From Hoppin’ John, to a neighborhood work party, to work travel, pick-ax work, a gull-infested weekend walk, cheddar biscuits, Judy’s horses, all the way through to our finally finalized Last Will and Testament.
FIRST BOWL OF THE YEAR
Eat poor the first day, enjoy riches the rest of the year. Yellow Eye beans, with Amy’s hand-harvested wild rice and collards from our garden.
WORK PARTY
Tami, Giovanna, Uki, and Arlo get after it! We spent three hours busting and fine-tuning The Beeches Trail between the Northwest Passage and The Elephant Trail on the south side of Stinking Creek, exceeding all expectations.
Arlo on the Monarch and Giovanna with a pair of mega-loppers.
Giovanna’s daughter, Dani, brought youthful energy to the project. In addition to widening the trail to accommodate the Monarch for ease of maintenance, we scavenged trunks and limbs for trail rails.
THE CREW
Lyle, Camille, Uki, Arlo, Tami, Dani, and Giovanna, aglow with accomplishment and eager to eat.
Arlo and Bob are proud of their matching Hempsmith tees, imprinted with leaves by Amy Armantrout of Scavenge Magic. Cookie is happy to hang with Uncle Glenn.
AT ATMORE AND MORE
Bob was gone a fair bit this month, out on audits across four states with a little side trip to the Monroe County Museum. See more: January Work Travel
POKING AROUND AT HOME
Meanwhile, Camille tackles the pollinator garden, clearing rocks and prying up pavers to get at the pond liner which will need to be reset to level. She also hauled 30 cans of paint from the master bedroom closet and is drying them for disposal.
WINTER FLOWERS WANTED
Dead or Alive. Dead hydrangeas made a pleasing arrangement with holly and cypress as we await the first blooms of the season from our new Lenten Rose. Stuart gifted us this early-blooming Hellebore a couple of months ago and it is happy in its new home beneath our red tips.
LOOKING DOWN FROM ABOVE
Bob often flies over our house from Atlanta to Raleigh. Here is Jordan Lake and the 3M plant which has expanded to Charlie Brooks Road. In this view from above, we can also see Chatham Park’s Moncure Pittsboro Road solar array, and 15/501.
NEGATIVE IONS
This day was especially juicy because the engineers had opened the sluice gates.
HOPEFUL
The air was filled with gulls flying a crazy pattern, squealing and diving into the roiling water to snare silver-bellied fish. A tiny green plant pokes out of a concrete crevice, pushing towards spring.
FIGURING IT OUT
It wasn’t clear whether the gulls were snatching fish in their bills or with their feet.
JUDY’S HORSES
Mary, Aaron, and Yogi at home in their thick, winter coats.
CHEDDAR BISCUITS AND SAUSAGE GRAVY
When a mess in the kitchen is worth it. Camille has learned the secret to soft, fluffy biscuits is flour made from southern-grown soft wheat. And of course, we prefer Gimme Lean sausage and Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds. Except for the prep mess, the biscuits are super easy in the air fryer and the leftover dough made great biscuits the next day.
REASON TO CHEER
We finalized our wills this month and filed them in the freezer behind the shot glasses.
LAST LOAF OF THE MONTH
Camille bakes every four days, but doesn’t always get this nice of a rise. She learned that a slow first rise is key to a robust final rise in the oven. Also, a little almond milk and margarine in the dough makes a nice, soft sandwich bread.
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THIS MONTH’S QUOTES:
“If the president does something which he believes will help him get elected, in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.” – Alan Dershowitz
“Given the media has documented President Trump’s thousands of lies while in office — more than 16,200 as of Jan. 20 — why should we be expected to believe that anything President Trump says has credibility?” – Bernie Sanders
“The divide is deep. And it is largely between those who sit in the front of the Uber and those who sit in the back of it.” – Tara Westover
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