Gardening...no

Earlier in the week I checked out the "mini-greenhouses" that I'd planted with spinach, lettuce and radishes before the last trip.  Excitement ensues....

 Not much to see. 

Maybe a lettuce leaf or two on the left and a few radishes on the right.  I watered them and recovered them, so maybe something will be growing by next week.

 

 

My collards and kale from last year are still growing huge.  I harvested a little in mid-December, so I guess it's time to steal a few more leaves,

Review: Katharine’s Remarkable Road Trip

 

Bearing in mind that this is fictionalized history—isn’t that what they call it when a person takes an actual historical character and makes up stories about them?—I found it to be a hoot. Maybe a little unbelievable in just how many peculiar encounters might happen in the course of a one-week drive, but then, since you know it’s not real, why not?

The story follows the adventures and misadventures of Katharine Prescott Wormeley in the early 1900s when she travels from her home in Rhode Island to her new home in New Hampshire. She drives herself, in an open-top car whose make and model don’t appear to have ever been specified. If so, I’m curious to know what.  It does have a top, so it’s some sort of early convertible.

 The only annoying thing about the whole book is that the teaser, the mysterious health problem that is going to make this big trip her last big trip, is never resolved. Or maybe it was and I missed it. Find out for yourself.

A few more New Year's birds

 Blue jay, of course

Common Crow

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Mockingbird

House Finch and Cardinal, posing

House Finch and Cardinal, swiveling

Reviews: a couple of catch-up

 We're on our way USA

Amusing, as the British usually are to Americans like me.  They seem to see everything in a different way. In this short memoir the author and his wife move to America, specifically, Atlanta, with his job.  And the story unfolds of their trials and tribulations of getting VISAs, finding a house, establishing credit which requires a social security number, and various other dross adventures. Not gut-wrenchingly exciting, and not as snarkily funny as some other Brit-discovering-America memoirs I've read, but quite solidly amusing.

The Taste of Country Cooking
by Edna Lewis

I read this as much as I ever read a cookbook--the introduction, all the headnotes, and skimming some of the recipes. But I didn't read every single ingredient and instruction in every single recipe, no.

It was absolutely lovely. She's writing of her experiences and meals while growing up in Freetown, Virginia in the early 1900's--from about 1920 on. (She was born in 1916). I was expecting them to eat a lot of seasonal, local foods, plus hogs and chickens they raised themselves and occasional fish (always shad) and wild game. But it was amazing to read the amount of butter, cream and lard they used--in everything!  Even the green salads, and there were plenty of those, usually had a vinegar/bacon grease topping.  Much like my own ancestors did.

She was probably about the age of my Aunt Callie or grandmother, and no doubt ate much of the same foods. Probably prepared much the same way, although my ancestors grew up in the western area of Kentucky some 700 miles away. And probably--since she grew up to be a famous chef--her cooking was better. But many of the recipes sound just the same as my folk would have cooked.  I don't eat that way anymore, but it sure sounds good.

A few birds of the New Year

 At my bird feeder and bath; also had Robin, Common Grackle, Chickadee and Titmouse. And Common Crow. And a Lincoln's Sparrow but the sound of the air compressor scared it off just as the camera was getting focused.

Cedar Waxwings (with a Harris' Sparrow in the left background)

White Throated Sparrow

Carolina Chickadee

Harris' Sparrow

Red-winged Blackbird female

Red-winged Blackbird male

Downy Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Magnus Goes Beaching, Day 11

Friday, December 13 2024

Nothing to say--got up, walked the dog, ate breakfast, unhooked and drove home. Which turned out to be one of the slowest, most annoying drives we've ever experienced, except for the ones where wrecks bring your vehicle to a standstill. This was just slow--rainy, crowded, and oversized vehicles causing everyone to drive stupid to prevent anyone else from getting around in front of them.

The 3:30 drive took about 4:10.

Trip Notes:
1. As I expected and have noted before, the best RV park in the world is still not the sort of place I want to be.  (With very few exceptions, like maybe, two)  I liked Choke Canyon and Jim Hogg and Palmetto and Cagle--any one of them--a whole lot more than the fancy resort park.

2. Definitely consider reserving a spot at Galveston Island State Park sometime in the near future. It looked great. The only issue was that the beach there was dirty and looked like oil had washed up on shore. But that might be a temporary condition--no one else reviewing it mentioned that.

3. Consult with your fellow traveler before a trip to make sure you've researched the destinations sufficiently. I didn't know we were going shopping. But if I had, never in a million years would I have dreamed that Galveston would have public parking meters and paid parking lots. It's a tourist destination, for crying out loud. They want you to spend money on stuff and stay around to eat food and drink beer. Why encourage you to leave by charging for parking?

4. Every day, remember what you're there for. Stop and stare or skip and sing, anything necessary to get your mind off the crap of the world that humans have created for themselves and back into the place that humans have conserved for the wild creatures and human memories.  That's where it's at, man.

Magnus Goes Beaching, Day 10

 Thursday, December 12 2024

Bye-bye, beach.  The night before we left I stood outside for a minute after Molly's very cold and miserable walk.  I should have walked down to the beach to listen to the waves, but from the parking lot I could hear them faintly but clearly.  So very wonderful.

In the morning strings of Pelicans flying in formation were cruising over to the calm waters. Flap flap flap, then unison, glide!  Bye my big, beautiful birds.

The drive through Houston was mostly uneventful. Houston traffic is just not what it used to be.  Google Maps had us going right through downtown, supposedly faster despite two wrecks. But I chose to take the middle loop (neither inner nor outer) called the Sam Houston tollway.  Last time I looked, my NTTA tolltag works on EZPASS; if that's changed, then we're in big trouble.

So the drive ended up being about three hours, maybe a little more. I forgot to write down the arrival time. As usual these days.  And then a hookup and we're done.

The place, Cagle Recreation Area, is a very nice little campground in the tall pines overlooking a lake.  There's a trail along the lake that was paved over with asphalt at some time in the distant future. the ground underneath has sunk and risen, making for a very challenging route for anyone who's not sure on their feet. But we are sure--not old and decrepit yet.

After a short lunch for me, Ed and Molly and I took a walk along the lake. We first tried to go to the boat ramp, but there was a loose dog there.  So we went the other way, the place where I saw the Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers a few years ago.  None were seen today, but I hope they're still around. They're considered endangered and have disappeared from a lot of their former range.

When we got to the end of the lake trail, we had the choice of going back the same way or taking the highway up to the road that led into the campground. But a convenient trail appeared, paralleling the highway and heading straight to the road. So we took it. It seemed to stretch on too long so I checked the map on my phone a couple of times; no, we were okay. It dumped us out in the other camping loop, the one just west of ours.

Later Molly and I went back toward the boat ramp and found a little trail there that I'd forgotten about. It goes along the lake shore then loops back past a swamp.  Very short but very nice.

Sunset wasn't far away, so we showered and finished up the last of the gumbo for supper. This camping trip is nearly over, and while I'm anxious to get home and see if my feeder birds survived, I'll be a little sad to say goodbye to Magnus Motorhome for a few weeks. Next trip, if we take it, is to Arkansas for Second Christmas.