PUTTING MONDAY'S CONCERNS ASIDE~Self Care 2026; Castle Rock-WA

Foggy October morning - complete with a dewy mist covering Betsy.

It was 45-degrees with a wet fog lingering, when I woke up this morning.

While I got coffee going for the 2 of us, I pondered what to make for supper tonight: a hashbrowns skillet meal appealed - so, that is what I prepared for; after finishing my morning coffee ☕️👩‍🍳‍

Prepped ingredients - with eggs, on the side.VAL'S HAMBURGER HELPER BEEF SAUSAGE-HASHBROWN CASSEROLE Recipe; Castle Rock-WA: (https://roadgypsiesvalandholland.blogspot.com/2026/10/vals-hamburger-helper-beef-sausage.html)

Then Holland's phone announced an incoming call: he has an evening appointment on the 5th for a  lung cancer screening.

At this point it is merely a file update, and a precautionary measure.

BUT

There's always a pesky [but] … he did work in oil fields, construction jobs, and smoked 2 packs of cigs for decades. That concerns the doctor he just saw the other day. So, the screening was scheduled.

We are believing for a reasonable good report given the COPD reality.

Holland waited 35 years for me; we are not willing that that promise end any time soon (we want to see our 80's roll in, together = his 81st, my 87th, if the rapture does not precede that occurrence). And I just flat out refuse to be a widow again, in such a short period of time.

People can think me a fool if they want to - but, I KNOW miraculous healings happen today; I have experienced at least 3, Bob experienced 2, Stacey experienced 1, & Alyna & Azariah are absolute miracles: I KNOW a miraculous healing can happen for Holland. THAT is what I am leaning on. That is what Holland hopes for. We are not going to let fear get a toehold in this situation.

We are also praying, hoping, & believing for a divine healing concerning all his breathing struggles: we were brought together for a purpose - and that purpose has not yet been fulfilled.

In all things, I will honor Elohei. In all things, I will bow to His Will. In all things, I will accept His Plan for my Life. In all things I will embrace what is unfolding in our Life, together.

We are not going to let these medical appointment rattle us - they are necessary for Holland to undergo in the moment; & he is still researching & planning road gypsy adventures.

So I put Monday's concerns aside for the weekend & started reading where I left off a few days ago in my current Cussler-Fargo adventure tale 🧐📖✈️🗿🕵🏻 …

And that's about the extent of activity, today: I fully embraced my Shabbat Rest 😉

Cussler-Fargo adventure with Tibetan mysteries & revealing skeletons in the mix.

Dirigible

Recuperating Fargos are flown home to La Jolla-CA from Pung Gyen Glacier, Nepal

The Fargos follow the dotted trail from La Jolla-CA to Arunachal Pradesh, India

Jack joins them in India.

The ANLF is a real terrorist on a real terrorist watch list, in India.

{{A dirigible is a large aircraft without wings.

Construction and operation: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigid_airship)

Rigid airships consist of a structural framework usually covered in doped fabric containing a number of gasbags or cells containing a lifting gas. Airships rely on the difference in density between the lifting gas and the surrounding air to stay aloft. Typically airships start a flight with their gasbags inflated to about 95% capacity: as the airship gains height the lifting gas expands as the surrounding atmospheric pressure reduces. As the surrounding atmospheric pressure decreases, the lifting gas expands, displacing ambient air. When the entire envelope is filled with expanded lifting gas, the aircraft is at its pressure height, which is generally the maximum operational ceiling. At this point, excess expanding gas must either be vented or the airship must descend so that the lifting gas can contract and ambient air brought back into the hull.}}

VAL'S HAMBURGER HELPER BEEF SAUSAGE-HASHBROWN CASSEROLE Recipe; Castle Rock-WA

Val's Hamburger Helper Beef Sausage-Hashbrown Casserole

Before remarrying, I used to grab a hot morning hashbrowns-bacon casserole bowl from the Baker's Corner Deli - it was a delicious treat I helped myself too every morning before my miles long hikes. But those days have ended: no more than 1 mile hikes, now … and Holland avoids the Baker's Corner store like the plague. So; times change, but taste bud delights still linger, hence tonight's supper fare 🍽️

I saw this boxed HH Breakfast Sausage-Hashbrowns Casserole  & on the grocery shelf the other day; and it came home with me:

HH Breakfast Sausage-Hashbrowns boxed skillet meal.

Tonight, I am adding more ingredients to the meal deal 👩‍🍳‍🥘 than the simple basics it requires - to rekindle some of the tasty delight my tongue remembers from long ago mornings:

Beef Sausage: I saw this recipe in a Sunset Magazine which I had subscribed to many years ago, & have been making this spicy recipe for decades - every Fall season 🍁, as an alternative to pork sausage. I like the Fall Spice scent of it & need the richer vitamin content of iron, zinc, and vitamin B12 which are important for red blood cell production, immune function, and neurological health; and though the bulky cooked product & the beefy taste is not as smooth as pork sausage - I like it … tonight, I will see if Holland likes it, also 😉

Beef Sausage mixture - I added shredded apple to it, tonight; the apple needed to be used, & apple goes well with the spices used.

Mushroom Blend Powder: This is something new; I have been looking high & low for dried mushrooms, but have not been able to find them anymore, anywhere. So, when I spotted this powdered form about a months ago while grocery shopping, I grabbed it and brought it home - considering it a blessed answer to prayer 🙏🍄

Incorporating mushrooms into your meals offers a wide range of benefits: they are nutrient-rich, support immunity, heart and brain health, provide antioxidants, help with anti-inflammatory proprieties, aid in weight management, and may reduce the risk of chronic diseases. Both culinary and medicinal mushrooms can be included safely in meals - making them a versatile and health-promoting food choice.

Using mushroom powder will darken your meal presentation - so, if this seems unappealing to you, choose another way to incorporate mushroom benefits into your dishes.

Beef Gelatin Powder: This is something new, but I thought I'd try it. Reportedly, it is rich in amino acids such as glycine, proline, glutamine, hydroxyproline, and arginine, which play roles in collagen production, joint support, skin elasticity, and gut lining repair. Glycine, in particular, may improve sleep quality and support overall metabolic health. It sounds great, used regularly … we shall see.

NOTE: Make the beef sausage mixture a couple hours before cooking this meal.

Val's Hamburger Helper Beef Sausage-Hashbrown Casserole  ~serves 4

1 Med-size Mixing Bowl * 1 Lrg. Skillet w-lid * 1 Lrg. Egg Turner-Spatula * Cheese Grater * Garlic Press * Manual-Pull Food Chopper * Apple Corer * 1 Lrg. Pyrex Measuring Cup * Measuring Cups & Spoons * Whisk * Lrg. Cooking Spoon * Paper Towels * 3 ct. Supper Plates & Silverware

Hashbrown Casserole Ingredients: 1 box dry ingredient HH Breakfast Hashbrowns w-Black pepper Gravy Seasoning * 1-lb. cooked Ground Beef Sausage (recipe follows) * 2 c. Water * 1 sm. Red Onion, sliced * 1 Garlic clove, pressed * 1 c. combined Green Bell-Red Bell-Yellow Bell pepper, chopped * 2 TBSP. Margarine * 1 TBSP. Beef Gelatin Powder * 1 tsp. Beef Bouillon * 2 TBSP. Vitality Blend Mushrooms, powder * 1 c. Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Onion, sliced & Garlic, pressed.

Combined Bell Peppers, chopped.

Beef Gelatin, Mushroom Blend, & Bouillon; blended.

Beef Sausage Ingredients: 1-lb. Ground Beef * 1/2 Yellow Onion, diced finely * 1 sm. Honey Sweet Apple, shredded * 1/4 c. Water, chilled * 1-1/2 tsp. Sea Salt * 1/2 tsp. Marjoram, powder * 1/2 tsp. Allspice, powder * 1/4 tsp. Nutmeg, powder * 1/8 tsp. Cayenne Pepper, powder

Core the apple & shred with the onion; set aside.

Place apple & onion in manual-pull chopper. Pull cord until apple & onion bits are finely diced.

Combine beef, onion, apple, water, & spices in mixing bowl - with hands, mix together until all ingredients are thoroughly blended.

Cover with plastic wrap & refrigerate for several hours (or overnight) to allow spices to flavor the meat satisfactorily. Use as you would pork sausage.

Cooking Instructions: Gather ingredients.

1) Place beef sausage in skillet; cook meat mixture over medium-high heat until cooked through; breaking it up & stirring it to brown evenly, as it cooks. When cooked, transfer meat to a paper towel lined supper plate, to wick off grease.

2) In same skillet, sauté onion & garlic; then whisk the spices & sauce pkt. with the water & pour into the skillet - adding the boxed dry hashbrowns mix, Bell pepper blend, & the cooked beef sausage. With cooking spoon, stir to blend thoroughly. Heat to boiling.

3) Once boiling point is reached, reduce heat to medium.

Spread mixture evenly across skillet bottom & cook for 10 minutes - or until water is absorbed & the hashbrowns bottoms begin to turn golden brown.

4) In sections, turn hashbrowns mixture over … spreading evenly & with back of spatula, press sections firmly down: increase heat to medium-high & cook another 4-5 minutes, until section bottoms are golden brown.

5) Spread cheese over mixture; place lid over skillet to aid in cheese melt.

6) Remove from heat & serve.

DOABLE~Self Care 2026; Castle Rock-WA

Just a quick post tonight; we're kinda exhausted. There is a lot going on in our life, right now.

One of the [big] things took place this morning …

The Dr., Holland saw this morning, was good - and good to him 👌

The appointment was successful ⚕️; she was knowledgeable, and he has a new prescription that will be more effective to help him breathe much easier  🌬️ And, of course, in addition to what doctors and medications can do … he has things he must do also: (1) Avoid secondhand smoke: everyone he knows, smokes - & I am glad the Dr. added her voice to this issue, as I have done throughout the years (2) Avoid other things that might irritate your lungs: we already do this as much as we can - and we know the States to avoid when traveling 🚘🧳🗺️; EX - we both love AZ, NM, & TX 🌵🌴 … but our lungs do not like the flying dust 💨 Visiting has become risky, & we have learned that we can never live there, as was our hope. Also, common sense things, like staying indoors when wildfires rage; which we already do (3) Exercise: he needs to actively be engaged in cardio activity … I can help with this by including him in my daily exercise routines; the bulk of my exercises  are pretty simple, basically straight forward, and can easily be done seated when his knee pain flares up. Plus, I have weights he can use, too - from 2-lbs. to 10 pounds 🏋️‍♀️, 10 being max for both of us with our back issues (4) Control the body weight: again, I was glad to hear the Dr. echo what I've been saying for years. And, he will learn to like weight watcher meals 👩‍🍳 … I've cooked them for decades: they are good, healthy, tasty, and include "man food" 🥘🥧 that is not "rabbit food"  🥗 The snacking will be the main glitch. Holland is a junk food, sugar lover, snacker. He is a die hard "junk food junkie" 🍦🍨🍪🧁🎂🍰 🍩: this will be the hardest hill to scale.

He HAS to DO these things, if he intends to live a reasonably good & long Life with COPD 3. He claims he does.

SO

He has heard the prognosis - and we have both agreed to further exams & follow ups measures 👂

Less stress & more added "Life edge" with peaceful vibes 🕊️

He has me on his side 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨

I have Elohim on my side ☝️

We both have Yeshua rooting for us 🤲

THIS IS DOABLE 👍

GO TEAM REDMILL! 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨😘

Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris - 'I Dug Up a Diamond' w-Lyrics: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q6N4fU5PXs)

The next [big] thing happens tomorrow - we're hoping and praying a good report with that, too 🙏💝

RIVERFRONT TRAIL WALK~Self-Care 2026; Castle Rock-WA

September 30th: Today, I got out for some sunshine & a much needed, and greatly missed trail walk:

Sunshine ☀️

Birdsong 🎶

Fresh air 🌬️

A spunky squirrel, that ran across the trail in front of me - jumped from the trail's blacktop onto a low-hanging branch … & scampered up the tree: all so quick, I didn't have time to shoot a video 🐿️👀

Autumn color 🌳🍂🍁

A good stretch of the legs & light cardio 🚶‍♀️; I was so excited to be walking an actual trail, in the sunshine … that I forgot to track my route.

Angel protection ☝️💥 & covered by love; every step of the way 💖

Enjoyed an hour long ⏱️, dilly-dallying, glorious Day 😁

After morning coffees, Holland suggested we get outside to enjoy the limited sunshine & drove me into Castle Rock 🚘, to walk the trail there ☀️🚶‍♀️📸 - and he cracked me up, by patiently waiting me for at every turn of the bend along the way, always saying, "keep your phone close - I can be where you are, in a heartbeat" 📱💬🦁: he doesn’t just say he loves me - he shows it in a thousand little ways every day 🍁💎👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨

And THAT is how you KNOW 🥰

Riverfront Trailhead: where I'd begin my 1.7 mile paved walk … and finish at the Lion's Pride Park - where we normally sit & watch the river; Castle Rock-WA

Holland dropped me off at the Riverfront Trailhead - and drove off to wait ... for what would be my 1st arrival, so he could breathe easy seeing I was "okay" 😉

Drifting fishermen; Cowlitz River, in Castle Rock-WA

I always speed walk; it humored me to see that I was outpacing the drifting fishermen.

The fishermen caught up to me here, at this Information Plaque

River Traffic Information Plaque

Castle Rock's Al Helenberg Memorial Cowlitz Boat Ramp & Kayaking Launch = same place as the original pioneer docking.

Castle Rock's 4 Bridges~History Plaque

Castle Rock's present bridge - which I will be walking under … shortly.

Curious about where this side spur goes …

People in the PNW take their river watching every seriously.

Interesting - don't know how it fits into the river - but, it's fanciful & colorful.

Castle Rock's Dog Park; doesn't look new - but, it's new to my eyes.

Castle Rock Bike Skills Park, along the Trail.

1st Wait~My knight patiently waiting for me, in his fiery red steed 😂🤣

The Bike Skills Park is pretty extensive, & used, by the local daredevils.

I'm gonna walk on - he said, "I'll be parked around the bend" … he worries about me 💎🦁, & will wait a bit further up the trail, for my 2nd arrival. Asthma & advancing age: he is as concerned about these 2 things concerning me, as he is about his COPD; and he doesn't think I get concerned enough. I do, but I am not going to be handicapped by my physical limitations. You only get 1 chance at Life on this planet. I am going to live my Life without being hemmed in by health fears.

Apparently we will be playing Leap Frog the entire way to Lion's Park: he is determined to wait every couple mileage markers, for me - & I let him. It eases his mind & warms my heart 🤭

I try not to tease him too much - it's his right to be concerned about me, no matter what I am doing.

Coming around the corner, a couple minutes later - I see a basketball court … & my 2026 knight sitting out a 2nd Wait~Arrangements were made to meet him at the end of the Trail.

YUK! castle Rock's Sewer Treatment area.

Flood Timelines for Castle Rock-WA

Snowberries & Ferns. I love ferns - this is the shady portion of the trail & ferns are very prolific, here.

I like the Fall vibe …

The backside of Castle Rock's namesake.

The trail that goes to the top of the [Castle Rock].

A pretty purple-hued Ivy leaf.

Bright red bramble leaves ushering in the Fall season.

Colorful Beech tree leaves overhead …

This is the end stretch.

And there he is 💎🦁; I love this guy 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨 I'm so glad Elohim blessed us in finding each other - Holland is a true Godsend gift.

A small patch of Bunnytail Grass, coming into Lion's Park - along the Cowlitz's riverbank; Castle Rock-WA

Tomorrow morning, Holland has a 9 AM appointment with a lung specialist for an exam, and to have his medical file updated - we are aiming for a reasonably good report ⚕️🙏