The Park

My favorite thing to do on the weekends is to take Lydia to the park down the street. I push the trike, and she rides there, then we walk wherever she wants to go. She runs. I chase her. She picks up leaves, pine cones, and sticks, and we go to the lake to look for fish. It is too cool for them now, but when it was warmer we watched them dart from the banks as we approached. I'm so happy that this park will be part of her childhood.

Fall and Halloween

I'm finally semi-caught up. Nothing like a little wine and hot tea with Austin City Limits on in the background to motivate me into posting!

I took Lydia to the pumpkin patch at Saint Peter's Episcopal Church this year. Each fall they cover their side yard with pumpkins and sell them as a fundraiser. Last year Lydia's nanny Sunny took her, and the year before Lydia was too small to leave the house! I can hardly believe this is Lydia's third fall.

Lydia loved seeing all the pumpkins. She chased them, tried to pick up the really big ones, and said "pumpkin" no telling how many times. She wouldn't sit still for a picture. She did really enjoy gathering sticks, too. Imagine that! (She loves picking up sticks).

For Halloween, Lydia wore the same little lamb costume from last year. I swear I wasn't being cheap or lazy. I asked Lydia about lots of costumes (Tinkerbell, Peppa Pig, spider, etc) but the only two she agreed to were lamb and mouse. I get lots of "No" out of this little girl lately.

The Melissa and Doug restickable stickers are some of our favorites these days. Lydia knows so many animal names because of them. Even octopus!

Lydia and Mimi

Lydia and Mommy

Our Views

I don't think I'll ever get tired of these beautiful views we see from the park. The weekend just isn't a weekend without at least one stroll around the neighborhood and through the park. This weekend was no exception. We got in a long walk on Saturday and a short one on Sunday. Sunday's walk required a sweater since the weather turned cooler which made me very happy!

Sunday night as Chip and I ate dinner I glanced outside and saw the most beautiful sunset. I stood up, picked up Lydia from the pack-n-play, and scurried down the front walk to our front yard. Chip followed me, and I know he thought I was a little nutty. With Lydia in my arms I pointed at the view and said "sky", "sunset", "blue", "pink", "pretty", magnificent, lovely, amazing! She pointed and laughed, and we spun backwards and forwards in the cool autumn air.

Moments like that make life so full! It's October! My favorite month! And it is cool outside and leaves are slowly falling now (falling more quickly soon). I can sit with a cup of hot tea while it rains and wear sweaters when it is sunny. So happy.

An Autumn Walk in the Woods

When the weather turns cooler all I want to do is be outside. I want to take long, quiet afternoon walks where I listen to the trees and the wind and gaze at the blue sky. On Sunday, November 14, the weather was beautiful. With blue skies and cool temperatures, the just-turning leaves in central Mississippi were calling me to take a walk. I'd been wanting to head over to Roosevelt State Park - a short drive from Jackson - but I knew that Chip would not really be up for walking around aimlessly in the woods.

I lured him out to Roosevelt with the promise that the Moccasin Bend Disc Golf Course was one of the best courses in the state. The disc golf course made the perfect autumn walk. I'm not very good at disc golf. I think it is fun, but I can't throw a disc straight. I do like doing things with my husband, so disc golf is perfect for us. I got to gaze at the colors on the trees, and Chip got to play a game he enjoys.
The course winds around the lake in the beginning. My disc ended up inches from the water's edge more than once which made me ponder the meaning of the course's name. I was not in the mood to meet any moccasins that afternoon.



Golden leaves and rusty pine needles swirled together near the bank.

Holes 7, 8, and 9 took us through a deep forest. These were my favorite. I didn't get many photos because my disc kept finding its way into a ditch with banks taller than I am.
The course ends up back on the water where the shots are open and the sky is big, big, big.

Rich autumn colors were reflected on the water.

I am so happy that we decided to head out to Roosevelt. We did walk a few of the nature trails, but the terrain on the trails wasn't nearly as good as the walk on the disc golf course. I would suggest the disc golf walk to anyone heading out to the area as a short day hike.

This Thanksgiving after the turkey and pie, get out and take a walk! Soak in the colors of the season. Let's not rush into Christmas quite so fast. Slow it down and take some time to be thankful for this great, green Earth.

Pumpkin Parfait with Granola

Casey, a good friend of mine and fellow blogger on A Five-Leaf Clover, has a link to a food blog called Healthy Food for Living. I was browsing through those recipes back in October and decided I had to try to the Pumpkin Parfaits. Mmmmm... Chip and I are big fans of yogurt and granola. With the addition of lightly sweetened pumpkin, I thought these would be divine. And they were!
I took a few shortcuts with mine, and they were still delicious. I have a few cans of organic pumpkin pie filling that I bought on sale at the grocery store last year that have been waiting all year for the perfect recipe. I added maple syrup and a little extra cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice to the canned pumpkin mixture. For the yogurt, I didn't have any greek yogurt on hand - just regular plain yogurt - so I lined a seive with paper towels and poured in the plain yogurt to let some of the water drain out. After 30 minutes of draining in the refrigerator, the regular plain yogurt is thicker and creamier. Then, I made the yummy parfaits. Pumpkin-spiced granola was sprinkled between layers of pumpkin pudding and yogurt. I topped the parfaits with local honey. Yum!

Paddling on the Pearl

On my weekend off we ended up not going camping out at Roosevelt State Park. I really wanted to go, but it was in the 80s - crappy camping weather. I still want to check it out at some point.

Sunday, October 24, we headed to the Pearl River for some paddling. It was a beautiful day, about 11 AM when we finally got on the water. The temperature was already close to 80F, but with the breezes off the water, it felt good. The weather reports said a storm was rolling in that afternoon, so we decided that we'd stay on the water no more than two hours. Putting kayaks up on top of Chip's FJ Cruiser in the rain wasn't something we wanted to try.

Chip getting ready at the put-in

Lisa on the Pearl at LeFleur's Bluff State Park

We put in at LeFleur's Bluff State park and paddled about 1.5 miles up river. After about 1 mile, we were under the Lakeland Drive bridge. The sky was gorgeous that day. Clouds were rolling in. You can see how dry everything is in these photos. The river was really low and the banks were crisp from lack of rain.

Chip paddling toward the Lakeland Drive bridge

We paddled another half a mile and saw this huge alligator. From head to tail, I would say he was about 8 feel long. My camera is way zoomed in. We weren't really this close to him.


After we saw this gator we were a little freaked out and decided to head back. We knew going in that we would probably see some gators on the river - it is the Pearl after all - but that really didn't prepare me for seeing a live 8-foot gator 30 yards from my little boat. He didn't seem to move an inch as we turned around and headed back to LeFleur's Bluff.

On the way back, we were paddling down river but the wind was at our faces, and it was really picking up. While paddling up river, we were both pretty relaxed, taking in the landscape. While we were returning, our two pairs of eyes were glued to the bank, scanning for more gators. And we did see one more. This guy was tiny compared to the other gator. Maybe 3 or 4 feet long.




In that last photo, my camera is fully zoomed out, so you can see how far away these alligators truly are. Isn't the tail on this one impressive?

We were excited to get out on the water in the middle of the city of Jackson! I'm really not sure if we would do this paddle again, though. The water was fairly gross (trash on the banks), the landscape is a bit monotonous, and the alligators were just too much. I'm not sure what we are going to try next!

Chip paddling down river

Lisa on the river

Long Weekends

October is my very favorite month of the year. I love it when the weather turns cooler. I decided last month that I would take a couple of Mondays off in October to spend some time with Chip, work in the garden, and possibly go camping. We were planning to head out to Roosevelt State Park this weekend for camping, hiking, and kayaking, but the weather forecast is looking less than ideal. Rain is predicted with highs in the upper 80s and lows in the upper 60s. Not really the perfect camping weather I was hoping for. We've found that when the rain fly is required (like this weekend), anything above the mid-50s is too hot for camping. I am a hot sleeper, and I need it to be chilly to fall asleep. Unless I want a restless night of sleep, cool weather is a must.

I think we are going to revise our plans and take the kayaks either out on the Pearl River or over to the lake at Roosevelt. It will really depend on the water level on the Pearl. If we do the Pearl, we will put-in at LeFleur's Bluff in Jackson or at the Spillway and paddle between the two locations.

I have made good progress in the "ugly" spot in the backyard. It looks MUCH better already. I plan to get mulch this weekend and make everything look nice and neat. Photos coming soon!

Dinner Recap

So, here is how everything turned out.

The rice was really good. I used this recipe from the PBS show America's Test Kitchen. This rice turned out perfectly - not at all sticky. Very fluffy and flavorful.

The naan was AWESOME. These naan were chewy and had a great balance of salty and slightly sweet. I made the dough on Tuesday night and refrigerated it after the first rise. Then, on Wednesday while I made the other dishes I let it come to room temperature and rise again. Right before our guests arrived I pulled off bits of dough, rolled out the rounds, and grilled it on the grill pan. I really wish I had more time to make homemade bread. It just tastes so good.

The chicken tikka masala turned out really good, too. The sauce is really flavorful. I took the advice of a lot of the recipe reviewers on AllRecipes and cut down on the amount of salt. Also, I had to add more cayenne (to taste) because it just wasn't spicy enough for our bunch.

And lastly, the saag paneer. This dish was probably my least favorite out of all of them. I was rushed while making it, and I think that showed in the final dish. It really needed more salt and flavor. Now that we are eating the leftovers I've added more salt and it is MUCH better.

I have the next two Mondays off, and I am so looking forward to it! This weekend I plan to do some work in the garden. The area that I worked on earlier this year really took the hot, dry summer weather hard. All of the azaleas that I moved and planted are dead. The juniper is dead. Even the ornamental grass is dead. Fall is a much better season for moving and transplanting plants, so I hope I can finally put some life into this ugly spot in my garden.

Next weekend we are going camping at a local state park. I am really looking forward to kayaking on the lake and roasting marshmellows by the fire. Fun times!

More Birthday Dinner Photos

Things got pretty crazy at my house after work yesterday. Chip came back from Louisiana with lots of beer. He assembled the cheese plate, and I cooked rice, heated up the chicken tikka masala, made saag paneer, and rolled out naan dough. When the first guests showed up, I was very close to having dinner finished. Chip poured me a glass of Riesling, and the birthday celebration began. I grilled naan on the grill pan and placed the completed dishes in the oven to keep warm.

I don't have photos of the finished dishes, but we do have yummy leftovers, and I plan to take some photos tonight. I did take some photos of the dining room after I set the table yesterday. I am proud of the way everything came together.