Memory Monday (http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/bentsen-rio-grande-valley)

These pictures were taken on a biking trip to Bentsen Rio State Park...a long time ago. http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/bentsen-rio-grande-valley

Chachalaca. Info here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chachalaca)

 Javelina or Peccary info here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peccary)

 http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/bentsen-rio-grande-valley

Cauliflower Rice

Simply...
Stir fry without rice...so I grate the cauliflower with a box grater...add it to a microwave safe covered dish...add a big honkin' pat of butter then fresh ground black and red pepper...microwave for 5 minutes and you have a rice substitute that I prefer to the real stuff now...

Sunday Service at Magnolia by Don Loring

Well it seems like a long time since we've had church service at Magnolia and it has been... Well Pastor Stacey is back from being with his father in his last days of sickness before he passed on to be with the Lord...I know from experience that what Pastor Stacey went through was very hard as it is on all the family and close friends... Please keep Pastor Stacey and his family in your prayers...

It was great to see all the Magnolia family again in church to hear the Word of God being taught and to hear the music being sung to the Lord...Today Pastor Stacey brought the message from the Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 , starting with Verse 1 thru 8 , with the theme of " Time "... Pastor Stacey told us of how every thing has a time...Even though we many times try to speed up or change when something we want done or to do, it will only happen when God says that it is time....We must never forget that God has everything in control and that we as children of God should always seek and ask God  for different things in our lives, but must remember that Gods time is not necessarily our time so we must be patient and wait upon the Lord..( I know that is not always easy at least for me )...As when we were children when we ask for some things from our parents, sometimes we didn't get them or at least right away when we wanted them...This was a great lesson in life for all...

Continue to pray for any sick and  for anyone that comes to mind for we all need prayer at some time....See you in church next week...God Bless All...

Campfire Cola Ribs

Campfire Cola Ribs

Plan ½ pound of ribs per person. This recipe is ideal for campsites equipped with a large grill where you can make a crackling fire for searing and also provide coals for a Dutch oven placed off to the side of the grate.




4 to 5 pounds spare ribs

Garlic salt

1 ½ cups brown sugar

1 one-liter bottle of your favorite cola beverage

½ cup soy sauce




Get a good fire going and lightly spray a Dutch oven. Sprinkle ribs with garlic salt and sear them over the hot fire. This browns and seals them. Cut them into sections of three to five ribs and put them in the Dutch oven. Put the oven at the side of the fire where it can be surrounded by well-started coals but not licking flames.

Whisk together sugar, cola and soy sauce until sugar dissolves. Pour over the ribs to cover them. Cover the Dutch oven and continue to cook, replacing coals as needed with new coals, for 1 ½ to 3 hours until ribs are tender. Remove ribs and pour sauce into a pitcher to spoon over fire-baked potatoes. Serves 8 to 10.

Cook’s note: Kitchen shears and household rubber gloves are useful for cutting up seared ribs. At this stage they can be very tough.



See more of Janet Groene's RV-ready recipes at http://www.CampandRVCook.blogspot.com

First Steak fry of the season

 Margaret serving up salad and bread to Dwayne...

                                              ...and Larry

                                              and Vera.

                                      Leslie, chairwoman of the event, makes sure the salads are lined up and ready. Meanwhile, outside the guys are making sure the 166 steaks are cooked to perfection. Tuffy is getting more than his share of smoke.

 Chet is the overseer of getting the steaks cooked to perfection.

  Leroy tells me to hurry with the picture so we can keep these steaks warm.

This steak fry takes many hands and excellent planning and it went off without a hitch.

Dick and Leslie Cleaveland chair the event for the months of January, February and March,

Memory Monday from January 6th 2014

This photo was taken a bit over a year ago in front of the Stilson residence. It was a stunning display.

Bouquet for a Vegan Wedding?

We thought it might start a new trend.

More of Men of a Chord

 These fellows are excellent. I enjoyed every minute of their performance

Erv Hagen, lower left, is a resident of our park and if you think being a member of this group is something you would enjoy he can tell you more about it.

EXCELLENT CONCERT SATURDAY AFTERNOON

Men of Accord with our own Erv Hagen. If you weren't there, you missed some great singing.

Resort...

I have to resort to my imagination to keep this blog going. Our weather since Christmas has been hit or miss and mostly miss. One of the things I have resorted to is looking up pictures from years past. I hope you are enjoying it. I know I enjoy going through to pick one out for you.
I picked these three at random. Carol Kapke, Mary Urbonovic wait their turn to shoot. Charlie Nelson was a frequent spectator.

    And here we have an interesting cloud formation.

               Recognize this fellow? I would know him anywhere!

Memory Monday

Lime street gathering on 1/5/2014 at 4:23 PM
The earlier memory pictures were saved in a way that wiped out the dates taken but these later ones even have the time of day.

A great collection of 1950 photos

 There are more than one page of these so you could be looking through them for a very long time. However these are some very special pictures for we children of the 1950's!

A great collection of 1950 photos from Railroad Jack...Remember him? He was the best of the best! If you remember the 1950's, you're gonna' love these photographs! Even if you don't remember the 1950's they are really super photos just to look at. Note: If you "mouse-over" each picture a short description will pop up. Click on link and enjoy. https://www.flickr.com/photos/blast_of_the_past/ There is more than one page so be sure to check out the others.

Internet Discussions on Friday Morning in the Little Hall

Friday mornings will find me in the library discussing computer issues with whoever decides to sit in on it. I am there at 8:30 AM but it is not tightly structured and you could wander in at most any time.
The article below was written by a man I have followed for computer advice  since 1996 when I became Internet connected. I enjoyed this nostalgic look back and thought you might too.
Barb

The Internet of Things

The world is full of cool names for things; I suppose it has always been so. I know for a fact our grandparents had cool names for things. For instance, I can remember when people would say – “Hey get Gary on the horn.” The Horn was a cool name for a telephone. And speaking of cool names, what about the word cool itself. It’s a beatnik word from the 40’s and 50’s when it was usually used in conjunction with “man”- as in “That’s really cool, man.” Words like Fridge and Mike and Cell and all the rest of the cool words – usually shortened versions of the original word – are testament to the human need for speed. For example: I can say Fridge faster than I can say refrigerator.

So it should not surprise anyone that we now refer to things which are stored on Web servers — the way things have always been stored on Web servers — as being stored “in the cloud: . The cloud is just  another name for Web, Web servers, and Internet. So I guess it’s easier and faster and cooler  to call it the cloud than to call it the Web, a Web server, Web servers and/or Internet.

When Darcy and I were taking our first baby steps on the Internet back in 1995 – twenty years ago – it was a different place than it is today. It was more a curiosity then and it had some really dedicated fans like us who extolled its virtues to everyone who’d listen.  People used to look at us like we were insane when we told them we were building a Web site for email stationery. Most people barely knew what email was in those days – and building a Web site was something reserved for geeks or introverted hermits who rarely if ever saw the light of day. But we were on the Internet as much as our day jobs would allow – some said we were addicted, and that’s probably true.

Today the Internet is no longer a curiosity – it’s a necessity. Banking, credit card systems, stock markets, online stores and even brick and mortar stores depend on computers and the Internet. If the Internet were to simply disappear the world would be in a state of chaos. Having come from the days when we were freaks because we spent our spare time hunched over computers downloading as much freeware as we could – before the days of ubiquitous malware – and building our very first Web site called “Thundercloud & Eightball’s Christmas Graphics” we are simply astounded by the growth of the Internet, particularly in the last 10 years.

The Web has evolved from a curiosity, to a necessity, controlling many facets of our life. And so it is because of the nature of technology to grow exponentially, that we have now what we call the Internet – The Internet of Things.

No longer is the Internet accessible only by people hunched over a computer – it’s accessible from phones and tablets as well as many other things. Things like thermostats, watches, refrigerators, automobiles, ovens, pacemakers, and more things. And it is all these things that comprise the “Internet of Things“.

To us an internet refrigerator or internet oven or an internet thermostat seem a little bit over-the-top, but for those who never knew a world without computers, without the Internet, and without cell phones, those internet-connected gizmos are probably pretty ho-hum.

And to think we’re just at the threshold of this Internet of Things. We cannot imagine what the Internet of Things will be in fifty years, not that it will matter to us – we’ll be long gone.

As for us, we liked the Internet better when it was the Internet of one thing – when it was new and when it was just a curiosity. Like looking back on things usually does, it brings with it a sad sense of nostalgia.

But it is what it is.

So whether you’re reading this while hunched over a computer or on the menu screen of your Internet refrigerator, or on the dial of your Internet-connected smart watch or any other Internet-connected “things” – you are part of the Internet of Things whether you know it or not and whether you like it or not.

Did I mention the Internet coffee maker? The Internet light bulb?

TC

Costco gas price

Don't suppose we should get used to this price.

What year?- Monterey Mexico Trip ( Answer-2007 or 2008)

I do not ask what year because I know, I am asking because I do not know! These two photos are from that trip that a group of Magnolia people enjoyed. It was back in the days when Mexico was a bit less like the wild, wild west of the past. It did seem a bit unsafe even then, especially after Leslie had her billfold stolen right out of her purse while she was "wearing" it. We did not know Monterey was the pickpocket capital of Mexico until after this incident. It was an adventure. Isn't that what traveling is supposed to be?

This unknown fellow was doing tire repair on the street. Who needs a jack?

Butch, Jim V.,Dave B. and Dick C. enjoying the Monterey countryside.

So I am hoping the folks who were on this trip will be able to let me know what year that was.

Garage sale weekend

Yup , it is here again. It is amazing how quickly those days go by. The prep time happens on Fridays and then the main sale starts in Allen Hall at 8:00 AM on Saturday morning.
As I was conducting computer class in the little hall I did not make it over for early shopping at 10. So I will be among the shoppers at 8:00 AM tomorrow to see what I can see.
And then I will have to come back home to be here for the propane guy. We have had so much cold weather of late that the propane is something we need to replenish to maintain a level of comfort.
We are all waiting for the sun to reappear. Some patiently and some not so patient. So the card games, pool playing and Netflix movies will keep us busy until we can resume our outdoor fun like shuffleboard, golf and water aerobics.
So stay warm and keep your cool!