My Water Post For Today.
We had some clouds hanging around Sunday afternoon, and it made me want to run to Bridgeport.
I didn't manage to go, but I found a great photo I took of the bridge in Bridgeport, and I decided to bring that to you.
I don't know how much the homes go for now days, but when built they were over 1 million dollars each.
Outside my price range, but the area is quite lovely.
This month was the first time I was seriously worried I would not get any money to pay my bills, and I would have to move money from another account, to cover them.
Being the SS checks did not come into my account until the 26th of March, that was cutting it mighty close to the end of the month.
Moving money (especially over the weekend) takes days to do, so I was definitely worried.
I still don't know if the VA check will come into our account (it is due on the first of the April), but I do not use it for ongoing bills).
It is extra, like paying for our vacations, or repairs on our house.
My sweet pink jasmine has started to bloom, which tells me that spring has definitely come, once again.
Soon, with luck, my backyard will begin to smell wonderful.
We have bits of rain in the forecast, for next week, so hopefully it will continue to thrive.
Love my jasmine, and am glad I planted it behind my windmill.
I don't know if you are in the same situation I am, but I am unable to comment, via the web browser Firefox.
The work around I came up with, is opening a new browser in Chrome.
It works, but I do not like Chrome as a general rule, so I then finish my comment, and log off of it.
I went looking and they mentioned deleting cookies, and stuff like that, but I don't feel like doing that right now.
I kind of wonder about stuff like this. Especially since January 20th.
The State of California Fire Hazard Maps just came out.
It seems that more of Santa Clarita is in the red zone, though from what I can see, I am still on the edge of that.
I hope that my insurance rates don't go up, or my policy gets canceled.
Life is a constant bunch of changes, and the president is just adding to my anxiety levels.
Life in the 2020's.
Our big Bird of Paradise is doing so well, this year.
Look how many birds it has on it!
My other one is still very small, I have no idea why.
I am glad I planted it, back when we first got the house. It has finally come into its own.
It is the plant of Los Angeles, in case you did not know.
My Son asked how Makenna's area of the world was going.
So I sent him the one I posted last week, and mentioned that I had moved our bag of bark, to where it could be accessed easily.
That gave me the push, to do it right away.
I threw them around the area, and gave the small amount that was left, to my Husband.
He had another project that needed some bark.
I took a photo and sent it to my Son, so he could see how it turned out.
Thus, you get to see it, too. :-)
My Water Post For Today.
Back in 2023 we visited the Ambassador Bridge, while there for a different reason.
It is currently the main way to get from Detroit, Michigan, to Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
There were Canadian Geese hanging around. No surprise to this Upstate NY girl.
Of course, the Detroit River was flowing by.
I hope you enjoy.
When my Son gets with friends, off they go to hike.
If you remember, back when he was younger, that was something they did all the time.
Now that he is in his 30's, I don't even think about what they do, or where they go.
It ends up they hiked in Placerita Canyon on Saturday, and then a different group went to Copper Hill, right by our area of the world.
We did once take him into Placerita, and it was a fascinating area, with white oil bubbling right out of the ground.
Santa Clarita is pretty special, and I think he misses it a bit.
We had our Son for the whole week (plus).
In all that time, there was no photo taken of the three of us.
On the way to the airport, I finally said let's take a photo before we get into the car.
It had a nice background, and I thought it came out pretty good.
Oh, and look at his hair!
I was glad the sun came out, finally. It was a rainy week, all in all.
On our way to the airport, to drop off our Son, I asked how Taro was doing without him.
So he sent me this photo of her, that his housemate sent.
It always amazes me at how attentive she is.
Eyes wide open.
Hopefully they are happily reunited now.
We will find out on Sunday.
It's the first day of Spring!
In honor of that fact, I thought I would go back to my cats new plant.
It seems to be doing in well.
I have some bark, that I think I will be adding to the area, after the dirt settles in a bit.
I am looking for a wooden cat to replace the old memorial to our first 2 cats.
I have not found one that meets my specifications yet.
If I do, I will move their name tags over to the new one, and add Makenna.
My Son is usually a beer drinker.
When he took the Southwest Chief recently, he was concerned because all he ever has in the way of a mixed drink is a Moscow Mule.
I told him what his father has (bourbon 7) and what I order (screwdriver), but I did not think he was going to get either one of those drinks.
He ended up getting (of all things) a Moscow Mule!
It needs ginger beer, so I was pretty sure that was not going to happen, but he did get one, and I see that Cutwater Three Sheets Rum & Ginger is one of the choices at the bar, so maybe that is how it went down.
I am going to have to try to order it, next time I am on a train.
Photo 1 is a Moscow Mule in Cincinatti, Ohio.
Photo 2 is a Moscow Mule on Amtrak.
My Water Post (one day late) For Today.
Since we sent our Son back to his home in Michigan, I thought I would show off the beautuful water in Port Huron, once again.
I love how the waves are riding on the blue waters. It is so very striking.
Our neighbor, Canada, is over on the other side of the water.
May it stay that way.
I hope you enjoy.
My Water Post will return on Tuesday.
It's St. Patrick's Day, and in honor of that fact, I did make a corned beef, and all the trimmings.
I went back to my old standby, Irish Soda Bread, no frills, just the original recipe I have made for 25 or so years.
We added raisins to it this year. My Husband prefers it that way.
May the luck of the Irish, shine on you this day.
As I was leaving the gym on Saturday morning, I happened to glance off to the north.
There it was, snow on the mountains in the Frazier Park area of the LA/Kern County border.
It is always so beautiful to see the snow, and not have to deal with it.
Our current calculation on rainfall, is 10 1/2 inches of rain for the season.
More coming on Monday, but we are still a bit behind the normal.
On Thursday night we had a total eclipse of the full moon.
The full moon this month is the Worm Moon.
I went to bed at 11:00PM, so it was a little before totality, but you could see the red shadow, especially down at the bottom of the moon.
It is so very cool when that happens, because it proves we have spheres in the sky.
The next total lunar eclipse will not be until June of 2029.
A good thing to have in your personal papers, is a current copy of your Social Security Benefits Letter, and your Social Security Statement. They are both found in the My Social Security page at ssa.gov
Since there is currently a lot of uncertainty going on, at our Government offices, hard copies of these very important documents can't hurt.
If you are a Veteran, a copy of your Summary of Benefits, is also good to have. It can be found at va.gov
If you are getting disability, it will show you what percentage you are disabled, and how much the Government owes you each month.
I sleep better, having them in my posession, with a current date at the top.
Let's hope it is never needed, to fight for our entitlements.
With the March rain, we are getting our first signs of spring.
Not just the bulbs, but the trees are just beginning to send out new growth.
These Freesias have just burst out in beautiful yellow, this past week. I am sure the rain helps.
So far, the rain has been in small amounts, just enough to wet things, though we might get an inch tomorrow.
A welcome time of the year.
I mentioned that we decided to wait to bury Makenna's ashes, until our Son had come to LA.
She was so much a part of our lives for all those 16 years, he deserved to be there at the burial.
I ended up getting a succulent plant, for this spot.
Last time I planted an azalea, and it just died, due to the sun.
Hopefully, this plant will take root and grow.
We love you and miss you, Makenna.
Our Son made it to Los Angeles, within half an hour of on time.
We were pleased, and immediately brought him to our favorite Chinese restaurant for lunch.
I took no photos of the three of us, but I did record the fact that we all got something different for lunch.
I just thought it was interesting, and if we were smart, we should have shared the entrées with each other.
Glad to have him back.
My Water Post For Today.
Look at that! Water flowing down the Los Angeles Aqueduct.
I am glad to see it, because it has been a pretty dry rainy season, so far.
Though we have more coming our way in March.
Water, you never know how much you are going to get in a year.
Hopefully, you remembered to set your clocks forward an hour for Daylight Saving Time.
My Son continues his journey across the United States, once again.
We caught up with him and Becca, in Gallup, New Mexico.
The sunset was just stunning, and worth showing off to my viewers.
That is his car, in the photo, By the way.
It was around 2AM, when I started watching my phone, to see if my Son's first train (The Wolverine) had left the station, on its way to Ann Arbor.
I was ahead of the game, it showed up about an hour later and departed on time. My Son and I had a brief conversation, and then he said to me, "Go Sleep".
I couldn't, what can I say. Though I did try.
When the train arrived at Ann Arbor, he sent me a photo, and off he went.
We conversed while he waited in Chicago, and then as he reached some of the stops that have Virtual Railfan cameras at them. The screen shots are Galesburg and Fort Madison. He is in sleeper car number 2, following the baggage car and 2 engines. Note, they have a deadheading Pacific Surfliner at the end of the train. How cool is that.
He picks up his traveling companion in La Plata, just in time for dinner.
Safe travels to you, and see you on Sunday.
I just heard that a second SpaceX Starship rocket exploded on Thursday.
In both cases it was launched from Texas, and not Vandenberg SFB in California.
It is very scary to think that debris could fall somewhere, if one of these rockets blow up.
For the most part, the normal Starlink rockets seem to be routine.
I have wanted to clean-up the bay window in the kitchen for a while.
It is always so difficult to do, but I told my knees that they would have to suffer, and I got up on the counter and did it.
I trimmed some of the plants that had grown all over the window, so now they drip water from the cut. Oh well...
I also got rid of a plant that died, though I kept the frog pot that I had it in.
Sometime I might plant something appropriate in it, because I really love those frogs.
I also cleaned the microwave, and my Husband did the sink.
Our Son arrives on Sunday, for a visit with us and his friends.
Rain is forecast, for a lot of the time.
I received this photo on Saturday morning.
I think my Son was trying to make things better for me.
Well, I am always happy to see my Grandcat, but that claw, got to me.
She is so photogenic.
Thanks Son.
As I mentioned on another place I hang out, after an absolutely horrible day, we received this beautiful sunset.
Adding to the clouds, we also have daffodils coming up, and freesias. All yellow, so far.
I had seen the sunset via our kitchen window, and once again, I went running.
It is definitely one of the best I have seen. It must be the winter sunsets.
Thank you, for giving me something good to view.
My Water Post For Today.
It has been dry the past 2 weeks, but since the Oscars were on Sunday evening, along came the hail at 4:30PM.
Hopefully, everyone had already gone into the Theatre.
As to us, you can see on the ground, that we had about 15 or so minutes of hail, along with thunder and Lightning.
Enough for me to turn off the computer.
My Husband said 1/4 inch fell in that time.
You just never know what is going to happen, as a front passes through.
Enjoy.
I have had this recipe hanging around on my desktop for the past month. I finally bought some chives, and so I could assemble it together and eat it.
I will say that my Husband and I had it with our dinner the other night, and found it needed more of something. Ours was bland.
Of course we did not use the jalapeños that they recommended, so that is part of the problem.
We recommend sweating some onions with the bacon, and maybe adding some mushrooms.
Here is what Bon Appetit had to say about it.
Protein-laden, easy to portion, and highly portable, the dish takes advantage of boxed corn muffin mix, conveniently packaged with all the essential ingredients, so all that’s left to do is mix and pour. As it bakes in the oven, the cornbread magically settles at the bottom, forming a sturdy base for the custardy eggs. The mix-ins are merely a suggestion–make 1:1 swaps for all of them. The pickled jalapeños can be replaced with roasted red peppers; almost any flavorful cheese such as Monterey Jack, or Swiss, can take the place of cheddar; and a pre-cooked protein like crumbled breakfast sausage, chorizo, or tempeh can switch places with the bacon. Recipe information
• Total Time 1 hour
• Yield 6–8 servings
Ingredients
Nonstick vegetable oil spray (for pan)
4 oz. bacon (4–6 slices)
18.5-oz. box corn muffin mix (preferably Jiffy)
2 cups half-and-half
6 large eggs
2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt
½ cup coarsely grated extra-sharp cheddar
½ cup chopped drained pickled jalapeños, patted dry
2 Tbsp. finely chopped chives
Preparation
Step 1
Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°. Generously coat a 13x9" baking dish with nonstick vegetable oil spray. Cook 4 oz. bacon (4–6 slices) in a dry large skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium heat, turning occasionally, until browned and crisp, 8–10 minutes; transfer to paper towels to drain. Let sit until cool enough to handle, then finely chop.
Step 2
Whisk one 8.5-oz. box corn muffin mix and 2 cups half-and-half in a medium bowl until smooth. Add 6 large eggs and 2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt and whisk to combine. Stir in bacon, ½ cup coarsely grated extra-sharp cheddar, ½ cup chopped drained pickled jalapeños, patted dry, and 2 Tbsp. finely chopped chives; scrape batter into prepared pan.
Step 3
Bake casserole until slightly puffed and just set (center should still wobble slightly when casserole is gently shaken), 25–30 minutes. Let cool 10–15 minutes before cutting into squares.
Do Ahead: Casserole can be baked 5 days ahead. Let cool, cover, and chill.
This Administration is attacking so many people at once, I am unable to even begin to help them.
What I did do, is bring as much food as I could, to the Food Pantry (via my Church).
As long as I am able, which could change in the next few months, I will continue to do what I can.
We were expecting our VA money to be cut, but somehow it stayed the same as last month.
I took that as a small victory, for now.
Social Security is on the block, right now, so we shall see if we make it through that.
My pension is in mostly stocks. No idea if that will make it through the coming months, as the economy spirals.
At least a few people will have food on their table, for a few meals. Courtesy of me and my Husband.
Remember those who have less.
