Winter Where We Live

Click on the picture to see larger size.

It is COLD. It is not my favorite time of year that is for sure. I have a hard time even finding something pretty to take a picture of. But I did enjoy the bare tree with the bright blue sky we had today. (The nest you see is actually a squirrel nest) I think we have about another 4 weeks of the REALLY bad and then it will be better. The trees will begin to bud out and I will have to spend some time in the yard. That is the good thing about winter - no yard work. Oh, I could go out there - there is certainly plenty to do, but I don't want to and it is COLD!

Three Years Ago

Today was a really hard day at work and I am tired. I don't want to think about life here working and the stress that goes with it so I am remembering our life on Tobias 3 years ago in the Bahamas. Here is the link to the Jan 28th entry. Just click there and you can read about life on another planet. Are you ready to escape with me? Let's go..............

Opossum Love

We just happened to look out in the yard this morning and saw a opossum. I ran for the camera and a jacket and by the time I got back, there were two and they were very busy lovin' on each other. That poor little girl doesn't have much hair on her back any more as this went on and on and on. He was very much in love with that little pointy nosed gal.


In a couple of weeks she will give birth to many little opossums and they will make their way to her pouch where, attached to a teat, they will remain for 70 to 125 days. Only 13 can survive in her pouch as she only has 13 teats. When they leave the pouch they will hang on her back as she goes in search of food. When they are too heavy to hang on any more - the fall off and go out on their own. Don't you wonder what happened to the lover boy?

Brendan's Early Birthday

Brendan's birthday is this week but he returned to college today so last night we surprised him with a little celebration. Christie had come over about noon and we put up a few decoration and baked a Cookies and Cream cake. I had problems with the frosting on the cake and then today realized that as usual, I didn't read the recipe correctly. It called for 1 Cup of Condensed Sweetened Milk and I used 1 Can. Not good. But Christie did a good job working with my soft, runny frosting and the cake looked fun and tasted just great. Believe me, Brendan did not complain! I insisted on taking a family picture as we get so few of those.

My Boys!!

After one of our favorite dinners - Shrimp steamed in beer and Old Bay and a fresh garlicy Caesar salad, we played our favorite game - Mexican Train. Casey won with the lowest score and Michael "Had the Most Fun".

And today Brendan headed back to cold New York.

Here is a picture of the cake and I will add the recipes. Just remember about the milk!!


Cookies and Cream Cake

1 Pkg white cake mix
1 1/4 C. water
1/3 C. vegetable oil
3 Egg whites (save the yolks for the frosting)
1 C. Chocolate Sandwich Cookie crumbs
Cookies for decoration

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 in. round cake pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix the cake mix, water, oil, and the 3 egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed for 2 minutes. Gently stir in crushed cookies. Pour batter into the prepared pans.
3. Bake for 25 - 35 minutes in a preheated oven or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
4. Cool 10 minutes in the pans. Remove from pans and cool completely on racks.

White Chocolate Frosting

1 CUP sweetened condensed milk
8 T. butter
8 oz white chocolate chips
3 large egg yolks
1 C. confectioners sugar

1. Melt the butter in a pan over low heat. Add the white chocolate chips and stir until the chips are melted. Add the milk and mix over heat until all is mixed and the milk is warmed. Do not get it too hot or the milk will stick and burn.
2. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
3. In a mixing bowl beat together the egg yolks and the sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy.
4. Add the white chocolate mixture and beat until thick.

Kirby and Lee - 1990 Sailing to Mexico

In 1990 Kirby took his son, Lee, out of school for 6 months and sailed off to Mexico. It was an opportunity of a lifetime for a 13 year old boy and the they both had a great adventure. When they returned Kirby wrote his "story" for Aunt Vera who was an adventurer at heart and wanted to hear all about it. That was 20 years ago and Kirby lost all track of his story. Then when he went to California last month to move Aunt Vera to a "Rest Home" and cleaned out her apartment, he found is old document.

Last week I read it. It is wonderful and I think I have found a way to share it with everyone. It is not a quick read nor a short story. But it isn't quite a book. It is 23 typed pages of pure adventure. I think you could print it out and read it in bed like I did. I didn't want the adventure to end any more than they did. I had such a good time with it.

If you would like to read what sailing was like 20 years ago - give this a read. You won't be disappointed! Just click here to be redirected to my Google Documents page.

Fun Signs

Click on the picture to see larger size

I was reading my favorite Charleston blog - the Charleston Daily Photo - and Joan thought it was too cold to go in search of a picture so she posted so really cool signs that she has collected from around the world. It made me remember my favorite sign that we found in Bimini. Check out Joan's signs by clicking here or on the link on the right.

Smoky Glowing Tree Limbs

Click on picture to see larger size.

I took this picture at night and am not sure what I did to make those pretty tree limbs but I like it. We were all standing around the fire pit and you can see the smoke in the picture. I wish it was warm enough to stand around the fire pit today!

Kirby and Lee

Sometimes it is nearly impossible. It takes a lot of begging, nice words and pretty pleases. Men just don't want to cooperate when you want to take their picture. They make funny faces and gestures right when you snap the shutter. Why do they do that??

I had a really hard time getting a good picture of Kirby and Lee together. After quite a few shots I got this one and I love it! I feel very fortunate!



Lee left this morning on the 6:00 am flight for the west coast. The visit was fantastic but seemed to go way too fast. We needed another week at least. Thanks, Lee, for coming to visit. It meant a lot to both of us.