Snow & other October Happenings

 Hello there Adventurous Friends, greetings from South Dakota.  How you doing?  October is over & I've not mailed any of my Christmas boxes yet.  I like to beat the Christmas time mailing rush & also be sure all the presents arrive to the Grands in plenty of time.  This is Sentence a Day where I join others & write a little something about each of my days, wrote in a long drawn out sentence or 2.  It seems October flew by for me & this here is how it went. 

* Fri 1st - Had the afternoon off, relaxed, watched Pitching Love & Catching Faith, started watching Maid series.

Week 40

* Weekend 2nd & 3rd -  Kevin got an antelope, going to can it, went camping up in the hills under the pine tree, discovered the camper has a DVD player & the toilet works. 

Looking in the top cabinets in
the camper, they all appeared to be empty.

Looking in the top cabinets in the
camper while standing on a step stool.  SUPRISE!

 

* Mon 4th - No Lions club meeting, decided to eat supper out at the #3, Daughter & Grands back to school & work after their quarantine. 

* Tues 5th - Had the afternoon off, folded laundry & put it away, prepped antelope meat for canning, watched episodes of Maid.

* Wed 6th - Changed the sheets on the bed, exhausting & aggravating day at work, Kevin cooked supper, I washed the dishes, watched the last episodes of Maid.

* Thurs 7th - Got the homemakers friend 2022 planner I ordered, bought groceries, did a little side hustle cleaning job.

* Fri 8th - Planned camping menus & packed the camper, made a curtain for one of the camper windows, friends took us out to supper as payback for giving them stuff out of the garden.

Week 41

Happy Birthday to Grand Colton!

Tried her 1st bites 
of baby food.

            

The curtain worked perfect.

* Weekend 9th, 10th & 11th - Columbus Day/Native American Day holiday, went camping up at the pond, forgot the onion buns & pork & beans, tried out the camper oven & shower, snow clouds rolled in.

Probably the last of the leaf color for the season,
a lot of the leaves were already off the trees.

* Tues 12th - Wore long johns & long sleeves to work, temps in mid 50s, more snow clouds moved in, Kevin got the gas logs heat fired up.

Looking out the window during suppertime,
there is still mators out there.

Came out of work to this.

  

* Wed 13th - The snow had turned to rain, made a crockpot of chili for supper using leftover pinto beans.

I knew I would get stuck but needed to get
 off the road for when the snowplow came
 through, Kevin came to dig me out.

No snow at home, then this driving to work
24 miles away. Jesus took the wheel &
 got me to work & back home safely. 

Snow piles in the back parking area, electricity went out
for about 2 hours or so, did some extra cleaning & preparing
paperwork to be shredded since there was nothing else much to do,
10 to 14 inches of snow accumulations reported.

* Thurs 14th - Had the afternoon off work, caught up on opening the mail, paid bills & balanced the check books, did a couple loads of laundry, watched episodes of Major Dad & Seinfeld. 

* Fri 15th - 2 afternoons off work in a row, put gas in my car & bought groceries, worked on laundry some more, started watching You, another Bates Motel type show, creepy.

Having hotdogs for lunch with leftover homemade
 chili & the giant Hershey bar I won at bingo.

Week 42

* Sat 16th - Bingo night, made a jug of lemonade & a candy tray.

* Sun 17th - Went on a 4wheeler ride & had a picnic then put away things around in the house that had collected here & there that had started looking like a place of hoarding.

* Mon 18th - Lions club meeting, talked about having a potluck instead of a catered Christmas dinner & invite the bingo folks.

* Tues 19th - Washed up the dishes that seemed to be a couple days worth, made apple pie nachos.

Kevin was delighted I made a recipe using some of his
 chunky applesauce from the freezer, he mentioned it was one of
the weirdest best things I had ever made.

* Wed 20th - Planned camping menus, sandwiches, chips & pb crackers; foods that don't require washing dishes since the camper had been winterized.

* Thurs 21st - Got gas & groceries, sorted laundry & did a load, ran out of socks between washings, loaded the camper.

Looking for a little hand held mirror to
use in the camper.  Remember these?

Week 43

* Weekend 22nd, 23rd & 24th -  Camped on the fairgrounds at the gun show, shopped at the dollar store, washed the road grim off my car at the car wash, did some reading & relaxing, picked up trash around the camp area while out walking with Rose.

Enjoyed hanging out with Kevin
at the gun show all weekend.

* Mon 25th - Helped Kevin dig the tators, started wrapping Grand's Christmas gifts.

A tumbleweed blocking the walking trail
out in the trees.

Me washing the tators off with the hose
while Kevin gets them out of the ground.

The littlest Grands trick or treating at
Moma's house & went trunk or treating
with Sister. Sister painted the sign &
made the jack-o-lantern that made an
awesome fall/Halloween scene in their 
yard.

* Tues 26th - Windy, the needing gas light came on in my car, gas $3.94 per gallon, went over $50, gracious.

* Wed 27th - Attended a short work ethics meeting, off work early, cooked salisbury hamburger helper & baked tator for supper, made leftover bowls for work lunches, watched episodes of You & Mr Iglesias, chatted with Daughter.

Jason from Friday the 13th, Little Bo Peep lost 
her sheep & Rapunzel.

Ready for trick-or-treaters.

* Thurs 28th - Wiped in the fridge, emptied & washed containers, bought groceries, costume monster march after school & trick or treating businesses.

* Fri 29th -  Had another work ethics meeting, the new one has lots to learn, tired, went to bed early & fell asleep watching episodes of whatever it was I was watching.

Week 44

* Weekend 30th & 31st - Went camping over in the buttes, good thing we packed our cold weather gear for trail riding, forgot the dish rag & towel, made a pot of chili for Halloween, had 38 trick or treaters.

Christmas cactus blooming.

Getting warmed up with a tasty cup of hot spiced
 cider along one the riding trails.

       

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

Precious Grand #8.

Apple fritter bread & other September Happenings

 Hello there Adventurous Friends, greetings from South Dakota.  How you doing? September is National Preparedness Month, so I thought... what would we actually need to be prepared if the electricity went off for several days due to a snow storm or such.  

Last winter there was that unusual unexpected snow storm that hit Texas.  Kevin & I survived the Blizzard of 93 in North Carolina, being out of power for about a full week.  Daughter was about 5 years old back then.  We had a wood heater at that time & used it to cook on as well as for heating the house.  Snow out on the back deck was used to keep things cold for refrigeration.  

Reading the disaster list of supplies, 1st thing on the list, water.  We would need drinking water.  We did have a couple gallons of  drinking water but used it up this summer camping.  While shopping at the grocery store mid month, I got a case of bottled water to have on hand to add back to our food stock.  We'll have the water available to use on picnics next summer then replenish again next fall.  

This is Sentence a Day where I join others & write a little something about each of my days, wrote in a long drawn out sentence or 2.  Last September is when I joined the Sentence A Day bloggers.  WOW!  I've stuck with it & have been participating for a year.  I've looked back from time to time to see when certain things happened.  Kevin was asking when was the week we went camping in the Big Horns last year & I was wondering when we went leaf looking, I was able to look back & remember.  Yay me, the person my family says never remembers anything.  Here is what happened last September, lets see what happened this September.

Happy Birthday to Grand Tripp.

* Wed 1st - Changed the sheets on the bed, worked on laundry & did a few other cleaning duties around in the house.

* Thurs 2nd - Got groceries & gas, made a pumpkin crunch cake.

* Fri 3rd - Gave the dog a bath, watched some tv, there was another season of Manifest.

Week 36

* Sat 4th -  Caught up on stuff around the house after work, did a couple loads of laundry, cleaned here & there.

* Sun 5th -  Went along with a fellow Lions club member as drivers to his grandson's wedding, Kevin drove & I did the mapping that took us off course around the scenic loop.

Good thing we still had 2 1//2 hours to find the place
before the wedding was supposed to start.

* Mon 6th - Wedding anniversary, 36 years of marriage, walked down to see the parade, had the chamber's BBQ for lunch, checked out the car show & voted for my favorites.

* Tues 7th - Back to work after 2 days off, seemed like Monday, brought in the patio table & dumped out a fall scene puzzle to work on since it's getting darker earlier.

* Wed 8th - Made supper before work, mixed up BBQ pork for sandwiches, seemed like Tuesday but was already Wednesday, the week is going by quick.

* Thurs 9th - Got groceries & gas, got a case of bottled water to have on hand to be prepared for the unexpected, gave Rose a bath in Dawn dish liquid to see if that gets the fleas off.

* Fri 10th - The air was smokey & smelled smokey, the worst smokey day yet, watched Mistletoe Promise on the Hallmark channel, gave Rose a treatment of Steelcoat, it's compared to Frontline.

Week 37

* Sat 11th - Did some catching up on laundry & opening the mail, made a tator tot casserole, niece got antibody infusion for Covid.

* Sun 12th - Moma, Sister & Great Nephew have Covid, helped with Lions club Golf & Horseshoe tournament, delicious ham salad sandwiches for lunch, good turnout.

* Mon 13th - Moma went to urgent care & didn't have to be admitted to the hospital, she got scheduled for the antibody infusion, that was good news, back working in town for at least a couple weeks, made a purchase agreement to buy a camper that is a toy hauler.

* Tues 14th - Moma's infusion was postponed, rumor they were out, felt good walking to work for the fresh air & sunshine, helped Kevin cut up & prep 2 turkey breasts to cook in the crockpot.

* Wed 15th - Moma got the antibodies, picked pumpkins, a coworker stopped by, sent squash & melons home with her.

Having good thoughts about making a pie or 2.

* Thurs 16th - Got groceries, talked to Sister, Moma was feeling better.

* Fri 17th - Kevin brought home the camper.

It seems HUGE compared to the truck slide in.
The side by side is too big too fit, what to do?

Week 38

* Sat 18th - Facetimed with Moma, she was very weak & sad, her brother died of Covid, she can't go to the family gatherings, the funeral or prepare any food.

Bingo time!  Have I mentioned that I go for the snacks?

Made apple fritter bread, might have
overfilled the pan a smidge, the side
broke off.

* Sun 19th - Stayed around home catching up on stuff, did a little baking, washed the shower curtain, ordered next year's planner, got Moma set up for a video chat with a cousin so she could virtually attend her brother's funeral.

* Mon 20th - Made blueberry cobbler to take to Lions club meeting, Daughter & Son in Law have Covid

* Tues 21st - Ordered snack "junk" foods from Walmart grocery pickup for the Grands to enjoy during their quarantine, in the mix was apples, strawberries, bananas & clementines. 

* Wed 22nd - Kevin solved our camper dilemma, he traded for a side by side 10 inches smaller.

 Thankful for Daughter's mild symptoms.

A little spooky at the grocery store.

*Thurs 23rd - Got groceries & gas.

Pretty mums at the town office.

* Fri 24th - Went to the electric & telephone company's tailgate customer appreciation cookout at the football game for supper, there was brats, hotdogs & chips; watched the last episode of How to Get away with Murder. 

She'll be wanting her 2 
front teeth for Christmas.

Week 39

* Weekend 25th & 26th - Facetimed with Daughter & the Grands, went camping up at the pond with the new set up, didn't like the windshield on the side by side, it had too much glare, sucked in too much dust & made the inside too hot, Happy Birthday to Sister Sharon.

Camp

Inside the camper is very spacious with lots
of storage spaces.

Rose likes to facetime too.

Entertained a friend of Grand's.

The leaves seemed to be at their
peek fall color.

* Mon 27th - Wishing we were still camping, hoping & dreaming of an early retirement offer soon, got off work a couple hours early, rode along with Kevin on a work call to get an ice cream cone, watched Reluctant Nanny on Hallmark.

* Tues 28th - Went to Dentist appointment, got 2 crowns, seems waking up with clenched teeth is not a good thing, hopeful it is stress related & will cure itself with some simple techniques.

* Wed 29th - Worked on releasing stress, started the day with a good cup of Maxwell House coffee made in the Keurig, walked to work for the fresh air, sunshine & exercise; thanked the good lord for things I was thankful for, good conversation & supper with less talk about aggravating things at work.

* Thurs 30th - High school homecoming next week, brainstormed ideas to decorate office windows with a Game Shows theme, rode up to the dollar store to get totes, hooks & other supplies for the camper, got more Halloween candy thinking about the trick-or-treat parade around town for our office, grabbed chicken & tator wedges for super.

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

Goldenrod & other August Happenings

 Hello there Adventurous Friends, greetings from South Dakota.  How you doing? 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.  We got to go camping most every weekend, though I had to postpone my visit to family due to being short staffed at work.  I've joined up here with others if you'd like to see what they've been up to.  

When the goldenrod blooms & the
kids go back to school, it's fall.

* Sun 1st - Had a good overnight camping trip, got to do lots of trail riding, it was hot during the day, had to wear my jacket in the evening & morning, clipped Rose's toenails & gave her a flea treatment.

Patiently waiting while I take
pictures of flowers.

* Mon 2nd - Started working in another office till someone is hired, it's a nice drive, the bridge was still being worked on, going to miss walking to work for the exercise, went to Lions club meeting, the meal was pizza, cream puffs & ice cream, got a new member, talked about the golf & horseshoe tournament coming up next month & Labor Day activities, canceled bingo this month since it's the same weekend as the county fair. 

* Tues 3rd - Cleaned out my email folder at work - delete, delete, delete; picked tomatoes from the deck container garden to have with shrimp veggie kabobs Kevin cooked on the grill, started watching Outlander, not into it yet.

The deer can't get to these up on the deck.

Squash, tators, onion, peppers & shrimp.

* Wed 4th - Changed the sheets on the bed, got Grand's cot beds set back up with all the sheets & quilts washed, worked on laundry, did cleaning & yard work at the office, the gravel road out front makes a lot of dust, did some weed eating, got my driver's license in the mail from using the online renewal system.

* Thurs 5th - Planned the camping menu & gathered ingredients, paid the water bill, it was up a bit due to watering the garden, put gas in my car, Kevin did the grocery shopping, planned to have a pizza picnic out at the lake & maybe do a little fishing & some walking, it was hot & we were tired so we ate inside in the coolness, had good conversation about nothing & everything.

* Fri 6th - Did some more yard work at the office, put pine cones for decoration in the flower planter that didn't get planted this year, lots of motorcycles rumbled by, 1st day of Sturgis motorcycle rally.

Walking out in the garden with Kevin,
he says the pumpkins are turning
 orange, & sure enough, look at that.

Would you say that's a black sunflower?

Female & male squash blooms.

Week 32

Found some petrified wood while taking
a walk out a ways from camp.

* Sat 7th - Made chicken salad & deviled eggs for camping, gathered the trash for Kevin to haul to the dump then gave the trash can a cleaning with a little clorox, worked in 3 offices, lots of drive time, listened jammed to uplifting music on the radio, got a soft serve ice cream, arrived at our camping spot a little later than usual.

* Sun 8th - Slept in, felt good snuggled inside the flannel sleeping bag getting some extra rest, woke up to cows mooing, took a trail ride after a breakfast of cheerios, saw golden finches & pretty purple flowers, hobos on the grill for supper using garden veggies & leftover hotdogs from the freezer, fixed leftover bowls for lunches, gave Rose another flea treatment, watched another episode of Outlander, just not into it, forecasted hottest day of the week.

* Mon 9th - A chilly morning, wore jackets while having breakfast, forgot to take my lunch, a good reason to always have a stash of peanut butter, crackers & pretzels, picked out pictures to have printed from Daughter's family photo shoot.

Happy Birthday to Grand Austin.

* Tues 10th - Went to clinic appointment to get a Covid shot, was told to come back Thursday when there was a schedule, picked enough tomatoes to make soup, need to look up the recipe & gather ingredients. 

"Hay Nana, look at me,
I'm at the beach."

* Wed 11th - Put 2 bags of okra & 2 bags of corn on the cob in the freezer, okra from the garden & the corn was given from a friend, played with Rose, she's rough, we need a new toy.

Taking a walk with Rose when it's hot outside,
be like this:  "You're going to have to carry me if
you want me moving around out in this heat".

 

* Thurs 12th - Went to clinic appointment to get the Covid shot, still no schedule, will try again Monday, had a pork chop on a stick meal & a snow cone for supper from the 4-H fundraiser at Summer in the Streets, talked with friends.

* Fri 13th - Made Gail's tomato soup, put 3 dozen ears of corn in the freezer along with a bag of okra.

Making soup using tomatoes out of the garden.

Week 33

* Weekend 14th & 15th - Facetimed with Daughter & Grands, they showed their new school shoes, went camping, took a couple trail rides, put 2 packs of tomato soup in the freezer, took a nap, worked on laundry, put together Grand's Sept birthday box & care package.

We watched grouse in a field for a time,
then rode off into the sunset, wanting
to get back to camp before dark.

Grand's 1st day of school went something
like this:  "We exercised and we sleep’d and
 we ate chicken nuggets and there were puppets
 but they forgot to learn us anything today.”

* Mon 16th - Got the Johnson & Johnson Covid shot, went to Lions club meeting, the meal was eating out at #3, I had nacho tots. 

 * Tues 17th - Injection site a little sore, went to the dentist for a cleaning, the hygienist seemed a little rough, hopefully that means I got a thorough cleaning, made an appointment to get a couple crowns, went to bed early feeling achy, flushed & tired, watched several episodes of How to get away with Murder.

* Wed 18th- Injection site still a little sore along with a slight headache & stuffy nose, went back & forth between offices.

* Thurs 19th- Got a nice midday shower downpour of rain, got soaked coming out of the grocery store, went to the high school football game season opener for supper, had pulled pork sandwich meals from the student council's tailgate fundraiser.

* Fri 20th- It rained all morning & throughout the afternoon, started watching Northern Rescue.

Week 34

Used these items from out of the
garden to make recipes.

* Sat 21st- Made chocolate zucchini bread & a chicken bacon ranch tator tot casserole.   

There was enough leftovers for several days.

* Sun 22nd- Went to the county fair, Kevin pitched horseshoes, he brought home a trophy & some cash for winning his division.

I voted for this mosaic for the "People's Choice
Award" in the crafts division along with a pair
of moccasins.

I had to have a caramel roll even though we
had already ate breakfast at home, these
cabbages are giants compared to the
ones growing in our garden.

 

 * Mon 23rd - Grand's 1st day back to school, worked on shredding old paperwork at work, leftovers for supper, fell asleep watching episodes of How to get away with Murder.

New backpacks for the Grands.

* Tues 24th - Cleaned light fixtures at work & changed some of the light bulbs, leftovers for supper, fell asleep watching episodes of How to get away with Murder.

* Wed 25th - Drizzled cold rain during morning dog walk, Rose didn't want to go back out for her 2nd walk before my going to work, I didn't want to have to get back out either though forced myself.

* Thurs 26th - Got groceries & gas, continued subscription to Frndly tv to get the Hallmark channel & the Outdoor one.

* Fri 27th - Made coleslaw out of one of the cabbage heads in the garden.

Week 35

The long range views were clearer then they've
been for awhile, that's our camping spot
down there.

* Weekend 28th & 29th -  Facetimed with Daughter & Grands, they were going to a track meet, football game & birthday pool party; went camping when all done with work, nice weather, took several walks & did some trial riding, saw, turkeys, deer, muskrats, ducks, geese, a pair of swans & the buffalo herd.

The pines smelled so piney.

* Mon 30th - Went shopping at the dollar store, got Halloween candy for trick-or-treaters, tried a new place for supper, their specialty was burgers, got the prairie melt, grilled onions & mushrooms sandwiched between American & Swiss cheeses on sourdough bread.

* Tues 31st - Folded laundry & gathered things for Grand's October birthday box before going to work, supper was my homemade mater soup from the freezer, salad & the other half of the prairie melt, fell asleep watching episodes of How to get away with  Murder.

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