Cold! And a Question

42°f/5.5°C, clear and beautiful start to the day. High of 56 expected.

Boy is it chilly! Yesterday stayed cold after the rainshowers of the night, never getting above 50°f. 

A friend posted a photo from Canaan Valley in eastern West Virginia, where they had a stiff of snow last night and temps in the 20's.  They can keep it, I like snow but in its time and place--winter!

Larry worked on the van most of the day; a shield underneath that protects the oil pan had come loose and was dragging. It was a headache of a job, as he had to take it off, heat it a little to get it straightened out and then put it back on,  all of this while laying on his back because we don't have a lift. The ramps helped a little, but he had a long cold time of it.

Me? House cat, stayed inside most of the day! I made omelets for breakfast--cheese, onion, asparagus,  and tomato--with whole grain toast, ham and grape juice. A morning feast! Thrn I packaged the rest of that big ham for the freezer (we bought it on sale for .89 a pound), and made brownies to warm up the kitchen. The rest of the day I spent working on a chest of drawers and ebay, doing listing and packing sales. Dinner was rice and beans with sliced cucumbers and, you guessed it, asparagus. We are getting plenty.

A friend posted this on Facebook, asking, which foods would you NOT eat? Here's my no-no list:

1.Miracle Whip--only if real mayo isn't available

2.Pickles --yum!

3.Almond Milk --why not?

4.Black Jelly Beans --nope, yuck

5.Pineapple Pizza --my favorite!

6.Sardines--love them broiled on toast

7. Oysters--sure

8.Sushi--um, no. Raw fish? No.

9.Candy Corn--love it, rarely have it

10.Vienna Sausages --nope

11.Brussels sprouts--if cooked properly,  sure

12.Mushrooms--yum

13. Liver--love it

14.Circus Peanuts --they're okay, not a favorite 

15.Bologna--if nothing else is available 

16.Black Olives--yes indeed!

17.Green Olives--nope

18.Blue Cheese 🤮

19.Fruitcake -- you know I love it, the homemade kind only though

20.SPAM --if I have to 

21.Cabbage-- good stuff 

22.Potato Salad --absolutely 

23.Eggnog--yum!

24.Black Coffee --only way to drink it

25.Anchovies--love them on pizza

26.Grits--a regular item here in the past, and I still enjoy them

27.Sauerkraut--yes, on the menu pretty often 

28.Mountain oysters 🤮

29.Pigs feet--never tried them, but I would if offered

30.Coleslaw --good food!

How about you? Any you won't eat? Anything you would add as a no-go?

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Road Trip: Post 2

40f/4.4C, clear.

Back to our Saturday road trip to Hawk's Nest State Park:

The ramps for the dinner sold out fast! They were out when we got there, but fortunately more arrived. But by 3pm, they were completely out. 

There was a great crowd for the presentations too, which was great for the historical society. It was a very successful fundraiser.

I was so happy to see my friend Jodi, now retired from her job as a park ranger at New River, but a very active member of the historical society.

And for the first time, I met David Sibray! He and I have been online friends and collaborators for 15 years. Dave is a naturalist, preservationist, and real estate salesman who blends these three roles to sell historic properties to people who will restore and preserve them, and he uses stories to do this, doing in-depth research on each property and region. His website, WV Explorer, showcases his hard work and excellent writing about our state. 

Then there was this guy, JD, becoming widely known for his Creepalachia posts. He too researches stories, particularly of the weird and strange, that happen in our state. It was great to meet him, and I may be interviewed sometime for his podcast.  

If you wonder what the dinner looked like, I forgot to take a picture! But here is our Easter dinner, which was similar:

Fried potatoes, scrambled eggs with morels, ham, and asparagus. The dinner at Hawk's Nest didn't have ham or asparagus, but had bacon, brown beans, and greens, which is more traditional.

And here is what ramps look like:

These were from the little patch we started here at home about 20 years ago.

Below is the restrooms building in the park itself. We didn't stop here, as the event was being held in the lodge.  But such a cute building!

Then we were back on the road home. We decided to take state route 16, which would take more time, but kept us on the two-lane all the way to our road. It had been years since we traveled this road.

On a building in Gauley Bridge:

For this part of our driveway, we followed the Gauley River, up into Clay County, one of our state's more remote and very rural areas. 

Seen on the roadside were these two cabooses which seemed to be being used as campers.

The ubiquitous Dollar General,  they're everywhere! Even in this poverty-stricken area, the store does well because it is literally the only place to shop for miles.

This is Dixie School, which is in a former mining community. I have a good memory of a day spent telling stories here.

This lumberyard and truss-making business looked like it was doing well.

Still following the river...

Downtown Clay, where we saw this burned out building, is a depressing place, sadly. 

Blast from the past: an old bus station.

A stately old home gives testament to the once thriving economy. Coal, oil and natural gas, railroads and timber fueled growth in the early 20th century,  but by the late 50s, these industries were on the wane, interstates bypassed central West Virginia, and people began leaving, seeking better opportunities in places like Cleveland. Those who stayed continue to struggle to make a living.

As you can imagine, internet and cell service isn't great in these steep hills. But many choose to stay because it's home. Some commute to Charleston for work, and the low real estate prices make the region attractive to out-of-state back-to-the-land types, and retirees.

Today's poem:

Betrayed

no one told the apple trees

about tonight's frost

spring is a fickle lover

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Weekend Road Trip: Part 1

Second post today! 

We took a road trip Saturday, which ended up being a big circle. 

Our goal was Hawk's Nest State Park, where the New River Gorge Historical Society was sponsoring a ramp dinner. Ramps, for those who aren't familiar with them, are an Appalachian plant (they may grow elsewhere but I am not sure about that), that is a cross between leeks and garlic, as best I can describe them.  They grow only in certain locations, and have been sought by mountaineer as a spring tonic, and an early fresh green, for generations. 

Ramps are famous for making a dreadful stink. If you eat them raw, you will literally ooze that pungent smell from your pores for days. Boys used to wat them to get kicked out of school. But prepared properly, they are delicious (although they will still make your breath pretty strong!).  In Soring, mountaineer communities across West Virginia put on ramp "feeds" as a fundraiser and they are always well attended. 

As you can see on the above map, the first leg of the trip was easy, down I-77 to Charleston. Then we took US Route 60, the Midland Trail, which follows the Great Kanawha River to its beginning at the junction of the wild Gauley and New Rivers, we'll known for their whitewater and class 4 rapids. This route was the path for early settlers here, and is also the home of the Dickinson Salt Works. Back in the day, it was a very active coal mining area, but today many of the mines are closed. The tipple below is still operating, so there must ve a working mine or mines somewhere in the area still.

This is a beautiful drive in Spring, before the trees leaf out, because you can see the river almost the whole way, winding along on the other side of tge railroad tracks.

Another feature of this drive is waterfalls. This little falls doesn't seem to have a name I can find.

No one was there when we stopped, but there were so many butterflies! We saw this one, a red spotted admiral, I believe,

Here he is with wings folded.

And this one, o e of the comma butterflies,  but I couldn't get a good enough picture to be sure which kind.

Isn't this a great rock cliff?

If you embiggen this photo you can see some of the butterflies. It was honestly like being in a butterfly house. We saw tiger swallowtail, zebra swallowtail and a spicebush swallowtail in addition to the admirals. There must have been 50 flitting around, often flying right by our noses.

Tracks and road intertwine in several places on this road.

We passed by Kanawha Falls, where we stopped last year for lunch one day, but couldn't resist Cathedral Falls. There were quite a few people there, but only one butterfly.

First wild geraniums I have seen in bloom this spring. 

And finally, Hawk's Nest. Such a view! 

More tomorrow!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Garden Work, and Soup

62°f/17°C this morning. Thunderstorm moved through quickly, now windy and feels colder than the temperature indicates. Going back down into the 30's tonight.

Daffydowndillies!

The past few days of yard work are catching up with me. Today I feel like a slug, only managing to make breakfast (pancakes, sausage,  and fruit salad), and put on a pot of soup for lunch or dinner, whichever we decide. This is a new recipe I found online, sweet potato and lentil soup, and I have to say it is tasting pretty delicious. In my usual way, I had to substitute heavily--dried oregano and parsley instead of fresh,  chicken broth instead of veggie broth, canned tomatoes instead of fresh, frozen creasy greens instead of spinach, paprika and Chipotle powder in place of smoked paprika, and canned yams someone brought here at Christmas for fresh. I figure my result will taste about the same in the end. You can find the recipe here. If I can conjure up some energy I will make cornbread to go with the soup. Big if.

Yesterday we got 20 more bags of mulch spread. We have a system: We leave the bags in the truck, and Larry pulls them out one at a time into the wheelbarrow, cuts them open, and takes them to wherever we are working. I tell him where to dump it,  and spread the mulch, taking care around the plants that were already up. We had put down the chicken wire first, of course. 

If you are wondering why we don't buy bulk mulch, I'll tell you-- neither of us are up to shoveling that much mulch. We can handle the bags; even I can get them from truck to wheelbarrow. It costs more to buy in bags, but for us it is the doable option.

We were working fast because rain was predicted to start by 11, but the rain and storms and high winds never struck here. So I continued working outside, cleaning up and mulching the drift roses, and picking up, putting away, etc. Pretty tired but satisfied by evening.

Larry is chomping at the bit for the molly moochers and ramps to come up, but it's still a little early for those wild treats. Which reminded me of this:

Right now, I'm listening to Mountain Stage and dunking that biscotti in coffee, with my feet up. I must say, it feels pretty good.

Take care, friends.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

More Memories of Meals

52°f this morning, clear, dry, a perfect autumn morning.

My last post brought forth so many memories that I woke in the night thinking of them.

There was the time we went hunting for ramps. It was very early in May, I think, and in many places the ramps would have been past the point of harvest. We headed up to the Williams River wilderness and soon found a plenitude of ramps. Our youngestvson Tommy was about 8, I think, so this would have been 1994. Rain began to fall hard, and we were soon soaked to the skin. But we found a little roadside shelter and we set up our camp stove to make tea, and opened a can of Ditty Moore stew. There in the rain, with a long view of wild mountains, we ate stew, drank tea, and never was a meal as welcome as that.

Another time, almost 20 years earlier, my first husband and I were here on this same land where I live today. We had just started building this house. We were here for a week that he had taken off work, and it rained. And rained. And rained. At that time we had a 1972 Chevy van, two-wheel drive. And of course it got stuck, as our mud here is endlessly deep and as slick as oil. Not that it mattered. We were busy! 

But then our food stock ran low and the van was still stuck. Now remember that back then it was a mile to the closest neighbor,  no phones, no electric, and the road from here to his house was also impassable. We had planted a pitiful garden that year, clueless as babies about gardening in this wild place, but I found a couple onions, a tomato, and a small cabbage in that weed patch. I added water from the creek, salt and pepper, and made the best soup I think I have ever tasted, cooked over a wood fire in front of the rough camping shelter we'd built---where I had wild pennyroyal hung to dry. Ah, to be that young and fearless again!

When I was a child, my family sometimes went to the Bull Run Battlefield Park, just outside of Manassas, VA, where we lived, to have a morning picnic.  The park was basically empty in the mornings so our wild horde had the place to ourselves. We would run and play while Mom and Dad cooked us breakfast over the open fire. Eggs and bacon, maybe fried potatoes, bread toasted on a long fork over the coals, hot tea...ahhh, a meal fit for a king.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Week in Review

Yesterday: by 10am it was 55°f, or 13°C. Very chilly and windy as heck. Bright blue sky and little scattered clouds, low humidity. This morning 37°f, overcast. 

Wrote this yesterday but for some reason it didn't post. 

Some days I don't even know where to start writing. It has been such a busy week, with so much variety. Let's see:

Monday: unpack, laundry, and housework. Weeded some in the flowerbeds. Cleaned the ramps and got them in the dehydrator. Picked up more mulch in town, firepit in the evening.

Tuesday--restocked and tidied up our booths in Ravenswood, then over to Athens County, Ohio, in search of a "bluebell preserve" a friend told me about. We found the trail, but there were not many bluebells. Still, it was a beautiful place, and there were many wildflowers in bloom. And there were some bluebells at least, so perhaps in future there will be many more. 

Some of the other flowers we saw:

Blue-eyed Mary.

There were great swaths of this lovely flower, which was new to me.

Eue anemone, sometimes called windflower, I think.

Wild geranium

Common but still one of my favorites, blue violets

Just a restful place to visit, even on an unusually warm day.

Nice firepit that evening capped a pretty nice day.

Wednesday: packed a bunch of eBay sales, worked on paperwork, hoed out the three little rows of onions, beets, carrots, spinach and chard. Hand-weeded the lettuce and radishes. Made ramp salt. No firepit as the day was far too windy.

Thursday: went to look at some furniture a young friend wanted to sell. Loved the place she and her guy are renovating; the house needs a ton of work-- it is built around an old one room log cabin and has several log outbuildings, including a falling-down barn which, sadly, they plan to burn. 

We ended up making 2 trips, and the van still needs to be unloaded. Came home to do more stringtrimming. Firepit time again.  We saw this fellow at a gas station. Handsome, isn't he?

Friday: out in the garden early to till, then plant cabbages, broccoli, brussels sprouts,  rhubarb, onions and horseradish. Stringtrimmed the untilled parts of the garden, weeded the accidental strawberry patch (accidental because i planted strawberries in tubs so they would be easier to care for, but they sent out runners and now we have a patch of berries in the middle of the garden). 

On the very upper end is a row of garlic and in front of that, but can't see in the photo is a row of purple asparagus, which we planted last year.

In the late afternoon we went to town to tidy up our Ripley booth,  pick up potting soil and straw, and meet up with friends for supper.

Today I began transplanting the seedlings in my little greenhouse--tomatoes and Savoy cabbage. Then out in the gardens, spreading mulch, planting a rosebush and weeding, weeding, weeding. Larry cut grass and worked on my tiller, as the clutch is messing up. Apparently the part we need is no longer available so I am searching for another tiller.  Bummer, but it is 8 years old and has seen a lot of use.

Mixed in between work were long phone calls with youngest son in Florida, oldest son on his 55th (!) birthday, third son to catch up on the past week, and with 4th son to catch up on the past 2 months--he's not one to call very often but when we talk its usually for an hour or more. Also had a long call with grandson Clayton who is stateside at last and thank goodness out of that mess with the pirates in the mid-East. He leaves the Navy in June, and is looking forward to the steps in his life.

So there's most of what transpired around here this week. Always a bit frantic in Spring, as there is so much to get done in the gardens and yard. But it's work I love and Larry good-humoredly tolerates, most of the time.

It's supposed to be a chilly 35°f tonight, or 2°C, I think, so it will be an inside, movie night for us!

Getting mighty pretty up on the ridge.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.