Canoeing on the Owens River

Saturday John and I spent the day canoeing with friends. We started with breakfast at the Ranch House Cafe in Olancha then made a pit stop/bread run (we also sampled the gelato) at Schat's in Bishop before we got on the water.


That's the Owens River with the Sierra Mountains in the background. We paddled about 3 miles in about 2 hours. Very fun. I'm already looking forward to doing it again.

It's Called Desert Calico

John and I went back to that canyon to rock climb some more. This time I took a picture of that flower I mentioned that looks like a miniature orchid. I found out at the fair's wildflower exhibit on Thursday night it's called Desert Calico (Loeseliastrum mattewsii).

Isn't it sooo cute?!

California Poppy Reserve

We took a trip on Saturday to the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. The Poppy Festival in Lancaster was this weekend so I thought it a good idea to go see the poppies. We did not go to the festival. After visiting the Reserve we instead went to see the new Jackie Chan movie, Forbidden Kingdom, starring Jackie Chan AND Jet Li. It's the first movie ever featuring both martial artists and yes they do combat each other. It was a fun movie. I love Jackie Chan.

Thousands and thousands of poppies.

Can you tell it's windy and cold? Brent and Kevin went too, but they took a separate car with some friends so most of the time we spent with them was after to movie at Trader Joe's.

Speaking of Orchids

Mom gave me this orchid a couple of years ago during one of her visits. It was blooming when she gave it to me and look, it's blooming again. I didn't think it would bloom again, but I got a surprise. Thanks Mom.

It's Springtime in the High Desert

I love the desert. It's so pretty this time of year with the wildflowers blooming all over place. The diversity of the plants is imense. The plants range from crazy big sunflower type plants with matching yellow blooms to scraggly shrubs with deep indigo blooms to little itty-bitty barely there plants with pink spotted blooms that look like mini miniature orchids. It seems every color in the rainbow is represented in wildflowers; yellow, orange, blue, purple, pink, hot pink, white, red . . . I love the desert.


John and I revisited Indian Wells Canyon. The last time we were here it was snowing, I said I was going to climb those rocks. Remember? Well we've started rock climbing. Last weekend we went to Bishop, got some climbing shoes and started climbing rocks over there. And then on Monday we visited Wagon Wheel and climbed some rocks there. This morning we just climbed some easy stuff here in Indian Wells Canyon, nothing major. We're still breaking in our shoes and developing climbing feet. We want to climb the more difficult rocks, but we really should have ropes to do that. We don't have ropes yet.


I get so excited when I see this cactus flower bloom; it smells just like watermelon and the color is so vibrant.


Hi!

Calvary Chapel Ridgecrest Biker Blessing 2008

This little Honda Rebel belongs to a friend of John. He borrowed it so we could participate in the 3rd Annual Calvary Chapel Ridgecrest Biker Blessing. Each year we invite bikers from all over to participate in a short ride, BBQ, fellowship and concert. This year Darrell Mansfield was the entertainment. Nearly 300 bikes and their riders showed up for the event of which John and I were two. The volunteer police department stopped all the traffic as we breezed through Ridgecrest, down Highway 178 to Inyokern and back via Brown Road and Highway 395. Riding with that many bikes was like being in a parade; one long continuous stream of bikes for as far as the eye could see. I understand now why bikers like to ride together. People were spotted on the streets to behold the curious site cheering and waving. It was a beautiful day.

Just Like Mom Used to Make ~ Surprise!

Muffins that is. Remember when Mom used to make surprise muffins? I don't know why I haven't made these before until now. Yummy! There weren't any leftover.

Spaghetti Squash Bake

In the fall I bought a spaghetti squash because I never had had one before and it was inexpensive. It sat around the kitchen for awhile until I decided to cook it and store it in the freezer. I just wasn't feeling inspired. Earlier this week I decided I was going to make something of it; I was tired of it taking up room in my freezer. So,this is what that squash became ~ Spaghetti Squash Bake. I shopped around online for a recipe and found this one. Put the cooked squash in the bottom of a baking dish, cover it with a jar of spaghetti sauce and cheese (in this case I used fontina because I had some left over from the butternut squash lasagne and Parmesan; same thing) then bake it at 350 for about thirty minutes (covered then uncovered) until it is bubbly and the cheese is melted and a little browned on the top if you like that sort of thing. Oh, and I sprinkled the top with fresh parsley to make it look nice and because I had some left over from the salad. I wasn't expecting much, but WOW it was really surprisingly good. Kevin even ate some and Mom had seconds. It tastes like lasagne and so easy.

It Must Be Poetry Season

Natalie brought this poem home from school today. I thought it was appropriate to post because of my last entry and because Robin just posted some of her son's poetry. I especially like the cat with the bunny tail. It even has Ginger's nose. So cute!

Me and Ginger the Bunny Cat Dog

I call Ginger my bunny cat dog because he's soft and cute like a bunny (he's actually my surrogate bunny because I want a bunny but John won't let me get one; he thinks the cats will eat it), but he's really a cat that acts like a dog. For instance, this afternoon I spilled some chicken broth on the floor and he came right in from the other room and lapped it up off the floor just like a dog! In this picture he's purring which is rare. I wanted to get a picture of it. So, here it is, Ginger the purring bunny cat dog.

Sprouts Man!

Something else I've been doing lately is spouting seeds. Here in the windowsill are lentils on the left and mung on the right. Yum! I've been eating them in green salads. Supposedly they're really really good for you. If you want to learn about sprouting visit the sproutman and sproutman.com.

Another New Recipe . . . Butternut Squash Lasagne

I ran across this recipe on a video blog I download onto my ipod and watch during long car trips. It's made with bechamel, no boil noodles, fontina and Parmesan cheeses, and of course roasted butternut squash. It too was alright. Good enough to have the first and second days, but not the third. If you're interested or think you can improve the recipe (if you do let me know) here is the link. I really really wanted to like this a lot. Maybe I can improve it somehow . . .

Flourless Chocolate Cake

I was reading some random blogs the other day and ran across one written by a girl who savors flourless chocolate cake in the afternoons. She was kind enough to publish the link to the recipe so I made one. Here are the pictures to prove it.

Here is the cake almost right after I took it out of the oven. Right when I took it out of the over it was so puffy it looked like it was going to flow over the sides.

It looks just like real cake.

I ate some too.


It was alright. I liked it enough to have a second piece the next day, but not a third piece on the third day. It was best when it was still warm out of the oven. I may or may not make this recipe again.

Rock Climbing - Joshua Tree National Park

Last weekend John took me to Joshua Tree to go rock climbing.

Here I am practicing on a boulder. "Warming up".

Gearing up for the big rocks.

Ready to go.



Here I am belaying someone on the rocks.

This is not a picture of me, but a shot of someone else at the same spot I was on the highest part of my climb. John's hands were full of the ropes supporting me to get photos of this climb. It's about 80 feet high. I climbed three different rocks that day, four if you count the boulder.

Cool huh?

Happy Birthday Heather

Heather turned 20 years old today. Instead of cake I made Mom's chocolate mousse recipe from years ago. Everyone loved it. Thanks Mom! For dinner I also served another one of Mom's old stand bys; chicken enchiladas. Thanks again Mom. Love you.

Happy Birthday Heather. Love you.

OOOs and XXXs

I Found the Gun

The last couple of times John and I have been out in the desert hiking or what not shooting his gun seemed like a fun thing to do the only trouble was John could not find his gun. I've never been shooting with John, I've never even seen his gun, but I knew he had a gun because he's taken Kevin out shooting before and I've seen the gun case with the gun in it just not the gun itself. Even though it was misplaced I knew it was safe because John keeps it locked while in storage and he knew where the key was just not the gun. I got another itch to go shooting this weekend and the weather is perfect right now so I looked for the gun yesterday and what do you know? I found it! I also found Robin's old turn table that Mom has been storing for her and a wine rack which is something I've been wanting lately. John drove Kevin and me to a nearby, well known shooting area which I knew existed but had never been. I was surprised by the great number of shot gun shells littering the ground. What a weird sight; all the different colors and sizes. We set up some targets (we came equipped with empty soda cans) loaded a couple of clips with little 22s and fired away.

Here is Kevin having a turn.



Here I am having a turn with the gun.

Sort of fun; not as fun as I thought it was going to be; not a disappointment; don't need to do that again any time soon.

Cat Tree

I've been wanting a cat tree to put in front of the front window in the living room for our cats for some time now (they like to lay around on the couch in the sun in the mornings and sleep and I don't really want them on the couch cause they leave dirt and hair all over), but every time I shop for them I am discouraged by the price. Tall two tiered cat trees are around $100 which I don't want to spend on that so, I decided to make one yesterday. With my determination and imagination and help from John we were able to build a decent cat tree with materials we already had in our garage. I measured with a tape measure, penciled lines with a square, cut lumber with a circular saw, drilled holes with a cordless drill and set screws with a power drill as did John (we took turns; it was a true team effort).

Here is John in the garage with on of the drills we used.

Here is the finished product. The original plan was to cover it with carpet (we also have spare that in our garage), but we haven't gotten around to doing it yet. The cats seem to like it.

Ta-da!

December 8 and 9, 2007

If you hadn't figured already John and I like to travel around on the weekends. We were running out of new places to visit that are close enough to get to on the weekend when some friends said we should visit Solvang; so, we did. We drove over on a Saturday, stayed two nights and drove back on Monday.

Once we were in town and shopping (cause that's what you do in Solvang) everyone was talking about the Nativity Pageant being presented at the local amphitheater that night; so, we went. There were live donkeys and goats and really really pretty music. Glad we did that. If you ever get a chance to be there for that be sure to bring a blanket; it was very cold.

The church we found to go to on Sunday was in Los Olivos; that's how we found Los Olivos Cafe where I had the best salad I've ever had in a restaurant (see above). It's a roasted butternut squash salad with dried cranberries and goat cheese with a balsamic vinaigrette. The only thing it's missing is purple pansies. Super delicious.

After lunch we walked through town and passed a park where there was this turkey. I don't remember exactly what it was doing there. It's the first one I've really seen up close and also the wild turkeys I have seen are not this breed. I thought it was kinda cool being so big and beautiful and everything and just hanging out at the park.

What you expect to see in Solvang; windmills.

The Hitching Post was visited for a light dinner.

Someone at one of the shops talked about the roasted artichoke they serve and how good it is; so, I got it. It was delicious. It's roasted over an indoor open flame barbecue and served with roasted tomato mayonnaise or something like that. I had a glass of their red "it goes good with food" wine to go with. Funny. Good.

December 13, 2007

Thursday night party favor preparation.

Here Natalie and I are diligently making favors for the upcoming party celebrating her thirteenth year.

Sampling the candies to assure their freshness.

Ta - da! Gummi Pops.

December 15, 2007

Natalie turns thirteen. A tropical party.

To start, John served the girls fruity drinks complete with paper umbrellas and pineapple.

Kiss kiss sweet daughter.

Baskin Robbins white cake and French vanilla ice cream stuffed with Gummi Bears.
"This is the best cake I've ever had!" - Chara

Johnette and Natalie taking pictures of the birthday cake with their phones.

The girls after their scavenger hunt in the park.