The Rocky Road to Rocky (& Back)

   Thanksgiving 2021 ~ Off into the foothills and Grass Valley.

Never had we seen such an amazing amount of various and wonderful wildlife! Across the rice paddies and into Snow Goose & Heron country ~

                                      

......then veering east into the Sierra foothills, where suddenly the deer descended in droves! Was busy driving so no fotos, but 3-point bucks and many does bounded and abounded. Herds of deer. Also turkey herds, flocking together...a turkey flew across the car. Turkey buzzards of course, and hawks. All in all, possibly 15-20 or so deer. 

Turkey Day indeed; too numerous to count.  

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A welcome party at the gate:Molly, Rocky, Lily, Pedro

Pastures are green. Hiking through later, I find lambs lettuce or miners lettuce freshly sprung in fall and pick a nice bag for salads later. Young nettle is also on hand for tea or soup.

                                         

Miner's Lettuce: Such a treat! Full of vitamin C and A, iron & protein. Can ship it out points east where it sells $10-20 lb. (!) see:

Foraging/Eating Miner's Lettuce

 

 

 

 

 

                  Pause for viewpoint and scanning vistas.                  

 

 

Beauteous day -- neither too warm or cool. And no fires. Slight smell of woodsmoke from chimneys here and there, but overall, clear and fresh out from recent rains.

 

Could be a rearing horse, or perhaps --  a petrified anteater?

                                                           ...Pedro peeking      

Grass Valley -- where the rocks bray on Thanksgiving Day  

                                 Click to hear rocks:              

              And the sun sets back at the ranch after a day full of creatures, and bellys full of epicurian delights - from the traditional turkey and dressing, yams, smashed potato and ! must-eat potato rolls, to the ever-pleasing pecan pie -- a standout!                                           

Special bonus video! Pedro steals the show and birdseed:click below --               

 

Pedro: 'Who, me? I, uh, I was never here. There was no donkey on deck. You never saw me...uh, I'll just...go now...' 

 

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AND apres' Thanksgiving, what comes next but --

Hanukkah! and! Latkes! mit Helen's homemade applesauce...um-um GOOD.

So VERY crisp and crunchy yet creamy inside - no flour used, just potato starch from the grated potatoes. Held together beautifully.

Best latke recipe: watch at Little Kosher Lunch - text recipe at: https://littlekosherlunch.com/index.php/2017/12/23/another-blog-post/

                  

November - Fall Back

 This is the weather I like best: bit of rain, then sunny days, warm, not so windy. Gorgeous clear nights full of stars, Orion the hunter out bright...coyotes clamoring beneath a new moon.                                               

...red sky at night. 

                                             Back yard - bird and buttes                                       

            

               November spring. New grass and lantana in bloom.

                                             

                                      Arroyo and buttes from pasture

                                           

                     Back pasture, sneaking up on distant buttes.  

Cows have moved on, horses now in Grass Valley but they left their calling cards: mushroom fodder  -  puffballs are popping up all over. Excellent sauteed with a bit of onion or in omelet, with homemade multigrain sourdough bread. 

                                         

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         Foggy mornings....                                  

                                     ...things are uncertain, inside and out.

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          Fog has crept back into valleys. Sun shines crystal clear -  Crystal Ginger: or candied ginger bits. Simple to make and exceedingly tasty. ('Tis rumoured that Elizabeth I ruined her teeth on such as these; fond of "comfits" she was)

                                 

             ...and from Alice in Wonderland: "Alice had no idea  what to do, and in despair she put her hand in her pocket, and pulled out a box of comfits and handed them round as  prizes. There was exactly one a-piece all round."

A rather fine fat loaf. Persimmons are dried.  Local mandarines are sweet. And lemons are ripe and ready on the tree. Time for tea.

Autumn - Stormy Weather

                                Blustery day before the storm...

The Buttes have had many names over the years. The Maidu Indians called them “Histum Yani”  which translates as, “Middle Mountains of the Valley” or “Spirit Mountain,” depending on the source. According to Maidu legend, after death, the spirits of their people rest in the Buttes before the journey to the afterlife.

                                            Sutter Buttes Massacre: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutter_Buttes_massacre

Histum Yani is looking stormy already. Much strange and wond'rous cloud and atmospheric activity abound around these buttes. Always a new view daily.

  Grapevines turning...                 

Aidan's Cat: Sara Yellow Tree aka: Little Yellow Puddles

         Fam Foto...! Left to Right: Chewbaca the Wookie (sitting), Princess Lea Episode VIII, Princess Lea Episode IV, and Kylo Ren

OF NOTE BELOW:

PRIZE! -- to whomever can identify this oddity that washed up on the kitchen chair...coonskin cap left in the rain?

                                     

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                                      Jellyfish Clouds                                  

                  Longhorn Cattle with calves. Nice racks, indeed!                                                 

                  October Country - Twight Time with frog chorus                                      

                                     Tomorrow night is All Hallows Eve!

+++++++++

                                     

                                              Specters on the road...

                                              

                                         -- waiting for Dorothy & Toto....

...actually found a yummy Puffball Mushroom on the trail! A grand gift of Mother Nature indeed! Shared w/my sister; a mouthful of magic in every bite.              
                   

Halloween Table w/Mini-Punkin Pie, cards by Druid Clare, Fangless Fosdick the Formerly Fearsome, and Magical Mary Ann McDonald. Witch you all could be here with us!

                                         

                                                      ++++  Spooky Pie  ++++

Watched 1st Harry Potter last night -- tonight: pizza party w/sourdough crust pizza (w/mushrooms of course), watching Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (Legend of Sleepy Hollow) starring Bing Crosby, Basil Rathbone and the fabulous Thurl Ravenscroft! -- as Headless Horseman.

(Also the basso profundo for You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch,  Pink Elephants on Parade,  Monstro the Whale (Pinocchio) and many more!)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurl_Ravenscroft

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BreadBlog

One in a series of sourdoughs...

This is a multigrain sourdough made up of whole wheat, unbleached white, home-ground rye, buckwheat and rice flour, with walnuts added.

As you can tell, it is a rather dense bread and so yeast was added. Still, a nice texture and consistency and it did rise somewhat above the loaf pan. Can't hope for a high rise with such heavy grains. A good hearty bread.

In other news: we are hosting a Holstein, and two Jersey cows.

Noel and Christina's cows are chewing down the dry grasses in the fields which aids in reducing fire danger. 

Below: early morning visitors -- deer prints                                     

                 
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November - Puffballs, persimmons and multigrain sourdough

                                          

                A nice grouping. Puffballs yummy sauteed w/a bit of onion. Again, bread too hearty to rise much but such a flavor: oats, rice, rye, whole wheat & white sourdough.

  ..................

November's end: Nice fattish loaf of sourdough multigrain with rice, rye, whole wheat and white.

                                                                              

                     Helen dried the persimmons and found the best  local sweet and juicy mandarines.Lemon tree is full of fat ripe lemons. Speaking of food-Thanksgiving approaches...

Home On de Range - Palermo & Grass Valley

          We're off to my niece's nice ranchero in Grass Valley.

               Just a couple of hours from Palermo. 

MUST stop en route at the Mennonite Bakery in Bangor for PIE!

                        3 Amigos ~ Lily, Pedro & Rocky

                    

                                          Rocky says 'hi!'

 But it sounds a lot  like 'carrots?' 

~ in Fjordlinger.                                            

    

Anna knows 

what 

her Pedro likes...

                     

                         Pedro y yo...               

           

      

 

Rocky's grandmere/mare Lily

The Halflinger side of Rocky;

other half: Norwegian Fjord Horse

                      Double decker view across the valley below ~ a bit smoky then.

                                               

                                               ~ Red Headed Woodpecker but one of many ~                                                              Can't You Hear Me Knockin'?                                                                                        

       

Molly, the black Icelandic mare, is a shy one. Note her mane parts in middle and covers both sides of her neck. Click for video.

                                                                                      .~..~..~..~..~.

Meanwhile ~ back at the ranch...I saw it through the grape vine...

Back to Palermo ~ and a sunset smoke plume from the Dixie Fire

September 11, 2021 ~ 20 yrs. gone; Lake Oroville is shrinking from drought

Palermo Days ~ 

Stopped by the park en route to 

the lake. Note the lady playing bass.

Need to see more of that!

 

And home again, at last...to that California Gumbo ~

...with cornbread of course

~ not bad for Left Coast cooking ~

                                                                       

                                                  

Chloe, the watch-cat

keeps an eye on 

everything...

Meanwhile, back at the range...

Back from Sac; the Big Tomato. Speaking of which...

 

In midst of making tomato, chard, gr.pepper et zucchini quiche,  w/just enough sharp cheddar & parmesan, I thought, it's a cool day, why not go for it and bake a cake at same time? 

(Note: Toasted garlic and caramelized onion applied atop quiche apres' bake).

Pineapple upside down cake with blueberries and walnuts.

& ~ Pralines mit sahne ice cream; a  great way to celebrate RAIN! 

Hope some of this hits those fires.

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Equinox past/September's End & RAIN...at last. 

Some incredible light phenomenon just before the rain:

                                    

                         & earlier that morning; nice long shadows...

                      & what's that green orb in the tree to the right?

                                                       Helen and Chloe