Yellow-rumped Warbler at Rest

A Yellow-rumped Warbler carrion at my youngest son's preschool. The beauty of something so delicate and untouchable...in your hands. An exquisite experience. 

Tomato Starts in My Kitchen

I have aspirations to grow great tomatoes, thick heirloom slicers and rich San Marzanos for canning. To date, my greatest success has been the small cherry tomatoes, sadly, not a favorite of my home-sharing posse. Thanks to a gift subscription to Mother Earth News from my mother-in-law, I read a great article in the January 2013 issue, "Best Tips for Starting Seeds Indoors" and put the tips to the test. The result is a lovely crop of tomato starts: San Marzanos; the heirlooms: Persimmon, deep orange and reportedly sweet; Black Krim, a "black" tomato from the Russian Black Sea area; & Costoluto, a traditional red slicer from Italy. I will transplant these into larger containers, let them recuperate, then harden them off before planting them outside.

Glancing at my notebook, I found this passage written on 1.19.13, when I first planted the seeds, a collection from Renee's Seeds called Heirloom Summer Feast:

I love the description Heirloom Summer Feast. I imagine a deliciously hot summer, the heat breaking in the early evening, perhaps salty skin recently returned home from the beach. Smiles. Lethargic limbs happily made tired from an ocean swim. A pitcher of lemonade, ice clanking on the sides, fresh mint swirling. A plate of tomatoes, the orange persimmons, the beefy red of the Costoluto and the dark purple of the Black Krim, sliced evenly on a plate, a drizzle of olive oil, crunchy salt flakes and a bit of pepper.

Please grow.

Tree House Humble Beginnings

Eric took boys, wood, screws and nails and constructed this tree platform in our pepper tree. The boys have a special password, whoever gets there first is the keeper of the gate.

A simple place. Simply wonderful.

Other updates. Lots of gardening. This is an active time for the Southern Californian gardener. I sowed some Eschscholzia californica aka California poppy anticipating tomorrow's rain. And finally got a succulent garden planted. To date, I've gardened most of my succulents in pots. I look forward to watching the growth. In the tree house. In the ground.

Back in Beesness!

Thanks to a wonderful friend and a recent swarm at her home, we are back in bees! The swarm was captured by Steve of Bee Catchers and delivered to our door. I was with the dog at the vet. Eric took the bees and dumped them into our hive. He poured them a plateful of honey in the top feeder instead of using sugar water. After almost a week, I'm happy to say the bees are still here. I was watching them leave and return with legs packed with pollen.

I'm still on the look out for another swarm. I would like to capture it myself. We'd like to have two hives to insure ourselves from being beeless in the future.

Thanks so much to Jackie for the swarm and Steve for the hive capture and delivery. We are so grateful & very happy to be back in bees.

Desert Celebration

My good friend celebrated her birthday with a party in the desert. The rendez vous location: 29 Palms Inn. A flourless chocolate cake and pavlova were in order.

Add candles, creosote, desert night, the smell of it all. Everyone together cycling around the sun, filling our lives with experiences that we share together. Moments apart. In retrospect, these experiences become stories. The stories of our lives. Epic. Mundane. Pieces that fit together. Sliced apart. Compiled together. All complete.

Promise of Lemons to Come

The delicate blossom bears the promise of future fruit. Our little lemon tree returns to its former glory.

Beeless

Two weeks ago, we noticed usual activity surrounding the bees. When we went to investigate, we saw our hive was under attack by robber bees. Eric reduced the entrance to the hive. I covered the hive in a sheet.

But our measures we no match for the robber bees. Within a day, our six box high hive was an empty shell of the thriving bee metropolis it once was.

Eric pulled what honey he could from the hive. I cannot express the deep sadness and loss I feel. I went out the very same day on a quest to pick up a swarm. A friend said she had spotted one. When I arrived to the canyon, the bees were not there. I now have a mobile swarm capture box with veil, spray bottle for sugar water and assorted tools to help with the acquisition in the back of my car. We are on the cusp of swarm season. I hope to pick up two swarms to start two new hives at Camp Ramshackle. If you see any swarm in the LA area, in particular Northeast LA or Pasadena, please post a comment to let me know. I'm on the hunt.

Let Them Eat Cake

Flourless chocolate cake to be exact. A dear friend celebrates a significant birthday this year. To celebrate, I presented her with a flourless chocolate cake. Our dear friend Phoenix has been making quite a few lately. I used his recipe. Wonderfully easy to make. And the product is tastebud poppingly delicious.

What week doesn't deserve a bit of celebration? Wednesday for being Wednesday. Birthday optional, I say. Give yourself a gift and make a flourless chocolate cake.

Flourless Chocolate Cake
12 oz. chocolate (I use the dark chocolate chips from Whole Foods)
1 cup Earth's Balance (butter for dairy eaters)
1 1/2 cup sugar
6 eggs
1 cup cocoa powder
3/4 dairy free milk (or regular)

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Oil and dust 9" spring form pan.
2. Melt chocolate.
3. Cream butter, add sugar, eggs, melted chocolate, cocoa powder and milk. Transfer batter into prepared pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes. Although in my oven, I bake it for a full hour until the top cracks. Let cool on a cake rack. Break from spring form pan. Dust with powdered sugar. Eat and be happy.

Cork Bandolier

Pirates, or at least pirate weaponry, are hot again at Camp Ramshackle. My youngest son with his art director sensibility decided he would like to make a bandolier. We talked about the project and came up with this idea that made for a fun afternoon project. Plus, he looks pretty wicked and ready for the high seas now. Calico Jack, take note.

Materials:

29 corks

2 toothpicks

tape

2 pieces twine, approximately 48" each

Drill

Steps:
Tape the toothpicks to the end of the twine. This will serve as a sewing needle to attach the corks. We color coded the toothpicks, which helped us assemble the corks without twisting the bandolier.

Drill two holes in each cork about a half inch from the ends. I used a larger drill bit so it would be easy to pass the toothpick needles through the holes.

Sew the corks together using both twines parallel to each other.

To secure the cork in place, loop back into the same hole.

And tighten. Once all your corks are on, size the bandolier to fit your pirate, then tie off the ends.

Return

I received a call from my funny friend Maryellen Hooper. "Is everything okay?" she asked. We talked for about an hour as she returned home from from a comedy gig. We talked about holidays, family, yada yada yada. In the end she said in effect...so what's with the blog? How come you aren't writing as much? I explained I had been writing quite a bit but not on the blog. I've been at work on some projects.

Maryellen understands this. Two years ago, Maryellen went through a similar dryspell with her Stinky Flowers blog. She had an eyeopening experience when she realized she had written a total of seven entries for the entire year. She made a resolution to write more and as a woman of her word, has done so.

This new year, I have made only one resolution. To laugh more. Not that I don't already laugh a lot, but I want to laugh more. Good thing I have friends like Maryellen. She keeps me laughing. And I appreciate the blogging nudge, Maryellen.

Kraut & Unwanted Cultures

Cockiness it not helpful in fermenting. I attempted a batch of sauerkraut using The Versatile Vegetable cookbook as a guide. I wanted to make some for my family and a friend. I mixed up this batch, excited about the pending tanginess twelve to fourteen days away. Folly. Pure folly.

Despite past fermenting successes, this one was a complete failure. I've never seen such a carpet of mold over the top. Perhaps it wasn't that bad. As I dumped the mixture, I practically shed a tear with all that tangy goodness going back to dust. But I didn't want to chance it, especially as I planned to share it. No one needs a food borne illness as a gift...the gift that keeps on giving for 48 hours or so.

Added to this kraut misstep is a failed kombucha brewing. For the first time ever, it also molded over the top. I took a break & hope to get back in the swing. Many to dos on my list, this one is lower than the others right now.

Annals of Home Improvement: the Little House

When we first moved into this house over ten years ago, I had my eye on the outpost building/tear down we dubbed the Little House. I envisioned a library/studio where I could work, get a project going and leave it out to return to it without having to put it all away to make space for the lunch or supper. But many projects took precedence (sewage problems, for instance, among many others).

Thanks to the generous help of our friend Phoenix, the Little House renovations are underway and my studio vista will be on the California native garden with the noble Live Oak framed in the window we bought from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. I'm so amazed at the items that are discarded from construction projects that can be purchased for drastically reduced prices. I'm extremely grateful for it all.

Wood

Wood. Wood and more wood.

At my youngest son's preschool silent auction fundraiser, I bid on and won half a cord of wood delivered to our house.

Just in time for some cozy time this holiday season and a bonfire this weekend...if the rain stays away. Otherwise, it's a bonfire rain check. Cozy, however, is always welcome.

California Thrasher

Over the deliciously long Thanksgiving weekend, I spent a lot of time in the garden. Interspersed with pitching for baseball batting practice, I pruned our St. Catherine's Lace buckwheat. This California Thrasher (Toxostoma redivivium) winters in our yard. Over the two days pruning the buckwheat, we became familiar with each other's presence. I noticed the Thrasher eating the fallen burst pomegranates. I gently pulled one from the tree and placed it two feet before me. Cautiously, the Thrasher approached and took the fruit as I sat and observed. I took this picture with my phone camera, but mostly I just watched trying to take in how it looked, how it moved. The Thrasher is such an exquisite bird with the long curved beak. They are partial to underbrush, so it's typically hard to see them. To be this close felt like an unexpected completely thrilling gift.

San Pedro Bloom

Pow! Our southeasterly-facing San Pedro cactus wears a bloom this Halloween. Enthusiasm is high at Camp Ramshackle as a wizard and bat anticipate evening trick-or-treating. Happy Halloween!

Last Flight of Endeavor

I was slightly surprised how emotional this experience was for me, trekking to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to catch a glimpse of the space shuttle Endeavor en route to LAX. Eric stayed home. My oldest son was at school right next to JPL. He and his classmates sat outside under a tree waiting for the fly over that went right over their heads. So that left my youngest son and I to make the journey together. The day was crazy hot. We hiked down a well known to us path to sit in the shade of a scrub oak while the crowds amassed above us in and around a tiny parking lot.

As we sat waiting, my mind slipped back to January 28, 1986. I was still in high school. I was in a class where there was very little classroom control. The P.A. system went on and the principal muttered something unintelligible under the the din of out of control students. It wasn't until I was home later that day that I heard the space shuttle Challenger had exploded, killing everyone aboard. I remember feeling so angry that I didn't know.

Then my son and I heard the roar, first of the crowds above us and then the engine of the 747. Endeavor appeared from the east and soared above us flanked by three jet fighter planes. Endeavor atop the 747 made a long graceful swoop over JPL before leaving our line of sight. When we came home to share our stories, Eric told us Endeavor had flown twice directly over humble Camp Ramshackle. Eric may have had the best seat in the house. Next to the pilots, of course.

Artichoked

The tale of artichokes at our compound is a twisted story with great highs and desperate gopher devoured lows. This season is yet another tale of woe. I relied on the fruits of the Altadena farmer's market for the delectable pictured above. The artichoke is so delicious, that even when I say that's it! No more. I give up. I taste the meaty heart dipped in a lemon and olive oil dressing, raise my head like Scarlett O'Hara and proclaim, "As God is my witness, I will grow artichokes again!"

Watch out gophers, I got my eye on you, and although I am a vegetarian, I might not be above a gopher stew with the small skulls torn from carrion and placed on sticks surrounding my artichoke plants, the journey to my own heart of darkness.

But before that, I think best to try again with wire baskets and Exhart gopher repellers and perhaps record my guitar practice and pipe it under ground to drive the artichoke eating thieves crazy.

Natalie Chanin on Sewing

I am a long time fan of Natalie Chanin from her work at Project Alabama to her current line Alabama Chanin. Her designs breathtakingly beautiful with intricate hand stitching and bead work. Even more appealingly, Chanin subscribes to a code of ethics in creating her clothing line. Learn more about Natalie Chanin and her work through this lovely video produced by Creativebug.

Previously:
Alabama Chanin vs Summer List
Alabama Chanin Sewing Workshop

Cowboy Tub Canvas Cover

The outdoor cowboy tub is almost a year old now. Still awesome. When installing, Eric and I discussed making a cover for the tub. At last, I introduce the cowboy tub canvas cover.

Most of my projects begin with a sketch and an idea on how to craft the project. The sketch is just an entry point. I almost always seem to modify once I get going and can see a better solution in the making. To get the template, I put a piece of plywood over the tub & the canvas between the tank and the plywood. I traced the outline of the top, then measured the circumference to get the length of the skirt.

Note to self: the top piece could have used an extra half inch to make the cover slip on more easily. This one is quite tight and pulls on like a form fitting sock.

Eight!

And so it happens, an eight year old guy is in our house. He celebrated with a cake customized to suit his fancy: white chocolate dipped strawberries on a vanilla cake with strawberry filling and vanilla frosting. Originally, he had hoped for a cherry cake, but we're outside the season by about two weeks. He solved the problem by suggesting strawberries instead.

Not so long ago, he was just a wee guy. In some ways the baby days seem like only yesterday, but other times it does feel like eight years, taken step by step and savored with the small and big developments over the years: a crawl to a walk, a walk to a run to riding a bike...

...one handed.

Happy birthday, sweet son.