Sunday Football!!

Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest.  When I do that though, I just sit and think about all the things I still need to do, making list after list.  There are yellow pieces of sticky notes all over the house.  My lists are getting pretty long, from Vet to Plumber to Dentist appointments along with testing more recipes, washing the rig and changing out the AC filters!!

The games were exciting this weekend, but not enough to hold my attention long, so I put together a new brown sugar oatmeal cookie recipe.  Oatmeal is really healthy, right???  They came out delicious!!  Not a single burned cookie in the batch!  A few underdone, but NO burned ones!!

I can't say as much for the internet right now!  I've tried to add the next picture four times and the page is blank.  So I closed everything out and tried it again.  Voila!!!   You can't tell there is glass in the windows they are so clean!  I figured I might as well get some work done while I watched the football games.

A few months ago, I went to an open house at a place I used to own.  I discovered something VERY interesting.  They had taken all the screens off the windows and it looked amazing.  Since I had to remove them to wash off two years worth of dust and dirt, spiders and dead flies, I just put them in the garage.  I never open the windows anyway .... my weird thing is to open the back door and put a large fan in the doorway, turning it on high.  It pulls all that wonderful cool air into the house, lowering the temperature sometimes by 10 degrees in the morning.

My secret is Don's Mobile Glass Professional Cleaner.  Spray it on, wipe it off.  The stuff is magic!!  Course I don't do ALL the windows, that would take me a week, just the ones I look out the most ..... Ha!!  I have to say that clean windows inside and out give you a new perspective on the day and a great sense of accomplishment!!

This morning I'm off to the BIG Fresno Fair to meet up with bestie RV friends Barbara and Tom Westerfield.  Their daughter runs the flower exhibits, among a myriad of other things.  I'm hoping I can pick up a few tips and enjoy a day at the fair!!

Still Catching Up On Repairs

Even though I've been back over a week, I'm still catching up on repairs around the house.  The cleaning, my least favorite thing to do, is taking up most of the day.  I'm cleaning places I've never cleaned before, like all the recesses on the doors and every mopboard, so I guess that's a good thing.

It's almost Halloween, so I thought twice about cleaning the front porch.  There were so many spider webs and lovely black widows, that I took a shovel with me, just in case.  No use letting the little kids get tangled up in REAL webs before they get their candy.

I bought everything I needed to make a great stew, cutting and chopping for an hour to get everything in the pot.  Isn't it beautiful??  It was supposed to have a crockpot liner under all those veggies.  I purchased a box to test them out, then forgot they were on the counter .... sitting right next to the pot. I was so intent on cutting everything up, I missed them completely ... or maybe it's just old age, which I refuse to believe!!

Everybody into the pot!!!  I followed a yummy sounding recipe, but in the end when done, it just didn't have the flavor.  Maybe a can or two of soup would have helped.  The next time Dan Chance makes HIS stew, I'm looking over his shoulder the entire time, because his was mighty tasty!  At least this batch wasn't burial material!!

While the stew cooked in my new crockpot (which did an amazing job by the way, even turned itself off) I replaced the handle on my bathroom toilet for the third time.  

I have to admit I know the culprit in this case is the tabs I put in the tank.  They just dissolve everything in or out of the water.  The thing is, if you had an aversion to cleaning like I do, it's worth it if I have to replace the handle because the one tiny little screw melted.  This all hails back to my mother forcing me to clean the house rather than help my dad with the horses and cattle, which was my passion.  Therefore, it's all my mother's fault!!!  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!

On to the burned out light bulbs.  My living room alone has nine ... yes NINE lights in one room, every one being those big spotlight kind.  Although only a few have actually burned out since I moved in 5 years ago (I rarely turn lights on), I'm replacing all of them with LED lights so I CAN use them if I wish.  Expensive .... you bet your britches they are ... $10.00 each.  That adds up to $90 for one room alone.  They say however, that I probably will never have to replace them again before I die.  If I move, I'm taking them with me!!

Every single light is a kind of "pot" light ... this one being out on the patio.  When I went to replace this one, the entire fixture fell from the ceiling.  How the heck do I fix THIS??  I finally figured out there were two clamps that rusted through, meaning it will never stay up again.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a replacement for this??  It seems every light fixture in this house was installed by some now defunct company in Modesto and no one seems to know where the fixtures came from.  That means I have to buy a different kind and try to figure out how to install it.  YIKES!!  Electrical work is not my forte!!!  For now, it will just have to hang there.

Here's my other problem ... stereo speakers in the ceiling.  There are FOUR of these 12" speakers installed in the living room alone.  When I purchased the house, they were all missing ... all 25 of them.  At $100 apiece, I didn't have quite enough money to replace them, so two holes remained empty.  Now that I can afford to replace those two, I can't find them anywhere.  I thought to take the ones from the front door or laundry room (yup, they are EVERYWHERE), but I have no way to fill in the hole.  This little problem is a thorn in my side!!

In other news, I ordered a small pressure washer to clean both my house and the RV.  I wonder if it will work on the dogs too?  Nah, probably not.  Next up, three of the four lights on my garage don't work any more.  Why don't they make these things to last more than five years?  The front porch light is the same ... of the three sockets, only two work.  If I had any clue whatsoever, I would take them apart and see if I could figure out how to fix them.  I just don't want to burn my house down the way I burn my attempts at cooking!!

An Evening In Hawaii!!

The problem is that a stay in Hawaii is usually accompanied by Mai Tais, right?  Now I'm not really fond of alcohol, in fact I rarely partake.  The trouble with that is when you DO have a couple of drinks, your memory goes right up in smoke!!

I spent a little more time in the yard yesterday, along with a couple of hours cleaning and decluttering.  I would probably be much better at this if all these things didn't have so many memories attached to them.  Like the jars from around the world, including Costa Rica and Cozumel .....

The Polynesian feather dance rattles I found at an obscure little store at the end of the road on Kauai and of course my horse hair bowl from the Grand Canyon and the last pair of handmade moccasins from an elderly woman on Unimak Island in the Bering Sea, just to name a few.  Maybe I can donate all this amazing stuff to a museum.  I'd sure hate to see it end up at Goodwill!!

So back to the Mai Tais ... I went out to our little County Park Lake Yosemite, where all the sprinklers have been shut off and hundreds of trees are dead and dying.  There's one grassy spot that continues to be watered.  What a shame our politicians throw our tax dollars away on parties for their re-election while the trees at the park die!!

At the end of the road is Rotary Park II, one of two new sections they built because three weren't enough.  The Merced Arts Council was having this Luau as a fundraiser to help continue their work, whatever that might be, since I'm not at all familiar with them.  I don't get involved in things like this ... I leave it to the big wigs and mucky mucks in town.  My Elks Lodge Bingo group purchased tickets for ten however, so I went along to fill a seat.

I took my camera with the intention of getting photos of a beautiful sunset.  The clouds didn't cooperate ... they dissipated into the breeze.  Still, it was rather beautiful and peaceful. 

There is still a little water in the lake with the inlet completely bone dry.  It's October already ... could we have some rain pretty please?

By now it was dark dark and the line to the Mai Tais was 30 people long.  These big wigs really know how to drink!!  There was a huge barbecue manned by our County Sheriff (an Elks member) and hundreds of people, most from big businesses in town.  Who knew this would be such a big deal?  

The food was wonderful ... pulled pork, bbq chicken, cole slaw with pineapple and Hawaiian macaroni salad.  In Hawaii, all macaroni salad has potatoes and vice versa!  When he said to head to the buffet line, the Castle Lawyer and I jumped right up.  I wish I had a picture of the food to show you, but I completely forgot ... those darn Mai Tais!!  By the time we finished our dinner, the line was still 50 people long and they were running short of food.  Be first in line I tell you ..... 

Wondering why this picture is so blurry?  Because that second Mai Tai messed up my camera.  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't hold it still enough to get a clear picture.  If I had known there was going to be entertainment, I would have brought my flash.  I'm sure the guys would have liked to see those four cute young girls in their coconut tops and grass skirts!!

With the dancing entertainment over, the auction began with the words "this is not your local make-a-deal auction ... this is a FUNDRAISER and we need you to bid HIGH"!!  With only five items up for sale, mostly dinners for 25-50 people, I didn't see any need to stick around.  I don't know that many people to invite.  No doubt the mucky mucks would have outbid me anyway.  These auctions carry bragging rights!

Now if I could just find my car!!  The Castle Lawyer was smart, she parked on the end.  I used my phone flashlight to light the path so she wouldn't fall.  Then I tried to find MY car.  Too bad I didn't count the rows when I arrived.  Fifteen minutes of walking up one row and down another, clicking my car keys so everyone would know my car was unlocked, I finally saw a hint of light as my headlights were blinding everyone still sitting in the patio of the building.  No worries, it was dark so they couldn't tell it was me.

Lucky for me, the puppies let me sleep in until 6:00 this morning.  No hangover, a good thing since I have lots to get done today!!  With good weather expected for the next few days, I need to start waxing the rig.  

Anyone want a fake plastic lei??  I have one I'll sell you CHEAP!!

Fixing The Mess!! Grrrrrrr

One of the more frustrating things about RV traveling is coming home to a yard that looks like it's got mange, not to mention all the dead bushes.  Why aren't service people responsible enough to provide a decent service??  I just don't get it!!

After a quick walk-around, I discovered eight dead or dying plants, simply due to lack of water.  I've gone over this with my gardener again and again, and he promises to adjust the sprinklers and make sure everything is working.  Promises promises!!!

The biggest problem at this point is their use of the weedeater to weed the flowerbeds.  As you can imagine, the drip irrigation lines get cut right and left, not to mention ripping the emitters off the hoses and sending them flying away into never neverland.  Even though he promised he would fix those EXACT drip lines, when I checked them yesterday, I picked up four lines that were attached to thin air.  

Now I'm MAD since I had to PAY his dad to fix them the day before I left on my last trip.  This is the THIRD time I've told him about this problem, but it seems to fall on deaf ears.  I guess I have to fix them MYSELF!!!  No worries, I'm deducting it from his check!!

So what's up with THIS??  One whole section of my front yard looks like it's got mange or something.  Now tell me they can't see this when they mow the yard!!!  For this I pay him $170 a month for the front and back yard!!  The problem is, like everything else around here, it's hard to find someone to even show up, let alone do a decent job. 

This corner of the back yard HAD five nice plants here, blooming beautifully when I left.  Every drip line was cut and all but one (barely surviving) has died.  I rebuilt and buried all the drips for this area, but doubt the plants will come back.  

My long row of rose bushes ... really they were supposed to be carpet roses when the original landscaper planted them .... looks great except THIS one.  Obviously, it's dying.  Can't they see this??  Apparently they are blind to the fact that it's not getting any water.  I just don't understand!!

I don't mind working in the garden, in fact I love planting things and watching them grow.  I guess as usual, instead of counting on someone to take of things while I'm gone, I'll just have to do it myself.  

Cooper volunteered to take a chunk out of his leg and I think I'll take him up on it.  Either that or not paying the bill might get their attention.  

You know all those advertisements for Home Advisor?  I looked them up on the internet and put in for some landscape/security lighting around my house.   Amazingly, I got a call within the hour from a Landscape Architect/Water Advisor.  Perfect!!!  I'm going to get his input on more security lighting, as well as my front lawn.  

My next request will be to remove all the grass in the back yard (except one small section for the dogs) and put in stone, or something that doesn't require mowing and water.  Maybe even the names of some cactus I can plant that don't need drip irrigation!!  That should cut my bill WAY back.  I know, I should sell the house and go full-time.  Unlike other motorhome families, I really need a home base ... someplace to go back to ... and I really do LOVE my house.  If I sell this one, it will be to buy another in Oregon!!  

With most of the yard work completed, a gorgeous sunset soothed my ragged nerves as I sat with the puppies outside last night.  

The trees looked like they were on fire!!

Tonight I hope we have the same beautiful sunset, as I will be out at our little Lake Yosemite ... the mud puddle outside of town ... for a Hawaiian Luau fund raiser.  Definitely taking my camera and hoping for some sunset on water pics!!!  In the meantime, it's back to checking sprinklers!!

No Bad Mushrooms, I Promise!

I'd like to thank my friends for checking up on me yesterday, and apologize to my new readers for totally confusing you!!  The Magic Kingdom is NOT Disneyland ... it's what I affectionately call my local Elks Lodge on Tuesday nights when I cashier their Bingo games.  Really, I wasn't smoking anything, nor did I ingest some strange bad mushrooms resulting in hallucinations, although if you have ever been to an Elks Bingo game here, that might not be a bad idea!!

The people I work with, the King, the King's Regent, the Castle Lawyer and the crew of moneychangers were all exceedingly happy to see me return and take charge of the infernal machine ... the new cash register!!  Our players, the peasants, drop quite a bit of money playing Bingo every week, including their grocery money.  For most, it is the only time they get out of the house for a little fun.

The good news is that the majority of money is returned to the peasants in the way of Bingo Payouts, with any remaining going to the Elks Childrens Fund, or other local charities.  Being Cinderella, my Prince Charming has NOT come to take me away and I have lost a lot of shoes along the way.

My persona didn't end at the door when the clock hit Ten.  Cinderella came home to Kissack Castle (my house, named by my friends for it's castle-like appearance) to spend an entire day on her hands and knees scrubbing floors.  Hardwood floors are lovely, but boy they can be a LOT of work.   The problem was every time I walked by a window, it showed just how dirty the floors were.  Cinderella needed to get to work!!  You can sure see the difference in before and after!

On my knees with my trusty pail of water and towels, I washed the entire floor, removing mountains of Jessie hair and Cooper ball slobber.  If you've ever thrown a ball for a dog, you know what I'm talking about.  Once clean and dry, I headed to the starting point again with my bottle of Bona and twelve old washcloths.  I've tried using their fancy mop things, but it just seems to spread the dirt around, not pick it up.

Several hours later, I was half done as the picture above shows.  It's beautiful, but at what cost??  My knees will never be clean again, having rocks and pieces of dirt embedded forever.  By the time I finally completed the entire house, everything hurt from my toes to the top of my head where I hit that coffee table!!  Cinderella didn't get paid enough.  No wonder she jumped at the first Prince that came along!!

The Prince Charming in my storybook is an Elks friend that lives a few miles away.  He and his family go through a lot of expense every year to open the best Pumpkin Patch in the west.  They grow most all of the pumpkins, have a great barn where you can have events like birthday parties and weddings, along with a petting zoo, a Castle stage where you can play Juliet (or Cinderella), a hay ride through the corn fields (no scary monsters here), a corn maze and the Hunter Farms Mining Company where you get a bag of pay dirt, which you work in their sluice box to find gemstones, crystals and artifacts.

The piece de resistance however, is the time travel tractor-train ride through the corn field to discover an Old West town, an Indian Village, a mining community (with gold mine and waterfall) and best of all ..... you go back to the days of dinosaurs!  Life-size REAL looking dinosaurs, some sitting on eggs, some caring for babies ... I'm telling you it's just amazing the creatures that are hand made in China and shipped in containers to this back yard, all for the kids enjoyment.  

There is a small fee for the train ride and the mining company and of course you DO have to pay for any pumpkins you take home, but their prices are very reasonable.  Honestly, this is not a money making endeavor ... they just like to see smiles on the kids faces.

There are flowers gardens all around, a race track full of tricycles for kids to ride, a HUGE stack of hay for kids to play on, not to mention old farm equipment around every corner.  If you want a great experience for your kids or grandkids and are in Central California, check out Hunter Family Farms Pumpkin Patch.  I'm going over for pictures this week, once I heal up from all the floor work!!

A Magical Night In The Kingdom

Yes, it was that time again.  Time to brave the elements and visit the Magic Kingdom (Elks Lodge Bingo).  I must say, it has changed quite a bit from shining light Happyville to grumpy Peasant Town, with a few exceptions.  As you can imagine, people come and go as their pocketbooks and health fade away.  I'm pretty sure some are even living in the local dungeon.

The Castle Lawyer was bright and cheery, one of the reasons I still visit the castle, and several of the moneychangers had smiles all around.  Especially since one of them was now relieved of the infernal machine upon my return.  He stated that any problems with the thing were the Lawyer's fault!!

Prince Charming was off growing pumpkins on his estate.  I guess he figures to make a few dollars replacing all the ones that get turned into carriages.  I love his imagination as I understand he has set up an entire scene from Jurassic Park in his backyard to scare the kiddies at Halloween.  How cool is THAT???  My kind of Prince Charming!!  Really, he just likes to see the smiles on the kids faces when they see a huge corn field full of dinosaurs.

It was a little slow as peasants trickled in handing over their hard earned tax dollars.  Some must be hiding out in the bushes, because only 110 showed up.  The huge hotball rewards had been won previously, making our little setup less desirable.  Where the big money goes, so go the peasants.

Not used to staying up that late, I required sustenance, so in spite of my misgivings, I decided to taste the fare from the kitchen, which sits right next to the dungeon.  I knew the long piece of meat sitting in a bun probably wouldn't be good for my diet, but I ate it anyway.  There's nothing like delicious meat burned to a crisp over hot coals to give you indigestion and keep you awake at night!!  It worked like a charm!!

At the end of the evening, the infernal machine did it's thing and spit out a tape that matched the taxes we had collected.  HURRAH!!!  Time to leave the castle.

The King seems to be off galavanting around the Kingdom with the neighboring King, so the Regent King walked us to our awaiting chariots.  You never know when there might be some disgruntled peasants hiding in the dark that want to knock you in the head.

Thankfully, my chariot did NOT turn into a pumpkin on the way home and my hounds had done a good job of guarding the homestead.  Just like Cinderella, I'll be spending all day today scrubbing the floors on hands and knees.  Then it will be time to feed the peregrine falcon living in the cavern off the main chamber.  I'm so happy he's doing well since being rescued from his kidnappers.  More on that tomorrow ... I'm off to find my bucket and mop!!

It's MELTING!!!!

As usual around this time of year, the sunsets have been pretty gorgeous.  We have had a threat of rain most every day, but no sighting of the wet stuff recently.  You can't help but have a pretty sunset when the sky is so full of smog and dirt.  Almost instantly after our last good rain, the skies returned to murky gray.

Make hay when the sun shines, and make enchiladas when it's cloudy and overcast.  This is a recipe I pretty much can't mess up.  Open can, fry hamburger, cover in cheese.  YUM!

The three pans above went in the freezer for future meals.  Since I'm only feeding one, I always put at least half away so I don't have to eat my cooking seven days in a row!!  I layered the remaining ingredients in this pan, making kind of an enchilada pie.  This will last FOUR days!!  I could probably eat it a lot faster, but I'm trying to pay at least a little attention to portion size!!

Dessert turned out to be a decadent yummy, quick-to-fix success!!  Well not quite a success, since a lot of melted ice cream ended up on the floor of the freezer.  Yeah really ...... I'm ashamed to admit.  So here's the recipe:  a little less than 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup quick cooking oats, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup chopped nuts (stir all that together), then pour in 1/2 cup melted butter and mix well.  Put on a baking pan in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When done, break apart if needed and let it cool.  That's the important part ... let it cool!!!!!  Then layer in a 6 inch springform pan ... half the crumble (press down), caramel sauce, a pint of ice cream, caramel sauce and the rest of the crumble.  Cover and freeze.  Wasn't I surprised when I pulled it out of the freezer for dinner to find ice cream dripping (and now frozen) from the top shelf all the way to the bottom.

I guess that crumble was just a little too warm and most of the ice cream in the very middle melted, ran out the springform pan and made a BIG mess.  It was worth it though!  When I tasted the crumble I wasn't impressed, but when you mix it with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream, it was delectable, tasty and kick-the-bucket good!!!!  By the way, double the recipe for a regular pan ... this one is pretty small since I wasn't feeding an army.

Jonathan is settling in nicely, eating up a storm and testing every inch of the cage.  He can be a pretty good escape artist.  With a little inspiration from me dancing around the house screaming his name and making crazy bird noises (scaring the dogs half to death), he even did a little disco dance for me!!

What else is going on??  Well tonight ..... TONIGHT .... is crazy Magic Kingdom night!!!

Pretty Booooooy!!!

My baby boy is back home!!  Actually, it's a girl, but her name is Jonathan.  It's a short story .. I have probably mentioned that I raised exotic birds for quite a few years ... cockatoos, parrots, sun conures, lorikeets and love birds to name a few.  It seems they liked the 80 x 200 foot aviary in my back yard.

Conditions have to be just perfect to get these guys to lay eggs.  Once they hatch and have been fed by mom for a week or so, you pull the babies and hand feed them (a warm special formula fed with a baby spoon) for three or four months, before they go to their forever families.  I say forever because these yellow head parrots in particular live to be about 75 years old.  Jonathan just turned 40.  Hard to believe, right??  If his cage doesn't fall off any more counter tops, he will outlive me!!

When born, there's no way to tell whether they are male or female, so I named this one Jonathan.  He's quite vocal and says pretty boy, what cha doing, I love you, Jonathan, disco and a few more.  The plan was to use him for breeding, which meant surgical sexing by a vet at about two years old.  Come to find out, Jonathan is a girl.  Nowadays they use ultrasound, although owning exotic birds is pretty much a thing of the past.  The aviary business went broke, but I kept Jonathan as I was still hand feeding him.

It's going to be a little different having him back home from his two year visit with my friends while I traveled out of the country.  Just before taking off to Alaska, I discovered I had completely forgotten to get any Vet papers for him, so he moved in with a friend.  Now I'm VERY happy to have him back home.

Jon went through a long stage of illness in his younger life and is pretty lucky to be alive.  I gave him many MANY shots at all hours of the day and night and created a special diet later used by Davis Veterinary School.  Traveling puts them under stress, not to mention close contact with humans from whom they can contract a couple of killer sicknesses.  Some of the bigger birds travel well, but I worry about Jon.  Did I mention they are a pain in the butt??  Luckily he's a pain I love!!  Yes, that IS a light beside his cage to keep him warm at night and he gets waited on hand and foot!!

One of the things I can actually bake without any risk of catastrophe is bird biscuits.  Exotics require a lot of vitamins from "orange" things, like sweet potatoes, which he refuses to eat, so I include that and lots of other good stuff in his morning biscuit.  He'll eat carrots, sunflower seeds, hard boiled eggs, apples, bananas for which he needs a napkin (terribly messy) along with an occasional treat of Ritz cracker.  Yup he's spoiled!!!

Now if I can only figure out how to attach his cage to the inside of my motorhome so it won't fall off when going through a round-de-round!!  That was a disaster I don't want to repeat!!  I think I can strap it down to the table, but that means no more use of the table.  Oh well, it's a small sacrifice!!

Jonathan is calling as I type ... it's time for disco dancing!  We both yell disco as he bobs up and down moving his head and one foot!!  I'm so glad he's home!!

FEAR THE POT!!

If you lived in MY house, the sight of my new smaller crock pot would bring fear to your heart.  OH NO!!  Another gadget she'll use to try and produce something edible.  The first one was too small ... the second one was WAY too big .... so maybe this medium sized one will be JUST RIGHT!!

For some reason, I tend to think it's not me OR the crockpot ... it's the recipes I chose to COOK in the crockpot.  Ok, I admit ... yesterday, it was me ... ALL ME!!  I took one of those packets of rice and herbs that I purchased at the Farmers Market in Oregon and matched it up with a recipe from a book ... kinda sorta.  The packet called for three cups of water, but that seemed excessive, so I used TWO cups, a can of soup and added some chicken I browned.  Sounds good, right???  Chicken and rice!

Well for heavens sake ... I read the recipe wrong.  It said to cook for four hours on low ... I set it up for four hours on high.  Luckily I was around to check it occasionally and give it a good stir as the rice mixture became glue on the bottom of the pot.  It smelled wonderful until it got a little TOO brown on the bottom.   I added a little more water and kept stirring.  In two hours, I knew it wasn't going to go the distance of FOUR ... so I turned it off.  Dinner was served!!

It actually tasted wonderful ... the chicken was nice, kind of tender ... the rice was good, except for all those hard little bits that didn't get cooked!!  Well I'm NOT wasting this, at least it isn't burned black, and I chowed down.  Too bad I now have enough to feed a family of four for two days!!  Fear the pot my friends .... FEAR THE POT!!!  One of these days ONE of these recipes HAS to work!!

While dinner was cooking, I got out Jonathan's travel cage and set it up, washing everything from top to bottom.  I have another larger cage for him to live in, but for whatever reason, it was minus the perch.  Off to Home Depot I went to get a dowel.  Different birds use different size perches.  Too small and they can't hang on ... too big and you have the same problem.  It's hard to find one "just right".

After looking over the entire store, I finally found some long pieces back with the molding.  Since I had to cut my own, I figured I would have enough to fix any mistakes I might make.  Sure enough, right off the bat, I cut it too short.  I'm sure I measured right, but forgot to account for the slots on each end.  

I do have a saw, so cutting it into pieces wasn't a problem ... I can do that pretty well.  It was those slots that dogged me for an hour.  It was hard to get the saw started, hard to keep it straight and make the slots on each end go the exact same direction.  The first piece bombed out ... it just fell on the floor of the cage.  My second try wasn't exactly pretty, but fits perfectly!!  Why is this so much easier than cooking??

With a couple bags of seed, some muffin mix and sweet potatoes, I'm ready for my new tenant.  He's been gone entirely TOO long.  The muffin mix?  Lucky for Jon, those are so simple even I can make the muffins he needs to keep him healthy.  Birds need lots of orange vegetables for vitamins ... which they usually refuse to eat, so mixing sweet potatoes in a corn muffin mix, along with peanuts and sunflower seeds, fits the bill.  He loves it!!

My list of things to get done is mounting ... my truck engine light came on, I discovered some outside window sills that need painting, it's time to change my AC filters and declutter the house.  I think I finally learned the lesson of less is better.  All those neat things I purchased on this last trip need a place to live ... but it's already crowded here, even if there is only one human in the house.  Time to make a pile of donations!!

Now where are all those crockpot recipes ... there must be a good one somewhere!!!

Crooks and Done!!

Autumn may have come to your corner of the world, but it has not quite reached California.  Really, I just love the kitty picture!!  Nights have thankfully cooled off to a nice 65 degrees, so I sit outside on the patio with my coffee in the dark, enjoying the cool!

My neighbor called yesterday to warn us about her recent meeting with the Sheriff's Department.  Crooks are out and about, so be wary and write down license plate numbers of slow moving or unfamiliar cars.  I'm rather rude about it ... I run out with a notepad and a pen so they SEE me writing them down.  Sometimes I even grab my camera and take pictures.  They usually speed off when they see that!!

She mailed a check ... put it in her mailbox ... only to have it stolen and "washed", meaning they used a bleach-like substance to remove the ink from everywhere except her signature.  Then they wrote in $1200.00 and made it out to themselves, which the bank cashed.  Luckily she discovered it immediately, called the Sheriff and the bank returned the money to her account.  It's that time of year when this stuff starts happening, so be careful what you put in your mailbox.  It's much better to take mail to the post office!

In other news, I'm done ... I finished (finally) ... unpacking the rig.  At least I was done until I remembered I still have under the bed to clean out.  I was all set to get to work polishing the outside with 303 Aerospace, but the rain washed more oxidation from the roof, which means another wash.  UGH!!!  Maybe I'll wait until I get to Arizona!!

In the meantime, I'm looking for a plumber to replace these fixtures.  I don't know who did the original installation, but they did a terrible job.  I even discovered it was leaking when I got home.  Even though turned off, there was water in the tub.  Not sure if I want to tackle this one myself!!  Do I feel brave???

Rather crummy pictures, but since I don't have much else to talk about today, I wanted to show you this amazing creation.  I first saw it on Facebook, having been taken by a friend of mine.  It's an entire stagecoach with six horses, all made from horseshoes.  There are even more horses ahead out of sight.  As I headed south in Oregon ... I think south of Bandon, I drove right past it!  What a coincidence ... my friends are up here too!!  I didn't have time to stop where there was a pullout.  This is just an amazing piece of art.  It must have taken years to weld all these horseshoes together.  Anyone want to make just one horse for my back yard??

Lastly, just because there's not much to talk about today, I'm putting up another picture of my Shook.  I LOVE it ... and I'm so excited to fly it I can't stand myself!!  I think I see a trip to the coast in my near future!!

Today I have to gather up bird stuff ... Jonathan my parrot, who has been staying with friends for a couple of years, is coming back home ... YAY!!!  I've missed him and am excited to have his voice back in my house!!

I Got A Shook!!!

First off, I want to thank all of my readers for sharing in my life and adventures.  I hope it brings a smile to your face, or maybe even a laugh or two.  It definitely makes me smile when I see people have left comments.  It has become a morning ritual that I so look forward to ... reading your thoughts and knowing two things:  Maybe I'm not that crazy after all and I'm really not alone in this big world.  So thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

Yesterday was a memorable day for a couple of reasons ... one, after four months, I finally got a haircut so I don't look like a reject from the dreadlock factory and two, I received my Shook kite in the mail.  I'm shocked at how fast the service was from Eliot Shook and Revolution Kites.

Eliot is an man who loves kite flying.  After getting his degree in Engineering, a job at Ford Motor Company in Detroit and marrying his college sweetheart, he became addicted to flying kites of all kinds.  When he eventually retired, he and his family moved to the outer banks of North Carolina where the heavy winds drug his wife all over the beach.  That's when he made his first mesh kite.  He began designing and sewing them while Revolution Kites installs the bridles and hardware.

Every one is a piece of art and no two are made the same.  I chose cranberry red, dark gray and white, Eliot chose the design.  There will never be another kite exactly like this one.  There's not much wind to fly it in around here, so it will hang on my wall until my next trip where I hope to find a few good breezes.

The center design mimics the colors and changes from kite to kite.  The entire design of the kite is created as it is hand sewn, depending on his artistic thoughts at the time.

Every one is then signed and numbered ... this being #180.  It's a masterpiece that will last the rest of my life.  I'm SO excited to get it out in the wind!!

If anyone is interested in Revolution Kites, I have lots of brochures and cards to hand out.  This business is owned by Joe and David Hadzicki and sister Lolly Hamzicki-Ryno, a true family owned business.  If you want to learn how to fly one, hook up with Nick and Terry Russell, as they have a revolution kite simulator that you can fly without fear of the kite hitting the ground, and they can set it up anywhere.  

It was rather overcast yesterday morning, just like the last two days.  Suddenly, there was this wet stuff coming from the sky!!  To my surprise, showers gave everything a good soak for over two hours!!  California definitely needs the rain, although this wasn't enough to make puddles.  It soaked in instantly!!  Hopefully there's lots more "wet" on the horizon.

Cooper didn't care about the rain or the Shook!!  He just wanted to snuggle on Mom's lap.  It makes me crazy how he can be SO sweet and cuddly, then three minutes later be a barking ball-crazed maniac!!!!

With my hair fixed, I can now make an appearance at Target for groceries and pick up that toaster for my newly married friend Diane.  Yup .... I'm the only single left in town!!  I think I'll spend the rest of the day practicing my cooking skills ... you know, just in case!!!

Random Thoughts!!

It's always sad to say goodbye to new friends and old as you pack up and head back home, even if you were only gone for two days.  Since there weren't any donuts for breakfast, I zipped it up quickly and pulled out in the cool morning air.

I didn't get far before clouds of dust covered the roads and highways. This is farm country and every one was working their fields getting ready for the fall rains.  I started to think about how long I've been breathing this junk in the air.  That's not just dust ... it's all the chemicals and fertilizers farmers put on their fields to increase their production trying to make a profit, not to mention all the times I drove the caterpillar and came home covered in dirt.

That's when the random thoughts started coming in to my head.  Am I alone in this?  As RV drivers, do you think about weird stuff as you drive down the road??

I've lived longer than my dad ... in six years I will have lived longer than my mom.  I wish I had a couple of horses and could spend more time riding in the mountains ... except that's not something I should do alone.  Wonder how that went with my ex-husband and the love of his life he found on the internet??  No children, so who am I going to leave all this stuff to?  Probably doesn't matter, they'll just throw most of it away.  I wonder what internet service is available ... nothing seems to work at my house except what I have, and it's being disconnected.

About that time, the little red ball would roll across the dash in front of me, bringing me back to my senses.  I guess I set it on the dash to keep Cooper from barking.  It was a little distracting the first couple of times!!

I wonder who I can get to repair that suspected leak in the water line behind the sheetrock?  Should I move to Oregon?  Cooper needs his teeth cleaned, but I'm afraid to have them put him under.  I think I blew my diet at dinner and I need a box to mail a small camera.  I still have to fix the toilet handle and I hope that 303 stuff is okay to spray on my motorhome.  I hope when I croak, someone finds me and takes care of my puppies.  What will I put in the blog tomorrow?  I'm not buying any more stuff!!!  If I were a witch, I could just zap my house up to Oregon.  Or maybe I could whip up a husband!!  Then I wouldn't have to fix everything myself.

A U-haul truck (pulling a trailer loaded with a car) weaving all over the road brought me to attention.  What's wrong with him?  He's tailgating a tractor-trailer rig.  I floor-boarded my MH to get past him quickly before he again went over the line.

Men should live longer so there'd be a few more single guys on the planet.  What's for dinner?  Beef ... it's what's for dinner.  Better get that registration form completed for Golden Spikes.  I sure could use a good pair of levis.  I got four more cans of coffee in the mail ... sweet!!  Next time I'm calling the cops on my neighbors.  I wonder where I can get a set of mirror covers for the rig?  Maybe my realtor can hook me up with someone in Oregon.  They are still working on the freeway entrances by my house ... I wonder where I will get off the freeway this time?  I probably should dump my tanks.  I hate that BioDiesel crap ... it sure lowers my mileage per gallon!!  I think I bought some jelly ...  wonder were it is?

Luckily I saw a new sign that said Expressway near my exit, bringing me back to reality once again, so I took that road and eventually got to my house.  It's nice to be home.

This morning it's sprinkling lightly and there's been a couple of HUGE thunder crashes.  Hopefully lots of rain is on it's way.  Maybe I'll remodel the bedroom.  You better update your will.  Did I turn that light off?  Wish I retired earlier.  Where did I put those dog treats?  I need a vacation!!