Friday, May 30, 2008

Today seemed like a good day to run around



This was the cost of gas when we left Coquille this morning. We dropped off the Bravada at the local auto repair place to put in a new hood latch assembly.



This is a Cozy Corner restaurant where we had breakfast this morning. Bathroom rated a 7.5, cost two breakfasts 16 dollars plus tip. This 60's style diner was formerly a "Little Richards" and sat empty for quite awhile. We had to wait a bit as a busload of kids were ordering everything on the menu. Here's a tip, if you pull up to a restaurant and you see a big yellow school bus...drive past to another spot.



I had one of the specials; cinnamon apple pancake with whipped cream, crispy bacon and scrambled eggs. It was pretty decent but I will skip the cinnamon apple part next time...too sweet.



Bye the time we got through running around to pick up the repaired Bravada (92 bucks!) and later pick up my scrips, the price of gas had jumped yet again. Can someone please pass the Kleenex...my nose is bleeding.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

got 'er done.



The porch/deck is done. Um,except for needing a paint job but that my friends will wait until the eager young man who repaired the porch gets back from vaca in California, broke and wanting to be paid for replacing the basement door and perhaps that pesky paint job. It is built for sturdy and he left the boards sticking out on the left side of the deck about a foot, just right for a planter box or some of those ubiquitous cacti.



It sure is sturdy.



But it ain't purty.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Gas, deck, etc.



Just for the record...in case you have awakened from a 20 year coma, the price of gas in Coquille has leaped to 3.95 per gallon JUST in time for Memorial Day Weekend.



I have been considering deck repair ever since Unca Bush's tax rebate. Yep,that is daylight you are seeing through the boards. This is our melted deck. The non pressure treated members melted.....



This is a shot from below. We haven't actually USED the deck but ya never know when the urge to go out the upstairs back door will strike, like when those lovely blackberries are beckoning.



This is the initial effort, trying to save as much of the older pressure treated lumbar as possible. The stairs are okay. The other stuff was dry rot, not eaten by carpenter ants.



Oops, didn't get quite enough. Tomorrow will have to make a quick trip to the lumber store to get a few more sticks. Then I shall contemplate paint, etc. Oh and if I gave the impression that I did any of this stuff? Nope. Got it hired local.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

The price of gas in Coquille.



Tootled downtown to purchase some "cool" food. Liter bottle of 7-UP, 4 yogurts, Rocky Road ice cream and a couple frozen dinners (Swedish meatballs). I stopped to top off the tank and took a picture of the latest gas raise. The attendant asked me if I was pretty full. I told him it was about 3/4 full so he manfully shoved 21 dollars worth of gas into the buggy. Feed back from Auto Clinic on buggy check up; the hood latch broke so he had to order another one, will get that installed next week. He looked at the spark plugs etc and said they were platinum (what EVER that means) and were good for 100k miles. Sweet! New air cleaner and the whole trip cost 44 bucks. Of course if any of us were at all mechanically inclined we could have saved the 30 dollars for 30 minutes of labor......

Friday, May 16, 2008

Breafast at Tiffany's it ain't.



Lovely border of blue flowers at C.V.H., any small dumps of dirt are provided free by the many gophers.



We had breakfast at Fraziers this morning. My guess for the Trivia question was "I". That ain't it and I don't know the correct answer, sorry.
I had the French toast, two crispy bacon and crispy hash browns and a scrambled egg.

Husband had veggie omelet and cottage fries. Both dishes nummers. Cost 18 bucks plus 3 dollar tip.

Bathroom rating .25 off this time for noisy plumbing.

Left the Bravada at the local car repair place with orders to change the air filter and check the spark plugs. Ralphs motto is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". My kind of Car Talk.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

I'm melting!...melting...what a world........eeeeeeeeep



Weatherman warned it would get hot today here in beautiful South Coast Oregon. Boy howdy! The AC failed in half of the building at the hospital today. I am MOST thankful that it was not in MY half of the building.

When I got off work and fired up the buggy the temperature gauge read that outside temp was 102 degrees F. By the time I had slithered home the outside temp had dropped to 98 in the shade at my house. Oh dearie me.

We have the appropriate doors and windows open and a couple box fans circulating air. Much too hot to sleep upstairs tonight, will crank open one of the beds downstairs and pant, pant, pant, pant, gasp! Day dream about a big assed swamp cooler...yeah that's the ticket!

Supposed to be hotter tomorrow! Yowie!

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Cooking on Saturdays



This is my favorite frying pan, I purchased it at a yard sale in Dillingham, Alaska for the low low price of five dollars. It is the BEST five bucks I have ever spent. Bottom label says it is a Platinum cookware item. I googled for the name and it turns out to be Canadian based home party sales only outfit. I e-mailed them to ask how much this thing cost brand spanking new. Apparently they all come with a lid with a special knob that lets you know when what ever you are cooking is done. um...okay.



"Put the jam in the plate!". Family reference, please excuse. Start with drizzle of olive oil, proceed to the wet team.



Wet team consists of wilted chopped onions, frozen hearty turkey meat and stock, halved black olives, coarse chopped walnuts, salt and pepper, celery seeds, oregano, garlic. Need about 2 1/2 cups liquid. Oops almost forget handful of fresh chopped Cilanto. (..it was in the fridge..)



Dry team consists of large package of bread cubes, do use the enclosed herb packet, crack in one egg, melt one stick butter, toss ingredients.



Combine wet team into dry team, mix well, pour into well oiled casserole dish, bake at 350 for 45 minutes and baste with egg wash, bake another 15 minutes. On second thought forget the egg wash, it tends to clump up in the crevasses of bread cubes in a most unattractive manner.