Spring Memories!

Lest we forget how magical this season is... 

SONG OF MARCH

With winter's footprints in the past,
and snows begin to melt at last.

With longer days and shorter nights,
the wayward winds of March take flight.

Four winds she holds within her grip,
then hurls them from her fingertip.

Her woolly, fleecy clouds of white,
she sets in skies of blue delight.

Her wild bouts of gusty breezes
roar through valleys, hills, and trees.

That high pitch whistling song she sings
awakens earth and flowering things.

She tears a hole in heaven's sky
so sun can shine and rain can cry.

She gently calms as spring draws near,
as blooming daffodils appear.

She welcomes April showers in,
then gathers up her dwindling winds.

Now her long journey home begins,
knowing she'll be back this way,
upon a cold, late winter's day,
when nights grow short
and days grow long.

Listen for her whistling song!

~ Patricia L. Cisco

Blueberry Pancakes are the BEST!

 Been a while since I did a cooking type post, am I right?!

I'm loving the sourdough discard recipe idea and these blueberry pancakes have turned out to be a firm favorite of mine/ours. What are Sunday mornings for, after all?

They are a fluffy but thicker variety and my recipe is your recipe now too: 

1/2 c sour dough discard (unfed starter)

1 egg - even better if gifted by your very own backyard chicken!

1 T sugar

1 cup of milk

1 cup of flour 

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

Preheat the pan on medium. (I don't add oil or butter with a good non-stick pan)

Mix the discard, egg, milk and sugar in a bowl.

Add the flour, baking soda and baking powder.

Stir until it's only just incorporated and don't worry about all those little lumps you see!

Add a half cup of mix to the pan.  Dot on the blueberries.

Flip when bubbly and a bit golden on the bottom.

Smear with lemon curd (homemade is best... want the recipe? See below) Dollop with yoghurt and garnish with blueberry compote you just removed from the stove.

Share with your bestie, over coffee... then go forth to conquer the day!

**ZESTY LEMON CURD - And I'm in no way exaggerating when I say this is so far better than anything you'll by at the store so make the effort for goodness sake... you won't regret it.

3 egg yolks

1/2 c sugar

Zest of one lemon (about a tablespoon)

1/3 c lemon juice squeezed from the zested lemon!

4 T butter

Add the eggs, sugar, zest and lemon juice to a small saucepan and whisk well. 

Cook over med-low heat, stirring constantly so you dont curdle the yolks. 

When the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of the wooden spoon, it's pretty much done.

Stir in the butter.

Let it cool a bit then add to a jar that seals well. Keep refrigerated.

Note:  A little of this goes a long way. It is sweet and sour... mouthwateringly lovely and pairs perfectly with blueberries.

Going berserk in Chirk!?

 Yes, sir!

Kara and Nate, we have you to thank for this.  Every time I'm tootling around on YouTube looking for tidbits of info on how to beat altitude sickness, the best route up Kilimanjaro, tips for photographing polar bears or the behavior patterns of the bird I'm trying to sneak up on, I find myself drawn to another Kara and Nate adventure vlog. 

Last week, we watched them bump their hired narrow-boat down a canal in Wales and then successfully drive it over an aqueduct at first light. There seemed to be a lot of forgiveness built in  -  which I appreciate.  And my obsession with narrow-boat captaining began there and then!

Anyway... We're going to Wales.

Mid July will see us attempt to take 'Duchess 4' out of Chirk, Wales and into England, along the Llangollen Canal for 4 days... coinciding with my 50th birthday... not really by coincidence. :-)

What could go wrong?  LOL

My master plan is for Mark to do most of the driving and me to document the adventure - as usual. We'll tie down at night along the canal, sip coffee with the ducks, stop in at a local pub for lunch or dinner and in general pretend we have experience doing this sort of thing until it's apparent we don't and then we'll beg, barter and bribe the reputedly friendly locals to help us.

The reality is that the only thing we are familiar with as we embark on this adventure, is the glamping.  We are GOOD at glamping! 

My trip-specific bucket list: 

1. Take control of the boat on the aqueduct!

2. Walk faster than the boat on the tow-path.

3. Pictures of Welsh wildlife.

4. Some local portraits.

5. Operate a canal lock by ourselves.

Easter Sunday in Rocky Mountain National Park

For us, I think Easter Sunday 2024 was a day of deep breathing, intense appreciation of what we have, where we live and the people who contribute to making this life special... I'd even say a deeper recognition of the people who make us special.

We headed uphill. At 8000+ feet, at the foot of the Rockies in Rocky Mountain National Park, Mark and I layered up and stepped out. A day to marvel at nature, take some pictures, indulge in spices and sugar and hold hands.

And Tesla got another little road trip. Spoiled!

Walking around Sprague Lake: 

Hanging with the locals...

Crouching in a river bed and marveling at all the little things that contributed to this view being my favorite of the day.

We love Rocky Mountain National Park. It's small but mighty. Worth buying a national park pass for... so we did. Better than a chocolate egg any day and twice on Easter Sundays!

Time warp in Ogallala

Unless you are perhaps dallice.blogspot.com's most avid reader, with the memory of a savant, you won't remember this but back in 2013, Mark and I flew out to Page, AZ and went hiking at Buckskin Gulch. There was all kinds of trouble telling time - even with cell phones that were supposed to automatically know.  You'd think that could only happen to us once but apparently not. Here in Nebraska things got squirrely with time again!

Our Airbnb featured not one, not two but FIVE clocks on the wall of this 600 square foot bungalow! Each one told a different time. 

I know what you are thinking. 'Even the blind squirrel gets a nut eventually' and a broken clock tells the correct time twice a day, right?! Nope. About half of the clocks were still ticking - IE they were never, ever going to tell the right time.  O.M.G.

But not to worry... we have our cell phones and Mark also has his mini-Ipad.  Definitely got a good chance of knowing what time it is now, right? Nope again. My phone said 1:30pm when Marks phone and Ipad said 2:30pm. WTF??!!!

I actually do get to blame Steve Jobs for this! Turns out Lincoln NE is in one time zone while Ogallala NE is in another. Devices need to know where they are in order to know what time it is. Isn't it Steve Jobs fault that Marks devices don't know whether they are coming or going? 

This Android user is putting judgement (mostly) aside and simply congratulating us for getting to the bottom of our time-confusion a lot quicker this trip than we did in Arizona. Yay us!