Sunday Funday and Monday Morning

Yesterday, against my expectations, turned out to be a beautiful day on the water with friends. The water that seemed would be too cold turned out to be just some more beautiful, after the initial shock of it. Because I was so cold in the morning, chili seemed like the thing to make, using some ground beef from some friends butchered cow from Connecticut that was brought down frozen awhile back (thanks, Jim and Lorraine!).

MJ's chili

1 lb. ground beef
1 large can red kidney beans
2 medium or one large onion, minced
2 leaves racao (or regular cilantro), minced
1 barely there dash of cinammon
1 head of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon chipotle powder (or any hot pepper of your choice, I like the smokiness of chipotles)
2 large cans whole tomatoes (use fresh if you've got them, that's what I had on hand)
1 medium can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
Salt to taste
Shredded cheddar cheese / chopped onions optional
(no more cheese for the photo, sorry!)

Brown the beef - because this beef was so lean, I used about 2 tablespoons of some bacon fat I had in the fridge to help it along - and sauté the onions. Toss in the rest of it and let it cook on a very low heat as long as you can (don't be silly, two hours is enough, 4 is better!) Buen provecho!

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We've been having splendid weather lately. I thought Spring had up and sprung, but we're back to warm without being too warm days and lovely sleeping weather. When I say I'm cold, I'm really not complaining at all, it's a novelty and makes sleeping wonderful! It's just a bit of a shock to a very warm weather acclimated me.

The clouds were amazing. At one point, we saw this cloud that looked exactly like
a woman's face in profile., a woman with her hair in a bun and a rather severe mouth.
She morphed into Samuel Clements, keeping us entertained for at least 7 minutes. 

I know it's really hard to tell, but this is a big ray who swam around us for awhile.

Most of the star fish have left, but this guy has stayed around for now

This morning's sunrise. Oh glory!

We were sitting chatting when we noticed that the area where the fire was the other day had started up again. We debated heading up there but it seemed the smoke was waning and it would be a good 45 minutes or more before we'd actually be there. So we made a few calls instead for others closer to get up there to help the bomberos and home owners. I'm not sure what started this one up, either smoldering embers or whether it was a new fire. Either way, it seemed to be gotten under control fairly quickly (never quickly enough if you are there). Please please please! Even a car's muffler can start a fire when it is so dry here, so take care where you are driving, and what you do with any potential fire starting materials. 

By the way, it's President's Day, happy birthday George! It was obviously a holiday, made clear this morning when there was plenty of parking in town! I'm not sure what is open or closed except the schools. The PO doesn't answer the phone, so they may or may not be open; I'd guess not but I'm not sure. 

Have a memorable birthday for George W. party Monday! Do something honestly meaningful.