When You Get Lemons ......

Make lemonade ... isn't that the saying??  Well I'm here to attest to the fact that sometimes, that doesn't work out so well.

I had an appointment with my financial advisor yesterday.  That's like sticking sharp sticks under my fingernails.  I'm an Accountant, I should deal with it better.  The trouble is I listened to my parents years ago and put most every penny I made into savings accounts.  The next step up was investments.  Not stocks, because the BIG one that crashed during the depression was the cause of my mother saving every piece of tinfoil she touched.  I learned that lesson well and have always tried to invest in sure things.

Until the NEXT big crash where I lost a ridiculous amount of my investments, which I, along with probably everyone else, have never recovered from.  Now when we have these meetings, they have to pry the pennies from my fingers to get me to invest more.  After all, I already have a nice burial plot in my back yard and I can always find coffee cans to bury it in.  I got lemons.  Coffee can burials are lemonade to me!!

At any rate, the one hour meeting turned into three as I signed a hundred sheets of paper transferring everything to another ... I hope better ... investment company.  It's exhausting because I'm so afraid it will all disappear again.  At any rate, I got home just in time to whip up a casserole for dinner.

This is a pretty good example of how I cook, which resulted in making lemonade.  I chopped and browned the onions for the tamale pie.  The hamburger was defrosted and ready to drop in the pot when I realized it wasn't really hamburger after all.  It was steak ... as in chicken fried ... and tenderized to look like hamburger.

Now what???  I frantically scanned the freezer shelves to find NO hamburger.  I wondered what happened to it as I plopped the steak on a cutting board and began to slice and dice it into tiny pieces. I got lemons ... maybe I can make tamale pie with chopped beef and take out my "investment" frustrations in the process.

Now for the sauce part, except I didn't have the required taco sauce, or tomato sauce or any suitable replacement except barbecue sauce.  At that moment I saw myself digging another hole out back as I dumped it in.  Boy, this batch of lemons is pretty sour!!  At this point I SHOULD be layering this with tortillas, which are on my grocery list, but NOT in my fridge.  What I DO have is Fritos, the perfect substitute, yes??  Think LEMONADE!!

Making it worse, the cheddar cheese I planned to grate over the top had the nicest growth of fuzzy mold.  I know you can cut that part off, but it wasn't worth the trouble.  That's Monterey Jack on top.

Thirty minutes later, I was hesitant to take a taste, as you can imagine.  Okay, it's not something I would feed to guests, which I'm sure makes you happy should you ever come to my house for dinner, but all in all, it wasn't TOO terrible.  I ate a big chunk.  Just a LITTLE sour, this lemonade is at least edible.  Let's put it this way, I'm eating it because there's nothing else in the house at the moment.

All through the Elks meeting last night, I hoped and prayed I would have no ill effects from the lemonade.  THREE tums this time and I was in perfect shape to have horrible nightmares all night long.  Maybe it's not such a good thing to make lemonade EVERY time ... a nice platter of pancakes might have been better!!

Just When I Think I'm Done ....

I suppose as a Motorhome Owner, you are never DONE.  It's almost like ... well it IS in fact ... like owning a home.  There's always something to unload, something to replace or something to repair.

I thought I had cleaned everything out, but that was not the case I discovered yesterday, as things I had stashed away came crashing out to the floor when the bedroom closet door was opened.  I had already made one trip for the Tums, one trip for the Advil and even one MORE trip for my most comfy boots.

That's when this fell out of the closet on Cooper's head.  He wasn't one bit happy about that!!  Apparently stashed behind the hanging shoe rack, it had been jostled loose when the boot box was retrieved.  YAY!!  Yet another project for me to work on!!

Were my horse trailer not in the way, I could probably open all the slides and make sure everything is cleared out.  I could ..... but then I wouldn't have these wonderful surprises throughout the time I'm home.

I spent most of the day recovering (from Magic Kingdom night) on the couch with my new needlepoint, while watching the American League Baseball Playoffs.  The Cleveland Indians won.  I wasn't jumping up and down since I live in the National League Playoffs.  The Chicago Cubs ... who haven't been to the World Series in 108 years, have been playing like the Giants.  They are either terrific or they suck.  They are ALSO playing the Los Angeles Dodgers.

If you're a Giants fan, here's how it goes in the playoffs ..... you root for any team that plays against the Dodgers.  We're not particular in the least, which is how I became a Cubs Fan!!  Last night they were sensational as they scored 10 runs over the Dodgers 2.  Now THAT'S a game I can get into!!  

There are seven games to be played in the National Series and the score is now 2 games to 2.  Whoever wins four games first, goes to the World Series.  I hope it's the Cubs.  Any club that continues to play baseball for 108 years without going to the playoffs, deserves to win!!

Why am I not watching the DEBATE you ask??  Sorry, but I'm so sick and tired of all the name calling and all the crap that has been going on, I've tuned them out and turned them off.  I haven't heard much of anything about what will change or how they plan to do it, other than everyone will get FREE EVERYTHING, except of course those that own homes who will be footing the bills.  In case you didn't notice, homeowners are the ELITE and the wealthiest in the nation.  I thought we were the smartest since we scrimped and saved in order to BUY our homes!!

What happened to the days of "I will do this and I will do that to make life better"?  Instead I hear nothing but name calling in advertisement after advertisement!  When did we become a country that votes based on bashing the opponents?  Pretty sad in my book.

I have a financial planning meeting this morning ... not that it does any good.  All that money I put away when I was a kid so I wouldn't have to pay so much taxes when I got older, is costing me a fortune in taxes!!  There's no use letting it sit there in case the tax rates get lowered, because that's NOT going to happen.  I might as well draw it out and enjoy it while I can.  When I run out of money, I'll blame the rich and demand my share of THEIR bank account, just like everyone else!!

I think I'll make one more run to the motorhome for a chill pill!!

The Magic Kingdom ... It's Still There

I know sometimes you probably wonder why I do this gig called the Magic Kingdom of Bingo.  Last night, I was wondering the same thing!!  I think if it weren't for the workers, I'd disappear like a Ritz cracker in Jonathan's cage.

In spite of all the efforts to bring in more patrons (not one, but TWO hotballs), it was a bust last night as only 85 people showed up to throw money at us.  Now we're back to one hotball (which confused everyone) but we increased the pot.  Here's how it works ... pay $1, get a stamp on your hand.  A magic number is selected and if that number is the last one called that resulted in a Bingo for you (and you have the stamp), you get the pot, now a minimum of $500.  No Bingo with that number?  The money carries over to the NEXT week.  Confusion reigned!!

To make matters worse, the Castle Lawyer and Prince Charming were BOTH gone, making for a boring evening.  Except for the Castle Tax Collector.  I've never known someone who was so rude and distasteful in their manner and speech, that I actually walked away.  I am rather proud of the fact that I can make anyone smile and maybe make their day just a tad better.  Not so here folks!!  It's like Donnie Downer (Debbie Downer's brother) on a MUCH larger scale.

Not getting anywhere on that front, I moseyed over to talk to two members who have been around longer than God, for their take on some procedure questions I had before turning my Audit Report in to who else ..... Donnie Downer.   Unfortunately, he was eavesdropping and thought it was all about HIM.  That brought on an onslaught of F-bombs and threats of quitting, along with a tirade of how unappreciated he was.  Good grief!!!

BLAZING BALLS ... get your Blazing Balls here ... I went back to selling tickets.  I would like to have set fire .... oh never mind, I'm sure you were thinking the same thing.   In real life, for $1 each, you have the pleasure of peeling off the backing to find out if you got a big ZERO, $1 or $2, or maybe just numbers which are used to play another game at the end of the evening.  I had much more fun with the cranky Blazing losers on the Bingo floor than I did with Donnie Downer!!

After my usual well-done, two-Tums, foot-long hotdog, I turned in my money and made a beeline for the door.  It's okay ... I am well aware that being an Auditor will not influence friends, but make a few enemies.  The challenge now is to figure a way AROUND all that nonsense ... and you KNOW I like a challenge!!!

There's absolutely nothing on the schedule today ... YAY ... except maybe sew on the latest quilt and snuggle with the puppies!!  A perfect day in my book!!

Another Day, Another Dollar

In spite of the inch of rain that fell on my house Sunday night, there was no sign of water in my living room windows.  That has been a problem in the past.  Apparently the last fix is working and there won't be another dollar out of my pocket, at least not for that.

What came along with the rain was a beautiful sunrise.  This time of year they are as pretty as the sunsets.

The rain also made for a cool low light shot, my favorite type of photography.  I wish I could do more, but going out to crazy places alone at night isn't such a good idea in my area.  Yes, I could take someone with me, but it's hard to convince them to lay on the wet grass and hold that flashlight just so.  This one was taken of the full moon in my front yard with a landscaping light focused on the tree.    Fun stuff!

It IS another day and yet another dollar WILL come out of my pocket in replacing those windows on the dormer.  The scaffolding went up yesterday.  Honestly folks, are there no halfway smart people left in the world?  First he set it on top of the drip irrigation line, which I now will most likely have to replace .... then he set one leg on top of the rounded concrete mow strip .... and in the end, broke off one landscape light, then stepped in the middle of the bush at lower right, breaking off the biggest branches and ended up putting the scaffolding leg on top of the landscape lighting wires.  It was like a comedy of errors only I wasn't laughing.  

Don't worry, I'll make the contractor fix EVERYTHING!!  The good news is that all these repairs, plus replacement of the trim all around the windows (which shows signs of dry rot), will cost the same as the other estimate ... $1700.  I can deal with that.  I AM going to make sure the neighbors see what's happening so I can bring up how the windows might have been broken ... with all those balls being thrown around my yard!!  Really, we don't know why they broke.

There were a couple of little things from the Big Fresno Fair I wanted to share ... you can find all kinds of cool stuff in their commercial exhibit building.  This is a portable microphone setup ... hands free for use at the rallies when all our other microphones fail, and Barbara picked up two phone cords for me, braided cable ones that won't break.  

Then I spotted this beauty!!  Our Indio FMCA rally theme this year is Beach Party, so I figured this would be the perfect outfit for one of our members to wear in the parade.  Not me, mind you!!  The skinniest one gets the honors!!  I love the wig though ... I just might see if I can find that for everyday wear!

Upstairs in the museum are the most amazing pictures ... some painted, some photography ... of the Blossom Trail.  I've never taken the drive, but I think it runs around Madera and Fresno Counties.  If you don't want to go on a drive, just go upstairs to the back wall and take a virtual tour.  

Normally when I'm at the fair, LOTS of dollars are siphoned out of my pocket for all sorts of crazy stuff ... like the Ginsu knives that can cut through concrete or the handy dandy chopper (I have three now) ... but this time I spent all my money on food.  They have everything you could ever want at the fair, including some things I didn't even KNOW I wanted.

They had Cup of Corn ... a plastic cup filled to the brim with hot corn, smothered in butter and cheese.  They had baked potatoes the size of dinner plates, barbecued and fried everything in huge portions, along with all types of drinks and ice cream to wash it down.

This was my churro lemon ice.  As you can see, it's HUGE.  This sucked $10 out of my wallet in a flash!!  It was amazing ... and in case you're looking to put a few bucks back IN to your wallet, you can work for Fabes at the fairs they attend for $12 an hour.  Just check Craigs List.  Better yet, you can bet on the horse races.  You'll either win big or lose your shirt!!

Another day, another dollar.  I don't know how time passes so fast ... it's Magic Kingdom night again. Not that I'll make any dollars, but the free hot dog dinner will keep a couple in my pocket, at least until I have to spend it on Tums to repair the hot dog damage!!

Really REALLY BIG!!!

What's better than watching baseball on TV?  The big, really really BIG FRESNO FAIR!!  I know I've said this before, but this is one of the greats of fairdom.  I think it's the third largest in the State of California, and definitely the best one I've ever been to.

Top that with getting to meet Trey, who just happens to be Barbara and Tom Westerfield's GREAT grand baby.  Isn't he just the cutest ever?  Mom Julie took him to the fair with us in his new orange "worker" shirt.

I can't believe how this fair gets better every year, but remains the same size.   It can't expand outside it's current boundaries, yet they continue to add more stuff, much of which is free for the kids.  This is the Cow Palace because inside are all the show cattle, sheep, goats, bunnies, chickens ... you name it, they've got it.  

The fair is a big part of the Westerfield family.  Daughter Jennifer runs the floriculture building, along with her parents Barbara and Tom and Grandmother Pat.  When Trey came along, she became Great Great Grandmother Pat!!  How cool is that??  You'll see her picture at the end of the blog.

You wouldn't necessarily think the floriculture building would be a cool place to visit, but you'd be wrong.  It's air conditioned ... so it's cool ..... and "cool" because of all the amazing plants displayed here.  The bonsai entrants are fabulous, not to mention the orchids, and there is always someone here to help you figure out how to keep them alive.  That's why my little privot is still going strong!

As much as I wanted to go climb all over the fort or the pirate ships with the kids, we opted for the Museum instead.  Museums at the fair??  Previously the Directors Offices, this has become one of two buildings showing the history of Fresno as an Ag town.  Not your ordinary museum, if they had a plow, they hung it on the wall and painted a picture around it of the horse pulling it with the farmer beside.  

This is what it looked like in October of 1940.  Horse racing was the name of the game, drawing people from around the world, including Wyatt Earp who raced here.  Unfortunately, in less than two years it would become a Japanese Interment Camp.  Unlike other areas, neighbors took care of their fields, which were returned to them upon release.  Inside the fairgrounds is a large monument with every single name of those held here, inscribed permanently.  

For my railroad friends, this is the most iconic image of the fair.  To celebrate the Grand Opening (I don't have the year) two engines were set on a mile of track and run at 25 mph towards each other.  The Fair Special and the Raisin Express crashed head on!!  Now THAT was BIG!!!

Just like today, the past was full of carnies and snake oil salesmen.  This is Painless Parker, Dentist.  You could go to the fair and have your teeth pulled.  In one day he took out 357, which he strung on a necklace and wore around his neck.  YIKES!!!

There's another icon at the fair named Boot Boy.  The boy with the leaky boot fountain stood outside the Courthouse in 1895.  I think there are maybe 16 duplicates around the country.

Unfortunately, the courthouse was torn down, but the courtroom itself was saved and placed here, alongside the original boot boy fountain.

This fair director and board are bent on saving everything they can that represents the "old days".  This huge neon sign is one of them.  Anyone driving through Fresno years ago might remember the Hacienda horse and rider.  

So much to see and so little time, but a quick trip through the textile building brought us to this amazing quilt.  Nope, not me ... there's WAY too many tiny pieces that would make me crazier than I already am!!

This however, couldn't be passed up.  I saw these for the first time on Carnival Eats, one of my favorite TV shows.  It's two round churros with ice cream in the middle.  Normally ONE scoop, but Barbara had to share with Tom, so she got TWO scoops.  

Talk about crazy ice cream ... here's a shake for you.  This is only one of many different kinds from Fabes.  Called an NYPD, it's a coffee ice cream milkshake with whipped cream and a donut.  Coffee and donuts for the Police Department?  There were many more varieties, all of which would have made me sick, I'm sure, but wouldn't it be fun in the meantime!!

Here's great great grandma Pat with Trey.  I took a five generation picture for them that I'd love to show you, but they get first shot.  Pat is 96 years old by the way!!  (I stand corrected ... 95)  I can only hope I'm as sharp and spry as she is when I'm only 70!!!!

It really is a great fair, happens every October and should be on your bucket list!!  Don't worry, there are benches and chairs everywhere for your seated pleasure, so you won't be overtaxed!!

Luckily the rain held off until I got home.  When it hit, it landed with such force that the dogs barked like crazy.  I ran to the window, where I heard so much noise I was SURE something had gotten into the house.  Come to find out, when the contractor climbed on the roof, he bent the gutter, which dumped ALL the water right onto my window sills and made a nice lake at the base of the foundation.  That resulted in an 8pm phone call to the contractor.  Hopefully that gets fixed today!!

There's lots more pictures to show, but maybe another day.  I'm going to veg out on the couch for a couple hours before cleaning the gutters.  One of my all time favorite jobs!!!

Mother Nature Spreading Out

As with Florida, Mother Nature is unleashing her wrath on the West Coast of the United States.  I'm pretty glad she waited until I was gone.  There's been lots of power outages from the 80 mph winds and I'm sure many trees down.

In spite of everyone's poo-pooing the idea, there were two tornados that set down in Manzanita and Oceanside.  You might have seen a video on Facebook of the tornado skirting across the land, with huge flashes as power transformers exploded.  There's been lots of flooding too.  The streets of Coos Bay were covered with a foot of water.

Finally the storm spread out a little, thrashing the entire coast of Oregon and Washington ... right where I was camped.  I'm certainly glad to have dodged a bullet on this one.  I'm safe and sound in boring Central California, land of earthquakes.  At least there's no danger from those for me .... all the faults are too far away.  Maybe this is a good place to live after all!!

Much as I'm happy to be home, I sure wish I was back at Cape Disappointment for some photo ops like this one.  Mother Nature is right up my alley.  This is her at her best ... making beautiful crashing waves on the rocks.  

I tend to spread out when I sit too much on the couch, just like Mother Nature.  She finally reached us yesterday with high winds whipping my neighbor's trees into a frenzy.  There's just enough rain this morning to settle the dust.  It should clear up in time for me to clean up all the broken branches.  Why do they all fall on MY side of the fence??

I finally arose out of my couch-sitting stupor to hit the garage looking for ...... well something.  All these boxes and more have been stacked up on two huge shelves.  I had no idea what was in them until I opened one and a cloud of dust hit my face.  Old Christmas decorations.  REALLY old with mice-teeth-marks disintegrating decorations.  They all went in the trash.

One box was a keeper.  It was full of some of my hat collection.  Unfortunately, I don't know what happened to the REST of my collection.  Many of my boxes disappeared along with my husband fifteen years ago.  At any rate, I'm glad to have these return to my bedroom for display.

They did better than I.  For the umpteenth time, I'm locked OUT of my bedroom.  How does that happen?  Apparently the door lock is rather loose, and over time, it gets closer and closer to being locked until ... VOILA!!  Nancy can't get in.  I can usually jimmy it with a screwdriver, but today I had to find my keys, walk all the way around the house and sneak in the back door.  I hope this is not a sign of the day to come.

I'm off this morning on another adventure, so there's not much time to chat.  It's going to be exciting and I can't wait to show you pictures.

Tillamook Has Come To Town

I didn't really have any plans yesterday, but it got busy none-the-less.  The first order of business was FOOD!!  I found a recipe for meatloaf cooked in a dutch oven.  I know, I'm getting WAY beyond my skill set here, but since I still have lots of room in the cemetery, I figured to give it a shot.

Ice cream has nothing to do with that at all.  In fact, it's clear on the far end of the store, but I cruised down the aisle anyway, just to look.  What should I see but those beautiful yellow boxes of Tillabars!!  From Tillamook ... OREGON!!  Not only that, but there was an entire shelf of Tillamook ice cream.  So much for the diet I was trying to stick to!!

Right next door were these Magnum bars.  Unfortunately, they also have a magnum price tag attached.  Just for kicks, I looked for Ben and Jerry's, hoping they had disappeared off the planet.  Their new business plan, which includes telling Hershey Chocolate how to run THEIR company, has resulted in their imminent demise.  Their entire refrigerator case has been reduced to one small shelf. You just shouldn't mess with a good thing.  

I did have a small problem selecting ground beef for the dutch oven meatloaf.  At $8.96 a pound ... I kid you NOT ... the lean beef left a lot to be desired.  I ended up with plain old ground beef at $4.96 a pound.  When did hamburger get that pricey???   Somebody is making a killing.  We used to sell our beef for $.75 a pound.  That's a pretty big markup, don't you think??

I figured the cheap stuff would be good for the oven, since I knew how much grease was going to be left over.  I thought it would take more than an hour to cook, which means more briquets.  Someone needs to redesign the lid on those lighter fluid cans.  I could have set the world on fire.  My concrete now has a nice little black spot.

With the second can ablaze, I checked the meatloaf.  Done!!  Oh NO ... what do I do with this can of fire??  I set it on the barbecue, but it was entirely too close to the house.  I moved it to my metal patio table, but figured the can would melt into a big puddle, so I finally emptied it into the metal pan the oven was in, which warped nicely.  No one tells you about this stuff ahead of time!!

I certainly don't get any points for pretty.  Guess I better work on that part.  Tasty however, was the word of the day.  Best meatloaf I've ever made!!  And HUGE!!  This will last a week or two.  Half went in the freezer and the rest I'll eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  About all that grease?  An inch in the bottom of the oven required a burial site, deep enough that the dogs wouldn't dig it up. A quick wash in hot water and an even quicker re-seasoning and the oven is good to go.

I had two great videos to show you, but unfortunately can't get either one to load.  The first was a train-truck accident that happened about a mile from my house.  A tractor trailer rig somehow got stuck as he made a turn crossing the train tracks.  I'm pretty sure he had his head where it was really dark.  I've driven over those tracks in my rig many a time.  Maybe the engine died?  Maybe the front bumper got stuck on the curb?  

He got out ... and you can see the CHP Officer who happened by, running away as the train hit the trailer, sending parts and pieces flying everywhere!!  It was a freight train ... and he couldn't even slow down.  Can you imagine being the Engineer on that one??  You can probably just go on Facebook and look up Anthony Zambrano.  Anthony says a bad word at the end, so close your ears.   

The other video was a slo-mo of Cooper running with his ball.  Cutest thing ever!!  I've had this phone for almost a year and never knew I could take slow motion pictures.  Pretty fun!!

I spent the rest of the day doing a boring Audit at the Elks Lodge.  I'll finish that paperwork before tromping off to the Pumpkin Patch this morning!  At least that's what I HOPE to do!!

Hunter Farms Pumpkin Patch

Did I get back to the Pumpkin Patch for dinosaur pictures??   NO ... no I didn't.  For some reason when I'm home, I become inherently lazy.  So I decided to post these pictures today and hopefully capture the dinosaurs this weekend.  There's so much stuff going on over there, I couldn't get all the pictures in at once anyway!!

Wil Hunter bought this property around the corner from me for almonds.  He found out too late that one section of the ground had been saturated with some kind of fertilizer not conducive to almonds.  When you've got lemons, make lemonade, or better yet, grow pumpkins, which just love the amended soil.

Originally a dairy farm, Will kept this 100 year old barn, rebuilding it to today's standards, keeping yesterday's look and all the feed stanchions.  It makes a perfect barn to house pumpkins for sale, as well as host weddings, birthday parties and soirees!

They grow all their own pumpkins, including the big ones you see in the back.  There are pumpkins everywhere!!  Grab a wagon, load up the kids and pick your own!  Probably not a good idea to come on a Monday or Tuesday.  That's when the schools bus their kids out here for a lesson in agriculture.  The Hay Bale classroom is the perfect place for kids to learn what's involved in producing the food they eat.

All around the property are zinnias and sunflowers in full bloom, along with the bees that come to pollinate.  The entire place is surrounded in corn, some as high as an elephants eye!!

This side view of the barn shows the picnic area they added this year where you can enjoy a snowcone or soda with the kids.  They won't be sitting for long however, as there are lots of things to do here!!

You want pictures?  They've got places set up just for that.  Just drag your screaming kids up on the truck and pretend they are happy campers while Grandma takes a picture.

The kids are screaming because from the picture-taking opportunity, they can see the bounce pillow.  Take their shoes and socks off and they can go under the canopy and bounce to their hearts content on the largest pillow in the Western United States.  It's amazing how the kids just LOVE this one.  It's really good exercise ... the kids will crash as soon as you get home ... and it keeps them off the internet!  

Yes I tried it, but there were too many things bouncing around.  I almost knocked myself out.  Better to sit on the sidelines in the shade and watch the kids have fun.

Along with the time tractor dinosaur theme, here's the Dino Dig.  At the end of the day, it's well covered again, waiting for the next archeologists to stop in and dig up dinosaur bones.  This was a big hit with the smaller kids.

With so much cool stuff going on, the tricycle races didn't get much use on this day, but they're here if you want to give it a try.  I made one full loop before crashing into the hay.  What?  You didn't think I could ride a trike??  Hey, I'm just a big kid!!

There are more photo opportunities, but honestly I didn't take much time for pictures.  I was busy keeping my eyes on the ground.  When I walked in, I immediately spied a $20 bill.  Since there was no one around at that moment, I snatched it up and gave it to Scott Hunter.  You never know, someone just might say they lost some money, and Scott could hand it over.  If I had asked if anyone lost it, twelve hands would have gone up.

A short walk through the corn field will land you at the Critter Corral where two of the cutest ever goats will nibble your fingers.  There were two calves also, but they can be pretty stinky, if you know what I mean.  

In that case, step thirty feet to the North for face painting .... free!  Not the best I've seen, but the kids didn't care.  They just wanted a green snake on their face.  YIKES!!

There's a hay ride through the corn maze, as well as walking trails where you can download an app that has a map so you don't get lost.  Every so often, you'll run across pumpkins that look like this.  Weird, creepy warty varieties ... PERFECT for Halloween!!

To the West side is the Time Travel Tractor, taking eight cattle cars of kids back through time.  They'll see Cowboys and Indians, Gold Miners hammering in their mine next to the waterfall, an Indian Village with horses and dogs and finally ..... they travel clear back to the time of the dinosaurs. 

There are ones that eat grass and ones that will eat you!  There's a couple of mama's with their nest of babies too!!  Of course I couldn't forget the massive T-Rex!!  They are all life-size and the kids just LOVE IT!!!  I promise I'll get pictures!  Look out for that last one that tries to jump on board!!

Today I have to actually perform a real function ... an audit at the Elks Lodge.  On the way back, I'll stop in for more pumpkins!!

Thank you for the roadside assistance information.  I guess everyone's prices are going up, as insurance tends to do.  I'm pretty sure I'm covered under my Progressive policy.  The Good Sam plan was double coverage I chose to get when I made that first Alaska trip.  At this point, no one has been able to beat Progressive prices on my rig, but Quartzsite is coming up, meaning it's time for another quote.  You really have to get quotes every year and compare, compare, compare!!

One More Time!!

I actually had plans for yesterday morning.  Try to sleep in, something that's NEVER going to happen around here, then head off to the grocery store.  I'm out of lean cuisine and am down to the last of the frozen meatloaf patties.  But the jello shook when the Contractor called me at 6:30 to say he would be by one more time with the Glass Guy.

Interestingly enough, with the sun now shining in the upper windows, you can see the timbers painted black, along with a black barrier hung a foot or so behind the glass.  No black paint after all.  What the heck is that all about?  I've never seen anything like it ... course I've never had a house with a dormer either.  So the final decision was there is absolutely no reason those windows should have broken, other than they are inferior quality.

That's when I heard the word warranty ... as in lifetime warranty.  Of course I wouldn't be so lucky.  I went online and finally found the information, only to discover it's a lifetime for the original owner.  The second owner only gets 5 years, which has expired.  I'm going to have the Contractor call anyway.

Just as I was returning to the kitchen, I happened to look down at my schedule.  UH OH .... I have a dentist appointment ... NOW.  How did I miss that?  I scrambled around, put on a little makeup, threw on a clean pair of jeans and raced out the door.  I hate it when that happens!!  Ninety minutes later I headed home with sparkling clean choppers, when it dawned on me it was Wednesday.  

Instead of leftover leftovers, I'm going to stop by Chefanellis for some wonderful clam chowder.  I gave him a five-star review on the internet.  He gave me a SECOND cup of the wonderful thick white soup full of potatoes and clams for free!!  Thank you Mark ... you made my day!!  He also saved me from a run to the grocery store.  This is four meals for me!!

Time to fix up the last of my three dutch ovens.  I took it outside with my trusty little hand grinder and ground off all the lumps and bumps in the bottom.  Once preheated on the stove, I rubbed it with olive oil, placed it on a sheet pan and put it in the oven at 225 degrees for 30 minutes.  One more time around and she's ready for some bacon and potatoes.  

No cakes or breads for a few times ... you really need to build up the seasoning for non-stick use.  Baking a cake now would just make you want to throw it in the trash.  I know it looks like lots of work, but really, it's rather fun to take a little extra time cooking something in a unique way.  Cooking like the pioneers gives you a whole new perspective.   Okay, how many just thought of the Donner Party cooking their shoe leather for dinner???  

While the pot was cooking, I worked on quilt number fifteen, not that I'm counting.  Only 42 to go!  My cupboard is full and they are spilling out onto the floor under the sewing table.  There will be NO MORE fabric for this girl for a year or two!!  Now if I can just make a decision on which ones to donate!!

I am DEFINITELY going back to the Pumpkin Patch today (trying to beat the rain) to pick up a few more pumpkins for electrical cord camouflage.  Big rains are predicted for the West Coast in the next two days, with beach waves upwards of 20 feet.  I sure hope anyone who is camped near trees has already taken their rigs inland.  I'm shocked at the number of people in motorhomes and trailers who chose to ride out the hurricane in Florida.  There were MANY who regretted that decision once they saw how many trees and limbs smashed their rigs beyond repair.  It's never a good idea to spit in Mother Nature's face.  Just get out of Dodge!!

I do have a question for everyone .... my original Good Sam Roadside Assistance cost $169 a year.  I just got my bill and it's up to $220.  Like any insurance, it's always too expensive when you never use it, which I haven't.  Are there any other towing plans out there and what do they charge??  Thanks in advance for your help!! 

Variety Is The Spice Of Life

That's an old saying my Grandfather had on the ranch.  I'm not sure if he was talking about food, women or just life, but I've had lots of variety in the last couple days.  Waking up to this beautiful sunrise in the morning seems to make it all better.

I spent some time watching videos on Dutch Oven cooking and seasoning since my second 10" pot arrived in the mail.  Unfortunately the new stuff is terribly rough inside, instead of smooth like a pot should be.  After watching Kent Rollins instructions, I took a grinder to the first one and smoothed it out a little, then seasoned it in the oven twice.  

Since I was on a roll, I pulled out that old frying pan covered in rust and gave it a few minutes under the grinder.  I'm impressed!  It worked perfectly, so I rubbed it up with olive oil and baked it too.  Another round on both and we'll see how non-stick they are.  I think a big slab of bacon should help.  Today I'll grind up the second one and season it a couple of times.  Now I just need to find someone who doesn't mind eating experimental dutch oven cooking!

It was the Night of the Peasants at the Magic Kingdom of Bingo.  Honestly, you never know what's going to happen.  It's a roll of the dice.

I rolled in about 3:30 along with the three other gals who cashier (we trade off between counting the packets and cashiering).  Once everything was set up, I backed off and watched the melee.  These people are so serious, you don't DARE sit in their lucky spot ... it will be a throw down for sure!!

We sell things called pull tabs on the floor.  For $1 each, you buy the card and pull off the tab.  You can either win money ($10 and under) or you can get numbers that are playable in a later Bingo Game, or you can get nothing.  I grabbed an apron and went to work!!

BLAZING BALLS ... get your Blazing Balls here!!!  They went like hotcakes!!  This is FUN!!  We opened another box.  They LIKE those new boxes, because I sold out that one in a matter of minutes.  Next box please.  In between I sold something called Marilees and Honey Potz.  Don't ask me what they are because I have not a clue!!

The amazing thing is how many I sold ... eleven boxes!!!  ELEVEN!!  Mostly at $30 a pop, which is why the boxes didn't last long.  Pots for those games ranged from $250 to $500.  I probably sold over $3,000 worth of games in two hours.  It's CRAZY!!  It's gambling!!

One thing I learned about selling on the floor, you get to go home early.  That was a good thing, because I had one of their notorious hot dogs, covered in chili that took third place over the weekend at a Jamboree in Los Banos.  That was Saturday.  It's Tuesday.  My stomach doesn't like those yummy hot dogs at all, and once that chili hit bottom, I was a cooked goose.  Of course that cupcake with enough frosting to choke a horse didn't do me any good either.  I rolled myself out to the truck and made it home in time to chew up four Tums!  The calcium is good for you!!

Unfortunately the Giants lost after leading almost the entire game.  We're out of the running, which isn't a bad thing.  Now I don't have to plan my day around the game times.

My Contractor is bringing his glass guy this morning to see what he thinks about the broken panes.  The first estimate came in at $1696.  That's to replace ALL of the glass in the dormer, even the one that isn't broken, because I'm sure it will be in no time, and I don't want to go through this again.

If I'm lucky, my Contractor will have a price about the same, including replacement of the framing.  I'll let you know.  If you hear me screaming, you'll know it wasn't good!!