Apples Apples and Pumpkins, too!

We had a very seasonally appropriate day today.

Our friends recently told us about an apple orchard run by Cal Poly, at Swanton Pacific Ranch, up the coast, and a bit inland. You might think you are lost, she said, but it's there, and it's a great spot!

And she was right, in all accounts.

Swanton Road leaves Coastal Hwy 1 and heads inland, winding up and down the valley towards the hills of Santa Cruz mountains.

I am not too familiar with the connections, but somehow, Cal Poly Tech (located in San Luis Obispo, about 3 hours south of here), operates a ranch and programs here. There are farms, railroad tracks, this orchard, and probably a few other things. Their presence is not oppressive, however. If anything, like my friend said, you may feel like you are in the middle of nowhere.

As we drove about, I told the kids to keep their eyes open for a sign for Apple Picking. Just before I thought we had past it, I saw an apple orchard to our left, and a small make shift shack with a scale. This had to be it, I told the kids.

There was an OPEN sign on the fence, but other than that, you would not think this place was open for business. The shack had a note or two about the picking, and a metal money box for their self-paying honor system. Of course, I was sold. I love this kind of place!

Then we just wandered down the rows of apples, neatly marked by apple variety names: Fuji, Gala, Red Delicious, and some others that I can't remember.

We had the whole orchard to ourselves, and picked to our hearts' content.

As for the pumpkins, we stopped at one of MANY pumpkin patches along the highway. And I assure you that this won't be the only time this season that we will be bringing pumpkins home!

Happy fall, everyone, in the northern hemisphere!

Colors

Pumpkins, painted by Momo

Lots of colors around the house these days, as we enter into the season of some of my favorite colors...

More to come, I promise.

Fall

e
c
u
Around here, changes in the seasons are more subtle. The air, instead of getting cooler, actually gets a bit warmer during the day (at least for a while). More telling than the climate is the produce, both in the markets, and in our garden. Things start to ripen, greens that love cooler nights continue to flourish.

As for the children...well, they seem to be busy year round... But now that school is in session, there seems to be even more creativity, the need to produce things, the love of paper and tape and scissors!

In the kitchen, I get to cook yummy squashes, stews and soups! And the house smells great again.

Change is definitely coming!

The Return to Grover Hot Springs, 2009

This was our third visit to Grover. This time we even got a real mountain thunder storm with lightening and all. We stayed safe and dry in the tent, reading stories, waiting for the rain to pass. The storm gave way to beautiful sunshine with the bluest of blue skies and a show of evening stars.

When we were here last May, the creek was raging with water from the winter thaw. This weekend, it was flowing at the perfect pace for us to explore and dip our feet and little bodies into. We also made the hike to the waterfall, a gentle stroll that became a small climb at the end.

When we had to leave, we said goodbye to Grover, knowing that we shall return again someday, to one of our favorite playgrounds of all!

The New Dress

I had to post this because I am a little bit proud of the dress that I 'made' for Claire the other day.

Actually, I did not make it at all... I found a skirt, for a 10 year old girl, in a garage sale a while back (for a few cents...). I knew it was too big for Claire, but I liked the fabric so much that I got it anyway.

When I saw it again, it occurred to me that I could make it into a dress by adding to small shoulder straps to it.

And voila, a brand new summer dress. She loves it quite a bit and has gotten a good use of it already! I love it when I can be thrifty. When she is 10, maybe it will become a skirt again!

Another year

Greyhound Rock, peeking through the reeds

Wedding bouquet: my favorite thing about weddings...

Rock drawings made by my daughter: a birthday gift to me!

My birthday this year was extra special.

It began in bed, with a lovely home-made breakfast delivered by my children and husband. There was even a tiny bouquet of flowers from our garden, which I am sure was picked by little hands.

The middle part of the day was spent at Greyhound Rock: the site of our wedding, and arguably my favorite spot in Santa Cruz. The sky was brilliant blue, the water was even bluer (is that a word?), and we found a protected spot away from the cool breeze.

To end the day, we attended one of our friends' wedding! I loved seeing beautiful flowers everywhere, happy people all around, and the bride and groom commencing their lives together.

We left before the beautiful cake was cut (it was getting late!), but I am sure it was as sweet as the couple!

Happy wedding day Madeleine and Rhi! And thank you everyone for another happy birthday!

Summer in New England

,

Oh, New England in the summer can be so deceptively livable! The hot days, warm nights, beautiful lush landscape, together with some very swimmable lakes and ponds, bounty from the land (farm fresh produce!) and the sea (live Maine lobsters!)... But then, add the mosquitoes, biting flies, no-se-em bugs, and the humidity too dense to breath. Fortunately, we got to experience all of them, in the three states of New England we visited during our two-week stay. Above all the pleasantries, seeing many old friends topped the list, by far.

The kids remembered their year of living there. Stories would flow from their young and photographic minds about things they did 'back then'. We also gained some new memories on this trip that will be cherished for many years to come.

For now, we are back home, in the sunshine state, where school life has begun again!

Going East

After sleeping on the plane tomorrow night, we will be transported back to our old home turf!  

We look forward to swimming in Walden Pond, going to the farms, climbing our favorite trees, and playing with old friends!  

We shall see how much the children will remember their New England life.  And we will all get to see how much they have grown!

Birthday

Vacation just got a little fancier today with a birthday celebration for Jim. The kids and I decorated the 'dining' area this morning, as bacon and grits were cooking on the stove. Must have been a special morning, indeed.

There was a handmade birthday banner, flowers from the garden, a homemade card, a homemade strawberry-rhubarb pie, a hike in the woods with a son, a new pair of bike shorts and a jar of Marmite. There were also many kisses from the little ones. To end the day, we celebrated around a camp-fire with songs and stories, along with many other people at Santa Cruz mission State Park. It was a glorious summery Santa Cruz evening.

I think all in all, the birthday boy had a good day!

Look who is sewing!

These kids have been watching me sew this and that for months... and now, I feel comfortable enough to teach them how it is done! Granted it will take a while for them to actually make something on their own..., but children learn fast!

I still remember when I was a little girl, about the same age as these guys, playing under my grandmother's old-fashioned sewing machine. Hers was not an electric one, but one that had a manual pedal on the bottom. I still remember the calming rhythm of her moving the pedal as she sewed clothes in the afternoons. I would be sitting near by, playing with left over fabric pieces, pretending to be making clothes for my stuff animals. Those are good childhood memories...

Sand Dunes

Lake Michigan, the only all American lake (the other Great Lakes border Canada as well), sits on the West side of the state. When visiting the grandparents, we are a mere 45 minute drive away from this gigantic lake, that to anyone eyes', looks no different than an ocean.

This visit, we went to a different beachfront than usual. We wanted the kids to see the sand dunes that make a great runway into the lake.

Because we had not been there before, we didn't quite know which path to take to get to the lake...but we were up for an adventure.

The day was warm, and humid. The path was pleasant at first, but the deeper we got into the woods, the more flying creatures appeared. Mosquitoes. Everywhere.

We realized that if we stopped at all, we would be eaten alive by these large blood-sucking pests. So we did our best to keep charging ahead, not knowing how far we were from the shore.

It felt like a long time of walking fast, focusing on the end. Californians are not used to mosquitoes due to frequent droughts and low humidity (how did I make it in Thailand?). I was not going to lose the battle, however. Not even with all the questions coming from the five-year-olds like: "How can they eat us alive?" or "Where did the mosquitoes come from?" or "Can we stop to look at that wetland?"

A mile or so later, we reached our destination at last. Soft sand, calm waters, not another soul in sight (because, ummm, we chose the longest path to get there). And we had left behind the mosquitoes in the woods.

We surely went back a different route, much shorter, more direct, and for some reason, much fewer of the dreaded insects!