It's A New Day

The Latest Installment

If the question is Am I smarter than a squirrel?, the answer is Not yet. But I'm working on it.

Bonnie's live trap has been living in one of our flower beds for two weeks now and has yet to capture one of those furry pests who seem intent on wreaking havoc in my yard. During the first week nary a squirrel was seen but that didn't last. One morning I looked out and there were three of them scampering around the yard, digging little holes and totally ignoring the delicious aroma of chunky peanut butter that baited the trap.

You need some bird feedin it was the advice. So I bought bird feed, cleaned out the lid that holds the bait and refilled it with more peanut butter with bird feed on top. Back into the flower bed near where I always see the squirrels it went. The result? Nada. I can see the trap from inside the house and the unsprung door taunted me every morning.

Then as we were mowing yesterday I realized that the lid holding the bait was empty. Not just empty, it was clean as a whistle...and clear up against the edge of the trap rather than in the middle where I had placed it. Those pesky little rodents had reached through the side and pulled it over to where they could reach the food without entering the trap. I'll give them this...they're clever.

But I'm clever-er...at least I hope so. The lid now has two holes in it and a wire running through those holes to fasten it to the center of the trap. They can't move it and they can't get to it without entering the trap. Let's see what those fuzzy-tailed nuisances do about that!

Bring on the Yaks

That shiny new coffee maker my brother Jerry delivered to my door seems to have found a home on my kitchen cabinet despite the fact that there are no coffee drinkers in the house once company goes home. The old Mr. Coffee was quickly banished to the back reaches of a lower cabinet only to see the light of day again when the next round of company arrived. The new Keurig, however, seems to be right at home there in the open.

And that's because I've continued to enjoy a cup of hot tea here and there. The Timothy's Orange Indulgence White Tea was particularly tasty but I've pretty much liked everything I've tried so far from the variety pack Jerry provided with the Keurig. But I'm about to run out so I thought I'd check out the selection at Walmart when we made our grocery run this morning. I knew right where it was as I have to maneuver around the big display of k-cups every week; it's right in the middle of the aisle.

Reading the descriptions on the boxes, the Tazo Zen tea sounded interesting:

A foundation of green tea supports the cleansing notes of refreshing spearmint and aromatic lemongrass in this bright and clean elixir. This blend is, in a single word, invigorating.

Lemon, mint, healthy green tea...works for me. I kept reading.

It is little wonder then that Tazo Zen is so frequently enjoyed before sessions of yoga, Pilates, or yak herding.

Yak herding? The yoga and Pilates I've got covered but if you've got any yaks that need herding, I'll be qualified...after I've had my cup of tea, of course.

Shaking the Tree

I'm related to Calvin Coolidge. Yes, that Calvin Coolidge. And to Elias Howe. We'll see how well you remember your American History...what did he invent? And to Laura Ingalls Wilder and the author who created Tarzan as well. All of us, along with probably 4 million other people, can trace our family trees back to Edmund Rice, a Puritan who came to America in 1638.

Old Edmund has been hanging around on my tree for years without me knowing that he was kind of famous. Not quite Mayflower famous but being part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the founding father of two new cities in that state does entitle him to a little notoriety. That and the fact that he had a ton of children who each had their own ton of children who each...well, you get the idea. I think Edmund and his progeny single-handedly populated the state of Massachusetts. There's even an entire association devoted to preserving his story and documenting his many descendants. That is a very good thing because not only does it contain all the birth/marriage/children/death information family history buffs like me are looking for (footnoted to records, no less) but there are also stories. And you know me, I'm all about the stories.

Like the one about Mary Rice, my fifth great-grandmother and Edmund's great-great granddaughter. Mary may have been a Puritan but she wasn't exactly pure. She and her lover were convicted of adultery and each received 25 lashes; and then her husband divorced her. I'm thinking divorces were probably pretty rare in 1787 but at least she went on to marry her lover. Makes you think of The Scarlet Letter, doesn't it.

There's another story too although it won't be found on the pages of the Edmund Rice (1638) Association. It's that my father and my mother were related before they were related.

Let me explain.

Edmund had twelve children, among whom were three boys: Thomas, Edward and Samuel. The son of Thomas married the daughter of Edward. Yes, I know...they're first cousins, but it is Colonial America after all and the whole family had gone off and established a new town so there probably weren't a lot of choices. In the late 1600's it wasn't that uncommon for cousins to marry. That line descends down (through Mary the harlot) to my mother. Samuel had a daughter, and if you follow her line down it leads to my dad.

Weird, huh? I was really surprised when I found it and I can guarantee you neither side of the family knew it. But not only can I document the connection through the Rice family association but also through two separate books written by different people about the families these Rice women married into. I can't begin to calculate the distant relationship my parents would have had...probably something akin to sixth cousins twenty times removed or something equally bizarre.

Kinda like me and Calvin Coolidge.

For Your Listening Pleasure

All the years I was growing up, my mother played in a small dance band. That's her seated at the piano with the Rhythmaires, the band she played with for most of that time. Almost every Saturday night they would head off to a nearby Moose Lodge or Elks Club for an evening of the latest dance tunes and old standards for those who liked to foxtrot or jitterbug. Meanwhile, my little brother and I were being spoiled enjoying a sleepover at Grandma's house.

Music was a big part of life at our house. Piano students arrived after school a couple of days a week to learn all about flats and sharps, and Mother could often be found at the piano tinkering around with some new song she'd heard on the radio. She didn't need the music; she could pick up the tune by ear. It was only after she was gone that we found a dozen or so original songs that she had written.

The Rhythmaires would show up to practice in our living room sometimes too. Now we didn't have a big house or any big rooms for that matter but still it was a fun experience when they all crowded into the living room and filled the whole house with their sounds. Not everyone gets to drift off to sleep to live music from the 40's and 50's but I did. 

Mother could play anything from church hymns to boogie woogie but I don't remember every hearing her sing. Oh, she might have joined in the chorus of Happy Birthday or some Christmas carols but was an accompanist, not a vocalist. That was why it was a surprise when, upon cleaning out the house after her death, we found a whole bunch of records that included her singing.

Yes, records...vinyl records just like the ones you'd buy in the store. They had rented or maybe borrowed a machine to cut your own records and there must be two dozen or more of them. I think the band might have been the motivation behind cutting the records but most of the ones we found in Mother's house are various family members singing while Mother plays the piano.

They're a challenge to play because they're recorded at all different speeds. The first track might be 78 and the next one 33-1/3 but they're priceless. And for a number of years I've tried to find a way to convert the records to a digital format so they could be saved and shared. I was reluctant to ship them off and couldn't find anyone locally so the records have stayed in a drawer. By pure coincidence, I discovered my older brother Jerry had the means to digitize the song when we were visiting him in Illinois last fall and when he was here earlier this month, he took a few back to experiment with.

They.are.a.hoot! Well, the few that he's converted and sent to me so far are anyway. Two are my step-dad singing with Mother playing the piano and occasionally singing harmony that is...shall we say, not always harmonious. And perhaps they're made even funnier by the fact that Daddy wasn't exactly the life of the party. He was kind of quiet actually, content to sit on the sidelines and let Mother be the entertainer. If I were guessing, I'd say there might have been a little John Barleycorn consumed at the recording sessions. And that's just part of what makes them a treasure.

It's cool to hear Mother tickle the ivories and see in my mind's eye Daddy's wry smile that I'm sure was on his face as he was singing this silly tune more than 60 years ago. Better still, I know there are more. Mother playing some of the original songs she wrote as well as the boogie woogies she was so good at; aunts and uncles singing off-key but clearly enjoying it; grandparents offering up birthday wishes; and even me as a toddler, singing with a little prodding when I forgot the words. Buttons and Bows, anyone? It's a precious gift to be able to hear all those voices saved at a time when there weren't many options for recording. And I couldn't be more grateful to Jerry for putting these into a form to share.

So, without further adieu, I bring you the evening's featured vocalist, Frank a/k/a Jr., with Lorene on the piano. The year is 1949 (although the following photo is later) and the tune is Wahoo. The words are at the end in case you want to sing along.

Wahoo MP3

OH! gimme a horse, a great big horse, and gimme a buckaroo
And let me Wah-Hoo! Wah-Hoo! WAH-HOO!
OH! gimme a ranch, a big pair of pants, and gimme a stetson too,
And let me Wah-Hoo! Wah-Hoo! WAH-HOO!
Give me the wide o-pen spaces...
For I'm just like a prairie flower,
Growing wilder by the hour.
OH! gimme a moon, a prairie moon, and gimme a gal what's true,
And let me Wah-Hoo! Wah-Hoo! WAH-HOO!

OH! I never could sing a high class thing, good music I never knew,
But I can Wah-Hoo! Wah-Hoo! WAH-HOO!
OH! I never could dance, 'cause when I dance I ruin the lady's shoe,
But I can Wah-Hoo! Wah-Hoo! WAH-HOO!
It's just a gift from the prairie...
You shout it when a bad man jigs,
And it's very good for calling pigs.
I never could speak a word of Greek, I never could poop-poop-a-do,
But I can Wah-Hoo! Wah-Hoo! WAH-HOO!

A Level-Headed Beauty

It's prom season, and I was thrilled to receive this photo of Kayla and her boyfriend Stephen as they were ready to head to theirs.

Sigh...she looks so grown up. And pretty too.

So I called to get all the details and she was happy to share them. It was a fun evening, she reported. Dinner out beforehand with a group of friends, lots more photos she'd show me at the next visit, a fun evening...overall a positive prom-night experience.

When I asked her about shopping for her dress, she was even more excited. It was the first one she tried on, she giddily told me. Oh, she didn't buy it at that point...after all, she was on her way to Atlanta with a friend for the sole purpose of dress-shopping. But she was smart enough to ask the store to hold the dress for her as a bit of insurance. She looked and shopped and tried on and shopped some more but nothing she saw measured up to the first dress so back she went to buy it. And as an added bonus, it was on sale. Kayla loves shopping but she loves finding a good bargain even more.

I quizzed her about her pre-prom preparations and she was quick to tell me she did her own hair. She saw no reason to spend money to have her hair professionally styled not knowing if she would like the result. A girl after my own heart. She did splurge on a manicure but otherwise she put herself in charge of her own pre-prom preparations.

Just a few days ago I read that the average cost for prom in 2012 is $1,078 according to Visa...and they should know. That's up from $807 last year, due primarily to the tendency to be more elaborate and more outrageous than prom-goers in previous years. I'm happy to know I have such a practical and level-headed granddaughter who looked just a beautiful as those who spent far more.

Picture Yourself in a National Park

It's National Parks Week...and that means from April 21-29 you can get in to all 397 National Parks for free. There's at least one in every state except Delaware, you know, so it's not like you have to drive halfway across the country to take advantage of this.

But if I were driving across the country, I'd go to Bryce Canyon in Utah. Even though we've been twice already, I'd go again in a heartbeat. There are still trails we haven't explored and the scenery is spectacular and so unique...but then the same can be said of most every National Park. Of all we've visited, I've only been to one I wasn't fond of but I'd even give it another shot. There's still plenty of names on my parks-to-visit list first though.

Yep, I can picture myself in a National Park...where millions of stars light up the dark night, natural wonders await around every curve in the road or trail, and the ghosts of soldiers help keep history alive. What are you waiting for...you've got all week. And if that doesn't work for you, mark your calendars for June 9 (Get Outdoors Day), September 29 (National Public Lands Day) and November 10-12 (Veterans Day) when admission fees are waived again. The parks are a bargain even when you have to pay an entrance fee but they're especially attractive when they're free.

A Blast From The Past

A box arrived on the front step this afternoon. The big brown truck used to make regular stops in front of my house, leaving layouts on their return trip home, the latest scrapbooking products to take for a test spin or the newest CK idea book to get lost in. But that was another life. That's a fact, not a regret; I'm free to create what I want and when I want and I'm perfectly happy with that. Nowadays I just wave at Brown as he rolls right on by.

But not today. As if to some throwback to yesterday the little guy in the brown shorts stopped and ran up to my door with a box. And inside was a blast from the past...this layout from 2003:

It was one of 50 or so made for Hot Looks for Scrapbooks released in early 2004. Originally it was going to be one of several layouts appearing on the cover but as often is the case in publishing, a better idea came along and the cover was redesigned. By then the rest of the content was set and this layout was never published. Somehow it got buried. I knew it wasn't lost...they never lost any of my pages but it took a while for the right person to come across it and say we should send this back to Brenda. 

It was fun to see it again. It's one of the first pages I made with a 12" photo on it, and doing something digitally (adding text directly to the photo) was pretty far out there at the time. But the vellum and metal word embellishment definitely say "2003."  Had this page never been returned, I could have created a new one...the photos were digital, after all. But I like having this one back and seeing how my style has changed or stayed the same.

The big brown truck brought more than a simple cardboard box today. It brought me a smile.

Trip of a Lifetime

On Sunday nights you're likely to find us sitting side by side on the couch watching The Amazing Race. Teams of two people race literally around the world, performing tasks and challenges at each of the scheduled stops, and the last team to arrive at a designated checkpoint is eliminated. Yes...it's reality TV with the requisite amount of bickering and drama that goes with it but we love seeing the different places and learning a little something about the local culture. I think we've watched every season.

This one, however, might be our favorite. Not because of the contestants (the whining and arguing does get old) but because of the location; they've gone to Tanzania.

We were lucky enough to visit Tanzania ourselves in 2003. It was, without a doubt, the most amazing experience. And it's so cool to relive that trip as we watch the contestants do many of the same things we did when we were there. As the participants move from one location to another, we've turned to each other and said We've been there!

We rode in open-top safari vehicles down dusty roads right among the animals. It was nothing to stop and wait for elephants, baboons, or zebras to cross ahead of us. It was a rare privilege to be so close to so many different kinds of animals but zoos will never be the same after seeing them in the wild.

We visited a Maasai village where everyone sang and the men danced for us. Well, their style of dancing is jumping up and down but you'd be amazed at how high they jump and for how long. I didn't realize until we saw them do it on The Amazing Race that it's a courtship dance.

And we rode down into the Ngorongoro Crater, often called "Africa's Eden" and the 8th Natural Wonder of the World. It was beautiful and diverse and filled with more animals than you can imagine. We saw our first lions here and hippos and even rhinos although they were quite some distance away.

The checkpoint for Sunday's show was Lake Manyara. I'm not sure what the contestants will do there other than a mandatory rest break but we'd highly recommend a canoe trip on the serene waters. They're home to thousands of flamingos who will let you get tantalizingly close before they take flight.

And we'd also encourage the winners to spend some of their prize money to return to Tanzania during the migration across the Serengeti. The endless stream of animals moving from one location to another in search of food and water is absolutely awe-inspiring. Literally millions of animals make this trek twice a year and we were lucky enough to witness some of it.

Six teams were still competing in the two episodes based in Tanzania and every one of them described that portion of the race as a trip of a lifetime. I couldn't agree more.

Keeping My Eyes Peeled

I knew the gist of conversation before it ever took place when I saw our next door neighbor standing at the edge of his yard. He was waiting patiently for Wayne to reach him as he and the mower he was on made their way up the side of our yard. The mower fell silent and they fell into their conversation. Even though I was inside, I knew what they were discussing.

There was lots of head shaking then both looked over into Wynn's yard as he pointed in that direction. And it wasn't long before he extended both arms with more head shaking. If there had been any doubt before about the topic, it was gone now.

They didn't talk long and Wayne had reached the driveway when I walked out through the garage. As he shut off the mower, I had only one question: How big and what kind?

I knew Wynn had come out to tell him he'd killed a snake in his yard Sunday morning. No, I don't have ESP but I do have ears and I heard the gunshot...I just didn't know where it was. It sounded to close to be on the golf course where they're known to shoot snakes on the creek just a hole or two away. So when I saw Wynn standing out waiting to talk to Wayne, I knew it was right next door.

The answer to my question? Five feet and a moccasin. And bigger around than my arm. It was just slithering across his yard when he saw it.

You can bet your bottom dollar I'll be keeping my eyes peeled every time I'm outside now.

It's Working...Sorta

Ka-bunk! A-bunk. A-bunkity-bunk. And with that the cozy comfort of my not-quite-awake-yet Saturday morning was gone. I knew what it was...a golf ball hitting the roof. It happens but not often. There's no need to be upset about it; I know it wasn't intentional. Heck, I played golf on Friday with someone who hit a house off the first tee. Maybe it's just karma.

But what I saw when I got out of bed and went to the door made me mad. Very mad. There, coming across the roof of the screened enclosure, was a squirrel. Throwing the door open (and ignoring the fact that I was still in my pajamas), I started clapping my hands and yelling at him. You get out of here! I hollered. There was no way the golfer who hit that errant shot was coming anywhere near our house at that point. Fact is, I probably frightened him more than I did the squirrel as he wasn't exactly beating a hasty retreat. So I clapped and yelled some more until he finally ran off the far side and up a nearby tree.

That would have been bad enough but when I returned to the back windows a few minutes later, he was on the screen again. It was the last straw. Wayne had chased a squirrel off the roof the afternoon before when I heard it gnawing on the cover of the vent pipe, and he'd hardly gotten back inside the house when I heard it again. It had cost us over $200 in repairs the last time the stupid varmints had taken a fancy to the covers on the other side of the house; I had no intention of dealing with that again. One way or another, those squirrels had to go.

So I borrowed my friend Bonnie's trap, sprayed all the moving parts with some WD-40 per Hiram's instructions and set it out in one of the flower beds with some peanut butter as bait. Figuring out which flower bed should house the trap was tough...there were three fuzzy-tailed rodents in the yard Saturday morning, all near different flower beds but I picked the center one. Besides, it was the one closest to the "road" the squirrel seemed to be taking back and forth across my screened enclosure.

And you know what? We haven't seen a single squirrel since. They were seemingly everywhere in the yard last week but the last two days...none. I think there are little squirrel ghosts hanging around the trap warning their destructive little brethren not to come anywhere near it. I guess if the object was to rid the yard of squirrels, it's working. Just not quite the way I expected.

Storm Predictions

Weather wasn't the planned topic for tonight's post but when a quick dash through Facebook at 9:30pm tonight turned up a post warning friends in El Dorado that a large tornado was headed their way put weather at the forefront of my thoughts. There have been numerous news stories the last two days about the strong possibilities for severe weather this weekend so it wasn't a surprise, and when Wayne talked with his dad just an hour or so earlier, they discussed the need to keep up with the tornadoes all around the area. But one on the ground headed toward El Dorado...that will get our attention every day.

It was amazing how much information I could get even though we're a thousand miles away. The Weather Channel had devoted its coverage entirely to the storm just moving into Wichita so we heard almost a play-by-play of its progress. It was on the ground in Haysville where we'd stopped for a cache on our last trip home. It was a virtual cache, meaning there wasn't a log to sign; you took a photo and uploaded it to receive credit for the cache. The photo...metal debris twisted around and embed in a tree overhead, left by a previous twister traveling through the city. Then on to McConnell AFB...towards Benton and Towanda...and eventually to El Dorado. Names and places I know so well.

My search for more information took me to one of the local television stations where I could watch live streaming video from their team of storm chasers. Darkness, of course, made it impossible to see much of anything other than headlights reflecting on wet highways but it was still cool technology.

The storms have passed the areas we call home, moving on to threaten other people and communities. Unfortunately, there are more behind them so no one can let their guard down yet. And since the news outlets aren't mentioning significant damage, I'm hoping it isn't severe.

One thing that has stood out in all of this is how sophisticated storm predicting has become and the vast array of tools at the hands of experts that make it so. Years (and years) ago we stood at the back of our house as a tornado cut across the corner of El Dorado. We knew it was a tornado because we could see it, not because we'd been warned in any way. Now they know a day or more in advance that significant tornado activity is not only likely but probable, and they can tell where in the storm system the tornadoes are likely to be at the moment and where they will be fifteen or thirty minutes later. It's bound to save lives.

To those of you in the storms' paths as they move eastward tomorrow...be safe.

Bloom Or Be Gone

I've had a conversation with the plants in my garden this week. There was plenty of time for it too as the mild temperatures and low humidity were perfect for working in the yard. And believe me, there's a ton of work that needs to be done out there.

Conversing with the flowers isn't part of my usual routine but some of them needed a good talking to. Like the bushy green things in the front of this picture:

I'd tell you what they are but I don't know. When we visited the Texas Hill Country in 2010, we made a stop at Wildseed Farms where I picked up a handful of (what else) flower seeds. It was late July so the packets just hung out on my desk until Spring 2011 when I planted a bunch of them. My usual organizational skills must have been on the blink then because I didn't save the packets. Or maybe I didn't expect them to make it through the winter since I did nothing to protect them and tossed the information. At any rate, these are one of two sets of plants that came from those seeds. The other one is lavender which is in a pot and I did save the package on that one. The identity of this plant, however, is a mystery.

But it's green and growing...vigorously, in fact. That tallest spike is almost waist-high now and shows no signs that it's ready to stop. I keep looking down in the center, hoping for a bud to make an appearance but so far all I'm getting is more leaves.

And that's the basis for our conversation. I gave these plants a pep talk in the hopes that they'd produce some blooms but I followed it up with a threat. Bloom or be gone. I'll give them the rest of the summer and fall to show a color other than green or they're history. One thing is clear: If they ever do bloom, I won't have to bend over to inhale their scent.

I Have A Lot Of Eating To Do

Are you a foodie?That's the question posed in the latest challenge making it's way around Facebook. There's a list of 100 foods and the theory is you check to see how many of the foods on that list you've eaten and then share that number with your friends. Ordinarily I'd just ignore these entries, but when I saw a friend post that she only had a few more and her list would be complete so I was intrigued.

There are common foods...like root beer floats and pastrami on rye, although no indication that you needed to eat them together. But there are some weird foods too...foods I needed to Google to know what they were. Like absinthe (an anise-flavored alcohol) and phall (the hottest form of curry generally available in Indian restaurants). It seems clear I'm not much of a foodie if I don't even know what some of the criteria foods are.

And I'm not likely to become a foodie if the way you earn such a title is to eat all the foods on the list. It's safe to say I won't be eating crickets, haggis (a pudding made with sheep's organs) or even raw oysters. Do you suppose they'd let me eat extras of chicken and waffles and count that for some of these foul-sounding foods?

I could only check 35 of the foods off my list so I apparently have a lot of eating to do if I'm going to become a foodie. You can see what's left on your personal foodie menu at The Food List Challenge. Bon Appetit!

Cheep, Cheep, Cheep

There's a lot of activity in our backyard right now, and I'm not talking about the lawn chores Wayne and I are doing out there. Momma and Daddy Bluebird are working really hard to keep their little family fed.

We've had the bluebird house for probably ten years or more now. My good friend Charlotte's dad built the house...one for me, one for Bonnie and one for Charlotte, and Wayne mounted it on a post that's both sturdy and designed to prevent predators from reaching the nest inside. And almost every spring we get to watch the same ritual of nest building, egg-sitting and then feeding the little baby birds. The adults are a little cautious but it doesn't take them long to figure out we're not a threat so they pretty much ignore us unless we're really, really close to the bird house.

But you don't have to be very close right now to hear the baby birds send up a chorus of cheeps when one of the adults arrive with dinner. I can hear them on the back porch and even inside the house, if the wind is right. I'd guess there might be three or four of them. There is a hinge so we could peek but we never do. I want the little bluebird family to feel as safe as possible

I did, however, slip out with the little camera and take a movie of the activity this morning. Unfortunately, the microphone on the camera isn't very sensitive so you have to listen closely to hear the baby birds but they're a-chirpin'.

 

Now the trick will be to see if we catch sight of them learning to fly.

This Week In Sports

I didn't mean to ignore Wayne's beloved Kansas Jayhawks as they made their run in the NCAA Championship. It didn't seem wise to blog about them when they were winning. I hadn't written about them all year, after all; wouldn't want to jinx them at that point.

March Madness is just that around here. Wayne wears out the carpet between the living room where he watches the games and my scrapbook/computer/hide-out room in the back where I'm doing anything but tuning in to basketball. I'll pull for his team; I just don't watch the games. But he caught all he could that were broadcast in our area. It's not exactly a hotbed of Kansas basketball here in the Florida Panhandle, you know.

And as they progressed through the tournament, he claimed he'd be happy if they'd just beat North Carolina. And then if they'd just beat Ohio State. But we all know he wanted them to win it all. Unfortunately, that didn't happen but it wasn't for lack of us cheering them on. My brother and sister-in-law were even recruited as fans for the final game Monday night, and when they fell behind, Carol volunteered to retire early in case she was bringing them bad luck.

Wayne took their loss in stride for, as I've reminded him all year, his team far exceeded the pre-season predictions for them. They lost some games they shouldn't have but they also won some in near-miraculous fashion so I'd say it was a pretty incredible year.

This weekend the sport was golf and Wayne was glued to the television again, pulling for Bubba Watson as he contended in the Masters. Bubba grew up in nearby Bagdad, Florida, but our friends, the Cooks, hauled him all over the country to junior tournaments when he was a kid. It's been fun to follow his career and marvel at what he has achieved. I don't watch much golf either but I was right there on the couch next to Wayne for the closing holes and playoff.

Bubba has always had phenomenal talent; it's nice to see that he's figured out how to channel his emotions and maintain his emotion to perform well in high-pressure situations. He's his own person...but since he has pink shafts in his clubs and hits a pink driver, that's pretty obvious. Even Wayne's brother, who is not a golfer, is a Bubba fan. Part of his appeal is that he hits it so darn far but it's more than distance that draws people to him. He hits it in ugly places...just like the average Joe. But Bubba has the imagination and skill to make incredible shots from those ugly places...and the rest of us just wish we could.

One of those incredible shots from an ugly place just won him the Masters, and none of us who know Bubba can believe it yet. It isn't for lack of appreciation of his talent, but I heard Bubba say in his interview afterward that his dreams had never gone so far to think he could be wearing a green jacket. If his hadn't, ours certainly hadn't either.

So it's been quite the week in sports around our house. We may be only spectators but that doesn't mean we haven't worked up a sweat pulling for our favorites. Now on to the next great thing.

A Sweet Treat

I was rushing around last weekend, trying to squeeze in time to make a dessert between all the other jobs that were left in the jar before company arrived when I remembered a recipe on one of the cooking blogs I read that sounded intriguing. Quick as a bunny I hopped over to the site and copied it down. Well, truth be told, I didn't have to copy it...it was that simple.  Cream cheese, vanilla, Nutella and whipped cream. Mix it up, put it in some pretty sherbet glasses and it's good to go. Good being the operative word; it was a hit.

In a perfect world, I'd have taken a photo of this sweet creation but we simply ate them up too quickly for me to think of that. Everyone loved it and Wayne especially. He told me more than once that this recipe is a keeper and I'd agree...in part because it was so good but also because it was so easy.

But I can never seem to make a recipe just like it's written. I didn't want to use Oreo cookies for the crust because I didn't want the extra oreos in the house...we'd just eat them. So I used chocolate graham crackers instead. At least when we eat them they won't be as bad for us. The filling sticks to the crumbs as you spoon it into your mouth so I don't think it really matters what you use. In fact, I had extra filling that I put in a little bowl without any crumbs and it was still delicious. If you're into Oreos, I'm thinking some peanut butter ones might add a nice twist to this dessert. Heck, while you're at it, you could totally substitute peanut butter for the Nutella and have a yummy variation.

And I didn't have time to whip cream...besides, Cool Whip was BOGO at my local store so I just substituted a container of that for the sweetend whipped cream. Topped off with more Cool Whip and some dark chocolate, it was rich and sweet and the perfect ending to our meal. It looked really elegant and no one knew it went together in minutes.

If you're looking for a last-minute Easter dessert or maybe something to make a humdrum week night dinner more festive, this one got two thumbs up at our house. Happy Easter to you and yours!

No-Bake Nutella Cheescakes

18 Oreo cookies, crushed into crumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Stir cookie crumbs and butter together and press into the bottom of six small glass bowls to form a crust. Beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add Nutella and vanilla and mix until smooth and combined. In a separate bowl, beat cream and powdered sugar to medium to stiff peaks then gently fold into cream cheese mixture until streaks disappear. Divide evening among bowls. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours before serving. Garnish with additional whipped cream and cookie pieces.

Cuppa Joe

I'm not a coffee drinker...never have been. But that's OK...neither is Wayne, although somehow we managed to raise two sons who are.

I do, however, own a coffee maker. When we started construction on our house, Uncle Joe announced if he was going to build our house for us, he was going to have to have a coffee pot on site so I bought one. Technically, Joe was our friend Hiram's uncle but if I could have adopted him as mine, I would have so acquiring a little Mr. Coffee to make him happy was an easy thing to do. As soon as the pole was up and the power on for saws and nail guns, that coffee pot went to work.

And it's continued to work since then although not nearly as frequently as when the house was under construction. The little coffee maker was pressed into service whenever company came to town. My poor guests...they'd barely get in the door before I'd rush them off to the grocery store to pick out whatever coffee they'd like to drink. I'm happy to buy all the supplies and furnish the coffee maker but I don't make it...they're on their own there.

But not anymore. This is now sitting on my kitchen cabinet:

My brother brought me a Keurig.

When he told me on the phone that he was bringing a coffee maker, I thought he meant he was bringing his own. Where I drink no coffee, he'd be at the other end of the spectrum so I wasn't surprised that he'd be willing to pack up his treasured Keurig and bring it along with him. After all, I reasoned, he could have it with him in the hotel rooms at his other stops on the trip. Imagine my surprise when he walked in with a brand-new one just for me.

So I've been sampling various teas that were in the sample pack he brought as well and am looking for an excuse to have a little hot chocolate. Some of the flavored coffees sound tasty as well...like Raspberry Chocolate Truffle. Maybe I could learn to be a coffee drinker after all.

Company Recap

The vacancy sign is back up at Hotel Arnall. There's still a little Pumpkin Gingerbread to snack on and the faint scent of coffee in the air but my brother and sister-in-law left this morning. We crammed as much as possible into our time together.

Like wandering around out at Ft. Pickens. Yes, I know...it seems we go there with everyone who visits from out of town but in this case, it was Jerry who had it on his list of things to do while we were here. It is an interesting place and we had a perfect day to explore the odd nooks and crannies.

And, of course, there was the beach. Carol was busy filling a ziplock bag with shells to take home in this photo but we all managed to get our feet wet in the Gulf...and the bottom of our pants too when the waves were higher than we expected. We stopped at the store near the campgrounds at the fort and picked up some things for lunch and ate them in the covered shelter near the beach. With the sea breeze and sunshine, it was delightful.

It's probably a good thing not every school district had spring break the same week as that spreads the crowds out over a period of time, and there were plenty of people out enjoying the beach. I was amazed at all the kites flying at Langdon Beach where we stopped. They were so happy and colorful and there was plenty of wind to keep them aloft. And yes, that's the Easter Bunny there on the left.

We had planned to watch the Blue Angels practice first thing Tuesday morning but Mother Nature and her rain showers had other ideas. We did, however, take in the Naval Air Museum before wandering over to Orange Beach for lunch. And with clearing weather, we hopped on the ferry at Gulf Shores and rode across Mobile Bay to Dauphin Island. It's about a 35-minute trip past several offshore oil platforms and we saw a school of dolphins just as we left Ft. Morgan.

We ended up in Biloxi for dinner with Brad who was only five or six last time Jerry and Carol saw him. We won't let that long pass before they're together again. Eating at Newk's was one of the few non-seafood meals we had during their visit. From shrimp to snapper, crab cakes to crab claws, we fulfilled their wish to eat seafood everyday...and we all loved it.

Wednesday's agenda included going through some old photos and telling stories from the past. It was a great way to relax, reconnect and wrap up a great visit before they hit the road today.

We packed a lot into their time here but still the days went by too quickly. But we got a little sand between their toes and if local folklore holds true, that means it won't be long before they're back again. I hope that's right...their room is ready and waiting for them.

Drive-By

Life is busy in Arnall-land. We have houseguests for the next few days...my brother Jerry and his sweet wife, Carol. There are beaches to be seen and seafood to be eaten so if I'm scarce around here, that's where I'll be. Maybe a few details of our adventures will make it to the blog before they depart on Thursday...we'll see.