Dance with Dragons (Fire and Ice series or Game of Thrones on Tv)

I'm really disapointed. I liked the first few books but this last one has me dragging my feet. I don't know, maybe its the fact that it took 4 YEARS for him to get this book out because he was busy writting comic books and getting HBO movie deals or maybe it's just not that good.

I started reading it in July and have only gotten about 1/3 of the way through and put it aside to read more interesting things like Jim Butcher, Larell K Hamilton, Terry Goodkind - yes, I read three books and still have not finished "Dance with Dragons". I'll get to it - maybe next week if something better doesn't show up first. I'm just that non-interested.

AGHHHH!

This is so frustrating.  I sometimes can reply to comments on my posts and sometimes (like today) I can't.  I'm trying to reply to the comment on my last post about where in St. Charles the produce market is.

Vaccaro & Sons Produce
(636) 940-8505
739 S Duchesne Dr, St Charles, MO 63301
It's across from the McDonalds on Duchesne and Droste.

Sorry Alyson but I had to put it here instead of there.

What's Cookin?

I haven’t been doing a menu for a few weeks, I was trying to eat up leftovers since they were starting to take over the freezer and I had no more freezer containers to put more leftovers in. But we are starting to hit the bottom of the barrel so here’s what’s cookin the rest of the week.

Wednesday: Three bean Venison Chili
Thursday: Chicken Tikka Masala (new recipe – gonna try to see if I can make this yummy dish at home since it’s so expensive to eat it out at my favorite Indian Restaurant.
Friday: Roast Venison with mashed potatoes and Carrots
Saturday: Blackened Salmon with Broccoli and Wild Rice
Sunday: Hamburger Helper (it was on sale this week at Dierbergs) with mushrooms, onion and green pepper added.
Monday: Tilapia with wild rice and fall veggies

I made a trip to the produce market over in St. Charles Monday. It’s not a farmer’s market but it’s the closest thing to it that is open every day. The produce is fresh and is sold in an open air market (under a large 30x40 tarp thingy. This place has been there for at least 16 years. I used to go there all the time when we lived closer but it’s a 30 minute drive now and I just haven’t been since we moved to this house. I think I’ll start making a trip over there on Monday’s on my lunch hour since they seem to have really good stuff and very reasonably priced.

Work Weekend

There was some progress on ‘the barn’ this past few weeks – insulation is up on one wall, the cross supports are up, the big hole where the stairs are supposed to be has been partially uncovered, the ditch for the well pipe to ‘the barn’ is dug and the pipe has been laid out in the yard to uncurl – little things that like. Most of the work this week and all of the work this weekend was in the campground.

We are having our annual Samhain festival October 14 – 16 and the campground needed some work. We had several trees that have been down for 2+ years that needed to be cut up, split and stacked. We also needed to clear some new areas for camping as we are expecting a few more this year than we had last year. The thing with having more people and more tents is that our labyrinth circle has to get bigger which pushes the tents back farther into the woods.

We got all of the trees cleared, split and stacked and now have over 3 cord of wood – I don’t think Bill will have any trouble heating the woods for Samhain this year! We also took down some dead trees that were starting to drop branches and needed to come down for safety.

We had a small Mabon ritual on Saturday night where I burned our corn dolly that I had made 2+ years ago (seems to be a trend here) and we charged the new one. We all said what we were thankful for and then we sat around the fire and had a nice fellowship afterward.

All and all it was a good weekend and we had some great friends come out to help us. I’m thankful for those friends!

An Update on the Greek Yogurt thing

So I’ve been trying different Greek Yogurts for weeks now trying to decide if it’s for me.  Well hello Stonyfield Organic Greek Yogurt!  They have a chocolate and a carmel flavor that is to die for!  Yes, chocolate so it’s just a bit of decadence in the morning for me – like eating chocolate pudding for breakfast!  It satisfies my chocolate craving and it’s good for me – how much better is that?  Both flavors come in convenient 4 packs which are less expensive than buying individual flavors.  They also have fruit flavors that are yummy too.

Mabon

We went camping this weekend for Mabon.  For those of you that don't know what Mabon is it's a fall festival celebrating the harvest.  We made corn dollies, had a handfasting, and tried to stay warm and dry since it rained off and on all weekend. 

Here are some pics of my camp:

LOL  Bill kept moving out of the picture as I was trying to catch him so I told him to not move and he stuck his tongue out at me... so I took the picture! 

These two were our guardeans on the outside.  Usually I don't have the blue walls all down but we had to keep them down most of the weekend because of the rain.  :(

Odd week

This week has been an odd week.  I’m not sure what really constitutes ‘normal’ around here but this week was not on the normal curve of things.  Bill and I went up to my mom’s house on Saturday where we met my sister and we proceeded to further clear out stuff so we can sell the house.  I don’t know why I always get ‘talked into’ taking more stuff every time I go up there but I did.  We had originally planned on bringing home the glass top for the desk that we brought home a few months ago – we had forgotten it the last time we were up there.  But somehow we ended up bringing home a whole pickup load of stuff and there is still a pile in the dining room at mom’s house yet to get.  How does this happen?

I was really hoping to get the rest of everything cleared out so that we can start the selling process but alas, while we got a lot done, there is still things that need to be taken out and cleaning up to do.  We are planning on auctioning the house and contents (what is left) so we have to now go through websites of a few auction houses in the area to find one that will come out to the house to auction it off.  I really think we will get the quickest sell this way as this is a little town at the corner of No and Where in Illinois and no one has any money these days to pay full market price.  The house needs work so I don’t feel too bad letting it go for less.

Got home on Sunday night and as we were turning into the subdivision Austen’s car was sitting out in the middle of the cul-de-sac and Aubri was trying to call me on the cell phone.  Seems his power steering was out and they both needed to be at work.  Just after we pulled into the drive, Erik and Meghan pulled up in Meghan’s car and Erik hopped out and ran into the house to change his Cardinal shirt (they had been to the Cardinal game) into his Racanelli’s shirt and he took Aubri to work and covered Austen’s shift.  That brought Erik home after 10 and he was supposed to drive back to school that evening but I convinced him to sleep over and drive back in the morning – 5 hours starting at 11:00 is too late in my opinion!

Erik got back to school ok the next day and Austen started his quest to find out what was wrong with the car.  He drove it over to Dobbs auto (I hate that place but it’s close) and they didn’t call him back until Tuesday morning with the bad news that it was the power steering pump and they would have to replace the entire assembly at a cost of $1100!  Wow!  Bill suggested he check to see if it was still under warranty and since he also thought the part was a dealer only part that it might actually be less expensive to take it to the Mazda dealership and see what they could do.  Unfortunately the warranty expired last month (figures) and the cost will be about the same since they have to work on some electrical stuff as well.

So, Tuesday evening when I got off work, I picked Austen up from the dealership and took him to Enterprise rent-a-car.  Now Randy used to work at Enterprise and we have never had so much trouble renting a car before – I even used them in South Caroline in August when we went to Tom’s graduation with no trouble but jeeeze!  These people wanted a pint of blood and my firstborn male child just to rent a car for 3 days!  Seems that a debit card is not good enough to rent a car- you have to have a credit card or fill out a resume of your finances in triplicate!  I was not at all happy with them but Austen needed a car so we did it.  They had promised him a compact car but when we got there they had NO CARS so they gave him a Chevy Colorado for the same price.  Austen didn’t really care what car it was as long as it got him to work.

So I left Enterprise, stopped at Weight Watchers to weigh in and then was off to Cahokia Mounds for a memorial service.  I posted about that earlier this week so I’ll leave those details out for now but I did get to see some folks I haven’t gotten to see in a while so that was nice and we all went to Cracker Barrel afterwards for dinner and really had a nice relaxing conversation.

Today I have to make the rounds to the Electric Company to pay the bill, go to the bank, and then class tonight.  Bill is pulling the trailer up some time today so that we can leave in the morning for Columbia MO for a weekend camping festival and hand fasting of some friends.  More seeing of folks not seen in a while – hopefully we have a stress free and relaxing weekend – although the weather forecast is for rain all weekend!

Rainy days and Mondays....

Well, it’s not Monday but it is rainy today here in St. Louis. The much needed rain started last night after 11 and is still going strong this afternoon about 1:50pm. I saw the lightning coming last night on my way home from Illinois at 10:30 and I heard the thunder off and on all night. This makes me want to be home with a good book, a warm afghan and soup simmering on the stove. And it looks like it’s supposed to keep this up off and on through the weekend – of course the only camping I have done all summer except for PSG and it’s supposed to rain. What is it this year about cold rainy weather and camping for me?

I'm not complaining though - I love the rain - I just wish we would get some good thunder and lightning. :)

Godspeed Brother Don

Last night Don Newman's chosen family and friends gathered at Cahokia Mounds inside the Woodhenge Circle to honor his life. The brotherhood of the spear, to which Don was a proud member, stood watch while we shared stories and memories of Don inside the circle. While we sat there the full moon rose over Monk’s Mound
in the east:



(Sorry the picture is so dark but it was... dark outside. If you look to the left of Gabriel's shadow standing guard in the east you will see a small red spot on the horizon. That is the moon rising.)



(This is a picture of it after the ritual was over and the moon was higher in the sky - and not quite so red.)

After the ritual we all went to Cracker Barrel for dinner and more remembrances of Don.

Godspeed my brother in light!

What’s happening?

It’s been a lovely long Labor Day weekend and so much went on and so much is yet to come this week that I decided I would bunch it all into one post.  So, here goes:

I worked from home on Friday so I was there when Erik got home from College for the weekend.  I had made one of his favorite meals – Beef stroganoff.  He ate and we caught up on all that was going on at school and here at home then his girlfriend got off work and came over.  We sat and talked and pulled out old photo albums since she wanted to see him with blond hair (yes, he was almost completely white headed when we lived in Arizona!)

I got up the next morning and headed down to the property.  Bill had been busy putting the rest of the floor down in the shop and I wanted to see it. 

He worked on putting in more electrical wiring and putting up walls most of the rest of the weekend.

We had folks renting out the campground this weekend so we spend evenings down there with them around the camp fire.  I just love hanging out in the woods!  We put an air mattress up in the shop on Sunday night and slept there – our first night in the new place!  J  Bill also had dug the water line from the well.  We just need to get the well checked and run the pipe from it to the house.

As you can see in the picture – my car is fixed.  Bill’s neighbor John did the work.  He is very good – you can’t tell it was ever wrecked!

Saturday afternoon I was sitting in the window of the shop while Bill was working and I looked out and saw a bobcat loping through the front yard!  I didn’t want to spook it so I was trying to get Bill’s attention.  He looked out the window closest to him and could see it as well.  Unfortunately, it moved on before I could get a picture.  It’s pretty cool to think we have such a beautiful creature living on our land.  J

I came home yesterday afternoon to spend some time with Erik before he went back to school.  We went to get pizza at the place where all the kids work.  Then he had to pack and leave when we got home.  *Sigh* I do miss him.

Tom called that evening.  He was telling me all about what he is learning at AIT (well, not everything but the general coolness of it according to him.)  He really likes this and can’t wait to get to Eglin AFB to start the second part of his training.  He will have a lot more freedom on base there and will probably be taking his car and motorcycle with him to Florida. 

Aubri came in to my room last night to have me rub her back.  She has had a back ache for a few days now.  We had thought maybe she had just slept wrong but it’s getting worse and when I was rubbing her back she has a really tender spot.  We have a doctor’s appt this afternoon to find out what is going on with that.

JAVA class is kicking my butt!  I used to be really good at math but that was 30 years ago!  I did all my homework then checked my answers with the back of the book – I don’t get the same things.  I rechecked my math and I just don’t get it.  This may be a really long semester!

This Thursday is Aubri’s 16^th birthday but since I have class we will be taking her and her friends to Sky Zone on Friday for her party.  Erik is coming home for the weekend and will be going too.  I’m hoping that Bill will be able to come up for the weekend and maybe we can go up to my mom’s house and finish getting my sister’s stuff moved out so we can sell it.  We really need the money and we really need to get rid of the house.

I’m taking another week off from cooking.  I have so many leftovers I need to eat up.  Aubri bought some things to put in the freezer last week and we have to move some to the outside freezer as I had so many leftovers in the way.  J

Ok, enough rambles – on with the week.