At the Compound...

Some weird looking fungus.

2012-02-21T08:06:00.000-06:00

I was "piddling'" around outside on one of the few no rain days and came across this odd looking fungus. We have had so much rain that fungus is popping up everywhere. This is a first for me to see this type. I have not researched it to see what exactly it is, but it feels like a mushroom. It is just "stuck" on the side of the tree.

Looks "hairy" doesn't it?

When I first noticed it, it had this dead stick stuck in it.

View from the underside.

More Daffodils

2012-02-18T11:28:00.000-06:00

Early Spring

2012-02-03T16:09:00.000-06:00

If Phil, the Official groundhog of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, is correct, we are going to have 6 more weeks of winter. That may be the case in the north half of the USA, but I am not so sure for us down here in the south, as General Beauregard Lee, the groundhog of Atlanta, GA did not see his shadow, and so Spring is on it's way here! And that is also what my daffodils are saying. They are 2 weeks ahead of schedule on their growth and blooming. I figured this out by researching my own blog, (because I always take pics of the daffodils when they bloom, I just can't help myself) I found that they are indeed earlier than usual.
This has been one of our mildest winters. We have had loads of rain, but that is what Wintertime is like down here. So far, no ice storms, no snow and no freezing my you-know-what off. But, Winter is not over yet, and I am not one to speak too soon, or did I already do that?

Early Daffodils 2012

January

2012-01-19T08:00:00.000-06:00

I have not felt much like writing any posts lately. We have had a houseful of company since the start of the New Year, and my focus has been elsewhere. We celebrated our National Championship win over LSU Tigers and we are now going through College Football withdraws. Our second son, Josh and family drove down from Pittsburgh to watch the "game" with us and also spent over a week with us. I love when the grandchildren come! I am not sure they have ever come before this time of year. This is our rainy season here, and true to form, it rained, and rained, and rained the whole time they were here. Fortunately, they (grands and parents) found comfort at the local Aquatic Center and spent some time almost everyday swimming and working out there.

Josh loves to build fires when they visit, but this time it was nearly impossible to be outside and sit around the campfire making 'smores. I managed to start a fire in the old cauldron a couple of days near the end of their stay when the rain had ceased, but the wind was fierce.

Here are a few photos of what it has been like here for the past month.

Fungus growing on a very large dead Poplar

Wet weather creek

While they were visiting, Kathy, our daughter-in-law, made perogies. What a process! She stuffed them with mashed potatoes and cheese. The Grands pitched in and helped put them all together. They were delicious!

Casey helping

Kathy, Jacob and Casey hard at work.

Good Luck Food

2012-01-01T17:02:00.000-06:00

Every year I make the "good luck" New Years Day food.
In my childhood home we always had pork and sauerkraut. They say the pork is for progress, wealth and prosperity.
When I moved south I learned about greens and black-eyed peas with smoked hog jowl.
The greens (I prefer collards) represent money and the peas coins, and I would guess the hog jowl would be the same as pork. I love all these dishes and love making them and of course eating them!
Hope all of you who read this have a prosperous, safe and happy new year. Thank all of you who follow and leave comments.

The Christmas Coconut

2011-12-29T07:41:00.000-06:00

We had a very nice Christmas here at the Compound. The dinner crowd was smaller than usual and there were no out-of-state visitors this time. So, it was a little quiet and we enjoyed that for a change. We had a nice dinner of ham and Marguerite's famous Sugar Cane Bourbon Glaze slathered all over it.
But no food photos this time, instead I want to tell you a story.
In the summer of 1969, a couple of years before I ever met my husband, he needed a summer job to make money for his first year of college at the University of Alabama. His father had been a Merchant Marine for quite some time now after serving in WWII in the Navy. He would go off on long trips; traveling all over the world, to make money to send home to his family. This particular summer he was going to Viet Nam, carrying Army supplies to bases there. He "got" Bogie a job working in the kitchen on the ship. They left port from New Orleans (I think) and headed down to the Panama Canal. Bogie (that's my husband now) was very sea sick, and they were planning on letting him off in California when they got around to there if he did not improve by then, and send him back home. But, just a day before they were to reach the west coast port, Bogie improved and was able to make the full journey to Nam and back. I love it still when he tells me about his trip into the war zone.
As they went through the Panama Canal, they stopped at different ports and Bogie bought some souvenirs. He had always wondered what happened to the coconut bank he brought back from the canal. Today, he often goes to the consignment shop on base at Redstone, where he works to see what little gems he can find. He has brought home some interesting things from there. Because it is on an Army base, people who are moving on bring things there to be sold that don't seem to have much importance the them anymore. The photos will tell the rest of the story...............

Coconut Bank was still a dollar!

.This was the best Christmas gift ever. It meant a lot to him and also to me. It was filled with change too, but the change will stay put in the bank, you would have to break the coconut to get it out, and I am not doing that!!!

Getting ready for Christmas

2011-12-18T14:40:00.000-06:00

Fresh out of the oven

Do you have "things" you are expected to make folks for the holidays? These Tea Rings are one of those expected things. They are a lot like cinnamon rolls.

Decorated Tea Ring

Pecan Sandies

Fudge

What to do with all that Sweet Gum Tree Fruit

Our Pets

2011-12-03T08:15:00.000-06:00

Just like most of you, we have had many pets come through the Compound. Right now we are down to three; Two dogs, Petey, a mix bulldog/boxer and Buddy, a mix breed mutt. Before Annie died, she was the boss. Since then the "boys" have had to figure out who is who. I don't think they have as yet made up their minds who is going to be the lead dog, but I can tell you that Petey's size has grown quite a bit since Annie is gone. He has grown into a 3 year old "man." I am still amazed at how much his build has become more stocky and taller. He mostly has a very "laid back" demeanor.

Sweety Petey

Buddy on the other hand, is high strung. It is very hard for him to relax and if I move outside, he moves. He hardly leaves my sight. He had a rough childhood before we adopted him and I think that may have something to do with it. He came from a fenced in area about the size of a postage stamp to 15 acres of free roaming. Our friend, Bill, always kids and says "Buddy thinks he has died and went to Doggy heaven!" He has a wonderful life here with us. He is older, and I am not quite sure how old; maybe seven or eight. He is a very loyal dog and I am very happy to have him in our lives.

Buddy is camera shy, I had to get assistance to get this photo!

The boys get along well together and play and wrestle. Here is a small video (from camera, so it is slow) of them romping about the yard.

And then there is Momma cat. Here she is just finishing an inspection on the car brakes. We also adopted her from a family that had moved out of state and couldn't take her with them. At first I thought Petey was going to eat her alive, but even though they keep their distance, I feel much more confident at this point that he will not.

A Frosty Morn

2011-12-03T07:15:00.000-06:00

I love getting out early on a crisp, frosty morn. The air just feels so clean and fresh. This particular morning it was around 27 degrees Fahrenheit (-2.7 Celsius.) As you can see, the leaves are long gone off the trees and wintertime is settling in.

Looking East to sunrise, and the Fig Tree in the foreground

Looking SW to what was our garden spot

Frosty Bush

Thanksgiving at the Compound

2011-11-23T16:08:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving Day Dinner

2011

Roasted Turkey

Giblet Stuffing

Turkey

Gravy

Mashed garlic and butter Potatoes

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Green Bean Casserole

Cranberry Fig Lemon Relish

Relish Tray of:

Kosher Dills

Kosher Pickled Green Tomatoes

Black Pitted Olives

Green Stuffed Olives

Desserts:

Pumpkin Pie topped with Whipped Cream

Elegant Lemon Cake Roll

Hope you all have a Wonderfully Safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Cactus

2011-11-15T07:47:00.000-06:00

I had one of these for a long time, and I don't remember what happened to it, but I probably left it out and it froze. After a year without one, I decided to purchase one after the holidays for half price, and now, look at the show it is putting on. They call them Christmas Cactus, but mine always bloom around Thanksgiving. Might have something to do with the climate.

First Frost of the Season

2011-11-11T08:25:00.000-06:00

Our first frost is a little slow at getting here this season. I would say we usually get one about or after mid October. We have come close, but with us being under the trees, we are more protected from frost. Here are a few photos from this morning's walk about.

Frost on Collards

Frost on windshield and garage roof

Ice in bucket

Pickled Tomatoes

Close up

Also, here is what I did with all those green tomatoes. We love these babies. There is nothing like eating a pickled tomato with my Turkey!! This will be our Thanksgiving/Christmas treat.

2011-11-10T08:59:00.001-06:00

We were supposed to get our first hard freeze this morning, but it did not happen, but I also can't reverse the preparations I made yesterday. I picked all the green tomatoes, peppers and okra. I didn't realize there were so many tomatoes on the plants! I also cut some of the Confederate Rose bush and put them in a vase, hoping the buds will open, and lo and behold, this morning they are opening! It makes for a pretty display on the living room table.
I love this time of year, with the crisp, cool mornings and fresh air. I know many of you don't like the cold, or winter for that matter, but I enjoy it, for the most part. But, you may want to remind me of that comment when January rolls around.

Last Harvest

Some say we are going to have a hard winter. Hard winters here consist of ice storms. Very bad. In my lifetime here, (nearly 30 years now) we have had 2 very bad ice storms. One time no power for 10 days of brutally cold weather. It doesn't happen often, but it has been a while. I am for sure, not hoping for this. I love the snows we have been getting the past two years, but ice is another story. We had a beautiful forest of southern pine trees in front, and only two of those trees are alive today. All because of the ice storm we had many years ago. Big huge branches were snapping and falling to the ground in the night. A very unnerving sound. The tree damage was so bad that they were then exposed to the pine beetles. They all had to be cut for timber. I begged for two of the best to remain, and B. honored my plea. Let's hope they remain for a long time. Here are a few more fall photos and garden pics from the Compound.

Coming in the drive

Golden Rod

Wild Hedge seed (ugh)

Collard Greens

What is left of our vegetable garden

A few Fall Photos

2011-11-07T07:30:00.000-06:00

Maple Leaf

Flint Creek

Looking out the Driveway

Can you see Petey?

Our Autumn has not been as colorful as it has other years. The reason, I believe, is because we have only had traces of rain and most of the leaves just turned brown and fell off. I love this time of year!

Wheeler Wildlife Refuge, Decatur, AL

2011-10-31T17:06:00.000-05:00

My sister was here for a 3 week visit until last Friday. We have experienced a lot of life together being just two years apart. It was a wonderful visit and went by way too fast. While she was here we did lots of things and one of them was toward the very last of her stay. We went to the wildlife refuge, just 20 minutes from my home. I love going there and watching the birds, but, there were not many birds this time. We were entertained by this Heron sunning in a most peculiar way (to me anyway.) There were loads of turtles sunning too on various stumps and anything else they could climb up out of the water on. There were two on the same branch as the Heron, but may be hard to see in these photos. I have an old, outdated camera, nothing like the high dollar ones I see being used on loads of blogs. It is a Nikon, Coolpix 3200 with a meager 3.5 megapixels. I have literally taken thousands of photos with this camera, and although I dream of owning one of those high dollar ones, this camera has worked quite well for me. Here are some shots from the Refuge.

On the real close-up of the Heron, I cheated and put my camera lens up to the Monocular in the viewing room, which to my surprise worked quite well!

Heron Sunning

First try at the monocular

Trees reflecting in water

Bamboo path

Soy Bean field

Bald Cypress Forrest

Boardwalk thru forrest

Cypress "knees"

Lily Pads

More Lily Pads

Fall Blossoms

2011-10-18T16:56:00.001-05:00

Confederate Rose Buds

Confederate Rose Bloom

Confederate Rose from ground up

Wild Flowers

Purple Mums

Walking Stick

2011-10-04T06:50:00.000-05:00

Walking Stick

Add caption

This was waiting outside my backdoor this morning......You can read more about it here.
Linking up with Garden Tuesday over at Pam's Sidewalk Shoes.

Cullman Oktoberfest

2011-10-03T13:52:00.001-05:00

These displays are all over the city for Oktoberfest

The temperatures have cooled down significantly this week, and that meant some cool weather foods. I don't do soup, chili, stew or the like in the summer. It just seems to me those are cool weather dishes. Well I wasted no time when the evening temps dipped to the 60's to make the first pot of chili, chicken soup and stuffed cabbages. It is Oktoberfest time here in Cullman, Alabama. Stuffed Cabbage just seems to fit the celebration. This is our first Oktoberfest with BEER!! I know, I know!! Don't blame me, I wasn't born here.
For some reason, many years ago, our County of Cullman went dry. That means no alcohol sales. Well, the good folks of Cullman finally wised up and voted (by a very narrow margin) to go "wet." Thank goodness! Now we don't have to drive 30 miles to get a six pack of beer, or a bottle of wine. Now OUR city gets to make the revenue from the sales! Now we can have beer at our Oktoberfest! You can read all about it HERE.

Stuffed Cabbage

Caught on Game Cam

2011-09-27T07:04:00.001-05:00

We have been trying, and trying to catch up with this critter before he completely destroys our Pea Patch. The camera can catch him, but alas, we have not!!!!

Sunday meal courtesy of Felix

2011-09-25T13:46:00.002-05:00

Felix is not only a great, caring, loving husband to our only daughter, but a wonderfully talented Sous Chef. He received his training in his homeland, Germany. He has worked in various Los Angeles restaurants, but also has his own catering service. When he comes for a visit, I am always telling him to take a break from cooking when he insists on making us a great meal. But he just can't seemed to help himself when it comes to making us a very impressive meal, and this trip was no exception.

Last Sunday he honored us with the most fabulous dinner I have ever eaten. Here is the menu:

Surf & Turf of

Thyme rubbed broiled Filet Mignon and garlic butter poached king crab legs with sauce Hollandaise, chive mashed potatoes, saute'ed crimini mushrooms and glazed green asparagus.

The Mignon melted in your mouth!! With every single bite I closed my eyes and savored every single taste. It was awesome!!!! (There was a slather of creamed or whipped parsnips in there too.) Thank you Felix for giving 12 of us a treat of a lifetime. Here are some photos. BTW: the A-1 steak sauce was NOT needed!!!

Making the Hollandaise

Felix hard at work

Felix and Jess Plating

Plating the Mignon

For our Vegetarian

Plated meal

Best of show!

Wonderful Whirlwind Weekend!

2011-09-22T09:27:00.000-05:00

For some reason, it has taken me all week to get to this post, it is almost another weekend already.
This past weekend was my husband's 60th birthday. We have 5 living children.
Three of them live in Los Angeles, and One in Pittsburgh,PA and one lives here with us. So, it is a very rare occasion when we are all together in one place. In fact, none of us can actually pin point the last time we were all together as one family. We would have to do some research through photo albums to find out.
Our daughter came up with the brilliant idea of everyone coming home for Bogie's 60th birthday! When I first heard it, I was sure that one out of the five would not be able to get away from work or other obligations to pull this off. It was to be a secret too! Well, after a couple of months of anticipation, it all came to pass.
Not only did the 5 children come home, but their spouses, and Grandchildren to boot!!! And... (who we call our 5th son) Joe W. came from El Paso too! He has been part of our family since 3rd grade, and is stationed at Ft. Bliss, TX, has served in the Army for probably 10 years now, doing several tours of duty.
What a wonderfully glorious weekend we had together!!! I could write several blogs on our days together.
And boy oh, boy, was Bogie ever surprised!!!!! He had no idea.
I think we had all forgotten how great it feels to be together as a family, enjoying each other's company. Laughing, talking, and playing together. We played crochet, horseshoes (in the dark,) basketball, and football and even did some target practice. We watched our favorite college football team, the Alabama Crimson Tide. We built campfires. Cooked on the grill and ate some of the most wonderful foods. It was one of the most recent best ever weekends in my life.

All our children and 2 of the Grands

Me and Bogie on top stair, then zig-zagging down left to right: 2nd son, Joshua, 1st son, Michael, 3rd son Joe, 4th son James, and only daughter, Jessica, Grandson, Jacob and Granddaughter, Casey.

Game Day, with ALL of us!

I love how we can all get together, after a long stretch of not seeing one another, and it is like we never were apart. I love how all our children get along with one another and love each other. It filled our hearts and souls to to be all together.

Garden and rest of Lee rain

2011-09-14T08:44:00.000-05:00

I am so behind in posting. We got a total of 9.2 inches of rain from T.S. Lee. Who would have thought that there would have been so much damage and flooding from a tropical storm. Wow. We had neither, but some very much needed rain. After today, we are expecting nice, cooler weather. I have been very busy getting ready for company and also remodeling our kitchen. That is another post! What some would call a weekend project turned into at least a month long project!!

I have no idea what to do with all this basil, and open to suggestions. I know about the pesto, but that is not my thing. I guess I could dry it and put it in jars? Open to any suggestions.

Basil, I bet everyone has lots of this right now.

New Pea Patch that rabbits are eating

The damn rabbits are at it again. Chomping away on the new crop of peas. They seem to love the blossoms. Guess what rabbits, so do we! I am on a mission to hunt you down and put you in a stew pot. (Sorry rabbit lovers.) I put out the game camera, an Iron Owl and leaving the dogs out at night, so you better watch out.
The rest of the garden is pretty much spent. I have enjoyed the garden this year. Not a big one, but I have learned to grow only what I can manage. I would consider this year's a success. I did plant some collards and they are coming up. Not sure what happened to the pepper plants, but they are dying.

Rest of rain from Lee, over 9.2 inches

Thank you Lee

2011-09-06T06:34:00.000-05:00

Our temperatures went from 95 degrees F. on Saturday to a high of 76 degrees F. on Sunday, Thanks to T.S. Lee. What a wonderful relief from the heat. We also got much needed rain, after a long dry spell. My garden is happy again! And I planted my Collard seeds just in time for the rain.
I have not been out this morning to check the rain gauge or take a photo of it, but at 11:30am yesterday I took this photo before emptying the rain gauge. There is almost that much more in there today, just checking from the dining room window.

First Rain reading since Lee

It was so dry that it looks like Autumn outside because the rain and wind brought down some dry dead leaves. I am so ready for the cooler temps. It has been a long, hot summer here in Alabama.

Momma Cat's favorite spot

2011-09-03T07:53:00.000-05:00

We have come a long way here at the compound when it comes to Momma Cat being able to have this much freedom. She used to have to stayed locked up above the garage (Man Cave) with the dreaded litter box. It took some time for the dogs to get used to her being here. At first they wanted to kill her (no kidding.) But little by little we let them in to be around her in "her territory" and finally after over a year now, step by step, she is a free woman! (As a precaution we shut her up at night in the ground level of the garage, not to keep her safe from the dogs, but other wild critters, as we live back in the woods.) She loves the outdoors and I am so glad to get that awful litter box out of our Man Cave. After all, it is football season and who wants that in the mix?

Hidden Objects

2011-09-01T08:23:00.000-05:00

Do you see it?

Let's play a really simple, silly game! I feel some excitement in the air with the coming of September! That means cooler temps are on the way!
Petey woke us this morning with his "something is here that is not supposed to be" barking. Later, after sunrise, I saw him keeping vigilance under the Fig tree. So I grabbed the camera and this is what I found. Can you see him in the first photo? If not, try the second one, you will for sure find him there.
The last photo is another (eh em) "hidden object. Can you spot the cat? Silly me! Hope your September 1st is a good one!

Ah Ha! There he is!! An Oppossum.

Where's the Cat? Click to enlarge!