THANK A VETERAN TODAY

 I'm up ... I'm up, bleary eyed and yawning like crazy.  The old brain is a little slow ... okay, a LOT slow ... after a late might of meeting after meeting, but I DID remember today is Veterans Day.  A BIG thank you to all who served in order to keep our country FREE.  We owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

The Merced Sunrise Rotary sets up this Field of Honor every year to represent those who have passed on, as well as those currently in the military.  It's an amazing sight to see, and if you haven't walked through one and read the stories on the backs of the pictures attached to each flag, you're missing out.  I'm always shocked to see how many kids I went to school with, now honored with a flag.

The Veterans Parade will take place this year, thanks to the Elks Lodge float carrying not one, but TWO Grand Marshals.  Here's our very own Pearl Harbor survivor Frank.  He's 102 years old, an Apache Indian, which is what I think makes him so tough!!

Boy has he got stories.  I've sat down with him many times talking about how he took care of the soldiers horses when he was a kid in Arizona.  That's our tie ... I'm familiar with many of his haunts back in the day.  He doesn't really care to talk about the things he saw and did at PH, but said he would gladly do it all over again.  This is probably the only time I ever saw him without his headband ... after all, he's an Apache.

I'm pretty sure I won't make the parade today.  After last night's epically long meetings, I'm pretty beat up this morning.  Sitting at a table for four straight hours discussing everything from woo-hoo that was a great Octoberfest party they had, to handling the normal complaints and problems was a test of tenacity.

SO many tabled items to be hashed out again next time.  It doesn't help that the meetings now start one hour later, meaning even though I get up at the same time, I'm now staying up even LATER than I EVER wanted.  They are lucky I didn't fall asleep at the table.  

Even not having my caffeine fix, didn't help me fall asleep, which made for more of those lovely nightmares.  Maybe I need to contact Chris, who promises to give me a Tarot Card reading in every single email he sends me ... about three every day.  

AND I have company.  Thank goodness it's Cyndae who doesn't care if I cook or not.  She said Cooper was a good boy and just sat on the couch.  I don't think she has seen the video of the REAL dog in that cute little body.  At least he wasn't lonely while I was gone.  

So ... shake a lot of hands and thank a lot of Veterans today for their service in making this country a great one.  You never know when we may need their service again.

In the meantime, if you are in the area, dinner will be served free of charge to Veterans and one guest  from 2:30 to 6:00 at the Elks Lodge.  It's a tradition we've maintained every year for ages.  

Remember

THANK A VETERAN TODAY

Gluten Is Good

 It's raining ... it's pouring ... the old man is snoring .... yup that's the REAL version of the song, which we sang quite often, along with 99 bottles of beer on the wall.  Maybe that's why we were required to sleep outside all summer long.  We only changed up "It's Raining" to Georgie when he came to visit.  He and his brother spent a few summers with us because they were getting in trouble in their home town.  We were so far out in the country, there was nothing to do but work our little butts off.

Winter has definitely set in as our nighttime temps for the next week will be in the mid 30's.  Brrrrrrr.  Guess I'm going to have to turn the heat on here and there.  Yes I have great solar, but it's not enough to have a zero bill if I don't watch it.  

On the other hand, I'm very happy we don't have hurricanes here.  Florida is getting hit with another one, although I think they are calling it a tropical storm.  Looks like a hurricane to me.  Be safe Dave and Marcia.  It's heading your way.

I've been rather a lump on a log for the last couple of days.  Nothing is motivating me to get going.  I'm not sure how I feel about it, but I now have seven rigs coming to the Indio Rally.  That means I actually have to PLAN something for the Indio Rally.  If anyone has ever been there, you know my dilemma.  The sad part is that most of us are too old to do much anyway.

SO ... I thought I would practice my pancake skills since we always have a pancake breakfast.  Remember that expensive 12 ounce box of gluten free Bisquick?  Time to put it to the test.

I read up a tad on gluten free stuff, and yes, it's probably not a good idea to go full fledge unless you are diagnosed.  I'd rather eat a spider than go to the local doctors.  But since I bought the box, I'm using it.  

It's made with rice flour.  Otherwise it's the same old Bisquick.  I mixed up a small batch to find it rather soupy with a very fine texture.  I admit, it was a little hard (and very messy) to use 1/2 an egg.  Cooper got the other half after a quick scramble.   Into the pan they went, with lots of butter of course, spreading way too quickly.  Hey ... not too bad looking for a novice pancake maker.

It didn't bubble up like pancakes do to notify you it's time to turn them over, but I got three cooked in record time.  Naturally I smothered them with syrup.  Smothering is my code name for load it up with sugar.  Cupcakes are made the same way ... smothering them with frosting!!

They were actually quite edible, although there wasn't much flavor there.  I have to admit, gluten is good, or at least better than this stuff.  I doubt anyone would know the difference if you didn't tell them though.  Next time maybe I'll throw in some blueberries.  

That's it ... I fell asleep on the couch.  I mentioned I stay on Arizona time, but that darn time change thing hits me every time there is Bingo or a Thursday meeting.  I didn't get home until 11:30 and of course was wide awake at 3:00.  It seems to me the time change does NOT save electricity, since now everyone turns all their lights on even earlier.  

In spite of being drug out, I have to get my act together today.  Cyndae is coming back to stay for a couple of appointments.  I won't be here though ... I have not one, but THREE meetings at the Elks Lodge tonight.  My fondness for the Trustee position is waning.  I could probably miss a few here and there, but I miss so many when I'm in Arizona that I feel obligated.

Coming up .... besides Bingo that is ... a Thanksgiving dinner for special children, a Thanksgiving dinner (which I have to cook) for 100 seniors, a Veterans Day Parade with our Pearl Harbor survivor who at 102 years old is still going strong, followed by a free dinner for every Veteran who walks in the door, a Frizz Brunch, an Elks dinner or two and December is coming fast with many more.  I think I need to bring my laundry list of excuses up to date!

For now, I'm looking at the RV rally schedule, but my brain is not working.  Maybe after another batch of pancakes.  Anyone have any ideas besides happy hour?  This is not a game or card playing group and sadly, there are no trains in Indio.  Maybe I can have a free raffle ... or better yet ... a free margarita hour!!

The Blood Moon Eclipse

 It's raining ... it's pouring ... Georgie is snoring.  We sang that a lot when I was a kid, laying outside on our old army cots with just a thin sleeping bag.  There would be no sleeping out here however, since it rained most of the night, then another six hours worth yesterday.  We haven't seen anything like that in many moons.

Speaking of moons ... it was the blood moon eclipse on 11/8, but happening at something like one am.  That's WAY too late for me to be up.  At night my spirit animal is a chicken and we go to bed early.  Lucky for me it was still raining, so there was no way I was going to see anything.  This is an image I took during the last blood moon.  Pretty cool to see it so orange.

Before that, I was up in southern Washington at an RV park when this happened.  I had purchased a few of those special glasses so I wouldn't go blind, and passed them out.  About six of us oohed and ahhed over the beautiful moon.  It took me about six hours to put this picture together.  

Here is what it looked like this time.  Not my picture.  Photographers in California were like let's go to the High Sierras so we can see it.  Yeah, it was snowing there.  

The main problem with a blood moon, or ANY full moon for that matter ... even just a HALF moon ... is it affects the masses.  The peasants pull out their pitchforks, swords, burning torches, switchblades and anything else they can wave at you.

It started out bad when both of my counting gals did not show up.  I drug one of the Knights kicking and screaming to the chair beside me.  Then I had a thought ... the ER (the lodge president) wanted to learn the cash register.  Nothing like throwing her to the wolves.  

After two minutes of learning the names, I had her counting up a storm.  She didn't exactly call them right, but it was close enough.  It was the number I needed.  We ran through 140 peasants in short order.  That's a lie ... it took us well over two hours with me working the keys like a mad woman.

HOWEVER ... the Blood Moon and the frozen turkeys brought out everyone's bad side.  They couldn't decide what they wanted and didn't count right when they did.  It's the old "just claim they stuck together" trick that never works.

Cranky was the word of the night as a couple of ladies were unhappy with the new counter.  Little did they know they were working with a new rabid raccoon.  It happens to everyone who works the table.  After a couple of years, you just laugh about it.  The ER has one year and 364 more days of Bingo to get there. 

There was a constant stream of "you didn't give me all my cards" to "where's my red ticket" (look in your pocket ... OH ... there it is" ALL NIGHT LONG.  If it's on your receipt (which they all were) it means they were counted, the number called out loud to me so you heard it, they were placed in your stack and handed to you.  You either dropped them, or more likely, set your cards down and turned your back.  NEVER turn your back.  Things magically disappear.

That always makes for BLOOD MOON MADNESS!!!  Oh and the turkeys.  Every Thanksgiving we give away frozen turkeys to ten lucky winners who hold the magic red ticket.  It surprises me how they can spend $75 for bingo, but not $20 for a turkey.   

Anyway, we just rolled our eyes and counted the donations, this time going to the local Library who is setting up an after-school teen center for kids with working parents.  

Finally the night was over as I extracted a promise from the ER that she would not run screaming off into the night ... that she would be back next week.  I'm not holding my breath!!

More rain expected all day ... the perfect excuse to hang out on the couch with Cooper.

Possibly Rabid

 Happy Voting Day from sunny California.  Did you know the 2020 census showed an historical low number of people living here?  I'm pretty sure it's even LOWER now, as people are flooding to other states to get away from the tyrannical tax-inducing governor now in office.  I hate politics, but seem to have been drug in kicking and screaming due to the current state of the nation.  We are in trouble, so please vote accordingly.

THEN ... it was TURN THE TIME BACK day ... that craziness also instituted by the State that causes sleepless nights and time differences that ruin your schedule.  By the way, your animals have to adjust to the new schedule also.  

Me?  I stay on Arizona time.  That way I don't annoy my Arizona friends when I call them at 5:00 in the morning.  I even try to be extra quiet when I get up at 3 am Cyndae time when she visits.  

Here's the latest foxy video.  I noticed the other day that two big potato bugs had disappeared from my patio.  It appeared they were dead when I saw them last.  In fact, I haven't seen hardly any spiders outside either.  I have a feeling this is why.  I never knew they ate bugs and such.  I thought they were always after the chickens and eggs.  I have my own pest control service every night and it's FREE.

I forgot to mention the other day when Mr. Warkentin stopped by, he asked if I had any other things that needed to be fixed.  I said yes ... this back door.  When I close it, you can see light along the left side.  It wasn't closing tight enough, or maybe the weather stripping needed to be replaced.  I already messed with it of course, and found one of the screws to be stripped.  

He took a piece of wood out of his back pocket ... along with a pocket knife and cut off a piece.  Who carries wood in their pocket??  He jammed it in the hole, moved the bottom piece over and screwed in 2-1/2" screws, mentioning that ALL the hardware should be attached with longer screws, which of course he had in his pocket.  THIS is my kind of handy guy!!

We closed the door.  It was tight like it should be with NO light coming around the edges, meaning no warm air going outside.  This one has been bugging me for well over a year.  I'm buying a box of screws and fixing the rest of my doors.

My next trick ... gutters AGAIN!  I ran out in the rain to fetch the critter cam, to find this one overflowing, right on to the window frame that had dry rot.  From below, you really couldn't see any problem.  Out came the ladder.  Again, it appeared the screws were too short and pulling out of the holes, not to mention they were heavy with sand and gravel..  

I scrounged around until I found two much longer screws, but my not-so-trusty drill was not strong enough to screw them in.  I found my screwdriver with the funny round head, but my hand wasn't strong enough either.  My solution ... a little more leverage.  It took awhile, perched on top of the ladder, because the shingles were behind the gutter, but I got it done.  

After an hour, I finally got three more screws in, enough to hold it tighter to the facia board.  What a workout!  It's good enough for now, but will be added to the "maintenance" list when the guys come to paint the trim.  I guess I better start paying more attention to the outside.  

I cleaned one more gutter by the garage and discovered the last painters did not paint the top of the garage door frames.  Why would you not do that when you painted the rest of it?  I'm just shaking my head.  

It seems a lot of people don't do good work anymore.  The raccoon in me is getting agitated.  Yup ... this is a perfect description of me!!

Definitely rabid if I pay you for a job and you do it halfway!!!  

Time for a walk around to see if anything else needs fixing.

AND ..... it's once again BINGO TIME!!

Rainbow Bridge .... Yet Again

 Not me and not my Cooper thankfully, but another rainbow bridge happened today.  I'll get to that in a minute.  It's raining nicely again.  I don't think California has gotten any rain this time of year in ages.  It's expected to continue on and off for the next four days.  I'm loving it because the sprinklers are turned off.  So much for walks outside though.  Here's my shadow waiting under the desk for me to finish up.

Just to show how much work goes into these quilts ... here's the steps.  Never mind the linty dirty "foot".  First you cut up the fabric and draw a line on 332 pieces, then sew down EACH SIDE of the line.

Cut them in half along the line .....

Iron them open, in the correct direction of course, on my fancy dancey new ironing board cover ...

Then square them up to two inch squares using that hard to see little plastic thingy .....

Then sew them together eight times until you have this unit, which must have the seams pressed in the correct direction each time you sew it .... which means lots of trips to the ironing board.  That's my exercise for the day.

And finally you have one of these little 5" squares done.  Oh there's more ... sewing the sashing in between the four pieces before you are done.  It being PRETTY makes it a little easier to go through the motions.

I spent probably four hours doing those four squares on the right, and another two sewing ahead to make it easier.  They don't normally take this long because I choose MUCH easier patterns.  On the other hand, it will be spectacular when it's done.

Craving something good for lunch, I scrounged in the cupboard to find this.  One day when I was walking the aisles in the grocery store, this lady accosted me, singing the praises of this cheap dinner.  She said her family loved it.  I actually used the cheddar broccoli soup mix, which is now lounging in the garbage can.

No kidding ... it was AWFUL!!!  It had a terrible metallic taste, in spite of me dumping in a little more cheddar.  I hate to be wasteful, but I just could not get it down my throat.  This one's life has been spared for the time being until I can buy a couple of potatoes to add in, hoping it will taste batter.  

I built a grilled cheese instead.  Have you ever had one of those days when nothing you prepare turns out edible?  This hunk of sourdough bread I picked up at Costco is so strong it completely overpowers everything.  That mixed with the metallic soup didn't set well at all.  I had a cookie to get the taste out of my mouth.

When Cooper and I went out in the yard for a few minutes, I noticed the gopher had been hard at work.  There were ten mounds in the grass, some as big as ten inches wide.  Someone has been a busy beaver.  As I walked over to see, my toes fell into a big hole.  

That's it ... the foxy group is not doing their job very well.  I grabbed the hose and went to town.  You know you're in the right hole when it runs full blast and you see no water at the surface.

I thought maybe that would push him to new ground next door.  While putting the hose away, what should I see but ANOTHER three holes on the other side.  My my, you HAVE been busy.  I grabbed the hose again and stuffed it down the hole.  

I thought I saw the hose move.  Sure enough, in a few seconds, there were little feet coming up.  In another minute, he came right out of the hole, soaking wet.  Holy mackerel!!!  He was a big as any big rat I've found in Arizona.  No WONDER my yard is so torn up!  

Rainbow Bridge .... yeah, I felt really bad cuz they are kind of cute in a way, but I grabbed a big rock and dispatched him quickly.  It was not a pretty picture, so no pictures.  I still feel bad, being a critter lover and all, but it will take months to repair the damage he did.  

So this morning, I'll be back up on the ladder in the back yard.  I see that two gutters on the garage are not draining, but running over the edge, which is probably why the window frame is rotten on the bottom corner.  I'll wait til the rain quits though.  No use looking like a drowned rat ... or gopher as the case may be.

The Dreaded "M" Word

 How the weather does change.  It's a warm 55 degrees this morning following a light rain last night.  Earplugs kept me snug as a bug in my electric blanket as Cooper and I fought for space.  He usually wins.

Up early as usual, it was time to hit the the streets.  It was rather unusual on this trip around the neighborhood to find so many birds out and about.  A little hard to see, but these are turkey buzzards that come to roost here every year.  

There's a huge number of them, making me wonder if they knew something I didn't.  I changed directions. They used to hang out in the big trees behind my house, leaving a nasty mess in their wake.  Dead things go in and dead things come back out.  I'm glad they decided to move about half a mile West of me.

Then there were the crows ... I've never seen so many in one spot, making a terrible racket.  Cooper hates that crows even fly over his lawn.  He barks until they fly away.

After 2-1/2 miles of running and walking, I was back at the house looking for something to eat.  Never EVER run after eating.  Bad things happen to your stomach and you feel awful as you jog along.  Not eating first means you are starving when you get back.  This looked like me, although not stress, just boredom.  Oh look ..... CAKE!!

So while still sewing all those quilt bindings, and still working on the cowboy wall hanging, I decided to cut up the fabric for this quilt.  It was given to me by Patty since I've always wanted to make a Bear Claw quilt.  At least I did until I read the directions.

There are 332 pieces that I have to mark, then sew to 332 pieces and cut in half to make the half square triangles.  Yikes!! To make it even harder, every one of those 664 tiny little TWO INCH squares have to be trimmed and squared up.  

Hello Ray and Cindy ... I have another quilt pattern for you!!  I admit, it's beautiful and I LOVE the colors, but this entire square is only 10" wide.  We're talking tiny squares here!!!  This project is going to keep me busy for WEEKS!

And then it happened!  A knock at the door.  As soon as I saw his hat, I knew who it was.   I had contacted a local gentlemen (recommended by friend Cyndae) to do some painting on my house.  The window frames are peeling badly and it really needs to be done.  That's the dreaded "M" word ... MAINTENANCE.  

I've been lucky here because other than a couple broken toilet seats and one pump problem, I've had it pretty easy.   We walked around as I pointed out the bad spots.

His main objective was the gutter I thought was plugged up at the top of the ladder to the left.  I held my breath and the ladder as he scoped it out.  It didn't need to be cleaned, it just needed to be reattached to the facing.  Water had been running BEHIND it.  YAY!  One down ... until he said UH OH.  

I hate those words.  He said there's a hole in your roof.  WHAT?   Bad workmanship ... and who would have EVER seen that?  He grabbed some flashing and construction caulking and fixed that one right away, as more rain is coming over the next four days.

As we walked around, he took out his trusty little gadget and tested the bottom of the window frames.  Sure enough ... he found dry rot in a couple of spots.  It's not bad and can easily be fixed, but I had no idea.  We made the rounds of the back yard when we discovered we know many of the same people in the construction business.  Many of his friends and family hauled sand and gravel from our rock plant.  Some of the best people I've ever met.  We became instant friends.

So much so that when we went to move the big box full of junk (that I haven't hauled off), he said let's just load it in my truck.  I have a big dumpster we can put it in.  REALLY?  Wow ... this is like the days of old when neighbors and friends helped neighbors and friends.  I'm so happy I'm bursting at the seams.

In the end, it will be a few weeks before painting can start ... the wood needs to dry out after this rain ... but he said he wanted to get my gutters working before this weeks downpour.  I can never thank Cyndae enough for this recommendation!!

I spent the evening with a smile on my face, knowing my house was going to be fixed up, as I watched the World Series.  I don't have a horse in this race, but I did want Dusty Baker to win a Series after such a long career in baseball.  And win it they did.  CONGRATS to the Houston Astros, only their second win in their franchise history.

Oh ... the wedding celebration?  It's been much quieter than I expected and not nearly as many cars as I thought.  But OH THE DRESSES!!  There's nothing more spectacular than a white and gold sparkling sari.  The colors are nothing less than fabulous.  I didn't want to be rude and rush out for pictures.  Definitely NOT cowboy-ish!!  They did have to cancel one night due to rain, but every afternoon it's been a parade of fabulously stylish outfits for both women and men.

With house maintenance in mind, I'll probably return that toilet seat today.  That M word ... it never goes away!

Money Money Money

It's another cold morning in sunny California.  A cool 37 degrees greeted me this morning as I scanned the yard for critters.  Yesterday I discovered someone had been digging in my flowerbeds out back.  That's not a good sign, so today I'll be patrolling the West Wing for entrance caves.  I'm hoping it was just Foxy looking for a tasty treat.  

How cold was it?  Cold enough to finally turn on the fireplace.  Boy do I LOVE gas fireplaces.  Back on the ranch when my parents built the second house, they included a nice brick fireplace.  With dozens of eucalyptus trees around, wood was no problem whatsoever.  

When I moved into the house, it wasn't all fun and games.  That wood collected critters that hitched a ride into the warm interior.  Did you know tarantulas could jump?  I didn't until one night I got up from the couch and a big black THING came flying through the air at me!  You've never seen anyone move so fast in your life.

Rainbow Bridge .... I stood on the couch and dropped a magazine on him.  Now I might be more tolerant because they eat creepy crawly things.

My sweet Cooper and I snuggled on the couch for some time before I got my act together.  It was time to go see the dentist.  That's one place I hate to go.   

I think I've mentioned this story before. When I was maybe 7 years old, my mother took me to a dentist in town ... an old guy the likes of which you have probably seen on old western movies.   He said I had two cavities ... I think they were in baby teeth ... and I didn't need Novocain because they were so small.  He literally held me down while drilling.  I screamed a lot, to no avail.  The next trip to the dentist took me 18 years.  Luckily I have good teeth.

That's how I met friend Cyndae.  I was lucky enough to get her as my teeth-cleaning lady.  She is wholly responsible for me having good teeth!!

Too bad she retired, as did the best dentist in the country.  His son has now taken over and prices have gone up.  They said they couldn't do any more work until I had x-rays.  Alright, though my wallet was poking me in the backside.  

The dentist comes in ... looks at the x-rays and says ... oh, there's a problem here.  I know I said ... it's right here (I pointed to it) and it's the same thing you saw last time that doesn't need anything done to it.  Uh ... yes ... yes you are right, and he left.

Nancy wasn't a happy camper that she had to dump $286.00 to hear everything was just fine.  Yes I could go to Mexico, but I've heard too many bad stories.  

With my wallet considerably lighter, I headed home.  Best check my bank account to see if that check was going to bounce.  Wasn't I surprised!!!  Someone deposited $250 into my account.  Upon further inspection, I discovered it was from the California Franchise Tax Board.  

Are you kidding?  The State of California is giving me money?  I heard something about giving checks to seniors, but really didn't know why.  It appears it's a GSS (Golden State Stimulus) check sent to EVERYONE (not just seniors) who actually paid their taxes in 2020.  It's coming from the excess budget monies in the billions.  So WHY are we paying so much taxes now if there's so much left over????  

There is of course an income limit ... you're not going to believe this.  If you made less than $250,000 in 2020, you get a $250 stimulus check to help with the ridiculous inflation (we know who caused that) and the current gas prices (we know who caused that too).  

They are actually calling it a California Middle Class Tax Refund.  If $250,000 is middle class, I'm definitely down in the LOWER POOR CLASS.  At least now that check to the dentist won't bounce. If you are lucky, it might even buy you two tanks of fuel to maybe last 30 days.  Okay, don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

I noted before that I would report on the Tikka Masala.  Don't buy it.  Enough said.  Oh it was edible, and I didn't throw it away since food is too expensive.  It wasn't pepper hot, but the spices were overwhelming.  I do love Indian food, having spent so much time marathon training in the hills of San Francisco where you can get any kind of food you want, any time of the day.  

I found a hole-in-the wall restaurant that cooked up the best Indian food ever for $5.00 a plate.  It was amazing, and I ate there often.  Nothing compares.

I've started another quilt, passed on to me by my buddy Patty.  I'll show pictures of that tomorrow.  It's very pretty ... but SO many pieces!!

In the meantime, I have to double check all the water lines around here to be sure nothing is going to freeze, as well as check the rig.  I think I dumped all the water, but my memory isn't what it used to be.  

Aren't you glad ..... NO foxy videos today!  YAY!!

BAD Doggy Mom!!

Yikes!!  What happened?  It was a lovely 62 degrees just a couple days ago, and now it's 37!  That doesn't usually show up until some time in December.  The change in weather has been dramatic.  It's supposed to begin raining Sunday and continue for four days.  Maybe California will actually get enough rain this year to fill the reservoirs.  This is what it looks like out of Reno, just over the mountains.  Guess I better dig out all my winter boots.

So it's official.  I'm a bad doggy Mom.  Warning:  do NOT set up a critter cam to watch your puppies.  You will be sorry.  I almost cried as I watch my kid sitting on the couch watching out the window for any sign of a car passing by, meaning I was home.

Every time one went by, he jumped down and ran to the door.  SEVENTY ONE times.  This is a screen shot of his positioning most of the night.  It made me feel TERRIBLE!

I always wondered why that couch cushion on the back was flat.  He never EVER crawls up there when I'm home.  At least I leave the television on for a little noise.  He appears to look at it occasionally, but I'm not sure if he's seeing the TV or the camera infrared lights.

So lets made Mom feel even WORSE.  OH THE WAILING!  It starts out so quiet and gets louder as he goes.  I had no idea.  He howled on and off the entire time I was gone.  

Cooper ... you're killing me!!!!  I'm hoping these videos are the ones I wanted to upload.  There were so many that I lost track of which ones to post.  It takes quite some time for them to load, and then once they do, you cannot check them.  

I always felt bad about leaving him for a seven hour Bingo session, but now I feel even worse.  It's funny too ... if I play these, he barks at me.  I read the other day that our pets are only a PART of our lives, but we are 100% ALL of their lives and mean everything to them.  So go pet your pet and give them a treat.

Of course I had to leave him AGAIN, since last night was meeting night at the lodge.  I folded and wore the blue jacket, but stuck to my Levis and boots.  SO much more comfortable.  

Dinner was ribeye steak (nice, but too much fat on them for me), scalloped potatoes and the usual green beans.  Everyone HATES green beans from a can.   I don't care how much bacon you put on them, they are green beans from a can.  I brought half of the steak home as a peace offering for Cooper.

Luckily I slid by the fine for not wearing the 'uniform'.  Thanks go to the long time lawyer trustee who provided my defense and squashed the opposition.

That's two late nights in one week and I'm beat.  If it warms up a bit, I'll be hitting the pavement for a two mile wakeup call.  Otherwise, I'll be on the couch giving lots of love to my kid, Cooper.

Craziest Thing I've Ever Seen

It's morning again.  Dark and cold after another day of rain.  I do love having Mother Nature water my lawn so I can turn my system off.  She does a much better job.   

I spent the early hours watching the fox videos again, and what do I see but a strange white thing running around the back yard.  Trust me, he NEVER gets out there by himself.  He has his very own MOM watchdog at all times, especially after the skunk encounter.  We are not doing THAT again!

So here it is, the craziest thing I've ever seen.  It's hard to see so you have to look closely.  Keep an eye immediately to the right of that white post after halfway up.  See what's climbing the steel fence?  It's definitely NOT a kitty kitty. 

The kitty had been just below and the fox wanted to be on higher ground.  Now THAT'S an amazing feat for a fox.  I can't believe I got this on video.  You may have to play it twice to get a good look.  Craziest thing I've ever seen.

When the sun finally came up, I was off in a flash to the diesel station up North of me.  It's interesting to hear both sides of the story.  One of my friends who operates the biggest almond orchard in the country said his diesel fuel supplier suggested he buy every bit he could because it was going to be in short supply and the price was going up yet again.  He suggested I fill my truck tank.

I've been going there for years and know the nice lady well enough to have a quiet talk with her.  She said it's all rumors, that their supplier said it wasn't true, so who knows which side to believe.  It cost me a small fortune to fill my truck ... $213.00 at $5.69 a gallon.  Gas is $4.89.  OUCH!!

On the way home, I required a new ironing board cover.  Unfortunately I glued just about everything to my board making this last quilt/wall hanging.  Anything I iron, sticks rather nicely now.  I don't like shopping at Walmart one bit and avoid the place like the plague, but it was on the way home.  

I thought this time I could kill two birds with one stone and pick up some gluten free bread.  I was a little shocked when I saw the price of $6.73 for one very small loaf.  Too bad I didn't look a little closer.  See that little Best By date?  Exactly why I don't like Walmart.  The pull date was 10/29 ... FOUR DAYS AGO!

The same thing applied to the bagels I picked up ... expired FOUR DAYS AGO!!  Yeah, Nancy wasn't very happy!!  Why is this stuff even on the shelf?

I noticed they don't have prices on their shelves like other grocery stores.  I've been thinking pancakes would be yummy and maybe the gluten free part wouldn't be noticeable when cooked.  What could be better than Bisquick?  At least the pull date was good, but I only discovered the price as I was looking at the receipt for the bread.  $6.74 for this tiny little 16 ounce box!!  I guess I'm not going gluten free after all.  I'll report on the pancakes later.

Big sigh ... then I found THIS!  I LOVE tikka masala, and does it not look yummy on the box?  At least this one was cheap, or relatively so.  I'll let you know how it is tomorrow!

I spent the rest of the day attaching all the parts and pieces of fabric to this wall hanging.  It's not really going to be a quilt per se.  I ended up doing some embroidery because my rope idea didn't work out, and there are still some jewelry pieces to add, along with borders, and then of course it has to be quilted.

This morning I'm gearing up for a dentist appointment ... oh the fun ... and another steak dinner at the Elks Lodge before the meeting tonight.  I'm protesting their blue jacket gray pants protocol and wearing a black jacket and Levis.  Always the black sheep!!!

I NEED A CLOTHESPIN!!!

Oh me oh MY ... this is what I call the Bingo hangover.  I switched up a chili cheese dog sans bun (that's French for without) thinking it would be better.  Trust me, it was NOT.  It sure tasted good going down however.

Add to that the 4 o'clock wake up, followed by being attacked by a bear, car jacked by a crazy killer and having a dog jump in your truck without you knowing until you drove 300 miles.  I'd give anything to figure out my Halloween nightmares that happen most every night.  

So I'm rather drug out this morning, yawning, eyes half closed, trying to concentrate.  It will get better in no time though .. I've got phony coffee.

GREAT NEWS yesterday, it not only sprinkled but it rained like a son-of-a-gun!!  I couldn't believe it until I got soaked running from my house to the garage.  I know I have six umbrellas around the house, but I couldn't find a single one. 

You're not going to believe this, but it was actually a pretty good night.  No one threw money at me and no one tried to steal anything.  How could that be?  Especially with 140 avid bingo players in attendance.  I hate to bring up THIS subject, but it was the only BIG problem all night long.  

I don't know what those people eat, but O M G ..... the gas was prolific!!  Add to that the fact that not one, but BOTH bathrooms are within a stones throw distance from me.  Let me just say that these women are disgusting when it comes to bathroom etiquette.  CLOSE THE DOOR!!!  Or at least FLUSH THE TOILET!  I NEED A CLOTHESPIN!!!  No kidding ... it was the worst night in history.

As you can imagine, I was more than happy to leave the premises as soon as possible.  

But first, I had to pick up my turkey.  One of the nice perks of working Bingo is all the workers get a turkey for Thanksgiving.  Costco refused our request this year, but Tar-shay (French for Target) said yes and provided us with beautiful 15 pounders, wrapped of course.  At least I won't starve this month!!

With nothing more interesting going on and Vicks now stuffed up my nose, here's a video of the fox stalking the kitty kitty.  That black blob by the dog box, way in the back just to the right of the white pole, is the kitty.  Watch the eyes and you will see where the fox goes.  Turn your sound up at the very end.

Later in the night, they met again.  The end of the video shows how BRAVE the fox is.  I just love watching these behaviors.  I'm not sure if he wants to eat the kitty or play with him.

By the way, thank you for the boiling coffee advice.  Although I didn't have any coffee beans, I mixed up a good portion of instant coffee (Cyndae will wonder what happened to her stash she keeps here) and set it on the stove to boil.  

Soon the smell of wonderful coffee was wafting through the house.  You know what happened.  I forgot about it and now the wonderful smell of BURNT coffee is wafting through the house.  It's not bad really, better than the oil smell, so thank you for that advice.

I pretty much feel like I was drug though a knot hole backwards, so Cooper and I will be resting on the couch until I can muster up enough energy to head out for a two mile walk.  I've been trying to do that at least three days a week.  So far so good!!

Yes there's one more fox video ... the strangest one, along with some of Cooper.  71 to be exact.  I set up my critter cam in the living room last night, just to see what he does when I'm gone.  Oh my goodness ... you won't believe it.

Thanks for stopping by .... 

Ghosties and Goblins

 I'm up ..... at least my body is up.  My brain isn't quite in gear yet.  Coffee .... I need coffee!!  It's a warm 50 degrees this morning with rain "suggested" for the next two days.  I'm not sure what that means just yet, but maybe we'll get a sprinkle or two.

My pirate kid wasn't very appreciative of his peg leg and twice removed it in disgust.  Thankfully, part of his order was received yesterday, including the horse wrap.  It works wonders ... even for me.

I spent a good portion of the day at Lowes, trying to find the weird things I was looking for.  This light fixture just fell out of the ceiling (outside thankfully) and scared the heck out of us.  Of course they didn't have anything that looked like the same one, but with the help of a gal stocking shelves, we found one for me to try.  That was amazing in itself ... someone to help you at Lowes.

This ... THIS is a man's job.  I had no clue how to install it and messed with it for some time.  If you ever wanted to take it out again ... good luck.  It has these springy prongy things that fit into a slot ... or maybe that's not really how it's supposed to work.  Hopefully it stays put.

Then I perused the toilet seat aisle.  Good grief ... who knew there were so many choices?  I thought a seat was a seat, but NOOOOOO.  Finally I just grabbed one ... after all, it's for company and rarely gets used.  

I headed for the checkout stand and was pretty surprised to find it was ALL check-yourself-out.  Sorry, I'm not doing that.  I grabbed the kid just standing there, handed him the items and said could you please check me out?  Using my best BLOND acting abilities ..... this stuff is SO heavy!!  AND HE DID!  So next time you have to do it yourself, call them over and tell them you just can't figure it out (in your best blond voice).

Wouldn't you know the second I walked in the bathroom to install it, it was the WRONG one.  RATS!!!  Now I have to return it.

Not really feeling like decorating for Halloween, I whipped up a batch of brown butter cookies.  Oh my goodness .. I may just have to make these my favorites!  SO much flavor, not to mention melty white chocolate chips.  These of course came out a little browner than I wanted.  

Finally, as darkness fell over the yard, it was time for the ghosts and goblins to arrive.  I waited with great anticipation since the third World Series game was cancelled due to rain.  At long last there was a shadow at the door.  Can you hear it?  The growl at the end?

Yeah, that's Cooper, having a fit every time he saw a car go by.  The first four were neighbors from across the street, followed up by two teenage girls.  At least they were dressed up!  Two hours later a truck pulling a car trailer loaded down with about fifteen kids drove past.  They didn't stop.

I'm sure he would have been tarred and feathered if anyone had seen those kids on the trailer with no railing whatsoever.  On the ranch, we did it all the time, but nowadays, it's forbidden.  Too bad they kept going because I could have gotten rid of half a box of candy.  Now I'll just have to stick it in the freezer and eat it all myself.  I gained two pounds just thinking about it.

That was it ... no other goblins stopped by, even if Cooper thought for sure there were more bodies roaming around his property.  He barked for the next hour before I finally called it a night.

I think it's sad that the trunk or treat thing has taken over.  There's no more going to your neighbors house and turning their lawn chairs upside down, or checking out that house with all the creepy decorations and scary music.   The fun of Halloween is gone.  I guess my green paint and fake nose will finally get thrown away.

I spotted this goblin ... or rather weird clown guy ... yesterday afternoon.  Yup this is me!!  FREE FABRIC!!!

Oh wait .... I have fox videos with something I've never seen before!  Besides the kitties that is ... but I'll give ya'll a break and post it tomorrow.  You will probably be as surprised as I was!!!

November is here ... only 55 days until Christmas!!!