Soup's On

A dark and dreary day.
Rain is falling.
The perfect time to warm up with a hearty bowl of homemade soup.

Cabbage and Bean Soup

Navy or Northern Beans
Cabbage
Onions
Carrots
Celery
Ham Hock
Smoked sausage or Kielbasa sliced
Chicken Stock
28oz can of whole tomatoes
Bay Leaf
Salt and Pepper
Basil and thyme to taste.

Soak beans overnight, discard water, add chicken stock, ham hock, smoked sausage, herbs, and seasoning, bring to the boil and then simmer for one hour.

Add chopped cabbage, onions, carrots, celery, chopped tomatoes,  continue to simmer for an additional hour and a half.
Add water if needed.

Serve with buttermilk cornbread, or a nice crusty French loaf.

Yum

Lest We Forget

They fell, but o'er their glorious grave

Floats free the banner of the cause they died to save.

~Francis Marion Crawford

 

God Bless  all the service men and women, without whose unselfish commitment, our lives would be forever changed.

 

Oliver Love

Eight years ago, on a cold November day,  this handsome, ginger boy stopped by our house and said hello.

I gave him a handful of treats, and then he disappeared as mysteriously as he came.

He returned the following spring, and despite my best effort to try and find his family he decided to call our humble abode, home.

We couldn't be more blessed.

 

 

Holding On

The trees were just beginning their Autumn show, a little over a month ago.

And when we were finally receiving some much needed rain, we had our first freeze of the season.

Everything seemed to stop.

 

 

Yesterday, we awoke to an incredible sunrise, it cast an orange hue across the landscape. The difference a month makes, between changing landscapes.
 The grass has now gone to bed until Spring.
Leaf-raking begins.

 

 

 

We still have color on the trees, and more to come, from the late-comers of the woods.

 

 


There's talk of an upcoming power outage on social media.
In reality, this is a regular drill used by the Army Military Auxiliary Radio System also known as MARS to test what would happen if there ever were a large scale power or communications outage.

A statement released by the defense department says:
“The exercise will simulate a power outage scenario, it will not impact public or private communications. There will be no power outages of communication systems. This exercise is designed to improve readiness, build cooperation and public awareness, and better prepared to defend the nation.”

In the event, things do not go as planned. I'll see you on the other side.

The best of luck to us all.

 

 

 

For The Love Of A Cat

Oliver came bearing gifts this morning.

A squirmy snake......

Trick or treat.

🐍

 

 

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains un-awakened"
 

~Anatole France

Long Awaited

I can hardly contain my excitement.

It's raining bucket-loads !!

image credit : unknown.

Season Of Mists

Our day started with a thick, soupy fog, and much cooler weather than we have had in weeks.

It lingered all morning long, making driving quite dangerous.

Of all days, I had appointments to keep, and putting them on hold wasn't an option.

By noon, the fog had lifted, and sunshine had made an appearance.

A typical Autumn day, I tried to forget it was Friday the 13th.

 

Home Sweet Home

 

 

Braided rugs
Tea-filled mugs
Flowers in jugs
Familiar hugs
Heartstring tugs
Home........

🏠

Autumn Days

Mother Nature must have heard our pleas for rain and obliged, courtesy of hurricane Nate.
The trees are slowly beginning their changing of color, yellows, oranges and reds.
Pumpkins are now decorating porches and gardens.
The songbirds busily returning to their winter homes.
The kettle is on the hob, and two sleepy felines are curled up by the hearth.
Autumn the gentle season.....

Rain-Less

We have been without rainfall for over a month now.

Our Autumn days have been unusually dry, considering throughout the Spring and Summer seasons we had more than our share of rain.

The lack of moisture will affect our Fall leaf show, trees have begun to lose their leaves, with very little color in sight.

The sunsets however remain spectacular.