Wild Mushrooms of Lake Hartwell

I've never seen so many mushrooms in my life

 as I did on a recent camping trip to

 Twin Lakes Campground at Lake Hartwell.

Though in a technical drought, we've received abundant rain

and mixed with high humidity these beauties 

just exploded, appearing everywhere.

The squirrels seemed to enjoy munching the

colorful delicacies, but we did not touch them.

Grilled Pizza

A Successful Experiment

Grilled pizza always looks so rustic and authentic that we
decided to give it a try.  I bought pizza crust in a tube from
Walmart, rolled it out, oiled both sides and plopped it
on the preheated grill where it got its first grill marks.

After cooking for about 3 minutes we turned it over
(using a flat cookie sheet) added sauce, meatballs, onions,
peppers, olives, and mozzarella; closed the lid and cooked
it on the lowest heat for about 7 minutes and voila.......

Zucchini and Yellow Squash Ribbons

Silently sitting somewhere 

is a yellow squash

with its green squash friend

the zucchini just waiting to

be picked and enjoyed.

Trust me

this is what they were created for.

Bring the two beauties into you kitchen

along with a "thingy" to peel them

into lovely ribbons.

Cut off the ends and quarter them

like this:

Set the quarters on their sides and

peel down as shown

creating lusciously cool ribbons

of nutritious and delicious yumminess.

Make a lot because they are REALLY good!!

Dump them in a pot of boiling salted water

and boil for only TWO minutes.

Drain well and pour the ribbons into a bowl

with a little butter (real) and salt and pepper.

Poetry Camp

I just had to upload this photo of me

(the one looking right at you)

from my weekend at Writing in Place

sponsored by Hub City Writers Project.

Happy Hour at Hub City Bookstore - Spartenburg, SC

After an exciting and challenging day of writing, we gathered for refreshments, fellowship, and shopping along with the hope of winning a door prize (which is why we were all lined up looking expectant hoping someone would call our number).  I won a Spartenburg t-shirt!

Backyard Shed

 morning sun silently beating 

on the backyard shed

 glancing off houses beyond

rousing squirrels and foxes in the  

hazy mountains heading north

spring flowers faded into summer

grasses and weeds tangle along with

tomatoes and cucumbers

waiting for summer's heat to abate

and cool autumn breezes

again to flicker on

 goldenrod and sumac

and pumpkins

Backyard Shed
oil on canvas 9x12"

The Pumpkin and Frances

In the spring I planted many pumpkin seeds of three varieties. 

 Most sprouted then died.

Of those that lived and blossomed . . .

all but one had male blossoms.

This is our single pumpkin growing.

The skin is pale peach with the feel of 

 a rubber baby doll.

Frances is taking a break from the summer's heat, by relaxing in front of the air-conditioning vent. Through her mind, she is telling me to move on and take the camera with me.

FOOD ART

Destined for the compost pile, fruit and vegetable scraps take a moment to pose for this photo....