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Letter From Home | October 15, 2018

Good Afternoon Everyone,

It is Monday afternoon at the Store and I need to have this written before I go home. So – what do I write?

I walked out the front door for some inspiration. The air is cool, but it stopped raining. The clouds are broken enough that I can see them drifting across the sky, from the west to the east. The mums, pumpkins, gourds, squash, etc. make a colorful display at the front of the store. Customers are coming in and going out. I looked up just in time to see the neighbors sheep file across the bridge that spans the overflow at the far side of the pond on the other side of the road. It is interesting to see how sheep follow their leader in a single file.

Some soybean fields still need to be harvested, also corn needs to be picked. We’ve had quite a bit of rain and I imagine the ground is rather soft. With all the rain and warm days we’ve had, our fall gardens are doing well.

This is the time of year that a lot of visitors come to the area to enjoy the display of color that comes when the leaves change on the trees. Especially when driving along on these rolling country roads, we can often get very nice views out over the valleys and woods. Right now the color is only beginning.

Within the last month we’ve had the privilege of having folks from Salt Lake City, Utah; from Japan, from Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, etc.

I enjoyed a couple days of vacation doing some fall birding at Lake Erie, weather was beautiful. The coloring of the Warblers is quite different from what they are in the Spring. Following is a recipe for Baked Oatmeal that I made and took along for our breakfast at the Hotel.

Baked Oatmeal

• 2 eggs

• 1/2 cup coconut sugar or sucanat

• 1/2 cup butter, melted

• 2 1/2 cups quick oatmeal

• 1/2 cup fine coconut

• 2 Tablespoon ground flax seeds (golden)

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 cup frozen blueberries

Mix eggs, melted butter and sugar together. Add remaining ingredients, except blueberries, and stir until well mixed, add blueberries & stir. Spread into a greased 9″ square pan. Bake at 350° for 30 – 35 minutes. Serve warm or cold with milk of your choice.