Sunshine in a Glass

Freshly squeezed key limes in limeade dispel the wintry gloom.

It’s always cold every winter in Kansas, but we usually get a lot of sunshine, which is cheerful even when you’re freezing.  This year it’s been cloudy almost every day.  I was hoping for a break from gloom when I went to southern California in mid-January, but it rained there, too.  I did get some sunny days, too, so I’ll stop whining.  While there, my daughter and I visited long-time friends Jan and Richard.   Their yard is a small orchard of citrus trees — Meyer lemon, key lime and blood orange.  Some years their harvest is so huge they don’t know what to do with it all, partly because everyone with tree is experiencing a boon year, too.

 I was happy to take a few pounds of their key limes off their hands, which I hauled home to snow-covered Kansas. 

Key limes ready for squeezing.

When I visited them in January, we squeezed a lot of key limes to make this refreshing limeade.   They use a sugar syrup to sweeten it.  The recipe for that syrup is in the link below to Richard’s sangria.  They have a handy citrus squeezer, which made the job go quickly.   I bought one when I got home, although I don’t know when I’ll use it again.  Click for the sugar syrup recipe, as well as a tasty  Sangria Recipe.

Key limes.

This key lime tree is loaded with fruit.

All photographs are of Jan and Richard’s key limes.

Teacher/Blogger at Work

Here is my dear friend Jan (Planetjan on my blogroll) photographing a group of stuffed creatures for an illustration for another one of her hilarious and informative posts about life as an elementary school teacher in Southern California (and other topics). She gave us a walking tour of her favorite neighborhoods in the delightful town where she lives. There'd been quite a few changes since I'd last visited. She couldn't resist an opportunity to produce material for her blog, too. (Which is what I was also doing!) To read the post she was working on, click on this photograph.