Verna and Bob's Weblog

November 2010

Weekend AND Thanksgiving Grocery Shopping

cart.jpgWe usually do our grocery shopping on Thursdays. Before we retired, we went shopping on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. We changed to Thursday because there is less traffic in the store unless they have one of their weird 6-hour sales or something.

We decided that today we would combine the weekend shopping and pick up the things we’re going to need for our Thanksgiving dinner. As usual, the store wasn’t too crowded today. We shopped for the weekend faire, got some household supplies. got a few pantry items and also got everything we needed for our holiday celebration.

We redeemed a bunch of coupons and walked out of the store having saved over seventy dollars on the total. We’re looking forward to our weekend cooking and the Thanksgiving Holiday with eager anticipation.

November 18, 2010 by Food and Dining Holidays

Southwest Chicken Salad

grilled-chix.jpgMaybe you have seen those Dole Salad Kits in the produce section of the supermarket. They have a variety of them such as Caesar Salad and Southwest Salad. Dole also offers Asian salad and some others which we have not yet tried.

For lunch today, I grilled up a chicken breast outdoors that Verna had seasoned with lemon juice and cumin. When it was done, Verna chopped it into bite sized chunks and tossed it in with the Southwest Salad kit. It was a heart-healthy low sodium, low fat and high fiber lunch that tasted like an extravagant (and expensive) salad at a ritzy restaurant.

In the past, we have occasionally grilled up a beef tenderloin steak for Southwestern Salad Kits and put the grilled chicken in a Caesar Salad Kit – they were all really good!

November 17, 2010 by Food and Dining

Painting the Pylons

During our October trip to Arizona, we crossed the Hassayampa River and noticed some people painting the pylons under the pedestrian bridge across the river. We passed by again later in the day and documented what a good job they did. Roll your mouse over the image below to view the results.

We read an article in the Wickenburg Sun that told about a group of student volunteers that did the work under the supervision of several adults. Local sources donated paint and materials for the project.

November 16, 2010 by Arizona Culture

Santana Hibiscus Flower

santana-hibiscus.jpgWe have been having an extended Indian Summer in Southern California which has resulted in our flowers behaving as though it were actually summer. The Kaffir Lily is in bloom on the patio and the plumerias have only just stopped blooming.

Image: Santana Hibiscus Flower – click on the image to enlarge.

The Santana Hibiscus flower seen here opened up this past weekend. There are more to come on it and our Cherie Hibiscus bush, probably this week.

November 15, 2010 by California Home & Garden Photography

Southwestern Sconces for the New House

sconces.jpgWe looked for some southwestern outdoor lighting on our last trip to Arizona. Unfortunately, we didn’t find anything close to what I thought was a good design. We bought some inexpensive outdoor fixtures to fill in the holes pending finding the style we like. However, when the electrician opened up the boxes, two out of the three fixtures we bought were broken. We boxed them up and returned them to the home improvement warehouse.

So now what to do? We put the fixture installation on hold while we came back to California for some business here. Bob went on line and found TheSouthWestStore.com that custom makes sconces in the style we like.

The photo shows two styles – a bear and a road runner – I chose the bear, but the finish will look like the one shown on the road runner – it’s a blue-green patina with copper highlights. The translucent liner shown will be replaced with an amber mica liner that should look really nice at night time (the link to the night time picture shows light coming out of the top of the sconce – in reality, there will be a metal piece blocking upward light for dark sky purposes). Click on the image to enlarge.

November 14, 2010 by Arizona Retirement

Morning Sun

cozy-dogs.jpg

The Daddy was fixing breakfast in the kitchen, so Cabela and I laid down in a little patch of sunlight in the dining room while we waited to see if we would get something to eat. We kept each other warm and we were very cozy.

After a while, the Daddy took us upstairs to get the Mama so she could have the breakfast that the Daddy made. When they were done, Cabela and I got our breakfasts too. It was good.

Click on the picture of us to make us big. OK time for a nap. ‘Bye.

November 13, 2010 by Critters Family

Avalon 1998

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