Daily observations of my simple life.

Just another Monday:

Waking up and looking out across the courtyard to the barn the old wood of the barn western front blended into the grey morning sky. Got my morning java and curled up in bed to meditate and gaze out at the morning sky. Love watching the animals, all positioning themselves for the morning feed. Carlos, the peococks tail is growing long and with the stiff breezes it blows him sideways full sail. He trips along trying to stay on track. The grey sky becomes tinged with a wonderful soft shell pink, the mountains silohuetted against the horizon.

It promises to be a cold and breezy day and before too much longer I was out in it.  Taking out the garbage, putting up the new clothes pins on the clothes line, putting a few items in the garage. I bring in the clothes that were on the line through the whole rainstorm. The little storm that was to be sprinkles became a major storm bringing on lakeside properties here and there. I certainly have my own lakes.

I clean up the kitchen and wonder at my own messyness. I was in a funk over the weekend. Perhaps the rain, but on the same day that I received pictures of my beautiful family that I sponsor in Equador I received my daughters Christmas card back. The bottom fell out and I felt for two days like just dying. Our relationship has been on and off over the years. We can be as close as best friends calling each other every day and then suddenly I'm blindsided by her taking some minor word so seriously that I'm the most evil person in the world. I try to get through these periods but it makes me feel so black, so sad. With the rain pouring I just stumbled around through my days.

Today, I feel a sense of purpose again and directed toward life. I felt happy when I watched my horse and burro out the window, just another Monday.

Posted by: cactusandquail at 18:29 | link | comments (3)

Wally World:

It poured down rain the day that the supper Walmart opened but still the newspaper showed a cutsy family fun day at Wally World. Tap dancing by an associates son, balloons, treats, all the trimmings of a grand celebration. Ah yes, people have JOBS. Let's not forget that.

So I drove in yesterday to check out the new SUPER/BIGGER/BETTER Wally World. I passed by the old lonely non super Wally World . Empty parking lot, paved, empty building, wasted.  Within a 5 block area there were three very good supermarkets and 2 very sufficient hardware stores. Good old competition, beat the other guy out. So Wally World had to build more in the center of the hub where traffic will be a nightmare another BIGGER store.

So curious me, who must always check everything out took a trip into town to check it out. I came in the back side to avoid some of the heavy traffic and took 2 hours checking out the store. I'm not a militant non shopper. I bought two of their hand can openers for $1. a piece because I found out they really do work. Really and that's hard to find a hand can opener that REALLY works. I don't think that purchase is going to help build another Wally World somewhere else. Oh, and I bought another bundle of washclothes because they were on sale for $2 off their regular price. I use washclothes instead of paper towels for most things, although I certainly have enough old clothes to make rags. Chuckle. And a pair of leather gloves for handling the octillo when I build my living fence.  I regretted that purchase because I found the same ones at the dollar store an hour later for $1 less. I was disapointed by the garden shop. The one reason I might wish Wally Super store would be the garden shop. I drive over the hill to the Super Wally in Bullhead City to buy trees. They do have good trees that are suitable for this climate and reasonably priced at that Super Wally not so in our NEW BIGGER BETTER SUPER WALLY. So that all said, lets move on.

Well Wally World is so pleased with Kingmans amazing love for them that they are now going to put in a Super Distribution Center right outside of the city limits a few miles. Now we're talking about close to my two properties.

In the last two days the Kingman news has been full of headlines about the man who bought 3000 acres years ago for $3 an acre and is now a millionaire because a Las Vegas developer came in and has been quietly buying land all over the Kingman area. He's going to put in housing developments and golf courses and all that wonderful stuff people love so much.  His master plan is to make Kingman and the surrounding areas a BEDROOM CUMMUNITY for good old Las Vegas. So you see all this beautiful rural country has SHOPPING so it MUST be filled to the brim with PEOPLE/HOUSES/CARS/JOBS . Who wants dirty old desert anyway.

Now I wonder about all those beautiful yucca plants that the super wally world cleared. If I had dug one up a few months ago I would have been arrested because they were precious native landscape. Landscape that has been bulldozed under because we have to have MONEY/DEVELOPMENT.

What about those beautiful little owls we see early in the morning sitting out on our dirt roads. What about the ancient creosotes.

What we really want is to use up more water, we want traffic and smog, we want to be packed in so tight that life will be stressful and meaningless except to shop and eat our way into poor health. Ah the American way of life. It's the only way. What is freedom anyway? We have to be free to consume, to get more than the other guy, to preen and show off our new house, our new car, our expensive this and that. 

Fortunately I'll die before it's completely ruined by the mindless careless ways of the AMERICAN PEOPLE. LET"S BE PROUD NOW. WE'RE THE SAVIORS OF THE WORLD.

I think it's time we all started thinking about our way of life and if it is really so valuable. There  has to be balance and it can't be money led. Money is only a paper statement of energy spent. How do we want to spend our energy? Shopping? OR living with appreciation and respect for all life.   

Posted by: cactusandquail at 15:06 | link | comments (4)

Speaking of neighbors.

I'd just come out of the motorhome to enjoy the fresh new day. Grabbing an orange I began to peel and turn in a circle gazing at all the glorious horizon.  On one of my turns I spotted two peoples coming down the dirt road towards me. Once close I called out, " You going to sit a spell?"  So Dorothy and Allen walked over to the campsite while I went in for some of those handy camping folding chairs. Once seated we began exchanging information. It had been some months since I had talked to them. I remember the first time I met them. I had driven up to the mountain property and discovered down the next block of dirt road were two motorhomes parked. On my daily walk I stopped by, calling a greeting to them. They were sitting by the fire with a coffee pot on . The water trailer carrying their big water tank was also serving as a kitchen table. They told me they were from Montana and had bought these two lots a few years back when they decided to make it their home. Dorothy sat making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while we exchanged stories about the desert. They liked to talk about rattlesnakes and crazy bulls who crashed through their homesite with careless abandon and ill will. They had stories of squaters who got run off and Dorothy and I talked about desert plants.

My first day there, the day  before ,I was again outdoors having a gratefruit when a fellow came down the road on an ATV. It was one of those sharp ones that is all outfitted for hunting with a wench on the front, a gun carrier and a large metal basket on the back. As he slowed down and pulled up I step out to greet him. I commented on his fine machine and we exchanged first names. He told me what lot was his, the one up beyond Dorothy and Allens with the three big truck trailers , motorhome and truck tractor. He explained he had moved up permanent. Just a short visit and then through out the day he passed up and down the road like he was checking on things. I started wondering what those big trailers were for and in the most macabre mindset I began seeing that Atv and those trailers as weapons of a madman. Why he could just wrap me up with that pully wench thing and drag me to his truck trailers and then gruesomely murder me after torture, cut my body up in little pieces and no one would know. Shiver. Even so I went out for my long afternoon preamble exploring old and new campsites to see what's new.

The man who has set up camp just behind my lot stays to himself and seems to get some kind of delight out of peeing outside when I'm gazing at the horizon. He has never greeted me and the morning of the first day he took off and spent the day elsewhere.

I hadn't seen any stirring at Dorothy and Allens place so I thought I was alone with old Dave and his possible ill intent.  It was very apparent that a newly placed trailer two lots over from me was to be a permanent fixture . It was quiet that first day except for Dave.

After dinner and a fire with a glass of wine and awesome sunset, I turned in. Just asleep I was awakened by several cars coming down the road. Two turned in at the lot just down from me and it wasn't too  long  before the fellow behind me pulled into his place with lights. What a change. A couple years ago I camped there and I didn't see a soul for a week.  Sure enough one showed up just at the same time as I started a nice private outdoor shower.  Along came a pickup and I dashed naked into the motorhome. I later met the fellow at the swapmeet and we both grinned sheepishly.

So now next morning Dorothy and Allen show up and we discuss the neighbors. Old dave is ok, a nice guy, nothing to worry about, I'm told. Fellow next door is a Dr., an osteopath, they call him Doc. Fellow behind me is odd, has threatened to shoot someone who drove by his place. Then the conversation went to demented Dave and airplane Dave. I had seen demented Dave in my explorations. He gave me the impression he didn't want to be bothered but he likes to keep his place nice and tidy. I was told he had been hit in the head by a piece of metal. Airplane Dave lived up closer to the mountain in an underground house. I had been by it several times because it's cool. He has a nice spread there with a well, an older hummer, and an airplane. He flies in and out to some coastal area where he has another place. One of the bull stories was about how airplane Dave planted a lot of olive trees and the raging bull got in there and tore all the trees out. Dave was pretty unhappy with that old bull and then I was told that that old bull showed up with half his face tore off. They haven't seen the old bull since.

Down the road there's the couple who's van caught on fire so their living in a homemade tent kind of structure. And then there's the old guy with a little Toyota motorhome kind a like mine who they call the flat tire guy. They say he just camps on the side of the road. First he had a flat tire and so camped for almost a week till he could get someone up to fix it and then he had some other kind of breakdown so he just stays where the motorhome stops. Course there were some other stories about those here and there and I told them about the hidden campsite I found that had an old Indian Harley left.

With all the stories told, Dorothy and Allen headed on home and I went out for another cross desert exploration hike. When I got back it was late afternoon so I began packing up and heading for home just in time for the rain to start.

Posted by: cactusandquail at 10:21 | link | comments (3)

Off To The Mountains:

It's a socked in grey rainy day. I got home last night from a trip to the high desert at the backside of the Hualapais. I took my little motorhome.

Before I bought my home here, my daughter and I were traveling through Arizona on her big rig. I went with her for a month's ride and went through 32 states, border to border and coast to coast. When we came through Kingman Az, I thought, "I like this area". As we headed out I 40 I saw a sign by a land promoter stating $395. an acre. Once back in California I decided to take a trip back to Arizona in my motorhome to check out this sign. I was looking for retirement property where I could park my motorhome and live if necessary. I took the tour with the realtor but found that the land where I liked the most, at the base of the Hualapais was much more expensive and in 40 acre parcels. The realtor kept taking me down in the real desert where the land was $395 an acre.

I had discovered Arizona and now made a number of trips over exploring around. Finally one day driving in the high desert where I liked it so much I saw a for sale sign. Back in California I called the number and made the deal over the phone for a small parcel of 1 1/4 acre. It was $65. down and $65 a month. I now own it. I would go there and camp and there wasn't a soul around just the beautiful mountains, the open high desert with octillo's, joshua's, ironwood, mesquetes and other desert flora. The sound of the cactus wren rang out and the view was just unbelievable. I camped through amazing monsoons, pouring down rain, lightning all across the sky for miles and bone shaking thunder claps. I camped in summer heat and winter cold, shivering in front of a great fire with snow at my back on the mountains. I walked and explored but I was all alone, except when I would take my grandson.

It's been discovered, I have neighbors. You have to be a certain sort to like this kind of living. Older folks with limited incomes, snowbirds seeking to escape Montana's or Minnesota's cold winters. Motorhomes, dot here and there down my dirt road. Now, I'm visited by neighbors when I camp, some I've met before and some I haven't. There's no power, no water, so all is improvised or hauled in. Some have solar panels, some generators, some do without.

I enjoyed sitting in front of my little fire, drinking a glass of wine, looking out at the mountains, silohueted by cactus and joshua's. I hiked out in several directions to scout what's going on. I learned from the neighbors just up the road about all the new comers. The desert put on quit a show. Floating clouds, lights and shadows, changing colors, rainbows, brilliant sunsets.

On yesterday's hike I discovered that the little pack rats cover their homes with sticks first , then dirt, then cholla balls. The cholla throws little sticker balls out away from themselves to reseed. These are really nasty and my dog had quit a time with them. These little creatures the pack rat, wisely place the cholla balls all over their homes so foxes and coyotes can't dig into their homes. Very smart. The most interesting one was topped with an upside down octillo, root straight up and the branches spread out like an octipus, tent like. How that little creature accomplished that I can't even guess. It couldn't have been happen stance, it was too precise.

I noticed many octillo down, probably due to the storms we've had this year. Now I'm going to take my tools up and build a small enclosure for an outdoor shower from the octillo stems. They make live fences if you plant them side by side.

I love spending time in the wilderness but I miss my horse and burro. If only I could take them with me. It was good to get back home  to pat them and feed them carrots.

Posted by: cactusandquail at 18:35 | link | comments (2)

Graphs and Things:

Years ago before I retired when I was in my fifties working and realizing that I was not thinking about what I'd do when I couldn't work, I suddenly woke up. I was working in the field of my education in a private facility, but decided I needed to go work for the state to get vested for a state retirement. So I did. I also read books like "Your Money Your Life" and Amy Dacyczyn's Tightwad series. That's when I got a bit facinated with money graphs and pictures. In "Your Money, Your Life" you have to account for every penny you spend and keep a graph as you work your way to financial freedom. This graph has a crossover line when your savings is earning what you need to live on. Amy's first book has a wonderful page on the snowball effect of savings. I love these things. I follow them only in a VERY moderate way but somehow the idea of attaining that financial freedom model is something my mind likes to play with.

Last week, I found some old slide rules I had been given as part of some kind of financial freedom class. One has the slide for Compound interest and the other has a slide rule for dollar cost averaging.  Well, thrilled at finding them in some papers I was going through I now have them on my computer desk.

I do a little investing as interest rates are really nasty right now. Who could possibly live on interest from savings unless it was huge sums of money. So doing my little system I found through several sites, stocks that pay dividends between 8 and 20%. Right after the dividend is paid the stock falls and just before the dividend is paid it rises. This is a pretty consistant pattern, so this is how I dollar cost average. (Dollar cost averaging is buying stock on a regular basis, monthly, quarterly, yearly. The price fluctuates so when you average the total sum of the stock if usually comes out better than any other savings method.) My plan: I'm sharing my little secret with you who read. When the stock plumets after the dividend I buy as many shares as I can,  then when the price raises to just above the amount of the dividend payout, I sell all but 10 -25 of the shares. The remaining 10 - 25 remain in my portfolio. Then I'm ready to look for another stock to buy doing the same thing. I am gradually building up a portfolio of good dividend stocks and I make some money each time I buy and sell. It's working for me. It satisfies that little urge in me to do the graph, watch the snowball grow and create security .

Yahoo has space for portfolios and good research. I put stocks I want to look at and research in my portfolios at Yahoo and watch what they are doing. I look at company financials, insiders buying, historical pricing.  In one portfolio I have a list of stocks that pay monthly dividends.

I find dividend due dates on http://www.Wallstreetview.com.

There is a calender at the top of the page. The ex dividend date means you have to have bought and had the stock registered in your name by that date.  You should allow at least 4 days for your stock to get registered so if the x dividend date is on the 19th you should purchase it by the 15th. But I don't usually buy stocks that close to the x date. If it is a monthly dividend I look at it's historical prices and see when the lowest price was during the month. Or sometimes I just put in an order at a limit price and when the stock is at the specified price the brokerage buys it. There is one brokerage that requires only $500 to start an account and it has $7 trade fees. My system requires you have a bit more to make it affective otherwise the trade fees eat up your profits.

Other ways I like to play with money graphs and things is low interst. I have a Citicard Platinum. It pays a dividend. Right now it's 5% for grocery's, gas, and pharmacy's and 1% for all other purchases. They also regularly send me checks that I can use like cash at 4 -5 % . The secret of using this credit card wisely is to pay it off every month because if you carry a balance you pay off the lowest rates first and highest rates last and that can eat up your savings. A grocery store here gives you a coupon for 10. cents off a gal if you buy $60. worth of grocery's so if you buy your grocery's on the card you get 5% off  and then go out and fill up on gas and save 10 cents off each gal plus if you use the card you get another 5% off. If you are a careful shopper and spend your $60. on sale items you'll save even more. I often leave the store with a 50% savings listed at the bottom of my ticket. I love doing this stuff. Am I cheap? Well I prefer thrifty. The less you spend the more you get for your money is the way I look at it.

My beautiful little 16 acre ranch cost me $56k. about the price of a Hummer and it's decent.

Am I being smug?  I hope not, but I do believe in looking for ways of getting what you want without putting a heavy burden on your shoulders.

So, I play with graphs and things.  

Posted by: cactusandquail at 20:53 | link | comments (4)

It's one of those sparkling mornings. The view from my window is full of surrounding mountains, light and shadow, shiny greens and desert landscape. It was brisk and cool when I went out to feed. Carlos,Luchia and Lenny ,(peacock,peahen, and genuia fowl) were waiting at the chicken house for feed. Sage ran out to greet me and closed her eyes in contentment when I scratched and hugged her. All the animals fed I went back in for a cup of warm coffee and a slice of my pumpkin walnut bread. Couldn't help but ponder my own actions the night before. I try to keep up with the mail and bills as they come in, so I sat on my bed and wrote checks to Christian Childrens Fund, Children International, Wireless bill and then $30. for a book called "Profit from Slots" . Am I crazy? I have to laugh that I would be tempted to buy a book that promises to beat the slots. I'm not even a prolific gambler, I just go from time to time because it's close and it gives me a night out in crowds, limiting myself to $20 or $30 dollars. For the most part I break even but what is it in our nature that makes us want to come out with $1000. or $100,000? So, I rationalized it would be fun to try to see if it worked, it said it was guaranteed or money back and I might throw $30 away at the casino.

Foibels, foibels,---I couldn't find foibels in the dictionary but ran into folly and fool. ( foibels, meaning shortcomings ) Whatever, what a contradiction!!!!

Today, Frank and I will be working on the new chicken yard. I want to make it dog proof. No more savage attacks on my beautiful chickens.

 

Posted by: cactusandquail at 16:17 | link | comments (6)

Scavenging:

It seemed like a long time dealing with the rain but finally we are having some beautiful days. Cool but warm enough to work outdoors.

In my evening walks I sometimes pick up old lumber and bring it home. I also take note of pieces of lumber that are too big for me to carry home. One of the pieces of lumber I carried up from the wash looked like a perfect top piece for a western front for my horse shelter. I remembered a couple old boards I'd seen out yonder and so Frank and I went for them. He went right to work and now I have the cutest little western style barn from scavenged materials. My little ranch is making progress.

I couldn't contain myself when I saw some chickens for sale. Yesterday I got 4 little chickens, barred rocks. They will be kept in the chicken house with a small run until the larger dog proof run is completed. Next week I'm supposed to get 3 little white silkies, so sounds like I'm going to be back in the chicken business. The barred rocks should be laying by this Spring, brown eggs, and I'm certain if the silkies do what silkies do I will have chicks this Spring as well. Makes me a happy camper.

This past week I planted some more century plants down the driveway and hauled in some rocks to decorate the area. Last few days I've been drying parsley and cooking stewed tomato's . We have a wonderful open to all Food Bank here in the valley. We get simi truck loads of fresh produce and they urge you to take them by the case because what's not taken is sent to the hog farm. Keeps me busy putting stuff up but with my black beans, brown rice and lentels, I have plenty to eat. I've been making a wonderful dried fruit/walnut/ pumpkin bread that is low fat and whole wheat. Boy is it good. I'm not much of a sandwich eater but a slice of that bread gives me energy to go.

I've been good about sticking to the power foods diet.

I've been bad about sticking to my eight hours a week on the cottage industry.

I've been dancing some but haven't found a pool to swim in yet. I may put up my pool and have Frank build me a step and deck system for getting in and out.

Those were my new years resolutions.

I went up to Laughlin and stayed overnight in the parking lot of a casino next to the river last week. It's such a nice resorty feeling and I enjoy camping there. I cleaned my little motorhome and read books. More of the Power Foods book and my favorite book , Traveler's Joy.

All seems well here and Spring is coming. I'm thinking of planting some pumpkins in the washes out back to see if they will just grow in various areas. Melons, and guords might also be a good try. I'm throwing out flax seed since the rain to see if it will grow. I also should throw out some wheat and barley. Maybe that will be todays project after I take a quick run to town. Need some chicken wire, hope I can get it on Sunday.   

Posted by: cactusandquail at 16:20 | link | comments (2)

Rain, baking and movies:

The rain continues. Frank and Shirley head for a day in town and I'm enjoying a day alone without interuptions. Still housebound, mulling over going to see a movie but opting for a movie theater at home. Thankfully there were several movies that were worth watching on. 7 years in Tibet with Brad Pitt. My kind of movie, not just because of Brad Pitt but because of the content.  Wonderful presentation of the gentle colorful life of ancient Budhist practices. I often like movies that have background areas and cultures  that reflect lifestyles other than ours in the stories.  Later I watched  a movie called Blackrobe about the early comings of a priest to the Americas and the Indian culture.

Also, during the day I watched a show on one of the independent stations about the North Dakota Farmer /College Professor who is growing organic and heads up an alternate farming association. Wish I could remember his name and the name of the org this morning but I remember the message. It came from my stronge belief that we must share and care for the earth with creatures, which means more complex farming. He gave an example of a rice farmer in Japan. He noticed he was not making anything from his farming efforts. Everything he made went right back into his farming efforts and his crops harvests were becoming smaller. He began to ponder whether he should remain in farming. While pondering he heard stories that in generations past rice farmers raised ducks in there rice paddies. He decided to give that a try using a mix of wild and domesticated ducks in his rice paddies. He noticed that the ducks started eating the insects and snails that normally plague the crops. His crops were increasing and he had ducks and duck eggs as crops on the same amount of  land. Then he wondered if maybe he could also raise fish in the rice fields. First he tried some little fish in a tub of water to see if the ducks would eat the fish. They did. Then he thought maybe if the fish are less visable the ducks won't eat all the fish. He added some dirt to the fish tub and found that the ducks no longer ate the fish as quickly. He then added fish to his rice paddies. A weed that is often very distructive to the rice fields due to it's choking out of the plants was now kept under control by the ducks and fish. The rice was fertalized and had larger yields year by year. The ducks produced eggs and meat, and the fish produced meat. Now he planted figs around the perimeter of the rice paddies due to the fertility of the soil and he has added fruit to his marketable products all on the same land that he was barely making a living. It provides food for himself and his family and many others.

Another example was an Iowan farmer who is using intergrated crops. He tried raising corn among his grape vines. The corn shields the grapes from winds and sun. Both crops have sturdy stems and height so then he added chickens. The chickens kept down the insects and dead fruit that causes desease and fertilized the grapes and corn. Meat and eggs, corn and grapes all on the same acreage, then he added pheasants, a wild species. This diverse ecosytem is surviving and producing food and income.  Another farmer in Iowa has added chicken tractors to his diary herd. His cows pasture on rich greens, not grains. He has chicken houses on wheels that he moves from pasture to pasture with the cows. Eggs are produced and free range meat from chickens living happy lives.   The chickens eat the fly larvae keeping down fly production. Their scratching digs the fertilizer into the ground and so the circle of production and the soils enrichment is being increased.  I'm very much in favor of what is called permaculture, diverse ecosystems that increase the soils health and those who live on that soil.

Feeling full with these good things to watch , I also kept to my healthy eating plan. I cooked a pot of brown rice to have as a staple, baked another walnut fruit loaf and made flour torteas.

Today, I woke to fog. Watching out the window I could see my animals waiting before 8 for their morning meal. Carlos whose feathers are growing long and beautiful again was walking toward the barn with Lenny. They waited patiently until Lenny decided to take matters into his own hands. He ran back to the garage, flew to the roof and began his loud potarack, a loud call. I put on my hooded jacket over my jammy's, pulled on socks and shoes and mittens and padded out to the barn to divey out the feed.  Back in the house , a cup of hot tea, early morning tv and the internet while I look out my window at the sun coming out on the green wet desert. Subtle colors and beautiful.

I will go to town today.

Posted by: cactusandquail at 18:30 | link | comments

Housebound:

The rain kept me in most of the day except for feeding time, yesterday. Huge puddles dot my property. Being housebound I found I couldn't sleep as well and woke to thunder rolls and lightning that seemed right on top of us. This morning I was greeted with snow on all the surrounding mountains. What a lovely sight.

Yesterday, I danced. (Yes, one of my New Years resolutions, nothing like a flaminco to get those feet moving.) I worked on my quilt, (another New Years resolution) I read some from one of my favorite books, "Travelers Joy". I made soup, vegitarian black bean and brown rice full of tomato, greens, and carrots. Yummy on a raining cold day.

Last week I picked up the book ,"Power Foods." Since then I have been trying to stick to the power food diet. I've had in the back of my mind a business that sells fast food that is really healthy.  I'm hearing that it's trans fats as well as sugar that has contributed to so much diabetes II. Wouldn't it be wonderful if people could just grab something really healthy on the run?  The last few days I have had some delicious meals based on power foods. Here are a few. Salmon scrambled eggs topped with greens from my garden tub including fresh garlic stems, arrigula and kale, along with mushrooms, zuchini and tomato. Tacos made from whole wheat torteas, homemade easy, ground turkey, mexican stewed tomato's, brown rice and black beans, topped with shredded greens, cheese and onion. I bundled up the rest of the mix  in serving size packets and froze them for future meals. Have eaten a fresh whole gratefruit everyday. I've got a colander full of lentels sprouting under the sink. These pungent, crunchy sprouts are quick and easy to grow under the sink. Usually within three -four days you have all the sprouts you can snack on. I'm going to make another wholewheat walnut loaf today. I have enjoyed the one I made last week so much. Oh and yes, I have been drinking hot cups of green tea sprinkled with gratefruit zest. So healthy eating is off to a good start this year.

Winter I like to hole up indoors, hanging out in jammy's if possible. I do feel a bit like going somewhere today. Maybe I'll go up to Laughlin and go to a movie, "Phantom Of The Opera", is playing.

What about Sandra Bullock donating a million dollars to the tsunami relief. Some others are doing some pretty great things as well. Warms your heart to know humans still have caring hearts.

 

Posted by: cactusandquail at 16:38 | link | comments (1)

Simple Pleasures:

My neighbor gave me a loaf of bananna bread for Christmas. It seemed rather bland until I toasted it and put butter on. Then I enjoyed a slice every morning with my coffee. Then I thought about making my own fruit bread. I looked in the cupboards and there were dried figs, raisens, dried cherries, so I mixed up a batch of dough and baked it. Ummm, it's been good. Why don't I think of making quick breads more often.

I've been playing guitar C.D.'s on my computer and love the relaxed feeling it gives. It fills the house with pleasantness.

 

Posted by: cactusandquail at 21:06 | link | comments (2)

Swaying crowds, fireworks, Tempe Beach Party, Fiesta Bowl, me in curlers and nightgown, tv on. It's here, 2005. May it be a good year!!! For all.

Posted by: cactusandquail at 07:09 | link | comments (4)