A "Restful" Afternoon and Evening

 Isn't Kirk such a cutie? 

Jonathan and Sam were going to town for something. I decided I needed some sun on these old woman white cellulite dimpled legs - so I put on a pair of shorts, put out a cot, got Kirk's leash and my Kindle and sat back for relaxing read.

Not! This dog does not chill!!

Sherry could not read...

Later, a relaxing sunset.

Fog and Fun

 I've had a few foggy mornings on the way to work.

I tried to find a different fog poem, but just kept coming back to this:

  FOG

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

Carl Sandburg

We made it to the Tartan Festival in Minden Louisiana.  I missed men in kilts last year. But saw plenty this year. :) 

And the wind was blowing! I was near tears most of the day - but not from kilted men...the wind dried my eyes and therefore my contacts. And the pine pollen is in full swing. I felt as if I had grit in my eyes most of the day. At one point, I went back to the Tahoe to get out of the wind. Cleaned the contact lenses once again. I could still hear the music. 

 A falcon handler. I also saw a big ol' owl but failed to get its photo. 

 

We went on a hay ride around the property this year - we haven't done that before...

...got to see the Hieland cattle up close and personal.

Dr. Cameron (veterinarian, property owner, Tartan Festival promoter) got a surprise this year. He has a silver bull and thought he'd turned it in the pasture well after the heifers/cows were bred. Well, with the last two years' drought, it was just too hot. When this little "lamb" hit the ground Dr. Cameron was very surprised.

The 'regular' color calves look like little bears.

Parade of the Clans.

 

 

 Irish dancers.  

Future Irish dancers. ;-) They were so cute!!

Jonathan was on a mission - to find Blue Bell Creole Cream Cheese ice cream - only available in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. We found it!  

I thought ahead and put spoons in the Tahoe console. We ate one pint and packed the other in the ice chest - had it tonight for dessert. Not knowing where it would thaw and make a mess, that's all we bought. Unfortunately, a 200 mile round trip is too much to make a run for ice cream next weekend. 

Cain's Toy Box

 I almost forgot to show off the toy box Sam built for Cain's first birthday.  

It's different from the boxes he built for Colt and Isabel's birthdays. 

This one would work for a piece of furniture. 

I looked to see if I had a spot for one like this in the house for the toys the grands play with when they visit. 

But unfortunately, I'd have to get rid of a necessary piece of furniture. Alas...the toys will remain in the basket.

The GRAND Things in Life!

 Cain is such a good sport! LOL

Teamwork: Lucky digs the hole. Colt checks it out.

Isabel going to "school" looks like Nanny McFee. LOVE IT!

Clowning around in the car with her new tu-tu.

Colt with the tell-tell beet juice "smile."

Isabel loves chalk art and tu-tus!

She told her daddy she was a "rock star." He pulled to the side of the road and snapped her picture.

One of my grand nieces, Addy. She is my youngest nephew's baby girl.

Niece Stacey and her family. You've "met" Brianna and Ty before.

Isabel would settle for no less than three hair bows this morning.

He-ya!!

Cain about to turn the big ONE.

Granny and Pawpaw holding the birthday boy.

Sweet dreams in Pawpaw's lap.

Sweet dreams are made of these: Both boys like choo-choo shows. Early Saturday morning, Granny found a Mickey Mouse Club Cho-Cho show on You Tube. Even at 47 minutes long, it held the attention of both boys.

Easter morning...

I LOVE this pic of Erin and Cain.

Cain wants to know what brother Colt found in his basket.

Colt got a coin purse for his "pennies." That's what he calls all coins - pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters are all lumped into one category - pennies.

Spring is Here!

I took this photo while I was in Austin. It's a tree on a balcony of the Texas Association of Counties building on the fourth floor. I KNOW what this is - I planted one here in northeast Texas but our soil is too acidic for this. But I can't drag the name out of my grey matter. Sigh...

 

However, I can tell you that my CAMELLIA bush is absolutely gorgeous! 

Yippee! My foot is better, so I don't have to keep it elevated all the time. I can quilt now! 

It didn't take but a couple of hours to finish the double pass it took to complete a row of the "rose" blocks that were set on point.  

I am not quilting around the block motifs. I will do that after I get all the cross-hatching done and get the quilt out of the frame. It will be easier to maneuver the quilt in my large lap hoop.

I put this in the frame two years ago and cannot remember if there's four or five rows. So sad! I'm pretty certain that there are five rows. Time and a lot of quilting will tell.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I have a wee bit o' the Irish in me - Fields from my mother's side and Griffith from my dad's side. 

I use my cast iron chicken fryer with its cast iron lid to bake

 

Irish Soda Bread

It does a smashing job of it!

Before church I put carrots, potatoes, onions, and corned beef in the slow cooker. 

I also made shortbread.  

Everything I read online stated that REAL Irish Soda Bread has just four ingredients. When you start adding sugar, raisins, orange rind, etc. it becomes cake.

I got my recipe from The Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread.

White Soda Bread
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1 teaspoon salt
14 ounces of buttermilk

The way I did it:
Put your cast iron skillet or Dutch oven with its lid into the oven. 
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together.
Stir in buttermilk.
Place dough on floured surface and knead just a bit. Not too much!
Shape into a ball.
Cross cut the top.
Remove skillet from oven and pour in just a bit of vegetable oil to lightly grease the skillet.
Put the formed loaf into the skillet.
Put the skillet in the oven and cover with the lid.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Remove lid and bake an additional 15 minutes.
Loaf sounds hollow when tapped on bottom.

Remove from oven. You must then immediately slice off a bit and slather with butter. Quality Control is a job...but sigh...somebody's got to do it. ;-)

My shortbread recipe was found in an old cookbook called The Highlanders Cookbook. Once again REAL shortbread has only three ingredients.

Shortbread
1 pound butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar 
4 cups sifted flour

Beat butter and sugar until just combined. Gradually add flour.
Dust counter with a combination of flour and powdered sugar. You can form two circles 3/4" thick or one large rectangle 3/4" thick.
Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Using your thumb, indent around the edge. Then prick all over with a fork.
Bake at 375 degrees for 5 minutes.
Lower temperature to 300 degrees and bake about 45 minutes. These should not brown much at all.
Remove from oven and immediately slice into desired shapes. Triangle for your circles or squares for shortbread baked in a rectangle.