SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO

A TASTE OF SUMMER DURING THE LONG DREARY WINTER MONTHS.

My favorite local supermarket, has both yellow and white sweet corn on sale, three for $1. I bought 18 ears of corn this morning, and wrapped two to a package, in butcher's wrapping paper.

18 ears of corn, neatly stacked in the freezer.
I like to cook corn in the microwave then eat it slathered in light butter, salt and white pepper. How do you cook and serve your sweet corn?

SWEET YESTERDAY, SWEETER TODAY

When I arrived home today I found a box on the counter addressed to me. Immediately I thought this has to be some mistake, as I had not ordered anything. There was no return address on the label, so full of curiosity I cut open the tape holding the box together.
Imagine my surprise and delight when I found I had won a So Easy Pantry Makeover Kit from the Almond Board of California, and celebrity chef, Ellie Krieger.
Included in the kit, is a reusable shopping bag, a set of space-saving storage containers, labels and a marker, a bag of of almonds and two snack tins to hold some of them, another bag of sliced almonds, and a wonderful Ellie Krieger cookbook.
I finally remembered I had entered the Almond Board's sweepstakes sometime last April and had forgotten about it. I do so love these unexpected surprises, perhaps I should buy a lotto ticket today.

LIFE IS SO SWEET WHEN...............

You are sitting on the front step very early in the morning, and you feel something at your feet. You look down and there is one of the semi-tame rabbits taking a little nip of the fabric of your robe, and giving it three or four quick little tugs to get your attention. You really have to see this to appreciate the humor of the situation. Our couple of semi-tame bunnies are used to me taking out a piece of bread for them in the morning, and this time I did not have any with me,so rabbit was letting me know he/she was ready for it's treat.

Life is sweet when you have a breakfast of juicy fruits, a piece of whole grain cranberry and walnut toast, smothered in peanut butter and manuka honey, from New Zealand.

It is made even sweeter, when you can cut a bouquet of flowers to enjoy in your home.
The icing on the cake is when you have someone in your life, to share all the sweetness and adventures with, as I do. Check out some of our ummm! adventures of the past week or so HERE

Yes indeed, there is much to be thankful for.

YOU THINK THIS IS A MESS NOW

YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN IT TWO DAYS AGO.

I have a plan you see! Our front deck gets all the afternoon sun, and to think of sitting out there late in the day is madness, we would be cooked to a crisp in no time flat.
Our carport is large enough to house two vehicles, and as we only park one in there,
( mainly because there was too much junk) I have decided to take a large part of the left back corner and turn it into an outdoor room of sorts.
I spent most of the weekend getting rid of a whole lot of junk, reorganizing my gardening supplies and relocating some of them in the pump house, that is until I get a gardening shed. There is a story behind the pump house too. When I opened the door, I was confronted by water all over the concrete floor, I hated to go tell Mr C , as we have had nothing but mishaps this past month. First we had a flood in the basement, then a tire on our minivan blew out when we were on the freeway, now a leak in one of the tanks storing water in the pump house. Sheesh!
Anyhow the pump house dilemma was mostly taken care of, there is still a small leak to be fixed, some of my gardening tools and pots are now in the pump house, and more things to go in there when the other leak is repaired. We still need to get the large logs of firewood, sitting in front of the carport, split and stacked, and find a home for some of the other things under the carport, then I can begin to create the outdoor living room.
I have a lovely outdoor rug, one of those which can be hosed down to clean it, to place on the concrete floor, some chairs, a large old cooler I can cover with a colorful piece of outdoor cloth, then use the cooler/table to store cushions etc. in, and to put finishing touches to the whole area, I will place potted plants here and there.
I will keep you updated on my progress with a post now and again. I plan on taking my time with this project, as I have discovered I am not as young as I thought I was, at least that is what my sore, tired body is telling me this morning. *grin*

IT FEELS SO GOOD THIS MORNING

A fog had rolled in this morning, bringing relief from the heat.

THIS 'N' THAT

Not a whole lot going on around here. I have been wandering around outside at 6am this morning, coffee in hand and looking at what is happening in my garden. The temperatures are nice and cool this early, the juvenile bald eagle sitting in the top of a tree across the pasture from our place, is screeching for attention from his parents. It seems the parents leave their young alone for a while to encourage the youngsters to go search out food for themselves.
As I wandered our yard, our little semi-tame bunny came hopping up to me, and followed me all around knowing I would eventually go back indoors to fetch a piece of bread for it. When I finally placed half a stale hot dog bun on the front steps, the bunny picked it up and hopped over under one of our vehicles to enjoy the treat.
Mr C and I are off to Silverdale today, to shoot in a Fun Steel Match. I really enjoy going to this particular club to meet all our friends, then after the match several of us go to a local restaurant for a meal.
Well, all of you have a nice weekend, and stay out of the heat, and drink plenty of water.

A quick trip before the mad rush of the 4th of July celebrations.

Friday morning we drove East across Snoqualmie Pass to Ellensburg, and from there South to Yakima, and then East a bit more to Moxee, WA. and the Sun Valley Gun Club's range. How nice it was to find some sunshine. We planned on shooting the match on Saturday and heading back home right after the match, so as to avoid most of the crush of 4th of July traffic.

Mr C enjoying a cool soda while sitting on a bench on the skeet shooting range, just in front of where we parked our RV for the night.

Looking back from the clubhouse towards our RV.

One of the resident birds in the clubhouse, Angel, as the bird is named, is supposed to have quite a vocabulary, but did not utter a word all the time we were there. There was another little cockatiel who also talks, but also did not have anything to say, but it sure could wolf whistle at the ladies. I thought is so cute when I went over to the bird's cage and it would whistle at me.

The clubhouse, one of the nicest we have come across in our travels to different ranges, is surrounded by groomed irrigated lawns, another feature which is unusual when it comes to shooting facilities.

A view of the clubhouse from near where we parked the RV.

There is a very nice view from the second story of the clubhouse.

Looking out across the valley you see orchards, wheat, or some such crop and also lots of dry scrub land which is not irrigated. If it wasn't for the irrigation, all this land would be dry semi-desert.

Two of the youngest shooters who happened to be on our squad. These lads were very good competitors. One of the boys had trouble with his gun, he calmly dealt with the problem, then went about the business of finishing the string. A sure sign he had listened very carefully to the lessons of his father, and followed through.

"Shooter ready." ...... buzz, (from timer) bam, bam, bam,bam, bam.

We had a wonderful time at the match, made some new friends, and were back on the island around 7:70 pm last evening.