First Brush Drawing Attempt

Color Mixing

(Not So Little) Growing Thing

More Little Growing Things

Sedum

Bleeding Heart

Tulip

Little Growing Things

A few favorite shots from a visit to Maren and Jason's greenhouse in their days of preparing the plants for the coming selling season. 

Nephew time happened on the same excursion. 

Good Morning, Orchid!

Strawberry Delight

For a special Easter dessert this year, I tried to replicate the idea of our family's Mile High Strawberry Pie Easter tradition. I relied heavily on Low Carb Yum's Keto Strawberry Cream Pie with Pecan Crust for the filling of this dessert (main alterations being added salt and lemon juice and change of sweetener). To fit my dietary needs, the crust is of my own creation, same as what I developed for last year's Thanksgiving pumpkin pie but thinner. Let me intruduce our new favorite...

STRAWBERRY DELIGHT

grain, gluten, dairy, nut, egg, refined sugar + alcohol free, keto

Crust:

1/4 + 1/8 c. coconut flour

1/4 + 1/8 c. tigernut flour

1-1/2 tsp. gelatin

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 c. (2 oz) melted ghee or coconut oil

Mix well + press into bottom of 9"pie plate or springform pan. (The first few slices removed from a pie plate get a little messy, so the springform pan is for the perfectionists out there.) Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until golden. Chill.

Filling:

1# frozen strawberries, thawed overnight at room temperature

1/4 tsp. stevia

1/8 tsp. salt

2 tsp. lemon juice

Puree in blender.

1 T. + 1/2 tsp. gelatin

3 T. cold water

3 T. boiling water

Sprinkle gelatin over cold water to bloom. Once gelatin is fully hydrated, whisk in boiling water until gelatin is dissolved. Set aside.

1 can (13.5 fl oz) heavy coconut cream, chilled

25 drops stevia

3/4 tsp. vanilla bean powder (or 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract)

1/8 tsp. salt

Scoop thick part of cream into a medium mixing bowl (use the thinner part for something else). Add other ingredients + beat until slightly softer and fluffier.

Mix gelatin mixture into strawberry puree + fold in whipped cream. Pour into crust + chill until set, about 4 hours.

Spring Harvest

Unacommidating fall weather means spring harvest of corn for many local farmers. 

(Photo taken March 23)

Mansfield, MO

The dates of our vacation were planned around the season's opening date of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum. Here we drank in a good dose of Ingalls and Wilder history and artifacts and toured Laura's two homes in this location. 

The first home (not pictured) was pieced together over the years by Laura and Almanzo. The spaces are still filled with the Wilders' own belongings down to Laura's aprons hanging in the kitchen. 

The Wilder's second home was built from a Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalogue model and faced with local stone by Rose Wilder Lane who wished to provide a comfortable retirement home equipped with the modern conveniences of the time for her parents. While they did live in the Rock House (pictured below) for several years, Laura and Almanzo eventually moved back to their beloved Rocky Ridge farmhouse for their remaining years. Laura wrote all her enduring "Little House" books from these two homes.

While along the way we had many more delightful adventures (such as swimming in a calm ocean), near catastrophes (such as hitting a deer in Arkansas) and sightings of God's loving care (such as the help of an off-duty fireman in the process of getting documents to report vehicle damage to insurance), this sums up my report of Florida Vacation 2020.

Stay at Home: V

One of Dad's home projects has been finishing up woodwork in the "bakery." (We still call it that, though the bakery has been closed six years.) The caps on the railing endposts and handrail are new.

Dunes, Gulf of Mexico and Shorebirds

Our final campground was in the Fort Pickens area of Gulf Islands National Seashore. Gorgeous and chilly.

Memory Lane

A rain storm caught us while visiting our old stomping grounds in Boca Raton. Dad, Mom and I spent a couple happy weeks here in 2007 while Dad went to classes to learn how to operate a new telephone switch board. 

"Our" beach with a symbol of God's promise in the sky.

A protected walk out of the stormy wind.

Hannah looking for shells.

My few finds.

Dune grasses.

Looking at our old "home" across the intracoastal waterway. 

The lift bridge that we used to watch from our living room.

God used this visit down memory lane to re-break my heart for "the least of these." While eating a taco salad picnic supper in the ease of our vehicle, a lonely homeless woman huddled by the public restroom under this bridge. The apple, granola bars, and water Hannah and I brought her seemed a small comfort in her dreary world, yet she thanked us and God as if we had given her much. How I wish I could help her more, yet I left her in the kind and mighty hands of my Father.

Visit No. 4

Our final visit of the trip was to Dad's brother's newly widowed wife and one of her daughters. While Hannah and I were unable to visit at a time our aunt was in her southern home, we were able to spend a relaxed afternoon catching up with our cousin. Dad and Mom later spent a Sunday of church and visit with both Gerri and Xandra.

Jupiter Island Beach

Johnathan Dickinson State Park

Checking into our next campground just before the sun set brought back fond memories of doing the same last year.

Home away from home.

Sadly Hannah's and my tent ended up with mold beneath our mattresses after a rain storm that produced a lake under our tent. The resulting mold sickness is still lingering today. Next time we plan on using airy cots.

The Ribault Club

Not far from the Kingsley Plantation was the Ribault Club. Here we marveled at the remains of an elegant era and walked the same hallways as men like Winston Churchill and one of the Rockefellers. On the grounds Dad and I hotly pursued our first (and probably last) solenodon with an unsuccessful camera before learning of the vicious and venomous nature of this odd mammal.

Stay at Home: IV

I got the urge to pull out our old watercolors one Sunday afternoon to paint a coloring sheet. Since then my interest in watercolor has been growing and I've been trying my hand at the art. I am in the juvenile stage but enjoying it thoroughly. Having the companionship of Hannah delving into the paints at my side makes it a social occasion, too.

Kingsley Plantation

Another history packed excursion in northern Florida was our afternoon at the Kingsley Plantation. This was the site of a cotton and indigo plantation as well as a resort for the middle class Victorian over the years.

Slaves' quarters ruins. The small huts were constructed from a mixture of crushed and boiled oyster shells, sand, and water. Between this half circle of dwellings and the modest plantation house were once the plantation's fields. To this farm country girl, the field space looked more the size of a hobby farm. This once fielded land is now a restful lawn of palms.

The fiber lover in me was delighted by the cotton displays.

Stay at Home: III

Refreshing home spaces with old things.

Fort Clinch

For me the highlight of our vacation in Florida was having enough energy (sometimes) to explore historical sights. Top on the list of historical sights visited was Fort Clinch.

Wall and moat

Drawbridge entrance

A view of the Atlantic and a Georgian island through an embrasure in the wall

Architecture that was not only functional but also graceful.

Hannah and Mom on a bastion stairway.

Much interesting content for our dedicated photographer.

Climate-eaten picture