Saturday, May 10

Butt Roast revisited

First night we each enjoyed sliced roast beast and a salad. The next day I cut up and froze a fair portion into cubes to be enjoyed later either in a stew or beef and noodles and we enjoyed a few more slices of roast beef and au jus along with another salad. So tonight we had quinoa and brown rice.
I first sliced and chopped onion, carrot and green pepper, about 2 cups of it and sauteed them in olive oil until tender. Then I added the package of quinoa and brown rice I purchased at Costco. Lastly I added the final slices of beef and broth to the mix and heated through. Very delicious!

Big Leo's Photos

Leo and Keri are in Omaha for their son in laws graduation. Graduation from what? I really do not know but on Facebook his sister in law Erin says he is a Lab Scientist. So there you go!
Leo sent some pictures:
Joe and Emily- Still newlyweds!

Brady Westergard

Noah and Brady

Brady


Friday, May 9

Clean and Clear

The moho is cleaned except for the carpet and that will be done on Monday. It feels good to have that wrapped up.
The clear is that we did not get any severe weather. The tornado warning siren did sound but the weather was all around us . It did pour down in buckets for a short time but when Butch checked the gauge there was a mere 3/8 of an inch.
The rain made an interesting picture with the sun coming out while it was still raining. The sun shining created a pretty light effect on the fiber optic strands of the 'head'.

Really there is not much happening around here or it would appear so to the unenlightened. We are both busy and trying to catch up. The uninteresting part is that it is mundane and important only to us. I sort of feel like we are not fully settled in yet. Seems strange since we have been here ... I started to say a month but actually it has only been two and one half weeks. Whew! That makes me feel better! Not as far behind as I thought.

Thursday, May 8

Butt Roast

We bought a big butt roast at Fareway yesterday. They were on sale. So early this morning I prepared it for the crockpot and in so doing used my first carrot from the valley. The ones I wrap in foil that last a very long time. This particular carrot was as fresh as the day I wrapped it around the first of April.
So here is the tip: Wrap celery or carrots in aluminum foil and they will last and be fresh for months. I have done it many times over with great success. The secret is to not wash the vegetables ahead of time or if you do make sure they are dry before wrapping. With celery do take it out of the plastic it comes in before wrapping. The celery I used today was purchased at H.E.B. in Weslaco Texas before we left Texas on April 10th and it was just as fresh as the day I bought it. I used a few stalks and returned the wrapped celery back to the fridge for next time. It has been years since I have thrown out celery because it was 'old'. Thought you would like to know...


Wednesday, May 7

Boring...

Still walking and whittling away at making order out of chaos in the motorhome. It is something I have wanted to do for a long time. I am hoping I can wrap it up tomorrow. Then I can do the same in the house ultimately moving on to something even more fun!
I live on my dreams of getting my ducks in a row. The fuzzy little things keep wandering off on me!
We are also looking at the possibility of severe weather tomorrow. It goes along with living in the Midwest but after being away from it for awhile it takes a little more getting used to.

Tuesday, May 6

Catching up

Been getting my walks in and adding trash pick up to the mix. Do they call that cross training? Today was day three for picking up trash and from now on it will be either new trash or perhaps stuff I missed. The county man came by as I was on my return trip and thanked me for helping out. I appreciated the appreciation.

We now have new windshields in the car and the motorhome. The motorhome was finished just a few minutes ago. That big expanse of glass in the front seems to catch rocks all the time. This is the second windshield replacement on the driver side. I hope we do not have a third incident.

Butch has been mowing and golfing, his two favorite activities. My current activity other than walking is cleaning and sorting in the motorhome. I will transfer that to the house soon. So as soon as this post gets posted I will be back at it.
Jason gave me a fountain he had put together a few years ago. It will not be in its permanent home till the new room is completed and the landscaping finished in the back yard but I can still enjoy it. Butch has it running as I write this. It is not quite warm enough to have the windows open to enjoy the tinkling sound of water but it will be soon.


Sunday, May 4

Big Saturday

Butch went out to Leo and Keri's in the morning to mow so I walked on the bike trail. It seems like a very long two miles without my walking buddy, Colleen. I took my camera along and snapped a few shots.


LOCOMOTIVE TURNTABLE-below
Built in 1881. The round block of concrete was used as the center pivot  for a turntable on  which narrow gauge locomotives and tenders were turned around.
The Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific railroad from Des Moines was eventually extended to Spirit Lake.

                                   Spring in Iowa on the trail

                                     Plum Blossoms

                            A mile and a few tenths from this sign to home
                              Asked this fellow to pose and he did.
Butch came home at noon and Jason called asking if I would play golf if Laura came along and played too. Butch had asked me earlier if I wanted him to buy a family membership. $200 as opposed to $150 for a single. After much thought and consideration I said yes. So yesterday was my first day. I have to play at least 4 more times to get my money's worth. So the four of us played. I would have to say I just played at it. I forgot to take water and that was a mistake but otherwise it went fairly smooth.
After golf we came back to Jefferson and had a sandwich. Very enjoyable day with the kids. Always is.