House for Rent

To keep himself busy over the winter, hubby made a couple of bird houses.  Not an hour after he put them up, birds started to stake their claim.

Now both houses are filled with a new family.  If you look closely you can see a bird sticking his head out from inside.

Springtime or Roller coaster Ride??

Bradford Pear trees

It is April and the calendar says it is springtime.  Some days it feels like spring and some days winter just won't let go.  Last week we had this:

Yesterday my daffodils were beautiful, the sun was shining, and the temperature was 75 degrees.

My first daffodils ever

This morning it is 37 degrees, the sky is bleak and spitting rain and the wind is howling.  I think it was hailing last night.

Spring in the high country, gotta love it.

Irish Soda Bread Buns

The sun coming through the morning fog

In celebration of St. Patricks Day I made Irish Soda Bread Buns to go along with the corned beef I had simmering all day in the crock pot.

4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup raisins
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
2 Tbs. butter, melted

Combine first 5 ingredients. Stir in buttermilk just until dough forms; knead 6 times.  Shape into 12 balls, cut X on top of each ball.  Place on baking sheet, brush with butter.  Cook 375^ for 12 minutes.

I made the X's on the tops, but it didn't make a difference.  Also, they don't look very round.

Here is the finished result.  They tasted like a biscuit with raisins, which my son picked out of his.

Oh well, the corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and onions were great.  Happy St. Patty's Day to yah.

Smoky Mountain Bar-b-que

It's a cold, gloomy, rainy day.  What better time to meet the Active Adults at Smoky Mountain Bar-b-que for lunch!  About 15 of us met this afternoon for our monthly meeting.  The restaurant has cafeteria style dining with a full range of bar-b-que favorites, such as pulled pork, hush puppies, fried chicken and fish. The restaurants' motto is "We will serve no swine before its time".  I opted for the salad with grilled chicken and an unsweetened ice tea to drink.  Most everyone else had fried goodies.

I got to sit next to the new pastor.  Pastor Tim is a young fellow with five children.  His wife home schools them.  He is one of the nicest guys and is really trying to meet everyone and fit in.  He came from a town in North Carolina that was even smaller than Jefferson.  He told a story about going out to visit members of his congregation where he had to drive through creek beds to get there.  As he would pass homes, people would come out on their front porch with shot guns and just stand there as he drove by.  Then they would run in and start calling their neighbors so by the time he pulled up to the home he was visiting, the homeowners would be waiting outside for him.

Next month we are going to tour the quilt barns in the area and I am really looking forward to that.

Caramel pecan cookies

The other night hubby and I were watching a show on the Food Network about bakeries.  One bakery made caramel pecan cookies.  I thought that sounded yummy and I decided to give them a try.  Since Nestle doesn't make caramel bits any more I ordered them online along with the pecans.  I used the recipe from the back of a bag of Ghirardelli chocolate chips and replaced the flour with cake flour and the chips for the caramel bits and increased the proportion of brown sugar to white sugar.

2 1/4 cups cake flour        
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda              
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt                          
2 cups caramel bits
1 1/4 cups brown sugar      
1 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup sugar

Stir flour with baking soda and salt.  Beat butter with sugars until creamy.  Add vanilla and eggs one at a time.  Gradually add dry ingredients until mixed.  Add bits and nuts.  Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 350^ for 13 minutes or browned.

The finished cookie is chewy and gooey.  The bits sunk to the bottom of the cookie.  Next time I will toss the bits in a little flour and that should take care of that problem.  All in all, I would have to say it was a success!

"I'm gonna hunt Bigfoot"

Whenever someone asked hubby what he was going to do in the mountains after he retired, he always said "I'm gonna hunt Bigfoot".  It looks like he's going to get his chance.

In todays paper (on the second page) was an article about a man in the next county who spotted Bigfoot in 1978.  He described Bigfoot as being somewhere between 6 and 8 feet tall and as broad as a refrigerator.  Its arms were bowed out.  It had dark hair, 3 or 4 inches long, on its arms and gave off a terrible odor.

Next weekend he is leading an expedition to search for the creature.  So far, 50 people have signed up and more are welcome.  There has been 64 Bigfoot sightings in North Carolina, most of them not far from here.

This man claims to have seen Bigfoot just two weeks ago.

I've been teasing hubby about going and can't wait to see if he does....

Related articles

• Animal Planet joins Bigfoot hunt (mnn.com)

Back in hibernation

We are back in the land of wind and cold and I am trying to keep from getting melancholy.  I really miss the sunshine.  I've been going to yoga and finding books to put on my new Nook.

While in Florida I stopped at Joann Fabrics and purchased an assortment of yarns.  I love the lime green and rose colors.

Hubby's nephew and his wife are expecting their second child this summer and I plan on crocheting a baby afghan for him/her and one for hubby's great niece.  This should keep my hands occupied for a while.

Today I whipped up a pair of curtains to go on a pair of five inch wide windows that flank the front door at my son's house in Port Orange.  It is definitely not easy to work with thin slippery fabric.  It took about an hour to get the fabric cut and the pins refused to stay put.

Hubby and I are starting to plan our vegetable garden and will be starting the seeds soon.  The tulip and daffodil bulbs we planted in the fall are starting to peek through the soil.  I will keep you posted on our gardening escapades.