Five...hours...of...football = Fun!

Saturday was the last chance of the season to watch our grandsons do what they love best . . . play football. We came prepared to sit through and cheer for both teams. The teams are part of the Yosemite Badgers Youth Football organization with Christian on the Peewee team and Jared on the Senior team. Of course they didn't play one right after the other, there was a Junior game between them, hence the five hours in the bleachers. It was blazing hot in the afternoon but as soon as the sun went down it became mighty chilly . . . good fall weather in the mountains! 

Christian's job was to block "#12" during the entire game. I can tell you #12 didn't get past him . . . ever!

There are four age groups in the league . . . the Mighty Mights, the PeeWees, the Juniors and the Seniors. They won the game 48-0 and will be in the playoffs . . . so the season for us isn't over yet!

A hot dog always tastes best after a winning game!

Our son-in-law is the guy who volunteers to hold the chain that keeps track of first downs. When the game was over he came up in the stands to chat with Christian about the game he just played, with lots of praise and encouragement. He's just the best dad a kid could want, and loves sports of all kinds himself!

As the sun went down it was time for Jared's game.

He's one of the younger ones (#60) on the team and he plays second string. He is always on the ready to go in and plays his best to support his team.

As you can see my battery was getting low, but I did capture this shot of him coming in after being out on the field. The final score was 56-0 . . . looks like we'll have two grandsons' teams participating in the playoffs!

Life is good!

A Very Eggciting Day!

Yesterday Ken came in and said "I think we may be getting our first egg today!" He explained that one of the hens was squatting and moving around looking like she was trying to get comfortable enough to lay an egg. I went out, took some pictures, and decided she was just taking a dust bath. I've never seen a chicken lay an egg. We checked every now and then throughout the day yesterday . . . no egg. 

But we did get up early this morning and put our minds to getting the nest boxes built for the chicken coop. That project has been on our to-do list for a few weeks now. Especially since the hens turned five months old just yesterday, about the age we've read that they could start laying . . . hmmmmm . . . better get those nest boxes installed. We worked hard and by 5 o'clock this afternoon we took the set of two nest boxes down to the coop. Ken swept out the coop to make ready a place for the nest boxes while I fetched a bucket of shavings for them. When I arrived at the coop Ken presented me with our first egg! She ( we don't really know which one yet) laid her first egg right in the middle of the floor. Let's hope tomorrow she may figure out what the boxes are for, but we still don't have the fake egg to put there to give her a hint.

See her squatting in the back while the others are greeting me, chattering away, telling me (I'm sure) that one of our Buff Orpingtons, "Daisy" is in dire straights!

Hmmmm . . . are you okay?

TaDaaaaa!

This one, unfortunately, is cracked but doesn't it have beautiful coloring? It's the coloring that makes us think it may be one of the Sex-Links, a cross between a White Leghorn and a Buff Orpington with the Leghorn's eggs being white and the Buff Orpinton's being the pinkish brown.

Life is good!

Remembering Auntie Mabel

It seems that everybody has a favorite aunt in the family. My favorite aunt was my mother's sister whom we called Auntie Mabel. I have lots of memories spending fun times with my Auntie Mabel who, in my mind, could do anything. She could make an awesome "Apple Pie" without using one single apple. It was in the 50s and I remember that apple pie as if it were yesterday. It was made using Ritz crackers as a substitute for apples. And Auntie Mabel was quite a seamstress, creating her own pattern to sew my wedding dress. I just drew her a picture of what I wanted and in just a few weeks the dress was made! She was an amazing lady. Auntie Mabel passed away many years ago and I think of her often. 

Her son, my cousin "Tommy" found me on Facebook and when we became "Facebook friends" I noticed he was showing the world pictures of his night-blooming plant . . . an Epiphyllum which blooms only once a year and the bloom only lasts one day. I found out from Tommy that he grew his large plant from a cutting that Auntie Mabel sent to him many years ago from her home in Oceanside, California to his home in Florida. I asked my cousin if I could have a cutting to see if I could get one started too. He sent me four leaves, which I placed in a glass of water and waited for roots to sprout. It took a while but they finally did sprout and I planted all four leaves in soil. I'm so excited that all four are doing fine and are shooting off baby leaves. Soon I'll have to put them in a larger pot enabling it to grow into a larger plant and, hopefully, develop beautiful blossoms. Every time I look at that plant I think of my sweet Auntie Mabel. Thank you Cousin Tommy!

You can see the four larger leaves planted in the soil, and then each has baby leaves sprouting from them. I assume each of those baby leaves will also develop "grandbaby" leaves . . . and so on, and so on, and so on.

This is what the blossom looks like after the plant has matured. And my research says that when the time comes, some folks actually set their alarm clocks to be able to see it in full bloom because the bloom doesn't last long.

Life is good!

Keep the Home Fire Burning

I couldn't remember where this idiom originated, so when things like that happen to my memory I rely on good old "Google" And here is one answer it came up with: "Asked of women waiting at home while their husbands and sons were away fighting the war (World War I). Keep the house warm (they only had fireplaces in those days) and welcoming until I get home. Don't give up on me. Keep your spirits up." 

Today was the first time we gathered some wood and lit up our new wood stove for the first time since it was installed a couple months ago when it was in the 90s outside and I felt sorry for the installers who were up on the roof fiddling with the chimney.

It not only warms our new place up, it certainly does its job well by lifting up our spirits at the same time.

Life is good!

Summer Garden Scrumptiousness

To me the term "Summer Garden" means succulent tomatoes and abundant basil. We did pretty well in one of those departments . . . we're still waiting on the tomatoes.

I know it looks like a giant ball of mistletoe, but it's actually a giant bouquet of basil.

I harvested four armloads just like this one . . . we had planted three varieties of basil this year. Each one is supposedly good for making pesto, which we love to make and use throughout the year.

Washed, spun dry, and ready for the food processor.

Only five ingredients . . . basil, pine nuts, garlic, EVOO, and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

I made six double-recipes.

I ended up with enough Pesto for 25 meals-for-two. I put a half cup in a freezer zip-lock bag (enough for the two of us when I make pesto-pasta with grilled shrimp or chicken), spread it out nice and flat, and stacked them up ready for the freezer.

Life is good!