Even In Smallville!!

Being interested in history like I am, when I pull into a town big or small, I always want to know how it began.  What was here that made people want to stop and set down roots.  Many times it was out of necessity I'm sure, but some times it was because the government forced you to live in Smallville, out in the middle of nowhere.

That's the town that is closest to me, Smallville USA!  It used to be MUCH bigger, a thriving metropolis populated with handsome airmen from nearby Castle Air Force Base.  There's nothing like a man in uniform!!  Built in 1941, it was the United State Air Force Strategic Air Command until it closed in 1995.  

Opened as the Army Air Corps Basic Flying School, over 30,000 pilots and WASPS (Women Air Service Pilots) were trained at this location.  With the end of the war, three B-29 Squadrons were stationed here, all of whom were eventually relocated to Davis-Monthan Field in Arizona.

The name changed to Castle Field when the 93rd Bombardment Group was located at this site.  They flew Boeing B-50 Superfortresses until 1948 when the entire wing was sent to Okinawa, the first Strategic Air Command Bomb Group to be deployed in full strength to the far East.

Since closing, the Castle Museum has come about, originally having only one or two planes.  Over the years however, it has collected many of the old flying fortresses, still adding to the collection with the arrival of a Chinook helicopter that FLEW in two days ago.  When I heard there was a car show at the museum, I had to grab my camera and take a look, hoping it would improve my mood after paying my taxes.

The Wing began air refueling operations in 1950, allowing the first jet fighters to cross the Pacific Ocean during the Korean War.  KC-135's were the plane of choice until the jet propelled B52B Stratoforce arrived.  From 1968-74, training replacements took place here for the Vietnam War.

I think there are five planes you can enter, with docents in every one to answer questions.  I sat down with every one of them and asked for stories about "their" plane.  The gentleman in the Hog Hauler spent many hours being transported around the world in this beast.  

The volunteer in Honey Gal is a pilot who flew her for 33 years before retiring.  He comes from Fairfield every time there is an event, just to show off his baby to visitors.  

All my years growing up on the ranch were spent with these behemoths flying overhead.  I never could understand how they stayed up in the air.  Their wing tips almost touched the ground as they landed going so SLOW I was sure they would just fall out of the sky!

The most interesting part about these planes that seemed twenty times larger when I was a kid, is they really aren't that big inside at all.  I took several images with a fish-eye lens, which gives a great perspective of the actual size.  VERY small, considering all the people and supplies they carried.

Still flying in 1991, B52 bombers flew men and supplies to Saudi Arabia, bombing chemical, nuclear and industrial plants in Desert Storm.  Being one who likes to drive heavy equipment, I got the feeling I would LOVE to fly one of these huge planes.  No telling where THAT came from, because I don't like to fly AT ALL!!  Maybe I was picking up feelings from an old pilot ... they say several of these planes have ghosts!!

Same goes for this KC-135 ... just not as big inside as I expected.  With many of the pilots and crew still living in the area, most planes have pictures inside and out in different locations around the world.  Fascinating, to say the least!!

Closed for good in 1995, all those gorgeous airmen moved away.  Everyone then threw their hands up in the air, not wanting anything to do with so many buildings and so much jet fuel in the soil.  When I was in the construction business, we bid on the cleanup contract ... probably the only ones brave enough.  

It didn't take long however, for the D-9 cat driver to be overcome with fumes after the first ten feet of digging near the refueling station.  With nothing available short of scuba diving tanks to provide fresh air to the operators, the project was shut down.  Interestingly enough, nothing else was ever done.  The hole was covered up and not mentioned again, except for that lawsuit over water contamination.

At any rate, it's a GREAT museum to check out if you are ever in the Central Valley/Atwater area.  Even in Smallville, there are things to see and interesting history to discover!!

What about the car show?  Yes, there was a car show ... a BIG one.  I'll show those pictures tomorrow!!

SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN BED!!!

It's amazing how things can go wrong in the blink of an eye!  Some days it's just better to stay in bed.

I woke up to the normal nightmares and tried to feign sleep so the dogs would stay put.  I was so good at it that I gained 15 more minutes sleep.  Up and at 'em, I fed everyone and jumped on the rowing machine.  Surprisingly, there have been no OMG moments where I couldn't move, but that's another story.

My goal for the day, which sometimes is pretty small, was to drive to the UPS store and pick up my mail.  I knew my tax returns would be forthcoming and Monday is the deadline.  Since even TAX offices don't work Saturdays, the papers allowing on-line filing needed to be signed and returned.

I got the biggest shock of my life when I opened the folder.  It caused such distress that I froze in my tracks.  Even the girls in the store asked if I was okay.  #@!%$#!&%#$&#!!  I owe THAT much???  That's enough to purchase the newest, fanciest 4-wheel drive 3/4 ton high-in-the-sky truck and pay CASH!!!  That's more than I make in an entire year!!!  I called my accountant.

Here's the thing ..... in laymen's terms.  You know that little bit of depreciation you get to write off each year when you have a rental?  All of that comes back to bite you in the butt when you sell it.  Basically, you now have to pay tax on every bit of that and MORE at a much higher rate than normal!!  It's the BIG ONE Elizabeth!!

Unfortunately I stayed upright and now faced the worst task imaginable for me ... I had to write those lousy checks to IRS and Franchise Tax Board.  You just can't imagine the bad words going through my head at that point!!

I might as well write out the checks and get them in the mail while I'm here and save a trip to the post office.  The girls felt sorry for me and gave me the stamps free, as well as faxing the paperwork for free.  Everything done, I headed home.

It was THEN that I discovered just how distraught I really was.  Can you guess?  I wrote the checks out of the wrong account, and since I watched the mail lady pick up the bag from the UPS store, I knew there was no going back.

Could it get any worse???  I finally calmed down enough to figure out a way around this mess I just put myself in.  I drove all the way back to town to the bank that had the money ... got a cashier's check made out to me, then drove clear across town to the second bank that the checks were from.  Usually, they won't credit the money to your account immediately ... not until the check (even a cashier's check) clears the bank.

Lucky for me, they took pity on my plight and credited it immediately.  WHEW!!!  Disaster averted!!  I just should have stayed in bed today!!

In an effort to distract myself and maybe make me feel a little better about the whole deal, I decided to bake a cake and eat all of it in one sitting!!  I'm sure you all know what this is ... my favorite cast iron skillet ... and it's upside down!!

While scrounging around in my cabinets, I discovered a large can of pineapple that I'm sure I would never use .... except for pineapple upside down cake.  This time I drug out my grandmother's cookbook.  With no cherries in sight, I substituted pecans from Arizona.  I didn't quite eat the entire thing .... a quarter of it however, went straight into my mouth and it's all IRS's fault!!!  

The only good point of the entire day, aside from the cake, was my renewal of mail services with the UPS store.  After the first year, you get a discount!!  The only ray of sunshine in an otherwise horrible, cloudy, hailing, thunder and lighting day!!  An entire year for $86.00.  How cool is THAT?

Yup, some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed!!  Now instead of 30 minutes on the rowing machine, I'll have to spend 60 to pay for the cake!!

SUPER WOMEN (AND MEN) !!!!!

FYI ...... even though this is normally that bad-word TAX day April 15, your taxes are not due until APRIL 18.  Don't ask me why, as with any "government" action, there's never a good answer.

Today's blog is about people with skills.  If you know someone who quilts, they are definitely a SUPERWOMAN (or man)!  I'm not there yet, I'm just an apprentice, but I know MANY who have made the grade and deserve a big HIGH FIVE from everyone they know!!

You may think quilting is just lots of wasted time in a fabric store, followed closely by some grumbling and late nights staying up trying to finish projects.  I'm here to tell you that is exactly true .... and THEN some!!

You have to be a master of color, have amazing taste in fabric, infinite patience and sewing skills beyond imagination.  All these things make quilters SUPER, whether women or men!!

It took me THREE days to cut out the pieces for this quilt.  There are 40 different fabrics, a few having the same design but different colors.  I had to cut that fabric into 16 different shapes and sizes, while keeping every stack numbered.  Being an accountant helped, but trust me, you need to be a mathematician to figure out how much of each fabric you need.

Lucky for me, most of the fabric was already figured, I just had to cut it up.  40 unique fabrics to make 50 squares, each containing NINE pieces.  You do the math!  It then took me another two days to finish just four stacks of ten with only five pieces each.  That's when the problem reared it's ugly head!!

The pattern forgot to mention cutting the last four pieces for the FIFTH stack of 10!!  RATS!!!   I scrounged around in the scrap pile until I found enough leftovers to finish the last blocks.  WHEW!!  The mathematician on this kit must have been an apprentice like me!!

You also have to have amazing and PRECISE sewing skills, not to mention IRONING skills.  Who would have thought ironing would be a skill??  There's a certain way to iron each piece as you attach them together.  Get it wrong and nothing is square or the correct size!!  Superwoman I'm telling you!!

By the way, organization is another skill stacked on top of everything else.  In the 50 squares for this quilt, no two fabrics should be duplicated in any square.  Figure the odds on THAT!!  I'm pretty sure quilters would make great bets on horse racing!!

After five days of work, I have ten squares done, with another 40 to go, and I haven't even mentioned the actual QUILTING part of it where you put the backing, batting and cover together.  That's another set of skills that I don't want to tackle.  I take mine to the experts!!

So the next time you run into a woman or man who quilts, give them a BIG high five!!  They are super women and men with amazing powers and skills beyond your imagination, who make wonderful blankets to keep you and your family warm and cozy!!  HIGH FIVE!!!!!

This Is The BIG ONE Elizabeth!!!

Over the last few days I've been working on my reservations for this summer.  Being a Thousand Trails member, there are multiple rules to follow regarding WHEN you can make reservations as well as for how long.  It seems that every single membership has different rules and regulations, depending on where and from whom you purchased it, making them ridiculously complicated.  Reservations are a MUST however since they opened up to the public.

A few years ago they weren't doing so well, so they changed their rules from a membership only park to "anyone can stay here for a fee".  Unfortunately for us members, the parks are now swarming with loud, unruly weekend warriors and good spots are hard to find.  To make it even worse, MANY spots have been sold on a yearly basis, some simply as storage sites for boats and RV's not being used.  Entire sections have been taken out of the loop for us members.  Had I been able to see into the future a few years ago, I probably wouldn't have purchased a membership.

The good news is, except for the fee of $500 a year, I can stay for free 365 days if I wish.  Many memberships cost an additional $3 or $5 a night and the number of nights are limited.  There's a long story about how that came about for me.  Not a bad deal for sure, but it requires lots of planning, a big calendar and a BIGGER calculator.  Premium parks like Seaside do not allow me to make reservations more than 90 days out.  Other parks have 120 day requirements.  Some parks allow three week stays, some even more, and it's hard to know which is which!!

To make matters worse, someone just posted on Facebook about how the entire coast of Oregon will disappear in the BIG ONE that's coming SOON.  No one really knows when soon is, but I don't want to be there when that happens.  Everything West of Highway I-5 will be toast they say!  Good thing I live 40 miles EAST of I-5!!  Hmmmm maybe I should change my reservations and go further EAST!

At any rate, I'm a Happy Camper since I was able to make all four of my Thousand Trails reservations for the trip North.  Honestly, it might just be easier to stay in regular RV parks on the way back .... no stress about getting a place to park.

In between spending hours on the computer and phone, I'm still working on this cow needlepoint I picked up in Auburn last year.  It was a waiting game when I ran out of thread, as did the store.  I had to wait until someone in India made more and shipped it my direction.  

Cooper has certainly been a Happy Camper since getting his teeth cleaned and losing two bad ones.  He seems to be eating much better!!  These babies are never far from my side.  Miss Jessie sits behind me on my little office chair while I type ... yup, she's squished right in there ... and Cooper got a new ball.  

His old one was so torn up and ragged it wouldn't roll any more, so when he looked the other direction, it went in the trash.  Today he got a new squeaky one that he adores!!  He's like a little kid with a sackful of candy, and just as hyper!!  He's been playing with it for the last hour, before finally falling asleep at my feet .... with the ball two inches from his nose.  

With my reservations complete, I can move on up to that motorhome step recall, figuring out how to get a quilt to the show in Dixon (up by Sacramento) and working on yet another quilt.  I still have one plant left to put in the ground, but it's raining nicely this morning, so I think I'll just sit on my patio, breathe in the fresh air and listen to the roosters crow.  A report on the rowing machine will be forthcoming ... after I take a few Advil!!

The Magic Kingdom Perks!

Like almost every other day this last week, it started out with home repairs.  This section of my gutters seems to be a thorn in my side.  The run was too long, so they cut it here, but didn't do a great job.  These two ends fill with water making them heavier and therefore LOWER than the rest.  There are also a few leaks around the end cap.

Finally, after hauling six different tools up and down the ladder (my exercise for the day) I was able to tighten everything up.  Not that it mattered, because the water STILL didn't flow to the far end, but it's better than before.  Once they dry out completely, I'll caulk the ends so they don't leak.  

On one of my many trips to the RV ... does anyone else do this? ... I'm constantly needing something I  didn't unload .... anyway,  I unplugged her from the 50 amp service, started the generator and after a few minutes, turned on both air conditioners.  She ran a little rough at the start, but an hour later was purring like a kitten.  Check that one off my list!!

Next up, MORE exercise!!  I can't seem to get motivated much more than sitting down watching television, so one of my friends came up with THIS idea.  It's a Rogue Concept 2 rowing machine, duplicating the necessary requirements to row one of those long racing boats around the lake.  That's got to be good exercise, right?

It's on loan at this point, but may become a regular fixture around here.  It's easy to use, quiet, doesn't take up much room and in three minutes, gave me a heck of a workout!  It breaks down into two parts I can lift and is easily stored.  I'll let you know how it goes!!

By then it was time to head on off to the Magic Kingdom of Elks Bingo.  The King has been under the weather after surgery, and his absence is being felt by all the peasants who want to argue with us.  In days of old, he would give anyone anything they wanted.  The Castle Lawyer and Accountant put an immediate stop to that, as we are more interested in making money than giving it away.  Thus, we had a couple of minor skirmishes last night.  

Even if you come late and miss some games, you have to pay full price ... $20 ... for two packs.  At the halfway break, with 9 games left to play, you pay half price.  There's NO half price when we've played only 3 games out of 17.  That didn't go over well at ALL!!

One of the perks of volunteering at Bingo is dinner.  The kitchen whips up burgers and hot dogs for everyone at very reasonable prices ... free for the workers.  I totally love their hotdogs ... they are the best ... but they are also the best at giving you indigestion I can still feel at the end of the second day. I've no idea why, but the hamburgers are a close second.  

In an effort to begin yet another diet and lose a few pounds, I whipped up a lovely garden salad with spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, cranberries and apple.  That was followed up quickly by a huge brownie that one of the wives makes every single Tuesday night.  RATS!!!

By 10:00 we were all yawning .... it was way past the bed time of all these old Castle employees ... as we counted out the money from the wretched black box.  You could have heard our scream of joy two blocks away as we balanced to the penny!!   Chalk up one more win for the Bingo Crew!!

I'm going to go jump on the rowing machine now while I watch the news.  Not really, I never watch the news ... it's too depressing!  Then I'm going to Costco to get a large bottle of advil just in case I get too carried away rowing!!

Gardening 101

In the old old days, Miss Patty Chance and I, along with another friend Tony, used to have huge gardens that we tended every day.  We would have contests to see who could grow the biggest and best onions or the largest tomatoes.  I never won any of those contests, but it was fun to try.

We even tried growing weird things like purple potatoes, brussels sprouts and peanuts.  Who would have thought peanuts would grow in California?  One of my truck driver friends who had family back East, brought me a bunch of seed peanuts from some amazing variety I'd never heard of.  They grew like crazy, although I remember the growing season being something like 9 months long!!

I would hang all my garlic and onions encased in my expensive nylons, from the rafters in the garage.  Many times they became Christmas presents!!

All of that is a thing of the past since I can't have a garden while traipsing around the country in my motorhome.  I do occasionally replace plants in the yard however, like this butterfly bush that is beginning to show purple blooms.

I've never taken a Gardening 101 class, so many times my plantings don't survive.  I'm not sure if my gardening skills rival my cooking skills, or if it's the Roundup overspray from the gardeners.  I DO know the weedeater guy gets carried away!  I'm hoping this beauty survives to block the view of the beautiful sprinkler valves.

Everywhere I go in the yard, Cooper "helps".  Kind of like a spoiled kid, he makes a LOT more work for me.  I'm either slithering under the motorhome to get the ball, or I have to stop what I'm doing ..... like here ..... to retrieve his ball.  Always in an attempt to get me to play, he pushes the ball with his nose in my direction.  I'm supposed to push it back to him ... that's the game.  This was about the tenth time I took it OUT of the hole I was digging for a plant.

I have to admit I'm a BAD mom .... I buried this one.  When he wasn't looking, I put the plant on top and covered it up.  It was about gone anyway, split in half with most of the cover gone.  It was much easier to get the other two plants in the ground after that.

Once back in the house, I was in trouble.  No ball!!  He sat on my shoulder until I scrounged around in the laundry room and found one.  

Another chance to improve my cooking skills ... dinner of Korean BBQ pork.  Believe it or not, I got this idea from eating a Lean Cuisine.  It was pretty tasty!  Since I had leftover pork loin, I figured to try out a new recipe.  It's pretty simple ... brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and a few other spices poured over beef (preferably)  browned in oil and garlic.

When done, sprinkle with chopped green onions and serve over rice ... I chose brown rice.  Uncle Bens Instant Rice to be exact.  It wasn't exactly a home run, but the flavor was there!!  It needed some thin sliced veggies (maybe carrots and zucchini) and LOTS more sauce, but overall, not bad.  At least nowhere near burial material!!

As you can probably tell from the frying pan, I now have meals for the next four days!!  Maybe I'll whip up a little more sauce and throw in those veggies!  Apparently it freezes well.  If Lean Cuisine can do it, I imagine I can too.

Believe it or not, I still have two more plants to get in the ground today.  I really do love playing in the garden and digging in the dirt.  The results are usually worth the effort and it keeps me busy, or a least out of the refrigerator!  

It's time for my "chill pill" (another piece of cake) so I can gear up for the Kingdom of Bingo tonight.    That may just require TWO pieces!!

Nothing ... Nada ... Zilch ...

Every once in awhile, there's absolutely nothing going on ... NOTHING!!  That's what happened at my house yesterday ... NOTHING ... just like this picture!

There was a couple of little things, but none were worth writing home to Mom about.  I had CAKE for breakfast, that was fun!  Somebody's got to eat that cloud of strawberry deliciousness.

Mostly, I just sat around waiting for the Giants baseball game against the Dodgers to begin.  With rain still falling until around noon, I couldn't plant anything in the yard.  I wandered around the house trying to come up with something other than dusting the furniture, to no avail.  

I made up a list of all the things I want to photograph, like the Painted Ladies in San Francisco and the beach in Monterey, all of which are a good two hours drive away.  I got as far as the tiny grocery store a mile from my house to pick up sesame oil for a Korean BBQ dish I want to try.

Once the game started, Cooper, Jessie and I were entrenched on the couch for the rest of the day.  After the first ten minutes when the Dodgers got 5 runs to zero, I wanted to turn it off!  Instead, I began texting my old baseball buddy Peter.  We kept ourselves occupied through the first few innings until the Giants made a HUGE comeback ... home run after home run.  Whew!!  We won ... but that was close!

It felt good to be back in baseball!  I was a diehard season-ticket-holding fan for ten years before the "big breakup" which killed my enthusiasm for baseball (and just about everything else) completely.  It's been eight years and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy a good game, whether at home or at the park!!

Time for dinner, I made a GIGANTIC mess with oil spatters in the kitchen when I browned a pork tenderloin, then tossed it in the oven to finish off.  This one is pretty hard to mess up ... it came out very nice, accompanied by roasted brussels sprouts.  The leftovers will become Korean BBQ even though the recipe calls for beef.  Stay tuned for THAT one!

Just for the heck of it I got on the internet and checked out properties along the coast of California.  Ha!!!  No worries about me moving there!  I couldn't find anything under $850,000 with 90% of them listed at over $1million.  I closed my computer and went to bed.

Here's hoping today is a little more exciting!

Rainy Day Endeavors .....

And then it rained ..... and rained!!  I'm so happy for all the beautiful rain in California, filling our dams and reservoirs.  I'm not so happy about all the water flooding the wood chips out of my flower beds.  In the last two days we've had 2-1/2 inches of the wet stuff and it's expected to continue until this afternoon.

I vacuumed the house, did the laundry, played with Cooper, watched TV .... boring!!!  I know ... I'll zip it up a little by getting into a big argument with the Direct TV person on the phone.  At least this one could speak English.  Here's what she told me (I'm a new customer since the neighbor's kids shot out my dish).

They start you out with a $40 a month package and lots of freebies.  In three months, all the freebies go away and your price goes up to $50 (just because they can).  If you have it put on standby while you vacation, that time is added on to your two year contract time.

As the months go by, they drop channels so you will call and order the next package up.  Now it's $65  for the basics, at which time they begin tacking on $5-6 a month until your bill is $76.  If you want to watch the Giants baseball games, THAT will cost $175.00 more.  There are no "specials" or additions you can get that don't cost you a LOT more, even if you threaten to cancel.  After all she said, they have you under contract.  Once the contract is done, they have all kinds of "deals" to keep you around.  I guess there's something to be said for honesty.

My choice was to pay $608 total for the rest of the year or cancel (costing $160) and go to DishNetwork, with whom I already have service in my RV.  I think I'm going with Dish!  I'll make THAT phone call today.

What would make me feel better after THAT lovely conversation?  Why CAKE of course!  If any of you haven't tried Duff's new cake mixes, please do so.  This is NOT your ordinary cake mix.  Kind of hard to locate in the sea of cake mix boxes at the store, but well worth the look.

They come in all kinds of wild colors and flavors .... Pink Cadillac kind of caught my eye.  I recommend 8" cake pans, but mine disappeared, so I used 9".  While it cooled on the counter, I went to make frosting .... alas, no powdered sugar.  Now what???

It was then I remembered the old-time 7-minute frosting my mom used to make.  PERFECT!!  I got out her 1949 Betty Crocker Cookbook and found I had all the ingredients.  Sugar, water and egg whites, cooked in a double boiler.  It amazes me that we actually had a double boiler in the old days .... after all, we were pretty poor farmers!

My substitute for that was a big bowl over a saucepan of boiling water, but don't let the water touch the bottom of the bowl.  As the water simmers, you beat constantly with your hand mixer until it's thick and gorgeous.  Be careful the cord doesn't get too close to the gas flame ..... it melts!!  #%!&!#$!!   And don't worry about all those frosting splatters all over the stove and kitchen walls ..... it will clean up nicely with the hot water left over in the pan when you are done.

Now OFF the heat, you mix in your favorite flavoring ... I chose vanilla ... and beat for another couple of minutes.  I had a fleeting thought about the humidity being too high from the rain, but it seemed to work just fine.  It's a cross between the divinity my Grandmother used to make and marshmallow fluff!!  

Once frosted, take a spoon and smush it on the top, lifting up .... making nice peaks.  When you cut your first piece ... Surprise!!! ..... it's just as gorgeous as on the package.  Almost anyway, at least it's the same color!!  The taste you ask??  My oh my!!  This is the most deliciously tender cake I've ever eaten ... even better than bakery cakes!!  To top it off, the frosting doesn't have all the fat and calories of butter!!!  I'm going to buy six more boxes!!

One slice of cake wasn't enough .... by the end of the day I had eaten TWO!!  To counteract the calories (actually about 150 a slice), I whipped up a shrimp salad/salsa kind of thing.  I couldn't go wrong here ... just cut everything up and mix it in a bowl with some lime juice.  Shrimp, avocados, onions, cucumber and tomatoes ..... yummy!!  

I really wanted to make it THREE slices of cake, but used all my willpower to say no.  Actually, I put the cake in the laundry room so I wouldn't see it.  That worked perfectly!

Today I'm spending the afternoon in the rig watching Giants baseball on Dish Network ...... while I eat CAKE!!!

Cowboy Boots Are Amazing!!

They are even BETTER when you WEAR them!!  Lately, I've kept them on most of the time, but yesterday I slipped.  I almost cried when I look down and saw this.

First thing Friday morning I had to make another run to Home Depot to pick up some drip irrigation splitters and three more of those little grassy looking plants.  I'll just wear my brand new pair of Mizuno fluorescent pink running shoes.  

I dug out all the sad society garlic, I'm sure killed from Roundup overspray.  I know it's harder to bend over and rip out that bermuda grass!!  Lo and behold, underneath those plants were millions and millions of ants, frantically moving their larva up my arms and legs.  I KNEW I should have worn my boots!

With everything planted and lots of new drip lines buried to escape the dreaded weedeater, I looked over to see my fence coming loose next to the old dog kennel.  I grabbed my drill, a huge box of deck screws and a hammer.  This is going to take awhile.  I have about a quarter mile of fence and I SHOULD have put on my BOOTS!!

With no horses, the corral is completely covered with foxtail, an obnoxious little plant causing lots of grief and tears.  Yes, I did think about them getting in my shoes, but they looked very green, in which case they don't come apart.  I walked the perimeter of the fence putting in more screws and pounding nails until I had blisters on my hands.  The joys of home ownership!!

Around 2:00 the temperature climbed up to 75 degrees with 98% humidity, so I called it a day.  That's when I noticed the stickers!!  I spent the next TWO hours digging them out of the mesh covering with tweezers.  Why didn't I wear my boots???

About the time I finished, the gardeners showed up.  I had noticed several too-wet spots and this was the perfect time to get them fixed.  I love geysers, but not in my yard.  They replaced two big lawn sprinklers (no charge) and repaired two more.  This one corner was a problem, but I couldn't figure out why ... can you??  

You're right .... the curb guy installed the curb right on top of a very large sprinkler.  Geeze Louise!!  My gardeners, nice guys that they are, said they could fix it, but I'm giving it to the Contractor.  He made the mistake, he can fix it!!  

Nice guy that HE is, he said no problem ... he'll be here first thing Monday.  Not bad for such a small town ... it's usually very difficult to get people to stand behind their work.  

My timing was perfect for once .... it's been raining all night, settling those plants in nicely.  The little grassy things don't spread and are far away from the lawn edge, so they should survive.  I still have three more beauties to plant, but will wait until late Sunday when the rain stops.

In the meantime, I'm putting on my boots and sitting on the patio with my coffee, listening to the nice pitter patter of beautiful wet rain!!

My Attention Span ........ SQUIRREL!!

Lets face it, I get easily distracted, exactly like my Jessie dog.  I'm hoping it's because there is only so much one person can do and NOT a reflection of my old age.  I've been doing spring cleaning of the house and getting rid of a lot of stuff, but every time I go outside, I get caught up in yard work.

The roses came into bloom like crazy in the last three days and my winter blooming pink flowers (the geographical name I'm sure, or is it the scientific name) are still looking nice in spite of the warm weather.  Upon closer look, I noticed several of my plants have been lost to the careless application of Roundup by the gardeners.  It doesn't take much to kill a little society garlic.  

So in the middle of cleaning the spare bedroom closet, chock full of everything that didn't have a home, I trucked on off to Home Depot to pick up a few additions to both the front and back yards.  I should have gone to Lowes.  For one thing, Home Depot's varieties are few and far between, most being annuals.  If I'm going to go through the expense and trouble to plant something, I want it to last forever.

Those few perennials they did have desperately needed water.  Many pots contained completely dead plants.  How hard is it to water those poor plants??  I guess if you're getting paid $15 an hour, you don't really have to work ... just stand around, after all it's not YOUR stuff!!

While loading the juniper into my truck, I noticed this beautiful moth.  He's HUGE ... about three inches long with pink on his wings.  Sorry bud, but I don't need any more bugs in my yard as I slid him off on the nearest tree.

The three little grass mounds are .... well .... grass of some kind.  I planted them yesterday next to the three little garlics that are dying on the right.  I guess I better replace those too.  Two of my purchases will go in the front yard to replace plants that have magically disappeared or the gardeners have killed.  It's hard to get good help nowadays!!

Off on another tangent, I stopped in at Kelly-Moore to pick up some touch up paint.  Luckily the previous owners kept all kinds of jars and containers of original paint for my house.  Most were totally unusable, but at least had color and room names on them.  

I just assumed they had that color computer thing that could match the paint exactly.  They don't ... nor do they want to mix up a quart of anything.  It's a gallon or nothing!!  Eventually, with lots of trial and error, we were able to match two colors which were available in quarts.  When I opened the next color, the paint didn't look bad, just the can.  I asked him to put it in another clean can and shake it up.  It looked good to me, so that made three.  

I did have to purchase a gallon of one color he mixed up, but it covers three big rooms in my house ... not that I need that much for touch up, but it was my only alternative.  I'll just leave it behind for the next owner.

Sidetracked again .... when I got home, I couldn't wait to see if the new-can paint would work on an old water stain in my bathroom.  I figured it would need some kilz first.  Unfortunately, I'm not very adept at this stuff either ... it was oil-based, a fact I only realized after dipping the brush in and I had nothing to clean the brush with.  Forget the kilz, I got another old brush and painted the newly revived paint on the wall.  It looks GREAT!!  YAY!!!

Now WHAT was I doing before I started painting??  Oh yeah ... the garden.  But wait ... I haven't finished the bedroom, let alone the house!!   SQUIRREL!!!!

I Need A Snooze Button ....

On my DOG!!!  Please  .....  just thirty more minutes!!  It wasn't to be however as I received my morning massage when he jumped up and down on my back.  Once I open the door and he finds his ball, he will play by himself for ten minutes or so, but by then I'm awake and UP!!

As we all walked out the back door together, this scene greeted us.  What a beautiful morning with temperatures in the 60's.  Maybe Cooper knew what he was doing when he made me get up in time to watch the sunrise unfold.

A few minutes later out the front door, serenaded by four roosters trying to outdo each other, the colors had changed completely.  As the roosters crowed, there was a new voice in the mix.  It sounded like the cry of a child, but it was a peacock.  With a couple of dogs thrown in, it was a real morning rock band concert!!

While I was outside, I noticed how badly I needed to trim the bushes and clean up the horse shed, so with everyone fed, I went to work.  A lot of old horse stuff, like plastic tubs and blankets had disintegrated to pieces in the sun, along with several haystack covers.  

By the time I got done stuffing everything in the trash can, it was all of 8:15, so I drug out the weed sprayer, mixed up a batch of Roundup and hit the fence line ..... twice!!  I spent the next hour trying to get all the foxtails out of my shoes, socks and levis.  I'll work on it again today, hoping to make a bigger dent.

I finally choked down the last of the chicken for lunch, and in spite of my perpetual diet, decided I wanted to cook something that would actually turn out good ... comfort food with a capital C ... macaroni and cheese!!!  This has to be my all-time favorite!!

I think this was the first thing I ever learned to cook.  The recipe hasn't changed since I was about eight years old, except no one knew what Panko was back then.  Honestly, I was so starved for real home cooking that I could have eaten the whole thing in one sitting!!  The devil on my shoulder said forget that stupid diet and I settled for almost a quarter of it.  Boy was it GOOD!!  It was really hard to put my fork down!!

Having ingested so many calories, I'm headed out to the back yard again to work some of it off.  I've got pallets to move and tree limbs to cut.  Anyone want to come help?  I'll provide the beer and Mac 'n Cheese!!!

Survival Instinct!!

Times have changed quite a bit since I was a kid.  When we went camping, we never locked the car and always slept out in the open on the ground.   Purses and wallets were left on the picnic table and we never once gave a thought to the words "serial killer".

I got a rude awakening when I moved to Denver Colorado at the age of 18 when my beautiful Chevy Chevelle Supersport was stolen, not once but TWICE.  The second time resulted in a complete strip job ... nothing left but the body.

Back in California, I became acquainted with the Police Department, where I saw more than I ever wanted.  Over the years, that and watching too much 48 hours on TV, has made me VERY careful every single hour of the day.

Such was the case yesterday, when the doorbell rang.  I saw the PG&E truck in the distance, but I wasn't about to open the door.  He wanted to check my gas meter, saying his records showed it was disconnected.  Yeah right ... no way Jose, but I finally let him in the back yard.  I thought of grabbing my gun just in case, but instead picked up my biggest kitchen knife and wrapped it in a hand towel.

I stayed far away as he checked the meter for leaks and spray painted all the pipes before heading out the gate.  Back in the house, I watched him enter the PG&E truck and drive off.  Apparently he was legit after all ... I just wasn't taking any chances.

The same goes for the Magic Kingdom of Bingo.  There's a lot of cash in this black magic box, so I'm thankful that many of the workers are policemen, firemen and the County Sheriff, all of whom pack!!  Course if someone did come in and demand all the money, my survival instinct would kick in.   I'd unplug it and hand them the entire machine in a flash!!  Heck, I'd even carry it to the car for them.

The infernal machine was good to me last night as the expected huge crowd showed up again, throwing more money at me than usual.  Since the Castle Lawyer was gone, I grabbed one of the men to help count cards while I rang them up.  It went so fast we didn't have a single complaint!!  A miracle to say the least!

Total payouts for the night exceeded $8,000 ... pretty crazy, right? ... and we still made money.  Bingo is the single highest contributor to all the Elks charities because as someone so aptly remarked, this is the only entertainment in town!!

After balancing to the penny .... YAY!! .... I grabbed one of the men to walk me out to my truck since it's down a dark alley.  He turned around and went back just as I got to my door.  Funny, my keys wouldn't open the lock.  It took a second to realize it was the twin of my truck two spaces down.  As I started to walk back, I noticed two guys kneeling in front of the next car.  Uh oh!!  The hackles on my neck went up.  I hit the open button, jumped in the passenger seat and locked the door.  

They just looked at me.  I felt rather sheepish as I slid over the seat and started the engine.  I guess I DO watch too many Cop shows and I'm probably just TOO careful.  Or maybe I just have a good survival instinct!!