Miscellany

We had a lazy day for our last day in Pahrump. This morning, we'll hit the road for Caliente, Nevada. I thought I might get out my sewing machine yesterday, but then didn't. Instead, I spent some time trimming up the half square triangles I made a few days ago. I'm guesstimating I had about 100 to do.

These have been kind of fun to work with. Some I recognize the projects they came from, and some I have no idea. I have a few other cut off ends of strip sets, and I'll find a place for them in whatever quilt comes of this. I liked these kitty themed ones...

and these...

Sorry about the blur. I was shooting without flash. When I was finished, I had a nice little pile of strings, dust, and fluff.

Now that these are trimmed up, I feel reinvigorated for sewing the rest together. Next time around, I'll keep the pile smaller before trimming them up. My friend Sharon told me she sews her bonus triangles together and trims them up as she generates them. I wish I'd done that, and from now on, I'll follow her lead. For now though, I have this bag full of them, and it's too late for them. They'll have to be trimmed as I go. There will be more time for sewing on down the road, but probably not for a week or two.

Of course, I did some slow-stitching yesterday too. Here's the day's inchy:

And I filled another hoop of hand quilting.

At this rate, I should be quilting around the outer border fairly soon. I'll keep working on this for the next several days, and then I'll get back to the snowflakes.

There was a pretty sunset last night. The sunsets and sunrises have been "big" here. They put on a show looking to the east...

and looking to the west. They seem to stretch from horizon to horizon, and there is color no matter which direction one looks.

As the sun was setting, we were both involved in the creation of this Chipotle-Coffee Steak Salad with Grilled Corn and Tomatoes. A few days ago, I mentioned making some Quilt Pickled Onions to go along with the salad. Mike grilled the steaks to perfection, and this was so yummy. I was simply trying to use up a container of feta cheese, and this seemed like a good way to use it. It's easy enough to do in the RV, but it requires a little thinking ahead. The pickled onions need to sit for at least an hour before they're ready. Also, the rub is added to the steaks, and then they need to sit at room temp for at least an hour before grilling.

I've linked to the recipe back there, but I have a few notes about it. For the rub, I used some instant espresso powder I had along with us. For the "ground coriander," I substituted cumin. Otherwise, I made it just as listed. Also, good fresh corn isn't available right now, and so I used some frozen corn. I simply sprayed the vegetables with olive oil spray. The corn was given a five-minute head start over the tomatoes, and I just grilled them in a skillet until they had some brown on them.

The only other thing I have to say about the recipe is that I would use less feta in the future. Feta and I have a mixed relationship. Goat cheese used to be my substitution for feta, but I've grown more tolerant of it over time. Still, its flavor seems a little overwhelming to me, and besides...feta makes me sweata for some reason. It's like people you've known who sweat when they eat spicy food. Anyway...I'd use half as much in the future. It was a little too salty for my taste.

After dinner, Smitty led us in a guided meditation. Ommmmmmmmmmmmm...

Also, we fnally, finally, finally, managed to get some drone footage downloaded and then uploaded. This process took a good part of the afternoon, but We. Did. It! I can't say this is the most impressive video you'll ever see, but at the very least, you can be impressed by the fact that we got it uploaded and published here. It's from our trip to Moab last September. This is one of our favorite rides...out to Determination Towers. It is a massive formation. Enjoy...or don't. Either way is fine. Never want to boss anybody around, you know. And if you can't see the video, then click right here.

So that was our last day in Pahrump. When (or "if") you next hear from me, we'll be north and east of Pahrump in the little town of Caliente, Nevada. It's a town of around 1,200 people and high desert, so we're expecting cooler temperatures. Looking at the forecast, it looks to be in the mid- to high-50's during the day, but very cold at night with temperatures in the 20's. Since we're not sure we'll find much in the way of groceries there, we did our grocery shopping yesterday. Also, in a town that small, it's always a question whether we'll have internet, and so you might not hear from me again until we get back to Boulder City. Fingers crossed we find a good cell signal. Our drive today is a little over 200 miles, so not a bad day. Hoping I see you on the other side.