Despite 102° temperature outside, we grilled burgers and roasted corn on the Grill Master today. We did have refreshing beverages to offset the heat, however. The burgers, corn and carrot salad were all delicious. Happy Independence Day!
Bob
Throwback Thursday – Arches National Park
Verna and I were visiting Arches National Park on July 21, 2008. This was when we were still considering retirement in about a year from then and deciding to use up some of our accrued vacation time.
The object in the background is a sandstone hill where three arches-in-progress graphically show the evolution of arches sculpted by wind and rain. There is a mostly completed arch on the left side with a just beginning stage in the middle and an intermediate stage arch-in-the making on the right.
Click on the image to enlarge.
Smoked Pork Roast
On Friday afternoon, we placed a pork roast in the smoker to cook all night and most of Saturday so we could have pulled pork sandwiches for our Saturday weekend dinner. The two images above are the before (Friday) and after (Saturday) photos of the pork roast in the smoker.
After smoking the roast at 250° overnight, the meat was literally falling off of the bone as we lifted it out of the pan into a large container. I shredded enough meat for our sandwiches before dinner and shredded the rest after dinner. I spent about 45 minutes getting the rest of the meat of of the nine pound roast shredded and put in a container for use in a variety of leftover dishes that Verna and I have in mind.
Queen of the Night Flower Stalk
This is one of three flower stalks currently growing on the native “Queen of the Night” (Peniocereus greggii) cactus up on the hill behind our house. The location of the cactus is unfortunate for us since it is a steep climb to get to the level where it is growing. Moreover, since these bloom exclusively at night, we won’t be able to see them open because 1) steep night time climb where no lighting exists, and 2) nocturnal critters like crotalus (rattlesnake), coyote, javelina and mountain lion can be present in our rural patch of desert.
I am going to try and keep an eye on this cactus in order to possibly catch a morning after photo or two before the flowers eventually fade. Wish me luck.
Investing in the Future
Verna and I have been blessed with new generations in our family; our granddaughter gave us a great grandson, Alex, and our daughter-in-law presented us with a grandson, Jerry. Both have been born within the last two years. We decided it would be a good idea to start an investment/savings plan for each of them.
Within the past two weeks, we opened a Universal Transfer to Minors Account (UTMA) for each of the boys. Since we both have accounts with the well-known brokerage seen above, we went through them to establish the boys’ plans. As of this evening, they are each vested in a mutual fund designed to produce growth in the equities, and for us to continue to contribute via periodic automatic investments and the occasional special gift for birthdays and such.
SR71 and Verna
I took this photo of Verna posing with an SR71 at the Pima Air Museum near Tucson, AZ. I scanned in some images for throwback Thursday which made it onto the FecesBook® but missed this one on here a day late. The photo had to have been taken in the early 2000’s before we went digital. Click on the image to enlarge.
