St. Patrick's Day

Ireland?

Their 'students' on a field trip from "Snap Peas" School, taught by teachers Momo and Claire

We are so not in Ireland!

A barn in Pescadero

Sign at Harley Goat Farm in Pescadero

How does a non-Irish mama celebrate an Irish holiday?  Well, to start off, I made the mistake of not dressing the children in green... only to get to their school and see everything, and everyone in green (can all that many people to part Irish? Really now...we are not in Boston anymore)!  But I did have a pot of corned beef boiling away on the stove at home for my Irish-husband...

We did more fun things than cooking corned beef and braised cabbage, though.  The kids wanted to take their "students" on a field trip, to Bean Hollow.  And because it was close by, I requested that I got to go on my field trip to Harley Goat Farm (and their cheese shop!) in Pescadero (I wrote about this place a couple of years ago.  It is still lovely, with impressively good goat cheese that Claire loves).

The green hills along the coast did make it feel like we were somewhere in Ireland.  The coastal fog made it even more medieval-like, although there were no castles anywhere to be seen, just a lone lighthouse at Pigeon point. 

The fields of bright yellow mustard came to life when the sun did shine... and that's when we were reminded that we were not in Ireland at all...

Children's Aprons

I learned how to use the sewing machine from my high school friend, Sunshine.  That really was her name she used in high school.  Sunshine was one of those cool hippies with cool dreads... but I never thought that would look cool on me.

Sunshine taught me how to sew dresses, one of those hippie-style baggy dresses, made with calico fabric.  I loved the whole process, and I loved wearing the dresses even more. They were so comfortable and roomy, and I think I wore them as nightgowns for a long time...to my husband's chagrin.

I still have that very same sewing machine, but it has been catching dust until recently.  I am sad to say that I can't make those dresses anymore, without using a pattern again (I used to know by heart, and used to produce a few at a time).  How I would love to make one for Claire now!

Regardless, I am on a little craft-kick, and so, the sewing machine is out again, being useful once more.  This morning, before school, the kids asked if I could make them each an apron. 

Using a sample one that came with the house we are renting (our landlord has a granddaughter our kids age), I spent the morning cutting, sewing, and patching.  By the time they came home, they had their very own aprons to wear in time to help me make dinner tonight.

Thank you, Sunshine, for your inspiration and lessons so many years ago.  They still come in handy, as you can see!

And isn't Momo's whale getting more realistic all the time?

A walk with my camera

When I suggested to Jim that he and the kids should go camping overnight, I wasn't sure he would take the idea seriously.  We had been talking about going camping again soon, but we were waiting for our new tent, that would comfortably fit all four of us.  Last time we went camping, we all stuffed ourselves into a two-person tent.  It worked okay: we slept, and stayed warm...but the kids have grown since.

To my surprise, Jim did take the idea seriously with no hesitation.  And luckily, the kids did as well. 

The question was, what was I going to do alone for 20 or so hours. 

Not surprisingly, I found many things to do!  After the usual chores (since I was still at home, I had to do chores), I decided to take my loyal companion (my camera) and the two of us were going for a walk in the woods.

I am not usually thrilled about hiking alone around here, so the thought of walking with my camera was a more comforting one.  Why is there some fear around it? Well, for one thing, as soon as I entered 'Moore Creek', a beautiful preserve just down the road from where we live, there was a huge sign warning hikers that we have entered "Mountain Lions Habitat". 

Granted, these fierce wild cats are seldom seen.  But the truth is that, they have been seen.  And they have taken humans for dinners, or an afternoon snack... 

Those thoughts ran through my mind, but I could not let them linger too long.  After all, I don't get to spend these many hours, by myself, at home.  I needed to make the most of it!

As you can see, I came away with only lovely photos, and the only other creature I encountered was a sweet, shy deer.

Sun and creatures

The UCSC arboretum had a "Hummingbird Day" yesterday. The sun was shining, the plants were happy...and so were creatures closer to the ground...   We walked around the arboretum, and into the farm.  It was a happy, sunny day.

Sewing Saturday

"Sleeping Bag"

Big Fish, Little Fish

Momo's pillow. He did the outside stitches himself!

I have been inspired by a new book, recommended to me by our friend Cayce (thanks Cayce!). It's called The Creative Family, written by a Mom and a blogger (soulemama.com) who lives in Maine. 

Many things in the book inspire me.  The first thing I wanted to do with the kids, though, was to teach them how to sew, and how to make things from sewing.  As usual, I failed to follow the exact instructions. 

With my very own creative children, I had them draw simple images on pieces of felt.  I then cut them up, and showed them the simple sewing methods.  And voila, new handmade toys they treasure more than most!  Well, at least for the time being. 

New Blog Name

You may wonder why the title of this blog is no longer: Our Family.

I have been thinking about a more proper title for our family blog.  I mean, between (most of) you and me, we know who "our family" is.  But instead of being so vague, I have given us a new title: Star and Water.

The source of this new name is from the translations of the kids' Thai names, given to them by their Thai grandparents.  So far, they have lived up to these metaphors.  We will see how their lives will continue to unfold!

Thank you for visiting!

California Newt

The rain brought these little guys out! They are called California Rough Skin newts... Jim found out later, after having brought a couple home from their adventure hike, that they are poisonous if ingested...!

Needless to say, we let them go pretty quickly after that!

Lemon Pudding

When I came back from San Francisco yesterday, on the kitchen counter stood a special treat.

This special treat may be one of the reasons I married my husband. Granted, he is seldom in the kitchen to create food. In fact, I would prefer that he stayed out, and let me be the control-kitchen-patrol that I normally am.

But the truth (and secret) is, my husband is a good cook, when he wants to be! He was the one who taught me how to bake bread, many moons ago now. He can whip up a perfectly good Beef Bourguignon. He can even make home-made sloppy Joe, as he did with the kids this Sunday while I was gone.

But most of all, he makes the most fantastic dessert, that I dare call my very favorite dessert of all time. The lemon pudding.

I have never made this dish myself, so I don't even know how to go about it. I know it involves a lot of fresh lemons. And eggs. The result is this divine lemony cake/custard combination that tastes much lighter than it actually is. I love it!

Ano Nuovo

The sky was threatening more rain.  We had not reserved spots for the Elephant seals tour at Ano Nuovo State Park today, mostly because it had been booked solid.  But today, we thought we could just try our luck. 

And luck we had. We got there just in time to join the next group, heading down to the 'rookery' where the elephant seals are breeding, sunbathing, and you know, living their lives. 

Jim and I had been here once before, years ago, before the children came into our lives. I remember being dumbfounded by this National Geographic-like action happening right before our eyes.  We were just a few feet away from these gigantic creatures, some were fighting, some were mating, some were swimming.  We were newly Californians, and were instantly sold by the bounty of this coastline. 

So today, we got to share that experience with the kids. They are just old enough to be able to follow what the docent was saying, and wise enough to know how amazing it was for us to enjoy this unique experience. 

The walk was 3 miles total, but the tour was over two hours.  A lot of that time was spent near the rookery where we stood near the elephant seals, who by the way, seemed oblivious to our presence.  

Most of the females had left, we were told, since they had finished nursing their pups, mated, and were on their way back to sea.  Lots of these pups were already 300 lbs, and yet they looked tiny compared to the large males who apparently could weigh up to... 5,000 lbs! 

The tour was informative, the 'show' was fun.  The most amazing thing of all was that after it was all over, we hopped into the car, drove less than 30 minutes south, and voila, we were back home.  It was the best kind of entertainment...right in our own backyard!

In between storms

As I write, more rain is drenching our already over-saturated ground. It actually sounds like hail, and a monsoon combined.

We were lucky with a few hours of sun today, enough for a short hike at Big Basin Redwoods State Park, and a viewing of the Tour of California (a bicycle race, the American version of the Tour de France, with all the big names riding through town).  Can you get anymore opposing activities? I think not. 

So we saw newts and calla lilies before snapping photos of Lance Armstrong and Levi Lipheimer! 

Valentine's

A day late, but not a dollar short!

Happy Belated Valentine's Day! These were cards we made for the kids' school friends. The hearts are made of 'sculpy' clay that can be baked in the oven.

Farm in February

Resting on an avocado tree

We were deep in the field of mustards at UCSC farm today. There is nothing more fun for the kids than to walk through these tall plants, pretending to make their own maze. Claire kept worrying about the farmers : "They will be mad at us!" she kept saying.

I am pretty sure it was okay for them to walk through just once since this is winter crop, planted to help enrich the soil before Spring when the real planting season begins again. Or at least I am hoping that is the case...

The Mission - Santa Cruz

Several Spanish Missions dot the California coastline.  It is to remind us of California's history and early days when it was still part of Mexico (under Spanish rule).  Santa Cruz has one of these historic missions, although the original one did not survive.  The new one was built within the last 100 years, and located not too far from downtown Santa Cruz itself. 

I am ashamed to say that even after almost 10 years, I visited the mission for the first time just a few weeks ago.  Surprisingly, its ground is rather beautiful.  A mini sanctuary, at least for the youngsters who seem to be able to find something to entertain themselves with for hours. 

We returned today, in between rainfalls, for some more fun.  The rain started again soon after our visit, and so we came home to make these scrumptious Valentine's cookies.  

Because according to Claire, we have to celebrate Valentine's all week... Oh, how the children can change your mind on many things!

After School

There is a 'short-cut' that we take to kindergarten everyday. It's a path up to UCSC campus, used by bikers and pedestrians alike. We like it because it is a rather peaceful way to start and end our (Kindergarten) day. Recently, we have also been eating lunch around here, since it's just too beautiful out to be indoors.

Today a family of deer joined us. They were tame, but were cautious and watched us from afar.

Elkhorn Slough

Right next to a power plant near Moss Landing, about 30 minutes south of Santa Cruz, sits Elkhorn Slough.  It's a marine preserve with tons of bird life, and often marine mammals frolicking about.  

We took advantage of yesterday's brilliant weather to hike around there.  On our way, we walked by a couple from Ann Arbor Michigan.

"It's 7 degrees there today," said the husband, a professor at U of M.

Seven degrees!  It was easily 60 degrees warmer where we were all standing, chatting. Even though they didn't say it explicitly, I think they secretly wished they didn't have to leave here, to go back there...At least until July.