Flowers

Ok, after yesterday's yucky airplane post, I thought I'd put some pretty flower photos up!

My camellia is blooming....this bush is finicky.  Sometimes it makes dozens of beautiful buds, only to have them turn brown and drop off.  I didn't do anything different to make them bloom this time.....

My earliest daffodils are fading away now.  They did stay pretty for a long time this year!

But I have two more areas with daffodils of different varieties.

They bloom later for some reason - this is a pretty "frilly" daffodil.  Everything is weighted down a bit with an overnight rainstorm.

And these are in a different area - they bloom late and have a much more colorful "cup".  Not sure why I have different varieties.  I don't actually remember planting different ones!

Big oopsie at the airport

There was a accident at the airport yesterday - no one was injured!

The pilot forgot to put the landing gear down.  So, as the airplane skidded to a stop, a spark caught the plane on fire.  The pilot jumped out and was safely away before the fire really took off.

Pitiful looking!

The Fire Department did a great job!

Trip planning

I'm really getting enthused about planning our upcoming sailing trip to the Bahamas. 

I printed out the nautical charts for the Exuma chain of islands because it's hard to get your bearings looking at just a piece of the map....it turned out to be a bigger enterprise than I had expected.

Plus,  I don't have a table big enough to put the whole thing on!!!  So, I tacked up on the guest room wall!

Sailing post

In case you haven't looked lately, there's a new post over at the Sailing Blog

Rotary Club

One of the Asheboro engineering department guys asked me if I would speak at the Rotary Club......

It's been several years since I've done that....so I said I would.

They serve a great lunch!!

Duane helped me put together a great power-point presentation.  I got there early to make sure the projector was set up correctly for my computer.

Big room - nerve-wracking!

I didn't screw up too bad....I'm not the greatest public speaker!  But, everyone seemed to stay awake through the presentation and there were several good questions  asked afterwards.  Glad it's done!

Thai meal using powdered coconut milk

I had a hankering for some spicy Thai food.....

So I chopped up a bunch of veggies I had on hand and did my usual sauce....

Peanut butter
Soy sauce
Rice vinegar
Sugar
Red peppers
Coconut milk

What's not to like about that???

I also roasted some tofu chunks - sprinkled with more soy sauce and spices (garlic, basil, onion powder)

But the coolest thing was my new-found favorite way to have coconut milk!  I was shopping at the Asian market in Durham and saw that they had powdered coconut milk!  If you cook with coconut milk much, you know that often the recipe doesn't call for the entire, hugely caloric can.....this way you can measure out the correct amount.  It is amazing - the powder easily dissolves and it exactly the same rich consistency as the canned variety.  The rest went a baggie for later use.  (The little tin cost 99 cents!)

Finally we're being teased with spring!

You know those daffies I talked about in January????

Well, it's March and they're just now brave enough to open up!  They're sortof spindly.....so I think the crazy cold temps has affected their beauty this year. 

The ice is finally melting....mostly gone now.  I noticed movement out the front door today and nabbed a photo of this big wild tom turkey.  He hung around a long time, pecking at the ground.  I wish he had shown his tailfeathers!