Live every day to the fullest.

and try or do something new.

Goodness, our weather is so changeable. Yesterday I was outside most of the day working in the garden enjoying T shirt temperatures. Today, is quite a lot cooler.

This morning bright and early, MrC and I prepared to drive up to CWSA range for a falling plate shoot. We were almost out the door, when MrC asked if I wanted to take a jacket. I did have a T shirt and a zip up hoodie on but thought it may sprinkle a little as the skies were rather overcast, so tossed my jacket onto the back seat of the car.

Later on that morning, I thanked my honey for the good advise in prompting me to take a jacket, as I ended up wearing my jacket over my T shirt and hoodie. Yes, it was that cool and the sun did not warm things up until we had done shooting around noon, and even then, it was not anywhere near yesterdays temperatures.

Driving up to the range, we passed by Greenbank, where the annual Loganberry Festival was being held, and I mentioned, that next year, if there was not a match at the range, I would drive up to Greenbank and wander around the festival to check out what was going on.

As we drove back home, my tummy started to tell me it was time to eat and I said to MrC I was hungry, to which he replied, "there are food booths at the Loganberry festival, we can stop by and grab something to eat"
You did not have to ask me twice, I said "let's do it" so we found a place to park the car and started our walk around the farm. MrC went towards the stage to listen to the band which was playing and I went in search of food.

All I had to do was follow the enticing aroma of food wafting on the breeze. I passed by the wine tasting booths. Actually, I looked at all the delicious wines, and decided it would not be a good idea to sample on an empty stomach, falling down drunk was not on the agenda for today *grin* I passed by a hot dog stand, no, that is not what the taste buds were searching for, same with the Greek food, didn't want healthy organic filled wraps, did not want curly fries, seafood, hmmmm perhaps, no that is not what I want, THEN, I saw a booth which had a large sign on the front saying African Food.
Now here was something which made me sit up and take notice. I asked myself, Just what kind of food do they eat in Africa? only one way to find out, go get some.

I can tell you, I was not disappointed. There were several different choices to be made and I chose to buy the combination plate. The combination plate consisted of black eyed peas, hominy, a green vegetable, which could have been spinach, and a Samoosa which is a triangular, filled pastry, probably an egg type wrapper, which was fried. All the different foods were prepared with wonderful spices, garlic, and other ingredients I could not identify, and I was offered a choice of three different sauces, and was given all three around the edge of the plate.

What a delightful taste sensation, I could have gone back for seconds, if I had not wanted to leave room for a chocolate dipped, loganberry ice cream bar made locally by Mike Rudd & Mary Stoll of Whidbey Ice cream Co.

What another great day in the life of Keewee and her sweetheart MrC.

You're not leaving without me!

It seems Rocket is telling us we are no longer going to go away without him.
He has made himself comfortable, in one of our bags we put on the bed to unpack, after our weekend away.

No Harm Chicken Parm

This recipe comes from one of my favorite websites, Hungry Girl. I receive a daily email from them with wonderful lo-cal, lo-fat recipes and *tips & tricks* You can also go to their site and sign up for their free email.

Juicy-on-the-inside, crunchy-on-the-outside chicken breast complete with melt-y cheese and warm tomato sauce?!? Now that's the kind of meal we'd gladly sink our teeth into on a daily basis if it weren't so notoriously high in fat and calories! Fortunately for everyone, HG tackled the task of whipping up a crazy-good guilt-free version of this classic chicken dish.

Ingredients:
5 oz. boneless skinless chicken breast (raw)
1/3 cup Fiber One cereal
1/4 cup Egg Beaters
3/4 tsp. reduced fat grated Parmesan cheese
1 oz. (approx. 1/4 cup) shredded fat-free mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup canned tomato sauce
Optional: garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using a blender or food processor, grind Fiber One cereal to a breadcrumb-like consistency. Add Parmesan to crumbs (if desired, season crumbs with optional spices, as well). Place crumbs in one small dish and Egg Beaters in another. Next, pound your chicken so it's a bit flattened. Coat raw chicken on both sides with Egg Beaters, and then coat with crumb mixture. Place chicken on a baking pan sprayed with nonstick spray. Spray a light mist of nonstick spray on top of chicken and place in oven. Cook for 10 minutes, and then turn chicken over. Add another light mist of nonstick spray and cook for an additional 10 - 12 minutes (or until chicken is fully cooked and coating looks crispy). Meanwhile, if desired, mix tomato sauce with your seasonings of choice. Remove chicken from oven, top with sauce and then cheese, and return chicken to oven until cheese is melted. Enjoy! Serves 1.

Serving Size: 1 chicken breast (entire recipe)
Calories: 295
Fat: 3.5g
Sodium: 890mg
Carbs: 27g
Fiber: 11g
Sugars: 3.5g
Protein: 46.5g

*5 Points (weight watchers)



From Lisa:
I'm not a nutritionist, I'm just hungry. I'm just an average female, struggling with the same food issues most females struggle with every day.

Thank you Lisa, for a wonderful informative site.
Keewee

Missoula Montana - part one,

This is our third trip to Missoula Montana, to compete in the Montana Shooting Sports Association, Annual Great Northern Celebrity Bowling Pin Shoot.
We left Whidbey Island on the 11am ferry Friday and after a long drive, arrived at Gary M's home in Missoula late in the afternoon.











Gary built this lovely home high in the hills on a road which ends at his place.

The peace and quiet, along with an incredible view is like a little bit of heaven on earth.











Is this MrC and his new bowling pin guns? NO, these are two fully operational cannons Gary owns, I have a feeling MrC would love to have these on the front deck of our home, just the thing to start or the end the day. I don't think the neighbors would appreciate the ritual though.









The view from in front of the house, which was hazy with smoke from fires burning somewhere close by.










Around 3pm on Saturday afternoon we drove out to the range to help set up for Sunday's Bowling pin match.
MrC and I thought the day was very warm compared to the temperatures we are used to back on the island. If it get any where over 85 degrees on Whidbey we start to complain, so 95 plus degrees makes me rather grouchy to say the least.

Pictured, is one of the tables used to set the bowling pins on. Either five or nine pins depending on what caliber gun you are shooting.











Gary, Ty, Dan and MrC the set up crew. My job was supervisor, every job needs one you know. *grin*









Gary driving the pickup under the mister to cool his helpers down.










After the range had been made ready for Sunday's event, we all enjoyed some fabulous pizza and sandwiches at the Mackenzie River Pizza Co. before returning to the house.

I took my camera and wandered around snapping pictures. This old wagon is posing in lush green grass.













You could not have a better sight to end a perfect day, than the American flag, back lit by a gorgeous smoke hazed sun, slowly making it's way to set behind the hills in the far distance.

---

MrC has part one for your reading pleasure HERE

Montana trip - Part two, The shooters and awards

Sunday 22nd was a whole day of bowling pin shooting.
MrC and I were out at the range early, parked the RV in a shady spot under the trees and waited for the events to start.
I was also waiting for my dearest friend Hostagirl to arrive from Darby, about an hours drive from Missoula. We had not seen each other for about a year, so it was quite a reunion.











Jason, originally from Alaska, is shooting a 45 H&K
A mighty fine shooter.













MrC shooting his Taurus, model 66.













Mike H is being timed by MrC











MrC has one bowling pin off the table and one left to bite the dust, and darned hot and dusty it was indeed.

Rivrdog, this one is for you, just proves MrC does not always shoot something with a red dot sight, and can you see, he has one pin off the table and the others followed in rapid succession.














There were all calibers of guns, but this M60 machine gun was certainly, in my eyes, the most awesome.

As the day's event was a fund raiser, you could shoot this M60 for $1 per round, so with a pull of the trigger, and a spray of bullets, you have donated to the cause any where from $25 to $100 or more.













Just because you are disabled, does not mean you can't enjoy a sport. This gentleman impressed me in the way he could insert the magazine and shoot the gun one handed.
"way to go"














Gary M showing his expertise in blasting the bowling pins off the table.

Everyone who attended the event, has Gary to thank, for organizing this wonderful day of bowling pin shooting. There is a tremendous amount of work involved in putting on an event like this.
THANK YOU GARY.














This gentleman made short work of knocking the bowling pins off the table with his rifle.







Dan is being timed by Ty, as he blasted the pins off the table into the dust using a shotgun.











Just a couple of short bursts to get the feel of the M60 before shooting from the hip.










And shoot from the hip he did. You should have seen the grin on his face, it could not have been wider.
You can't see the action, but you can see the smoke as many rounds were sent down range.

MrC asked if I wanted to shoot the M60 I declined, it was a little too much gun for me.











The shooting was over and we were taking down all the equipment used, and walking under the mister set up to help keep us cool in the 105 degreee temperatures.

I asked MrC if he was praying while under the cooling mist, but he says he was holding his camera out of the mist.










Shooters at this event were male and female, junior, senior, and somewhere in between.
At the award ceremony, these sisters each received an award.










Even though,I had enjoyed my day's shooting, I was less than pleased with my performance, so was very surprised when my name was called to come up and get my certificate for third place in the .22 pistol event.










The award for High Lady also came my way.

All I can say is, that I came home feeling quite pleased with myself for doing better than I had thought, and the icing on the cake, was to visit with Hostagirl and her husband JW

Making progress

Quite some time ago I started on redecorating the kitchen and eating area. So far I have installed new blue Roman blinds then a couple of days ago, with the help of MrC we recovered the chairs.

Here's what they looked like before.

Ta Da!! here they are now.

Next comes the painting of walls, ceiling and window surrounds. The walls are going to be a crisp pale lemon/yellow the ceiling and trim a nice bright white. But all that will not be accomplished this weekend, as we have the RV packed and ready, so we can leave for Missoula, Montana in a couple of hours, for a weekend of shooting.
I should have pictures and a story about our weekend in Montana, sometime Tuesday, or if I am not too tired, Monday evening.
You all have a wonderful weekend.

I admit it, I have been tardy.

Yes I know I have not done much in the way of posting the last week. All my energy had gone into setting up the drip irrigation system in my gardens, which, incidentally works like a charm. There will be no more standing around for ages, holding onto a hose while wetting down the garden Yay!! I have also put in a few hours at work and now I have to plan what we will have to pack in the RV for our four days away.

Friday morning bright and early, well perhaps early, we are leaving for Missoula, Montana on our annual trip to shoot in the Montana Shooting Sports Association's annual Bowling Pin Shoot.
I just know the weather is going to be hotter than hell, well, I don't actually know how hot hell is, but from last years experience at the shoot on Saturday, it was a miserable time for someone who is used to much lower temperatures than the 100 degrees plus I suffered through, so it was a hellish experience.

So you ask "why do it if you hate the heat so much?" The answers is " we, that is MrC and I, love to shoot at this event where we have made some wonderful friends, and we are supporting a worthy cause. Also, this year, my dearest friend Hostagirl, who moved to Darby about a year ago will be driving up to Missoula with her husband JW to see us shoot and to visit with us. I am so looking forward to seeing her again, we sure do miss each other.

Hostagirl and I used to work at the same establishment and enjoyed taking breaks and eating lunch together, and all the things best friends do, so it was a huge change for us both when we both moved away from that city and now are living a couple of states apart. It's not as though we can jump into our cars and meet for coffee or a soda as we used to.

I have done my chores, written a long letter to send to my daughter in New Zealand, it is 10:15pm and I am fading fast. I had better go to bed before my nose hits the keyboard and I wake up later on, with key imprints on my cheeks *grin*

The Patch

Bubba and Earl were driving down the road drinking a couple of beers. The passenger, Bubba, said, "Looky thar up ahead Earl. It's a po-leece roadblock. We're gonna get busted fer drinkin' these here beers!"

"Don't worry Bubba," Earl said. "We'll just pull over and finish drinkin' these beers, peel off the label and stick it on our foreheads, then throw the bottles under the seat."

"What fer?" asked Bubba.

"Just let me do the talking, okay?" said Earl.

They finished their beers, threw the empty bottles under the seat and slapped the labels on their foreheads.

When they reached the roadblock, the police officer asked, "Have you boys been drinking?"

"No sir." said Earl. "We're on the patch."

Beware Of The Friday 13th Virus

A warning for guys and gals

Friday 13th Virus

It will recalibrate your refrigerator's coolness setting so all your ice cream goes melty.

It will demagnetize the strips on all your credit cards, screw up the tracking on your television and use subspace field harmonics to scratch any CDs you try to play.

It will give your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend your new phone number.

It will mix Kool-aid into your fishtank.

It will drink all your beer and leave dirty socks on the coffee table when company comes over.

It will put a dead aardvark in the back pocket of your good suit pants and hide your car keys when you are late for work.

Friday 13th Virus will make you fall in love with a penguin.

It will give you nightmares about circus midgets.

It will pour sugar in your gas tank and shave off both your eyebrows while dating your boyfriend or girlfriend behind your back and billing the dinner and hotel room to your Discover card.

It moves your car randomly around parking lots so you can't find it.

It will leave libidinous messages on your boss's voice mail in your voice!

It is insidious and subtle. It is dangerous and terrifying to behold. It is also a rather interesting shade of mauve.

Friday 13th Virus will give you Dutch Elm disease.

It will leave the toilet seat up.

It will leave bacon cooking on the stove while it goes out to chase gradeschoolers with your new snowblower.

Friday 13th Virus will cause your cakes to fall and your blood pressure to rise.

It will increase the ability of your radio to pick up reactionary talk stations at the expense of others.

It prevents scurvy, but it gives you mega garlic breath as it does so, which makes the net results negative.

It cheats at Scrabble.

It can forge your signature.

It plays the bagpipes in your basement.

It shaves over your bathroom sink and then leaves the hair to clog your drain.

It does bad celebrity impersonations in front of your friends.

from http://www.jokesunlimited.com

I should have!

Installed a drip system in my garden a couple of seasons ago.

Up until yesterday I was watering my flower gardens with soaker hoses set on a timer, but found them unsatisfactory as there were areas which did not get enough water and the plants suffered for it, especially after yesterdays heatwave.

Due to the "perspiration dripping off the end of your nose" heatwave of yesterday, the first phase of my irrigation system was installed, up and running by 9pm yesterday. It was way too hot earlier in the day to be playing in the garden, so I waited until the evening hours before attempting this project.

When I first brought booklets home from the hardware store with all the bits and pieces needed for one of these irrigation systems, I was confused about what would work best, but after a visit to the store yesterday, and a chat with a knowledgeable assistant, I came home with a sack full of all kinds of tubing, small mini sprinklers, and bubblers to create my watering system.
As I had already planned out where the tubing sprinklers and bubblers were going to be placed, it took very little time to lay out all the parts, connect them, flush the system, then turn the water on so I could fine tune the direction of the sprinklers. OH! how cool it was to see every corner of my garden get a soaking.

As soon as I am finished with this post, I will go back to the store and get some more tubing and bubblers and other cool stuff to install a branch to all the flower pots by the front porch, and run a line to the front deck where I have more plants in pots. Once installed, I can sit back and not have to worry about dragging that darn hose around the garden to water all the pots and areas the old soaker hoses missed. Bliss, sheer BLISS

Salpiglossis - Royal mix

Once in a while, I find a plant for my garden which is so spectacular that I wish I had known just how beautiful the flowers would be, before they opened up. I would have planted them by the dozen.

One such plant is Salpiglossis or commonly called Painted Tongue.

My pictures do not do the flowers justice, as the color of this one is more of a deep maroon, and the petals look as though they are made from velvet.

This painted tongue is also a deeper shade of red.
Click on the pictures for a closer look.

Welcome from around the globe

It is always interesting to see where people are coming from to visit my blog. Of course there are my regular visitors, but then there are others from all over the world, hopefully, they may come back to visit sometime.


By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart.
Confucius

Entertainment at it's best

6am this morning, and all is quiet after last night's performance.

Last evening, MrC and I had front row seats, from our home, for a spectacular show of fireworks. All along the shore, the beach was dotted with bonfires and the clear inky blue of the sky was a perfect backdrop for the vibrant colors of balls of exploding stars, corkscrews of silver which burst into red white and blue as they were propelled many feet into the air, and many more fabulous fireworks.
The air vibrated with thumps, squeals, high pitched shrieks, bangs, pops and fizzes as the gorgeous fireworks were launched into the semi darkness of the night sky.

Who needs to leave home to see a fireworks display, when you have one almost in your front yard, how fortunate, we are.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

As you go about celebrating this 4th of July don't lose sight of why, we are celebrating.
It is not just about barbecues, and fireworks.
Have a safe, happy 4th.

On July 4, 1776, we claimed our independence from Britain and Democracy was born. Every day thousands leave their homeland to come to the "land of the free and the home of the brave" so they can begin their American Dream.

The United States is truly a diverse nation made up of dynamic people. Each year on July 4, Americans celebrate that freedom and independence with barbecues, picnics, and family gatherings.


“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”


Happy Birthday, America!

Bubba Paints His House

One day Bubba decided he was sick and tired of all the redneck jokes and how all rednecks are perceived as stupid. So, he decides to show his wife that rednecks really are smart. While his wife was at work, he decided he would paint a couple of rooms in the house.


The next day, right after his wife leaves for work he gets down to the task at hand.


His wife arrives home at 5:30 and smells the distinctive smell of paint. She walks into the living room and finds her husband lying on the floor in a pool of sweat. She notices that he is wearing a heavy parka and a leather jacket at the same time. She goes over and asks him if he is OK.

He replies yes.

She asks what he is doing and he replies that he wanted to prove to her that not all redneck men are dumb, and he wanted to do it by painting the house.


She then asks him why he has a parka over his leather jacket.

He replied that he was reading the directions on the paint can and it said . . ..


"FOR BEST RESULTS, PUT ON TWO COATS"