BLOWN AWAY

One of the things I love about the Easter season is coloring/decorating eggs. (When coloring eggs, I always use natural dyes.) Almost always we only have brown eggs, granted the shades of brown, in themselves are beautiful and range from the lightest of ivory to a darker clay color. However, in the past I occasionally purchased white eggs in order to use vivid colors to decorate them.

These are some of those eggs. These were fun to do, and after having blown the egg out of the shell, I used colored markers to decorate them.

But I no longer purchase white eggs, and have not purchased store bought eggs in more years than I can count. I have obtained organic eggs from area Amish, as well as others who raise them in their 'backyards'.

I have a friend Geri, who has laying hens, hens that she quite devotedly tends and literally loves! Hers are, of course, brown eggs, and come in every conceivable shade. Not only are they quite lovely to look at in the untouched shell, but hands down, they are the most delicious, golden/orange eggs I have eaten in my entire life. I have never had an egg that compares in taste and texture. They are simply the 'cream of the crop', better than any other organic egg I have ever eaten. This I attribute not only to the organic way in which she raises her hens, but mostly I attribute it to the genuine love with which she tends them.

I decided this year to try something a bit new. After blowing out the eggs (which I scrambled and quickly ate) I decided to use the shell as a 'sketch board'.

My first attempt at sketching on an egg shell....

...and my second, unfinished, attempt.

It is a bit difficult to keep ones hand steady as you sketch upon a small, rounded surface, and anchoring on something is necessary. It is, however, intriguing and challenging, and honestly, a lot of fun.

Thankfully I have still two full cartons of Geri's eggs in the fridge waiting both for my fork and my pen.

A MURDER OF CROWS

I don't care if March goes out like a lion, spring is definitely here. It was 78 degrees yesterday, and I have spinach and lettuce well up. I've cleaned up my asparagus beds, and am itching to plant more. I am holding back, because we ALWAYS get hard frost in early May.

Despite my constant urge to be outdoors, I have spent quite some time in the kitchen of late...well, I always spend a lot of time in the kitchen, but this was a bit more concentrated. A group of retired teachers (dear friends) meet once per month for breakfast, (which given our ultra-busy schedules isn't always easy.) Most times we meet in a small cafe in town, once in a while we meet at someone's house. I offered to host this month, mostly looking for a reason to bake.

Caramel rolls ready to rise. For the first time, I prepared the caramel rolls and froze them individually. Last night I prepped the caramel sauce and placed the frozen rolls on top, covered and let rise over night.

They had risen perfectly, and I baked them this morning.

...blueberry and date/nut muffins...

This quiche is something new I tried. The crust is potatoes prepped to be hash browns, pressed into a buttered pie plate, and drizzled with butter, cooked until slightly browned, and then the egg, ham, onion, milk mixture is added. It was delicious.

For a large pie plate:
4 1/2 c. shredded raw potatoes ( I shred them on to a clean dishtowel and squeeze until all the water is out.)
1/3 + 1/6 c. melted butter
1 1/2 c. diced cooked ham
1/2 c. chopped onion
chopped garlic to taste
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
3 eggs
3/4 c. milk
salt/pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425. Press shredded potatoes onto a slightly buttered pie plate, sides and bottom. Drizzle with the melted butter, season with a little salt. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until beginning to brown. In a bowl, combine sauteed ham (I saute ham in canola oil with onions and some garlic) and onion garlic with shredded cheese. In a separate bowl combine eggs, milk,salt/pepper. When crust is ready, spread ham mixture on the bottom, cover with egg mixture. Lower oven to 350, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until filling is puffed and golden.

...fresh fruit salad and vanilla yogurt...

...just waiting for the arrival of the 'Crows'...
(Coulee Region Outstanding Women's Society, a fancy way to say we are a bunch of old crows)
(For those of you who do not know, a group of crows, supposedly the most intelligent bird, is called a 'murder', lots of theories as to why, but the one I like best is that at the time of naming such, the folks responsible thought it 'poetic'.)

The not-so-old CROWS gathered round.
It is a wonderful time sharing stories, laughter, and good food.

THE INVASION

As many of you know, winter is and always has been my favorite season. Still, there is something so irresistible and compelling about a 55-60 degree, brilliantly sunny day that almost nudges winter out as a favorite. Actually, there is no season that in its presence does not stimulate me to great love. It is a fact that on any given perfect (or near-perfect) day of any season, it is difficult not to deeply appreciate it in all its aspects and glory. Such was yesterday and today. Spring seems to be here, and I am bursting with it not unlike the soon to burst flowers.

I planted my first spinach and lettuce this past week...and abruptly returned to the joys of the garden as soon as I turned and touched the soil.

Still...I can come to despise spring, not for its outdoor smells, sunshine, and beauty, but for what it brings into my home.

The Asian Beetle, long a bane of living here in Southwestern Wisconsin. For many years this tiny bug has filled my home, by the thousands and thousands, each spring and fall. Only last year did I notice a demise in number, with great delight.

However, for every Asian Beetle that did not appear in my home, a Box Elder Bug did.


Last year I believe they were about even in number, although it is impossible to count that many invaders. This year thus far, the Asian Beetle population seems even lower, but of course, the Box Elder Bug count is way, way up.

Yesterday I stepped out on our front enclosed porch, and much to my dismay, there were literally layers of Box Elder Bugs on the window sills...I mean layers, in some places they piled up over an inch thick.

They are harmless, as is the Asian Beetle, but unsightly, and a terrible nuisance. They don't bite like the beetle, nor do they stink when you crush them, but they do get into your bed despite my staunched efforts to discourage them. (Of course there has been many an Asian Beetle sharing my bed as well.)

I love a sparkling, clear and clean window, however it has been years since they have sparkled from my home except quite briefly. Not very long after one has cleaned a window, it becomes smudged and spotted from all this bug activity.

But both the Asian Beetle and Box Elder Bug's intrusion, annoyance, and disgusting presence has paled...way...way paled, with the presence of this....

...STINK BUG...

Now this is one ugly bug, and it is not small by any means. It measures at least an inch, looks like it is wearing armor, and believe me, it stinks....far worse than any Asian Beetle could. The smell is gagging, and one surely hesitates to crush one of these intruders. The vacuum was out multiple times yesterday, but that grows old and useless quite rapidly.

So, spring is here...I love spring, truly I do. But I do not love the invaders nor am I yet comfortable in all this killing. I keep wondering what a Buddhist would do with such a forceful, and overwhelming invasion of bugs??

...ANOTHER SUNDAY AT BILLINGS CREEK...

Despite the gray cloud cover, and the bitter (at least compared to what we have been used to this winter) cold, we decided a Sunday hike was in order. Our last Sunday hike was along Billings Creek and that was, to say the least stunning. This time we decided to hike along the other side of Billings, which put us smack up against some of the oldest, most impressive and largest of rock outcroppings in the area.

This rock outcropping, jutting itself so magnificently, looked not unlike the hull 0f some ancient ship embarking on a long journey.

..a closer look, upwards...

These mighty rocks diminish us, while at the same time they fill us completely with the magnitude of themselves and the ancient ones. Here in the Driftless area it is easy to see the results of the parting of the ice so very long ago.

...a little bit of history...

The Driftless Area or Paleozoic Plateau is a region in the American Midwest, noted mainly for its deeply carved river valleys. While primarily in southwestern Wisconsin, it includes areas of southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa and extreme northwestern Illonios. This region includes elevations ranging from 603 to 1,719 feet (184 to 524 m) and covers an area of 16,203 square miles (42,000 km²). This region's peculiar terrain is due to its having escaped glaciation in the last glacial period.

The term "driftless" indicates a lack of glacial drift, the material left behind by retreating continental glaciers.

Typical terrain of The Driftless Area as viewed from Wildcat Mountain State Park in Vernon County, Wisconsin

The earlier local phases of the Wisconsinan glaciation are poorly understood, but the last involved several major lobes, the Des Moines lobe, which flowed down to Iowa's capital city on the west, the Superior Lobe (and its sublobes) on the north and the Green Bay lobe and Lake Michigan lobes on the east. The northern and eastern lobes were in part diverted around the area by the Watersmeet Dome, an exceedingly ancient uplifted area of Cambrian rock underlain by basalt. The Green Bay and Lake Michigan lobes were also partially blocked by the bedrock of the Door Peninsula, which presently separates Green Bay from Lake Michigan. In earlier phases of the Wisconsinan, the Driftless Area was totally surrounded by ice, with eastern and western lobes joining together to the south of it. Regarding the origin of the Driftless Area, a particular new concept or train of thought involves the pre-Illinoian continental glacial ice originally flowing over the Driftless Area while depositing pre-Illinoian till (only that till which is older than 790,000 years old) upon it but then periglacial erosion later removed it when the ice retreated and uncovered the area. This was done through anticyclonic snow-bearing winds episodically dropping a large amount of snow which consequently gradually removed superficial sediment by solifluction and snowmelt sheetwash processes.

In the adjacent glaciated regions, the glacial retreat left behind drift which buried all former topographical features. Surface water was forced to carve out new stream beds.

This cave was assessable from the other side of the rocks, and one could actually walk through to get to this opening.

...another jutting ship...

This rock structure stood out among all the structures we saw, the color, the shaping, and the small arch so perfectly formed. above, and we stood in awe.

Everywhere we looked we saw the 'strokes of the Master'.

And here, as difficult as it is to see, and though it seems a bit early, is the emergence of the first skunk cabbage we've seen.

Some folks experience 'God' in church on a Sunday, we experience 'God" in the magnificence of nature's Cathedral.