Gary is here

Our son Gary likes to bring his RV to our place in the Spring to get it ready for the season. We have two RV sites in our backyard with full hook-ups including Wifi. We did this intentionally when we bought this place because we have many RV friends and had hoped they would stop in their travels to see us and that has indeed happened.

We also had a storm last night with lots of lightning, rain and a little hail. Thank God it didn't last too long. There are a few branches down in the backyard. I haven't seen any damage from the hail yet. I think it was small stuff.

I had made meatloaf for us last night for supper and Gary mentioned that he likes to order meatloaf now and then when he eats out. I really like this particular recipe. It is nothing fancy and does remind me of my mom's recipe. The one she never wrote down.

Mom's Meatloaf Recipe

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 15 min. Bake: 1 hour + standing

MAKES: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

• 3/4 cup 2% milk

• 2/3 cup finely crushed saltines

• 1/2 cup chopped onion

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage

• Dash pepper

• 1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef (90% lean)

• 
  

• 1 cup ketchup

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Add beef; mix lightly but thoroughly. Shape into an 8x4-in. loaf in an ungreased 15x10x1-in. baking pan.

2. In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients, stirring to dissolve sugar; remove 1/2 cup for sauce. Spread remaining mixture over meatloaf.

3. Bake 60-65 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160°. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with reserved sauce. Yield: 6 servings.

Originally published as Mom's Meat Loaf in Taste of Home June/July 1997, p35

Costco here we come and there we go

Butch and I went to Costco in DesMoines yesterday. We were curious as to how it would compare to South Texas. Not as well I am sorry to say. Yes, masks are required at both and a lady told the woman at the entrance that she had forgotten her mask and they provided one for her. That was all good. But it was crowded in there. Too crowded for comfort in my opinion. And the checkout area was not run well at all! In Texas, they had monitors making sure everyone knew what was expected and assisting them with compliance as in distancing and getting your items lined up and ready. In DesMoines, it was far more chaotic. If you had wanted a product that was up close to the checkout area you might as well forget it. And if you planned to wait it out until it cleared out a bit you would have been waiting a long time. If we head that way again and we probably will sometime, I think I would try a different time of day. We were there about noon and left close to two.

This morning I decided to spruce up the front area a bit so I bought a few geraniums and petunias at Bomgaars. Not many really because I do not want to spend all my time watering them trying to save my investment. It turned hot the minute June arrived so I had worked up quite a sweat by the time I got them situated in their new homes.

Butch went to the golf course. It seems he played well and it is probably as good for him as therapy will be. We have appointments lined up to get the therapy going again. We tried to get our second Shingles shot but they are not doing any vaccines yet. They said to check again in a few weeks. 

My drivers license had expired but the courthouse is still closed. I did get an appointment for June 11th though. Butch's has not expired yet but will soon and they said to go online and request an extension. So we did. Lots of details to get taken care of.

Finally! Getting things done.

Yesterday was a momentous day. It didn't rain! I did several hours worth of outdoor work and Butch went to the golf course. Yes, that is a good thing. In fact, I began to worry about him because it was windy and I knew he would not have stayed out there that long by himself with that kind of wind. Well as it happened Jason joined him on the course. Butch had a cart and Jason walked so it was easy to maintain distance. 

Butch said as long as he took it easy and didn't press his luck it felt okay to play. He was tired when he came home but not so tired that he needed a nap.

And then Jason came into town to help me with a few things I couldn't or didn't want to handle on my own. We both had masks on and maintained our distance here too. One of the things I wanted help with was the "Bat House". I have an outdoor wall hanging of a sun/moon and it has hung beside the breezeway door for several years but last year a bat took up residence and we could tell because of the droppings underneath. Since it was at eye-level for us and right beside the door we took it down and hoped the bat would forget about it. I put it back when we returned and lo and behold it didn't take long for the bat to take up residence again. I do not mind having a bat on the property because they eat bugs but not that near the house so I had Jason move it to the shed. I am guessing our bat will find it soon enough.                                The new "Bat House" location

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The old bat house location was above the cactus on the left. You can see the screw that it hung upon.

I have a cactus that Gary gave me for Mother's day several years ago. I think it was 2007 or 2008. It has been repotted several times and there are all kinds of babies. It is now too heavy for me to lift and I certainly did not want Butch lifting it so that was on my list for whoever showed up first. It was Jason and he picked it up and took it to its assigned place and he looked easy doing it. I bring it in each fall and have it watered a few times throughout the winter. It seems to work out for me and the cactus but I am assuming it won't always be that way and decisions will have to be made for its future at some point. 

Jason then helped Butch get his mower blades off so Butch could sharpen them so all in all, it was a very productive day for us.