Japanese Cuisine and Fall Clean Up

It has been several days since my last post.  Possibly three weeks.  But there is good reason.  I have been BUSY since we got back from Europe.  We realized that with all of the planters and things that we prepared during the last season, the stuff had to be put away before heading back to Canada.

But first...a lunch date with my daughter and the rest of the crew.....:-)  I had seen this place in passing before.   So, when my daughter offered to take all of us to lunch, we took her up on the offer.  It was a bit weird that no one else was in the parking lot.  I began to wonder if they had eaten the food and were buried out back! ha.

Surprisingly enough, we were the first ones there and the staff knew my daughter.  She was stoked about having chosen this place for us. Here is a picture of Tracey and Helen smiling over what was to come...:-)

And of course, while they were busy playing with Chris's camera...he was anticipating the cuisine that was soon to be prepared right before our eyes........

Our chef arrived with his cart stocked with goodies and all manner of cooking sauces to began the "show"....

I'm not feeling the magic yet.......It's just an egg.......

ok, we've got some color going........

they must know something I don't know yet.....look at them! haha

ahhhhhhh, now it's getting interesting.......filet mignon........

sheesh!!!  A girl better watch her hair around this dude!  Good grief!

I had chosen the lobster dish.  Mine was one of the last ones to come off the grill and I was sure it was going to be over cooked, but it was perfect!

We finished lunch and returned home thinking of all of the work that still needed to be done in the garden before our return to Canada. All of the soil in the pots needed to be put into the wheel barrel, the indoors plants treated and brought back inside the house, most of the furniture put away, etc.
I decided to start with the house plants since it would take two treatments before I could bring them back in.  All was going well until I went to spray some Neem oil on them and saw something move.

YIKES!!!  It was NOT the tree trunk, but a mantis that had successfully disguised itself as part of my plant.    I screamed and I could swear he did too....haha.  I ran and got Chris and he took the picture.  I kept my distance.  All the while thinking to myself, I was about to embark on a dangerous endeavor of treating my outside, indoor plants.

After surviving the bug on steroids, I got the plants treated and dumped most of the dirt from the pots in the garden into the barrel.

I think he's ready to get his hands dirty....ha

We had chosen lots of color and had hopes that these would fare better than the plantings that we had done earlier this year.

We dug several holes that seemed to be large enough to put a tree in. But they were only six inches deep and two shovels wide. These are a combination of Daffodils and Dutch Irises.

After digging several holes from the side of the house clear to the back, we were finally finished planting the over 100 plus bulbs that we had purchased. My angel had suffered a broken wing and had to be resettled elsewhere in the garden....poor dear.....:-(

Unfortunately, we will not be here in the Spring to see how things come up, but Helen has promised to take pictures for me......:-).

By the time we finished, the sun was setting, we were both sore from all of the kneeling, digging and bending.  But the work was done.

Now to get ready for the end of year bar-b-que that will be hosted in what is left of the garden.

see you there!

First Ride After Europe!

When you have been out of the saddle for as long as we have, it is quite the challenge and test of endurance to get moving again.  I missed Ms Vickey when we were in Europe seeing all of the scooters there.  But I was just too tired to do anything about it once we got back.  Today was a good day to give it a go....

Ain't she cute.....:-).

We headed for a town called Cooperton (founded 1899) which we had managed to drive right past the last time we looked for it....

It was going to be about 40 minutes before we got to the turn off to the little town.

When we finally got there, just about everything had been abandoned long ago.  this used to be the gymnasium.

It is now considered a "ghost town" even though there are still (or were) 16 people still living there according to the 2010 census.  There really wasn't much left to it at all.  This is an old residence.  One of the nicer ones.

And if you can believe it....that was pretty much main street......
wow....

Ms Vicky was getting weirded out........hahaha

another derelict  home.....

 
This is a shot of main street cross section with another street which I forgot what the name of the street was.

We are almost ready to blow this joint seeing as their ain't much to see.  Also, the roads were getting more "gravely" the further we went.  I had since enough to remember that Ms Vicky is NOT a dual sport.....:-)

another derelict building.....I think it used to be a store.

this is the highway that I needed to get back on to continue our trip to the Wichita Mountains...

I know it sounds strange, but every time I see rock formations like these I think I dinosaur poo....haha.  I know!  Weird! ha

The riders were out in full force today.  I saw lots of group rides and the occasional lone rider like this guy....:-).  At least they were all friendly.....:-)

Finally!

I remember doing a lot of my Non-Commissioned Officer's Training course in these hills.......
Sheesh.....longgggggg time ago now.

The wild flowers always lend their own style of beauty to the mountains.......I wish I knew what these were.

We made a quick stop at the visitor's center to have something to drink and refresh ourselves before taking the long road through the mountains and onto the highway home.  Good thing as now, I was getting "monkey butt" from having spent too much time out of the saddle!  Yikes!

We made it back home, parked Ms Vickey and Maj and I promptly looked for an analgesic.  Don't forget to  use this before riding in hot weather again......
 

And so ended another fabulous day galivanting with Ms Vicky through the mountains.  Not too hot and not too cold....kinda like the pourage in the story of Goldilocks and the three bears.  Nearly 100 miles...short and sweet, but also uncomfortable.  I have come to the conclusion after having put several thousand kilometers on this scooter that it is NOT built for comfort.  If I continue to ride when I return to Canada, I will be looking for something more comfortable, not too big and just as reliable......
  

Thanks for coming along today!

Mountain Top Experiences

It was good to be back from Europe, but for some reason I was itching to go "out" again.  Perhaps I had had enough sleep.  Don't know for sure.  We decided to take a ride to the top of Mt. Scott and take in the view.
The sun was still up but was about to set in a few minutes

Chris is pointing toward it....haha

We, of course were not the only ones who had the idea of watching the sun set from up there.....

I couldn't help but notice the "rainbow sunset" that was spread so far and wide across the sky of the Great Plains.

He is excited about taking his pictures........:-)

I wanted to take this one sooner, but it was crowded with people.

It's amazing what time and elements can do to living things....

  pointing the camera in the opposite direction gave this view.....

The sun was finally beginning to set.......going......

It wouldn't be long now before the Park Rangers would come to close the mountain and the night creatures would began to emerge....

going.......

gone..........

 hope you all have a good night!