Pancake Ninja

Red sky at night,
Sailor's delight;
Red sky at morning,
Sailor's warning.

I now think there's some truth to that, this sunrise came in the rain. If you came a few minutes later you never would’ve seen it

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This weekend I had another opportunity to challenge myself and my camera, this time it was a ballroom dance competition. When I first talked to Bobby about it he asked if I was familiar with ballroom dancing. I said No. Then in an effort to give me a reference point he said Like Dancing with the stars. I think there was a bit of a pause then he asked if I watched that. I said “No, but I have a friend who does.”
I know, I live under a rock. But it’s a nice rock.

So I got there and had no idea what I was looking at.

I didn’t know one dance from the next.

All I noticed was some of the dresses are way too much fun.

One other thing I did find out real quick was black dresses are too hard for my camera to find and focus on so Please please do not get a black dress if you have the choice.

Later I found Evan looking over photos from the day and asked him to help me out a little. He folded his arms and I think this is about how it went:
If you’re a guy; dance. You won’t get bored, there are way more girls than guys, heck at times you won’t even get a chance to sit down!

See, there’s daddy!

My sister, She’s waiting.

she really believes studying is important and practicing her penmanship can ease any nervousness before dancing.

"Daddy!” he said as if he’d spotted his hero of the day. I told you he gets to dance a lot. And someday I’m going to be just like him.

With great enthusiasm and whole hearted adoration that only a two year old can give “Mommy!” he said as he saw a green tinted picture of her. It made no difference to him, he knows it’s only the lights.

“I don’t know that kid” he said looking at Bobby shooting with his big kid camera.

Jeh-mee! He said (for Jeremy)

I’m not sure what he said about these photos. I thought he said her name was Briana

But then the girl holding his baby sister told me Briana was a friend of his who wasn’t here today.

Thanks Evan,
I learned a lot. We’ll have to chat again sometime.

~PN

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Five ingredient blackberry cobbler. Real simple and real good.

I think I should hang a sign out and have my own pick-your-own blackberry place. Look at the size of those berries! They’re like large thimbles.

They were so ripe they were falling off the vines.

I started with two recipes, I tend to do that. Choices are good.

Just a minute let me tell you about the greatness of clear sheet protectors. Perfect for the kitchen and spilling! I just wipe the batter and whatever else off and snap it back in the binder when I’m done. Oh, the wetness on the page? I managed to do that before I put it in the sheet protector.

Now back to the cobbler.In a bowl pour sugar,

self rising flour or make your own like I did and add the 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder plus 1/4 teaspoon salt for every cup of flour.

And a cup of milk.

Whisk together

then pour in melted butter

and whisk that all together.

Pour into a buttered baking dish.

Sprinkle in blackberries

keep sprinkling so they’re all over.

Bake at 350 for about an hour.

While it’s baking think about doing the dishes.

When you’re ready to serve whip some cream

and flavor with real maple syrup to taste.

It looks pretty good without whipped cream

but I think it’s better with maple whipped cream.

Garnish with mint and more fresh berries.

Blackberry cobbler

from the pioneer Woman

Ingredients

1 stick Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Self-Rising Flour
1 cup Milk
2 cups Blackberries

Melt butter in a dish. Pour 1 cup of sugar and flour into a mixing bowl, whisking in milk. Mix well. Then, pour in melted butter and whisk it all well together. Butter a baking dish.

Rinse and pat dry the blackberries. Pour the batter into the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle blackberries over the top of the batter.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden and bubbly. Sprinkle an additional teaspoon of sugar over the cobbler 10 minutes before it’s done.

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Sam Knob is a beautiful spot at the edge of Shining Rock wilderness in North Carolina.

To get there you get to drive some of the Blue Ridge Parkway

and drive through lots of tunnels!

I had fun taking pictures in the tunnel.

And more tunnels. I was easily entertained and didn’t ask “Are we there yet?” once.

The trail up to Sam Knob from Black Balsam Parking Area goes through a meadow before climbing right up that hill.

From the top you can look right down on the trail

The view in every direction is pretty good or that’s what I thought until I went to the other side!

This is the spot! This is what makes it all worth it!

At an Elevation of 6050 ft it was pleasant but not hot.

I met Katy. She was happy to be out but very out of breath.

Her mom explained that Katy’s not used to getting so much exercise. Katy just wiped her nose and muttered something about If you had such short legs and big paws you too might be out of breath.