Christmas Day 2009

At Mom and Marty's on Christmas Day!

Christmas 2009 - Clearwater

Christmas at Dad's on the weekend of the 19th. Had a wonderful day!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Snakes

Ever seen the movie the "Christmas Dog"? Well we have....Christmas snakes!

AJ has the task of taking care of two red rat snakes during the winter break. Their home is Ms. Wisby's science class of course. He is so happy to have them here and named them Calvin and Hobbs for the duration.

Happy Holidays!

AJ receives Star rank in Boy Scouts

AJ received his Star rank in Boy Scouts last month. He is excited to be moving forward and will be the Troop Guide (helping new scouts learn and advance) for about the next 6 months or so. One more rank to work on, Life, and then lots of thought and planning on his Eagle project.

Day with the Dolphins - 11/3/09

Marineland, east cost of Florida

Science Field Trip

Aviation MB Day - 10/24/09

About a half dozen scouts from our troop and other area troops from north central Florida went to a Lake City private airplane community and the scouts were able to complete their Aviation Merit Badge. This was a very well organized event and all the boys had a great time. Here are some photos of the day and by the way, for a day that started with rain, it turned out to be a gorgeous day at flight time.

Been a long time...

I didn't realize how long it had been since I had posted so I will get busy and put a few updates on later.....

Sea Sponge Soap

Visiting Tarpon Springs, Florida recently, I noticed the fondness that the Greek folks have for olive oil soap and uses of the sea sponge that are brought up on the docks, indigenous to the Gulf coastal waters in Pinellas County.

Not the best picture but I made a small batch of soap with coconut, palm and rice bran oils; added Australian black clay and fragranced with a blend of black sandalwood and black pepper oils. I added the sea sponge on top to finish. I like the look and it smells divine!

Visiting my Grandmother's Grave with AJ

I headed south on Aug 19th to pick up AJ in Tarpon Springs and decided after almost 12 years, I would stop on the way home to visit my grandmother's grave. AJ was 8 months old when she passed in September 1997. He asks questions about his family and his lineage so I thought I would take the opportunity to help him since he is keenly aware of the 4 generation photo with her in it.

She is buried at Grace Memorial in Hudson, Florida. AJ and I decided we would return later and place flowers in the vase but had to put in a work request to have the vase set upright since the earth wielded it "stuck".

We have talked about mapping out a trip to visit family gravesites since many for his maternal side are in FL, GA, KS and OH.

More Hot Pepper Jelly....red and orange!

Orange on left, red on right

They look like two shades of orange really. But I wanted to make more jelly to be prepared for the holidays and also use the home grown jalapeno peppers.

More Blue Ridge and Camp

Blue Ridge Parkway and more waterfront at camp.

Camp Powhatan - Troop 611 - July 2009

Troop 611 leaving Camp - in front of the iron furnace.

At the culinary cook-off...dutch oven treats!

AJ serving up "barney" aka berry cobbler all mixed up.

At the water fornt - AJ last one walking off dock.

Working on Swimming merit badge....

Well he is having a good time!!

Waterfront where all water activities are held...just a mere 70 something degrees.

It is also full of iron ore.

Iron furnace no longer in use and the symbol used for the camp.

Camp Powhatan is part of the thousands of acres owned by Boy Scouts of America and operated by the Blue Ridge Council. It is located in Virginia, just south of Roanoke. We attended summer camp a few weeks back and had a fabulous time. The weather was perfect and the scouts were able to accomplish alot towards advancement and have agreat time!

Of course, scout leaders have a good time too. I worked in the kitchen, had tower duty at water front, achieved the leaders award, walked miles - yeah it was good!

Spicy Blackberry Infusion bottled!

I finally got the blackberry and spiced rum infusion bottled this morning....look how pretty it is! Remember, the rum was originally a light amber color. Smells like spiced rum with a hint of blackberry - and probably fab with a little mixer of choice!

Kahlua - Let's make some!

Like many others, my mother and I have made Kahula several times over the years past. After being able to buy good quality madagascar vanilla beans, I decided I would start to make it again.

Here is the standard recipe that you can find on the www and in books and my comments beside it:
1 oz instant coffee (I use 2)
3 cups of sugar
1 1/2 cups of boiling water (I use tap water and then boil with above)
1 vanilla bean (1? - you are kidding right?)
3 cups inexpensive brandy or vodka (I use vodka)

Mix instant coffee and sugar together. Pour water over, stir and bring to a slight boil on stove, stirring constantly to dissolve coffee/sugar.
Remove from heat.
Split a vanilla bean (ok 2) and put in dissolved coffee/sugar mixture. Stir.
After cooling a bit, pour liquor of choice in mixture. Stir.
Bottle/jar in glass and store in a dark place for 30 days.
(be sure to have a gallon jar or a few quart canning containers available. I make 2 batches at a time due to the amount of time it "stews".)

Pour into decorative bottles and gift for the holidays! Be as creative as you want to be on labeling and decorating!