Catching Up

It’s been a while since I last posted. In fact, my last blog was back in April! A lot has happened since then. For one thing, my granddaughter, Lexi, and her boyfriend Spencer, finally set off with high hopes at the California/Mexico border to begin their hike-thru on the Pacific Crest trail to the Canadian border, 2600 miles and 5 months away.     Unfortunately, they had only hiked about 30 miles through the Mojave desert when Lexi stepped on a round rock and turned her ankle. Badly. Since she had broken her foot only last year, she was afraid she had broken it again. So, off the trail they came, back to San Jose. Fortunately, Lexi’s ankle was only strained and bruised but it meant a 4 week recovery time and delay in their plans.
    Now they are happily back on the trail and continuing nicely. They wanted to keep to their timeline so they returned to the PCT at the point they would have been if the accident had not happened. I think they are hiking through Yosemite now, as I type. Whenever we get to talk to Lexi she is euphoric! She and Spencer are in “hiking heaven.”
    They post photos on Facebook whenever they can get a cell phone signal and by the looks of those gorgeous pictures, it is indeed, a hiker’s dream.

A well earned rest after hiking through the Goodale Pass

Crystal clear stream in the Inyo National Forest. No water problems yet.

Into the woods

    Soon it will be my turn to mail a resupply box for her to pick up in Castella, California. She had already packed her boxes before she left but I’m going to add a couple of surprises to them. Something they can enjoy that doesn’t weigh very much as she has to carry everything on her back.
    In the meantime, my best friend Angie’s daily helper, Norma, gave me two large grocery bags full of luscious ripe plums from her tree so I just had to make some jelly and jam. It has been at least 30 years since I last made jam when we lived in Eugene, Oregon. Those were the days! We only had to drive 2-5 miles in any direction to be able to pick our own fresh strawberries, green beans, cherries, and tomatoes, right off the vines and trees. We would drive our cars right into the “Pick-it-Yourself” cherry orchard and stand on the roof or the hood of the car to reach up and pick the bright red pie cherries.Then we took them to the sales shack to be pitted and weighed. At the apple orchard, for a quarter a bag, we could buy grocery bags full of “windfall” apples that had fallen to the ground and, although ripe, weren’t perfect. They were good enough for applesauce though. Oh, how I loved seeing those ruby-red jars of cherries I canned, sitting on the shelf next to the jars of cinnamon-laced applesauce and the jewel-like jars of tomatoes. I still remember the great sense of satisfaction it gave me. It’s no different today. Making jelly or jam is a lot of work but I still feel satisfied, seeing my little jars of plum jam and jelly sitting there on my kitchen counter to be shared with friends and family or stored in my pantry. Both my daughters, Brenda and Robin, carry on the tradition, making spicey red pepper jelly every Christmas for their friends, co-workers, and family.

    I made a scrumptious sausage, spinach, and cheese strata for our church coffee hour a couple of weeks ago but forgot to take pictures! Take my word for it, it was delicious and beautiful! My family and I have rented a house in the mountains for a week in July and I plan to make it again for them. I will take pictures and include the recipe then. I promise.
    Stay cool, and if you plan to go to the beach in Santa Cruz, allow yourself at least an hour or more for the crawl over the hill; but it will be so worth it!