Point Bonita

An afternoon spent at Point Bonita on Monday proved to be one filled with sunshine and cool ocean breezes.  I wore a lightweight button front shirt with a cardigan (an L.L.Beam kelly green sweater purchased with a birthday gift certificate) and a jacket vest.  I was plenty warm. 

The tunnel in the rock.

The hike leading to the lighthouse is not a difficult one but is a bit uneven along the path.  You need to wear proper shoes.  Dress in layers just in case, it can be quite windy.  If needed, there are Port-a-Potties at the parking lot before beginning the trek. 

Look at the beautiful red and green contrast on the rocks covering the entrance to the tunnel.

Close up of the red growth on the rocks at the tunnel entrance.  What is the red growth?  I forgot to ask the ranger and I've yet to find the answer online.

First glimpse of the lighthouse.

The newly constructed footbridge crossing over.

Stopped for some french fries and milkshakes on the way home.

Hello there you.

I went into the backyard yesterday to take some pictures of this bench and accidentally spooked this little guy up into a tree.

Peeking around to see if I'm still there.

All of a sudden, I heard this thwump, he jumped from that high position in the tree onto the fence and nearly fell off into our neighbors yard.  He was hanging on for dear life, looked as if he'd tumble off head first.  Then he managed to get his balance back and scampered along the fence in a real hurry.  Too cute. 

The Mayor of Castorbridge

 

 The opening scene above.

Donald Farfrae and Lucetta.

One of the most heart wrenching movies I've ever seen.  The last scene of the movie, which is superbly acted by all the characters, is what did me in.  I bawled my eyes out at the end.  You can get it on Netflix.

Letters From Paris

What a fabulous idea, Janice, has come up with!  In our current times, the notion of sitting down and writing by hand a (legible) letter or note to someone is sadly becoming a thing of the past.  The age of computers and spell check and texts and emails is making letter writing a lost art form.  In fact, the children of today, many of them, have poor penmanship.  Mostly because the schools are either not teaching it or are not demanding neat, legible handwriting.  A simple thing such as this, that we have probably taken for granted and which used to be a very common skill, is fading away from society.

A handwritten letter from Paris to you or as a wonderful gift to someone special.  Not only does Janice send a letter, she writes it on a hand painted, original watercolor drawing which is a work of art in itself.  I think she's very clever for having thought of this and wish her all the best.

How about this as a gift to a child who hasn't experienced the thrill and excitement associated with receiving something hand written and addressed specifically to them, in their mailbox, not the inbox.

A little rainy weather puts me in a baking mood.

I made two Orange Meringue pies yesterday.  Just like Lemon Meringue Pie except with freshly squeezed oranges.

I'm very happy with how my meringue turned out, so light and fluffy.  Michael really loves Lemon Meringue Pies and he really loved these orange ones.  I was surprised!

This afternoon I made two double batches of scones: Cranberry Orange with pecans.

The secret is to not over mix the dough.

Pat each one into a 7 inch circle or a rectangle shape if you like.

 

 Prick the scones.

 Ready to go into the oven.

 Baked to a golden brown.

My favorite, Chocolate Chip Scones cooling.

My basic recipe (not doubled) 1 batch makes approx. 8 scones.

2 1/4 cups unsifted, unbleached flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground cloves  (depending on the variations, this can change to whatever you want to use)

1/2 stick softened butter

1 cup liquid (heavy cream, half and half, non-fat milk, etc., I used 1/2 orange juice and 1/2 non-fat milk for the cranberry scones)

1 cup of your choice: Examples: (cranberries, chocolate chips, chopped apple, drained can dark cherries, frozen or fresh blueberries, raisins) you get the idea?

Heat oven to 425 degrees, grease baking sheet.

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.  Cut in butter to pea sized pieces or so.  Mix in the 1 cup of your choice ingredient, toss with fingers to coat with flour mixture.  Add the liquid and stir with a fork to mix into a manageable dough.  Don't over mix, just to the point that everything holds together. 

Turn out onto a lightly floured board.  Gently pat into a 7 inch circle or a rectangle shape if you desire square scones.  Cut into triangles or squares.  Lightly prick with a fork on top.

Place scones on greased sheet and bake for approx. 17 to 20 minutes.  Keep an eye on them so they don't burn on the bottoms.  Some ovens are hotter.  I put mine on the middle rack and bake one batch at a time if I do choose to double the recipe. 

Remove from sheet and place on a rack to cool. 

For my cranberry orange scones I used 1/2 orange juice and 1/2 milk for my liquid.  I also put in a little orange zest and I should have added some almond extract but didn't think of it until after they were in the oven.  They still taste great though.  ;)

Notes:

This is my basic recipe and you can change the ingredients to suit to your taste.  Be sure to not over handle the dough, that's key.  You could adapt this recipe to make maple-pecan scones by adding in 100% pure maple syrup and some chopped pecans.  The idea is to have a workable dough, if you need to add some extra liquid add only 1 Tbsp at a time, or if a little extra flour to the work surface when patting it out is needed, do so.  Just add a little at a time and be sure your hands are floured when handling the dough.

Romance.

These are pictures that were taken of me some time ago.  I put on this pretty lace dress with my straw hat for a prop and posed for Mike at a location we loved to photograph near San Francisco.  Such a rustic and romantic setting with the fog and the pale neutral colors.

An extraordinary adventure.

Buy this book, pour yourself a cup of tea and curl up in a comfy chair.  The true account of frontierswoman, Olive Fredrickson.  Olive grew up forty-five miles from the nearest school and therefore did not receive a formal education.  Nevertheless, her writing style is readable and quaint.  Choose becomes chuse, heartbreak is hartbrake, accident turns into axedent and certainly comes out as sertainly. 

Olive witnessed her mother's death at the age of nine and at nineteen she married a trapper who led her into a perilous life way out in the Canadian northern territory wilderness far away from the comforts of civilization.  Although sixty years had past her mind is sharp and she recounts the hair raising experiences in the frozen wasteland that became her home during the first years of her marriage to hunter, Walter Reamer.

She relates the horrifying details of her trek in 50 degree below zero weather while she, her husband and infant child were near death from starvation and cold.  Details of encounters with wolves that will make the hair on your neck stand straight.

The events and hardships as related in this book, truly seem incredible.  This amazingly skilled woman kept her children alive in the 20's and 30's by chopping wood, shooting and skinning moose, and once walking 45 kilometres to the nearest settlement when food supplies ran out in the dead of winter.

Olive says she learned to make every shot count when growing up on the shores of Sturgeon River, 40 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.  Her trapper father allowed the children only a couple of bullets for every hunting trip.  "I learned to shoot good" she said. 

I understand, even though I've not seen it, Hollywood did make a movie in the early 80's but why they haven't made another or at least put this one on dvd is a curious thing to me as this would be a wonderful story for all to see.  It's definitely a great and interesting story to read!  People were cut from a different cloth in those days, strong and rugged.

MRI Scan

On Monday I had an MRI of my wrist.  That's not me, of course, (I laid face down with my wrist in some contraption) but for those of you that have never had an MRI, this is what it sounds like inside the tube.  There are a few other loud clanging and banging noises that it makes for the twenty five or so minutes you're inside the tunnel (lying perfectly still) besides the noise example in this video. 

Anyway, my wrist (right) has been bothering me off and on over quite a few years, probably at least the past eight years and I've been dealing with it.  Actually, it's only the last couple of years and even the last couple of months that it's been getting worse and now it's to the point that I have to do something because I cannot live with this pain any longer.  I do everything with my right hand and it's pretty near impossible to work or do anything without using it.  I've tried so many pharmacy store bought braces it's ridiculous.  None of them worked for me and in fact the ones with the boning built into the wrist brace were bothersome and caused more pain while wearing. 

My doctor emailed me this morning to let me know what the wrist specialist said, since his specialty is shoulders and knees.  Basically, there is something truly wrong which looks like surgery will be needed.  He's set me up with a wrist surgeon in Walnut Creek for early next month.  It looks as if surgery won't happen for some time though, it sounds like they're backed up with patients.  In the meantime, he'll most likely give me a cortisone shot after my appt. with the surgeon if it looks like it'll be a wait. 

What I have is called ulnar styloid avulsion (from a possible old fracture I didn't know I ever had) with a fluid filled sac (pus) putting pressure on the triangular fibrocartilage.  Along with all that I appear to have a volarly tilt to my radius.  Hmmm. 

Jane Austen's Persuasion

I do love a good romantic movie, especially Jane Austen.

In a baking mood.

Old Fashioned Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup sugar

1 cup softened butter

2 eggs

1 tsp. pure almond extract

3 cups oatmeal

2 cups unbleached flour

 1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup chopped walnuts (or any nut)

2 cups raisins

Beat the sugars, eggs and butter until creamy.  On top of creamy mixture put the 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  If you wish, you can add a bit of ground cinnamon, about 1/2 tsp.  Gently mix with a fork or clean fingers to incorporate the dry ingredients.  Put in the rest of the ingredients and mix with a clean hand or if you prefer, use a wooden spoon to mix together thoroughly.

Drop by teaspoon on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.  Cool on racks.

Enjoy!  

    

Primitive Style Cupboard

I asked Michael to make this cupboard for our kitchen wall.  I chose to paint it in our Antique Black. I'm so happy with this piece, to place little treasures upon it.  It makes me smile.  ;-)

Here it is with a plate groove.

Tea time.

My vintage turquoise teapot was also purchased at Mr.Trombly's Tea.

I made some banana nut bread last night and since it was so chilly outside this afternoon, I made myself some tea.  Toasted a slice and put a pat of butter on top.  Yum! 

This is my favorite tea from Mr. Trombly's Tea Shop.

With a teensy bit of honey.