Bob

For the first time in several days it has stopped raining and the sun is shining.  Two more storms are predicted in the next four days.  I am so glad we have a new roof!  We have had almost 40 inches of rain since October.

picture from the web

I saw our local bobcat again this afternoon.  I was washing a few dishes and I looked out the kitchen window and there he was just walking thru as calmly as can be.   


I hope he is catching lots of mice and gophers in our yard.  They have been invading our garage again lately.  


I've been baiting the traps and catching them.  The other morning there was a mouse that had only been caught by the foot.  I couldn't kill it by hand, so I took it and let it go on the far side of the yard.  


Wonder if Bob killed it for me.

Master Bedroom is FINISHED

Well, almost. 

 I still have to clean the free standing cone fireplace and give it fresh a coat of high temp black paint, but that's another project and may not happen for a while.

I left the tape up on top so I can make a plastic tent when we spray paint it.  Before we had the roof redone water dripped down the pipe and there is a bit of rust that has to be cleaned of

But everything else is done!  

I ended up deciding to save the light sage green color for another room and go with my own custom mixed color.  

I had tried three different sample quarts of paint and none of them were right, so I took some white paint and started adding a bit of bunt umber and a bit of burnt sienna until I got the color I liked. 

 Then I  added more white to get it to the correct shade. 

 I took this to Sherwin Williams and they almost matched it.  Their sample match was still to dark so I had them mix it at 75% saturation for the gallon and it was just right.  

The new color is very much like the background color of the Blogger Dashboard! Neutral, but a good color to bridge between the barn wood wall and stone wall.

On Sunday we carried the big brass framed mirror into the kitchen and I spent a couple hours polishing it with Brasso.  Craig had gone off to the store while I worked, but when he came back he did some rubbing too.

Wow, it came out like new!   

The entire room has been transformed!

You will never confuse me with "Susie Homemaker."  I hate to clean, and rarely do housework, but my recent painting has been very rewarding.

As I work thru each room I become more and more motivated to keep them nice. 

The good news is I won't be doing any more renovation for at least the next two weeks.

 I have a couple of sculpture orders to get done this week, and next week I have to get stuff ready for the Flea Market on April 2nd.

  I've been stashing stuff in boxes in one of the garages for several months.  Now I have to haul it all out, sort it, price it, and decide what should go to the market, what should be kept for storage, and what should go to the dump. 

Craig is no help in this. Whenever I bring it up he makes "unhappy noises."  I don't know if thats just his way of getting out of dealing with things. 

So if I don't do it, it won't get done!

Well, at least it's not painting!

Audio Version of Merikay Remembers

Now what is she doing?








Last November I started a second blog Merikay Remembers as a place to  write a series of little stories about my childhood for my grandchildren.


Years ago,  I had helped my own mother use a book of questions to put together her stories.


  For Mother's day, last year, my daughter gave me a similar guide book, and I decided it was time to start working with it.


About the same time Kim Miles  was experimenting with doing audio versions of her blogs.  She used the free trial of a service from the internet.  (I just checked her blogs from then and see the audio tracks are no longer working.)


 I really thought it was a neat idea.  Craig told me I didn't need a "service" to make audio files, and he could show me how to do it.


Well, in our usual way we got busy and five months have slipped by.  The other night I asked him about it again and between the two of us we figured it out.


  Using the Garage Band application on my lap top I am able to record podcast files in an MP3 format.  I went to the Help link on Blogger and learned how to put them into my posts. 


To do this, I had to either  subscribe to a service like Kim had, or  host the podcasts  myself. 


Since we have a nice big web site, that worked for me, and Craig showed me how to do it.


I don't intend to make podcasts of this blog any time soon, but I think it is a neat addition to my little stories. Most of the MP3s are only a minute or so long.


If you'd like to see how it's working there is an Audio link at the bottom of each of the stories on Merikay Remembers .  There is also a link to that blog on my side bar just under the labels cloud.


Now that I've got it figured out I hope to create a story or two each week to build the collection.  Eventually I will burn the podcasts to a CD for my great grand children, and have the blog posts printed as a book or ebook.  gotta be modern.

The answer to the question posed at the beginning of this post is that I'm recording an MP3.


Craig said they sounded to tinny and echoey, so I put a blanket over myself to make a recording chamber!

Groan!

The ceiling need a second coat!

Hank The Cowdog

As I read the blogs of those of you who are wandering around Arizona and Southern California, finding wonderful ranch sites and desert locations, I can't help thinking how much you would enjoy listening to the Hank the Cowdog  audio book series.


Those of you in other states will enjoy them too!

A recent picture on the the Bayfield bunch blog of a coyote outside their rig reminded me of the series.


We have about a dozen of the the audio books that we have bought thru the NPR (National Public Radio) catalog over the years, and have enjoyed  while sitting in front of a winter's fire, and while taking the long drive down to San Diego (with dogs of course!)


Who is Hank?

Hank is a mutt!  He lives on a ranch,
and in fact is the "HEAD of RANCH SECURITY!

The many delightful stories are told
 in Hanks own voice,
from his unique, dog, point of view.

Hank and his good buddy Drover get into all
sorts of trouble, both inside and out.
Of course it's never their fault.

Sometimes Hank is a hero!
He also falls in love a lot.

Sometimes he has disagreements with the CAT!
The cat always wins, but Hank doesn't think so.

And the coyotes.  At one point Hank falls in love with a lady coyote and goes to live with the pack.  But they have  many drunken parties, and their singing keeps Hank awake at night.

Whatever he does, he manages to make his listeners smile. 

So if you love dogs, humor, and the West, this is a wonderful series.  

Buy a few for yourself, you can always share them with your grandchildren!

I looked up Hank on Google hoping to find some free downloads to recommend to my RV friends.  I found one site here that had a couple.  I don't know how it works, but you might want to try it. 

I did find the Hank the Cowdog web site and store where you can buy CDs or cassettes.  It's   here.  They let you listen to a sample of  the stories. 


I checked with the San Jose Library, and it looks like they have all the books, but I can't find any Audio Books.  I'll have to go into the Library one of these days and ask.

I'm going to buy several more and put Hank on my Christmas wish list. (I don't need any more "stuff.") I would like to have more to listen to when WE are on the road.  (There are more than 50 stories in all.) 


Anyway, it's good for the child within,  And I think with RVers, the child is not far from the surface!

here

Medley Stuffed Peppers

The other day I bought a package of three Sweet Bell Peppers for no other reason than "they were so pretty."  I  decided I wanted to use them this evening, but  I didn't feel like doing my good "old stuffed pepper the way my mother did it" recipe.  You know, hamburger, rice, and tomato soup, so I looked thru the cupboards to see what I had on hand and put together my own version of a recipe I  saw in a magazine some years ago.


Craig said they were the best stuffed peppers he had ever had and insisted I post the recipe.  So here it is:

Merikay’s Medley Stuffed Peppers

Serves 2

Three sweet Bell peppers –red, yellow, orange

Cooking oil

2 large garlic cloves – minced

¼ Cup Onion,- minced

2 Cups fresh Crimini mushroom caps – minced

1 cup uncooked rice medley  (A mix of rice including brown and  wild – no seasonings added) I bought this in the bulk section of Berkeley Bowl.

½  cup Parmesan cheese

½ cup grated Mexican Cheese Mix (Packaged)  These were all leftovers and

½ cup Jack Cheese (Packaged)                             amounts were what I had on hand

1 small can  (8.75 oz) kidney beans – rinsed and drained

½ Cup frozen corn

3 green onions sliced into rounds

Cook rice medley in 2 cups water until tender (about 40 minutes).

 Cut peppers length wise. Steam until tender. 

Sauté garlic and onions in 1 Tablespoon oil a few minutes, then add the mushrooms.  Cook until mushrooms wilt and corn defrosts.  Add cooked rice medley, kidney beans, and parmesan cheese.

 Place peppers cut side up in single layer in baking dish.  Fill with rice mix. (I had a little left over that I put it into a small dish and saved for lunch.   It could be baked along with the peppers).

Scatter green onions over peppers. Scatter Mexican cheese mix over peppers and place into a preheated 350 oven. 

  Bake 15 minutes, scatter Jack cheese over and bake 5 minutes more.

Cooking time might be increased if dish is made ahead and is cold.

All measurements were based on leftovers I had on hand and what seemed about right.

 So now it's in my blog and I can find it using the "Labels."

Last Wall

Today, Saturday, Craig helped me take down the heavy brass mirror over the built-in vanity so I could get the wallpaper off the last wall in the master bedroom.


He had to remove the paper from the kick-space in the center. I can climb step ladders all day, but I just can't get down into little low places like that!


Unless something comes up, I will start painting the ceiling on Monday or Tuesday.  I still have to decide on a wall color.  I'm torn between a pinkish brown that might go with the stone and wood wall, or a very light sage. 


The operative word is "might."  I've already bought three sample pinkish brownish paints, and none of them are quite right. I know the sage would be safe.  I guess I'll get a sample quart and try it out.  I hate making these kinds of decisions! 


Someday this will all be a distant memory!


For today, I got to check off "remove wallpaper from master bedroom" in my to do book.