A Rainforest Stream

A rocky stream tumbling through a temperate rainforest. Location: Mt. Rainier National Park.

The Autumn Equinox

I was just now sitting here reading a few blogs before going to bed, and realized through their writings that today is the first day of autumn. I can't believe I almost missed it!
Today didn't turn out at all like I expected. I spent two hours this morning Skypeing with my son in Iraq, so I didn't get any more work done on my upcoming photo exhibition. That's okay though. I haven't talked to him in ages, so it was good to hear AND see him. What a wonderful invention! I can't believe I waited until a week before he'll be home to get it.
Then early afternoon I got really tired and nauseated and rested the rest of the day. I watched Grey Gardens on the instant play feature on Netflix, another great invention.
I also started reading Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge, one of my all-time favorite authors. I've wanted to read it for a long time. I think there's a movie, too.
So before going to bed, I'll sit on the porch swing for a few minutes in the light of an almost full moon and pray that Garrett gets home quickly and safely. After we talked, he e-mailed me and said that there's been a big sandstorm there which has delayed all flights. That means they've all been pushed back a few days. I'll find out tomorrow when he'll get to leave.
And I'll thank God for all my blessings and hope I'm able to go to church in the morning.

Recipes & Kitchen Hints from Long Ago

The rain is falling, again. Time to browse my bookshelves before I have to do the evening meal.

It is far too long since I last opened my very old recipe books - they are packed with outdated and old-fashioned recipes, but I love reading them.




Cookery was very different then. I don't just mean that our attitude to food has changed, I mean that ovens didn't come with temperature gauges and electric mixers, food processors, etc were a long way off.

Image borrowed from cookingwithmavis

Caledonian Cream

Mix 2ozs of each, raspberry jam, redcurrant jelly and castor sugar with the whites of 2 eggs stiffly whipped. OK so far? Beat for 3/4 hour. Serve piled in custard glasses.

Can you imagine standing there beating the mixture for 45 minutes?







How to Select Flour:

In selecting flour first look to the colour. If it is white, with a yellowish, straw-coloured tint, buy it. If it is white, with a blueish cast, or with black specks in it refuse it. Next examine its adhesiveness. Wet and knead a little of it between the fingers. If it works soft and sticky it is poor. Then throw a little lump of dried flour against a smooth surface. If it falls like powder it is bad. It is perfectly safe to buy flour that will stand all these tests.

I wonder how well this would go down in the supermarket!




Use for Old Curtains- Old curtains well washed make excellent poultice cloths, also for tying cauliflowers and asparagus in when cooking. It prevents them breaking, and is easy to try if done. I wonder how long they were being boiled for...

Image by Delicious Magazine

Talking of Vegetables...




"Young carrots take about an hour to boil, those which are older from an hour and a half to two hours..."




It makes me wonder whether, perhaps, the varieties of carrot which they used to have were more fibrous than modern ones.




I searched for the method of cooking Brussels Sprouts, expecting to be told to boil them for three hours, but was pleasantly surprised to find the recommended time was 13 minutes.




A 1796 recipe for Parsnips Fried to Look Like Trout

Why would you want to, was my first thought. Then I wondered whether they could look like trout, seeing this image makes me think that perhaps it would be possible...if you squint and look through one eye... perhaps? Or do they look like baby stingrays?

Image borrowed from offthespork.com

Take a middling sort of parnsips, not over thick, and boil them as soft as you would do for eating; peel, and cut them, in two the long way. You must only fry the small ends, not the thick ones. Beat two or three eggs, put to them a tablespoonful of flour, dip in your parsnips, and fry them a light brown in the butter. Have for your sauce a little vinegar and butter.




...and finally... a 'fish' recipe.




Mackerel Bones Grilled




Sprinkle the bones with pepper and salt. Broil over a clear fire, but don't burn. Serve on hot buttered fingers of toast.




Bon appetit!

The Comforts of Home in the Springtime

"There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort." ~Jane Austen

Grip Fast

As part of the flood prevention works in my home village, the road bridge over the Burn of Rothes was replaced. It's turned out to be a fairly utilitarian stone structure (tho the previous version was even more so). However it has two redeeming features apart from being less likely to be swept away in the next flood. It's built of a reddish stone, which is perhaps a nod to the red sandstone cliffs in the upper reaches of the burn and along the River Spey. Perhaps. I'm just thankful they didn't use the horrible fake stone that's a feature elsewhere in the flood defences.
The other is the crests carved on either side of the bridge parapets. The castle in the village belonged to the Leslie clan. You can see what's left of it here, here and here. The founder of the clan was a Hungarian nobleman , Bartholomew, who came to Scotland in 1067, and became chamberlain to the Queen. One of his duties was to carry the Queen on his own horse, with the Queen riding pillion behind him and clinging on to a belt round his waist. One day they were crossing a swollen burn when the horse stumbled. Fearing she would be thrown off, the Queen cried, understandably, "Gin the buckle bide!" (I hope the buckle's going to hold!). Bartholomew said the only thing he could have said, "Grip fast!", and they reached the other side safely. After this near miss Bartholomew added two further buckles to his belt. Three buckles on a belt became the Arms of the Leslies, with the motto "Grip Fast!". And from heroics to the mundane - the shield with the three buckles formed the crest of my primary school blazer.
I was pleased to see that the new bridge has already been decorated by a passing bird, probably a swallow. They skim up and down the burn in summer, chasing the insects that dance above the water.

Encouraging Words

"Don't let life discourage you. Everyone who got where he is had to start where he was." Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Even though I don't agree with Emerson's theology (he was a Unitarian), he did say wise things from time to time.
I took this photo inside an Amish farmer's market looking out the window at two children on a wagon filled with boxes of produce. The market is in East Tennessee close to my parents' house. I had to sneak around and take pictures since the Amish are camera shy. That was fun!

Weekend in Tennessee

I had been looking forward to this weekend for weeks.  I LOVE going home to my parents' house.  I LOVE where I grew up.  But things didn't work out as planned.  
We left on Friday morning and made the five hour trip up there just fine.  We walked down to the pond, had a good supper of fresh-out-of-the-garden vegetables, listened to the cicadas in the trees, and watched the lightning bugs come out.  
  Two of our grown sons and one daughter-in-law went too.  There weren't enough beds to go around, so Darcie and Tyler ended up on the floor on a blow-up mattress with a hole.  By morning it was flat, and Tyler had a backache all weekend.  Then Darcie started throwing up.  People began squabbling over various and sundry things.  
To cool off, my husband and I drove down to the Appalachia powerhouse on the Hiawassee River.  We went over eleven miles down a gravel road to get there.  The scenery was beautiful!  I wish I could bottle up the mountain smells and bring them home to Georgia.  We later floated down that river beginning at the powerhouse and ending up in Reliance, TN.  Actually, I was the transportation.  So while my husband, our son Dylan, and his bride Leigh Anne floated down the river, I meandered along the river taking photos of the  mountain scenery, old barns and houses, and horses I ran into along the way.  I had two hours before having to pick them up.  I tried my hand at watercoloring the river and mountains from the top of an overlook, but it started drizzling and my paints began to run.   I took a photo from there, so maybe I'll finish the painting when I get my photos developed.  Or not.....
I brought home some potatoes, okra, and green beans from Mama and Daddy's garden.  I can't wait to fry up some okra tomorrow night.  I'll make a pone of cornbread to go with it too.  Slice a big, red tomato and boil some ears of corn.  Ooh wee!  At's good eatin'.  There's my Tennessee accent coming out! 
Anyway, we're home now and glad and sorry to be.  I could stay up there for weeks, but we have our life here.  I wish the two could be combined.  I love them both.

Austinville Reborn

This update has been a little slow in coming, not because I've been lazy, but because those responsible for administering electricity supply in this part of the world have decided that the suburb in which I live is only entitled to supply for about two-hours a day. Only in Queensland.
On Saturday I took an early, unplanned ride to Brisbane. It was totally unremarkable apart from the fact that I forgot to bring that pump that I was meaning to take to Epic Cycles to be looked at, and that I was in devastating form when riding through the southern suburbs. Something far more interesting happened when I took a ride with Martin out to Austinville later in the day. Austinville is a small valley covered in rainforest in the Gold Coast Hinterland. It was, of course, flooded in the recent downpour.

Yet while riding through the rainforest alongside the stream, we noticed just how clearer and fresher the water now appears -- despite the obvious damage caused by the flood. At times it was almost like being in New Zealand again, so fresh and cool was the stream. I made a point of riding across the flooded causeway about six times, just to enjoy the sensation of the cool, fresh water. Austinville had been reborn. It will likely take time for much of the vegetation to fully recover, but already the signs were there.

Tosspot of the week (again)

It's a new week, so I can add a new tosspot. They seem to be coming thick and fast at the moment. (warning: this post is more than a little off-topic). It may be unkind of me to pour scorn on a poor, down-trodden American financial institution which, in a time of need, in a time when they were struggling so badly they had to be bailed out by the US government to the tune of billions of dollars, they could still find the generosity to pay the entire hand-out they received to their directors (i.e. the ones who got them in the sh!t to start with) in the form of "bonuses". It was an act of extreme kindness, although some would call it an act of extreme stupidity.
While it might be unkind to pour scorn on Goldman-Sachs for this, I'm going to do it anyway. Note to financial regulators all over the world (because I know they're all poring over these words as soon as they leave my keyboard): This is why the bail out didn't work and has done nothing to prop-up financial markets. Cutting through all the "the world is going to end" rhetoric that came from financial "regulators" to justify bailing out these institutions, there was one fundamental fact that everyone ignored.
These financial institutions got into trouble as a result of their own poor decisions. In basic terms, the problems arose because these institutions borrowed too much to on-lend to borrowers who simply weren't qualified to borrow as heavily as they did. Yes, that's an oversimplification, but it cuts right to the heart of the problem -- investing in debt to make risky "investments" in order to chase a few extra dollars. And now we have the people who made the poor decisions being rewarded with money that was supposedly going to shore-up the financial system and protect the savings of investors. And yet, there are still people who wonder why financial markets didn't recover as soon as this happened.
If anybody really wants to see stability restored to the markets, the first thing that needs to happen is for regulations and safeguards to be put in place to ensure this sort of reckless profit chasing doesn't happen again -- and a good start would have been attaching a few conditions to the multi-billion dollar handouts, such as limiting the percentage of their financing that can come from debt, and ensuring that incompetent fools aren't rewarded for f*cking up. After all, an unemployed person on welfare is still expected to look for a job to get their handout, and their demands are much smaller. The tosspots are truly running the asylum this week.

Springtime is for Aphids

If you have new growth on a succulent plant, aphids are interested. And I'm seeing aphids (and other insects) everywhere-- roses, oleander, spirea, river birch. It's unending.
So why now? Aphids are fairly delicate insects with thin exoskeletons (compared to say, a beetle) so when we get into brutal summer temperatures, their numbers dwindle. Water is more scarce, plants have hardened off...I call it "summer dormancy" and it seems that all of our temperate plants (and people) slow down and just focus on survival when the Fahrenheit stays in the 90's and above.
Aphids feed on plant sap, the high sugar liquid found in the phloem (and elsewhere) of plants. Phloem (for those that haven't been in botany class recently) transport carbohydrates produced by the leaves down to the roots, flowers and fruit.
How do you keep from having aphids? For one, don't overfertilize with nitrogen. Plants that are pushed with synthetic fertilizers often have higher aphid populations (it's like junk food for aphids and they are addicted). If you promote slower, more sustained growth, you often have less insect pests.
Second, diversity your garden and work to attract birds and beneficial insects into your garden. A garden with habitat for birds, native plant species incorporated into the landscape and high plant diversity will avoid outbreaks and epidemics.
And remember that I said that aphids have thin skins? That means that without a steady diet of sugary liquid, they dry up pretty quickly. If you just have a plant or two with aphids, spray them with a steady stream of water and knock them off your plant. They'll die before they ever have the change to climb back onto the host plant. It's an epic hike back to the tips of an oleander branch if you're a tiny aphid.

War of Wealth

Geez, y'all stop collapsing the world financial system, would you?
This is a poster from a 1895 play. I'm not sure if today's equivalent would be War of Wealth, War on Wealth, or War for Wealth.
Wikipedia has a handy reference of Economic disasters in the US that includes 16 incidents labeled "Panics". I guess since the last one was in 1911, somebody thought it was high time for a good old-fashioned panic. Many panics seem to start when the Joe Moneybags of the world try to grow even filthier rich, by means of dodgy schemes designed to swindle everybody else.
-----
Here are a couple of money-saving tips that I learned by accident.
#1: Discounts.
Hubby had a few medical tests a while back (he's fine). The bill was substantial, about $1000. I always feel a little cheesy doing it, but since we have one of those BigNameGasStation credit cards that rebates 1%, well, why not use it. I've learned to tolerate a little cheese.
"Can I pay over the phone with a credit card?"
"Yes. How much would you like to pay?"
"All of it."
"I can offer you a 20% discount for paying the entire amount."
"What!"
I'm sure if I'd written a check, they'd have happily cashed the whole thing.
#2: Look closer.
Counterfeit $10 bills have been passed in Oneonta recently. Who's risking a felony charge for $10?! ("Teenagers" comes to mind.)
This is another thing I love about small-town living. The bank teller not only told me about it, she showed me the bill in question. I would never in a million years have caught this bill as a fake. It just looked and felt like one of the new tens that had already seen a lot of wear.
She told me there were two ways to spot it as a fake: look for the plastic security strip by holding it up to the light, or check that the glossy "10" (in the lower right) changes color when the bill is tilted. But who does that kind of thing for $10 bills? I check the strip on $50s and $100s at craft shows, though it always makes me feel so rude. Hubby's been saying that I need one of those currency-checking pens instead, but the teller told me that counterfeiters now use paper that the pen doesn't detect.
Bottom line, if someone hands you one of the newer bills that seems like it's seen a lot of wear... take a closer look.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hope you're wearin' something green!

A Quik Peek at our New Life!

It's always exciting to make changes to one's (two's?) life(s), and our new digs and routines are no exception! Especially seeing as how this part of the world has seen no Spring, much less Summer! (We do realize that bits of wind and rain are inconsequential compared to some of the erratic and frightening weather many of you have experienced in recent weeks - we have been thinking of you lots...) Today, it is pouring out with temps in the mid-50s - not bad, but very boring for a June day... yawn... Anyhoo, we moved into the folks' RV about 4 weeks ago, so that the newly painted and carpeted "for sale" house could be shown free of our furs and claws and such! (we think these signs of our presence would help but... sigh...) So far, no bites. It's been quite fun (and challenging for the peeps) to live here, but we still go to all our familiar places and there are good paths along a large marshy preserve that we walk along every day! It's not bad and it's only til the house sells or September, when Dad retires! Besides, it makes us think of camping, which we all love to do and also, you won't believe some of the interestin' things that happen right out our window!
Above, you can see me curl up with my fave pair of Dad's balled up socks.

And here I am, curled up next to Mom, eyeballin' her under the table! (WE don't mind the rain... it's just the pawrents heheh!) The scene in the next pitchur happened last Monday - on Memorial Day. We were all outside, enjoying a (rare) bit of sun, when we heard sirens on the freeway that's not far away. And then more sirens, until first one Cruiser drove into this park, and then another, until there were FIVE! And then in through the other access driveway, came two firetrucks and a fire ambulance! Our sweet new "neighbors" urged us to get inside, so Mom hustled us up the stairs and onto the bed. Mom took a couple of pictures, but got nervous. Meanwhile, Dad was approached by an undercover cop (yikes!) and told to get inside! We watched as cops with pulled guns approached an RV. A Sheriff's car pulled up. A huge presence and still we have no idea what it was all about. Below is a quick photo taken out one window of the activity. On another day, a large truck pulling a giant fifth wheel trailer, newly arrived, was trying to pull into a space next to our sweet neighbors. As he began backing into his place, we heard a huge pop, like fireworks. To cut to the chase, the truck's tie rod failed and as it broke, arrowed right into the front truck tire and popped it. He'd just drive straight from Iowa to here in N. California. How lucky that it broke down when it did. I guess that teaches us to count our blessings all the time! (Sorries for all the text - lots to woof!)

Amistad National Recreation Area

We hobble into theWalmart in Del Rio. We park it and Garyuses some windshield repair. We drive over to nearbyAmistad National Recreation AreaWe are trying to find the Dam but the Dam road ends!We turn around but a truck pulling a boat passes us and Gary watches him continue on thru the water, so we turn around and follow.I hope we're high enough!The view is nice!We finally find the Dam.We drive half way across stopping before the Mexican Border.The Eagles at the Border - Amistad means friendship. It was constructed by the US and Mexico in response to frequent droughts and a number of floods, the worst in 1954 killing 300 people in Del RioView of the Rio Grande.Don't look down!View of the Resevoir and recreation area - wish we had a boat!According to Pam - If you stick your head in a Bear's mouth you will be ate!

Walmar has parking spots for RV's only. We were between 2 RV's from Illinois.They came in separately but turns out they are from the same town. The world just keeps getting smaller!

The next morning Gary puts in another can of Dry Gas and we fill up with fresh Gas, and depart with our fingers crossed!

Next Stop Seminole Canyon State Park and the Pictographs

Meanwhile, we keep on Trek'n

More Later,

Melissa and Gary

A Pretty Quilt

I've changed the heavy winter comforter for a lighter quilt. Mama copied an antique quilt for this pattern. It's all hand-quilted. We don't know the name, but it has nosegays or bouquets all over. I loved the late afternoon sun shining on the heart pine floors and quilt. Thought you might, too.

Reflecting

Maxwell AFB FamCamp — Montgomery, Alabama
Temps: Lo 55F / Hi 66F (13C / 19C)

At the risk of jinxing ourselves, I have to say that we’re still enjoying great weather here. Sure, the nights dipped down to the mid-40F (7C) range over the weekend, but the days were fantastically warm and filled with sunshine and mostly blue skies. In fact, we saw 72F (22C) yesterday, and it’s forecasted to go up to 79F (26C) tomorrow.

What follows after that isn’t looking good. There’s some bad weather moving in from the west that is projected to bring severe weather to the area — heard the “T” word (tornado) on the news last night. There are no active alerts for our area as yet. Needless to say, we will be monitoring the weather closely.

The weekend found us walking and triking to take advantage of the nice days. There’s a figure eight path that we follow around the two lakes; great for our morning exercise walk — as long as I don’t take my camera ;-) I usually go back out that way in the afternoon to see what I can see and photograph.

The surprising thing — at least to us — is that every time we go out, we have the lake to ourselves. In fact, the campground has been exceptionally quiet considering the number of rigs. Mui’s guess is that most of the campers here at the FamCamp are probably students at one of the military schools on base. They’re probably spending their free time studying. Glad it’s not us ;-)

Not that we’re complaining mind you. We’ve been using these quiet days to reflect — and I don’t mean the beautiful “double the pleasure” images the mirror-smooth lakes have been providing for our viewing pleasure. Sitting on one of the benches on the peninsula that reaches out into the middle of lake #2 … staring across the calm water … the silence broken only by birds chirping unseen in the tangle of trees on the other side of the fence … watching the mallards take flight at the slightest disturbance — it’s hard not to reflect on our life on the road, and give thanks that we are here and not still chained to the nine-to-five routine.

Enough about all that … here are some images from our lakeside strolls this weekend.

Looking across lake #1 towards the old section of the FamCamp and the tent camping area.

a wide shot over lake #1 shows plenty of blue skies and great reflections.

There’s an egret in this reflection shot … can you see it?

A “shooting-from-the-hip” Great Egret photo. this is the same bird that is on shore in
the previous photo … just so you know that it wasn’t a figment of my imagination.

This shot of a pied-billed grebe is my favorite from Saturday; it popped out of
the water to surprise me just as I was walking away.

I was photographing the two pairs of mallards strolling around the picnic area
when an interloper hopped into the scene. Can you find the intruder?

Here we go again … a mallard intrudes into the scene causing one of the Canada geese
to turn its head just as I click the shutter! And then they flew off, of course!

“Double the pleasure” in the golden light of Sunday morning.

this shot of an Eastern Bluebird is my favorite from Sunday.
There were quite a few of them flying about, but only this one stopped for a photo op.

Double-Crested Cormorants were a rare sight in Alabama just a few decades ago; the ban on DDT has led to the recovery of the population. I never expected to see one here at Maxwell AFB.

The trees get in the way of the colorful sunsets, but here are a couple of shots to wrap up this post.

Hope you’re all enjoying your days on the road … we sure are; even when we’re not out exploring!