Lordy, We've been busy!

 Butch has started the electrical. He has the boxes in place and I would guess that by the end of next week the electrical will be as done as it can be until the insulation gets installed. Russ has started on the siding. The garage door people will be here today to sell us what we want.

They have come with their big equipment and removed the tree branches and logs from the parking in front of the house. Yesterday and this morning I raked up the bits that are too small for them to get but too big for the lawnmower; not that it matters much because the drought is still hanging on. We happen to live in the 5 or so county area in Iowa that is getting the worst of it.

Have I posted these? Since I can't remember I will rectify it later if I must. The tree refuse is before the big machine came.

Too many Tomatoes?

 

HOW TO MAKE GAZPACHO WITH RED AND YELLOW TOMATOES:

1. Chop up yellow tomatoes, red tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, celery, red bell pepper, and yellow bell pepper.

2. You’ll also need some chopped fresh basil and fresh parsley, plus a little more chopped basil for garnish if desired.

3. Get a large plastic or glass bowl big enough to hold all the ingredients. Put red wine vinegar into the bowl.

4. In food processor with steel blade combine garlic with sea salt (or use mortar and pestle and then add the salt mixture to the food processor bowl.)

5. Add tomatoes to food processor and pulse until desired texture. Put tomatoes into a plastic bowl with vinegar.

6. Put cucumber and red onion into a food processor, pulse to desired texture, and remove to a bowl.

7. Repeat with celery, red pepper, and yellow pepper, pulsing together.

8. Stir parsley, basil, olive oil, lemon juice, tabasco, Worcestershire, and tomato juice into vegetables in a bowl.

9. Add more tomato juice if it seems too thick. we thought 2 1/2 cups were just right.

10. Taste and season with fresh ground black pepper and more salt if needed.

11. Chill overnight for flavors to develop, although you will probably have to have a bowl or two before putting the rest in the refrigerator!

Today’s thought

 

“You couldn’t relive your life, skipping the awful parts, without losing what made it worthwhile. You had to accept it as a whole–like the world, or the person you loved.” ― Stewart O’Nan

Progress on Project 8/18/2020

 I haven't posted anything on the progress for a while or at least it seems that way. Butch is starting on electrical. Russ has the soffit done on one side and he most likely will finish it and the other side today. Then siding, doors, and windows will follow. Butch and I plan to do the interior walls after it is insulated so it is coming right along.

Our motorhome being in the RV hospital is concerning us. It must be finished before we can go to Texas this fall. Also, we did not realize how much we used it for storage. Maybe storage is not the right word. We did not take many items out until we needed them, such as I had an abundant supply of eyeglass cleaner packets. Guess what! I ran out in the house and they are in the motorhome. This has happened on different items 3 times now. Not earth-shattering in the scheme of things.

Butch must be doing better with the healing of his leg. He is leaving his canes in the house once again. And last night when he came in from working in the pool hall he was not limping as much. The PT people in Texas told him it would be 6 months at least and maybe longer.  September 7th will be the 6-month mark of the great fall.

Here are pictures I took this morning:

Here are the limbs waiting for pickup. This is the bigger stuff. The smaller stuff, 3 or more pickup loads have already been taken to the city compost pile. This curb appearance is duplicated all over town.

Randy Clark Memorial Golf Tournament

 Butch and the boys, Rich, Gary and Jason played in the tournament last Saturday. The four of them have picked a day in August for the past three years now to play in a tournament somewhere. This is the second year for Nishna Hills in Atlantic Iowa. It is the course Butch and I played for twenty years and quite often with Randy and Sherry Clark. Randy passed away in late April so this year's tourney came with mixed feelings and a tear or two.

The guys played well and felt good about it despite that they didn't finish "in the money". The format is such that it is somewhat a matter of luck anyway.

They topped their day off with a meal at the Redwood in Anita Iowa. A very good place to eat. In the twenty years we lived in the area we ate there often and never had a disappointing meal. Masks and social distancing were abided throughout the day and evening.

By the way, Sherri do not let them get by without a picture next year! Butch told me you offered but he told you we had one from last year! Men!!

This is the one from August 2019...and Randy took this picture.

smaller projects

 I have a long list of smaller projects. Some of them have been on the list for years but what better time to do them than now. The final home of both of these projects will be the pool hall. That has been the spark that got me going instead of just thinking about it.

Here are the pics of the finished projects: Both of these projects were given to me by friends. I am sure they will recognize them when they see them.

The chairs had a label on the bottom of the seats so I researched them and found out they are a Thoney Bentwood chair. New ones can be purchased today for $303 each. Nice gift!

USPS

Another great and timely column from my friend Colleen. Her columns come each week in the opinion section of greenecountynewsonline.com

 

Now is the time

August 12, 2020

~a column by Colleen O’Brien

The more dis-, mis- and in-formation crowding the media these days regarding our general election in just under three months, the more unsettled the country becomes.

I sign off all news and read a good murder mystery which indeed keeps me engaged through the night.

But a new day dawns, and with it my iPhone dinging at me that I have “NEWS.”

I fall for it, click on it, and I am once more swamped; or perhaps that would be, in the swamp.

I learn from the President that we cannot have across-the-board mail-in ballots this pandemic year, despite the pandemic, because:

kids rob mailboxes and sell stolen ballots down the block so other kids can mark them, vote for the “wrong” people [what does that mean?] and then send them in.

With this news at hand, I am shocked that I ever received my passport. In fact, this last time I applied for it, I did it all through the mail [no trip to any bureaucracy; they had streamlined it in the 20 years since I’d last sought one]. All I had to do was fill in the form, attach my old passport, a new photo of me, a check, put it all in the mailbox where I live, and lo and behold! I received a brand new passport!

Apparently, those kids down the block were not looting mailboxes during that exchange of significant money and important documents. . .

nor when I lost my driver’s license and received a fresh one through the mail;

nor when my Discover bill arrives each month, through the mail, and I open it, make sure all the charges are legit, write a check, return it all in an envelope to the mailbox, where it will soon wind up in the Discover mailbox far across the country;

nor when my doctor told me I needed a medical test I could do at home; he had the kit sent to me in the mail. I did what it told me to do, and I mailed it back, via my own household mailbox – I didn’t even need to go to the physical post office building around the corner;

nor when my husband died, when I asked, paid for and received copies of his death certificate through the mail.

As an editor, I receive and send people’s precious manuscripts of novels, memoirs, collections of essays through the mail every week.

I am flummoxed by the idea of mail-in ballots becoming “insecure” because they’re being mailed via the U.S. Postal Service. I am disbelieving when I hear that mail-in ballots will be forged, illegally printed or fraudulently signed. The whole smokescreen is a falsehood to help a re-election, a prevaricated disruption of one of the most precious rights – the ballot – that we prize as one of the oldest democracies in the world. In an era of pandemic when it’s either dangerous or merely problematic to be around lines of other people, voting by mail is being disparaged, lied about and therefore made suspect.

We do have a more than 200-year-old working postal service, although hampered right now by administration directive to cut hours, which means not all the mail gets to us in a timely manner. I think this in itself would be against the law, since interfering with mail delivery is a federal crime; perhaps in the category of “high crime”?

The postal service is a function of government, not a corporation. It does not have to turn a profit. It can be and has been subsidized from the federal government just as the President’s salary is.

The postal service has been hampered by the USPS Fairness Act of 2006 and by the latest appointment of postmaster general DeJoy, a big donor to this president’s political campaigns. DeJoy has cut overtime at a time when there are fewer mail carriers because of cases of COVID-19 and more mail, also because of COVID-19. And DeJoy has complicated the casing of mail to a point that mail is left each day undelivered. Photos of mail piled in bins in post office mailrooms accompany newspaper articles in Chicago and Philadelphia.

That this current non-functioning government is getting away with holding up our mail is causing problems long before the problems that will arise if we cannot have mail-in ballots. Already, people are complaining to the post office that they’re not getting their bills in time, so they wind up with late fees. Residents in Philadelphia have complained about not getting their worker’s compensation checks. A Philly mother of an autistic child reported to her post office that her son’s dosages are two weeks behind, and she has been forced to scout pharmacies across town for the drugs she has paid for delivery by mail.

Even Congress is complaining about receiving complaints, even though it’s their job to listen to and do something about them. The House has included funds for the post office to cover its overload of work, but the Senate is doing nothing about it, which includes refusing to include money for the post office in the relief bill. This is kind of a moot point, because they’ve left town without voting for any relief to anybody.

Although the USPS is a government agency, it operates as an independent business without direct taxpayer support, earning its money from selling stamps and sending mail. Can we do something to help? Or do we have to wait for our general election to be screwed up for us to get rid of the source of the screwing?

A democracy takes so much work! To rephrase a once-popular typing drill, Now is the time for all good folks [sic] to come to the aid of their country, in this case, the local post offices of their country.

Anyone concerned about the purposeful decline and fall of the postal service can call or email their U.S. senators, asking, at least for now during the time of coronavirus, that we get some help for the only familiar face we see daily, our mail carrier. Ask your senators (1) that funding for the USPS be included in the next relief package; (2) that new Postmaster General DeJoy be investigated regarding his fateful policies within the post office; (3) that a vote be taken on the USPS Fairness Act that has crippled the postal service budget for a decade and a half.

Post navigation

Tip I actually use!

 

I was cleaning out my emails, files, etc, and came across this tip. It is one I actually use so it must be a good one! Barb B.

Easy Sheet Folding

When folding sheets, make the first fold lengthwise down the middle. If you are making the bed by yourself, you won't have to go around to the other side to verify that the lengths are the same on both sides. You just use the fold down the middle to guide you.

Candy and Rick with Storm Damage

 Candy and Rick were parked behind us last winter in Trophy Gardens. Butch bonded with their pug, Thelma. We communicated after our derecho and they were sympathetic to our state of affairs. Well, last night Candy sent me photos of their big storm. She said when the sirens went off for a tornado warning they went to their niece's place to take shelter as they live in their RV full time. This was near Mcpherson KS.

These hailstones could have killed someone!

Windsheild on their truck.

Tomatoes in the garden are history

She said both skylights on their RV as well as the AC cover were broken. There may be more damage than they know yet considering the size of those hailstones!

Still Pedaling

 Yesterday Butch and I transported the MoHo to the RV hospital in Webster City Iowa. Actually, the name of the place is GoodLife RV. It is there for a complete diagnosis and then a consultation with the insurance company and hopefully finish up with a surgical procedure and full recovery of the patient. 

Then we went to Ames Iowa to consult with K D Billiards and Darts to discuss moving and perhaps upgrading on pool tables. They were still without electricity but talked to us none the less and we will be talking more in the future.

We snuck in a visit to Hickory Park, perhaps the most famous eating place in Ames. The place was swarming with returning college students. We wore our masks and they are doing an excellent job of social distancing and masks. Masks on ALL the employees. Patrons not so much. 😕 

Then we went to Menards where I purchased floor paint for the "Pool Hall," and Butch looked at electrical and scared himself. We followed up with a visit to Lowes where Butch did purchase the supplies needed for wiring. They were very helpful.

We were supposed to return to K D Billiards before returning home, and we did, but no one was there. By this time we were tired, I had a headache so we came on home. It was after 5:00 by the time we got home.

So with our MoHo in Webster City and Gary in the process of getting his RV back to Missouri, our backyard looks pretty empty! 

The white spot in the tree is a reflection from a window. This is an adequate look at the two RV sites we have in our backyard. After full-timing for ten years, we wanted two sites, one for our MoHo and one for friends or family who might like to visit.

Mango is a feral cat that hangs out at our place. I do not feed him and he is not allowed in the house. He is a friendly sort. This morning I found him under this table, sound asleep. His eyes were closed and his breathing was even. He had no idea I was taking his picture. His name is Mango only because Butch and I have given it to him. His color resembles a mango. I see his eye looks like it is open but I would swear it wasn't. His cheek was resting on the table leg.

Hit and Run

 

This post will be a "Hit and Run" after I tell all our friends that we once again have electricity! Not because the electric company finally got around to us but because Butch was able to take advantage of his connections as a retired electric company employee.

It has been quite a day with Butch losing his temper about being on the receiving end of one of these weather events rather than the one out there getting everyone back on. He did not like the role reversal. When you stop and think about it, it took almost twenty years for him to be the one waiting for the lights to come back on! He had no one to rail against except the sky and Mother Nature so it was a lesson in futility. 

But it is back to life as normal, as close as it can be in this time of Derechos and Covid-19. So now we are again running those pedals full speed to get back to where we were before all the falderols'.

Due to ingenuity and a generator the building of our "pool hall" went on without a hitch. So stay tuned for more blog entries. For now, I am looking forward to a good night's sleep and a fresh start in the morning.

Derecho pics

Front yard. These branches had to blow over the top of the house and garage.

These youngsters of all colors bopped out of this van and cleared our front yard in short order! We were ever so grateful, They would not take any money. I wish I knew who they were so they could be properly thanked.

Window out of the new room.

 These were taken on the roof of the moho after help getting the big branch off the top. Quite a hole!

And by the way-No damage on the new structure.

News on Derecho

 A derecho that hit a wide swath through the midwest hit us. I am using my Google Fi Internet to write this entry and it will be brief.  We do not have electricity yet because the line from the pole to the house is broken. Hard to tell when we will get it back. The town of Jefferson has it but we don't.

We are currently using the generator on the moho to run our refrigerator and I made coffee in the moho this morning, It would be so helpful to know how long this will last but that is not to be. I have taken pictures and will see if I can get them posted. A tree branch came down and pierced a hole in the moho roof. And one of the skylights (kitchen) was annihilated. And another branch came down and took out one of our windows in the new room. We were not home at the time, We went to Mickey's when the siren went off. We are fine. Lots of cleanup in progress. Leo and Keri have been helping us. Also one of the guys on our construction crew was instrumental in getting the big log off the top of the motorhome without instilling more damage.

https://weather.com/storms/severe/news/2020-08-10-derecho-forecast-midwest-severe-thunderstorms-chicago

Pictures will be available when I can figure out the transfer from phone to Blog. Things just are not working in the usual manner.

Keep up with Technology?

Or anything else! When I was a teenager I vowed to keep up with all the latest music. My mother was woefully ignorant of all of it and I certainly wasn't going to let that happen to me! Well, it did.

In 1998 or thereabouts when my good friend Mickey got me hooked on computers and the Internet I vowed I was going to keep up with all the new developments and learn as much as I possibly could and I did...to a degree. But somewhere along the line, I got behind a little and then I got WAY behind. Now a great deal of it is very foggy.

A while back Google offered me a Google Mini Nest for free. So I took it. I had a vague notion of what they were and I really didn't see any need for one but thought, "What the heck!" 

What does a Google Nest Mini do? Google Home, Nest Mini, and Home Max are all Wi-Fi speakers that double up as smart home control hubs and personal assistants for the entire family. You can use them to playback entertainment throughout your home, manage everyday tasks, and ask Google things you want to know.Jul 31, 2020

It arrived and I set it up and it gathered dust. This was while we were in Texas. So I packed it away when we headed North and moved it into the house. On a whim one day I set it up as the Bedroom Speaker. And when we were ready to sleep I would say, "Okay Google, play relaxing music for 20 minutes." And sure enough, it would happen. Then when Gary visited and we were playing cards we would say, "Okay Google play some Bluegrass at volume 8." Gary and Butch like Bluegrass, me less so. And if we wanted to know something, like the mileage to South Texas, we could simply ask and get the answer. It is amazing how often that happens.

So I decided to get an additional one for the pool hall, our pool hall, the one currently being built. Yes, our pricy Internet connection will function there and if it proves to be weak we can get a booster. I have checked it out and do not believe we will have a problem.

Then this message below passed my way so I set it up and picked out some radio stations we might like.

Online Radio Box

 https://www.thundercloud.net/infoave/new/online-radio-box-listen-to-radio-stations-from-all-around-the-world-for-free/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thundercloud%2FIapJ+%28Cloudeight+InfoAve+Computer+Tips+%29

Here is the list we can ask the Google Mini Nest to play for us.

Bluegrass Jamboree

Classic Country 1630

San Francisco 70's hits

Classic Rock Florida

Oldies  94.9

Radio Classical

Radio Tunes Meditation

Hippie Soul Cafe

NPR

These are all radio stations in the USA. I am sure there are many more I could find but the problem of remembering what you need to ask to get the desired one becomes a factor.

This is my post of the day!

Bye,Bye,Birdie?

 I at first thought there was something wrong with this "guy". Standing on one foot? Seemingly clumsy?

El Chubbo stayed in position for a very long time but eventually resumed the business of living and stepped up to the plate. Took forever to eat and get on with the day.

Latest pics on Project

 From MY spot

Straight on in the middle

Looking west from the property line-rhubarb in the distance is on the line.

North side of building

Looking southeast from the northeast corner

Trail pics of today

 Buzzards

Sunflowers always make a great photo.

 That is a bee in case you were wondering,

Mr. Toad must have thought he was camouflaged on the sidewalk. He wasn't.

Project update 8/7/2020

 Yup! another 3 days have passed

There is a bunch of stuff going on around here and it is more than a bit distracting. It's a good thing I do not get too excited about chaos and disorder.

Russ,81, putting up rafters.

Butch, wishing he could help but knowing he cannot. He has been able to do a few things.

Hunter is on this end.

Road trip

Time slips through my fingers like water through a sieve! My last blog entry was on the 29th and it seems that I went to sleep and woke up in August! So now we glance back and try to figure out what I did when and is it worth telling.

Aha! I remember with a bit of help from Butch. Gary was here from Monday through Thursday. Friday we didn't do much but Saturday we went to Marlene and Bernard's place in Terril Ia. I had picked up some meds for Marlene in Mexico and due mainly to the Covid-19 situation we had not taken them to her until Saturday. Yes, we were careful... Bernard said he had only been off the farm three times since March and those were for doctor appointments. Dwight and Carolyn were there and it was very pleasant getting caught up, enjoying a wonderful meal, and being treated to pies by Keri and many of you know what a treat that was. And then we also played cribbage! When Marlene and Bernard wintered in Harlingen TX we would see them several times throughout the season and eat and play cards so it has become a tradition with us. And we still miss them when we are in South Texas and remember them whenever we visit places we went to with them.

On our way home we stopped in Rockwell City to see my youngest sister Myrla. Myrla is the one who gifted us with her pool table and thus started our building something to house it. So we looked over the table again and got caught up on what was happening with "Mouse", that was her nickname as a child. She has always been a tiny thing.

You can see this hole in the trees as you approach Lohrville from the west. It accommodates the power lines which is perhaps why Butch always notices it