Third Place, Testing the New Machine, More Puzzling

Park Place RV Park

On Monday, Dec. 11^th I slept in until 7 before dragging myself out of bed. We were both in bed (well, all 3 of us) last night before 11. Unusual for me to be up so late and unusual for Bill to retire so early. Gibbs just snuggles in whenever, with whoever, as he sees fit. ♥ When he lays across my neck, up against me, his little face next to mine, I realize how much I’d miss him if he wasn’t around.

It was worth running outside for.

I made my tea, Bill was dozing, or trying to, in his recliner when we came downstairs and I noticed the sky out of my window. With no time for a jacket or anything other than my slippers, I ran out to get a picture. The clouds are never something we rejoice over seeing in this Arizona sky except for sunrise and sunset time! 😊 It was a beautiful pink photo that I’m glad I didn’t miss out on.

But the rest of the day looked like this
for the most part.

Bill left for the field without disconnecting our power as he knew I wanted to test my bread machine this afternoon. There still would have been plenty of solar power generated even under the mixed sky but baking bread would  put the pressure on. Gibbs and I went for our walk and it was a chilled one again. I think the thermometer read 39F/3.5C. Yup, that’s a brr to wake up to. We were toasty warm sleeping though with our heater on low.

I made my coffee and joined the ladies for Poker Pool shortly after 9. It was a great turnout with 8 of us eager beavers. Well, speaking for myself, I look forward to our pool days more than you know. It is just fun and I try to be a good participant and support my friends in their shots. Last week, Susan was the shark and even though she won today (again) 😊, Patti earned the name. She was doing herself proud! I came in 3^rd place which gives me my own pride.

On my way back, Dora and I chatted about something I’ve asked her to do for me before Christmas. You’ll see soon, I’m just taking her up on her offer from a few weeks ago. She’s a sweet lady. Bill and I had lunch and then I got my new Starfrit machine out of the box. Reading directions, so I don’t screw it up, I prepared the ingredients for a plain load of white bread. This one has a fruit and nut dispenser, which is why it was my first choice, not that I used that today.

My new machine gets a test run.

I left it to knead, rise and bake and went over to the puzzle. Dora and Gerald were playing pool, they are fun to listen to, and Susan was already puzzling away. We worked together until she’d had enough and I stayed until just before 4. Another one bites the dust, I took my picture and headed home. Thank you, Dora, for sharing this one with us. 😊

The bread had 40 minutes left to bake so I made my tea and started my blog. Bill was upstairs with Gibbs but when my tea and the bread was finished, I slipped my jacket on and took him for his afternoon jaunt. It has been quite a nice day. Honestly, I haven’t been outside much but back and forth and it warmed up to a pleasant 67F/18C with hardly any noticeable wind. For supper, Bill grilled pork chops, I mixed some coleslaw and sliced a few slices of the bread.

On our walk, Gibbs can't figure out where
Carol-Ann and Kobus went.

I’m only making 1.5 lb loaves right now so they won’t last long but it is good practice and since it turned out, I’ll be selling the black one. Everything tasted great. I had the right amount of pork for me, Bill had a chop to himself but I split one in two for each meal. They were cooked perfectly too. The bread was a success, still a tad warm. ♥

With a little practice, we'll get good at this.

The sun was disappearing
but it's hard to tell.

We cleaned up and after watching Carol Burnett, I finished my blog and we binge-watched a couple of Bosch Legacy episodes. It has been a great day.

Supper was good.
Good night!

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