Photo of Grandma

I meant to post this earlier - I ran across it in my photo file a minute ago.

When I made my quick trip home last week, I had to leave at 6AM from Mom's house to be back at work (relatively) on time.

I was driving down I-40 and decided that I should stop off at Grandma's house in Swanannoa for a few minutes. I knocked on her door at about 6:20AM - I knew she'd be up as they were always early risers.

I sure surprised her! We had a nice little chat over coffee and a bowl of cereal. She's doing great at 93!!

Luna moth

This time of year we often see the "Luna moths". Kindof a sweet-but-said bug....



Here's what Wikipedia says about them:

Although rarely seen due to their very brief (1 week) adult lives, Luna moths are considered common. As with all Saturniidae, the adults do not eat or have mouths. They emerge as adults solely to mate, and as such, only live approximately one week. They are more commonly seen at night.

Another gardening post....

It's been so pretty and warm here lately that all the spring plants are blooming nicely. Hope you North Dakota people are thawed out now....

The first of my "Red Hot Pokers"!


Here are a few shots of my different iris's - I've lost track now of where they came from. Now I guess they're just "mine".

This variety, I have the most of - along with some pretty solid yellow ones.


These are a more solid pale purple.


And these are almost bluish.



Pretty columbine - such a unique little flower.


Here's my "no till garden" - really just holes I dug in the garden - then planted my seedlings - here is some squash. I'll mow around the plants - but no tilling. It's supposed to be a drought resistant way to grow veggies. I'll keep you posted.



Last are my hosta's - they're not as pretty as Mom's are back in the cool mountains. But they're still very pretty!

Another quick trip to Asheville!

This time, it was by plane....we flew down to Fayetteville and picked up my nephew, Eddie. He's at Ft. Bragg and had the weekend off - he can now have a vehicle on base and needed to go home to pick it up. From Fayetteville, we had a nice flight up to Asheville.


Here we are at Mom's house....he's such a handsome solider, isn't he?



We only stayed Saturday night - went over and visited Duane's folks for the afternoon. Here's the crazy cat, Obie, that we "rescued" last summer. He's quite a character!

Almond Filled Cookie Cake

No pictures of this....but it is really good and a really pretty pie/cake! Lindy served it to us at our last book club meeting. YUM!

ALMOND FILLED COOKIE CAKE

CRUST:

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

½ tsp. Salt

1 egg

FILLING:

1 cup grated or finely-chopped almonds (I use my food processor)

½ cup sugar

1 tsp. Almond extract

1 egg, slightly beaten

whole almonds to garnish the top

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9-inch springform pan. In large bowl, blend all crust ingredients at lowest speed until dough forms. (I used my food processor with the plastic blade in.) Chill if desired. Divide dough in half; spread half in bottom of prepared pan.

In small bowl, blend all filling ingredients except for whole almonds. Spread over crust to within ½ inch of sides of pan. Between sheets of waxed paper, press remaining dough to 9-inch circle. Remove top layer of waxed paper; place dough over filling. Remove waxed paper; press dough at edges. Garnish with the whole almonds as desired.

Bake at 325 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes or until light golden brown. (Place foil on rack below pan during baking to guard against spillage.) Cool 15 minutes and then remove from pan. Cool completely.

Lindy Parr, 4/09

Very quick trip home

So, I called Mom this morning - and she said that my brother-in-law (from N. Dakota) was coming over for a little get-together this evening.....by about 2pm this afternoon I decided that, if I jumped in the car, I could make it in time (I was already at Asheboro - so it would only be 3 1/2 hr drive....don't get me started about the 25 knot winds or 40 knot headwinds to fly up instead...)


So, at 3PM, I headed west!!! A very nice drive, as interstate drives go....always love those first sightings of the moutains!


Mom kept it a secret that I was coming - everyone was surprised!


Denise and Keith roasted chicken and laid out a nice spread for us! Mom, Frank, Trudi, Keith, Denise and Rafe (guest of honor) were all in attendance.



Much chatting and story-telling around the table...


Here we are - the guest of honor and me! Too bad it can't be a longer visit - but life goes on!

Fair is in town!

I couldn't get a good photo...but as I was driving home last night from the Asheboro Airport Authority meeting, I passed this fair in the parking lot of an old shopping center. It took me back to the days when the boys were little and the lights and noise were a big attraction.

The night was warm and I had the windows down - ahhh the smell - fried dough, hushpuppies, cotten candy....ymmmmm I'm hungry!!

Disney Park Dedication!

Wayne Jones, a friend of mine/Duane's from high school/NC State sent this to me - too cute!!


Hope you enjoyed the Disney video - I removed it because it was taking a long time to load!!

Boat show weekend

I guess we didn't get enough of boats this past weekend...so we flew back down to go to the boat show that our marina was hosting. We got permission to go out over Oriental in the plane and snap a few photos (It's in a restricted airspace near Cherry Point, so you have to ask special permission - and only if the airspace is not "Hot". Wouldn't want to fly there while they are practicing shooting things in the air!!!)

Here's a aerial view - showing where our boat is and where our new slip is located. We can't move into our new slip until June 30th when a previously signed year-long lease is up. We're looking forward to getting into our own slip because it is closer to the poolhouse and restrooms/showers!



Just another boat show - but nice for such a small one. Lots of new/used boats and vendors.



They had several historical boats on display. This one dates to the 1700's.


This one looks old but is just a really pretty, new, all electric boat. They were buzzing around on them in the marina to demonstrate them...really quiet. Was a fun, short trip - we saw weather coming over the mountains and headed our way for the flight back. Uneventful but a little rainy....good, because the airplane needed a little wash!

So I guess I'm officially NOT a terrorist!

We fly into the New Bern airport to go to the boat. There has been a new TSA requirement put in place that all pilots/passengers must be escorted at all times by someone with a security clearance. They've enacted this at all small airports that have airline service, but not at airports like Siler City or Asheboro that just have private flights.

So, about a month ago, I applied for the security clearance. I went and got my badge last week on our way to the boat. So, I guess I've been researched and found that I am NO THREAT to the flying public....who knew?

Pretty Purple Petals

Well, you don't normally think of petals when you think of iris (but I wanted a "P" word for the alliteration)! I was tickled this morning when I drove out and saw my first iris in bloom. Only wish they lasted longer!

Another fine Ocracoke Trip

We're back from another wonderful weekend on the boat!

Here are a couple of short videos off the side of the boat - the first is a lively little sail - going about 7 or 8 knots in 25 knots of wind. The second is a nice somber sail, slow but very pleasant....








Miranda and Richard - both reading in the cockpit on the long sail over. Actually pretty quick (relatively) because we had such good wind.



Just sailing along.....pretty sky and warmer than they had forecast.



A smaller sailboat - we raced past him. Two sailboats are ALWAYS racing! We actually talked to the fellow on this boat later on the docks at Ocracoke. A nice fellow - does in-the-water cleaning of boat hulls. I've saved his name and will contact him when we need those services again!


We met Sharon and Buddy - they came over on the ferry and were there to help us get our boat tied up to the dock. Capi-dog was not too sure of being on the boat!


Then it was off to do the normal island things - lunch at Jolly Roger...



Not a great background, but the only photo I shot of Richard and Miranda on the bikes...maybe the ONLY photo I ever get of Richard on a bike again!


Looking for shells/sea glass.


Sharon on the nature walk


The happy couple beside the boat.


Relaxing by the pool at Sharon and Buddy's hotel - too chilly for a dip, though. Saturday had been forecast to be cool and rainy - turned out to be a gorgeous day!




Richard stole Buddy's bike - here Buddy is trying to determine what he ever did to Richard to deserve such treatment.....


Alas, all things must come to an end - after a stormy night - we pushed off and headed out of the channel to return to Oriental....

Forgot to post this!

I forgot to post this Monday, so I'll post it now for your viewing pleasure...

My friend/airplane mechanic Tom, at Siler City, is a first-time grandpa - and is very proud, of course! (Janet, his wife, is proud too, of course! - You should see her personalized tag...but I'll save that for another post....)

Their son/daughter-in-law were down visiting for Easter from the Detroit area (can't remember exactly where). He had to bring her over to the FBO to show her to me - I'd seen all the photos, but hadn't seen her in "person" yet.

I love photos like this - she's a sweetie - got to hold her for a little while. Someday, maybe I'll have a little femininity in my life ......

We're at the boat in Oriental

When we got down to the boat this afternoon, I assumed we wouldn't have internet access....we had paid for "weekends" from the local wireless provider....it is supposed to be Fri-Sat-Sun service for the "weekend boaters".

But, alas, I am online on Thursday by some cyberspace magic!

We're all ship-shape - waiting for Richard and Miranda to arrive late tonight after his EMT class (then a 3 hr drive...) so they will probably be here by 1AM. Our 1 hour flight was nice - because it was quick - but rather bumpy with lots of turbulence.

We will be sleeping by the time they show up!!

After unpacking all my bags, I noticed how pretty my simple fruits look! (We're trying to be a bit healthy.....)

I probably won't be online again until Sunday - so I hope everyone has a Happy Easter!

Off to Ocracoke

We're off to the coast! Richard and Miranda are joining us for a loooonnng sail from Oriental over to Ocracoke. Should be great - Sharon and Buddy meeting us there. They are bringing Capi-dog with them, so they are staying at a pet-friendly hotel. More later!

More Richard crazy driving

Richard's Folly (just kidding, of course)

Main Entry:
fol·ly
Pronunciation:
\ˈfä-lē\
Function:
noun
Inflected Form(s):
plural follies
Etymology:
Middle English folie, from Anglo-French, from fol fool
Date:
13th century

1: lack of good sense or normal prudence and foresight

Neighbors help Gretchen load up the Velocity Project

Our friend/neighbor Gretchen is sadly selling Steve's "stuff" that she can no longer use. One of the hardest things to go, I'm sure, is his airplane project. Look here for a short post I did last year (about a month before his untimely passing) Steve's Airplane Project .

A gentleman from Kansas City purchased the "kit" - and he arranged to pick it up from Gretchen's hangar this weekend. He hired a company from that specializes in moving these kits. Apparently, alot of folks start these projects and don't finish them. So, they get sold in their partially done, LARGE, form.

The trick, however, was to get the fuselage down from the air-conditioned mezzanine that Steve was building it on.

Of course, all the neighbors pitched in - no sweat with that many hands! I'm sure they would have been there for Steve also, but it's nice to know that Gretchen can still count on everyone to be there for her.


Here's the fuselage being readied for the long transport....the wings and other items will be tied on also.....would be interesting to see all the "rubber-neckers" on the interstates between here and there!!

Still no free flowers!!

Sorry to belabor the point....but come on....."Makayla"??? What about a SIMPLE name like "KAREN"???

Seedlings

The seedlings are sprouting - not as quickly as I would have hoped...the squash is doing very well...the tomatoes seem to be struggling, along with several varieties of flower...


It's been very cool lately - maybe some warm weather will hurry them along. I can't wait to get them in the ground proper! My mouth is watering just thinking about those tomatoes!!