March . . . Lion or Lamb

I totally forgot to mention that yesterday's post was a bunch of random thoughts
all jumbled together. You already figured that out by now.

Random thot's continued . . .

When March comes around each year I start thinking about spring and flowers
and birds and mud.  In MN there could be a blizzard or two, snow blowers,
shovels and snowmen.
       We never know.

Or there could be tornadoes instead like the year Krysta was born.

Krysta's birthday comes near the end of March.
Eighteen years ago 16 tornadoes caused tremendous damage in MN and WI.
Ellis and I were in the hospital waiting for Krysta's arrival.
We saw the news about the storms. Then we heard from our family in MT
that Ellis's dad had pneumonia.

Grandpa Harshbarger hung on for a few more days.
Krysta was not quite 2 weeks old when we drove
to Coalridge to say Good-bye.

I remember people asking me if Krysta was ok.
They never heard her cry and thought something must be wrong with her.
She learned to use her lungs later on - believe me!

Bird Song, Coffee and Prize Coffee Cake

There's nothing quite like hearing a cardinal sing outside the window in the early
morning. It was still dark so I couldn't see the red bird but I could hear him
and the wind chimes that hang close to the bird feeder.

This happened Sunday morning when I was scurrying around making coffee
and Prize Coffee Cake for Krysta's *going on a grand adventure*.  Krysta was
getting ready to fly to India to visit friends and help with renovations at an orphanage.

When we are celebrating special moments like that this is the cake we make. If by any chance
Esther Mae Kauffman is reading she might recognize this recipe. She gave it to me many years
ago. (I added the Streusel Topping and cut down on the sugar in the cake.)

Prize Coffee Cake

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening (butter or margarine works too)
Cream together until fluffy
Add 2 eggs
1 cup milk
Mix all together

Dry ingredients:
3 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
Mix together. Pour into greased 9x13 cake pan.

Topping
I cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 T. cinnamon (more or less to taste)
Splash of vanilla
6 T. Butter
Cut the butter into the mixture with pastry cutter
Sprinkle over the cake evenly.
Bake at 350 for 35-40 min.

While that is baking let's go back to the birds.
When Ellis and I got married I could name a few birds
       and match them up with their pictures.

Robin
Cardinal
Blue Bird
Blue Jay
Crow
Wren
Redheaded Woodpecker

Except for the Crow and the Blue Jay I wouldn't have recognized their songs.

(There was one bird my family listened to up north and it was easy to identify by it's song
. . .  the whippoorwill)

When we got married I started on a life long hobby of matching birds with their songs.
We've been feeding the birds for a few years and enjoy quite a variety at our bird feeder.
This year two pesky squirrels have taken over the feeder. They can be a pain.

If you want to follow Krysta's adventure go to:
www.childrensopportunity.org