Go Beavers!

First off in farm news, our smallest turkey is now big enough to roost up with the big kids. Pictured below is our tiny turkey who was the only egg to hatch out of that last batch in June. Somehow it has an injured leg and hobbles a bit. But it's really keeping up with the big ones out there. Also, it's adorable.

Come the end of July it was Valerie's turn to visit Washington, DC. She was on a leadership conference with the FFA. I'd say she experienced a ton and came back a little more worldly. One of the things she learned that was once you get outside of California, not only is it possible, but highly likely to encounter a summer thunderstorm. This had been out of her range of experience. Summer to this kid meant that our state is hot and dry and probably on fire.

We celebrated some yard food around here. We truly had/have more summer squash and tomatoes than we know what to do with. We've had a good crop of peppers and plenty of zinnias and sunflowers. We had a bumper crop of spuds. We had cucumbers up until recently. I'm not sure what happened. But they are dead now. And we intermittently get eggs from the chickens and occasional turkey. It's time for another "Easter" egg hunt out there. We definitely have a hidden nest. Also, we have another turkey sitting on a clutch of mixed chicken and turkey eggs. Not sure how that is going to turn out ...

As mentioned earlier, if it's summer in California, it's probably hot and dry ... and likely on fire. The enormous Carr fire around Redding is about an hour North of us. But we are getting all the smoke down here in the valley too. The below photos were actually taken last Thursday as we drove through Redding on our way to visit Oregon colleges with Valerie and Amira. 

Normally when we point ourselves up interstate 5 to the North we have a grand view of Mount Shasta. We could not see Mount Shasta coming or going as the haze was so thick. In fact, on our way home it was raining ash down on us.

In order to get a respite from the smoke we headed up to Oregon last week to take a look at some colleges that Valerie is interested in attending. Once we crossed over the boarder to Ashland, Valerie took over the driving. Michael rode shot gun. I fielded phone calls and ran spreadsheets from the back seat. Amira sawed logs in the very back of the mini-van.

Thursday afternoon we had an appointment to tour Linn-Benton Community College near Albany, OR. Valerie would love to have a chance to be on their livestock judging team. I was impressed with the school tour. The small campus feels like they have a great sense of community. They also have a culinary program there where their grow the food on campus and cook it up and serve it for student prices. How cool is that? (Valerie has no interest in this program. But I liked the sound of it). The campus has lots of free tutoring, music classes, agriculture classes, welding, machine tooling, medical career path certifications and just about anything you can think of. Also, this college has a degree partnership program with Oregon State University (Go Beavers!)

This means that every single class taken at LBCC will definitely matriculate over to OSU. Niiiiice!

Anyhow, while we were up there, we ran through the town of Albany. It was slightly overcast (not smoky!) and in the 70's. We stumbled upon a carousel downtown. It's the Albany Historic Carousel. It took them 14 years to plan and build it. It just came into operation last year. All of the carousel animals are locally carved. I rode on a pegasus that had faeries in its main and tail. Amira rode upon a large rabbit. We had a blast. I highly recommend a visit if you are ever in the area.

Thursday after our Linn-Benton tour (and carousel rides), we drove about 20 minutes west to Corvallis where we enjoyed a very nice family dinner downtown and cruised the local shops. Corvallis is an adorable town on the Willamette River. It's beautifully landscaped with baskets of hanging flowers on each corner. There are painted murals and sculptures all over the place. This town really puts a lot into the arts and aesthetic and maintenance of the downtown. The vibe was just wonderful and probably would have been more intense had we come when OSU was in session. 

The restaurant was making up cocktails when we got there. They gave the below one for Michael to try but hadn't named it yet. After Michael tried it, he proclaimed that it should be called the San Felipe Campfire. (It was a bit smoky and tequila based). Well, the restaurant liked his suggestion and the San Felipe Campfire was born.

Friday morning we began our super full day of tours and orientations at OSU. We started off our morning by walking about 20 minutes from our hotel on the river over to the main campus. We checked in for a tour that would start at 1pm but were first sent over to the College of Liberal Arts for an orientation at 10am. 

As I listened to everything about OSU and, specifically, the college of Liberal Arts, I had sort of wished that I had this information before applying to a college or deciding on a major.

We were at the college of Liberal Arts as Valerie expressed an interest in possibly majoring (or minoring) in Music. But they have sooooo many other areas to study there. I liked the sound of oceanography myself. But, alas, that ship sailed and hit a sandbar so many years ago.

While here, we found out that if Valerie applies to OSU and gets accepted, she can live on the OSU campus and get all the perks of being an OSU student, including a free shuttle over to Linn-Benton where she can take all of her classes (for in-state tuition). She would only have to take 1 credit at OSU to keep that deal. Now, the hitch is that she pays out of state tuition for classes at OSU.

This sounds like a great idea! She would get the community of the big university with the small classes and tuition of a community college. 

Later that day we went on a full campus tour, admissions orientation and then spoke to financial aid for further details.

I was over the moon with the whole experience. Valerie kept telling me to settle down. She felt like I might have been more excited to attend than her. Amira was attentively tagging along. I hope she got something out of the tour too. 

But, honestly, this college gets so many federal grants and has so many perks for the students. When I attended college, I worked my way through and mostly attended classes at night. Due to budget cuts the library was constantly closed when I needed to use it and there were not a lot of special perks and clubs that I was aware of.

This school is amazing. I'm pretty much a Beaver fan now. I went shopping at the Beaver Store already. (Beavers crack me up. I couldn't stop saying "beaver" and giggling). Valerie was ready to divorce herself from the family by the end of the day and totally ready to move into a dorm there. She really liked the idea of a meal plan ... when I pressed her about what exactly it was that excited her about that she replied, "Not having to cook."

Saturday we said good-by to the cool clear skies of Corvallis and pointed south back toward the smoke. We stopped in Ashland for lunch. We traipsed through Lithia Park into the river walk area filled with artists, musicians and delectable dining.

It was smoky here too. Lots of people with face masks, actually. But compared to what we were about to experience down near Shasta and Redding, it hardly seems worth mentioning.

Here are Michael and Amira checking out some of the local wares while Valerie enjoyed a Thai Coconut Iced Tea below at the Sesame Asian Kitchen patio. This restaurant is great. Tons of gluten free and vegan options.

And now we are back home ... it's hot and smoky and raining ash. Must be summer in California. 

Wild Things

As you may have heard, we have a flock of turkeys in the back yard. We started with a tom (that's Major Tom to you!) and his four hens. Tom and two of his hens are a breed called "Bourbon Red". This is a lovely heritage breed of turkey. The third hen is a "Blue Slate". This is another type of heritage breed turkey. I say heritage breed because these breeds were developed for certain color characteristics and can reproduce naturally, given the chance. Most turkeys raised for dining room tables are "broad breasted" varieties - that grow much larger and faster than heritage breeds. They don't really have the longevity of heritage breeds. And they are so large they cannot reproduce or even fly or roost.

Now that you've had your turkey education, I'll tell you a little something about those heritage breeds. They can fly and are much better foragers than the broad breasted varieties. They are also not as confused and dumb as broad breasted turkeys. They are a bit more akin to their "wild" turkey cousins.

The other morning I looked out the back yard and saw at least 20 baby turkeys and 2 hens strutting through our back yard. At first, I thought it was our turkeys. But you might notice that these guys are brown to black color with barring on the wings. They are very intelligent, cautious and clever. They were nibbling up all sorts of delights (including my blackberries).

There is something magical about having our yard chosen by this wild flock. I guess they felt right at home here with all the other gobbling and barking from our flock.

After a quick snack, they were ready for a drink.

Michael says, "Hey! You know those baby turkeys hatched out by our Blue Slate hen while we were in China? Did you notice that 5 of them are much darker than the others? Did you notice that they are getting barring on their wings? Did you notice that they behave a little differently from our other turkeys? I think they are part wild turkey!"

Here is a photo of one of our little wildlings that hatched out. Sounds like we have been having wild turkey visits for a while now. And some sneaky wild tom (rival to our Major Tom) must have jumped on our Blue Slate hen last spring.

Really, this explains so much! So many turkey shenanigans!

For contrast you can see below the lighter color turkey on the left is a mix of Bourbon Red and Blue Slate. The darker turkey on the right is a mix of Wild Turkey and Blue Slate.

Michael really is the best darn poultry farmer ever.

Speaking of Michael, the girls and I asked him to do something for us the other day that just made him put his foot down. He said, "That is NOT my job. Look, if it's heavy, broken or dead, then it is my job. Your request does not fall into those categories, therefore, it's not my job." 

We are still laughing about that one. Truly, those are his jobs around here (in addition to his day job of keeping this Ark afloat). And for that, we are also grateful.

Family Vacation Part II: The Sequel

Sunday morning, the first of July, we said good-bye to Uncle Dave in Santa Cruz and pointed the minivan down Hwy 101 toward Long Beach. Along the way we thought we might stop at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. But really we just stopped for gas in that town. Not quite up to the task of seriously looking, we plugged along until we were lured to the blue waters and bougainvillea of Santa Barbara. We did a quick drive through of the UCSB campus and then focused on making it down to Los Angeles for dinner (and a quick drive through of UCLA) and then to our hotel in downtown Long Beach. It was a full day of driving for sure.

Monday morning Michael and I were up earlier than Rex and Amira, naturally. As we were so close to the water we took a nice walk down to the harbor to see the Queen Mary and the boats and shops there. We even saw a seal playing around by one of the piers.



Once the teens awoke, we began our day of looking for future lodgings for Rex. He's been connecting with a woman in Long Beach who helps find housing for international students attending Cal State Long Beach. She places them in houses with other students, families or professionals. And she is apparently like a mom to them. I really liked her. After looking at a number of options, Rex decided to fill out a lease for a room with private bath and kitchen privileges. He'll be in the main house with a couple of professionals. There is another house in the back where three other international students will be staying. There is also laundry in the house. He will be close to the beach and not too far from school.

The place that he really liked was a house just for international students. At that house each student either gets a private room with shared bath or private room with private bath. Laundry is on premises and they pay a once per semester house cleaning fee. (house cleaner!!! Comes with the place ... amazing). The place looked like fun - and very college student oriented. Unfortunately, one has to apply for those rooms at least six months in advance. Rex applied for a room for January. So, at some point in November he will either decide to stay in the room he is renting (starting this summer) or he will give notice and plan to move into the student house in January.

It sounds like this woman also puts together social events for the students (no matter where she has them housed) so that they can get together and socialize with other students. What a great idea. I like this woman!

Once we figured out the living situation, we headed off to UTI to check out his new school. We got there just in time for a tour. Rex was also able to talk to someone about assisting him with job placement. He plans to work part time while he goes to school. 

What an exciting time! Here he is in front of his new school:



Tuesday morning Michael dropped off Rex, Amira and myself at Disneyland and headed off to play golf. I think this was more fun for everyone this way. And Amira had been so young the last time we went to Disneyland, she has no recollection of it. 

We kicked it off with Space Mountain and ended on Indiana Jones. Of course I had to torment them with It's a Small World in the middle of the day. We even took a break and went out to "Downtown Disney" for lunch at the Jazz Kitchen. Not only was it way more delicious than the "cafeteria fare" being offered in the park, but it was quiet and cool by comparison.

The three of us tore up the park from 9am-5pm. I thought surely we would stay later. But those teens are so mature. They decided to leave on a high note. Good for them! (and me)

Michael had just made it down to San Clemente to visit our friends, Steve & Kelley, when he got our text and had to head into rush hour traffic to head back to Anaheim to collect us. (Thanks, honey!)

We were all excited to see Kelley and Steve at their beautiful San Clemente home on the hill with views overlooking a canyon. That place was like Club Med! Also, they had just gotten a new puppy (the name is still up for debate ...) that was ADORABLE. So, there was that in addition to the fun visit with friends. Oh, and lets not forget ping pong for the teens.

Wednesday was the 4th of July. Michael and the Bogusiewicz Family headed down to the beach while I headed to the airport to pick up Valerie. (She had just been in Oregon for another Livestock Judging event. Grandpa Alligator dropped her off at the Sacramento airport for the flight down by herself. I tell you, these teens are all grown up). She really wanted to be with us for the ride home on Interstate 5 Saturday. (Ha ha!)

Wednesday was an easy day of visiting followed by a night of watching the fireworks show down at the beach. Last time I came down Kelley had taken me to her Zumba class. Now she is doing a "barre3" workout. (First we pay. Then we play)! Honestly, it worked me.

Steve took Rex for a ride in his old Renault. Just a couple of shirtless dudes.

Thursday was a beach day. Look at all these beach babes!

Friday was our last official day (before our departure Saturday morning to head back home). This was a day for Michael and Steve to jam with their friend Brian, who plays drums. Kelley and I briefly played the parts of back up dancers and good audience members. Sure, we were groupies.



Rex whipped up some salsa and guacamole. He does such an amazing job.

After all the sun, fun, music and food we fell asleep to music in Steve's "stereo" room. Here's Kelley with her sleeping puppy. Awwwe! I think we tuckered them all out.

Thanks to everyone who hosted us or helped transport us around for an awesome summer vacation. 

Family Vacation Part I

Friday at high noon we departed Chico for the first leg of "Family Summer Vacation 2018" to Santa Cruz. Our minivan cruised through the dusty heat of the valley and we observed fields of sunflowers and squash whip by out the windows between orchards until we reached the desolation of the brown grassy hills before Vacaville. The next couple of hours were sunk into Bay Area traffic - which wasn't as bad as we'd anticipated. We arrived at Uncle Dave's house about 5pm. What a relief to escape the heat of the valley to the cool coastal fog of Santa Cruz. Dave welcomed us with a delicious slow smoked pork dinner that he began preparing at 2am. Sooooo delicious!

We set up a family sleeping area in Dave's home theater where the Rex and Amira popped on the VR headgear and played a bar fight game that was hilarious. Saturday morning I woke early and headed over to "People's Coffee" (a tradition on our visits) where I grabbed my deliciously potent cup of joe and headed back to Dave's where I enjoyed the quiet morning of coffee and reading. Morning solitude is always savored ... as long as there is good coffee. 

The teens slept until about 11am or so in the blacked out home theater while Michael and Dave watched the World Cup game downstairs.

In the afternoon Dave lead us out to Wilders State Park for a hike along the coast to observe birds and harbor seals. (Adorable!)

I learned that if I hand my phone to Amira to take photos, there will be flattering selfies. I can only imagine she took this photo in the hopes that I'd post it to Tifftown:

Bwahahaaaa!

Anyway, what a relaxing day along the coast feeling the excitement of standing on the edge of the continent ... knowing that we had to wear sweatshirts here while it would be about 107 degrees back at home. Valerie was there looking after the farm in anticipation of her own trip back up to Oregon with her Livestock judging team. (She'll fly down to Orange County on Wednesday where I'll pick her up and she can finish the family vacation with us down there).

Waves, caves, sand, salty ocean breeze, birds, bees, seals and a great family visit with Uncle Dave. Why don't we do this more often?!

Saturday night was Pork Part II: Tacos! The rest of the evening we enjoyed the wildlife visiting Dave's back yard. There were gray squirrels, black squirrels, a number of birds and finally a skunk. No photos. Use your imagination. They were adorable.

Today we drive down to SoCal where we will start our adventures in Long Beach to check to check out where Rex will be moving in August.

More adventures to come ...

Smells Like Teen Spirit

Amira jumped right into June with a post-graduation 8th grade trip to Washington, DC and New York. She went to the capitol, many museums, Arlington Cemetery and saw lots of monuments in the first part of the trip. As she traveled up to NY in a bus with her companions, they were treated to ferry rides to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, World Trade Center, Wall Street, Ground Zero, dinner in Little Italy and a Broadway play, Hello Dolly. She also got to take boats out in Central Park. It was fast paced!

Upon her return, we had planned a family camping trip up to Lake Siskiyou (right in the shadow of gorgeous Mt. Shasta). But, alas, family members dropped out of that trip like flies. Rex couldn't take that weekend off work, so he stayed home. Michael was compelled to take a job in San Francisco that weekend. Valerie had "forgotten" that she had a sheep/livestock judging event in Oregon that whole week. So, I let Amira invite her friend, Sarah, along for a "women's weekend camp trip".

Amira and Sarah are professional campers. They got their tent set up lickety split. While I was still struggling with mine they set up the camp kitchen. We roasted s'mores under the stars that night. And might I add, those girls volunteered to do the dishes that night. Seriously, I didn't even ask. I was in heaven!

The following morning we made an awesome camp breakfast and then packed down to the beach at Lake Siskiyou where we spent the entire day. There was a little "beach Yoga" to start. We played in a raft that we brought along. And then the girls spent the rest of the day on some floaties (slides and docks and other inflatable toys) while I sat on the beach with a book. It felt like a real vacation.

Sunday morning we packed up camp relatively quickly and treated ourselves to breakfast at the Original Black Bear Diner in Shasta City. This is becoming a tradition now that we have done this twice. I kind of want to go back and stare at the mountain, stars and water again. It was kind of magical.

When we returned to the valley, the cousins (Maya and Anya) came down from Oregon for a visit. There was much splashing in the pool, painting of the nails and a trip to the movies.

Picture above are the cousins with Anya and Maya in the front row. Age ranges from 10-18 this year. Wow!

And now we are getting ready for another week of real summer vacation. Mmmmm! Summer vacation!! Feels so good.