Saturday, November 3

Neat things Near Jefferson Iowa

Another great video by our Jefferson neighbors AJ and Megan. The Vineyard is located between Jefferson and Scranton Iowa
http://youtu.be/PPjeMRSR7DQ

Friday, November 2

The quiet life

I chose today to catch up on laundry. We did go over to Thompson's Grove and pick up some grapefruit this morning, enjoyed our South Beach lunch of ham and cheese and then Butch went to The Palms with Jim Rader to play golf.
I enjoyed a short nap and then returned to laundry. Yesterday I did get my haircut and Yolanda did a great job of repairing  the "Haircut by Butch" I was able to get all summer. Her fee is $12 again this season and after the $25 cuts I hear about up north seemed like a real bargain.
The weatherman has little to nothing to do here. The weather report takes about 30 seconds and that is a stretch. Highs in the upper 80's and lows in the upper 60's. We are running the AC as there is moisture even though they have not had a measureable rain in a while and not nearly enough to call an end to the drought.
So we are enjoying the quiet life for as long as it lasts.

Thursday, November 1

Settling in

Yes, still settling in... I have an appointment for a haircut with Yolanda this morning. Butch cut my hair all summer and he did a great job but every now and then we need a professional to cut it. We have returned to our routine of a morning and evening walk.
Weighed in for the first time yesterday. Our start day was October 9th after seeing my picture on Facebook. I have lost 10.5 pounds since last Spring. And Butch has lost 10 as well. Had to share... I must say I am benefiting in many ways other than looking better. As a matter of fact I am not so sure the looking better is noticeable to anyone but me...and that's okay. 

I am hoping to get windows cleaned today. The one I look out of most frequently is extremely speckled. I have also started in on bracelets again in a casual way. So the beat goes on but in a different place is all.

One of the side dishes I prepare is fried cauliflower. I prepared this when we were in Llano and took a picture of the raw state and then the fried state with onions.
I slice it up as I would potatoes...and then fry it in olive oil with onions.

The result is very similar in taste and texture to fried potatoes and as Lisa pointed out it doesn't stick to the skillet!  Try it and let me know what you think.

Tuesday, October 30

Left Llano TX at 7:55AM

Arrived at the park at about 3:30 PM after filling up at Flying J in Edinburgh. On the way down we saw a Trout Truck- you know, big old tankers with water and trout in them. We wondered if they threw in a little Dramamine to help them with any motion sickness. It must be quite a ride for them.
It is warm here of course but cooler than it had been I understand. And the park is quiet as not many have arrived just yet.
We had our first meal at the El Dorado. Butch had liver and onions with a side salad and I had a Fajita chicken taco salad. And it was scrumptious! Ladies, they have the most gorgeous young guys for waiters.
After our meal we went to my favorite H.E.B. for groceries. Loaded up on South Beach legal food choices.
It always takes a while to get settled in wherever we are. It actually works better to get settled in while it is still fairly quiet in the park. A good many of the people who are here have stopped by to say hello.
Well tiredness is settling in so will call it a day. But you now know we are here and safe and waiting for our friends who have not arrived yet. You know who you are!

Monday, October 29

Leaving Llano in the morning

Norcold is sending the part and after driving to Burnet and talking with the head of the parts dept he has okayed sending the part to us by mail when it arrives. They wanted the old part in case Norcold asks for it so we came home, packaged it up and put it in the mail to the dealership. So tomorrow morning we will be headed for the valley.  It is over 6 hours from here so it will be another full day on the road.
I am getting anxious to get there and weigh in. My clothes tell me I have lost weight so I am ready to step on a scale and find out how much. My BS this morning was 93. I have had regular morning readings below the 100 mark. I am taking zero prescription medications. I would very much like to keep it that way. I have taken  a pill because of water retention for 15 plus years but have not taken it now for over two weeks with no problems with water retention. We both feel we are on the right track with South Beach, and we merely need to stay on track. It doesn't seem like a problem to do so at this point. If I focus on how much better I feel it should help.

Still in Llano TX...

We called the RV dealership first thing this morning (8:00AM) and the guy we needed to talk to was not in yet. He called us at 9:00 AM or thereabouts and told me what pictures we needed to send to Norcold to prove this refrigerator was in a 2004 Newmar and not a 2007 Monaco. So the pictures have been taken and sent to the dealership. This was a different fellow than the one we dealt with the other day and he says we MUST bring our RV in for them to install it. So it looks like we will be here for awhile. There is an RV park next door to the RV dealership so we are entertaining the idea of going over there to do our waiting. Of course we will scope it all out before we do that. Cost, available sites, etc. And remember folks, we do not have a TV! We have been listening to audio books and that has worked well. We are currently listening to "Mad River" by John Sandford
Bonnie and Clyde, they thought. And what's-his-name, the sidekick. Three teenagers with dead-end lives, and chips on their shoulders, and guns. The first person they killed was a highway patrolman. The second was a woman during a robbery. Then, hell, why not keep on going? As their crime spree cuts a swath through rural Minnesota, some of it captured on the killers' cell phones and sent to a local television station, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers joins the growing army of cops trying to run them down. But even he doesn't realize what's about to happen next.

It is a good one and Butch is liking it much better than the last one we listened to which was a James Patterson book "NYPD Red". I have to agree. I thought James Patterson let us down on this book. It seemed like a 'lets crank this one out and get paid book'.

Yesterday we went for a walk down by the river and Butch walked 9 holes or so of golf after that. Since the Verizon connection seems to be working fairly well I will post yesterdays pictures.
The park is located a few feet from the Llano Police station.

Lisa thought this rock looked like a tooth

Down by the dam

The guy is Butch

Butch by the dam

Minnows on the dam

Buzzards on the other side of the river

A man and his son at the park

The rocks on the shore are submerged

I think this is mistletoe. It is a parasite that grows in trees down here.