A Week in Paradise: Vieques, Puerto Rico - Day 4

Knowing that there would be less opportunity to see things on Sunday, we woke with the intention of taking the day a little slower. We'd gotten a fair amount of sun and were ready for an easier, less exposed day too. After breakfast (lighter today, we had brunch plans), I didn't walk the beach like I had been doing. Instead, we went looking for a local beach (in Isabel II) called Sea Glass Beach. I'd picked up some pieces on my walks on Bravo Beach, but was really looking forward to what this beach would offer. 

Based on our handy map, we knew roughly where it should be, but struggled to find access, as it seemed there was a sheer cliff at the end of many of the streets in the area. We parked and began to walk a bit, as a woman approached, also looking for the beach. A local man pointed us in the right direction and we left on foot to find it, together with the woman. We had been just a block away, but the road we needed to take looked more like a driveway to us, so we hadn't thought to check it out.

When we arrived, we found a small, unassuming beach with lots of teeny tiny bits of glass, and seemingly very few sizable pieces to pick up. I was up for the challenge and any associated adventure though. A sweet little tabby cat greeted us with rubs and purrs, as I imagine he greets all visitors.

A Week in Paradise: Vieques, Puerto Rico - Day 3

Becoming part of our routine was the same selection of breakfast choices, followed by me walking on the beach and Shane having a little morning lie down. The excessive sun had produced morning headaches for him, so this seemed to help. He'd take some ibuprofen and rest with his eyes closed for  a few minutes before we started our day. While I felt for his pain, it did provide me a chance to scour the beach for treasures before we even left. :)

We hit the road toward Playas la Plata and Platita, but this particular jungle area made Shane nervous, thanks to some reading he'd done about creepy crawly creatures that may inhabit the island, so we decided against stopping for a visit.  

Our first stop was at Playa Escondida. It was probably our longest beach stop of the entire week, was super private and just felt like our beach "home."  We'd picked up beach chairs at the hotel that morning to use, and use them we did. Well, Shane did, I had to walk and explore first. There was little to pick up here, but the scenery was magnificent.

A Week in Paradise: Vieques, Puerto Rico - Day 2

After our breakfast and my morning walk on our little beach, I walked up to the hotel office to inquire about getting ourselves to Culebra for a day sometime during our visit.  Culebra is the third island that makes up Puerto Rico. It is smaller yet than Vieques and we thought it might be fun to island hop to check it out. They gave me some information about the available flights and prices and I took that back to Shane to discuss.  It appeared we would have to spend a whole day on the island, taking a 9am flight and returning at 5pm, so we would want to be sure of our plan. While the woman spoke with someone at the airline (you have to take an air taxi to get there from Vieques or spend 3 hours on ferries each way - no thanks!), I noticed this great old sign with the original beach names and the new ones assigned by the NAVY during their presence.

Our first goal as we set out for the day was to check out the grocery store for a few things. We were looking for snacks, sunglasses for Shane (he forgot his) and sunscreen. We had made a couple quick stops the day before without much luck at local markets. Today, we found a much nicer, well stocked super market that actually had loose veggies (instead of having to buy two saran wrapped onto styrofoam - eww) and a nice selection of other things. The only snack we picked up were strawberries, but we got the sunscreen we were looking for. An employee suggested we try BlackBeard Sports for sunglasses, so we made our purchases and headed to downtown Isabel II.

A Week in Paradise: Vieques, Puerto Rico - Day 1

While waking up without an alarm was magical, we did end up rising considerably earlier than we expected, largely because of the time change.  Vieques is on Atlantic Time and does not observe daylight savings time.  During our visit, that meant the time was an hour ahead of home.  The timing was good since we knew we needed showers and breakfast before we called for our rental car, which was to be ready for us at 9. As we stepped out onto our patio, the view was breathtaking. A little sliver of rainbow danced on the horizon, adding some joy to the beginning of our trip.  

A Week in Paradise: Vieques, Puerto Rico - Traveling there

The evening before we left, we dropped our dogs off to my mother so she could make sure they were looked after while we were away.  Our dogs love having visits with her and her animals, so it works out well.

Up before the sun, our friends, John and Chris, met us at our home to take Lexi to school and us to the airport.  They had offered a few weeks before to avoid us having to pay to park a car at the airport for a week and we could not be more grateful for their help.

We arrived with plenty of time to get some breakfast and make it to our gate to wait for our flight.  Traveling for work, flying has become much less exciting to me than it used to be.  However, on this day, I got to sit next to my favorite person in the world, which made the trip spectacular!

Mother nature did a fabulous job of reminding us whey we chose to take our honeymoon in the winter... snowing while we waited to take off, and causing the need for two rounds of deicing before we could do so safely.

A quick check of the weather app on my phone confirmed the disparity in weather that we would soon be enjoying.  A nice 55 degree gap in temperature would be a welcome change from the winter doldrums in Michigan.

The $613.00 Chocolate Bar

While traveling in Texas last week, I stayed at the cutest little boutique hotel.  There weren't many decent choices for lodging, aside from pricey Bed and Breakfast spots. When I found The Hangar (check it out here), I was thrilled by the price and the World War two themed decor and overall style of the accommodations.

It's been built to look like an airplane hangar and is located at Gillespie County Airport, a quaint airstrip for small planes.

Folks fill The Hanger on the weekends (only 50 rooms total) and unique gatherings are held in their themed conference center and ballroom. For example, there was a gathering of Pearl Harbor survivors and Hugh Laurie (Dr. House) spent some time there filming once. It has an observation deck for watching planes and a super cool 40's Diner that serves only lunch.

I'm told Thursday through Saturday they have live music in the Captain's Lounge and that it is quite the soiree!

I had a hankering for a bite of chocolate as I settled into my room for the night, so I asked the desk clerk, Carol, where I could find the vending machines. She explained that because the hotel was kept as much in true "1940s" fashion, they didn't have any. I could walk over to the airport terminal and purchase one from a basket that was on the honor system (in the dark) if I wanted.  I passed.

I went up the pretty staircase to my room and put on my pajamas and turned on the television.  My phone rang a short while later. Carol had walked over to get me some chocolate and wanted to bring it up to me.

Being an absolutely amazing and sweet lady, she brought me this glorious snack (which hit the spot!).

Sticks and stones

http://www.pbglifestyle.com/pbglm-blotter/coloring-the-world-with-words/

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.  We have all heard that.

Few can deny saying it at some point in their childhood.  Is there truth in it? Not really. Words really can and do hurt. Most of us can let some silly things roll off like water on a duck's back, but negativity eats away at our emotional armor and those things get through and penetrate deep into a person's well-being.

Black Walnuts - Part 2

Having woken up with very sore hands, arms, shoulder and back, I decided I really did need to find another way to husk these treasures without quite so much abuse to my system. (If you missed reading Part 1, here it is.) I had read about people driving over them, but worried about that crushing the actual nutmeats and ruining my labors. At this point, I was absolutely up for the risk... so when my mom offered her limestone driveway as a place to husk the nuts "smarter, not harder," I went for it! Shane loaded the second 100+ pounds into the truck and off I went!

Do you see the white creepy crawly visitor coming out of the husk of the walnut? That's a husk fly larvae. They live their entire lives in the husk and cause no damage to the nut itself. They are gross, and really work to soften the husk, which I found just made it easier for me to remove (once I got over them being so yucky). :-)

Black Walnuts - Part 1

While on a trip to the west side of Michigan camping for Shane's birthday, we discovered a hickory tree that was dropping its bounty.  That bounty needed rescuing... I was sure of it! :-)

I gathered over several days as they fell in the wind and rain and we easily removed the green husks to reveal the tasty nuts encased in their shells.

While out and about, I also gathered some acorns for crafts, and the leaves from the respective trees for reference.

When we came home, I spent time learning about them, and discovered I would need a special nutcracker to make lighter work of removing the shells, once they were allowed to dry and ready to be cracked.  The same nutcracker was also designed for the very tough to crack black walnut, should I ever have a chance to get hold of some of them.

Be nice. Just do it.

I bought a new sewing machine almost two years ago.  I bought it from a Viking dealer within a Jo-Ann Fabric Store and it was a nice enough machine that it came with two classes to teach me how to use it.  After my first class (January 2012), I was waiting near the door for S to pick me up when I overheard a young man asking about Mason jars.  Anyone who knows me, knows this perks my ears up. I heard the associate tell him that they did not sell single jars (they do now, but did not at the time), and that he could go to Wal-Mart to buy a case. He explained that he needed only one, to which she replied that she could not help him.

Me, being me, I walked over and offered to help. I called Shane and asked him to check the trunk of the car for a quart jar before he came in to get me and my sewing machine. I know it sounds silly, but there is always a chance there are jars in my car.  On this occasion, there was not.

The fun part of the story is WHY this young man wanted the jar...

Spreading The Love - Blueberry (Wedded) Bliss

I received a call a few weeks ago from a very nice young lady who had purchased some jams and jellies from me (my side "job" as Earthly Grace Preserves) at the farm stand last summer. She thought of me as she was planning her sister's bridal shower. The bride had selected blue and white as her colors, and she hoped I could make some blueberry favors for her to hand out to her guests. We put our heads together and decided on two flavors for the guests to choose from: Blueberry and Blueberry Basil. I offered to include the decoration and labeling to eliminate some work for her as well. Once the details were arranged, I went to work.

I entered the fair with a few things... here's what happened.

I decided it would be fun to enter some canned goods into the fair and see how I could do against some locals. I immediately learned that the judges do not taste the product and that items are therefore judged by appearance. For most items, this means headspace, consistency, color, etc. Essentially, they are really looking at the "art of canning."

I labeled my entries with the required information: Item Name, Process used for canning (Water bath or pressure), Time processed, Date Canned.  Entries must have been canned since the last fair to be considered.

Jams and Jellies are expected to be plain and combination flavors (like my blueberry basil, chipotle peach, strawberries and cream, etc.) are only accepted in the "Any Other" class. You are allowed one entry per class.

There are 9 sections offered: Fruits, Jellies, Jams, Preserves, Vegetable, Juices, Relishes, Pickles and Meats. I entered 7 of those, omitting Preserves and Pickles, this time. ;-)

I dropped off 23 entries the night before judging and went home to try to sleep. I had taken the next day off work to spend at the fair with a great friend and was eager to see the results.

Here are my results:

Tastes of summer - Peaches

I thought they were so pretty,
I "instagramed" the pic.

When my best farm friend showed up with a surprise peck of peaches, I wasn't bummed.  I popped them into the refrigerator for a couple days and pondered what to do with them.  They were ripe, so I couldn't afford to let them sit on the counter, or even in the refrigerator for long. I decided these sweet, smaller, first peaches of the season should go to something besides jam, so I made a list of possibilities and landed on Zesty Peach Barbecue Sauce (recipe can be found here). Boy am I glad I did! It is simply delicious. It's a thinner barbecue sauce than one made with tomatoes, but will be great on grilled meats. It will be fun to experiment with cooking with it. One peck of sweet little peaches yielded 24 jars of this deliciousness. There were about 18 little sweet treats left out of the peck for fresh eating as well.

Not bad for a leisurely hour of picking

For round two of peachiness, two Saturdays ago, Lexi and I picked a beautiful bushel of peaches to start our weekend off right!

So juicy!

She begged to try one before we left, so we looked for the ripest one of the bunch and shared it. It was so juicy and delicious!  She sat on the cart with our bounty and enjoyed the "fruit of her labor" happily.

They were not immediately ripe, which bought me some time to do other chores. The downside to this was that they were ready during the week! So, how much does a bushel of peaches actually work up to in preserved goodness? Let me show you!

Waste Not, Want Not: Part 3

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I LOVE using every part of the produce, ingredients and other items I work with. I've written on it before with cherries, vanilla beans and re-purposing old objects. This time I just have to share with you how this can be done with corn. Yes, corn can be used beyond cutting or eating it off the cob!  How? You ask... Well, let me tell you!

Over the weekend, we picked up 5 dozen ears of corn from the farm stand, which amounts to 65 ears. My math is correct... they offer a farmer's dozen of 13 ears! Our first goal was to can the corn for winter use. This meant husking and cleaning the silk from all 65 ears, then cutting the corn off each and every ear. There was just one ear that wasn't fulling developed (partial pollination likely to blame), so it went straight to a chicken that's been ill and in isolation for a few days. Not bad for a big batch of corn, 1 in 65 right? The rest were beautiful and full of sweet and tasty kernels.

What did I do with my Saturday night? Extracted honey. You?

In the Spring of 2012, I helped (watched and took pictures, mostly) Vicki at Zilke Vegetable Farm hive some honeybees to replace hives that had been lost over a particularly hard winter. I wrote about this experience, and how it changed my outlook on those little busy buzzers forever.  

Last weekend, we had the privilege of helping extract honey from the frames that had been produced by those bees (well, some - one of the two hives was lost this last Winter and re-hived in the Spring).

Just call me Finnegan and we can begin again...

There once was a girl named Brandi Finnegan
She wrote for a while in her blog again
Along came life and got in her way again
Poor old Brandi Finnegan.... Begin again!!

So... I am about a year behind in posts.  What to do?
I could:
1. Never blog again (Not an ideal option - but I do try to keep things in Project Life - although that is WAY behind too...)
2. Take a week off work and do nothing but write (Yeah right! It'd probably take two anyway)
3. Just post lots of pictures from the last year (Not helpful and equally time consuming)
4. Start again fresh, and try to stay current

Well, I guess the best option is option 4.

So here goes!  I am going to do my best to make my posts shorter and more to the point, which will help me keep up on them, but some things really do deserve a little more description.

Keep an eye out... I have some fun things we've done lately to share!


And here's the full version I found to get stuck in your head for the day (you're welcome!):

MICHAEL FINNEGAN (Traditional Nursery Rhyme) There was an old man named Michael Finnegan He had whiskers on his chin again Along came the wind and blew them off again Poor old Michael Finnegan....Begin again. There was an old man named Michael Finnegan He kicked up an awful dinnegann Because they said he must not sing again Poor old Michael Finnegan....Begin again. There was an old man called Michael Finnegan Ran a race and thought he'd win again Got so puffed that he had to go in again Poor old Michael Finnegan....Begin again. There was an old man named Michael Finnegan He drank through all his good gin again And so he wasted all his tin again Poor old Michael Finnegan....Begin again. There was an old man named Michael Finnegan He went fishing with a pin again Caught a fish and dropped it in again Poor old Michael Finnegan....Begin again. There was an old man called Michael Finnegan Climbed a tree and barked his shin again Took off several yards of skin again Poor old Michael Finnegan....Begin again. There was an old man named Michael Finnegan He grew fat and then grew thin again Then he died and had to begin again Poor old Michael Finnegan....Begin again.

http://www.kidsongs.com/lyrics/michael-finnegan.html

Arizona - Pleasure - A Trip to Biosphere 2

August 17, 2012

I let myself sleep in a bit, had a filling breakfast and decided to head to Biosphere 2 to do a little learning and exploration. It was monsoon season in Arizona, so the day was hazy and a little rainy, but it was still a great drive. I just never tire of the scenery there.

As I made my way to the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains to see the Biosphere, I stopped for a few shots of one of my favorite memories of Arizona, grazing open range cattle.

Arizona - Business and Pleasure

August 16, 2012

The drive from Phoenix to Tucson isn't terribly long, but it is scenic. I stopped at a rest area to get my camera out.   While there, I noted the way they had constructed concrete walk paths in the area of the rest stop that highlighted local vegetation for visitors. I was tempted to wander and walk a bit, but worried a bit about doing so while traveling alone, and was rather anxious to get checked into my hotel in Tucson.

I thought there might be some places I would want to get pictures of along the way.  This was true, but there was rarely a good place to stop. I made it a point to just really enjoy the drive instead. I noted groves of trees, but struggled to identify them.  A sign gave me a clue at the edge of one grove "Pecan Wood for Sale."  Aha! How cool! I didn't even know pecans grew in Arizona. There were irrigated fields of lush green growth that looked a lot like potatoes, but that didn't make sense to me. As it turns out, Arizona does produce a fair amount of potatoes, but these fields were more likely cotton. Once again, I did not know that this was one of their crops. As a matter of fact, it's one of their top three crops (1. Lettuce 2. Cotton 3. Hay)?! I guess I always thought Arizona to be too arid for agriculture. Boy was I wrong!
I was concerned about getting checked into my hotel because there had been quite an issue with getting it booked. I used Priceline, as I have many times before. I was thrilled to land a Sheraton for such a reasonable price and counted myself lucky.  Then I started reading reviews (at the prompting of my Dad).  Then I spoke with someone who had actually stayed there. All accounts were saying this was a very bad choice for me to be travelling alone and that I would not be pleased with the condition of the hotel.  I was faced with an expensive decision.  I could either wait and see how bad it really was, or book another hotel and eat the cost of the first.  Since I named my own price, neither Priceline nor Sheraton was willing to work with me about the condition of the hotel, claiming it had earned its star rating and it was my loss.  I chose to err on the side of safety and comfort, booking a room at the Doubletree Reid Park.  I am SO glad.  It was absolutely outstanding.  The accommodations were great, the place was beautiful and the staff was over the top great.  Even though the ordeal cost me a small fortune, I think I chose wisely.  More importantly, I learned a very valuable lesson.  Just book something decent and pay the price.  As long as I book with the hotel directly, I have some recourse if it does not meet my expectations (not the case with Priceline).

I arrived, checked in, settled my things into my room and gave my Dad a call.  We had talked about potentially having dinner together, and I had arrived in town a little sooner than I had originally expected.  He indicated that he had just started preparing dinner and I should just come on over then.  I was taken back a little and a touch nervous.  It had been 12 years or more since we last saw one another, so I don't think that was out of line. I was still dressed from the day in the office, but I just headed out to begin our visit.

When I arrived, he was waiting for me outside the gate of his apartment complex with another fellow. The other man held a camera and captured our first moments seeing one another (that was pretty cool). I learned that the man with the camera was my Dad's nutty neighbor Rebel.

We went inside and I finally got the chance to meet the lady in my Dad's life, Miss Barbara.  She was so excited to see me, she hugged me right away.  It was like we'd known each other for years. I sat next to her on the couch and after a few minutes of conversation it hit me, she's blind!  She stood and walked so well to greet me that it didn't dawn on me until she was sharing with me about learning to cook again and about all the ways my Dad has been helping her. Boy did I feel silly!  She's a marvelous lady, with a lot of love in her heart for my Dad (and me, even though we'd never met before that evening).

I had sent a package ahead of my visit so that they could sample some of the canned goodies that I have been putting up. I asked if it had arrived yet. We walked to his post box and there it was. It was fun to open it and go through the contents with Dad and Barbara. We had a great meal together and visited for several hours. I finally decided to call it a day sometime after 10. It had been a very long day, beginning with time in the office, a long drive and then culminating in a big visit.

I had plans for some relaxation and sightseeing for my time in Tucson, beginning the next day, so a good night's rest was important!

Arizona - Business Trip #2

August 14-16, 2012

My second launch trip for work took me to Mesa, Arizona.  When I learned of it, I asked Boss Lady for permission to stay on after the business portion of the trip for a little personal time.  My Dad lives in Arizona and it seemed like a great chance to have a long overdue visit to catch up with him.  She was, of course, in favor of it.  As it turned out, the rental car was cheaper for the week anyway, instead of just the three days we were there for the launch.

Having lived in Arizona, I remember what a beautiful state it is and how spectacular the sunsets can be. We were not disappointed. Here is the sunset we enjoyed on the way to our hotel after arriving.

Road Trip to Virginia Days 3 and 4 - Barbeque and Luray Caverns

August 3 and 4, 2012

Having arrived late at night, we decided on a low key morning at home. I had some sewing to do for a gift basket order that needed to be sent, so my sewing machine made the trip with us and I spent a relaxed morning working with it.

Some of our favorite clients (not that we should have favorites, but hey!) offered to have a little gathering for us so we could finally meet some more of them in person. We brought sweetcorn and cantaloupe from Michigan and a big gift basket of canned goods for our hosts.  They provided an awesome spread of food, grilling chicken along with our corn and other treats.  We had an absolutely wonderful time visiting with everyone and getting to know them.  We ate and then as the evening cooled a bit, we retired to sit poolside to chat some more.  As we sat, we heard a pack of coyotes yip and howl which generated a bit of excitement.  Their home is set in a "subdivision" of sorts, backing up to some rather wild landscape just into West Virginia from Virginia.  If it hadn't been for the lengthy drive back to Virginia to Shane's mom's, we would have continued to stay and chat deeper into the night.  We sure hated to leave when we were having such a good time, but so it goes. It was some time after midnight when we arrived "home" and fell into bed.

The next morning (Day 4), I finished the basket and readied it for shipment (special thanks to my spectacular Mom-In-Law-to-be who took care of the final baking I needed, the night before while we partied the night away). We had settled on spending the day with family, but weren't sure what we were going to do until the notion struck us to visit Luray Caverns. It was a pricey stop, but OH SO worth it!  Gracious, was that an awesome experience. Mom-In-Law-to-be was not feeling well from the ride, so she stayed above ground while we explored below.  Our good camera took sub-par pictures, but my silly little iPhone shined in the strange and difficult lighting of the cave.