Holy Bats---Man!

Recently, we decided to take an evening visit to the Bat Cave--okay, it's really 

an old railroad tunnel, but now it hosts over 3 million bats.  These are

Mexican free tailed bats and each evening, near dusk, they emerge

from their safe cool housing to darken the skies for their

evening feeding time.

At the top of the valley, we sat in the viewing stand with other

curious visitors.  Knowledgeable volunteers and a Texas park 

ranger give us the low down on this species of bats.

In August,  the pup has been born, so they will be first out of the

tunnel, flying erratically in an upward spiral to  draft off each other.

Swirling, swirling, swirling from the tunnel into the bright

blue sky--It's an awesome sight! 

Black lines dot the skyline as the bats continue their

journey up the valley to find a food source and water.

Mexican free-tailed bats are primarily insectivores. They hunt their prey using echolocation. The bats eat moths, beetles, dragonflies, flies, true bugs, wasps, and ants. Bats usually catch flying prey in flight.^[9] Large numbers of Mexican free-tailed bats fly hundreds of meters above the ground in Texas to feed on migrating insects.^[10]The consumption of insects by these bats can be quite significant.^[

Females become sexually mature at about 9 months, while males take even longer, at two years. Females enter estrus once a year, which typically lasts five weeks in the spring. The gestation period of the bat lasts 11–12 weeks, with only one young being born. A number of pups are left in "creches", while their mothers roost elsewhere. The female uses vocalizations and scent to identify her pup. The mother imprints her scent on the young early on.^[24] However, young try to steal a suckle from any female that passes through the cluster. A mother will nurse her young daily, and by 4–7 weeks old they are full grown, fully weaned, and independent.^[25]

They will journey until their bellies are full--and then they will return

to their home.  This could mean 1 AM or 6 AM--

Next time we go, we'll sit in the area near the tunnel entrance--

of course, that means the smell will be worse too!

Epic Disaster!

Our neighborhood might be dry and above water, but so many in Texas are affected by this massive storm called "Harvey".  Today, I ask for your prayers and donations to your favorite charity to assist all those Texans in harm's way!  When the roads clear and water has receded we will rebuild--We are Texas Strong!  American Strong! 

Boozy Cherries!!

I'm all for it!  it's the season for fresh bing cherries--and Here's a recipe that will be perfect for the rest of the year--

Turn this 

into THIS!

BOOZY BOURBON CHERRIES

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 1/2 cups bourbon
• 2/3 cup granulated white sugar
• 4 cups fresh sweet cherries, washed, pitted, and stems removed
• 
  
• Another recipe from Gimme Some Oven
• 
  

• BOURBON-SOAKED CHERRIES

  This Bourbon-Soaked Cherries recipe is quick and easy to make, naturally-sweetened, and a delicious addition to your cocktails.
  
  

  TOTAL TIME: 30 MINS

   
  

  PREP TIME: 15 MINS

  COOK TIME: 15 MINS

  INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 pound sweet bing cherries, pitted and stems removed
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup honey (or your desired sweetener)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, store-bought or homemade
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 strip of orange peel
  • 1 cup bourbon (or any favorite whiskey)

  DIRECTIONS:

  1. Place the cherries in two clean pint-sized mason jars (or one large quart-sized mason jar).  Set aside.
  2. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together the water, honey, vanilla extract and honey until combined.  Gently stir in the cinnamon strip and orange peel.  Continue heating, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches a simmer.  Reduce heat to medium-low, and continue simmering for another 10 minutes for the flavors to meld.
  3. Remove from heat, and strain out the cinnamon stick and orange peel.  Slowly add in the bourbon, and stir to combine.
  4. Pour the bourbon mixture evenly over the cherries, then let the mixture cool completely to room temperature.  Secure the lids on the mason jars, give them a shake, and refrigerate for at least 3 days before using.  The recipe should last for up to 2-3 months.

Grandma's Kitchen

 I'm following along with Pat Sloan's Grandma's Kitchen KAL although I don't have many memories of my grandmothers' kitchen.  I have enjoyed reading other quilters stories of their time in Grandma's kitchen.  There are such sweet memories--I only wish I could share such stories.  But, I can sew each block and savor those stories.  What are your memories of being in your Grandma's kitchen?

"Sticky Buns"

"Grandma's Table"

"Glasses and Cups"

"Half a Modern"

"Key Holder"

"Wash Days"

"Oh, My Stars"--instead of a cuss word!

Each quilter has tied their fabrics to their Grandma's memories--I found my fabrics at the local quilt shop on the bargain shelf--no memories there, just a good sale.

I only hope I'm

making memories with my grandkids in the kitchen. 

Mustgo!!

There is the day when you look in the fridge and see lots of leftovers!  Then you decide--it will be
MUSTGO night!!  That means everything leftover must go into one dish or maybe two and this evening there will be two dishes--main meal and dessert.

These were the last of the peaches--the season is coming to a close

I found a pie crust in the freezer--always good to have one on hand just 

for these occasions.  Place pie crust in tin, load it up with sliced peaches

and some strawberries that were lingering--little sugar and for some

spice I added basil--

my poor little plant!  The ones in the herb bed are toast so I purchased

this little one at the grocery--It will grow--I hope it wasn't traumatized

when I cut some leaves!

I made a crumble from oats, butter and I needed a binder--

didn't have flour so I used pancake mix (just a little)

Here is aside:  

In the pantry was this mix from Pioneer Baking Company, San 

Antonio, TX.  Here is the interesting fact about the founder--

he had his first mill down the road from us here in Hill

Country and now his ancestors have opened a winery--called

1851 because that was when the land was settled.  The original 

house still stands on the property--way cool, huh?!

okay, when I served this dish, I spooned out a big glop of

vanilla ice cream--delicious!!

Now for the main entree:

We had a baked potato and all the fixings from a dinner out, plus

an onion, broccoli and cheese--pimento cheese at that--I

bought it and didn't like the taste as a spread--hate to throw

out anything--so figured it would work in this dish

Little butter in the pan, saute onions and broccoli till

soften, dump in all the little tins (sour cream, bacon, butter, cheese) from baked potato,

add chunks of potato, some milk and that pimento cheese spread.

give it a taste!  Well, that's mighty tasty!

I kept adding that pimento cheese to the dish--

it worked using it this way!

Dinner was served!  Cheesy broccoli potato soup--

found two slices of garlic bread in the freezer-heated those up

and we had a nice dinner!

Sometimes, Mustgo night turns out pretty good!!

So Over It---Solar Eclipse!

Yesterday's blog post was about the solar eclipse--I'm so over it now!  We didn't see it--didn't even go outside to look--Our school principal daughter bought those special glasses for all her students--they had a teaching moment with all 500 students--everywhere you can view photos of the eclipse.
I feel for those who drove many miles to be in the path of totality and then it RAINED!  Rained big time on their parade--so, what are they doing now--looking at photos on TV, Facebook, etc. just as we are!

the path for 2017 took it across the mid section of the US--but, just wait,

in 2024--we'll have it in our region!  

and I've asked the daughter to save all those 500 special glasses for

us to use...............

Monday, April 8, 2024

Marled Yarns = Project

Have you ever knit on a piece and decided halfway through, you didn't like it--maybe, it's the pattern, yarn, or needle size.  Well, it seems to happen to me more often than not--I'm more than half way through this year long project and I don't like it!!  Just plain and simple!  I don't like the way it's turning out

now, I have that I've spun this marled yarn and I'm thinking this might work just fine for that January 2018 deadline plus I'll finish my year long texture project--kill two birds with one stone!  There is one of those weird sayings again!  Anyway, today it means I'm getting two projects done at the same time.............

This is textural pattern from Elizabeth Ravenwood

Ravelry, of course!

Okay, I'm liking this pattern now--looks more manly

to me and it needs some softening effect

I'm thinking I'll need to add some color along the way

or maybe, I'll just dye it when completed--

four more months to go before any

decision is made though