Category Archives: travel

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, bread, California, camping, cooking, home stuff, Lake tahoe, library, Myeloma, travel by

We’re back home and we had a great drive back with no construction stops. If you know Tahoe, you know that this is the beginning of LOTS of construction and road repair. Lots of delays. But because it was the weekend we sailed on by.

The yard was bursting with flowers everywhere. I’ll get some pictures to post.

This morning we didn’t walk and just got up at almost our normal time. We have lots of laundry to do and I wanted to get going on canning the cherries I ordered. They are beautiful cherries and I got 6 pints canned.

I plan on using these for cherry pie and putting them over yogurt or ice cream. This is just cherries and simple syrup. I plan on making cherry pie filling using frozen cherries but not till later this month.

Then I whipped a batch of yogurt and that’s in the oven now till tomorrow.

I fed my sourdough starter and plan on using that later as it seems to be very happy.

I bought these Bannetons to make more of an oval batard-type loaf. They seem kind of small. I had 2 Bannetons and got rid of them when I decided to just use a bowl but after watching some more You tubes on bread decided to get a couple. Around $20 so I’m ok with that.

The chores are caught up and tomorrow I will do the kitchen zone as that was last week. Then I’ll do the bathroom this week too.

My son said it hailed up there and was chilly. So we had really most of the best days except he did say it was sunny today. Apparently, the hail caused quite some havoc on I-80 with lots of spin-outs.

The BEST news.…. My Kappa light chains came back with only a 1 POINT increase. That’s such good news and now I can relax for another month. I go down to Sacramento on Thursday for my appt.

This week will be going to the gym, and 1 swim. I’m not sure how swimming is going to go since starting today the smaller pool will only have 2 hours for lap swimming. It may be tough for a while. I have books at the library to pick up too.

I sold some Pyrex bowls this morning minutes after listing them. They are in excellent condition and I wanted them gone. I listed them for 40. The person plans to get them later today. We’ll see how that goes. Basically, Z’s friend was talking about vintage Corelle and Pyrex and the lead in them. So I thought maybe I’ll whittle down my collection and then just have some display ones. These bowls are lovely but..

They would take up too much room if separated. I actually was using these for things so I’m thinking better to pass them on to someone who’s a collector or doesn’t care.

The yard is full of rose champion, roses, wildflowers and lots of others. Shasta daisies, feverfew, carnations and much more.

Frugal Friday, camping edition.

Posted in California, camping, cooking, frugalism, home improvement, home stuff, kitchen remodel, Lake tahoe, travel by

When we’re out in Rubi we definitely have low spend weeks. We really only buy gas to fill the truck up and then whatever groceries to fill in the blanks. After the gym yesterday we went over to Safeway( in the same parking lot) and bought veggies for a stir fry that we both felt like. We had brought from home some snow peas from the garden and then added mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, tofu, and steamed rice. It was delicious.

Snow peas were added after the rest was cooked.

Today is stay in camp day and we plan on walking out to the meadow. We had some thunder last night but not really rain. Then later my son and his friend are coming into camp with us. Zephyr does a lot of car camping so he’s all prepared. We might do a lodge dinner tonight but I’ll wait and ask him if he has any ideas. He will stay in our spot till Monday but we’re leaving sometime this weekend. I really prefer not to be in camp during the weekends, it’s noisy. too many kids. blah, blah, blah.

All in all not much spent this week. Oh, but I did find this corner kitchen cabinet on Marketplace with a granite top and the guy wanted $60. I asked if he could wait till the weekend but then said he could deliver it so I said sure. $60 Zelle later it’s in our driveway. I’m hoping this spurs us to rip out the counter and get going on the kitchen after we( not me, B) finish fixing the wood damage where the pipe was leaking. Our kitchen can only be redone ( unless we were rich) using the same footprint as the layout is locked in by 2 doors that are on either side of the room. There’s not any other way to redesign as I said unless it was professionally altered. We don’t have money for that so the sink counter will stay the same just all new cabinets and sink and countertop. It’s really quite small so I know we can get it done reasonably. But if this cabinet works it’ll be a good start. This corner has been a problem and I hope this fixes it.

Tahoe girl.

I’m terribly unphotogenic 😦

OMG, the best news….trump indicted !!!!! How he can say or even Mccarthy for that matter that he’s innocent when it’s 2 grand juries that brought the indictment is just nuts. All the right-wing mania with anti-LGBTQ+, book banning, and on and on is just insane. I can only hope the pendulum swings back for rights for all.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, books, California, camping, Lake tahoe, Myeloma, reading, swimming, travel, Uncategorized by

Another week has gone by. The weather is warm today but then when we’re in Tahoe there’s quite a change for the week. It’ll be cool and even thunderstorms. That’s ok, we can still walk in the morning, read, and cook meals inside if we have to. We don’t have specific plans as we’ve been to Tahoe so many times, but we will hit the gym up there twice at least. We may drive down to the Y and head up to Pope Beach. We’ll see.

I swam at the Roseville Aquatics yesterday in what’s called the recreation pool. There are 5 lap lanes in the middle of what’s really a big kiddie pool. On one side is a huge water slide and then on the other it’s very shallow for young kids. Fortunately, I got a lane to myself for about half my swim and then shared for the rest. It was ok. Now that I’ve been there, I think any of the serious swimmers won’t swim there because there’s no way to flip turn as it’s too shallow on the one end and it’s short. Perfect for old people like me. I won’t be back till next week but when I checked the schedule the early morning time will continue to be in this pool and then at 12:45, lap swimming opens at the Olympic pool. I just don’t see myself driving to Roseville in the summer at 1 pm. It just doesn’t work for me.

We’re loading up Rubi today and I went to Safeway and picked a few things so we won’t have to go to the store for a few days. Then I went to Starbucks for a bag of ground coffee to take with us. We always buy a bag so we don’t have to grind it beforehand. We have a Hario ceramic cone and a Hario glass carafe. It makes excellent coffee. We do have a press too but we don’t use that too often now.

I have my labs tomorrow so after I get home we’ll finish loading and probably be on our way by 10. Nevada Beach is only 2 hours or less away so you don’t want to get there too early. 12-12:30 is about right.

I’ve been on a reading marathon of Louise Penny books. What a good writer. So many charming details.

The rest of my day is open. I need to water a few plants and tidy up a bit. The kids will be here all week so they can keep things going.

Thankful Thursday, Frugal Friday and Saturday sum-up.

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, camping, cooking, LLS, Multiple myeloma, Myeloma, pets, travel by

THANKFUL THURSDAY

  1. I am thankful we had a safe drive home from Capitola and traffic was not too bad at all. We made it home in 4 hours with a stop for gas and something to eat.

2. I am grateful that B does the driving and set up and take down of Rubi.

3. I am thankful the weather was beautiful and we had some lovely days in our camp spot. With the influx of kids, bikes, and loud people, we left a day early and I’m grateful we have the sense to do that and not just say” Oh, we paid for the night, we should stay”. We do not enjoy it when kids are throwing balls in front of the trailer, riding bikes, etc, while their parents are loud with partying.

4. I am very grateful to my daughter for taking care of the house and yard. With the chickens and cats, it can be a lot.

5. I am so incredibly grateful that LLS opened funding for Myeloma and I got my application in. It’s pending, waiting for my doctor to fax his form.

FRUGAL FRIDAY

We spent very little this past week while camping. We didn’t eat out except for Gayles and that was just coffee and a danish. We ate the rest of our meals in camp. We went to the grocery store for a few things and that was it.

If you figure a week almost in Capitola, and we had just the cost of gas and some food, it’s a low budget getaway.

Overall, the budget has been good this month. But some things have caused some alarm. I’ll describe that in Saturday Sum up.

All the monthly bills are done. I’m working on keeping a zero balance in the bank account and it’s right where I want it for now.

It’s a huge savings for me to have my LLS grant since it covers all my insurance costs. I’ll be able to have a look back of 90 days so for reimbursement.

SATURDAY SUM UP

Well, that was the frugal stuff.

The night before we left my son notice some water(moisture) on part of the kitchen foundation. Of course, I freaked out and had B use the giant flashlight to look under there. There was a slow drip from the kitchen water pipe that will need to be fixed. Now part of the problem is our house foundation is not that great and as you go from the back to the kitchen area it gets very small to access. When we had this work done the person had to use a very long something to put those pipes in place. So now we’re facing a difficult challenge of getting a plumber to go under there. B is going to suit up and go in to try and clear some old pilings of dirt. But he isn’t a plumber that can weld the copper pipes. We put a call in to someone while we were in camp and we will try and set up an appt for next week to have him check it out. I tremble to think of this added expense.

The good news is the truck will go in next week to fix the AC and it’s covered by the extended warranty we bought. That expires in August so right in the nick of time.

Today, I’m going to pick up a Walmart order that has some camping stuff( toilet paper, and small propane bottles for the Weber). Plus I need to dust as the pine yellow pollen is coating everything in the house.

While we were gone a red fox chased and almost caught Ciri the cat. It was caught on Arlo and it’s scary to watch. It actually jumped the gate and chased her into the laundry rooms. We’re guessing it has a litter of kits nearby and that’s why it was so aggressive.


Enjoying New Brighton State Beach

Posted in books, California, camping, travel by

We left early Sunday and arrived here around 12:45. The campground has been quite unbusy which seems unusual. The beachside camp spots, which are premium spots, were not all filled. So we’re figuring either people are not showing up or the park service isn’t reserving them as they are close to the cliffs. We drove over to Sea Cliff State Beach and that whole campground and parking for the beach was destroyed in the big storm a month or so ago. That’s when we had reservations here but canceled. That was when the incredible rains we were getting were causing massive flooding in this area.

It’s been foggy in the morning and then sunny in the afternoon. The temperatures are perfect at @ 70. Mornings are pleasant too and not cold at all.

Today we’re driving into Santa Cruz to find the Anytime gym and do some weights. If I can get at least one workout in I’ll feel good about that. So we’ll check it out. We might then go walk the lighthouse trail but I think we’ll wait till we’re done and see how we feel. We don’t need any groceries so we should be good on that front.

This is a view of the spot. It’s one of the nicer ones we’ve had here. Lots of space and was an easy back-in.

We keep our meals simple and I have a menu plan for all days. Breakfast is usually simple like yogurt, fruit, scrambled eggs, and maybe pancakes. Lunch is just sandwiches. Dinner last night was tofu burgers on the Weber and potato salad. Tonight will be salad and pasta of some sort.

I read one book already, The Buy nothing book, that was written by the 2 women that started the whole Buy Nothing groups on Facebook. In our area, we have a Pay it Forward group, which is the same thing. It was an interesting read about changing our perspective on being a giving society instead of consumer one. I think it’s worth a read if your library has it.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, camping, cooking, Flylady, travel, Uncategorized, Walking by

We had a nice Sunday walk in the park. Quiet with only the Canada Geese families around. I think we counted 6 families.

I went to the Auburn gym for a bit and then when I got home sliced up the jalapenos for refrigerator jalapenos. It’s an easy recipe of 1 cup white vinegar 1 cup water, tsp of pickling salt, and 1 Tsp of sugar. Boil that and then pour over the jalapenos in the jars. Cool and then refrigerate.

I labeled the Chicken Chili Verde pressure canned jars and put them in the pantry. I plan on trying a few other of the Ball meal-in-a-jar recipes. There’s a chipotle taco meat one that sounded good. There’s also a chickpea stew one that’s vegetarian I want to try as well.

B cleaned out the inside of the fridge and freezer while I was gone so that chore is done. I plan on doing the kitchen zone tomorrow. Monday is usually my home reset day. I do the little things that need doing and the zone cleaning.

I made a quiche crust to make a spinach quiche for tonight. ( not anything to do with the coronation, just part of my meal rotation.) I had preordered the new Magnolia cookbook and will look thru that today too. I like her recipes and find them to be very good most of the time.

This is a quiet week with only one appt. I have an appt to get my booster. Other than that, just normal stuff. Next week we’re in New Brighton for the week. Hopefully, the AC charge they did works. I still think there’s probably a leak but at least for now, it’s working.

Friday Things

Posted in budgets, California, cooking, travel, Walking by

I decluttered 2 bags of books at the library yesterday. I’ve been hemming and hawing at should I let certain ones go and finally decided that although I like to look through them I rarely use them for recipes so I let them go. Now I have 3 shelves empty and waiting to be repurposed. I have a few more to donate. My thinking is along the lines of Swedish Death Cleaning, that when I’m gone, are either of my kids going to want this. It definitely helps me see what I can let go of.

B did the small Costco run and that ended up @ $125. that included non-food items as well. I don’t plan on going to the store until I need produce. Right now I have lots of tomatoes, avocados, spinach, and a small bag of salad mix. I have a free coupon for a salad mix and olive oil at the Holiday so I’ll go down and do that today or tomorrow.

I thought about ordering a pizza but decided to make up the large batch of dough. It makes 4 big balls and even those can be cut in half. I have all the toppings I need so I set to go. If it’s nice I’ll have B get out the Ooni. The Ooni does take some adjusting to so I may need a few dough balls to try. Plus you don’t put a lot of toppings on because it’s a fired pizza and it makes it too heavy. ( I know it’s happened a lot in the past).

The budget is going well and all the bills are accounted for. We had an emergency money need as our 12 yo water heater gave up the ghost and we had to buy a new one at the tune of $800. So that sucks but now we know we’re set( I hope for the next 12).

This was one of the wines we bought in Napa. We probably wouldn’t have bought it except the wine clerk said it was his favorite. It was delicious!!! I will get more.

Today, I headed out to the garden shed to organize my canning jars. I need to put quarts,pints and half pints together instead of thrown together.

Yesterday was nice enough to open windows and I got out our rug shampooer and did the rugs. Sometimes I wonder how I get thru a day since the last time I used it( the only time as it’s new) I didn’t see that you’re supposed to go back over the area with hot water so I just had shampooed:( Still it looked good and was nice and clean). This time I did it right and it looked better:) Oh well, I guess it all works out somehow:)

A Fun Napa getaway!

Posted in California, travel, Walking by

We really enjoy going to Napa Valley now that we’ve been there a few times with Rubi, the RV. This time though Barclay had points to use at Marriott hotels from when he traveled for work( those were the days).

The weather was perfect and there was light traffic going down. It’s only about an hour and a half from here to Napa( closer to 2 if driving slower). We planned on getting there around 10:30am and we did. The first stop is the famous Model Bakery. It was busy as usual but we got coffees and I had one of their famous English muffins toasted. After we regrouped, we decided the one thing we wanted to do was drive up to Calistoga. Years ago, Calistoga was one of our go-to places at the Golden Haven Hot Springs. This was when S was a toddler and maybe up until she was 6 or 7.

The drive up was beautiful with spring flowers and everything emerald green just like Oz. St. Helena was as I remembered it too with lots of old historic buildings. When we got to Calistoga we parked and walked up and down the streets. It was not busy and I certainly would not want to be there during a holiday or summer season. We popped into a great bookstore ad a few other shops.

Every winery you can think of is on this main road( 128). We stopped at Mondavi to check out buying some wine but the cheapest bottle was $35 so, out of our price range. After returning to Napa we went to Safeway and bought 6 bottles of local wines. Chaulk Hill is a favorite that they serve at the pizzeria, so we got that and I think that was the most expensive at $15? If you buy 6 you get 30% off so we got some good deals. And we did pick up a Mondavi private reserve but it was only $8.09 after the 30%.

From there we parked by Oxbow and had our favorite pizza at Live Fire. Oxbow is fantastic when not busy. When it’s busy/packed with people, I get claustrophobic. Fortunately, this was a non-busy day. I also went to the spice shop and got some Tellecherry peppercorns I’ve been wanting.

From there we checked into the fancy Westin Hotel. Very nice but not too pretentious. We were treated very nicely and even got an upgraded room which was lovely. If you’re going to Napa this is a great spot to stay because you can walk everywhere from the hotel. We walked over 5 miles that day and boy, could I feel it.

We rested and were still too full from pizza so we decided to just go back down to Oxbow Market and find a glass of wine at C Casa and have some chips and guacamole. It was perfect and their house wine was delicious. It didn’t say what it was but it was nice. We walked around some and then headed back to the hotel.

We listened to music in the room( Jazz) our favorite and then fell asleep being pretty tired from the day. We’re not spring chickens anymore that’s for sure.

The next morning we were back at Models for delicious breakfast sandwiches and coffee.

This was the upgraded room with a really nice kitchen. If we had known that we would have gone to Trader Joe’s for some food. But all in all, it was fine what we did. Next time we’ll ask for a room like this.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, Flylady, swimming, travel, Walking by

We got to the park earlier than normal to avoid the Easter sunrise Christians. :)Whew, we made it out just in time before the singing got going:)

The weather for the next week looks wonderful. Today should be around 70 and tomorrow 72. Napa looks just as nice. It’ll be interesting to a hotel after all this time since we got Rubi but I think it will be fun and there is a heated pool so I plan on doing maybe 20 minutes of swimming. B even bought a pair of googles to swim with.

Here’s what the pool looked like when I got there yesterday at 6:50am. By 7:45 when I was leaving people were waiting for any lanes as they were all doubled up. So I had a lovely swim.

There’s the new spring babies at the park.

I’m sure these had just hatched!! So cute.

Since we’re atheists, Easter doesn’t mean anything special to us but for lots of people, it is a significant religious thing. I do appreciate that Easter still follows the calendar of the first Sunday after the full moon after the spring equinox. At least I think it’s pagan. This was decreed in the council of Nicaea but the original Easter is Eostre, from the goddess of fertility.

We’re going to fire up the Weber for the first time and BBQ some veggie dogs, chicken and veggies too. We will probably eat out on the patio for the first time if it gets cleaned up.

I’m in the bathroom zone this week.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, travel, Uncategorized by

So far this budget period, I’ve spent $400 on food. I had a coffee and snack at Nugget after the gym one day but other than that no eating out.

I’ve filled up the Santa Fe 2x and will need another fill up next week. So gas is right on budget.

We did spend some money on 2 pear trees. One was from Costco and the other Home Depot. The one at Costco was $42 and the HD was $55. This is the time of year when we throw money at the yard.

Next week we have a fun excersion back down to Napa but this time B got us room using hotel points from he was still working. It’ll be different since we’re used to our Rubi but fun. We plan on driving up to Calistoga as it’s been years since we’ve seen the town. We might stop at a winery but we want to keep this trip low cost so we may just do what we did last time which was buy an assortment of Napa Valley wines from the store. It was fun to taste different wines and it was a fraction of the cost of going to the winery.

My doctor visit was uneventful so that was good , I guess. I’ll see him in June.

Tonight is pizza night.