Spring Fever Gone Amuck

Not sure who won this spontaneous mud-slinging battle!

A Noteworthy Fact--Psalm 33:5

He loveth righteousness and judgement: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.

Another Milestone: Independent Chocolate Gravy Consumption

I finally let go of the reins--I mean, the spoon. I suppose at nineteen months it's about time. Like the rest of the family, Eva took to feeding herself with gusto, and though the pictures may seem to imply otherwise, she does remarkably well with keeping her hands out of the bowl and hitting her intended target with her full utensil.

I've had a recipe request for Chocolate Gravy (which really does taste better than it looks mixed with eggs in a baby bowl or smeared all over Eva). I keep the version my Grandma Sanders used on hand for sentimental/historical reasons, but the recipe I currently use was passed along by a friend after hearing me lament the difficulty of achieving a proper consistency with the old recipe. The secret is in the butter, which was completely absent in the family recipe.

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Chocolate Gravy

1/2 c. butter

4 T. cocoa

1/4 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 c. sugar*

2 c. milk

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add cocoa and flour, stir until a thick paste is formed. Stir in sugar and milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick. Serve over baking powder biscuits and top with whipped cream. **

*I now skip the sugar and stir in agave nectar to taste at the very end.

**I also like to make a triple batch in my Bertha "skillet" and chill the leftovers for pudding.

A Simple Reminder

The government does not create money; it can only rearrange it.

--Douglas Wilson

I thought YOU brought the trail-finder!

This picture captures one of my favorite moments of our Azalea Falls adventure. Our hike around the falls would have been a bit challenging under ideal conditions as there were plenty of places where a wrong step would have been bad news. Yet, the challenge of keeping our feet on the trail was increased even more by the challenge of finding the trail with lots of downed trees everywhere due to January's severe ice storm.

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We'd made it about halfway around the top of the gorge on our supposed "one mile loop" when we seemed to lose the trail completely. We could see the lodge across the gulf (and I snapped the picture of our place in the previous post from about that point), but we had no idea how our loop was going to get us there from here. So, we decided it must be because we were supposed to head down into the little ravine. We carefully managed to pick our way about halfway down before we realized that we still didn't see a trail on our side or up the other side back to the lodge. Nor did we see a bridge across the stream aside from a log we would probably need to shimmey across. (I gladly offered to take pictures if anyone wanted to try that!)

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As we were assessing our situation and pondering our next course of action, Jami was inspired with the memory of a movie she'd seen recently. The story was of a young man who had gone to the Alaskan wilderness to live off the land for a while. He'd become trapped by a rising river, mistakenly eaten poisonous berries, and died a slow, painful death due to lack of medical attention. Kinda makes one appreciate civilization, doesn't it? Ruthanne and Sara's faces in the picture above seem to express that thought.

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Anyhow, after that rousing tale, we were all sufficiently motivated to hoof it back up the way we'd come, and our story ended happily with us sitting on the deck sipping our beverages of choice. And we probably still hiked about a mile--just not a loop.

My Theme Song--Psalm 133:1

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

Lots of Fun

Some friends and I spent a couple days at Azalea Falls Lodge last weekend. It was a lovely place inside and out. We enjoyed games, movies, and discussions throughout the comfortably furnished interior, and outdoor pleasures included an adventurous hike around the falls and chatting on the spacious deck while listening to the birds and the water. Overall, it was a wonderful place for rest, refreshment, and fellowship--just what we were looking for.

http://www.azaleafalls.com/

Ruthanne has better pictures on her blog, as well as a better description of the side-splitting laughter I somehow failed to mention:

http://www.thegencojournal.com/