Oasis - Ohio State and Hummers

Drank my coffee this morning watching the Ohio State Game and noticed that the Hummers were real active on the feeders, so grabbed my camera, listened and watch the game and snapped some Hummer pics, beautiful morning on the patio!

Had to take a pic of my solar silk flowers the light was perfect...

On to the Hummers!!!

Love this one...

Big O won a great game and dominated most of the time - 38-7!!!

Big transition at the park this week, we go back to winter hours, so longer days and our Snowbirds begin arriving.

Should be a great season in the park!!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

Oasis Update - Sept 2019

Due to the heat and summer weather, I have been hiding indoors and have been neglecting the forward progress of the Oasis. The new furniture I purchased was stored and this past week I finally spent some time and put it together. I also found some really interesting solar flower lights and tried a few out, then ordered more to fill my flower pots which yielded one weed all summer, even though I had bought wild flower seeds and watered and nurtured dirt and rocks all summer...these look nice right out of the box!

I bought two more bar height swivel chairs for my new table.

I now have 5 of these regular sling chairs...

The patio looks nice when lit up at night...

The flowers are an interesting addition and look better than the empty pots...

Love my Oasis Bar sign!

I am getting ready to take a little time off, and with a little luck head north to Salt Lake City, Beaverhead River in Dillon, MT and on up to Kalispell to get the Mitsubishi registered and a visit with Jimbo...leave on October 2 and return in about 2-3 weeks.

By the time I return some of my winter friends will be arriving and the Oasis will be getting put to use!

Stay Tuned!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

Oasis - New Furniture

Furniture Upgrade at the Oasis...

I was not terribly happy with the original furniture I purchased for the Oasis and by chance found some different furniture, although more expensive of course but I like it much better and hopefully will hold up well in the desert sun.

I also found the perfect sign!

You will note it was 6:40 in the evening and still over 90 degrees, but quite comfortable under the ceiling fan and solar shield trellis!

The perfect spot to spend the evening watching some hockey and enjoying a cold PBR!

I got a new tall bar height table and two chairs - two more on the way!

Wanted to make sure I was happy with them before ordering more!

I also ordered six regular height chairs to match!

Surprisingly these are very reasonably priced at Home Depot and they deliver - $39.96 for two, which is under $20.00 a chair!

I have ordered two more of the tall chairs, they are comfortable and match the other chairs and will work at the table or at the bar!

LINKS - Several people have requested links to the items I purchased...

Table and chairs - Amazon!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079QW5FLP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Chairs - Home Depot

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-Bay-Mix-and-Match-Brown-Stackable-Sling-Outdoor-Dining-Chair-in-Cafe-2-Pack-KTS677K-CAFE/306038664

Stay tuned - I have a wonderful prime Rib Roast in the freezer calling my name and will very soon be a wonderful dinner on the patio!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

So Long Good Friends - Seafood Fest

I have been craving some Florida Stone Crabs for a long time...finally decided to order some to be flown in and thought why not have a special seafood dinner for some of my departing Snowbirds...it is always a sad time as I watch our Snowbird crowd depart the park.

All of our regulars are special, but there are a few who really contribute to the success of the park and I wanted to show a little extra appreciation.

We started off with some cold appetizers for Social Hour - cold stone crab with mustard sauce or warm butter, fresh shrimp cocktail with cocktail sauce, I am pretty sure it was all a huge hit - Lori Prestwood camped out in front of the stone crabs and enjoyed a feast, everyone else had to get permission to take one or two...we have now determined Lori loves crab! I wish I would have taken a picture of Lori in front of the crab dish...

Stone Crab on Ice

Ready to serve!

Fresh Gulf Shrimp on Ice

After all the stone crabs were consumed, we turned to the kitchen, I saute'd some shrimp and scallops in a butter garlic sauce and Stephen and Jessica Dotson prepared some fresh asparagus and angel hair pasta, Lori had some left over fresh garlic bread in the kitchen and I had made some Hush Puppies, plates were prepared and we all enjoyed a delicious meal.

No Pictures I was too busy eating!!

Several people brought some dessert and everyone left full!!

Still a few of us left through April so the fun continues!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

King of the Hammers 2019

We had a cold start this morning temp was 29 degrees when I got up this morning early to open the park and then head for Johnson Valley and the King of the Hammers Race.

Frost on the truck bed cover...

Every year Hammertown expands bigger and bigger...

The Course - 3 laps the winner took 6.3 hours to finish.

Big crowd at Chocolate Thunder the canyon where I usually go to watch...

For some reason this year they reversed the track through the Chocolate Thunder Canyon, so I was a little upset as the spot we normally view from was now the end of the canyon rather than the beginning and the entrance through the rocks was by passed this year, so not nearly as exciting to watch...wish we would have know, maybe could have picked another spot to view from, sadly with more and more people getting a good spot almost requires going the night before and nailing a spot down before the crowd.

I managed a few good pictures...

The cars are amazing and an engineering marvel...

That's not a stock Jeep under there...

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

Were they good - Yes they were!

Bacon Wrapped Scallops with an butter garlic-scallion cream sauce

The other day when unpacking some totes to find software disks to load in my new laptop - I discovered a long lost treasure, my scallop shells which I use to serve one of my specialties, so I decided it was time to cook up some scallops, which I love.

Shells

Scallops typically are mostly tasteless unless they are old then real fishy, but fresh or freshly frozen are sweet and need a good sauce to bring out the flavor of the scallop.

My favorite is a fresh butter garlic/scallion cream sauce with a little kicker of pepper and chili powder. So crushed chopped garlic in a small sauce pan with a stick of good salted butter and some finely chopped green onions - simmer in the melted butter then put a tablespoon of flour in a few ounces of cold milk or cream - shake briskly to dissolve the flour then slowly stir into the sauce pan of butter and garlic - stir until it thickens. Add some fresh ground pepper to taste and some chili powder or cayenne pepper to add a little bite.

Bacon wrapped scallop under the broiler for about 15 minutes each side - turn once until bacon is crisp!

Spoon some sauce in the serving shell and then add the scallops and spoon some more sauce on top.

What a great presentation!

Shared in the clubhouse with rave reviews while watching the College Football Championship - YEA CLEMSON!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest