Lithium batteries and other news

 We have decided to change to lithium batteries in our Texas golf cart.

1. They are less expensive

2. They last longer (perhaps 10 years)

3. They weigh less

4. Do not need charged as often

5. They are faster and I don't care about that one.

They are arriving today.

We are having a bit of a cold wave in South Texas. It was 59 degrees this morning and is not expected to get much warmer today. The cold waves are more frequent and colder than they used to be. I remember when we were first coming down here in the winter, I would bring one pair of jeans, just in case, and now I have several.

As interpreted these days a cold spell is in the low 70's in the day and low 50's at night and that would be a normal cold/cool spell. Once in a while there might be a bonafide wingding of a cold front but those still only happen once or twice per  season and then only for a day or two. When that happens Chili will be brewing in nearly every household!

I have new glasses, purchased at Costco. After shopping around, Costco was the place. 

Not much can be done at a certain age. Pretty is out of the question. So we are settling for pleasant. It seems my lips have disappeared completely. Inside I am in my prime.😊 Too much info... I know

Thanksgiving Day!

Boy oh Boy! My Thanksgiving day is starting off great. I have been trying off and on to get Alexa hooked up down here with difficulty! It seems she wanted to stay in Iowa where she knew how to connect to the internet. I tried to show her the way many times but no, she would not let it happen. We even took her to a T-Mobile spot and they assured me she was fixed but she wasn't when we brought her home. I had an inkling it was a setting issue somewhere in the system. I would fiddle a bit and then feel like I was closer many times and this morning my fiddling worked.

Fiddling has been my main system for taking care of tech problems for all my years of teching. It just takes longer now for things to click into place. It takes longer to do everything!!

We are staying home this Thanksgiving without plans to do anything in particular. I have several small tasks I would like to take off my todo list.

My gratitude list is extremely long and something I think of every day, not just on Thanksgiving.

I hope all of our friends and family are doing precisely what they want to do this Thanksgiving day and every other day as well.

Thanksgivings

 

You can never tell what important things you might find out at Happy Hour. A few days ago, a neighbor came and said, "I have a question I need to ask." I said, "You have come to the right place!" That was a few days ago, and for the life of me, I do not remember what she asked, but I am sure she was able to get an answer.

Yesterday at happy hour we got stuck on "Rhubarb"; where it grows and the many ways to use it. And then the recipes using it were bandied about followed by pineapple and mandarin orange territory. You can never tell what sorts of tidbits will come in handy and add to your personal book of knowledge.

A while back, Butch came home from happy hour and told me what deer hunters need to know about hunting and preparing the meat without ruining it for human consumption. It is a fact the path to making it tasty is in the very beginning.

It seems more than one kind of recipe is being shared at happy hour.

 

Rhubarb Pudding

3 C. Rhubarb, Coarsely Chopped

1 C. Sugar

1/4 t Cinnamon

Dabs Of Butter

1 Egg

1 C. Flour

1/2 C. Milk

1 t Baking Powder

1 C. Sugar

A very old family favorite.

Place the first 4 ingredients in an 8" x 8" pan. Mix together the remaining

ingredients and pour evenly over the rhubarb mix. Bake 45 min. at 350 deg.

Cover the first 30 minutes.

Barb B. ~I cut back on the sugar these days and mix some stevia in there.

Laura's Buck

 Jason and Laura were driving through The Ledges State Park near Boone when she got this great shot of a deer. Laura and I share a love of photography and this is a super duper shot on many levels.

Smoothly progressing

 I think things are progressing smoothly, and even as I type, I wonder what I have forgotten.

We played pool yesterday as partners and Butch and I did well considering our 2 losses were unavoidable. In the first loss, they broke and ran the table and in the second loss I broke but did not make a ball on the break so they then ran the table. Cannot feel bad about that kind of loss. If I am playing well I do not beat myself over any loss. Playing well is good enough for me.

We are in the midst of changing out our Golf cart batteries. It is an expensive process no matter how or when. We are transitioning from lead-acid batteries to lithium batteries. The reasons for doing so are longer life (10 years), charging less often, and increased speed. We do not need the last one, but it comes with the package. All this takes some time.

The time is whizzing by! The busier we are the faster it goes. We need to schedule a Mexico trip. Let's see...Thursdays are our clearest day but it is Thanksgiving this week. And that is how it goes!

Crafty Changes

 I have a list of crafts I have done over the years, and I have reached the age and knowledge of myself to know that some of them are in my past and will stay there. One of them is Swedish Weaving. I loved it. I still vividly remember the woman who inspired me to take it up, Dorothy Wendt.

I have a large supply of everything needed to do Swedish Weaving. All of the monks' cloth has been edged, washed, and ready for inspiration. I also have bodkins, patterns, and instruction books and a few starter kits. There are two tubs of supplies. I am offering it all for $125.00 or best offer. Contact me at keep.movin.on@gmail.com. or text me including the word Swedish Weaving to 515-441-9984

Ideas...

 Either there are dozens of ideas for posts or nearly none. Lately, there has been an abundance.

Artist Jason Brooker's latest creation is pictured below.

If you have any old silverware you are looking to discard contact me.

Susan is retiring!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/CWQXeJpSSGrQVDxP

This is a test. I am hoping my blog readers can go to the link without being Facebook members. But if that does not work I will find a different path.

Wink's Butterfly

 Wink and Dot are backdoor neighbors of ours here in Trophy. They live here year-round. It is well-known that the Rio Grand Valley is on the byway for Monarch butterflies heading for their winter homes in Mexico. Wink caters to their needs by planting the right kind of stuff for them around his home thus making it an ideal place to watch the Monarchs. Recently he spotted a larvae on a bush so he snipped it and put it in a mason jar.

 This is what the larvae looked like. I did not take this photo. 

This is what the cocoon looked like. I didn't take this one either, but I wanted to show you what we saw. These are exactly as they appeared. Wink brought it to happy hour periodically so we could see the progress.

This last picture was taken by Sandi, the hostess of happy hour and she sent it to me so I could share it with you. Wink and Dot were able to watch the process. Dot said Wink felt like a father as he watched the "birth" of his Monarch when they released it and watched it fly over the top of their house headed south to Mexico.

We all enjoyed the journey with him!

Trivia Host at Trophy Gardens.

Hosting Trivia on 11/19/2024

Curdled Necks

 Gary and Jason did not like sweaters, particularly "turtle necked" ones. I took this picture of them in 1968. They called them "Curdled Necks".

A Ray of Light

Greatgrands- Elise and Leo. Their Mom takes pic's of them each October and this is my favorite one from this year, 2024.
 

Cool Down

 I had to cool off before posting again, and I was only partially successful. Watching the fall of the United States Empire will never be easy.

Butch and I are keeping ourselves busy and that is easy down here. Trivia is still a popular activity. Not everyone is here yet and we had 3 teams of 8. Lots of laughter!

Butch and I are both playing pool which is not news to anyone. It is a hit-or-miss event for both of us, pun intended.

We have not been to Mexico yet. It gets to be a challenge to work everything in. Thursdays used to be our most free day. Still true, I think.

I had 3 skin biopsy's done. Have not heard the results yet. Butch came through okay on that visit and his eye appointment went well too. It seems the "Health Wagon" is running smooth this year...so far. Oh yes! I nearly forgot my butt. It has healed to the point I no longer think about it! All's well, that ENDS well! Get it?

So our life here is somewhat repetitive doing the things we enjoy doing and trying to keep those negative state-of-the-union things out of mind somewhat successfully.

Till next time...

I bounce around

The five stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance – are often talked about as if they happen in order, moving from one stage to the other. 

The "I told you so's" will be painful for both of us.

The Day the Country Died

He is demented but you voted for him anyway.

He cannot put a sentence together but you voted for him anyway.

His children should be taking his keys away but you voted for him anyway.

He believes everything he sees on TV but you voted for him anyway.

He has clarified what he plans to do but you voted for him anyway.

He is the worst person on the planet to be running a country but you voted for him anyway…

in pursuit of the almighty dollar.

I cannot, will not, and do not forgive you.

Because of you, I will be watching the final destruction and demolition of our country. When a disaster strikes he will be saying, “ oh well, sucks to be you!” When dignity is part of his “job” he will fail. When empathy is required he will fail. When grownup decisions need to be made he will fail. He will represent you on the world stage but embarrass the rest of us.

It saddens me deeply to realize there are more of you in this country than us.

That being said I must deal with it. It means I will once again have to narrow my world to what I can handle while holding back tears of despair. I am not there yet. You have no idea what you have set in motion.

Pity the Nation

Yesterday...

 ...was the first day I could sit down without giving it a bunch of thought. I am happy for the day. 

Butch and I had a Dermatologist appointment yesterday. He did pretty well for Butch considering all the years he worked outdoors. I had three places biopsied. It doesn't concern me as they usually come clean. Hopefully in 3 weeks we get the word, then schedule our next appointment for next Spring just before we head North.

Butch has an eye appt on the 11th. When we get these two done it will be the cleanest, healthiest year we have had for some time. I hope I haven't spoken too soon. We always need to be ready for those curve balls.

Our place has been power washed and we have things once again arranged in the way that works for us. 

Now it is letting the fun begin!

Butt Update

 Yup, it is still hanging in there. I think it should be much better than it is but I am learning to live with it. My best place to be is in bed but what kind of life is that? I am playing pool and Butch told me today that I am playing well. Now isn't that a shocker! It does seem to be a bit better each day. My butt,that is.

Tomorrow the house washer guy shows and then we can finish settling in with getting chairs and tables out of the utility room and setting up the deck. I put my NuWave oven on the deck and do my cooking out there. It gives me more space in the kitchen.

Happy hour at 4:00 is in full swing. One of our regulars received word that her sister lost her house and all of her belongings in a house fire. So the new plan is for her to come here and buy a place. She was nearing retirement anyway so this pushed it up a notch. This way she will be close to her sister for help with her recovery. Even if she ultimately decides to go somewhere else, it will make a great transitional plan.

Time slips away

 We are mostly settled in. Our 'Southern Plantation' will get washed on Sunday and then we can put the finishing touches on the moving in process. Last season there was a strong restriction on water and now when we have someone come in to wash our mobiles they must bring their own water. The restrictions, although lifted a bit, have caused a back-up in getting our places cleaned and that is why it is happening on a Sunday. We will be glad to get it done!

Butt update: Still hurts a bit but only now and then. The odd thing, at least to me, is that I can poke around on the outside and it doesn't hurt at all. The hurt is internal and can often be the result of internal cramping. Ice packs do help. Still needs pain pills but only a couple of times a day. I am not being stopped from doing what I want to do and that to me is a win/win.

I have played pool with my partner Linda G. a couple of days and it has went well. League will start the first week of December.

I get hungry for vegetables and Butch is not a fan so recently I bought a package of frozen stir-fry veggies and I look upon it as a solution. I can skillet fry enough for me, throw a helping of corn or peas at Butch and the problem is solved. They were delicious!

Trivia starts November 12th and thanks to my up-north players I have plenty of sessions all lined up. After putting them together for eight years I am ready to recycle and rest on my laurels. I will stick a current question in now and then.

Till next time...

We are here and...

We are safe. We have arrived! Drove in dense fog for a fair share of the morning but all went well and we arrived about 1:00. Butch is busy trying to get the golf cart started. His priorities can be a bit wonkie at times. One of us left the refridge freezer closed so I had a mildew mess to bleach out first. It was mostly in the freezer part and not really bad but definitely something to make note of next Spring. We are going to supper with Danielsons. I am hooked up to our internet and it is running smoothly! I do not have Butch hooked up yet. Maybe when He lets the golf cart rest. 

You most likely will not hear more from me until we feel settled in.❤