After giving myself a little kick in the butt I bundled up and went fishing.  (Bundling was necessary due to unusually cold and windy weather.)  I decided to try one of Tom’s lures instead of the spinners we had been using and was able to catch a sunfish.  It was large enough to eat but at Brialee all fish are catch and release except for trout. 

After fishing I headed back to the camper for a lunch of Pita pizza and salad made with arugula, mizuna and radishes from our CSA.  With my usual toppings of craisins and walnuts I was pleasantly surprised.  Could it be . . .  I was eating weeds (mizuna) and enjoying it.  Only a few weeks ago I was wondering what the heck it was.

Earlier I had told my husband that I wouldn’t venture away from the campground, but after such an awesome lunch I couldn’t resist.  Logan and I took a 2 hour walk on the Nipmuck trail.  We walked through some really beautiful woods, and with the exception of some fallen trees the trail was in great shape.  We didn’t see a soul during our hike and it really seemed like we were truly alone.

While we were hiking I was eying every rock formation, rock wall and hollow tree looking for likely hiding places for geocaches.  I didn’t have the GPS but figured I’d see if I could spy any tupperware containers.  I thought I spotted an ammo can on the top of some rocks, but when we got closer I saw that it was a cast iron pot.  For the life of me I can’t guess why that might be out there over an hour away from any trailhead.  No backpacker would be carrying anything so heavy. 

Did you know that carrying an iron pan while hiking for an hour is great exercise?  LOL  I wonder if my arms are going to be tired tomorrow.  When I got home I scrubbed off as much rust as I could with a magic eraser.  (It’s the best tool I could come up with).  After it was reasonably clean I coated it with cooking oil and “cooked” it in our charcoal grill for 2 hours.  It actually looks pretty good now, but still feels rough.  Maybe later this week I’ll try to cook in it. 

I tried my hand at fishing again and managed to catch a small perch, but like this morning I had to throw it back.  It’s a good thing I had a trout in the freezer from last week.  For dinner I fried up the trout and some home fries.  Not the healthiest of meals, but it was fresh and home made.

As I sit here typing this the sun is setting and the temperature is dropping.  It’s suppose to get down to 30 degrees tonight.  I’m not looking forward to the late night and early morning potty breaks for Logan.  Somehow the nighttime makes being alone a little more scary.  For those of you who live alone I salute you it’s not easy.

It was over an hour ride to Wallingford for my first soccer game of the season.  Despite my concerns about my current physical condition I managed to do alright and had a great time.  The weather today was in the 80’s (Very unusual far April) and playing in this heat was a bit of the shock to the system, but I survived and enjoyed the air conditioning in the truck on the ride back to the campground.

After a nap Tom and I did some fishing.  Tom managed to catch another trout, but I came up empty handed.  The fish wasn’t quite big enough to make a meal for both of us, so after cleaning we put it in the freezer until we catch some more.

We did quite a bit of “camp” cooking today.  Hot dogs and corn on the cob for lunch.  Grilled chicken and baked potatoes for lunch.  It definitely takes more time to cook over the open fire, but then again what else do we have to do?

As it turned out they only fill tanks between noon and 4 PM and it was already almost 7:00.  The forecast predicted temps in the 30s that night so we wanted to make sure that we didn’t run out propane.  As it was we didn’t know how we went through so much gas the weekend before.

We planned on running the electric heater as well as the furnace and trying out the electric mattress pad.  We soon encountered 2 problems.  Simultaneously running the space heater and the mattress pad popped the breaker that also controlled the fridge.  So obviously the mattress pad was out.  We went to bed with the space heater directed up into the bedroom.  This was the cause of miserable sleepless night.  The heat from the space heater was directed towards the thermostat which kept the furnace from running. 

I managed to get a few restless hours of sleep by curling up into a fetal position but I gave up at 6:00 am and looked forward to a miserable day.

My mood soon turned as soon as I was out for my morning walk with the dogs.  It was turning out to be a glorious day.  Within 5 minutes of setting out my jacket was tied around my waist and I decided to set off into the woods to find the elusive trail around the campground.  Upon returning from the walk I soon discovered why we had used so much propane the week before.  The water heater was running on gas instead of electricity.  It turns out that we should shut off the breaker to the electric element when we are not using it or it burn out the element.  Neither of us remember the sales person telling us this. 

It turned out to be a perfect day for camping.  I managed to find one of the trails that circled the campground and brought both dogs for a walk that included making many new friends.  It never ceases to amaze me how my dogs attract so much attention from kids as well as adults.  I also took the plunge and jumped on the bike with Logan trotting next to me.  I didn’t hook him up to the harness because I wanted more control so I had him on his “choker”.  Except for one hairy incident when another dog came out after us he did great and jogged the whole time.

Tom tried his hand at fishing a couple of times but came up empty.  I was too tired to do the campfire thing and retired early.  We made sure the water heater was off, turned off the space heater and enjoyed the heated mattress pad.    AHHHHH

After a quick glance at my CSA share I decided to bring scallions and potatoes with us camping this weekend.

Saturday night I cleaned and sliced scallions and used them as topping for tacos.  I had grated a bit too much cheddar so I saved that as well for breakfast in the morning.

Since we woke up this morning to a steady rain it was the perfect time to cook a hearty breakfast.  I made home fries with the potatoes and scallions seasoning them with salt, pepper and paprika.  Once they were done I made an omelet with cheese and the rest of the scallions.

As I sit here listening to the rain on the roof of the trailer my stomach is very happy.

Did I mention that I love getting any type of onion in my share, because I can throw then in anything.  Yum.

Because we arrived so late we snacked on cheese, crackers and pepperoni so we could relax for a bit before unpacking, cooking dinner etc.  After our snack I took the dogs for a quick walk on the trail by the dog beach.  Hopefully tomorrow we’ll be able to finds the entrance to some more trails.  I’m pleased with how quickly the dogs are adapting to camping out.  There was very little barking from Logan tonight and none at all from Buffy.  As I am typing this they are both asleep.  Buffy in Logan’s large bed of course, and Logan lying by my feet.

Tomorrow is pirate day and they have many activities for the kids and a pot luck lunch for all.  I boiled up some eggs at home and plan on bringing deviled eggs.  besides the pot luck we haven’t made any plans yet.

Shockingly it’s 10:00 PM on a Friday night and I believe I’m actually stress free.  This is practically a miracle

.

Today for lunch I have a salad with the boston lettuce and a bit of mizuna. I have a couple of ideas for cooking the mizuna and will give one of them a try today or tomorrow.

Zuppa Toscana
Ingredients:
1 (16 ounce) package smoked sausage
2 potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch slices
3/4 cup chopped onion
6 slices bacon
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic 2 cups kale – washed, dried, and
shredded
2 tablespoons sodium free chicken bouillon powder
1 quart water
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Layer the sausage links onto a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes, or until done. Cut in half length-wise, then cut at an angle into 1/2 inch slices.
3. Place onions and bacon in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until onions are almost clear.
4. Remove bacon and crumble. Set aside.
5. Add garlic to the onions and cook an additional 1 minute. Add chicken base or bouillon, water, and potatoes, simmer 15 minutes.
6. Add crumbled bacon, sausage, kale, and cream. Simmer 4 minutes and serve

On a whim I signed up for their spring CSA program.  Only a couple of weeks ago I had never heard of a CSA and here I am now shelling out a couple hundred bucks for 10 weeks of veggies.  I don’t know if we’ll like it enough to continue in the summer, but I thought we would give it a try.

I’ll be the first person to admit I wasn’t even sure what two of the items I received were.  A quick call to Erin identified the white and red swiss chard.  (I am trying that tonight for the first time).  – but she wasn’t sure what the spicy tasting bunch of leaves were.  A look a their web site has a photo that identifies this bunch of leaves as mizuna.  That frankly isn’t much of a help, as I’m still not sure what to do with it.  I mean beside throw a bit of it into my salads, but we have too much of it to use up in that manner.  Who knows perhaps I’ll find out it’s not mizuna after all.

I’ll be cooking up the swiss chard soon.  Wish me luck!

I found a light weight 5th wheel trailer that my husband said our truck would have no problem towing.  It was quite a search, because only having a 1/2 ton pick up truck our options were very limited when it comes to towing capacity.  Unfortunately we we never able to put the truck to the test because of suspension problems and the camper is now currently sitting at the dealership in SC where we purchased it.  You can see the offending truck in the picture.

  The dealership towed it over to an ocean front site while they were installing the hitch in the truck.  When they brought the truck to the campground and hitched the trailer up the truck immediately bottomed out.  Luckily we were able to enjoy a few days of beautiful weather next to a beautiful beach.

The trailer is in fairly good condition for a 2004 model needing mostly cosmetic fixes.  Read that as ugly upholstery.  One quick change I did make while we were there was to replace what looked like the original shower curtain from 2004. (complete with years of crud).  YUK!  Next I plan to get rid of the cheap mirror in the bathroom.  Who really wants to look at themselves when they are peeing?  Or perhaps men do enjoy that.  There are plenty of other mirrors so that one can go. My husband is putting airbags on the truck to beef up the suspension and we are planning on taking the drive sown to SC next month to hopefully bring the beast home.

I was quickly drawn into the story and soon realized that this was the type of novel that could easily make me call in sick so I could finish it in one day.  I fought the urge and  ended up taking almost 2 weeks to read.  Not that the book was that long mind you, I was just that busy.

The book had all the makings of an action movie , but I overlooked that and thoroughly enjoyed the book.  (It had a bit too much unnecessary roughness)

We’re going on a fourteen hour drive in a couple of weeks and I picked up a Jeffery Deaver audio book.  I hope this one is just as good because we have alot of hours to fill 

I have to say that although they didn’t pass, the improvement in their dogs was incredible.  I think they improved much more than the rest of us.  I was there with Logan to hone his obedience skills in a distraction filled environment, but they were there just leaning these exercises.    I know at least one of the owners was going to take the class again – so maybe we have another “dog person” joining our midst.

The reason I don’t care about this title is because for me it’s a level of training so far below what my dog is capable of and what we are striving to achieve.  I DO think that all pets should be trained to this level.  It’s too bad that this can’t be made mandatory.

On a side note  – I was reading another trainer’s blog today and she was explaining the best way to teach your dog not to jump up on you in greeting.  First off let me say that I don’t believe that there is ever a one size fits all way to train.  you have to take into account the temperament of each dog.  (and owner)

This person recommended the turn your back method.  This brought back memories from Logan’s first night of puppy class.  The trainer was there with her 2 year old dog that kept jumping on her for attention.  She kept demonstrating the turn your back method, but the dog still jumped on her many more times.  This was a 2 year old dog.  Are you kidding me, My dogs learn not to jump up from the day they are brought into the house.  If he were to jump up now at age 10 months you better believe he would get a correction.  I’m sure telling the kids in the neighborhood to turn their backs if my 80 lb. puppy jumped on them would work.  Give me a break.

With all that said, now we just need to figure out how we compromise.  Do we buy something that is “good enough”, or hold out and save for a few more years to get exactly what we want.  The good thing is that trailers depreciate quickly, and by the time we are ready to purchase we may be able to pick up the same camper for a substantial savings.

The trailer is just the first part, we do have the issue that our biggest vehicle is a Hyundai Accent.  LOL  We currently have 2 car loans and we can not afford to get a third.  To get around that we are discussing getting a seasonal spot for a couple of years until we can afford to get a pickup truck.  My husband refuses to get an SUV, but that is another story.

So for now I’ll have to see how much money we can try to save before next spring, and research some campgrounds that are close enough to drive to on  regular basis.