Hello there!  It has been way to long that I’ve been away so I decided to give myself a bit of a red, white, and blue theme to get myself back in the habit of posting.  I have new craft posts coming up soon, but first I thought it only fitting to show you a few photos from one of the many trips that have kept me away from my blog.

So, Blog friends…meet “Blue”

Blue is a wild peacock that seems to migrate through my parent’s area of Alabama, staying for a few months at a time.  He has been showing up for the past 2 or 3 years, and bounces between their property and a neighbors.  From what I hear he is quite the attaction when he decides to perch on a fence post near the road.  Blue is also quite the tease, we keep trying to take a photo of him with his full tail feathers displayed but he refuses to show them off when we have a camera around.  Perhaps he is just modest?  I don’t think any of my photos adequately capture the intense shade of blue and green in his feathers.

When chatting about this odd bird in my parent’s yard, a friend asked if peacocks could fly and if they even had wings.  I think this photo answers the latter of those questions, although sadly I snapped it as he was tucking them in so it doesn’t show the full span.  Dude has a huge wing span, and he does indeed fly for short distances.  His “nest” is in a tree near the neighbor’s house and they have seen him perched on their roof before.

Another random piece of trivia for you: Peacocks have a really interesting “screech”.  And by screech I mean something that sounds akin to a female screaming.  Oh, and by interesting, I mean definitely not my alarm clock of choice.

See that look of indignation… I’m pretty sure Blue is insulted that his screeching first thing in the morning  might not be my favorite sound to awake to .  Oh well… is still pretty funny to see the guy on the parent’s porch and hear the stories of people slamming on their breaks to do a double-take of him perched on a fence post.

Buttermilk Cake Doughnut

Those of you who follow me on twitter have already heard of my love of these doughnuts, so today I’m sharing that love with the blogosphere.  Dutch Monkey Doughnuts is a small, local doughnut shop in the northern suburbs of Atlanta that believes in making things from scratch and as locally obtained as possible.  I had to smile when they posted the following tweet last week:

“So, a salesman from a doughnut shop supply company just dropped by, looking to add us as customers. The look on his face when I told him that we make all of our fillings, doughs and batters from scratch was priceless! “You make your blackberry jelly from real blackberries?” “Yup.”"

These aren’t your standard glazed variety doughnut, with flavors like red velvet cake, carrot cake, jalapeno-cheddar w/bacon,  pineapple coconut lime fritters, and the infamous dutch monkey they take it to the next level.   I’m not a breakfast person but I love their cake doughnuts, they are like having permission to eat dessert for breakfast!   The standards are available daily (closed on Monday) but the real treat is the daily specials!

Standard Menu Includes: Raised Glazed, Chocolate Iced, Strawberry Iced, Cinnamon Sugar Rings, Buttermilk Cake, Creamsticks, Maple Bars, Apple Fritters, Cinnamon Twists, Buttered Maple Bacon, Lemon Meringue, Boston Creams, Cinnamon Rolls and The Dutch Monkey

Did I mention they also have the cutest little shop ever complete with porthole windows and step stools to allow the curious a glance at them hard at work in the kitchen?  If you are up GA 400 north direction take a detour off Exit 13 and pick up a yummy doughnut…I’m 100% certain you’ll thank me!

Dutch Monkey Doughnuts
3075 Ronald Reagan Blvd
Cumming, GA  30041

On the days I work from home I sometimes get a small glimpse of how the fuzz spends her free time.
I think for a moment she forgot I was here and wanted to catch up on her “stories”.  Also note the squished state of the couch cushion above her where she had been napping up there cat-style the first time I wandered down stairs for lunch.  I’ve decided I want her life!!

For some reason it is unseasonably cold here in the peach state this week and we are all doing our best to stay warm.  Even our furry child is all bundled up today!

Hope you guys are all staying warm today!