Enjoying the View

I was so amazed when I woke up this morning, I couldn't get back to sleep knowing what beautiful pictures might be slipping through my fingers at this time of morning. It was about 6:45 a.m. (maybe even 7) and the sun was hitting the van so perfect that I could not resist the temptation to get up and get some awesome pics! I got out of the van and headed down...down the slippery rocks. I am not too much for preparation when pictures are at risk! I had on my 'jammers and a pair of shoes I call my California's...I wasn't planning on a full-on hike through scratchy prickly bushes. I headed down the rocks thinking they were going to be easy to get down, then I remembered I'm a bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to heights and falling.

[caption id="attachment_566" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Maybe should have worn different shoes[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_568" align="aligncenter" width="225"] ...and maybe some pants![/caption]

I was afraid to sit down anywhere because there are little nooks and crannies everywhere and I just knew as soon as I sat down there was going to be something waiting down there for me, to bite me on the tooshie!

[caption id="attachment_567" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Sleepy eyes not liking my idea[/caption]

I sat down for a short second and jumped down into the bushes.... I'm so brave! haha It was so neat though once I got down to the bottom to look up at Joon Van in all of her morning glory.

[caption id="attachment_569" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Finally at the bottom...well worth it[/caption]

The sun was in the most perfect spot and all I could do was snap away. I kept moving back further and further to get better views and vantage points, our new spot rocks... a little bit of a pun there. As I started thinking about how I was going to get back to the top it dawned on me I really had nowhere to go. There are just these crazy spiky tree bushes everywhere, I did not wear the right thing for this at all, and I have nowhere to go but up...oops! I trekked my way around and around, always trying to keep sight of the van...

[caption id="attachment_575" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Barely...but I can still see her[/caption]

I am sooooo crazy scared about getting lost out here it's ridiculous. I finally found a little path and found my way out, woo hoo. I just had to walk back about 5 minutes to the van but I came out at a place that I actually recognized...weird! So here are some pics from my glorious shoot or so I think.

[caption id="attachment_571" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Up on our perch[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_572" align="aligncenter" width="300"] LOVE the sky in this one[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_576" align="aligncenter" width="300"] How razzamatastic is this tree?[/caption]

After I found my way back to camp, I  cleaned the outside of the windows, hopped in the van, cleaned the inside of the windows from snot face (Savannah) and took a few pics of what it looks like from where I lay and what I get to wake up to. Here are some of those...

[caption id="attachment_580" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Nugget nuzzled in bed[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_578" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Mo'nin' Yawnin'[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_579" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Savannah can hunt from here![/caption]

The rest of the day I messed around and fancied up The Lulu Lounge a little bit, I had to move it all together because it was in a spot where we needed space to be able to maneuver Joon Van in and out of the new spot. I tried tuning Claramae a bit, got really frustrated so what better thing to do....I took some pictures. At least if I can't play it right now I'll have plenty of pictures of what she looks like! haha

[caption id="attachment_581" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Frustrated....[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_582" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The New Lulu Lounge[/caption]

 I also found my Angel cards so I did a couple of readings. I don't care what anybody says when I need a little bit of guidance or just some reassurance I lay out my cards and they always seem to be spot on. I've done them for many people and they always have the same response as I do, they love them and want to do them again and again.

[caption id="attachment_583" align="aligncenter" width="300"] My 1st reading[/caption]

 It was a pretty good day, I have to say. One of these days I'll get this guitar tuned so I can actually learn to do something...other than (try to) tune it! ha

Hope ya'll had a peaceful joyous day. Catch ya on the flip side.

PEACE

Strummin' the guitar and the grill

The last few days have been pretty calm (& calming). We are finishing up the last of our "cold food" i.e. meat & cheese. I tell you what, I am becoming quite the grill master out here. I don't know how some of these woman (& men) have a full-on work schedule, family schedule, whatever other schedule and still have time to cook well rounded meals for their families. It takes me all day just to decide and figure out how to cook the damn thing, then I actually have to do it! Just yesterday it took me about 4 hours to figure out what to do with these pork chops. I don't think I've ever cooked/grilled a pork chop in my life and being out here you don't have everything at your beck and call, so you have to be creative. I got creative all right, after all of that research and many forums later, I put my own spin on some of the dishes that were recommended and I think I did a swell job! I marinaded the chops in honey, soy sauce, a lil' bit of brown sugar and some garlic salt for about 2 hours and then grilled 'em up. I just added some corn which I tried to make it taste like corn on the cob (but not on the cob) with butter and salt and stuff but it just tasted like regular corn to me. I also made a side "salad" of tomatoes and avocado with some seasonings on it mostly for J', he doesn't really dig tomatoes and I LOVE them so I had to do something for him to eat his veggies! The plate was so full of food it seemed like we weren't very far from civilization at all...I did good!

[caption id="attachment_537" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Honey Soy Chops, Corn & Toma-Cado Salad...Yummm[/caption]

Other than researching and cooking one good solid meal a day, I've been trying to spend more and more time on Claramae. Some days I think I have it and some days I can't even seem to tune her . To say the least it's frustrating but I can't expect to be Numero Uno right off the bat, it just doesn't work that way with guitar.I'll learn it...someday!

[caption id="attachment_540" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Me & my girl[/caption]

I just have to remind myself that I have to practice at least 15 minutes a day or until my fingers start hurting 'til I can't play anymore or I won't get any better.  I've got a ton of support from my friends and family (most of them do play guitar) so it's nice to have encouragement from so far away. Love ya'll!

[caption id="attachment_541" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Fire Fingers[/caption]

Tonight I made our last savory meal...Top Round Sirloin, not the best steak out there but cheap enough for us to have steak in the woods...works for this girl! I marinated the steak in Jack Daniels BBQ sauce with a bit of salt and pepper and some Montreal Steak Seasoning for about an hour. I put our trusty onion, potato and mushrooms in a foil packet, seasoned and grilled those babies up. I also made some spinach that I didn't think was going to come out any better than it was in the can...but once again I surprised myself. I drained the spinach (into Savannah's bowl of course, she needs her greens too!), I put in some salt pepper, garlic salt, butter buds (my new best friend), a packet of Stevia to cut the bitterness and a couple of slices of cheese (the last ones). I served up the plates and voila dinner was a success yet again!

[caption id="attachment_539" align="aligncenter" width="300"] BBQ Sirloin, taters onions & shrooms with the best spinach in town![/caption]

The spinach was a hit, J' LOVED it and told me to remember what I did so I could keep making it, that never gets said about canned spinach! Patting myself on the back...haha I cooked dinner so late that right after dinner we just packed it up for the night and came in. We're gonna watch a little boob tube and then J' will go to sleep and I will lay there trying to fall asleep for the next 7 hours....fun stuff! Insomnia can suck it, haha

[caption id="attachment_538" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Our sunset in Joon Van's eyes[/caption]

Have a groovy night and hopefully your bellies are as full as ours tonight!

PEACE

Yeah, yeah I smell what you're steppin' in

Well the heat is finally giving us a little bit of a break, phew. Now I know why I was always at the beach growing up...it's just nice there: sunny, breezy, surfin' it up, chillin' with your buds....ahhh. Today I planned on getting some things done mainly I needed to fix one of our toilet problems and I desperately wanted to spend some time with Claramae. I was all pumped full of motivation since my talk with my friend yesterday about guitar so I was going to put some of my new found knowledge to the test. I wanted to fix the stank problem of our toilet too. We have been using this freshener type deal to keep the toilet from stinking so damn bad but we both had a bit of a problem with it touching our butts every time we sat on the toilet! haha We took it off and threw it away thinking we could bare the smell until we could find another solution. Yeah, that lasted about two full days until I felt like I was going to throw up every time the lid was lifted. Thank goodness we had one more freshener left out of the packet of two...I had to solve this problem! I thought if maybe the freshener hung down low enough (to not touch the booty) but not low enough for anything else to touch it (ewww, I know) it would work out. Out here in da woods you find very creative ways to do things, so I found some paper clips & some pliers and started on my creative journey! I only had two paper clips so I had to be smart about this. I unbent the paper clips wrapped them around the plunger and each other then around the freshener, rolled up the metal, tweaked it here and there and voila... we now have a low hanging (not too low though) potty freshener. Oh what a wonderful thing this is! No more stankiness in the van at night woo hoo. It really is the little things people!

[caption id="attachment_524" align="aligncenter" width="225"] My handiness at its best[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_525" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Booty Fresh[/caption]

 After my creative achievement I unzipped Claramae so we could play together! Every time I see her I can't believe she's all mine, she's just so pretty. I can't wait to be able to play on her more than 20 minutes.

[caption id="attachment_527" align="aligncenter" width="225"] My sweet Claramae[/caption]

I tried to do the things that my friend and I talked about and some tabs he showed me but after about 10 minutes of pure frustration from not knowing how to read them I just went back to the videos I have that are already on my computer. After my fingers started hurting like mad, I stopped for the day and texted Tyler (my guitar friend) to ask him about the tabs. He sent me some pics with finger placement so I will be trying these out in the next few days. Thank goodness for friends, especially musically inclined friends! I'll let you know how the progress goes...hopefully the motivation keeps up!

Toodle-ooo for now my friends

PEACE