Friday Foto Friends: Robins, Hush Puppies, and Kitty Cats...

Good Morning!  It's Friday already...and I know some of our friends in the southeast and northern parts of the country are expecting a major winter storm this weekend, so you are definitely all in our thoughts and prayers. Praying you don't lose power due to the heavy ice on the power lines, and praying you will be able to stay "snug as a bug in a rug" in your warm cozy home.  Whatever you do, please stay safe!  Strangely, it will be in the high 70's and low 80's here in north central Florida this weekend, but that polar vortex of cold air will slip down our way next week, and we will be back in the 20's and 30's for a few days too (morning temps).  I know that's not the same thing as you will be having, but for us it is still a challenge. Thankfully no ice or snow is expected here, but we will know that winter isn't over yet!  Please stay in touch with us here in Blogland as you can, as we will be anxious to hear how you are doing. 

We had a few stragglers from the Robin flock fly in for a drink and a bath this week on their way further south.  I guess they got a late start and realized they'd better get a move on if they were going to escape all that freezing weather up north!   I was happy to see them enjoying their bathtime before they flew away:

In my previous post HERE, I mentioned having grilled catfish and hushpuppies at Cracker Barrel.

One of our blogging friends from across the world and below us in New Zealand admitted to not knowing what "hush puppies" were, except for the shoes.  So I thought I would share some information for her benefit, and perhaps for others from our more northern part of the country, who may not be that familiar with what exactly a "hush puppy" may be! I looked up the following information on Wikipedia, and shared a few excerpts for you below:

 Link to history of Hush Puppies (the food, not the shoes)

"Typical hush puppy ingredients include cornmeal, wheat flour, eggs, salt, baking soda, milk or buttermilk, and water, and may include onion, spring onion (scallion), garlic, whole kernel corn, and peppers. Sometimes pancake batter is used. The batter is mixed well, adjusting ingredients until thick, and dropped a spoonful at a time into hot oil. Many older recipes call for the batter to be cooked in the same oil as the fish it accompanies. The small corn dumplings are fried until crispy golden brown, and cooled.[9] Hush puppies are often served with seafood or barbecued foods. They are commonly made at home or served in restaurants advertising home-style food.



The first recorded use of the word dates to 1899.[5] The name has no verified origin. Etymology is attributed to a variety of sources; one such source alleges that the food was given the name when hunters and fishers would feed the food to dogs they brought with them in order to "hush them", or get them to quiet down."

This is a link to a recipe I found online that sounds pretty authentic. but there are a lot of variations, according to your particular tastes.  I have often used a Jiffy Corn Muffin mix and added the chopped onions to it, and it turns out pretty good, but most people use white corn meal I think rather than the yellow.  Again, it's whatever tastes good to you, and if you do them right, you will want more!

Regarding the Kitty Cat:

Blackie continues to explore our house when he comes inside for his breakfast every morning (yes, that's the new routine, even when he still sleeps outside because it is warmer right now).  He decided to be brave and jump up on one of my antique needlepoint chairs (they belonged to my grandmother), which really isn't a place I want him to be...but since he was there I took his picture before he could undo the needlepoint on the chair...

That box is supposed to be his entertainment, not the chair!  But Blackie has a mind of his own, I am discovering, and it tends to be a rather stubborn mind I've also discovered!

Still, it was a good "photo op"...

And here's the kicker...This is what the pillow says on that chair:

Yes, Blackie seems to know just how to get to my heart.  "All things grow with love" is so true.

Here's some words about LOVE from God's Word...and there is a special kind of love that we experience with God's creation of animals...

1 John 4:7-11

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 

8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 

10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Okay folks, that's it for this morning...gotta get a move on. I do pray you will have a blessed and beautiful day, regardless of the weather, and may God be with you and keep you safe and warm.