Right On!

Posting past

This morning Gary and I rode out to Winkleman's switch. There were quite a few people on the trail. That usually happens on weekends. I am using the voice recording thing to make this entry. It should improve my diction but it can't improve my memory. Today is Monday and I'm trying to remember what happened on Saturday. Not working! If my memory serves me correctly I planted flowers and did yard work for most of the day while the guys played golf and that suits me fine. Aha! I think it rained Saturday! I remember because the guys were planning on going to Atlantic for a golf tournament and were concerned about the rain extending into Sunday. It didn't. They went and despite Butch saying he didn't didn't play well, they came in third in their flight so at least got their entry fee back and had a good time.
Back on track. Last Friday I had surgery on my left ear. It was just a little cyst underneath my earlobe getting a sore and then healing and then getting sore again so I decided to just get it taken care of so I could forget about it. Doc said he didn't think it was anything serious but you never know unless you check. Stitches come out on Wednesday. Trips to Ames have been pretty steady on Wednesdays and Fridays. I am ready for that to quit.
Gary is hooked up and ready to go. He has to get back to Missouri for one of Leo's baseball games. They are a real hoot when you're 5 and not something you want to miss.

New Gmail

If you are trying the new Gmail and wonder where the contacts went you can find out here:
https://www.howtogeek.com/350563/how-to-find-contacts-in-the-new-gmail/
Not seeing the contacts was my first WHAT THE HELL!

You know me, I had to try it and I think I am going to like it because the calendar is handier. Give it a try. You can always go back. To go back a bit- First, if you’re not yet using the new Gmail, open your Gmail account, click the gear icon in the top right corner. If the new Gmail is available on your account, you’ll see the option to “Try the new Gmail” at the top.

Livin' is easy

 Last night at trivia we came in second place again. That is the fourth win in a row for us.  It was another momentous night at trivia in more ways than one.  Gary went with us of course and he was a big help.  One of the questions Gary knew was a Madonna song that had the same name as a magazine for a title.  The answer was Vogue.  We old folk would never have gotten that.
 Another oddity on the timeline, and you trivia people would know what that is about, they have used the same year for four weeks in a row!  and I do believe our team is the only one that realizes that.  For some reason, the year used for the timeline question the week before seems to stick in my head.  So when I hear what the answer is and it is the same year as last week, I am puzzled by this!  I want to jump up and say don't you people realize this is the same year as the last 3?

There is a program or app, I'm having fun with right at the moment. It is a voice recognition program that allows me to speak instead of type and it's supposed to speed up communications.  There's a learning curve and so far this is not at all as fast as I could type it. I do see an advantage in having this so I'm going to keep at it for a while.  The first flaw that becomes apparent to me is punctuation and changing a word or two.  Also, the program itself making mistakes such as fly for flaw and miss steaks for mistakes.   I had to type that entire last sentence. Oh well,  it is always great to learn new things.
If you want to play around with it go here. https://dictation.io/speech As far as I can tell it is free. Do not fall for the ad they place right beside it. The ad has nothing to do with the program. There is nothing to download. You use it straight from the website.

Dictation (https://dictation.io/speech)
We were pretty impressed when we learned about this website. Enable the microphone on your computer and speak! The website transcribes everything you say, so you can then copy/paste it into whatever! Instead of typing a long email, just speak it!

The guys are out golfing again.  In my mind, they have it backward. Get the work done and then play! We must just see things differently,  ya' think?

From yesterdays ride. Today was a walking day.

Gary's checking to see if the corn is up. Taken at Winkleman's switch.

A visit from a dove this morning.

So far behind!

I would be on the bike trail or going for a walk or daydreaming while doing yard work and say to myself I need to remember to put that on the blog or in other words tell all my best friends because by now the only ones "tuning" into the blog are my best friends. I had surgery on my unicorn horn and it is greatly diminished and healing beautifully. And now I have developed another area near my left earlobe that will be taken care of this coming Friday. I do not think it is cancerous but then we never want to think that now, do we? Now we move on to Butch. He had a couple of spots biopsied and one is cancerous and the other is hypertrophic meaning it is close enough to remove too. He will be having that done on June 8th, the day before his birthday.

Gary brought his trailer up from Missouri to clean it up and get it ready for summer fun with Elise and Leo and whoever else wants to join them. We are both having fun with Gary. He either walks with me or we bike the trail and then he comes back and golfs with Butch. And tonight we will be joining up with Team McDugan for trivia as usual. Tonight one team member will be a math teacher.

Last Sunday, Mother's day, My sister Theresa and my niece, Karla and my grandnephew, Devon came to spend the day with me and we had a great time reminiscing about our mother and sister, who was Karla's mother, Jayne. Devon got quite an earful listening to all the stories. Most of them are HI-larious as we are a very strange and funny family.

Butch had the flu that day. So he kept his distance. Thank goodness he is back to normal.

Pictures:
Woodpecker

Grosbeck

Devon, on the left, is first chair trumpet

BlueJay

Projects

I wanted a trumpet vine and could not find one so I settled for a Dropmore Scarlet Honeysuckle. And we planted it on the east end of the clothesline. I did this a few days before Mothers day wouldn't you now. So now I also have a trumpet vine!  I have accommodated both in a very fine manner and will hopefully have hummingbirds both north and south. On the south side, we repurposed some wrought iron porch railing and posts we saved from demo during the renovation. I love the way it turned out. The trumpet vine is planted inside the square created by the posts. It will be well supported!!

Newly planted Trumpet vine we planted inside the square structure Butch put together with the wrought iron posts

Sculpture by Jason Brooker

Dropmore Scarlet Honeysuckle vine

Fan away mosquitoes

Fan away mosquitoes
Daniel Pankiewicz adds new ammunition to the war on mosquitoes. Daniel says he spotted information in the New York Times that suggests you ditch the DEET and just turn on a fan. 
Not only does the breeze make it hard for the mosquito to land and start a drilling operation,
 it also minimizes the concentration of carbon dioxide in your area – a “calling card” 
for the nasty little insects.

2-Day Mississippi Riverboat Cruise

Butch and I are interested in doing this trip. Anyone want to join us?
We want to go on the 2-day trip from LeClair Iowa to Dubuque Iowa. Let me know as soon as possible if you have an interest.

https://riverboattwilight.starboardsuite.com/choose-date

I do not have a group code as yet but would be willing to get one if there is enough interest. We plan to go either way. You talk about a photo op!!! Could not beat it with a stick!
If you are interested in going, email me with a variety of dates that would work for you.

Orzo Mushroom Toss -different version

I stand corrected. This is the one I loved all winter- the one Peggy Gordon makes for us! She does add onion and if she is like me she adds onion to almost everything!

Orzo Mushroom Toss From Peggy G.

At first glance, you might think this is a rice dish, but it's actually a pasta side dish! Ya see, orzo is a small, rice-shaped pasta, that's often used interchangeably with rice. In our recipe for Orzo Mushroom Toss, we used orzo for its nuttier flavor, which goes great with the fresh mushrooms!

What You'll Need:
4 tablespoons butter
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 envelope onion soup mix
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 pound orzo pasta, cooked according to package directions
Get Dinner on the Table in 30 Minutes

What To Do:
In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Saute mushrooms 4 to 5 minutes, or until tender.

Stir in remaining ingredients and cook 5 additional minutes, or until heated through.

Amazing

It is amazing to me how fast we get busy when we land in Iowa or Texas. I wonder if it would work to sneak into town and not tell anyone for a while. I don't think so.
I was hoping to not have a bunch of doctor appts this summer but here we are making multiple trips to Ames and the Dermatology substitute otherwise known as the plastic surgeon. Now Butch is getting some spots on his face attended to. I still have hopes we will soon not see any more things on the calendar that look like (Dr. Appt @ 10:50 AM).

I am slowly getting yardwork projects done. That is one thing that is neverending but rewarding. I can always think of a new one. The latest is a trumpet/honeysuckle vine for the hummingbirds. We have a large variety of birds in our yard the way it is but I wanted to add the hummers without having to fill the feeders all the time and what better way than provide them with their own supply of food.

Latest news on the trivia front. We won second place again. Go Team McDugan! That is the third week in a row in the winner's circle. And it was also exciting because one naughty team was caught cheating and got called out on it by the host. They were not a winning team but it was during the Double Down Round so the penalty was the removal of 20 points from their score and so even if they had been on top they could not have won. There were 9 teams all told. Two of them were one man teams. Gotta give those guys credit. They must really like trivia!

Son Gary is coming next week. It is always fun to have one of the "boys" all to ourselves for a visit. If your children are grown you realize how rarely that happens.

Last winter friend Peggy from across the street would make this amazing recipe and she would always bring me a dish of it. So I got to thinking about it and thought I would make some and share with a couple of my friends. My main house friend (Butch) will not eat it of course. So I started looking for the recipe because I knew Peggy had given it to me. Cannot find it but I think this one is close. I will post it anyway and if I find out it is different I will update the info.

Warning: It is hard to only taste. First thing you know the whole thing is gone!

Orzo with Mushrooms

READY IN: 35 mins SERVES: 8

INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups uncooked orzo pasta
salt and pepper
DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat.
Saute onion and mushrooms until tender and golden brown.
Pour in broth, and bring to a boil.
Stir in orzo, reduce heat to low, and cover.
Simmer until orzo is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
If after 15 minutes there is still liquid, remove the cover, and cook until liquid is gone.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Joke of the Week

Fred Brown is on his deathbed, the end near. His nurse, wife, daughter and two sons are at his side. He asks for two witnesses as he records his last wishes. “My son Bernie, you take the Mayfair houses. My daughter Sybil, you take the apartments in the East End. Jamie, my son, you take the offices at City Center. Sarah, my dear wife, please take all the residential buildings along the river.” The nurse and witnesses are blown away by the man’s words. The nurse says, “Mrs. Brown, your husband must have been a brilliant businessman to have accumulated all that property.” The wife replies, “Property? Oh, no … he has a paper route!”

BEANS IN MY EARS

Listen to it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXnIQt8pmK4

Do You Remember?

BEANS IN MY EARS
Serendipity Singers 1964

My mommy said not to put beans in my ears
Beans in my ears, beans in my ears
My mommy said not to put beans in my ears
Beans in my ears

Now why would I want to put beans in my ears
Beans in my ears, beans in my ears
Now why would I want to put beans in my ears
Beans in my ears

You can’t hear the teacher with beans in your ears,
Beans in your ears, beans in your ears
You can’t hear the teacher with beans in your ears,
Beans in your ears

What’s that you say, let’s put beans in our ears
Beans in our ears, beans in our ears
What’s that you say, let’s put beans in our ears
Beans in our ears

You’ll have to speak up I got beans in my ears
Beans in my ears, beans in my ears
You’ll have to speak up I got beans in my ears
Beans in her ears

Say mommy we’ve gone and put beans in our ears
Beans in our ears, beans in our ears
Say mommy we’ve gone and put beans in our ears
Beans in our ears

That’s nice boys just don’t put those beans in your ears
Beans in our ears, beans in our ears
That’s nice boys just don’t put those beans in your ears
Beans in our ears

I think that all grown-ups have beans in their ears
Beans in their ears, beans in their ears
I think that all grown-ups have beans in their ears
Beans in their ears
____________________

First bike ride

Jason went with me and he was my bird spotter. He is very good at it. The kid always did have an eagle eye.

 The robin was my eagle eye. He got it from somewhere after all. I liked the way the sun was highlighting him.

 Our bikes at the bridge.

 Spotter Jason with his binoculars.

 Not the best photo but I did get it of a Baltimore Oriole and below is a  Yellow Warbler

 Yellow Warbler

And along came the Canadian Geese.

Taken this Morning

Purple Finch

House Wren

It’s World Password Day

It’s World Password Day Passwords are in the spotlight today and it’s an important reminder to reconsider our online security routine. Our recent research project, The Psychology of Passwords, shows a startling reality of unsafe online practices. Here’s a little preview of the habits that make hackers very happy:   59% mostly or always use the same password   53% have not changed passwords in the last year   64% want to easily remember their passwords From this, we’ve learned that consumers are using the same easy-to-remember password for multiple accounts (despite the increase in cybersecurity threats and breaches). Don’t let yourself be one of these stats - participate in World Password Day! Refresh your passwords today and secure your digital life. JOIN IN PASSWORD DAY   More cybersecurity resources 7 ways to protect your credit cards online  It’s hard to avoid sharing credit card information online today, so make sure you’re taking the necessary precautions to keep your information safe. Take these steps → How to protect yourself from a “port-out scam” As technology becomes more sophisticated, so do hackers. Learn what a “port-out scam” is and what precautions you can take to prevent this threat. Layer your security → Why you need a username generator Not reusing passwords is one layer of protection, and having unique usernames is another. Explore the username generator next time you create a new account. Double your cyber protection →

Trivia isn't trivial!

We moved up the ladder one rung and came in second place in the Hy-vee trivia night. All eight of us contributed to bring that win home. It was a fun night!!

Mr.Wren

Late yesterday afternoon I spotted Mr. Wren in a tree. He has taken up residence here for several years now. We have a couple of options for him to build his nest and get it ready for Mrs. Wren's approval. Yes, Guys, that is the way it works in the wren world. He works his hiney off getting a house all furnished and arranged. Then she comes round and sees if it works for her. If the answer is yes, she moves in and if it is no, then she moves on and he continues to work.

This morning I see a couple of birds "wrestling" in the tree. Soon one flies off and there sits Mr. Wren! He was victorious and has claimed the territory. His adversary was a song sparrow.

He is the champion!!

And yesterday this guy was getting a snack between rain storms.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

(Melanerpes carolinus)

Working on Trivia and other stuff

I asked the moderator, for want of a better word, if I could write down the questions he asks us. He said, "Yes, but why do you want to?" I told him I was doing a similar trivia program in Texas and it was quite successful. It gives me a break from putting together my own questions. Truth is I cannot and do not use all the questions. Some are not usable in my opinion.
Example:
From 2003 to 2007 a remake of a Japanese show called Takeshi's Castle ran on American TV. What was it called?
Answer: Most Extreme Elimination Challenge (MXC)

See what I mean? I had to do considerable research to reconstruct the question!!!
Oh well. Most of the questions make sense.
Tonight is Trivia night! Yeah!

Other Stuff:
We have had a 3-day session of iffy weather. They say we are in for another round late this afternoon. It sure is making everything lush with the moisture interspersed with bits of sunshine.

Here is my as yet untouched Rhubarb patch.

And we have a new visitor. He/She posed nicely for a photo. Did not blink even once!

Last nights storm

It was a rip snorter! The lightning shots and the thunder booms that make you cringe were abundant. We were in the motorhome for most of it. (See the post below) And the power went out for a couple of hours. We had an inch of rain and everything looks clean and crisp today. It was like the whole town went through a powerful town-wash. So since the power was out we came back in the house as soon as it let up enough to remain partially dry in getting from there to here and what else can a person do but go to bed. It was the best of storms for us, all the excitement and none of the damage.
1/2 inch rain on Monday and 1-inch rain on Tuesday. We are good for a while now.

While it is Fresh

While it is fresh in my mind I want to tell you about a few techy things I have finally made work. Pretty proud of myself at the minute. Last summer season I decided to give Hulu a try. The problem was that our 42" Vizio Smart TV in the house would work for Hulu but it kept having "blackouts" with the screen going dark and then sometimes it would come back and sometimes not. Extremely frustrating! I contacted Hulu, my Internet provider and anyone else who would stand still and listen to no avail. Somewhere along the line someone mentioned trying a newer TV so I went to the motorhome and the TV worked with Hulu just fine there. That was last summer and I had forgotten all that until we tried to watch Hulu last night in the house and again we had the "blackouts" so we went to the motorhome to watch the latest episode of  The Handmaids Tale. This morning I remembered that I could watch it on the computer if I wanted to and taking that thought one step further I could connect with an HDMI to my Chromebook and that has the added attraction of being able to use my bluetooth speaker as it is already paired to the Chromebook. Picture quality might suffer some but hey! My main goal is to watch the show in the house and also be able to hear it. For me this is a win-win-win!!  Doing the trivia events in Texas and being able to broadcast the music through my Chromeback and bluetooth was a factor in making all this come together. There may be a techy person out there that will get a chuckle over me and my revelations but I am pleased with myself and that is all that counts.

Finally some rain

Butch has had my rain barrel up and ready for over a week now and today we have some rain. Plants prefer rainwater. They do so much better with it so this is good news for me and my plants. I do not have many plants yet. Only the ones I hauled down to Texas and then back again.
Keri's Mom Roslie cleaned up the front part of our yard while visiting Keri before we made it back to Iowa. That really was a big gift to me to have all those leaves and twigs picked up as it freed me up to get at the backyard cleanup. Yesterday I tore into the back and made quite a bit of progress. I was hoping for a bit of time to get it finished before the rain started this morning. No grumbling here. We needed the rain. 
I awoke this morning at 5:00am to the sound of thunder. And I mean serious thunder! It never seems to be serious in South Texas. I am sure there are times but we never seem to be there when it does. There is nothing like a mid-western thunderstorm. It can really be a rip snorter! They say we are in for a 3-day possibility of severe storms so somebody will most likely get more than they want.

We sometimes miss the blooming of the tulips but not this year!

Ready to Bloom

 And son Jason gifted me with another of his sculptures.  I love them! Better picture later...

We have been having some vacuum issues. My Shark Navigator Freestyle would only work for about a second straight off the charger. Then if I put it back on the charger for a couple of hours it would work just fine. Frustrating to say the least. I do not get all fired up to clean house all that often so to get delayed by a cranky vacuum is very counterproductive. My diagnostic technician (Butch) has been a bit mystified as well. At first, he thought it was the charger and then he thought it might be the battery. It is not definitive even yet but we are leaning toward battery. 
And then Keri's Dyson handheld is doing essentially the same thing. We are going with battery.  

Tonights photos

We stopped out to Leo and Keri's for an update on the kitchen redo. An added bonus was the MOON! we noticed it when we came home so we drove to catch a better look at it. The fairgrounds were the perfect spot for the moon.

Keri now has a better view of the west windows while in her kitchen. Not all the little things are done but as the monkey said when he cut off his tail, "It won't be long now!"

Jefferson Iowa  moon on Sunday April  29th, 2018

It has been a busy week

And not nearly as productive as I had hoped. Wednesday we went to see the plastic surgeon in Ames and I thought I would be getting rid of my unicorn horn but we find that he only does procedures on Fridays so next Friday (May 4th) will be the day I get rid of my bump.

On Thursday we again enjoyed trivia. Though I am getting a feel for the frustration our team endured all winter. The questions are sometimes extremely obscure whereby not only is the answer not in your head the question itself makes no sense at all. We had a couple of questions like that whereby no matter how often the question was repeated we had no idea what answer they were trying to get from us. Despite this grumbling, we once again came in 3rd!

Friday was my appointment with my surgeon from last fall's procedure. We left for Texas last fall before she really wanted me to so this was an important exam. All is well. She still wants me to get yearly exams and I can schedule them any time of year that works for me. No more April appointments!!

I have been getting settled in in increments and I am beginning to get frustrated with myself for not getting a move on. I need to finish at least one thing to boost my self-esteem.
So that being said I think I will go for a walk!

Latest Photo Ops

I finally managed to find the right time to download the pictures I have taken in the past few days. I am pleased with some of them.

The robin photos were taken from where I am sitting as I write this. I have also walked the bike trail (2 miles round trip) a couple of days and I walked across town( 1 mile one way) to the hairdresser on Monday. Some of the pics were taken on the trail. The trail is still in early Spring mode but will be getting prettier with every day now. I haven't been on the bike yet. I tend to take more photos when walking but riding is more fun!

A NATURALLY BIKE-FRIENDLY TOWN

My longtime friend Mickey sent me this wonderful article about our humble hometown. Sometimes those who have stayed in town their entire lives have a bit of a stretch to see Jefferson in the same way as those of us who have wandered and then returned. It is a special treat to see our town through others eyes.
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/3/16/a-naturally-bike-friendly-town

Inch by Inch

Inch by inch we are getting resettled into our summer home. Seems to take longer every year. The good news is the weather is absolutely gorgeous! More later when I become a lady of leisure!

Trivia update

I asked Chris, the leader for the trivia sessions at HyVee if I could write down the questions he would be asking and he said, "Sure, but why do you want to?" So I told him.😊 If the folks who played at Magnolia thought my questions were difficult wait till you hear these!
Butch and I were happy to be back and we did contribute a couple of answers. One of which I knew because it was one I had asked this past March. I was hoping all my work would pay off when we got back.
Team McDugan came in third and with the teams we are up against that is satisfactory to us.  It is one of the highlights of my week.