Sorry, not happy with no 'cash refund' at store....merchandise only. So, now I have a new purse...

I took the two flowing tops back to the store where I got them, but found out they don't refund your cash. Instead, they gave me a credit. That would not be too bad, but they just don't carry enough in my size, so I ended up taking a new purse as part of the credit. I suppose I'll just look there every time I'm in town to see if there is something else I can use for the rest of the credit. Once I've spent all the credit I'm due, I won't be shopping there in the future. Not my favorite kind of policy...

Before I went to the store, I potted up the pretty flowers that I bought in Toledo. Now, I have five 'railing planters' each planted with a combination of three flowers. I have a sage-colored vine in the center of each planter. This plant has small leaves and a very good trailing habit, so they should 'flow' nicely down the front of each planter.  I also put in a bluish-purple trailing verbena and a violet-colored flower that has a more spiky habit. I set them all on the floor of our deck, to give them a chance to gain strength and recover from the transplanting process. They all got watered well, along with the fiber basket where I planted a plant with spreading and trailing blue flowers. That basket is now hanging in a folding wrought iron stand that I've had for a very long time but have never used. It's really quite pretty standing in one corner just opposite the door from our bedroom where I can easily see it when we have the door open to the deck. 

I still have one more railing planter to fill, and I think I will get some other kinds of plants for that...maybe some impatiens, since there are several places where the deck railing is in the shade much of the day. Then, I still need some flowers to put in the two large terra cotta pots that have imprinted designs on their sides. They are larger, and I hope to put them on the front porch, but right now David is using them to hold the fencing for the outdoor duck pen steady next to the garage. Once the ducks and geese have all their feathers and can stand to be outside all the time, they will be moved into our 'chicken tractor' and I can have my pots back... I'll probably buy the plants pretty soon, though, and will put them into smaller clay pots until I can transplant them into the larger ones. 

After my planting was done, and after I got back from taking those tops back to the store, I fixed David and I each a 'mint julep' to get ready to watch the Preakness. Of course, mint julep is the Kentucky Derby drink, but I had not researched to find out what kind of drink is standard for the Preakness. David looked it up after the race was over, and maybe next year I'll get the ingredients ahead of time so we can fix those cocktails then. Now, I need to find a recipe for the drink that is classic for The Belmont Stakes...in three weeks. Wouldn't it be great to have American Pharoah win the triple crown? I'll be cheering for him...what a great race today...in heavy rain with a very muddy track. But, he apparently enjoys running in the mud...perfect day for him!

Now, I'm weary, so I'm heading to bed. I still have to wash the windows in the library so I can put on the screens...it's getting warm enough that we need to be able to open windows in each room, and those windows are the only ones that aren't ready for that....maybe I'll do that tomorrow...

Nite, all!

It was marked 'one size fits all'.....but that's not quite true.

I bought a couple of cute long vests. You know the kind...they flow, and they are worn over a tank top or, if it's a bit chilly, over a long-sleeved t-shirt. They look so youthful and fun, and are usually pretty colorful. Well, I bought two of them, and didn't try them on at the store. She said 'one size fits all...' Turns out...they look great on people who are quite slim, but seem to make all of my 'curves' seem way too much curvier! So...tomorrow, they are going back. 

I have an all-school reunion coming up in July, and I always try to wear something pretty to those events...something that doesn't make me look quite as large as I am....you know how that goes. We just don't like to admit that we are never going to be lithe and youthful looking again. So, we try to find something that 'disguises' the fact so we can at least feel nearly as skinny as we were, back in the day...

Oh well...I'll keep looking. Maybe the shop where I bought these two darling tops will have something that is more in tune with my X-sized shape (but I'm not going to hold my breath...) 

This afternoon David wanted to go to Toledo to pick up some flags to designate the part of the ditch in front of our property where he has planted the wildflowers, and where he doesn't want road crews to spray. He wondered if I wanted to go to the nursery and garden center down there, and of course, I did! So, I bought pots of flowers to put into the railing planters my sister had (that I got when I bought some of her things following her death three years ago...) There are six planters, but I thought there were only five, so I may have to buy a few more plants to fill that last, forgotten one. I got some trailing verbena in a pretty medium purple color, some violet, not-too-tall flowering plants and some viney plants in a sort of gray-green sage color that hopefully will trail down the sides of the deck rails and make it all look quite handsome. I also got a single lavender blue flowering plant that trails and spills over the side of the pot to put into a hanging basket for which I have a wrought iron stand. I think I need some white or other light colored plant to make a nice contrast, but at this point, I'm going to put the ones I have into the planters tomorrow. We also got a bag of their potting soil, so I have some work cut out for me first thing in the morning. 

Later, I plan to take those tops back to the store where I got them, and take another look at what they have to offer...just in case I can find something, and leave the shop not feeling like I've made the gal there feel 'cheated' out of a sale... maybe a pretty purse since the one I have for summer seems a bit worn.

And, in the afternoon, about 3:30 p.m., I'm going to hopefully be back home, and will make myself a mint julep and sit down to watch The Preakness. I'm back into 'horses' now that we've been to a real horse farm in Kentucky, and have seen some valuable horses... It can be a bit exciting...

Anyway, that's how things are on this day.... tune in again soon!

 

Nice, new task chair....and skin lesions...

Some news is good news, like the comfy new task chair I bought a couple of days ago to replace the one that kept wanting to 'throw' me out of it! It was delivered today while I was at an appointment with a skin doctor. I don't know if this counts, but I actually 'broke a sweat' trying to put the darned thing together! (When you get old, things that once seemed very easy, become hard, and turning the little wrench tool that was included in this chair package was almost impossible...but I got it done!) So, now I have a nice-looking, comfortable chair to sit in while I work online.... I am thinking my light may be on even later at night now... oh, dear! This chair makes me feel 'scholarly' somehow... but I don't think I'll start smoking a pipe or anything...

Today I went to the clinic in a town not too far from us. I have an appointment next week with my endocrinologist, and the first part of June with a physician's assistant who is working with the former patients of our doctor who left the practice. Each of these doctors wanted a different blood test...one needed me fasting for 12 hours, and I had a glass of lemonade at about 11 p.m. last night, making it necessary to get the blood work done after 11 a.m. today. I did that, and this very nice clinic gave me a little white sack with a nutrition bar and a small container of juice to give me a 'boost' after the blood work was done. 

Then, I went to the downtown area, and had pizza buffet at Pizza Hut (sometimes I treat myself to a 'no-no' food, but only on rare occasions). I also did a little shopping and got some paint remover at the hardware store. Plus, I found out that a new ladies' clothing boutique has opened up in this town, and they have a tea room, and serve lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. That's where I'm going next time I am here to see a doctor!

I saw a skin doctor this afternoon, and she removed several keratosis pilaris from my back (that's what you get from all of that sunbathing without sunblock, over decades...) She also checked me over completely, froze a couple of 'pre-cancerous' itchy spots on my face, and told me to make an appointment to come back and have a biopsy of a 'suspicious' bump on one side of my nose. (This bump has been there quite a long time, and it has not grown or done anything suspicious, but I guess it's better to know than to not know, and get a rude awakening down the road.) Ain't growing old fun? Not especially...

But, all in all, I'm pretty healthy, as a general rule. So, I'll go get this done (at the end of the month...) and deal with whatever comes next. (Really would rather not lose part of the end of my nose, but of course, that is always a possibility.... I'll keep you posted!) Funny thing is, I always hated my nose as a teenager....thought it was too long! Interesting how the idea of maybe losing a chunk of the end of it gives me the 'willies' now...

Drove home in a chilly drizzle, and found the big box with my new chair inside sitting on the landing just inside the front door. So, I pulled the box up the stairs, got out my tools, and sat down to assemble the chair. Now, I'm sitting in it, writing this post, and thinking I was foolish to put up with the other wobbly, poor quality one all this time. This chair has a high back, arms and an adjustable height lever.... nice!

Some good news, and some news that I'd rather not think about....such is the day in the life of a 70-something lady here in the Midwest.

See you tomorrow...

Feed the birds...tuppence a bag (nope...a whole lot more than 'tuppence' these days!)

This morning I put out the big cake of suet with seeds that cardinals like in the new, big cardinal suet feeder I bought. I also refilled the oriole feeder with Welch's grape jelly and some oriole food that you mix with water. My feeder has four depressions in the top for jelly, and beneath the top there is a compartment for the liquid food. You could also spear half an orange with the post that fastens the feeder to the 'hanger,' but I didn't have any oranges so I skipped that part. We'll see if any orioles show up. After I first hung the feeder on our deck, the jelly all disappeared, but I didn't see any orioles. Now, I'll keep an eye out for them. Unfortunately, it is supposed to rain much of tomorrow, so that may keep them from visiting the feeder.

I also put some of the hydrangea food on my new blue hydrangea plant that David put into the ground this morning. Now, we'll see some pretty flowers and this plant growing into a lovely bush in the front yard. I can't wait...

The ducks and the two little geese now have a fenced in pen just outside the garage door. In the morning, if it is nice like it was today, David gets the pen all set up and opens a 'door' on one side of the cardboard pen where these little guys live (in the garage) until they get feathers and can stand being outside all the time in the mobile 'chicken' tractor. After he gets the side of the cardboard box open, he puts their feed trough and their watering trough out into the little pen, and pretty soon all of the little webbed-footed guys go traipsing out in a row. The ducks have made peace with the geese, so now they all cuddle together in a pile, once they have explored the grass and pen fully. The geese especially love eating the grass. The ducks...not so much. But, all of them seem to enjoy being outside, especially on a pretty, sunny day like today.

I spent the afternoon putting more of my books onto the newly refinished bookcases, and trying to get the library room more organized. This entire move to a different home has been an ongoing effort, and we still have more work to be done. We hope to get the old, cracked concrete removed from outside the mudroom door, and some new retaining walls and new patio put in using 'tumbled' Belgian bricks. Once that gets completed, and the deck gets it's new coat of stain, things should be pretty much done, except for the ongoing projects like the garden, and planting things in the yard. David says his wildflowers that he planted in the ditch along the road in front of our property are coming up...that will look pretty nice, I think.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with a dermatologist to see if all those years of sun-bathing up at the lake in Minnesota have created a bunch of work for him....I seem to have a lot of scaly, itchy spots on my back, and I'm hoping he can remove some of them. When you are young and your skin is smooth and supple, you don't think of how awful it will look with spots and scales on it.... Well, kiddos, many sunburns have left me with a full slate of icky skin spots. We'll see if anything can be done about it, but I have a feeling my skin is on the 'downhill slide....'

I bought myself a new desk chair since the one I bought just a little over a year ago was a piece of junk, and the seat wiggles and wobbles so badly that I get a sore back trying not to fall off of it. I complained to the store where I got it, and they did give me a coupon for half of its purchase price (but not a full refund because the chair was not made by their company...) I did remind them that I purchased the chair on their web site, but be forewarned, if a product does not bear the company name, they won't be willing to 'own' any problems it might have. But, it was not an expensive chair, and I definitely did not want to keep trying to sit on it (although my daughter did tell me that it would probably 'work my core' sitting on it...!) So, hopefully, tomorrow my new, better quality, company brand desk chair will be delivered, so I can put my kitchen chair back at the kitchen table where it belongs!

I found a shoebox full of photos of my deceased niece, Bonnie. I inherited them when Bonnie's mom, my sister Merry, died in 2012. I hated to throw those photos of that darling little girl away (even though Bonnie was in her 50's when she died), so I've decided to scan them into my computer, transfer them to a thumb drive, and keep them that way. Then, I'll take the actual photos out to our burn pile, and David and I will have a memorial pyre and burn them. At least, I can still look at them if I want, and they will be available for printing, should a need arise.

I hope you all had as glorious a day as it was here in central Iowa. It was a bit windy, and rather cool, but the sun shone all day, and everything looked so lovely. I even picked some lily-of-the-valley and put them in the pretty crystal vase my friend Kate gave me, and now my living room smells absolutely wonderful!

Until next time...

Home-made Bread and Clean Teeth....

Yesterday was a busy day...we did laundry (David hangs jeans, bedding, towels, etc. on the clothesline), I made four loaves of my really good home-made bread, gave David a hair cut (I've been his barber for 40 years...and so far, no one has said he needs to find a new barber!), and I finished printing out an entire package of 4x6 photos of the Civil War battle sites we visited on our recent trip for my cousin, Jim Cooper, who also does genealogy. 

My bread recipe is printed at the end of this post. It is taken from The Tassajara Bread Book, which was published by Shambhala Publications, Inc. in Berkeley, California in 1970 (and reprinted for several years after that...)

Today, I got my teeth cleaned as part of my 'spring tune-up.' I always hate to eat lunch after that because those fantastically clean teeth just start getting gummed up all over again. 

Tonight were invited to have dinner with several other couples who are also clients of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. The location was Montage in Cedar Falls, a very nice and elegant eating establishment. We had a good time, talking, laughing, and enjoying the company of the two nice (young) agents who invited us to the dinner, along with their pretty spouses. It was also nice to meet some other folks from the area who also have insurance and investments with Thrivent.

Tassajara Yeasted Bread

(Four loaves.) 

I. 6 c. lukewarm water (85-105 degrees F.)

   2 T. yeast (2 packages dry yeast)

  1/2 to 3/4 c. sweetening (honey, molasses, brown sugar - I use honey from a bee-keeper here in Iowa)

   2 c. dry milk powder (optional)

   7-9 c. whole wheat flour (I use a mixture of grains and seeds here - about 1 c. rolled oats, some sunflower seeds and some pumpkin seeds, about 1/2 c. of flax seed meal, some gluten flour - but you don't have to add that, wheat germ if I have it, about 1 - 1 1/2 c. rye flour, and good quality whole wheat flour - organic, if I can get it)

II. 1 T. salt (I use sea salt)

    1/2 - 1 c. oil (I use peanut or some other oil that is high in omega 3)

    6-8 c. additional flour (depending on what I have on hand, this could be bread flour or more whole wheat flour - using bread flour makes the loaves a bit less 'heavy' - I go light with the additional flour until I see how quickly it seems to 'firm' up... you can always add more flour, but once its in there, you can't remove it!)

    2-3 c. whole wheat flour (for kneading - just spread out part of this amount...depending on the humidity in the air, flour can be dry or more moist, and it is better to knead in more flour if the dough is sticky than putting in too much flour, which can make the dough more tough)

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water (if the water is too hot, it will kill the yeast and your bread will be hard and won't rise much)

Stir in sweetening and dry milk.

Stir in the first amount of whole wheat flour (and/or other grains/seeds) until a thick batter is formed. I use a large whisk to get all the ingredients well mixed.

Beat well with a spoon (or a whisk!)

Cover your bowl (I use a very large Tupperware bowl with a matching lid), and set your timer for 60 minutes, to let the 'sponge' rise.

Fold in the salt and the oil.

Fold in the additional flour, except for the amount you are using to knead the dough. Stir with a wooden spoon (the whisk won't make it through this thick dough at this point...) until the mixture is well-combined and the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.

Knead the dough on a counter top or board which has been well-floured with some of the 'kneading flour.' I keep adding more of this flour until the dough is no longer really sticky, and starts getting smooth and 'elastic.' Continue kneading your bread for 10-15 minutes total, until the dough feels and looks 'smooth.'

Put the dough back into the big bowl, and cover it. Let it rise (preferable in a warm spot) for 50 minutes (set your timer again.)

Punch the dough down, and put the cover back on the bowl.

Let rise 40 minutes.

I knead the dough briefly, and then gather it into an oval shape, and cut the dough into fourths, once from top to bottom and once across the middle, trying to get approximately the same amount of dough into each segment.

I shape my loaves by taking each segment and starting at one end, I make a roll of dough with my fingers, and then continue rolling the dough toward the opposite end to form a loaf. This loaf will have somewhat elongated ends. Just fold them under slightly, and put each loaf into a well-greased bread loaf pan. Repeat with the other three segments, and place the bread pans on top of your oven, which has been turned on to 400 degrees to preheat. 

Set your timer, cover the loaves with a clean tea towel, and let them rise 20 minutes, or until they have begun to rise above the top of the loaf pan a bit.

Bake the loaves until they are golden brown on top, and sound 'hollow' when you tap the top of them, about 45 minutes. Check to see if they seem 'done,' and put them back into the oven if they are not. At this temperature, they will bake rapidly from this point on, so be careful to not let them burn. (Sometimes the bottoms of my loaves look pretty dark, but often they are not really burnt, but just a nice, firm crust on the bottom....you will learn how to tell when they are 'just right!')

Remove the loaves from the pans onto a wire rack and let them cool, or eat some right away (with butter or honey!) I let the loaves get completely cool, and then put them into clean bread bags, or other plastic bags that can accommodate a loaf of bread. We put three into the freezer and eat from one loaf at a time.

Note: Sometimes I mix an egg and some water, and use that to coat the tops of the loaves before I bake them. After brushing on the egg mixture, I sprinkle the loaves with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, oatmeal or other nice topping. Then I brush them once again with the 'egg wash' to seal the seeds in so they won't fall off after the bread is baked.

So, there you have it...the Rueber secrets to make a healthy, tasty loaf of home-made bread!

Have at it!

Caffeine is the problem...

So, yesterday afternoon, I made myself a cup of coffee, and drank it the way I usually drink coffee....all afternoon. No wonder at 2 a.m. when I finally went to bed, all I could do was lie there and think of all the things I wanted to get done.

It does no good to stay in bed when you are wide awake, so I got up and worked on typing up the information from markers and posters we saw on our Civil War trip in April. I'm making copies of the pertinent photos for a cousin who does family research, and who has been instrumental in getting me records and information that I can use in my family tree. You see, his great-grandfather is the brother of my great-grandfather, so we have a common interest in the two Cooper brothers who joined the army to fight during that great, sad war. Even though this cousin's great-grandfather was unsuccessful in joining his brothers in the fight with the Confederates, he did become a soldier - against his mother's wishes. He lied about his age in order to serve. The family has a copy of a letter written by Great-grandmother Rebecca to the government, asking to have her 'under-age' son returned home to help with the farm, and for the sake of his health, as she told them he was not a strong young man. As it turned out, he did serve eventually, but in the so-called 'Indian' wars, not in the great battles of the Civil War. 

Even so, this cousin is a genealogy buff and loves any bit of information he can get about our ancestors, their lives, and their various military experiences.

So, I took lots of photos of the battle sites where my great-grandfather and great-grand uncle fought, and as mentioned above, I'm making copies of those photos to send to him for his files (both brothers would be his great-grand uncles). Since many of the pictures are of markers and posters that explain various battles and strategies, and since the photos of the text on those markers and posters make the words small and hard to read, I decided to magnify each of those photos on my computer screen, and type out what they say so my cousin can easily read about them. You see, unfortunately, for him to simply enlarge each photo after scanning them into his computer doesn't work well, since once they are printed out, they become digitized and blurred when you magnify them. Also, now I will have a written copy of the text on those photos that I can myself refer to when needed.

There I was from about 2:30 a.m. until about 5:00 a.m., typing away, bringing up photo after photo and copying the information into a Word document that I can print out and send to this cousin, along with the photos I am copying for him.

Needless to say, at 5:00 a.m. my eyes gave out on me and I crawled back into my bed, hoping to get at least a few hours of sleep before my day began.

I did sleep about 4 hours at that time, and a few more after I had eaten some breakfast, but tonight I can feel the need for better sleep creeping up on me. So, I will say a few words about the day, and try to retire earlier than usual. I'm hoping that the storms that keep popping up west of us calm down, or my sleep will again be disturbed tonight.

This morning I got an email from our daughter in the Dallas area. Apparently, her suburb was hit with a tornado, but her apartment was not affected. Her email was much appreciated, as I do tend to be a worrier. She also wished me a 'happy Mother's day, and said a card is on its way...

Then, David brought in the bookcases he has been refinishing in the garage, and it was time to move out the plastic crates I've been using for the books and other materials in our library. We do have some nice cabinets with shelves, but I seem to have accumulated quite a few family dishes and keepsakes that I have not yet been able to part with, along with my art books and other materials, so those cabinets are full.

Putting the new bookcases in place required me to unplug all the myriad cords going into my computer, and move the desk down the wall a bit to make room for the new bookcase on that side of the room. Moving the desk necessitated moving a framed photo that was on the wall behind the desk, because with the computer monitor in a new position, that photo was hidden behind it, and I enjoy looking at the picture of my folks' former cabin that once stood on a pretty lake in northern Minnesota. So, out came the tools. After I got the desk and picture where I wanted them, and my computer tower moved to a different spot, I tried to plug in each of the many cables, back into their proper spots on the tower back. I was a bit frustrated because the monitor did not seem to be hooked up properly, and would not turn on. 

But, I was in luck, because just about then, my son Dave and his wife Carol came and brought me a Mother's day gift - a beautiful 'Endless Summer' blue hydrangea! Dave is good with computers, so after showing them the baby ducks and geese, I brought him in to see if he could make the monitor work. Well, I don't know how, but when I turned on the computer, the monitor came right on...guess I had it all plugged in the right spots, in spite of myself!

After they left, I returned to the job of getting my books put onto the new shelves. I still have one entire bookcase left to fill, but things look so much better. Eventually, this room we call 'the library' will look quite smart and orderly, I'm sure.

For supper we had some delicious corn tortillas I bought from a Mexican 'tienda' in Waterloo. They were wonderful, and I fried some fish fillets, and cut up an avocado and some red onion slices to serve with them. David brought in some fresh leaf lettuce from the garden, too. We had homemade salsa and fresh lime juice with the tacos. For beverages, we enjoyed some very good beer. 

I made 'hush puppies' with the leftover Panko crumbs/flour mixture and the excess beaten eggs. Our dog, Suny, liked his 'hush puppy,' and now we expect him to be a very quiet dog tonight.

Our usual Sunday evening is spent watching some favorite dramas on PBS, and reading the Sunday paper.

There will not be any computer work tonight. I need to go to bed!

I am also grateful for the nice greetings on my Facebook page from my kids/spouses in Arizona and Nevada. How lucky I am... family is so very important... 

Good night, all...

Got Rhubarb? Make Beer... or Bars!

Rhubarb Beer

(Recipe quoted to me by David...)

Before you start, all equipment should be sterilized using 1 T. regular household bleach to 1 gallon of water. You can purchase supplies from MidwestSupplies.com online. You will want to read the entire recipe before you start making this beer. You may have to order some of the ingredients, but Midwest Supplies is pretty quick to get them to you.

7 lb. cut-up rhubarb, previously frozen and then thawed to allow the most juice to be extracted (save these for later in the process)

6 lb. gold liquid extract

3.1 lb. wheat liquid malt extract

2 oz. Cascade whole hops

3 gallons of water

Boil gold and wheat extracts, hops and 3 gallons water together in a pot that will hold all of those ingredients. Keep at a 'rolling' boil for 1 hour (it will foam, so be sure your pot is large enough to allow that, and avoid having to clean up your stove top)

Cool to 90 degrees F.

Strain mixture through a strainer to remove hops. Add cool water to make 5 1/2 gallons of total liquid. The temperature after adding the cool water should be between 60 degrees and 70 degrees F.

Add 1 package of Salfale US-05 dry yeast (Midwest Supplies has this also)

Let ferment in a closed container with an airlock for one week. David uses a 6-gallon plastic bucket with a lid and airlock (pre-sterilized, of course). 

Siphon off the top (clear liquid), leaving the yeast and other non-clear elements behind. Run the siphon tube into a pre-sanitized 6 gallon glass jug with an airlock. If there is more liquid than will fit into a 6 gallon jug, you may want to have a 1 gallon glass jug pre-sanitized and ready to take the excess. It will also need an airlock.

Add all the juice you can extract from the thawed rhubarb pieces. Mash the pieces in the bottom of a large strainer to extract as much of the juice as possible. Repeat as necessary to get all of the rhubarb 'juiced.'

Add 3/4 lb. corn sugar (available from Midwest Supplies)

Let ferment in container with an airlock for 1 week or until it stops bubbling.

Boil 1 c. corn sugar and 1 pint water for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add to rhubarb mixture. (Don't stir after adding because you don't want to add air at this point. It will incorporate into the rhubarb mixture on its own.)

Bottle the beer and cap the bottles. Store at least 2 weeks before drinking.

Enjoy!