Old Man Winter has come to town

It was cold this morning but not as cold as it will be overnight with temperatures predicted to be down to  32 degrees.  For this part of Texas that is considered COLD!

This morning I turned on the heater for the first time this season. We will be experiencing winter temperatures until at least next Thursday, December 10th when temperatures will go back to the low 70's.

This weekend I gave myself some time off from Cable News and the Internet. Instead watched some HGTV shows that I needed to erase to make more room on my DVR as well as some Hallmark movies.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

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Val Verde County Property Taxes / High of 87 degrees / Rowdy-drunk neighbor is back

Went early this morning to the Val Verde County Courthouse to pay our property taxes. There was no line or anyone taking your temperature at the entrance like there was back in July when I was last there to buy my license plate tags. One less item crossed off my To-Do List.

The Courthouse is caddy-corner to HEB #1 better known as Little HEB. I was surprised that there weren't that many vehicles there but I do not currently need anything so headed off to the Post Office to pick up our mail.

No lines there either I suppose people will not be mailing their Christmas presents until December. Decided to head home but as I passed the car wash I pulled in to finish washing my car that I only got half washed after the incident with Paquito.

The rowdy/drunk neighbor left Friday morning I thought to go spend time with his family who lives out of town. Monday he came back with his wife and three kids. The dogs on this street like peace and quiet they started barking like crazy because his eldest kid was going up and down the street first in his bike then in his skates. Right now he has the music full blast in his truck as he bar-b-qs in his step-father's grill.  Oh, joy...this is going to be a long week!!!

We had a warm day as temperatures reached 87 degrees today. We expect cooler temperatures this weekend.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

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May have bitten off more than I can chew / Terlita got a bath today

As I mentioned in my last post HEB gives you a turkey up to 12 lbs for "free" if you purchase an HEB Spiral-Sliced Bone-in-half or Whole Ham, or an HEB Boneless Spiral Sliced Ham.  I happened to buy a Fully Cooked Spiral Sliced Hickory Smoked Ham, that in the packaging clearly states that it glazes in 5 minutes and that it is an "Easy 3-Step Process".

Since I did not find the instructions anywhere on the packaging I suppose they are inside and I do not want to open it yet. Spent hours on YouTube looking at videos and found that even if it states that it is fully cooked you still have to put it in the oven for an hour and a half, then take it out and baste it with the glaze mixture every ten minutes for another hour. They also suggest I throw out the glaze pockets it comes with and make my own glaze...are they kidding?  I can't even boil water without burning it!!!  I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew 😢

This morning I could not stand to look at my dusty car anymore so I washed it. Well kind of, I did not finish because Paquito, as usual, ate too much and vomited around the tires and the trunk of the car (on the ground, not the car).  He made me so mad because after eating his portion in the kitchen along with Nico...he came outside and bullied Katie's cats and ate their food as well...grrrrrr!!!

I was not going to step on his vomit so I looked towards the garage/carport and saw my dusty Terlita (my old camping van) and to my surprise, I decided to tackle that much-neglected task. I bucket washed it because it would take connecting two hoses to reach all the way over there.

The van was FILTHY from the heavy winds and dust storms. I had bought a sponge mop at the Dollar Tree about two years ago to wash the top of it but I have no idea where that mop currently is so I did not do the top just the rest of it. It took me over two hours but Terlita looks good now...too bad I can not take her out for a ride as she is patiently waiting for a new transmission and to have her tires aired up beside of course current tags and insurance.

It was a beautiful fall day the sun came out after twelve and the temperature shot up to 84 degrees.

Good night,  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

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Grocery Run / Nice Temperatures / Last Edition

I could no longer put off going to the store and stocking up for my future shelter-in-place. The COVID-19 cases keep on increasing and the future does not look promising. Therefore, yesterday Wednesday, November 18th I took off to HEB early in the morning. I was glad I did because by the time I was checking out so many more people descended on the store.

I had already seen on the news (ours comes from San Antonio) that once again there was a run on toilet paper, paper towels, and cleaning supplies. I do believe I have more than enough on hand but purchased an additional package of toilet paper just in case.

I have not had good luck finding a good crop of serrano peppers either here or at Walmart. That was the case again today. I only purchased a handful of serranos. 

The tomatoes weren't even ripe and did not look very pretty.

One of the things I miss about Houston is their lower grocery prices in particular with regards to potatoes (that I am not supposed to eat but shhh). You could buy a 5 lb bag for .99 cents at most Dollar or regular grocery stores. Today they had a 15-pound bag on special for only $2.47.

Their garlic did not look so good and was very small. I usually purchase mine at Little HEB as theirs are purple and bigger but I was not about to make a special trip just for that. I was therefore glad I ran into garlic braids as I had never seen them in the US, just in Mexico where these were from. Though a bit pricey at $9.98 (mine came with 17 garlic bulbs) I decided to purchase them anyway as I eat a lot of garlic (lowers your cholesterol levels).

I almost purchased some onions in a mesh but I do not use those as often and they would probably go to waste.

I bought my usual salads and spinach as well as avocados. Ok, JudithK and Penelope close your eyes and skip the next picture...

They say you should not go shopping on an empty stomach and they are right!  I had no intention of buying a turkey but I found a small 8 lb. one but in order to get it for "free" you had to purchase an HEB spiral-sliced bone-in Half or Whole Ham, or HEB Boneless spiral sliced ham. I have no plans to cook it for Thanksgiving I just wanted to have one in the freezer in case things go south and we run out of food.

My HEB Lightly Salted Fritos, as well as all their other chips, have gone up in price but I love them in my chili or like we call them in this part of Texas...my Frito pie :)

The last time I was at Walmart I was going to stock up on White Claw until I noticed they had gone up $2.00 so I passed. Happy to inform that was not the case here. For good measure added a 15-pack of Natural Light even though with all the medication I am taking I am not drinking at this time...but it's good to have on hand and my doctor did say I could have one per day but if I was watching my Spurs I could have TWO per game...too bad the NBA season is over and at most I watched one or two games and did not accompany any of them with an adult beverage. :-(

I could not forget my boys (cats) so I got two boxes for my two little ones.

I was tired by the time I got the groceries in the car so I did not take advantage of the lower gasoline prices...maybe next week?

I would be remiss if I did not mention that the last edition of The Del Rio News-Herald was printed Wednesday, November 18, 2020.  

http://delrionewsherald.com/news/article_668277fc-2914-11eb-8943-bb7834dac405.html

We have been having gray and cooler mornings but by noon the sun starts shining and we have been experiencing nice temperatures in the high 70's and lower 80's but are in dire need of rain.

Last night I was uploading my pictures so I could make my post when once again the darn electricity went out...grrrrrr!  It was odd though it went out at exactly 9:00 p.m. and came back on at exactly 10:00 p.m.  I saw the neighbors outside using their phone's flashlight but I stayed inside stewing!

I can not wish you Terlingua Dreams as it is a little past noon...have a great day instead!

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

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Early morning appointment / missing property tax statements

I tossed and turned all night much like I do when I have an early appointment and I'm afraid I might oversleep. Decided to start my day at 5:00 a.m. even though it was still dark outside. When they called to remind me of my appointment they told me to show up ten minutes before my appointment but when I inquired about registering times...she had forgotten that small detail and told me to arrive 30 minutes early. What a misinformed person, from years of experience I know it can take more than an hour. Pre-COVID I would have pre-registered but I was not going to do that and put myself in danger two days in a row.

Glad I showed up an hour and a half early because you have to have your temperature taken before you are allowed into the hospital (which is a good thing) answer some questions and then they match you to a list of appointments for the day after which they place a blue wrist band then you are allowed to proceed to the registration office. I understand the color changes daily and it serves to notify hospital employees that you have been screened.

There were so many people there! Glad I did not listen to that silly girl. It took almost an hour before I finished that part of the process and headed to Radiology. There were more people there but I did not have to wait long as my name was called out after only 10 minutes.

After I left the hospital I proceeded to the Recycling Center to drop off my metal cans and plastic water bottle containers.

I was so busy with the elections and donating to my favorite candidates during October that I completely forgot about paying our property taxes as you get a small discount if you pay them before January 31, 2021.

Then it hit me that I never saw them...they are hard to miss as they are hot pink. Placed a call to the appropriate county office and was told they were mailed out in mid-October, she agreed to re-send them.

Today I swung by the post office and while they had not arrived yet...I got two property tax statements that did not belong to us...not even the P.O. Box number matched. I wonder if ours are in somebody else's box as well? If it wasn't for the fact that we have had our box for YEARS...I would get a new one at the Post Office located in the north part of town.

By now it was past lunchtime so I picked up some smoked turkey legs. They were quite good. This afternoon I fell asleep during the five o'clock news, I really needed that nap!

Today we had a high of 87 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Pleasant temperatures / Loss of two Icons

We have been having some very pleasant temperatures, I did not even have to close the kitchen windows last night. Today I woke up to cloudy skies and it appears we might have had a very light shower or heavy dew in the morning. The sun finally made an appearance after lunch and I was able to charge my solar lights that I have neglected these past couple of days.

I was sad to learn that Alex Trebek passed away today at age 80 due to pancreatic cancer. On October 31st we also lost Sean Connery of James Bond fame at the age of 90. May they both rest in peace.

Our local Covid-19 cases are on the rise as in much of the country and the world for that matter.  Wednesday, Nov 4th I went to mail a payment whose destination was Houston, Texas and boy was I surprised when I got an e-mail on Friday afternoon letting me know they had already received it. This is the payment that was lost or delayed in the mail on two occasions this year. Just to be on the safe side I also included next month's payment as I am still contemplating sheltering in place soon.

On some of the blogs I follow bloggers have commented that once again they are limiting items at the grocery stores in their localities. It has been a few days since I have been to our local HEB. I had hoped to stop by on Wednesday afternoon but by the time I got there, there were far too many cars in the parking lot for my liking.

I did find an article indicating that some Kroger's and HEB's in Texas are in fact limiting items like toilet paper, paper towels, and sanitizing wipes. I am well stocked on these items but I would like to buy more canned goods so I have a six-month supply and not have to leave the house.

Today we had a high of 84 degrees with winds from the SE of 16 mph and gusts of 33 mph.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Joseph R. Biden Jr. Elected 46th President of the United States of America

I can not tell you how happy I am!  I have been waiting for this moment like most Americans since Election night Nov 3rd.  

Our President-Elect message to our nation...

Our Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris...

To be fair I also tuned in to Fox News and was surprised by their civility. An e-mail had been leaked to the press instructing their news personalities and hosts to NOT refer to Vice President-Joe Biden as President-Elect Joe Biden. Obviously, I am NOT a Fox viewer but today they at least acknowledged the fact that Joe Biden was elected as our 46th President.

To their credit, they also showed multiple shots of jubilation in different cities of our nation.

I am going to take a deep breath, relax, and celebrate this most joyous occasion.  May you all be able to do the same.

I am so proud to be an American!

It was a perfect day / Mystery solved

Went to bring the car from the garage to the driveway so I could clean my trunk and then load it up with the usual items I carry including my boxes.  It was a bit cool so I had my turtleneck on but as I kept working it got warm so I came inside to swap it for a t-shirt. When I was doing that believe it or not the power went out...again!!!

Looked in my glove compartment and found the missing 2021 license tags in the same place I left them.  Started to peel the old sticker and it came back to me why I had not installed it. The darn thing was hard to remove just like the previous year had been and I still had goop stuck to the windshield. I was going to buy a windshield sticker scrapper at the Dollar Tree but I obviously forgot about it. My car is road legal once more.

Came inside to eat my breakfast and at 9:11 a.m. the power came back on.  It was out for 43 minutes.

A friend called to see if I had received the pictures she had sent me yesterday, told her I had not.  I do not know why they send things to my cellphone when they know I never have it on and with my poor eyesight, I can't see anything even if I try to enlarge it. Please people just e-mail it to me!

Tried to find the phone without success even called it after having to look up my own telephone number ...what can I say...😄...have I mentioned how much I hate cellphones? Though I know they are a necessary evil.

Today turned out to be a perfect day. We had a low of 65 and a high of 76 degrees.

I am going to try to get a good night's rest as tomorrow I plan to be glued to the television set like most Americans. Although I should really say the whole world will have their eyes on this election. Stay positive!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Political Cartoons

Can you believe we are already in November 2020?

I can not wrap my head around the fact that we are already in November 2020. A month I have looked so forward to but at the same time dread.

How did you guys fare on the first day of Daylight Savings Time?  Being an insomniac, sleeping when I can, and the fact that I am retired, it does not affect me very much. It also does not affect the boys (my cats)  Paquito began to whine by my window at the same time he always does when he feels I should have already fed him breakfast.

Halloween was uneventful. Our front gate is chained and has two locks on it. Trick or treating was discouraged by the local authorities. The rowdy/drunk neighbor went out of town to visit his kids so at least on this street, it was peaceful.

It was a warm Autumn day with a high of 88 degrees and a heat index of 90 degrees.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

Political Cartoon of the Day