Comments Galore, pancakes, postcards & a storm

Tuesday August 14, 2012
Quail Run RV Resort  Site 15
Wesley Chapel, FL

 

WOW- a record number of comments for this blog.

We are overwhelmed at the HUGE number of comments on yesterday’s post and all the good wishes from you guys.  I’ve never seen so many comments on this blog since I started writing it over two years ago.  We are very very grateful to have you share in our joy over completing this milestone.  I continue to be amazed at how many people are interested in this medical disaster that appeared from nowhere.

AND I’m still getting POSTCARDS.  Hooray!   I’ll show those later but if you mean to send one, please do. I’m still trying to cover that mirror and we aren’t leaving immediately. 

 

So when are we getting back on the road??

We’ve determined that we really cannot leave here until at least next Friday August 24.  Part of the reason is I had my eyes examined and the glasses don’t come in until mid to late next week.  We have several things David is going to try to “fix” before we leave or look into having fixed and some things that are being delivered to us here.  We also scheduled a nice wash and wax for poor Winnona who is turning a bit green from all this weather.  It’s her present for being such a very very good girl through all of this turmoil.  :-)

 

But where are we going to go when we do get back on the road?

Because David has to be back here actually by October 25 for the blood draw for his November 1 appointment, we have almost exactly two months to go somewhere. I don’t want to spend half of that on the road coming and going so I need to find some where that’s no more and hopefully less than a week’s drive – not a Paul Dahl drive – but a 150 miles a day or less type drive.   I’m looking and looking for a place with temps at least in the low 80’s or maybe even the high 70’s (hope hope) and maybe nights in the 60’s?????   Not having much luck.   The North Georgia Mountains seem to be the best and that’s $300 worth of gasoline away.   But I still have about 5 days to try to work this out before I need to get seriously busy packing up.

 

So here is the post I had all ready when the shocking good news happened.  

This post was written on Monday night about Monday August 14th to be posted late that night but time got away from me and I was too sleepy.  So, I thought I’d post it Tuesday morning but, time got away from me and I was behind in getting ready for the morning Moffitt appointment.   And then………….well you know what happened.

So here’s that post.

Readers were asking for the recipe for the pancakes David fixed in his return to cooking.  So here it is.  Remember this is a vegan recipe with low to no sugar or oil.

We call them Vegan oatmeal pancakes.  In this picture we served them with 100% Maple Syrup and  nectarines and cherries on top.  Usually we take one of the fruits and put it in the blender with a VERY little water if need be and turn it into a syrup.  Then put the other fruits on top.  In that case, we use 3 or 4 fruits.  Berries make a great pancake pour over.  So do peaches.  But remember that peaches are some of the most pesticided fruits there are and because of their thin skins, those pesticides cannot be just washed off.  Organic peaches is our rule.

 

 Vegan Oatmeal Pancakes

Makes about eight 4 inch pancakes (1/4 cup each)

1 c plant based milk (we have used soy, coconut and almond milks.  All work well)

1 c rolled oats – not quick oats
1 t baking powder
1/4 c applesauce (we make sure there is no added sugar in this)
1/2 c spelt or other whole grain flour
1/2 c blueberries, walnuts or pecans (Sherry prefers nuts in the pancakes, blueberries for the syrup)

Add more milk to thin batter as needed.  If the batter is too thick, the inside is harder to cook.

May need a little oil on your griddle depending on what kind of griddle you have. Otherwise just cook like any other pancake. 

Cover with a mixed fruit salad.  Maple or fruit syrup to suit.
And ENJOY!!

 

Now back to Monday, the day before the Surprise.

I go out running in the heat as usual.  I run before eating breakfast. David goes out walking in the heat as usual.  He walks after having breakfast #1.  We have found that if he eats every two hours – 8, 10, noon, 2, 4, 6, and 8.  We are VERY SLOWLY putting some weight back on him or at least he isn’t losing any more.   Don’t you wish you could eat every two hours?  I sure do.

Anyway, when I finish running, stretching, exercising and lifting, I make myself a smoothie for breakfast.  It had a a half a blender full of greens- kale, chard, spinach – a tomato, a banana, a plum, a carrot and I think that was all.   Although looking at me drinking something green may not appeal, it was excellent.

 

 

David returns and has cereal with fruit, nuts, and seeds and a slice of toast with unsweetened fruit jam followed by a nap.

 

I really must do something more interesting to escape this heat.

I decide to spend the afternoon sitting in a comfy chair in Barnes and Noble with a pile of books on my lap.  Just like being in a library only all the books are new.  Fun!!!  I go around looking at all the display tables and racks picking out things that look interesting.

Here is one of the things I found.

Great pictures of a group of women who caravan and have “gatherings” with their restored vintage trailers.  Most of them do the restorations themselves.  GREAT PICTURES! Fascinating group!  They have a web site, just google them.  Be sure to look in “the gallery”.

 

I am really amazed to find an entire section of the cookbook area devoted to Vegan cooking.  Clearly this has become a lot more popular and maybe, dare I say it, a fad while I haven’t been paying attention.

 

 

 

 

Here’s the chair I am sitting in.  Well not THE chair.  I’m obviously sitting across from these young people whom I guess are also trying to beat the heat.

This fella was really engrossed in his book.  Check the title. He was still there when I left.  I wondered if he would finish it or buy it.

 

WHOO HOOO – More Postcards.

I return to Winnona in the late afternoon and check the mailbox.  Sure enough, more postcards for the mirror.  OH BOY! 

First one from Jeannie and Eldy with the Maine Coast in Bar Harbor.  OH YES!!   The place I would definitely have been this summer if it hadn’t been for being way laid for nearly 8 months now.

   Looks SO cool and lovely.  THANKS you two!!  Sure wish I were there.

 

 

 

 

AND a very interesting card from Cozygirl who it seems shares my environmental values. 

 

 

Alice, the aloe plant, travels with us and now I’m going to figure out how to include this out of the ordinary postcard.    THANKS Cozygirl for this really unique card!

 

We round out the day with another of Florida’s famous thunderstorms.  This is a HUGE storm.  The street began to look like a mill race and their were pools forming in the grass.

I took the pictures for this slideshow while sitting under the awning until the cracks of lightning were ear splitting and I was counting one one thousand one and hearing the thunder.  Time to go inside.  Florida does have some serious storms even on days without tropical storms or hurricanes.

 

 

THE END!