Visit to Crater Lake

We had not been up to Crater Lake in many years so it was a treat to go up and see it again. The Rim Village gift shop was not as large as it use to be and they have moved the parking areas to the backside of the building, but the lake itself is always a spectacular view.
One can take a boat ride out to the island you see on the left, where you will be dropped off for three hours to explore it. It was not going this day due to the weather. This is something I would like to do but even the hike down the hill to the boat is suppose to be pretty strenous and you have to be in good shape to do it.

We walked through the gift shop and then onto the Lodge for lunch. We had a great luncheon while outside the thunder storm hit. We tried to wait it out but were anxious to see more of the lake so up the path to the lookout tower was our first stop. It has a room that tells the story of how Crater Lake got started and has pictures of how things have changed over the centuries. The views from here were awesome as you can see.

This is leaning over the wall and looking straight down from the tower. The blue is so pretty and this did'nt do it justice with the cloud cover above us at times.

You just cannot capture the whole lake at one time it is so large. I read there is actually an area where you could hike down to the lake and swim in it. I did'nt even know that existed the first time I came here.

As we left the lookout tower we came upon this Clark's nutcracker (bird). He was quite a little show off and posed for everyone to take pics of him. He kept calling out for someone to feed him but the peanuts were left in the car. There were not any of our regular chipmunks out and about to be fed due to the rain. They would usually climb right up on your leg for a handout.

We left the Rim Village to take a chance on going around the east rim and we made it as far as the Vidae Falls when it started lightning and pouring down so hard we called it a day. I was able to get one shot of the falls before the car was totally soaked inside. They are pretty aren't they? We took our dogs with us the first time we came here and they would climb up the waterfall enjoying getting wet. No one was getting out of their cars today. It was just too risky to keep going up this narrow winding road with this downpour.

As we left the park and were headed home my husband spotted an Eagles nest so we turned the car around so I could capture the birds up in it. I was only able to get three of them but there were four birds in all.

Our next stop was to pick up a pizza and then home. We have had our share of thunderstorms lately but it was still nice to get out and see what we could.

I think next time I go up to the lake I will pack a picnic lunch, bring an umbrella, lots of mosquito wipes and a good book and just sit and take it all in. It is definetly one place that is hard to leave.

Picnic at Heart Lake

We have family visiting from California for the a few days and we all decided to take a picnic lunch and spend a day out at Heart Lake. After enjoying a nice barbeque of sausages, snacking on chips and homemade salsa, we watched the dogs run around and swim in the lake. They even wondered into the tall grass to hunt lizards and hiked around with the men.

My daughter-in-law and I watched butterflies flying about and saw a bunch of dragonflies over the water. We also spotted a water snake which I'm thankful kept on going about its business. It was'nt long before we were blessed with a thunder, lightning shower and a real hard down pour of rain. 

Even with the rain soaking everything pretty fast, it was enjoyable to be out at the lake. Everything there was green and there were wildflowers all about.

Just the calm on the lake was very relaxing to just sit by and veg and take in all the smells of the nearby pines and sagebrush.

You can see the clouds came right over us with quite a loud thunder. The lightning put on a good show for a bit also. I don't know if staying under the trees was a brilliant idea or not, but we did.

We cut up our watermelon, stood under a tree and waited out the storm. It would soon stop long enough for us to pack up our gear and head back home.

I think the dogs were pretty wore down by then. They slept all the way home without a peep. The rain was coming down so hard on the drive home you could not see the road ahead of us even with the wipers going at fast speed. It was a bit icky for a stretch. We watched all the action staying behind us.
 
 
Once we got home the boys went out to shoot their guns and Wendi and I watched a chick flick. All was good for a while until the thunder, wind and rain decided to come and visit over the house. Glad we were tucked away for the night. It is always pleasant to watch from the living room window.

Vintage Cookbooks, Bargain Prices

What a bargain I got when I purchased these vintage cookbooks at a yard sale for fifty cents each. There are many hand written recipes throughout the books. Some recipes were written on whatever piece of paper or envelope they had to use at the time. I can only imagine the women who used these books and what they meant to them at the time.

The 'Loyalty Cook Book.....Native Daughters of the Golden West' (left) was printed in 1948 by Willow Borba. It is inscribed : "To our Daughter Jackie when I'm through with it."

The 'Institue Cook Book" by Helen Cramp (right), was copyright in 1913, and has many handwritten recipes on all the blank pages of the book along with many on papers. It also includes a certificate from the International Institute Department of Domestic Science. Must have been pretty special to the owner of this book at the time. There are pressed flowers and leaves between some of the pages. The one thing about the two oldest books is that you can tell these were used on a daily basis. There is not many pages without food spills or grime on them.

'The Melting Pot Cookbook'  by the  Soroptimist International of Pittsburg (far left pic), is not as old dating to 2004 but also has many handwritten recipes inside and an inscription: "Jen & Meri  With all my Love, Grandma Jackie".

These are generations of women who have used these cookbooks and had many a memory when each time they were opened.

I found this pyrex paper in the Institute Cookbook. Don't you just love the old vintage look of it? It is in remarkable shape. Now what could I do with this? Any ideas are certainly welcome.

I hope to read through the pages of each book and maybe try a recipe or two.  They don't appear to be too complicated.

My daughter would love to have these books and would be saying "mom you don't even like to cook", but I love the history behind each and it just brings this feeling of 'home sweet home' when my mom always used her cookbooks. Besides like the one mother said, "Daughter, you'll just have to wait until I'm done with them."

Lake views of Crescent

My husband and I decided to go for a drive and went up to a lake we had not been to before which was about  85 miles north from our home to Crescent Lake. This has to be the prettiest lake for boating on so far that I have visited since living here in Oregon. We plan to go back and do some camping when we can. It is quite large and up to 200 ft deep, a clear green you can see at least 30 ft down. It has sandy beaches in spots around the lake and the views around are quite spectacular.

There were quite a few people sitting on the beach areas with kids playing in the water or sand.Some braved the water by water skiing or I think they call it boogie boarding. At least it wasn't filled with algae but it was still a bit cool when you got out of it from the bit of wind there was.

We pulled into an alcove for the dogs to take a potty and play in the water. Pearl was a bit skittish of it and it was her first boat ride so she like the inside on the seat where her sister, Onyx liked being up front, when we were going slow so she could look all around.

I, of course did not catch any fish but by the time we had arrived on the lake it was pretty much past their feeding times. We went all the way around the lake and everywhere it was really pretty. A lot of cabins tucked back into the trees for rentals and areas for tent and rv camping as well.

You can see there is still snow on one of the mountains nearby. I don't know the name of this one but it was still beautiful to look at.

The Fourth was a really nice time with a gathering of friends, BBQ and plenty of drink. Now it was time to gather the laundry and hang it out to dry. This is one freedom I hope I never lose as I really enjoy how my clothes smell from being out in the warm breezes that we get around her.

I went fishing on Fish Lake with my friend, Monica and her Mother in Law on Saturday and let me tell you, we froze our butts off out there. It was only 63 outside but with the wind and cloud cover I swear it was only 43. Never the less we enjoyed ourselves while wrapped up in my beach towels that I keep on the boat, we ate chicken salad sandwiches, drank a little wine, and had plenty of fish biting and steeling our bait, but no catches. I only hope the next time I go out the weather remembers it's suppose to be Summer.

My daughter helped me paint the tabletop of a little vintage table I will be using for my vintage trailer for outside dining. The chairs are red with chrome so we thought rather than a red checkered top why not go for what I like and that is, flowers and herbs.I think it turned out rather cute with a ladybug or two and a bumblebee and butterfly to boot. Who says we can't have fun and something pretty to eat off of?

Found a recipe I would like to give a try from the Companion Herb site for Dandelion Wine. Now you would'nt think that something we call a weed could be made into a drink, but hey, I'm willing to try it. It goes as follows:

Dandelion Wine

1 quart dandelion blossoms

1 gallon hot water

3 1/2 pounds sugar

2 lemons, cut up

2 oranges, cut up

Pour hot water over the dandelion blossoms and let stand 24 hours. Strain in a jelly bag then heat the juice again and add the sugar, lemons, and oranges. Reheat, then put into a stone jar. Let ferment. Skim every day for 6 to 7 weeks, then bottle.

You know I had to go around the yard looking for those darn blossoms and did you know I could not find a one! Don't worry, they'll be back and when they do I am going to collect each and every one of them and try and make some good old fashioned wine.

For now, I have another load to hang out and then it's time to dig into the enchilada's I made for dinner last night, and have a bite to eat.

Cherry Jam Class

A few of our chapter farmgirls got together at MaryGail's home and made Cherry Jam. We started out pitting about 18 pounds of cherries, getting a few on the floor and staining our hands and clothing.  Don't know how I will get the color off my hands, but it does prove I worked hard helping make some 35 jars of jam. We made some with Agave (organic natural sweetener) and I could not tell the difference from the real sugar batch. It  was a bit of a job but one we will remember each time we open up a fresh new jar of our own homemade jam.

It took us a little over four hours to get it all cooked up and canned but well worth it. I have to say it was a lot more fun to do this with friends , not only having the company can make the time go faster but just the extra hands was a big help. We had a really fun time chatting and sharing and are looking forward to our next lesson which MaryGail will be showing how to can beets. That's one class I'll sit back and watch as I don't do beets. Now when this summer produces a bunch of tomatoes and peppers, I'm there for the salsa making.
Thanks gals for a great day and a lesson in canning cherry jam.

Colors of Nature

I just love it when my flowers are blooming. The smells in the air are so refreshing all I want to do is open all the windows and let them penetrate the house.

 I walked around my garden and snapped a few pics of what is in bloom right now.

 I really love my dianthus pinks (bottom) and the lavenders. They seem to put off the strongest fragrances. My roses are not in bloom yet. It has only been in the 80's for a couple of days now.

The speedwell is a new plant but I really like how it looks so I am hoping it will come back next year.

I have a lot of pink and purple flowers. I really love how some of them just flow so softly through the breeze. I have had a few butterfly visit already and I'm sure the hummingbirds will be back soon too.

These little pink flowers (right) are from a bulb I planted a couple of years ago in my ceramic frog. They pop back each spring.

Well I guess I will go and plant some more seeds to see what pops up later as the warm weather looks like it is finally here to stay for awhile. Hope you enjoyed my flowers as I have and happy gardening.

Color Me Happy

Well I have been doing a lot of thinking lately, probably not the kind I should be doing as I have been a bit down. So I decided I needed more color in my life to help brighten my spirits. I began by spending a fortune on paint and decided the hen coop had to be my first project. This is only because it is the first thing I see when I look out off my deck. Besides I figured they could use some cheering up too. Here is what it looked like.

This is the second look. And I say that because as I was painting the door, I was not pleased with the contrast so close to the window.

So I decided it needed the trim paint on the door as well. It is more appealing to my eyes anyway. Do you think this will get the hens to lay more eggs? Yeah, I doubt it too. I do like the way it all kind of blends into the surrounding scenery. My hubby did'nt even see it at first. Go figure.

Next I hope to put up a better fence around the coop. I'm thinking a white picket will do just fine. Today I am off to town. Need some dark purple to go with the light purple I have. I'm thinking I have a couple of chairs that could use a nice sprucing up as well.

Lord, don't stop me now. This is better than a coloring book and crayons. At least these colors will be seen more often and not closed away in a book.  With luck I won't need a therapist and I will again brighten each of my days.

A Victorian Tea Party

Let me tell you what a wonderful tea party I attended on Sunday the 13th. MaryGail and April (chicks in our chapter) opened their home and put on the most elegant, Victorian tea party I have ever been to. First off we had to come in our 'fancy' hats and aprons to help set the mood. The table was adorned with MaryGail's mom's beautiful laced tablecloth and napkins. There were beautiful china tea cups, MaryGail has been collecting for years,  and real silverware, candles and mouth watering foods.

We sat down and at each place setting was a gift of garden seeds for us to take home. We were then served by the ladies,  Oriental Chicken Salad placed in lettuce leafs, which I proudly had two and a half of. There was shrimp, stuffed creme cheese peppers, blueberry scones (to die for), cookies and muffins and a Victorian Tea that I just fell in love with that I just had to have the recipe for.

You can see how beautiful everything is. 

Along with this beautiful spread, we also had our monthly meeting and were suprised with four new gals that wanted to join us. We have such a diverse and wonderful group of ladies and I hope to continue to enjoy their company for many years to come.

Thanks to MaryGail (left) and April (right) this was a tea party I will not soon forget.

Working Ol' Hank

Between mowing and weed eating and watering, there is no time to sit idle. With warm weather and sunshine, I can keep myself pretty occupied outside. Just don't send any company my way or I'll have to go inside and clean up a bunch. I really don't like to clean house when I could be outside planting seeds and watching my things grow. (Hubby does'nt like it much either)

Since most of our driveway has somehow dissapeared, we had a load of gravel brought in to replenish it. So, guess what I did?  I put ol' Hank to work. At least I had fun playing with the bucket, pushing it into the pile of gravel and trying not to tip over. You really got to manuver the bucket just right to pick up a nice load, keep it in the bucket, and dump it in the right spot. I think I did okay. I managed to get quite a few piles placed around the drive, then thought I would try the scraper blade on the back of Hank to see what it could do.  Managed to scrape it off the drive easier than spreading it around. So I gave up on that one for now.

Figured I'd better leave some for hubby to do or he'll tell me I put it in the wrong spots.

So I parked ol' Hank and got out the hand shovel and wheel barrel and loaded several piles of gravel into the new dog kennel. Thought it would keep them from digging as well as getting muddy every day, but they still dig. I think they like this play yard a lot better as they have more room to run around (this is a before the gravel). I'm always afraid some big hawk will swoop down and get them as they are so small so prefer to keep them safe in their pen. They are close enough to watch mom in the garden so they know they are not alone. The only thing is, they will bark to come out so they can use the restroom. They refuse to poop in their play pen. 

Many of my flowers are starting to bloom and I put out a bunch more seeds today. We are suppose to get rain again for a couple of days , but so far only really windy. I just keep watering the beds to keep the seeds in one place. Has anyone ever grown Sweet Annie? I received some seeds from a farmgirl last summer, planted them and none came up. So I am trying again this year. The seeds alone smell wonderful so I sure hope the will come up this year. I would love to have wild flowers all over the places where I really don't want to look at dried up old weeds.

This here is Allium. I really should plant more of these. Isn't it pretty? I did plant six more plants of Pinks. I just love that they smell like carnations and come back each year. I have put out a lot more bulbs, and my daughter gave me a bunch of Tulips of beautiful red that I hope to see blooming out here next Spring. I am hoping to fill this here garden area with tons of flowers and herbs with hopes of having some for drying and making poupouri. It's just a matter of seeing what will keep coming back each year that the frost won't kill off.

Wow, the wind is really blowing hard outside today. Guess I better go and water down my seeds again.