Our New Squirrel Feeder

 Bruce and  and I (CC) collaborated on a new Squirrel Feeding Station

CC)  created the design and and templates for the cat and hte signs

 Bruce but the cat and signs shape  out of a  cedar fence plank 

CC sanded and painted the cat and signs

We puchased a open 12" X 12" feeder box from wild wings

Bruce assembled the cat and box 

and hung the feeder on the back fence

well away from the other bird feeders

 We are  hoping  it  will draw the squirrels away from the 

Bird Feeding Station

(So far it seems to be working.) 

Home Tweet Home: 10'23

 CC spent most of the 2023 Hurricane Season ( July, August, September) indoors working on craft projects to decorate our back yard.

The area around a  large elm tree  near the bird feeders

has been renamed 

HOME TWEET HOME,

 and festooned 

with colorful bird-houses.

bird houses.

Below are a a couple of closeups:

"Share your song!"

"Home is where the heart is."

Tulip Poplar Bouquet: 4 '23

 Surprise, surprise! Tulip Poplar blossoms make nice little bouquets.

I picked these blossoms up off of the ground yesterday  after the wind blew them off of our tree    and stuck them in a cup of water.

They are still loooking fresh and lovely today.

They're still looking quite fresh today

Tulip poplar in Bloom: 4 '2023

The Tulip Poplars in our backyard are in bloom.  They have pretty little blossoms, but they grow so high up in the tree that unless you are in the habit of walking around looking straight up at the sky, I doubt that you would even be aware that they are blooming. 

From the ground below the tree, they are not visible at all,  The blossoms are all on the outermost tips of the tallest branches and the foliage below them blocked my view.  I took some photos of the tree from the front yard, but then I was too far away, and when I zoomed in, the wind was moving the tree tips so much that all I got was colored blurs.

The best photos I have are of the blossoms the wind has knocked off of the trees.

As you can see, they really are quite pretty. It's just unfortunate they only bloom so high in the air .

Fall Foliage: 12/22

 This is the first time in my life, that I have lived in a home

 that is surrounded by seasonal color,

Looking North in our backyard

 and I must say, I am loving the fall foliage.

Looking Southfrom our backyard

Looking west

Of course, there is a downside...

I think it may take me until 2023 to get all of the leaves 

that have fallen raked up

and 

into the compost pile.

A Paradise in the Making

The interior of this home was in good shape when we moved in  but all the yards were badly in need of trimming.  The first week we were here, Bruce dived right in and began trimming all of the trees in the backyard so they weren't smacking us in the face every time we stepped outside.

All fourteen of them!  

We have a forest of deciduous trees in our backyard.

Meanwhile, I (CC) tackled cleaning up the front yard.

The front yard area does not have as many trees as the backyard has.

There's just one large silver palm in the center of the lawn,

and 

five (5) mature Cycads are scattered in the front flower beds.

BUT

none of these plants looked like they had ever been trimmed!

AND

There were massive fire-ant mounds all over the front lawn and flowerbeds.

It took both Bruce and I  two weeks to get all of the  Virginia Creeper pulled off of the silver palm tree,

 and it took me another week to remove all of the dead fronds skirting the cycads.

Meanwhile, we were both engaged in a constant battle with the fire-ant colonies that had taken up residence all over the front yard.  TBD who is winning that war; every time I think they're gone, we find a new fire ant's nest.

The previous tenant had used two sideyards on either side of the house as utility storage areas

The yard on the North side of the property (above)  was covered from the fence to the house with a healthy (but badly overgrown) St Augustine lawn.

I plan on making this area a cut-flower garden and have been carefully removing 18" of the healthy turf from along the fence and house walls to make room for the new flowering plants. 

The yard on the Southside of the property (shown above) appears to have been used as parking for a boat &/or a recreational vehicle. This area was supposed to be covered from the fence to the house with St Augustine grass but instead has a large area adjacent to the house that is barren and void of anything but weeds. We are planning to turn this into a small raised bed vegetable garden. So far, we have managed to weed and covered the barren area with landscape cloth.  Then we moved all of the potted herbs that we brought with us onto the landscape cloth. 

As you can see from the photos above, we haven't put many plants in the ground. Virtually all of the plants we brought with us from Pawleys Island remain in the pots we brought them in, as are all of the new plants we have purchased since we came here.

In part that is because we are still waiting to determine how much sunlight and/ or shade different areas get,  so they will all have a suitable light exposure.  We also are waiting to determine how much difference there is in rainfall between Summerville and Pawleys so we can figure out how much watering we will need to do in different portions of the yard. (There aren't any sprinkler systems for any of the yards).

Even though our yard is not yet the lush garden of Eden we are envisioning it will become, we are pleased with the progress we are making, and our new neighbors are ecstatic that we are keeping everything so trim and tidy.  That alone is a huge improvement in their minds.

 

Paella for Dinner: 7 '22

 I think I like this dish as much for its appearance as I do for its taste.

It's hot: 7 '22

 

Day 9 without AC! Yesterday (Friday) the AC Serviceman confirmed our AC unit's air pump motor has burned out. Now the question is how quickly can they get a new motor in to replace the broken one.

First Day of Chanukkah 11'21

 In some ways,  having to downsize Thanksgiving

 due to Covid's social distancing was a blessing,

 because this year,  the first night of Chanukkah

 fell on the Sunday night that Thanksgiving weekend ended.

Having fewer Thanksgiving ornaments to put away

made it much faster and  simpler to 

transition into  Chanukkah.

One of the first things we set out was Bruce's Menorah. 

 He has had this with him since he joined the Navy at age 18, 

and we cannot imagine celebrating this holiday without it.  

Next, the dining room table was reset

with blue and white dishes

and a Judaic latke dish and spatula.

I also put up a  blue bottle menorah in the front window.

We don't light it due to the potential fire hazard, 

but we do shine a spotlight on it,  so that everyone 

can see it from the outside.

And of course,  we celebrated by lighting the first candle 

followed by a lovely meal of roast duck and ended the evening by watching the 

National Menorah Lighting ceremony.

Thanksgiving 2021

 Thanksgiving 2021

was relatively subdued this year.

Due to the HOA construction projects

  going on in our front yard, 

we were only able to put up Tom Samoset,

and a few of  our favorite 

scarecrows.

It was just enough color 

to keep the house look festive and welcoming.

 Due to COVID, we couldn't invite our family or friends

over for a big Thanksgiving get-together.

 But that did stop us from dressing  up the table with 

all of our Thanksgiving dishes.

And even though it was only the two of us eating, 

we prepared a  full traditional feast of:

 roast turkey, stuffing,  wild  rice,

 roasted broccoli and mangos,

  roasted sweet potatoes,

cranberry-orange sauce,

 and of course, homemade pumpkin pie.

Black Calla Lily

My Black Calla Lily

 I've seen photos of Black Calla Lilies for sale online,

but assumed that the photos of the plant were photo-shopped.

Callas would never be black, I thought!

Then this beauty showed up in the florist section of my local Food Lion.

I stand corrected.

The flowers are a deep maroon color, which at a distance,  

look quite black against the plant's green leaves.

It's the perfect flower for Halloween.

Honey Cake for Sukkot 9 '21

 

While we had a  lot of great meals during Sukkot,  

my personal favorite new dish was Honeycake.

My past attempts to make this Jewish Classic have been hit and miss as far as flavor, but this year I found a foolproof recipe that uses a boxed cake mix as the base.  It came out so well that It might become a regular offering at all of our Jewish Holiday meals.

Here's the recipe for anyone who wants to try it

Honey Cake Recipe:
1 box Duncan Hines Spice Cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup water or cooled brewed coffee
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup Gefen Honey

 

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

2. Mix the ingredients together in the bowl of a mixer or by hand, until everything is incorporated.

 

3. Spray a Bundt pan well with cooking spray and immediately transfer the batter to the pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

4. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes, then loosen the edges with a knife. Invert onto a large plate or cake dome.

5. Cool completely before icing (see below).

 

 

Apple Cider Icing Recipe:

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon melted margarine
1 and 1/2 to 3 tablespoons apple cider or apple juice
1 teaspoon apple pie spice

 

Directions:
Combine all the icing ingredients in a bowl. Start by adding in one and a half tablespoons of cider or juice and add up to three tablespoons as needed. Pour over the cooled cake.

Jewish High Holidays 2021

 The Jewish High Holidays seemed to have come a lot earlier and  a lot faster this year.

It felt like we were celebrating a new holiday every other day.  

That's not far from the truth!   Four of the most important Jewish Holidays of the year, all fall back-to-back of one another within a month's time of one another the month of September. 

ROSH HASHANAH: The celebration of the Creation of the world and the new year as well as the Day of Judgement.

YOM KIPPUR: A fast day that is traditionally filled with prayer and collective confession and atonement. It is said that “on Rosh Hashanah, the Book of Life is written and on Yom Kippur it is sealed.”

SUKKOT: In ancient times when the Temple stood in Jerusalem, this was a pilgrimage holiday to celebrate the harvest. Rabbinic tradition now holds that this week-long holiday is when we remember the experience of the Israelites’ years of wandering in the desert.

SIMCHAT TORAH: It celebrates the end of reading of the year’s Torah cycle and starting it anew for the new year.

We celebrated all four of these this year, which has really kept us busy.  

Two of the Holidays Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, are about self-reflection and setting resolutions for personal growth.

We had Pomagranites everywhere during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

While neither of these two holidays has a religious mandate for any external prompts to be used, I find it useful to decorate our great room with traditional plant species associated with some of the rituals of this holiday.  The special holiday foliage and fruits help to remind us that' time-is-a ticking' to make our New Year's resolutions. For Example, The pomegranate is one of the Seven Species mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as being native to the Land of Israel.many Jewish families serve the fruit on Rosh Hashannah (the Jewish new year) in the hope that the coming year will bring many blessings, much prosperity, and the opportunity to do good deeds.

Our 2021 Sukkah

Sukkot, on the other hand, mandates that we celebrate the holiday with the building of a Sukkah (a temporary shelter reminiscent of the portable makeshift building the Israelis lived in after they exited Egypt).  While the  Torah says to build it outside with a leafy cover open to the stars, there is no way our HOA would allow us to construct one outside. So this year, like last year, so we set our Sukkah up in our living room with paper stars.

It is incredibly peaceful inside and there is plenty of room for eating and dining.

But there was not enough room to leave the table set,  so I extended the Sukkot decorations out onto the dining room table where I would serve the food, before we carried our meal into the sukkah, to eat.

Sukkot tableware waiting for the meal to be served.

New Kitchen cookbook case: 7 ' 21

Bruce made me a bookcase to hold all of my cookbooks and recipe binders.  The books had been occupying three full upper shelves of a kitchen cupboard. They were hard to access, and taking up some valuable storage space in that location. This is so much more convenient.

Korean BarBque Dinner 7 '21

 

Tonight's Dinner Menu:

Korean BarBQue Beef Short Ribs 

with

KimChi

Sesame Sugar Snap Beans, 

Jasmine Rice

and

Grilled Pineapple

Sephahrdic Challah Bread: 5 '21

 One of my personal goals this year has been to  learn to make well-kneaded bread,

  and on the top of that list is Challah bread. 

I think I may have found the perfect challah recipe. 

It is a: Shepardic Challah.

 This Challah Recipe is a little more work than most in that it calls for several

 risings,  but it is well worth the effort. My husband wants me to make it every day.

It is a honey-egg dough  but unlike Eastern European Challah recipes,

 It is seasoned with aromatic spices,

 and

 optionally allows the use of raisins  (I left the raisins out),

 but loaded the loaf

 with caraway, anise, poppy, and sesame seeds 

- think 'everything bagel mix-.  

The recipe will make for two coiled loaves.  

I made half the recipe dough into knotted rolls

 and the coiled second into a single loaf which I froze.

(I'll report on the success or failure of baking the 2nd loaf in a later post)

Here's the link to the original recipe

that Julia Moskin published in the NY Times: 

 https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017858-sephardic-challah-with-whole-spices

Practice Makes Perfect with Challah Bread: 4 '21

I have been trying for weeks to learn how to make a good-tasting loaf of Challah bread. While I'm getting pretty good at braiding the dough, I haven't been too happy with the taste of any of the recipes I have used. What I am looking for is a soft honey egg bread, but most of the recipes I've tried come out too hard and dry.

So this week I decided to make Challah bread/rolls from the kick ass baker recipe (https://kickassbaker.com/challah-rolls/).

It came out very close to what I was hoping for ( The only change I might recommend is to sprinkle a little salt on top of the bread when you bake it.. I used the recipe exactly as it is posted, but after the first rest when the dough was starting to rise I divided the first proof dough into two unequal parts ( one part had 1/3 of the dough and the seccond part had 2/3 of the dough). After the two balls of dough had proofed a second time, I braided a three strand loaf from of the larger ball of dough, and then further divided the smaller ball into six balls which I knotted into rolls.

Both the rolls and the loaf were baked in a 350 oven for 30 minutes. Both looked beautiful and they smell and taste really good.

Egg Honey Challah Bread: 4 ' 21

 

We love egg challah, but most of the recipes I see on the internet make two or more loaves. That's entirely too much bread for a two-person household to eat while it is still fresh. But then I found this recipe for challah rolls which makes 10 rolls. ( https://merryboosters.com/challah-rolls-recipe/). The printed recipe isn't as easy to follow as the video (e.g The video shows how to make the knots), but seeing both sets of directions makes this recipe almost fool-proof. I say almost because it doesn't tell you how much space you need between the rolls. I originally put all ten on one baking sheet, then realized that they were probably too close so I moved half of them to a second sheet before baking. When I did that, the jostling caused my perfect knots to collapse a bit so my rolls are not as knotted as they were before I moved them. They still look lovely and smell and taste amazing. And I think they would also work well as hamburger buns My husband says I screwed up .. he now wants me to make a batch every Friday before Shabbat starts. ( see photo above )

Note

I used King Arthur all-purpose flour for this recipe, next week I will try it using King Arthur bread flour or KA artisan flour and let y'all know how it works out