Saturday, September 12, 2009

An Afternoon...

...with Lachlan.

We rode our bikes (Lachlan has a "trailer bike" attached to my bike) down to Springer's Point yesterday after lunch. We had no sooner parked our bikes when he got out his camera, and pointed out what a beautiful fall day it was. "Not too hot, and not too cold," he said, as he snapped his first picture.

The water was a bit chilly, so we just used the time to explore the nature preserve. We were hoping to see a Carolina Water Snake, but no luck. We talked about the trees (live oaks, wax myrtles, yaupons, and cedars), looked under rotten logs for bugs, and climbed on dead trees and low, drooping branches of the sturdy live oaks.

Lachlan also had his binoculars. We looked at birds perched in the trees, and were able to make out the church steeple on Portsmouth Island, across the inlet.

After almost two hours of exploring we rode back to the Slushie Stand for a treat -- a yummy vanilla milk shake.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is a small photo album with historic pictures, including the aftermath of the 1944 hurricane, the 1921 Ghost Ship of the Outer Banks, the 1935 wreck of the Nomis, the Island Inn, the Methodist Church, and the Wahab Village Hotel. I've added a short paragraph under each photo to help put them in historical perspective. You can see the pictures by clicking here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news082609.htm.

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:32 AM

    if only all of our children could grow up in such a wonderful place,,but instead we have to settle for a piece of paradise for a week in the summer,ocracoke is our happy place we think of when life gets rough...i hope it never changes

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  2. Tell Lachlan I want to see his pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous5:52 PM

    Figgy Oatmeal Cookies
    Makes six dozen

    1 cup of chopped dried figs
    brandy
    1 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
    1 cup of sugar
    1 cup of dark brown sugar, packed
    2 eggs
    2 tablespoons of milk
    2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
    2 3/4 cups of flour
    1 teaspoon of baking soda
    1 teaspoon of baking powder
    1 teaspoon of kosher salt (regular salt will suffice)
    1 1/2 teaspoons of ground ginger
    pinch of cinnamon
    1 cup of rolled oats

    1 Preheat the oven to 350 F. Cream the butter and sugars together on high speed for three minutes. Place the chopped figs into a bowl with brandy.

    2. Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla and beat for 3 minutes, being sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

    3. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, and cinnamon and rolled oats. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture slowly, being sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl once or twice to ensure even mixing.

    4. Fold in the figs and one tablepoon of the brandy the figs soaked in. Drop heaping teaspoonfuls onto parchment lined cookie sheets.

    5. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to set up on the cookie sheets before moving to a baking rack to cool completely.

    Thought you all might like this recipe with your figs!

    Lou Ann

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous3:37 PM

    You might as well start a bug collection while you can. Cause luck may have it, the 4th grade teacher asks the students to bring in 10 bugs for an assignment in December. Where would I find bugs in the winter. Spiderwebs he suggested. Yeah right.

    ReplyDelete