for a colorful surprise when they bloom.

Enough sitting around, it was time to hit the grocery store yet again.  I received one of THOSE emails.  "Can you bring a breakfast casserole to the rally?"  Gosh, do you realize who you are asking to cook??  I definitely need a test run before subjecting anyone to my food.  

As I was walking around, I spotted this.  Chopped chicken, already marinated, just like the taco meat I bought last week for $4.00 a pound.  This is $9.00 a pound!!!  And it's CHICKEN!!  Not only are the fuel stations making a killing, the grocery stores are doing the same since they have to pay to have stuff delivered ... by trucks that use fuel!!

This is also a good sign of things to come since the big whigs raised income taxes to be paid by corporations.  They certainly won't be taking it out of their profits, they will raise YOUR cost to purchase their products.  Here's a really good example of that.

Anyhow ..... I'm going with sausage, eggs and tater tots on this casserole ... a recipe you put together the night before and bake in the morning.  Now you see why I need to test it out first.  But THEN I had the bright idea of a French toast casserole, which sounded MUCH better to my sweet tooth.  Too bad I forgot the French bread.

Back home I barbecued the chicken I bought at the carniceria on my pretty clean barbecue!!  I had a little trouble getting it to light until I discovered one of the little wires had come loose.  TA-DA ... it lit right up. I was a little disappointed when I discovered the marinated chicken breast I bought turned out to be boneless thighs.  There was a bit of a language problem there.

I chopped it up and made street tacos without any real street taco ingredients except the tortillas.  They were delicious, but next time I'll pass on the chicken and just get beef!!!

Knowing I really needed to start up the test kitchen for those casseroles, I went BACK to the store for French bread.  Can you believe it?  They didn't have one single loaf.  I thought about substituting something like Kings Hawaiian rolls.  Just imagine them smothered with syrup!!  Instead, I drove clear across town to pick up two loaves, just in case the first recipe bombs!!

Back home, I ran a quick test on my little 3 qt Instant Pot purchased some time back.  It's the perfect RV size for Cooper and I.  I quickly learned a lesson.  Although it says add one cup of water, that was too much.  It didn't want to come to pressure.  It probably had something to do with the amount of water that came out of the frozen meat I stuck inside.  I removed quit a bit and VOILA!!!  It worked!

It's funny how these have come into vogue.  I used a pressure cooker (and pressure canner) all my life on the ranch for cooking everything from pot roast to potatoes to cowboy beans.  Never gave it a second thought.  Then they invented one you just plug in and it became all the rage.  

Today is going to be a lesson in how to be bored.  I'm dropping my truck off for three oil changes this morning.  With no one to give me a ride, I'm walking down to the Elks Lodge where I'll try to live through seven hours of boredom.  Really, I'm hoping it won't take that long, but I'm not holding my breath.  

Then there's Board meetings for three hours ... UGH!  Hopefully I get home in time to make one of those casseroles and stick it in the fridge before I fall asleep.  I'll let you know how it turns out.  Testing 1 2 3 means I'll be doing this for three days!!!

I Ran Out Of Money!!

Another gorgeous cool quiet morning is in the books.  I'd show you a picture, but it would be all black since my morning coffee ritual is always way before the sun rises.  I had lots planned, but got absolutely nothing done.

Thank you so much for the RV water system recommendations.  I'll do a little more research and see what I can come up with.  At the moment, I just buy cases of bottled water for me and the critters.  Jonathan for one, has to have good non-chlorine water twice a day, so if I can find something that works, it will make it much easier for me.

You know what this picture means ..... it's BINGO time!!

What better way to prepare for that crowd than cinnamon rolls!!  This time I bought the small ones, and I must say, they aren't quite as good as the big ones.  I've no idea why.  It seems SOMEONE got me started on these and their names are Patsy and Bill Richards!!

Unfortunately, all my other plans for the pre-Bingo time went right out the window when I decided to have lunch a little early.  It was Caesar salad in a bag.  I double checked the pull date and it still had two days to go.  I ate one small bowl.

In no time I was sick as a dog ..... literally!!  I imitated Cooper like a pro, but at least I didn't throw up on my bed.  I guarantee you there won't be any more Caesar salads in my future!!

Happily I cleaned up enough to head on down to Bingo, but passed on the obligatory glass of wine.  I took with me a 10 quart Instant Pot.  Who in the world uses something this big?  I got stung when I didn't pay attention to the big sale they had going on for the NEW instant pot air fryer.  Turns out it was half price, but double the size.  There's no way I would ever cook anything in something that huge.

I donated it to the Elks kitchen.  The Chef was there and said he was sure they could use it, and if not, the Bingo kitchen could use it for things like chili verde or pulled pork.  You can't imagine how much space I now have in my cupboard!!  

And so ..... let the games begin!!  I completely fooled everyone by switching out the blue speed bingo cards for black ones that have been sitting around for years.  They were SO confused!  Once these are gone, we'll go back to blue and mess them up all over again!!

Things went smoothly for the most part, but we have more than 50% new players, meaning they all want to try the scam game on us.  They don't have a clue how long I've been doing this!!  They will learn pretty quickly that we don't play that game here!!  A husband and wife tried to say we didn't give them six of their papers.  They might have been believable if they said one or two!!

With 122 players this night, we gave out lots of cash.  We are allowed to give them cash back from their debit cards (only with a Bingo buy-in), which many players do instead of going to the bank.  ONLY debit cards ... you are not allowed to gamble using credit cards.  It was a record setting night ... we had over $3,000 in debit transactions.  

That's not good because it means I have no cash left in my box to make the winning payouts.  I had to borrow quite a chunk from the other half ...  pull tab sales.  That has never happened before in my twelve years of doing this!

There was quite a bit of accounting and lots of plain counting at the end of the night to make sure it came out right.  Thank goodness the infernal machine was nice to me on this day.

I had a big list of things to do, but I'm still not feeling up to par.  It's probably just that I need diesel for my truck and I don't want to pay the ridiculous prices here.  That would make anyone sick!!