Hand Bell Ringers

Last Sunday, (December 11th), Dave and I got a chance to finally see my friend Karen and her group, (the Utah Valley Hand Bell Choir) perform at the Springville Art Museum.  Karen is the founder, (18 years ago), and one of the directors of this marvelous group. 

 They perform only a few times a year, (Easter, 4th of July, and Christmas).  Most of their performances are at Christmas.  They are all volunteers and they are excellent performers.  If you get the chance, I would highly recommend going to see one of their performances, and buy one of their CDs. A very professional group!  And everyone of them also play another instrument.

Karen and her husband Neil have vacationed with Dave and I a couple of times and they are such a fun couple - we laugh so much when we are with them.  We are so glad we finally got the chance to hear Karen's group.  They are in high demand during the holidays, and this performance was sold out. 

SO - What do you think ??

Is this look me ?   Should I get one of these hats ?   

I just couldn't resist trying it on -  it was too funny....

Our Newest Family Member

On Thursday night, (October 13th), the newest member of our family arrived !!    I am so pleased to introduced to everyone my new great-granddaughter,  Miss Autumn Raine Long.   She was born @ 11:43pm.   6lbs, 7 oz,  19 inches.  She has black wavy hair and hazel eyes.   She has very long fingers, (going to be a piano player), and long toes.

 As you can probably tell by the look on my face - she is the most beautiful baby girl in the world.  Everyone thinks grandparents are wonderful, but only the best grand parents get to be called GREAT-grandparents !!

I think Dave is pretty happy with this little girl also.  She snuggles into him so contently - everyone loves his warmth.  She looks so tiny next to him.   Welcome to our family little Autumn.  You are going to be so loved with so many grandparents.

Potatoes Harvested

Some of Dave's co-workers have been asking him about our potatoes that we've been growing and how they are doing.  Some of my friends have also emailed and said why don't you put a photo of your potatoes on the blog so we can see what they look like when you dig them up.  OK - here is the 5th and last harvest that we dug up.  We have have some pretty good eating for only have a few potatoes planted.  Dave has that big monster in the basket earmarked with his name.  I guess I need to chop him up quick for dinner.    OH - by the way remember those old cucumber seeds that I planted, these are some of the last of the harvest off the vines.  I gave a small bag of cukes away to our puppy sitter and a small bag to one of the security guards at work, and we have been eating cucumbers everynight for the last 2 weeks.  Not bad for old seeds that I just threw out in the garden.  They didn't cost us anything!!  And we have lots of little pinky size cukes on the vines - as long as the frost doesn't get them, I will keep picking them.

S J O R

This year Dave decided that as part of his  birthday gift, he wanted to attend a smooth jazz concert in Sedona, Arizona.  It was the SEDONA JAZZ ON THE ROCKS - (S J O R), held the weekend of October 7th and 8th.  So, we left late Thursday afternoon and drove down to Page, Arizona and spent the night, then got up  and drove the couple of hours into Sedona.  Dave has been to Sedona several times, but this was my first trip.

The first thing we did when we arrived into town was go to the Arizona Pink Jeep Tours.  This company has been in business for 51 years, and if you ever get the chance to go to Sedona you have to do the Pink Jeep tour, it is so worth the trip.  They have several different tours packages that you can sign up for and they are a blast.  We did the Diamondback Gulch tour, which was about 3 hours - but some of them are all day tours if you are that adventurous.

The terrain was both breath taking, sometimes a little dangerous, very rugged and only reachable by our 4X4 tour jeep, always thrilling, and sometimes heart pounding as you looked down over the side of the ravines and up the side of the cliffs.

The scenery was breath taking, and being the high desert terrain very much like South Western Utah.  But still very lovely to look at.  Our tour guide did not disappoint one bit.

 At one stop in the tour, Mike the tour guide / driver, pulled over and pointed out the prickly pear cactus and described the fruit and got out and cut one of the fruit off the plant, brought it back to the jeep, opened it up and showed us how delicious it was.  He told us the different restaurants in town that served prickly pear ice cream, Magarita's,and  jellies and jams with their breakfast items.  The prickly pear has a taste that is a cross between a cherry and a strawberry.  It is very sweet but very good.  At lunchtime we made sure to have some.

As you can see, our little jeep was very trustworthy and could easily maneuver any terrain, no matter what the incline.

Even rocks did not deter our path !!

And when we stopped for photos, the sights were glorious for the eye to behold.

That afternoon, we checked into the Junipine Resort, and we were able to sit and watch the Oak Creek off of our bedroom deck.  Dave was wishing that there was a bed on the deck, so he could sleep to the sound of the creek.  It was such a contrast to the desert we had just been through. 

That evening and all day Saturday, we listened to Smooth Jazz artists.  The cool autumn air and the warm sun made for a great weekend.  My favorite smooth jazz artist, Dave Koz was featured on Friday night and Dave's favorite smooth jazz artist, Mindi Abair, was featured on Saturday.  Along with many other artists, (Los Lobos, The Rippingtons, Maxi Priest, Jeff Golub, Hiroshima, Sahnas Brothers, Billy Mitchell, Will Donato, Isaac Valenzuela, Tony Exum Jr. andd The Rhythm Keepers).  Probably the most exciting surprise was on Saturday when Mindi announced that Dave Koz has stayed over and was going to do a special number on stage with her.  Dave and I have been to a lot of Mindi's concerts and Dave's concerts and never have they played together.  It was great to hear them both play their saxophones together.  And to hear Jeff Golub on stage with Mindi so soon after losing his eyesight was amazing.  The venue was so great, (the lighting was horrible, the microphones didn't always work, the food vendors weren't all that great, the golf course grounds weren't that well taken care of), but the music made up for it.  And we were back home by 8:30 on Sunday, so we weren't too tired and worn out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE - Hope you enjoyed it, I did.

September Birthdays

Dave and I both celebrate our birthdays in September, and this year, (Sept 16th), Josh brought the boys over to Tucanos Brazilian Restaurant at The Gateway Shopping Center, downtown.  Dave and I have enjoyed many a fine meal there with out of town business associates and we always have a good meal and good times.  This was the first visit for Josh and the boys.  Trevor's girlfriend Audra joined us for the evening.  Everyone ate so much, that I thought I was going to have to stick a pin in the guys to give them some relief.  They really enjoyed the food.  They just kept eating, and eating, and eating.

Then the waiters showed up with the drums and tambourine to sing happy birthday to Dave and I.  Dave and I stood up and gave it all we had.  We were not ones to miss out on a chance to totally embarrass our grandsons.   Dave clapped, and I shook the tambourine high and proudly as we both danced around the chairs laughing to the beat of the drums and the singing.

As you can see by Trevor and Audra's face, they didn't quite know how to take grandma and grandpa's dancing and carrying on.  Then they realized it was all in fun and just an act, and they started laughing and joining in on the fun also.

Ian of course had a good time with the celebration.  He loves a good party!   Of course in just a few weeks, it will be his 13th birthday and he will get his turn to dance and party.  He loves to play it up also, just like his grandma.  Anything for attention, right Ian?

Josh just kept on eating, he said it left more food for him as long was we were up dancing and having fun.   Before we left, everyone filled out birthday cards, so that next year they could all get a free meal on their birthday.  They all agreed that Tucanos is so much better than any other Brazilian restaurant in town and they definitely want to come back again.   Everyone had a good time, and ate way too much food.  We were all sorry that Shelle wasn't feeling well enough to join us.  She missed out on a good time, and lots of laughs.

CABO IN SEPTEMBER

 This year Dave and I invited our friends Jayson and Katrina Goldman, (from Florida), to spend a week with us in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  We all arrived in on Saturday, (September 3rd) and spent 7 days in HOT, HOT Cabo, baking in the humid sunny Mexican sun.  We are very lucky that Jayson and Katrina were looking for a relaxing week, which Dave and I so needed.  The area had just received some much needed rains, and the air was so humid that it made moving about in the humid climate very unbearable.  I'm sure that Jayson and Katrina thought it was normal weather, being typical Floridians.

We mostly spent a lot of time relaxing around the pools, reading books, and taking cool dips in the water.  We did our usual cruise around the harbor taking in the arch, Lover's Beach, and the sights.  The crowds were not to be found this time of the year, since most had gone back home to start the new school year, (yea).  We went to our usual dining haunts, Shrimp Factory, Romeo and Julietta's, (where Katrina got the Mexican coffee and slept very well her first night in Cabo - it's made with tequila and Kahlua, then they set it on fire), Hacienda El Coyote, (where Jayson had a delicious steak served with chocolate sauce).

And of course, I had to make my annual visit to the animal sanctuary, to hold this year's newest baby, a 2 month old lion.  His name is Leo.  And he was huge!!  As you can see, he would hardly fit on my lap.  But he was so adorable.  I can never resist the babies, and the money all goes to the sanctuary, so it's a worthy cause. 

One day it was so hot that we just stayed inside the condo, played Catch Phase, cards, took naps, then went down to the pool for a cool dip, and ate at the resort's restaurant.  It was a very relaxing day.  Most every night we played Catch Phase or Canasta and laughed so hard and stayed up way too late and sleep in the next mornings.  It was nice being on this type of a vacation, nowhere to be at any particular time - just winging it as we go.

This year we ventured up to San Jose' Del Cabo for the day.  We did some shopping, eating, and bumming around during the early part of the day.  Jayson and Katrina found some really good deals on jewelry.  Dave got me a new pair of silver and turquoise earrings.  Jayson got Katrina a lovely ring.  We grabbed a light lunch from a sidewalk cafe', and wandered through more shops.  Then on to a wonderful surprise arranged by Katrina.  An evening at an Organic Farm / Cooking School - LOS TAMARINDOS.

After a wild ride down some back roads and a few wrong turns, we finally, (with some help from the Chef's girlfriend Lulu), arrived.  We were greeted and led to a lovely outdoor seating area and treated to some refreshing freshly made lemongrass tea, then a quick lesson on Organic Farming and a tour around the greenhouse to view the new seedlings, the herb gardens, and the cooking schools vegetable garden.  Los Tamarindos exports a large amount of vegetables and fruits to Vancouver, Washington and California for use in restaurants and sales in grocery stores.  We learned that the San Jose' area has a large community of organic farmers who export to the USA and Canada.

We were then all led to the house, (an old historic home built in 1888), and all given clean freshly pressed aprons, shown to the sinks to wash up and disinfect our hands for our food preparation.  YUP, that's right, we paid them for the privilege of preparing our own food.  Just like at home, only using organic food (??).   I told Dave and Jayson, I have an idea for a business; I'm going to allow people to come clean my house, mow my year, and prepare their dinner and mine and I'll only charge them half the amount we paid Los Tamarindos.  Dave and Jayson didn't think the idea would go over to well in the USA.

The chef started off our cooking course with delicious Tortilla soup.  It was so good, and felt so warm in our tummies.  Maybe it was because by the time we got all the food chopped, diced, sliced, and cooked in the outdoor brick oven and ready to eat it was now 9:30 at night and we were all starving.  But at any rate, the food was really good.  The recipe for this soup was very simple, one that I am sure to try again at home.

Next we had our appetizer, Queso En Hoja Santa.  Simply put, this was a layer of Hoja Santa leaves, (which have an anise flavor), with a red roasted tomato sauce spread over the leaves, then topped with Oaxaca cheese, (a Mexican cheese).  Since I was sitting to the chef's right during the cooking lesson, he turned to me handed me the plate and ingredients that the students had prepared and said "here put the course together for the oven!".  I looked at him questionably, and he sort of showed me how and I replied "Oh, like a pizza", and he said YES.  Let me tell you, when we all tasted this, is was so delicious.  The different flavors just blended together in your mouth.  I would have never thought of trying this, but after tasting it, if I ever see Hoja Santa leaves in a Mexican grocery store I will definitely try making it.

We then had Red Snapper Vera Cruzana style.  I have made this at home several times, using Taliapa and Cod.  The chef's recipe was very similar to the recipe that I found on Food Network.  So Dave and I knew instantly that this would be a winner.  The chef and I talk about the differences in our recipes for this dish.  It was fun comparing how I prepare a dish with a professional chef to get his take on a dish.

Dinner was followed by Chile Rellenos with Vegetables.  I can honestly say that I have never had this, even though Dave has ordered it many times and absolutely loves it.  I always thought that because of the pepper it would be hot and spicy, but when I bit into the pepper and the cheese, I thought "why have I waited so long to have this delicious food item".  The chef did not dip the peppers in a batter and deep fry them, but instead baked the peppers and they were so sweet and tasty.  I will definitely have this dish again, and again.

The chef then prepared a special dessert for us - Quince Ate (ah-te') with Ricotta Cheese.  He gathered Quince from the local fruit trees and prepared a jelly that he then made into a fruit type roll up and served with a soft Ricotta cheese drizzled with honey from the farm's hives.  The dessert was his surprise for us and very delicious and as he described how it was prepared a very simple recipe.  However - if you were to make the quince ate, (a local jelly), that is a lot of work, so it is best to try and buy the quince ate.  It was a great ending to a delicious meal.  And everyone was so stuffed from all the delicious food.

And of course, here is our wonderful teacher, and chef Enrique Silva, and as you can see some of the wonderful freshly picked vegetables that we would be using that evening in our meal.  The class was held on an outdoor patio classroom setting, because the temps were still in the mid 90s.  Each of us received a small cookbook with copies of recipes for each dish that we had prepared that evening, so we can go home and continue to practice what we had learned.  Sitting at the table eating our food and talking with the chef about the area, local customs, the people, and laughing sharing stories the evening flew by quickly.  We all agreed that Katrina's surprise cooking lessons was the best adventure of the week.  Every time I wear my apron that I brought home, I am reminded of the experience, and every time I pick vegetable from my garden I wonder if chef Enrique would smile and say I am a good organic gardener also?!?

We also did a wonderful supper sunset cruise on the Cabo Rey.  It was another VERY WARM night, so being on the ocean with the breezes felt very good on our sun tanned skin.  And the light air conditioning in the lower cabins also felt wonderful.  We started the evening on the top deck with a cruise around the area enjoying the arch, the beaches and the local sights, along with a small live band for about 45 minutes.

Then we ventured down below to find our table very nicely set and ready.  Jayson and Katrina dined on lobster, (I think Jayson enjoyed lobster about 5 days during his stay in Cabo), Dave and I dined on the sea bass.  Everything was so good and the service was very good also.

After dinner we were treated to entertainment by local artisans.

We finished up the week with a delicious seafood buffet at La Noa, at Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach.  The food was great, the view of spectacular, and the service was excellent.

At the end of the week, everyone was a little darker from the sun and a little more rested.  But we were all ready to get back home - Jayson and Katrina to their little boy, Calvin.  Dave and I to our animals babies.

Of course, one last look back at The Arch, where the land ends and the party begins.  Thanks to our friends Jayson and Katrina for joining us this year.  We had fun, we hope you enjoyed the trip and took home pleasant memories to last many years.  When you're ready to go back, give us a call.

OK- I KNOW I SHOULDN'T POST THIS LAST PHOTO, BUT I CAN'T RESIST !!  FIRST READ WHAT I WRITE BEFORE CLICKING THE PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT.

Dave, Jayson, and I are sitting in the town square of San Jose' Cabo.  It is HOT, HOT, HOT.  The temps have got to be 95, (at least).  We are sitting under a shade tree, drinking ice water trying to find some type of relief from the heat, sharing laughs, and stories, waiting for Katrina, (she's in a little shop visiting with the shopkeeper and looking at jewelry).  Now in Cabo San Lucas that day there are 2 cruise ships in port, and a tour bus has stopped in San Jose' to allow the cruise ship passengers, (probably 50 total), to visit, shop, eat, browse the town.  You know who they are, because they have the little pink numbered sticker on their left shoulder of their shirt.  So, I look up and what do my wondering eyes spy, but two Asian cruise shipmates, (most likely a married couple), walking, no strolling through town without a care in the world.  I start laughing out loud, I nugged Dave and point.  He chuckles and points it out to Jayson, who almost falls off the bench with laughter.  I grab my camera - Katrina is never going to believe this!!   Dave yells out "Hey Lederhosen".  They don't turn around - guess they didn't speak English.  Jayson wondered "why didn't one person on the ship even say to them 'surely your aren't going on shore dressed like that are you?'"...  We laughed so hard when he said that.  Dave wondered if maybe they got Mexico confused with the Germany Oktoberfest.  I wondered what the cowboy hats had to do with the whole outfit??  I struggled to get my camera to get a shot, and only got a photo of them walking away.  I wish you could have seen this pair from the front.

Just couldn't resist sharing with everyone.

Garden Update

Several friends have been asking "how is your garden doing this year, now that your are in your new house".  I have been meaning to do an update showing the garden area with the plants.  I took photos a couple weeks ago, and never got around to posting them - so here goes, with some explanation.  The first year in the new house, I am not very happy with the garden, but with some amendments to the soil next year, I'm sure the outcome will be much more fruitful.

We are getting our lettuce and onion production still, thanks to the shade from the vinyl fencing in the afternoon.  We should have some fair sized onions for winter storage.  The lettuce has been really nice for salads and sandwiches, (I planted black seeded Simpson).

Our strawberries are into their 4th bearing now.  I had to put a netting over them, to keep the birds from stealing the berries.  After we got the first picking, the next 2 times I found half eaten berries hanging on the plants.  Apparently the birds like the sweet berries as much as Dave does.  I am hoping that as the plants spread and propagate, we will get a much larger gathering next year.

This is our asparagus.  The first year you always let the plants go to seed.  Then the second year the plants will produce small stalks.  By the third year we will hopefully have quite a bounty and maybe be able to share with our friends.

 Our cabbage is starting to head up nicely.  At our other house, I planted cabbage during the 5th year of our gardening, and the heads were so huge, they were like basketballs.  These will most likely be small, but I can probably still make a couple jars of sauerkraut and a few bowls of coleslaw to go with our pull pork sandwiches - Dave's favorite.

I am so disappointed in our broccoli and cauliflower this year.  The spring weather was so wet that neither one did well.  I am hoping that maybe we might get a couple of small clusters this fall.

Our tomatoes are starting to produce, but here again I am so disappointed. The soil needs amendments added to it and because of the cold wet spring, I didn't get the plants in the ground until June.  We have picked a few tomatoes big enough for salads and sandwiches.  I also taken a couple into the office to share with our security guards, who are so good to help out with Balsa when I am in meetings.  September should give us more to enjoy.  We have a mixture of Early Girl, Celebrity, Beefmaster, lots of Roma, and a few Early Boy. 

This zucchini plant was grown from a packet of old seeds that I found laying in a box.  The seeds were dated 2005.  I planted them and thought "nothing ventured, nothing gained - and their free".  Hopefully we might get a couple of fruit.  Can we say Chocolate zucchini bread, Dave loves it !!

I am extremely disappointed in the eggplant.  We bought Bonnie Bell plants, (paid good money for them), and only got one very small eggplant from the 2 plants.  I most likely will not do eggplant again.  It is so much easier to just buy it in the stores.

Our corn is starting to tassel.  This was planted so very late in the year, I didn't get it into the ground until the end of June.  I purchased the seed, left them laying on the table, where Balsa keep getting them and opening the package.  She liked the sound of the seeds shaking in the package and would play with it until it would rip open and the seeds would fall on the floor.  After 3 times of cleaning up corn, I finally gave in and planted the seeds.  Perhaps if I had planted them the first of June we would have ears of corn by now.  Hopefully we will have some by September.

Here is what's left of our potatoes.  We have already harvested 4 times from our potato patch.  We will have one more harvest of white potatoes and then that will be the last of our potatoes.  We did white potatoes and red potatoes.  Next year, we might do some fingerlings.  Dave said one evening while eating potatoes; "you know I really like harvesting and eating our own food - it taste so good".  He didn't even mind digging in the dirt for potatoes.

Now these cucumbers have an interesting story.  I found a packet of seeds the middle of July in a box I was unpacking that were 10 years old!!  Most people would have thrown them away and said they weren't worth sowing.  But as you can see, we have lots of cucumbers plants and blooms.  I was taught as a child to plant 3 seeds to each hill and then thin out the 2 weakest plants.  These plants are doing very well, we should have some good cukes in about another month.  YUMMY.

Out carrots are doing very well.  We planted a short sweet variety.  And even though I thinned them, the tops are so bushy, that when I dig down to check on the progress of the carrots, I have to move the tops aside to find where the carrot root actually begins.  We hopefully will have a good yield.  I did a second planting about 2 months after the first planting and the second planting it almost as mature as the first planting.  I am planning on freezing some of these for the winter.  I am hoping to get a third planting in next week for a late harvest.

This little squash plant was a from a couple of seeds that I found hidden in a packet in the bottom of a box.  The seeds were about 10 years old and I had one little bare spot in the garden, so I just planted them the end of July and figured, "what the heck, let's see if they grow".  What do you know - it looks like I might get a summer squash from one of the seeds.  I can taste the sauteed squash now with a little butter, salt, and pepper.  My mouth is watering already.  And it didn't cost me anything.

And of course I can't forget the star of our household, my basil pot.  This plant has been around for about 4 years now.  I bring it in every winter, baby it clipping only a few leaves during the cold months to keep it growing.  Then in the summer as it grows by leaps and bounds I use the lots of leaves of the plant in sandwiches, sauces, pizzas, and Shelle even made a delicious basil lemonade for the 4th of July using some of the leaves from the plant to supplement her basil leaves.  This plant has truly been a godsend to our household.  We love this little guy.  Whenever the dogs walk by and swish it with their tails, the scent fills the patio with a wonderful aroma, and when I clip the leaves my hands carry the wonderful scent for a few hours.  The house always has a wonderful scent when I cook with this herb.

Well there it is - our garden.  This year is not as good as past years at our other house, but next year and in coming years as we add to the soil, we hope it will be more productive and bountiful.