Life on the road

Going To Parker Arizona

We had some business to take care of today so we had to drive over to Parker. It’s about a 50 mile drive so it took most of the day. It was overcast, threatening to rain. The countryside in the desert looks like they already had some rain as everything is getting green.

Here you can see the rain over there. Since it’s mostly flat out here, you can see the rain for a long time before it gets to where you are.

I love this photo, it shows how flat and straight the road is, with the mountains in the distance.

We took a wrong turn and wound up over by the Colorado River. This is the railroad bridge. It looks rusted, and still has wooden trestles.

Another shot of the railroad bridge over the Colorado River.

Isn’t this beautiful? That’s California on the other side of the river. The palm trees were huge here.

We had some lunch here. I had a combo with a taco, an enchilada, rice, and beans. FabGrandpa got the fish tacos. No beer, though, just diet cokes.

Then we went across the street to this little place. I got some garlic stuffed olives and some of the freshest pistachios I have ever had.

They also had these, but I didn’t get any of them:

And on the way home, we finally did get into some of that rain. It didn’t last long.

0 Shares

Gluten Free Fried Chicken

Karen · 15 Comments

If you read my post from yesterday all the way through, you may have seen that I planned on cooking fried chicken sometime this month. So what? you say. Well, let me tell you about fried chicken.

In the early days when I could still eat all things gluten, I loved me some fried chicken. I was a frequent flier at the neighborhood Church’s Fried Chicken, KFC, and Mrs. Winner’s places. We had fried chicken about twice a week—always bought somewhere already fried and ready to eat. My personal philosophy about fried chicken is that even though I know how to make it, there was no reason for me to do it myself and deprive one of those places of my business, since they did a pretty good job of cooking it and then they were the ones who had to clean up the mess. So, if I was going to cook chicken at home, it would usually be baked in the oven in a disposable pan, or in the crockpot with a crockpot liner. Delicious, then a breeze to clean up. I DO know how to cook fried chicken, I just don’t like to.

Last summer, I made some gluten free fried chicken for FabGrandpa. He was surprised because in all the years we have been married, I have never made fried chicken for him. He asked me why I had never made it and I told him “A girl has to have some secrets.” Why tell him I know how to do something if I ain’t gonna do it, right?

So, anyway, he loved the fried chicken I made last year. He loved it so much he has asked me several times to make it again. Well, today I made him some fried chicken again. And his response? “It took you 16 years to make it for me the first time, I’m surprised it only took 1 year for you to make it the second time.”

Here is how to make gluten free fried chicken:

Chicken Pieces
salt and pepper to taste
tenderizer
1 cup of your favorite gluten free all purpose flour mix
1 cup milk
1 cup Crisco or oil

Heat the oil in a large skillet with a lid. Wash the chicken pieces. Sprinkle with tenderizer, salt and pepper. Roll in the flour mix, then dip in the milk, then roll in the flour mix again. Put in the skillet. When the skillet is full, place the lid on and cook for about 5 minutes. Take the lid off, and turn all the pieces of chicken over. Replace the lid. Cook another 5 minutes. Remove the lid, turn the chicken again, and cook another minutes without the lid. It takes about 20-25 minutes to cook the chicken.

I served mine with homemade gluten free macaroni and cheese and green beans.

0 Shares

Jewelry Making Class

Karen · 12 Comments

Lynda and I went to our wire wrapping class on Saturday. The lady who taught the class makes some really pretty stuff, but she does not allow you to take pictures. I was going to show some of the process of making the bracelets we made, but she told me to “put away my camera”.
I can show the finished product:

I made the bracelet on the right with silver and gold wire in the class. I came home and made the one on the left with silver and copper wire. I definitely need some practice but they are ok for a beginner.

Here is what the clasp looks like. The one I made in class looks a whole lot better than the one I made at home later. Again, it just needs some practice.

These bracelets are 7 and a half inches long. I think I need to make mine 8 inches to fit my “plus size” wrist.

Then, today, I used a different pattern but the same concept to make this bracelet for FabGrandpa. I used a piece of sterling silver patterned wire and gold wire in it. This was really hard to make because it was hard to keep all the wires together and to keep them from bunching up while I was making the binding wraps. I got really frustrated with it and walked away from it three times before I was able to finish it. I like the way the clasp on this one looks.

Here is the front of his bracelet. I can see the mistakes in it, and my father in law probably will too, but then again, it does look pretty good for a beginner, and FabGrandpa liked it.

So, tell me what you think. Will I be able to master this?

0 Shares

It Must Be A Sign

Karen · 8 Comments

You’ll have to click on the picture to get the full effect of this–it’s a real gas!

0 Shares

The Gem And Mineral Show In Quartzsite

Karen · 10 Comments

If you ever get a chance to go to a gem and mineral show, you need to go. I have heard about them from my in-laws, because they are both jewelry crafters. My father-in-love even went to a school to learn silver smithing. They both make some really nice jewelry, and they are the ones who inspired me to give it a try. They used to go to Quartzsite in the winter and go to the gem shows to buy supplies for their craft.

Last week I got my chance to go to my first gem show. There was everything imaginable: rocks, gems, pearls, wire, jewelry findings. There were also other crafts such as quilters, metal work, leather handbags, and stuff like that, but we were there for the jewelry stuff.

On Thursday, my friend Gaelyn from Geogypsy called to ask if I was planning to go to the show. I said I was, so she came and spent the night on my sofa so we could head out early and get a good parking spot. We met Gaelyn at the North Rim this summer, where she worked as an Interpretive Ranger and lived across the road from us in the employee campground. Our paths didn’t cross much because she had a weird schedule and our days off weren’t the same. But about a week or so before we left, she came over for dinner one night and we really enjoyed her company. We were delighted to have her as a guest.

On Friday morning, Gaelyn, Lynda, Charlie, and I got up before dawn, and took off for “Q”. We got a primo parking spot and started looking at all the stuff. This show is huge. As in blocks and blocks of vendors, on both sides of the road.

One vendor had these awesome fossils.

Another had gigantic crystals. These are quartz. I love these but really have no where to put them so I only took pictures.

This is called desert rose. It is gorgeous!

The show was out in the desert at Tyson Wells. Look at that big ol saguaro cactus:

Oh My God! Look at all those beads! How do you chose just a few????

Then of course you have to have wire to make things with. We got silver and copper.

Another bead store. I got some nice Swarovsky crystals here, and some copper beads.

We walked around that show in the desert for 6 hours! We were all tired and dusty, and hungry. Here we are at lunch: Me in the pink sweatshirt, Lynda next to me, Charlie across the table, and Gaelyn beside Charlie. FabGrandpa had a cold and didn’t feel good, so he stayed at home. (better for me, to be able to buy what I wanted, hahahaha.)

And I was so excited when I got home that I made this necklace first. Yes, I got the idea from a magazine, but I did intrepret in a different way.

It was a great day. I had a lot of fun with my friends, and bought a lot of supplies to be able to make some pretty things. And we are going to another one next week. I can hardly wait!

0 Shares

I’m Getting Ahead Of Myself But I Gotta Show You This!

Karen · 8 Comments

I want to tell you about my visit from Gaelyn from Geogypsy, and how we went to the gem and mineral show in Quartzsite, but I am just too excited about the stuff we Lynda and I have been making that I am jumping ahead to show you:

I love pink things, and this here necklace is pink. It is made with rose quartz and glass and crystal beads. It turned out really good, better than I thought it would.

(click on the pictures to see them better)

This one is made with Chinese turquoise nuggets. I like to take old things apart and use the parts in new pieces, so the chain used in this necklace came from a junkstore find. It looks really good, too.

A few years ago, my mother-in-love, Nana, gave me some lessons in wire wrapping, (Thank you, Nana!) but I have not done much of it until now. I made the bracelet below with the green beads, then Lynda made the one with the purple beads. Mine turned out pretty good, except that the beads I used were too big so it made the overall bracelet too big. We are going to a wire wrapping class next week to learn how to do some other things, and we can hardly wait to go!

I bought these 18mm turquoise beads at the show, because I had an idea for a necklace in my head (yeah, that happens too much). I spent today making all those little curly links for a chain, then Lynda showed me how to make jump links, which is a pretty handy thing to know. I have been making each one separate, which is a major pain in the arse! But look how easy it is here:

And here you can see a little bit of the chain and how the beads look with it. And I put that tape measure in there so you see how big the beads are. It is going to be awesome!

0 Shares

A Drive To Wickenburg

Karen · 2 Comments

We had to drive over to Wickenburg the other day to pick up a prescription for FabGrandpa’s thyroid meds. It is about a 75 mile drive with some fantastic scenery along the way.

I loved this sign, out in the middle of nowhere, for a now defunct business:

In one of the tiny towns on the way, Aguila, Arizona, there was a flea market on the side of the road. We stopped to take a look. There was a produce vendor there with these great peppers:

Red, yellow, and orange bell peppers. All the peppers on a plate, one dollar:

Habaneros

Dried chilis:

More dried chilis:

And MORE dried chilis:

No wonder that southwestern food is so hot!

0 Shares

Lake Havasu City

Karen · 11 Comments

We left Parker and Parker Dam, and drove on up to Lake Havasu City. Our first stop in Lake Havasu City was at Basha, a grocery store, to pick up a few supplies to take home, and get some lunch. We all got some Chinese take out and ate it right there in the cafe. On the way out, we saw this:

That’s not something you see every day! They also had covered parking in the parking lot there, which is something I have never seen before. Of course, it does get really hot there in the summer, so I am sure that is why they have it.

I did not realize that Lake Havasu City is where they moved London Bridge! We drove over the bridge, then turned around and drove back over.

We were waiting for our friends, Terri and Rob, to call us and tell us where to meet them, so we went to Hastings, a book store, and hung around for a while. When they called us, the place where they wanted us to meet them was just on the other side of London Bridge. So, we drove over again.

Barley Brothers Brewery was the place. They make a coffee beer that FabGrandpa loves! He says it is just the right combination of caffeine and alcohol. See how dark that beer is? We ordered lunch and drinks, and had a wonderful time visiting with our friends.

I ordered the Grilled Salmon Cobb Salad. It was delish!

Lynda and Charlie ordered the nachos. They said it was very good, too.

We had such a good time with our friends. Here we all are, FabGrandpa, Rob, and Terri on the left; Charlie, Lynda, and me on the right. And you can see London Bridge right out the window.

0 Shares