Month: May 2018

Amazing Live Music: Evan D Music

(photo from Evan D Music’s Facebook page)

May 29, 2018

Amazing Live Music: Evan D Music

Our weeks are pretty full of stuff.  Between our crossing driver shifts, taxiing children to and from college classes and groups, and just general life – it is awesome to have a mostly-weekly couple getaway afternoon on Mondays.  (THANK YOU! Shout to my amazing sister, Becca, who is brave and possibly just as crazy as me to sometimes text, “Pick them up by 8am tomorrow.”)

That is what we had this week.

The adventure of just Louis and me began with dropping off 7 children at 4pm (Anastasia had “sleptover” Sunday and Christina’s Monday class was canceled because the college was closed) to 6:30am the next day.  Only one cab ride to take someone home before the night was ours.

We had worked in the morning (all 3 cab calls) and ferried Christina to Marine Street for her Civil Air Patrol volunteer time, then spent almost 4 hours playing yard and board games with the girls (I even got to conquer an Age of Empires map with Rebeccah!) so when our time started it was like, “okay, what now?”

I wanted to walk on the beach and surf… wrong tide, and I don’t do baiting-shark surfing (aka night surfing).

Louis said, “I remember hearing some really good music downtown two weeks ago at the Tavern.” (He means the new Taberna del Caballo.)  Oh my! You should go there on Mondays from 4pm to 8pm – trust me, your ears are in for a very special treat!

So down we went.

And there, I was transported backwards to the very skillful, amazing raw guitar sounds that I heard my minstrel-of-the-dawn Daddy playing when I was a child and the awesome worship jams with Louis and his team and I first met.  Clean music, inspiring riffs (…you know, the things where a string musician picks the strings with his fingers so fast the fingers blur all together and you sit in awe with your mouth open…) and timeless songs.

We were listening to the sounds of Evan D Music.  (This guy is about to release a record too… yep, I’m not that old, but projects are records of time and passion, even if they are downloaded on a smart device in snippets.)  He plays around town almost every night but at the Taberna del Caballo Mondays from 4pm to 8pm.

One lady at another table had the best stadium whistle I’d ever heard (right through her fingers, no device!)  I’m sure people at the Oasis on the beach heard it.  You should have seen the two adorable kids dancing along with most of the patrons when one particularly moving song was performed.  (Louis doesn’t dance, so I’m not going to dance without him… but had the girls been there, we would have been dancing around too.)

I love live passionate music.  You can tell when an artist puts their heart and soul into their work – and Evan surely does.  I grew up listening to my Daddy play “story” songs from Phil Collins to Gordon Lightfoot to Jackson Browne, Moody Blues, Beach Boys, and all in between.  (We sat down to hear Evan playing “Kokomo” which was way cooler live with a riff-master on guitar – and he can sing the higher harmonies – I hadn’t heard that since my little brothers’ voices changed!)  My Daddy’s eyes would light up like he had stars in them when he strummed the tunes.  For years, I thought Lightfoot’s “Minstrel of the Dawn” was the story of my Daddy.  I loved just listening to the guys play when Louis and I first met; they’d be crammed in Grandpa’s attic room and wailing away and I’d hide on the stairs or they’d be practicing in the empty auditorium and I would slide off to the dark side entryway and dance.  I still love it when Louis (who claims he’s really rusty) plays guitar or Christina or Becca play piano.

Real music is the love of my heart.  It lifts my soul, engages my mind, heart, memories, and emotions, and spins a relaxing web of tranquility through the air.  This is what I felt listening to the talented Evan D Music; and this wonderful little place on St. George Street will be a regular haunt for us from 4pm to 8pm as long as we have Mondays off and Evan is playing there!

Check Evan D Music out on Facebook and YouTube and come be in his audience before he makes it to the Amphitheatre!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

 

The Fallen

May 27, 2018

“The Fallen”

Sometimes art inspires me.  Sometimes it’s hard to visualize large numbers.  These memorials do an excellent job.

I’ve heard of the origin of Decoration Day (Memorial Day) and often thought about the hearts of the women decorating the graves of fallen soldiers during the War Between the States.

Today, I learned of a beautiful memorial done on the Normandy beach on September 21, 2013 that memorialized the enormous loss of life in the absence of peace.  They called this project “The Fallen.”

Over 9,000 soldiers and civilians died on June 6th, 1944 as part of the liberation of France during World War II.

The artists chose to etch a human-sized body into the sand of the beach for each soldier and civilian who was reported to have lost their lives during the invasion.

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Hundreds of volunteers came and 9,000 sand etchings were created to show the huge loss of people.  (above picture from Sand In Your Eye)

This picture from the cliff speaks volumes.  (picture below from Sand In Your Eye)

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This memorial lasted a few hours until the tide slowly washed it away.  The image of this memorial reminds us of the human costs of war; as was quoted from Sand in Your Eye, the artists responsible, “[each figure was] a representation of a person that once lived, they had parents, family, friends… those people that lost their lives are no longer with us but on [this day] they spoke.” (quote from Sand In Your Eye)

Studying history, I understand the necessity of war to rescue people from hopeless situations of oppression, but that doesn’t lessen the sadness of loss.  I thank those who serve to protect us, the families of those who perished, and those who were not trained soldiers yet fought when they were needed.

As Memorial Day approaches, I remember those who sacrificed their lives for others.  If you can ever visit the memorials in Washington DC, do it; and remember that each name on a memorial is all we see of an entire life – family, friends, and dreams.  It hits home when your teary-eyed ten-year-old holds her hand an inch from the reflective black marble wall and says “that could have been granddaddy’s name and then we would be missing all his children and grandchildren.”

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Whether we agree with the war or not, we honor and remember each of the fallen.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

 

Elephant Ears

May 24, 2018

Elephant Ears

One of my favorite garden bulbs is what we call “Elephant  Ears.”

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These are from three bulbs that we dug up in some weeds when we first moved in.  They were tiny, neglected, and crowded.  With good fertilizer and plenty of water, (we didn’t have to water them, God did it with the rain!) those three multiplied into fifteen by January when we replanted them in this nice half-shady strip between the carport and the side of the house.

We also leave the wild flowers that don’t crowd out our bulbs.  Tiny white flowers that spread like ground cover are some of Jillian’s favorite because they look like “stars on green sky.”  (Those are under the star lily in the above picture, but their blooms look like dots in the picture.)

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These are the smallest ones.  The elephant ears are now growing alongside a few lilies, six pineapples, tomatoes, and squash.  (The clump of bushy leaves on the right corner are tomatoes.) The plants are called elephant ears because their leaves get to be the size of African Elephant’s ears.  I’ve grown some before, which by their third year, had leaves that were five feet wide!  (Since you have to clip the ears off at the stalk when the ears fall to help encourage new growth, the girls would save the clipped stalks for umbrellas!)

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These are some of the “wild” tomatoes.  This means we didn’t sow them there, they just came from our fertilizer/compost and we tended the plants as they sprouted.  Jillian has the worm-picking job because we don’t use pesticides.

I love Florida bulbs, they are easy to grow and propagate quickly.  I can give the many extras away and cover my yard in little groves of them within just a couple of years.  Now if I can just get fruit trees like fig, citrus, kumquat, pineapple, and bananas to grow as well!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

 

Results of the Rains

May 22, 2018

Results of the Rains

In late Florida Spring, we get rain.  Who am I kidding?  We get flooded.  Our meteorologists have a very easy job.  They can say, “we have a 100% chance of rain at some point today with clouds and a chance of thundershowers.”  We do get a few slivers of sunlight, just enough to remind us that the sun is still battling for dominance.

A result of this rainy season is a slight change to the adage “April showers bring May flowers;” in Florida it’s “A string of showers bring beautiful flowers.”

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Aren’t they gorgeous?

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We had only a few small bulbs in neglected clusters when we moved in last year.  We dug them up, separated them, replanted and fertilized the soil at least monthly with organic non-toxic high-nitrogen fertilizer.  They reward us with amazing  blooms after the showers!

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Our fiery orange and yellow blooms are Kimberly’s favorite.  (We had just three bulbs last year!) These are our front yard background flowers with their huge oval leaves and tall stalks.

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Our bright white and fuchsia lilies make the bulk of the garden blooms.

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These little buggers were in four clusters all dejected.  A total of 34 bulbs – now they cover in a checkerboard pattern the front, center, side, one beautiful cluster, and lines between the cedar trees along the driveway.  There are easily 100 bulbs now and we’ll have more in January when we replant.

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Then there are my awesome tiny purple blooms with straight stalks called “Mexican Petunias.”  Grandma Jeanette had a yard full of those!  These are actually great-grand flowers off of some cuttings Grandma Jeanette gave me about ten years ago.  So they are our “heirloom flowers.”  (Yes, that’s a collard on the right.)

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I love the results of the rain!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

Matanzas Inlet

May 19, 2018

Matanzas Inlet

I thought I had visited all of the beaches in the Saint Augustine area.  Vilano Beach Pier, Vilano at the Crossover, Saint Augustine Beach, Anastasia State Park Beach, Crescent Beach, and Butler Beach.  (At least, I think I’m not leaving any names out.)  But then we went to Matanzas Inlet.

Oh my goodness!  This place is so beautiful!  We were able to walk the inlet onto several sand bars with our rolled up pants.  Okay, so the adults and wanna-be-adults rolled up their pants and waded carefully, but the children just jumped into the water and got every strand of hair on their body soaking wet.

In the inlet we observed turtles in the sand, crabs and fish in the water, birds overhead and in the dense bushes on the other side of the inlet, and humans floating on boats and a giant duck float in the inlet.

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Lucas is running from the water to Daddy, who is building a sand castle in the middle of a sand bar.  Beautiful place, isn’t it?

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Blue water is slightly deeper than the muddy-looking water.  Louis is on the far sand bar, that big yellow blob is the duck float, and the figures headed to Daddy are Jillian, Jaquline,  Kimberly, and Lucas.

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This picture reminded me of me and one of my little brothers, Charley, as kids!  It’s  Kimberly helping  Lucas get to Daddy.

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Our wanna-be-adults carefully wading like Louis and I were.  (Christina and Rebeccah, the lovely young ladies who suddenly appeared in our house – where did the toddlers go?)

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Another sand bar, another picture of my completely wet fun-loving crew and Daddy guarding the far side (actually, he’s  either taking a picture or dispatching to Papi).

Matanzas Inlet has become a favorite place for lazy-day water fun.  It’s not the ocean with fun waves for the thrill of surfing, but for lazy, wander-through-the-water days or days when the ocean is still a little too cold for Daddy’s liking, this will be our go-to!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

 

Daytona Beach Boardwalk

May 17, 2018

Daytona Beach Pier & Boardwalk

We’ve been to Daytona Beach’s park a few times.  We like to park at the top of the parking garage (level 6, but today, that one was closed so we had to settle for level 5) and go down the echoing steps to the huge colorful crossover walkway to the shops and restaurants!  This walkway is a covered bridge over the six lanes of traffic.  It always has a strong ocean breeze whistling through the glass panels.  Lucas loves the pretty pictures of fish, turtles, dolphins, and other sea life on the floor.  He likes seeing the cars go under him!

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Lucas and Jaquline rode all the dolphins!

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But Lucas wouldn’t do the turtle – just the girls in age order.

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Our Mother’s Day picture was taken at the stone fountain on the far end of the Daytona plaza.  Louis took a burst shot of us (new camera function, I think) and we managed one nice picture!

We like to wander up and down the plaza where Lucas stopped three times, mesmerized by the drones.  A golf cart came down the beach collecting beach umbrellas and Lucas squealed, “a tiny truck in the sand!”  This made one of the teenage boys driving it turn his face red.  Jillian calls out, “why is your face all burnt now?”

A helicopter completed the aerial show.  Kimberly spotted it and showed Lucas and Jillian.  “Can it land, Mommy?” Lucas asks.  Since the Family Fun Fest and the landing of the Police helicopter, Lucas thinks all helicopters are going to land next to him!

We went back over the walkway and down the elevator to the ground floor.  (These elevators are amazing, they have a window!)  After playing on the stone critters, taking some pictures, walking around the city for about three miles, climbing the stairs again, going over the walkway again, and down then up in the elevator, we made it to our van.

The sun was setting on a beautiful day of family adventure!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

Fort Matanzas

May 15, 2018

Fort Matanzas

If you’ve read anything else I’ve written on this blog, you probably know by now that my family is an outdoor loving brood.  This adventure is one of our latest: a trip to Fort  Matanzas.

Fort Matanzas is a nice place to wander around and walk the half mile covered boardwalk.  It feels like you are in the old Florida jungle – except the snakes and gators are going under the boardwalk and you are on top.

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Fort Matanzas has the most amazing trees!  They are windswept toward the intercoastal from all of the fierce ocean winds they’ve endured.  You can picnic right under them (exactly what we did!) and walk through them.  You are even allowed to climb them as long as you don’t mess with the hurt limbs or the really small ones.

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Lucas loved climbing them – with a little help.

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We tried for a good picture… (I love digital cameras, because I can delete the hundreds that look like this and keep the one or two that might have almost everyone looking!)

The ferry was closed but they said it will reopen soon.

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Lucas found some beautiful flowers at the base of the building.  He said, “Mommy, take my picture with the pretty flowers for you!”  If you look closely, there are two orange lilies to his right!

Days like these linger like warm sunshine in my memory and I hope the kids remember them as fondly as I do.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

 

Mother’s Day 2018

May 13, 2018

Mother’s Day 2018

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(Yes, that’s my crazy, fun, brood with their Dad! – the featured image is with me!)

Today is Mother’s Day.

I’m grateful for my mother; for all the guiding and love.

As an adult, I’ve come to see that a lot of mothers compare themselves to others: their mother, grandmother, aunt, or friends. Sometimes, we perceive that everyone else is way better at this mother job than we are.  But that’s not how God wants us to see ourselves.

God blessed you with your children.  (Or the children you impact, like your nieces, nephews, friend’s children – you are impacting them too!)

He wanted you to have them!  (Isn’t that humbling? Imagine giving your child to someone else, that’s what God did when He entrusted his child(ren) to you!)

He knows you and he knows them – He knew it would be a perfect match.   With His guidance, you can do this!

Instead of comparing myself and ending up thinking I’m super failing, I analyze myself and try to make my attitude, behavior, response-time, or self better (self-improvement!) for them.  I want to be a better mom; everyone is growing and no one is perfect.  But God gave your child(ren) to you, your job is to be their mom!

Enjoy this stage of life without cutting yourself down.  Instead, if you find yourself feeling that you aren’t as good as you want to be (everyone feels this at some times), encourage yourself to improve.  Your child(ren) need you to be just what you are: Mom.  And they love you! (Yes, even at the teen stage when they may not say it anymore!)

Thank you to my Moms, Grandmothers, Aunts, mentors, and friends: you’ve all helped and inspired me!

Smile, dance, play dolls, build blocks, race matchbox cars, bake cookies, sing silly songs, take funny pictures; do all the fun things that you sometimes push away because you’re busy.  These little memories live in your children forever.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

Family Fun Fest 2018

May 4, 2018

Family Fun Fest 2018!

We spent all day on April 28, 2018, a beautiful Saturday in Saint Augustine, at the Family Fun Fest.  This annual event at Francis Field supports the community work of Alpha Omega Maternity Home and their related outreaches.

Alpha Omega has been a vital community resource in Saint Augustine for a long time.  They are a wonderful organization to support – and we love the all-day fun!

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I set up a vendor booth to sell my printed books, DVD books, audio CDs, some of the girls’ assorted crafts, and my mom and dad’s beautiful prints.  We had a spot for children to make free bookmarks with fun yarn tassels.  (This was on the bright teal table & was Kimberly and Jaquline’s idea. Lots of kids stopped to color!)

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Christina and Rebeccah volunteered all day!  Didn’t they look sharp in their aprons?

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Kimberly, Jaquline, Jillian, and Anastasia were ambassadors for the face painting booth.  The artist did such an amazing job transforming their faces into bright works of art!

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Lucas wanted to be a tiger, but after watching his sisters and cousin sit still, he decided running was the life for him and no face paint was needed. Notice the big blow-up fun things behind the sister-cousins?  Once those went up, Lucas didn’t want to sit still!

Kimberly’s face paint scared some little ones.  (It almost scared me when she closed her eyes and had snake eyes on her eyelids!)

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Lucas almost never stopped dancing.  But then, the DJ was great so there was fun non-stop music.

We bought wristbands for the kiddies and they became “pros” at the various obstacles by the end of the day. (The lady at the Boy Scout’s obstacle said Anastasia and Jillian kept challenging each other to “new heights” like “tightroping with eyes closed” or “doing ballet across the bar.”)

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This event started at 10am and ended at 8pm.  We were there setting up at 7:30am and left the field just before 9pm.  (I did have to wait on my volunteers to finish assisting with some break-downs and you know; we like to chat!)

Local performers from dance schools to martial arts schools to youth groups and bands filled up the stage.  (Christina’s vantage point for this was perfect: she saw every act and relayed amazing reviews to our booth later.)  There were plenty of games for little ones.  Rebeccah got to play with them for hours!

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Jillian and Anastasia were so excited to meet Princess Cinderella!  Lucas was beside himself – he came back repeating, “Mommy, Cinderella is here!”

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The team obstacle course was fun to watch!  We clapped and encouraged each one – Kimberly’s commentary should have been shared over a loudspeaker for everyone else to laugh at!  (She has some Aunt Katy & Aunt Becca MC skills in there.)

Lucas finally took a 30 minute nap under my table (the “campout zone”) about 5pm.  He came to get a banana, but didn’t quite finish it!

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None of the little girls wanted a break – but they all fell asleep in the van on the way home!

Although it wasn’t a great “sale” day (we sold one book, one bracelet, and one set of clips), it was an amazing “fun” day and we’ll definitely be there again next year!

Come join us!  Follow Alpha Omega for updates and opportunities to volunteer at this event or at the campus.  Together, we can help our community grow stronger!  And, yes, have some amazing fun along the way!

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Oh yes, just this last picture of Anastasia snuggling with Grandma.  (No, she wans’t asleep, she was pretending so she could snuggle!)

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Pineapple

May 2, 2018

Pineapple

One of our favorite fruits is the pineapple.

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The best of the best is fresh cut.  (We will get them straight off our bushes someday!)

Pineapple is great with pork, in oriental dishes, on pizza, in a cake, in muffins, or just plain and juicy sweet.

Up until a few months ago, I’d never cut a fresh pineapple!  It’s really easy if your kids are like mine and want to eat as close to the rind as possible.  My mom cuts the rind off and then dices the meat for a no-mess-later snack.

You cut off the top.  (Be sure to leave a little meat so you can plant the top in a sunny spot and a year later you’ll have more pineapples!)

You cut off the base.  (My kids call it the butt because the pineapple sits on it.)

Now stand the pineapple up and slice through it from top to bottom in two or three cuts.  I always use three because I like narrower bites for small-child mouths to make less of a mess.  Lay these four or six strips flat and slice into wedges.  They will look like pizza slices.  The yellow pineapple meat is pretending to be the cheese and the rind is being the crust.

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And voila!  Easy treat to grab and eat!  Our chickens love pineapple rinds.  Prim always thinks she wants them when we are cutting, but that’s just because we have the cutting board out and she thinks she’s a human.

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Pineapple is loaded with vitamins and minerals needed for healthy bodies.  It has an enzyme called bromelain that is anti-inflammatory and helps sooth coughing too.  For the calories (82 per cup), pineapple is considered nutrient dense and low sugar.  One cup of fresh pineapple has about 180mg potassium, 2g dietary fiber, 0.6g protein, 0.7% Vitamin A, 40% Vitamin C, 6.7% Vitamin B6, as well as copper, iron, folate, magnesium, thiamin, niacin, and 130% daily value of manganese!  (Among others, check it out!)

So, for a healthy, easy snack that tastes great, try some fresh pineapple!  (Just watch out for the “burn” you can get on your lips after a few slices.)

Fun facts:

Did you know that adding a little salt to pineapple makes it taste sweeter?  Just not too much!

The pineapple is technically a berry!  It is formed by several flowers fruiting together at the core (the hard central “Stem” through the middle of the pineapple) and fusing together into the soft, yellow meat of a single fruit per stalk.

The core and rind are edible!  The core can be too tough to eat in an unripe pineapple.  The rind is traditionally used to make a fermented drink!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

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