Home again--for a day!

Great trip to Minnesota.  We played with Mason a lot.  Later I will dig out the camera for more Minnesota pictures.  We drove home in some pounding rain.  For once, I had just replaced the windshield wipers.  

But before I left, this box arrived. 

A present!

More reds and some matching thread!

I should have enough reds to finish the swap now.  4 yards of reds!  And I won't put them on my stash report, I didn't pay for them!   Thank you Henrietta!  Henrietta has seen my stash and knows there is only bits and pieces of reds.  I used most my RED reds on two QOV tops.

And the new Hancock's arrived while I was gone, so I have some late night reading material.  Ahh, Vicky?--what is the name of your dentist??  Read Vicky's post, she filled her cart TWICE and forgot to order.  She blames it on the Novocaine her dentist filled her head with!

Sunday Stash Report

I stash enhanced this week.   2 1/2 yards.  I'm busy with Mason so I will go back later and see where I'm at.  I suspect I'm still in the black, but not much.  But I feel good about it.  I think before I purchase fabric now.  What did I buy?  Some reds for my swap!

I especially like that diagonal stripe.

 
Mason pictures.  Good way to play with the camera.

First, there is the traditional "eating toes".

And picking a book (or 10) to have granpa read.

Grandpa reading to Mason.

Today is Ken's birthday, I think we are grilling and the cake is made.  Laura Beth tried to convince me Ken's birthday was YESTERDAY, so she could cut the cake.  Mason's birthday is in a week, so we will celebrate that too.  

 

Packing For Minnesota--Riverboat Days

Temps were in the upper 90's with high humidity.   Crowd reported to be 150,000 people.  Ric, Ken and I stopped at a few vendors in the mall.  That is all we did!  Too hot.  Sunday we ate breakfast buffet, picked up the Sunday papers.  We road tripped to a couple of Nebraska State Parks we haven't seen.   We read and napped.  And napped some more.  Wonderful weekend!

My only purchase--a present!

I love Sue Hecker's photos--especially the ones with birds and bugs.  With my new camera I spent a bit of time outside practicing.  There was a bumble bee checking out some flowers---blue flowers shaped like snapdragons.  He barely fit, sliding down so that you only see a bit of his butt.  Unfortunately, I was still learning my camera!  

Look closely--there's a bee butt there!

Last night I worked on my red/white swap blocks a bit while doing laundry.  Feels good to sew again.  

I better start packing!

 

Monday Moments

Whew--I'm back.  Kind of!  Since I hadn't been home (to my house home) Ken brought my laptop to me.  No internet in the camper so I'm at the local library where they have wireless.  

First--my new camera arrived.  Here is the first photo I took--

Yes, a picture of my lawn chair!  Wanted to see how well it photographed colors.  

Here I tried a moving image.  The pages were fluttering the breeze.  Not bad!

 

Black flipflops with black socks.  Not bad.  I need to read the manual some more, I think there are more features I would use.

This past weekend was Riverboat Days in Yankton.  Big celebration, parade etc.  Ken took a few days vacation and we relaxed.  Ate out.  Took a drive.  Slept in and read the Sunday paper!  Life was good.  

I hope to blog more, maybe even SEW!!  I will have additions to the Stash report.  Like I said--life is good!   

This coming weekend we will be heading to Minnesota to visit Nick, Laura Beth and Mason.  Mason's birthday is the 4th, Ken's is the 29th, and Nick and Laura Beth were married the 9th.  A few things to celebrate.  And of course, pictures of Mason.  Glad that camera arrived!

 

The Sound of Silence

No camera, no time to sew, no blogging time either.

This weekend is Riverboat Days and I promise I will tell you all about it.

 

A Few Pictures From The Storm

Ric my neighbor sent me a few pictures he took after the storm.  This is where the gate attendants were during the storm.  Right behind that sign--the bench was in front of the booth.   Most of the tree that fell beside it has already been removed.

 Roof from gate booth--

 What is left of gate booth--I think.

They were in the booth when the tree branches struck it.  Luckily--most the tree missed them, or they would have been crushed.  The booth was mashed, and they were underneath a chair--that is what held the debris off them!  

There are many many trees down, and although campers (not the people) were struck by them, or overturned in the wind--there were only minor injuries!

This is one of the bathrooms.  

One of the many large trees down.  They broke off at the wind line (imagine toothpicks all snapped off at the same height) or were completely uprooted.

Later that evening we noticed the chain link fence by the road was torn off the posts.  It's a high fence, and its laying in a clump in the ditch.   The volunteer campground is probably less than 1/2 a mile from all this, and although we had branches down and broken trees, no damage to anything.  Someone up above was looking out for everyone~!

 

Still Kicking

Life is pretty busy at the moment.  Strong 70+ mph winds where I volunteer/camp.  Although the volunteer campground had no damage, other campers were not so lucky.  But no serious injuries.   Ric (my neighbor) took lots of pictures, so hopefully I will have some in a few days.  My camera is "in transit", I am so happy!

 

Tuesday--New Recipe

Sometimes we have potluck on the weekends.  I used this recipe for a Mexican potluck.  It isn't hot, and not a lot of fat.  Got good reviews from everyone.  Most the ingredients you can have on hand.  Great emergency meal!

White Chili

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 1/4 cups chicken broth (I used 3 bullion cubes in water)
• 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
• 1 mashed garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 green onions, chopped
• dollop of sour cream on each serving

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken and onion in oil 4 to 5 minutes, or until onion is tender.
2. Stir in the chicken broth, green chiles, garlic clove, cumin, oregano, cilantro, and cayenne pepper. Reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Stir in the beans, and simmer for 5 more minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear. Garnish with green onion and sour cream.

 

 

Monday Goals

Goals for the week.  I will continue to work on my camper projects and my swap blocks.  

This weekend we attended an out of town wedding.   We hadn't been to a wedding held outside for a long time.  The weather cooperated, it wasn't terribly hot, and it flowed smoothly.  

On the way home we stopped and priced new doors with frames and storm doors for the back door.  I think we've narrowed it down.  

And yes, it is again raining.  Maybe it will be a passing shower?  Maybe not, it's raining pretty heavy.

And I've ordered a camera.  Decided to buy the one with what I felt had the best reviews.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20 14.1 MP Digital Camera with 8x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Blue)

I hope it arrives soon.  Has anyone tried this camera??  I wanted it to be easy to use and have a flash you can turn off.  I didn't want to spend a lot of money either.  

What camera do you use and why???