Shrimp n Grits

Well I think I did pretty good with my rendition of Shrimp Stew and Grits. I promised some photos when we fixed the grits. (by the way, the grits are hidden underneath the shrimp stew and the flavor combination is great!).






Here's a photo of the Depot's serving
(yes this was for breakfast, and that's a bloody mary and a beer chaser, hey I was on vacation!)

Here's my version (sans bloody mary and beer, hey I'm back to work now!)














Lightnin tried it last night when she got back home from Missouri and thought it was awesome. Now you need to understand that she HATES grits so for her to even eat a bowl of anything that has grits in it is something, but to actually say that she likes it is unbelievable!

Cold Weather Cooking

It's been seasonably cold here this weekend, but if you've been following along you know I was down in a warmer climate this past week. It was a shock waking up to temperatures in the 20's these past couple of days. So what do you do when it's cold outside? Cook, of course!




I spent the day splitting fire wood and cooking.







I whipped up this beef and bean chilli.


I'm also working on a shrimp stew that will be served on grits. This was a tasty treat that we sampled at the Depot Cafe at Cedar Key. I decided to give it a try and I'll show photo of it when we fix the grits later this week.

I also decided to boil some peanuts, and added some Cajun crab boil to mine.











Now that I'm done cooking I'll get a fire going before it get's too cold.
They're calling for rain all day tomorrow, but at least it will warm up a bit.

The End of the Trail

Well another road trip has come and gone. We pulled into the drive about 7:30 last night ending a long trip back up into the frozen tundra of Ohio. This morning we awoke to 23F temperature with an expected high of 44F. This past week our low was 49F with highs in the upper 70's to lower 80's! (We've gotta' get that house built!)

Here are just some random thoughts and memories from this trip and those before:

Lightnin and I started a game awhile back to keep the kids occupied while we were on the road. We drove everywhere for a couple of reasons: 1) The journey is 1/2 the fun, and 2) For crying out loud we weren't made of money, we could barely afford the gas much less airfare! Anyway, the name of the game was: "Name that road kill"! (Hey, I never said we were normal parents! Besides I guarantee that if you aren't already playing this game, you will be after I describe it!) OK, the game is simple when you spot road kill you shout out what you think the animal, alien being, object, etc., was in it's original state! Here's an example: We're driving along and you spot a raccoon "sleeping" by the roadside, you simply state: "Raccoon!". OK stay with me and I'll get to the point. We've spotted the standards, squirrels, skunks, opossum, raccoons, and even an otter once down in Georgia, but this trip topped them all! On our way to Cedar Key I spot a wild boar "sleeping" at the roadside and think "what could possibly top this?" then about 1/2 mile later we topped it, a fish, honestly a fish; and I think it was a mullet. My Dad chimes in with "probably a flying fish"! Now I've got my Mom and Dad playing!

Well as it turns out I come by my travelin' jones honestly. Mom and Dad confess that they used to drag us kids around the country, starting this family tradition before I even saw daylight, so it's no wonder I can't stand to stay in one place for too long! And apparently I've passed this on to our kids with one in KC, one in NY, and the other in Kuwait! It should be quite an experiment to actually try to settle down into our new house, but I think I'm up to the challenge. Besides we'll be living 30miles from anywhere, so just going to the store and back should help to keep the wanderlust in check.

Well, I hope you had fun following along on the weeds and fence road trip!
This next one will be a experience of a lifetime, and I hope you'll follow along with me!

More Thoughts and Photos from the Road

This morning we went back out to the property to hang the chain and sign across the entrance to let folks know that the property actually belonged to someone, and wasn't some pace to dump trash. So with all of our business and manual labor out of the way it was time to rest and reflect a bit.

We stopped by to see FC for a quick visit to wish he and his family a Happy Thanksgiving, and then we headed over to Manatee Springs to relax and view a bit of nature. What a beautiful day to do that, it's sunny and 80F today and the breeze blowing in from the Suwanee felt really nice. (Sorry Lightnin, I don't mean to rub it in!). We didn't see much wildlife out there though, a few Mullet, one Anole (sp?), and a few Vultures (both Turkey and Black).

Here's just a few random shots of the trip so far that I haven't shared yet:

Just a shot of the now signed entrance (Hey, you can actually see the drive now!)

Here's one of our Palm trees

Here's another one (We've got several more!)

This was on the boardwalk at Manatee Springs, right near the Suwanee River.

(Mom's going to hate me when she sees this one because she doesn't like to have her picture taken, but I wanted to give this tree some scale)

This was another shot of the sunset from last evening, I thought I would leave you with this photo!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and the coffee shop where I've been blogging from is closed. We'll be leaving early on Friday morning to head back north, so this will be the last post for a few days. I'll complete my tales from the road once I get home.

It's been a good trip despite the fact that Lightnin and I had two separate tasks which prevented us from being together for the holiday. Both of which needed to be completed before I leave the country for the next year. It was also good that I was able to spend this time with my parents. I think they've had a fun time, and again I can't say enough how I've appreciated their help and company during this trip! One of my tasks was to try to convince them to move down here once our house is completed. I at least have them thinking of wintering down here and that's a start! ;-)

Tomorrow we'll be playing "Guess what's for dinner" as we look for whatever eating establishment(s) may be open. I'll let you know how that turns out on my next post!

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

Business Concluded, and Now the Work Begins

Yesterday we made it out to the property to start cleaning it up a bit. The weeds weren't nearly as bad as I thought they were going to be, but they will still a worthy opponent! I started off by whacking at them with the new brush-cutter I purchased, and Mom and Dad pitched in by helping to haul off the cut brush behind me. (hey I didn't make them they just couldn't stand by and watch. They have 7.5 acres back in Missouri that they keep in great shape so their instincts kicked in and they jumped in to help, man am I glad they did or I'd probably still be out there!)

After we cleared the brush Dad began to treat the fence with water sealer while I went back to drive fence posts into the ground near the survey markers. I painted them a bright fluorescent orange, below the reflective white top tip to make them easier to spot when we come back down. Once that was done I joined Dad to finish treating the fence. We started around 8AM and took a couple of short breaks for water, but finally wrapped things up around 4PM.

I thought I'd share a few before and after shots so you can see the difference we were able to make.

Before - you couldn't even see my Dad

After - Not only can you see him, but hey look there's a driveway!

Just another shot to show the nice view of the fence. Good job huh?

When we finally decided to stop for lunch we went over to Cedar Key to Tony's for some chowder and a fried oyster sandwich. Here's the chowder, oops (sorry) it was so good I couldn't get a picture of it fast enough! ;-)

After we ate we walked across the bridge and watched the sun set. It was hard work, but look at the payoff!

I'm glad Mom and Dad were here to share this with me, and I certainly wouldn't have been able to complete the work that was necessary, in one day, without them!

The House (Well a model anyway)

This is the model home that is somewhat similar to the one we're planing to build.

This is the front of the house

This is the side where we'll do a prowl rather than the flat wall, with more galss for better scenic viewing

Here's a view from the interior loft

Another view from the loft. These are false beams with cyprus covers. We're going with cyprus beams.

From 1st floor to the loft. Here we're planning to go with the open stair rail and wood panel, rather than the dry wall.

The Kitchen, but without the extended loft as a ceiling over it. And again the open wood rail rather than closed in dry wall.

The contract is in place and we'll be building in the next couple of years.

It's getting exciting now!

Blogger Issues

Sorry all I'm trying to post about the latest road trip that I'm on, but Blogger isn't cooperating with me!

I'll get them posted as soon as I can get photos uploaded, hopefully soon.

Another Road Trip (Weeding and Fence)

I had tried to send this out yesterday, but I wasn't able to get a connection.

Here I am on another road trip, this time to beat back the jungle and treat the fence on our property. My Mom and Dad came out to meet up with me and have joined me on this adventure. Lightnin wasn't able to make it this trip because she's heading back to Missouri to meet her sisters and take care of things there. A little bit of divide and conquer strategy this time!

We headed out of Cincy yesterday morning around 6AM and hit the hotel here in Florida just before 8PM. Traffic was pretty light which helped, and we only had one directional mishap which was a minor distraction. This morning we rose early, ate a light breakfast and headed out to take a look at the property. Just as I had figured, the weeds were tall and thick (you can see in the photos below). Today's task was to size up the job and set a game plan for weed removal and treatment of the fence.

Here's a shot including the SUVan to show some scale

Here's the front gate

Here's the weed's, taller than my Dad! We've got our work cut out for us.

Tomorrow (today) we go visit the home builders and get a look at one of the model homes, similar to our design!

Fun in R&D (The "Gator Room")

This one is for all you Gator fans out there!





You have to understand that R&D is not always work and that we actually do have fun at our jobs (sometimes). Well over the past couple of weeks there was a contest to decorate the small 4-person capacity "huddle" rooms to help break up some of the monotony. As it so happens we have several engineers from Gainesville and they took the liberty of creating "The Gator Room"





I hope you enjoy the following photos I took:






This is the dry erase board (east wall)















The west wall












The south wall
















The north wall










It was a pity, but they didn't win the contest. I just figured you should see some of the not so boring, and non-confidential, world of corporate R&D

Veteran's Day, The Castle, and Other Stuff!

This post was originally written yesterday, but Blogger wasn't cooperating with me.
I hope you enjoy!


Veteran's Day 2007

We're proudly flying our flag today, and will again tomorrow! We were able to talk to SPC. "Dude" AKA "G-Nerve" yesterday. He's doing good and it was good to have him back home a couple of weeks ago, even if it was for just a few days! I just want to say thanks to all of the veterans of past and present wars, conflicts, police actions, etc.; and thank God you all answered the call to duty. Thank you for preserving the freedom that we enjoy as US citizens

I'm especially reminded this year because I am about to suspend some of that freedom for the next year as I have accepted a position at one of our sites in Beijing, China. It will be a one year assignment, and the opportunity/experience of a lifetime. I'll take my camera so that I can try to bring the rest of you along for the ride


The Castle (Chateau Le Roche)
Last night we visited a castle right here in Ohio! It was to throw a wake for one of the knights of the castle who had passed away a couple of weeks ago. The celebration needed to wait because at the time of Sir "Bear's" passing the castle was set up for Halloween. There was a brief eulogy, and then a small jar of his ashes were scattered from the top of the castle a spoon full at a time by those that knew him well.



The Castle utilized three main styles of castle architecture: The ground level is German, the second level is French, and the top level is English. It's an absolutely beautiful structure.











Here the always lovely Lightnin giving a bit of scale for one of the towers of the English Battle Deck

















Sir Thomas (one of the knights of the castle, and good friend of ours) and I






















Lightnin with a new friend
















Sir Thomas and I think an English suit of armor (I'll have to check the facts with Sir Thomas)
















Me next to a suit of German leather armor




















Myself again with the handsome Young Thomas and his lovely and humorous sister Chrystal












It was a special and fun evening and I know this won't be my last visit because there's much more info I'll need to collect and share about this place than I'm able to do in this post!

As we descended the spiral steps we toasted at each of the levels: Cheers, Sante, and finally Pros't.

A Tribute to Orville A. Hinck (A.K.A.: GGL, "Big-O", O-Hinck)

Orville was born in April of 1929 in Ernestville, MO, although when I met him he and his 2 brothers shared ownership of the family farm just outside of Concordia, MO. It was a place that I got to know well over the past 20+ years. This is because we used to meet him there on a weekend around his birthday to go morel mushroom hunting in the woods, and cat fishing on the pond. The first time we went out there he actually got a bit frustrated with me because I was finding more mushrooms than he was and I was walking right behind him. He got the last laugh though because the first year we moved to Ohio he sent us pictures of the 5 gallon bucket full of mushrooms he had found, and several of them were the size of a twelve once beer can which he placed next to them for scale!

Being a "city boy" he and his daughter (Lightnin of course) delighted in quizzing me on farming type stuff that I of course knew nothing about. As it turns out the joke was on them because I actually paid attention and learned much more than they thought I would. I'll miss his laughter as he would tease me though, some times to the point where he couldn't get the punchline out without stopping to laugh himself!

He had no choice but to have a good sense of humor though, you see he came from a family of three brothers and fate dealt him a hand of three daughters! After meeting and getting to know all three of these women over the years, I think he must have earned his wings early on! All three of them have taken bits of Orville's humor and when you get them together in one spot look out.

Here's a bit of an interesting twist though, all three of the daughter's names start with a "T", and they all three married David's! That's right, when we get together I'm not alone in my battle of the wits with the three "T's", I have my fellow Dave's to lend a hand. I was lucky enough to marry the middle sister of the three. I'm going to say lucky because the other two were already taken at the time that we met, so I was lucky to get the third (well ok technically the 2nd) before she was taken too. (whew, that was a close one!) Interestingly enough Orville was the middle brother. I can honestly say that I never saw any favoritism by Orville towards any of the three girls, but I do think that Lightnin and GGL had a special bond that only middle children would understand. (not that I would have a clue, I had one brother and that was it).


I think I should stop here and apologize for the few photos that I have of the man, and the fact that all of them that I do have are of him with our grandson. You see I didn't enter the digital camera age until a couple of years ago and we live about 600 miles east of Missouri, so my choices of photos are somewhat limited. Although I think this one definitely shows the little boy that was hidden within the grown man's body, something that I definitely identified with.



I think one of my most fond memories with him was when we took a trip to Washington, D.C. to see the dedication of the Korean war monument. You see Orville was a veteran of that conflict and we actually were able to meet a few folks from his unit. The dedication ceremony was definitely a moving experience and I was glad to have been able to witness the event, even though we had record high heat that week.

We ended up traveling with him on another occasion. We took him down to Florida with us on a trip where we house sat for some friends of ours in Pompano Beach one Christmas when they headed back to their families in Michigan (I'll never really understand that 'cause I'd take Florida over Michigan any day, but hey it worked for us!). We took him to the beach for the first time at Ft. Lauderdale, then we hung Christmas lights while dressed in shorts and t-shirts, and spent Christmas day on Key West (I'm sure that was an eye opening experience for Orville). It was a fun trip, and I'll never forget it!



Once again you can see the smile on his face as he clowns around with the little guy. No doubt teasing him while this photo was being taken. I'm pretty sure Easton didn't mind a bit though.








We didn't get to see him as much as we had wanted to this past year. He was planning to come out to visit us during the Donauschwaben Oktoberfest, he usually came out to see us on Schwaben Tag (Schwaben Day), but his gall bladder had acted up on him and he decided to stay home to let it settle down. On the night of Wednesday October 20th, following his gall bladder surgery, he finally succumbed to the dark angle of death and ended his time in this purgatory we call Earth. We really shouldn't feel sad for Orville because as I stated earlier he had already earned his wings, although it is very difficult not to morn his loss while the rest of us put in our time here without him.

We'll always have our memories of him, and that will just have to do until we're called upon to make our final journey!

God speed Big-O, and hey save some of those morels for the rest of us!