A walking adventure

Butch, Peggy and I are the regular walkers. We walk every day, once in mid to late morning and again at 4:00 PM. This works out for me as once I get back home, I can then prepare supper and we can eat so Butch can make it to the pool hall by 6:00. Every day? Yes, every day.

I have continued to cook about 90% more than I ever have. I am liking it and my internal system is very grateful. That is one of the reasons so many recipes have popped up on the blog. But I digress.

Recently when we were walking on Willow street a puppy came flying at us from a block away. I am not at all sure I have ever seen a dog run as fast as that little Yorkie did. If it had been a bigger dog it would have scared the crap out of me. The Yorkie had escaped its human parents as they were in hot pursuit. Believe me, they had not a chance of catching that little bullet of a dog. It was headed for some petting and attention as fast as it could go.

Walking with Butch and Peggy is a stop and go proposition as they stop and pet every visible animal on the entire 1.2 mile walk. They make lots of feline and canine friends along the way. I like dogs but from afar as their sniffing and licking habits annoy me. Make of that what you will. It is what it is and I know not being a dog lover irritates the crap out of some folk. I could say,"Sorry" but I'd be lying.

I purchased a GoPro this morning. After I learn the ropes I may post some videos. Those of you with slow Internet connections will then be irritated with me. On the bike trail near Jefferson is my favorite stretch on a bike. It is beside Roger Conant's place going north. It is downhill to the river and it is beautiful! Every time I ride it I wish I could share the exhilaration and the beauty of it. So with a GoPro maybe I can just a little bit.

Sunshine

I loved the way the sunshine was highlighting the palm tree. This was taken from my favorite sitting spot in the motorhome.
It seems the next 4 days will be devoid of sunlight accompanied by periods of light rain and drizzle. Life is always changing...

A Hearty Breakfast

Fortified Oatmeal
Combine the hearty fiber of oatmeal with the meaty protein of ham and eggs, and you have a ski breakfast that lasts until noon. All it takes is one burner on your stove and less than 20 minutes of your morning.
4 cups water
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup egg substitute such as Egg Beaters
1 cup finely diced cooked ham
½ cup grated Cheddar cheese (optional)
Bring water to a boil, stir in oats and cook over low heat, stirring often, until it’s thick. Quickly stir in egg substitute, turn off heat and cover. After one minute stir in ham and cheese to heat through. Serves 2. Serve as is or with milk, cream or almond milk.

Roasted Vegetable Medley

I made this dish for Thanksgiving and again for Christmas. Not a drop came home with me. I followed the recipe precisely and it is soooo good. I nibbled on it several times this morning as I was cooking it. I cooked it early and then put it in a crockpot set on 'keep warm'. This recipe can be found in the recipe page on this blog. And on www.magnolianews.blogspot.com

Roasted Vegetable Medley

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 25 min. Bake: 30 min.

MAKES: 7 servings

Ingredients

• 3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into small wedges
• 2 medium sweet red peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 small butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 medium red onion, cut into wedges
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 T. of Morton Season-All salt.
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°. In a large bowl, combine potatoes, red peppers, squash, sweet potato and onion. In a small bowl, whisk oil, vinegar and seasonings. Pour over vegetables and toss to coat.
2. Transfer to two greased 15x10x1-in. baking pans. Bake, uncovered, 30-40 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Yield: 7 servings.

Nutritional Facts

1 cup equals 152 calories, 6 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 347 mg sodium, 24 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 2 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 fat.

I prepared this in my NuWave oven. Oven set on 350 for 20 minutes-used extension and 3 “ rack- stirred once during cooking. Loved it!

White Christmas

Jefferson Iowa  had a white Christmas, one of the few in the country it seems. My niece Karla sent me this photo to show me how she and her son Devon took  a fishtailing adventure on a gravel road just outside Jefferson.

And Leo sent me one to show the driving conditions yesterday. It looks like it would have been a good Christmas to stay home and hunker down. We did have a few of those in years past. If I remember right one was somewhere in the early '80's. We always spent Christmas day at my mom's house and that year the temps were like 30 below actual, roads were ice and snow covered, and travel was not recommended. 

Yuck!!

Merry Christmas One and All

It is very hard to believe it is Christmas when the temps are near 80 degrees. Even the locals say it is hard to get in the mood with warm weather and they want a cold snap to make it more Christmasy. It is their equivalent of a "white Christmas". Even though we are not ready for it, it will be here none the less. I truly wish more people had a laid back attitude and did not get wrapped up in presents but wrapped up in presence instead. Enjoying each moment as it presents itself and making memories with the people in your life. So enjoy the process and the moment and have the merriest of Christmas's.  

Change Facebook Password

A friend asked me for directions on how to change her Facebook password. So I have the directions written down. They are written in plain English. 

If you would like to have them, email me and I will send them to you.

Follow up note- I looked at my directions on Butch's computer and they were very different from the ones I sent to my friend. I think they are out to get me! So I guess I am saying they might work for you?

Leo and Santa 2015

Miss Elise Christmas Party

With her Mom, Amanda

Little Leo's Christmas program

 These pictures pretty much sum up this two-going-on- three boy

 Leo and his Mom-Amanda

Her mama says...

"What a weekend full of busy performances!! I love watching her do what she loves!!"

Elise and her cousin Chloe.

Elise with other cast members. She was a munchkin!

Tonight's supper

Tonight we had the last of our steak-sirloin-and roasted peppers, green peppers and carrots. Butch also had potato salad. He will eat veggies if they are raw however many people would not believe how colorful his supper was tonight.

And in case you cannot believe this is Butch, here is proof!

Mexican Quickie

Mexican Quickie (Pancho's)



Two cans each of following:
Rotel (hot or mild), chicken and rice soup, cream style sweet corn, ranch style beans (regular or jalapeño), can chicken breast shredded.


Mix heat pour over tortilla chips and top with shredded Mexican cheese enjoy.


Note:I tried this recipe and it is good BUT if I had made the full recipe I could have fed half of Texas. I cut it in half and Butch and I will get two meals out of it with leftovers. I would say half the recipe could be a meal for 6. There was so much liquid when I started cooking it, I was having doubts so I let it reduce quite a while. When I make it again and I will, I will drain off some of the liquids in the cans. Taste was great! Very good


Final prep was in NuWave oven-3"rack at 350 for 3 minutes. I like my cheese all bubbly and browned in spots.

Best Corn Casserole

I noticed I had this post in my drafts and that I had not posted it. Flukes happen. Enjoy it now.

"The only thing better than corn is more corn!"

-Virgil Buchmiller

Virgil was an Iowa farmer and Marion Brookers last husband. They married when they were in their 80's and were married for 5 happy years. I love Virgil's quote.

Corn Casserole

1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can creamed corn
2 eggs beaten
1 stick butter, melted
4 heaping T. all purpose flour
2 T. sugar
1/4 C. diced green pepper (you can use red, I only had green)
1 C. whole milk
1/2 C. shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients and pour into a greased casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr. 20 min.

Quiet on this end

We have not done much on this end of the country, but we are busy enjoying friends and activities as usual. Still walking twice daily, a mile each time, and some in between. I have been doing more cooking than perhaps ever in my life and still enjoying the NuWave oven and induction plate. I have not turned on the RV oven even once so far and the microwave only on rare occasions, like heating up the water for my Neti pot. The mold is horrendous here and, of course, we are both most allergic to it. I have noticed that since the rains have backed off the allergies too are getting better.

Butch is golfing on Tuesdays, pool every night from 6 to 8, cribbage on Thursday afternoons and walking with Peg and me when it isn't interfering with any of the other stuff.

Till next time I think of something...

Rare sight

 How often have you seen a squirrel in a palm tree? Me either!

Gary sent a collage again this year. It is fun to linger over it, remembering the pictures.

Elise the actress

Elise is playing a munchkin in the Harrisonville MO High school play. She never disappoints!

New Roof on Motorhome

Len started on the roof on Tuesday and finished today (Friday) and the days he put in were long and arduous. This is the final result and is guaranteed to last the lifetime of the motorhome, transferring to subsequent owners. We are happy with our new top!

Printable papers

I ran across this neat website and thought it might be useful to some of you.

Free Printable Paper

1,597 papers you can download and print for free. We've got graph paper, lined paper, financial paper, music paper, and more.

http://www.printablepaper.net/

The Teeter kids

Elise

Leo

New RV Roof

Today we started getting a new roof application. This was day 1 of 3 as I understand it. Len, the roof worker worked all day without a break finishing for the day at 5:30PM. http://rv-armor.com/.

After coffee hour this morning Len was busily working on the roof and I needed to use the bathroom. I looked up and I could see sky and thought this is not going to work. So I went over to Donn and Peg's and told them my predicament. I used their facilities, but Donn said perhaps I could solve my problem if I used an umbrella. By golly, that could work!!

 I was Kay's assistant for the Jam tickets today so I took my camera and this is my favorite shot of the day. This is today's kitchen crew for the Jam lunch. From left: Dorral, Peggy, Larry, and Geneva. They make a great team, enjoy working together and it shows.

Our Miss Elise the author

From her Nana Susan:
Our sweet girl got to read her book that she wrote and illustrated to the members of our local Kiwanis today at noon.  She also enjoyed lunch with dessert first - or so I was told!  LOL!  My boss was there, and he also has a video of her reading it!  Very cool!!

And then I thought...

I have had a few thoughts on the carbon monoxide issue of the last post. The lady affected has a tiny dog. Why didn't the dog die? Hmmm.... Maybe that whole issue needs to be looked at again.

Sometimes a second thought takes a while to happen. I think that is called being slow on the uptake.

I am doing my best to get other authors added to the other blog. And I have been having some success. This one will always have me as the author because I doubt I could ever get Butch to add to it.
The other one, www.magnolianews.blogspot.com has several people who could post to it but only a couple who do. If you have doubt that I wrote it look at the bottom of the post and it will say who posted it.

Life is just ambling along in a smooth and easy manner while being busy at the same time. The weeks fly by so quickly it is almost frightening if I stop long enough to think about it. The upside to it is that both Butch and I are doing what we want to do when we want to do it so how could things ever be better than that!

Beautiful

Our weather has been perfect with one beautiful day sliding right into the next. Time flies when you are having fun!
There was an association meeting this morning. I had not planned to go, but I was glad I did. It was one of the more interesting ones I have attended for some time.
In a nutshell, people with water meters have been overpaying for their water for years. One of the residents has taken it to the Texas Utilities Commission and verified the fact and it is going to be pursued.

Another interesting tidbit is that the association is looking into their bingo machine and plan to investigate getting one that works. Long overdue.

And a resident suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning after the gas was shut off and the residents were not notified, or at least that is strongly suspected to be the reason for the illness that put her in the hospital for several days.

Kay, Peggy and I were on the lunch committee for crafts today so that took care of the remainder of my day. Pretty much anyway.

Tomorrow will be just as busy as we are getting a new roof coating on the RV and I have promised Kay I would be her assistant for selling tickets at the Jam. After that things may slow a bit. The roof procedure is a 2 day affair so Wednesday will be busy too.
Every now and then I have a start and say, "Oh, oh, I haven't had a blog entry for too long."  And when that happens they may not be that interesting." But at least you know I am thinking about you.

South Texas for the winter?

Don Harper, current vice president of our park association has found that he has two rentals available as his renters developed health issues and are not able to come this season. If this is something you would like to look into, email me at keep.movin.on@gmail.com with 'rental' in the subject line and I will do my best to get you info or put you in touch with Don. Don and his wife Marty are super landlords and I would recommend them highly. Our weather has been good so far with highs generally in the 70's and lows in the 50's. As I write this at 6:12 pm I have the window open and can hear crickets chirping. Come on down!

Lost weekend

Butch and I hang on to miscellaneous items that we really do not want any more but has too much value to toss in the trash. And then when we get to Magnolia and on the first weekend in December we sign up for a table in Allen Hall to display and sell our items.
Friday is a setup day and the time when park people can do their shopping first before it is open to the public on Saturday morning. And that is what we did this morning. These photos are from this mornings setup.

Larry on the left is chairman of the garage sale and Don left the pool hall long enough to bring up some items to sell. Don is Butch's instructor and main pool partner.

Tuffy is amazed that Butch is selling a pool cue. No worry Tuffy, Butch owns several.

Not much to shout about

We are on about day 4 of cloudy, cool and dingy weather. Still getting most walks in. Have only missed a couple of them.

Butch is spending his spare time in the pool hall.

I have worked on a few computer issues and had fair success at smoothing out lives here and there.

So this seemed like a weenie of a post so I decided to look at photos I have taken recently. And here are a few of them...

I was a bit too late to get the best shot of this rainbow.

Lined up for announcements at Tuesdays coffee hour.

Some of the better listeners.

And here is the best shot of the day! These two are cooking up something. I can guarantee it. Kay and Peggy. This may be my best shot of the whole season!!!

For Keri B.

I knew Keri would enjoy this so this is especially for her. Thanks, Deon-for posting it on Facebook so I could snip it.

Cold front

This morning when I arose the outside temp was 65 and now it is 55 as it has dropped off all day long. No excuses. We walked two times today warmly clothed. I look forward to getting into my PJ's tonight and settling in while Butch ventures over to the pool hall as usual.
This afternoon I made Panchos and they were so easy. I look forward to making them for all of our up north friends throughout the summer. Butch says they are a winner and that is high praise from that boy.

This afternoon on walk number two Peggy snapped a photo of Jim and Kay Voss's latest creation. Those two make a good team with the crafting of unique items. 

Full Day

Yesterday was a full day for both of us. I had computer class in the morning and we were able to iron out a few trouble issues. When I left the hall I found Butch helping Larry Ergen clean up the shuffleboard court. Peggy and I got a walk in while Butch was still busy.
Then Peg and I decided to go to Costco because they had pork loins on sale for $10 off. We loaded up by making two trips into the store. After calculations, we paid less than $1 a pound for it. That was our Black Friday coup for this year.

Another bit that happened yesterday was that I found an item online that I wanted to buy but when I tried the website was down and I could not get the purchase completed. I have never had that happen before. So I waited a couple of hours and tried again. Didn't get it finished because I had to leave for Costco. I thought it no big deal and would do it when I came home. So on the news last night they gave the best shopping tip for the season. When you see a good price on something check the same item on Amazon to find out if it is a good deal. I decided to do that. Actually it is usual for me to do that but it had slipped my mind. I saved $30 for all the delay. It was $30 cheaper on Amazon.
Comparison shopping is always a good idea.

Worth pondering

"In times of great stress or adversity, it's always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive." —Lee Iacocca

I have found this to be true. For those that know me finding out my first instinct when presented with stress is to go for a walk will not be surprised. A friend from the past always started cleaning house very vigorously. Action is always a good antidote for stress. The mind has trouble focusing on two tasks at the same time contrary to the multitasking theory.
In our favor, we are probably the least stressed people on the planet, we retired folk who come south for the winter.  

Thanks Giving

I decided that I was not going to eat myself into a state of misery and indeed I did not. My plate was extremely conservative and I am thankful for it. I felt really great the entire rest of the day.
I was reminded of Ethan when he presented everyone with toys last summer and told us, "You will take what you get and be thankful for it". It was entirely appropriate.
After Butch enjoyed his dinner he went to the little hall and played cribbage. They had 5 tables of cribbage players. Cribbage remains one of the many popular games played around the park. After a short break, he then went to the pool hall to finish off his day.
This morning I remembered that November is a marker for this blog. We will be starting into our fourteenth year, you and I, writing and reading these entries. Is it no wonder I hit a block now and then.

Pictures I have gleaned from Facebook. 
Little Leo Teeter at his preschool Thanksgiving program. His Mom said he wanted the microphone so I suppose he will follow in his father's footsteps in calling tractor pulls.

  And here we have Jason and Laura with Nicole and Ethan. Wonderful smiles on all the faces.

 And this is Miss Elise putting together a turkey mask. I have no doubt she will be quite crafty like her mom.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Donn and Peggy's new steps

Looks high class!

Awaiting their new home

The work getting started.

50 Nerds of Grey

 Really? I like Windows 10. I do know people who will get a kick out of this though.