Blackberry Roll recipe

This is from Fannie Farmer Cookbook 13th Edition but it's pretty much like what my family has always made

Craggy Gardens

We hiked in the Craggy Gardens area yesterday. The Rhodys are done but saw a lot of Phlox and Carolina Lilies.

Blackberries

It's mid July and we are getting a nice crop of blackberries here in the NC mountains. Going to make a Blackberry Roll soon.

My wildflowers

We have a very sunny spot near our driveway that I'm turning into a wildflower garden. The bees, butterflies and Goldfinches love it!

Beaty St. Pond is Full!

WOW- Beaty St. Pond is Full!

A few years ago we learned that the town had been informed by the State that the dam on Beaty St. Pond was found to be in danger of failing and that the town would be forced to repair the dam or remove it completely.  My neighborhood, being closest to the pond, was quite alarmed by this since many of us love the pond and enjoy visiting it to observe nature, enjoy the beauty of the pond and the many  different kinds of birds and other animals that visit it.  Other people come to visit and some fish and some just enjoy looking and listening like I do.  Children love to go there and play by the pond.  And we know the variety of wildlife we have in our neighborhood must be influenced by the availability of water from the pond.  We were concerned about losing the pond and hoped for the day that the pond could be restored.  For the past couple of years the town had kept the level of the pond artificially low to decrease the risk of the dam rupturing we were told.  We had heard that the town had found a source of money to repair the dam and that plans were underway to repair the dam.  We also heard that the fish would be removed and taken to a pond at a county park while the work on the pond was done.  But we continued to wait.

Then, in late Sept. 2012 the work on Beaty St. Pond began by mechanically draining the pond.  Once the pond was drained and a number of trees were removed, the heavy equipment arrived and the workers began repairing and remaking the corner of the pond that had served as a drain for the overflow of the pond.  The dam was rebuilt and I believe raised a bit.  A concrete pipe was put in with a drain to allow the overflow to drain out of the pond into a small sediment pond that can then drain down into the woods without being such a powerful force when it drains.  It also looks like they installed a pump and a drain in the dam.  I guess that’s in case they need to drain the pond again.  They re-seeded the disturbed areas and most recently installed a cover over the drain in the corner of the pond.  That seems to be something that will keep large sticks etc. from entering the pipe as well as to keep small animals and children from wandering into the drain pipe.

So then all that was left was for the rain to come and fill up the pond.  The fall was dry so the level of the pond was quite low right up to the end of December.  Then, January brought the rain.  First some rain around New Year’s Day began the process.  And the week of Jan 13 we began to get some heavier rains and finally on Thursday Jan 17 we had a real storm with probably 2 inches of rain in that day alone.  And by the time I made pictures on Jan. 18 the pond was full.  So, now we wait for the animals to return.  Maybe the fish will be restocked.  The birds like Great Blue Herons and Belted Kingfishers will come back to fish.  Flycatchers will swoop over the water catching insects.  In the spring frogs, toads, turtles will lay eggs.  The dragonflys and other aquatic insects will return.  The richness of pond life will be restored. 

I look forward to watching, listening, smelling the activity of the pond this year and for many years to come.

Link to USPS rain gauge for Jan. 11-18.

Pictures below from early Oct. 2012 until Jan. 18, 2013.

Hurricanes!

With Hurricane Irene lurking off the south-east coast I thought it might be good to explore some facts about hurricanes in general and those that have effected North and South Carolina in recent years.

First, what is a hurricane? A hurricane is a cyclonic storm that forms in the tropics and effects the North Atlantic or the Eastern Pacific. Similar storms form in the Western North Pacific called typhoons and in the South Pacific and Indian oceans called cyclones. These storms have a rotating wind system that forms around a calm eye. The winds are in a counter-clockwise direction around the eye of the storm. To be called a hurricane the winds must be in excess of 73 mph. These storms also have heavy rainfall associated with them. The season of hurricanes is from June 1 to the end of November with the majority of storms in August and September.

Hurricane Hazel came ashore in North Carolina in October, 1954. Passing 95 miles to the East of Charleston, South Carolina, Hazel made landfall very near the North Carolina and South Carolina border, and brought a record 18 foot storm surge at Calabash, North Carolina. Wind gusts of 150 mph were felt in Holden Beach, Calabash, and Little River Inlet 100 mph gusts were felt farther inland at Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York. A local resident who lived in this area in 1954 says that the landscape of Myrtle Beach was wiped clean making way for the development we know there today.

If you have lived in this area for a number of years you have probably heard of Hurricane Hugo. In September 1989 this storm came ashore at Charleston, South Carolina and proceeded to come across the piedmont to Charlotte, on up to Lake Norman and then went west across the state to drop a lot of rain in the mountains. In this area it is remembered mostly for the wind that knocked down trees all over the area. One result was the huge piles of debris that had to be removed from the neighborhoods. The power was out in some areas for weeks and telephone service as well. And this was before the day of cell phones.

In 1999 Hurricane Floyd came ashore in North Carolina and produced a flood of dramatic proportions. One thing that it pointed up was the hog-waste lagoons in the eastern part of North Carolina. Because of the 12 to 20 inch rainfalls over the eastern part of the state coming soon after the heavy rains of hurricane Denis, the lagoons flooded across the countryside producing a very foul situation, especially contaminating water supplies.

In 2003 Hurricane Isabel washed out a portion of Hatteras Island to form what was unofficially known as Isabel Inlet. Damage was greatest along the Outer Banks, where thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed.

These are but a few of the storms that have come ashore in the Carolinas. Here's a link to more history of Hurricanes.

We tend to think about the destruction to real estate and the loss of life that comes with hurricanes, but what happens to the wildlife? There is likely loss of habitat and birds can get sucked up into the storm and killed. Also, they may be pulled out to sea far from their natural habitats. Here's an interesting post that talks about what happens to birds in a hurricane. So, what will Irene bring? We wait to see.

Remi and Liz3

Sun Splash Party Invitation

Shutterfly has modern graduation announcements and photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.