Rio Pizza

Check out this brick igloo. It's a rolling wood-fired pizza oven.

I wasn't the only one with a camera. This is our neighbor Richard. He and his wife Bobbi have a dog named Hoss, who is a Labradoodle/Great Pyrenees cross. Everybody in the park knows Hoss. He's hard to miss.

Larry and Linda Lee, who were parked next door to us our first winter here. They now live here year 'round.

Below in the striped sweater is Susie, who was in the play with me.

About 60 people showed up for pizza.

  

Luckily an empty space was available.

One guy rolled out the dough..........

This guy watched the oven............

The crusts were thin so they cooked fast - - under 2 minutes.....

You wouldn't think one oven could keep up with 60 people, but once it got up to the right temperature it did.

They made 4 different pizzas that we all chose from a menu of 10 or more, and they cooked for 2 hours. It was all you could eat.

The basil pesto shrimp was my favorite.

This happened two and a half weeks ago in Texas. What a fun time we all had!

And this happened last night in Kansas City.

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No fun.........no fun at all

Winston's Rescue ...........Again

Almost two years ago Winston jumped behind the TV and was trapped there. You can read about the experience in the blog  Winston's Ordeal  dated May 27th 2011.

I bought silk plants to insert in each side of the TV cabinet, making it appear too small for an animal of Winston's ..........substance. My clever plan worked until 2 days ago, when we came home to discover you-know-who had fallen in again. We were watching TV when John asked if I could hear something. When he muted the set it was clear that Earl had tricked poor Winston into becoming trapped again.

I tried to pick him up with no more luck than I'd had two years ago.

In the photo below you can see a "fur" throw I'd shoved in the cabinet to encourage climbing out. Winston no longer has front claws. No dice.

Our options were

 (a) Pull the fireplace out of the cabinet.

(b) Take the TV off the lifting mechanism.

or

 (c) Dismantle the cabinet. 

John carefully pulled the end piece of wood off. You can see Bella helped all she could.

This is too traumatic to live through again.

I made a cardboard template, took it to the neighborhood upholstery shop and had them cut a piece of wood to fit.

It needed a little tweeking but here it is,

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The wood in place.

 It might not be the most professional job but I bet once I paint it black no one will notice it but me.

Llano Grande Dinner Theater

We stay at a wonderful RV resort here in the Rio Grande Valley.

There are dozens of diversions available, and one of them is a drama group. Every year they produce a dinner theater, and last year John and I went to the show. I was particularly interested because the play was "Bull In A China Shop"  in which I'd acted in high school. The play reminded me of how much I'd enjoyed the experience, and I mentioned to the director I might like to try it again. She is always looking for people who aren't afraid to look like fools, a natural state for me.

I e-mailed her last fall, telling her I'd be interested if a small, easy part was available.

I had a small part, thankfully. Memorizing lines doesn't seem as easy as it once was.

I was Lillian Seymour, a woman with a weird sense of humour (type casting) who hides her new husband in a closet as a joke. He is mistaken for a corpse and hilarity ensues.

The man behind me, portraying my new husband, is the only other actor new this year.

All the cast members are residents of the park.

Here I am with the two leads; Crane Hammond, a successful author, and her secretary, Kate.

The couple at center stage are married, both in the play and real life.

A board with the cast and crew, listing brief biographies.

Backstage during the dress rehearsal, reading the dialog along with the actors on stage.

The woman sitting on my left is Susie, then Ann, Richard and Bjorn. On my right is Bruce -who played my husband - then Moore, who's been in the plays for 10 years. Moore's wife is our prompter, a highly valued member!

Jane (Jenny) and Bjorn (Randolph)

The maid and the crook

Relaxing after the play with cocktails. We relax a lot here.

Standing next to me is Jo, who does a lot of behind-the-scenes work. She also teaches social dancing here and is she ever good at it. The man standing is Maurice, who played a private detective.

A week later we got together to relax ......again.
As I said we relax a lot here!
On the left is Jane (Jenny the maid) and on the right Roxanna (Crane the Author)

My neighbor Fran with her husband Bruce (my husband Lyle).

Our director Diane is seated. That's Ann with the orange scarf. She played Kate.
In addition to acting, Ann teaches line dancing here.


Ann also is the "Mom" of

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Riley!!

Bella's boyfriend!

Bella thinks he's perfect!

I have to agree. He's quite the charmer.

Thanks to Vikki and Roxanne for the photos.