It Must Be A Sign

On my walk today, I saw lots of signs. This one told me the road ahead would be rough. I didn't care because I was walking. And I had good shoes.


I didn't know there was rabbits out here! But apparently there are, because he left his tracks behind:




Here a sign that there a LOT of water here just a little while ago:


This sign cracks me up:


Because this is McVay Road:


And this is 61st Street:


And then I saw a sign that it was getting late, and I had to hurry home to make dinner:

A Walk In The Desert

I was restless today, after having done little but sit or sleep for the past week. We had both been sick again, just a general "blah" feeling and no energy. Our trip to Parker yesterday included a visit to the pharmacist at CVS, who suggested some Claritin and a cool mist vaporizer. She explained that even though we had spent the spring, summer, and fall here in Arizona, we were still in a very dry climate, with winter being the driest. Some allergies are aggravted by the dry climate.

We brought the vaporizer home and plugged it in. It brought the humidity in the trailer up from around 26% to 51%, and we are both feeling much better. That lady really knew what she was talking about.

So, in the afternoon, I set out for a walk in the desert. Like most people, I always thought there was not much life going on in the desert. But I found lots of animal tracks, and other evidence that they had been there. The plants are turning green quickly from the little bit of rain we got this week.

I walked out about a 1/4 of a mile off the road. This picture was looking to the northeast of the campground:


This one is looking west:


I walked back over to the dirt road that goes past the campground, and walked about 1/4 of a mile to the south. There was a smaller, narrower dirt road that went off to the west, so I took that one for a way:



There were lots of animal tracks here, probably cows and javelinas. I found some seashells in a wash area, and a pretty rock, and brought them home to examine more closely.


It was getting late when I got home, so I made some dinner. Actually, I heated up leftover eggplant parmesean. After dinner, I went outside again, to get some shots of the sunset. I never get tired of seeing it:




It was a grand end to a great day:

Going To Parker Arizona

We had some business to take care of today so we had to drive over to Parker. It's about a 50 mile drive so it took most of the day. It was overcast, threatening to rain. The countryside in the desert looks like they already had some rain as everything is getting green.



Here you can see the rain over there. Since it's mostly flat out here, you can see the rain for a long time before it gets to where you are.

I love this photo, it shows how flat and straight the road is, with the mountains in the distance.


We took a wrong turn and wound up over by the Colorado River. This is the railroad bridge. It looks rusted, and still has wooden trestles.


Another shot of the railroad bridge over the Colorado River.



Isn't this beautiful? That's California on the other side of the river. The palm trees were huge here.



We had some lunch here. I had a combo with a taco, an enchilada, rice, and beans. FabGrandpa got the fish tacos. No beer, though, just diet cokes.


Then we went across the street to this little place. I got some garlic stuffed olives and some of the freshest pistachios I have ever had.


They also had these, but I didn't get any of them:


And on the way home, we finally did get into some of that rain. It didn't last long.

Gluten Free Fried Chicken

If you read my post from yesterday all the way through, you may have seen that I planned on cooking fried chicken sometime this month. So what? you say. Well, let me tell you about fried chicken.

In the early days when I could still eat all things gluten, I loved me some fried chicken. I was a frequent flier at the neighborhood Church's Fried Chicken, KFC, and Mrs. Winner's places. We had fried chicken about twice a week---always bought somewhere already fried and ready to eat. My personal philosophy about fried chicken is that even though I know how to make it, there was no reason for me to do it myself and deprive one of those places of my business, since they did a pretty good job of cooking it and then they were the ones who had to clean up the mess. So, if I was going to cook chicken at home, it would usually be baked in the oven in a disposable pan, or in the crockpot with a crockpot liner. Delicious, then a breeze to clean up. I DO know how to cook fried chicken, I just don't like to.

Last summer, I made some gluten free fried chicken for FabGrandpa. He was surprised because in all the years we have been married, I have never made fried chicken for him. He asked me why I had never made it and I told him "A girl has to have some secrets." Why tell him I know how to do something if I ain't gonna do it, right?

So, anyway, he loved the fried chicken I made last year. He loved it so much he has asked me several times to make it again. Well, today I made him some fried chicken again. And his response? "It took you 16 years to make it for me the first time, I'm surprised it only took 1 year for you to make it the second time."

Here is how to make gluten free fried chicken:

Chicken Pieces
salt and pepper to taste
tenderizer
1 cup of your favorite gluten free all purpose flour mix
1 cup milk
1 cup Crisco or oil

Heat the oil in a large skillet with a lid. Wash the chicken pieces. Sprinkle with tenderizer, salt and pepper. Roll in the flour mix, then dip in the milk, then roll in the flour mix again. Put in the skillet. When the skillet is full, place the lid on and cook for about 5 minutes. Take the lid off, and turn all the pieces of chicken over. Replace the lid. Cook another 5 minutes. Remove the lid, turn the chicken again, and cook another minutes without the lid. It takes about 20-25 minutes to cook the chicken.

I served mine with homemade gluten free macaroni and cheese and green beans.

Budget Report Week 10 Cash Monday

We did really good this week. We decided to only take out $120 from the bank. At the end of the week, this morning I had $5 and some change in my pocket, and FabGrandpa had $6.00. We did go out to eat and use the debit card, for $27.00. So, even though we used the debit card, we are still under budget because we didn’t take out the entire $300.


Also, before we left Phoenix we went grocery shopping and spent somewhere around $300. That was 3 weeks ago, and we have only had to buy milk and bread since then. So, today, we drove over to Buckeye, Arizona, 80 miles away, to Wal-Mart to replenish the pantry.


Here is the menu for the next 3 weeks—we are going to try to make it 4 weeks this time before going back to buy groceries:


Salmon Patties/Peas/Mashed potatoes
Tuna A La King with Rice and canned fruit
Spaghetti/Salad/Garlic Toast
Mac & Cheese/Fried Chicken/Green Beans
Pork Roast/Potatoes/Carrots
Leftover Pork/Rice/Baby Lima Beans
Chicken with Salsa/Rice/Pear Salad
Meatloaf/Fried Okra/Diced Potatoes
Blackeyed Peas/Collards/Cornbread
Eggplant Parmesean/Brussells Sprouts
Chili/Cornbread
Black Bean Nachos
Beef Stew/Biscuits
Chicken with Garlic and Spinach over noodles
Bean Soup/Cornbread
Pork Chops/Green Beans/Mashed Potatoes
Tuna A La King/Rice
Goulash/Rice
Pizza/Salad
Salmon Patties/Corn/Potatoes
Roasted Chicken/Green Beans/Potatoes
Italian Mushroom Stew with Italian Sausage


We probably won’t eat all those meals in the order listed, but I listed them to show that I was able to get all the ingredients I needed to make these 22 dinner meals (plus breakfast and lunch stuff, and snacks) for under $300 for two people. And with leftovers, we should be able to stretch this out for a whole month.


I got us a couple of treats, too. Some garlic stuffed olives in Napa Valley Chardonay; some Black Olive Tapanade; some of those Mexican cookies FabGrandpa loves so much, the Surtido Rico ones. So we’re not even doing without good stuff, y’all!


Just so those of you who read this who love us and all, we are not on the brink of bankruptcy. We are just trying to eat a healthy diet without spending all our money on food. It is a challenge to do this, so it has become sort of a game to spend as little as possible and still have good food. With the prices of gluten free items out the roof, it is even more of a challenge. So, in addition to the Monday Cash thing, we are adding this monthly grocery shopping into the mix.


And as usual, I will let you know in a month how we did on this.

Jewelry Making Class

Lynda and I went to our wire wrapping class on Saturday. The lady who taught the class makes some really pretty stuff, but she does not allow you to take pictures. I was going to show some of the process of making the bracelets we made, but she told me to "put away my camera".
I can show the finished product:


I made the bracelet on the right with silver and gold wire in the class. I came home and made the one on the left with silver and copper wire. I definitely need some practice but they are ok for a beginner.




Here is what the clasp looks like. The one I made in class looks a whole lot better than the one I made at home later. Again, it just needs some practice.



These bracelets are 7 and a half inches long. I think I need to make mine 8 inches to fit my "plus size" wrist.




Then, today, I used a different pattern but the same concept to make this bracelet for FabGrandpa. I used a piece of sterling silver patterned wire and gold wire in it. This was really hard to make because it was hard to keep all the wires together and to keep them from bunching up while I was making the binding wraps. I got really frustrated with it and walked away from it three times before I was able to finish it. I like the way the clasp on this one looks.



Here is the front of his bracelet. I can see the mistakes in it, and my father in law probably will too, but then again, it does look pretty good for a beginner, and FabGrandpa liked it.


So, tell me what you think. Will I be able to master this?

And One More Thing I Want To Show You Today

Longer hair, new shades.

It Must Be A Sign

You'll have to click on the picture to get the full effect of this--it's a real gas!

An Award!

Christine from Chris's Coop sent me this award, The Van Gogh's Ear Award. This award was created by Roger at Idaho Photo. Here is what Christine said about me on her blog when she gave me this award:

Being a grandma as an art form

Fab Grandma Karen- not only is she a grandma, she can sew and make jewelery!

Thanks Christine! I love that someone thinks I'm worthy of an award.


So now that I have been duly awarded, I am paying it forward and giving The Van Gogh's Ear Award to:

Becca at How Will It End. She is a knitter, a painter, and maker of pirate maps.

PG at Annoyingly Boring. He is a very talented photographer, and inspired me to try harder to capture the moment.

Gaelyn at Geogypsy. She can spin a good story about all the places she has been in her NPS career.

Kelley at Magneto Bold Too . Just because she is so awesome.

Homecoming

Remember this? I thought I would never see or hear from them again. But, they came home yesterday. And it looks like they are happy to be here. I don't know what happened, I have not talked to her, yet. I may never know, and to honest, I don't think I want to know. I am just happy they are back. My heart is exploding with joy.

The Gem And Mineral Show In Quartzsite

If you ever get a chance to go to a gem and mineral show, you need to go. I have heard about them from my in-laws, because they are both jewelry crafters. My father-in-love even went to a school to learn silver smithing. They both make some really nice jewelry, and they are the ones who inspired me to give it a try. They used to go to Quartzsite in the winter and go to the gem shows to buy supplies for their craft.

Last week I got my chance to go to my first gem show. There was everything imaginable: rocks, gems, pearls, wire, jewelry findings. There were also other crafts such as quilters, metal work, leather handbags, and stuff like that, but we were there for the jewelry stuff.

On Thursday, my friend Gaelyn from Geogypsy called to ask if I was planning to go to the show. I said I was, so she came and spent the night on my sofa so we could head out early and get a good parking spot. We met Gaelyn at the North Rim this summer, where she worked as an Interpretive Ranger and lived across the road from us in the employee campground. Our paths didn't cross much because she had a weird schedule and our days off weren't the same. But about a week or so before we left, she came over for dinner one night and we really enjoyed her company. We were delighted to have her as a guest.

On Friday morning, Gaelyn, Lynda, Charlie, and I got up before dawn, and took off for "Q". We got a primo parking spot and started looking at all the stuff. This show is huge. As in blocks and blocks of vendors, on both sides of the road.


One vendor had these awesome fossils.



Another had gigantic crystals. These are quartz. I love these but really have no where to put them so I only took pictures.



This is called desert rose. It is gorgeous!



The show was out in the desert at Tyson Wells. Look at that big ol saguaro cactus:



Oh My God! Look at all those beads! How do you chose just a few????



Then of course you have to have wire to make things with. We got silver and copper.


Another bead store. I got some nice Swarovsky crystals here, and some copper beads.



We walked around that show in the desert for 6 hours! We were all tired and dusty, and hungry. Here we are at lunch: Me in the pink sweatshirt, Lynda next to me, Charlie across the table, and Gaelyn beside Charlie. FabGrandpa had a cold and didn't feel good, so he stayed at home. (better for me, to be able to buy what I wanted, hahahaha.)



And I was so excited when I got home that I made this necklace first. Yes, I got the idea from a magazine, but I did intrepret in a different way.


It was a great day. I had a lot of fun with my friends, and bought a lot of supplies to be able to make some pretty things. And we are going to another one next week. I can hardly wait!

I'm Getting Ahead Of Myself But I Gotta Show You This!

I want to tell you about my visit from Gaelyn from Geogypsy, and how we went to the gem and mineral show in Quartzsite, but I am just too excited about the stuff we Lynda and I have been making that I am jumping ahead to show you:


I love pink things, and this here necklace is pink. It is made with rose quartz and glass and crystal beads. It turned out really good, better than I thought it would.

(click on the pictures to see them better)

This one is made with Chinese turquoise nuggets. I like to take old things apart and use the parts in new pieces, so the chain used in this necklace came from a junkstore find. It looks really good, too.



A few years ago, my mother-in-love, Nana, gave me some lessons in wire wrapping, (Thank you, Nana!) but I have not done much of it until now. I made the bracelet below with the green beads, then Lynda made the one with the purple beads. Mine turned out pretty good, except that the beads I used were too big so it made the overall bracelet too big. We are going to a wire wrapping class next week to learn how to do some other things, and we can hardly wait to go!




I bought these 18mm turquoise beads at the show, because I had an idea for a necklace in my head (yeah, that happens too much). I spent today making all those little curly links for a chain, then Lynda showed me how to make jump links, which is a pretty handy thing to know. I have been making each one separate, which is a major pain in the arse! But look how easy it is here:



And here you can see a little bit of the chain and how the beads look with it. And I put that tape measure in there so you see how big the beads are. It is going to be awesome!

The Fab Spencer Is A Superboy!

My FabGrandson, Spencer, asked for "a new real dog, not a toy" for Christmas. His Mommy, my daughter, Emily, told him that Santa sent her a note and told her where to go to find a good dog, because he couldn't put a puppy in his sleigh. So, they went to the animal shelter in their town, and found a golden lab mixed puppy. They named her Sophie.

Sophie had contracted the parvo virus somewhere along the line, and was very sick the week after Christmas, and spent several days in a doggie hospital, but she survived, and is now back home. Sophie, the Superdog and her boy, Spencer. Aren't they both just the cutest?

Sunset In The Desert