Recently in Photos Category

I did a quick booklet about Eco-Tourism opportunities in Alabama's Black Belt last weekend. I got to use a good number of photos I've taken over the years, some photos taken by Billy Milstead, the hardest working brother-in-law to date on Black Belt GPS coordinates and photos, and a few from elsewhere. The booklet turned out pretty good. I think I'll be able to use it for some other venues as well.

Here's the cover:

What a wonderful thing. So much sadness in the world and in our family these last few years, it is a good thing to have a beautiful baby girl to come in and brighten the world.

My niece, Dawn, just had a baby girl!

Marcella Renee Dailey
Date of Birth: June 21, 2009
Time of Birth: 5:04 p.m.
Weight:  8 pounds 5 ounces
Length: 20 1/4"

Top picture: new Mom Dawn with Marcella (that, by the way, was my mother's first name, though she was always called Inez, or more frequently, Mama!).

Bottom picture: Morgan, my very first great niece (and yes, she is great) with Marcee.

We had a tasty dinner Saturday night as a bit of a reward for cleaning up the house much of the day. I seared a tuna steak and grilled Ann a piece of Copper River Salmon. A bit of arugula tossed with a rice wine vinegar based citrus dressing, and a few panko crusted fried green tomatoes and the first of season fried okra were, to my mind, perfect!

Had a great workshop at Camp McDowell earlier this week. Your Town Alabama's 10th year of workshops. Met some great folks and reconnected with lots more.

Not much to say, but did make several tasty dishes last weekend. Here are two (Shrimp and Grits with Fried Green Tomatoes and Copper River Salmon with Fried Corn Salsa)

Friend Ben Burford and I took another fun trip into the Black Belt: this time to Selma, Old Cahaba (Cahawba), Marion and Greensboro, Alabama. Check out my flickr page for more photos or read about our first adventure on Ben's blog.

Went to our local fish market (Snapper Grabbers) yesterday to discover a fish I've never had before: Steelhead trout. It looked to be a cross between salmon and rainbow trout, so I got enough for two (along with some shrimp to make shrimp and grits tonight).

Got some purple potatoes and asparagus at the grocery store, had a portabella mushroom leftover from earlier that seemed as though they would go nicely. Roasted the potatoes and grilled the asparagus and the mushroom along with the fish over a nice hickory smoke. It was excellent--and simple.

So many great things come from connecting with family. Cousin Kevin "Chunk" Mitchell has been helping us with our house--and we really, really needed the help. He was here several weeks ago to give us some ideas and see our house for the first time. We were talking and exchanging some photos. He told me about this photo and it certainly isn't one I'd seen before. My Uncle Clifford and Aunt Phebe Mitchell getting married. The man on the far right is my father, best man to the groom.

Not a lot to say today, really. Just really missing my Mama. She was born Feb. 23, 1924 and she was taken 2 years ago today. I had planned to write something, but just don't really have the energy. A tribute to her is how we all live our lives. That's the most important thing I can say. I intend to do my part as best I can.

My Mama, Inez Hinson, was born today in 1924. What a fitting time of the year for her to have been born: she really seemed to relish this time of year. The passing of winter was certainly her least favorite season--and it would have been your least favorite season too if you lived in a house with as little insulation as our house in Octagon had when she was growing up! The first signs of spring are already bursting forth into bloom. Camilla's blooming everywhere, the bulbs of thousands of daffodils in full bloom--this is the spring Mama loved. Green starting to dot the landscape with color for the first time in months; spring in Octagon was always a special time.

I got to visit with my cousin Kevin "Chunk" Mitchell over the weekend (he came to help us with doing some renovations on our house--very excited about that, but more on that in a later post). Getting a chance to visit him and talk with him about family, to catch up, to hear about everyone, really drove the point about that strong Hinson gene and the power of family. Mama was a firm believer and I'm sure she would be delighted to know that Chunk and I were reconnecting!

Okay, I don't really know the history behind any of these, but liked them. Anyone have any comments?

Sadly, this isn't tonight's dinner. I cooked it several weeks ago and just now got around to pulling it off the camera. It was very tasty, though. A very light dusting of flour on some thinner than normal grouper filets. Served with some nice mashed potatoes and steamed green beans.

I know it isn't, but spring sure looks like it is right around the corner. The weather has been stellar here for  the last week. Best of all, my daffodils and jonquils are up and blooming. My hyacinths are up and just starting to bloom. The bulbs from all of these come from our family home in Octagon, Alabama (I can only imagine the thousands of blooms there right now). The hyacinths actually came from my grandmother's family yard, I'd guess in the early 1920's. Bulbs are a wonderful thing to really tie you to the past. Easy to grow (just dig a hole and wait), beautiful and low maintenance!

 

Had a very productive week this week. Lots of work on Brombergs website, most of the way done with the Tyler Eaton website, setup of the Mid-South RC&D website, a trip to Bibb and Perry County to do some work on a couple of tourism websites, the Highway 14 Antique Trail and even got to meet with a couple of potential new clients, including someone that raises all natural, grass-fed beef on their family farm that somehow they've managed to preserve as a family since the early 1800's. It was a really nifty place with a good supply of historic old buildings, a general store (long since closed for business) and a house that they are considering turning into a Bed and Breakfast--something the Black Belt really needs. Did not have as much time as I would have liked to snap photos, but plan to go back to the farm and Highway 14 in the coming weeks for some more photos. Here's one of Judson College, where several of my sisters attended.