Ant Headquarters

I was out with Bill and we found the largest mount yet of Allegheny Mound Ants. The ants are dormant now, but soon they'll emerge to swarm in the warm spring air!

Sasquatch Sighting in Front Yard

Sledding with the Kids

January Snow

Fall Beauty

Fall color viewed from the deck. Wow!

The same scene but with dramatic lighting when dark clouds rolled in.

Berries along the nature trail.

Bill enjoying the sunny day.

The two oak trees in front of the deck dazzled with bright orange-yellow color.

Me in front of the cabin.

Beautiful color in the front yard.

Persimmon trees along the nature trail. There's still lots of fruit left in the trees.

These persimmons fell from the trees.  Inedible early in the fall, they tasted better after the first frost.

As usual, acorns were abundant this year, so we decided to crack some open and try to eat them.

Bill cracking open the acorns.

These are the shelled acorns before they went into the pot.

To get rid of the tannic acid in the acorns and make them edible, I boiled them about a dozen times, changing the water each time.

Here are the final acorns, boiled many times, then toasted. They didn't taste great, but if there's nothing else to eat, they'd be just fine.

Sangria Party on the Deck

Last weekend, we got the party going with white wine sangria! It was a refreshing addition to our quesadillas and guacamole as we enjoyed our friends on a warm summer afternoon. Here's my recipe:

Sangria Blanca

White wine, chilled

Diet ginger ale, chilled

Ice

Diced fruit (good choices include strawberries, peaches, apples, and blueberries)

1/2 lime, juiced

A few sprigs of mint

Fill a pitcher halfway with ice. Add equal parts white wine and diet ginger ale (or slightly more wine to taste). Add a couple handfuls of fruit, lime juice, and mint. Stir and pour into wine glasses, making sure to include the fruit and ice in each glass.

Summertime in West Virginia

View from the top of Little Cacapon Mountain 

Looking up through a dogwood tree on the nature trail

A butterfly on a rhododendron blossom

Unlike the last two summers, it has rained quite a bit. Everything is looking green!

View along Old Martinsburg Road heading toward Slanesville 

I saw two bears from the deck of the cabin in May . . . Simultaneously scary and exciting! This is the best shot I could get with my iPhone before they ran away.

Regan mowing the front lawn

View along Little Cacapon River Road on the way to Romney 

My Mom on the nature trail in June

Spring Weekend with the Kids

I captured our spring weekend with the kids using the billion-dollar app Instragram. The images I created with this app are priceless. I took photos with my iPhone, then used Instagram to produce images that mimic the old Polaroids I used to take. Blurry, grainy, and off-color, but full of character.

Redbud Alley

Redbuds are now in full bloom in West Virginia. The beautiful trees line both sides of Route 50 on the way to the cabin!

The kids are running loose on the roof of the cabin!

Dinner at Sunset with My Signature Dish

Polenta and Tomato Napoleons

Serves 6

Polenta:

3 cups water

1 cup polenta

Salt and pepper

Pesto:

1 cloves garlic

3 tablespoons pine nuts (toasted)

2 cups basil leaves (omit stems)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon vegan parmesan cheese (optional)

Salt and pepper

Toppings:

6 medium ripe tomatoes, sliced very thinly

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Fresh pepper

Kosher salt

Pine nuts

To prepare polenta . . . boil water and stir-in polenta slowly to avoid clumps. Continue stirring until polenta gets thick, about 1 minute. (Stand back to avoid being burned by bubbling polenta!) Remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste. Then, pour polenta onto oiled plate and spread-out evenly to about 1/2-inch thickness. Set aside to let polenta cool and solidify.

To make pesto . . . begin by mincing garlic in food processor. Then add pine nuts and chop. Then add basil, olive oil, vegan parmesan cheese. Process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble napoleons . . . begin by using an inverted drinking glass to cut polenta into four discs. On each plate, put a polenta disc onto the center, then spread a heaping tablespoon of pesto over the disc. Next, artfully stack tomato slices over each disc (about the equivalent of one tomato for each). Drizzle with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, fresh pepper, and kosher salt. Garnish with pine nuts.

Eviction

This spring, a family of squirrels has set up a home in the crawl space under the cabin. Just when we have the ants under control, along comes a different critter. It's always something out here in the woods. That's why I call this blog "Cabin Adventures!"

When I realized I was in over my head, I called Chip from A All Animal Control to get the squirrels out and repair the damage they caused. Last weekend, he set traps to catch the squirrels and relocate them. To lure them into the traps, Chip is using peanuts and a secret paste with a strong scent.