Busy week continued...

Monday's computer class went well. We were a bit down in numbers and I am aware by now that it is a natural phenomena on occasion. It is working well to take the smart TV and hook my computer to it. Everyone can see that way and it works well all around.
Wednesday we went to the audiologist in Carroll and Butch pays up deciding he likes to hear.

Thursday we went on an early morning trip to my Atlantic Iowa dentist for a bottom plate repair. I really thought it would be an all day deal because it always has been in the past but I suspect he has new whiz-bang equipment and we were only there for an hour. Great fix, good news all around and the price was right. Made an appointment for next July to have my implants cleaned.
We found we had extra time so stopped in on the Gundersons, visited and then went to lunch. After lunch we headed home so Butch could mow.

A couple days ago on our early morning walk I told Colleen I was mildly thinking about a trip but could not think of where I might like to go. She said, Wow! How about Denver, Chicago or Atlanta? I said, That is where we differ. I was thinking more like Death Valley. I am an introvert and proud of it. 

Busy week-But aren't they all!

Our squirrel decided he wanted a bit of variety in his diet. We had a container of stale peanuts, that we now and then threw a handful on the ground for the birds. We left the container on the 3 season room back step and it was on the platform. One day I noticed it was down a step or two but didn't think too much about it as Butch has been known to move things a bit, then one day I caught the culprit. Resourcefulness is definitely in their DNA so I know in time he could get the lid off and enjoy the peanuts. We seem to interrupt his progress just often enough to keep him from his treasure.

John and Alice Hamilton Party

I know you may find it hard to believe, but John is another member of the class of '61. Big surprise huh? John didn't leave Jefferson. He stayed and created a very successful concrete business. 

Pictured below from left: John, Jack H., Dwight T. and Butch.

 Darrell Millard and his wife Linda and Mickey.

 Jerilyn Denman and Judy Peacock Wills

 Pat, Judy, ?, Jayne

 Mickey talking to Jerilyn and Judy. Ed Lawson, Mardel getting a short nap and Kay Taylor.

 Jack L. waiting for John to finish up with those burgers.

 Colleen enjoying her cone.

                          And visiting with Darrell.

And last but not least this morning try at getting pics of a beautiful morning and a spray plane.

This mornings walk...

I checked the radar this morning and I thought it would miss us once again. Fooled me! Colleen and I were walking and Mickey was riding her bike. She met us on her way back and told us to turn around and look. That little spec is Mickey and this is the view we looked at when we turned around. We decided we had better pick up the pace and we did. We got about halfway back when Mickey came in her car and rescued us. A friend indeed!

The heat and humidity persist. The good news about this is that we are getting much good use out of our new room.

I am fairly certain I have posted  this before, but  it is good enough to post again!

Give this another star-It is what's for supper!!

Creamy Burrito Casserole

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef

1/2 onion, chopped

1 package taco seasoning

6 large flour tortillas

1 can refried beans

2 -3 cups shredded taco cheese or cheddar cheese

1 can cream of mushroom soup

4 ounces sour cream

Directions

Brown beef and onion; drain.

Add taco seasoning and stir in refried beans.

Mix soup and sour cream in a separate bowl.

Spread 1/2 sour cream mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish.

Tear up 3 tortillas and spread over sour cream mixture.

Put 1/2 the meat bean mixture over that.

Add a layer of cheese.

Repeat the layers.

Sprinkle cheese over the top and bake, uncovered, at 350°F for 20-30 minutes.

Barb Battles Bugs!

We were invaded by ants, teensy weensy little brown ants that were barely visible. They were in the kitchen all over the counter. When Mickey saw them she said she had never seen such a heavy infestation. I first tried Terro, feeding the little devils all they wanted. After 3 days, I gave up on that and went to google. There were many different solutions. Two of them captured my attention basically because I had the items on hand. Peppermint oil and borax. So then I mulled over the application process. Also, I remembered I had a new product that is supposed to be safe that I have found most effective for keeping mosquitoes at bay and wondered if it would also work for ants.
https://www.simplysoothing.net/bug-soother/natural-insect-repellent-deet-free-for-kids-and-pets/


It is an Iowa product. So along toward bedtime,a couple of nights ago, I cut up a coffee filter into strips and sprayed them with bug soother. I then laid the strips all the way around the counter top. Next morning? NO ANTS!!! Or at least they were down to less than 10 hardy survivors! But then I decided to tackle the bigger problem of keeping them from getting in to begin with. I sprinkled borax around all door openings inside and out working it into all cracks and crevices with the broom. This morning I went on the search for bugs, ants or anything resembling them in any way and found not one solitary insect of any kind! I was gobsmacked and pleased.
Of course, I talked to Mickey and Colleen about this on our morning jaunts on the bike trail.

Colleen does this to keep bugs out of her house in Florida and I have written it down so I will remember. She assures me she doesn't have bugs in her house. If this keeps them out in Florida it should certainly work here.
1. Borax all around the outside of the house.
2. Bay leaves in kitchen cupboards.
3. Fresh Rosemary sprigs in the remainder of the house.
I plan to follow her formula. I am so tired of fighting insects in my house.

But I also do not want to poison us!

Hearing aids

Butch picked up his demo hearing aids for a test drive last Wednesday. His life has been different this week and along with that so has mine. The first thing he did was decide the hinges on the back door were too noisy. They have been too noisy for several months, but they could not wait a second longer, so he sprayed them with silicone spray and big black runners dripped down the white woodwork and wiping it off made it worse. Finally used GooGone and got most of it off.

And then he has decided I am screaming at him. It is my normal tone of voice. I do know how to talk loud because I have had to for several years now so he could hear me. But now I am not trying to be loud. And frankly if I hear how loud I am one more time he will be leaving his DEMO aids at the audiologist because obviously he doesn't need them!

So we are on a learning curve with an adjustment period for both us. We will see what happens Wednesday. That is when the big check will get written...or not!

One of those days

Finally was able to fill my empty rain barrel with life-giving water for my plants. It rained during the night. .7 of an inch! That is enough to fill the barrel. My plants prefer the rain water. They thrive on it and I do hate to force feed them city water. So now we are both happy!
So it was not certain we would have dry skies for our walk so we passed. We do need a day off on occasion. I rode to the river bridge and back. Picture taking was not very successful. After I crossed the bridge I stopped to turn around and spotted a crane on a sand bar. Looked like a great photo op. But then I tried to get situated to take the shot and the crane spotted me and that was all she wrote. They are the spookiest birds I have ever tried to photograph! To back up a bit, as I was approaching the bridge I spotted a herd of black cows spread out on a hillside and thought they would take a nice photo. I decided to catch them on the way back and of course by then they were all bunched up at the top of the hill under a bunch of trees! It was not a good day for photos.
Here is what I did get...see my point?

I was stumped!

Guilty as Charged!

Yes, I have been remiss. What I am doing often doesn't seem noteworthy. For instance, I haven't felt overly perky of late because of a UTI. Now there was more info than you really needed. Yesterday and today are much better health wise but weather wise hold onto your hat cuz' you are going to need the shade! Hot and humid.

Today is our 56th wedding anniversary. It hardly seems possible even to us. We went to the Uptown Cafe for breakfast and to meet up with Mickey,and Helen Orfield Finley of Wichita KS. Helen is another classmate and member of the class of 1961 and she comes back to Jefferson the last weekend in July of every year to visit family. Helen is one of 17 children although I have no idea how many are left. Helen's husband Lynn was also a classmate of ours, however his health will not allow him to travel back to Iowa. Both Mickey and I have more than a few ties to Lynn and Helen.
Mickey and Helen at the Uptown Cafe

And now to back up a bit...

Mickey also has a new biking buddy, Judy Peacock Wills. Judy tried Mickeys bike and liked it a lot so purchased her own and now they have been meeting up for biking excursions. The pic below was taken one day this past week.

 This morning I watered the plants while it was still cool at 74 degrees at 6:00 am and I spotted this little buddy -Mr Toad. 

He was hanging out near the AC water outlet. I almost didn't see him!

Yup he is in this photo...I promise!

 Met up with Colleen this morning for our usual 2 miles. Not much of a breeze and it didn't take long to be drenched with sweat. Colleen pointed out a compass plant, picked it's bloom and placed it on an unrelated plant for a photo shoot.  I love the picture and the colors.

That almost catches you up.

Last Friday night

Mickey invited a few of us deja vu folk to a Mexican night at her place Friday night and it was delicious. Couldn't be anything else with Mickey cooking. Chicken Burrito with green Chile sauce. Superb! After supper we played on the wii and that is always fun!

And then Keri brought us a Lemon Meringue pie on Sunday afternoon  made with the lemon juice we brought her from Texas. We invited friends to share it with us. We are truly blessed with super good cooks all around us.

Hot and Humid

We are not used to it. The heat and humidity are oppressive. I do not care if it makes the corn grow. I do believe they have messed with the genetics of corn to the point it would grow despite anything and everything. They seem to come up with record crops every year despite all circumstances. Before I hear from all you farmers I do know there is a limit.

Colleen and I are still walking every morning. Yesterday, we had decided on a different time to walk, but then it didn't work out so I called her and asked if she was ready and would she come right away. She said yes and yes, walking out the door in the wrong shoes. By the time she reached the trail her feet were hurting but decided to try it despite the pain. It didn't work. We didn't have our phones so she decided to walk directly home from where we were at the time. I said, "Wait. I have my bike at the trailhead so you wait here and I will get my bike, come back and loan you my shoes so you can get home." We wear the same size but my feet are extremely wide and hers are extremely narrow. I can bike in my stockinged feet. It could work. I always wear tennies, but she feels like her feet are in prison if she wears tennies. So she started home with my shoes and I rode home on my bike. I know what it is like to have hurting feet so I jumped in the car and caught up with her to take her the rest of the way home. She said, "A friend in need is a friend indeed." She added, "I always wondered why anyone would want needy friends, but now I know the real meaning of that saying." I should have said but didn't, that it was the first time my shoes had walked without me and I was worried about them.  Every day is an adventure.

This morning we noticed the tent camping area by the trailhead was loaded with RAGBRAI people. One guy wandered out of his sleeping bag and started to pee on a tree but noticed us and headed to the restroom. We should post signs on all the trees at eye level for men that say, "Please don't pee on me!" Not that they would pay any attention. Cameras might work better. Guys do that on golf courses too for all you readers that do not realize that ugly fact. Not all guys do it, but way too many of them.

Snappy Salads for Summer Fare

Snappy Salads for Summer Fare

Janet Groene’s
Main Meal Salad
Master Recipe

Scrap the old macaroni salad. Healthy whole grains are all the rage these days, so make them the foundation for a main dish salad that includes a starch, fruits or vegetables, protein and a dressing to bind it all together. Serve on a bed of shredded lettuce or cabbage, in a lettuce cup, in a wrap for added carbs. Just keep proportions the same and you can have a different dish every day.

2 cups cooked grain (farro, rice, freekeh, red or gold bulgar, barley, spelt, kamut, etc.)
2 cups chopped fruits or vegetables
2 cups protein such as meat, fish, cheese, tofu, nuts or egg
Dressing to taste

Do the math. Here’s a f’rinstance:
1 cup raisins
2 cups cooked farro
1 cup chopped apple
2 cups diced, cooked chicken
Juice of one lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
Plump raisins by soaking in warm water or juice. Drain. Toss all ingredients lightly. Season to taste. Serve as is or wrap in lettuce leaves. Makes 4 main dish servings.

Invent a main dish salad using whole grains and share it.

Bad news, Good News stories

Colleen sold her house. She has it till October 1st. Sold it with the furnishings so that lessened her to do list. Next summer she will be back here and stay with a friend, at least for part of the summer. She gave the bulk of her art supplies to the school art department since most of her things are duplicated in her Florida home. So she was unable to complete her tube art for me. I forgive her. So I did one myself. Been working on this thing for hours but I must say it was fun.
It is getting its polyurethane coat in the garage at the moment but will soon have its spot next to Jerilyn's tube. Jason has been thinking on his. I can see him getting into it. I also think this could be a project for the craft bunch at Magnolia Park next winter. It is easy, fairly cheap and could keep us occupied for a long time.
Items needed:
Poly Sewer pipe as long as desired (the cheap thin stuff will do)
Tape- to mask off areas for design
Paints- I used spray paint, nail polish, colored sharpies
Polyurethane spray to protect your masterpiece, 2 or 3 light coats
Re-rod as long as desired but if it is too short your tube will blow off

I will post another picture when it is placed in the 'gallery'.

So next part....
Windows 10 is downloading into my Toshiba computer. Still unsure if I will install it. I know this because last night, when I shut it down, it said it was bringing in 18 updates. Not unusual but it took HOURS! Got up at 1:00 and it was still downloading. So my guess is that it is Windows 10. Those of you with Windows 8 are saying WHOOPEE but the rest of us are not so sure. So this morning when I turned it on all those updates needed to configure and it takes as long to configure as it does to download. Now that is a disruption of my usual routine and we do not like that at all. But wait! I have a Google Chromebook so I do not have to wait for Microsoft to do its thing. So this post is done on my Chromebook. Another plus is that Butch does not have to complain because he is on his Chromebook too. Oh, by the way, I saw a brand new Chromebook on sale for $169 yesterday. Just sayin'!

This and that...

Computer class was last night from 6 to 8 at the library as usual. Great group- we all get along well and reminds of the ones we have in Texas. That is the good news. The bad news is we did not have WiFi from 7 to 8. That puts a damper on things. So today I went to the telephone company, told my sad tale with hopes they can do something about it. Can we all say, "Public Service"? Cross your fingers...
The cartoon above was in the selection for today. It does start early.

Party at Pat's-No one in this group of three is going to be happy with this picture. They look, shall we say, chunky and grim. Perhaps I should have encouraged them to smile. Really, we had a great time last Saturday evening despite what you see here. Pictured from left are Judy Peacock Wills, Mickey Sanders Starr and Dave McQuillen.We all went to school together.
 The party was mainly because Diane Bryan Rae was coming through Iowa on her way home to Washington state. She is pictured below on the left visiting with Colleen O'Brien Clopton. Parties at Pat's are always a good time.

It has been a bit steamy in the mornings. The flowers love it. This is where I meet Colleen in the morning at 7:00. And below is a flower named Gooseneck Loosestrife. Colleen gave me a sample from her garden. I planted it and it is doing very well. I like the little goosenecks.

The last few days, Butch and I were binge watching Last Tango in Halifax on Netflix. We watched season one and two and wanted to start on three but it wasn't offered on Netflix. I knew it was being shown on PBS so I hooked up the Chromebook to the TV via an HDMI cable, Butch set the TV to HDMI and I tuned in PBS and season three, episode one on the screen and we then were able to watch it. Afterward, I became enthralled with having this giant monitor. It was fun! It would be so helpful to have this set up for computer class.

It is a bit more bearable today. Summer is here.

Lemonade Pudding Fruit Salad

No oven needed. Invite lots of friends!

Lemonade Pudding Fruit Salad

Ingredients:
1 medium honeydew, peeled, seeded and cubed
  1 medium cantaloupe, peeled, seeded and cubed
  2 cups cubed seedless watermelon
  2 medium peaches, sliced
  2 medium nectarines, sliced
  1 cup seedless red grapes
  1 cup halved fresh strawberries
  1 can (11 ounces) mandarin oranges, drained
  2 medium kiwifruit, peeled, halved and sliced
  2 medium firm bananas, sliced
  1 large Granny Smith apple, cubed
  1 can (12 ounces) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
  1 package (3.4 ounces) instant vanilla pudding mix

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the first nine ingredients.
 Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Just before serving, stir in bananas and apple. Combine lemonade concentrate and dry pudding mix; pour over fruit and toss to coat. Yield: 20 servings (3/4 cup each).

Easy Pot Pie

If it were not too hot to turn on the oven I might try this today. Summer finally made it to Iowa-hot and humid!

Barb.

Chicken Pot Pie with just 4 ingredients? It couldn't get any easier!


Grands Chicken Pot Pie Puffs
2 cups Green Giant frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1 cup diced cooked chicken
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 can (16.3 oz) Pillsbury Grands Flaky Layers refrigerated biscuits
Heat oven to 375°F. In medium bowl, combine vegetables, chicken and soup; mix well.
Press each biscuit into 5 1/2-inch round. Place 1 round in each of 8 greased regular-size muffin cups. Firmly press in bottom and up side, forming 3/4-inch rim. Spoon a generous 1/3 cup chicken mixture into each.Bake at 375°F 20 to 22 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from pan.
Make the Most of This Recipe With Tips From The Pillsbury® Kitchens
Substitute 2 cups of any frozen (thawed) vegetables you have on hand, such as broccoli, corn, peas or green beans, for the mixed vegetables.
If your family loves cheese, sprinkle some shredded Cheddar cheese over each puff about 5 minutes before the end of the baking time.

Today's Trail Pics

Today I took off on my bike forgetting a sweater and mosquito protection. A sweater, you say? In July? Yes, Ma'am. We have had 3 days in a row with morning temps in the 50's. Colleen was taking a day off so I thought I would ride and  take photos. But then I forgot my mosquito protection and the light was not right. Sometimes a plan does not come together. Some pictures were taken and a few mosquitoes obtained breakfast. Just one of those days.

 The smashed thistle head in the picture below reminds me of an Indian Headdress.

 Personally I think thistles in bloom are beautiful. I am aware not everyone agrees with me.

 The wildflowers along the trail are coming into their own. Beauties every one.

 The tall spiky plant on the right in the picture below is Mullein. If you want to know more about it, you can find out here:
 http://www.motherearthliving.com/plant-profile/herb-to-know-mullein-verbascum-thapsus.aspx

Photos of late

Cone flowers-At the trail head

This is Purple Prairie Clover.

 Mickey and I rode almost to Winkleman Switch this afternoon. That would be at least a 7 mile roundtrip ride. It felt good flying down that trail.

Butch's hearing test

On Monday, Butch went to Carroll for a hearing test. We found out some surprising things. The molded type that fit inside the ear will not work for his particular type of hearing loss. His lower tone hearing is normal. If he wore the molded type it would cut off all his hearing and drive him nuts. His right ear is better than his left. So he will be getting a demo soon to see if he likes it. That was also a surprise. It is nice when you can have the opportunity to test drive  before committing to it completely. I am sure he will like it and so is he. Positive expectation is always good. It will be good to lose my job as translator too.

Cinderella went to see Cinderella!

Elise 'Cinderella' was treated to a production of Cinderella and she was thrilled. She is wearing her  most favorite dress the Ropa ladies of Magnolia Park acquired for her. It fits her perfectly. I am sure it will be a trauma when she outgrows it. It has been worn extensively since the first time she laid eyes on it.

Looks to me like she is meeting the Fairy Godmother.