An Ongoing Project - Yup, another one.

Hello,

Well, today is Sunday, and I am on my back on ice trying to recover from the little "pop" heard round the world, or at least 'round my backside, which does seem worlds away, but that is yet another story.

So. Friday as I was looking in the fridge, bent to the side, head cocked, trying to see into the deep crevices for what I know is not even there (Java Chip Frap from Starbucks, still not there) a pop was heard/felt. I was ignoring what my mom says is the mantra of the back-challenged "always face your body to what you are looking at" or something like that, you get the idea anyway, thanks mom, I know that NOW! Ack....so therein starts my happy, happening, full of fun and adventure Flat on my Back Weekend!! Yes. Groan.

Well, what's come of this weekend is that I've delved into the basket set aside sometime this winter. The girls and I got the fabulous, wonderful, creative idea to totally copy our friends Elizabeth and Kristine's (mother and daughter, respectfully) idea to make a mother/daughter knitted blanket using some of our beloved yarn collection. So, Makenna jumped right on the idea, picked a color theme of blues/greens/purples, collected all the possible yarns and we threw them all in a basket. Jordan, Ken and I hung out, knitting and saying how great this blanket was going to be, and who was going to get it when we were done, how we would share it, etc. then promptly lost our happy knitting train of thought. I've made a few squares, they both have squares started on their needles, and there it has sat.

This weekend, as I was lying on the floor on ice, my face right next to the basket, being forced to not do anything remotely on or near any of my lists of things to do (things to do today, things to do this week, things I can't do until after I finish all these other things to do - prioritized, numbered and waiting, now you're getting the idea) I decided to pick up this project and kick out a few squares. You still with me. Go ahead, catch your breath from that last run on sentence, I'll wait.

So, mother/daughter blanket....back in action.

Here are a few pics.

This is the basket with some of the yarns.

Here are the squares already worked on.

It's a free form type of thing, we're just going to make the squares whatever size we want, and whatever size needle, and whatever stitch we want to do them in. Free Form. No rules, just follow your fancy. You want it, we got it.


Wish us luck!

Edible Plant List

This past camping trip has awoken a dormant interest in wild edible plants. It was Sue's intention while camping to eat a small amount of wild edibles every day. Through her interest, I have been able to start on my own path of learning in this area.

One book mentioned for a good study tool was Petersons Guide to Wild Edible Plants. I'm going to look for it online.

Ok, so....a list.

4/16/07 - Longpoint Campout
Glasswort - a spindly succulent with segment - very salty tasting. Grew all over the island
Pickerelweed - I read in Petersons that it's edible, but have not eaten any. A water plant that I've seen all over and didn't know was edible.
Pepperweed - As it sounds... peppery

3/29/08 - Oklawaha River/Weekend Workshop with Michael Rebel
Yellow Wood Sorrell - we have eaten sorrell many times but this time Lyn showed me how wonderful the flower is. The flavor of the leaves is lemony with a spinachy taste, the flowers alone are lemony and lovely, no green taste.


This is what I have so far...I'm planning on adding more as I obtain it.

Tomorrow I have the opportunity to go on a Wild Edibles walk with the Trout Lake Nature Center. I've only just found out about the trip while searching for more information online. I've called to try and sign up, but we'll see in the am if there is availability.

Hopefully the list will keep on growing!

Adventure on Little Lake Harris

Today, Makenna and I went on a canoe trip planned by Trout Lake Nature in conjunction with the Lake County Water Authority. Lavon from Trout Lake planned the trip. The 10 am outing had so much interest they added another trip for 2 pm. That's the one Makenna and I did. Less birds at this time, but still worth the trip.

All day it was cloudy, coolish (low 70's) and threatening rain. We decided to go anyway.

We drove to Astatula, 19 to 561, pass the landfill and the drivers license place, take a right onto 48W in the town of Astatula, take this to the end where it turns into a dirt road with a small boat launch at the end. We got there, got our life vests, picked out a canoe and hit the water....just in time for the rain to begin.

It was raining, and thundering in the distance the whole time we were on Little Lake Harris. We turned off into the Double Run Preserve. This Preserve was purchased by LCWA to protect the Double Run spring flow and the hardwood swamp that surrounds it. Double Run Swamp was the historic connection between Lake Apopka and Little Lake Harris and still serves some of its role as a water quality filter and reservoir for seepage flow through the wetlands and from the surrounding sandhills. Also, hidden in the depths of this swamp is a small 3rd magnitude spring. The combination of these natural features means that the water in Double Run has great clarity. Little Lake Harris has water that's more on the brown side. Anyway, before we turned off we did a bit of a poll to see who wanted to continue on and who wanted to go back. Brad from the Lake County Water Authority was willing to turn around with anyone not up for the 2 hours paddling in the rain.

A few did turn back and Makenna and I decided we were sticking with it. We had gotten an updated weather situation by someone back at LCWA and the storms were not really going to be a threat for us. Rain was still going to happen, but lightening was not. We called it an adventure and continued on.

Once back into the narrower water the rain vacillated between picking up to what felt like some sort of punishment, and dropping off to just plain rain. Nevertheless, it was really lovely back in this area. I love being in the woods or near the woods (as it was in this case) in the rain. It seems the bark of the trees gets darker and the green of the leaves gets brighter and it all has a glow because of the wetness that I find awe inspiring.

Lots of the trees along the banks were cyprus and there was evidence of some other trees, not cyprus, having fallen over. Big root systems facing vertically. We saw some poison ivy (Makenna identified) and pickerelweed which looks like purple spikey hyacinth water plants, spatterdock, which is like a lily pad with yellow flowers that don't ever open up past a slight bud like size. We saw an apple snail shell sitting on top of a spotty leaf and Lavon told us it was the native, non invasive snail which is integral to the snail kite and the limpkin 's diet. The way to tell if this was a apple snail was by looking at the snails outside spiral. the apple snail does not have deep grooves or channels. The non native channel apple snail does. Check out the website for lots of good information on this.

We saw a dead alligator floating in the roots of the trees by the banks. We could smell it before we we saw it and initially we thought it was a log floating there. It's belly was white and shiny and that ultimately is what helped us identify it. Not very log like in that way. Not sure why it would be floating there dead or what could have killed it. Doesn't seem like a good thing though.

We did see birds as well....osprey, white egret, great blue heron, green Heron, anhinga, kingfisher, and lots of little ones I don't know. I had never seen a kingfisher and Lavon identified it by it's white band around the neck, black bill and the females have a red stripe across their breast. Cool.

By the time we got back to the boat ramp we were cold cold, wet and tired and looking for some hot chocolate and dry clothes. Makenna brought a change of clothes, I did not. We learn from the youth, eh? We hauled the canoe up, said our good-byes and headed out. What an adventure!
Makenna: We have to stop for hot chocolate on the way home.
Me: Can't we wait until home?
Makenna: No, we have to stop, I'm freezing!
Me: Ok, next gas station and we're there.

It hit the spot, that's for sure! I was a drowned rat, soaked hair, clothes, shoes, everything. What a sight we both made. But we had fun and I'm glad we did it.

Makenna and I both would like to work on getting kayaks so we can be out in the water more often. There is so much to explore and we just have not done it. I really did like being in a canoe this time, though. I haven't been in one in so long and have mostly kayaked lately. The seating is different and so is the paddling. It was nice. Canoe? kayak? Either is good!!

Chillin' with Gio, Aaron, and Sean at Jordan's house

Jordan had some friends over and I decided to be a fly on the wall for a little while.......this is what I heard and saw.

Things got quiet when I announced this.....then Sean spoke.

I wonder what history will be like since we have such better records now? Sean says.

Giglgle giggle, all around.

Silence now that records are being kept. Maybe history will reflect this phenomenon.

Listening to Neil. Yup, Neil Young. . . Rich's new cd for his birthday.

Silence.

Jack chilled out, crashed, on Aaron's lap.

Lull

Makenna's back in her room watching Johnny English.

Rich is on the other computer.

Daniella from the show the L word has lived in different countries as a man. Jordan reads from Harp Magazine.

That's weird, says sean.

It is?, j says.....don't you want to live as a man? ah, burn

Ok, now we're onto Walker Texas Ranger...cheesiest show Sean has ever seen.

J says she watched a WTR marathon while she had her wisdom teeth out, nothing else on....it was awful

Aaron showed me how to take my blog profile and turn it into a website. It was a bit scary, I thought I was going to lose everything, but then it was cool.

Gio is now having his hair done by Jordan, lots of pony tails all over....Sean's just happy it isn't him.

Sean's petting Jack. He thinks Jack is going to be scary when he's older, with his one blue eye and one brown.

I wish I had a camera to record gio's hair...oh Jordan just ran and got hers.

Aaron is controlling Gio by pulling on his little pony tails. Laughing

Sean, when you have lots of money are you going to buy me something...says Jordan

Do you have a girlfriend Aaron? no?....you broke up with her, what's up with that?.

I only went out with her twice....I don't like to talk about it...says Aaron

I don't like to talk to my mom about it, I don't like to talk to anyone about it.

Do you have any of that chocolate soy milk stuff....aaron says (diversionary tactic

Uh, yeah...I say

Can I have some......Aaron

Sure. ...me

picture taking...all three doing the superman pose, aaron smiling for the photo and saying "I drink Soymilk."

Drum playing for a minute....

Sean, please let me put your hair in little pig tails......J

You know what you need? Sean says to me. A long black turtleneck sweater. S

why? Me

I don't know, it goes with the glasses. S
And a beret S

sean and jordan wrestling and slapping, hitting.....being rude, according to Aaron

Jack needs to get out of the way, it's too physical

Aaron says he knew someone who talks only in German to his dog. Nine for no and so on.

We decided to teach Jack commands in German

Jordan doesn't want sean touching her hair...Sean wants to, and insists he likes his hair touched, she doesn't like hers touched though.

Ok, enough of stenography whilst the kids are talking and hanging out.

You get the idea.

Walkin' the Dog and Other Tricks

So, with our little Jack dog, walking around our neighborhood has been a regular occurrence.

Jack usually gets me up around 7 and we do the usual stuff, potty, breakfast, a bit of lovin', then I do some chores, or check my email, maybe make a bit of coffee, and then we kind of hang out waiting for Makenna to wake up.

She's our walking buddy. We like it when she goes with us.

Lately, on our walks, the air has been filled with the scent of Orange Blossom or Jasmine. It's hard to tell which with their smell being so similar. It's a heady scent, sweet but not light, more musky. It's one of my favorite things about living in Florida, that scent. It's like turning sugar into something you can inhale and breathing it straight in.

Walking around, or driving with the windows down, air blowing and it's sweet and tropical.

The azaleas are pretty much done blooming, they popped out in March. The impatiens have been blooming all winter long. Peace lilies are blooming. Crepe Myrtle is starting now. Spring is definitely here.

Makenna and I like our walks, Jack too. We're definitely out walking more, talking to neighbors, helping Jack become socialized.

He's getting there.

When we first started walking with him he would walk happily to the end of our driveway and halt. We had to encourage him, be patient with him. Now, he just gets to the end of the driveway and keeps on going. He's learning to deal with his fear of cars, vans and SUV's, sprinklers, humans, and trash bags (a particularly good fear to get over since the leaves are an issue in our treed neighborhood and our neighbors are particularly fond of their lawn and leaf bags, ugh.).

So, we walk.

We walk in the morning, and we walk at night.

We walk for exercise, we walk to make Jack tired.

Note to self.

Remember to dump out the water you are warming the carafe with BEFORE hitting the on button and making the actual pot of coffee.

Second note.

Jack + Puddle of Cofffee he wants to clean up off of the floor = Not such a good thing aka trouble in the form of a 15 pound tail -chasing, spastic whirlwind.

Big Sigh.

Florida Film Festival 2007 - Shakin up the film scene for 16 years

The Florida Film Festival is happening this week and here are a few of the films I saw.

On Wednesday Rich and I saw The Animated Shorts at the Enzian. We usually try and see the non-animated shorts but this year we were working on a "sharing" schedule. Jordan, Rich and I all wanted to see films at the festival and we all three had to share babysitting Jack duty. This was a night that I could go and see a film, so the Animated Shorts it was.

Thursday night we were all home, but on Friday morning Jordan and I did the Kodak Stop By - Shoot Film forum that was offered. We headed down on Friday morning and got to act in a small production, shoot film, discuss filmaking, and haul the monster camera around! It was pretty cool.

We left there and went to the Enzian to see Black Irish - Cole McKay (Michael Angarano), a 16- year-old Irish Catholic living in South Boston, is a good boy who loves his family, baseball, and pets. Once an aspirant for the priesthood, Cole struggles to come of age--facing new obligations and ideas--in the midst of a chaotic and financially challenged family and the upheaval that accompanies his own puberty. Can he survive? Can his family? The McKay's are a troubled lot: Cole's teenage siblings--surly and misguided Terry (Tom Guiry) and unwed and pregnant Kathleen (Emily VanCamp)--are foils for his growth, while his parents--alcoholic Desmond and austere Margaret--complete the family, ultimately revealing how the term "Black Irish" in this film may refer to the more pejorative hard-drinking, brawling Irish than to Spanish Moor ancestral descent. With an impressive ensemble cast, including Brendan Gleeson, Melissa Leo, and Michael Rispoli, this finely shot coming-of-age story is fraught with all the tension and conflict and hope of real life familial relationships.

Sadie met us at the Enzian and then headed home with us afterwards. Bron was involved in the Dragonboat Festival that was happening in Tavares so she wanted to be a part of that.

Jordan, Sadie and I drove home - did a 2 hour rush tidy of the house for Zelena, Ben and Johanna's visit - then Heather, Rich and I headed back to Winter Park for the International Shorts and If It Ain't Stiff It Ain't Worth A F...: The Stiff Records Story . Heather knew so much of this music, you now, from growing up in England and all.....ahh reminiscing about the pop/pub culture in England. It was great fun watching this with her. Except for the bits that I fell asleep. Late night, life with dog...what can I say.

Just for the record...this year Rich, Jordan, and Heather saw Glastonbury on Monday night. Heather and Jordan went on Tuesday night for The Elephant King and today, Sunday, Rich and Jordan are seeing Air Guitar Nation tonight after the radio show. Heather might be joining them!

So, this was the 2007 Florida Film Festival. As usual it was a blast.....now life can slow down a bit again!! Sheesh.

It's very hard to see all the films we wanted to. We're talking about having a FilmFestNight once a month and getting any film we still wanted to see from Netflix and checking them out that way.

Camping and Folk Festival

March 27, 2007

Hey, we're freshly back from our first camping trip of 2007 and our first Folk Festival of the year. The girls and I headed up to Stephen Foster Cultural Center State Park on Wednesday morning. We spent the Spring Equinox out in the woods, in the Suwannee River, and generally just enjoying each other and our great Florida Spring. It was just the three of us until Thursday at lunch when Cynthia, Sadie and Eliot joined us. This was going to be their first time at Stephen Foster, and their first Folk Festival.

We set up camp on Wednesday, my big tent, a smaller 2 man for Jordan and Sadie, and a nice space waiting for the Eliot and Cynthia's tent. The sites are nice and large and it all fit nicely. Tents seem to be the minority, with lots of good big campsites the RVs seem to love this place.

We spent Wednesday setting up, riding our bikes - down to the river, around to the bat house, around the Bell tower and all over - cooking food, playing Battleship (Jordan trounced me, that girl is psychic I swear), making a fire and just generally chilling out. The girls got singing the Down By the Bay song while around the campfire and made up some silly verses.

"Down by the bay, where the watermelon grow,
back to my home, I dare not go.
For if I do, my mother will say......."
'Did you ever see a......' this is the rhyming, fill in the blank part.....

llama, wearing pajamas
fly, wearing a tie
snail, getting the mail
Rabbit, wearing a habit
Frog, taking a jog
Lizard, drinking a DQ Blizzard
Jellyfish, painting a pottery dish
fish, licking a dish
Sheep, driving a Jeep
Monkey, looking kind of funky
Zoombini, wearing a bikini, drinking a martini, and eating a pannini (jordan!)

"Down by the bay!" and then it all starts over again.

Ok, you get the idea, let's just say it was fun and collaborative and sweet all three of us singing together.

On Friday, Cynthia and I went to the Outfitters in White Springs - American Canoe Adventures - and Charlie there hooked us up with an awesome tandem ocean kayak, good for horsing around on and the water flows out and won't sink the kayak after a few rowdy kids, ahem, have been on it. She and I did the 3 miles down river from the bridge in White Springs to the canoe launch in SFoster. How great it was to be on the water and Charlie let us have the kayak for the day for no extra charge. Thanks Charlie!! The kids had to paddle up river, then they could paddle down river and get back to the launch. Teamwork. There was a canoe there waiting to be picked up from the same place and they had a chance to compare the two. The verdict: Canoeing is MUCH harder going up river.

The water on the Suwannee is full of tannins, so it's brown...technically. But, actually, when you have your feet in the water, and the sun is shining, there is a lovely shade of deep rose in the deeper water, changing to amber midway to the surface, ending with yellow at the surface. So, you can look at your feet (rose), ankle (amber), and calf (yellow) and have this gorgeous spectrum of colors. At first when I moved to Florida, water with tannins freaked me out. Black water, no thank you. This trip, I've fallen in love with it.

The landscape going down the river is so unique. This area floods every once in a while, so the trees close to the waters edge appear to be Cyprus, that has been washed out, and is dying, but kind of turning to a driftwood look. The swirls heading vertically are so interesting because trees are generally thought to have horizontal rings. These vertical swirls defy that thought. The various stages of decay also add interesting visual experience. Along the way, there are different levels of rock, sand, shale (possibly) on the banks of the river. Gators? yes. Charlie says they are gun shy, though...years of living in White Springs, I guess.

When we showed up on Wednesday afternoon at the canoe launch, there were 5 canoes, loaded up and heading down river with a group of folks going for a fishing/canoe day with plans of looking for a place to set up camp and stay the night. Bravery! But, it seems like that's the thing to do on the Suwannee, lots of free land and places to camp for the night. It's wild, but lovely and cool too.

Quick note: on Friday when we went to town for various things {ice, getting my van, water, etc.} we were at the little stoplight in town and on the corner was a brown dog and a goat. Uh huh, a goat and a dog, just hanging out at the corner. You gotta love White Springs!

Saturday we headed to the Suwannee Springfest for a full day of Folk Festival-ing. We saw the Avett Brothers (swoon) two times, the Biscuit Burners (loved them at Merlefest), the Everybodyfields (new band, never saw before, great surprise at how good), and another new band Scythian. The kids fell in love with Scythian, they are such a high energy group. The lead singer/guitarist got this happy, anticipatory look on his face every time it was time to get the crowd jumping and going. Scottish, Ukranian, Irish, Greek Folk singers. What fun.....it was the beginning of moshing for Eliot, I can just tell! So it was a great day there. We set up in the ampitheatre area, lots of trees, and hammocks in the back of the seating area. There are cool vendors for food and buyables, it's a very hippie like scene. Our favorite food of the entire day was the Veggie Thing, from the Sugar Shack stand. The come all the way from Vermont and make the best food. A Veggie thing is esssentially a tortilla done on the grill, layered with cheese, raw brocolli, spinach, garoc, drop some salsa down the middle, grill, fold up, hit it with hot sauce, and it's heaven in a tortilla shell. Yeah buddy. Also, they make this french toast with bananas and homemade maple syrup....ok, yup. We loved that, we loved playing Frisbee, ball, run around in the meadow. We loved the day. Grody, tired, sweaty, and happy....we drove home at 12 a.m. and crashed back in the tents.

Next day, pack it up day, Late Night Tacos is our tradition (taco shell, filled with scrambled eggs, fake bacon, avocado, jalapenos, salsa, sour cream, and cheddar. That will get your motor running and get you through breaking camp. We headed home at 1 after hitting the gift shop for a run through and were back in Mount Dora by 4. Tired Tired Tired, but happy.

We ran into trouble with the dogwatching situation, and luckily our kind kind NEW neighbors Dwight and Brenda (Spotty) offered, so generously, to watch Jack so Rich could join us on Saturday. We got home, unloaded, and turned around to go see the Avett Brothers in Deland at the Cafe Davinci. This concert blew our minds. It was in this small outdoors patio like setting, and they were so wonderful in this intimate setting. I have seen them a number of times, and this was the best show yet.

The show was wonderful, and for the encore Bob Crawford sang a solo song playing the guitar (not the upright bass), then called Scott Avett on, who sang his own solo of a song I never heard before. He finished and called Seth on, who did this beautiful finger work on this great song, again, never before heard. It was the most beautiful ending of a great show. Afterwards, the boys, all three, hung out signing autographs, chatting, mingling and it was a little slice of heaven for my family and me.

Lauris Vidal opened for them. He's a local boy, currently moved back to Deland. Check him out, he's cool. He had fun, it's obvious. Ran into Katie Ball, the Saturday Bluegrass DJ on WPRK, and her husband Ben. Nice seeing them closer to our stomping ground, and not just in Winter Park/Orlando. So, another late night for us doing music stuff. Love it.

Back home, and it's crash time.....but wait, not totally, Florida Film Fest is happening.....back to driving to Winter Park and onto my next blog!


Pictures above would be captioned as follows, if I could figure out how the hell to do it!!! -

Top left - Makenna chillin with Seth Avett
Top right - Jordan doing the same
Bottom Left - Ok, this is what heaven looks like to Jordan - Scott Avett and Jordan

Meet Jack!

Jack the wonder dog - 9 weeks old

This is Jack. He's our new puppy. We got him on Saturday, March 10th. He's an Australian Shepherd Mix, born on January 7, 2007. What a cute guy he is! He has one blue eye and one brown, is mostly black and white, with some speckles and is getting his not-so-puppy -like fur.

We're all adjusting to having a new baby ...ahem...puppy in the house. I'm shocked and amazed at how much it does really feel like we have a new baby. Up at night for bathroom stops, up early early just because he's ready to get going and is hungry, and we can't leave him alone for very long at all. Almost never actually! I'm sure he's going to progress at such a rapid rate that all this will be a blur in no time soon. That's what we're hoping anyway.

Our first beach day, 2007

Today the girls and I had a wonderful girls adventure type day. We decided to break away from our regularly scheduled homeschool day and make a day of our own. There is a beautiful photography exhibit currently being held at the Daytona Beach Community College called Kiss the Sky that has amazing photos by Henry Diltz. Click on the link and check it out because it's explained better there than what I could do. In a nutshell Henry was a musician that picked up a camera in the 60's and started photographing all of his friends and the musicians of the time. Not only did he photograph musicians, but he also made some very cool "head shot" type portraits of the people around him, and also groups of people, attending love-ins and be-ins, parties in the woods, people just living their lives in and around California in the 60's. The exhibit was not only beautiful photographically, but was a fascinating look back at the culture of the time. Hairstyles, clothing, face paint and makeup, how people lived on the road, it's all there in stunningly rich color. I highly recommend it! Orlando weekly had an article about the opening if you'd like to check that out. There are a few more photos there.

One thing I had forgotten as we planned our outing to Daytona was that Bike Week is happening now. It jams traffic up, and makes it a bit harrier driving with line after line of bikers, but it's actually a hoot! We enjoyed checking out all the different types of bikes, and bikers. Ahhh, people watching at it's finest.

After the exhibit, we left Daytona and headed a bit south to New Smyrna Beach for an afternoon on the beach. What a gorgeous day it was, high in the upper 70's, sunny. We parked our stuff on the 27th Street beach, which has a great little pavilion, bathrooms, and playground, and is the end of the line for those wanting to park on the beach. You can drive on and make a left, but to the right it's No Parking. We have done the "park your car on the beach" experience, but found it to be very much like hanging out in a parking lot. Not exactly what we're looking for. One year Makenna saw a girl get backed over by a truck so, that'll make you not want to be on the drive on part, eh?

We spent the afternoon stretched out in our sand chairs, reading, making drip sand castles (Makenna and my favorite), snacking, playing paddle ball, going for walks, and generally goofing off. At one point when Kena and I were playing paddle ball, the ball went rolling away from me and an agressive seagull swooped in and scooped it up. He was actually flying around with all the other seagulls chasing him, as if he had a huge tasty morsel in his mouth. I think Makenna and I both watched the whole thing with our mouthes hanging open as he flew out to sea, then back again thankfully, with our one and only ball in his mouth. Eventually he dropped the thing not far from where he picked it up, but it was a bit of a surreal moment.

After the beach we hit the Frosty Gold - or some such name, I'm making that up, but who can remember this stuff - for some ice cream. Jordan opted for Nachos and Cheese. We got the ditzy counter girl, you know what I mean..the shop was busy and you either are going to get the one that's with it and efficient, scopping ice cream generously, moving confidently, or you are going to get the one that looks like she's never scooped a cone in her life and was faxcinated by ice cream scoops in general. We got the latter one. She scooped Makenna's ice cream like she was sculpting it, and at one point came out with a little basket of chips and asked Jordan if she wanted cheese with them. I mean, um, yes, please, otherwise it's a $4.00 basket of corn chips. Ah, yes. But we had fun, yes we did.

Home to Rich and pizza and showers and hanging out, waiting for bed time because the beach just takes it out of me.

A good first beach day.

Dead Boring Road Notes from our trip to Memphis

Our trip to Memphis for the Folk Alliance was freaking awesome, but here, recorded for future reference, are our boring, blow by blow road notes. Stop now. Do not pass go, do not collect $200 dollars. Don't say I didn't warn you. Mostly this is where I can put all of those notes I jot all along the way when I'm on a road trip, the ones I think I'll refer back to when I make the trip again and invariable forget where I put, or even that I made them at all. So consider this my new leaf.

Road Notes

Leave Mount Dora, Florida - Monday 2/19 a 7:45 p.m. - We decided to hit the road at night just to get some miles under our belts. We hit the Georgia State line at 11:00 p.m./178 miles later. Drove on until 1 a.m./337 total miles and stopped at the Holiday Inn in Macon, GA off of exit 3 on I-475. This was the same Holiday Inn we stayed at when Kristine and I caravaned together for our Helen, GA/Unicoi State Park trip we do every October. Price was good ($65.00 per night) and rooms are recently updated and nice. Only down side is we had to eat in the actual restaurant, a bit of a time waster, instead of those grand complimentary-hit-the-road-running type breakfasts. We noticed a Holiday Inn Express a bit further up the road, back on I-85, at exit 186...no restaurant and has that continental breakfast.

Tuesday 2/20 - 7:10 a.m. - fill up the tank and hit the road. We decided to take I-85W/285N south of Atlanta to I-20. Atlanta is a bit of a worry just because the traffic can be a bit of a jam up, but we were also warned that the bypasses can take longer if the traffic straight is moving well. Anyway, this way worked really well.

We hit Alabama 139 miles from Macon at 9:50 am EST, and the time automatically changed to 8:50 CST . Ok, am I the only one that thinks that's awesome?! I don't think so....
12 p.m. - got gas in Jasper and decided to take the "Scenic Natural Bridge" way and not I-78w get there in a hurry way.
12:45 - stopped into the Natural Bridge which is the longest natural bridge east of the Rockies. We hiked for a bit, saw Indian Face Rock and the Natural Bridge which was really nice. There were dried hydrangeas still on their bushes, and water pools from slow dripping water, mini falls, and a creek, and lots of cool erosion in the rock due to the water.
By 1:15 we're on the road again. I was really glad we took this way and that we stopped. Usually when we travel it's a point A to point B sort of fashion, so this was nice.
2p.m. we crossed over into Mississippi - we were about 662 miles from home
4:05 we cross over into Tennessee - about 785 miles.
Arrive in Memphis at the Downtown Marriott Hotel- whoohoo!

+++++Side trip to Nashville, TN to see Rob and Brenda Wilkins+++++
Rob's one of those dear old friends that you don't have to see for, say, oh about 20 years, but when you do, it's like you just have never been apart and it's easy to pick right up where you left off....yep, one of those. Aren't I lucky? Here sure can show a gal a good time and his wife's a sweety. And....they live in NASHVILLE! I left at 11:30 on Thursday and got there by 3pm. When you're that far from home, 3.5 hours seems like nothing. I left about 4:30 Friday afternoon. A quick trip, boo. but great. Thanks Guys!!

Road trip home
It was sad and we didn't want to leave, it's true. We had a good time.

Sunday - We left Corky's BBQ (last time for BBQ in TN, and I had to have the banana pudding) at 6:35 CST and arrived at the Best Western in Leeds Alabama at 10:45 p.m. It was a new hotel and we paid $72.00 per night. Let's just say it wasn't the Marriott and it was OK. It was in Leeds, AL need I say more? I thought not. We stopped here because it was feeling late and we were tired and sometimes when you are driving you pass what seems like a nothing town, thinking a better town was down the road and you end up driving for a l o n g time looking for something even remotely as good as that nothing town you passed. So we stopped.
Monday morning - left Leeds AL at 8:20 a.m. cst and stopped at Starbucks in Aniston exit 185 (20E). We noticed a lot of hotels, and well, yeah, that Starbucks so maybe next time we drive just a bit longer and we'll be there. note to self.
Entered Georgie at 9:40 cst and the time changed to EST about 5 miles into Georgia.
Arrived at TRADER JOE's in Sandy Springs at 11:48
Left Trader Joe's at 12:45 and drove to IKEA about 20 minutes away.
Left IKEA at 2;50 to GO HOME!
Arrived home at 9:50 p.m. YEAH!

Ok, so dead boring road notes done....It's been so long since this trip happened and I had every intention of making notes about all of the stuff we did, etc. and then all sorts of life happened and kept happening and did what it always does, and everything gets put on the back burner and then here I am and it's one day short of May and I'm just now updating this blog for a trip in February. How does that happen, how?

Maybe I'll go in, make a new post and add a few trip highlights and change the date and time of entry and you'll never know what I did. maybe. That would be the best case scenario, actually.

Blood Mountain

Jordan, Makenna and me at the top of Blood Mountain, on the Appalachian Trail,

Georgia 10-25-06

Blood Mountain....Blood Mountain stands as a high point in my life. For me, it was a personal physical challenge met, a connection to the person I aspire to be, a great bonding time with my girls and friends, and just a wonderfully beautiful place to be. It was the Appalachian Trail for God's sake!!!! I finally got there! Yeah man. Big stuff for me.

We started our hike at 11:30 on a sunny and cold Wednesday morning. We had 13 of us; David (our fearless leader, planner, and overall brave guide), Cindy, Me, Jordan, Makenna, Cynthia and her kiddos Sadie, and Eliot, Kristine and her kiddos Elizabeth and Tucker, along with Rick and Kathy's boys Cheynne and Nick (though not Rick and Kathy). We drove the cars to Neels Gap, left 2, and took 2 to Vogel State Park for the start of our hke. We hiked a mile up to start the A.T. portion of our hike from Jarrards Gap up and over Blood Mountain with a final destination of Neels Gap.

Along the way were beautiful views, challenging breathtaking climbing, and all the nature you could take. Lots of granite rocks, colorful Fall leaves, cool faerie houses (imagination imagination) mosses, fungi, ferns, and all manner and sorts of inspiration everywhere. I wish I could store the memory of all this somewhere, a sort of vault to go to later when I don't have it right in from of me and am trying to recall what expands my heart and inspires my creativity, a wellspring to draw from.

Once we hit the top of Blood Mountain there is a great stone shelter to explore and a large granite boulder to climb. On top of the boulder on top of the mountain and scenic views, breathtaking, lovely, awe-inspiring were there for the taking. We dropped our packs, climbed the boulder, and made lunch. David brought along his pocket rocket for quick hot meal making, I believe they had Cashew Chicken Curry, dehydrated, and the girls and I shared Mashed Potatoes. I'll remember to bring the salt for next time! They sure felt good in my stomach, but getting them past my taste buds was challenging. All trash had to be packed out, so Jordan carried the remaining uneaten taters in her pocket!

The kids had so much fun on the mountain top, even having the energy to climb all over the boulders and to play tag. Do you think a couple of hours hiking up a mountain would tire out a bunch of kids? Well, if you do, you'd be wrong! A bunch of mountain goats, they all were.

When we started our descent it was a lot harder going than I anticipated. Lots and lots of rocks and a steep descent made for a challenging trip down. At one point we, Jordan Cindy David and I, got off the trail (unbeknownest to us) and we were practically climbing down right off the mountain. Jordan got to an edge at one point and refused to go further. Luckily for us David had done this hike before and really started asserting that he didn't remember this from before. He was willing to backtrack, straight up practically, and found the white blaze again. We moaned about retracing our steps, but were all very happy to be back on the trail! We took our time for the descent, poking and picking our way thru rock and trail, leaf and roots. We arrived at Neels Gap at 6pm, coming off that mountain to the cheers of our friends and kids, seeing the campstore, rocky and full of Fall pumpkins. We had made it!

A few things made the trip a bit easier, the first being hiking/walking sticks. These are retractable poles that make for an easier time overall on your knees. While going up hill, you can plant them right next to your foot for pushing action, and going down hill they go first for a great tool for leaning on. What a difference to your knees! The second thing that really helped was David being really clear that this hike was about the journey. This really helped set the tone of the hike for me. Even during the most difficult parts of this hike I was distinctly aware of where I was and that made such a difference to me. No matter how long it took, no matter how difficult. what mattered was being there. Thanks David for that. Jordan and me...Appalachian Trail-Blood Mtn.

Well, that's my version of our hike up Blood Mountain. I'm so incredibly thankful for the opportunity to do it, and so glad I didn't wimp out and not go because of any fears. Jordan said it best when she was talking to me thru the curtain while I was in the shower at our campground later that night...."Mom, I'm on such an incredible natural high, I just can't believe what we did today." I agree, Jordan, I agree, me either.

Musings on Journaling and Life in General...Good grief

Me, hiking on Blood Mountain, AT 10-25-06

I'm finding keeping an online journal as challenging as keeping a hardcopy journal. I have frustration with the actual keeping up of a journal, so why would I find online journaling any different? No idea...

I suppose my journaling is reflective of my life, in more ways than the obvious recording of thoughts, ideas, happenings, etc. When my life is out of balance, or busy busy busy, I find it difficult to even think in creative terms. This has always been something of a challenge to me, balance, in the way that I like to have a full and rich life, but too much and there's no room for down time, creative time, reading to the kiddos, puttering, painting my wall, reading, and all the other things that bring joy. Journaling and reflective thinking are included in that list. As I continue to attempt journaling, as I still want a record, a place to put all of these thoughts, I find that I must find acceptance with things just as they are, whether I feel that I'm behind or even right on track.

I aspire to less, less unhappiness, less work, less frustration, less negative thoughts. I aspire to more, more time alone, more time for creative pursuits, more time in nature, more time home, more time just being, more time thinking thoughts that are nurturing and nourishing.

Life is a paradox.

Getting Lost....

It's been a long time since I've added anything to this blog. Life's been full and busy, but, well that goes without saying if I haven't blogged, right? I've been working on selling ad space and getting donations for the annual Art of the Deal at the MDCA. Being on the AOD committee requires this, but guess what...I hate asking people for money/donations/anything. Part of my purpose for joining the board at the Center was to help with something I care about. Another part was to grow as a person. I guess this falls into both categories. Doing something that feels challenging definitely makes you grow! ACK! Growth!

This blog is something of a stream of consciousness update, so if I go all over, bear with me. As I am writing about the AOD, I'm actually thinking about Jordan. She's been writing a lot lately, creative writing. A friend of our family that is a special friend to Jordan, Heather, has started a writing class for herself (yeah Heather!!) and she's been sharing with us what her class is like, what her assignments are, etc. I'm watching Jordan get very inspired by the assignments even attempting one of her own. It has also inspired Jordan to share more of her creative writing, and she's been open to critique and feedback. What a growth spurt for her. I remember Jordan saying how she hated writing, how she was no good at it. It always struck me as a funny thing for her to say. This is a kid who loves reading, can rip apart a book or character in a heartbeat, knows what she likes, what makes books good but didn't feel that connection with the writing within herself. It's been beautiful watching her move past her own insecurities, and into the bravery it takes to create. Heather's been great about offering real and constructive critisism, not to mention honest praise. You know....it's always been our vision, as homeschooling parents, that our children would learn not only from us but from our community of loving adults as well. And also that this would unfold as their interests unfolded. It's as lovely as we've imagined it. Oh, check out her blog sight for a sample...Jordan's Junk.

Ah, here's another thing. We hit a cool spell yesterday morning. The girls and I walked out the door on the way to our weekly hs gathering and it took our breath away. We all stopped and sighed, breathed deeply.....it's just lovely having the humidity down, the temp down, lovely lovely!! Last night when we got home we opened all the windows up! It's the first time since summer began, probably back in May or something. I heard birds, I heard LIFE! Wonderful wonderful. All day today I've had the windows open and the fans going and the whole house is comfortable. Is the end of the heat in sight? I hope so!

Sunday

To practice art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.
~~Kurt Vonnegut

Today Jordan and I went to breakfast at the Highland Street Cafe....seems like it was the usual for both of us. Two eggs, hamsteak, home fries, and dry english muffin for me....French toast and hash browns for Jordan. Me, coffee, Jordan, sweet tea. We had a nice chat. It's always good to get that one-on-one girl time. Makenna was with Ela and Rich is in New Jersey helping out his folks, so we took advantage of the time together.

The Highland St. is the usual dive-y, local joint, not much on aesthetics, but great on that local flavor. We went home for a bit, then off to the Gallery Opening of the Central Florida Plein Air Painters. They came for a paint out event where they painted for two days in Mount Dora, Friday and Saturday, then turned in their work, framed and finished, to be judged, all by Saturday at 4pm. All this wraps up with a gallery opening at the Mount Dora Center for Arts. The show goes until October.

Jordan gracefully agreed to attend with me, thank you Jordan, and it was fun introducing her to the people I've been working with on the board. It was also a very cool experience to have all of the paintings in the gallery be of somewhere in the town. Some were very obvious, the lighthouse, the restaurants, etc. but some were of a house, or a couple strolling down the sidewalk with their dogs. It was cool seing a town I see every day through the eyes of someone else, represented in their artwork. Very nice.

Lots of the paintings were great and I had the pleasure of chatting up one particular artist, Steven Geer. Jordan and I both loved his take on a house on 10th Street in Mount Dora. I'd love to have him come and do a workshop at the Center. His painting just glowed from across the room. He was very inspiring and gracefully shared the plein air experience with me. All of this makes me want to paint. Thanks Steven!

Sugar Cookies in the Tub

I wish I bought this hat!!



This is Makenna. This is Makenna at Goodwill. This is Makenna at Goodwill in Newark, DE. This is Makenna at Goodwill in Newark dressed in an outfit her sister and Sadie made her wear. Look at Makenna smile. Not all the pictures look like this. Some look like this......


This is the duo who dressed her up.

So all of this leads up to my sugar cookie tub experience. I can't really post pictures of that but it's just like the pictures above. I want to remember them. I want to remember this, too. Makenna's been sick this last week so it's been lots of tubs for her. Last night when it was time for her "pre-bed" tub, instead of pouring the Epsom Salts in before she got in the tub, I poured them on her legs while she was in there. She got to laughing, so tonite, when it was time again...time for a good tub to get her all ready for bed, I poured the Epsom Salts all over her. I was dropping them on her by the handfuls. It was piling up all over her. She was laughing and saying how it was almost just too uncomfortable, but no too bad. I told her she looked like a giant sugar cookie. She had the little spoon that was in the tub from when she was stirring up corn starch and was using it to dig Salt out of her belly button! Oh, too funny. It's been a long week with her being sick, and the week before with Jordan being sick, so the Epsom Salt Sugar Cookies experience was a great laugh. Thanks Makenna!!

Grill Thrill

Can you say Pizza Night? I've discovered one of my favorite things to cook on our new gas grill, purchased Memorial Day Weekend (thanks Dad!!), is PIZZA! Who would have thought that you can whip up a bit of dough, roll it nice and thin, stack up a bunch of little discs with lots of flour in between so they don't stick, and hit the grill. I make sure the grill is nice and clean , set on med-low, and lay them right on there....no oil, no nothing. Oh, those little babies puff up like pita bread in the making. Cook for a couple of minutes on one side until you get those nice toasty brown grill marks I love(see photo below), flip over, repeat. When the dough looks nice and dry bring them in and it's Make Your Own Pizza Night. I make sure there are lots of toppings on the table and we all load up our own pizzas. Then it's back out to the grill for what is essentially melting and heating. I don't put anything on these pizza that I want overly cooked, the cooking time just is not there or the crust will be compromised (read burned). They usually do get a bit dark on the bottom, not too bad if I can help it, but nice and crunchy. Ah.....Wonderful. Serve with a tossed salad and a nice Italian Red. Done!!

We made these the other night and Heather and Amalie joined us for an impromptu casual dinner....did the salad, did the pizza, did the wine....most definitely did the organic dark chocolate. Let's do it again!!

PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE

1 TBSP yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 TBSP olive oil
2 1/2 cups of flour

Disolve the yeast in the warm water with a bit of sweet sugar to feed it. Wake up Yeast, lets eat sugar!! Let it get a bit bubbley, about 15 min if you like, or shorter if you're that sort of cook. Patience patience. Add remaining ingredients and stir it all up until soft and doughy. Knead it a bit if you like to incorporate the ingredients. Set it aside to rest for a while, depends on your timing. 10-15 at shortest, about an hour average. When you are ready, lay out some flour and knead dough for a bit, get it soft and flexible, no longer sticky. Add flour as necessary for doing this. I've divided this amount of dough into about 8-10 pizza flats, it's up to you, how big you like it, how many people you are feeding. So, divide dough with a sharp knife, then lay out more flour for rolling and roll the crusts with a rolling pin, flip and roll, until flat and circular. I lay them on a plate, dust with extra flour so they don't stick together, and stack em up! Hit the grill, watch em puff up, have fun, make pizza.

****Notes****
+I usually use unbleached white flour for this, or white spelt, or some other light flour. Use any combination of flours and play with it.
+This recipe is the framework, if you just "slap and dash" as I call it, and wing the salt, the oil, the flour, you can usually make it all work out....go with your gut and it's all good. Dough is fun!
+I never oil the crusts when I grill....you'll want to, but resist the urge, you can do it.

FAVORITE PIZZAS

Ok, my fav at the moment is the BBQ Chicken pizza and when I make grilled chicken I make sure I have a bit left over specifically for this pizza. Obsessed I know. Ok, it's crust layered with bbq sauce, a bit of marinara sauce, mozz cheese, red onion, and chicken.. YEAH!

Next up fav is the olive oil, garlic, basil and fresh tomatoes.

Then it's on to veggie....any and every.

No worries though, it's all good...so good!

Denim Bag Project

Ok, so here's my latest project that I've been working on. I started it a couple of years ago (typical) and have had a sudden renewed interest in it. I took a pair of Makenna's jeans and cut them off, sewed up the bottom, tucked in a little corner for detail and shaping, and voila`, ready to embroider! I did the little flowers on the right and the pocket edging right after I did the sewing. I've added the funky trees, swirls and back pocket details this summer. The trees were inspired by an embroidery kit that I saw for sale, so I boggarted the design and hand drew them on the bag with a Sharpie.

The back pocket work was inspired by this bumper sticker I bought in Newark, Delaware on my summer trip up north. We always check out the downtown scene (ha!) when we visit, a sort of revisiting the old stomping grounds kind of thing, and now my girls love it there for the record stores, the little shops and the piece de resistance ~ a killer Goodwill pumped up with good stuff from the college scene and all that that entails.

Ok, so...the bumper sticker came from Crystal Concepts, a little metaphysical shop, all lavender and sparkly, complete with a lavender painted bathtub out front enjoying a second life as a flower planter. Lovely. The pic isn't too great, but it says Grow Slow and is decorated with a planty/garden style lettering.

I'm planning on using the vintage ribbon (yes, real honest to goodness vintage bought at an antique show from a booth loaded with vintage ric rac, and buttons, and linens, oh JOY!) shown with the bag as part of the handle. I'll probably make a handle out of the leftover denim, and then do the ribbon as an inlay or something. I'll keep you posted!!

I still have a bit more work to do on the bag, a little crescent moon over the trees by the change pocket to embroider, and I'm thinking what I'd like to do on the other back pocket. I have a feeling this bag will turn out to be like an old pair of jeans that never seems "done" with patches, and possibilities. Sounds good to me!

Thanks for checking it out and I'll update when there are any changes.

Oliver

Ok, here's the way my mind works....I've just decided that at some time in my life I want to have a dog #1 and #2 to name said dog Oliver. I LOVE the name Oliver, and I can just completely imagine having a cute, wonderful, loyal dog named Oliver. Doesn't the name just invoke images of a great companion, a hang out everywhere with you, maybe even a good hiker dog? Of course we're also talking a good Sunday morning coffee, muffin, newspaper in bed kind of dog. I'd like to think Oliver would be great for taking around town, even doing the coffee shop hang out thing. Ahhh, I have been such a "cat" person for so long but I am finding the idea of a dog, the right dog, not just any dog, but the idea of Oliver is actually appealing lately. Ok, off I go...."here Ollie, here boy!" See you next time.

A Lovely Day When Your Gal Turns 15

Today....today was a lovely day.

Birthdays have changed for me as I've gotten older. Not in the usual way, or maybe in the way most people think. But in the way of becoming this sacred celebration of the bringing forth of the life changing human being that is your child.

Today was the celebration of Jordan's birthday. It was a day of gifts for me all around, for gifts for all of us all around. Thinking about the day of her birth, being with her, helping her unfold her day as she chose, as she would want, hanging out with friends...all of this is a gentle, non fireworks kind of being together and yet it's just the sort of "life celebration" that makes me look back on the day, or sigh into the exact moment in the day, and it's so sweet, so utterly a perfect blessing that my heart just cannot help but expand.

A few details, the "on the surface" type of details that don't address the above comments. Those kinds of details lie between the lines, you'll just have to trust me on that one.

Ok, wake up, bring the bike La bought for her out of the garage and put it in front of the sliding glass window, decorate with streamers. Make lunch and frost brownies to take to LIFE day at Kristine's. J wakes up to happy happy bike time! Leave house and stop in Mt. Dora at the coffee shop for Jordan and walk to the bakery for Makenna. Chat it up a bit at the coffee shop then we're off to Kristine's. Take the long way to Kristines (duh, miss turn) and spend the day hanging out, doing barter day, eating pot luck lunch, and getting our Sampler items *YEAH* Have a nice chat with Kristine in Elizabeth's room. I love filling the kids spaces with new memories, new energy. Just having Elizabeth come in and see me sitting on her floor pillows and her mom sitting on the floor, I think might just expand her heart, imprint it in some way, show her just how loved she is, how good her space is. It's subtle, but it's there.

Anyway, so chatting it up a bit with Kristine, which is always a bonus, never can I get enough of that. Jordan declares it's time to go, Makenna changes back into dry clothes (Jordan will need to sit in a towel all the way home, chittering, cold from eating water ice) from them running thru the rain. Off we go to Jeremiah's for water-ice with Sadie with us to stay the night. Jordan likes how we can go to her and say "tell mom to get water-ice" for example, and she can say "get water-ice" and it happens. The birthday girl with the power! Anyway, home we went after stopping for water-ice(how many times can I say water-ice!!). Then we went to the first Mt. Dora street party, picked up Kenny, and Sean, and met Bron there. Afterwards dropped of Kenny and Sean and went to Perkins for some White Trash Birthday Bash! Fun there and home for present distribution.

Some really sweet moments.

Makenna gave Jordan a CD of crooners, and Pass the Pigs, and a crystal, all her own ideas, and in her birthday card that she made she included a treasure map for Jordan to find a coupon for 10 free dances with her anytime Jordan asks her. It was so sweet. Jordan decided to cash in on one of the dances while listening to the crooners. Jordan had originally seen the CD Makenna bought her when we were in Target and she made Makenna dance with her right then and there in the aisle! So, the dance coupon is to support that, more of the "I'll dance with you wherever you ask me to, even if it's embarassing". What a gift. I told Jordan she should save the very last dance on the coupon for one of their weddings, and make Makenna dance with her on that day in front of everyone. Makes me well up thinking about it.

We ended the night with a little Nerf Dart Gun shooting and a big bowl of popcorn.

What a day, what a day, what a day. Thanks be to the Universe for it. My heart is full, my cup is full, I am full.

Whose birthday was it?

See....I told you birthdays weren't the same anymore.