Update north and south

The big news is on the Magnolia Park Blog. www.magnolianews.blogspot.com.
They had a big, bad storm in South Texas last night around midnight. Read about it on the magnolia blog. I hear our manager is at management school and missed the whole thing. nuff said.
When I came back from our trip to Costco that took place on Friday rather than Thursday here is what my romantic husband was doing! So for all you husbands who want to know how to woo your wife. This is it! I greatly appreciate his thoughtfulness.

And here is my solar glow ball on the table in the 3 season room. I love it too!

Tomorrow is Thursday!

And guess where I am going? Costco!! Mickey and I are going to make a Costco run. Like old times but with different friends.
Tuesday night Mickey had us and a few other friends over for Mexican. Delicious by the way and we also had a great deal of fun with a Wii. I have thought of purchasing one before but they certainly are pricey little devils. If we ever must stay in Iowa all winter I may reconsider because they are great exercise. We had a blast with it and I have not laughed that hard since Peg, Kay and I got the giggles over I do not remember what...or maybe I do but cannot share. Anyway the friends, the food and the Wii were a bunch of fun.

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Rhubarb is abundant right now and I may get around to making this bread. It certainly looks tasty. I have a great patch of rhubarb and I have made a list of the rest of the things I need. I will let you know what I think of it.

Orange Rhubarb Bread Recipe

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 15 min. Bake: 40 min. + coolingYIELD:12 servings

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon grated orange peel
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2/3 cup finely chopped fresh rhubarb
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

• 1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, orange peel and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream. Fold in rhubarb and walnuts.
• 2. Transfer to two 5-3/4-in. x 3-in. x 2-in. loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Yield: 2 loaves (6 slices each).

Editor's Note: If using frozen rhubarb, measure rhubarb while still frozen, then thaw completely. Drain in a colander, but do not press liquid out.

Nutritional Facts

1 slice equals 128 calories, 7 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 31 mg cholesterol, 81 mg sodium, 15 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 2 g protein.

Read more: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/orange-rhubarb-bread/print#ixzz3Y2xQsJQb

Tree Bones

One of the things intriguing about this time of year is being able to see the "Bones of a Tree". This tree has beautiful bones.

Bought a shed

Went to Ames yesterday and bought a shed. Butch has had his fill of construction for a spell having been immersed in it every summer since 2011so we decided to buy a ready made shed and we like this one. It is lofted on the sides increasing our storage area by quite a bit. We have some land leveling we want to be completed  before this is delivered. So in a few weeks we should have our new shed and be able to shift some items giving Butch more room in his "shop/garage".

Everybody is happy!!

RVing Tip of the Day

Butch and I have replaced our big bulky TV in the front of our Motorhome. More than once actually. I wish we had seen this article before we did it and that is why I am sharing it with you. This option has much appeal on many levels. 

This info came from a newsletter we read regularly and you may want to as well so here is the website. http://www.rvtravel.com/?q=daily-rv-tips-issue2129602

Barb B.

More ado about a drop-down TV bracket

by Greg Illes

 

Editor's note: Back in Issue 596 we ran a story on a fold-down TV bracket that Greg put into his Class A motorhome. We immediately were hit with cries of, "Where can we get one?" from our readers. Here's a follow-up from Greg. 

 

The bracket is full-custom, not store-bought. In order to get the TV nearly flush to the windshield, and also up tight against the overhead when stored, I needed a bent bracket design.

 

First, I used a piece of wire to mock up the angle and length I needed. Then I had a local plastics shop put a bend in a piece of 3/8" ABS textured sheet.

 

The sheet is attached at the front with two standard three-inch steel hinges, fastened to a metal portion of the overhead structure.

 

At the back edge, I used two strap retainers to hold one-inch black nylon straps. These use standard strap snap-catches to hold the TV up in stored position. I used two for stability and fail-safe design (don't want that puppy coming down while I'm driving), plus I needed the finished affair to be rattle-free. These worked out very nice.

 

I punched a one-inch hole in the overhead to accept all the cabling, and I put a split-sleeve cable cover over it all to dress it up a little.

 

The TV didn't hang down quite vertically (bent bracket center-of-gravity offset), so I mounted a small wooden knob into the windshield vertical post (not shown in photos). The bottom of the bent bracket slips over the edge of the knob to hold the TV vertical, and also to keep it from swinging.

Weekend of fun

I looked at the last post and I must say I am slipping! I never used to let that many days go by without a post. I began this blog in 2002. Thirteen years ago and it does not seem possible it has been that long.
We have been  getting settled in at our "other" house and the more years that pass the longer that seems to take.
We stopped all the action on Saturday and went to Missouri to see our Great Granddaughter Elise in her first theatrical performance. The Harrisonville High School theatrical group performed "The Music Man" And our little Miss Elise age 4 soon to be 5 was the youngest member of the cast as one of the River City children. She was magnificent of course. She had a few minor snafu's in the 4 two-hour performances. One of which was she was missing from the stage when she was supposed to be there. She told her grandmother that she had to go to the bathroom and thought that was more important. And indeed it was!
Photos were not allowed during the performance although a few were taken during dress rehearsal. All of the performers did a wonderful job. It was indeed very entertaining and I am not saying that to be kind. It was of a very high caliber.                      
                                                   Our Miss Elise

                                   After the performance sitting on Papa Gary's lap.

 She put up less fuss about the uniform as long as she had the horn.

Leo and Elise Teeter

                                         Leo turned two on April 11th and his diction is superb for his age. He is also a very amiable young man and cheerful much of the time. When we first arrived he came down the stairs to greet me and he said, Hi Nana Barbara! with a big smile And I said, "Well, Hi there Leo, How are you?" He said, "Good!" with an emphatic nod of his head! The clearness of his speech blew me away. It really makes you take notice when you hear a two-year-old speak clearer and more defined than many adults.

It was a fun weekend!

The trip home was fine until we hit the Iowa line when we encountered a heavy rainstorm. There were a few more after that so we hightailed home not stopping for lunch till we were back in Jefferson.