A Welcome Return

Extremely grateful that the artichoke has come back. Two plants so far.

Tiny Deaths

Carrion discovery date & location:

Skunk, 10/25/11, east side of Arroyo Seco creek, south of Colorado Street Bridge.

Rat, 11/11/11, Huntington Gardens, east of Lily Ponds at the base of the fir trees.

Sometimes a Small Moment

Today is incredibly overcast with rain in the forecast. Buckwheat pancakes for breakfast. Aspirations: a small excursion like the one above...drawing/writing...small projects...warmth by the fire.

Possum Poop vs. Dog

Can there really be a victor? The possum left it's tell-tale legacy in the yard. Trudy ventured out early, rolled in it & slid back into the house. I was in the kitchen, farthest away from the stink. My four year old waltzed through the living room into the kitchen clutching his nose, "What is that terrible smell?'

"What smell?" I asked as I walked into the living room and was hit with a wall of fetid nastiness.

Dog out. Washed. Washed again. Allowed back inside and documented with a photo.

Book Cart Resuscitation

The NPR affiliate station I worked for (prior to my mombatical) was located under a community college library. Each day, I would pass by double swinging doors where library carts would rest before being launched back into service transporting books back to shelves. As I was leaving one day, I found an oak library cart cast aside for the more modern and maneuverable aluminum carts. I asked if I could have the cart. With a yes from a questionable granting authority, I quickly wheeled the cart to my car and threw it inside. What is a public radio geek but a dorkier cousin to the librarian? I was thrilled with my book toting acquisition. The cart, hands down, is one of my favorite pieces of furniture.

But like any librarian, my cart has seen some hard and fast times and weathered some water stains from errant cups left to flounder coasterless on it's delicate wooden surface. My cart sat bedside until Eric's nightstands pushed it back into the living room. I decided to show some love and fix the water stains. I read up on some remedies to use mayonnaise to pull out the water rings. Reason departed and I foolishly tried the remedy. Witness the dark oil stain of my folly in the picture above.

I pulled out a sander and tried to eradicate the oil stain. I found an old can of half full Restor-A-finish that I used on the cart. The cart cleaned up beautifully. Now it holds court next to the dining table. I love it as much as the day we ran away together.

Happy Halloween

Pumpkin Patching

Turban squash

I packed up the wagon with kids in tow and headed out to Underwood Family Farms for the Fall Festival and to spend the day with grandparents.

Goats were sighted overhead eating from a pepper tree.

The kids enjoyed a John Deer thrasher turned slide.

My oldest and I took to the corn maze. For the first time, we found the haystack pyramid through the maze. In previous years, hunger took over and we would enter from the exit to summit the haystack.

The day was gorgeous. Starlings, cowbirds and yellow-shouldered blackbirds outnumbered the crowd. Some would take flight with at least thirty birds in a group and fly noisily overhead turning in unison in a moment's notice.

I always love taking the meandering tractor trip through the fields.

Previously:

Pumpkin Patch at Underwood Family Farms

Camp Ramshackle Crime Report

Resident Eric Thomason stumbled upon a grim scene early in the morning en route to his first cup of coffee. In the kitchen, he found the body of a fencepost lizard splayed on it's back revealing a cerulean blue belly. The lizard was declared dead on the scene.

A stunned Thomason said, "It just happened. There was nothing on the floor, then I turned around and it was here."

A suspect was held for questioning but released shortly thereafter to go pee outside.

Spooked

Camp Ramshackle is haunted by a message leaving ghost.

Bickel Camp in the Mojave Desert

The same weekend of Gem-O-Rama, we did some exploring of BLM land in the Mojave Desert. We stopped in at Bickel Camp. As told to me by the current Bickel Camp caretaker, the camp was claimed in 1934 by Walt Bickel and has been lived in continuously since then. The non-profit organization, The Friends of Last Chance Canyon, preserves Bickel Camp as a monument to Depression Era gold miners.

Walt Bickel suffered a stroke in 1987 and moved to a nursing home in nearby Ridgecrest. His camp was preserved the way he left it. He died in 1996.

The caretaker, Mark Aslin, lives alongside Walt Bickel's main camp in newer trailers with his special lady friend and two good dogs. The full time caretaker helps keep Bickel Camp in tact. A nearby camp that belonged to Burro Schmidt has been completely decimated by looters.

Mark Aslin grew up in the area and says he used to explore the hills and knew a lot of the old time prospectors.

Pudgy, one of the good dogs. Blind as a bat, sweet as candy.

Walt Bickel's main cabin.

The shade on the outdoor patio was rebuilt in 2006. I imagine how great it must be to sit there when the sun finally sets and watch the fantastic show.

Refashioned Purse

When I scored my silk tri-tie thrifting about a month ago, I also picked up a dollar purse. I hemmed & hawed before purchasing. I don't like having a lot of stuff even when the price is enticing, so I tend to ponder my acquisitions. I finally went with it because the leather was quite lovely. Very soft and made in Italy. I figured if I didn't use the purse, I could reuse the leather for other projects.

Although the leather was nice, the lining in the bag was uninspired: a ripstop nylon with one small zippered pocket. I took that out, used it as a pattern for a cotton print lining and added multiple pockets for a pen and pencil, billfold, bamboo utensils and other mobile gadgetry.

Some projects come together easily. Some don't. This project was a surprising snap. I surprised myself with how easily it reassembled. I even did some no-pin-punk rock sewing which often ends in regret and a seam ripper. The sewing angels smiled kindly on this project...and I minded my language.

Louis Raitton R.I.P.

While putting away tools in Eric's shack, I stumbled upon the remains of a small rat hereby christened Louis Raitton. Judging by the gummed on nature of Louis' head, I suspect Trudy as the assassin.

My Laughable Summer List

Now that we are firmly entrenched in fall, I review my summer lists. At the beginning of the summer, the boys and I sat down to write down what we wanted to do over the summer. One of my favorites is "Plan a trip around the world." Check.

I am happy to say, we checked off everything we had hoped to do as a family.

I also made a personal list of projects that I wanted to tackle this summer. I did accomplish a lot of work over the summer but out of the six items actually written on my list, I only complete one: "hang out with kids HAVE FUN."

All in all, I think it was a success.

Gem-O-Rama 2011

Hanksite from Trona, CA

Last October was the first time I'd ever heard of Gem-O-Rama. On a Monday morning before school while our kids played in the playground, Ilse Ackermann told me about a great adventure she and her family enjoyed over the weekend digging through mud to unearth crystals from the Searles Valley. It sounded like a true treasure hunt. Then she went to a picnic table and picked up two minerals each bigger than her hand.

I went home and marked my calendar a year in advance for Gem-O-Rama 2011, which happens the second weekend in October if you want to mark your calendars for 2012. Each year, the Searles Gem and Mineral Society opens the salt flat in Trona for gem collecting.

The harvesting is through three curated field trips, the Mud Field (pictured above) where Hanksite is plentiful. Boots, gloves, three pronged cultivators, trowels and shovels come in handy.

In the afternoon, there is another dig called Blow Hole, where many search for the rare Sulfohalite, a gem that looks like a pyramid on top of a pyramid. We were lucky to find some beautiful specimens.

The following day, a field trip for Pink Halite happens. Bring your waiters, a crow bar and long water proof gloves as wading into the lake is necessary to acquire a good specimen.

Treasures can be taken to the brine trough to clean. As the crystals are salt, they will dissolve in fresh water but not in brine.

Bodies and tools are cleaned up in a rigged up faucet system fed by brackish water. Don't take a swig.

The overall verdict on Gem-O-Rama as reported by my oldest son. Gem-O-Rama brings together a great selection of people: gem enthusiasts, gem obsessionists, amateurs. I watched a sixty year old man present a ball of mud to a woman. He said, look what I found. She leaned in and watched as he pulled away the mud to reveal a brass container, inside the container was some fabric which he unrolled to reveal a plastic green ring with a harvested Hanksite pushed on the end. He presented it to her and asked her to marry him.

She said yes.

Thanks again to Ilse for the great tip. Hope to see you there next year.

Fall Brings Pomegranates

Camp Ramshackle anticipates the ripe pomegranate all year. We have one large tree that typically yields a hearty harvest, enough to juice and enjoy until December if not longer, and two small trees. My sons have been eyeing the pomegranates as they grow. My youngest harvested the reddest one he could find on the small tree.

When my oldest returned home from school, his first stop was for his share of the harvested fruit.

We all enjoyed a few bites, but I think we'll let the other fruit ripen just a bit more. The late season pomegranate with it's sweet ruby fruits is a taste sensation decidedly worth the wait.

Previously:

Garden Developments

Pomegranate Season

Pomegranates Are Coming In

Fresh Squeezed Pomegranate Juice

Harvesting Pomegranates

On Task

While Eric was tending to trailer plumbing and having mummified squirrels drop on him, the boys busied themselves with important tasks at hand. Building a trap.

Pounding rocks and making rock dust.

Evolving the trap into a boat where you eat your lunches, sail with a parent and head out there first thing in the overcast morning to get warm.