Brooker Men

 The Don Brooker branch- From L to R. Don, Steve, Bradley, Brian

This is a great picture of the 4 of them!

White Breasted Nuthatch

 Looks like a youngster to me...maybe?

Recipes from a long, long time ago

 Way back when we were first going to Texas in the motorhome (2002) I had several favorite recipes I wanted to take with me so I downsized my faves and brought them with us. In all the moving of the last year or so I had lost track of them but they popped up a few days ago and I was tickled pink.

And speaking of pink I made one of the recipes yesterday. Be forewarned, it is addictive!

 I used raspberry jello in this one. Thanks again Bev Gunderson!

These are the two small books I have hunted for too long. So glad to have them back!

And here is a recipe that Butch's mother (Marion Brooker) shared with me many years ago and I think it was last winter I was searching for it. It is a favorite of Butch's and that might surprise a few people.

Up Jumps the Devil?

 Every now and then we get a wake-up call. I was helping Butch with a TV issue and I kept hearing a tiny voice saying 'Factory Reset". I thought it was in connection with the TV but in fact, it was on my computer. I keep the sound way down on my computer so that is why it sounded tiny and far away.

When I got back to my computer it went dark...hmmm...so I did a hard shutdown. Brought it back up and it did the same thing and then said 'resuming' waited awhile and it all came back. So today I googled 'Factory Reset" and discovered this will happen when there is an interference...my word...on your computer. I did not appear to lose anything. So it was just an episode and it all seems to be working correctly now but still, it is a sign. Or at least I interpret it as a sign.

So I ordered a replacement. Will get it Friday. I will wait to tell you what I purchased and the details of it. I did a lot of research before I hit the button so it has been a busy morning.

Now I will get back to what I was doing when my computer so rudely interrupted me!

Here is a chuckle for you

 I was reading Facebook posts in a local Facebook sales group and ran across this posting for sale. I still chuckle when I read it. I need to find me some 'Slow Shoes' but I do not think these will fit. 

Slow Shoes!

Waiting for the sun...

 I am an early riser and have been all my life. If I didn't look so much like my mother I would have sworn I was adopted because I was the only early riser in my family. My Dad may have been but I didn't get to know him in my adulthood so I can't be certain.

I was up this morning a little before 6:00 AM. It was still dark. There is a tree that is in full fall regalia and I am waiting for the sun to shine on it so you can see what I mean.

The view from my computer:...waiting

Our backyard:

Waiting...

Tada!!

If we were not waiting to vote we would be on the road, I can assure you!

This week I...

 Took a few more photos than normal

Spectacular Fall Color


Made Susan VH's Ham Ball recipe and it was delicious. Next time I will make a double batch of the basting sauce.

 

Ham Balls (Susan VH)

1 # smoked ham

1 # lean pork

½ # hamburger

Grind meat and mix together. If you can find a store

 that sells ham loaf use that.

Add:

2 beaten eggs

1 cup tomato juice

1-2 cups cracker crumbs

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Make into 9 or 10 ham balls, place in a baking dish and

baste with the following:

¾ cup brown sugar 

1 tsp dry mustard

¼ cup vinegar

1 small can crushed pineapple

Bake 1 ½ hours at 350 degrees

(Fareway's Ham loaf is equal parts ground ham and ground pork)

And then I have spent far too much time thinking of what I need to pack for the trip to Texas! And what am I forgetting!!

The next to last Trivia session was on Thursday night as usual. Glen D. found the questions and asked them. I enjoy very much being on the other end of it now and then.

We took Mickey to Carroll for her weekday treatment on Friday. The sad part is that it is a necessary thing but the good part is we get to visit for a couple of hours and that we see how tough and determined my lifelong friend truly is. We love you, Mickey!

3 Handy Tips

 https://www.thundercloud.net/infoave/new/three-chrome-tricks-you-might-not-know/

Ever take a photo of a plant or animal that you could not identify and wish there was some way to find out? One of the above tips will tell you exactly how.

A couple of years ago I took a picture of a crop growing next to Trophy Gardens in Texas and I did not know its identity. Turns out it was arugula! I found this out today!

Connecting

 I have connections to at least 3 blogs. I am most loyal to the one I started in 2002. Yikes! 20 years ago! https://brooker3.blogspot.com/ I started it as a way to keep in touch with friends and family as we traveled. It also doubled as a journal. It worked well except in the beginning I couldn't add pictures. As the Blogger progressed so did I. I remember how tickled I was when adding photos was doable. I took full advantage of it. I sometimes like to look back at those beginnings.

But then... We were in Magnolia Park and I thought I should do one for the park because there were times I wanted to put only park stuff on the blog and times when personal stuff was not particularly appropriate.

Thus we have... https://magnolianews.blogspot.com/ And I kept it very much park-connected until our much-loved winter destination fell apart. So when the departure happened, Deon and I decided to keep the blog going. We still do to this day. The posts are fewer and far between but we retain the function of going back over all those years and seeing the posts of the good old days. And we add new ones as they come to us.

And then I found myself in a new park-Trophy Gardens- and was asked to start one for that park. I feared I was getting in over my head ...and I was...so I have kept it as simple as possible but it suffers for life as you might expect. Anyone can find it here: https://trophygardens.blogspot.com/ I would love to have help with it to keep it current. I do have a few rules in that regard. No rants, no negative angled posts, no personal stuff etc.

With a new policy from Blogger that they do not have a sign-up for the blogs to be delivered to people by email, the views have fallen off. I have been looking for a new solution. I have had a long-standing LOVE/HATE relationship with Facebook. Still do.  Amongst my peers, it does seem to be the one site most looked at so I will follow through with posting new blog entries on Facebook until another obstacle is placed in my way. 

I do have a personal issue with putting my personal blog, the original one, on Facebook so this will be a trial and if I get too much negative blowback I will not continue.

So here goes!

Color Change

 The leaves they are a changing!

You Decide

 

Preparation

 The preporation for departure is a bit daunting this year and the subject of a few nights of lost sleep. I knew it was going to be a challenge and it will be nice to have it behind us. My plan is to take lots of photos's on both ends in an attempt to keep track of what we have in each place. The days of living full-time in the motorhome made it so simple. This too shall pass.

Old Enough!

I have become hooked on this Japanese reality show.  You can see an overview by clicking on this link:

Old Enough!

So far as I can tell it is only on Netflix.

Huh?

 

Blue Jay

 Taken this morning...

The Hamiltons

 Johnny and Alice hosted a party comprised mostly Class of 61 grads and a few other friends and neighbors. Bob and Kay Maddux were here from Texas and Bob is known for his Texas BBQing talents. It was a wonderful time with old friends and the meal was superb. If you had told me in my teen years that the class of 61 would be such a tight-knit group I would not have believed it but the knit seems to be tighter the older we get!

Baby steps

 We are taking baby steps toward our departure. The change of address has been changed and we made our reservation for our first night out after we leave the Missouri kids. As it turns out our many trips down in the motorhome have proved to be good training for our first trip in many years by car. It looks as though we will only have one night's stay at a motel. 

We always look forward to going south and equally so when we head north in the spring.

Blog changes

 I have more and more people tell me they no longer see my blog. Unfortunately, I was notified a while back that people who had the latest blog entry emailed to them will no longer receive them. What surprises me is that some do still get it and some do not. One of the mysteries of the Internet. I think the reason could be if you have made a change on your computer. Just a guess on my part. So the only way to see it regularly now is to put it on your bookmarks bar or in your favorites and remember to check it. I do not like the new situation because it feels like a step backward instead of forward.  But deal with it we must!

www.brooker3.blogspot.com is how you find it and if I can find a better way I will let you know ASAP.

Cucumber Salsa Surprise

 Why is it a surprise you might ask? It is because it is so simple and yet quite delicious.

Cucumber Salsa 

Dice 2-4 large cucumbers- I take the seeds out.

Dice 6-8 Roma tomatoes-Again I take the seeds out

Dice half red onion-whole if you enjoy more onion flavor

Mix 3-4 TBSP Vinegar with one packet of dry Ranch dressing mix.

Mix together and let it sit in fridge overnight.

Enjoy with Scoops

Quote of the day

 

Old Meds and other things...

 Among other things yesterday, I went through all of our medications and discarded quite a few. By discarded, I mean I will take them to our pharmacy for proper disposal. It is incredible how they can pile up. Sometimes new ones will find their way into our house, not realizing we had some on hand. It is a good thing to have out of the way.

We have made some decisions on take-off time, with October right around the corner. We will be in our winter wonderland on October 26th or 27th.

The photo was taken in January of 2020.

Car Tips

 Stuff you might not know you had!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8fT7YCYSIk

We feel we might need to watch this more than once.

10 Little Indians

 Part of our early morning conversation...Butch was tapping on a coffee can and I said I heard a little Indian boy. That led to trying to remember the 10 little Indians from our youth. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0SkWCCWrF8

Ham Balls Revisited

 A friend of mine, Susan Van Howelling sent me her ham ball recipe and I think I favor it over mine. This one sounds easier and I am a big fan of pineapple so I think I might take this one on. The meat is all I would have to buy because I have the remainder of the items on hand most of the time. It strikes me as simpler too.

Thanks Susan!

 

Iowa Ham Balls

 Keri and I were talking about regional cooking; how some things are known in the area and only a few miles into another area no one has heard of it. An example is Ham Balls. Our Fareway grocery store makes a ham loaf/ball mixture and most modern cooks nowadays use that as a starter but there is an original recipe and older Iowans know how to make ham balls from scratch. So I went in search of it and found it. So if I wanted to make them in Texas I would approach the meat market in HEB and ask if I could buy the two ground types of meat I would need.

Here is the original recipe:

Iowa Ham Balls

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

YIELD: about 15 servings.

This is a special recipe most everyone in Iowa loves. If you have out of State visitors and wish to impress them with something all Iowa, this will do it.

Ingredients

3-1/2 pounds ground ham

1-1/2 pounds ground beef

3 large eggs, beaten

2 cups whole milk

3 cups graham cracker crumbs

2 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) tomato soup, undiluted

3/4 cup vinegar

2-1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Using a 1/3 cup measure, shape the mixture into 2-in. balls. Place in two large shallow roasting pans. Combine all remaining ingredients; pour over balls. Bake at 325° for 1 hour, basting frequently with sauce.

Cold

 For over 20 years we have been going south in the winter. So any temps in the 40s seem quite cold to me. And that is where we are in Iowa these days. Last week (5 days ago) it was 97 degrees! What the hey! The natives are not acclimated to this and we most definitely are not.

Enough complaining! The sun is shining. We are both relatively healthy. What more is there to say. Don't worry, Be Happy!

Lincolnway Highway across the USA

 

If you read this article first the rest might make more sense.

https://www.greenecountyiowahistoricalsociety.org/event-articles/bob-joyce-ausberger-on-the-past-present-future-of-traveling-the-lincoln-highway-in-program-this-sunday/

Bob Ausberger, via Larry Jackson, asked if I would take some pictures of a project Bob has started and so Butch and I went to the site yesterday and shot some before photos. Lincoln Highway goes right through the heart of Jefferson and when you keep on following it out of town west, cross the Raccoon River, and start up 'Danger Hill' at the top, on your right, you can still see the site of the Hillcrest Motel. That is, what is left of it. Bob has some big ideas for refurbishing that particular spot on the map. As I walked around the place I too got excited about the prospects. It is a beautiful location.

Here are a few of the pictures I took.

Hillcrest Motel has 8 units.

This was the office

This is a two-story house behind the motel that could be refurbished. The location is ideal. If Butch and I were just starting out on our retirement adventure we would have been very tempted to take on this project.

 

When mother nature takes back a spot it can be pretty picture.

In the '40s there were mile markers to help locate accidents along this stretch of highway. It was called 'Danger Hill' for a reason. These markers were placed a tenth of a mile apart. Three of them remain and are visible on your right as you are headed back to town. This is the first one and is across the highway from the Hillcrest Motel. Once past the bridge two more can be seen.

No News is Good News

 That saying has never been more true. Well here is MY news.  https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/

You can thank me later...

Latest Photos

 Last week I took my camera with me a couple of times on my early morning walk. I am very grateful for the weather we have been having. No rain but very pleasant early morning temps.

Our Pool Hall

And this shot shows the relationship between the house and the Pool Hall. They are not connected.

This weeping willow tree has been in this location my whole life. I have always been an admirer. It is about a block south of our house and on the way to the bike trail.

This butterfly was very cooperative in letting me photograph him...or her.

Note the bee to the right of the butterfly...

Pampas grass and corn...again

On the bike trail

Grasshopper on the bike trail

There was a light coating of moisture on these leaves...

Thistle

 A hoarders house- I understand he owns several around town. He doesn't live here. The front entrance is completely overgrown. The lawn is kept mowed and that keeps the law at bay.

And that concludes my photo walk on the trail last week.

Good Grief!!

 I can not believe how long it has been since the blog slipped my mind! Yes, we have been busier than average but that should not be an excuse. 

We will soon be entering our last month of staying in our summer home, which has been a good part of the distraction. It will be our first trip south without the MoHo and that whole business takes up a fair amount of my thinking time. I have a 'future garage sale pile' and a 'going south pile' and they are both growing. However, there is still a bit more than a month of being in Iowa, and the interim gets tricky.

I have driven the new car a few times and it seems quite easy. I haven't even come close to what all of the gadgets and gizmos do and I doubt I ever will.

We are still playing pool an hour a day, 4 to 5 and I guess I am improving. Some days yes, and other days, NO. I have a neon sign in the window and when it is turned on it means that we are in the pool hall and ready for visitors. It seems our friends have the same busi-ness going on that we do. Thursday night Trivia is still going and one of the players, Glen, has given me a break so I could play. I enjoy that. There is a learning curve to making up the questions as Glen found out last week. It takes a while but I am willing to let him find his niche so I can play.

So long for now...Don't give up on me!!

Morning Moon

 Full moon in the western sky this morning and I could not resist taking a photo of it. I have many moon photos but I don't think I have many morning ones.

And on my camera, I found some I had yet to share... Pampas grass

Nuthatch

Housefinch

Downy woodpecker

Played some cards

 Butch and I ventured South last night to visit with our friends Marv and Judi Smith. We have known Marv and Judi for a long time, way back in our square dancing days. We played cribbage and a game called Wizard. We remember it being called 'Oh Hell'. Yes, it is that kind of game. It was fun playing it again. We used to play it at the Brooker homestead many, many years ago. Within 15 minutes of arrival at the Brooker place, a card game would magically appear. I think we should bring back the practice!

Trailrider RV Park

 Would you like to camp in the middle of an Iowa cornfield in an honest-to-god full hook-up RV Park? Paved road.  If memory serves me there are 6 sites. Our friends Marv and Judi Smith own this RV park in the tiny little town of Yale Iowa. Butch helped Marv put it together way back in 2010 or so. I would have to check back for sure on that. A bonus is that it is located about a city block from the Raccoon River Valley Bike Trail. I took a few photos with my phone last night. I noted the place looks neat as a pin...in the middle of a cornfield! This spot is a hidden jewel!

Contact info for rental:  Marv and Judi Smith,1592 Utopia Ave, Yale Iowa 515-321-2370

Tiny little miracles

 Once again, I am reminded of how "tiny miracles" (oxymoron) seem to happen unexpectedly. Butch and I have talked about trimming some branches around the place. He wanted to borrow some limb loppers and hasn't been able to locate any. I suggested we buy some, and he thought it would be a waste, no more often than we needed them. And so...

We went for a walk today, together. That doesn't happen often. I had pulled some weeds yesterday and was feeling the results of overdoing it. The sore muscles reminded me to stretch them a bit with a walk. Butch is trying to change his sleep cycle so he was up earlier than usual.  So we walked and talked about trees.

As we neared the house a pickup pulled up in front of our house and Butch noted that they were in the tree business. And thinking of his climbing tools he asked them if he would be interested in buying his hooks and he said he would take a look. So a deal was struck and then we started talking trees and trimming. Hooks sold, trees trimmed all for a very reasonable price. I am amazed and eternally grateful every time these serendipitous things take place! And if you take the time to notice they happen frequently!

I stay to vote...

 Plan to Vote in Iowa?

Yes, we do too. However, it was recently brought home to me that we cannot receive an absentee ballot before October 19th.

Our usual routine was to go to the courthouse sometime in early October and make out our absentee ballot and be on our merry way to South Texas. But this year is different. Some industrious lawmakers have taken it upon themselves to tinker with the laws. Yes, we do see through the motive. For some reason, they think if they have fewer people voting and keep a good share of what they label “Less Desirables” from the ballot box it will increase their chances of winning. Could it be they have had a hard time winning in the past and feel a need to better their chances?  I see no good reason for these shenanigans. Every US citizen should be encouraged to vote, not hindered!

So how does this affect my everyday life?  In the past, we left for Texas around the middle of October. So what is stopping you, you might say? If we go to the courthouse before the 19th we can REQUEST an absentee ballot and they will gladly put it in the mail addressed to our Texas address on the 19th! By law, they cannot send it out any earlier. It can typically take 2 to 3 weeks for mail to get from Iowa to Texas and there are no guarantees! October 19th to Election day is 21 days. So say they mail it promptly and it arrives in the usual two-week window, arriving in our Texas mailbox on November 1st (the 14th day), leaving 7 DAYS to make the return trip to Iowa and arrive on Election day. How do you like those odds? If we choose this method we are playing Russian Roulet with our vote.

The alternate solution is to wait until the 19th, go to the courthouse, make out our absentee ballot, and leave it with the election people. And that is what we will be doing but why should we have to!

Friends heading for Florida are in the same predicament and their solution is to overnight their ballot back to Iowa. I see holes in this plan. They are hoping that everything works in an expected way. They may change their mind.

Barbara Brooker-an Iowa citizen

Feel free to copy. All Iowans headed South this fall need to be aware of the rule change.

Colleen's Column is back!

 I have missed Colleen's columns ALOT! My sister-in-law, Keri informed me she was back in business writing columns for Greene County News Online. And since I have friends who I know used to enjoy her columns as much as I do and I felt I should spread the word. Enjoy!

Barb

From Pathos to Bathos

August 31, 2022

~a column by Colleen O’Brien

“Why are people so mean?” asks my preschooler.

“Why are people so mean?” asks my junior high student.

“Why are people so mean?” asks my first-year college girl.

By the time she’s 21, she is no longer asking that question because she has a lot of required book-reading under her hat, is no longer within her parents’ cultural purview, and has met many people good and bad. Often, they’re both, she tells me.

What she writes in her Sophomore ethics class is “The world is not about me.”

That she is brighter than I is a relief. I was at least 44-1/2 when I got it.

I understand that each of us is center stage in her or his own private garden, but most of us have at least figured out that our secret garden is the place to which no one else is invited. In it, we tell only ourselves that we are the bravest, brightest, best-looking beasts in the jungle, and the quick-witted of us steer away from those we come across outside our hideouts who don’t know the rule. They always want mirrors handy, and I don’t want to play with them.

When I recovered from a case of break-through COVID-19 – about a month’s worth of moaning and groaning, hallucinating, trying to get the axe out of my head – I was relieved in many ways: to be alive, to be out of pain, to notice there was a sun in the sky.

It was a mere week later when I realized I now had rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic disease that had not shown up in my body for 22 years.

I turned into a princess, asked the universe how I, of all people, could get this killing disease when I made it through COVID. Hadn’t I suffered enough?

And yes, why was the world so mean?

It’s taken me the better part of a year to get over myself. Had I been a bigger person, I would not have whined (well, not as long); I would have quit napping after having to hobble across a room; exercised as much as my body would permit; unplugged Netflix; kept a journal of my misery through COVID and into RA.

And darned if I haven’t forgotten most of it already. I had a first-row seat to a world-wide pandemic and refused to write about it out of pure poor-poor-pitiful-me-ness.

I am now back to normalcy thanks to powerful meds that may kill my liver, but at least I’ll not die of pain.

I have taken my own sweet time, but I am finally resuming my work of writing and editing. Even as I approached both with a smidgen of martyrdom, once in position at my desk, hands flexing over my keyboard, I was suddenly doing things I loved to do – writing and fixing other writers. There’s nothing like it, for me at least. It takes me out of time, out of pain, out of worrying about the end of the world, out of my own secret garden which is already thick with weeds.

I still nap a lot – my body is now trained to it, longs for it, in fact; so, I indulge it. I’m off Netflix for no better reason than that I did something that screwed it up and have no friends who know any more than I do. I don’t miss it. (Yet). My mental focus is returning because I have something to zero in on rather than the Why-me? of life.

Alas, I’m still losing my words…my family’s favorite incident of this colander-brain phenomenon being when I couldn’t think of the word acupressure and said taxidermy instead. I didn’t like it that I was so off the mark, but a good laugh is as refreshing as a cold beer. And, if you can find any relativity between acupressure and taxidermy, other than they both have four syllables, drop me a line.