Colleen-

A prolific stacker of rocks...

Angst!

More pages from the cookbook

One Bowl Apple Cake

I made this recipe and it was a big hit with Butch!

On my To Do list!

One Bowl Apple Cake - This cake is so moist and rich and just perfect for this time of year. (and easy to make!)

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 heaping teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup oil

6 medium Gala or Fuji or Honey Crisp apples

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, cinnamon and oil. Peel and slice the apples and add to mixture in bowl (coating as you go to keep apples from turning brown.) Mix together the baking soda and flour and add to the ingredients in the bowl. Mix well (best with a fork) until all of the flour is absorbed by the wet ingredients. Pour mixture into a greased one 9x13 or two 9″ round pans. Bake for approximately 55 minutes.

The Jefferson Bee Cookbook

Keri showed me one of her prized possessions and said she would loan it to me for a closer look. It is indeed fascinating! It is a cookbook from a very long time ago put together by the local paper. It is from the days when there were not numbers or even a dial on the stove. Good cooks had to learn how to make a moderate or hot oven on their own.
Front 

Back

First Page

Snow Pie

Bread- Get ready to go at noon, ladies!

Colleen and I would like to sample the Snow Pie. Are you game, Keri?

Phone Issues

Phone died Saturday while taking pictures at the fire. Black screen, nothing worked, would not charge, appeared to be totally dead. So Sunday, not being afraid of online tech support I visited the chat line on the Verizon website. Note to self: Never do that again. I chatted with a guy named Dave. He asked me a few questions, I answered them and he pronounced my phone dead and sent me to a website to pick out a new several hundred dollar smartphone. I declined. I decided I would forgo the smartphone and revert back to our old phone that isn't so smart. I hated to do that because I have become accustomed to the camera and the GPS. But for what we pay a month and we still have a contract, I refused to spend several hundred dollars for a phone. The one that died is only 15 months old for crying out loud! So I laid awake last night trying to figure out what to do and made the decision to use the old phone if they were unable to help me at the Verizon Store, use Butch's smart Tracfone as our main phone at least until our contract ran out, and make a decision then.
So Saturday we went to Perry to the Verizon store and missed their closing by one minute. Vowed to not return but it is a long way to Des Moines so relented and stopped in Perry with the intention of going on if I did not like what I heard.
I walked in, handed her my phone, told her my sad tale and we chatted a second or two about options and she said, "oh, your phone came on!" I said how did you do that??!! She said she held down the power button AND the plus volume button at the same time and held it for 30 seconds. She said that when a smartphone gets overloaded it will shut itself down. And I know that was what happened for more than one reason. What I didn't know was how to correct it...but now I do.
Not once did "Dave" suggest I try doing the two button maneuver.
Another lesson learned!!

Beckett Aaron Westergaard

The newest grandson of Leo and Keri. Son of Greg and Erin and brother of Brady

Controlled Burn

This morning we ran into Mickey on the trail and she reminded us that they were burning down an old house at the corner of Harrison and Olive street. We later learned from an older bystander that the house at one time was a hotel for the railroad. It seemed likely to us. This burn is an opportunity for the small volunteer fire departments of our county to get in a practice on firefighting skills.
I was able to get some great photos before my phone died. Yup, that is right, my phone died. But I digress. Here are some fire photos.

At one point, raccoons came running out of the house. It was well engulfed in fire at that time. Three came out and spread out in different directions. A spectator said that was their fire plan and they would meet up at their specified location. I am sure they were right.

 The fact that I use Dropbox, all of the photos I took went straight to my computer so even though my phone died due to unknown circumstances I still had all my fire photos.
And here is a link to the Greene County News Online :http://greenecountynewsonline.com/2015/08/22/fire-departments-do-controlled-burn-of-city-owned-house/#more-20681

Later, on the advice of Mickey, I went to the Verizon place in Perry arriving at 4:01. They close at 4:00 and even though we could see them they would not relent and let us in. So now the plan is to wait till Monday and go to Des Moines.
So if you feel compelled to call you better use Butch's number. Till Next time!

Water Heater Woes

Sometimes I post things more to get them on here as a record of what took place rather  than informing you of our misfortune. In reality, we knew this one was coming. The water heater that came with the house was still working and so it was installed in the breezeway and I am trying to find pictures of when this happened. Butch and I disagree on when that might have been. Not important really.
Yesterday Butch was planning to go play golf when he noticed the water heater was leaking. So his plan changed and he went to Lowes in Ames and purchased a new one for $456 and returned home to install it. It is installed and working and all is right with our world. He was able to play golf today and the weather was nicer than it was yesterday.

Missouri's Katy Trail

This trail in Missouri is beautiful. I found this picture on Facebook and I love it.

The Katy Trail State Park is one of the nation's longest rail-trail projects—nearly 238 miles of scenic trail that passes through some of Missouri's most scenic areas. In particular, much of the trail follows the mighty Missouri River, but patrons will find other landscapes as well, such as forests, wetlands, valleys, prairies and farm fields.

Trail info ➤ rtc.li/katy-trail-state-park

Lisa and Terry Linder -Full time RVers

And August visitors. We had fun!

Great grands go to school!

For Miss Elise it is Kindergarten!

And Leo is off to preschool!

His Mama says he is waiting for his sister to get out of the car. Little does he know he will spend the better part of his life waiting on women.

Tube Art

When Butch and I went to Sebring Florida this Spring we went to visit Pete and Jerilyn and while there we spotted tube art at the local museum and liked the idea. Jerilyn finished hers recently. Her's more closely resemble the size of the ones in Florida.  Great job!!

Typical day for the law in Greene County

I am often entertained by the police/sheriff's reports.

Sunday, Aug. 9: At 12:32 pm a deputy was dispatched to the 900 block of Irving St in Scranton for a rogue woodchuck roaming their yard. At 1:22 pm a deputy was dispatched to a residence in the 400 block of State St in Scranton to investigate a reported strange noise coming from the basement. The source of the noise was not found, and several juveniles in the home were assured that nothing was in the basement. At 8:12 pm a deputy was advised of several overdue river floaters on the Raccoon River between the Jackson Hill Bridge and Henderson Park. The deputy checked several locations and was soon advised that the river floaters had reached the park.

I am grateful to live in an area where this is the norm.

Jefferson's Hot August Nights Car Show

There were 449 entries in the show so it took a long time to see them all. I am not at all sure they were able to. Not being farmers, I think they skipped the tractors in order to see all the cars.

 I remember the info on this motorcycle pictured below. It is made by Polaris in northern Iowa and the first ones off the production line were in November of 2014. It is called the Slingshot. There were two of them in this show, this orange one and also a black one.