#227 Nomad Diary. 22-28 February 2025. Athens, Alabama Airbnb. Spending Time with Grandkids. Catching Up with Friends. Enjoying Southern Winter Walks. Darrell's Delicious Oat-Barley Pancake Recipe.
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| Stunning Sunset Seen from Our Living Room in Athens, Alabama |
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| Walking Toward Our Airbnb at the End of This Road in Athens, Alabama |
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| A Lunch Meet Up with Long Time Friend Melanie! |
Saturday. 22. Went to an open house in south Huntsville for Drue’s 90th birthday! It was full of a crowd of her family and friends. We met Drue last October when we took our New Zealand friend Sue to her house. Drue and her daughter Claudia live together and we were immediate friends!
Sunday. 23. Morning worship as always. In the afternoon I went to a baby shower for a new mother. Baby showers in this area are amazing and border on ridiculous! There were women filling the large beautiful house chatting, visiting and eating delicious party buffet foods! The new mother was so pretty and sitting opening her gifts. She had her mother, mother-in-law and grandmother closeby and a friend next to her handing her gifts from the cache and recording who and what. Some of the most beautiful baby girl clothing was displayed as decoration above the fireplace. The opened gifts are then moved to a bedroom nearby and displayed for the milling crowd. I saw the growing array after I had visited through and around with several friends for over an hour. The gifts look like the best of a department store display and as large! What an exciting and amazing shower!! I caught up with a friend we have known for decades, Kim. We often eat out together along with Tena. I talked with Claire, a ophthalmologist expecting her second child. I learned more about her and she offered to answer any questions about Darrell’s eyes we may have. I spoke to Rene, whose father-in-law passed away unexpectedly in Colorado. I spoke with others and enjoyed the experience of this southern baby shower and church family time together.
Monday. 24.
Tuesday. 25. Today I met up with my long time friend Melanie for lunch in Madison, Alabama. We met more than 20 years ago in Nebraska! Both of us have moved our families throughout the US following our husband’s jobs. Our children are grown with families of their own now. We share our life experiences of being mothers and now grandmothers and walking by faith in God’s word as christians.
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| Phone Call to Brazil with Son Jeremy and Grandson Quinn |
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| At the Playground with Owen in Athens, Alabama |
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| My "Diet" (lol) Breakfast Plate: Darrell's Oat/Barley Pancakes with Almonds and Berries. Egg and Pork Tenderloin. Also Some Real Maple Syrup, Some Crofter's Wild Blueberry Preserves and Dark Coffee. |
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| Rails to Trails in Elkmont, Alabama. One of Our Favorite Wooded Walks! |
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| Eric Preparing a Raised Bed for Strawberries and Whatever Else. Owen Helping Grandpa Carry Dirt. Esther is Supervising |
Wednesday. 26. Today is sunny and getting above 60 degrees. The spring flowers have not come up yet, but a few early green tips on grass and trees are showing. The warmer weather will fluctuate through the next several weeks until the hotter and hotter days of the south US take over by later in April and into May. We decide that today is a good day to take a woody walk in Elkmont. We are also determined to make it extra long so we pack our brita filter water bottles (a favorite gift from niece Casey in 2020) and some protein snack bars and a couple bananas. We drive up highway 65 north to Elkmont, Alabama about 20 minutes from our airbnb. We arrive before 10 am to the downtown parking lot. We take off on the ‘Rails to Trails’ mostly flat trail heading north toward the Tennessee State line. Our entire circuit with breaks returns us to our truck about 1:40pm. We pushed ourselves a bit in good ways! This was our longest walk in a long, long time! Maybe we walked this long around Buenos Aires in December. The woods, the fresh air, the quiet, the enjoyment of this activity together are each calling and drawing us on to keep walking and enjoying this time and these moments. We are tired and pleased! We stop in Athens at a sandwich shop, Cash and Jacks, and have a meal around 2pm. Later we rest through the afternoon at home with hot tea and a light dinner watching our beautiful sunset view. In the evening we go to Bible class at Capshaw church where we are regulars when we live here a few weeks each year.
Thursday. 27. Today is scheduled for helping Eric get dirt for his small garden box, visiting his kids Owen and Esther and my afternoon doctor appointment in Athens with my regular doc, Amy Clark.
Friday. 28. Up early to be at the lab when they open at 6:30. I got back home before 7am with my lab work completed. Darrell and I skipped exercises this morning and had one of our 2 ‘standard’ breakfasts around 7am. Today is eggs, pork tenderloin, and toast. I have avocado too. We read and visit after breakfast, then head off to Athens Swan Creek for a mid-morning walk. After our walk we went to Publix and shopped for a few items. We get home at about noon. Darrell makes chili with ‘Maverick Farms’ low fat ground beef and black beans. He made it spicy. We both enjoyed our meal. We spend some time sitting outside on our patio. It’s slightly chilly but sunny and wonderful! I finish up 3-4 loads of laundry trading out the sheets and towels for clean ones. I took a long and enjoyable afternoon nap today which I don’t do often. Darrell calls his Mom.
Nomad Notes. It’s about 2 weeks until we will be in Texas. Darrell finished our taxes in under 3 hours this month once he had all the information. That’s fast! We’ve been doing several ‘office’ type things like: changing some of our payment cards; Darrell begins on Medicare; the functions of our health insurance savings changes; we received our portable refrigerator this week that is taking the place of our ice cooler in our truck.1.5 cups flour – nearly any kind. Gluten free works as long as it isn’t heavily tapioca.
Current favorite is 1 cup Oat flour with 0.5 cup Barley flour
3 tsp baking soda (less soda if using self rising flour)
Pinch of salt (optional)
3 eggs
0.25 cups olive oil
0.5 cup water
1 cup Greek Yogurt
– must be the good kind that is only milk products and bacteria, ANY additions in the yogurt that usually are used to make it "lite" have the effect of making the batter sticky. It will stick to even the best non-stick pan. Buttermilk can substitute for Yogurt and Water. Sour Cream or regular yogurt can substitute for Greek yogurt, but it has a different flavor. Substitutions may require a different amount of water.
Optional ingredients (one, both or none)
1 tbsp molasses
1+ tsp cinnamon
Optional fruit (pick only one)
1 mashed banana
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup applesauce
1 cup -ish shredded apple including peelings.
1 cup -ish shredded pear including peelings.
For slightly better results, blend the liquid ingredients independent of the dry and then mix the two. Otherwise blend everything until just smooth and then add the fruit. Frozen blueberries have to be added by scattering over the batter and blending in as needed. If dumped at once they clump together.
Depending on what you add, the batter may be a bit thick. Usually the fruit thins it out enough. If not adding fruit, you may need to add a little more buttermilk or water. Usually not more than a tbsp of water or a quarter cup more buttermilk. The goal is to have a batter that is slightly thick. It should pour out of the ladle but not be runny. When putting on a hot griddle, it should spread slightly.
Gluten free flour mix
"Buckwheat Pancakes"
6 parts rice flour
2 parts white buckwheat flour
2 parts tapioca flour
1 part coconut flour (or cornmeal)
Even though this has buckwheat, the white buckwheat does not have a strong flavor. The rice flour can be whole grain or white. The coconut gives it a little texture. I believe corn meal will do the same thing if coconut is not desirable.
"Barley Oat Pancakes"
2 parts Oat flour
1 part Barley flour
It is amazing how well this works. It has a slightly nutty flavor. The pancakes look darker – as if it was whole wheat flour.
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