Pet Care for Wrigley Sue

Pet care for our daughter, Wrigley Sue, has been a big concern for me. It is great being near grandparents who will board her for us but they have lives too and cannot always be available. Well, I finally found someone I trust with Wrigley. Jewell Charles has a pet care service and I feel comfortable leaving Wrigley at home knowing that Jewell will stop by and let her out for 'her business'. Jewell's website address is on this blog - just scroll down forever - and her phone number is 256-777-9262.

It Seems Like Old Times

We are in the midst of renovations - just like old times. The wall between the kitchen and the old dining room is history. Now I can see outside when I cook which is at least 2 meals a day. Unfortunately the other rooms on the first floor had to accommodate all the 'stuff' from the rooms under construction. We have a long way to go but are making progress.

Ready for Another Getaway

We are already planning our next getaway - mainly for another sanity check. This time probably cross-country skiing in Vermont. If anyone knows of great trails there please let us know.

Back in the USA

We arrived home safely after a wonderful bike tour of The Netherlands. Thanks to all who posted nice comments. Also thanks to the friends we visited on our vacation journey. Cycling in Holland is not like anything we can experience here and I highly recommend it as a great way to see this country. Hopefully everyone will be patient with us as we go through a 'withdrawal' of daily exercise and Belgian beer.

Friday Morning

The people in The Netherlands are very polite and very much the cyclist! Old and young ride, women with 2 or 3 children, all their shopping, everything on bikes. Women in dresses. And then there is Pam. It is tons of fun but a challenge. Yesterday we rode in rain and extremely strong wind gust (7 out of a scale of 10). This morning I see sun so that is a good thing.
We head to Den Bosch to visit with friends. Saturday we will be in Gouda and then on to Amsterdam on Sunday. The week is flying by. Hello to all.

We Are In Delft

We rode from Amsterdam to Haarlem and now are in Delft. Jim has been a great tour guide except we were lost for an hour in Den Haag. Weather for the most part has been good - only a little rain on the bikes. We have had great food and 'spirits''. So far Pam has managed to bike in places that would have been impossible in the States. And Jim has only mentioned work once on the whole trip.
Thanks for all the posts; good to hear that people (and dog) that we care about are okay. Jan and Richard hope you are still leaving your quarters. And Mom and Dad, I hope Wrigley is totally trained when we return and then you will need a vacation.

Pam did not break a leg

Took a "'trial"' bike ride around Nijmegen today. Pam is still in one piece. Visited with Els van Oldenborgh and her son Bas. Still the same Els...full of life. Also rode by bike to Ben's grave...which was a nice treat. Lunch at an outdoor cafe' including vegetarian plates. Dinner with the Gardeniers and daughters. The daughters that were two and four are now interesting and lively young professionals. Thanks for the Wrigley update...keep up the discipline.

Greetings From Netherlands

Arrived in Netherlands fine. Ate raw new herring today. Jean and Ciel look great and are being great hosts. Weather looks like it will be fine for cycling. Have maps of routes that may avoid traffic and see historic sites. Glad to see all the posts from family. Of course I miss Wrigley. Glad Bill likes Paul Thorne; we will see him in concert in September.

Netherlands or Bust

Finally a real vacation. We are headed to The Netherlands to visit friends and decompress. We will be traveling by train and bicycle and will try to update family periodically with this blog. Stay tuned.

Trip to Amish Country

Jim and I took a trip to Lawrenceburg yesterday to buy poplar boards from an Amish family. Their soil was a beautiful dark brown and their garden was starting to take shape. The horses were dark brown with black manes. The blue heeler had a litter of puppies wandering around. And the children were playing or working around the farm. The four year old appeared to be in charge of the two year old. The father and two sons were milling cedar when we arrived and you could smell the wood. The milled lumber was neatly stacked in tall piles and appeared to be of good quality. We will be back for more.

The father was extremely nice and talkative. He had a serene presence about him. We did notice, though, that the children are reticent to speak with us. This farm had a wonderful feel to it.

We then drove up the road to another residence that was selling bread and peanut brittle. Total different feel to this family; the buildings looked in disrepair and there was a 'gloom' to the family. We wondered about the stories behind the two farms that could explain the disparate differences.

Bush Hog

We bought our first bush hog today. She is old and blue and will fit right in to our family.

Join PJFarm's team in the CROP Hunger Walk

PJFarm has a team for the CROP Hunger Walk. If you would like to support this team or any other team in the Florence area click on the following link: www.churchworldservice.org/site/TR/2009SpringCropWalks/General?pg=entry&fr_id=2879

Homemade Soap

I love the homemade soap from Stumpe's Backyard Nursery. The nursery is located on County Road 30 in St. Florian and has a large selection of nursery plants. Additionally they have a large garden and sell vegetables from that location and at the Farmer's Market in Florence. Their website is www.stumpenursery.com.

Zucchini Muffins

This recipe is from The Ultimate Muffin Book by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough and makes 12 muffins.

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (I prefer unbleached)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
2/3 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 medium zucchini (about 6 ounces each), washed

Position the rack in oven in center of oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin tins with nonstick spray.

Whisk the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, ground ginger and salt in a bowl.

In another bowl whisk the eggs until lightly beaten, then add the brown sugar and oil. Continue whisking about 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk and vanilla extract.

Grate the zucchini and add to the wet ingredients, stir until well blended. Then stir in the prepared flour mixture only until moistened; do not overmix.

Fill the prepared muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake for 25 minutes or until the muffins have firm rounded tops. Muffins will stay fresh for up to 2 days at room temperature or up to 3 months in the freezer.

Wedding Anniversary

Today is our twenty-first wedding anniversary and what an adventure it has been. So Jim thanks for taking me along on your journey.

Recipes for the Soup Kitchen

Last week we served zucchini muffins from 'The Ultimate Muffin Book.' They were delicious. The zucchini had been donated to us by Jack-o-Lantern Farms. This week we will serve artisan bread using the recipe from 'Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day.' These are both great cookbooks.

Soup Kitchen

Breakfast is when Jim and I solve all the world problems, debate current topics or plan our next project even though we have projects that need to be completed. One such morning we discussed the possibility that our community could benefit from a soup kitchen and our church which is located downtown might be a great place to host such a project. The Shoals Community Soup Kitchen is now up and running thanks to the overwhelming support of our church and other churches in our community. We currently serve a noon meal every Friday.

Our New Shop

Our new shop has a barn-like appearance as we wanted it to feel like it belongs on the land. Plus in the near future we will have to look at it every day. So far we have completed the exterior - one of our many next projects is to work on the interior. It would also be nice to have water and electricity. Jim is busy researching geothermal heating and cooling so if anyone has wonderful advice please share with us.

Sweet Home Alabama

This blog is meant to keep our friends current on the whereabouts of Pam and Jim. We moved away from Alabama to Chicago for Jim to attend the University of Chicago. After working in the Chicago area for awhile we headed to the Boston area where we lived in Lincoln MA. That is where the bug hit Pam that 'the place she wanted to be' was acres and acres of land all to herself - away from street lights and city noises. But that was on hold as we had one more stop in store for us. We bought a company outside of Hartford, CT and struggled there for awhile.

Now we are back in Alabama and we have bought 19 acres of beautiful land. It will be the site of our business as soon as we complete the building and our home which is another future project. So we think this will be home for quite some time.