Mountains and Quilts

I've really neglected this blog since we "moved" to Florida for the winter.  Our days are filled with activities in the park, getting to know our new neighbors and catching up with old friends.  Oh, and gardening!

It's been really cold nights; it was down to 46 last night.  We expect that at this time of the year but at least the days are really pleasant.  I do think I need to get to Home Depot and get a tarp for the plants.  There will be more cold days ahead.

I'm anxiously awaiting for my two classes, Watercolor and Guitar, to start in January.  My neighbor is taking the watercolor class with me.  She's an accomplished artist, primarily in pastel portraits.  Watercolor is a big step out of her safety zone as it is with me who can't even draw.

There are many online instructional videos for beginning so I've started playing with my watercolors.  Here is my very first watercolor.  (I'm not sure but I think the word "painting" might be redundant so I didn't use it.)

I'm finding the whole subject of watercolors extremely interesting and structured.  I also love the colors.  I may have found my passion!

I love anything with structure and there is plenty of structure to watercolors if one chooses to accept it.  I always do accept the structure when learning something new.  There will be plenty of opportunities to get creative after learning the basics.  My next subjects to play with will be trees and clouds.  

If you think I've abandoned quilting, think again.  There's a quilt show here in the park in December so I've been busy finishing off the remainder of my 8 projects for the show.  Here's what I finished yesterday:

Hmmmmm....does there seem to be a prominent color theme in my painting and my quilt?

And the Projects Start!

I always like to remind myself how crappy the weather was when we left Tennessee!  I know they'll have some very nice days up there and I'll miss working out in my gardens, but.....

.....now that we're down here in St. Petersburg, FL, one of the first things I did was to start my Florida garden.  Within two months, we'll have tomatoes (Patio and Better Boy), Armenian cucumbers, basil and lettuce.  

I get a lot of comments about my "garden" as people walk by but it will be nothing compared to the comments I expect to get once my lettuce starts growing.  I'm a big fan of pinterest and if you've never seen it, by all means, look it up.  It's a place where you can see links from other people for all kinds of interests, e.g., home decor, cooking, gardening, crafts, travel, art, etc., etc., etc.  I get many of my ideas from pinterest and I saw one where the person took a big, round, metal, galvanized tub and planted two different types of lettuces in a big spiral.  I used red and green leaf lettuce for mine and I didn't want the weight of a big galvanized tub so I just bought a plastic pot saucer at Home Depot.  I wasn't sure how to plant the spiral, so I made myself some guides with aluminum foil.  I can hardly wait to see how it comes out!

Other than my garden and getting reacquainted with all our old friends, and some new ones, we're just settling in slowly.  

On the Road

We've been on the road for the past couple of days.  (I just realized there's a bug in blogger so I can't put pictures in here from my iPad.)

We left Tennessee on a cold, dreary day and headed south.  We got quite far and stayed the first night in a Walmart parking lot in Troy, Alabama.  That really works out great for us.  It's free, we don't have to unhook the camper, and we always seem to be within walking distance of a restaurant.

We got on the road early the next morning and went to our second stop, Panama City Beach.  I have a favorite quilt shop there and they did not disappoint.  I found some things I was looking for and some I wasn't.  PCB also has a wonderful fish market, the likes of which we haven't been able to find in St. Pete.  I think we'll explore more of the close-by Tampa area this year and see if we can find a good fresh fish market there.

We always spend two days in PCB but it was not as pleasant this trip.  The campground was FULL of those nasty, SHARP sand spurs (or sand burs) so Curly would not walk around there at all.  Luckily there was a great dog park about 6 miles away so we took him there several times a day.  We stayed at the same campground before....don't understand why we didn't have the sand spurs this bad before.

Last night was spent in Lake City, FL.  We found a very convenient campground several trips ago called, "In and Out Campground."  All the sites are pull-thru's and there is diesel fuel on-site.  The sites are level so we don't have to unhook but we can put the slides out.  And there's plenty of walking territory for Curly without sand spurs.

We'll be leaving this morning for a 3-1/2 hour ride to our final destination for the next 4 months. It's almost time to begin "our other life."

All About Stella

This is what my house looked like the first night Stella and Wendy were here.  All the animals got fed and put in their respective pens.  Bryan wasn't with them as he is in-state deployed to Virginia Beach until Christmas.

I hadn't taken out any Halloween decorations because I'm in the middle of packing the camper so we can leave early Sunday morning.  As I was making breakfast Thursday morning, I thought, "How hard can it be to pull a few things out of a box!"  Not hard at all.

We had two really full, really good days together.

A Happy Girl

Loving the Neighbor's Chicken

 

Elephant Ears Make Good Masks

A Gorgeous Day Before the Cold

Nothing Better Than a Big Pile of Leaves

 

The Leaf Monster

Buried

 What a wonderful visit we had!  The weather cooperated and the last night we were able to have a fire in the fire pot and have hot dogs and s'mores (2 foods we hardly ever eat!).  Stella and Wendy are gone now, Curly is relaxed again, the toys are picked up and put away and we're back to packing the camper for our trip.  It always brings a smile to my face after Stella leaves, when I find a couple toys in unexpected places!

Kumihimo, Dead Bird, Fishing Buddy, Wendy's Visit

Kumihimo

Here I am on a beautiful fall evening, sitting in front of the fire pit, having one of Rudy's home-brewed Chocolate Porters, trying to make a horse rope for Stella's barn with Kumihimo, a Japanese braiding disk.

Meanwhile, Rudy was the picture of total enjoyment.

This is my new favorite picture of him.

This was the first time I grew Elephant Ears.  What a success, huh?  I think you're supposed to let them die down over the winter so I haven't been watering them lately.  

 It was so nice last night with no wind and no bugs so we were able to enjoy the fire until the debate came on.  I hope everyone does their civic duty and votes. 

Dead Bird

I've been doing some cleanup in the gardens before we leave on Sunday.  I went to take down the bird feeders and was shocked to find a dead bird that had gotten stuck in a feeder.

This feeder is sold at Tractor Supply Company under the brand name of Royal Wing which is just a trademark of TSC so it could be manufactured anywhere.  I'm trying to get TSC to pull this product.  If they do, I'm going to blast all over what a responsible company they are.  If not, ??????

Fishing Buddy

Rudy and Dave

Our fishing buddy and best friend stopped by today.  He was one of the first people we met when we moved down here and we've been good friends ever since.  We met him over at the campground one weekend when we were all camping.  We haven't camped over there for a couple years now even though it's a great spot and only 5 miles from our house.  With our 4 months camping in Florida and one or two other camping trips during the year, usually to Wisconsin, we need to stay home some of the time!  

I hope Rudy and Dave catch some big ones on Thursday!

Wendy's Visit

Wendy and Stella will be here tomorrow night from North Carolina.  Bryan is stationed in Virginia for several months.  Wendy has some horse business but we'll be able to visit for a few days before we all go our separate ways again.  It's been a couple months since I've seen Stella.  She's 5 now!  Can't wait to see my girls!!  And guess what the next post will be all about!

Blueberry Pie and Lots of Fun

Blueberry Pie

I got a request for my raw blueberry pie recipe so here it is.  Actually, I don't really have a recipe.  Well, I do but I don't use it.  Here's what I do.

The Ingredients

 I use a quart of frozen blueberries that I get from my brother in Georgia.  There's something about his blueberries that make the most wonderful pie.  Anyway, I let the blueberries sit in a colander under they're thawed and drained of any excess liquid.  Meanwhile I'll make the crust.  I took 8 ounces of raw almonds.  I used to use whole raw almonds but I think the blanched raw almonds are a little less bitter.  Process the almonds with about 7 pitted medjool dates and a dash of salt.

Almonds, Medjool Dates, Salt

The mixture should hold together when pressed tightly with your fingers.  Cover a spoon with Saran Wrap to press the mixture into a pie plate very tightly.

Once the blueberries are thawed, you can make the filling.  Blend about half the berries; then add one banana and blend some more.  At this point you can add honey or agave for sweetener but I don't find it necessary.  Besides, I'm not that fond of the taste of honey.

Add the rest of the berries and blend some more.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pie crust.  At this point the mixture will be very soupy.  Trust me....it WILL firm up.  Blueberries have enough natural pectin so you don't need to add anything else.

Put it in the refigerator for about 4-6 hours.  I usually wait an hour before I cover it with Saran Wrap so the filling won't stick to the wrap.

That's all there is to it.  Before you know it, you'll be ready to dig in to a wonderfully, raw blueberry pie with no additives or preservatives.

My pie today was a little weepy because I didn't drain the blueberries good enough but it still held its shape and was delicious!

Lots of Fun

The 13th Annual Cumberland River Challenge Ride was a lot of fun yesterday.  We had 107 riders do 62-, 31-, and 11-mile rides.  Our group, The Friends of the Trail, raises money from the ride to maintain and expand the trail that we walk on not too far from our house.  Part of the trail is paved and that is part of the 11-mile ride.

I was up at 4:00 a.m. to finish baking the pork sausage.  We left for the park about 6:15 a.m. to help set up for registration and breakfast for the riders.

All my baked oatmeal was eaten and there were two pieces left from the pork sausage rings that one of the guys wanted to take home so we whisked it away for him.  Here are some pictures from our long day yesterday.

Rudy with the guys waiting to go man the rest stops.

Rudy took a picture of me for a change.

 

All set up for breakfast for the riders.

 

Displays

Riders looking at the trail and the routes.

 

Our local police lead the ride for the first couple of miles.

And they're off!

Meanwhile we all hang around talking smart until the last rider gets back.

Now I'm off to pack the camper.  This time next week we'll be stopped somewhere in Alabama on our way to Florida until March 2013!

Kale, Bikes, Oatmeal, and Pork

Kale

How about a quick 5-ingredient soup today?  Here's my version that tastes remarkably like Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana and is easier and better than the copycat recipe on food.com.

The Ingredients

Brown the sausage in a big pot, add chicken broth, milk and sliced potatoes.  Cook until the potatoes are almost done.  Add the kale and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Yum!

Leftovers Freeze Great!

Bikes

The 13th Annual Cumberland River Challenge bike ride and fund raiser is tomorrow.  We've been a part of the Friends of the Trail group that puts on this ride for many years now.  We have about 120 riders that do either a 62-mile, 31-mile, or 11-mile ride.  All the money we raise goes to maintaining and supporting expansion of the Cumberland River Bicentennial Trail that you see us walking on.  

We'll be down at the park at about 6:00 a.m. getting set up for registration and the breakfast our group puts on.  

Yesterday we went down to the Parks and Rec. Department to fold shirts and stuff the goody bags for the riders.  As you can see, we were working hard.

Midge, Rudy, Tony and Penny
Working Hard!

Oatmeal and Pork

This morning I made my contributions to the breakfast.  First I made Baked Oatmeal (no flour) with Dried Cherries and Organic Blackberries.  Baked Oatmeal is one of our favorite breakfast foods and over the years I've experimented with different fruits and baking pans.  This year I used my muffin tins.  I found a new kind of liners and I just love them.  They don't get all sloppy-looking like the usual paper liners.  They keep their shape and their color through the baking process.

We always have a lot of blackberries in our freezer so that was a definite add-in.  I also love the dried tart Montmorency cherries I pick up at Trader Joe's so I added them in, too.

I've adjusted my recipe for more oatmeal than the recipes on the internet call for.  Other than that, it's just egg, milk, sugar, butter, salt, baking powder and vanilla.

Mix it all up.

Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

One batch done!  Note the liners.

The next item on the agenda was the Pork Sausage Rings.  I've been making this recipe for 30 years now.  It makes a great breakfast meat with common ingredients and it can be made ahead of time.

The Ingredients

 I use my "Apple Master" to peel, core, and slice the apples all in one step.  What a time-saver that little gadget is!

The Apple Master

The best way to mix this up is just to get in there with your hands.  I always have a box of disposable gloves in the kitchen for this purpose or for playing doctor.  EEEEEWWWWWW!!!!!   (I just put that in there to see how many people read this!)  LOL

Mix It Up

One ring just came out of the oven.  I'll let it cool before I take the rest of the pan off.  I'll wrap it up in foil and heat it up in the morning for the breakfast.

Pork Sausage Ring

I'm ready for tomorrow and it's not even 9:00 a.m. yet so I can spend the rest of my day getting ready for Florida.  The guy from Good Sam Emergency Road Service is here now.  Would you believe we have a flat tire on the camper!!!!  Better here than on the road, I guess.