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Category Archives: Adventures

Anniversaries

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Every time I look at my phone today, the date jumps out. It was 72 years ago today that my parents got married.

It looked like a lovely May day. Not rainy and cold, the way it is today.

My parents were married 52 years, before we lost my dad. I remember their 50th vividly. I went with them to Alaska, the last state to visit by my dad. They didn’t want to go alone so a friend of mine and me booked a cabin on their ship and went with them. Our better halves were in the midst of major work projects so were OK with staying home.

I love this picture.

My dad and I in Ketchikan.

They really enjoyed this trip, and my biggest regret was canceling the trip for us to get to Hawaii the next year. 9/11 got in the way. My dad had been in Hawaii during WWII, but it was the only state left for my mom to visit.

We rescheduled the trip for 2003 but my dad passed away before we got to go there.

These things make me remember. Life is precious. Don’t procrastinate. Do those wild crazy things before you run out of time.

Springing Forward

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Not my favorite time of year. Adjusting to the time change.

I am working on so many projects and just can’t get motivated to get up when I should, as my brain keeps telling me it’s too early.

Are you like me? Wishing they would just pick a time, one or the other, and stop the switching back and forth. You know, standard time is only four months long, and the daylight saving time is now eight months of the year. Why is the standard only 33% of the year?

For us, we like to have dinner as the sun sets. We tend to be busy outdoors and come in for dinner when we have to stop working in the garden, or maintaining the property, or in my husband’s case, working on his antennas and towers.

Enough complaining. I have to admit that today has been beautiful. Temps in the mid 70s. No rain. It all missed us. I headed into Clarksville earlier to do a few errands and I could see that the businesses are taking advantage of the weather. The windows are open at Food Plenty. I bet there are a few people already out on the patios. Maybe I should fire up the grill. After I move it back where it belongs. The wind storm a couple weeks ago actually pushed it around a bit.

This may be just a short taste of the coming spring, but it is most welcome after a wet miserable winter.

I am thinking about that summer trip to Charlottesville and the view from Barboursville.

The octagonal ruins designed by Jefferson. Made me think of the tomato seedlings growing in my kitchen. All heirlooms from Monticello. Prudens purple, purple calabash and red fig. Hoping that this summer will be kind to my veggie garden, and not drown it like last summer.

What signs of spring make you happiest? Flowers. Gardens. Outdoor activities. Grilling. Dining al fresco. That’s my short list.

Gobble Gobble

Yes, it’s that time of year again. Here in the #hocomd world, Maple Lawn farm’s turkeys are nearing the end of their solar panel shielded sun bathing.

We are so lucky to be able to get fresh turkeys, for a fraction of the cost of some of the options out there. Many places have heritage birds for 5-9 dollars a pound. Here, we can get fresh turkey for $2.29 a pound, $2.30 to pick it up right at the farm. With its own reusable bag.

You have many options around here to get their turkeys. Boarmans. Roots. David’s. MOM’s. Whole Foods. And, I hear, maybe at Harris Teeter, but that isn’t confirmed. For the full experience, at least once, you should pick up at the farm. For the craziest experience, do it on Tuesday or Wednesday. Lines out the door, but it does move fast. I go on Monday, so I can let the turkey stay in the fridge one day, then brine it for 24 hours. This year, I may try something different for cooking it. There will be a follow up if this method works.

This weekend I also picked up my favorite other seasonal items, like the pumpkin ice cream from Baugher’s.

I can’t emphasize how amazing this farm is. They have a bakery, if you want pies for the holidays. They make their own ice cream. They make apple butter, peach butter, all sort of jellies and jams. You can pick your own fruit in summer and fall, and their fruit market is open year round. Worth the trip to Westminster. I go every month after picking up my meat CSA at Evermore Farm. Yesterday I got pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin cookies and a peck of gala apples. On Small Business Saturday, you could knock off quite a bit of your Christmas shopping there, and have lunch at the restaurant. Order the tuna melt, and the CMP sundae. And, a side of apple fritters. Heaven.

So, now you have the turkey. You can get the pie and the ice cream, and maybe some cider, at Baugher’s. Next post, in a few days, the wines and the special items.

Those pumpkin cookies are calling my name. They won’t last until Thanksgiving.

Flash Program

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You may have heard of flash mobs. So what is a flash program? That would be a spur of the moment, not planned in advance, free program open to the public. Using volunteers. This Sunday at 2 PM out at Mt. Pleasant, Howard County Conservancy.Have you ever heard about the Great Backyard Bird Count? It’s a national, annual event, spanning the long weekend in February. Information is here on their website. A couple of the board members out at the Conservancy proposed a great idea. Let’s have an impromptu free program the week before the bird count. To help people get started, and to give tips on counting birds in your own back yard.

They have enlisted a number of volunteers, many from the Howard County Bird Club. The nature center at Mt. Pleasant has windows overlooking a number of feeders and all winter long there’s quite a bit of interest from the resident and migrating birds, who stop by or hang around for the food. The bird club has a master list of all the different species seen across the entire site. You should be able to see a number of them on Sunday, and to learn how to identify some of the more common ones who would frequent your back yard or deck.

They’ll be helping you and your family get started on watching birds, and you might get to see some of the more rare visitors like this one.

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I spotted this pileated woodpecker right outside the doors to the nature center around noon, a couple of winters ago. We know they are still around because we can hear them.

Still, a little planning and a food source, on the ground or in a feeder, will keep the birds hanging out in your yard, too.

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Blue jays love the unsalted Costco peanuts in the shell.

Come on out Sunday and see what other tips you can take home with you.

Spirits

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The alcoholic kind of spirits. Like this.

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On my mind because of our cabin fever escape up to Bistro Blanc last week, after being snowed in. Their cocktail list is amazing. It all started last summer with that ginger peach mule, but Tuesday night we wanted something that reminded us of summer.

The Denise. Not sure of the origin of the name. But, loved the cocktail. Made us forget there was two feet of snow out there.

We decided to check out the origin of the cucumber vodka. Found a site that identified an organic one. Immediately thought of RED as the place to go to find organic spirits.

Up the way from Roots, Bark, Nest and Great Sage. Our little local corner of mindful buying. The people behind RED were smart. Put an organic, biodynamic, sustainable product business next to all those Conscious Corner businesses.

Interestingly, we had never stopped there. We mostly buy wine, from the local sources, or from our tastings over at Iron Bridge. I’m not a huge beer drinker, but RED has growler choices I find intriguing. From Local brewers like Manor Hill, Jailbreak and Flying Dog.

I went there on a mission to find cucumber vodka.

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They had it, and the elderflower liqueur as well. I just needed to add those mixers to it. Now we have some amazing cocktails for those date nights I just blogged about.

If you live around here in Howard County, check out RED. You won’t be disappointed if you are looking for unique spirits, wine and beer.

Fishing Lessons

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We have the talon method.

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And we have the beak method.

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Which do you prefer? The parents out there seem to be teaching their juveniles how to fish.

This is in downtown Columbia MD. Wilde Lake. It seems the Triadelphia Eagles have relocated to become the Wilde Lake Eagles. I have heard there were as many as 20 out there. Today, we found 4 or 5.

The juveniles …

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… haven’t developed that white head and white tail.

As for mom or dad …

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… rather obvious, aren’t they?

I took my pictures today with my puny little D90 and a 200 mm lens. There were quite a few avid bird photographers out there.

If I win Powerball, maybe I will get one of those $2000 lenses, to do the up close shots. Still, all in all, it was just amazing to watch the eagles fish.

We hear that they are on Wilde Lake because of work being done out at Triadelphia, where they normally hang out. Eagles aren’t thrilled by all the photographers, walkers and bikers that ring the lake. While they are trying to get a meal.

If you get a chance, pop down. Morning or afternoon. They do like sunny days, though. When they can see the fish more easily.

A Very Merry

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No, that isn’t our view this Christmas morning. I had to look back to 2012 to find a white Christmas around here. It was more like this out there.

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And, right now it is pouring rain. I should be thankful it isn’t snow, as all the moisture the last few days would have created large amounts of the white stuff.

It’s been a quiet day here. We do our big thing on Christmas Eve, and then we spend today recovering before another week of visits and celebrations. We still have my birthday, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day to enjoy the excesses of the season.

I would be remiss to not mention again just how awesome our local shops and farms are. With great examples. Like Boarman’s market staying open to help someone who went to our big chain grocery only to find out they were out of parchment paper. Those last minute cookie baking sessions always seem to find us missing one thing we need. Boarman’s employees stayed after normal closing time to come to her rescue.

Breezy Willow opened on Christmas Eve with more cookie tins and plates, since they sold out of everything they had made for their normal Saturday farm stand times. I was there because I forgot a few little hostess gifts for my family.

Kendall’s came to the rescue again for us, as we had another run in with someone who doesn’t like mailboxes, and who smashed ours overnight before Christmas Eve. We do have a spare mailbox just for these occasions but I didn’t have numbers for it.

So, after all that last minute running around we spent a lovely afternoon and evening with my family and friends.

We are always asked, what are you getting for Christmas and usually our answers are a bit strange. This year, I got my dining room chairs redone, with The Cover Uph getting them finished in less than a week.

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Decking out that dining room for dinners is one of my little pleasures. Replacing the 30 year old wool covers was a splurge and a gift to me.

Tonight we will have a simple crock pot dinner. The house smells like cinnamon from the red cabbage and apple dish that has been slow simmering for the last few hours. We are making a smoked kielbasa and opening a bottle of Virginia wine.

We’ll have some eggnog as dessert while watching Andy Griffith. I mean, seriously. Talk about wild and crazy holidays. With all sorts of partying. We gave that up long ago, and on a wet and dreary evening, we are having “A Very Merry” holiday just chilling out at home.

Hope you all are having a great time too, and are making your own memories.

Tidbit Tuesday

Here we are heading full speed into the holiday season and there is quite a bit happening.

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Like this weekend, the holiday Colonial Celebration over at Belmont. I hear there aren’t many tickets left. Absolutely beautifully decorated, and with good food and libations, it is the only fund raiser that the Howard County Conservancy holds at Belmont to raise funds to support the educational programs held there.

Meanwhile, tonight at Mt. Pleasant, another of the meteor shower events. The Leonids. I will be there setting up and we are crossing our fingers that it isn’t too cloudy. The event is from 10pm-1am.

Here on the home front, I am trying to get ready for Thanksgiving, as one by one, appliances in my kitchen keep having problems. First, the dishwasher only intermittently drains. Even taking it apart and cleaning it out hasn’t solved the problem. Guess it’s time to find a new one.

Add to that, my microwave knob no longer functions. The microwave works, but you can only use the express button and push it enough times to get the number of minutes you need. Since I only use it for potatoes, pop corn and reheating coffee, it’s not a big issue for Thanksgiving, but it is just another place where we see quality is lacking.

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Last week our CSA had pop corn in it. I like to pop it in a paper bag for three minutes in the microwave. No need for butter or oil or clean up.

As for the “last straw”, so to speak, our oven door shattered. This is the second one. The top oven did it a few years back. The lower one, late last month when I put it into cleaning mode.

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Thankfully, it was fully contained in between the outer shields. I suppose I could still use it for a while as it shattered at the beginning of a two hour cleaning cycle, and I didn’t know it until it finished and unlocked. I had heard a “pop” and couldn’t figure out where it originated, until I opened the door.

So much for having a fancier oven. It seems bad glass is bad glass so matter who the manufacturer is. I guess this means I get to hand clean the ovens from now on. Or, I keep having to replace the glass. Annoying. Particularly as we get into my busy baking season.

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Cookie baking time is fast approaching.

Tomorrow, if I get a chance to sit down, I will be writing about Thanksgiving plans, including getting the turkey and the wine.

Get outside tonight, and look for meteors.

Twilight Hiking for the Family

Out on the Howard County Conservancy trails at Mt. Pleasant. Friday night, 5-7 pm.

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This is the description from the web site.

“Walk through the meadow and along the stream to the woodland campfire ring. Listen to the birds singing at dusk. Gather around the crackling fire and hear legend-stories about the Equinox, sing old-time songs, roast marshmallows, and enjoy s’mores. Hike back in time to watch the sun set over horizon –exactly due west – and hear other interesting astronomical facts about the Fall Equinox.”

You can look for milkweed.

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Or maybe check out all the walnuts that have fallen from the trees along the trail.

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Pre-register if you can, so we know how much food to buy and how many volunteers we may need.

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Loving the fact that we are well into my favorite season around here.

Never A Dull Moment

After all, where else can you find the Air Force Thunderbirds practicing in your back yard? Besides at their home base, that is.

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This was the second pass over the house that I saw. The first one, I didn’t have the camera. They are performing this weekend at Andrews Air Force Base.

I gather they come up here to get out of the National and Dulles air space. We are a bit west of the BWI air space too. This is the second evening they have been here. I heard them last night but didn’t know until later when I checked Facebook that it was the Thunderbirds.

I also got a good shot of the final formation as they were heading back to the base.

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I’m not sure how many people can stand in their yard and watch this. Just another night in West Howard County.