Saturday, October 9, 2010

and it rains in Oregon...

Yes, it does occassionally rain in Oregon. It started raining last night and is just kind of drizzling today. Although, there are reports that we should get heavy rainds later today and tomorrow. We arrived in Oregon at the end of August. We belong to a RV group called the Escapees and there is a park in Southern Oregon where we like to go. We have been coming to the park for about 7 years and have lots of friends here. It was time for us to take a break from taking care of an RV park in CA and relax a bit. About a week after we arrived, the office informed us that we would be getting our lot. That means that we will have a permanent lot here. Once we paid the money for a lifetime lease we got our lot. At first we were told, we would be getting one lot but someone above us on the list dropped off and we had to take another lot. Our lot faces south and we get the afternoon sun on the side of the motorhome. We can always trade lots if something comes up. Right now we are not planning on doing any landscaping until next year. Since we have been here we have attended lots of dinners with friends. Once a week there is a friendship meeting at the clubhouse. People take turns hosting the meeting. I was the host last week. It was fun. People were surprised that I was not scared to talk in front of people! Imagine that! OCHS speech class and working in personnel helped.
We were suppose to go the Oregon Coast with a group of people for three days but we needed to have some repairs done to the motorhome and the only time they could fit us in was during the rally to the coast. We took the RV to Eugene (an hour away) and then drove in the car about 2 hours to Portland. There was a quilt show there and I wanted to meet my friend, Trudie there. It was a short but a very nice visit. I wish I could remember to update this on a regular basis but we are so busy up here. Until next time, stay out of the rain.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

baking and more




Peaches have been a good price at the store so I bought a several pounds. I decided to bake a pie with them. The last time I baked a peach pie the peaches didn't get quite done so this time I actually opened a cook book. I followed the baking instructions for the pie. It suggested baking it at a higher temperature for 20 minutes and then turning it down for another 40 minutes. Saturday I baked the pie and then posted that I did on facebook and just waited for the grandkids to comment...the pie lovers! After a while the phone rang and it was Brett inviting me over for dinner and to bring the pie. They like pie but had never had peach pie so they wanted to try it. Well, try it they did and decided they like it. I always like it when they are willing to try new foods. Julie made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. After dinner we played cards. It was a really nice night.



Shelly, Doug and Jessica are on a trip taking Brandon back to college in Illinois. They are going to stop at a couple colleges for Jessica to tour; visit aunts and uncles in IL; visit Doug's parents in IL and Doug may do some work stops too. Here are a couple pictures of Julie's family and Shelly's family.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Midweek...

The middle of the week and I'm exhausted! We are preparing the motorhome for a trip to Oregon. Preparing means lots of cleaning. I have cleaned all of the kitchen cupboards and the one over the washer. Tomorrow I'm tackling the bathroom cupboards. It's amazing to come across things we haven't seen for a long time and wonder why we are keeping them. I have two bags ready to give to charity. When I cleaned the spice cupboard that was really interesting. I really think that I have more spices in this RV than some homes but I need everyone. Tonight we had swiss steak, garlic mashed potatoes and a green salad. Of course, there will be a chocolate and white cake for dessert...yum.
I put the binding on a baby quilt today. Tonight I will cross stitch a label to put on the back of the quilt. Hopefully, this time I'll remember to take a picture of the quilt before I mail it off on Friday.
Oliver received a bath today. He absolutely loves to take a bath. We don't use a hair dryer to dry him because he doesn't like it. After we towel dry him, he runs back and forth in the RV drying himself the way he wants. He does stop once in a while to roll on a towel. It is so much fun to watch.
Even though we are in an RV we still live a normal life...more or less.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Summer coming to an end...

Here it is the middle of August and summer is almost over. Some of the Grandchildren have already started back to school and the others will be following them soon.
I'm still trying to cook in the RV and not go out to eat. Last night, I poached some chicken breasts and made a big chicken salad. Tonight, I'll be using the last of the fresh chicken breasts and make a chicken stir fry. We have fresh strawberries and blueberries so maybe we can put those with vanilla ice cream.
I'm trying to get back to updating my website and my blog on a regular basis.
A friend sent us some coffee from France and that was a nice compliment to our Peabody muffins one Saturday morning.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Another hot summer is coming...

Here it is June and in the 90's already. We had such a strange winter. It was so odd to have rain in May in California.

Having a cool rainy winter made for some good crock pot meals and some great soup. My favorite soup was a kale, sausage and potato soup I threw together one day. I froze some of it and ate it on several other cool days.

I made my first Key Lime Pie. It came out pretty good and I know I will make it again. Key Lime Pie is one of Skip's favorites...not mine, but we must all make sacrifices. There was an abundance of lemon from Julie's lemon tree so we had several lemon desserts. I experimented with a lemon bundt cake recipe and found a good compliment of ingredients that made a moist cake. Of course, what would a Sunday morning be without some fresh baked muffins. My favorite recipe for muffins is Peabody Hotel Vanilla Muffins. They are from the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN. I believe they are the easiest muffins to make. You of course know that my next favorite are blueberry muffins. The Hotel is pretty cool too! You just have to check it out if you ever get to Memphis.

Now that summer is here I have to start planning cooler and lighter meals. We will be BBQing and that keeps it cool inside. I decided that this year, we will use our little camp stove to cook outside. We'll see how that works for us.

Cooking in the RV can be a challenge but it can be done...

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Computers and Birthdays

My HP has been running really slow so I had a weak moment and bought a new computer. I was on a shopping trip with Julie for Brett's Birthday and we both bought computers. Her computer was not useable due to a virus so she needed a new computer. I on the other hand just thought I was "entitled" to a new one. We both bought ASUS laptop computers. Skip thought I should have a computer with a longer life battery and has a DD3 and a faster processor...whatever that means...so he took the computer I bought back to Best Buy and upgraded. THEN he bought a router for the verizon internet service we have. Since we are in the motorhome we have to use a wifi card instead of a standard service. Of course, it is more expensive. Now we can both be on the internet at the same time! Can only imagine what our parents would say if they were alive...it is common for all of us to see our family and friends on computers but in our parents day there was no such thing. Yesterday when I was at Staples I was surprised to see a typewriter...yes, a typewriter. Brett celebrated her 16th Birthday yesterday. You can only imagine how anxious she is to get her driver's license! Brett chose chili for her dinner and she wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Julie made the cake from scratch and it was delicious. Of course, we had vanilla and chocolate ice cream with it. Brett received a lot of nice gifts. It was a nice evening. Today, I'm going to do some work at the lodge. Volunteer of course and then come home and learn some more about my computer. Tonight we are having chicken breasts, fresh beets and a salad. Yesterday, I baked oatmeal raisin cookies so that will be our dessert. It's still rainy and cold but there is a forecast of no rain for tomorrow and a high of 62. We shouldn't get to comfortable with the temperature because on Friday and Saturday it will rain again.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

another RV meal....

Watching the olympics so I didn't want to make anything to complicated. Tonight we had salmon with a sweet and spicy mayonnaise and garlic mashed potatoes with cheddar cheese plus a salad. I did go workout today so I figured I could have some of those mashed potatoes and I will be back at the club in the morning. I have been busy cleaning and reorganizing all my cupboards. Tomorrow I will start washing the windows. A woman's work is never done...

Saturday, February 13, 2010

what's cooking....

I really don't know where the time has gone. It is so hard to believe I haven't updated this blog before this. There are no excuses.
Tonight, I'm making Orzo with chicken, mushrooms and spinach. I was going to make it earlier in the week but it was a crazy day so I put it off and we ate out. No, I hadn't thawed the chicken. It is one of my favorite meals to make...probably because I think it's easy. The hardest thing is cutting the chicken, mushrooms and chopping the fresh spinach. I love living in California where we are blessed with so many fresh fruits and vegetables. I must say that I do check to see where the produce is from and I only buy USA produce. That means sometimes we have to do without. We have an asparagus farm about 10 miles out and a sweet corn farm about 25 miles away. We overdose on all the fresh vegetables when they are in season. Then we buy in bulk at the farm and I freeze them so we can enjoy them during the winter.
Tonight's dinner will also include a fresh salad (USA produce only) and brownies made from scratch.
Julie's lemon tree is loaded with lemons so I may make a lemon bundt cake tomorrow. Yes, from scratch. Not sure what Sunday dinner will be yet...

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Where have we been...

I know, I know I haven't been on here for two months but I'm sure I have lots of excuses why!! We have been very busy and as soon as I refresh my memory as to what we did on our trip I'll will update.