Autumn Harvest Time

Wow. My last post was in August! Where does the time go? Suddenly it's October and I have some catching up to do. These months are flying by faster than they used to. Or, perhaps, my perception of time is skewing to my age ... 

Well, let's do some catching up. Amira started 7th grade at the junior high this year. She loves having all the different teachers for each subject and the elective. This year her elective is i-Tech. This is like industrial arts. There is measuring and working with wood and assorted tools (hand and power). She has an awesome teacher. She is also enjoying math this year. Her math teacher does not only teach math but gives lessons in mindfulness which she seems to appreciate. I appreciate that this is being taught in school. Frankly, I could use a little mindfulness training myself. And don't even get me started on how great her history and English teachers are. She is a lucky duck!

Valerie is a sophomore this year and an officer in the FFA. That seems to keep her very busy. She is still raising sheep and taking piano lessons. She found out that there is an FFA orchestra and has dabbled with her cello again. We are still waiting for more than 24 hours in a day so that she can participate in all the activities that interest her. As I write this she is off in San Francisco at the Cow Palace for a sheep show. She also apparently enjoyed a rodeo last night. I think that bull riding now interests her. Thank goodness we don't have time for that and all the chiropractic that comes with it.

Rex is a junior this year. How did that happen? He is still all about the paintball. As I write this he is at a tournament in Las Vegas. He is in his third year of engineering and has taken on a job through school helping a company design side cars for motorcycles.  How cool is that?

Michael has kicked off his busy season with trips all over the place including Paris & Barcelona. Thanks for working so hard for us, Honey! When he is home he works very hard around the house maintaining all the crazy animals and appliances and equipment. For relaxation there is playing guitar and watching sports. The sound of a football game playing in the house makes it feel like Fall around here. 

Here is a photo flashback from September. Amira and her Girl Scout troop camped out at a water park and basically had a blast. Here they are in front of her leader's house. 

Valerie manages to squeeze in some social time with her friends (pictured left to right: Isa, Raelyn, Ruth & Valerie). They went to see a country concert for Raelyn's birthday.

In September Michael and I made a special trip to San Francisco to re-connect with my cousin Lisa and her husband, Peter, who came over from Australia. We took them up to the View on top of the Marriott hotel for the tremendous views and drinks. Then we went out for some tapas and Beach Blanket Babylon. I highly recommend this show to anyone visiting San Francisco. It's always a great evening. And how fun to see Lisa and Peter. Lisa and I were able to pick up where we left off years ago. She is still trying to persuade us to come visit Australia. Peter's family owns a sheep station outside of Canberra. He suggested Valerie might consider being a Jillaroo. Hmmmm ... food for thought. Now we just need thousands of dollars to fly there. Dang. 

San Francisco was experiencing its Indian Summer. It was about 80* there. Michael and I were meeting some friends (former Washington Placers for those in the know) for brunch the following day down at the yacht club so we decided that we should take the ubiquitous tourist selfie in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. Our entire weekend was filled with great visits and tremendous views. I might have left my heart in San Francisco. But now there's a bunch of rich hipsters living there. Well, the country life for me now!

October brought my little friend, Ramón, home to live with us. He is a periwinkle blue little budgie. Still young and not quite tamed. But I'm pretty stoked to have my little blue house chicken. Yes, we needed one more animal. 

October also brought on an impromptu trip to see more cousins. Caleb & Callie are pretty awesome. I was again blessed with more tremendous views and a great visit with some fantastic cousins! And thanks again to Michael for holding down the fort so I could slip out for a quick visit. 

This weekend Michael is in Barcelona, Valerie in San Francisco, Rex in Las Vegas leaving behind Amira and myself to hold down the fort and all its critters. Friday night was Amira's first junior high dance. We had a busy afternoon so we stopped in at In & Out for a quick bite before hand. I chaperoned the dance and stayed after to clean up. It was Hawaiian themed so there were pieces of lei all over the place. Junior High dances are a total kick. I love the innocence and the fun. 

This weekend it was a little blustery but not too rainy. My jungle of a summer garden has really passed its prime. I really need to get in there and clean it up. But basically today I ran through and harvested winter squash and sun flowers for the chickens. I still have some zinnias in there cheering the place up. I looooove zinnias!

The chickens said thank you for the seeds. How did they say thanks? With eggs of course. It's like magic. I can turn garden scraps into a quiche!

Knowing that I was going to be late cleaning up the summer garden, Michael helped build planters up to start a new winter garden. Below are my broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage and brussel sprouts. They took a solid beating in a hail storm a week or so ago and also some raids by our sneaky chickens. They are survivors (so far)!! 

Here is my winter squash harvest this year. Really shocked that these all survived the aphids and white flies I had. Woo hoo! More survivors. I shall make you into pies!

Below are pictured some sweet potatoes I harvested from the front yard. Man, it's no kidding when they say these can grow in crummy soil. They even broke up some very hard clay. I have some orange ones and purple ones. Also there is a bunch more for me to harvest in the back jungle garden (where the soil is actually quite nice). But that is for another day. 

Kahlua yams, anyone?

Hot August Nights

We slid right into August this year with another trip up to Donner Lake. It was decidedly quieter than 4 July. And rumor has it that the water in the lake was ever so slightly warmer. I wouldn't know first hand as I'm a toe dipper myself. But Michael and the kids are part mer-people and cannot get enough of the aquatic life. Michael & Amira swam out to the dock to check the beach view from there. (Thanks again to Susan and John for the cabin and beach access! We don't get up as often as we like. But we sure appreciate you when we do).

Rex and I made sure that the shore didn't go anywhere. And we played the important parts of photographer for our aquatic family members. Also we got in a few more games of table tennis. That is my beach activity of choice ... right next to taking a nap and reading.

 Thar she goes! Action photo of Amira diving in from the dock. 

After a quiet day and evening at the cabin we cruised down into Reno. The girls and I squeezed in a game of mini-golf. The girls were getting a little hungry and took to each other with the clubs outside the "Whatsyersis Mine". That was just perfect. Being frugal, I packed my lunch and drink. Also, it was a favor to the girls. No sense all three of us getting snippy.

After a quick bite to eat we skipped off for a few rounds of bowling. It was pretty warm outside so an indoor activity seemed in order. 

Later that day we caught up with Scott, Dawn, Joel and Dawn's family at the house where they were staying. It was easy to pick out. It had all the classic cars parked out front. Here are the gals in front of the Falcon.

Hey, Amira, if someone slaps you on the back while you make that face, it might stick that way forever.

 And here are the guys in front of the Thunderbird.

We all piled into assorted classic cars/truck and headed in to a casino buffet. Nom nom nom. Rex got to ride in the front of the T-bird. Looking good!

Tiff/Scott selfie in the casino while waiting in line for the buffet. After dinner was a show by the Paperback Writers (Beatles cover band) and checking out all the classic cars in the lot.

 Scott, Rex & Joel in the truck.

The following day Scott, Dawn, Joel and Dawn's parents came up to the lake for lunch and a visit. It must be genetic to feel the need to nap at the beach. 

It's tradition to get a photo with the lake and the mountains in the background. Looking good!!

Aunt, Uncle, Nephew, Nieces ... possibly super heroes?

 More jumping off the dock. Joel was incredibly athletic. That guy could spin and plunge!

Later that night it was back down to Reno for the Wednesday night cruise at Hot August Nights. I was lucky enough to drive the Falcon so that Dawn could be photographer. Thanks again for the awesome experience! Scott piled Joel, Rex, Valerie & Amira into the back of his truck. It was pretty cool.

After the cruise was over Rex got some night driving practice in the Swagger Wagon (minivan) as we started our journey home. We got home about 2am and he turned a bunch of his laundry and was back in another car for the long drive to Oceanside the next day for a paintball tournament. He was gone before the rest of us even woke up. When I was 16 I guess I could do that too. 

His team did well. They came in 3rd out of 25. Go Norcal Kings!

Michael and I turned some laundry ourselves and then drove down to Murphys, CA. We had never been there before. it's a little wine country in the Sierra Foothills South East of Sacramento. We had a reunion with our Washington Place friends from San Francisco. "Washington Place" was an apartment building in San Francisco where a bunch of us young, single city slickers lived in our 20's and 30's. Gradually we all moved out and got married and life went on. We have remained friends all these years. And here we are for Joerg's 50th birthday.

When we drove home on Sunday we looked forward to dinner at our friends' house, Holly & Casey. They have a garden straight out of the garden tour and have been known to raise a pig or two as well as poultry in their yard. They are super homesteader models. Also, they are just good people who are fun to be around. We had some beef brisket that was taking up some space in our freezer so we turned it over to Casey to brine it and it became part of an amazing homegrown spread. 

The travels were fun. But it's always good to be home. And to be greeted with this homegrown garden feast was out of this world. So colorful. We could taste the summer.

We are lucky to have such amazing friends and family. Now off for a nap.

Unlicensed

Bunny update: They are fat and happy and possibly addicted to kale.

Too much kale ... must take nap ...

In other news, our garden has been putting out some good stuff. I am thrilled with our veggies. Also I threw in some zinnia seeds, So when I look out at it garden it's just a burst of color. It may sound like I am bragging. But mostly I'm just appreciative. Some years the garden is amazing. Other years it has issues. This is a good year. For this I am thankful.

We also have an abundance of poultry in the yard at the moment. Honestly there is over 40 birds back there. We have layers and chickens for meat and three turkeys. One of our roosters (a very good looking one) went down to the neighbor's house to live. Amira's friend, Bella, has a cute yard full of chickens and horses. Her banty rooster is getting older so we sent them an up and coming lad. Remember the bunny carrier that used to house Buster in Phoenix? Well, it's packed with a roo!

Recently Amira got invited to a Willy Wonka mystery themed party where they had to solve who stole the ever-lasting-gobstopper. It was sort of like a murder mystery dinner but more candy oriented. Amira was assigned to play Mrs. Gloop. Here is a very young and fashionable Mrs. Gloop. Note the length of her gorgeous locks. She's all about styling the hair and doing the make up. What a glamour-puss.

When the orchard provides fruit ... I provide tarts! It's an almond flour crust (no sugar) and just a tablespoon of honey in the gelatin glaze. Naturally sweet and delicious. Nom, nom, nom. 

So, Amira came to dinner with decided shorter hair last night. She did it herself. Surprise!

 She couldn't really see the back when she cut it.

 But, I have to say that overall she did a good job. 

This brought back memories of her early hair cutting experiences ... which seemed to happen often. Here is a link to a blog that includes a much more severe hair experience when she was in kindergarten. Enjoy that blast from the past.

Valerie was a little bent out of shape. "Wait a minute! Amira cuts her own hair and you take pictures of it? If I cut my own hair, you'd yell at me!" Oh, the indignation. We reminded Valerie that Amira tends to use scissors and that Valerie uses a drill bit or rock polisher as noted here in a blog post that shows how Valerie tends to get her hair fixed.

I'm not actually condoning any self hair clipping for any member of the family. We must again remind Amira that she does not have a license. Although when I contacted our hair stylist for an appointment to clean Amira's hair-do up she took a look at the photos and texted, "Oh geez! Maybe cosmetology is in her future."

Here are Amira and Valerie calling on the "foot phone" for a license to cut hair. Nice try.

Amira's wish list includes a cosmetology head for practice. If anyone feels so inspired ... we would welcome anonymous donations of such things before she runs out of her own hair.

Go Team!

I forgot to mention a few things in last post. First, Valerie got to take some horse lessons this summer. Her friend Hailey brought her horse along for a trail ride to one of them. Here are Hailey and Valerie in the kiwi orchard on the horses. I wish I had a close up photo of Hailey's horse. It has the most crystal blue eyes ever. It's pretty stunning.

Meanwhile, I can occasionally snag a good photo of Rex and his team when he posts them. I like this one because I can actually see his face. Also, he complained that he was shirtless in all the photos on the last post. It should be noted that he walked up to me without a shirt on and asked why he was shirtless in all the photos. Oh, you ironic teenagers!

Here's Valerie with her champion sheep at the state fair. Hailey (her friend and sheep mentor) his holding up her banner and belt buckle. Yay, Valerie!

Here is a close up of her first belt buckle. So shiny!

Summer Fun

Oh, summer break, how you fly so swiftly! Well, actually, the school years are flying by quickly too. Maybe this is just time in general. I cannot keep up with it! Remember when time used to creep slowly? It may be doing that now for Michael. He is doing his civic duty - jury duty - this week. 

This summer Valerie kicked it off with a back country back packing trip with a couple of friends up at Mt. Lassen. She was generous enough to share a few photos of said adventure.

Just as soon as she came back from her camping trip we were off to Eugene for the annual Black Sheep Gathering. Valerie showed more of Carol's champion Shetland Sheep. Valerie also placed first in showmanship this year. That was a treat to see.

While working the Black Sheep event, we stayed in a trailer on the fair grounds. It was a sweet deal. We made it very cozy. Coffee and tea were brewed and I brought my essential oil diffuser to make it smell nice. We sat around in the evenings and crocheted together, Valerie, Madelyn and I. We shared meals at Carol's trailer with her family. She brought meals for everyone. We provided a few desserts and brought some flowers from home to be a center piece on the table. It was a very nice time.

Here are Hailey, Valerie, Madelyn and Meghan with Carol's grandchildren, Alaina and Alex. It was a lot of work the last few days so now it's time for the gang to collapse on the straw bails and wait for the signal to load out.

Back at home Rex was making a batch of popcorn on the stove. It's inevitable that some popcorn will spill when tipping it from the pot to the bowl. Rex thought of a genius way to clean up the popcorn.

Rex really enjoys the poultry. He and Michael are in the process of selecting 2 roosters to keep for our flocks. They will be keeping one of the white rock roosters to breed out more meat stock. And then Rex has chosen his favorite rooster from our tax day hatchlings to be our breeding rooster for the laying flock. This guy, below with the fluffy cheeks, is Rex's favorite. He is training it to be a nice rooster. He's got it perching on his arm here. 

My friend Crystal likes to call this "FFF" for "Forced Family Fun". We packed up the kids and took them to the cabin at Donner Lake for 4th of July. It's always such a scene up there and so crowded. But we expect it and manage to have a good time each year. The crowds are kind of fun to see and hear. It's a real festival atmosphere. Here are the kids trapped in the car on the way up the mountain. They are all snacking and listening to their tunes. Rex is cooling off after a paintball practice in Davis.

Once up at the cabin we settled in and trotted over to the lake. Amira was Michael's little buddy the whole weekend. Here they are enjoying the cool mountain weather by the water.

There was many a game of table tennis on the beach. Michael was the only one who actually swam in the water this year. I am a notorious land lubber. So my book and I sat on the beach. Well, I did get up for a game or two of ping pong. My main goal was to stay cool, relax and see some fireworks. Mission accomplished.

Following our weekend at Donner, Valerie was back on sheep duty. She is in Sacramento for Part 1 of the California State Fair. Michael and Amira and I came down on Sunday to watch her show. Then we went off to enjoy some of the fair. Each year this is an awesome petting zoo set up behind the barns. Here is Michael with his new alpaca friend (with the crazy Dr. Seuss salon job) having snacks.

Well, the alpaca was having snacks ... not so much Michael.

Our favorite animals to see at the petting zoo are the wallabies. They spring around the place and always appear so happy. They have little joeys in their pouches (which cannot be seen here). When they get tired of the crowds, the zoo people hang bags on the fences and they jump in and relax.

Amira was up for the rides. Sadly, I cannot tolerate them anymore. Amira went on most of the spinning ones by herself. But she got Michael to go on the roller coaster with her. What an awesome dad!

Amira and I both enjoy sitting in those chairs that give the vibrating foot massages. We decided to take a selfie in our happy moment of foot massage and lemonade. Valerie and I will be back at the State Fair in two weeks for Part 2 of sheep showing. So, maybe I can get another footsie massage?