Poker and Punch Lines

One of the things we enjoy about coming to our river place is seeing good friends again.  Yesterday, Johny had the guys over for an afternoon of poker, laughs and good eats (all coordinated by the Mountain Man himself).  The motley crew...

...serious business...

I made myself scarce, not wanting to interrupt their "man time"...and I didn't want to be around fretting over the mess in the kitchen, the broken chair (discovered when I returned to drop some things off) or anything else that boys do that girls don't.  I ran a bunch of errands and on my travels passed a favorite sign that a local used car lot uses to advertise...I always enjoy reading the scrolling messages while I wait for the light to turn green; puts a smile on my face...

 

 

 ...sometimes I wish the light wouldn't change so I could just sit there and laugh for a while.

It's a good thing I was reminded of these funny quotes because I am presently waiting for a septic company to come and pump our septic tanks...I walked into the back bathroom after doing some laundry this morning to find it flooded and the tub filled with not very pretty water...one never knows when the poop will hit the floor (I'm counting my blessings that it didn't hit the fan, LOL!)...OK, not really funny nor did it make me laugh, but they say laughter is the best medicine, right?

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Sunrise Serenity

I love walking along the river early in the morning...the stillness just before the day awakens starts my day with a serene feeling that sustains me through the day.  Here is a smidgen of the morning...

 ...a Heron...

 ...the suns rays breaking through (couldn't select a favorite)...

 

 

 ...rainbow surprise...

 ...a second Heron...

 ...a sunbathing Cormorant...

 ...and a silly shoe, such a contradiction to the road, it made me giggle (I wonder if this Cinderella found her Prince Charming)...

 ...serenity is good, but a hearty giggle to start the day is extremely satisfying!

Visit ABCWednesday for more interesting "S" posts, and many thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC, and Roger, who took over from her.

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Greeted By A Lovely Orchid

We made the trip back to our river place today to take care of a few things but most importantly, to be with family for Thanksgiving...much more to come about that!

As we were unpacking the car, I suddenly noticed this beautiful orchid blooming under my "orchid tree"...it's the tree I've hung and secured all my orchids...a bright and cheery greeting after a very long trip...

...alas one outer petal was a little burnt/dried...it obviously has been extremely dry here, even my staghorn ferns are withered from the heat...

...but the colors are exquisite...

...and the ruffly petals still dainty and bright.

I'll be giving it lots of TLC (tender loving care) while we are here, along with all the other plants that have missed me (and the water they need). 

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Today's Patchwork

I'm not a quilter like my very talented friend Patti who blogs on Osage Bluff Quilter (click on the link to see some of her lovely work), but I often think about life being something like a patchwork quilt...you know, bit and pieces of events/beliefs/actions stitched together to make us who we are...today's post is a patchwork of a few snippets of my life...

I paused as I walked past our garden today.  There is nothing left but some weeds and lots of fallen leaves that will create great compost. Mixed emotions flooded me as I stood there...gratitude for the bountiful harvest, sadness that everything was now picked (I picked the few remaining carrots yesterday), relief that I could take a break from preserving (don't get me wrong, I love canning, drying, freezing what we've grown, but it's a lot of work...seems funny that you have to can in the heat of the summer, would be much more comfortable dealing with all that boiling water and steam when it's cold outside), anticipation for all the joy we will experience with next years garden and the resolution that we still need to clean it out and prepare it for winter's rest.  This garden has brought me great joy, I've learned a lot, and it's a rustic, earthy colored patch on my life's quilt.

I went to see my friend Bertie (and husband Ron) to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving (we are heading to our river place and then gathering with the family for the holiday) and visit for a while.  Bertie looked happy and peaceful and pretty in her blue outfit...those are toe socks on her feet...we have matching pairs though mine are red...that we each bought when shopping together some time back...she deserves to be feeling happy after all she and Ron have been through over the past several weeks.  At one point we were laughing about family/friends...you can like someone, you can love someone, but you don't necessarily have to like and love them...but we both agreed we liked and loved each other.  I will miss her so much when they move away, but she'll always be a bright, beautiful patch on my life's quilt.

I had mentioned that I attended the Jackson County Netwest Open House at City Lights last weekend...I met many interesting writers and enjoyed listening to several authors reading some of their works.  The photo below includes Glenda Beall (red scarf), a new friend I met through blogging.  She's been very supportive of my blog and my writing pursuits; I'm enjoying our new friendship and everything I am learning about writing.  My blog is a textured, woven and expanding patch on my life's quilt...I can't wait to see what's coming next!

This evening sky is from a few nights ago.  My log cabin life is a large vibrant patch smack dab in the middle of my quilt...my life wouldn't be the same if we had not made the decision to come here.  Just think, we planned on living this life for one year and here we still are, 18 months later! 

Don't get me wrong, there are many parts of my life's quilt I haven't described here, these are just today's patches...perhaps I'll share more patches in the future.

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Punkindoodle Cookies

We live off the end of Pumpkintown Road (pronounced Punkintown by the locals, so of course they have to be Punkindoodle's)...how could I not make these delicious cookies that are a modification of a recipe (I doubled the recipe and included whole wheat flour) I found on the "Born Again" Farm Girl blog?  They are a cake like pumpkin cookie with a nice spice kick from the nutmeg and ginger. 

Punkindoodle Cookies



Ingredients:
1 cup softened butter
1 1/5 cup Sugar
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 eggs
1 cup of pumpkin puree (I used pumpkin I pureed, labeled and froze last year)
1 1 /2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
Extra white and raw sugar for rolling

Directions:

Combine the dry ingredients.

Be sure they are evenly mixed together.

Blend the softened butter,

...add the eggs,

...and beat together.

Add the vanilla and pumpkin puree (I cut the corner off the plastic baggie to squeeze out every bit of the pumpkin goodness),

...blend everything together (make sure the puree is completely defrosted or the butter will harden again).

Add the wet ingredients into the dry and combine. 

The batter will be very thick and sticky.  Combine the white and raw sugars into a small bowl,

...make small balls with the batter (about 1 inch round or less),

...and roll them in the sugar.

Place them on a greased cookie sheet and press gently to flatten them a little.

Bake at 350 degrees F until the outside crisps a little (they won't really brown), anywhere from 10 - 18 minutes depending on the size of the balls and elevation (I made mine a little bigger than 1 inch and it took 18 minutes to cook completely).  Allow to cool a bit on the cookie sheet and then transfer to cookie racks to cool completely.

Punkindoodle deliciousness!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Speckles of Twinkle and Glimmer

It's a foggy rainy day, but the rain droplets sparkle like tiny lights in the bare branches...reminds me of Christmas...

 

...even this little Tufted Titmouse's eye is twinkling...

...some days, words really aren't needed.

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise

Timber!

We had a big Locust tree fall across the access road at the top of our property not too long ago (no buildings there, just trees, trees and more trees).

We knew it would eventually come down because it was leaning quite a bit and we were good with it's impending doom because Locust is a very hard wood and makes excellent over night firewood (you actually have to be careful because it does burn so hot, but one or two good logs in with some other wood will keep the fire burning for most of the night)...and we much prefer to use fallen wood than to have to cut a tree unless it's absolutely necessary (like to increase the amount of sun reaching the garden).

Off we went on Big Bear (our ATV) to start the process of getting it back to the cabin and turning it into firewood.

Funny, it doesn't look very big in the picture above, but you can see how large it is below...

 ...it looks like at some point someone cut some of the roots to clear the access road...that was long before our time but a good example of how important to keep trees intact.

There was a lot of sawing going on...

 

 ...and every time a log fell it thunked to the ground...

 ...a few runaways thunkity-thunked as they rolled down the bank.

 We ended up with lots of good wood...

 ...here's load #1, there will probably be 4 or 5 trips to get it all back here...

...right now I'm listening to the steady rhythm of the sledge hammer whacking the wedge followed by the crack of the log splitting, then the ax splintering the wood into burnable pieces...whack, whack, whack, crack...whack, whack, whack, crack...splinter, thud...splinter thud...it's kind of relaxing (for me of course, Johny is the wood splitter, though he's said he likes it...better him than me). 

All this made me think about this old question that has perplexed many and caused much philosophical discussion..."If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"...I say yes, there just won't be someone there shouting "TIMBER!".  What do you think?

If you're interested, this link provides information about the origination of the quote 

and many philosophical perspectives on the answer to the question. 

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise