Tipped Off

Tipped Off, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

A tidy tip among owl's clover at Shell Creek Road.

An Odd Combo...

A couple of days ago, there was a theft, but today, I've retrieved the merchandise, which would be my blog! A number of you asked for my Christmas doggie cookie recipe, so I'm going to slip it in between our makings of this recipe and a show-and-tell of my day at the Cow Palace fun match yesterday. An odd coupling indeed! The recipe is called "Peanut Butter Dog Bones." The ingredients call for:

2 cups whole wheat flour (but you can use 1 cup flour and 1 cup of whole oats)

1 T. baking powder

1 cup natural peanut butter (I used crunchy)

1 cup skim milk (but I used beef broth - or you can use chicken broth)

You can also add 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese to the recipe, which I did.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets (I used parchment paper); stir flour and baking powder together. In medium bowl, mix penut butter and skim milk (or...?); slowly add flour mixture. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth. If sticky, add flour until stiff enough to work with.

Roll out to 1/4 inch and cut into shapes. For smaller breeds, make into mini-peanut butter cookie shapes or little dog bones.
Meanwhile, I'm waiting, in between helping. We put the cookie cut-outs onto the parchment and then stuck them in the oven for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned.

Mmmmmmnnnn. We took them out and boy did they smell good! But we had more dough to roll and shapes to cut out!

More baking time... yawn...
Can I have one pleasepleaseplease??? Well, after they cooled, I got to test one and it was yumzers! I still had some decorating to do! For this, you can use yoghurt chips (around here, must get online), or what we used - white chocolate chips and also carob chips. We used pastry bags to pipe out decorations on the cookies. (We melted the carob chips in double boiler - don't overheat these seemingly delicate chips. We then added some veggie oil to thin - just a tiny bit at a time - test! We melted the white choc. chips in the microwave, but watched with an eagle eye. Then we added some veggie oil to these as well, stirring drop by drop. Enjoy!)
Voila! It was lots of fun to do, but I had the best fun of all testing them out heheh! (And I had a great time at the Fun Match!)
I hope you enjoy making and eating these doggie cookies as much as I did!

In the Spotlight: Manteo Waterfront—Roanoke Island

420 April

After a morning filled with colorful blooms and a quiet stroll (post here), and a trip back into history to learn about the first English settlers that came to the New World (post here), it was time to take a break.  The temperature had climbed quite a bit; as had the humidity.  We were in need of fresh breezes to cool us off and a place to sate our growling tummies.

After consulting the map, we decided to head to the Manteo Waterfront where we were sure to find a casual dining establishment overlooking the water.  We found something even better; but first a stroll on the boardwalk was in order.

Manteo, the seat of government for Dare County since 1870, is one of the oldest communities in the Outer Banks.  It overlooks scenic Shallowbag Bay and is named for a Roanoke Native American who accompanied the scouts that came to the island in 1584 back to England.

Weather’s always a concern in any waterfront community.  Today, modern communication devices provide instant access to important weather information.  Back in the day, there was a simpler means of communicating approaching storms — weather towers.

The 1904 tower, which is situated on the waterfront, was used to fly flags day and night to ‘telegraph’ (so to speak) weather information to the locals, especially to mariners and fishermen.  Beyond the symbolic shapes and colors that foretold rain or a flood tide, used in various combinations, the flags also signaled that it was time to take in the laundry or set the fishing nets.  In other words, the tower was integrated into everyday life in town.

The tradition continues today.  Looking at the helpful chart attached to the tower, we were able to interpret the blue and white flag as signaling a chance of rain.  True for the morning, but by the time we saw the flag, the blue skies and sunshine were telling us otherwise :-)

Our next stop was just a short walk across the pier near the weather tower — the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse.  Today’s lighthouse, which sits on pilings where the town’s wastewater treatment plant once stood, is a reconstruction of the square cottage-style building that served as the home and workspace of the keeper of the 1877 screwpile lighthouse.

The original lighthouse stood in Croatan Sound; it wasn’t nearly as easily accessible.
[the light was horrible in this direction, so I processed this with an ‘old time’ filter.]

So, why a reconstruction?  Why not move the original building that was decommissioned in 1955 to this spot?  You see, that building was lost to the sea.  The story, according to the Lighthouse Friends website goes like this:

When the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse was decommissioned by the Coast Guard in 1955, it was suggested that the town of Manteo purchase the lighthouse and relocate it to the Manteo waterfront.  Before the town acted, a private citizen named Elijah Tate acquired the lighthouse along with two other screwpile lighthouses in the area.  The structure was cut from its foundation and placed on a barge to be transported to its new home.  Not far from its original site, rough seas caused the lighthouse to topple off the barge and sink into the sound.  Apparently, the effort to retrieve the submerged lighthouse was deemed too great, and the structure was abandoned.

"In the years to come, as islanders mingle with visitors along the Manteo waterfront,
let us remember that on this spot, where so many vessels have been built and
launched, dreams still light the way.  For how else can you explain how a lighthouse
now casts its reassuring beam into the night sky …"
[from signage at the pier]

A small exhibit inside the building gave us a chance to learn a bit about the lighthouse, the fifth one I alluded to in my post about the lighthouses we visited on this trip.  It was interesting to note that the original of this structure was actually a replacement for an earlier hexagonal building with a cupola-style lantern room that housed a 4th order Fresnel lens capable of focusing the light of an oil lamp so that it was visible 10 miles (16 km) out to sea.

TOP (L to R): location of the screwpile lighthouse; the 1877 lighthouse – historic photo of the original and one from today showing the  reconstructed one.
bottom (L to R): the Lighthouse from the American Revolution Bicentennial park; the 1857
screwpile lighthouse; stairs to the lantern room in the reconstructed lighthouse.

We wrapped up our visit to the Manteo Waterfront with a picnic lunch ‘on the water’.  And I mean right on the water.  With a view of the lighthouse to boot.  Yes, I posted these next two photos when I first blogged the Quick Look post for the day … but it was a hi-light of our visit to the waterfront, so I see no reason why I can’t post them again :-)

A gazebo that juts out over the water makes a perfect spot for a simple al fresco meal.

Can’t beat the view even if there is a glare from the mid-day sun.

One more site to explore on Roanoke Island and then we’ll call this day quits.

Work-a-Day

We have spent a quiet, but satisfying day, working on small projects around the place. The unusually mild weather has drawn George and I out into the vegetable garden, and the wood. The list of jobs to be done is as long as our legs. They could overwhelm, so we must break them down into manageable pieces!

We visited dear Arnold, gave him some time, some attention, a couple of treats. The treat is all ours, he gives so much love back to us - and to Toby. The first time we took Toby along he was fine, until Arnold bent his neck over the fence and 'said Hello' - he nearly wet himself!





Now that he is used to Arnold - and Arnold is huge, compared to Toby, he responded in kind and greeted Arnold back. A small moment. A simple thing. A magical moment for George and I as two of our favourite critters communicated. I was too busy enjoying the moment to photograph it, sorry.

George has already planted lots of seeds and has them dotted around the greenhouse and the conservatory. The seedlings are thriving, but need careful attention for a few more weeks yet.





I have been busy digging the first of the many vegetable beds, it is wonderful to see how much the soil has improved. George 's first batch of home-made compost was put to good use this week - to say that I was impressed is putting it mildly. It looks wonderful - just like the kind you buy, only even better because it was made from garden and kitchen waste.





The Spring flowers are starting to appear everywhere, even peeping out from large stones.



Beautiful colours, lovely forms.We need to continue collecting the fallen branches from the wood, chopping, sawing, storing and drying the wood for the coming years. We also need to get to work and prepare the site for the polytunnel. We have decided where to place it, now the ground has to be cleared and prepared, part of a blackthorn hedge must be removed and the base constructed.





We have cleared the space to construct two more raised vegetable beds, now we need time to do the construction, etc.





I need another soothing turn around the gardens!

Art Leads to More Art

From The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt: Her response to any performance, any work of art, was the desire to make another, to make her own.
This is my response, too, when I do any of the above. If I'm away from home, I scribble the idea into a little notebook I carry just for that purpose. If I don't act on it soon, though, it's birth and death will be in that notebook.
When I think about all the art I could have made, all the stories or songs I could have written if only I had taken the time to act on an idea, it makes me sad.
But instead of dwelling in sadness (which isn't very conducive to making art) I'll try and put that attitude away and focus instead on what I have made. Better yet, I'll plan in my head the things I'll hopefully get around to making soon.

Finally wonderful

The meteorologist was right Friday morning, when she described the coming weather: finally wonderful!
Wildflowers are popping up everywhere. I've been out with the camera, and will post some pictures soon. (It's raining this morning, or I'd be out trying to find more.)
I should know by now to take the camera everywhere, though, since I ended up really wishing I'd had it yesterday in Birmingham. You just never know when you're going to be surprised by bagpipers.