No Poison Dart Frog Phobia!

Abraham and I went on a walk around the land, looking for edible plants. We identified the edible nuts of the oak (acorns), shagbark hickory, and beech trees, and made note of where the several walnut trees are for when the autumn nuts fall. Down in the bottomlands (which I now know means an area that is flat and low, where topsoil erodes to, which makes it more fertile and moist), we found a spice bush, which gives off a pungent odor when broken. The twigs and bark are used for tea, and the little berries can be dried to make a substitute for allspice. (That plant isn’t exactly going to feed the family, but it is fun to recognize a plant nonetheless.) Once we identified one, we found more and more of them.

We also spotted a little toad, which I carried up to my garden. The little toad did not like that, and I think he peed on me (or worse). As I felt the moisture spread over my hands, all I could think was “poison dart frog poison!” but I had to tell myself not to gain a new phobia, when I’ve conquered so many since arriving here.

Overall, we really rested well. I read chapter after chapter in Red Sails to Capri, and the boys are finally getting interested. (For those who know the story, they laughed quite hard about Mamma’s egg song and her poor ruined kettle.) Then I fell into such a deep sleep that when Butch came to talk about spreading minerals for us, I didn’t hear him drive up, and I didn’t hear him talking to Isaiah. I was really out!

The apples we gathered from the orchard aren’t getting any better, so I cut up some of the worst of them and cooked them with some sugar and cinnamon, almost like I was making applesauce. Then I made a crumble crust with oats, some butter (and olive oil, because I had too little butter), sugar, cinnamon, and salt, and popped that on the top when the apples were soft.

The boys kept exclaiming how much they loved it. As I think it now, it has been many months since I made dessert “just because”—I don’t remember making any while the house was on the market, and probably not the month before, while I was frantically trying to get it ready. So it could be nine months or more since I made them dessert. No wonder they were so pleased.