Food and Fire for Body and Soul

~The Cispus River runs past Iron Creek Campground in Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington. The river is rapid and deep in many places. It is beautiful and dangerous. Across the river  trees  have been downed and partially swept away. Trees  lay all along the river banks and in the river itself. The river bank we fished off of last year has been swept away. Thom and Joanne, my Hubby's baby sister and her husband camped here with us. Joanne made me a peach cake in her cast iron dutch oven over the camp fire Sunday night. I wish I had taken a picture of the delicious dessert she made me for my birthday. Joanne did a fine job of cooking over the camp fire and next year I will get pictures along with the recipe. There were no dessert left overs . Thank-you Joanne !~The Wingmaster and his wife joined us at our camp fire Sunday night too. Steve brought his guitar and we had singing around the camp fire after we shared our hearts, thoughts, and reflections on the past few days thinking about scriptures from the Bible. The family from the camp site across from us joined us as one of the men from the site played his guitar along with Steve. What great old time music, The Eagles, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and more I am not familiar with but enjoyed! We hope this family returns here next year. This has been a yearly event for them too !

~Hawk ,our Vizsla ,Hubby and #5 granddaughter sit by the campfire enjoying the warmth on this chilly day.

~# 2 grandson and his Daddy smile and "talk" to each other while warming up around the fire too.

~"A home is no home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as for the soul." Sarah Margaret Fuller

~Although the sentiment above is talking about home, when I am camping, my vacation home away from home, I feel it is not a true vacation, time of rest and re-fueling,without lots of good food and fire for my mind and body. It is almost a given that the awe inspiring forest and river should cause me to reflect on the Great Creator of all, and His words regarding our condition, needs, and the wisdom He gives us to use and apply to our lives, to glorify Him. Thank-you Lord for your gifts and your Son, our Savior. The time around the camp fire with my family through blood , and my family through God, was special. There was encouragement and prayer. A shared care and concern for each other. Songs, praise, and scripture...food for the mind and soul !.Then dessert for the body. Peach cake . Delicious, and it all hit the spot !

Fellowship , Camp Fires and Camp Food !

~Grandchildren pose for me in front of a fallen tree. That is not a wall or fence behind them. It is a fallen tree of immense size, that is now a 'nurse tree'. A nurse tree is a downed tree that now nourishes new growth on itself. New trees, ferns, etc., The downed tree is probably a Hemlock or Fir tree that is hundreds of years old. Iron Creek Campground is full of enormous trees and ferns. The ferns alone stand taller than most of the children. ~Here Dirt and Lanny pose in front of the cook site Dirt has arranged to facilitate their famous FRY NIGHT. Their rule is everything for dinner must be deep fried , no exceptions!

Hubby is pulling a chicken out of his fryer. We also deep fried some Cornish game hens in this.

~We all brought our dogs camping. Here are 3 relatives of our Vizsla , Hawk. They are his son, daughter, and grandson ! Aren't they beautiful ? The dogs were very excited about dinner.

~Ahhhhhh, one chicken out of the fryer. We also deep fried some of our garden fresh snap peas dipped in tempura batter . So very, very good. There was fry bread, shrimp patties, onion rings, thick sliced potatoes, corn dogs, fried calimari, zucchini, cauliflower, mushrooms, broccoli...the only thing that was definitely not good deep fried were the pickles ! I am sure I have forgotten to mention some of the fried feast, but everything ( except pickles) was great.

"Please, please, please ? Some tidbits for us poor starving pups ? "

~ All total there were 30-35 of us gathered for Fry Night . Not including the many well behaved dogs.

More dear friends / family. Also, owners of some really handsome dogs, but we might be a bit biased ! 

~" Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike." John Muir

Spot on Camping....

Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington~~~We are camping in Paradise,, well, Paradise with rain, but the rain is what makes it Paradise ! We are having a wonderful time. Friends, family, fishing, fun, food, camp fire....and tonight is Fry Night ! Everyone has brought something to fry in deep fat for dinner ! This should be very, very good and very , very unhealthy for us. Can't wait!

~~~We live in our tent trailer while camping. It is quite cozy. Our dog Beatrix likes it too ~~~

~~~The kids enjoy the many little roads around the campgrounds. Here Lanny and Dirt's daughter Anna gives our #5 granddaughter a ride around the campgrounds. #5 granddaughter is practically velcroed to me EXCEPT when Anna is around. ~~~The blazing campfire with cooking aromas sending out an invitation to all hungry tummies. ~~~The view of our home on wheels from the forest. This is a very deep forest with rivers, mountains , real mountains, a deep rapid river, and trees still standing since before Columbus set eyes on this new world. Got to get ready for Fry Night, and maybe tomorrow I'll have caught fish for dinner ! Like last year...~~~

A Spot of Plum Jam

~~~" Jam is a treat, that butterflies taste on their flutter-by feet." ~~~ Eileen Spinelli TEA PARTY TODAY

~Here is a basket of Shiro plums I picked in our orchard. These plums are so juicy and sweet, you cannot eat them without getting plum juice everywhere. They do not keep well so when they are ripe I need to use them right away. Sometimes I prepare the fruit and freeze it to turn it into jam later in the year, but I think the jam tastes so much better when I make the jam right away. ~~~It is raining again today so the weather is perfect for staying indoors and canning fruit.~~~

~To make jam you will need 5 3/4 cups of pitted crushed plums. Leave the peeling on while crushing. Add 1/4 cup lemon juice to the plums. While you are preparing the plums, sterilize your pint or half pint jars, bands, and new lids. Leave jars, lids, and bands simmering in the boiling water until you need the them. ( picture below)

~You will also need 10 cups sugar and a dab of butter or margarine and a box of pectin you can buy at your supermarket. I am using MCP pectin.

~Put the crushed plums in the pan with the dab of butter ( this keeps the cooking fruit from foaming too much) and the pectin. ~~~Bring the fruit, pectin and butter to a rolling boil. This is a boil that cannot be stirred down. Then add the 10 cups of sugar. When the plums and sugar again come to a boil, boil while stirring constantly for 4 minutes. ~~~Immediately after the 4 minutes boiling, remove the jam from the stove and begin ladling into hot sterilized jars. Wipe the rims and tops with a clean hot cloth to clean off any jam and put the lids on and then screw the bands on. Doesn't this look like liquid gold ? I have to label it 'jam' because it looks just like the jars of honey Hubby bottles from his bees. ~Here the jars of jam are placed into my canner. Now for years and years, all us little old jam makers just turned the freshly filled hot jars of jam over, let sit for a few minutes, then turn right side up and VOILA, the jam was done ! Now there are new standards that require we give the jars of jam a water bath. I never had any problem with my jams before, but since we give a lot of our jam away as gifts we play it safe . So.... a hot water bath it is !The jam in the boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

~~~Boiling away~~~

~This yellow plum jam is delicious on toast, but better on ham and pork roast. It is also a favorite jam of many in my family so we rarely have any to spare. After you take the jam out of the canner and place it in a draft free area, you will begin to hear little metallic pops as the seal sets in the jar. Leave the bands on the jars overnight. The next morning, remove the bands ( DO NOT STORE THE JAM WITH THE BANDS ON ) and check to see that there is an indentation in each lid. If not, the jar did not seal properly. No problem though, just pop the jam in the fridge and eat it right away ! ~~~Make some jam. You can get the recipes for your jam of choice in packages of pectin. Follow the directions carefully and you cannot fail. Jam is easy to make and your home made jam is so much more tasty than most of the jam you buy. Jam also makes great gifts. Everybody likes jam!

~~~JAM POEM~~~ from Mrs. Jone's Letter of the Week 'J' Who'll have jam ? There's jam for tea. Jam for Pam and jam for Sam And jam for little me. Who'll have jam, there's jam for tea. Damson jam and Bramble jam, And apple jam for me.

I Love A Rainy Sunday !

~I love rainy days, especially rainy days we are able to stay home. Sunday was just such a day. The type of day I long for so many other days of the year. It was not too cold, the rain was constant, I had a good book on CD to listen to while I plyed my yarn. I put a pork roast with vegetables in the oven , and with the rain beating on the sky lights and the view of the rain falling on our yard and pond from my comfy spot in the living room..I was so happy ! I think this red legged frog at the edge of our pond was happy too !~Rain beckons me, calls to me. I love to sleep with my bedroom window open on rainy nights. After plying yarn for awhile, I decided to venture out in the rain. Everything is so fresh ! Here the hostas by the front entrance sidewalk seem instantly refreshed. The Lady's Mantle and sedums grow quickly after summer rains.

~"Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby." Langston Hughes April Rain Song 

The downspouts gurgle and make little streams.

The little birdbath set amidst the ferns and rhododendron is filled with the rain water.

Thorin and Bombadil do not share my love of rain. Thorin peers out at me from his perch in the goat house. They go to great lengths to keep their feet and faces dry. They will jump from board to board to rock, sometimes with difficulty to avoid getting themselves wet. You would think they melt in rain the way the behave. ~The ducks mill around. So many choices for water loving ducks on a rainy day. Puddles, streams, the pond ? Or just hanging out on the water soaked lawn. The slugs are out in full force today so the ducks can graze on gourmet ( to ducks that is ) food without much effort.As much as I love the rain, I'll pass on a little boat ride around the pond.
~Rainy days fill me with energy ! I can accomplish so much while it rains. When there have been too many rainless days I get depressed. I also pine away for rain when I am visiting other places and states that do not get much rain. To me, a rainy day is to be cherished, like a vacation of sorts. I guess I am weird that way. ~One of my favorite passages in the Bible is where God answers Job out of the whirlwind and addresses the audacity of man to question his creator. Here God speaks of the rain and weather. "Who has cleft a channel for the flood, or a way for the thunderbolt; to bring rain on a land without people, on a desert without a man in it,to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the seeds of grass to sprout ?Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew ?..Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that an abundance of water may cover you ? Can you send forth lightnings that they may go and say to you 'Here we are?' ...Who can count the clouds by wisdom, or tip the water jars of the heavens, when the dust hardens into a mass as the clods stick together? " Job 38; 25 -38 ~~~

~And there is one more reason I love a rainy day , an unknown author says it perfectly ! "God made rainy days so gardeners can get the housework done ."~

Family Celebrations and Other Things to do With Eggs !

~~~Oh look, we're having a baby party and everyone brought babies ! Well, that is what it seemed like . Everywhere there were new babies being handed around and cuddled, nursed,having their diapers changed..but I forgot to bring my baby to the party. I need to remember to bring a baby to the next family gathering.

~Our daughter and her husband threw a family barbecue to celebrate the birth of their new son , their 4th child and our 8th grandchild. Since our family and her husband's family are so large they decided a summer born baby was a good opportunity for a barbecue bash ! There were about 80 people gathered to celebrate. Our son-in-laws' sister ( middle) and cousin ( left) also had babies within the month so we really had a celebration of new babies in the family !~Here is our daughter with our new grandson.

~ I was met at the party . # 2 granddaughter is holding a bag full of water to drench me ! The other children were bearing water balloons to hit me with, but as I had my arms full of food to be carried to the kitchen and I had forgotten the machine- gun sized water gun I had told them I was bringing to GET THEM ALL WET ,but they decided to have mercy on me and went after other unsuspecting adults. We had so much delicious food . Our son-in-law and his family can put on a barbecue ! You have not had barbecue until you have eaten at Guamanian barbecues. Trust me, you will not go away hungry or dis-satisfied. In fact, you will probably waddle away with a full tummy and several containers of barbecued meats, salads, rice dishes and of course desserts. We did throw around a lot of things at the barbecue...water balloons, and eggs ! Here #2 granddaughter and her partner are tossing eggs to one another. The game is simple, you and your partner start a few short feet from each other and you toss an egg to your partner. You each back up a step and partner tosses the egg back to you. You keep this up until one by one other egg tossing teams' eggs crack and the last team standing with an intact egg wins the game. ~~~I tell you, she and her partner were tossing hard boiled eggs. No, not really, but she and her partner missed their egg several times and the egg bounced ! It did not break, but it bounced !

~~So besides eating eggs, what is another thing to do with them ? Wear them ! Here my brother-in-law partner and I are out of the competition, because I am wearing our egg !

" If you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses. " Dr. Joyce Brothers

We are so thankful for the family God has given us !

Spotted Lambs With Horns !

~Here are three related Jacob Sheep lambs. The ewe ( girl) lamb is in the middle. She has 5 horns. She was born in February of this year and her mother is the sister of the big lamb's mother. Both the mother of the ewe lamb and the big ram ( boy) lamb are sisters we bought in Oregon from Bide-a-Wee Jacobs. This is quite a size difference, and the biggest lamb is one month younger than his sister .Just look at the horns of this ewe (girl) lamb. She has 3 horns on the left side of her head, and 2 horns on the right side of her head. You can see the horns a little more clearly here. I haven't decided on a name for her yet, I would like to name her something that brings to mind her unique horn set, yet a name that is still nice. Any ideas ? (click onto picture for close-up of horns)

~~~This is a ram lamb who is a twin. (below) He and his sister were born late this spring. They were born a month after all the other lambs. Being a twin and a late born lamb makes him a bit smaller than all the other lambs except his sister who is smaller. He is sprouting 5 horns ! Click on the picture and I think you can spot his 5th horn on the right between the 2 larger horns. He will most likely not keep the 5th horn because as the middle and side horn get rapidly larger they will squeeze out and fuse with the 5th horn. ~~~I am so enthralled with my sheep. I love to watch them as I drink my morning coffee. I speculate on their horn sets as they grow and think about their wool and the many things I can create with the wool. I watch my sheep and know my sheep. I know them well enough to tell if they are not feeling well. I can tell when they are distressed, when they are happy, when they are ill. I think about ways to make my sheep more productive and which sheep are detrimental to the well-being of the whole flock. ~~~I am very interested in this little ram lamb ( below) . He is everything I love and admire in a ram. I am hoping he does not damage his horns, that in his eagerness to be a ram he does not get himself in trouble, mortal trouble , with his half brother, Goth. I marvel at the ability these animals have to run full force into hard structures and not damage themselves, but cause damage to the walls and trees and barriers they ram.~~~ ~~~What can I say ? I really love my sheep. I do not want to not have sheep. Having sheep I love has opened up worlds of new interests and activities. The more I learn about my sheep through owning them, observing them, and caring enough to learn more about them, the more I realize I need to know. I can keep on learning til I die! I will be happy learning and caring for them til I die , and hope God grants me the health and circumstance to do this . ~~~I have been privileged over the years to listen to a local shepherd talk about his flocks and sheep. This gentleman had some serious health issues and last year had to sell off or butcher his remaining sheep. This man knows and has forgotten more about sheep and shepherding than I can ever hope to know. One thing I DO know, this man is not long for this earth because when you have listened to him you will know that his inability to care for his beloved flock has caused him to have no reason to linger here . ~~~Each of us has something or someone we hold so very dear. To lose that very special part of us that causes us to wake each day with eagerness and hope and excitement must be the deepest loss, the kind of loss that feels like a part of us has been hacked off and we cannot go on...I feel that to lose any of my family, my ability to keep my sheep, or to be a vital part of my family and close friends would seem as a type of death. Thankfully, THE SHEPHERD, tends this old ewe (me) and He knows what is best for me. So, I guess I need not fret or worry. And so far I am fine and dandy and looking forward to many more years of tending stubborn sheep who give me a whole lot of reasons to get up and go in the morning! Like ; mending fences, feeding, spinning their wool, mending fences, feeding, making rugs out of their wool, mending fences feeding, etc.,

~~~"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them , and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish ; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand." John 10:27,28 ~~~