Friday Foto Friends~A "Wild" Lunch

Well, I promised you lots of pictures today from our "Wild Lunch" yesterday with fellow blogging friend Barbara and her hubby Gary from My Journal Memories.  

We met at noon at The Yearling Restaurant in Cross Creek, FL.  You can click on the link below for more information about the restaurant.

Internet Photo of the Yearling Restaurant

The Yearling Restaurant

Here's our friend Barbara and hubby Gary now! This is not our first meeting. We have been blessed with their friendship for several years now, and since they only live about an hour away from us, we have enjoyed getting together for lunch on several occasions! 

Here I am with my hubby as well.  Barbara and I both lamented later that we forgot to ask our server to take a picture of all of us together...but you can trust us...we were truly there together, sitting across the table from one another. Barbara will be posting her own photos of this occasion soon on her own blog. We may have many of the same blogging friends, but we also have others who do not know one or the other of us, so who knows? We may make some new friends out of this connection! That would be fine with me! Any friend of Barbara's is surely a friend of mine!

Before I get into why I called this a "A Wild Lunch", let me just get our foodie pictures out of the way first!

Because this is a truly old Florida country establishment, to me it was only fitting to have something to eat a little more in keeping with the locality...I could've had some of their "Cross Creek Traditions" menu items (click on the link for the menu), such as frog legs, free range venison, or Florida Gator Tail, but I chose something a little less exotic as in the fried catfish sandwich. That was "wild" enough for me, and it was very delicious, along with some cole slaw on the side.

And after we finished our entree's the server asked if we'd like dessert, and Barbara and I both decided we would like to share their house specialty of "Sour Orange Pie".  She brought us a plate with a large piece divided in two so that we could both enjoy it together. The guys weren't interested in dessert, although I think Gary did sample a bit of Barbara's. I have attached a link to a recipe for Sour Orange Pie below. And yes, it is made with true Florida Sour Oranges, which I call "wild oranges"...and you can read more about that in the link below.

Link to a Recipe for Sour Orange Pie

It was good, if you like a tart fruity kind of pie...similar to a Key Lime Pie with an orange flavor. I think I would've liked it better without the drizzle of chocolate and maybe with a whipped cream topping to help soften the tartness. But it was good and fun to try something different!

Now for the "wild part".  I don't know if you are familiar with the story, "Cross Creek", written by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings...or perhaps you saw the movie "The Yearling", which she also wrote. Well, if you know anything about those stories, you will know that they take place in a very rustic and wild time of old Florida history, and "The Yearling Restaurant", located in Cross Creek and right down the road from The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings State Park (see links down below), gives us a "taste" of that old Florida era and culture...back when this part of  Florida was still largely uncivilized in the ways we know it now...and the people of that area were mostly known as the poor and wild country "Florida Cracker"...(click on that link for more information).

You can read more about the book "The Yearling", HERE

And this link goes to information about the movie by the same name, starring Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman, and which was filmed not too far away in the Ocala National Forest, which is not far from where we used to live in Salt Springs.

This 13 foot alligator was caught in one of the lakes in the area...

I'm glad I wasn't in the same water when he was there...although, if you get into any lake in Florida, there's a pretty good possibility there could be another one just like him...so beware!

These are just some of the taxidermied animals that are on display throughout the restaurant...there's so much more than what I am sharing!

These animals are all typical of what could be found in and around Cross Creek and still can be found in parts of the Ocala National Forest today...

This is a painting...

You'd have to read the books Cross Creek and The Yearling to get a full appreciation for these displays.

Another feature of the restaurant are books lining almost every wall in every dining room area...and they are for sale. I wish I'd had more time to look them over!

This otter was having a nice time in the old fishing boat: 

We had fun looking at this old telephone operator's switchboard...Somehow I can't imagine how they ever figured that out!  "Number Please?"  My, how times have changed! 

For the Coca-Cola fans...

There was so much more to see, but I need to stop somewhere! It was truly a fun place to visit and to dine with our good friends.  I am looking forward to going again sometime perhaps with our family. It's only about a half hour away from our house! I never realized it was so close!

I never realized that the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings State Park was just right down the road from there.  We have been there before and have taken the tour of the house and grounds. It is also very interesting and fun to see.


Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings home~Internet Photo
Here is a link to the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings State Park.


After I came back home I found my copy of the book "Cross Creek".  Here are some pictures of the book jacket, which is in a rather fragile condition, so I don't keep it wrapped around the book...

Well, I hope you enjoyed this "Wild Lunch" today.  I'm so glad Barbara thought of it and invited us to join them there! We had a great time!!!  

An Autumn Walk

 Happy Thursday Morning! I hope this Thursday morning finds you doing well and enjoying a lovely autumn day, wherever you are!  We are expecting a beautiful day today, with blue skies and early morning temperatures around 68 degrees, and going up to 86(F) this afternoon.  That's still a little too warm for my desire, but it's getting there, degree by degree! So we try to get out and enjoy the beauty early in the morning while it's still a little cooler.  

Yesterday morning we did just that...

At my request, we went back to walk on what I call our "woods walk", a place where we used to walk all the time but haven't in a while because during the summer months it's just too hot there and also the horseflies and deer flies are really bad, so we've avoided it in favor of other more comfortable places to walk. But I have missed the woods walk so much, and autumn is a more pleasant time to go there.

You might be fortunate enough to see a  Common Buckeye Butterfly flutter by.  This particular "neck of the woods" is a great habitat for them.

And of course, there's plenty of mushrooms/toadstools growing along the way...

Looks like a bird bath! LOL.

We saw quite few of these on the sandy roadway...deer tracks of all sizes!

As well as raccoon tracks in various sizes as well...

One thing I notice a lot of in these woods is different kinds of fungi growing on decaying trees or fallen limbs along the way...

I found this to be quite interesting and unique:

This fungi is known as "False Turkey Tail", or Stereum Ostrea, and you can learn more about it on that link.

And then I saw these very interesting and colorful fungi on this fallen tree, known as Trametes Gibbosa, or also knowns as "the lumpy bracket" fungi

I had never seen the green fungi before, and the description says that it is due to algal growth...It certainly makes it more interesting!

So many varieties of fungi growing on this decaying wood!

I love all the clusters of these bright yellow wildflowers along the roads and in the woods.   This is known as Bitterweed, or Bitter sneezeweed.  I used to like to pick some and take them home to enjoy in a vase, but I learned that they do cause me to sneeze, and they also don't smell very good once you bring them inside the house, so when I did bring them home I had to set them in a jar outside on the porch.  So I have decided to leave them where they are and enjoy them in nature, and let the bees and butterflies enjoy them as well.

There's a lot of this purple spiky flower growing in the woods as well.  It is known as Dense Blazing Star, or gayfeather or prairie feather. 

I just love all the different mixtures of textures and colors and wild beauty that God has created for us to enjoy!

There is a LOT of this Deer Moss scattered everywhere in the woods...,  and yes, the deer do eat it.

I hope you enjoyed this little nature study from our woods walk!!  I tend to get excited over these kinds of things! LOL.

Back on the home front we discovered these two Wheel Bugs having a private moment on our front porch railing. They are called a "wheel bug" because of the strange looking cog wheel on their backs. They are the one of the largest members of the Assasin Bug family. Although they are not poisonous to humans, you still don't want to get bitten by one, so I took their picture and got out of their way quickly and let them "do their thing". LOL.

Here they moved to under the porch railing, but they stayed "together".  They say they are beneficial to gardens as they will eat garden pests...so I didn't want to pester them any further in the garden. LOL.

And guess who showed up on Still Waters Pond yesterday morning? Yep! Our resident Sand Hill Crane couple flew in with a lot of noise and hooplah!  I was SO excited to see them out there dancing on the WET pond! They seemed really happy about it as well!!!

They may be in the beginning stages of doing their mating ritual dancing, although it seems as though they normally don't start building their nests until maybe December. I do hope they will be able to nest here on the pond this year, after last year's dought and no nesting.  

Here's a little video I made of them walking around on the pond and enjoying what little water they could find.  Please pardon the background traffic noise. I'm sorry I didn't get out there soon enough to record their loud and raucus call as they landed.  

Now, this is not on our pond, but is over at the Kenwood Boat Ramp, where we took a ride to a couple of afternoons ago.  I was surprised to see this family of Muscovy Ducks on the shore:

They seemed right at home there, and I hope they will stay there and not come to our pond. I don't mean to be unkind to any of God's creatures, but the Muscovy Ducks are not welcome at our pond. They tend to be a bit of a messy nuisance duck, and they think they own our back porch, so I'd just as soon they stay over there at that boat ramp and not follow us home. LOL.

They are very interesting in an ugly sort of way. 

Now here's some real "wildlife"! LOL.  

Yesterday Rose was off from work again, and we decided to go out to lunch and try out the new "Backwoods Country Kitchen" once more.  My last experience there was not all that great, and the reviews have been mixed by a lot of people, but we want to see them succeed in our area, so we wanted to give them another chance.

Also, Rose is leaving today for a week + trip to Minnesota to visit her father and family up there, so she actually wanted to do something with us before she leaves today. I thought that was sweet. She is a dear dear daughter in love, and I told her to have a good time, but hurry back home! We, and especially Benton and their pups Sugar and Spice, will truly miss her.

As far as our meal went, the jury is still out on how I really feel about their food. It wasn't great. However, they are going to start doing pizzas and calzones, in addition to their country dishes, and I think that will actually go a lot better in this area. We have enough "country food" in other restaurants already, but the only pizza you can get is at Domino's or the frozen kind you cook yourself.  The people who own this restaurant have another place in another community that is primarily pizza, etc., and I've heard it is really good. So time will tell, and we will definitely check it out when it happens.

Yesterday afternoon after our lunch, hubby and I headed to town for an appointment for him to have an MRI that had to be rescheduled from last month. He wasn't looking forward to it, but it is an annual check up for a health concern that they want to keep monitoring. Thankfully he got through it without any major issues, but was very relieved to get it over with.

Meanwhile, we are going to be going out to lunch again today...this time we are meeting up with one of my favorite near by blogging sisters and her hubby, Barbara from My Journal Memories and her hubby Gary are going to meet us at a place that promises to be interesting and a bit of a "walk on the wild side"...LOL, The Yearling Restaurant.   Barbara and Gary have dined there before and she has written about their experience in her blog previously. This will be our first time going there, and I am looking forward to it, but mostly to seeing Barbara and Gary again.  We live about an hour's drive apart, but this restaurant will be a good half way spot for us.  So you can look forward to hearing more about that in my next post, I  promise.

With that being said, I need to bring this to a close and get my act together so we can leave on time! 

This passage from the Gospel of Matthew speaks to me today. 

Matthew 11:28-30

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, 

and I will give you rest. 

29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 

30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Sometimes when we are feeling weary from the weight of the world and all of it's problems, it is good to step away and take a "walk in the woods" and/or be with people who help to refresh your soul and spirit.  Let go of the burdens that want to cause us grief or anxiety, and be alone with God...or with God's people...and be revived and restored to peace and joy. That's what this post and these experiences are all about...finding that "rest for (my) soul".  I'm so thankful for the many ways God reaches out to us and gives us "rest".

May you find His rest and peace for your soul today as well.