Tag Archives: Lake tahoe

Friday things

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What an amazing week at Tahoe we had.

The weather was picture-perfect. The beginning of October is a great time to be up here. Now in the past, it can snow in October so this is probably due to climate change. Still, really great. The campground is quiet overall. It’s still full but not a lot of families and screaming kids. Mostly, people like us, older, and it seemed some younger people traveling through. It was a wonderful getaway. I was tempted to book next week but I have a couple of appts so that wasn’t going to work.

We walked, like usual, in the morning after getting up and then later before lunch did a few hikes. The weather is getting cooler with morning lows around freezing. Dinners were simple including one night the homemade pressure canned minestrone soup.

It was delicious. We also did 2 nights using the Weber. I did some embroidering, knitting, and of course some reading.

Everything at home was in good order. My daughter did a good job of keeping the home going.

I decided not to go to the gym this morning and just catch up on laundry etc. There’s not a lot to do but still going to the gym mid-morning breaks up the momentum. I will swim tomorrow and get back into the groove. Although gas is going up again so I’m definitely going to have to limit driving to Roseville to 3 days a week. I was hoping with gas going down to do 4 days but now it’s creeping back up. In Tahoe, we paid $6.99 a gallon. Wow, that’s steep.

Evening light thru the trees toward the lake.

We didn’t really spend any money except to fill the truck back up( it takes about 1/2 tank to get up here), and a few groceries at Safeway including…

Here’s the Arjoh ghost and Tahoe Blue. I don’t drink vodka ( just lots of wine) but needed it to make vanilla extract. I’m addicted to these little ghosts and plan on buying more!!!

Simple Sunday

Posted in bread, California, camping, cooking, travel, Walking by

A lovely walk this morning with NO ONE there. Definitely unusual these days. Still, it was lovely and the stars and Jupiter were very bright.

We are having the most beautiful fall weather. It’s perfect. Cool at night and then the days are golden and warm.

So, I researched why there was some ‘siphoning’ with the Vegetable soups I pressure canned and the reason was the jiggling ( the weighted gauge)was going too fast and I didn’t reduce the heat. They are still safe to eat but did lose some liquid. So yesterday I got the pressure canner up to 10lbs of pressure and did that on high heat. Then when the gauge started jiggling( that’s what it’s called), I moved it to the middle burner which is a lower heat factor. I measured the jiggles at 4-5 a minute and that’s where it should be. So I wrote all that down in the pressure canner book. I also got a new book that is quite excellent with lots of recipes. The next one I’ll try is called white bean ragout. It has bacon in it but I’ll leave that out. There’s also a lentil soup with sausage but again I’ll, leave the sausage out and add that later if the meat eaters want that. Most of the time everything we eat is vegetarian.

You can see the reduction of liquid. It’s been fun to learn about all this.

Here’s a picture of us going over to Apple Hill. This is Sutter Mill where gold was discovered. We did our Rosh Hoshanah thing with the bread crumbs in the river. That is the South Fork of the American river behind us. Oh, and there were APPLES at all in Apple Hill because of the frost we had back in April.

I made zucchini bread in the new Lodge. The Lodge loaf pan is a real star for crisping up the edges.

Well, I have to go get food and stuff ready to take out to Rubi, and then we’ll leave for Tahoe. Trailering does take longer and usually, it’s about 1 hour 45 minutes to South lake but with the trailer, it takes well over 2 hours- 2 /12 hours.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, camping, cooking, Lake tahoe, swimming, travel by

It’s already hot out so I started one of the coolers on low. Today is only 103! haha,, but Tuesday still looks like the worst at 108. There’s a big fire up near Mt Shasta, in the Weed area. That is a lot of cattle/ranch land. I saw that some structures burned:( What a difficult weather pattern we’re in with global warming. I hope it’s not too late to reverse some things.

Our walk was very nice with only us and the stray kitties. That doesn’t happen very often anymore. I’m not sure if we’ll walk tomorrow or just wait till we’re settled in camp and then go for a walk up there. B has Rubi ready to go. Tomorrow I’ll put all the food in and clothes and prescriptions etc. No hurray as we won’t leave till @ 9:30-10am.

I’ve done a quick go thru go all the zones so my daughter just has to keep up on swish and swipe and vacuuming. She takes care of the litter boxes anyway. Food is up to them although there is plenty in the fridge and freezer. The only night she works late is Tuesday but my son will be home to take care of kitties and things.

This morning I made the brown rice to stuff the peppers. The peppers are from Costco, the organic ones. So the mix is brown rice, some tomato confit, sauteed onions,( I forgot garlic), a bit of grated cheese, some green hatch chile sausage crumbled and sauteed, and finally some chopped nuts. The veggies ones are the same minus the bit of crumbled sausage.

So this is in the crock pot with some San Marzano tomatoes. In camp, I will use the Staub and simmer for an hour.

I finished another dishcloth,#3. It’s gray and my favorite so far.

Here’s the ecru-colored one.

I’m planning on taking my knitting camping and also my embroidery. I bought a kit from Walmart ( very inexpensive, like 4.99,) and it’s a cat so that’ll be fun.

We watched Jaws last night. Such a great classic summer movie. We haven’t watched the new Amazon Tolkien one yet. Maybe we can stream it up at Tahoe.

Well, that’s a wrap for today. I’ll have a full week off from swimming and the gym. Then it’ll feel like I’m starting all over :(. We will walk a lot in Tahoe but that’s quite different from doing weights and the pool. When I get back I have labs on Tuesday so I won’t swim that day( Tuesday is my regular swim day). The pool is only open for lap swimming till 9:30 so it’s too rushed to go down after labs. I’ll go Wednesday.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, camping, cooking, Flylady, Lake tahoe, simple foods, Uncategorized by

Our day started with a lovely walk with no one else until our last round. This past week every day we walked there were way too many people for me. I don’t mean just one or two but probably 8-10 people and that’s at 6am. Oh well, today was nice and the temperature cool.

We only have a week till we head up to Tahoe and I’m sure looking forward to it. We don’t have any plans to do anything yet but we’ll do a lot of hiking, beach time, walking, and just camp stuff. I’m working on our menu and know we’ll do a few meals on the Weber. I’ll also use the Staub for a few meals too.

This morning I’ve done some meal prep for the week. I’m marinating the tofu for the “Superiority Tofu burger , this is from a restaurant in Greenwich Village NY. It’s marinated overnight in a pickle brine and then fried. Then I’m soaking some black beans for a recipe my daughter found of’One pot Rice and Beans”, I made up two w.w wraps with cheese, spinach, tomato and, a slice of ham.( no ham on the veggie one). And finally, I made our favorite chard soup. ( there are 2 jars of this in the fridge).

I think I may still grill the chicken up and then we could have that in a few dishes like tacos, or bean bowls.

Yesterday I made another batch of tomato sauce. I cooked it down for about 2 hours and it had a lovely consistency.

I prefer not to use the quart jars as it takes more water in the canner to cover them but I wanted the larger size this time. I think I have close to 12 jars of sauce right now down.

I’ve been having fun with a few house projects. One is simply using one of my vintage tablecloths to make a curtain to cover the one opening under the counter. Who knows if we’ll ever be able to afford a kitchen remodel so trying to make it more functional and yet less cluttered is important to me. Behind this curtain are all my cooking oils and vinegars.

Then I’ve been enjoying knitting some dishcloths. I really like the repetitiveness of knitting. It’s probably a right brain/left brain thing.

This week is low key with only my regular gym and swim days. Barclay is going to take the truck to Costco to fill up with gas and then get a few items in Costco. If I need to get anything, I’ll go into Winco which is across the street from the pool.

Flylady is the LR zone and the entryways. I bought this really lovely Tartan print runner from Target and love the fall colors of it.

The napkins are a nice linen blend which is always my favorite.

A great week

Posted in California, camping, Lake tahoe, Uncategorized by

We packed up Rubi and left the campground around 9:15am. Hooking up Rubi and getting ready to travel takes about 45minutes. B has it down now and it’s just a step-by-step process. Then we headed over to Zephyr Cove RV campground to use the dump station. That went well and we were on our way by 9:40am. The trip around the lake and then down I 80 went smooth and traffic was minimal. We pulled in at noon.

Some pictures;

This is one of the meadows near the campground.

Some of the cool granite boulders. This area was the land of the Washoe Indians and where the name ‘Tahoe’comes from.

Some wildflowers.

This is sunrise over in Desolation Wilderness.

Sunrise over the lake.

Today our weather is cloudy and cooler. We may even get some much needed rain.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, California, camping, cooking, Flylady, Lake tahoe, Myeloma by

It’s been a nice week with even a trip up to Lake Tahoe. I’ve wanted to try and stop at the Ritz Carlton in Tahoe to buy one of their signature candles. Each Ritz has its own signature fragrance. So that was our first stop. If you know Tahoe it is right next to Northstar on 267. It’s quite a ways back and feels a little like driving to the Overlook in “The Shining’. But it’s very beautiful. There was no one out front but the valet and he asked were we checking in? There’s NO parking at all in front of the hotel. So I said we were hoping to go to their gift store. He sort of hemmed and hawed a little and then said ok, pull over there on the right, and to give him our keys, and told us how to get to the spa. I practically ran in. It was really nice of him to let us do this. So anyway, long story short, I got the Tahoe Candle.

Barclay actually has enough points from his Marriot account for one night there so we will do that during an off-season time. Right now is perfect but we’re going to Capitola next week so it seemed too rushed to try and do it now.

From there we went to NuLeaf for B to get some chocolate and gummies. NuLeaf is in Incline, so you drive down to Kings Beach and then over to Incline going around the lake. Next, we stopped at Potlatch gift shop for some postcards of Tahoe I wanted to get you YouTuber Minimom who has asked subscribers to send postcards of the area they live in. She’s in New Zealand. I thought she’d enjoy Lake Tahoe. And we also picked up some stickers’ Keep Tahoe Blue”.

Next, we got sandwiches at a new to us place in Incline and then headed to Sand Harbor. Sand Harbor is one of the most beautiful beaches around Tahoe. There was pretty much no one there, maybe 5-6 other people. So it was glorious.

All in all a beautiful day.

Next Sunday we leave for a week at New Brighton State Beach. We have one of our favorite spots. It’s not an ocean view spot but it is open and near the bathrooms, if we need them. No hookups though. There are a few spots with hookups but they are hard to get.

I’ve cooked some great meals this past week from ‘The Le Creuset ‘ cookbook. The french onion soup.

A quiche

This week Flylady zone is the entryway. I did the windows and B replaced some pavers out the sunroom porch room so that was a nice improvement.

Our weather is going to be beautiful this week with temperatures in the 70s and even one day with an 80-degree day.

I have labs on Friday so I should get results next week while we’re gone. I’m not too worried about my numbers this time but I hope they are still in the normal range.

Here’s a view of the yard. Everything is very green and lush right now.

Getting ready to go

Posted in Blood test, books, California, camping, Lake tahoe by

We are getting things ready to head up to Tahoe Friday. The damn AC in the truck has stopped working just like I said it would. It wasn’t the freon. Well, now there’s nothing we can do till next week so we might as well not get too pissed off. But I think they are trying to pull a fast one on us and now that we have the warranty they have to fix it. Still a PITA to have to drop it off and so on. But on a positive note it won’t be hot in Tahoe and we certainly are not going to need AC. As a matter of fact the mornings are going to be quite cool with a low of 28.

I have most of the food organized and a menu plan done. I’m going to hit the store tomorrow for just a few things. Overall, very simple. There’s no wood or charcoal fires allowed so no Hibachi cooking or Dutch Oven. Also, no fires at night.

I’ve got a big bag of books from the used bookstore so that should fill up my days. Plus we plan on some hiking. Nothing too strenuous just some walking. We plan to not go even into South Lake because of the fire issue. (The fire is not threatening south lake but I want to stay clear anyway.

I need to get labs Friday so we will leave after that. Because we are trailering I suspect it’ll take a little longer than normal and we have to go slower too. As long as everything goes okay with the truck we should hit the campground by 1pm or so. September is lovely in Tahoe and it should be beautiful with nice days and cool nights. Barclay has a birthday next week so we might do a lunch out.

Five on Friday

Posted in home improvement, home stuff, Lake tahoe, Uncategorized by

It’s going to be another nice spring day. We didn’t walk this morning but will tomorrow. Sunday is my favorite day for walking as usually, no one is there.  But this Sunday, B has his transfusion scheduled for 8 am. He doesn’t get labs till tomorrow at 3pm so we won’t know what he needs till after that.  So getting out the door will be too rushed if we try and walk at 7am.

Today is going to be a fun day as we are driving up to Tahoe, actually, Incline to go to the Marijuana store for B to get some edibles and may the oil.  He can’t smoke anything as he signed an agreement not to while undergoing the transplant.  So just the chocolates and something else.

Then we’ll go to Truckee for lunch.

The dogs will be home outside so we need to time it so they’re not out for too long. I think we’ll be gone for about 5 hours.

Here’s a couple of pictures of the Ikea cabinet we got for the bathroom. Funny, it’s really the only thing that would have fit there so I guess I was spot on.

 

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I’m planning on painting the tub black and we’re hoping to replace the floor this summer or fall depending on if B will be well enough or we may hire someone to do it.

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This is one of my most favorite prints.  I found this at a garage sale many years ago.

It’s been another frustrating week with NYC corrections not answering my emails about our original marriage license and then LLS (leukemia lymphoma society) denied my insurance claim because the breakdown in the forms we have doesn’t have B as the Assoc. alone. It shows him plus one. So that was not good enough for them even though that’s how I’ve been doing it since last June. Go figure.  I resubmitted everything again with an additional form we found that shows his health credits but it still only shows him plus one. So I’m not going to sweat it although I was pretty nasty on the phone saying that was all we had to show it.

Since I’ll be switching to Medicare by June 1st I  can just wait till then as they do cover Medicare.  I did speak to an insurance agent and actually got MORE info.  Wow, It’s amazing anyone figures this stuff out. So I need to get a form from B’s HR stating I won’t be on his insurance and then go into SS office for them to process. Then I add the plan F and Part D. He was helpful in that he said to go with the less expensive drug coverage as right now I don’t need the chemo drugs. And actually, in the future, I would ask for only infusions so that would be covered by Part B. I can’t see me going back on Revlimid since I became refractory to it.  But if that does happen I can change the plan in January ( I think that’s what he said). 

So at least I know the next step.

Dinner is some kind of pizza. I’m not making one so it may be a frozen one.

Simple Sunday

Posted in camping, cooking, freezer cooking, Lake tahoe, simple foods, Uncategorized by

It is a beautiful fall day.

We had a lovely walk in the park this morning and it was quite empty except for our geese friends. The Canada geese babies have all grown up and have flown away. Once in a while, we see them circle around the pond. There are other lakes around here and I imagine they hang out there too.

I made another pie in a tin dish and froze it on the recommendation of blogger Hilary.  I just took it out of the oven and it smells and looks amazing so I will try and do at least a couple of pies this way for fall.

I went to Target and got another case of pint jars for the applesauce which I will start tomorrow.  I figure I can get most of the one box of apples done. The second box is staring at me already but will have to wait.

We leave for Tahoe on Friday and will be gone a week. It’s a different time to be up there but certainly, most crowds are gone. Evenings will be chilly but we can sit by the fire or inside the tent trailer. Usually, we play scrabble or I read. We are taking the kayaks so we will go out at least 2 times to make it worth bringing them.  We might drive down to Sand Harbor( quite a ways back on the lake) and go out from there. Sand Harbor State Beach is where many of the famous shots/pictures of Tahoe are with the big boulders and beautiful blue water.

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I’m planning a few Lodge meals and other than that just simple foods. Plus the grocery store is like half a  mile away.

Since the tent trailer does not have a shower we’ll go to the gym up there, work out and then shower. My main criteria for a new trailer is a shower/toilet.

I made organic long grain rice for dinner and we’re having burritos with rice, beans, cheese, sour cream, lettuce.

 

Frugal Friday

Posted in frugalism, Lake tahoe, Uncategorized by

It has been a mixed bag this week of frugal things.  I’m not spending any money except a few dollars here and there on groceries. I made myself a challenge to only spend $50.  I still have $30 left but I need some sliced cheese and something, can’t remember.

Yesterday at Tahoe was not frugal. The tickets for thunderbird lodge are expensive but it goes to the upkeep of this amazing place.

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Then the tour took much longer than I expected so we were late for our lunch at Gar Woods. We had a reservation for 1pm and got there at 1:47.  I had called to let them know but I don’t think it made any difference. The place was a madhouse of people. Plus there were no vegetarian options. I mean WTF, we’re not back in 1975. So B had a salad and I had a burger. Okay, nothing special. $60 later plus tip we left.

It was a lovely day though and Tahoe was picture perfect.

Also, with my daughter’s Honda, we put the bill on our credit card so that was pretty hefty.  She will pay us back as this was not a freebie.

Overall, not a frugal week but fun and necessary!!!

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