Wednesday, February 26...Mashed Potatoes (Rufus Thomas)

   “The fun never ends,” she stated with a note of sarcasm in her voice. Took a stone to the windshield yesterday late afternoon on our way to Coolidge…cracked an area about the size of a nickel on the

driver’s side. It doesn’t interfere with the field of vision but sure don’t want to see it spider web across the windshield either. Sent an email to Jenna immediately with a picture and she got the ball rolling on getting it repaired/replaced. We have an appointment tomorrow morning in Casa Grande to get ‘er done. They would have come out here to replace it on-site, but the first opening was March 10 or thereabouts.  No thanks, we’ll come to you.

----------

   Went for a walk too late…11:30-ish. It was blasting hot, but we made it to the 9^th pole beyond the big tire.  Progress, even in the heat of the day. And bonus, we saw our first road runner of this year. Despite steadying my camera on an electrical box, my pictures were a bit out of focus.

   The Western Army National Guard Aviation Training site is located about 4 miles down Picacho Hwy. It’s not unusual to see helicopters in the area.  Today on our walk, there was a copter hovering out in the desert the entire time we were out walking…maybe 45 minutes to an hour. It turned in circles but basically hovered in the same spot.  I thought maybe today was hover training; Kim wondered if they were actually scanning the desert for some reason.  And I also wondered how much fuel it takes to hover for an hour. 

----------

   We’re having a problem with honeybees on one of the feeders. Just one. Searched how to prevent
bees from getting into a hummingbird feeder and it turns out there’s no foolproof solution but there are things that can lessen the problem.

*Bee guards…bees have shorter tongues than hummers, using a bee guard will allow the hummer to eat but prevent the bees from reaching the nectar.

*Move the feeder…apparently bees are easy to confuse this way. However, this is a temporary fix as the bees may eventually find it again; move it again if that happens.

*Make sure the feeder is clean on the outside, no excess nectar.

*Keep the feeder in the shade as bees prefer to feed in full sunlight.

   Did a little research and came up with another idea; provide a sweeter nectar to attract the bees. So, Kim mixed up a sweeter nectar, put it on a plate and balanced the plate in a crook of the tree. The feeder they’ve taken over is nearby so they should be able to find it easily enough.  Between that and wiping down the feeder, I’m expecting that tomorrow we’ll have a bee free feeder (try saying that fast three times). If those two changes don’t work, I’ll move the feeder to a more shaded area.

Bee trivia: Bees are attracted to the smell of dirty feeders.  Old nectar ferments over time, creating a stronger scent to attract bees.

----------

Kim Project:

1. Repair the hot water heater.  The camper’s water heater has electric and gas capabilities.  We’ve not used the gas because we’re always hooked up to electric. When we got out here, using electric wasn’t doing the trick, so Kim crossed his fingers and switched on the gas.  Satisfied grin when it fired up and we had hot water. It was working fine for a couple of days; then Kim got a cool shower the other morning. Out of hot water.  Turned the gas ignition switch off, then back on…water heater started purring. So, we had to keep an eye on the switch in the kitchen. Didn’t have any more problems but Kim wanted to get the electric option going anyway.  He ordered a part, which was delivered today, so he was able to start on it after our walk. He was a bit skeptical that his efforts were successful, but after a half hour, when he tested the water, it was hot.  Yay!! 

----------

   While Kim was fiddling with the water heater, I went into Eloy. It’s easy to forget what day it is because we don’t have any reason to track our days.  However, it did not escape my notice that today is Wednesday, piggy cookie delivery day at the IGA in Eloy; or I should say that was the magic day last year so that’s what I was banking on.  I was not disappointed.  The special shelf was stocked with an ample supply of piggy cookies, as well as other Mexican pastries.  Bought a couple of bags of cookies

and treated myself to one as soon as I got back in the truck. Then I headed over to the Hot Dogs Alvaredo food truck on Sunshine Blvd. to pick up a belated lunch for us. 

   This I know: While I may find it difficult to pick the greatest classic rock song, I have no problemstating with certainty that the Sonoran hot dogs made by Hot Dogs Alvaredo are THE BEST hot dogs ever!  We’ve tried Sonoran hot dogs at another food truck, not as good. And while a grilled beef hot dog on a bun with ketchup, mustard and relish is the smell and taste of a good summer meal back home, it doesn’t compare to what we can get at Hot Dogs Alvaredo.

   Today, it was a piggy cookie and a Sonoran hot dog for the win!!

----------

   It was a beautiful warm day to be out on the bikes. When we got back from our walk, sweaty and tired, I didn’t think I had it in me to put my jeans on to ride. I was thinking I’d have to pass on a ride today. But by 4 o’clock, I had changed my mind; put riding clothes on for a quick ride to Coolidge.

    When we bought the new coffee maker the other day, we also bought a toaster. Didn’t have a toaster in the camper and were both delighted to find a simple, cheap one on a shelf at Wal-Mart.  Kim was not disappointed in how his $9 toaster performed the next morning.

   Today, we rode to Wal-Mart looking for a simple, cheap mixer and a decent loaf pan, both of which factored into the making of supper tonight. No $9 bargains today, which disappointed Kim, who was certain we’d find a mixer for that price.  But it didn’t cost much more than that and it looked like it would serve our purposes.  Sold!!

----------

   Kim was planning on making meatloaf for supper tonight, hence the need for a loaf pan.  The other day, he read an article about making mashed potatoes from potato chips and wanted to try it.  Boil water, pour in a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips, and boil until they are mushy.  Drain. Then add a touch of butter and mash, using a hand mixer or potato masher. Season to taste.

   It worked, sort of. Kim had added sour cream and milk before he mashed the chips, which produced a rather runny mixture.  Runny, as in it turned into soup instead of mashed potatoes.  But it was very tasty, and we adjusted by drinking our mashed potatoes out of a cup. 😋  Adjustments to note for next time: 1. Drain the potato chips longer, gently stirring them to release excess water and 2. Don’t add any liquid until they’ve been mixed. And I suppose it would work with any flavor of potato chip.

----------

   Kim figured out the annotation feature on the ASI Air and is imaging the Lobster Claw again tonight, adding tonight’s data to what he got last night. It’s a distant nebula and requires hours of long exposures that can be stacked to produce a  picture.  Even then, he’s not certain he’ll have anything to work with.