http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/index/ en earlaagaard@hotmail.com 2010-09-06T03:18:38-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/our_day_at_the_high_desert_museum/ Almost as soon as we arrived in BEND, we purchased a membership at the HIGH DESERT MUSEUM.  We’d been there before with Sophia, and it’s just a fabulous place to spend a few hours. This weekend, Sophia stayed overnight with us and then we went to Sabbath School (next month, she’ll be four years old and “graduate” to Kindergarten!).  There were only three children there (holiday weekend), and this time we didn’t go on to church, because there was a Raptor Show at the museum that started at 1:00, and we couldn’t make it by the time church was finished.  So, we went home and made sandwiches (peanut butter and pickle, peanut butter and honey), packed apples, carrots, etc. and off we went to the Museum. Out front is the trout stream, so we did the usual and fed the hungry fish with bread crumbs….extremely satisfying . . Yes, I realize that the photo isn’t all that impressive - but come back later for the video! Once inside, we headed directly for the “lecture hall” . . and were mightily disappointed when it was announced that they were doing a “Desert Animals” lecture, postponing the Raptor Show until 3:00.  BOY, were we glad we decided to stay, anyhow . Family Matters, VACATIONS, SIGHTSEEING Earl 2010-09-06T03:18:38-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/mount_bachelor_in_summertime/ . This is what Mount Bachelor looks like from Songbird Lane during the wintertime…..and THIS: . . is what it looked like on August 30 of 2010: So, when Laura suggested that we take the chair lift to MOUNT BACHELOR SKI AREA’s Pine Marten Lodge up on the mountain this last Friday (September 3) , I wasn’t sure what to expect….. Family Matters, VACATIONS, SIGHTSEEING Earl 2010-09-06T01:37:19-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/more_harvest_from_the_vegetable_garden/ Today I went out and took photos - and tomorrow or Sunday, I’ll actually harvest some of the following.  Most beautiful is the zucchini: . . These are squashes numbers 2 and 3, so far….and check out the second cucumber! . Family Matters, GARDENING Earl 2010-09-04T04:51:47-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/new_harvest/ Another red-letter day, as we picked our first STRAWBERRY!! . . There’s another (small one) on the plant, getting pink at the moment….plus a couple of flowers that look like they’ll produce berries of their own, if we can keep things going long enough. We cut this one up to share among three - the consensus was that it was definitely a strawberry, although not a terribly SWEET one! This is Bend gardening, I’m afraid….one of each thing. Family Matters, GARDENING Earl 2010-08-30T23:47:33-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/my_own_pickling_cucumber/ It’s probably says something significant about gardening in Bend that I’m posting the harvest of a single pickling cucumber!! . . . Family Matters, GARDENING Earl 2010-08-23T16:54:30-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/peaches_for_the_freezer/ For most of the spring, every peach I bought (and I kept buying - hope springs eternal) turned out to be a CLINGSTONE PEACH, a variety I’ve been familiar with (and highly unimpressed by) mainly as commercially canned peaches - halves or slices.  Then, out by Home Depot a couple of weeks ago, I stopped at the stand by the exit of the shopping center, where a family from THE DALLES has been selling fruit this spring.  I’ve bought cherries (two kinds and wonderful) and apricots (not so wonderful, though better and cheaper than the markets) from them, and this time they had peaches that looked familiar - I asked if they were cling or freestone.  They were RED HAVEN PEACHES, a freestone variety I’m not all that familiar with, as the Central Valley was pretty well solid with FAYE ELBERTA peaches, which must really be suited for that area.  Anyhow, I bought a couple of pounds of his Red Havens for $1.50/pound, and they were wonderful . . Family Matters, COOKING Earl 2010-08-17T00:14:39-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/first_major_harvest/ Well, the title seems to denigrate the basil harvest pictured and described in THIS POST ON COOKING - if you’re really keen, you can scroll down and have a look.  But, wonderful as basil is, it’s “leaves”...and a garden ought to be producing fruits of one kind or another….even in Bend. . I’d been pretty confident of a zucchini for some time….but the first couple must not have been properly pollinated, because after a few days of promise, the end turned yellow and the entire fruit withered….. . However, a few days ago, I was out looking at the little yellow tomato flowers I could see from the kitchen window, and caught a glimpse of darkness at the base of the zucchini plant….when I checked, here is what I found: . . Not just decorative, either….it was delicious!! Family Matters, GARDENING Earl 2010-08-16T05:07:04-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/beef_jerky_from_your_own_kitchen/ BEEF JERKY holds a very special place in my list of comestibles.  Partly because it just tastes SO GOOD, and also because of the associations with my youth.  I don’t recall it EVER appearing at our home….but I had a paper route (delivering the SANTA ROSA PRESS DEMOCRAT around UKIAH, CALIFORNIA from a couple of months before I turned 12 until five or six months after my 13th birthday, when I broke my arm climbing around on the rocks of Indian Caves (apparently not called that anymore, as I can find no reference to it on the Web) in YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK.  . . Family Matters, COOKING Earl 2010-08-10T02:46:23-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/cooking_in_bend/ Since retirement, I’ve had a lot more time to do things that have always interested me.  I was always able to make time for canning and freezing things – applesauce was always the big one, and the whole family got involved in cutting up the year’s apples, and once they were cooked, in processing them through the “SQUEEZO” STRAINER, and BOY! am I ever glad I got mine in 1972….maybe Craig’s List, or your local thrift stores, or even garage sales, are better places to look for yours.  Or, go with a KNOCK-OFF, and save some money that way.  Of course, you don’t HAVE to get this type of strainer - I made 60 quarts of applesauce last fall without mine.  Anyhow, this post is just to show some of the stuff I’ve been cooking – and I guess I’ll include a link to the recipes each time….  So, first: .   Family Matters, COOKING Earl 2010-08-08T06:24:37-06:00 http://ogblog.net/index.php/weblog/sophias_bed_and_lauras_wardrobe/ Too much work to organize a lot of photography of the building process, and most folks wouldn’t care, in any case.  If you want details, just write me an e-mail and ask….. I’ve made beds for my kids through the years, plus bookcases, closet “built-ins”, and so on.  Laura remembered, and asked for an elevated bed for Sophia - it makes her room so much easier to use, particularly with the trampoline in there…... Here’s the bed: . Family Matters, BUILDING PROJECTS Earl 2010-07-27T01:54:12-06:00