August 31, 2020

The Sunday afternoon I was taking photos outside a couple weeks ago, I was with my friend Rhonda.

She and her husband have a large garden and she cans their vegetables.

She made us lunch, which included the best tomato soup I've ever had, fresh from her garden.

Here's her recipe if you're interested.

(Rhonda, if the recipe is a secret, let me know!)

 Wish I had taken a photo of the soup!

August 30, 2020

More beautiful clouds today.

August 29, 2020

Jed and I both love sour cream and chives potato chips.  

His homeschool class director included a container of them in his exam prep basket back in April, 

in a new-to-us format: Lays Stax.  

They're like Pringles, only the container is even harder to access.  :)

We've been curious how Stax compare to Pringles, so today I picked up a container of each.  

My verdict:  the Stax are thicker and have a nicer texture, but the Pringles taste better.  

Jed's verdict:  Stax all the way.  :)
 

August 28, 2020

I know I might have posted a picture of this dish before, but I love it so much.  

It's my mom's ham casserole recipe...

sauteed onions, green peppers and mushrooms combined with sour cream, ham and egg noodles.  

Yum! 
 

August 27, 2020

I found a set of these little demitasse cups on ebay for next to nothing.  

I'm so excited to use them with the plates my mom gave me earlier this month!

I was shocked to see these stickers on all of them...

I don't think I've ever seen anything made in Czechoslovakia before.
 

August 26, 2020

I headed out of the house early today in time to see this stunning sunrise,

a little delayed because of the low clouds. 

You can't really see it in this pic, but the light of the sun

was peeking out at the top of the cloud bank.

I was heading to the post office again. 

These are the crepe myrtle trees in the post office parking lot I mentioned recently...

they're still full of blossoms.

I realized I had the flash on for the previous two shots, so I took it off for this one.  

I'm not sure which I prefer...

this one looks washed out a little, but the others are too dark...

I think that's why you can't see the sun peeking out of the clouds. 

 It was just my phone camera, so I'm not too concerned about it.  

I'm too busy still trying to figure out my real camera.  :)

August 25, 2020

It was my turn to win today.  :D

August 24, 2020

This old metal recipe box was on top of my parents' refrigerator, 

which was part of what I cleaned while we were visiting them earlier this month.

Mom went through the recipes and pulled out a few to keep,

then gave the box and the remaining recipes to me.

I'm so pleased to have it...

I remember my mom going through it often when I was a child.

My mom's handwriting is distinct, 

so the few cards that were written in other people's writing were noticeable.

Mom had no idea who they were from, unless their name was on the card.

I was going through the cards after I got home, getting them organized, when I came across this card.

It looked like my dad's printing, 

but I couldn't imagine when he would have ever written a recipe card.

 I flipped the card over and sure enough, it was my dad's.

He worked in Shop 31 in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for 34 years

as a numerical control programmer,

the precursor to today's computer programmers.

I remember he loved Mrs. Block's cooking in the shipyard cafeteria,

and I assume he got this recipe from her.

I'm jealous of how he loved Mrs. Block's and my mom's cooking....

it's such a pleasure to cook for someone who really enjoys it!

We used to sit around after dinner when I was a kid

and talk about how good dinner was.  :)

August 23, 2020 - Part 2

More beauty!

 He's looking at me!!

(click on the image to enlarge and see his head turned in my direction!) 

:)

August 23, 2020 - Part 1

A fun afternoon photographing beautiful flowers.

 

August 22, 2020

 This is my first homegrown-tomato sandwich of the summer!  

Totally worth the wait.

August 21, 2020

This is unheard of in August in North Carolina!!

August 20, 2020

Another trip to the post office today.  

This time I wasn't driving, though, so I was able to take pictures.

This gorgeous tree is in the parking lot.

Here's a broader shot of trees in the parking lot,

but it doesn't even include the greater part of them.

I am so happy to be back in a state with trees!

August 19, 2020

I made a blueberry bread pudding and it is so yummy!!

August 18, 2020

I've been working on this bulletin board for a while for our church.

The small pockets have the names and photos of missionaries and other workers we are in contact with, along with the most recent correspondence from them,

while the large pockets hold lists of their prayer requests.

I dearly love organizing things.  :)

August 17, 2020

 This was a big-deal day at our house.  

Not only was it Jed's first day of 11th grade,

it was his first day as a college student.

He's doing dual enrollment through our local community college,

which means he earns both high school and college credit for classes.

He's taking three this semester:

Writing and Inquiry

American History

Sociology

They'll all be online since the campus is shut down due to COVID. 

This is going to be an interesting year.

August 16, 2020

Happy 63rd anniversary to my parents!  

I didn't technically take this photograph, 

but I scanned it and I cropped it and I'm counting it towards my Project 365.

:)

August 15, 2020

 We got another huge thunderstorm last night, and today the pond is red-clay muddy.  

Gross.

I made an early morning run to the grocery store today, and this time I remembered to bring my phone!

It's such a nice drive through pretty country.

I love seeing these cows out in the field every time I go down this road.

This Lutheran church looks like a castle to me.

It was still foggy as I made my way back home around 8:00 am.

 It started to drizzle this afternoon and the drops were making such interesting ripples on the pond.

 The sun peeked out through the haze a little later and the change in the water color was striking.

August 13, 2020

I went to the post office this morning.  

The parking lot is full of blooming crepe myrtle trees, 

and the gutters were filled with fallen pink blossoms.  

It was really striking, 

and I was kicking myself for not being able to take pictures because I  had forgotten my phone. 

When I got home I noticed for the first time that the crepe myrtle 

between our house and our next door neighbor's house 

is blooming!  

It's white so it's a little underwhelming, but still pretty.  

I really like this tree. 

 

August 12, 2020

Jed and I visited my parents last week.  

It was the first time we've seen them since this pandemic started.  

If I had known at the beginning what I know now, we would have visited them then, 

since it was less likely we would encounter the virus at the beginning than it is now.

On the other hand, if things continue this way, it is safer for us to see them now than it will be later...

so we went.  

One of the things Mom and I did together was go through the cabinet over their refrigerator, 

which is difficult for them to access.  

That's where Mom has always stored their china and glassware.  

We were looking for glasses but I found this lovely dessert set and asked her about it...

I don't remember ever seeing it before. 

It is from a family member but she doesn't remember who, or even which side of the family...

hers or dad's...

but she graciously let me take it home to enjoy.  

I'm not usually attracted to fancy things like china, but I'm excited about this set.  

If you're in the area, stop by for a piece of pie!  :)

August 11, 2020

 I'm still experimenting with pineapple upside-down cake recipes. 

This time I used the traditional pineapple slices and maraschino cherries. 

Tracy liked the size of the pieces from this cake...

the baked pineapple slices were hard to cut through so I had to cut the cake around them. :) 

He's going to be disappointed when I go back to the crushed pineapple and smaller pieces. :D

August 10, 2020

 Jed stomped my butt in Qwirkle today.  :)

August 9, 2020

We had an earthquake this morning! 

It was pretty amazing...

the house shook for at least 5 seconds, but no damage that we can tell.

What I found online:

this is the 4th earthquake Sparta has experienced in the previous 24 hours

Sparta is about 60 miles from us as the crow flies

the effects were felt up to 400 miles away

there are tons of fault lines in this state

That's exciting.  :)

August 8, 2020

We drove home today.

It was rainy off and on the whole way,

but when it wasn't raining, 

the clouds were spectacular.

This dark cloud was especially stunning.

The same dark cloud, with a new white cloud behind it.

 

August 7, 2020

I love it that Dad likes to look at photo albums.

I get that from him.

August 6, 2020

  Dad and Mom, circa 2020