On our way home from our 2 weeks vacation

La Veta, CO got some beautiful buttes and “hogbacks”. Sad story about the pine trees here. They are invaded by pine beetles and when we see brown trees (which we saw alot of), the trees are beyond saving and will die. The pine beetle pro,blem seems to be spreading. On our way to Lamar  we visited Cripple Creek, CO. It was July 4 and half the town shut down for their Summer Festival. Beautifully carved sand sculptures were everywhere and there was a chainsaw wood carving competition as well. Food vendors lined Main Street. What surprised me the most: casinos – all along the main thoroughfare and they have a Starbucks store in one of the them! I was gleefully happy! We missed a turn along the way and visited Monarch Pass Continental Divide at 11,312 ft elevation. Our truck had a hard time climbing these roads-the engine was getting hot really fast. Although it was a 2 hour detour, it was worth it. Our friend’s ranch in Lamar was surrounded with wildlife. Swallows made a nest above the porch light and were constantly flying in and out of the nest feeding their young. Deers were abound when sunset and we hear the coyotes ever so often at night. Our opportunity to fly came on the 2nd morning. We took off at 6am. The ground were littered with big holes and we thought they were prairie dog holes and they were but the critters share them with owls! Interesting! While flying low, I saw owls swopping in and stand on top of the holes . They were beautiful! We also went arrowhead hunting but unfortunately, found none. After leaving Lamar, we drove through KS and stayed a night with our MO friends and flew with them in the evening ffrom a private airport. There is a place in Hermann MO that our friends knew and flew before and gave us the contact person. We spoke to him and stopped there the following day for our next flight. He is also a PPGer but also flies all kinds of aircraft. That evening we flew from the Hermann airport which is next to the MO River and there were great big bluffs close to the site. We had to fly towards them. It’s a beautiful place

It was a wonder to see how some places in IA and MO still show evidence of the floods with some small roads still under water while it’s really dry and hot in CO where they were hoping to get some rain. It was 109 deg in Lamar. Surprisingly, we were not too crimped by gas prices – they ranged between $3.74-4.30/gal. We thought we’d gotten the best price and inadvertently we’d see yet cheaper price at the next couple of exits

 

Halfway on July road trip

For the past 11 days or so, we have been to the Badlands (where we flew somewhere close to the State Park where we can see the Badlands in the background!) and Mount Rushmore in South Dakota; Devils Tower (America’s First National Monument) in Wyoming; Colorado Springs, Cripple Creek, then to Lost Stirrup Colorado, where the fly-in took place. I earned my high altitude flying patch as I managed to take off and flew at 9123 ft . Then my motor could not climb anymore even though I gave full power and landed after 15 mins of flying. We then went on to Salida, Monarch Pass Continential Divide at 11,312 ft elevation, the Great Sand Dunes National Park, Alamosa, and now we are at La Veta where we met with some friends. This morning I attempted to fly but had a slight accident and on the 2nd attempt, could not get enough lift so I decided not to try again as I take it as a sign that perhaps, I should not be flying today. My DH flew twice and he got some great pictures. Just as we were packing up, a coyote lumbered across our view. This afternoon we drive to Lamar CO.

 

First time at golf

I’ve been playing putt-putt golf and mini golf but never on a “real” golf course. Have never really understood the game - namely whacking the ball and then driving to it and then hitting again till it goes into the hole. My good friend plays (in leagues) and she was very kind to have me play with her for leisure and not count scores. I told her I have never played on a course and know nothing of how to play and it’s just for fun to be out there in the green. I didn’t realize that the flag was so far away from the tee off!! Way farther than playing mini or putt-putt! I learnt as much as I can from my friend and did what she told me and I was pleased that I could actually hit the ball and it inched along to the hole. We had a ball of a time! There were times when we lost balls to lakes and woods and she has plenty to spare instead of having to retrieve the strayed away ones- I would have gladly gone into the woods or wade into the creek to pick up the balls - I remembered thinking what a pity to see the ball in the creek or river and not be able to retrieve it. Of course I felt guilty of having hit a couple into these “unaccessible” places. The only thing that I felt strange was that she was very conscientious of other players behind us and we seem to have to hurry because of them. Not that her courtesy and thoughtfulness bothered me, (I thought that was noble of her) but more the idea that the person(s) behind us may feel inconvenienced and impatient and “pressure” us to move along. I felt that since we paid for the game, we should be able to play on a particular course for a reasonable time and they can wait awhile. But I guess the “regulars” are not patient people. Reminds me of an episode of “Curb my Enthusiasm” where Larry David was out on the course and the ensuing situation that he gets himself in.

My friend thinks I got potential. How interesting! I would love to play for leisure and not be hurried just because there are folks behind us who can’t wait for their turn to play!

 

Time flies

I found nothing to write about for the last few days. Just the everyday trivial things that one has to do as a normal routine. Yesterday, I read that George Carlin, one of my favorite stand-up comedians had passed away. I saw his latest HOB special - “It’s bad for ya”. I’ve also seen his acts over the years (as aired on cable) when he was younger. Just shows how time flies. 

 

Sleepless nights and simple recipe

Strange that I don’t seem to need sleep? Perhaps it’s a melatonin imbalance? Or perhas it’s beause I’m getting old(er)? Not sure? Perhaps I should check out the over the counter melatonin supplements.

Anyway I made the simplest of dishes yesterday with leftover stuff that I had -

I called it Grilled chicken with Kelamata Olives - why olives? that’s the jar I have - and I bought the wrong ones too - I wanted pitless olives but I bought the pitted ones instead and it’s a pain getting rid of the stone on each one of them before serving it - so I did not use alot of those that time. Now I had  a opened jar of olives languishing in the fridge. I also had a can of chicken stock half used from this weekend, in the fridge and that needs to be used up asap. So…

Ingredients:

Chicken pieces (a couple of huge pieces) I prefer dark meat, bone in and some skin on - I happen to have 2 huge pieces of chicken leg in the freezer. Thawed them out in the microwave.  

1 bottle of beer (whatever that’s in the fridge)

(leftover) chicken stock (about 1/2 a cup that I had)

(leftover) jar of pitted olives (juice and all)

Grill seasoning

garlic powder

Preheat oven 400 deg F. Meantime pour beer, chicken stock and contents of olive jar into oven proof pan - put in chicken pieces (bone side down), sprinkle garlic powder and grill seasoning to coat the exposed side of the chicken. Cover pan with aluminium foil. When oven is ready - put it in and bake 45-1 hr (depending on size of chicken pieces).

The timing is approximate - when I took it out after an hour - almost all the liquid is gone and the chicken is falling off the bones. Normally, I take the dish out of the oven to check once in a while and I found out that it’s best (for me) to check the dish the 1st half hour to see how done they are and then go from there. Yesterday, I just let it left it in there and really was taking a chance! If I waited longer, they may have dried out completely but that’s not really an issue, because if I wanted more juices from the ingredients, I just pour water (or stock - stock is better of course) in the dish. 

Now I had dinner for both yesterday and today. What a great way to use the olives and stock, huh?

 I complemented the chicken with mashed potatoes from the box. DH loved it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday/Tuesday

It’s 5 am on Tuesday and I’m still up. Went about the whole of last night till this early morning editing raw video clips from my Yorkstown trip, in preparation for publishing them - there will be 2 videos from this trip. We saw the hot air balloons but did not fly with them. They took off before us and by the time I was airborne they were miles downwind. This was the first time I had an almost empty tank on landing and that was because after flying for about an hour, I was coming back to the field when I saw the ballons had been re-set up and some were reinflated. I thought they were going to take off again so I circled around the field hoping this time to fly with them. But they never took off - I suppose they were just airing out the balloon or preparing for the following day’s event?? I was concerned that I’d would run of gas and then was forced to land somewhere else. Being a visitor to the town, I’m not familiar with the surrounding areas so the last thing I want is to be lost! The night ended with a spectacular display of fireworks.

Still have not heard back from the Ministry where I explored volunteer opportunities. Perhaps they are not interested, even though they get free help. Ah well..if it is not meant to be…

 

Flooding as seen from above

This is what I did after dinner - from 9 pm to 3.30 am - editing 1 hr 6 mins of raw footage video (taken with Oregon Scientific action cam) to less than 2 mins 15 secs. Here is the result:

 

Friday the 13th

I like the number 13. I’ve been keeping my eye on the water level in the creek. We had rain these few days but nothing major to cause it to rise too much. Gas prices went over the $4/gal mark. It’s $4.15 yesterday when I got gas for the lawnmower. Well, my hobby became a tad more expensive now - since I use premium gas for my flying machine. Come to think of it - many things that I like have become slightly more  expensive! Then I remembered reading that cocoa prices have risen as well. I love chocolate, especially dark chocolate and they too are slightly more expensive in stores these days. Sure it’s inflation but looking broadly, corn, wheat, rice prices has increased, so has soybeans. I also like Yeo’s brand of soy milk but they are expensive if and when I do find them here locally. So that got me to think about sugar. I used loads of sugar for my coffee - like 4-5 big teaspoons heap of it for 1 regular size cup, that is why I also use and love condensed milk which is FAR sweeter.  Condensed milk price has also increased in the store. I have not seen Sugar cane drinks here but I love to drink sugar cane juice fresh from the cane itself. They will run the cane through a mill-like tabletop machine which squeezes the juice into the cup - foamy and sweet - yum! So..figures show sugar prices hasn’t exactly increased as much as some of the other commodites, relatively speaking - but it would, wouldn’t it? I’ve not heard much of ethanol derived from sugar here but it’s in place in other countries. If oil and corn prices keep going up as they do now, surely, they’d look to sugar as an alternative and I’m sure I’ll hear more about it. I’m (and most other people) not getting much for the same amount of money these days. It’s depressing and we in the Midwest are still under threat for more flooding. But it’s Friday (rainy and dark) and I’m happy that the week is over. I am looking forward to going to Yorktown, IN for their Summer Heat event this weekend which includes hot air balloons; maybe I can fly with the balloons - that would be so awesome!

 

New musing

The garden should be pretty much cleaned up by now - just need to replenish soil, make new raised beds if we are to put new flowers/plants in it and get the fence straightened out. 

Meantime, have something new to wonder about - these teeth whitening treatment recommended by dentists - are they better than the over-the-counter treatment one finds in most stores? Usually I am not one to use these things- I wish I did some 10 years or so ago but now? However, I was persuaded to get on one of these by my dentist so I did.  I don’t have much patience to sit through the entire treatment which can takes months to get the desired result, partly because it feels uncomfortable and the bleach seems to wear out my enamel. I feel pain if I don’t “breathe” right, or if I chew the “wrong” way! I think the acidity in the mouth affects the teeth and say, if I breathe through my mouth in a certain way, the shot of pain can be a rather nasty surprise! The pain can come anytime, particularly when I lie down! The more I stay with the treatment, the more frequent I feel this pain that can leave me to think my teeth has fallen off! Perhaps it’s my age? We are never short of choices for whitening and deep cleansing toothpaste and I use them, but going that extra effort and having to endure the pain, seems too much for me. Besides, do we always smile from ear to ear all the time?  I once saw a lady with the whitest set of teeth but it looked incongruent to her face! It made her look like a puppet doll or one of those killer dolls in horror movies. I was reverted alright! I wasn’t even paying attention to what she was saying, just mesmerized by those teeth. Perhaps that is the intended effect-hypnotized by those pearly whites and never mind what the message is! White light! One of Steven King’s book-made into a movie comes to mind (killer clown terrorizing six childhood friends - something like that)

I guess I am confident and satisfied at this station in life and opt for comfort instead of beauty. Is that bad?

 

Cleanup

Here’s what the garden looked like when the water receded some. Most of today was spent on cleanup. Luckily many of the plants seem to have survived the underwater experience. Smelled like wet dog in and around the affected areas. Eerily, there were no sounds of birds or insects like you’d normally hear. I saw a somewhat wet squirrel without its tail - wonder if it lost it to the flood waters, a predator, or while foraging for food?