She's So PURDY!!

I finally started a new quilt after scrounging through bags and bags of material yesterday.  It's very interesting to me how my taste in things changes over a few short years.  Many of these fabrics I purchased were my FAVORITES three years ago.  Now, not so much.  Funny how that happens.

That crazy bright African patterned cotton just doesn't go with Cowboy and the one with 2500 tiny pieces doesn't interest me in the least.  I seem to be off into the realm of neutrals.  I'll post pictures later.

At any rate, here's a couple more images of the cooking expedition.  It was either that or another Cooper picture.  In the end, we had seven of these squarehead pans full to the brim.  That's a LOT of pasta and sauce!!  I reminded her right after this picture she had to have gloves on in the kitchen.

I finally got up off the couch long enough to head out to the store.  Not Walmart this time, but our little market in town, although neither require masks any more.  Honestly, I'm not sure why some people even bother to WEAR masks.  

I kept my distance as much as possible until I came to the vegetable section.  There I spotted three women, all wearing masks, who were manhandling every piece of food in front of them.  No gloves by the way, just masks.  One kept moving it up so she could breathe and the second finally took it off one ear so she could see better.

The last one was after limes ... unfortunately the same thing I needed.  Here's a huge bin of limes and she is rolling them back and forth, up and down with her hands, trying to find the perfect ones.  She actually took two FULL bags, after having touched every single lime in the bin ... along with her face while adjusting her mask .... multiple times.

Truthfully, I'm not worried, I just picked up six limes trying not to touch any others, but I admit I did wash them well when I got home.  Of all the people in the store that had masks, every person I saw touched their face and removed it to some extent.  I feel so much safer now.  Please, if you touch the produce, take it home with you.

While perusing the limes, I got this picture from Arizona.  This is the trailer's first outing.  Wow ... she's all shined up and SO purdy!!

To make it even better, Laila got third place out of nineteen entrants in the showmanship class using the fancy silver halter I left in the trailer for her.  She must have spent hours cleaning it up.  You GO girl!!!  The other good thing about the trailer ... they can haul horses for other girls in 4-H who would not otherwise even get to go to the horse show.  It's a win-win!!

I'm pretty sure this will be a boring INSIDE week as our temperatures are predicted to be 107 on Wednesday and 108 on Thursday.  Spring came and went in one week.  

I'm hoping everyone has a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Being pretty much a NON-cook, the Elks Lodge has shown me what amazing things you can do with a stack of cans. Our lodge HAD (before virus) the best Friday night dinners in town.  I mean really REALLY good food.  Who knew it all came from these big cans, with a little excellently cooked meat that is.

Yesterday I went down at 11:30 to help out cooking and serving chicken dinners at the back door.  The dirty thirty are now down to the dirty twenty.  The Sheriff and two of our best Chicken Men were outside at the barbecue when I arrived before noon.  I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of the que that had rows and rows of cages where the half chickens were locked in, then turned automatically like a spit.

All the sauce had been cooked the day before, mostly coming from those cans above.  Marinara sauce, diced tomatoes, diced onions, loads of garlic and LOTS of spices including bay leaves went into the cooked hamburger.  I then simmered it all morning long, keeping a close eye on the flames underneath.  There were three big pans, but I could only get two in the picture.

In between stirring, we loaded up 275 baggies with lettuce and a package of dressing.  So it wouldn't get soggy, we put it on TOP of the to-go boxes.  Luckily I didn't have to cook the pasta this time, just pick out all of those darn bay leaves as I spread it on and did the hand-mixing thing.  In no time we were ready to serve over 275 meals.  The chicken was place in these huge ice chests where it finished cooking to perfection!

Here's another great find.  We have a little Mexican store downtown that bakes the most delicious bread EVER!  It comes in loaves that break apart into six big pieces.  It's cheaper than anything you could get at Costco and tastes 100% better.  However, that meant putting a very sharp knife in my hands.  It was easy to break them into three pieces, but then they had to be cut apart.  Such a shame that occasionally a little piece fell off the side and later when gathered up, went directly into my mouth!!

I don't know what happened ... must have been a UFO or something because suddenly all the men disappeared.  Four of us ladies were left to package up the meals in to-go containers and place them in bags for take-out at the back door.  

In the end, we had one whole container of pasta left over, meaning we all got to take some home.  I really try not to eat pasta, but boy was it good.  We even got an attaboy from the Sheriff (known throughout the County as the best cook around) as he ate his fill, forgetting the chicken completely.  Yay for the gals!!

I got home at 7:00 pm, a little worse for wear.  There's been way too much sitting around the house!  So it's pasta for breakfast ... and for lunch ... and probably again for dinner!!  After all, somebody's got to eat it!!  Waste not, want not!

The Magic Kingdom Rides Again

For those fairly new readers, which I appreciate most highly, I am quite involved with the Magic Kingdom of Elks Bingo.  It has all the parts and pieces you would imagine including a castle with a huge drawbridge, massive amounts of peasants, a King of course, the Knights of the Round Table, a Castle Lawyer, Prince Charming (my personal favorite) and of course me, the Castle Accountant.

There's also a Jester and the infernal machine, better known as the cash register that refuses to work and a mini-me cash register who causes all kinds of pain for us all, but mostly me.  On the other hand, Bingo makes many thousands of dollars every year for charities from kids baseball to the Children's Hospital to Veterans Services.

They have been shut down since March 17 or so.  No problem for the nineteen volunteers that run the whole shebang every Tuesday night, in fact I think they are happy for a break.  On the other hand, the peasants are going into withdrawal big time and want to be back at the tables with their talisman good luck charms.

To that end, we had a meeting.  It's a test ... how many volunteers?  That's right, nineteen.  How many showed up at the meeting?  Eight, although twelve RVSP'd.  No problem, it makes the meeting much shorter and to the point.

Here's the thing.  We have a small building.  There is no way we could get even 50 people in there, each 6 feet apart.  Worse than that, who wants to come and pay $40-100 for bingo cards, only to win $50.  They want the big bucks .. the usual $5,000-7,000 we give away every Bingo night.  

When the idea of "employees" wearing masks came up, it got shot down faster than Billy Clanton at the OK corral.  You have to remember this is a small farming community where you only wear a mask if you are holding up the bank.

Therefore .... be it known that the Magic Kingdom will not ride again until July 1st (or thereabouts).  I did not tell them I will be back in Arizona in July since the California DMV is canceling my rig registration because they do not like my Arizona insurance company.  No refunds of course ... that's the penalty of changing the insurance to my Arizona address in order to save $2,900 for one year.  I have to get back to Arizona in order to register the rig and Jeep THERE.

Looking for a little diversion, I spotted a recipe for beignets on the internet.  The good thing is they are not fried, but baked.  Of course my first thought was "they CAN'T taste the same".  So I followed the directions and whipped up a batch.  

I let them raise in the oven, having turned it on for 30 seconds, then shut it off.  OH NO ... too hot!  I opened the door and waved a towel madly to cool it off.  They puffed up nicely.  This just might turn out to be a GREAT recipe!

I believe in magic and make believe, but I just couldn't make believe hard enough for these to REALLY taste like beignets.  I even doused them with sugar TWICE, just to see if it might make a difference.  It did not.  They taste like bread with powdered sugar on it.  Epic FAIL!!

In my neighborhood we have lots of magpies and crows.  I'm sure they will appreciate these much more than I and much more than the garbage they are used to eating.  Hey, it's better than the cemetery, which is getting rather full at this point in time.

Today is another fund raiser from the Lodge Kitchen, where I will be working to package up to-go boxes of barbecued chicken, pasta, salad and rolls.  Like everyone else, we've got bills to pay.

Spring Has Sprung

I think Mother Nature is sleeping in this year.  Oh I'm not complaining at all because the weather has been absolutely fabulous.  It even rained two days in a row with one day actually having half an inch of water.  Any time I can turn my sprinklers off, I'm a happy camper.

In the meantime, it's been in the 70's when normally we are getting very hot.  With Mother Nature hitting the snooze button, we will probably have summer heat well into October.  Just in time for the Pumpkin Patch!!

With my back much better as long as I stand up, Cooper and I went for a walk around the neighborhood before plunking down on the couch to finish this quit.  This is one of my favorites.  Even though it looks black and white, there are many subtle changes in colors from grey to tan.  I think that makes five finished and five stacked up to take back to the Arizona Quilters.

One serving of the cauliflower rice with pie-spiced beef and I was looking for something else to eat.  Oh I ate it all ... or almost all ... but my Dad was right.  It's wrong to put those spices on beef.  To be honest, I washed off the last two pieces and gave them to the dogs.  They loved it!!  Plain old beef tacos were MUCH better.

Today I'm headed off to none other than the Magic Kingdom.  With the Elks Lodge just open for drinks, they are going broke quickly.  Bingo needs to be started back up, but I don't think anyone has the hutzpah to dive right in.  Keeping people separated at the tables is not an option.  It's a small facility that would require a lottery just to get in the door.  Masks probably and definitely gloves for me handling all the money.  

As to the nineteen volunteers, I'm not sure how many will show up.  It should be an interesting day.

In other good news, you've probably heard about all the insurance companies giving money back since no one is driving.  I pretty much wrote that off since I had just paid National General $2100 for my rig and Jeep (versus $5,000 for Progressive).  Surprisingly, I'm happy to say I just got an email from them.  How lucky am I!!  I am getting a $27 refund on my full year paid-in-advance premium.  I might even be able to go out for dinner, or better yet get six tacos from Taco Bell.  Never look a gift horse in the mouth.

I spent the rest of the evening digging through boxes and shelves of quilt material, trying to decide which one to do next.   I decide ... than discover something is missing.  I finally decide again and don't have the pattern.  What was once well organized now looks like a hoarder lives here.  I may just have to head on out to the little quilt store in the country before starting another project.  Oh the elation!!  More FABRIC!!

Another Nice Surprise

What with all the goings on, it's nice to get a surprise now and then, but to get two in one day?  Now THAT'S a surprise.  I spent the first three hours on the couch nursing my knee.  I know ... how could I possibly now have a KNEE problem?

Getting old sucks.  There's no two ways about it.  I've built a step for Cooper to get on the couch, since his jump never developed at all.  Do you know a poodle that can't jump?  After writing the blog, I headed to the couch and missed the step altogether, whacking my knee on the corner of the coffee table.  Oh my Heavens that hurt!!  The good news is my back is much better today.

This virus is really bad news when it comes to my exercise regime, which mostly includes getting in and out of the truck while shopping.  I COULD ride my bike, but it seems I've left the correct-fitting air pump in Arizona.  Not being "essential", the bicycle store is closed.  I would order it online, but I have no idea which one to get.

Instead, I read one of my old photography books that lists any number of equipment pieces to make your life easier.  How could I turn down THAT?  This long thing in the middle is the top part of my tripod.  The joy stick handle is not very adjustable and it doesn't hold up my heavy camera.

How do I fix it?  I order another different type of mounting, called a ball head.  What you see are the tools of the professional photographer.  Yeah, not really true.  They are what I found in the drawer so I could extricate the joy stick.  It took awhile since I had no idea how the darn thing fit together in the first place.

I was so excited when I actually got it off without damaging anything beyond repair.  My new fancy dancy connection really is used by the pros.  I'm sure it will make me a better photographer.  Okay, probably not, but at least the camera body will remain still ... I hope.

My next big surprise came in the mail.  As you know, I'm a BIG baseball fan.  I was a season ticket holder for about ten years and went to almost every home game in San Francisco.  I spent many a night in the Hyatt Regency so I could not only see the games, but had mountain streets to train for marathons.  

One of the San Francisco Giants pitchers was Barry Zito, famous and infamous who came from the Oakland team across the bay.  He was both loved and hated, the first to receive a crazy multi-MULTI-million dollar contract.  Little did anyone know, he really did not have the killer instinct you need for professional baseball.

His true love was country music.  Who knew?  When at last he retired and figured things out, he got married, had three kids (one just recently) and moved to Nashville where he could work on his music career.  Since then he's worked with Taylor Swift and many others making albums.  I'm one of his number one fans.  

Wasn't I surprised when I received a letter from Barry Zito.  What?  I opened it up to find a Barry Zito birthday card signed by him.  It will go nicely with my Barry Zito signed baseballs and my Zito Jersey.  How cool is that?

My next surprise of the day came when I made this beef dish that didn't taste terrible.  I have to admit this one is not for everyone.  This is more like a dish from the Middle East, probably because that's where the recipe came from.  My dad would flatly refuse to eat this.  It has cinnamon, allspice, ginger and other weird things that he would say are not fit to be put on BEEF.

If you are interested in the recipe, you can find it at PressureLuck Cooking on Facebook.  What's that white stuff?  You might think it's rice, but it's my other latest find.  

When corn was in short supply in the grocery store, I found this .... riced cauliflower.  Not my favorite, but wait ..... this has lime zest in it.  No, lime zest does NOT go with Middle East spices, but it's all I had.  Not bad really, but it would be much better with those Mexican dishes you prepare.

It comes in several different varieties, one including mushrooms and one with sweet potatoes.  It even has a resealable bag for us single users.  

In spite of my back being a pain, it was a very nice day.  I ended it watching something akin to the Dog Whisperer, but they call their place Zen.  He takes the worst of the worst dogs and rehabilitates them and their dog parents.  I'm sure I can learn something to use with Cooper and Jessie.  At least something good can come out of sitting home all day long.

It's Been A Bad Hair Day

We are having a bad hair day.  You know those days when you should have just stayed in bed?  That was Sunday for me, which bled over into Monday and now Tuesday, just because it could.

I was so excited to go to the little church celebration of our Hometown Heros, that I decided to wear my fanciest go-to-church boots.  That was my first mistake.  I pulled too hard trying to get one on and messed up my back.  How could that happen?  It was a hard decision whether to attend or not, but by golly I was not going to miss it.  I wore my old boots instead.

Sadly by the time I got home I could hardly walk.  The more I sat, the worse it got, so I stood up most of the day.  I need a chiropractor, but of course he's closed.  Instead, I have a little trick where I roll around on a tennis ball.  Don't laugh, nine times out of ten, it works.  Yesterday was number 10.

While lounging on the couch trying to get comfortable, Mr. Cooper ALSO had a bad hair day.  I couldn't help but laugh at my sleepy eyed guy.

Want to see something funny?  This is him the day I brought him home from work.  Yup the lady brought three of them to work trying to find homes.  When she handed him to me, he grabbed me around the neck with both paws.  What a sucker I am.  That was eleven years ago.

Here's his first haircut picture.  He's such a cutie, except for that habit he picked up about growling the most horrible I'm-going-to-eat-you growl when you move in the bed at night.  Once he settles in, Jessie and I are not allowed to move even one inch.  He makes me laugh every time.

In the meantime, other towns are taking up the call.  Some clothing stores in Modesto have opened up.  Since hearing about our restaurant openings, the ABC (State Alcohol Board) has descended on town trying to keep alcohol from being served in bars and restaurants with the threat of taking their license away.  The City Attorneys are working on that as I type.  Nothing like threatening your constituents with complete shutdown forever.  It's going to be a fight to the bitter end.

In the meantime, Newsom was supposedly seen in Montana where his wife owns property.  Of course they are denying that to the hilt since that's not following his stay-at-home directive.  Some news stations say he was there, some say he was not.  You just don't know who to believe any more.

As for me, I'm now stuck home until my back gets straightened out.  Wouldn't you know ... they open things up and I'm on the couch.  I hope your day does a little better!!

Small Town Patriotism!!

There was BIG happenings around this small berg of a town over the last week.  I won't keep you in suspense any longer.  You may not be aware that the Governor of California has decided that SOME counties (all his favorite followers) have been allowed to open up in tiny bits and pieces.  The first to open was the golf courses.  REALLY?  People can't feed their families ... they can't pay their mortgage and you open up golf courses and beaches?

With only a tiny population of 30,000 our businesses are mostly Mom and Pop's who can't afford to be shut down.  With that in mind, our City Council decided to fight fire with fire.  I'm sure you've heard of San Francisco, the Sanctuary City where illegals and criminals can live without fear of being arrested for anything, even using the sidewalks of San Francisco for their personal toilet.  If you haven't been there lately, don't bother to go.  It's disgusting!!  You never know WHAT you are walking in.

After a lot of investigation, it was determined our little town can ALSO be a sanctuary city ... for business.  Who knew?  Apparently you can become a sanctuary city for just about anything!!  The local stores can now open without fear of retribution, arrest or huge fines.  They voted on it Friday, and let me tell you, the celebrations began.

It started off with the Police Department opening up their vehicles where we found big screen televisions so we could watch the council vote since there were too many people inside the building.  VOILA!  Just like that our business were BACK IN BUSINESS.  Saturday there was an afternoon parade of probably 75-100 cars driving all the neighborhoods with flags flying and horns honking.   Talk about a show of patriotism!!

By the way, no one was wearing masks and there was lots of hugging.  It was Independence Day in Atwater California.  Just for the record, I actually live in the County, not the City.

Just to interject a little SURPRISE here, it has been reported that after 50 autopsies on Covid 19 patients in Italy, pathologists have discovered it is NOT a pneumonia but a disseminated intravascular coagulation (whatever the heck that is) that SHOULD have just been treated with antibiotics and is not NEAR like the Covid 19 they have been scaring everyone with.  Look it up and see what you find.  Nowadays, you cannot believe everything you read.  I guess time will tell.

In the meantime, some of my very dear friends from the Pumpkin Patch are the Paster and his wife from the local Victory Baptist Church.  I'm Methodist, not that it matters, they like me anyway.  So yesterday, there was another huge celebration when the Church met for the first time IN PERSON outside in their parking lot to honor the Police, Sheriff and CHP officers that protect this little city.

Here's the CHP Commander, followed by the Sheriff's Office.

Lastly was the Police Department accepting his Home Town Hero engraved plaque.  

The biggest Home Town Hero of all is our Sheriff.  Fed up with the entire Covid 19 "lock em up" scare and having first hand knowledge of the Governor's lopsided handling of the entire thing, he wrote a letter to the legislature.  

In part, it says he went above and beyond to gather all the necessary medical equipment at great expense to the county to handle all the bodies that were going to overrun the system (he is also the Medical Examiner) according to what the Governor said was going to happen, yet nothing HAS happened.  Life is a risk ... you could die in a car accident, a plane crash, food poisoning ... just about anything.

The Constitution gives us the right to accept the risks.  No one has the right to dictate WHAT risk you will or will not take.  When Governor Newsom went to the airwaves and singled out one county who didn't follow his orders to the letter, and treated them differently, it became obvious that this entire lockdown was based on him having control over the citizens.

Now Newsom has threatened different counties with removing their funding if they do not follow his orders to the letter.  Economic slaughter is what we are now facing and the majority of citizens are on  the verge of a statewide revolt.  The Sheriff believes Newsom wants the majority of citizens (and illegals) completely dependent on government assistance so he can continue to control them after this "pandemic" is declared over.  

When the State requires the Sheriff to arrest people for attending church and not standing 6 feet apart, yet Newsom releases felons out on the street, completely disregarding the safety of our citizens, something is wrong.  The Sheriff will no longer impose the Covid 19 restrictions on any citizen in this County.

It was much longer, but that's the gist of the letter.

So there you have it folks .... REVOLUTION in the middle of California.  I'm proud to say I support his every word ... AND WE ARE BACK IN BUSINESS.  People are coming from miles around to eat and get their hair cut.  WE ARE FINALLY FREE from the tyranny of Newsom.

As to Covid 19, it has been shown that as states are opening up, the virus continues to go downhill in numbers.  Could it be that all the information we have been given on the virus is completely incorrect?  Now wouldn't that be something!!

Tell Me It Isn't So!!

Thank you all for your kind words about my disappearing cowgirl-horse life.  Honestly, I think this was harder than losing my husband to that younger prettier model.  Just kidding ...... well, maybe not!

Anyway, I decided to treat myself to a big lunch to get my mind clear.  There are not a lot of places around here and most are closed, as you can imagine.  I had a choice between Carl's Jr and McDonalds.  Oh gosh .... how will I ever choose!!

Carl's Jr it is!!  Not having ordered anything at these places much, or practically never, I didn't know what to get.  The menu is rather confusing and I hate sitting there trying to read it with six cars behind me.  How about our new spicy Western Bacon Cheeseburger.  SURE!!

Ten dollars and ten minutes later, I was opening it up to see just what I DID order.  I see bacon, that's awesome ... and something that I think is white cheese ... okay ... and a burger.  For some reason I had spicy CHICKEN SANDWICH in my head.  I took a big bite.  TELL ME IT ISN'T SO!  

I bit down into a burger with dozens of sticky jalapeños!!  I am not a jalapeño fan.  Oh I like the flavor, but not the HOT.  I immediately dissected the entire burger and removed all the offending parts.  What was left had the perfect amount of spice.  The fries?  Meh, not the best but still good.  Surprisingly the coke tasted just like coke.  It wasn't watered down in the least.  YUM!!

Shortly thereafter my gardeners showed up to mow my back forty.  I have two very large corrals full of foxtails and weeds, perfect for that Fourth of July fireworks CALL 911 fire that would burn my house down.  They brought two big mowers and went to work, kicking up dust and debris everywhere.

Suddenly they stopped.  NOOOO ... tell me it isn't so ... the mowers broke down!!  I sadly walked out the back door, hoping it wasn't going to cost them more to repair than what I was paying.  Lucky for me, they only stopped because they had another job to go to.  This corral is done.  They will finish mowing the second one next week.  

Thinking that Mark, Dan and Laila should be home by now, I sent a text message to Patty.  They are going to be late ... something about a tire!

OH NO ... tell me it isn't so!!  I sent a message to Dan.  Well they ALMOST made it home.  We all knew the tires needed to be replaced, but I was at least hoping they made it back home.  See how the trailer is not level?  That makes more weight on the back tires, causing the passenger side to blow.

They were just outside of Phoenix in a little burg called Buckeye.  Good thing Dan took a small jack with them so they could replace it with the ORIGINAL spare from 1996.  That's saying something about how good tires were in the old days.  It got them into town to a discount tire shop.  

BUY AMERICAN ... and they did, four tires all around and a spare.  I feel bad about that.  I should have gotten new tires on it before they arrived.  Hopefully Mark can lower his truck maybe two more inches to keep that from happening again.

There's MUCH more happening around here that I'm dying to tell you, but it has to wait for a bit.  Maybe tomorrow.  You're not going to believe what this little pro-American freedom-ringing town has done.  

Say Goodbye ..... Sniff Sniff

Having been born and raised on a cattle ranch, I've been attached to horses all my life.  This is me at about three years old on one of our horses in the high desert, just before it became Lake Isabella.  By the time I was four I had my own horse Pico.

You can tell us kids rode a lot ... we had our own kid-version saddles.  By five and six, we were helping gather cattle, pushing them into chutes and playing cowboys and Indians.

We basically went broke.  The cattle business became a big corporation game and we were small potatoes with 300 head of cows and calves.  I never could give up the horses.  Finally having worked outside the ranch and saving up every penny, I bought two horses again, along with a small trailer.

I always wanted to show horses, but was quite a bit older when the opportunity presented itself.  We never could afford all the gear required for competition, let alone the expensive horse to make it happen.

At long last, having inched my way into the cutting horse world locally, I purchased this trailer for about what a house cost.  I hauled it and my two horses everywhere.  It's been to Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Southern California, all over the West Coast.  It's a long story, so I'll tell it some other time.

The Chance family arrived at 8:45.  I had moved the motorhome out of my back yard so there was plenty of room for us to see if this was actually going to work.  Mark and Dan moved the hitch up as high as it would go.  We all held our breath as I raised up the trailer.

Mark gingerly backed up, not being able to see anything.  He'll get used to that forward, back, forward, back stuff eventually.  I lowered the trailer onto the hitch.  We breathed a sign of relief when there still remained about six inches between the overhang and the top of the side rails.  Yeah, he may just have to lower his truck three more inches.

That's when the real work began.  Mark and Dan couldn't get ANY of the lights to work.

He had two chances, one the 5th wheel hookup in the side rail and two, the regular bumper hookup.  Neither worked.  It took a full three hours and blowing a fuse, along with lots of frustration before finally getting things to work.  Turns out it was probably just corrosion on the trailer plug.  I now have this schematic totally memorized.  You need your trailer wired?  I can tell you which wire is which!!

Actually, Laila and I just sat back and watched.  I showed her how to load the horses and gave Mark the spiel about how to give your horse a good ride so he arrives without a broken leg.  The horse, not Mark.  In the meantime, Dan loaded up all the horse troughs in the back.

At long last, every light worked ... or at least the important ones did ... and the brakes made a clicking noise.  It's a go!!!  After a quick trip to Auto Zone to pick up a new fuse to replace the blown one, they were off as I cried in my beer, or pepsi actually.

Say goodbye to your life Nancy!!  There's no use letting it sit and rot for another ten years.  I can't travel to Arizona and have horses too.  It's just not affordable nowadays.  Better to let someone get good use from it, making a little girl happy like I always wanted to be.  

In the meantime, I am going to take Mister Ed's advice and see if I can find some stables around Tucson that might let me take rides out over the trails.  

I instantly felt a great sense of loss that lasted the rest of the day and I didn't sleep at all.  I sent Dan a text message telling Mark he wasn't allowed to wear shorts when pulling horses in the trailer.  Etiquette and all ... even in the Arizona heat, levis are required.  

I sent Mark a message saying when I got there at the end of June, I was going to sleep in the trailer a couple of nights.  It might make me feel better!!

It's Trailer Day

In spite of all the sitting around here, the days seem to be just flying by.  The kids and Dan should be here today to pick up the horse trailer.  I'm really nervous about the whole thing.  I have what I call a normal pickup truck.  That means you could hook up to almost any fifth wheel horse trailer and call it a day.

Mark on the other hand, has a very high in the sky truck, meaning in spite of all the measuring, I'm worried the trailer won't work.  Just how much clearance do you really need?  That is the question!

So while I stew over my coffee, here's a picture of laila with one of the horses she shows and rides.

She has more blue ribbons than anything else, meaning she's a smart cookie who paid attention in her riding classes.  She's pretty much outgrown both of those horses and hopefully will soon have one of her own to go with the horse trailer.

Sadly, although the Elks Lodge is open, the Magic Kingdom of Bingo is not.  The King is staying hidden in his own castle and refuses to come out and play.  There are many of us ready to hit the rails, since we know just how happy it will make everyone to be back losing their money.  The peasants must be in terrible withdrawal since all the Indian Casinos have closed too.  There's going to be a steep learning curve when we all get back to it, if I don't move to Arizona first.

The latest ..... there are 11 counties open in California.  Why, no one knows.  Many counties here don't have ANY virus deaths and many even zero numbers of people who are sick, yet they stay closed by the Governor's orders.  He seems to be picking and choosing.

So this was Cooper and I last night on the couch.  I guess my leg is the perfect height, because his head is always on it.  Take advantage Cooper cuz that leg is growing in width DAILY!!

At least I cleaned out SOME of my cupboards.  I got rid of all the potato chips, cheetos, Tillamook ice cream and cookies.  Better days are ahead as I try to wedge myself into my jeans.

Speaking Of Kids .....

Many MANY moons ago, I raised exotic birds.  Weird, right?  Honestly, I don't know where that came from.  One day I woke up and had cages full of cockatiels I was hand feeding for sale to a pet store, followed shortly thereafter by this guy.  Cute, right?

I hauled oodles of them to work with me in nondescript boxes that I kept hidden in the AC maintenance room.   It had one plug for the heating pad to keep them warm.

This was Jonathan's baby picture.  He's only about 2-1/2 inches high here with not a single feather.  He required a special liquid diet, prepared fresh every two hours.  These guys were a commitment.  I don't know how many I actually hand raised, but the parrots were only sold to people who I thought would really take care of them.

With no one suitable when it became Jonathan's turn to fledge, he just stayed ... like the teenager that never moves out.  His diet is quite extensive, but his favorite is Ritz Crackers, or any cookie you might be eating.  He has excellent eyesight and smell good enough to pick up on that cookie you are trying to hide.  He will squawk until you give him a tiny piece.  

All the while, Miss Jessie just sleeps the day away, except at breakfast and dinner.  Highly food motivated this girl is, as you can tell by her chunky figure.

Not to be outdone by the President, our governor got the Thunderbirds to fly over Southern California, NOT here.  Instead, the National Guard flew from Fresno North.  They were way too far away to get a decent picture.  In the meantime, the restaurants that opened up were closed after they bought enough product to feed everyone for the next month.  That should make them go bankrupt even faster.

Here's the numbers.  Tucson's death rate per the population is .09%.  Merced's death rate per the population is .004%.  Tucson's restaurants are open.  Merced's are now again closed.  Honestly, there is no rhyme or reason.

I try really hard to just sit, do nothing and keep my mouth shut, but it's very difficult.  I really feel like we should be fighting back or we will lose everything.  The Federal government has said open up (as have most doctors), yet the Governors are so high on control, they are not willing to let go, even though the numbers continue to drop with those states who ARE opening everything.  

Some states are now saying they will not open up until July or August.  I hope they have lots of people willing to pay twice the taxes to make up for all those going out of business.

One more quilt down as I work on five more.  All the fabric for this one was donated, so it will probably be MY next donation.  In the meantime, I'm in a spring cleaning frenzy.  I washed and waxed all the floors, washed down the front porch, melting all those mud hornet nests and planned my next outing, following Joaquin Murietta's trail.

Tomorrow morning the Chance crew should be here to pick up the horse trailer, as the last vestige of my cowgirl life disappears.  I think I'm going to cry.  The good news is Laila will be taking my place.

I Be Styling!!!

Another day has gone by and I'm pleased to say it's a cleaner world I live in.  I found a picture of my Jeep and she's clean as a whistle now.  I still have to unload all those RV rally boxes of chocolate sauce, bowls and napkins from the back however.

While searching for the sheets, I actually found my old vacuum cleaner in the back of one closet.  It made vacuuming the sand out SO much easier.  I just wish I knew where all this junk came from.  I think I have five airline camera bags from when I used to fly everywhere BD (before dogs).  I can't throw them away because they are really GOOD camera bags.

Next up, I be styling in my shorts and cowboy boots.  I always cringe when I see gals wearing this kind of fashion statement.  It works great for the dance floor, but not downtown shopping.  In my case, it worked perfect in the back yard where thankfully no one could see me.  

I needed shorts ... it was hot.  But wading through 30 feet of two foot high foxtails with my tenny-sneaks would have resulted in an hour of picking them out of my socks and shoes.  No thank you!

I'm pretty sure I saw the neighbor in his two story house across the street, close his blinds.  At any rate, I waded out in the weeds and tried to pull the trough from it's location.  It wouldn't budge.  Finally, laying all my copious weight into it, it tipped over.  What the heck?  It was almost completely full of dirt.  How could that be?  It was laying upside down on the ground.  Once removed, there was a huge pile of dirt there.  No squirrel holes, no ant holes .... it's a very weird mystery.

With that chore done, I headed back to change clothes before the carpet cleaner got here.  I'm happy to say he put Stanley Steamer to shame.  He even cleaned my favorite carpet for only $25.  Now THIS is my kind of service business.

He sprayed the entire carpet with a pre-treatment, then used the yellow brush cleaner thingy to scrub from one end to the other.  Once done with that, he used the steam cleaner, then finally sucked out all the moisture and dirt.    This carpet has never been so clean!!!  I think I'm going to build a wall so the puppies can't walk on it with their muddy feet.  My living room be styling now!!

I have to say it wasn't cheap at $200, but it was worth every penny.  It took him 2-1/2 hours instead of twenty minutes like the last guy.  

Time to get on to the next project.  I'm not sure what that will be yet, but I'll find something.  Maybe the garage that you can barely walk through cuz that's where I've stuck all the junk from the house!!  Yeah ...........