Promise of Hope

Pictures of the chapel at the facility where Don is working;

it was just completed a few months ago! It will seat probably 60-70 people shoulder to shoulder. Right now the facility can only take about 20-25 women but they will be adding more living space.

Atlanta Braves Theme

These are pictures of some of the Braves things in Christian's room. The "sign" looking thing I painted on the wall is actually about 4'x4' although it doesn't look that big in the picture. It replaces a large GT and yellowjacket (Georgia Tech). The clock is rather obvious, which he got for Christmas a couple years ago and the lightswitch is new---got it off ebay for $1.99. :)

After a stop at the SCW thrift store

I picked up a few things a the SCW thrift store and then had to figure out a way to get them back home. I bought one of those clothes valets that Dad has wanted for out here - it hangs from the wall - that I buckled to my backpack. I also bought one of those teeny tiny backpacks which I may try using for new camera. Oven pan that has places for eight very small loaves of bread. Also bought five plastic kitchen utensils and one of those little things to hang over the door to hang stuff from. Two additional purchases I considered - a really great looking bicycle (Peugeot) that is actually my size with comfortable seat and flat tires for $25.00 and a pair of very comfortable sandals that were just a bit too wide and bit too long for $7.00.

So I spent
$3.00 clothes valet
2.00 teeny, tiny backpack
2.00 bread pans
1.25 kitchen utensils
.25 door hangie thingie (yes, that is the technical name for it)

Oh, and you can't see my water bottle that hangs around my neck - I bought the container (for the bottle) with a strap a few months ago at the $.99 store - hot pink plastic.

I also biked to Sun City Grand to have breakfast at Dillon's although they were closed this morning - was there with a group in early May for breakfast and they were open but too busy to stay. There is a big difference in numbers of people around here in May and those in August. So I ended up at Jose somebody Cafe for breakfast at the community center - at least that is what I think it was. I had bread pudding and coffee. The coffee was delicious; the bread pudding was a nice size, very attractive (layered with cinnamon, I think) and good, but not great. The bread pudding was $1.25 and the coffee was, I think, $1.79.

Friday off

Greetings from Glendale! Life goes on here despite my non-posting. Today was my day off so we went shopping for new dishware to replace our 30 year-old corelle and bedroom slippers. Didn't find either that we wanted so at least had lunch out at Zang's in downtown Glendale. Some of you have eaten there with us before. Serena, we haven't forgotten about Persian Gardens. Are we thinking of next Friday now?

walking the golf course

Not this very moment, but we just got back and while out this gentleman rode by with his cute dog, and I said "Max" and sure enough it was the Max that you have been helping Serena. He was quite surprised......too! Then we had another golf cart go by us and he had a big OHIO STATE flag, or rather a small one but it seemed big.......and sure enough he knew New Vienna! He used to go to Wilmington a lot on business. I am most curious to see your new camera Serena. In the meantime I am happy to see pictures of it. How do I scan a picture into my computer?

night. Might that make a statement? More later, I have to be up and going at 6 something Next topic, food.....we had an unusual dish tonight, started out to be beans and rice, then added the famous Costco chicken to it, then some left over vegetables, and what all and it turned out to be good. I am glad of that since we have plenty left over......um, Sid mentioned about eating out tomorrow. This opening up is getting to me. TGIF....almost!

New camera

First photo on my new camera!

Well not really the first one . . . the first one was of my brunch which I seem to have "lost" somewhere - the photo, not the brunch. The second one was of the couch as I clicked the wrong button while I was messing around with the camera and the third one was of the computer screen, but a very small portion of it. So . . .

FOURTH PHOTO ON MY NEW CAMERA!

It just doesn't have the same ring does it?

I just wanted to take a quick photo . . . got an appointment this afternoon - just the other side of Stardust off of Echo Mesa/Heritage.

The LCD screen is small (about the size of my finger - down to the first knuckle . . . of my little finger). However, I think it will work fine for what I want. It is about the size of my cell phone, but thinner and taller.

just checking

for any new posts and comments.......YES????? Roberta who the sheets are calling. Did everyone get Sid's latest email? CHEZ Nous made the front page of the valley section in todays AZ Republic. Did any of the AZ delegation catch that? No wonder how phones was ringing today!

Zip Lines in Costa Rica Article

Professional zip-line in, Costa Rica
Professional versions of a zip-line are most typically used as an outdoor adventure activity. In contrast to "flying foxes" professional courses are usually operated at higher speeds covering much longer distances and sometimes at considerable heights. The users are physically attached to the cable by wearing a harness which attaches to a removable pulley. Most courses require the use of a helmet.
Cables can be very high, starting at a height of over 30 feet (9 m), and traveling well over 200 feet (60 m).
Costa Rica is known for their Canopy Tours where a vacationer can zip through the rainforest. The zip-lines are scattered among several platforms, some as high as 130 feet.
Zip-lines are a common way to return participants to the ground at the end of a ropes adventure course.
In past days in the Australian outback, flying foxes were occasionally used for delivering food, cigarettes or tools to people working on the other side of an obstacle such as a gully or river. Australian troops have used them to deliver food, mail and even ammunition to forward positions in several conflicts.

171 Starbucks (*$$)

On the news this morning they had a piece about a guy who went to all 171 Starbucks in Manhattan within 24 hours, bought something (and consumed part of it). Well, he tried - actually because of disorientation he visited five Starbucks 2 times each. He doesn't normally drink coffee. He went by bicycle for the first 14 hours and then got so dehydrated, disoriented, etc., etc. switched to a car. Had originally gone with a bicycle because it is easier to navigate Manhattan by bike than by car.

I went to Basha's this morning for some fresh produce and milk (on sale for $2.50/gallon, every sixth gallon free). On my way I saw a total of 4 cars - one of which was a Posse car. At Basha's there was a total of 11 cars and two golf carts - no bicycles except the one I was on. Most of the people in Basha's were sitting in the cafe area drinking coffee (I assume it was coffee) and eating tasties. Basha's does not serve Starbucks - I think I would have had to go to Safeway for Starbucks coffee. Actually, my morning coffee is sitting in the refrigerator - made from Costco brand - $6.99 for 39 oz of ground coffee. $6.99 would get me about 4 small coffees at Starbucks. $6.99 would get me almost 14 coffees in my large but disabled Chez Nous mug.

Anyway, at 5am it is pretty nice outside here, but by my return at shortly before 6 it was already feeling warmer and less comfortable.

I just checked Google Maps and they only show 11 Starbucks in all of greater Phoenix! I don't think they show any of the ones inside other stores - like the one in Safeway here in SCW. According to the Starbucks site, there are 10 within 5 miles of here, 25 within 10 miles - and they do, of course, include the ones inside grocery stores.

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting story . . .

Camera

This is the camera I've just ordered from Target. It meets my fairly limited requirements - under $50 (before S&H, but still . . .), takes 3.1 megapixel photographs and is small.

In the last couple of weeks I've done a lot of studying about digital cameras and, as I understand it, 3.1 megapixels is sort of a minimum for 8x10 photographs. I can't quite see why I would want to print something that big, but who knows. I plan to primarily use the camera to photograph things in SCW and then put them on computer (perhaps blog), so I really don't need to be able to take photographs at a high resolution.

I also just can't see spending much on a phone in case it breaks, gets stolen, etc., etc. So far on Alta Loma I've broken a dinner plate, a liter size glass bottle of olive oil, a plastic 2 quart container of soup, 1/2 gallon plastic jug of coffee, two water bottles (one frozen, one not). Ummm . . . that is what I can think of off-hand. Oh, and my Chez Nous mug (the mug is okay, but the handle is gone). I complained to Chez Nous management, but didn't get very far. The tile floors here are hard on stuff. Anyway . . . one of the numerous reasons I went for an inexpensive camera is breakage.

In case you are interested, the link is here for the camera on the Target website.

Greetings from St. Louis

ST. LOUIS UNION STATION
Had dinner here last night after a concert at Christ Church Cathedral. Wondering if Dad came through here on his trip to Palo Alto/Stanford late 1930s? It was nice but I thought Union Station in Cincinnati was much more impressive, especially with all the museums. Several of the storefronts were vacant here.

Many impressive buildings including the city hall, patterned after a french castle. Amazing how many of the local attractions (museums) are free which they credit to the presence of several Forbes 500 companies in the area who support the institutions. We will be heading south tomorrow with a stop overnight in Nashville. Plan to see Amy Cate who teaches Spanish in the metro area---she is the girl who came with us to Williamsburg for the folks 50th anniversary.

Roberta is back!

Roberta got in about 1:30 a.m. - fight delays, etc. Certainly a very good thing that Catherine didn't need to pick her up. I'm sure she will post more details later - assuming she can log in.

Alternative Fuel

All the email discussion about gas prices . . . ALTERNATIVE FUEL! (This is the back cover of the current Reader's Digest that just arrived at Roberta's.) I'm working on an instruction manual for a client with a printer who wants to use is as a scanner.

Coincidentally, client has the same kind of printer/scanner as Sid does - which I admit I hadn't particularly noticed until I happened to look more closely.

Church on Sunday

With the majority (?) of the family not at home today, thought I'd post a picture of a church that looks like it might be worth the trip to visit. Mom and Dad, have you been to this place? Here's the description from the Neatorama website where I got this: The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Las Lajas, or the Las Lajas Cathedral [wiki] in Colombia, was built in 1916 on a site where, according to local legend, the Virgin Mary appeared. The story goes like this: an Indian woman named María Mueses de Quiñones was carrying her deaf-mute daughter Rosa on her back near Las Lajas ("The Rocks"). Weary of the climb, the María sat down on a rock when Rosa spoke (for the first time) about an apparition in a cave.

Later on, a mysterious painting of the Virgin Mary carrying a baby was discovered on the wall of the cave. Supposedly, studies of the painting showed no proof of paint or pigments on the rock - instead, when a core sample was taken, it was found that the colors were impregnated in the rock itself to a depth of several feet.

Whether true or not, the legend spurred the building of a gothic church worthy of a fairy tale.

Bicycles again

This is one more photograph of bicycles. The bicycle in the background is my everyday bicycle. The bicycle in the foreground I got for $5 at the SCW thrift store.

It is SMALL and very light-weight. Also has several add-ons that I may cannibalize for other bicycle. I'm gonna try raising the seat to see if it is suitable bike for me to use at least once in a while.

I just got back from a quick trip to see Morgans' friend from Oregon who recently moved here. She seems to be doing quite well. I picked up some papers she had accidentally picked up with some other stuff in Roberta's van and gave her some bread samples. Her dog is REALLY small. I think the dog is smaller than KC was in December.

Anyway, just thought I'd post this, but I've got several appointments today so have to get prepared.

I have watered various plants this morning. The ear mite medication seems to have disappeared from where it was last night.

New photos in Roberta's web album

Last night did upload a number of photos to Roberta's photo album There are photos taken since the beginning of this year, including April reunion photos.

Kings are Off!

Kings left this morning about 20 minutes ago (4:30 am or so). Traffic should be light anyway.

I hope that Catherine is feeling better today, probably just as well that Roberta is driving to the airport -with leaving so early this morning and getting back so late on Monday evening - something like 10:30 pm (assuming the plane is on-time).

MV - I actually found the router installation pretty easy. A friend recommended Linksys - so I bought the cheapest one at Wal-Mart (about $50). The wired part I did in about 20 minutes by following the CD. Then a few days later, went to the Linksys site and they had very easy instructions to follow, maybe fifteen more minutes. Would be nice if I could get a job installing wireless soon at somebody else's house . . . like anything else, the more often you do something (especially if done fairly close together), the easier it gets. I did try to find on the Cox website how much they charge for router installation, but couldn't find it (the link led me to a 404 page), but I'm pretty sure that the last time I checked it was around $150 plus with the equipment they install there is no warranty whatsoever.

Oh, by the way, a bit late for your latest computer problem MV, but I have found that whenever you have trouble with a peripheral, go to the maker's website and install the latest driver. It never hurts and it quite often helps - plus it cheap and easy. (I've found that particularly true with printers, corrupted driver is often the cause of problems.) Plus the makers' websites often have useful troubleshooting help. Although if person has a dial-up connection, a download can take literally hours that take me a matter of a couple of minutes with a cable connection. The AL house has the slower of the high-speed cable connections and I can't tell much difference at all.

I haven't yet tried to connect the 7 year old (or so) Apple yet. I'm thinking I might try using it as a kitchen computer. I could use it for recipes, etc.

I did try the wireless connection - and it seems to work in the furthest corner of the back porch, the farthest reaches of the two bedrooms, etc. I still need to fix up the remaining wires, etc. The wiring was somewhat of a mess yesterday afternoon - two of the three computers, router, printer, modem, cable, plus a computer "toy" I'm playing with for a client. The toy allows one to make all kinds of videos, etc. on one's computer and has about 4 wires for various connections. When I was leaving I just pulled out the wires I needed to take with me, which helped a lot. However, I think I'll move a number of things around, the only thing that HAS to stay in that one part of the house is the wire running to the bedroom for cable - there's no cable outlet in there. I need to get somewhere to get one of those sofits (I'm not sure that is the right word) to cover the remaining wire that runs across the kitchen/laundry/hall doorway that would cover the wire to protect it and whoever crosses the transom.

I am finishing up with camera instructions for client. It was fun enough that now I'm thinking about actually buying a digital camera. I've been looking around - certainly will be on the low end. I'm not interested in all those photo features available, I'd like something small and cheap.

The TV weatherman just said it is now 95 degrees.

recipes

WOW.....all those ingredients....I have not used that many all-together in weeks, or perhaps months! Sure sounds good! I will try to wait till we get to Indiana to try them! Perhaps I should take the recipes with me toooo that and the maps of how to get out of Midway Airport area! I am now off to work, and then of course Costco tonight! More later..........will be anxious to hear what Don hears today from the doctors. Roberta the poster, not the cook

Cinnamon-Pecan Swirl Brioche

Cinnamon-Pecan Swirl Brioche

Dough

2 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
3 tablespoons non-diastatic malt powder or sugar
3 tablespoons Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast (SAF Nevada Gold preferred)
2 large eggs
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon Buttery Sweet Dough Flavor or 2 teaspoons
vanilla extract
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter

Filling

1/2 cup Baker's Cinnamon Filling + 2 tablespoons water*
1/2 cup diced pecans
2 tablespoons Sticky Bun Sugar (optional, for topping)
*Or substitute 1/2 cup light brown sugar mixed with 2 tablespoons each cinnamon, Instant ClearJel(r) or flour, and soft butter.

And this is the third loaf going to Indiana - was also sent to Ohio a while ago.

I left out the pecans because I don't have any. Another recipe from King Arthur Flour.

10 Grain Orange Bread

10-Grain Orange Bread

2 cups (16 ounces) water
2 cups (8 ounces) 10-Grain Cereal
1 tablespoon (1 package) active dry yeast or 2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) oil
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon grated orange rind (or up to 1/2 teaspoon orange oil)
1/2 cup (6 ounces) honey or brown sugar
6 cups (25 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

This is another bread that is going to Indiana. This recipe is from the King Arthur Flour site - I substituted Sprout's 10-grain cereal for King Arthur Flour 10-grain mix. Need to do some more work on this recipe . . . I probably should have soaked the grains for longer and used more water. I did add about 50% more than the recipe actually called for, but . . . there can be BIG differences between two 10-grain cereals.

I have plans for how I'm going to change the recipe for next time, because it looks like it would be a good everyday recipe. Might give some to Catherine next time although since the recipe has eggs in it . . . probaby more for the lift than anything else. It is a pretty heavy bread . . . could substitute soy flour for the eggs though.

This is the bread for the health nuts there for the wedding - like Roberta.

One of the three loaves going to Indiana

This is one of the breads I've made to go with Roberta and Sid to Indiana. I did make some relatively minor changes - I substituted Splenda for half of the sugar in the bread itself. A lot of breads you can just cut back on the sugar, but, in general, I haven't found that very satisfactory as when you cut back on the sugar, the flavor of the banana doesn't seem to come through nearly as clearly. Also, I put together the topping with all that sugar, but then when I went to put it on - it just seemed like WAY too much - there'd be like a sugar coating on top of the bread . . . so on an impulse I only used about maybe a quarter of the topping - did use the full measure of chocolate chips though.

The link to the lovely food blog where I found this recipe is in the title of the post.

Banana Bread with Chocolate and Cinnamon Sugar

3 very ripe bananas (the size doesn’t much matter; medium to large works)
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

For topping:
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon

Quick note about Blog

Contributors must be invited by blog owner/moderator. That's true of ALL blogs everywhere, as far as I know. Certainly one could have a blog with tens or even hundreds of contributors, I suppose although would be rather unwieldy. Contributors can comment without moderation, but are subject to having their comments deleted by moderator.

Those who are allowed to comment on blogs - varies widely. Used to be that anyone could comment on virtually any blog with very little interference. Due mostly because of spam comments, comment moderation has become extremely common. I would guess there are very few active blogs that allow unfettered commenting. At the lowest threshold, there is a requirement that commenters "interpret" numbers/letters that are somewhat distorted which would weed out computer-generated spam. That is actually my least favorite - I don't think it is very effective and I, personally, sometimes have difficulty figuring out the correct numbers/letters. Second level, is requiring that all commenters be registered and log-in. The register may be specific to the blog or, like Blogger, be part of a much larger "group". To comment in Blogger, you have to have some sort of Google account - easy enough to work around if one really wanted to be anonymous, but generally not worth the trouble for most people.

The next level up of comment moderation is requiring moderator approval. On this blog, there aren't many comments NOT from contributors, so there is very little comment moderation to do. More "public" blogs - particularly ones that are controversial, political, social issues, etc. would get a lot of comments - many good and on-point, but quite a few that don't fit.

Some blogs do not allow any comments at all.

Historical Bicycles

Here are some pictures of more historical bicycles than those found even in a SCW garage!

Catching Up

I've been avoiding spending too much time on the computer since we returned home from our Ohio trip. And we lost our internet connection, due to "neighborhood problems" according to Cox, for a couple days. Still have plenty of post cards to write from our trip, pictures to download, books to read, life to live, etc. Serena's posts have inspired me though to try to post more myself!

Bicycles

Above are the four bicycles that are currently at Alta Loma - the one next to the wall is my workhorse bicycle - Sharon gave it to me. It does have a few problems - the right shift (the one that makes the most difference has come unplugged (probably not the right word) so going up a hill of any size at all is a chore. It is an off-road bike - chunky wheels, heavy bike, but it is very sturdy. The bicycle bag on the front handlebars was about $12.00 at Target.

The second bike in is the one that Dad got free with the house - it doesn't work well and I have ridden it about a half a block. That was far enough.

The third bike seems to have possibilities - I've tested it a bit - maybe a block. The tires seem to hold air and the gears seem to shift. I got the bike, including the basket for $15.00 at the SCW thrift store. It is much heavier than Roberta's, but a little lighter than my workhorse bike.

The fourth bike is Roberta's REAL bike - it is by far the best, easiest, lightest, fastest, etc. of the bikes, but I don't like to ride it much as I don't like to leave it anywhere for fear it will get stolen.

I'm going computer shopping this afternoon with a client, so need to be a bit more research . . .

Front of the House

This is part of the side of the house that actually faces Alta Loma. The other side of the window is the room where I sleep. There is some sort of window screen that is very dense when the sun shines in to keep the sun from bleaching/heating everything - although the white plantation shutters are also closed to further prevent the heat from coming through. To the left of this shot (from this POV) is the garage door. To the right, you can see one of the two classy plastic chairs in a little alcove. The little metal thing right in front of the chair is the water shut-off. In the winter there is a big ceramic dish/holder for the water hose to wind in. I moved the front and back water hoses and dishes to the garage to keep them from being damaged by the weather.

The plant in the window is the surviving one from Roberta's party. They were each $.66 at Fry's/Krogers. In this weather that plant gets watered at least every day. Haven't decided what I'll do about it while I'm at Kings - may bike back and forth every day. I thought about sticking plant in garage, but the garage gets pretty hot in the day time, so would probably be best to drag it at least as far as the laundry room - the first room inside from the garage.

Nan Jing

Nan Jing IS on Camino del Sol. We went there with Mom and Dad in December. Going there again today . . . maybe.

Grapefruit Tree

And, here is the grapefruit tree. I hadn't really noticed how much smaller the grapefruit are than the oranges. Obviously, also in the photo of the tree from a distance is part of the house and the golf course.

You might also note that the tree got a rather severe pruning - the branches used to come down almost to the ground all around the tree.

Well, I should get outside and do some watering before the sun gets TOO hot.

Oh, MV, at least on Roberta's camera I found the USB connection with camera was quite easy, although especially when they travel would be easier for them not to have to drag around the USB cord. Not that they have trouble keeping track of stuff.

Computer - photo card slot and the 99 cent only store

Roberta - the slot for the photo card on MY computer is on the right side (when it is sitting on my lap with me looking at the screen), right before the USB slots, directly below the microphone slot. (In the background is the desk with several of my current projects arrayed in various stages.) I notice the date changed, although to July 4 at 11:54 . . . odd. Anyway, easy enough to change, one of the things I'm going to put in the manual.

The card is only 256 MB which seems pretty small. I think one of my first suggestions will be that he buy a bigger card and then use the 256 as a backup when the bigger one runs out of space. (He plans to take the camera with him on several upcoming trips.)

Roberta gave me two AAA batteries yesterday and I bought 4 at the 99 cent only store yesterday. So, I'm planning on taking a number of photos.

At the 99 cent only store woman ahead of me in line spotted a plant (a very nice looking jade). She asked the clerk how much it was. Ummm at the 99 cent only store. . . and it was NOT Roberta.

By the way Wendy Jean, there's a link on the 99 cent only store site for 99 cent weddings!

Orange Tree in the Backyard

Bread recipe from King Arthur for Roberta

Toasted Wheat Bread

1 1/2 tsp gluten
1 1/2 cups King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat Flour
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
3 cups warm water (110°F)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup wheat bran
1/4 cup soy flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
4 cups (approx.) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 TB salt

Two loaves - depending on how you slice it, about 16 slices per loaf - so it is low fat and low sugar - the least healthy part is the relatively high percentage of white flour. Still, MUCH healthier than white bread and not horrendously unhealthy due to wheat

I'm thinking about getting over to Sprout's and getting some multi-grains for next baking project. Perhaps one of the sisters would like to stop there today and get some of the cheap mangos? (I think they're 5/$1.00.)

Camera

This week-end I have a client's digital camera so that I can figure out how it works and then train him on it. I thought I would take a photo of the new patio furniture and then post it - probably tomorrow morning. I need to get some new AAA batteries and morning is the only really bearable time to be outside doing much of anything. If anyone wants a photo of anything here, let me know SOON and I'll see if I can accommodate.

107 days

It last rained in Phoenix 107 days ago. I use recycled bath and sink water for plant watering.

I just got back in from watering plants out in the yard - the citrus trees, those two orange flowering plants and some various other plants. That planter that had four cacti in it . . . I consulted with Catherine last week and decided that perhaps I should not have been watering the planter at all as parts of the cacti were turning brown. Now two of the four plants are completely brown - and the remaining two aren't very green. I've started watering them again.

Today the temporary SCW library opens - the table tennis area in the Sports Pavilion. I've heard varying reports of when the newly expanded library will re-open - three months and end of year.

It is supposed to be about 115 degrees today. ROBERTA got some sunburn yesterday. I worked.

Catherine & Gerry at the EC reunion

Lisa Gooding

From All

Lisa is visiting this week. We picked her up at the swanky Marriott Resort and Spa in Tucson today. We toured her luxurious hotel room and
stole
ummm . . . permanently borrowed the coffee and tea packets, soap, and pens from the room. Then we went downstairs so that Lisa could check out.

We found our way to Arizona University and looked for socks, but didn't find the kind Roberta likes. So we circled town a few more times and finally found the great place to eat we had chosen - Beyond Bread. The food was very good.

WELCOME to Sun City West LISA!