Category: MEMES & LINK PARTIES

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY week 21 of 2021

Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up
with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
 Still on our trip for a couple more days, so will reevaluate later this week and be back to normal by next Monday!

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • Just what SIL had on her TV and then a couple hotel rooms. We’ll catch up later this week.

Hubby and I will be listening to the rest of the series on Audible while we’re on the road. Last week we heard books 1 Louisiana Longshot & 2 Lethal Bayou Beauty and we will start book 3 Swamp Sniper on our way home from SIL’s tomorrow.

I’ll edit photos after we get home, but I do have these 2 – the 45 foot wide flower that is made of ice plant.  My SIL planted this on her property below her garden area after my BIL passed away and it has truly been the talk of the town for a few years now. It can be seen from the Laureles grade between the Carmel valley and Salinas.

The next picture is of the most wonderful mushroom tamale. In fact it is the most delicious tamale I have EVER had!  It was drizzled with a delicious tomatillo sauce, pico de gallo, micro greens and toasted pepitas.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
ON THE ROAD
ON THE ROAD
ON THE ROAD
??
??
??
??
DESSERT
 

  • SOUR APPLE SLAW
  • CHILE LIME WINGS
  • ITALIAN CHICKEN & RICE

  • ZESTY GARLIC GREEN BEANS
  • VESUVIO CHICKEN
  • BLUEBERRY LIME NO BAKE CHEESECAKE

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY week 20 of 2021

Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up
with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

I’m still on the road, but VERY rural at my SIL’s house this morning so this will be an abbreviated post. We will be heading to the family reunion on Tuesday. We had to cancel last year due to COVID so we are really looking forward to this year.  We changed the location a few years ago and many people want to move back to our original location so I have some research to do.

We received some bad news last week with hubby’s oldest sister passing away suddenly. Last year we were going to have a tribute to my MIL & FIL who have both passed away in the past couple years so we will have that this year and add in my SIL.

Hot water and apple, carrot baby food squeeze

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • Just lots of food, fun and family! Safely too!
WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV

I’m reading Frightfully Fortune by Jana DeLeon.  Hubby is actually listening to the series with me on Audible while we’re on the road. Last week we heard books 1 Louisiana Longshot & 2 Lethal Bayou Beauty and we will start book 3 Swamp Sniper on our way home from SIL’s next week.

I took a ton of pictures this past week, but many still need edited. For those of you that follow my instagram you know what I mean 😀 Here is one of my favorites though. SIL has her own beehives and they produce the best sage honey! My new jar is packed and ready to take home 😀
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP & WINGS
??
BBQ STEAKS
STREET TACOS
CHILI DOGS
POT LUCK
??
DESSERT
 

  • ZESTY GREEN BEANS
  • SOUR APPLE SLAW
  • ITALIAN CHICKEN & RICE

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY week 19 of 2021

Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up
with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

I hope you’re all having a wonderful spring and had a GREAT weekend. We’re on the road again this week and having a great trip so I will make this VERY quick 😀

The weather has been quite nice until yesterday when we began to encounter rain and a cold front. We were treated with a nice thunderstorm last night and today is on the cool side so I’m back to flannels and many layers.

This doesn’t change much for me unfortunately no matter where we are at 😀 but it has been challenging with hotels and the way they handle breakfast during the pandemic. We’ve encountered everything from nothing, bagged to go continental breakfast, regular serve yourself buffet style (which we opted to stay away from) to room service only.

I did pack a supply of my squeeze pouches though so today is hot water with a splash of green tea and baby food squeeze – apricot peach this morning. It’s also a hotel with room service so hubby will choose something easy – fresh apple slices, hard boiled egg, a danish and coffee.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • SEARCHING FOR OUR NEXT PROJECT 😀

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • WHATEVER IS ON THE HOTEL TV 😀

I’ve downloaded 2 new books to start this week during our trip. RETURN TO SENDER by Jennifer Peel and THE COTTAGE BY THE SEA by Hannah Ellis.

There have been so many favorite photos from the past week, but this one is probably the most poignant. I love the history of why Borglum chose these 4 presidents and I LOVED seeing how much the monument has changed and grown with the addition of the state flags and history since I was here last many years ago.

Some of the most fun were the 40 miles of Burma Shave like billboards for Wall Drugs in Wall, South Dakota. We didn’t stop this trip, but have before and it’s a fun once in a lifetime stop if you’re in the area.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
*STILL
*OUT
*OF
*TOWN
*FOR
*THE
*WEEK
DESSERT
 

  • PARSLEY, SAGE, ROSEMARY & THYME ROAST CHICKEN
  • P3 ~ PISTACHIO PLUM PLATZ
  • TOMATO SCALLOPED POTATOES

A to Z CHALLENGE ~ Z is for ZIG ZAG

A to Z challenge 

Zig zag A method of climbing and descending steep gradients, where shallow-gradient track reverses direction for a while, and then reverses again to continue in the original direction.

Trains more commonly zigzag their way through difficult terrain rather than looping around, but loops aren’t unheard of. There is actually a loop near where I grew up. The loop, built by the Southern Pacific Railroad opened in 1876 to connect Bakersfield and Mojave, about 50 miles away.

In gaining elevation around the central hill of the Loop, a 4,000-foot train will cross 77 feet above its rear cars in the tunnel below. The Tehachapi Loop has been designated as a California Historical Landmark and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

photo credit

I wish I had a Zebra, but the closet I came was the zebra stripped tiger from a couple days ago.

A to Z CHALLENGE ~ W is for WHISTLE POST

A to Z challenge 

Train whistles are used as a safety warning and also by the engineer to communicate to other railroad workers. It is also a nickname for an air horn on a diesel locomotive. Steam engine whistles were historically known as chimes in the US during the 19th century.

Whistle post is an advance warning to the engineer of an upcoming grade crossing. It is the point at which the engineer should begin sounding the whistle or horn.

I don’t have any actual W #RailArt pictures that I’ve found, but I did have some fun colorful ones from today’s #LumberTrain

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY week 18 of 2021

Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up
with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Hello sweet friends. I hope you are all doing well and have had a wonderful week. I can’t believe we are back to Monday already! We took a lazy Sunday off, so I will be going at it hard today as we have rescheduled an upcoming trip to leave this week instead. I will probably take a couple weeks off of blogging while we are traveling depending on connections and availability along the way.

Hot water and Strawberry Pineapple Smoothie

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY Just a couple loads and packing for trip
  • ERRANDS POWER Red blood donation, pedicure, hair, oil change and tire rotation
  • PHONE CALLS Just a couple “rearranging” phone calls

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
  • NETFLIX STARGATE
  • REDBOX VANQUISHED with MORGAN FREEMAN
  • APPLE TV The Year Earth changed, GREYHOUND with Tom Hanks
  • DISNEY+ Mandalorian, Secrets of Sulphur Springs, Secrets of the Whales – ORCA dynasty, Eart at Night – Elephant Plains
  • CABLE  I’m still weeding out and narrowing down my focus as too many shows are becoming repetitive or too dark ALL the time – GGG, DDD, Beat Bobby Flay, Tournament of Champions, Ellen’s Game of Games, Bull, The Resident, New Amsterdam, The Good Doctor, 911, 911 Lone Star, FBI, FBI Most Wanted, Young Sheldon, The Unicorn, Last Man Standing, MOM, NCIS, REBEL, NCIS New Orleans, NCIS LA, Magnum PI, MacGyver, Blue Bloods, Chicago series

State of Affairs: A First Family Novel by [Marie Force]

Marie Force’s State of Affairs, the first in the “NEW” series, A First Family. It is the sequel series to her FATAL series of 16 books.

I’ve been doing the A to Z challenge  using #RailArt as my theme and this tiger from this past week is my favorite.

and a little joke to make you smile!
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
DINNER
HAMBURGER SLIDERS, SWEET & SOUR BROWN BEANS and SOUR APPLE SLAW
CHILE LIME CHICKEN WINGS & SOUR APPLE SLAW
 😀
C.O.R.N. CLEAN OUT REFRIGERATOR NIGHT
??
??
??
DESSERT
 

  • RUSTIC CASSOULET
  • SWEET & SOUR BROWN BEANS
  • P3 PISTACHIO PLUM PLATZ

A to Z CHALLENGE ~ V is for VACUUM

A to Z challenge 

A Vacuum brake is a continuous train brake that is a fail-safe in operation. It is powered by a vacuum from the locomotive, but the application is actually by atmospheric pressure when the vacuum is released. The vacuum brake is now largely superseded by the air brake.

I have NO #RailArt for the letter V unless you count the last one that kind of looks like a V, but I’m not sure what it actually says, so we’ll just go with that. 😀

A to Z CHALLENGE ~ U is for UNIT TRAIN and UNREADABLE

Unit train – a train in which all cars carry the same commodity and are shipped from the same origin to the same destination, without being split up or stored en route.

While I can’t be sure, I believe many of the trains we see going through our town are these type as much of the #RailArt is actually repeat.

Many of the following pictures are just unreadable, but still colorful and interesting. The first one though is my favorite. Raise your hand if you remember the unknown comic from the Gong Show 😀

   

 

A to Z CHALLENGE ~ T is for TRAIN ~ TAMPING, TRACK, and ALL things TRAIN

The tigers are some of my favorite #RailArt pieces.

A to Z challenge 

Tamping machine is generally a locomotive used in track maintenance and equipped with track lifting facilities, and paddles that push ballast beneath a rail track to assure its level.

Track bed The foundation of rail tracks

Train coupler is the mechanical interface that links vehicles so a driver can operate them together. The coupler can be a purely mechanical device such as a screw coupler or bar coupler. The coupler can also incorporate electrical or pneumatic connections.

Train horn Is the warning horn in a locomotive or in a control car

Trainman Is an employee assigned to train service, such as a conductor, brakeman, or switchman

A to Z CHALLENGE ~ S is for SPOT, SANDBOX, SIGNALMAN and SNOWSHED

A to Z challenge 

Sandbox – A container on locomotives that holds sand, which a crew can drop onto the rail to improve rail adhesion under wet, steep, or slippery rail conditions. The sandbox and operating mechanism are collectively known as sanding gear.

Signalman – A person in charge of the signalling at a station or junction, often in a signal box.

Snow shed – A long shelter erected over a railroad track on the side of a mountain to protect the line from avalanches and drifting.