DOCTOR'S, DENTIST'S AND DIET'S OH MY!

Only in Texas would you find an Ice Cream Truck with a set of Longhorns on it!

This past week was very busy. Every other day we were heading off the ranch to doctor appointments.

Monday was our dentist appointments. Where we "winter" at for part of the Texas winter is a wonderful resort called Lake Medina RV Resort. It is on the Liebolds-Grouthues Ranch. It is just about 50 miles from where we are at now.

The owners of the ranch/RV Resort are Greg and Gina Grothues. They are warm and wonderful folks and are like family to us. Gina is our dental hygienists and loves her work. She is also a horsewoman and we always enjoy chatting about horses while she is cleaning my teeth.

Ralph's 40 plus year old partial had to be sent out for a little repair, other than that our check-ups went great.

Another day this week we went to Parkhurst Eye Center.  Ralph had laser surgery that was performed by Dr. Parkhurst. It was to correct a problem from a cataract surgery in his left eye that had been done 3 years ago.

When they called him in, I thought I would relax and fix a cup of coffee from the offices nice Keurig Coffee Machine. With coffee in hand I found a nice over stuffed comfy chair, plopped myself down and barley drank 2 sips of coffee before Ralph came walking out. It kind of startled me and I said "What is wrong?" He said "I am done". I said "No way", but it was true, he was done. It was lickety split!

Our follow up appt. is next week where he will have another eye test to see if it cleared up the blurry vision. If not there are other steps they can do.

I now go to Ralph's General Practitioner for my yearly check ups. That way we can "kill two birds with one stone" so to speak and we can do our appointments at the same time. This particular appointment was just to meet the doctor even though I knew him through Ralph's check ups, get weighed (YIKES!) I did not know my sneakers weighed so much! Anyway he took my vitals, listened to my heart, lungs and we had a chit chat. All went well and in a few weeks Ralph and I go for our blood work.

In the mean time, I am enjoying having time to try things that I have never done until a few weeks ago. I am trying my hand at baking bread. So far I have made a Jalapeno Cheese loaf, hot dog rolls and buttermilk biscuits all with very good success. The hamburger rolls, not so much success. They deflated and they could have been used as a dangerous weapon, but I will try again!

My whole wheat dough had to rise twice, once in the bowl and again in the loaf pan.

After finishing its second rising, it is now ready for the oven. Oh my did it ever make the inside of our RV smell heavenly! There is nothing like the smell of bread baking.

 "VIOLA!" Warm fresh homemade whole wheat bread with real butter and apple maple jam. Oh My!

On every 2nd Tuesday of the month we play Bunco. There are 12 players and each month it is at one of the players homes. The "Host Player" does the dinner and after dinner we start playing the dice game Bunco.

It is a lot of fun, the camaraderie is great and the food is delicious! All these gals are wonderful cooks.

Here half way through the game, we are getting ready to take a break and have dessert along with more laughter and camaraderie.

Since we are staying put for the winter, this is really the only time I have, to try out my recipes that I have clipped over the years.

I have decided that this would be a perfect time for me to do a "Hostess Gift". So for each time we play Bunco, I will try a different loaf cake recipe in my mini loaf pans. I have 5 mini pans so I can bake one for the hostess, 3 for door prizes and the best part is I can keep one for Ralph and I to enjoy!



I found a Zucchini Pineapple bread recipe with walnuts and dates. Very moist and delicious! I had everyone draw toothpicks out of a bowl. If they got a colored toothpick they got a goodie. Each month I will do a different mini loaf recipe.

So what am I doing tomorrow? I am joining "Weight Watchers" again! As many of my friends know, I love to eat. It is my favorite pastime. I dream about food when I sleep and I day dream about food when I am awake. Cookbooks are my favorite reading material.

Over the last couple of years I have packed on the pounds. During my life I have joined Weight Watchers several times with great success. I keep it off and then I get back into my bad eating habits.

Our life style is constant eating. RV-er's at RV Parks are always getting together for Happy Hours and Potlucks. Then on top of that, add in the high caloric drinks I love so much. Out comes my Vitamix Blender and I fix my frozen pina coladas, frozen toasted almonds and Margarita's!

We watch the Food Network a lot and they are always featuring popular and unique restaurants across the country. We make note of them and stop by when we are passing through that area. You can say we are eating our way across the United States. Each region has specialties and we love them all.

Today Ralph pulled our bikes off the RV bike rack and started tuning them up. Here he is oiling the chains, airing up the tires and checking all the nuts and bolts.

Sunday we are hitting the road with exercise. We really enjoy bike riding. We only ride on wide shoulder roads with low traffic. There are great roads here in the area we are in. We also wear bike helmets, orange florescent vest and very bright front and rear lights that can be seen for a long distance even during the day. We often stop to take a break to get a cup of coffee at a convenience store and relax.

Ralph built this maintenance rack as he calls it a few years ago. It keeps the bike off the ground so he can turn the wheels, oil the chain and fix flats. It is high enough for him to be able to sit on a stool and be comfy.

Until next time............Happy Peddling!