“Not everything is supposed to become something beautiful and long-lasting. Sometimes people come into your life to show you what is right and what is wrong, to show you who you can be, to teach you to love yourself, to make you feel better for a little while, or to just be someone to walk with at night and spill your life to. Not everyone is going to stay forever, and we still have to keep on going and thank them for what they’ve given us.” ―
It seems the daily rains have stopped and it has been five days without a drop. I almost forgot to water the few flowers I have that I try to keep alive! So many things in the Spring wait for good weather to take care of and then when it rains nearly all the time those things get put on the back burner. So there you have it! We are all a month behind and trying to catch up.
Today I put some of the things that were put in disarray last year with our sewer debacle back in business. There are two sewer clean-outs in the backyard that I have configured to assist Butch with his mowing. It makes it easier to mow around the cleanouts.
I came across two pieces of drainage pipe at an auction several years ago and I thought they would make the perfect covers for the cleanouts and I could add flower pots to the tops to dress them up even further. I probably paid $2 for them and they have given me many years of service. It took me a while but I found photos I took in June of 2016 of the set-up. The cleanouts are underneath these pipes.
Want to know why I love my phone? When I bought my phone it was a newish thing as not many had a pixel phone. I cannot, off the top of my head, remember when I bought it but I think it was about 3 years ago. I came across this article about my phone and it said exactly what I love about my phone.
https://www.reviewgeek.com/85061/forget-the-camera-the-real-google-pixel-superpower-is-phone-calls/
I would hate to give up the screen call feature.
I recently learned that rocks with bands in them are sometimes called Wishing Rocks. This one was located in front of the Sycamore cabin
I caught Beckett, the bravest of the brave, in mid-flight!
Clara, the only girl of the bunch, is fearless and very confident of her own abilities.
Jorgen, Clara's big brother and another of the brave warriors of the playground.
Our little county park of Spring Lake has always played a part in my life, particularly the early years, before my father died. In the summer and before air conditioning we would eagerly wait for Dad to get off work at 5:00 and hurry home so we could go to the lake. We would rush to get our swimsuits on and get into the water. It seemed we were there a long time and sometimes I think we were, as the sun would be setting when we headed home. We always changed into our clothes and when we headed home we would hold our wet suits out the open window to wind dry them on the 7 miles ride back to town.
The Leo and Keri family are staying in one of the 3 cabins that are now at Spring Lake for rentals. They were not a part of my youthful experience but they are really cool. We were wanting to see what they were like so we stopped out this afternoon.
Here are some photos I took:
Suddenly we are back to early April. Yesterday they told us that the daytime temperature for Iowa hit a record LOW. Don't remember exactly but I think it was 49. Yuck! And it was Mickey's birthday! Not too much better today. We had Mickey over for BBQ ribs. I had posted the recipe a while back. They lived up to my memory of how good they were and Mickey agreed that they were good. I will use a larger crockpot next time. A 4 quart instead of a 3. But that is about the only thing I would change.
Here is the recipe again in case you missed it the first time.
Memphis Pit BBQ Ribs
What You’ll Need:
1 blender ( I didn’t use a blender)
1 4-quart crockpot
1 baking sheet
aluminum foil
basting brush
5 pounds (2 full racks) of pork spare ribs
1 apple
1½ cups applesauce
1 diced onion
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
18 ounces BBQ sauce
What You’ll Need:
Okay, now let’s get down to business. First, arrange your spare ribs in a circle around the edges of your slow cooker. Continue layering the meat until it reaches the top, but has a large hole in the middle. In this center section, place your cored and sliced apple.
Now for the marinade. In a blender, combine your apple sauce, onion, sugar, and vinegar along with half of your BBQ sauce. Puree until smooth and then pour the whole thing over the top of your apple slices and meat. Cover and cook on high for about 5 hours. When you come back, try to resist sneaking a taste. Instead, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place the ribs separately onto the surface.
Using your brush, baste the remaining BBQ sauce over the top and sides of your spare ribs. Broil for 5 to 10 minutes and plate as soon as possible for the best and most unique version of this classic we’ve ever tasted!
My notes:
I cut the ribs into 2 bone servings. And I blended the marinade by hand as I didn’t see the need to dirty another appliance.
😒 As we age things that used to take 15 minutes now take an hour. We once lived on a lake in a 3 story home and I would tackle cleaning all 3 floors in one day. Didn't think much about it at the time. It would surely be a 3-day project now...or hire it done. I did have help with the cleaning when I worked at the medical clinic. Her name was Linda and she was a story in herself.
Synopsis: She was married but getting a divorce. Her husband did not want a divorce. She wasn't sure either but her other love wanted to marry her too. Both men knew of each other. She was adamant that she loved them both and could not make up her mind. She was a puzzle to me and still is. I do not know the ending to this story so now you can stay mystified along with me. She cleaned the house very well.
Now back to the real world. I decided to paint the 3 doors, 2 in the pool hall and our home's red front door was fading to pink and needed a new coat of Simply Red (2014) paint. I thought I could whip this out in a couple of hours. It took me the rest of the day and it isn't done yet. The exteriors of the pool hall doors are still waiting for their coats.
I have another rainy day project going as well. I am putting a lifetime of photos on an external hard drive. That isn't difficult. I have done it before. But this time I am trying to label them as to the event, year, people etc. So now it becomes monumental! I might get done. It has been raining a lot but not all day.
Keri and I have walked the past two mornings and it feels so good to be back at it! Yesterday we noticed that the phlox was in full bloom. A few years ago it was similar and I had a photo of it put on canvas and it is currently on my wall, being one of my favorites. After I took the picture they sprayed alongside both sides and wiped out all that was growing for a width of about 2 feet on each side. I was not happy!! Now the phlox has recovered and I took some new photos. It is wonderful that they are back. It adds so much beauty to the trail.
Here are this morning's photos.
This one is after we made the turn at the one-mile mark looking North.
Carolyn of the YouTube Channel Carolyn’s RV Life, has lived on the road in an RV for five years. She’s traveled alone in 30 states and put 70,000 miles on her small Class C motorhome.
In this video, she shares the top five lessons she’s learned in her travels. Actually, she tosses in a sixth lesson, as you will see if you click the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdoIcEo-0h4&list=RDCMUCfqr5I-0RKK8Ha1PeKi0_ig
Barb Says: "As I watched her video I would periodically think of someone who would relate to different aspects of her conversation. And I know that some of you enjoy following the folks who live the full-time RV lifestyle. I enjoyed her piece and could see her worth in sharing."
I cleaned up my front flower bed yesterday. I particularly like my front flower bed right now with the chives, iris, and sweet william all blooming at the same time. It looks so well-planned and it so was not!
The chives are on the left. Next is a Barb/Colleen collaboration that has been inside the house for a few years but now it is getting a breath of fresh air. Then there are the two egrets we bought from a guy in the Snow to Sun RV Park in the Rio Grande Valley. Then there is an art piece made by our youngest son, Jason. It took a lot of begging to get some of his art. The red, white, and blue piece with our name on it, was made by Don and Sally Louks while we were in Magnolia Park. When we left that park we brought it with us. The ladybug on the far right is a new addition made by Mickey and her daughters a couple of weeks ago. There is a story and a history to everything!
I would love to get the rest of my outdoor stuff spruced up but the weather is not cooperating. It will soon look like a tropical rainforest if it doesn't give us a break.
Wishing all my chores were done and I could do fun stuff. So that is the plan for the day. Hacking away at my To-Do list.
1. Clean up flower beds and Patio
2. Wash windows
3. Paint doors:
Pool Hall 2
House Front door
4, Clean MoHo
5. Sort stuff for Garage Sale
In no particular order. Hmmm-Maybe that's the problem! NO PARTICULAR ORDER!
Update on explosion: Back in the day it would have been big news but these days the news is so much more dramatic that it pales. But...there wasn't any loss of life or limb! I hope no one loses their job over this because the co-op will be out of commission for who knows how long.
But moving on...Last year we bought a new shade for the windshield of the motorhome. This was to lessen the need for a ladder and we all know why that's important! The new one fits on the inside and I can put it in place without assistance.
The purpose of the shade is twofold; blocking the sunlight and keeping anyone from seeing us too clearly from the outside. By too clearly I mean at night you can see shapes and perhaps movement but that about does it. On the other hand, we can see out.
So after getting the new one what does one do with the old one? It was made purposely for our RV so resell isn't likely. So enter the pool hall and three windows. If you know me well you know I am not fond of curtains, drapes, etc so I decided perhaps I could cut the old screen to fit the windows and put them on tension rods so they could be placed or taken down easily. So that is what I did yesterday. I have a sewing machine that has been under the bed for a few years because it is hard to get out plus space to set it up is at a premium so now it has a new home in the pool hall, also known as the WE SHED. The new space for the sewing machine makes it very easy to get out and set up. Photos later. The multi-purposes of the Pool Hall are Pool, of course as well as a Game room, Craft room, etc.
Another subject:
There is a wren who comes each season to the wren house we have under the eave on the west side of the house. The way wren's work is that the male finds a suitable home furnishes it and makes it nice and cozy. Then he warbles his little heart out to have the female come and look at it. If she finds it suitable she will take up residence with him and start a family. So our little guy has found a taker! She has lighter coloring and is larger than he is, so it is easy to tell them apart. I have such a hard time deciding which photos to keep! These are all photos of the male.
This guy, we need a name for him, is a good mate. I made this determination before she got here because he was dive-bombing the squirrel whenever it was in the feeder. So he is helping Butch out with his squirrel battle! We haven't seen much of the squirrel lately.
I may tackle my flower beds this weekend...did you catch that, Karla? Karla likes to do yard work and she lives in an apartment. And she had her second Fauci Ouchie yesterday!
