Back to the Ship!

If you've lived on or traveled the islands much, you've heard the cry "Back to the ship!" along the main streets of the bigger island towns, calling shop-weary cruise ship passengers to taxis, to those little boats,  a clarion call that their journey is moving on.

For me it means another housesitting gig is over, another vicarious pet will do the happy dance on her owner's return. As usual, this has been a great time for me, different views, wandering space, amenities of the first world in abundance. 

But home is home and a fine place to be. My 'ship' is not temporary, it is home. It is knowing where to reach in the dark for the light switch, the comfort of tossing around a thing or three, and being pretty sure of what is in the cupboard. 

This time my cupboard will have a new addition. Thanks, Abe and Sue, who sent me some Old Bay seasoning after reading my crab cakes post! My next batch will be perfect now (plus, I just like to use it as a seasoning on other foods, it smells like my childhood). 

Thanks and thanks! 

One amenity (of a few) that I can't get (yet) on the boat is speedy internet. In posting a blog with lots of photos, it is a priceless boon - and I mean that. I don't know if there is a price I could pay to get a great connection out there. That I get any connection has surprised more than a few and I'm grateful, but it can also just disappear. There ya go.

So here's a recap of the holiday so far; Three Kings Day is still to come.

Why I keep being surprised when I hear the gobbles, I can't explain.

This view is almost a pure perfect winter day.

The hibiscus blooming here have been a daily pleasure

I so hope this pig can be contained. 

The orchids are doing well 

Islands in the sky

Lots of glorious rainbows!

This color is much more of a bronzy gold in reality.
Very different, very beautiful

Because it's fun to say frangipani

Oh! The Christmas parade!

Gotta get a Bloody Mary from Fede next. He makes the best!

I'm not sure what was more crooked, the view or me

A trip back to the boat mid-way through.
So much wind! So much beauty.

Framed dawn

Leftover NYE debris.
The grapes we (okay, me, since I was hostess)
forgot to eat at midnight. Can't imagine why.

Egrets at the airport

Yet another stunning dawn

And today's dawn. Last one from this view for now.

I hope you were awake early to see the sky today. I saw a number of photos from around the country where it was a really scrumptious dawn and sunrise. Of course, it's not 10 degrees here, so going out to see it is a lot easier. Indeed.

No matter how your seasons and reasons change, keep an eye on the beauty.

Have a weatherproof Wednesday. Do something winsome.

Free Range Friday...sort of

One of the beautiful flowering weeds in my yard

The other day I mentioned I'd been given two chickens. Hopes and dreams rested on their beautiful feathery backs. When would the day come that I'd find a big, brown, gorgeous egg, the beginning of many? When could I post, in all its glory, that same egg, first in the shell and then on the plate? Shockingly, it was the next day. There it was. Oops. Not big, barely tan. In fact, tiny, miniature, petite -  any adjective for really little egg - and this one was it. It's so small...well, ok, you have the idea. So from owner of said chickens, I am now the foster mom. They will, when their new home is ready, go back to the giver, who doesn't care how big or how brown the eggs are, she's just in love with these two. So goes my second venture in the chicken and egg world. I don't know which came first, but I know which is going first! I know, I should cook it and let it be a Free Range Friday recipe, but, I just can't yet. Yet.

If I DID have a few big, brown organic eggs (which I will, if I want them badly enough, those chickens are going to show up!), I'd make this, because I've been craving it madly since the calendar flipped to December. Around here, the equivalent holiday drink is coquito, which I enjoy a lot, but I'd still really like some eggnog!

Eggnog 

6 eggs
3 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg (a microplane or zester works for grating fresh nutmeg)
1 cup (more or less, to your taste) bourbon or brandy or rum or mix 'em up, it's your eggnog!

Whisk (or use a mixer on a low speed) the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a large pan until well-blended. Keep on whisking while you slowly pour in the milk until it is completely mixed-in. Next, set the pan on your stove's burner on the lowest setting. Continue to whisk ingredients until they coat the underside of a spoon and all the sugar is dissolved.

Remove the mixture from heat and, if needed, strain it into a large-sized bowl, making sure to get out any pieces of cooked egg. Now stir in the bourbon, vanilla, and nutmeg. Refrigerate the mix for at least 4 hours. Whip the cream and add it to the chilled mix. Buen provecho!

Makes  about 14 servings, depending on your glass size.

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I've mentioned that the weather here has been spectacular, and that is continuing. I can't say how many times I'm working with friends and we look up and out at the sea and just stop to gape at what is in front of our eyes. The colors, the breezes (even the breezes that spatter paint all over me), the temperature. Oh my!

These are dawnings from the past couple of mornings, which probably put the following song in my head.

I don't have a single human partner to sing this to, but I do have a whole island that makes me feel this way pretty much every day. I'm so lucky!

Have a faithful Friday. Do something flagrantly fabulous.