Life Lists

My last morning in Daytona I went for a morning walk on the beach with Anne. As we arrived, a man approached us and pointed to a large bird standing at the water's edge and said it was a bald eagle. I have never seen an American bald eagle in the wild. I looked carefully and sure enough it was. I am not sure WHY he was chillin' in Daytona at the water's edge. I don't think of them as salt water fishers. But I was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Any day when you can add a new bird to your life list, is a good day. Since then I have been able to add roseate spoon bill from my perch on Chris and Gordon's porch.

While I did not capture any pictures of these two I DID get some nice shots of osprey, great blue herrons and pelicans when we were in the boat.

MORE things Southern

A continutation of the theme ...

PALM BASKETS

PELICANS

ROADSIDE BOILED PEANUTS

Things Southern

We are on a road trip visiting friends in the South.

We are enjoying all things Southern. For example, at this roadside restaurant in North Carolina, we found the lunch special of Hamburger Steak with Onion Gravy. Instead of bread, we had a plate of warm hush puppies brought to our table. And the side we had to choose from were black eyed peas, collards, fried okra and turnip greens to mention a few.

Black Eyes peas are particularly important this time of year. On New Year's Day in the South one must eat their black eyed peas for good luck. I spent New Year's Day on the Outer Banks of NC and was already having good luck as I was spending the day with good friends, but I was sure to put a helping of black-eyed peas on my plate.

One of the more unusual establishments on the Outer Banks is the BREW THRU
You just drive in, load up with beer in your trunk and drive out the back.On the drive along route 17 south toward Savannah, I saw a sweet grass basket stand. I have always wanted a sweetgrass basket. They are woven of sweet grass, bull rush and pine needles. The woman who was selling these baskets was Ida Bennett. She had learned the craft from her grandmother and was teaching it to her own daughters and daughters in law.

I was very pleased with my purchase.And it wouldn't be Florida without citrus. We visited Davidson Brothers in Daytona Beach and loaded up on Honeybells and grapefruit. We will be tossing them out of the sleigh as we work our way back north.

At the Nursery

One of the stops on our Southern Sleigh Ride is at my sister and brother in laws' nursery west of Daytona. I took to weeding some 1 gallon pots while Hunter added soil and fertilizer. Then Anne and I took on the task of trimming the dead leaves off of the Washingtonia palms. They are lined with spines ... ouch !!

BEFORE PRUNING
AFTER PRUNINGA CART FULL OF DEAD PALM FRONDS

Winter Blooms

Monday turned into a balmy 60 degree day, so I took advantage and headed out to the potting bench to pot up the amaryllis. This little puppies are all but neglected by me during the summer. If I really wanted to give them a healthy summer field experience, I would be more attentive to weekly fertilizer. But, alas, I toss them in a trench along the fence of the vegetable garden with a little composted manure and leave them to fend for themselves.I put five of the smallest in one pot.Meanwhile, my Christmas cactus is ablaze in pink flowers.And the tree awaits its turn

Goodbye for the winter

the deck furniture has been taken to the shedthe outdoor grill is wearing its winter coat

the apple trees have a deer fence around them

the mothballs are under the shed to ward off the skunks
the shed has been locked

the brush pile is over flowing
and the garden is resting peacefully

Cape Cod October Pie

I cannot remember where I found this recipe. I THOUGHT it had been on the inside lid of an oatmeal box, but since there is no oatmeal in the recipe , I doubt that was true. It melds tart and sweet in the form of apples, cranberries and raisins. But the fun part of this pie is that I use little leaf shaped cookie cutters to cut out the top crust.CAPE COD OCTOBER PIE

Preheat oven to 425

Pastry for a two crust pie
1 1/2 cups cranberries coarsely chopped
1 cup peeled cored and diced apples
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup cranberry juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp butter cut in chunks for dotting the pie

Prepare pie crusts. Combine the apple, raisin and cranberries. Sprinkle with sugar flour and cinnamon and shake. Add cranberry juice and vanilla and stir but not too much. Spoon lightly into unbaked pie shell and dot with butter. The second crust CAN be cut into strips for a lattice crust, OR you can use over lapped cut out fall leaves as I did. Sprinkle the top of the pie with sugar and bake at 425 for 40 minutes until fruits are tender and pastry is brown.

Pie and squash ready to go to T-giving dinner

Reds and Browns

The berries that sparkle in the sun this time of year add an amazing splash to the landscape. The orange of bittersweet, the stark red of winterberry seem to jump out all of a sudden and energize the landscape. I THINK it has something to do with the way they are set against the browns of this season's landscape. I find myself looking in to the woods as I drive around these days and actually feeling a comfort from the pairing of these colors red and brown. Soon enough we will be in the season of red and green, but Thanksgiving is a time of reds and browns. Feast on them and give thanks