Patti Millers Documentary

 Patti Miller was a classmate of mine, a member of the famous JHS class of '61. Another classmate, Jayne Owen Tomes sent me the info. I am sure you can see the program in Iowa but not sure about other states at least not yet. The info about show times etc. can be found on this site:

http://iptv.org/series.cfm/24351/iowans_return_to_freedom/ep:0

Program Description: In the summer of 1964, hundreds of predominantly white college students answered the call from Civil Rights leaders to volunteer for Freedom Summer. They joined with voter registration efforts, taught in freedom schools and worked in community centers in towns throughout racially segregated Mississippi. Return to Freedom Summer gives first-hand accounts of the experiences of 5 Iowa natives who, though personally unfamiliar with racial issues, felt compelled to volunteer that summer. Viewers will hear their stories as they share their motivations, fears, triumphs and life-altering events that took place during that historic summer 50 years ago.

In Old Mexico

Friends from Canyon Lake Texas came to Magnolia Park to stay for a week. Yesterday we went to Nuevo Progreso. We shopped, purchased medications at fractional cost and enjoyed a great lunch at Garcia's From L to R, Larry McGough, Roxy McGough, Lisa Linder, Terry Linder, Peggy Gordon, Sharon Bryce and Mike Bryce.

Came in 3rd

Butch came in 3rd in the Senior Olympics with his partner Don Louks. There will be more pics later today and more medals too...maybe.

Project Day!

This morning we unleashed our new mattress, delivered the old one to a new home, defrosted the refrigerator and put new seat covers on the car. All of those are timely things to do in all definitions of timely.
 I nearly forgot Laura's birthday! I did catch it just in time. 
And now Butch is playing golf and Peggy and I are going up to the garage sale and pester Kay and Bill.
I am feeling SOoooo much better being done with those antibiotics I've been taking since the first visit to the dentist the last day of November.
More later...

Dusty Bunny is on Amazon!!

My sister Theresa Arts has a children's book on Amazon.  I am so proud of her!
Check it out:
http://www.amazon.com/Dusty-Bunny-His-Magic-Mirror/dp/1680287699/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423186977&sr=8-1&keywords=dusty+bunny

Julie's Story

Julie Jorgenson is the daughter-in-law of Dick and Joann Jorgenson. And Dick is a cousin of Butch on his fathers side of the family.  We have been following Julie's story from the beginning. She was featured on the news in Omaha. And here is the link to it. She is a miracle.
http://www.ketv.com/news/woman-leaves-nebraska-hospital-after-nearly-dying-from-flu/31098034

Interesting story

I met Jeannie Sparks in Michigan. She and Eldo had been staying at Thunderbay Golf and RV Resort where we were work camping and on their last day there she popped into our beading class for a few minutes. I literally talked to her for less than a half hour. But we hit it off and shared information. We both have blogs. I have followed their adventures ever since. They are currently in Florida and being a teacher of long standing she does some substitute teaching. I very much enjoyed this entry. Fuego- do you know what it means?
 Find out here:
http://whereseldo.blogspot.com/2015/01/never-underestimate-power-of-persuasive.html

The Cold Story

Butch has a cold. Upper respiratory issues are ongoing for him pretty much all the time we are in South Texas. He can get by with lightweight allergy meds when we are in Iowa but we do not need to be in Texas too long before he has to switch to the hardcore allergy stuff with the capital D. You know, like Allegra-D. It is supposed to be D for decongestant, but I think it is D for demanding exorbitant amounts of dinero's for 10 24-hour capsules. Despite taking the big D's Butch came home with a cold. I always take extra precautions when this happens and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. This time I thought I was in for it. I awoke with one nostril plugged a couple of days ago so I  used my trusty Netipot and made it through the day okay. Next day I was more plugged upon awakening, felt slightly not okay so used Neti again and improved. I could tell it was coming on since I had that dusty feeling you get in your nose and the tickle in the throat. This was Tuesday and I was supposed to take a picture of the Magnolia Olympians so I felt I had to go. Butch went and stayed long enough to get his picture taken. While waiting for the people to line up I told Noreen that I was getting a cold and did not plan to stick around long. Noreen mentioned that she had caught hers early and held it off with Zicam. Now I have long been a fan of Zicam but had forgotten about it. So I came home and dug into our cold med supplies and sure enough I had some so started it right then and there. The trick to it working is to take it AS DIRECTED at the first sign of a cold. By the second dose I could detect an improvement. Today is much improved and I think I will be fine with minimum discomfort. It isn't all fun and games as the Zicam leaves an unpleasant metallic taste in my mouth, but it is still better than suffering a cold.

The trick is to have them on hand at the first sign of a cold, follow the directions on the package and do not quit them too early. Oh and then remember to use them! I plan to thank Noreen for reminding me about Zicam .

Netipot and Zicam the one-two punch for colds.

Trail pics

Snipped from Facebook... I doubt that I will see the trail in its winter coat. It is beautiful though.

Boone Iowa Snow

Our Boone Iowa kids sent us some snow pictures. I have been away from it long enough to appreciate the beauty. The truth be known I never minded one good snow, where it came down heavily, and the wind blew and it was not fit out for man nor beast. I loved it as long as I could stay put in my cozy warm home and go from window to window  and watch the weather unfold.

And I am liking the memory of it as we are enjoying a sunny 80 degree day with a light southerly breeze reminiscent of a midsummer day in the upper Midwest.

It's all about that bass...

Love these guys and the way they sing this song!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuyGVhQFLbs

Pool Player Partners

Trash Recovery and more...

We have a son who recovers items that have been discarded and refurbishes them. His latest rescue item is a ice fishing tent. A coworker had become disgusted in trying to get it setup in  too much wind and alcohol and tossed the whole business in the trash. Jason comes to the rescue for the tent- not the coworker.

Gary, another son is trying to gather up some skiers for an excursion to Colorado. Butch would love to go but his back has one too many tumbles down the mountains. Gary is going the first week in March so if this has peaked your interest let me know and I will get details.

I am still doing my best to get two walks in a day and though the weather is often borderline it has been good enough to bundle up and hit the pavement. The sun is brightly shining today almost to the point of hurting my eyes. And they are promising a more favorable forecast for the next week at least. We are going to savor it.

Butch is up to his neck in pool and golf with the emphasis on pool. We'll see him later...

App of the Week

I am currently listening to Prairie Home Companion and loving it! All from this article below. Chrome users-you can get it at the Chrome Web Store.

Barb

App of the Week
Check out our App of the Week, as recommended by GeeksOnTour:

Listen to your home radio station while on the road
There are several apps that let you listen to live radio over the Web. The one we (Geeks On Tour) use is TuneIn Radio. We are from Florida but we are currently traveling in Arizona. If I want to listen, live, to a Florida radio station, I can do that with TuneIn Radio. It is a free app on both Android and Apple devices. In addition to live radio stations, you will also find archives of radio shows. So, if you like NPR's "Prairie Home Companion," you can listen to it 24/7! Just search for Prairie Home Companion.

Read Chris Guld's article here.

10 minutes before computer class...

I have not forgotten my blog readers it may just seem that way!  I will catch you all up this afternoon...after my nap. I have been on antibiotics since December 10th and will not be finished until February 10th and I am blaming them for sapping my energy. Or maybe it is the weather because we are only briefly blessed with the good stuff and then the cold and gloom descends once again. So stay tuned!

Giant Cauliflower

It is cauliflower season. And Peggy and I were gifted with a giant one. This is easily  the size of 4 of the usual ones found in the produce section of our local grocery. Price? $2

Computer World article about Chromebook

We have had a Chromebook for over a year now and I have not fallen out of love. It is simple, easy and trouble free. No malware. No viruses. No updates. No operating glitches. No frustrating mystery tours to find fixes.  I really like things that work as advertised and that is so rare these days. And NO, I am not a Google employee.

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2871664/chromebooks-spank-windows.html

First Mexico Trip this season

We finally made our way south of the border. Usually we would have made multiple trips by this time. We are 7 miles from the border and in that 7 miles we spotted 4 or 5 state troopers. This is unusual.  We figured something was up. Then when we walked over the bridge and were making our way to a pharmacy we were a bit overwhelmed by the number of Federales present. It was not busy so many business people were on the street too and seemed to have an above normal interest in the Federales. So we asked, "What is going on?" Answer was "Nothing". "This is normal" It plainly wasn't normal.
We decided that there would be some people who would turn around right then and there to get back to the good old USA. We didn't. We went to the pharmacy and picked up a few items, like naproxen and zyrtec. Then we did our usual casual shopping and ended up at Garcias for Panchos. It had been a long time and I thoroughly relished every bite.
And then we made our way back to the bridge. Not a Federale in sight! All was back to normal...whatever that is!

A Ramble

Well folks, it has been tough. You see when you are housebound by weather or nearly so there is not much to add to the blog. I am pretty much a watcher of public television. We both are really. And being on antenna we do not have a bunch of options. We have added Netflix and it is a lifesaver, especially on days such as those we have had since Christmas. A few days ago we watched Get Low. What a great movie! We highly recommend it.
____________________________________________

Get Low

2009    4.6 stars

Average of 657,964 ratings:3.7 stars

Robert Duvall stars as irascible backwoods loner Felix Bush, who plans his funeral while he's still around to attend -- and enjoy -- the proceedings.

_____________________________________

Being the introvert that I basically am I am not bothered much by having a lot of alone time but the dank, dark days we have been having does take its toll. I want to see the sun and even perhaps take part in some outdoor activities. Maybe even leave the park and do something fun! 

We have tickets for a Port of Brownsville tour but we want to have some nice weather for it.

Another recommendation I can make is a Fanny Flagg book we are listening to on Overdrive. Funny, genuinely funny.

www.Overdrive.com

      (click on)
is a way to be connected to a library online. I use my library card from the library in Jefferson Iowa but if you have a library card from any library you can use overdrive. We happen to be listening to an audio version of the book but it does not have to be audio. It works much the same as if you walked into the library and checked out a book. Our new friends Bob and Cathy Jones, who we met in Canyon Lake TX, introduced us to Overdrive and we are so glad they did. It is another tool for our entertainment capabilities.

So I am closing this ramble for now but if the weather continues in the awful manner it has been I may have to resort to more rambling.

Loaded Caulflower

LOADED CAULIFLOWER

I have reposted this several times but it is my most requested recipe right now. If you have not tried it, it is a MUST! It's low carb too!!!!!

Ingredients:

1 large head of Cauliflower cut into bite size pieces (approx 6 cups)

6-8 strips of bacon cooked and crumbled (Cooked in oven at 400° for 20 mins)

6 Tbs chopped Chives

1/2 cup Mayonnaise

1/2 cup Sour Cream

2 cups Colby Jack Cheese ( may use cheddar)

8 oz container sliced mushrooms

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°

In a large pot boil water and cook Cauliflower for 8 - 10 minutes, drain and let cool.

In a large bowl combine sour cream, mayo, 1/2 of crumbled bacon, 3 tbs chives, 1 cups of cheese,mushrooms and cauliflower and mix well... place in baking dish and cover with remaining 1 cup of cheese and rest of bacon crumbles. Bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted. top with remaining 3 Tbs chives and serve.