Happy Holidays!

Posted on December 24, 2011 by Cindy

It’s Christmas Eve as I write this. Brian and I just got home from a round of golf at Holly Hill Country Club. It was pretty and sunny and a high of 65 degrees today. I hadn’t golfed since May when my sister Pam and her husband, Gary, visited us for their vacation, and boy, it showed!

In a nutshell, my golf game sucked. You want to know my score? 129. Yeah, I know, no one scores that! And, it’s ironic since I actually had some really great shots, today! Honestly, I can hit a straight drive 150 to 180 yards EVERY SINGLE TIME. I swear. It’s my fairway game and short game that pretty much bite! On the worst scoring hole, hole number 7, I hit a fantastic drive, followed by eight additional shots to reach the green. Then, for a surprise, I sunk a 30 foot putt, to finish the hole with a 10! Seriously.

Brian, on the other hand, even with what I suspect is a torn rotator cuff, had a good golf day. He swung his club so gently that the club did most of the work and he eliminated his slice!

If you’ve ever played at Holly Hill Country Club, you know it’s name alone is an oxymoron! Far from country club stature, it’s a short nine hole course, with a little club house, swimming pool and tennis courts attached. The fairways are wide open and there’s no water that really comes into play. Well, except for today, when I somehow found the water twice. But, it is a great place to practice your short game with only two long par-5 holes. To play 18 holes, you go around the course twice.

Since Brian and I are living on a very limited income these days, and we’re basically broke, the golf outing was our Christmas gift to each other.

Now, we’re home and in our loungers and spending a quiet Christmas Eve evening watching sports and computing (Brian at the TV and me at the keyboard here with you).

On Christmas Day, Brian and I are spending the day alone together, too. It’s just the way it worked out this year. We’re okay with that. As a matter of fact, we have a tee time at Lake Marion Golf Course, the only course open, on Christmas day. But, the weather is predicted to get colder on Christmas day and it might rain and since we blew our wad today, we are cancelling that plan.

We are planning a nice breakfast and then later, dinner for two for Christmas day. I’ll probably spend some time working on my crafts and Brian will watch bowl games and we’ll play computer games. I’m glad he’s my best friend!

So, to close, I want to wish all of you Happy Holidays! Merry Christmahanakwanzika or whatever! I don’t care who you are or what you believe, you are my friend and if your winter solstice holiday means peace, love, joy, then I wish that for you and yours!

I have three camellias bordering our house. They bloom in the winter. Pretty, aren’t they?

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The fall garden

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Cindy

I live in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 8 – the “Lower South.” On average, our first frost occurs between November 1 and 10 and our last frost between March 21 and 31. This growing season is long enough to have two seasonal vegetable gardens – the spring garden and the fall garden.

The spring garden usually starts in February, with prepping the soil and then planting the early, frost tolerant crops. The fall garden begins in late August with prepping the soil and starting seeds for planting in early September.

I grow a spring garden every year. Every year, I learn more about what I’m growing and the weather conditions and pests that affect production and I get better at it.

This year is only my fourth attempt at a fall garden. My previous three tries had not gone very well and rather than invest any time or money in it, I’ve skipped it rather than fail at it.

But, this year, I decided to give it another shot. I mean, the whole purpose of living in the lower south and having a 5+ acre chunk of ground and living more simply dictates that I learn to get better at it.

So, on a smaller scale than previous attempts, I planted a fall garden and finally, I am having a bit more success this year and am learning a lot, so I will do even better next year.

I’ve planted green cabbage, red cabbage, collards, broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts. Looks good, doesn’t it?

Here is one of my green cabbages. A nice head is starting to form.

See the buttons on the stock starting to emerge? These will be brussels sprouts!

This is my second growth of broccoli on this plant. I learned on You Tube, to cut the main crown off and then let the small shoots grow for a bit! Below is a photo of the main crown that had been cut from the center of the plant.

We’ve eaten broccoli and collard greens several times now and I’m getting very excited to pick some green cabbage heads. My red cabbages were getting eaten by bugs, but I think I’ve finally got them under control and they are perking up. The cauliflower isn’t doing much yet, but I’m still optimistic.

I’m thinking I just might get the hang of this fall gardening thing yet. Now, if I can only figure out how to get my indoor Christmas cacti to bloom.

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Day Trip, Savannah

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Cindy

And of family, fish sticks, junk and hookah bars.

Brian and I made a day trip to Savannah on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to visit Carrie and Steve. It is always wonderful to see our only child, and her husband, who is quite charming and witty.

This light Pilsner was an excellent choice for fish.

We had lunch at The Distillery, a watering hole in the Historic District. It was my first time there and I liked it, but it had way too many beers to choose from – over 100 beers with at least 21 craft beers on tap. I wanted something light since I was having fish sticks. And, what awesome fish sticks they were!

Light, crunchy cod.

Then on to the shopping. We traversed Bull Street, Broughton Street, and streets in-between perusing numerous antique shops and since my mind is in its “renewed” mode of salvage, re-purposing and shabby chic décor thinking, I had my eyes peeled for unique finds. I bought two small tins. I’m going to drill holes in them and make some kind of homemade wind chimes.

Taking a little rest at City Market.

We stopped at Starbucks on Broughton Street for a refresher and while the gang went in for our orders, I stood outside and had a cigarette. A woman, sitting at a Starbucks outdoor table on the corner, asked me for a “light,” which in smoker lingo means, she needs a “light.” She was wearing a bright green babushka, and holding a dark brown cigarillo, and I lent her my lighter. After she lit up, she asked me for a dollar. It’s Thanksgiving, I thought, so I reached in my pocket and gave her the money I had.

We passed at least two Hookah bars in our travels. This is super significant in that after I got home and did a bit of internet research I saw just how naïve I was. You see, I thought Hookahs were illegal in the states. I envisioned Hookahs as these illicit Turkish wacky weed, getting high, kind of places that were only legal in other parts of the world. I thought hookah was just one degree shy of marijuana! And, when I saw these Hookahs on the streets of Savannah, good ole USA, I sorta flipped about it! I reckon that maybe inhaling special Turkey blends of tobacco through a water pipe while lying around on pillows and listening to sitar music gets you high, I dunno. But, yeah, I’ve added doing this to my bucket list.

No one wanted leftover turkey for dinner, so homemade spaghetti and a fresh lettuce salad before heading home.