Canoeing, Hiking, Eating

We've had a wonderful past few days. Some young friends of ours came to stay with us; they are game for anything, so we did everything! Our first day, we traveled up to Healdsburg and went canoeing on the Russian River. It was a gorgeous day, foggy at first, with the sun breaking through about noon. We took five hours to paddle about nine miles. We stopped several times to swim and float on the rapids. The river had a good deal more water than I expected, which was encouraging, and we didn't 'ground' ourselves at all, but by the end of the route, we were extremely tired and sore. It was a great, hard, exhilarating day.


Today we went hiking, geocaching, swimming, and watched a movie, in between trampolining in the back yard and 'Just Dance' on the Wii. There was beautiful hiking in Shell Ridge, with plenty of rock climbing.


Tonight, I'm exhausted, so dinner is simple. Grilled steak, with the first corn from the garden, as well as some sweet peppers, which will be sautéed in olive oil.


Friends are fabulous, adventures are great, and dinner from the garden is glorious.

Cucumbers Gone Crazy

The cucumber vines have gone completely nuts, producing huge amounts of fruit. I decided to make  a cucumber and tomato salad from the garden, with mint from the herb spiral, and added kalamata olives, feta, olive oil, and lemon juice. I want it to sit overnight and have it for a picnic lunch tomorrow (we're going canoeing on the Russian River), but it's hard to leave it alone that long, it looks so delicious!


The only other plant that is rivaling the cucumber in terms of production is jalepeno peppers. We have SO MANY! What to do with them besides make salsa? Cucumber and jalepeno recipes appreciated.

Outdoor Days

With only a couple weeks left of school, the kids and I have been spending lots of time outdoors. Yesterday we went up Mt. Diablo to Rock City, a trailhead with lots of sandstone wind caves and large boulders for climbing. We took a walk on the Trail Through Time, which has amazing views; but what struck me more on this particular trip was the wonderful manzanita forest. Manzanita is a local treasure, there are so many different varieties, they are an essential part of the Chaparral plant community, very important for local wildlife, and are lovely when blooming. However, I'm entranced by their red trunks.


It was hot and sunny, and I admired the shadow of pines on the sandstone trail.


For a completely different nature experience, today we drove to the Marin Headlands and the Northern Pacific Coast. We visited the Marine Mammal Center, a neat place where they rehabilitate sea lions, harbor seals, and elephant seals that are found injured or motherless in the nearby ocean. They had about 60 sea lions, two elephant seals, and five harbor seals in residence, more than usual for this time of year.  Apparently there is a toxic algae bloom off the Monterey coast. Here's a little more information on that: Toxic Algae Bloom. We watched the keepers feed the animals, and insert IV's in especially sick sea lions. It's an interesting place and they do good work.

Then we headed down to foggy Rodeo Beach to stick our feet in the 66 degree water (quite warm for these parts). The kids ended up soaked from the waist down, but that's part of the fun. There were plenty of surfers and some decent swells, so lots of action to watch as we picnicked.



The dog enjoyed running around, sniffing the flotsam. There were scores of valella valellas, washed up on the sand. Also known as 'purple kites,' they are a creature from the cnidarian group, and they eat plankton. They are quite beautiful, and it's unusual for so many to wash up this time of year - it might be due to onshore winds pushing them onto the beach. They have little transparent 'sails' that allow them to skim across the water. The dog kept trying to eat them, but then spit them out.


There were lots of flowers blooming, stuff that is played out in our neck of the woods already. Lovely naked ladies, in a deeper shade of pink then in my yard, decorated the marsh near the lagoon.


It's wonderful to have the time to enjoy our great Northern California outdoors. I'm so glad we live in a place that has such a variety of interesting areas.

Cooking from the Garden

I continue to really enjoy cooking from the garden. There is nothing more rewarding than picking your supplies from your yard. Tzatziki? No problem, just grab some cucumbers, and dill and mint from the herb spiral. Pesto? Great, time to harvest basil anyway. Salsa? Sure, pick some tomatoes and jalepenos. Need a side dish? Some pole beans will do nicely.

The corn will be ready soon, potatoes are not far from harvest, and the pumpkins are getting larger and starting to change color. The winter squash is growing like mad, and the apple tree is providing all we can eat. I'm noticing tiny tomatillos beginning to form.

Today was a pesto day, and the basil was starting to flower, so I harvested the last of it. Basil is so brightly and beautifully green.


I make it very simply, with pine nuts, parmesan, garlic, and olive oil. I usually make more than we need, and freeze it in mason jars, which works as long as you cover the surface of the pesto with olive oil before freezing.

I'm also grilling some chicken, so for a marinade, I went out to the spiral and picked oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, sage, and chives.


To this I added lemon juice from lemons grown in Mom's garden. Lemons in summer! Weird, but welcome.


All you need to add to this is olive oil, and the longer it sits marinating in the fridge, the better. Delicious.

I sent Kate out to pick tomatoes for a garnish, what a wonderful dinner this will be.

I have sunflowers, cosmos, zinnias, and sages blooming in the garden. The bees have been all over the Russian Sage, but I'm not sure what else they could possibly be foraging.

Today while walking Joe in a local park (sort of an open space kind of park), I came across two dogs, both collared and tagged, but they wouldn't let me come near. No owner in sight. After a bit, I heard a growling and yipping and commotion. The two dogs had cornered a coyote and were fighting it. It was a horrible noise and horrible to watch. The poor coyote finally got away, and snuck under fence into a neighboring yard, limping. I called animal control, but I never heard what happened. I feel bad for coyotes, I'm not sure why, they seem so shy and yet curious, they never bother me while I'm hiking, and they never bother Joe, though they seem lonely. Also so skinny and scruffy, and they aren't ever very large.

We've had hot hot hot weather with significant humidity, which just makes me wilt - I'm such a wimp. The shorter days make me long for Autumn and braised meats. And yet I don't want summer to ever end. All our camps and planned activities are done for the summer, and the kids and I are just starfishing all over the place, quite lazy, but we do manage to get out for a bit of every day and go exploring. It won't be long before we are shopping for school supplies.