5/7/24

Standing Still

Good morning, my friends. We had a do-nothing day yesterday. We've been doing so much sight-seeing and driving, it's nice to just sit still and do nothing for a bit. Sunday was my birthday. Today is Mike's birthday. That can mean only one thing...Eggs Benedict for breakfast.


I've only made Eggs Benedict one other time while on the road. It was somewhere in North Carolina, I think. I tried unsuccessfully to find a blog post about it because I wanted to see what I did about the hollandaise. When I make this at home, I do the hollandaise from scratch. On the road, I use one of the envelope mixes. When I did this the last time, the hollandaise was kind of thin and flavorless. This time I used a Knorr mix, and it was actually very good. It was easy to do too. We give two thumbs up for Knorr hollandaise mix.

Backing up to yesterday, I took the first stitches on the Kittens block. It's nice to be working with some color again.


After that, it was time to wash our bedsheets. We have a small washer/dryer combo in the RV, but it's too small for sheets. Those have to go to the laundromat. Laundromats seem to get more confusing all the time. I've run into laundromats that don't take coins, and only accept cards. Back in Las Cruces, I found one that required an app and a QR code. It was a happy thing when I walked into the laundromat here to find that it took quarters...just like the good old days, when cash was king. And everything was going along swimmingly until I went to add detergent and fabric softener. These were the instructions on the machine.


Here's the dispenser they referred to. I defy you to tell me what goes where. What do those symbols even mean?


Optimistically, I glanced around the laundry room to see if there were instructions posted anywhere. Oh, silly you. Of course not. We finally had to go up to the office to ask. Having solved the puzzle of the day, we headed back to the RV and got Smitty out for a walk. The woofies beside us had moved on, and I wanted to get him out before someone else moved in.


Our walk didn't last long.


He saw the biggest effing bird he's ever seen. He worried about the mess it would make if he had to kill it, and so he decided it was best if he went back inside. A couple of nibbles of grass, and he was good to go.


While I waited for the sheets to wash, I took a little stroll around the pond behind the RV. It's a very pretty spot. The island is a nice touch.


Just a few steps away, I noticed this pair of Canada geese with two goslings in tow. Excuse me for a minute...SQUEE!!!


Ahem. Yes, they were adorable. The geese were not happy about me being nearby, and so they took their little ones and hopped off the bank into the pond...


and swam away.


Too adorable for words.


I'm guessing that's dad leading the way.


Inside, Sadie considered the best way of attacking this bird that was easily four times her size. She figures she could defeat it, given the chance. It's one of the benefits of being an indoor-only kitty when we're traveling. She can talk tough without having to show it.


So I expect today will be another slow day for us. Our visit to the horse ranch is tomorrow. We're a little on pins and needles about the weather. You might have heard about the scary weather system that passed through Kansas, Oklahoma and the surrounding area yesterday. The weakened system is heading east now, and it looks like it will arrive here sometime this afternoon. They're talking about the possibility of tornadoes and large hail, both of which we'd just as soon avoid. 

This morning we're checking weather apps, listening to the weather radio, and checking local weather broadcasts frequently. It doesn't seem as if we need to up our angst to panic level just yet. So we're paying close attention, and we will skedaddle out of here if it seems advisable. We've been known to pack up and leave an area in less than ten minutes. We're also taking our cues from the folks around us, including the RV park folks. Nobody seems particularly concerned. 

Assuming it doesn't get any more exciting this afternoon, we have a small prime rib for our dinner. I made some green beans yesterday, and I'll make some mashed potatoes today. Also, I have some leftover gravy that was frozen and brought from home. I'm hoping Mike can do the prime rib on the Traeger, but we can do it in the oven if the weather turns nasty. Also, I'm trying out a new recipe for Lemon Pudding Cakes for Two. I'll tell you about all of it tomorrow, assuming we don't have to pull up stakes and run for our lives. All I can say is we're keeping our fingers crossed. If you guys will keep your fingers crossed too, we should be fine [she says, glancing out the window nervously].

17 comments:

Barbara said...

Geese always support each other. When a goose gets injured two birds always accompany it down to the ground. Just as geese do, we must support each other. ~ Emma Hayes

Sara said...

Happy birthday to Mike! Hopefully that bad weather doesn't materialize anywhere today.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Drat - I fully intended to email you 'on the day' to wish you a happy Birth Day and, as you will realize, I obviously forgot!! So...happy belated to both you AND Mike.
Be safe - keep an eye on that sky.

karen said...

Happy birthday to you both. Such youngsters.

dgs said...

Wow, a Canadian Goose is super big. I can see why that may have encouraged Smitty to go back inside. On the other hand, if it had a saddle, I'm confident Smitty could ride it! But I'm glad he sensed they were parents and their little balls of fluff needed them, so he opted to not do them any harm. I sure hope the weather doesn't cause you any problems. It certainly has been bad in Texas.

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday to both of you!!
Hope you are able to celebrate your birthdays without severe weather….
Fingers are crossed!!
Take care…
Sandra B
scb23229@yahoo.com

Terri in BC said...

I've been thinking of you as I was watching the severe weather reports. I found a really good live report on youtube - Ryan Hall, y'all. He livestreams during the outbreaks if you find you are near an area that is under a tornado watch.

Take care and stay safe, and enjoy the journey home.

Joni said...

Cuteness overload with the adorable goslings. First, happy birthday! May 5th for a birthday, many free margaritas? Happy birthday to Mike as well. Today would have been my dear quilty friend's 88th birthday, our quilt group is planting a memorial flowering tree in the local park in her honor today. I am making her favorite vanilla cupcakes with raspberry buttercream to share.
Wishing you the happiest of birthday seasons and I hope the crazy weather bypasses you.

MoeWest said...

Happy Birthday to you both! I hope the weather doesn't get too awful. That Canada goose would scare both our cats too. The biggest bird we see in our yard is the magpie. Our indoor cats watch them through the window. One cat is just very curious. The scaredy-cat will duck below the window sill when she sees one, then peek, then duck, then peek. It's so funny to watch.

Nancy said...

Over the weekend we received all of April’s showers. So instead of April showers bring May flowers it will be May showers bring May flowers. We had been low on rainfall now we are ahead again. Mt.Hood got at least 20 inches of new snow maybe more that was the last I heard but it is snowing up there again today. Our temps have been below normal so when it hits in the upper 80’s or possible 90 on Friday we will be dying around here. With all the recent rain we should have a bit of humidity to make us all sweat, sorry that should say glow it sounds more genteel. We have had a very strange spring. Trees blossomed early but the temps have been so low we never saw any bees to pollinate them.
I hope you both have great birthdays. Dinner sounds like it will be very good.

Kate said...

Happy Birthday to both of you! We'll keep our fingers crossed that system has used up most of the energy in the atmosphere. Hope you enjoy your slow day today.

Joan G said...

Happy Birthday to you and Mike! Stay safe!

MissPat said...

Happy Birthday to you both. I hope Mother Nature didn't provide any fireworks to help you celebrate.
Pat

Auntiepatch said...

Happy Birthday to both of you!

Lelia said...

Birthday blessings! thx for sharing your RV adventures

Susan said...

Happy birthday to both of you. You must have stayed far enough back from the geese so they didn't attack or run you off. Hope you don't have to deal with severe weather.

piecefulwendy said...

I remember that post about eggs benedict, because I'm a big fan of them. I hate it when I can't find a prior post, so I feel your pain. Baby geese - so cute!