Bayou 2 from Waterfront Grille

Tuesday night we went to supper at the Waterfront Grille.  Although I took photos of my delicious food there, the real reason that we chose this restaurant was for the dazzling view.  There were popcorn showers in the area.  You can see one building in the distance. 

 The scattered clouds only increased the natural beauty in the Bayou. 

 It didn't matter which direction that I turned the rays from the sunset combined with the scattered clouds and Cypress trees growing in the water created an amazing beauty.

There was a tree close enough to the dock to take pictures of the seed pods in the trees.  It made me wonder.  When the seed pods fall in the water below, can a tree grow? 

 The storm clouds seem to grow for awhile.  The sunset hitting the side of the cloud making it look like a mushroom.  I guess this is a good mushroom cloud. (To my knowledge no storm hit the area.)

Straight across the Bayou are a few traditional docks.   They don't look well kept up or beautiful but they definitely fit into the area.  In a special way, they called a person.  I wanted to go sit on those docks.

 There was a turtle on a log off to the side.  At the same time, there were three old style candy machines filled with pellets.  I found out as we left that those were there for you to purchase turtle food and there were really dozens if not hundreds of turtles that lived in the waters at the edge of the dock.

 

A typical "Trisha" picture ... just a little bit crooked.   The sunset on the Bayou.

 Is that a tornado or a UFO landing on the Bayou?  You decide!  Wha-ha-ha

God Bless America!  It is truly a beautiful country. 

Purple flowers

When I was working in Monroe, Louisiana I stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn.

Every morning we walked out to this beautiful purple flower.

Online the flower said it was part of the Petunia family.

They bloomed every morning. By evening the blooms had dropped.  The next morning we were greeted by a fresh showing of purple flowers.

Cotton Fields of Louisiana

For those who have been following me for years know that I started learning how to spin by spinning cotton. 

A couple of years ago I grew cotton in Minnesota. I moved and had to dig it up before the white popped.  Around this field is a small trench. I stayed on the safe side. I was told the bugs are heavy at this time of year.

Looking at the cotton fields in Louisiana is inspiring. I MUST try again!  These plants are so dark because they defoliate the plants before picking.

Copeland's

Another interesting restaurant in Monroe. They have a kot of ambience. That is the nice way to say you need a flashlight to see the menu and your food.

We are in the Bible belt. I am surprised that the gospel brunch is only on the first Sunday of the month.

Instead of having a full meal, I ordered small plates. They are getting more common. Maybe because people would order just an appetizer instead of a full meal.

I ordered beef with angel hair pasta and garlic butter for one plate and crab stuffed shrimp on the other.

That left me space for cream cheese cake with bananas foster topping.  Delicious!

Last night as I finished up sharing my posts I realized that too many of them revolved around FOOD! 

First peak at the Bayou

I had no idea that the bayou was as far North as Monroe, Louisiana!  This is another state to check off from my bucket list.

Monday after work we took a drive around the area. It was amazing to see the Cypress trees growing in the bayou.

As a warning, off the side of the bridge was a measure showing the water between 5 and 6 feet. (69 inches) Don't fall in!

Take time to appreciate God's beauty!

Longhorn Steakhouse

Here I am in Monroe, Louisiana and we are trying out some new places. Longhorn Steakhouse started us out with some fresh out of the oven wheat bread.

Next I had a salad. I forgot to take a photo. I was bad and left this behind.

You expected me to finish a salad when the steak and sweet potato were placed in front of me?

Molten lava cake was the over the top dessert.  Delicious but I should have said no thanks.  Everything was delicious!

Hay old day

So what is your guess? How many bales  will be in the field?  I'm sorry! It has been SO busy.  This was two weeks ago. I started writing this post and everything happened at once.

We had to get the bales put away before the predicted rains started falling. He planned it with enough days between the cutting and baling to allow the hay to dry.

The day that he actually baled the hay, I received a call that dad was going to have surgery. Right after work I started stacking bales.  I was able to get 41 bales off the pasture before I lost daylight.

That was half of the bales.  82 in total for this cutting.  Some of them were too loose.  We got them off the field and under cover before the rain hit and before I left for dad's place up North.

Veggie drink

Tomatoes
Celery
Onions
Garlic
Kohlrabi
Carrots
Egg plant
Jalapeno 

A tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of salt both for preservation.

As I made salsa, I would drain off the extra liquid to make soup or juice. One time I chose to clean a few veggies out from the refrigerator. I simmered it until it was all tender.

I picked out the jalapeno then I blended it and ran it through a sieve. It turned out fairly well!

Layers of Love

Dale brought home some mozzarella cheese balls.  I had to figure out a use.  I decided o use the personal casserole dishes.

I precooked some brown rice amd browned some hamburger.  Layer one hamburger, two rice and three is homemade spaghetti sauce.

Then mozzarella cheese slices.

Does it look good so far?  I continued with rice again.

Then I added beef and sauce. I knew there would be overflow during the cooking process so I made sure they were sitting in a pan.  

I covered them (aren't they cute!) And I put them in a 350 degree oven for an hour.

The overflow made the bottom sticky. I put it on a paper towel. 

These personal casserole dishes make the perfect serving dishes.  They are sized correctly and can be personalized if needed. 

Canning report

I cleared the shelf off in the closet.  Then I put down a new liner. I had to make room for the new canned goods.

By Monday evening I had made:

6 quarts tomato chunks

4 quarts salsa

3 pints salsa

25 pints tomato soup

4 pints tomato juice

9 quarts spaghetti sauce 

1 pint spaghetti sauce

7 quarts dill spears

In total that is ...

26 quarts

33 pints

Field Funny Farm

Monday morning I started the Labor day holiday doing chores.  It was an unusual morning.  Let me share the unusual things which caught my eye.

Human, get my good side.

Dan the donkey has trained the steers to stay away from the feeding trough until he invites them to join.

Then there were the goofy chickens.

Two is company three is a crowd.  With all the nests to choose from, these 3 chickens had crowded into one nest.

Moooooo, mooo moo. Look into my big beautiful eyes.  (Moe)  Norman and Curly were finally allowed by the feeding trough.