Jar opener

 We had 7 players last night and the guys won. It was so good to see our friends and play once again.

After the game, we were talking things over and Sue L. mentioned that she had purchased a recommendation I had made a while back and it was one of the best purchases she has made. It is a bottle/jar/cap opener that installs under your cabinet. We used to have one years ago when we lived in Cumberland and when we moved I forgot to uninstall it and take it with us so I recently bought a replacement and I thought there were others who would benefit from it. Our hands are not as 'handy' as we age and this is fantastic for those of us who struggle with arthritic hands.

It installs under a cabinet and it works to open all sizes of jars and bottles. EZ Off Jar Opener - Under Cabinet Jar Lid & Bottle Opener - Opens Any Size Jar - Great for Arthritis - Perfect for Seniors & Weak Hands $18.95 

The Amazon link:

https://www.amazon.com/EZ-Off-Opener-Sizes-White/dp/B000X6K9J8/ref=sr_1_4_sspa?crid=38O2VVJO8DBJ3&keywords=jar%2Bopener%2Bfor%2Bweak%2Bhands&qid=1654259637&sprefix=Jar%2Bopener%2Caps%2C86&sr=8-4-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExOU9aSFQ1REtWNzFVJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjQ2MzU4MkhKNjVTWTFWVE5NViZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUExMDA1MzgzMjlQMDZGMlhaREEwWSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1

What a week this has been!

 We have had several people come to look at the motorhome in the hopes of buying it. And there was one story after another and one obstacle after another. Last  Monday the phone rang and Charlie called and asked if he could come to look at the motorhome, of course, we said, "Yes". He said there was another he planned to look at in St. Charles Ia unless he was happy with ours. It went well and he asked lots of questions and asked if he could drive it. It was a very windy day and Butch told him it would be a good test because it handles well in the wind. He was openly happy with it and gave every indication he was highly interested. When Butch and Charlie came back from the test drive Charlie got in his pickup and left. Butch said you are not going to believe this but he just bought it! He said he was not going to haggle because he knew it was fairly priced. He promised to come back the next day at 9:00 AM and would go to the bank with us and in fact, he did. But Butch was worried about his baby and offered to take it to his home. Charlie thought that was a good idea. So we hooked up the car for the last time and headed to Lake City. Butch spent a couple of hours showing all the ins and outs of what it takes to run our traveling home efficiently. And then we went to his bank where he wired the money to our account in Jefferson. The whole thing seems miraculous! We have a copy of the bill of sale and the money is in our account and we will be able to give him the title next week. We have never had something go this quick or this smoothly!

Now before you think there was too much trust in an unknown person on our part let me give you a few details. He gave us several details of his life and when he left I googled him and not only everything he said was validated it was impressive. Among his accomplishments were 30 years of being an ER doctor, He owned and ran a heavy equipment business and add to that he was/is a farmer.

It was such a whirlwind that we have been pinching ourselves ever since. So next on our to-do list is a new car. We can go slow on this one and probably will. Stay tuned for the amazing adventures of Barb and Butch!

Bird and Flower pics

 On our walk this morning...

 

We have had house wrens for many years and they are back. I swear they sing all day long!

And this year we have robins. Butch did away with their nest early on but they didn't take long to redo it. There are 3 babies in there and I have observed that both parents are very active with the care and feeding of their offspring.

Busy and fun weekend

 The Missouri kids came here on Thursday night so there were games, walks, biking, eating, Devon's graduation party, a trip up the tower, and repeat.

I know that was a condensation but help me out here, okay?

The 8ft pool table has been recovered and it is perfect! I love it! It plays beautifully. The color is Gold where it was beige before. And the smoothness of the Simonis cloth is so worth the effort.

Went with Gary and the kids up in the tower. I haven't been up there for quite a while. Our town looks very well taken care of and we are all neat and clean.

This pic looks east to the Jefferson cemetery and its many, many flags for our veterans.

This is Jefferson Gardens, a tribute to our President Jefferson and the namesake of our town.

There are paintings on top of the buildings around the square. There are new ones appearing all the time.

The one above is a patchwork quilt on the old J C Penney building. Southeast corner of the square.

The one below was done by a man who has a contract with Disney so he can paint anywhere he wants but if he gets a call from Disney he has to stop whatever he is doing and go where they request him to go. He also leaves a Disney Mickey Mouse symbol on all of his paintings. The symbol is not in a good place to see from the tower as it is in the lower-left corner.

These are photos of the painting they have in the tower so you can get a better view of what you see out of the window.

This one is on the Peony Restaurant, Jefferson's Chinese restaurant on the southwest corner of the square. The son of the owner is the artist and he happened to stop by while we were up there. Unfortunately, I did not get his name.

This is looking southwest from the tower. This view will change quite a bit in the next year because the old high school gym will be taken down among other changes.

This is a view to the west.

 

Art on the Courthouse grounds changes on a regular basis and these are the current ones.

Miss Elise looking it over.

Elise and Leo plus art.

Devons graduation party

Devon's name was part of the table decorations and Jason helped Leo make a friendship bracelet out of it. Then EVERYBODY wanted one!

 

Keri Brooker catered it and the food was wonderful! Ham and cheese sliders, salad, two kinds of meatballs, and pickle wraps. Wonderful!

Pareidolia

 What is it called when you make shapes out of clouds?

We are just as likely to see familiar objects in trees, toast, or Cheetos. This tendency is called pareidolia, and it's a byproduct of the peculiar way we process visual information.

Does anyone else see the owl? He is winking... The picture was taken in our back yard.

Perfect Cartoon!

 

Requested...Keto No-Bake Caramel Cookies

   Butch and I went to a wedding this weekend. It was for Anna Kelley (Marlene and Bernard Kelley's Granddaughter) and Andrew Scott. And in one of the many conversations I had with people a request for my favorite Fat Bomb recipe was one of them. I have been on Keto or a modified Keto for 4 years or more and for the first time in my life my weight has stabilized. But aside from that, this recipe has remained one of my favorites and I would make it for no other reason than I like it. More like a Candy than Cookie

Enjoy!

Keto No-Bake Caramel Cookies

8 TBSP Butter (4 oz)

⅓ C Swerve Brown Sugar substitute

⅓ C Heavy Whipping Cream

1 1/2 C Pecan halves or pieces or nuts of your choice.

2/3 C unsweetened coconut flakes (I use 1 1/2)

1/8th C. Keto-friendly chocolate chips( I use Lily)

Parchment paper or silicone cups

Instructions: 

Place the butter into a saucepan on the stove over medium heat. 

When the butter is melted, whisk in the Swerve brown sugar substitute until completely dissolved. Wait until it bubbles before adding the cream.

Stir in the heavy whipping cream until well combined.

 Cook,  stirring frequently for 10 minutes until it begins to froth up and thicken. Do not try to hurry this step.

Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the pecan halves and coconut flakes, stir well to combine, and let sit to cool slightly for a few minutes.

Use a large spoon to drop spoonfuls of the cookie mixture onto parchment paper. do not worry if some of the extra liquid leaks out from the mound of cookie batter this should make 11 cookies. 

Sprinkle some keto-friendly chocolate chips on each cookie and lightly press them down.

Place the cookies into the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour to harden.

Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Recipe Notes:

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook time 10 minutes

Notes from Barb:  Admittedly, these are tricky to make and get right the first time.  I would suggest using silicone cupcake holders as opposed to parchment paper because they do tend to run, but either can be made to work. Butch loves them and would eat them every day if I would let him but these are labeled keto and therefore they're mine. 

 I have a silicone mini cupcake “pan” and it works very well. I put them in the freezer for about an hour and they pop right out. Warning: easy to overindulge. I try to hold them down to one a day.

OMG! Where are my posts!

 Even I was shocked by how long it had been since I posted. 

1. I still have not found new homes for all the stuff we carried around for 20 years in the motorhome but I peck away at it every few days.

2. We have the motorhome listed on Facebooks Marketplace and Craigslist. Getting some action but not overrun with offers. Have a few stories but cannot share them yet. We have someone who is supposed to be coming today.

3. We are repairing one rail on the 7 ft. pool table. (It was dead) and recovering the 8-foot one with 760 Simonis Cloth instead of the fuzzy-wuzzy stuff on it now. It should be done by next Tuesday and then we need to let it rest a day or two. And then let the games begin!!

4. Our son Gary from Missouri likes to bring his RV here to get it ready for summer camping. We have a good facility for that and if he might need a part, our two RV dealerships in town would likely have any parts he might need. He is coming next Saturday and staying for a week. Maybe I should have the Deja Vue trivia players here while he is? I will think about that!

5. Speaking of trivia...Karla and Devon used to join us when we were playing at the Casino and Devon is graduating not this weekend but next in Ogden. Karla would like all of the Deja Vue folks that they are invited to join us at the Leonard Good Event Center in Ogden on the 28th from 3:00PM to 6:00 PM. 

Summing up... I am so anxious to get to some semblance of normal! Hope to see you soon!

Some Progress

 It sorta feels like an avalanche of to-dos.

 Progress is being made but not nearly as quickly as I would like.

There is the inside stuff and the outside stuff. To top it off temps in the 90s slow up the outside. Spring is late this year and then I saw a blurb on Facebook that said Spring happened Sunday, May 8th. It was a one-day event. 

We have had a family saying for years, usually aimed at Butch about not going after a project as though you were killing snakes. He has always had that tendency. We have slowed down considerably in the past few years knowing that it is counterproductive and can put you out of commission for far longer than it would if you had stopped to smell the roses now and then.

Butch is getting some golf played. For so very long his back was giving him trouble and he wasn't sure he could play. That crisis has passed.

We are getting back to our routine of playing pool every day at 4:00 pm for an hour. Progress for me on that has been slow as well or might I say like a roller coaster.

Bottom line? It has been a stressful month. And the end of the tunnel seems to be a ways off yet.

All this too shall pass...

Here are some phone pics recently taken:

In many of the past years, we have missed the blooming of our tulips. They would be done with by mid-April when we arrived. Not this year! It has been one of the pleasant surprises.

This one was taken at Costco where we were trying to buy gas. There were at least 9-10 cars in every lane. Patience prevailed and we were able to fill up. Don't ask me the price! Butch is the one who keeps up with that stuff.

Before Butch found out his back would sustain golf, he was walking with me on the bike trail. This was our find a few days ago.

.

Busy woman am I

 But I couldn't resist sharing this limerick with you.

And if you like this one you may want to go to this site.

https://www.rd.com/list/funny-limericks/

I especially liked the Nantucket one...and NO it is not the naughty one.

Soren

 This is Soren. He is my niece Tara and her husband Mark's almost one-year-old son. He was helping daddy with his tools on one of the first warm days Iowa has had.

My sister Theresa's obituary

 Obituary for Theresa Arts of Creston, Iowa

Date of Death: May 4, 2022

Theresa Arts passed away on May 4, 2022, at the age of 69 of heart failure. No public services are planned. 

Theresa Marlene Arts was born on September 30th, 1952 in Greene County, Iowa, the daughter of Francis Duane Brock and Bertha Fern (Zimmerle) Brock.

Theresa was united in marriage to Steven Arts. Two children were born to this union, Tristan Arts and Tara (Arts) Steinbach

Theresa was an Art Teacher and taught in schools in Nebraska and Iowa. 

Theresa was preceded in death by her parents, Francis and Fern, her brother Richard Brock, and sister Jayne Turley. She is survived by her children, Tara Steinbach and her husband Mark, Mt Ayr IA, and Tristan Arts, Portland Oregon. One grandchild Soren Steinbach. Sisters Barbara Brooker of Jefferson, IA, Myrla Kloster of Rockwell City IA.

Breakfast anyone?

 

For a Ride

 Butch and I went for a ride in the country yesterday and we checked out his favorite golf course (The Hill) and then went to Spring Lake to see if the campers had landed yet. They haven't! Most definitely too cold to camp. We spotted this tree that was hit by lightning. 

And some geese who do not seem to mind if the water is cold

Looky Lou's are Welcome

 I finished up the inside of the motorhome and took pictures in the prospect of getting it on the market. 

For sale by owner: 2004 Newmar Kountry Star 38 ft Motorhome. See Photos:

Refrigerator is a double one and only slightly visible in this photo

Washer and dryer

Kitchen table has a leaf and can easily seat 4 people

Bedroom closet is roomy