Saturday, November 29, 2008

Whew....




Came home a day early from Florida due to storms that were predicted for northern Florida, Georgia etc. Easier for us to fly in clearer weather...so we packed up and came home. Left 74 degrees - arrived to 32 degrees....but it's home, and my own bed. I've had a quiet morning already and that means I haven't been shouting answers at old deaf people. (They're so classic - insisting that it isn't their hearing that's going but that we "young people" don't enunciate and that we speak too quickly). But all in all, it was fun to see the family, see how all the kids have grown over the past 6 months; get a chance to sit in the sun and just try to enjoy it all.


We did alot of bike riding; in flat Florida there are mountain bike trails that have been developed from old phosphate mining areas. Lot's of root encrusted trails thru swamps and woods; and some easy rides thru Florida grasslands. One thing I don't hear at home is "watch out for the armadillo!"


We belong to this club in Florida and they do a great job of maintaining the trails. I guess they have to - minimal natural hills and mountains down there....

One of the trails - fairly gentle and tons of fun.
This guy took a flying leap across our trail - jumped like a 'roo. Didn't know they could do that.

An armadillo hole - or maybe a gopher turtle hole.

There was virtually no computer access at my mom's house - don't ask me why. None of us could hook up to the wireless - or even when wired! Someone said that perhaps the modem in encrypted - huh??? Why would they encrypt a modem? Have to call the service and see what the heck is going on. Mom's computer is old and slow and I could never get on between the kids playing games and watching YouTube. And actually it was nice to have a bit of a break from it all.

At dinner one night I was teasing my mom about her "fancy" dishes - ones that she bought on her honeymoon and that I have NEVER seen used. She admitted that she has only used them once...in sixty years. I told her that I needed fancy dishes and that she should give them to me etc etc. She won't part with them, and I don't blame her! But later in the week she gave me a great present - a box of all of the old recipes from my Grandmother. This is really a treasure, and I have alot of sorting to do with them and want to make sure that I preserve the original recipes - yet use them all. I adored my Grandmother and she was a great cook. I will have to stay away from the recipes from the 60's which always seem to start with a package of jello....but I have now her recipe for yeast cake, and rugelah, and peach pie.....

All in all it was a good week - lot's of family, friends, food and much to be thankful for. Especially being back at home.

9 comments:

Teri said...

Oh wow, it sounds like a fab week!!! Your pics are awesome and love the sign about the alligators and swimming!

Welocme home.

switch said...

Hi Mim. Welcome home.

Lynn Cohen said...

I'm so glad you were happy being with family! Love the china and recipe stories. I made rugala once. Just once. It took forever.
But it was GOOD!!!! Enjoy!
I wonder if you do anything artsy with the recipes beside the actual cooking/baking use of them.
That armadillo is daunting!
And your cloud photo has so many pictures in it too. Welcome back.

soulbrush said...

sigh..there's nothing quite like your own bed and bath! sigh.....what a great gift, old recipes, so valuable too. lotsa hugs mim.

sukipoet said...

What a lovely gift from your Mom. Take them and put them in acid free pockets. You can buy them at Staples. Then put the pockets in looseleaf folders. Then you preserve the paper, and also can see the recipes with ease plus it is very easy to get organized. I did this will all our family memorabilia.Thanks for the view of an armadillor and armadillo hole. PS my mom is "deaf" too. "I can't hear you." is constantly on her lips.

Cris, Artist in Oregon said...

Oh My gosh, I got the chuckles over the bit on the hearing. My DH is like that. I lisp or I dont speak up. The neighbors can here me three blocks down. LOL
I would have freaked had that Armadillo jumped in front of me. yikes.
Yes there are lots of pictures in that cloud. I saw a scotty dogs head. :) Glad you got home before a nasty storm came in.

studio lolo said...

Great sky photo and lots of memory making. Wonderful! I know for sure I'd high-tail it outa there if I saw the alligator sign. No thanks!

Kerstin Klein said...

I would never ever swim somewhere where there could be alligators swimming around. I would die.

I love old stuff like recipes and specially old diaries. I keep trying to find and buy an old diary, but usually they are sold here on flea markets. And flea markets are always on Shabbat. Ebay also sells them, but usually diaries written in old German and I almost can´t read them. :)

Debra Kay said...

An armadillo wandered into our camp once when I was a child. Someone startled it and it squealed and jumped straight up-I remember it had the funniest little pink legs.