Eagles, Recipes, and Stash

Well I have been MIA but it is with a fairly decent excuse.  My hands have been extremely swollen and painful.  It has only been within the past day or two that I have been able to grasp and hold a sewing needle.  I have not been able to even think of holding and manipulating a tapestry needle to do counted stitching of any kind.  I was able to back a banner for a baptism at church tomorrow but not without much difficulty.  I am able to do more things each day but still not the things I dearly want to do.  So- - -bear with me. 
Yes, Christine, we commonly see eagles within the city limits; we see many more eagles today than even a couple years ago.  The eagles like to be around the rivers that flow through this area, the Mississippi and the St. Croix before it flows into the Mississippi.  They like to soar on the thermals above the river bluffs to the south of where I live.  Wabasha, Minnesota which is right on the Mississippi River just below Lake Peppin has become well known for having eagles and their Eagle Center.  We stopped off a week ago to see what we could see.  We did not see any flying outside but we saw three inside the center.  They had all been injured but could not be released into the wild after their injuries healed.  Below are pictures of all three. 
Just look at their claws; they are huge and very strong.  It is difficult to see their legs but they are very strong and much more muscle bound than any song bird legs.  I would not want to tangle with even these handicapped eagles.  

The next picture is the Mississippi just outside the Eagle Center.  The bridge goes across to Wisconsin.  The hills on the other side of the river are in Wisconsin.  The wide area in the river just beyond the bridge is Lake Peppin.  The "lake" is a riverine lake and not a true lake.  The current of the river flows through it from north to south. 

Recipes 

This is the pear chutney that I made a couple weeks ago.  It really is extremely good.  I used bosc pears but you could use any good cooking pear. 

This chocolate cake became my go to recipe after I made it the first time.  The title of the recipe does not do the cake justice.  I do not have a picture of my cake for you so you will have to use your imagination.  Just picture a very dark, dense chocolate cake. 


Now on to stash
This weekend we had one of our semi-annual rummage sales at church.  It is a chance to clear out at least some of your accumulated schmuck and benefit the church outreach programs at the same time.  The women who set up the rummage sale pulled these things out of the sale and thought they might cheer me up while my hands heal. 

There is an assortment of DMC flosses and other metallic threads plus the box that most of the threads are in.  There are four placemats and eight napkins.  I think I might like to stitch them with a blue and white design to complement my Blue Willow dishes.  There are also several charts, a couple of which I think are very cute.  There is a bread basket cover to embroider and a fairly large piece of ivory Aida.  I have not decided what to do with it yet.  I will be integrating these things into my stash as the week progresses.