Mountain Community Pizza Day

 

Song:  To Zanarkand

From:  Final Fantasy X

Today was a meet and greet for our mountain community...

featuring a make your own pizza day...

at the community center.

I arrived to see come cattle grazing in a field adjacent to the community center.

People use cattle or other livestock to keep the fields trimmed...

and fertilized.

It is a smart way to keep the land healthy.

Some people were already there by the time I arrived.

Volunteers put this together for everyone.

I made a sausage and mushroom pizza for myself.

Although it was small...

it was surprisingly good.

I sat in the far left rear corner.

The managers of the community center do a good job for the future of the center.

Although there are some 1,600 lots in the community...

there are only 380, or so...

homes actually built and lived in...

at least part time.

Most are just vacation or weekend homes...

while many of the empty lots were bought by people looking

for their dream location on which to much later retire...

and plan to build their dream home once they do.

And so...

our community is still quite small.

Some photos on the wall near me.

Cute

There are some old buildings from over one hundred years ago...

of which were used by loggers for the mines in Cripple Creek.

Upstairs in the community center...

they have a library and a play room.

They have a basket for book donations.

Hmmm....

I know of a few books I am going to donate sometime in the future.

Hey...

an author will do anything to get his books read  :)

In the kitchen area...

volunteers hard at work.

My pizza was called out.

It was actually very good...

I was surprised.

Yes...

whenever I go to places where they call out one's name...

I use Kuma.

James is just too common a name.

I used to hate having multiple people walk up to the same order 

when the name James was called.

The volunteers of our pizza day.

I really like the community spirit of our mountain community.

Our community center regularly organizes various events throughout the year

for all of our residents to enjoy.

Our community center pool.

It is open year round from early in the morning until late at night.

The pool is always heated to about 80 F.

The community center is also expanding hiking trails in the rear of the center...

and into the mountains.

I took this just before getting into my car to go back home.

It is funny...

it wasn't raining the whole time I was there...

or for the drive home.

However...

as soon as I took Bandi outside to use the bathroom...

it began raining...

and then on top of that...

Bandi had diarrhea for some reason.

So...

she multiple squatted for about 5 minutes.

It began to rain hard as I just stood there getting soaked.

However...

as soon as we walked back inside the house...

it stopped.

There just happened to be a heavy rain cloud which had passed directly overhead...

and let loose just when I was outside...

not before...

and not after...

weird.

When Bandi got on our bed...

she looked at me expectantly...

as I always give her strawberry flavored Kaopectate chews (for diarrhea)...

whenever she has exceptionally loose stools 

(I call them K-chews..."You want K-chew?"...

she knows right away...and hops up on the bed while salivating heavily :)

She loves them...

and one dose usually cures her.

Right now...

the sky is clearing up...

and there are multiple patches of blue showing.

It happened in the space of half an hour from the time the above picture was taken.

Weather here changes in a very short time period.

Just like that...

blue skies shine through.

------------

Starting tomorrow...

it is supposed to be sunny for many days.

I hope to be able to finish up with at least the second deck during this time.

-------------

Although the pizza was a small individual size...

it will hold me over until tonight when I warm up some of my 

Mountain Man Green Curry.

In the meantime...

I think I will do some more research...

and then practice some more music after supper.

A Man's Recliner - A Day Of Research

 

I often listen to music when I read in my recliner.

It sets a mellow mood

(I realized once I had seen the above video that the music was louder 

than what I listen to when I read.

I had the music on while I was doing something else in the kitchen).

-----------------

Today...

 I just felt like lying in my recliner and beginning my research

for my next series of novels based upon Western Civilization's

most famous philosophers and their basic concepts and governing principles.

I brought out my research material and began taking notes as I reviewed them.

For each major principle...

I am thinking of writing one whole book.

Just this research alone will be a many month process...

after which I will begin outlining my first story of this series

(sometime this winter).

These are my views from my recliner.

I just use my Ipad to write down the notes.

As I was taking notes...

I got a delivery of some items I had been waiting for.

This is the brand for the best peanut sauce I have ever had...

and for which I use on my Mountain Man Pad Thai.

I had tried some others...

but none can match the creaminess and absolutely delicious flavor of

 Lee Kum Kee brand peanut sauce.

I got them from Amazon...

...and as you can see...

I stocked up on them.

It makes such a huge difference in taste that I never wish to run out...

as I often make Pad Thai.

My Thai spice shelf is now full.

I then decided to make a meal...

Salmon Ochazuki.

It is a quick...

easy...

and very healthful meal.

I often make it whenever I have leftover rice.

I just warm the rice up and use it.

I use about one pound of salmon...

and poach it on low medium heat.

I then mince it...

and put it in a bowl.

I then add the rice and spice packets...

...and then add hot water.

It is so good.

My recliner in night mode.

I have a dedicated ceiling reading light which is perfect to read by while reclined.

----------

Every man needs a recliner in which to feel so at peace.

All wives should respect a man's time in it.

If he is there...

it means his mind is elsewhere...

and he doesn't wish to be disturbed.

It should be a place of serenity...

 a place of introspection...

and most of all...

a sacred place of peace.

Yes...

my home is my Camelot.

I am the King...

and so...

my recliner is the King's Throne :)

It reclines even farther...

and I have fallen asleep in it more than once.

Its plushness simply lulls me to sleep.

Comfort is its main function...

to be pleasing to the body...

not merely to the eyes.

Although the blanket draped across the chair is to protect the cloth surface from sun damage...

I also use it to wrap myself in for extra comfort should I decide to take a nap while reclined.

----------

Starting from this Sunday...

there is supposed to be a whole string of sunny days.

I hope to use those days to finish up the third and second decks.

I still have much work to do with them...

but once done...

it should save me countless hours of maintenance I otherwise would have to do

every few years.

-----------

As I had done enough research for today...

I am going to make some hot buttered popcorn

for Bandi and myself to enjoy while I just watch some movies in bed until I get sleepy.

Christmas Tree Ornaments - Elder Sister

 

Christmas Music

YouTube Channel:  LADOREMI

I will be putting up my Christmas Tree early this year (Sept. 17th)...

to celebrate my one year anniversary of living in my final home in Colorado.

My elder sister had sent me these tree ornaments for my Christmas Tree.

They just arrived today in the mail.

Thank you, Elder Sister!

The cute animal theme matches the theme of my mountain and forest living.

Once I put up my tree on the 17th...

I will be doing a zoom live feed with my sisters who live in Nevada.

This way they can celebrate with me.

I will take pictures of the event and blog about it...

of course.

---------

Again...

although I am not religious in any way (I have never been)...

I still love Christmas Trees...

as they remind me of my childhood of looking at the Christmas lights...

not only on our Christmas tree at home...

but of the neighborhood Christmas lights.

I remember listening to mostly classical music of the romance era

(my father had multiple records which I played on the console stereo

in the living room...it was state of the art for the time...

a multiple stacking album auto phonograph)...

as I would spend hours on end...

just staring at the Christmas Tree lights.

I just loved the multicolored tiny translucent tree lights.

I would also sit on the curb outside at night while listening to a handheld 

transistor radio as I looked at the neighborhood Christmas house lights...

again...

for hours on end.

Anyway...

I will be staring at my own tree from now on.

Eeesh!

These will nicely match the ambiance of my home.

------------------

This Saturday...

I will be attending another meet and greet function

at our neighborhood mountain community center.

It will be a make your own pizza night

(they provide the ingredients and will bake it there afterwards).

I will take photos while there.

Although they have multiple events going on almost every month...

I usually only go when they have food  :)

(I am a guy...we all love food.

If you are an event planner...

have good food...

most men will show up  :)

--------------

Later this month...

I will be attending a fire mitigation team meeting.

It will be a pot luck...

and I will be making and taking Pad Thai for us to eat.

There are a dozen or so members on the committee...

so...

I will be making a whole wok full.

In the future...

I plan to take my Green Thai Curry.

I am telling you...

my two Thai dishes are excellent

(as you can tell...I am not a falsely modest man  :)

I call my dishes...

Mountain Man Pad Thai...

and Mountain Man Green Curry.

I make them for hungry no nonsense men to eat...

(Yeah...all for me :)

I put over a pound of meat in every serving of Pad Thai...

and a half a pound of meat in every serving of Green Curry

(my green curry is also an excellent stand alone soup).

No restaurant gives so much meat...

and no restaurant can put in the flavor that mine delivers

(mostly because I tailor fit the taste to my own).

I am sorry (excuse my arrogance)...

but I put ingredients in that would be prohibitively expensive for a restaurant to use...

or are not used because it is not traditionally used.

And so...

I will now never need to visit a Thai restaurant ever again...

as my two dishes are better than I will ever be able to get in any of them

(I am very unforgiving of restaurants that skimp on ingredients).

Now that I have my two favorite Thai dishes down pat...

I will start researching other country's food...

especially if there are no existing restaurants of those countries anywhere nearby.

I like to focus on meals of which I may batch cook and freeze...

or, at least ones I may make in bulk and refrigerate and eat over several days at a time.

Again...

in the future...

I will also be trying to master Texas BBQ

(once I get a BBQ/Smoker).

Of all of America's food...

I think it is the most Americana.

One other dish I want to make...

I so wish to make the perfect Taco.

I know I love crunchy ground beef tacos the most

(I once ate 15 of them in a sitting...decades ago...

they were just so delicious).

I will have to make the ground beef with the right spices...

and I will then have to either buy...

or make, my own sauce.

But...

that is also in my future plans.

Tacos are some of my favorite of foods.

----------

My Japanese Maple is still doing okay.

I won't be able to judge much until next year.

Over the winter...

the roots will continue to grow while the rest of the tree will be dormant.

The real test will start in the spring.

I will be measuring the growth rate so I may project

the needs of the tree in the future.

I will soon have to start digging my second Japanese Maple tree planting area.

I will be ordering another 100' expandable hose soon...

as I will need to do some weekly deep watering of the new tree at the rear of my home

(I do the same for the Japanese Maple in the front as well).

I ordered a garden partition wall to make a dam around the drip lines of the Maples...

so I may contain the water until it fully soaks the soil just where I would most need it...

 where the roots are (expandable for the future).

---------------

I am thinking of making something to eat...

and then perhaps laying down the first track for my cover song.

I don't yet know how it will go...

but the classical guitar introduction portion is relatively short.

So...

once that track has been recorded...

I may move on to the 12 string guitar portion...

which will be long...

and of which I will need to practice much...

not only because of its length...

but I will have to condition my left hand to the increased pressure needed

to ensure all of the strings ring out as I play

(the few times I have tried recently...

I had found my left hand cramping after playing for a while).

---------------

Anyway...

I also wish to start outlining my next book series.

Perhaps this winter.

I have so much to do outside that I will be busy all Autumn.

Weather permitting...

I also plan to go on a sunset trike ride with Bandi this evening.

------------

As always...

design your life with the appropriate amount of carrots.

I always have something in which to look forwards.

It is what makes living life so wonderful.