JourneyLeaf: Life a Page at a Time

Hillcrest Orchards 2013

Eli and Cousin Aaron had a great time exploring all the fun of Hillcrest Orchards in Ellijay, Georgia...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more about Hillcrest Orchards, click HERE.

 

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E is for Eli

Back when Eli started to learn the alphabet, he and I began taking pictures of interesting letters.  It is a bit of a challenge.  The letters have to be separate enough that you can photograph them without the rest of a word appearing.  Also, the letter usually have to be a couple of inches tall or larger to photograph well.

We especially searched for the letter E so we could one day make a collage for his bedroom wall.  Today that collage gets printed!  Hooray!  Here are some of our favorites...

 

 

 

    

 

      

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Sack o' Potatoes

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Sack o' Potatoes

    

Once when Eli was a few weeks old, I headed to the grocery store with him to get ingredients for supper.  I brought home a ten pound bag of potatoes, and it didn't escape my notice when I carried it into the house that it was about the same weight as my child.  "My little sack o' potatoes" became yet another goofy term of endearment that I crooned to Little Guy.

As Eli got closer to the toddler stage, "potato style" became the way he preferred going to bed.  "Oh, my little ol' sack of taters!" I would sing, draping him across one shoulder the way that Irishmen of old loaded their big burlap sacks of spuds onto a wagon.  It always earned an Eli giggle.  

By the time Eli was a preschooler, sack o' potatoes was entrenched ritual.  There came to be "slippery spots" on the floor (pointed out by Eli as we moved through the house) that would cause us to spin in place for several seconds.  Dizzy Eli made big belly laughs in my ear on our way to his bed.  My sack wasn't ten pounds anymore, though.  More like forty plus.  And the older Eli got, the more effort it took to safely balance when we spun around.  This spring I felt an achy spot in my shoulder that didn't get better until Eli was away visiting his grandparents for several nights.  Hmmm.  Brian took over being the potato carrier for a little while and that helped, but as soon as I went back to my old role I was achy again.  I needed to give up that sack o' potatoes.  

Yeah, I knew the day would come.  The pediatrician says my child will one day be a strapping six foot five inch man, the little pup body grown to fit those big wide feet and the hands that are larger than those of most of his tot buddies.  But I could't do it.  Not for months.  Finally, when my shoulder got sore enough that it was hard to pass things to Eli in the back seat of the car, I knew the time had come.  Last week I had to tell Eli that Papa would be the potato carrier from now on.  Then for one last time, I put my boy over my shoulder, felt that soft and warm tummy against my neck.  Eli didn't seem to mind the change, but on the way to his darkened bedroom I tried to memorize the way it felt when his little body laughed as he was draped over me.  I said a little prayer of hope, wanting the man Eli will become to remember that silly ritual full of love.

Sack o' potatoes is just one young child habit.  Eli is still small enough to love snuggling with Mama every morning, to wiggle into my lap while I'm working at my desk, or to ask Mama sing him to sleep.  His face still lights up when he sees me coming to get him at school and is blissfully unworried what the other kids think when I swoop him up for smooches at his classroom door.  But I know those days are also numbered.  I try to soak up each and every one.  I want my son to grow up.  Just not so fast.  

 

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Last Friday Afternoon of the Summer

The afternoon was warm even though the first day of autumn was quickly approaching.  Time for a popsicle!  Remember when Eli won a gift certificate to the gourmet frozen pop place?  (Click HERE for that post.)  He shared the wealth with a few buddies...

 

Most of the kiddos opted for Chocolate M&M pops.  Since fall is rapidly approaching, I went with Muscadine Lime.  Really good.

We were so busy this summer with moving, house updates, and Brian's new job that it feels like we almost didn't have a summer.  We'll have to make up for it by embracing autumn.  (Insert big grin here.)

 

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Of Pirates and Donuts...

Did you know that today, September 19, is International Talk Like a Pirate Day?  (Read more about it HERE.)  This morning we celebrated by bringing small bags of Pirates Booty brand snacks to Eli's teachers at school.  And then we had an after-school adventure too...

I read that Krispy Kreme donuts is offering a free donut to anyone who comes in and talks like a pirate today.  And those who go to their store dressed like a pirate get a free dozen donuts!

 

Krispy Kreme even made pirate face donuts.  (Ours had a lopsided snarl.)

 

Eli had never been to Krispy Kreme and was quite impressed by the huge wall of windows that allows you to peep at the donut-making machinery...

 

 

 

This cracked me up.  There is now a smart phone app that lets you know when Krispy Kreme has hot donuts coming out!

  
We had a grand old time on Talk Like a Pirate Day.  (So did Papa, who received the dozen donuts to share with his co-workers.)

Although only four years old, Eli has actually had a long and illustrious (or is that notorious?) career as a pirate...

• Click HERE for Captain Eli sailing the high seas at eight months old. (And who needs a parrot if you have a rubber lobster sidekick?)  (Note:  Today Eli wore the same pirate hat and sash!)
• Click HERE for Pirate Eli getting his picture taken for the Trader Joe's regional newsletter.
• Click HERE for Pirate Eli roaming the Northern California Pirate Festival.

  

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By the time most of the unpacking was done in our new house, I had quite the To-Do list of items needing repairs or updates.  Then Carl, my father-in-law, came to visit and said, "Let's take a look...."  

 

I can't remember how many trips my father-in-law and I made to the hardware store during the days he was here, but it was quite a few.  I kept happily crossing off task after task.  The over-the-door shoe rack was converted to a wall rack in the back of the closet.  There's a new safety handle on the basement stairs.  He also gave new life to several toys Eli was outgrowing.

 

Eli's beloved tot kitchen is now a big boy kitchen thanks to a sturdy homemade platform giving it six more inches in height.

  

Eli's second-hand water table has a lot of play life left in it from mudpie mixing to toy boats to action figure landscapes, yet it was too short and had wobbly plastic legs.  Carl raised it up on sturdy supports.

 

 

 

And then there's the super cool project.  Carl installed a swing from the exposed rafters of the basement ceiling.  How spiffy is it that a kid can swing inside on a hot or rainy day?

 

I love it that my To Do list shrank greatly.  I love it that Eli will get more use now out of favorite toys.  But I also loved having somebody to problem-solve with.  Almost a decade ago now, I bought my own house and loved learning how to fix and remodel things.  But in the years since I sold the place, I've become rusty from living in rentals.  It was great to fire up the power tools, practice old skills with someone more experienced as a guide.

Perhaps most of all, I loved that Eli had a chance to watch Granddad work and try helping out.  It was a taste of problem solving and the creative process.  He got to see that everything doesn't come ready-made in a store but also that store items can be altered.  He learned some new skills.

 

As I stood in the garage, helping and watching Carl work, it didn't escape my notice that a lot of the tools were ones I inherited from my father.  Dad loved to work with wood.  The house I grew up in was full of shelves he built and benefitted from quite a few do-it-yourself projects.  As Carl used Dad's tools on Eli's toys, I felt a lump in my throat.  My dad would so love to be here, enjoying using those tools to benefit the same small grandson.  

Then I also thought that my father -- a very wise and thoughtful man -- would be grateful if he could look down and see.  The toys got fixed and the boy learned important things even if a different man was holding the tools.  I know that Carl is the man Eli will instantly picture when someone says the word 'grandfather.'  My father-in-law does honor to that title.  Like my own father, Carl is kind, giving, and upstanding.  It isn't an easy thing to say, but I am grateful Carl is there to take up the tools, to be two grandfathers in one. 

 

 

(Above:  My father standing with the playhouse he built.  My brother is going down the slide and that's me on deck.  I was three.)

 

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Cromer's Mill Covered Bridge

I love a day trip in the South, wandering along looking for antique stores or interesting things to photograph for me, playgrounds and places to wade for Eli.  Last month when we made a trip up to Hendersonville for their Apple Festival, I saw a small sign for Cromer's Mill Covered Bridge.  Had to stop!

Wooden covered bridges used to be fairly common in North Georgia -- an easy way to cross a creek but also for you and your horses to wait out a rainstorm.  Sadly, many are now gone.  Watson's Mill and Elder Covered Bridge are the two survivors I knew about, so I was glad to find another up near Carnesville, Georgia.

 

A hazy, late-summer morning...  

 

 

The tunnel-like bridge was full of shadows and echoes.  At first Little Guy was a bit hesitant... 

 

 

But soon there was a lot of running and hooting.

 

Click HERE for a list of covered bridges in North Georgia.

   

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Connemara Dairy

Couldn't resist putting in a few last photos of Connemara...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sitting in the farm yard while watching my son zip here and zip there, delighting in the place, I thought back to other times.  Soon after my father died, I brought my mother here.  She was sick with the AIDS virus and exhausted all the time.  Walking up the hill to the barn was about all she could do, but Connemara seemed to bring her great pleasure.  A quiet peace came over her and she sat a long time watching the goats and the tourists inspect each other.  Mom's own death was less than a year away.  Now when I'm at Connemara, I can almost see her here.  Time almost overlaps in my heart and I imagine her watching as Eli rubs one of the goat's ears and offers it some hay to nibble.

I'm so glad for this place.

 

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Annual Apple Festival & Awesome Caramel Sauce

When I was in college, I went up to Asheville with a friend one autumn weekend.  We wandered into the farmer's market and it was there that I was first introduced to fresh mountain apples.  I felt so cheated.  Where have these been my whole life?!

This year I took Eli to the Annual Apple Festival in Hendersonville, North Carolina.  We saw the sights and wandered the streets, having a lovely time.

    
 

 

But if I'm honest about it, I know we were mostly there to sample all things apple...

 

 

Eli and I finally decided to get several things we could share -- fresh cider, churned-before-your-eyes apple ice cream, and apple slices with caramel sauce.

 

The cider?  Very good.  The ice cream?  Two thumbs up.  The apple slices?  Ugh.  Those were regular old grocery store apples, I'm pretty sure.  (Did you know most grocery store apples are 10 to 14 months old before you get them?!)  The caramel sauce was sugary and thin too.  Luckily, I knew how to remedy my disappointment.

A few miles down the road I stopped at an apple stand I'd frequented many times before.  They had fresh Mutsu apples, one of my favorite varieties.  And once I got home, I dug into my recipe files for Buttermilk Essential Syrup. 

Huh?  Butter-wha?

I know.  Buttermilk seems to have nothing to do with caramel and the syrup I'm talking about is designed for pancakes, waffles, and other baked goods.  But if you increase the boiling time until closer to three minutes, it will give you the best caramel sauce you've ever had -- buttery, flavorful, and smooth.  After dipping some slices of fresh Mutsu apple into it, my brother-in-law said, "I'm almost fifty years old and I've never liked caramel much, but you just changed my mind."  

We had some family over on Labor Day weekend and I ended up making three batches of the stuff.  Every time I turned around, the bowl of caramel was empty again.

 

 

The great thing is that this recipe is super easy.  (In fact, my 6th grade nephew made a batch on his own without any coaching.  Good job, Shane!)  There's no candy thermometer involved and no guesswork.  Try it.  You won't be sorry.

 

Pioneer Woman, Tasty Kitchen Blog: 

http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2011/06/essential-buttermilk-syrup/

(We added a little cinnamon and nutmeg to ours.  And if you're craving apple goodness in the fall like I do, try these Apple Oatmeal Pancakes with a little of that syrup.)

 

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