Banana Pancakes

FOUR PAWS KINGDOM
Rutherfordton, NC 28139
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RV LIFE:

Not much going on except the wonderful change in the weather!!!!! Last week we had quite a bit of rain which seemed to help cool down the temps here in North Carolina. Today I actually wore a long sleeved shirt and was comfortable. 

I'm relaxing outside in my canvas chair with attached foot rest, with the laptop in my ....what else... LAP, as I enter another exciting, well maybe only interesting, well maybe only filling up space blog post. Maybe by the time I finish my glass of wine, my writing will blossom.

Scott made breakfast this morning. His first time making banana pancakes. Since I love banana pancakes, he asked me how to add the bananas. Should he slice and just put on top? Slice and mix in batter? Dice and mix in batter? Mush and incorporate into the batter? I said slice and mix in batter. Well he decided to dice and mix in batter. And why did he ask for my opinion?? After enjoying the pancakes even though they weren't to my preference,  Scott felt there wasn't enough banana taste. (Hate to say I told you so, but...) He will be experimenting again.

QUESTION FOR MY BLOG FOLLOWERS: 

What are your suggestions for how to add the bananas for Banana Pancakes?

I like them sliced and mixed in because you get chunks of banana taste and it still tastes like a regular pancake.  The sliced bananas soften up when the pancake is cooked and then after adding syrup onto the pancakes, there is a slight resemblance to BANANAS FOSTER!

Workamp: We continue to workamp. The bathrooms still need cleaning, the grass still needs cutting, the doggies still poop, so poop cans still need to be cleaned, etc. Like I've said before 2-3 hours of work for a free site and generous electric allowance is a good deal. We are saving a hell of a lot of money right now.

Workamp Crafts: I enjoyed sewing the curtains for the RV rental. Unfortunately, I talked them out of having me sew more curtains for the last RV rental unit. The blinds and curtains in their looked really nice. No need to fix what aint broke. But of course, I opened my mouth and said doggie print curtains would look so much cuter than plain yellow curtains that are presently in the cabins. Soooo, I will be sewing some updated curtains for the cabins. Yeah! I will also probably be finishing off some neck soother pillows that Birgit started, but hasn't gotten around to finishing. Because Birgit does not enjoy sewing and I do, and have been enthusiastically finishing the sewing projects, she gifted me with some doggie fabric she had. She had pulled out a who slew of different fabric and I was immediately drawn to the fabric with brown and black dogs and some greenery. Upon closer look, that is a Setter on that fabric! The colors will go great in our RV. Thank you Birgit for the Setter fabric!!!!

Workamp Nature: Who needs to go hiking when I can see all kinds of wildlife right here at Four Paws while I'm working!

As I walk out of the RV to head to our morning meeting for assignment, I see a beautiful butterfly.

While sweeping the dog grooming area (yes Four Paws has 2 grooming tables for your convenience), I see this chunky fellow and he refuses to move. I just sweep around him.

While sweeping the deck I see

and

The only wildlife I can identify fully is the last. That is a Blue Tailed Skink! Of course I had to google search to figure that out. The tail is blue to throw off predators. The predators will go for the obvious bright blue tail.  The Skink can live without and regenerate the tail. But if it's head were blue, then he'd be a goner!

Scanning memories:

Still scanning photographs. Any idea what this is a photo of below???

That's a photo of ME! I'm very photogenic, don't you think? I worked for the Post Office for 32 years. This is during my first few few years at the "annex". I worked midnights. This is how I spent my lunch 1/2 hour.

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FOOD REVIEW:

Pumpkin Roll: Back when we were in NJ (specifically Pennsville) in August, my sweet hubby (who has not mentioned my weight gain from age 50 to present), picked up an ARIANNA'S PUMPKIN ROLL  for "us", mostly me. We've had some delicious Pumpkin Whoopie Pies while in PA and in ME, so we were hoping to have our expectations met...and they were. Absolutely delicious!!!!!

It was a pumpkin sponge cake, so it was not very dense. But perfect combo of spices and sweetness. The cream cheese icing swirled inside was thick, not too sweet and enough cream cheese that you could really taste that it was in there. I hate to even mention this, but there was almost ALMOST, too much icing. I would love to have a slice right now. Unfortunately, they only distribute somewhat locally and are located in New Holland, PA. For anyone in PA, their site states this can be found at Redner's and Stauffer's.

Breakfast sausage: Besides Banana Pancakes, Scott also cooked up some JIMMY DEAN FULLY COOKED MAPLE BREAKFAST SAUSAGE LINKS. 

I can see me craving these. I plan to make a "PLATE LUNCH", well, more of a "plate breakfast"with this sausage. While vacationing in Hawaii, we discovered the local joints that served the popular "Plate Lunches". This usually consists of a pile of white rice, with some kind of sausage or spam and another meat all in a Styrofoam container. I will be filling a bowl with basmati rice, pieces of this breakfast sausage, a couple of over easy eggs and maybe a drizzle of maple syrup. Yum!

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PETS:
BURLINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. –  A beagle named Brandi survived a 70-foot fall from a New Jersey bridge.
The dog got away from its owner during a walk along the Burlington Riverfront Promenade Friday night.
Bridge officer Rob Bittner saw Brandi walking up the Burlington-Bristol Bridge toward Pennsylvania.
Bittner tells The Courier-Post of Cherry Hill he turned on his emergency lights to slow traffic and followed the dog. Bittner says Brandi was doing fine until she got to the top of the span and her paws felt a steel grate.
The officer says Brandi jumped into the Delaware River as motorists tried to grab her.
The beagle's owner recovered her and took her to a veterinarian. Brandi was bruised around the abdomen, but didn't have any broken bones.Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/09/20/beagle-survives-70-foot-fall-from-new-jersey-bridge/?intcmp=trending#ixzz271igev4Z

The Lunch I didn't have...Sigh.

FOUR PAWS KINGDOM

Rutherfordton, NC 28139

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RV LIFE:
Workamping: We've been having a lot of rain the past few days, so we usually don't work on rainy days. But things do need to be done eventually. So today we went back to work. Scott just had to do some spray painting of primer in the "shed", which really is a huge garage/barn. I was back to sewing curtains. Now I'm comfortable with Birgit's machine, I've already made a couple of sets of curtains, I'm more relaxed.  I put on my headphones and listen to a book on tape while sewing. This is work??? Yes, it's still work because it takes up my personal time, but it is enjoyable work. Because I was enjoying sewing, I stayed well past my two hour "requirement". I wanted to finish the curtains. Because I was staying longer, I was at the office through lunch time. Since Meik and Birgit are from Germany, they eat dinner at lunch time. And since Meik is a chef, he cooks wonderful dinners for Birgit and once in a while for his workampers, and also caters dinners for the campground guests.
Since I was working longer than necessary, Meik brought me out a portion of their dinner. I was excited! Meik is a great cook! His sauces are wonderful. Here he comes! He brings a plate full of ...oh how exciting...it looks like an Asian dish. I love Chinese food!!!! He bends over like a waiter and the dish is in front of me, nose level. (Can you tell I love food??) I don't want to make a fool of myself by bouncing up & down in my chair with joy at this unexpected treasure of wonderfully prepared food. As Meik is explaining what he made, I get a closer look. He's pointing at an ingredient. OOOOOOOH NOOOOOOOOO!
It's shrimp! Most people would say Oh Yes, it's Shrimp. I LOVE shrimp! But alas, if I want to continue on workamping, full time RV'ing, and living, I have to refuse this wonderful dish. I'm allergic to shrimp.

So back to Meik who seems to be enjoying explaining how he made this shrimp dish and my mind is just a blank. I've got to tell him I can't eat it.  It would be better if it was something I didn't like (which isn't much). I could at least take it and force it down. But if I eat shrimp, I could very well be down myself for the final count.
Of course Meik feels bad, I feel bad, Birgit feels bad. I hate being allergic to shrimp. One, because I love shrimp and two because I have to be picky about what I eat and I don't like picky eaters.
So Meik takes the plate away, he apologizes, I apologize. No apologies needed for either. But we both feel bad for putting the other in this situation. It's neither one of our faults.
As a compensation, Birgit brings out a huge slice of her Pear cake. Yummy, but I sure would have liked to have eaten a Meik creation.
So that is the lunch I didn't have. Sigh.

Weather: I have been enjoying the rain. I like being cozy all snuggled under an afghan on these days. Rainy days also get Scott & I in the mood for.....
                                                     No, not "that"!
                                                                                          Watching movies.
We watched a double feature. First was a cute movie called Our Idiot Brother. We both thought it would be ridiculously stupid. Why Scott even rented it with that in mind, who knows except Scott. But it really was entertaining without being utterly stupid. The brother is just a sweet, simple guy who takes life's challenges and just deals with it. He see's the world in a simpler way and gets himself and others in trouble with his complete honesty.
2nd feature was The Expendables I. I tried to watch The Expendables I, but I eventually lost interest. It was fun seeing action movie actors now past their prime, but once I got my fill, I was done. I will not be watching The Expendables II.

Purging: I took 3 or 4 tubs of photo albums out of our storage unit in NJ and stuffed them into our RV. I've been scanning and scanning and scanning: This is something I wanted to do when we still had a stick house, but of course with working, etc. there was never time. I have a lot of free time with this full time RV lifestyle. If you are a person that gets bored easily, this may not be the life for you. I spend a lot of time on the computer, reading and crafting. That fills my days just fine.
While on the computer, in between reading everyone's blogs, I've been scanning photos in these, bulky tubs that are made heavy from the photos.

Full tub of photos

Another full tub of photos

After effect of scanning

I still have 1.5 tubs to go. And yes, I am throwing out the photos after scanning. Scott better get my back up working.
My thought process is: If we were to have a fire and everything was destroyed, what would I do. I can't do anything about the lost items, so I would just have to move on. Photos used to be so precious to me. Now, not so much. I'm enjoying reviewing them, and there are many memories. But really, how often do we look at our photos? It is very freeing AFTER you do your purging. It's difficult, but ahhhhh, so much less "stuff" to think about.
So I will probably add an old photo here and there of good and bad memories as I continue scanning.
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PETS:
Four Paws had a photographer come in to take doggie portraits. It was $35.00 for a 20 minute session, which was between 40-50 photos taken. No hard copies, but we received a disc of all the photos.
It was a dreary day and at times there was a downpour. The "studio" was set up under the pavilion, but that is still outside. The wind & rain blew into the pavilion and some of her equipment (not cameras) got soaked. She was a trooper though. Thank you SAY CHEESE PHOTOGRAPHY, for the photos!
Here's a sampling:

 Yes, I purposely keep Devin's hair that way. It fits his personality. Lyla's hair would also do the same, but she is too pretty for that silly mop of a hairdo, so I clip down her head for a smooth, sleek, elegant look.
Stay tuned for an exciting update to Devin's bristle head.

Both dogs were very well behaved. Devin completely blew us away for how GOOD he was being. He stayed calmly in place, sat when we said, laid down when we said, stayed when we let go of the leash. There is hope for this silly boy!!!