Hurricane Ian

Hurricane Ian has been tearing it up down South. We are feeling the affects all the way here in North Carolina with lots of rain and wind. It has now moved through Florida and back out to the sea. Hurricane Ian is now heading up the South Carolina coast and getting closer to home. 

Bad weather and storms are expected around here for the next couple days. Schools are closed and since I work for the county Government, we are closed too. I guess they are expecting it to get worst. Heavy rain and wind has never shut things down in the past as I can remember.

So today I worked from home. The temperatures were in the lower 50’s. The first of September, the temps were in the 90’s. Thats how fast the weather shifts here in the Carolinas. It’s been raining all day and the winds are high. I have been keeping up with thing going on down on the coast. We are 400 miles from our camper at the beach. We suppose to go down in a couple of weeks. 

Once again, our campground is flooded and the dunes are washed away. The water will reside quickly once he rain and high tides stop. We have seen this before with Hurricane Matthew in October 2016. The campground rebuilds quickly. Below is what the campground looks like today. The dunes are gone and debris is everywhere. It looks like the campground is in the ocean.

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Below is the steps the lead over the dunes to the beach. And a photo of me sitting on those stairs on a pretty Summer day. The dunes came up as high as the rails in some places. 

Our camper is packed tight in storage so the worst damage it can have would be if a top vent blows off and gets the inside wet. So far we have never had such damage. 

The weather we have here at home does not bother me. We have no trees in the yard to worry about falling. I have a butterfly bush in the front yard that has broken in half but it will grow back next Summer. 

The wind and rain keeps me in. I am enjoying these cold rainy days with a coffee and blanket snuggled in my recliner watching Hallmark movies. I had a bad week last week and it just feels good to do nothing. 

 

What is the weather like in your neck of the woods?

Tuesday 4-Autumn This and That

Welcome to Tuesday 4- A fun question post continued in the memory of Toni Tadeo, It’s original author. This is a great way to share your blog post and learn about other bloggers. You can head over to Tuesdays Place and join in. 

“It’s Autumn and temperatures in many places will be going down, days will be shorter and leaves will be tumbling down”, Let’s discuss these things.

1. Do lower temperatures bother you or make you uncomfortable and are you more of a warm climate person?

As long as the temperatures do not go below my age, I will be fine. Cooler temps are nice sometimes but I am more of a warm climate person. I do not like to be cold. I also do not like wearing heavy clothes, coats or sweaters.

2. Do you like the colors associated with Autumn? Clothing wise, do they look good on you?

I think the different color leaves are pretty on trees but I do not like Fall colors to decorate in. Fall is when all things dry up and die so oranges and browns seem dreary to me. I like the way Fall clothes look on other people but not myself. 

3. Would you rather…

• ….Get lost in a corn maze or go on a hayride?
• ….Visit and apple orchard or a pumpkin patch?
• ….Eat a caramel apple or a candy apple?
• ….Cinnamon buns or Pumpkin muffins?

I have to admit, I have never been to a corn maze but they seem fun. I do love hayrides but I like the old fashioned kind where you were actually sitting in the hay instead of sitting on hay bales. 

I would rather be in an apple orchard than a pumpkin patch any day. 

I like caramel apples better than candy apples but I never eat either one. I once bit into a pretty caramel apple only to find the apple to be rotten underneath. So now I do not trust them. 

Cinnamon buns are the best. Pumpkin muffins, yuk. 

4. There are 75,00 varieties of apples. What is your favorite and do you like apple pie?

My favorite kind of apple is the “Honey crisp”. They are firm, juicy and have the perfect amount of sweet and tart. I am not a pie person and apple pie is my least favorite kind of pie but I will eat it hot with a scoop of ice cream on top. 

Now it’s your turn. Once your finished, Head over to http://tuesdaysplace.blogspot.com/ and drop your post in the link box so she can add it to her blog list for others to view. 

Raisin Bran Muffins

This will be a short post. I’m tired and can barely hold my eyes open. But I wanted to share a delicious recipe with you all. This recipe is so easy, your kids can make it. 

My husband has been looking for some healthy bran muffins. We have not had any luck finding any that are not full of preservatives or sugar. Nether could I find any bran mix to make my own. 

I started searching around on line and found an easy recipe that used Raisin Bran cereal. 

This recipe called for a half of cup of sugar but I used a little less of the calling because I figured there was enough sugar in the cereal. 

I have to say, this was one of the easiest muffin recipes I have found and the muffins were delicious.

RAISIN BRAN MUFFINS

3 Cups Raisin Bran Cereal

1 1/4 cup of Milk

1 1/ 2 cup of Self rising flour

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

- Pour the milk and cereal in to a mixing bowl and let it set for a minute or two so the cereal will get soft. 

- In another bowl, mix together the flour and sugar.

- Add egg and oil to the cereal mix and stir to combined.

- Add the flour and sugar in and mix until combined.

- Pour batter into lined or greased muffin tins. (Should make 12).

Bake for 10-15 mins or until done. 

Stick a toothpick in the center and if it comes out clean, they are done. 

You do not want to over cook them or they may become dry.

These muffins are good to freeze then thaw on counter top or microwave. 

I love these muffins heated a little in the microwave with a cup of coffee.

Original recipe can be found HERE.

New Found Food Downtown

It was lunch time so I left my desk and headed out to get a drink to have with the lunch I had packed. I will usually just drink water but some days I want a sweet tea or an iced coffee from a nearby restaurant. This also gets me out for a little while. 

This day, I was really craving a fresh juice from a local juice bar. It was only a couple blocks from where I work so I headed that way. Sadly it was closed with a “For Sale” sign out front. I had to settle for that ice tea and head back to the office. On my way back, I had plenty of time to spare so I thought I would ride down town to see if there were any new places opened up. 

As I was cruising slowly down main street, I saw a man carrying out a to go order from this little underground place called Bayahibe Cafe. It used to be a coffee shop.

I did not know it was now open to something else, so I parked the car and went inside. You barely know there is anything here because all you can see is a small door squeezed between two large buildings that leads down into a basement cafe. 

I opened the door and made my way down the deep stairway and into the cute little cafe where I was greeted by a smile and the smell of delicious food. 

“I just saw this place and thought I’d come see what you have to offer”. She began pointing at little printed menus on the glass wall. 

“Wait, what? You have real fruit juice too?” I began to tell her about the juice bar that I first went to and it was closed. She said that was her friends place. What are the odds that I landed in a place that had what I was looking for? 

The smell of the Pastilles En Hojas enticed my taste buds so I had to order one to try. They are like tamales but wrapped in Plantain leaf pockets instead of corn. While my food was cooking, I noticed she was preparing a sweet coffee. She was adding marshmallows, cinnimon and other stuff I did not need. I told her I did not order a coffee and she said “I know, I made this special for you to take with you and try. It is Dominican Coffee. No charge.”

       

I was very grateful, gave her a tip and took the coffee along with my food back to the office. I never even got a juice. I plan to go back next week and try one of the fruit juices. I bet they are good. 

Sometimes you just have to look around to find places. Explore and don’t be afraid to try new things. 

Tuesday 4- Let’s Talk About September

Welcome to Tuesday 4- A fun question post continued in the memory of Toni Tadeo, It’s original author. 

This is a great way to share your blog post and learn about other bloggers. 

You can head over to Tuesdays Place to learn more details on how this works. 

Now, Let’s have some fun.

1. When you were in school or university, did you look forward to returning? Why or Why not?

I would be excited for the first couple days. It was fun to meet the teachers and see friends you didn’t see over the summer. After a about a week, I was done. I hated school and did not excel very well. I really struggled through school. I also have a fear of humiliation hence why I do not do well getting up in front of people. I would have rather taken a zero than to get up in front of class and speak or do an oral book report. So, no, I did not look forward to it. 

2. September has Labor Day, which, for many is the signal of Summer’s end and Fall’s grand entrance. Do you celebrate Labor Day in any way or is it just a day off for you?

Until a year ago, I never had a job that allowed me to have Labor Day off. I enjoyed this Labor Day off. My husband had the day off too. We spent it looking around antique shops and thrift stores then we stopped for some Ice cream. It was a rainy day but we made the best of it. We ended the day by grilling out steaks and watching some football. 

3. September's birthstone is the Sapphire which is 2nd only to a diamond in hardness. (Ruby is a red sapphire by the way) It comes in many colors.  Do you know your birthstone and do you like it?

My daughter’s birthstone is Sapphire. I think it’s a beautiful gem. I was born in May. My birthstone is “Emerald”. I do not own anything with my birthstone attached. Green is not a color I like but I do like a shiny genuine Emerald. 

4. September's birth flower is the Astor. What is yours ?

My birth flower is “Lily of the Valley”. Being a minimalist, this type of flower would be something I would love displayed in a vase at home.

Now it’s your turn. Once your finished, Head over to http://tuesdaysplace.blogspot.com/ and drop your post in the link box so she can add it to her blog list for others to view. 

Propagation Station

Can you believe it’s already the September? Where does time go? I love Fall, but then comes Winter. I am not a fan of the cold but I guess it’s not that bad. It gives me a reason to bring out the cuddly blankets and cute boots. The days will seem shorter, meaning it will be almost dark when I go to work and when I come home from work. I guess I’ll be doing my exercises more indoors now. 

Now for my latest project…..

This Summer, I have enjoyed collecting a few plants. Now that I have a office cube, I have my own space with a whole window wall. I do not have a sunny window at home so I never really bought plants but now I do since I have a place to put them. I only have a few but they are thriving.  I want to start rooting some of them and start some new plants to repot in the spring. 

After searching around, I saw that there are such things as a propagation station. Decorative clusters of small jars of water to place a piece of plant in so you can get it to root. Once rooted, you plant them in soil. I always just used a baby food jar or small vase. Those were boring and did not look good sitting around. 

So, I came up with a cute idea of using macrame to create this hanging propagation station. I have seen these on line but could no find out how to make them so I used my own imagination and come up with this simple design. 

I am still new at macrame but I would love to learn more. This little propagation station was super simple and only used two types of knots to create a cute wall hanging piece. If you are interested in one of these, it will cost you 15.00 each plus free shipping as long as it’s in the USA. This basically just pays for the supplies, packaging and me a cup of coffee. Just let me know by sending me an email or leave your email in comments and I’ll contact you.

Now, If you would want to make your own, here is what I used:

4mm macrame yarn.

1.5 wooden ring.

2 small glass bottles.

1 wooden bead (optional).

With two strands of yarn, cast on two larks head knots. 

Now you will have four strands of yarn hanging down.

With the four strands, make 10 square knots.

Place a 3-4 inch piece of yarn and make a square knot around it. (This will tie your bottle on).

Make 14 square knots.

Place a 3-4 inch piece of yarn and make a square knot around it.

Make 12 square knots.

Add bead (optional).

Tie a knot at the end and trim off the yarn to make your tassel.

Last, tie on your little glass bottles. 

You can make it as long or short as you want by just subtracting or adding more knots and ties. 

Enjoy.