Day 61 - Lug Nuts and Picnics

Day 61 -  Yesterday, Flowergirl asked if our outing to the greenhouse ended our quarantine.  I don't really think so. We didn't have any physical contact. The young gal glanced over our cart to add things up. We left a check with the total on the open countertop at the doorway to the greenhouse, while we loaded the plants into our car.

Actually for the last 2 months, we didn't go indoors to any public places or into any peoples houses, or have people into our home. We didn't go shopping or to any social events.  Just going to an outdoor setting of a green house where nobody else was around.  So I think we are still quarantining in my mind.  We are socially distant and not touching others or being inside their buildings or homes.

Anyhow, Saturday we had a neato adventure. It started out at 7 am with Steve turning on the furnace in the motorhome to warm it up. It was only 28 degrees... brrrrr but soon the heat was warming up the motorhome and we loaded up some supplies and headed on out for our adventure.

Our first stop was at Oconto Truck and Power Center, a mile or so away. This business is owned by Nick Badendick, the husband of the realtor, Amy, who sold us our home.  Since Steve had the wheels off to do the calipers, he put them back on as tight as his torque multiplier tool could go, but he wanted them to be correct and safe.  So they needed to be torqued to the proper specs before we could safely travel anywhere. Nick said he could torque up our lug nuts on the motorhome for us.

We were parked outside and didn't go in... Nick came out and took care of things right in the parking lot.

While the guys were doing that, and checking the tire inflations, I baked some scrumptious apple turnovers in the little oven in the motorhome.   Once they were done conducting their business, I had coffee and turnovers ready for our early morning.

Steve fired up the rig and off we went...  

just look at the Happy Motorhoming Man!

It's been a long long winter,

and he needed to "break free"! 

We needed to test out the brakes and calipers and some new brake lines Steve installed last week. We are happy to report that everything is working fine and up to snuff.  I knew Steve did a great job, and its nice to feel secure in knowing the brakes are fully functioning and reliable. 

We drove over to a nice secluded little parking lot we knew of, about 10 miles away.  It was just below the hydro-electric dam on the Oconto River.  This is a small co-op owned power company. We used to be shareholders in the co-op when we lived down the river years ago.  It's nice to see it still operating today. 

We found a nice little quiet spot to park and enjoy our coffee and apple turnovers.  Ahhhhh  It was all warmed up and comfortable in the rig. Our great smelling coffee sure made the morning. 

Of course,

the dogs were along for the ride! 

We got out and walked around, and although it was sunshiney, the wind was bitterly cold!  We were wearing our winter coats and mittens and hats.  I can not believe this is MAY?

The trees were dipping and swaying, and the fishermen were huddled on the opposite shore.  I guess they were out of the wind over there, and I hope the fish were biting.  Do you think they are 6 feet apart?

We went back in and Steve started cooking up a nice breakfast.  We had brought along bacon, eggs and bread, along with our carafe of coffee.  The sunshine streaming in was so pleasant.  We were "camping" in our minds, even if we were only 10 miles from home.  The motorhome smelled like rich bacon, fresh coffee and frying eggs and scrumptious toast.  It don't get much better than that.

The view out the front windshield was pleasant. We could pretend we were somewhere wayyyy out in the woods, up north some place.  Getting away and getting some relaxing camping for the weekend.

After breakfast, we took a little walk with the dogs. The winds had not let up yet, but it felt good to get out and about.  Two cars came into the parking lot, so we retreated back into our motorhome, to stay out of the way. 

Brrrrrrr we went back in to the inviting warmth. We actually curled up together on the loveseat and took a little nap!   It was such a good time to get away, forgetting about all of the stress in the world, and all the crazy negativity. This was such a nice escape.


All too soon, it was time to get back home.  We stopped on the way back to fill the motorhome up with fresh premium diesel fuel. The price was amazingly $1.95 a gallon.  It was good to top off the tank, and mix it with the current fuel from last fall (when it was probably over $3.00 a gallon!)


The weather reports were full of gloom and doom about freezing and frost and awful predictions of *S*N*O*W*!!!   After spending all that money the day before at the greenhouse, I was not about to put my plants in danger by leaving them in the garage.  Yup, into the She Shed they came!  All of them. Safe and sound.

Last week, our granddaughter Chelsea had taken part in planting a little garden at the daycare, and fencing it off from the other kids and yard toys etc.  The day care director sent me these photos.  My oh my, what a little green thumb.

Because the weather report was awful, and she was worried about her little garden.  They were out of town for the weekend.  Awwwwww So it was Grandma and Grandpa to the rescue!  We went over to the little daycare yard and covered the plants up for the night, and then uncovered them for the day, once things warmed up.

Let us hope the plants grow and prosper and they can harvest their bounty come this fall.

~~~~~~~

Today is Mother's Day! 

Here are our lovely two daughters,

Erin and Heather...

Since I haven't been out shopping or spending a lot of money, I decided to do something for them as a gift, something that was of my time. Something that would give them time.  Time to be with their families!

This morning, I started simmering up a pot of spaghetti sauce, and boiling up some lasagna noodles on the stove.  The house smelled great, and it felt good to create something that would bring smiles to their faces.

While the traditional italian tomato type sauce was simmering, I got out shredded chicken from the freezer, and some jars of alfredo sauce.  This is my setup for making my special rolled up lasagna pans.

I use a plastic tray drawer organziner that is just the right size for the lasagna noodles.  I only cook them about 3/4 of the way, so they are still firm enough to not rip or tear.  I rinse them well and cool them a bit, so they can be handled with the fingers.

I put the noodle in the bottom of the tray, and add the shredded cooked chicken, some parmesan and mozzarella cheese, and some dollops from a jar of alfredo sauce.   Then I carefully roll them up in the tray, which keeps the filling from falling out the edges.  Quickly I lift them up and transfer them into a glass casserole pan, which has been sprayed with some non-stick cooking spray and a little sauce in the bottom to keep the noodles from sticking.

Rolled up noodles are easier to serve, and seem to bake better than flat layers of lasagna in the more common way. I saw this trick on tv a long time ago, on Cooking with Amy on WLUK channel 11.

I top off each pan with more sauce and mozzarella and then some bread crumbs, along with some extra italian seasoning and dried parsley for color.

Once I had two pans of the chicken alfredo completed, now the other sauce was ready for the traditional tomato italian type of lasagna.  To these, I add a few dollops of ricotta cheese to each roll-up. Not too much, just some for flavor.

In no time, I had four pans all ready. 

 Two of the traditional 

and two of the alfredo. 

I added a layer of tin foil for baking later,

 and then these labels 

underneath the lids. 

I had also baked up a pan of toffee bars, with fun colorful sprinkles on top.  I promised granddaughter Whitney that I would put sprinkles on them. These I cut into squares and set into the little boxes to deliver with the pans of lasagna and a couple boxes of frozen garlic bread toasts.

Steve helped load up the treats, and we called ahead to each of our daughters' homes.  Items were delivered onto their porches with social distancing, and we were happy in knowing that we gave them a bit of time, a bit of love, and a bit of nourishment. 

I got giggly silly phone calls and text messages and video clips and sweet gifts and flowers from the grandkids, along with heartfelt thanks and love from our girls.  That is what being a mother is all about. 

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY