Thoughts from Alison that might at least entertain you!

Bring on the Birds

Greetings, Friends!

Prune Ridge is now officially ready for the birds to begin fall feasting.  Our tiny tree is laden with the black berries they seem to covet and birdseed has been restocked.  I've hung the feeder after stowing it away for the summer/early fall, and filled it full.  Also this year, we've added a couple of suet feeders.  The girls have both taken to gazing through the dining room window regularly, so it seems we needed another feeding point for birds out there.

I'll be working this evening following a week when every work day got to be quite a bit longer than it should have.  Looking forward to a couple of slower days for the weekend before the madness begins again next week.  On the agenda this weekend?  Probably baking a batch of scones, possibly also a batch of cookies.  Otherwise...  many things to read, maybe a couple of naps to take, and certainly some interwebs to surf.

Happy weekend, All.  Be Well!

Googly Eyes and Silly Good Fun

So imagine my surprise with this one... 

You may certainly know (or not) that I'm a fan of all things childish, especially books and animated movies.  And very especially Wallace & Gromit, the claymation figures from Nick Parks - as well as many of his other creations.  Today is the 20th anniversary of Wallace & Gromit!  Their first short film - A Grand Day Out - was screened on this date 20 years ago.  I read in my inbox just now that Wallace and Gromit were being honored today on the Google search page.  They are one of only 3 "Google Doodles" ever to be made outside of Google HQ! 

So I went to google.com only to find Big Bird legs there instead.  Today is ALSO the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street!  Coincidence?  I think not.  Everything is connected in the strange and mysterious world of Awesome Things Invented in the Interest of Learning Through Youthful Fun and Whimsy!  Turns out the W&G Doodle is on the google.co.uk search page!

The Dinner That Rocked Prune Ridge

Good evening, All - and Happy Halloween to you! 

I embarked on a cooking extravaganza tonight to try out two new recipes that sounded like things I should try, and I'm pleased to say dinner at Prune Ridge was terrific.  I've been a Cook's Illustrated magazine subscriber for many years now, and have never been disappointed with anything I tried from them.  If you aren't familiar with Cook's Illustrated you might just want to know about it.  They publish 6 issues a year, and have no advertising so the whole magazine is chock-full of nuggets of their wisdom.  The scientist in me loves their approach to recipes - each is preceded with an article detailing the entire research process (failed attempts, variables considered and adjusted for, etc) that went into the finished recipe.  I have also recieved a few free issues of their newer publication, Cook's Country.  The magazine hasn't hooked me as a subscriber, but I have appreciated the few copies I recieved and found a gem of a recipe in the most recent issue sent my way.  I'm sharing links here to the articles on both recipes.  You can't see the recipe if you're not a subscriber, but I am happy to pass along the recipe if you'd like to try it.  Both sites do offer a free 14-day trial membership when you provide your email that would allow you to see & print the whole recipe. 

From the September/October 2009 issue of Cook's Illustrated, I tried the Lighter Chicken and Dumplings.  This is a favorite classic comfort food dish of mine to begin with, but I've never made it myself.  I decided the Cook's Illustrated version was one to start with, and we were not disappointed.  The process is fairly involved so it's not a quickie dinner, but it was definitely worth a fun few hours of cooking.  I halved the recipe (plus an extra chicken thigh since I couldn't find a package with just 3) and we ended up with 4 good sized portions so we have leftovers to boot!  As a side dish tonight, from the most recent copy of Cook's Country I tried a Glazed Butternut Squash.  This was a pretty simple (although peeling a butternut squash is quite a workout) and simply awesome recipe.  Yummy! 

Don't forget to turn your clocks back tonight, by the way.  Be Well out there, Friends.

My Very Effective Shopping List:

Coming Up For Air

Alright, it's been a long time - and a couple of very long weeks!  Today is the first chance I've had in quite a while to catch up on the little things like groceries and a leisurely bookstore visit.  I believe I'll have a chance to be more present in life and blogging in the near future. 

Happy weekend, Friends!  Don't forget to turn your clocks back, and enjoy at least one little snack and possibly a spook or two for Halloween.  The best signs of coming up for air are these (finally!) new flowers in the kitchen at Prune Ridge:

Hocking Hills 2009, Part IV

One last set of yammering notes and photos from our recent getaway to Hocking Hills for you...

Our last stop on the day of three sight stops was to Cedar Falls.  I honestly can't pick a favorite thing we did or saw on this trip, but this was certainly near the top!

Cedar Falls is not far from Old Man's Cave - I think there's actually a walking trail connecting the two, so not more than a couple of miles.  Cedar Falls is another valley type formation carved amazingly in the sandstone - with, yes, a fantastic water fall.  The trail to the falls was beautiful, and I especially enjoyed the informational markers on this trail.  There was a lot of information about the Hocking Hills region, the geographical features there, and "how it happened."  There also apparently was a very large flood in the area about 10 years ago that especially decimated the Cedar Falls area.  The valley was changed dramatically, and evidence of that recent change is everywhere.  The informational bits said the sort of flood that happened 10 years ago isn't unusual - just not common.  I believe it said it was the kind of flood that happens in the area about every 100 years.

The falls themselves are beautiful.  The "Rock Man" seen at the end of this post is actually a stone pedestal thing with an informational sign perched on top.  I don't know that it's supposed to look like a man made of stone wearing a hat, but it sure did to me!

The trail we chose away from the falls (there are two ways to approach and/or leave, and we took the "loop" pattern that took us in by one and out by the other) was interesting at the least!  The picture here is me heading into a dramatically narrowing path.  I wasn't certain it was going to take me anywhere other than into a corner, but eventually we came through.  I should mention that there are no cedar trees at Cedar Falls.  Settlers to the area who named the falls mistook the hemlock trees that surround the falls for cedars.

All in all, of course - our escape to the Hocking Hills area south of Columbus was great fun and we will likely return!

Alright, Just Watch It. This one made me cry!

If you click on the "YouTube" icon @ lower right corner you can see the explanation there, or just watch this lovely 4 mintues and be charmed!

Big Butter Jesus

Well this is not intended to offend anyone. Heywood banks is one of my heros, and I'd never heard this gem of a tune before I stumbled on it just now!  Prepare to chuckle at least a little bit:

Hocking Hills 2009, Part III

Our second full day in Hocking Hills took us to not one, not two, but Three beautiful places!  The morning was rainy - not a heavy rain, but grey misty light rain.  The lovely corners and bits of the Hills were still so beautiful, and there weren't too many people in any of the places we poked around. 

The descent to our first spot was a little scary...  but absolutely worth it!  I shared the same picture a few posts ago, but I'm going for a theme here.  At the suggestion of a coworker we decided to visit Rock House.  The stairs here are not the ones we went down, but you get the idea.  Our path down seemed to have had some relatively recent destruction and were fairly precarious.  I'll be the first to admit that I was a little terrified.  We made it safely down, and were not disappointed!  These are the most cave-like caves I've seen in the Hocking Hills area.  So beautiful and yes - a little bit spooky.  With the overcast skies, the darkish spooky caves were even moreso.  And then the owls started hooting!  Yes, owls.  There were at least 3 in the caves and they weren't exactly happy with our time spent looking into the dark.  We finally bid them farewell and left when our spectacular curiosity turned toward nerves.  If you're ever down that way consider going to Rock House - but choose the path down to the right from the top instead of to the left! 

 

Our second stop for the day was Old Man's Cave, and John snapped this picture of the roadside horse having a snack on the way there.  Mmmm, snacks. 

 

 

 

 

Old Man's Cave remains the most popular and sort of iconic Hocking Hills destination.  The trails there are beautiful, and the site is most developed for visitors with maintained stairwells, visitor information, and lots of great things to see all on one trail set.  They also have a snack bar - with corn dogs! 

Still to come here - one more set of pictures and yammerings from our trip.

Hocking Hills 2009, Part II

Our first site visit in the Hocking Hills area was to Conkle's Hollow.  Two other guests at the Bear Run Inn recommended it after their visit there the day before.  (Two fun people from Westerville, OH who made it a point to wear their matching Ohio State sweatshirts to breakfast the second morning of our stay after meeting us Michiganders the day before!)  All of the pictures here should open to larger versions if you'd like to peek - all of these were taken by John.

Conkle's Hollow is a ravine, essentially - with a paved accessible path through the middle of the ravine, and a rather intense but incredibly beautiful rim path around the top of the ravine.  Note the Danger sign at the beginning of the ascent to the rim path.  This path is not for the faint of heart, or anyone with balance/vertigo issues.  It is, however, incredibly beautiful! 

The view from on high is simply amazing.  Fall colors were abundant while we were there, and the crisp cool air was perfect.  We visited Conkle's Hollow on our first full day in the area, before the rain took over for most of the week.  (Even after the rain came, our days were beautiful.)  There were many spots along the rim trail when we stepped right over or next to crevices in the rock - and could see all the way down to the ravine floor right between our feet.  The rim trail travels along one side of the ravine, then across the narrow point (the ravine is sort of a pie-slice shape, closed off at the point end) and back along the other side.  Near the closed-off end, you can see directly across to all the rock formations you will walk on after you make the turn. 

Almost as awesome to see in the Hocking Hills area as all the sandstone caves and formations are the trees.  There are trees everywhere that seem to be growing out of solid rock, and hanging onto solid rock precariously.  On top of Conkle's Hollow, there were also a lot of great collections of vegetation - some that didn't seem to go together.  This red/green picture was a group of plants that made me laugh.  They looked like a lovely lush tropical plant, growing right alongside a beautiful warm fall-color woodsy plant.  We saw more than a few trees everywhere that had eventually given up the fight with gravity.  This one was so twisted from the effort to stay standing - he obviously put some valiant effort into the task! 

One side note if you think about visiting Hocking Hills - all of the sites we saw were within about 10 miles of each other.  It's a very easy area to navigate (with a map) and to see as many or as few things as you like.  More to follow...

Hocking Hills 2009, Part I

And so The Reeds have returned from our vacation week escape to the Hocking Hills of Ohio!  We've been home since this past Friday, of course - but the settling in from a trip always takes a bit longer than I anticipate.  John has posted a great album of our adventuring pictures on Facebook, some of which I'll duplicate here.  I may add an album here too, we'll just see how the posting pans out. 

If you aren't yet familiar with the Hocking Hills area of Ohio, I highly recommend a visit there.  As John's mom said - "And they say Ohio is flat!"  I had been to the area a number of times before, but not for quite a while.  John hadn't been there at all. 

We stayed at a wonderful welcoming bed and breakfast in Logan, OH - Bear Run Inn.  The Myers family have been hosting guests in their B-and-B home and in several rental cottages on their nearly 600 acre property for something like 16 years!  The rolling fields around their home (and we didn't even explore the hiking trails and scenery all over their land) were teeming with birds of every kind, a beautiful pond, and dozens of deer at any give time.  John and I stayed in the "Victoriana Rose" room.  Breakfasts served by Marcia were amazing.  I didn't think they could possibly get better than the basil souffle served our first morning, but I didn't know the caramel apple french toast was yet to come on our second day!  We found dinners each evening primarily at small local family restaurants - with no shortage of pie at any of the places we chose. 

Still to come in future posts: some pictures from the incredibly beautiful trails and Hocking Hills features we took in.  We visited Conkle's Hollow, Rock House, Old Man's Cave, and Cedar Falls all in our few days.  No wonder our legs are still sore!

It Happened Under The Gazebo, Four Years Ago

Happy Anniversary, Mr. Reed. (Two days late in the blogosphere, but we celebrated in style this past Friday and the week preceding!)

Notes from Hocking Hills

So far on the Reeds' escape to Hocking Hills: 1 lovely B-and-B stay, 2 fabulous breakfasts from our hosts, 1 luxurious spa bath for each Reed, dozens of deer sightings, 2 dinners at local restaurants, 2 pieces of pie each, 2 Scrabble games, 4 incredibly beautiful hikes & sights, and countless photos to share. Priceless!
Happy nearly-anniversary, Mr. Reed.

And So The Reeds Are Off!

Good Tuesday morning to you!  John and I are headed away to the Hocking Hills area of Ohio for an Anniversary week escape.  We'll return on Friday, and the computers are not traveling with us.  Photo here is from our honeymoon 4 years ago on the UP - Taquamenon Falls, as taken by John.  Weather permitting, we'll bring some pictures to share from down south!

Be well and see color!

Pockets of Beauty in Chaos

Some flowers currently housed in the kitchen at Prune Ridge for you...  And some insight as to why I haven't been collaging in a while.  I can't get to the table!  Granted, the drying rack is temporary and appears when I do laundry, but still.  As of this afternoon the table is a bit more accessible, the clothing seen piled on it in this picture has been moved (for mending), and a few collage ideas are swirling.  I need some fairies or elves or something to do these sort of things when I'm not looking.  Just imagine how much more productive I would be if I weren't my own obstacle!