Memories of summer days...



Grand kids fishing



This is one of my favorite photos.  For some reason it just reminds me of 'summer days'.  I believe it was actually taken about 3 years ago when my son-in-law took us all cat fishing.  The kids (and I) had such a good time... even though the weather was scalding hot. 

Years and years and years ago my dad (now deceased) took his grand kids fishing.  I used to have a photo of that... probably still do... somewhere.

We lived in New Orleans and Dad and his brother had built a small one room fishing camp on Grand Isle.  Hurricanes knocked it down several times and they always rebuilt it.  The last time it happened, Dad was getting older, and they didn't rebuild. But I always remember going there with him.  He didn't take me often because it was mostly men friends who used it and it consisted of one room, 3 bunk beds, a sink, and a hot plate. I was a little girl (albeit a tomboy). There was no bathroom facility (but there was a pier and a bayou).  Generally he would take my brother, Billy (don't even think he cared about going).  But I loved the fishing, the boat, and the camp! As a kid, I didn't even mind that mosquitoes covered us as we walked through the swamp.  Memories....

Place Saver...

Texas heat

This picture is just a place saver as I haven't time to blog this week.  We have family in town and are spending the days running around in the heat and 'eating'.  This morning we drove down to Terrell and checked out Ham's Peach Orchard.  We came home with an ice chest full of home-made peach and  strawberry ice-cream... (hmmm, really good stuff!)  as well as a fresh chocolate brownie pie, butter pound cake, and baskets of fresh plums.  And that was just this morning.  Yesterday we made buttermilk pie and stuffed artichokes... (we ate part of the pie, but are saving the artichokes for another day).  Anyway, I'll blog again in a few days.

Pie fixes everything...

This was a Pie Shop in Fredericksburg that was adorable... and the pies were fantastic!  We tried to get their recipe for the crust, but they said it was 'secret'.  I really wish they had one like this here by us.  By the way, the Apple Cinnamon Pecan Tea Cake was a hit - extremely moist and very vanillery (is that a word? works for me).  I will definitely make it again.

Here is the recipe if anyone's interested:

Apple Cinnamon Pecan Tea Cake

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
11/2 cups flour sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder sifted
1- 11/2  teaspoon ground cinnamon (didn't have any, so used 1 t cin sugar)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped pecans
(I added about 1/2 of a chopped apple to mixture)
melted butter for brushing

apple cinnamon topping:
4 green granny smith apples (1 used 3)
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350
Mix butter, sugar, and vanilla in mixing bowl
Beat until pale and creamy
Add eggs one at a time
Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and sour cream until just combined
Add pecans
Spoon into lightly greased pan lined with non-stick baking paper.
Cut apples into halves, peel, and core.  Slice apples and push into the top of batter. 
Sprinkle apples with cinnamon sugar.
Bake for about an hour and 15 mins. 
Let cool
Brush with butter and sprinkle cinnamon sugar over before serving. 

These pics were taken at my daughter's place.  They have a pretty good-sized vegetable garden.  These are the raised beds.  I believe they have squash, tomatoes, spinach, onions, and cucumbers (maybe radishes too).  Their turtles love the tomatoes.

And this is an Artichoke plant:

Isn't it beautiful?  I had never seen an artichoke plant before this one.  I love to eat artichokes...with the steamed leaves dipped in butter or the whole artichoke stuffed with breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and garlic, but I had never seen one actually growing. This one was at the herb farm in Fredericksburg.  I bought a cutting and took it to my daughter's place. Hopefully its doing well.

Apple, Cinnamon, Pecan Tea Cake




Apple, Cinnamon, Pecan Tea Cake

 
This week has been 'different'.  I cut off my long ponytail that I've had for the last few years and had a friend's hair dresser put in  highlights and lowlights into my almost completely white hair. And it's not that I didn't like the white hair, but its the 'washed out' look that bothered me. Now it certainly is different. Guess it was time for a change. Can't say I love it... but I don't hate it either. Every time I look in the mirror these last few days, I have to do a double-take and say to myself, "who is that?" But to be honest, the last few years I've said that a lot anyway.  Aging is a strange process.   One of my sons says he likes the change and that I don't look like a 'tree-hugger' anymore.  I told him that I kind of liked looking like a tree-hugger (since I was one).

At the moment I'm baking an Apple, Cinnamon, and Pecan Tea Cake. The recipe sounded wonderful, so I decided to give it a try.  If it comes out looking good, I'll post a picture (it did, and I did).  If it tastes wonderful, I'll post the recipe (haven't tasted it yet).

We have family coming to visit in a few weeks, so I've been dusting areas that we don't use much (like the front room with the fireplace in summer). This morning I took down all the little knick-knacks and china, crystal, etc. that sits on our old hutch/china cabinet and dusted it. I love going through these things as they all have a history or a story (something that had once belonged to a close relative, or was given by a dear friend, or brought back from a trip, etc.)  As I said, I don't do this often, but when I do, all the memories come rushing back.  Used to have 2 China cabinets full of this type of thing... but gave one away... too much to take care of.  But I've kept this one. Guess one day I'll have to give it away too... but not yet.



Cats laying around while I dust room...



B. W. O.

                                                 

Saw this on someones site recently and thought it pretty cute. Most of you probably know what it means, but I didn't.  For those of you who may be clueless (like myself) , it means "blogging without obligation" and I got it here.  I didn't know how to copy the whole message, so I did it my way and linked it.  Anyway, I thought it an original idea... kind of a waiver saying "I'll blog when and if feel like it!"

Today is a quiet Monday. I won't have many of them in the Fall when Pottery takes over again, so am trying to enjoy them now.  I did a little more 'clearing out' of my computer room... just in case grand daughter decides to come spend some time with us.  She usually does for a week or so each summer, but this summer I have had some health probs that interfered.  But it may still happen.  We have a guest room upstairs, but she prefers to stay in her mom's old room which is adjacent to ours and is now my computer/study (it does have a daybed in it). Unfortunately it is also used as a 'store it all' throughout the year... so it gets a bit cluttered.  In some places there are attics or basements that accommodate this problem, but here we don't have basements and the attics are too friggin hot to even attempt putting much up there. So here I sit with a Santa Claus and old wooden sign saying "Merry Christmas!" on the side of my desk... not to mention boxes of files and old papers that need going through. Oh well, such is life.

This afternoon DH and I plan to visit the town of McKinney.  It's only 15- 20 minutes from us, but has a quaint little town square with shops and eating places.  His brother and wife are coming in a few weeks to visit and we thought we'd take them to a restaurant that I went to with friends a while back.  DH wasn't with us, so I thought we'd go today and have some pie and coffee... and let him check it out.  We need to take the back roads as the highway is being worked on and a real pain to navigate at times.

This is one of our male box turtles that come by to eat the cat chow we feed the ferals (they should call it 'cat, turtle, raccoon, & possum' chow). I marked his shell with a bit of nail polish to distinguish him from some of the others that live in our yard. He's a nice size, but not as large as some of the females. He also likes strawberries, figs, and apples (the figs and apples grow in our yard, the strawberries we get at Central Market and share with him on occasion). We live on a creek and the box turtles and red sliders seem to be abundant... (we also keep our area as organic as possible - no insecticides).

DH's birthday...

Today is DH's birthday.  Yes, our birthdays are 9 days apart.  The kids are coming over later. I'm making spaghetti and meatballs, salad, and cheese bread - simple.  DH picked out a white chocolate raspberry bundt cake with cream cheese icing for dessert.  It's very good as we've had it before... and no, I didn't make it.

I just finished reading "The Rope" by Nevada Barr.  Her books are intense.  She has the knack of making you feel like you're right there with her... in this case... at the bottom of a crevice (she called it a 'jar') at the mercy of a madman.  In 'Firestorm", you shared her panic as the forest fire flashed over the hole she dug in a dry creek and covered herself with some sort of fire retardant tarp.  If I remember correctly, the fire flashed over her... depending on its speed depended on whether or not she would be cooked.  And in "Blind Descent", you were trapped with her in the bottom of a pitch black cave with a killer on the loose.

I love her writing, but can't take it too much at a time. I prefer safe easy reading, 'cozy mysteries' that don't involve too much tension... ones I can fall asleep reading. 

Haven't done any knitting since this past winter.  I find this relaxing too (sometimes).  If I'm working on something that is new or difficult (for me), it's not so relaxing.  Just learned to make cables and baubles... and love the look.  Here is a picture of my first cables and baubles scarf.

Well, I'd better go get some things done since the kids are coming over later. Have a wonderful Sunday!

the story of Reggie (bunny) and Rupert (rat)...

This post belongs in my "Cats, Coffee, and Chocolate" blog... since it is about critters.  But it's also part of the ongoing story of our Aga... which was my "Older but better...?" site's previous post.  So, forgive me but I'm posting it on both sites.  Talking about the Aga got me to go back and read one of my old web sites called Agasite which began as a journal of the horrendous days of remodeling our kitchen. If anyone has undergone this elective devastation, you will understand.

Anyway, as I was reading I came across the story of Reggie and Rupert.  It's a true story that I put into a children's story form in a letter to my then 3 year old grand daughter.  (I send her stories about the critter activities in our backyard).  Anyway, it is a cute story about 2 real life animals that became friends and hung out in our yard.  Even the workers who were remodeling were fascinated by this friendship. So, if you're interested, here is the story of Reggie and Rupert.