Any of you who take photographs will realize the problems of backlighting facing the photographer in this situation, especially with a point and shoot whose flash is anemic, at best.  Ah well.
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The GREAT-HORNED OWL was really impressive, especially when Gail told us the story of being attacked by one when we lived in Modesto, on the campus of Modesto Adventist Academy.  Then they brought out the RED-TAILED HAWK
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and actually flew it back and forth between these two posts - the crouching people putting little pieces of meat on top and signaling the hawk to come on over! 

There was a BADGER on a leash, but no good opportunities for pictures.  And then the PORCUPINE appeared
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This guy was very placid, allowing the visitors to approach quite close, and giving everyone a good look, and never shooting his quills at all!  Heh.
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That was the end of a very good show, so we promised ourselves we’d be back for the Raptor Show at 3:00 and headed for the settler’s cabin and homestead, where Sophia pumped water
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which she used to water the garden - in fact, every plant within 50-60 feet of that pump had a big wet circle around it from all the kids doing their watering! 

Next she washed clothes in the washtub
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and hung them on the line.
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She also spent 10 minutes scrubbing the porch, but Gail and I were playing checkers and I neglected to take a picture!  Ah well. 

Lest you think it was all “women’s work”, we next headed for the SAWMILL.  It uses a CIRCULAR SAW, driven by a small STEAM ENGINE
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It’s pretty noisy - at first Sophia said she didn’t want to go over there, but she was brave and covered her ears the first few cuts, gradually getting interested and then ignoring the noise as she asked the man questions about the operations. 

As we left the mill, we were intercepted by another man who insisted that we needed to cut some firewood, so we did
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At first, Sophia was clueless, as she walked the saw back and forth.  But, the man was patient about instructing her, and by the end she actually had got the hang of it - the only real problem being her lack of muscle power for pulling that big saw.
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She was VERY happy with her “souvenir”, though….the little round of wood that she had helped cut off from the small log.  It’s in a place of honor in her room, I suspect - wafting it’s piney aroma around the house, and (I hope) not getting pitch on anything important! 

We went back to the homestead for a little snack, sitting on the table and watching the GOLDEN-MANTLES that swarm around the place. 
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At one point there were FIVE of them drinking - the other big attraction in there is the chicken feed!  Sophia was a bit apprehensive that they would be coming up on the table to steal her sandwich, but I shooed them every time they approached and she settled down and ate her snack.

Then, it was back for the Raptor Show, which we had jointly and severally build up so that our expectations were enormous….whereupon, we were greeted with our first raptor
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a darling, but distinctly diminuitive, WESTERN SCREECH OWL, all four ounces of him!  The lady’s talk was very nice, and she answered questions, including the last one - Sophia’s…..“Are there going to be any more raptors?“  There were not….it was the tiny hooter, a bunch of dried raptor feet, a couple of skulls, a wing and a tail, a fake owl, and that was about it.  We were somewhat disappointed, but AWFULLY glad we had stayed for the Desert Dweller lecture at 1:00.

Nursing our hurt feelings, we headed out to dig for DINOSAURS
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although all the “fossils” appeared to me to be one sort of mammal or another…..but absolutely every kid who came by, and most of the parents as well, called them dinosaurs.

We also played badgers
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and bounced on the “spider web” of rope and net, getting thoroughly and gloriously gritty and dusty. 

But, Grandmama had clean clothes in the back of the car, and after a quick change, we headed for home, where first supper was served, which quelled the grump that had begun to appear, and during which we all spent some “floor time” with Alana
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and then off to the bathtub…..here is the end result after the tub had drained
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It was a VERY good day….
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Once teeth were brushed, Papa and Grandmama alternated reading Dr. Seuss stories while Mommy nursed the little one, and when the books were both done, Sophia got up into her bed, swearing she would stay awake until Mommy came to read another story….uh huh!

So much running around, and digging, and pumping, and sawing, etc…..she was out like a candle in a thunderstorm. 

P.S. Check back later, when there should be video of the trout feeding, of the porcupine, and of Alana.

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and there wasn’t much of a crowd in the parking lot, at least compared to ski season.  After we’d bought our lift tickets, the girls behind the counter told us to be sure to go over and see the SLED DOG RIDES - and not just ANY sled dogs….these belong to the first legally blind person to run the IDITAROD TRAIL SLED DOG RACE, a lovely young lady named RACHAEL SCDORIS.
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The training sled is a specially modified vehicle, and the dogs were EAGER to pull - barking and yelping until allowed to run.  Amazing.  I’ve always heard about sled dogs fighting and so on, so I was a bit concerned about Sophia, who LOVES all dogs.  But there was no problem - she asked Rachael if the dogs were friendly, and when assured that all of them were just fine, she had a wonderful time with them.
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There was even a puppy hanging around - here you see him “bobbing” for bits of dog food that got into the water bucket - it was funny to watch:
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Then we headed over to the chair lift - “four heartbeats” per chair limit - and headed up the hill.
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The two Mommies took the baby in one chair, and Sophia and I got in the other:
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She had a great time, and didn’t seem intimidated in the least by the height - but neither did she object to the “safety leg” that her mother shouted at me was obligatory!
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This was how she spent most of the trip - either that or looking back at her Mommy and Grandmama.  Alana complained (loudly) almost the entire trip up the mountian….I’m not sure what they were (or weren’t) doing to her back there!

The view up the hill ahead of us wasn’t terribly impressive
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But, otherwise it was spectacular!  What a day, and what a setting!
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On the left above, you can see the THREE SISTERS, with BROKEN TOP in front of them on the right.

Once at the Lodge, we staked out a table for our picnic
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where the looming mountains all around reminded Gail and me a bit of camping at the third TELEFERICO station just below PICO BOLIVAR in the SIERRA NEVADA, the mountain range just south of where we lived for two years in MERIDA, VENEZUELA.  That peak “loomed” a bit more than these, but it was an interesting reminder of those days…..

The best part of lunch was watching Alana with HER portion - a whole carrot…..
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This little girl is six months old now, and her first teeth are coming in, and she is FASCINATED by the fact that everyone around her is putting things into their mouths - things that she can’t have.  Her little eyes follow our movements, and her little hands reach out to “share”, and no one will help her to her heart’s desire!!  She LOVED this carrot - come back later for a video!

After lunch, Sophia begged Mommy to go hiking, so they did
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And as they approached the Lodge, Sophia gave out a complete set of instructions so that she could be off in the woods by herself for a bit….
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So sweet…..

Gail and Alana were sitting in the sunshine on the deck, enjoying the scenery
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and Sophia asked me to join her on the hill below the deck for some rock throwing.  First, she gathered a pile from the area surrounding her
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and then she and I pitched the entire pile down the hill, one or two at a time - distance contests, accuracy contests, and just plain fun! 

Unfortunately, while picking up another rock, she got a sting of some kind…she couldn’t describe it to me in sufficient detail for me to determine that anything was much amiss, but by the time we went back to the deck, where she showed her mother the finger, it had become inflamed and was beginning to swell.  We headed down to the base of the mountain
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and we could clearly see the road toward home, off to the east.
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The nice ladies in the shop sold us a BENADRYL (two actually, in a little foil packet for $1.00).  I cut one in half, and we embedded it in a chewed-up bite of (seriously overpriced) brownie, which made it go down very easily. 

By the time we got home, the finger was still red, but not particularly painful, and in the morning, Sophia had to be reminded of which finger had been stung.  Looking online, Gail figures it was probably a brown scorpion, and the ladies at the lodge suggested a scorpion, as well.  So now Sophia has her OWN “wound story” to tell….although she swears that she isn’t going to tell anyone about this.  I think her imagination is good enough right now that she’d just as soon forget the whole thing!

It was a GREAT day!

There’s a third one getting larger a lot higher on this vine, too. 

Those of you who were laughing my earlier strawberry post because I only got one berry from my little plant need to take a look at “strawberry 2”:
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We’ll see if a third one forms from the several flowers that the plant still has…..and wipe that smile off your face!! 

The closest thing to a “real” harvest this year is going to be the basil….I already have frozen pesto, and will soon be making more.  Check out my plants!!
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I’ll cut that pretty soon, then put some in the crisper for tomato salad and sandwiches, and the rest will be turned into more pesto for winter.  Yummy.

The most exciting harvest is still in question….we’ll need some cooperation from the weather to get these babies ripened:
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These are “Sweet 100” cherry tomatoes, which I’ve grown before and like a lot. I’m really hoping that a combination of heat (88 degrees today), and frost protection from my plastic cover, will allow these to redden up so we can have “real tomatoes” grown right here in Bend.

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With the thermostat-controlled lights under the 6-mil plastic, I’m figuring we can keep the tomatoes alive long enough to get at least a few.  Another (pollinated) zucchini seems to be growing, and there are LOTS of tomatillos in side their little husks.  This morning a hummingbird perched on the wire around the zucchini and visited a lot of the tomatillo flowers, which was fun to watch.
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Not the sort of gardening environment I’ve been accustomed to, for sure.

Then, of course, I had to put them up….here are about half of them:
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I rinsed off much of the fuzz, cut them in half, peeled them and chopped them into chunks in the big bowl…..
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About four quarts of peaches took half a cup of sugar and a couple of Tablespoons of ascorbic acid to keep them bright yellow (LOTS cheaper than Fruit-Fresh), and after a good stir, into the freezer bags the went….
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It was hard not to dig right in….but I bagged up almost all of them, and poked them into the freezer, near the strawberries put up earlier in the summer.
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Anyhow, I used to stop at Joe’s Park ‘n’ Take It (yes, it was a liquor store – the storefront is still there near the entrance to the old trailer park on the west side of South State Street, just north of where Schuler’s Surplus used to be, but it no longer sells liquor) for snacks, where I bought my Pizza Puffs (alas, no longer made, and now nearly forgotten, if the results of my Web search are any indication) and PEPPERONCINI.  At the end of my route was Foothill Market, and it was THERE that I used to buy little glassine envelopes filled with (a small amount of) beef jerky - I think I paid a quarter apiece for these.  I stashed the jerky in my newspaper bags (in case Mom might disapprove), and would chew on it as I bicycled around town (from the PALACE HOTEL on the north, to Johnny’s Market on the south – and this was when Highway 101 ran through the middle of town on State Street, which 12-year old Earl crossed and re-crossed on his bicycle, delivering papers…). 

As an adult, I started buying a bit of beef jerky to help keep me awake on the drive to THE CITY and back when Thor and I would go down for the CAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES members’ meeting, but it was hard to find anything similar to what I remembered from the ‘50s….almost everything I tried had the flavor of something else in it…even the “original” kinds, or the “old-fashioned” kinds, etc.  That was until I discovered OBERTO THIN STYLE JERKY.  It was a dead ringer for what I used to get….the only downside was the price….note that Amazon sells it for $1.79/ounce, and I assure you that in brick-and-mortar stores, it’s a lot more.

Interestingly, about that time, one of Thor’s buddies started making his own jerky – was it Matt?  But, his recipe called for marinating the meat in some kind of sauce, and the product was similar to what I could buy.  It wasn’t BAD, and it did help me stay awake on the drive, but it just wasn’t as good as my memories…so I went out on the Web looking for Beef Jerky recipes…..and came up with THREE BELLS!

Imagine my surprise to find out that it was MARTHA STEWART who provided the quintessential BEEF JERKY RECIPE. 
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First, you buy your meat – get LONDON BROIL because it’s lean (you do NOT want a fatty cut).  I got RANCHER’S RESERVE BEEF at Safeway, and my guess is that it’s no better than USDA SELECT, but that’s great, because you’re saving money and a “well-marbled” piece of meat is not what you want for jerky, anyhow.  This cost $4.49/pound regularly, and I bought it on sale for $1.99/pound.  The photo above is the meat after I got done trimming off as much excess fat as I could.  Next step is to slice it (WITH the grain) into slices about ¼ inch thick….I use a folding electric slicer I bought on sale at Wal Mart for $15.00. 
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Once all the meat is cut, the slices are spread out (I put them on wax paper sheets) and sprinkled with a mixture of salt (use canning salt, as it has no additives), BLACK PEPPER (it’s worth paying a bit extra for good pepper – I got mine at WHOLE FOODS, or you can buy online from PENZEY’S which is wonderful, and cheaper…but you have to pay the shipping) and garlic – I use GRANULATED GARLIC rather than powder, and mine is McCormick’s, in a big container from Costco.  Be sure all of this will fit through the openings on the shaker you use – my shaker is dedicated just to jerky, and fairly large (plastic, unfortunately…but it works really well).
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Once you’ve sprinkled one side of the strips and rubbed it in; then turned the meat over, sprinkled and rubbed in again; the meat is layered into (glass is best) containers, covered, and refrigerated for 48 hours.
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The next step is to spread the marinated slices out onto the trays or racks you’ll use for drying the meat
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The drying can be done in the oven or a food dryer – if in the oven, be sure to put it on racks that exposes both top and bottom to the hot air.  Mine is placed in the food dryer we’ve had since the 1970s (Remember the ‘70s?  Heh.).....
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...and run on high for four hours, then left overnight on a lower temperature until it’s ready
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The jerky is then taken off the trays
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And weighed –
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I ended up with 3 pounds 13 ounces at a cost of just about $.50/ounce….less than a third of the cost of Oberto from Amazon!! 
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I cut the jerky to a convenient size, although this is not a necessary step.  Incidentally, I much prefer to get my beef as a chunky roast, rather than the thinner “steak-like” pieces I used this time.  It means more cutting of the jerky after it’s dry, but the earlier steps are all a lot easier with fewer (and larger) pieces.
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Storage is done in doubled-up corn-chip bags (one inside another), with the tops folded over three times and held closed with a strong clip.  I keep all my jerky in the garage freezer, taking out only what I need for the six-hour trip to Chico, or whatever other journey we’re about to embark on.

When I was a kid, running my paper route every day (I was paid $.40 per customer per month, and I had 60 customers most of the time), I subscribed to BOY’S LIFE MAGAZINE, and I remember they ran a recipe for PEMMICAN, and I was fascinated….I wanted to make it in the worst way.  I’m not entirely sure why, at this point, but I had some kind of feeling of getting in touch with the VOYAGEURS of the late 17th and early 18th century, as well as with other explorers and adventurers who made and ate pemmican.  However, the recipe included, besides chipped beef and currants, about a quart of melted tallow, and the thought of eating that kept me from ever making a batch.  I suspect that my attraction to the jerky is partly the same sort of atavistic desire to identify with the primitive/pioneering types who did it in the past….besides, it really does taste GOOD!

If you have simple tastes, and are a bit of a traditionalist, this is the best jerky you’ll ever eat….and there is NOTHING in it that your grandmother wouldn’t recognize, or that your kids can’t pronounce….plus, of course, it’s far better and a LOT cheaper than anything commercially available. 

What’s not to like?

This particular recipe is THE PIONEER WOMAN’S POT ROAST, although I added potatoes to the pot, because it SO MUCH EASIER than doing mashed ones, and with pot roast, I don’t mind….I also use fewer onions because my intestines prefer it that way, but you suit yourself.  It’s Yummy

Because I live in the same house as a vegetarian, and because she cooked cheerfully for our family for years and years despite her overwhelming preference for cleaning up (and she did most of that, too), I also try to hunt up delicious recipes involving vegetables….here’s a recent one:
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This is a garbanzo stew, aka CROCKPOT GINGERED CHICKPEAS & SPICY TOMATO STEW.  It’s really very tasty, and that fulfills one of my two major criteria for recipes – the other is it has to be easy, and this definitely is.  The only problem I have with the stew is the high garbanzo content – garbanzos are legumes, which to my intestines are like onions, about which enough said. I’m planning to make this stew recipe with hominy (plus a bit of whole-kernel corn) and see how that turns out…I’ve also thought of using FILBERTS (or hazelnuts, if you prefer)…I’m not sure how that would taste, but if I try it, I’ll report.

By the way, if you actually spend some time on The Pioneer Woman’s website (or LAURA’S, for that matter), and notice the difference in quality between HER pictures of food and mine….do me a favor and just keep it to yourself, OK?  Thank you.

Laura recently bought a head of cabbage at the store, and then her COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTUREbox showed up with another, so she gave me the first one.  What do you do with cabbage besides boil it, and then hope someone eats the awful stuff?  Mom used to do it in milk and caraway seeds, and I have fond memories of that – in fact, I think I’ll go hunt for a recipe right now…..no luck in the short run (it’s probably in Gourmet), but I didn’t make that anyhow….here’s one of the two dishes:
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This is called ETHIOPIAN CABBAGE DISH (yes, that’s what it’s called, even though my photograph looks more like “Ethiopian potato dish”), and it’s really quite good…although it lacked a little something.  So I bought some of the chicken-apple sausages that the nice lady at COSTCO had given me a sample of a couple of weeks ago (TRADER JOE’S has something similar), and put a bit of that in – mmmmmmm….that gave it a nice savory note that it was lacking before.  Lovely.

The other dish is CABBAGE AND TOMATOES:
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And what can I say….you read the recipe and think “Meh!”, but it’s really quite wonderful.  At least, we like it around here….be sure to note the “SLOW COOKER” part…..

It’s not all straight vegetables, though….here’s the THAI COCONUT CURRY SOUP I made last week…
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This is really hard to get a decent photo of – not even counting the reflections and so on…but here the chicken chunks and peppers show a little bit.  It’s best (I think) over rice…don’t be expecting the traditional TOM KHA GHAI, though…it’s something quite good, but not the same thing.

And an easier substitute for regular lasagna is this BOW-TIE LASAGNA:
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I like to make LASAGNA – we have a family recipe that is a combination of several collected over the years, and it doesn’t use any cheese – but it’s time consuming, and this one is quick.  I used ground turkey in place of the beef, and it’s quite good.  I also sprinkle some ground chipotle pepper on it before reheating – many of my recipes get divided and frozen in 1-pint or quart containers to be retrieved later for a meal or two.

Now here is a substitute for fried chicken that’s really (really) good.  CRISPY YOGURT CHICKEN from our friend The Pioneer Woman:
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The photo isn’t wonderful (you knew that already), but the chicken IS…when it was hot out of the oven, Gail even said it tasted fine.  I reheat it in the microwave, and it’s still good…but nothing like fresh and hot from the broiler!!

Finally, here’s the kind of “cooking” that’s my favorite…last fall, I watched the price on ACORN SQUASH gradually drop – buying one every now and then and enjoying them immensely.  Finally, FRED MEYER was selling them at $1.00 each, and I went through the bin and picked out the biggest ones I could find…10 of them, if I remember right.  I cut them in half and removed the seeds (these were roasted with a bit of salt and garlic powder later – and we like them almost as much as the actual squash!), then baked the squash halves and ran the flesh through the FOLEY FOOD MILL, stirring the entire bowl-ful up until it was all mixed and then freezing it in quart containers, to bring out and reheat all winter long….
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Nothing whatever was added to this squash…and it’s so sweet and good it’s like dessert.  I LOVE getting this out of the freezer every now and then, and it pains me that we’ve finished the last quart.  Maybe this December we’ll buy 15 squashes!!

UPDATED
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That is a singularly unappetizing looking dish, so you’ll just have to take my word for it that it’s delicious…..ROMESCO is a great substitute for HUMMUS, if you don’t want the chickpeas, or if you just want a change…..I made mine with hazelnuts, and the best price in Bend is at Trader Joe’s!!  You can also use almonds, but I haven’t tried that - I’ve been out on the Web looking for the recipe I’m using, but haven’t been able to find it again - however, there are LOTS OF ROMESCO RECIPES out there, and you can surely find one that suits you….remember - choose ones that aren’t too much work, and you’re more likely to make them again….and you can always write for MY recipe, if you don’t find anything you like out there.

When we lived in Angwin, California and had a big garden, I used to make James Beard’s “Diet Pesto” every summer.  I’d go out in the morning before it got hot and cut a couple of shopping bags full of sweet basil and bring them in for everyone to sit around and “pick” the leaves….
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This morning, I went out and cut the basil from MY BACKYARD GARDEN....when I’d finished, I had four cups of leaves….
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This required 6 Tablespoons of olive oil (you can use melted butter, but I never have done so, and can’t say how it would turn out), 8 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, and 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice…all of which went into the food processor, followed by the leaves…
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Once all was well-processed, I spooned the pesto an ice cube tray (I have a bunch of these, because we used to make a LOT of pesto every summer)
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and put it into the freezer.  Once the cubes are solid, it’s easy to pop them out and keep them in a plastic freezer bag, getting out one or two (or more) for pasta, or to add to tomato sauce, or for whatever else you need basil for…the taste is divine, and they keep forever - well, not around here of course, because we eat them too quickly!

Today I made RED CURRY COCONUT NOODLES
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and they’re quite good….if you really like curry, these won’t be strong enough, but you can adjust for that.  The photo (I know, I know…..) isn’t what it OUGHT to look like, because after I’d taken the picture and frozen the extra for later, I opened the refrigerator to put these away, and there on the shelf was the bag of broccoli slaw I bought especially for this recipe!!  Yikes!!  I’m sure this has nothing to do with getting old…..  Ah well, when I heat the noodles, I’ll stir in the slaw - it will be fine. 

It will be interesting to see how it turns out the next time….mine look NOTHING like the photo at the Tasty Kitchen site, and “slurping” these noodles isn’t in the cards, despite what the recipe says.  I’m not sure what happened - I even put in about half again as much broth as called for, and expected it to be a little more soupy….but it’s not at all.  Tastes good, though.

Watch for my post on making BEEF JERKY....coming soon!

It’s about 46 inches to the bottom of the mattress, which is fine for Sophia’s size, and will be fine for some time, yet.  At the right is the staircase for access at bedtime, and it’s dual purpose, because it also has space for bookshelves, or stuffed animal storage, etc. 

Here’s the view from underneath the bed….
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There will be shelves in the two left sections within a day or two…..

Sophia got used to the whole thing very quickly, apparently - she scrambles up and down like a little monkey…even at night, which is what worried me for a time.  Worried me enough to consider trying to work out some sort of railing, but it appears to be completely superfluous…..
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This project will be completed when I finish a 46-inch tall and 12-inch deep set of shelves spanning the opposite end of the bed - then hopefully all of the bins, loose animals, etc. will have a place to live, rather than kick around on the floor.

The other recent project was Laura and Leslie’s wardrobes - since they’ve made the master bedroom closet into a nursery, they need somewhere to put their clothes, and even I can made better-looking and more useful wardrobes than the cardboard ones they used for moving.  My construction is not “cabinetry” by any stretch of the imagination—“useful”, or “serviceable” would be the correct adjective…..
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One really nice thing about both these projects was the price - I’ve been haunting the “cull bin” at Home Depot, and regularly checking the sheet materials at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, and haven’t paid more than about 1/3 the regular price for anything other than the closet rod, so far.  I even found the four shelves in the wardrobe, and another four or five for Sophia’s stairs, in the “take it for free” bin at the ReStore.  So far, I’ve made Sophia’s bed and Laura’s wardrobe, plus stockpiled enough particle board for Sophia’s bookcase and part of Leslie’s wardrobe, and the cost to date is about $120.00.  The wardrobe uses some fairly long and wide pieces of particle board (3 @ 26x60, and 2 @ 26x48), but I’m still hoping to find the pieces needed in the bargain locations - otherwise, I’d have to buy three or four full sheets of particle board, and end up with a lot of scrap.