Stink & other July Happenings

Hello there Adventurous Friends, greetings from South Dakota.  How you doing?  July is my birthday month & it was time to get my drivers license renewed.   We had Grands visiting, dry weather conditions continued, there was a BIG stink & the deer ate on things in the garden they've not ever bothered before.  This is Sentence a Day where I write a little something about each of my days, wrote in a long drawn out sentence or 2, somedays there was lots to write about & other days not so much.  I've joined up here with others if you'd like to see what they've been up to.  

* Thurs 1st - Planned meals for camping, went grocery shopping after work, pizza for supper, had root beer floats while watching episodes of Camp Cretaceous, town implemented a fireworks & open ban burn.

* Fri 2nd - Double checked that we had all ingredients for our camping  meals, got some rain from a thunderstorm that seemed to have started a fire south of town, the fire trucks went out, ate ice cream & watched episodes of Camp Cretaceous.

Week 27

* Sat 3rd/Sun 4th -  Found out information about friends that were in a motorcycle wreak, she passed away & he was in ICU fighting to live, went camping in the buttes, did lots of 4wheeler riding & looking at wildflowers, noticed there's plums growing, got covered with ticks down at the grave, watched the last episode of Camp Cretaceous & told ghost stories.

* Mon 5th - Went to the lake, all the boys have caught at least 1 fish, Kevin heated up pulled pork for sandwiches for our picnic lunch, baseball got rained out, made cookies, watched the 4th Harry Potter movie.

* Tues 6th -  Seemed like Monday since it was a long 4th of July holiday weekend, did a couple loads of laundry before work, Grands folded & put away their own clothes, went grocery shopping for a few things we were out of such as ice cream & root beer, Grands had friends over for a game of whiffle ball & root beer floats, watched 5th Harry Potter movie.

* Wed 7th -  Misting rain & low 60s F during 1st dog walk of the day, later start time for work, relaxed for a while in the coolness of the open window before doing morning routine stuff, did some blog work & reading while the Grands slept in, a busy afternoon at work kept me hustling to get everything done, went to the youth rodeo in the evening, had supper from the concession stand, watched 6th Harry Potter movie.

Ranch was chosen the overall favorite.

* Thurs 8th -  Tracked down where Kevin had got his mower blades, he desperately needed new ones, cooked supper while Grands split up going to basketball & baseball, watched the 7th Harry Potter movie.

* Fri 9th - Grands helped prepare supper making 3 different seasonings for chicken breast stripes; BBQ shake & bake, ranch dressing & butter.

Week 28

* Sat 10th - Grands packed their bags, tidied their rooms & said good-byes to friends, a coworker announced she was pregnant, I love baby showers, went to the arcade for supper, had burgers & wings, kept the Harry Potter movie series so I could watch the last one, lots of stuff to be mailed to the Grands.

* Sun 11th - On the road at 2 am to get Grands to the airport, did a little shopping on the way back, got a new microwave since the old one decided it was going to stay on all the time, good news update on friend - had surgery on broken leg, had knee replacement that had already needed to be done & got out of ICU. 

Glue seems to be kind of
expensive this year for
back to school shoppers.

In line waiting to get the
Grands checked in for their
flights home.

Got the new Grand some dresses
& a pair of sandals for church.

Christmas items were being stocked.

 

* Mon 12th - Back to the cleaning schedule, washed sheets, put away toys & games, dusted & vacuumed in the living room, mailed a box to the Grands of their left behind belongings, need a box big enough for a couple of skateboards. 

Taking apart Legos, at least 1 set a day.

* Tues 13th - 

Got several cabbage heads growing.

Washed some more sheets, cleaned in the kitchen, got our 1st harvest of the season from the garden, Kevin fried up some summer & zucchini squash for supper & made a rhubarb strawberry cobbler, organized the freezer & made meal plans to get things eat up to make room for this year's garden stuff, threw out several packs that were frosted & freezer burnt, laid out ribs for Kevin to smoke during the weekend.

Looks like there will be 
plenty of zucchini to share.

* Wed 14th -  Cleaned in the bedroom, put away Grands books & movies, a perfect day walking to work, overcast & mid 60s F, long tiring day, watched episodes of Manifest & Atypical.

* Thurs 15th -  Discovered hamper full of Grands clothes, washed those up, started another box to mail, paid due bills, did bank business, renewed drivers license through the online process, went to Summer in the Streets, got burger meals from the booster club's BBQ fundraiser, good turnout.

* Fri 16th -  Cleaned in the bathroom, took another look at balancing the check book, found the missing numbers.

Week 29

* Sat 17th - Facetimed with Daughter & Grands, they were going to the park for a picnic, mailed oldest Grand's birthday box & goodies for everyone, went to Lions club bingo. 

BINGO!

Christmas gift idea for
the Grandgirls.

    

* Sun 18th - Went for a ride in the side by side, had a picnic early before it got too hot, relaxed inside in the coolness in the afternoon, watched tv the rest of the day.

* Mon 19th - Felt down & out about so many things, struggled to put on my happy face, kept busy doing house work in the morning & on the job, went to bed early to recharge, relaxed in the coolness & quite, wondered if there would be more seasons of Virgin River.

* Tues 20th - Happy birthday to me, ate cake & ice cream for supper, the town's sewer lagoon has been stinking up the whole town off & on for weeks, phew.

* Wed 21st -  Read the newspaper, the clinic is giving free sports physicals to student athletes, the town board president retired after 34 years of service, new water meters are going to be installed over the next few months.

Hollyhocks behind the old motel that's
 schedule to be demolished.

Balloon flowers at the bank.

Roses beside the grocery store.

* Thurs 22nd - Scheduled day off work, facetimed with Moma, we had coffee together, she had canned a run of green beans & been working in her flower gardens, rooter was out in the street, inside smelled like the sewer lagoon, got a haircut, helped prep the kitchen & dinning room floor for a waxing, pulled out the fridge, stove & freezer then cleaned underneath, icky, Kevin put down the stripper/scrubber, I mopped it up.

* Fri 23rd -  Kevin waxed the kitchen & dinning room floor 1st thing after our quick breakfast of leftover Thursday pizza; puttered, cleaned & organized around in the basement till work time, decluttered boxes & shipping supplies, ate out for supper since the kitchen wasn't accessible. 

Week 30

* Sat 24th -  Went camping after work, found a shady spot with a view, went walking with Rose, finished reading the last book of the Little House series, rode the side by side after supper when the weather was cooler, saw turkeys & deer.

The long range view during camping was hazy due to the wind blowing

in smoke from wildfires, though we didn't smell any smoke.  Our area 

has been really dry, some places dryer than others.  

* Sun 25th - Went for a ride in the side by side after breakfast, saw lots of flowers & some beavers, cut the camping trip short because of the heat, made turkey salad for sandwiches using leftover lunch meat, moved everything back to it's place in the kitchen & dinning room, the floor looked so clean & shiny after the waxing.

Sunflowers are one of my favorite flowers.

 

* Mon 26th - Did a couple loads of laundry, broke down boxes, took some priority packaging supplies back to the Post Office, cut up old paperwork with blank sides to use for scratch paper, the AC was out at work, Kevin brought a fan & iced drink.

* Tues 27th - Another hot day in the office without AC, a part had to be ordered, cooked a stuffed pork roast in the crockpot for supper, got a birthday box from Moma - towels & some of her canned goodies; green beans, relish & cranberry blackberry jelly. 

* Wed 28th -  Took a longer morning walk with Rose while the temperature was cooler, made some lists - camping stuff, groceries & to-do, shared squash from the garden with coworkers, had to evacuate the office due to an electrical burning smell, probable cause was a ceiling fan, Kevin covered the pumpkins & melons due to the deer already eating on them.

* Thurs 29th -  Had the day off work, sipped on a 2nd cup of morning coffee, checked things off lists as stuff got done, enjoyed the respite from the heat, weather was cloudy with a chance of meatballs high temperatures in the upper 70s F, got several gentle rain showers in the afternoon, made squash pizzas for Thursday pizza night.

* Fri 30th - Haze from smoke was about 100 yards in viewing distance, some could smell it, funeral of friend that was killed in the motorcycle accident, watched the last episode of Manifest.

Week 31

* Sat 31st - Went camping back to the shady spot underneath the big pine tree, took a late evening ride in the side by side, saw deer, antelope, grouse, a skunk & lots of grasshoppers, got back to camp after dark.

These are some of the things that's been going on in my neck of the woods, how about you?

Baseball, Basketball & other June Happenings

Hello there Adventurous Friends, greetings from South Dakota. How you doing?  Daughter, Son in Law & all the Grands came for a visit.  It was such a blessing & pure enjoyment having all the kids together to do activities with.  We all had good times together.  

Our area has had some rain but not enough.  Ponds are dry & the grass has not grown much.  Some ranchers are getting desperate for water & hay for their livestock.  An announcement was made the last week of this month that the 4th of July fireworks are canceled this year because the ground is so dry.  

This is my Sentence a Day where I write a little something about each day, wrote in a long drawn out sentence or 2.  I've joined up here with others if you'd like to see what they've been up to.

Kevin discovered baby rabbits out in the
rock garden.  See the little one digging to
get back in the hole underneath the
landscape fabric.  
  

* Tues 1st - Seemed like Monday, enjoyed the long Memorial weekend camping, picnicking, walking & riding, summer is on it's way by the end of the week with temperatures forecasted in the upper 90s, later start time for work this week will be used for spring cleaning, cleaned in the living room.

* Wed 2nd - Changed the sheets on our bed, got the enamelware table set I ordered from Cabalas, washed it up & put in the camper, cleaned in the kitchen. 

Happy Birthday Grand Chandler.

* Thurs 3rd -  Set up a coffee/cider/hot chocolate bar, cleaned some more in the kitchen, paid the water bill, went to drop off items for Grand's summer program/daycare & no one was there, got groceries that included lots of ice cream, put gas in my car.

* Fri 4th -  Turned on some uplifting music & cleaned the bathroom, set up a bathing, toothbrushing & hair combing station for the littlest Grands.

Week 23

Coffee & Legos, wishing we were
at that cabin fishing.

* Sat 5th - Summer has arrived, it's been so hot, cleaned the other bathroom, went to Summer in the Streets, got a burger meal for supper from the fire department's BBQ fundraiser, did some talking & listening to live music, not a big turnout. 

* Sun 6th - Chatted with Walmart, got replacements sent for the 4 items I didn't receive, packed a lunchbox of food for the Grands, picked them up at the airport, did some shopping on the way.

* Mon 7th -  Younger Grand up early to work on Legos, older Grand drove us home after work, made walking tacos for Lions club meeting.

* Tues 8th -  Took Rose to get her 1 year shots & town registration, popcorn & ice cream with the Grands watching Gilligan's Island. 

* Wed 9th -  Went driving with the older Grand, was the piece finder for Lego building with  the younger Grand, there has been so many mosquitos. 

Happy Birth-day Grand Gracie.

* Thurs 10th -  Did some reading & writing with the younger Grand, did some grocery shopping with the older Grand.

* Fri 11th - It's a girl, Grand # 8 was born.

Week 24

* Sat 12th/Sun 13th - Went camping in the buttes, did lots of 4 wheeler riding.

Surprised to see the cactus blooming.

* Mon 14th - Played Trouble with each of the Grands, lost both games.

* Tues 15th - Grands worked on making leather name bracelets.

* Wed 16th -  Finished the bracelets.

* Thurs 17th - Went to the arcade, ate burgers & wings, got groceries.

* Fri 18th -  Daughter, Son in Law & Grands arrived, gave bear hugs to everyone, snuggled baby Grand #8.

Week 25

"I'm making a rainbow."

* Sat 19th - Daughter & Son in Law went on an overnight mini vacation adventure, the rest of us made snowman with playdough, built with Legos, played on the playground, colored, painted, played basketball, rode bicycles to the store & got snacks, the little ones including me took a nap.

* Sun 20th - Older Grands made a cake to celebrate Father's/Mother's day & all our birthdays, younger Grands made a banana pudding to have for picnic.

* Mon 21st -  Daughter & Son in Law took Grands to the waterpark, ate pizza in the park for supper & played on the playground, older Grands went to open field & played baseball with other kids, Kevin & Son in Law helped ump & worked with the kids.

* Tues 22nd -  Had a picnic with a view of George Washington's profile on Mt Rushmore, went to a snake show at Reptiles Gardens.

No petting the snake for me,
how about you?

Do you see George Washington?

* Wed 23rd -  Went rock climbing, roasted hotdogs & made smores, there was slip & slide kick ball, my job was keeping dish detergent on the plastic to make it slippery.

* Thurs 24th -  Daughter, Son in Law & Grands headed home, middle 3 Grands stayed, watched the 1st 3 episodes of Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous, snacked on popcorn & m&ms.

* Fri 25th - Had another hotdog roast to use up leftovers, 72 degrees F & no bugs, perfect evening.

My favorite kind of dinner party.

Week 26

* Sat 26th - Everyone pitched in to do laundry & tidy up the house, walked with Rose & watched the Grands play basketball.

* Sun 27th - Went to the lake, started watching the Harry Potter series, played Trouble with Grand, won 1 out of 4 games, a thunderstorm rolled though in the evening, the rain sounded so good.

* Mon 28th - Worked on laundry & watched an episode of Camp Cretaceous with Grands before work, seems Grands are surely changing clothes at least 3 times a day, open field baseball after supper, watched the 2nd Harry Potter movie, fell asleep & woke up at the ending.

* Tues 29th -  Kevin cooked fish for supper, I made root beer floats, older 2 Grands went to open gym & played basketball with other kids, younger Grand finished a Lego set, we played several games of Trouble & watched the 2nd Harry Potter movie again.

* Wed 30th -  Grands prepared chicken in the crockpot for supper, cleaned up after the Lions club sponsored blood drive then went up to the field to watch Grands play ball, played several games of Trouble while everyone got their shower, had ice cream & root beer floats while watching Camp Cretaceous.

These are some of the things that's been going on in my neck of the woods, how about you?

Walking for Wellness - Week 8

 Hello there Adventurous Friends, this is where I'm keeping up with my eating & walking  activities in attempts to get my weight & cholesterol back down.  I had to/was able to put my belt in the second notch hole. Yay!  Previously, I could barely get it in the 1st notch.  Kevin said it was a good thing he made that banana pudding or else I would of had to use the 3rd hole.  Haha!  Not funny.

Here's my plan & lets see how I did this week.

• Eat smaller portions, take smaller bites, chew more 
  
• Eat varieties of all the foods I like & not deprive myself
• Eat a variety of fruits & vegetables, at least 1 fruit & 1 green vegetable a day
• Stop eating when full
• Walk more
• 1 small sweet a day, if any
• Drink more water
• No snacks after supper

* Sat

Breakfast - almond crunchy honey oat cereal with grapes & banana

Lunch - fish, fries, carrots, garlic texas toast, sweet tea, banana pudding

Supper - ate a late lunch, wasn't hungry for supper

Snack - made rhubarb muffins & sampled 2

Drinks - one cup of coffee, water, tea

Exercise - walked to work

* Sun

Breakfast - 1/2 of grilled bacon, egg & cheese sandwich

Snack - single serving pecan pie, got very tired & sleepy after eating that sweet thing

Lunch - 1/2 of a chicken tender meal with mashed tators, gravy & a biscuit meal, coke

Supper - ate a late lunch, wasn't hungry at suppertime

Drinks - one cup of coffee, water, coke

Exercise - dog walks, made extra trips up & down the stairs putting away laundry

* Mon 

Breakfast - 1/2 slice of pizza, 2 eggs & a banana

Lunch - chicken salad made with a leftover chicken tender along with some grapes & the other 1/2 of tator gravy & biscits

Supper - pinto beans, pumpkin, a small salad & pork tenderloin

Snack - ice cream

Drinks - one cup of coffee, water

Exercise - extra trips up & down the stairs, walked to work, walked during work break, evening longer dog walk

* Tues

Breakfast - 2 eggs, cinnamon roll, pumpkin

Lunch - 1/2 grilled bacon egg & cheese sandwich, salad, grapes, fries

Supper - chili using leftover pinto beans, salad, grapes, saltine crackers, nilla wafers & peanut butter

Drinks - one cup of coffee, water

Exercise - parked down the street for extra walking to get to work, walk during work break, dog walks

* Wed

Breakfast - leftover pork tenderloin, 2 eggs & a piece of garlic texas toast with strawberry jam

Lunch - salad, grapes, chili

Supper - taco made of a hotdog & chili with salad & grapes on top, topped with a spoonfull of ranch dressing, peanut butter, nutella & cool whip on graham crackers

Snack - popcorn

Drinks - one cup of coffee, water

Exercise - walked to work, walked during work break, dog walks

Kevin cooked the hotdogs for our Thursday 
picnic supper on his little camp stove.

* Thurs

Breakfast - almond crunchy honey oat cereal with dollops of cool whip, Kevin mentioned we needed to eat the cool whip before it got freezer burnt so he put it on our cereal 

Lunch - 1/2 peanut butter & strawberry jam sandwich, mixed berries, 3/4 of a single serving of pringles chips

Supper - picnic up at the pond - hotdog in a cheddar cheese taco shell topped with chili, onions & ketchup; 1/2 of a single serving pringles chips & a can of coke

Drinks - one cup of coffee, water, coke

Exercise - walked to work, walked during work break, walked around pond

* Fri

Breakfast - honey bunches of oats cereal

Lunch - 1/2 of a pb&j sandwich, mixed berries, 1/2 single serving of pringles chips

Supper - pizza with mac & cheese tv dinner

Snack - hungry that would not go away so ate graham crackers with peanut butter & nutella

Drinks - one cup of coffee, water

Exercise - walked to work, dog walks

Dog walk out in the trees with Rose. 
No leaves on these trees yet.

Walking for Wellness - Week 6

 Hello there Adventurous Friends, this is where I'm keeping up with my eating & walking  activities in attempts to get my weight & cholesterol back down. The weather was nice, so there were longer sunshine dog walks with Rose.  I parked at the end of the street, so there was extra walking to & from the office.  I think I did good keeping my portion sizes in tack.  Good thing I bake a limited number of cookies, there is no end to the numbers of cookies I would have ate.

Here's my Plan:

• Eat smaller portions, take smaller bites, chew more 
  
• Eat varieties of all the foods I like & not deprive myself
• Eat a variety of fruits & vegetables, at least 1 fruit & 1 green vegetable a day
• Stop eating when full
• Walk more
• 1 small sweet a day, if any
• Drink more water
• No snacks after supper

* Sat  

Breakfast - crunchy raisin bran cereal

Lunch - pizza, salad & coke

Supper - bbq pulled pork, salad, 1/2 serving pringles chips, peanut butter & nutella crackers

Drink - one cup of coffee, water 

Exercise - dog walks

Snack - popcorn

Walking around in a campground
getting in some extra walking while
Kevin got in some extra fishing.

* Sun

Brunch - sausage & egg biscuit with jelly from Hardees, coke

Supper - shared a whopper & fries from Burger King with Kevin, coke

Snack - hot fudge sundae from Dairy Queen

Drink - one cup of coffee, water, coke

Exercise - walking & fishing in the canyon 

Maybe a little too much coke while on our outing, Kevin got me a large one & I sipped on it all day instead of the water I brought.

The road was open for foot traffic & bicycles
since there wasn't enough snow for snowmobiling,
 though this one section was still covered with snow.

 

 

* Mon

Breakfast - leftover 1/4 sausage burger patty with cheese on it, egg & cinnamon apple slices

Lunch - bbq pulled pork, leftover egg from breakfast, single serving of pringles chips

Supper - taco salad, cookies

Drink - one cup of coffee, water

Exercise - dog walks

Soup day at the garage

* Tues 

Breakfast - 1/2 of a single serving turkey pot pie with veggies, egg & cinnamon apple slices

Lunch - cup of beef noodle soup

Snack - chewy dip bar

Supper - fish, fried tators & carrots

Drink - one cup of coffee, water

Exercise - walk during work break, longer sunshine dog walks

* Wed

Breakfast - crunchy raisin bran cereal & mandarin orange slices

Lunch - taco

Supper - taco salad

Snack - popcorn

Drink - one cup of coffee, water

Exercise - dog walks

* Thurs

Breakfast - almond crunchy honey oat cereal, mandarin orange slices

Lunch - taco

Supper - Pizza & coke

Snack - ice cream

Drink - one cup of coffee, water

Exercise - walk during break, yard work at the office picking up pine cones, dog walks & a long one after supper

* Fri

Breakfast - almond crunchy honey oat cereal, banana slices

Lunch - a slice of leftover pizza

Supper - fish, salad, tators & ramps

Snack - ice cream

Drink - one cup of coffee, water

Exercise - walk during work break, dog walks

Walking for Wellness - Week 5

Hello there Adventurous Friends, this is where I'm keeping up with my eating & walking  activities in attempts to get my weight & cholesterol back down.  I got in 2 good walks this week & drank more coke than planned.  I noticed my wedding band & shoes are looser, not what I was thinking about, though it's something noticeable.

Here's my Plan:

• Eat smaller portions, take smaller bites, chew more 
  
• Eat varieties of all the foods I like & not deprive myself
• Eat a variety of fruits & vegetables, at least 1 fruit & 1 green vegetable a day
• Stop eating when full
• Walk more
• 1 small sweet a day, if any
• Drink more water
• No snacks after supper

* Sat

Breakfast - 1/2 of a single serving sausage & gravy pot pie & an egg, gave one egg to Rose

Lunch - bbq pulled pork sandwich & single serving pack of pringles chips, ate late & hungry, ate the whole sandwich instead of just 1/2 of it, was at the point of being overfull

Supper - none, still satisfied from eating a late lunch

Drink - one cup of coffee, water

Snack - popcorn, 2 dum dum suckers & 2 packs of fun size m&ms at bingo

Exercise - walk during break, dog walks

Didn't get in a veggie or fruit, that's how easy it is for me to not eat them

* Sun

Breakfast - sausage, egg & cheese sandwich, mine was no bread & no cheese, 1 piece of sausage, an egg & apple slices 

Lunch - Hardees chicken tenders & fries shared with Kevin, apple pie, coke

Supper - 1/2 whopper, fries & coke from Burger King

Drink - one cup of coffee, water, coke

Exercise - lots of walking & fishing

Too much coke while out.

* Mon 

Breakfast - sausage & egg biscuit

Lunch - other 1/2  of leftover whopper burger & trail mix

Supper - meat, veggies, fruit, bread, pickled okra, carrot cake & chocolate ice cream provided by fellow Lions club member, good eats, ate too much though didn't overstuff

Drink - one cup of coffee, water, coke with supper

Exercise - not much except for dog walking just long enough for Rose to do her business

Coke for supper was comfort drink after long busy day at work, seems if I have a lot of coke one day then the next day I crave it.

Soup from the garage, hit the
spot on a cold snowy day &
since I didn't have any breakfast.

* Tues

Breakfast - just coffee, still full from supper

Lunch - cup of soup - sausage, potatoes, kale

Snack -  1/2 pb&j sandwich

Supper - fish, sweet potatoes, blackeye peas & cornbread muffin, cookies

Drink - one cup of coffee, water

Exercise - walk during work break & dog walks

* Weds

Breakfast - 1/2 single serving beef pot pie & an egg

Snack - other 1/2 of pot pie & an egg

Lunch - left over fish, sweet potatoes, blackeye peas & cornbread muffin, cookies

Supper - left over pull pork, sweet potatoes, black eye peas & cornbread muffin, apple sauce & trail mix

Drink - one cup of coffee, water

Exercise - dog walks

* Thurs

Breakfast - crunchy raisin bran cereal

Lunch - chicken salad on crackers

Supper - pizza with added onions & green peppers, coke

Drink - one cup of coffee, water

Exercise - walk in the hills

* Fri

Breakfast - crunchy raisin bran cereal

Lunch - leftover pizza & an egg

Supper - grilled sausage burgers with cheese, pork & beans, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, applesauce, made mine a salad, no bread, 1/2 the burger & a spoonful of ranch dressing, Kevin had coke & no coke for me.

Drink - one cup of coffee, water

Exercise - dog walk & during break in the office