Dandelions and Daydreams

7. biscuit pizza
I get canned biscuits and flatten them out. Then I top with tomato sauce (I get the small can that is pre-flavored with garlic and herbs), pepperoni or hamburger, and mozzarella cheese. Cook according to biscuit package directions.

8. spicy hot ham sandwiches another family recipe that is ohsogood.

9. Hebrew National kosher hot dogs. If I’m going to cook out, I still want good food. These are the best. Two summers at camp cured me of eating cheap hot dogs.

10. McDonald’s Bacon Egg and Cheese biscuits. I don’t really like anything else at McD’s, but I could eat a bacon egg and cheese biscuit 3 times a week.

11. Steel cut oatmeal. This is my usual breakfast. The flavor is nutty and has a lot better texture than quick cooking oats. I can actually eat breakfast and not need to eat again until lunch time. That’s a major accomplishment for me. I usually mix with brown sugar or raisins.

12. eggs, sunny side up. But it has to be served with toast. My Grandma always made these when we visited her in Nebraska.

13. I always feel like the last one should be grander than the rest, but I usually run out of things by now. This time I saved the best for last…dark chocolate…cadberry, dove, Hershey’s, any kind as long as it’s dark.

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow

…Langston Hughs

The hardest thing about being an entrepreneur, is having the courage to take the next step. I usually know what the next step is, but I also know how to drag my feet. The fact is, I am chasing a dream, and I feel like it is so close that I can reach out and scratch my fingers on it. I just can’t quite grab hold of it and pull it into reality. I am making progress though. Today I took the next step. I went to see an accountant to get things squared away tax wise. What’s next? I need a few days to stew on that. What’s the goal? I’m going to be a writer.

God must have had Heaven in mind when he designed North Idaho. Living here is like living in a playground. If you like to hike, bike, hunt, fish, ski, sail, camp, or do anything outdoors, North Idaho is a great place to call home.If you like art museums don’t come here. We like the great outdoors.

On Friday, I took off for the lake right after lunch. The sun was shining and a nice wind was blowing.I put our inflatable kayak out on Lake Pend Orielle and paddled out to the middle of the lake. For the next two hours, I let the boat drift while I was reading and working on a writing project. Next time I plan on writing on the lake, I think I will bring my MP3 player/voice recorder.It’s hard to write when the waves are rocking the boat.

The next day, Brenton and I decided to paddle the thorofare to Upper Priest Lake. Upper Priest Lake is a scenic wilderness area with no roads in or out and no houses built on the shoreline. The three mile paddle from Beaver Creek Campground to Upper Priest Lake took us about 1 1/2 hours, but we were not in a hurry at all. In a few weeks, we are going to take some people camping at Upper Priest Lake, and we wanted to check out the sites.

The camping is primitive. There are four campgrounds that offer fire rings, vault toilets (AKA outhouses), bear boxes, and not much else. The view is perfect, and I really hope we can do some stargazing when we camp up there.

This kayak trip was special because it was the first time I was brave enough to bring my camera along. I intend to buy a waterproof camera eventually. For now, I double bagged the camera with zip-lock bags, and hoped it would survive the trip. The risk was well rewarded.

We saw quite a few ducklings swimming. On a sandbar, there was a congregation of Monarch butterflies, but the real highlight of the trip came on the paddle back down the thorofare. As we slipped around a corner, a moose broke through the brush on the bank not more than 50 feet in front of our kayak. Brenton held on to the bank while I was taking pictures. A minute later, her baby came out into the water with her and began nursing. We floated there, on the opposite bank, for probably ten minutes watching this pair as they went about their evening feedings. All too soon, we had to paddle on down the thorofare so we could get off the lake before darkness fell. We had to paddle across open water for about 1/4 of a mile at the North end of Priest Lake. The wind was headed right down the lake, so the waves had picked up speed and height. We went splashing over the waves and were quite thankful that our Advanced Elements Kayak is very stable. We took out at Beaver Creek Campground, where we had put in. At the end of the day we were both exhausted and hungry, but grinning from ear to ear.

Image via Wikipedia

1. God. This one should be self-explanatory. He created me, so I wouldn’t be here without him.
2. Brenton. I love my husband so much.
3. Sunshine. If I spend too much time inside, I start to get depressed. I need my sunshine.
4. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. Tea, elevenses, brunch etc. I have hyperinsulinemia/hypoglycemia. I get to eat about every two hours. Unfortunately it can’t always be chocolate.
5. Candles. I have always been fascinated by fire. I like it when my house smells good. Right now it smells like garlic–from lunch, not from candles. I have been known to buy a lemon scented candle so the house *smells* clean.
6. Tea. I drink tea every day. It’s healthy and a good alternative to water when I want some flavor. My latest kick has been spearmint.
7. HUGS. Lots and lots of hugs and then a few more on top of that.
8. Prayer. Couldn’t we all use a little more prayer?
9. Oatmeal. Going along with #4, I eat oatmeal for breakfast every morning. I don’t just eat oatmeal though, I have steel cut oats. They have lots of fiber and last a long time without me having a blood sugar crash. When mixed with butter and raisins…mmmm….
10. E-mail. Well, I can go a few days without e-mail or the internet, but with my friends and family spread so far out, I find that the best way to keep in touch is electronically.
11. Books. I am always a little sad to read the statistics on the number of people who read regularly. I always have my limit of books checked out from the library, and I even read most of them. I find reading to be a great way to slow down in the evening before bed–I try to avoid fiction books right before bed because I tend to stay up all night to finish the book.
12. Purpose. This is one of those big words in the English language, but I need a purpose for each day. To be happy, I have to live my life on purpose. Otherwise I just flounder.
13. Flowers. When I am rich, I will have fresh flowers (cut from my own garden or greenhouse) every day. For now, I walk over and pick the daisies out of the empty lots next door.

Procrastination is the best friend of thrift, and I am an expert at procrastinating!

For about six months, I have wanted a second chair for my living room. We already have the $52 couch we bought at Goodwill in Texas. We have a $5 couch that I bought at a camp thrift store in South Carolina, but I really wanted a nice chair to finish out my U-shaped conversation area in the living room. For six months I have wanted a second chair. During those six months, I have used an extra dining room chair but those aren’t very comfortable to sit in longer than it takes to scarf down a meal.

This week I found out that the neighbors are moving to Milwaukee. I’ve been watching as they clean out their garage. Yesterday, I got that black metal swoopy set of shelves that you see in the picture. This morning, I caught them as they were carrying this chair out to the curb for trash pick up. It was coated with cat hair. I pulled the foam cushions out and washed the cover, then I used my lint roller to finish off the hair removal. All told, it took about an hour to get this chair presentable again. And now I have my second chair. If you are allergic to cats, I don’t recommend sitting on this one.

If I procrastinate long enough, maybe someone will be giving away a house on 20 acres.