Wildfire 348

There is a pizza "food truck" that has been in Crawfordsville for about 2 years.  We tried them at the Taste of Montgomery County last year but never followed them to know where the truck was.  They are actually a pizza oven on wheels.  During this time of quarantine, they have been setting up every Friday and Saturday night in Lake Holiday or our church parking lot.  We decided to try them this past weekend.

We got one 14" and two 10" and put a big dent in them for supper.  I forgot to get a picture of the whole pies, but we tried Pizza Di Carne (Italian Sausage, Pepperoni, Bacon, Tomato Sauce, Parmesan and Mozzarella), Cal-Italia (Olive Oil, Asiago, Mozzarella, Gorgonzola, Fig Jam, Prosciutto, Drizzled with Balsamic Reduction and topped with fresh Parmesan), and Bacon & Onion (Olive Oil, minced garlic, mozzarella, bacon, caramelized onions, goat cheese, baby arugula, balsamic reduction). 

We got the meat one figuring Camden would like it best.  However, her favorite was the bacon & onion.  If she knew what was on it, she would never have tried it!  Kevin and I both enjoyed the Cal-Italia the best, but all 3 were delicious. 

They have several other options of their delicious wood-fired oven pies that we will try in the future.

Landscape Projects

Kevin has taken advantage of this beautiful day to start a landscape project.  He pulled up two flowering bushes and has started removing all the rock around the house. 

He plans to transplant most of the flowers from the back deck area to the front in preparation of tearing down the deck.  We have some concrete people coming in a few weeks (or so) to lay our new back patio.  Looking forward to a much more usable outdoor space.

Blossoming

Biking is becoming Camden's go-to right now.  We keep thinking it's going to rain and aren't sure we are going to get a ride in, but last night while I made dinner, Camden and Kevin decided to try riding down our road.  They went all the way to 47 and back.  That's only a little over 3 miles, but for a first "outing" it's a good effort.  She loves it and getting better and better.

Speaking of blossoming.  Look at our tree!

Favorite Dinner

What do you do after Kevin clears a few trees from our wooded area and chops a new batch of walnut and ash logs?

Have a bonfire with hot dogs for dinner.

It was a tad windy, but the fire got going and we enjoyed laughs around the pit.

After a yummy meal of hot dogs, baked beans, and cole slaw, it was time for the perfect bonfire dessert.

S'mores!

Farm Field

The gentleman who farms our field is switching out the hay for corn.  He has begun sowing the field.  Last night he worked into the evening discing the soil.  It was a beautiful sight.

Bike Practice

Camden very rarely has gotten to ride a bike in her life.  It's sad!  We have always been on gravel roads/driveways or a busy county road.  Additionally, she has outgrown her kids bike.  We decided it was time to make sure she was comfortable on a bike (plus she needed some exercise and to get out of the house).

We have had 2 adult bikes given to us in the past year.  I have ridden one of them which was a bit too short for me even with the seat at it's highest.  However, we realized it was perfect for Camden.  She was not excited to try it and the gravel in our drive proved difficult.  We decided to hop in the truck and head to our church's parking lot.

She hesitated for a moment, then hopped on and was shocked that she not only could ride it, but loved it.  She rode for about 20 minutes and has asked to go again tonight. 

Kevin was airing up the tires on this bike and his.  He popped the inner tube in one of his tires so needs to stop and get a new one, but they plan to go ride in the parking lot a few more times and then will do some riding up and down our road once she is more comfortable.

6th Grade Art

Camden has had Art this past 6 weeks, 4 weeks of which have been via e-learning.  Her teacher has been assigning some really cool projects.  She should be switching to a new "special" for the final 6 weeks, but the school decided to keep kids in their current one.  Since Camden loves art and adores this teacher, she is thrilled.

Week one was a computer art project.  Week two, Camden had to watch a few videos then draw a picture along with the artist from one of them.   She ended up watching 4 and submitting all four to her teacher.  These are the best two.

Another week, she was to gather items from outside (or around the house) and create a "found object" piece.  We took a walk down our road and she picked up items along the way and then arranged them on our deck.  The results are actually quite stunning.

Last week she assigned a plein air piece.  Camden sat on our porch and sketched the barn and shed.  Then she used watercolors and colored pencils to add color.

This week, she had to find a famous art piece and recreate it using laundry!  The examples were portraits, landscapes, and even Van Gogh's Starry Night.  I made her find an abstract piece that had simple colors and simple shapes.  She found Mark Rothko's No 2 Blue, Red, Green.  Perfect!

She looks forward to the next assignments.  And so do I since she enjoys them so much!

Supporting Local Restaurants

We have been getting food at a local restaurant about 1 night per week.

Last week we tried a new local restaurant that we haven't been to in person called Francis & Mount.  It's an upscale restaurant in design of interior and food, but moderate prices - especially on their sandwiches.  They've been doing amazing outreach to the community during this crisis (hot dogs at the truck stop, free meals to the hospital, staying open for 24 hours so those working on off shifts can get food) which was another reason we wanted to support them.

Kevin got the "Montgomery" sandwich - roasted beef with giardiniera, pepper jack, pickles and dijon.  I had a grilled chicken sandwich with jalapeno jelly (yes!) and swiss.  We got a side of mac & beer cheese and french fries with aioli.  They delivered to our house in about 20 minutes!

We give it a thumbs up and will try it again.

This week we ordered from Cracker Barrel.  We don't eat there a lot, but we have a favorite Sunday chicken dinner.  Some of the best chicken I have ever had.  They are currently offering that as one of their family meals to go.  It comes with 6 of the boneless chicken breasts, 2 family sides, and 8 biscuits.  We got hashbrown casserole (Camden's favorite) and dumplings.  Kevin and Camden also requested apple butter.  Kevin had to go pick it up, but it was ready in 15 minutes and was still warm when he got home with it.

In addition, the bonus in ordering this right now is they include 4 breakfast bowls for free!  These are hashbrown casserole, gravy, bacon, and cheese that heat up in 1 minute in the microwave.  I am not usually a fan of their hashbrown casserole or their gravy, but this was a delicious breakfast while I worked on budget figures for work.  Camden wants them every morning.

The amazing thing about this order is that we ate 2 suppers and 1 breakfast for all of us from it, plus a 3rd supper for Camden.  What a bargain!

Good Friday

Our church did a virtual Good Friday service and invited us all to take communion together, but at our home with our family.  They also showed us how to make unleavened bread if we so desired.  Camden and I decided that we would do that. 

The recipe was very basic and took less than 2 minutes to make and then we baked for 10 minutes. 

It was successful and we were thankful to remember our Lord.

Garden

Kevin is attempting a garden again this year.  The ground was finally dry enough to start a few rounds of tilling.

On one of the gorgeous afternoons last week, Camden and I sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine while Kevin worked.

Camden decided that 77 degrees was warm enough to get the hose out and have some water fun.

Wasn't warm enough for a swimsuit, but she enjoyed a good 20 minutes jumping and playing and enjoying the outside.

Egg Hunt

Camden still requested an egg hunt this year.  It ended up being pretty low-key...one pre-teen does not run around when there is no one else to compete against.  She still enjoyed finding the 37 eggs/chocolates I had hidden.  It was still a little damp and rain was on the way, so I kept it pretty the hiding places as close to solid ground as possible.

She still came in, opened all the eggs, and created a pile of her stash.

She also had a bucket of treats, per tradition.  Although we did break from a chocolate Easter bunny and went with a chocolate unicorn.

Wednesday Outing

Kevin worked hard in the small part of the woods on our property, taking down some fence and cutting some wood.  Camden and I headed over to Ladoga Elementary school to pick up 5 supper meals.  It's the latest in the school food service being offered.  They aren't delivering it so we have to make the short drive, but the food was another step up in options:  sweet & sour chicken with an eggroll, fish sticks with potato wedges, chicken patty with bun and crinkle fries, corn dog and baked beans, and chicken rings with mashed potatoes and peas.  Each meal also came with a cup of fruit or vegetables, plus a milk.

We actually have too much milk.  None of us like the chocolate so we've been giving it to our neighbor.  When another 4 days of breakfast was delivered on Thursday, I asked them to keep the milk and give it to another family who might be able to use it.

We have a whole refrigerator drawer dedicated to school food now.  We eat some of it everyday.  Thankful for this blessing.