A gray day ...... still beautiful!

Waiting to leave one of the most beautiful places (to me) that I visit regularly!

An Apple a Day . . . . or Fifty!

Since 8 am, I have been processing apples for winter storage.  First job was to hang apple peels and cores that I boiled last night, to drip for jelly (which I just finished, it's 9 pm now!).   Then more had to peeled for apple pie jam, trying out a new recipe.  Then MORE had to be peeled to load up the dehydrator again.  The peels were put in a pot to boil and sit overnight, in the morning I will make another batch of jelly.  All this from 3 bags of apples (only half were used), so the rest can be made into apple sauce in pint jars.  I am tired!  BUT, what a good addition to my pantry.

7 pints of applesauce, apple pie jams, apple peel jelly, dry apples

The best part of Monday was the help my 4 yr old granddaughter gave me.  She used the apple peeler with my help and ate a slice out of each apple we did.  She also helped me to arrange apples on the drying trays.

While the Girls are Away . . . .

for the weekend.  My sister in law and some friends stayed at a cabin on Hoods Canal (Tahuya).  We took long walks on the beach, sat on the deck in the morning with coffee (or tea), and played cards on the deck into the night. NO tv, yeah!  Cooking good food, conversation and beautiful days!

Sunset

Low tide, this is the Tahuya river that meets the canal during high tide

Oh my aching . . . . Everything!

This morning I made a batch of Italian plum jam, did 2 loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen.  This afternoon my daughter's family and I helped a friend by turning her compost pile, it took two of us to move that pile over  from 2 smaller piles  (for 1 1/2 hours).  Layering and watering, that was hard work.

When I arrived home, the rest of the bowl of plums were calling to me.  So another batch of jam was made!  I like to use my meat grinder on my mixer to keep the prep time down.  Plums are my second favorite fruit for jam.  If sour cherries were available I would be in heaven because they make the best jam!  After folding the laundry all I could think about is sitting down.

My husband asks  "could you make a blackberry pie if I pick them (7 pm).  Really!  My son pipes up  "I will", he is a good son.  Especially after he spent the afternoon chopping wood.

Seven Days at . . . . .

. . . . . .  the Evergreen State Fair in a row.  I work at the Speedway which is in the middle of the fairgrounds.  So I worked 2 days pre-fair and the first 4 days of fair with racing events, then today my husband and I went to enjoy some of the fair together.

 We took the grandgirls on some rides, had cotton candy, visited in the pygmy goat barn (J is 7yrs and showing for the 1st time).  She was absolutely clueless but watched the other kids and copied them very well.  V is having a great time attaching herself to the kids in the club, "teaching" the public how to pet a goat or loving up all  goats including her own.

It's been 10+ years since our 4H fair experiences in the horse program.  It left us with some of the greatest memories, on looking back my husband and I both agree it was worth it. We care leased most of the time. and took care of a barn full of about 5-7 horses to keep our leased horse in exchange.  Western riding clothes were easy to put toghether if kept simple.  Then our daughter wanted to ride Saddleseat. Riding english in 4H is about 90% Huntseat and a few Saddleseat and being the good individual she is, following the crowd was never her option! The only used suit at the time that I could find was $600 and sky blue (all wrong).  SoI put together $175 and bought some hunter green wool blend for a coat and black material for the lining, vest, and 2 pairs of pants.  It took me a month to complete and some learning about tailoring, it was  beautiful.  I still have it!

In those years, we also tried out open class entries.  My daughter made peanut butter cookies and entered a wood project made in school.  My son put in a K'nex structure 6' tall that had motors, biscuits, and angel food cake.  I put in jams and a blackberry pie.  Everybody received blue ribbons and a few extras as well.

My favorite exhibits to visit is the sewing, quilting, canning and baking, art, goats and horses.  If I see these then it's been a good day at fair!

Kelcema Lake, WA

We took a day hike today with our daugher's family, this hike is described as kid friendly and the 3 1/2 yr old did very well.  I think the trail becomes a winter/spring run off even though there is a permanent creek that is the lakes outlet.  The lake is in a bowl that looks exactly like a volcano (probably ancient, when the range was created).   The lake is at an elevation of 3,500 ft (we live at sea level).
                                                                                                                                                                   The bowl on three sides is steep and almost straight up, the road up to the trail (4.2 miles UP) is probably the outlet.  From the trailhead up to the lake (300 ft elevation hike) we walked on HUGE boulders and the land was strewn with boulders that were probably flung out or carried down with a volcanic flow.  The lake was pristine and clear (you could see the bottom).                                                                                    

We climbed the rock on the right side

The rock we climbed from the lake edge.

Old trees, even though it's a logging area, were everwhere (if logeed, maybe 100 yrs ago).  Gorgeous natural  plant life.  Tiny, delicate trillium in flower.  What looked like a tiny hosta blanketing some areas and many that is don't recognize.  Two grandaughter running around barefoot, fishing, exploring and having the best time.  An amazing day to share!

It's Quiet . . .

. . . around here.  My son is gone for 8 days of hiking and climbing in the wilderness!  For two weeks we dried food and he pre-packaged all his dinners.  A list of food dried:

• canned beans
• hamburger
• tomate sauce and spaghetti sauce
• sweet onions
• green, yellow and red peppers
• canned pineapple for granola
• lot's of yogurt drops

He rounded out his meals with quinoa, thin spaghetti and cous cous and loves how is food tastes.  Homemade granola with fruit for snacks, instant oatmeal and chocolate.  The estimated weight of food is 10 - 12 pounds which is nothing compared to the climbing equipment, he carries about 80 pounds.  Elevation gained the first day is about 3,000 feet, Oh to young!

I took a 5 gallon bucket of finished compost (2 yr old, worm ridden, YES!) over to my daughters garden for the tomatoes.  They are looking so beautiful and a ample harvest is looking good with lot's of canned tomatoes! The rest of the garden is amazing too.  I have about 2 more bucketsof compost left to keep feeding the garden.