We are so very glad to be back at home again. It feels like we’ve driven all over the continent, and I guess we pretty much did! In February we left Prince Rupert and went back home to our Valley for a week. A week was far too short, but we did get to see some of our friends, which was fantastic because we had missed everyone.

After that week, we got back in the truck and Graham towed the 5^th wheel down to the southernmost part of California. We stayed there for 5 weeks, but went on lots of road trips from there.  East to Yuma, west to San Diego, north to Palm Springs and south to Algondones.

Then we drove back to Canada, popping over the border into Alberta and then headed east to Saskatchewan. We visited with my niece and her husband and their four kids. Had a wonderful time and headed home four days later.

Stayed home for a week, then headed back up to Prince Rupert to load more things from the house there and pick up my SUV. After five days there, we came back down to the Cariboo. Stayed home for a bit, then headed to Vancouver to see my youngest son.

Now we’re back at home and Graham is giving the truck a good tune up. He’s doing the brakes too and a few other things.  Our truck has been running OK, but for the first time since we bought it, we are putting money into it to keep it in shape.

We’ve been talking about it and are feeling that we’ll have to buy a truck in the next few years. Graham is thinking of going even bigger than a F350. The truck we have now can easily haul the 5^th wheel or a fully loaded car trailer, but Graham wants to look for something that will be able to haul his excavator.

It’s all part of our long term plan – we’re trying to set things up for our future and this will help Graham stay home. That’s what he really wants – just to be at home and puttering around. With a few excavator jobs, he could just work part time and putter for the rest.

Are you planning ahead? Let us know what plan you are working and where you’d like to end up.

I love Lemonade and one of the great things about being in California at this time of year is having lemon trees around! We have our own lemon tree in our RV site and if we run out, there are lots of people who give away their lemons. Also there are lots of  grapefruits and oranges too….it is like Citrus heaven here.

The lemons are literally falling off the trees and I am surprised more people aren’t picking them.

Graham has been enjoying lots of fresh grapefruits and we have a juicer so we have been making lots of fresh juice.

I used the juicer and made a nice large jug full of Lemonade – here’s the recipe. It’s easy to do and you can adjust the amount of sugar you add. I like mine with 2/3 cup sugar for a batch and I add 5 cups cold water. Adjust yours to taste!

Perfect Lemonade

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1 cup lemon juice

3 – 4 cups cold water

Start by making a simple syrup using 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water. Heat the two together slowly on the stove and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let it cool.

Juice up 6 or 7 fresh lemons (we bought a Black and Decker juicer, it was only $20 and it beats hand juicing).  I usually juice up enough lemons for two batches of lemonade. I just keep the extra juice in a jar in the fridge.

Put the 1 cup of lemon juice in a large jug and add the sugar syrup. Then add 3 or 4 cups of cold water. Keep your Lemonade in the fridge and enjoy! You can also make Lemonade ice cubes to keep on hand to add to water or other fruit drinks.

I would love to have a large glass solarium on our Valley house with a few citrus trees growing inside.