Yeah, we're okay

Butch has his stitches out and his hand is healing nicely. He is doing his therapy with a small supple football and some play doh. The same routine and therapy as for his left hand.
The weather has been downright crappy- cold and wet! And I have fallen off my exercise regimen. I told Butch last night that if morning temps were in the 50's I would walk across town for my haircut appointment. I was excited when it was 52 and sunny this morning so for the first time since coming home, I walked my 2 miles. Maybe I will get lucky and be able to walk the trail tomorrow.
I will take a look at my photos to see if there are any I forgot to share with you.

 This has been far too common a site this Spring. We have made a bird bath/feeder out of an old satellite dish. The birds like it!  I noticed these photos were taken while the moho was being painted. It is back home in its summer home.

 I think there may be something amiss about this male cardinal's beak. It looks deformed to me

Jefferson's Freedom Rock. It is near the bike trailhead.

 Butch thought this fellow may be mushroom hunting. Maybe?

coaster link

The coaster link may not work for you. If it doesn't try here: http://www.hometalk.com/26399592/casual-and-cute-blue-jean-coasters?se=fol_new-20170517-2&date=20170517&slg=ee9e7c3ab059f4893e17baf145d6c53f-9932808&post_position=3

Need some coasters

These blue jean coasters are easy and effective.
Directions here:
http://www.hometalk.com/26399592/casual-and-cute-blue-jean-coasters?se=fol_new-20170517-2&date=20170517&slg=ee9e7c3ab059f4893e17baf145d6c53f-9932808&post_position=3

Monday Morning

It was a quiet weekend. Took calls from the boys and got caught up on their families doings. It was a nice quiet Mother's Day.

I think Butch has given up on fighting the squirrels. He thinks now his lot in life must be to feed them. They are fun to watch.

This morning Butch is on his way to pick up the motorhome. The paint job is finished. Butch will not be getting his stitches out til Wednesday but it is eleven days since surgery so he should be safe to drive. Dr. Barb said it was okay. I do worry about his making the trip without my expert guidance but every now and then he needs to fly on his own.😉

I have an appointment to help a friend pick out her first smartphone. I know almost enough to be of help. I do understand her trepidation and as I look back I could have benefitted from some help when I ventured into the unknown territories of smartphones.

Last Friday I helped a friend with her IPad. Yes, you read that right. An Apple product. It was new and she tried to get it set up and ran into a problem not knowing her passcode. It quickly became obvious we would need some help from Apple so I contacted them and we spent the next 2 hours working with Apple Tech support.
I wrote this a few days ago. While writing it I looked at the clock and was late for an appointment so I dashed off and then forgot what I was doing. So here it is a few days late.
Update:
Butch did get the moho home and it looks great, all shiny and new looking. Today we went to lunch at the casino. On Tuesdays, they have a fried chicken buffet with mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans. For seniors it was $5.95 and the seniors have been taking advantage of it and there was a nice crowd there. Now they need to have a liver and onion day.

Crockpot Porkchops

and other stuff...

This was saved as an image because I could not copy and paste it as text. So if you want to save it get out your trusty "snipping tool" on your computer and save it as an image too. Or write it out line by line you energetic soul!

I have made this recipe before and it is every bit as good as claimed.

Butch is getting along fine with his hand and will be getting the stitches out next Wednesday. I have reacquainted myself with driving a straight stick and have regained much of my confidence. It is so easy to lose. The old adage 'use it or lose it ' is quite true.

Band Concert- Ogden Iowa

Their music program is excellent in Ogden. I was very impressed!Of course, Devon was the highlighted member of the band for this photographer. 

Focus!

Goldfinch- Iowas State Bird

Karla and her new bike

Karla came over to get the final adjustments on her new bike. It fits her to a tee now.

Butch is becoming quite adept at using his left hand.

Devon came along with his Mom and we played Mexican train, making the afternoon fly by.

Classmates revisited

We gathered at the HyVee patio for a visit with an old classmate (Clair Tomlinson) and his sister Marlene who are back in the region for their brother Bob's funeral.
It was a great time reminiscing about the good old days. It is like a domino effect when someone mentions an incident or a person from long ago and the ball starts rolling with everyone adding their bits to the story.
Here are some pictures of the event. Missing from the pictures are Butch and I and Jack Harmer.

Sharon McQuillen and Barb Veenstra foreground. Larry Jackson and Dick McQuillen behind them.

Clair gives Sue a hug

L to R, Dick, Sharon, Barb V., Larry, Pete, and Sue.

Barb V., Larry and Pete Barrett

Pete, Clair, Sue Durlam Lucht, and Anne Bradley Butler.

Sue, Anne, Marlene and Jerilynn

Marlene and Jerilynn

Bernard on Honor Flight

Leo and Keri went to Fort Dodge last night to welcome Bernard home from an honor flight.

Welcome home, Bernard!!

Honor Flight Network

https://www.honorflight.org/

A non-profit organization created to honor America's veterans for all their sacrifices by transporting our heroes to Washington D.C. to visit their memorials.

Chewy Doozies

On my todo list

Chewy Doozies
   
   This recipe makes a huge batch of wholesome, toothsome cookies to tuck away for breakfast, snacks or dessert. Make them during the week, then grab and go to eat on the fly when you're trying to get to a first-come campground early on Saturday. Plenty of nuts and eggs add protein. Fruit adds fiber and a little brown sugar adds carbs to get you through the morning.
  These cookies are moist and fruity, so they will mold in a warm, humid environment.  They also freeze well. If your supermarket doesn't carry candied cherries except during the holidays, substitute chopped, dried plums.
 
3 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon each cinnamon and baking soda
1 cup brown sugar

3 eggs
1/2 cup milk or water
2 sticks butter, melted

2 cups candied cherries, chopped
1 cup chopped, dried pineapple
6 cups broken pecans
2 cups raisins
2 cups chopped, pitted dates

   Line baking pans with parchment or nonstick foil. Set the oven to 250 degrees. In a bowl or bag, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.
  In a bowl, whisk eggs with milk or water until light.  Cool melted butter until it's pourable but not hot enough to cook the eggs. Whisk in melted butter.  Stir in dry ingredients.
   When batter is evenly mixed and no dry spots remain, fold in nuts and fruit. Drop by teaspoons on baking sheets and bake 25-30 minutes until set. Cool completely and store in a cool, dry place.

Galumping along

So it was Costco on Monday. Tuesday we took the motorhome to Inline Services in Callender Iowa for a partial paint job. Brock Smith is our go-to guy there. We were surprised at the size of the business in little Callender Iowa. There were other Motorhomes there and quite a few Semi-trucks. They do repair and body work. Impressive place. We assured them we did not have a time frame for completion especially since Butch will be unable to drive for 10 days. We are sure they will want it completed, paid for and out of their way as soon as possible.

After dropping off the mortorhome we went to Menards in Fort Dodge and bought a small refrigerator for the garage. We had been looking for a used one but it had to be small and all we found would need a great deal of clean up and were bulky to boot. So this is what we bought and with a $54 rebate coupon it seems reasonable. We were able to get it in the back of the car with it laying down. We left it upright and unplugged for 24 hours as we know you must do after a refrigerator is laid down. The guys who loaded it were amazed we were able to get it in the car not knowing we had measured carefully prior to buying it. We even were careful to note the measurements of it while it was in the shipping crate.

Criterion® 9.8 cu.ft.Top Freezer Refrigerator

$323.10


So home we came with our purchase.
On Wednesday we took a break, I think! The day passed quickly.

Thursday was surgery day. Supposed to arrive at 12:00 and we were on time. Allowing for a pesky detour on our main track of highway 30 we left home at 10:30. Stopped at WalMart for a med renewal. Butch drove and I thought he was helping me to look forward to driving as I will be for the next 10 days as he was not as attentive as usual. I later found out he had taken a night time cold medication. I noticed! An interesting note: I had a cold and Butch caught it a couple of days before his scheduled surgery and I thought it could change his surgery date. He called to check and it did not. I was surprised by this. He could even take his cold meds without an issue. He had a block for anesthetic. So he was semi awake for it all. That must be why.
For anyone wondering about the detour on highway 30 between Grand Junction and Ogden it is a pain to endure for the next 7 months. They detour on the east by going on 169 north for 5 miles and then west to Dana Iowa and then back 5 miles south on 141. We have found a local way to get around it, however it involves 1 1/2 mile of gravel. I would much rather have a 1 mile detour than a 10 mile detour even with gravel involved. They are making changes to a railroad overpass at Grand Junction.
So after waiting in Ames for what seemed like ages everything was done and we were on the road back to Jefferson at 4:00 PM. Just in time to get Butch settled before I joined the crew at HyVee for trivia night. We did not do well with trivia but we sure had a good time.

A side note. Butch and I watched The BFG on Netflix last weekend. I enjoyed it immensely. BFG is the big friendly giant. It is a kid movie but do not let that stop you. Will watch it again and again. This 'human bean' gives it 5 stars

"Ten-year-old Sophie is in for the adventure of a lifetime when she meets the Big Friendly Giant (Mark Rylance). Naturally scared at first, the young girl soon realizes that the 24-foot behemoth is actually quite gentle and charming. As their friendship grows, Sophie's presence attracts the unwanted attention of Bloodbottler, Fleshlumpeater and other giants. After traveling to London, Sophie and the BFG must convince Queen Victoria to help them get rid of all the bad giants once and for all."

Butch had surgery

Butch had his first carpal tunnel surgery last August on his left hand and then the same surgery today on his right hand. All is well. He recovers from nearly everything quite quickly. It has been a long day so I will let that news be enough for now.😁

Costco Trip in Iowa

Butch is having his hand surgery on Thursday so this week has been busy getting things done and lined up to be done. Monday was a washout. The alley had endured quite a bit of rain so we waited for some drying out and changed our date to get the Motorhome to Callender Iowa for some paint work to Tuesday.

Yesterday we went to Costco in DesMoines. All Costco's are laid out with the same floor plan but the door to the one in DesMoines is located in a different location making the starting point different. That really screws me up!  Next time I plan to find where we start in Texas and find that location in the DesMoines store and start from there. Do not know if it will work but worth a try.

Last winter I ran across a list of 12 Kirkland brand things they claimed to be a best buy.
They are:
1. Kirkland Signature Bacon
2. Kirkland Batteries
3. Kirkland Signature Light Beer
4. Kirkland Coffee 100% Columbian fine ground
5. Kirkland Gasoline
6. Kirkland Signature Golf balls
7. Kirkland Signature Greek Yogurt
8. Kirkland Signature Premium Ice Cream
9. Kirkland Keurig K-Cup pods
10. Kirkland Signature Virgin Olive oil
11. Kirkland Signature Organic Peanut Butter
12. Kirkland Signature Salmon

Butch nixes Golf balls, Ice cream, and Organic Peanut butter. He would not knowingly touch greek yogurt, olive oil or salmon. So that narrows the list down a bit. The coffee we swear by. I use the bacon. We get the gasoline when we are in the vicinity. K-pods we do not use and I think are way too pricey a way to have coffee. Also, the machine is bulky and would not fit in our way of life. That leaves the beer which Butch knew nothing about till this list came to light. We bought a case of 48 yesterday for $22.49. He doesn't know if he likes it yet but the price was right. He can find a case of 30 Old Mill light for $14.99 on sale now and then, and sometimes but rarely for $13.99. If he likes it we really do not gain much because it isn't available in Texas. If it were it would save us from transporting beer from Iowa to Texas as we could buy it as we use it. Durn it! Hmmm, wonder if we could request it.
Sure wish Costco would consider a store in Ames or Fort Dodge.

Leo and Keri's grandchildren.

I am assuming that Leo took these pictures. He has always had a good photographic eye. I snipped these from Facebook because I think they are above the ordinary. Keepers for sure.

Brady and Beckett Westergard

Clara and Jorgen Davis

Squirrel Wars

So finally Butch has something to do. He is on squirrel duty and here is why.

What I learned from a limp carrot

In South Texas, the carrot crop comes in and after the produce has been harvested they will let people glean what does not get picked. One of our ambitious residents gleaned several large bags of carrots and offered them to everyone.
My friend Kay Stilson was given some and a few of them had been in the field under a hot sun for a bit too long and were kind of bendy. Kay steams her vegetables in a steamer pan all the time so she peeled the bendy carrots and steamed them. I happened to be at her place when they were done and she offered me a bite. They were so bright in color and sweet to an extreme degree.  I started thinking of carrots in a whole new way and other veggies too.

So after coming back to Iowa, I ordered a steamer pan and this afternoon I tried it if for the first time. Amazing! Mom's should know that if they steamed vegetables for their children they may find they like them. Especially on their first try. My "oldest child" still won't even try. 

Farberware Classic Stainless Steel 3-Quart Covered Stack 'n' Steam Saucepot and Steamer

Busy

Of course, we are! Busy-Most used excuse in the world. It seems the time flies and gets away from me more so as I grow older. This week we had an emergency trip to the dentist for me on Tuesday. There was a sharp place on my bottom plate that needed some smoothing and created a sore that wasn't going to get better by itself. It gave us the opportunity to reconnect with our Atlantic friends, the Gunderson's and the Clark's. On Thursday we went the opposite direction to Ames for Butch's appointment to set up his surgery. Today, Friday, he will have his pre-op physical in Jefferson and I plan to let him go by himself and maybe get some housework done.
We are getting things done or set up to be done. Monday we will be taking the motorhome to the painter. We are only having some of it painted -the front cap and the top edges- the part that is visible. We had the top recoated a couple of Texas seasons ago and that part will remain untouched.
Next Thursday Butch will be having his second carpal tunnel and trigger finger release surgery in Ames. Right hand this time. He says the most difficult part for him is my driving us every place we go for 10 days. Needless to say, we do not go much during that time.

Last night we returned to our trivia night friends at Hy-Vee. We came in 3rd. Not bad since the place was packed and the "Retired Teachers Team" usually kick everybody's butt. And they did. And another team snuck in there too. Even so, it is fun to visit with friends and try to come up with the right answers to rack up enough points to get a small monetary reward. Most of the questions are aimed at the younger people so at times we are just scratching our head and guessing.

Still catching a photo now and then

Nuthatch

Gradually settling

We will have been home a week come tomorrow. It seems like much longer as we have crammed quite a bit into that time. I have even more to get done until I feel completed. I told Butch I was looking forward to a day when I could say I didn't have something on my agenda that was a "have to do". Not there yet.
Tomorrow I am getting my first Iowa haircut of the season. My last cut was with Yolanda in Texas on March 24th.
We do have the bird food out and I have been taking pictures as I sit at my computer.

House Finch

Downy Woodpecker

Goldfinch

Spam

Okay, now you know I am not doing what I am supposed to be doing and I am sitting in front of my computer. The article below covers a problem many people have so thought I would pass it along. My advice would be number 4.
Barb
"Dear Computer Lady, 
I read your column all the time and find it helpful. I am receiving an
inordinate amount of unsolicited e-mails. 
I unsubscribe, but I still receive e-mails even after the 7-10 days
removal time. 
Can anything else be done?
Thanks, Rick
Dear Rick,
It is hard to stop the spammers once they get ahold of your email
address, and unsubscribing doesn't do much except tell the spammers
that there is a live person at your address, which makes your email
address more of a target. Let's look at what we can do about it.
1. You could set up spam filtering in your email program. You didn't
mention what program you use, so I can't give you detailed
instructions, but a good email program will include some sort of
filtering.
2. You could change to a new email address. If you did that, only
people that you share your new address with will have it. If you were
to go with this method, I would be careful not to fill out online
forms with the new email address as that is probably how you got on
the spammers list in the first place.
3. You could filter your email through a provider with a great filter
already in place. I use this method. I have several email addresses
and I have Gmail get the messages from the server. The messages then
go through Gmail's spam filter and I only see real messages unless I
want to go check the spam folder, which I rarely do. Gmail even warns
me if it finds an infected message on the server.
4. This one is sort of an hybrid of the previous two options. First,
create a Gmail email address at: www.mail.google.com and then use the
account to collect your existing email address. You have to create a
Gmail account anyway in order to filter your email through it, and it
would give you time to gradually transfer all your contacts over to
the new Gmail address.
Elizabeth"

You can read this article online, view & leave comments at:
http://wp.me/pwwRq-2cU

From Moho to House

We are in the midst of the big transfer of stuff from the MoHo to the house. The fridge is done. Once we have clothes and groceries transferred we will be done until fall when we reverse the process. It does get easier each time, especially if we slow down and take it in bits. Butch has gone after things like he was killing snakes his entire life so slowing him down can be a challenge. I am on break right now.
We have worked in between weather events and now find that we are 90% finished. Tomorrow should wrap up the last of it except for the odd item we might have forgotten. There will always be those

We are so happy to be back with IOWA public television. The difference is remarkable.
The bike trail awaits me and my trail pass has been purchased. ASAP I will be out there with my camera.

Written on Easter Sunday

Biscuits and gravy at our RV with guests Gary and Susan. Butch suggested the menu. Can anyone believe that? Now we are at their house and soon the little ones and their Mamas will be here. I am taking advantage of the quiet to get caught up a bit.

Gary has a nice ham in the oven and he doesn't want the bone after dinner and has promised it to me. It is still cool enough up here to make ham and beans.

Home again!

We are always home, north or south and now we sit in our northern home with our southern home parked out back. We arrived here about 1:30 PM yesterday finishing our second audio book about 5 miles from town. Perfect timing. We brought good weather with us and it was a good thing too because today it is raining. It isn't a very wide band so we should resume our sunshine later today.
Here are pictures taken since leaving the Rio Grande Valley.

This is a refinery at Three Rivers, I think. Surely someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

 First try at a moon picture- I need to keep working on that.

 Sunrise, Sunset can't remember which. It was in Texas. I do remember that!

 Gary was not impressed with my robin picture. They are not a common sight in South Texas. This one is a Missouri bird, Peculiar to be exact.

Our sweet Elise

And Leo is contemplating...

"No, I don't want to sit close to brother."

 

Finding Easter eggs

Our route out of Texas Revised

North Out of Texas-Simplified version
In South Texas get on Hwy 281 north.
Hwy 281 N to I-37 N take (exit 133) and get on I-410 N
I 410N to I 35N
I 35 N to Hwy 46W (exit 190)
Hwy 46 to Hwy 281N
Follow 281 N to a few miles south of Jacksboro TX and hwy 380
Take 380 east to Hwy 51- Turn left (north)
Follow Hwy 51N to Gainesville TX and I 35 N.

The main purpose of these directions is the avoidance of the Austin to Waco section of I 35. If you do it once, especially in an RV you will have a firm understanding of why you need to avoid this section.

This is a corrected route. I take full responsibility for the mistake of the last post. We lived through my mistake in the Spring of 2017. Thus this correction; the route we should have taken and the route I should have posted is listed above. I am crossing my fingers that I didn't really mess anyone up because that was a booger of an ordeal.

Updated location

We are currently in Peculiar MO at the Gary Brooker family home. One more travel day on Monday and then we will be back in Jefferson Iowa.