Thinking about it…

So much to see & not too far from home at that…

We spent another Saturday seeing a little more of the beautiful countryside…with the windows rolled down and the wind in our hair. So much to see and not too far from home. Another Saturday soon, we’ll get up early and drive to Crater Lake. Saturday, we drove about 30 minutes from home to find the amazing view above in Glide, Oregon. Those may look like small rocks in the river, but they were tall, massive boulders. The photo above was taken from a lookout view of the “colliding rivers”, where the Little River and the Umpqua River literally collide together. It was a breathtaking view…

This is wine country. There are several vineyards near us…this one is located about ten minutes from us.

Just some of the beautiful flowers at the Melrose Vineyards. Another day we’ll stop again by their neat shop and tasting room…

The horse farm below is one of my favorite sights on the way home. It’s a small rather “run-down” farm sitting right on the Umpqua River and is about 5 minutes from our home. They always have horses, cows, llamas or other animals I like. It makes me wish we had a big red barn and room for at least two horses. *sigh* My macho logger tree farmer husband has honestly come to like the chickens as much as I do, and I’ve almost convinced him that we need two little Nigerian Dwarf Goats, but HORSES are a different matter altogether.

I love this expression. I was using a zoom lens, but obviously she could hear the camera. Isn’t she a beauty!

This girl was standing right beside the fence and was very interested in what I was doing. I keep wishing she were either all chestnut or all wheat. It was rather disconcerting having that chestnut head on a wheat colored body. Oh well, she’s still a pretty girl and I didn’t tell her that her color combination was bothering me…

Filed under: Travel, Life on the Tree Farm on June 29th, 2009 | No Comments »

Chicken dance…

I walked out to greet the chickens this chilly, overcast morning with TWO slices of bread…a rare treat for them since they usually share one slice. I opened the gate to the 20′ X 20′ enclosed chicken yard and just as I stepped down into it, the rooster jumped up and grabbed BOTH slices out of my hand! Mean junk yard bully!

He took off running with those two slices of bread dangling out of his beak as fast as those two scrawny legs would take him, and, believe me, he’s fast! He could only manage both slices for so long as they broke apart and trailed behind him. He continued running with what he had left in his mean little beak and the hens snapped up what was left. Each one of them grabbed a piece of that bread in her beak and ran for it in eleven different directions!

I stood there laughing at the whole hilarious scene. They all, pretty much, gobbled what they had except for one lone little hen. So, then they ALL start chasing her for the one little piece of bread she has left.

And if this wasn’t bad enough after all those shenanigans were over, little Miss Rhode Island Red (Felicity) below worked really hard getting her little spot to relax in fixed just right for her…then little Miss Barred Rock Plymouth (Rosalinda) comes along and pecks the daylights out of her. Rosalinda then proceeds to promptly relax in Felicity’s nicely formed grassy cushion!

I really must teach these chickens some manners…

I captured about 27 seconds of this bedlam on video…sorry for the fast, blurry scene…it’s hard to keep up with a fast moving chicken!

Filed under: Life on the Tree Farm on June 18th, 2009 | 4 Comments »

I’m the Madrina of precious Peruvian twins…

When my son first told me that that they were moving out into the Peruvian countryside to live among the poor Quechua families, I wasn’t quite sure what to think. I was able to see everything for myself during my three-week visit in April 2008. Sometimes our imagination is worse than reality. The reality is that the house they live in, though perhaps not entirely up to American building codes, is nice and quite comfortable. It sits on a very large lot and is surrounded on all sides by a tall adobe wall. They have fruit trees, and a separate walled garden/greenhouse. None of the houses in Peru have heat and so everyone learns to layer clothes. They sleep under warm alpaca blankets at night. Fortunately, they have the space to park their vehicle within the adobe walls, which they do at night. Although they don’t have a clothes dryer, they do have a washing machine, under cover, close to the back door. Their home is the only brick house in the whole “neighborhood”.

They are surrounded by poor Quechua neighbors, whom they’ve befriended, living in small Adobe homes…of all shapes and sizes. Most of the homes are owned by a landlord living elsewhere. At night there is the smell of the wood fires, as the families cook on a fogón, a type of earthen wood stove. Some of the families have a few livestock - a cow or two, a hog, a few sheep, some chickens or turkeys. My daughter-in-law buys fresh milk from one farmer and pasteurizes it for their use. The milk is very rich and makes great puddings and other desserts. She also purchased chickens (layers) and now they have fresh eggs each day. They eat very healthy living there in the country, cooking all fresh food.

The photo above is the home of Gladys and her husband Ephraim and their two children, Melina and Ronnie. They live directly behind my son and his family. You’ll notice the rustic wooden door on the left side of the adobe wall. (In the photo, the building with the windows above their house is across the dirt road from them). The family of four live in one room, approximately 12′ x 14′. The small hut next to the adobe wall is their kitchen which has a dirt floor, table, chairs and a fogón. It’s also where they house their guinea pigs and where the children do their homework at times by the single light bulb overhead. There is one large utility type sink just outside the kitchen door and a single commode which they flush with a bucket of water on a concrete platform between the kitchen wall and the adobe wall. They must walk across a muddy path during the rainy season to get from the room where the four of them live to the kitchen. Gladys raises chickens and guinea pigs (Cuy) to feed her family. She also picks apples to sell to make money for her family. The father works long hours away from home during each day.

Melina Jennifer is nine years old. She is very pretty with a beautiful smile. A very bright and artistic child, Melina goes to a public all-girls school in Cusco and travels by public transportation - alone - everyday. She has to transfer buses twice in the midst of the horrendous traffic conditions in Cusco. Only if you’ve experienced the streets and traffic of Cusco, will you’ll understand the magnitude of this truth. She has to cross the streets of Cusco on more than one occasion everyday.

Already Melina helps her mother do laundry, washing their clothes in one bucket of cold water and rinsing in another. She helps cook on the fogón. She takes care of her little brother Ronnie, and she does all of this with one of the sweetest dispositions I have ever seen.

My daughter-in-law had recently cut my granddaughter’s hair, and Melina decided she wanted her long hair (which had not been cut since infancy) cut also. Gladys was very happy that Jeanine would cut Melina’s hair, and so one afternoon we were all gathered in the backyard together watching the transformation. Melina was quite pleased with her new look. I went to the market the following day and bought her barrettes and ribbons for her new hair style. She gave me a big hug and a smile. I was very touched when Jeanine told me that Melina had told her mother that she wanted me to be her new grandmother and that she wanted to go back to the United States with me.

Ronnie is six years old. He is in the first grade in public school. He also takes public transportation to get to school everyday. He is a bright, inquisitive child with a sweet disposition and a ready smile.

One of the first things I noticed when I met Ronnie is that he has Nystagmus. Evidently, he has had it since birth. He has never seen a physician in his life. Jeanine is encouraging Gladys to take Ronnie to the clinic to see my son for a complete assessment about his eyes.

Meeting my beautiful new friend Gladys was one of the highlights of my three weeks in Peru. I speak very little Spanish and Gladys doesn’t speak English. My granddaughters would translate for us until they tired and were ready to go play. One day I had been visiting Gladys and when I returned home, my son said with a grin in amazement, “Mom, how could you stay an hour? You don’t even speak Spanish!” Oh, no problem, I replied. She was showing me her family photos and all her knitting (beautiful). We managed just fine.

I bought apples from Gladys and made three apple pies. I gave one to her family. Usually , the Quechua don’t like a lot of sweets, but apparently they liked the apple pie. My daughter-in-law made bread one day and took a loaf to them which they enjoyed very much. A few days before I left, Gladys gave me a small piece of Quechua pottery with a lid…and two amazing pieces of her border embroidery - one of which said “No me olvide”…don’t forget me. Gladys and her family did something immensely special for me…they gave me a glimpse into the hearts and lives of the Quechua people.

Two days ago, my daughter-in-law emailed me to say that Gladys had given birth to tiny, beautiful twin girls. She said that Gladys had told her that I was the MADRINA…the godmother…of these babies. What an amazing honor. The hard part is that it will be months before I am able to go back to Peru to see these sweet babies for myself. In the meantime, Jeanine is shopping for me (there isn’t a lot available there) and, hopefully, I can help provide a few things they will need. One good thing about creating reborn dolls is that I have drawers full of new baby clothing, so I will be packing some of those to ship to Peru!

So now, I am a Mother, a Grandmother…and a Madrina!

Filed under: Travel, Reflections on June 17th, 2009 | 7 Comments »

Wild lilacs…

It’s a sunny, hazy day today…temp about seventy degrees…a few dark clouds but no rain forecasted for today. I walked down to the mailbox a little while ago with my camera in hand. There are wild lilac bushes all along the drive leading down to the mailbox.

I wish I could capture the lovely LAVENDER color, but between the deep haze overhead and my lack of serious photography skills…I just haven’t. The wild lilac bushes also have a strong fragrance…one I’m not too sure I like.

Except for the first two years of my life when I lived on a farm, I’ve always lived in neighborhoods where the “yards” were mowed and carefully tended. Hedges and walks were pruned and meticulously manicured. Living on a tree farm is a bit like the “wild kingdom”. My macho logger tree farmer mows a small section of front and back “yards”. There is also a terrace of junipers which takes up a good bit of front yard. The rest of the farm grows wild.

On my walk to the mailbox, I saw dozens of blackberry bushes covered in blooms and two old fruit trees…a pear and an apple…loaded with blossoms. There’s no point in getting excited about the fruit these will all produce. The bears beat us to them. I’ll have to go to the produce stand and BUY ours…hmmm…what’s wrong with this picture?!

Don’t think I’ll argue with a bear over them though…

Filed under: Life on the Tree Farm on June 12th, 2009 | 8 Comments »

Warm blueberry muffins…

A warm blueberry muffin…right from the oven. Doesn’t get much better than this. I love it when the house smells like fresh baked bread…especially bread with a hint of cinnamon.

Little did I know when I moved here, that Oregon is well-known for its blueberries. In fact, Oregon has lots and lots of blueberries. Come to think of it, there are two large blueberry farms right here in Douglas County.

Besides tasting great, blueberries have enormous health benefits. Just one more reason to enjoy this warm blueberry muffin. This recipe is easy and the results are scrumptious. If you possibly can, use fresh blueberries for these muffins…you’ll be so glad you did!

Wash and pick long stems from 1 cup fresh blueberries. (What you see in this post is actually a doubled recipe)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin pans. Recipe makes about 16 standard muffins.

Combine 1/2 cup butter or margarine (1 stick, melted), 2 eggs (beaten), 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon lemon extract and 1 cup milk in one bowl. Mix well.

In another bowl, whisk together: 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2/3 cup sugar, 2 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Add the blueberries and fold in gently until blueberries are distributed.

Spoon into prepared muffin tins (I used Pam). Fill each cup about 3/4 full. Bake for about 15-20 minutes.

Blueberry Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

2 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter or margarine

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon lemon extract (optional)

1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Follow directions above with pics…

Relax & enjoy a warm muffin right from the oven…

Filed under: Cooking and Recipes on June 11th, 2009 | 2 Comments »

The good, the bad and the dollar bill…

A few days ago, I was having a very nice afternoon out shopping. My first stop had been Jo-Anne Fabrics…where I was looking for just the right fabrics to sew for all of my grandchildren. I left Jo-Anne’s and deposited my purchase in the trunk of my car which was parked directly in front of the store. I walked over to J.C. Penney’s and, after that, next door to Michael’s craft store. The weather was nice, and I was enjoying being out…

Until I arrived back to my vehicle…

The very first thing I noticed was a business card stuck into the driver’s side of the window well. I read the card below which had a message to me on one side and a name, address and telephone number on the other. Then I saw it: the big dent in the rear side of the car…along with the deep red & white scrapes along the side. I couldn’t believe it.

(I erased the license plate #, although certainly NOT to protect the innocent!)

About this time, I saw something that was even harder to believe: a one dollar bill stuck beneath the windshield wiper blade. A ONE dollar bill! What was this for?! The vehicle assailant’s idea of a joke?! Renumeration?! I knew the value of my 1999 Toyota Camry wasn’t worth what it was to begin with, but this was ridiculous…and THIS made me mad. I’d watched enough CSI to deduce that the hit and run driver may have realized he’d been observed. Maybe he hoped it would appear he was leaving a note…you know the kind of note most of us hard-working, decent human beings and fellow citizens would leave…something like:

Date & Time - My name is so & so and I have just accidentally hit your vehicle. I am so sorry! I have full coverage automobile insurance and will take care of all damages. Please call me @ such & such telephone # and I will give you the name and number of my agent. He will arrange for repairs….etc. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has and will cause you.

You know…something like that.

I would much rather have had a note like that instead of a dollar bill! I was thankful for the kind witness who had left me the information I would need. I returned to Jo-Anne Fabrics to see if anyone else had seen the person who’d hit my car…who’d HIT and RUN! No one else had seen anything…just the witness who was thoughtful enough to take the time to leave me this information.

I had no clue where the police station was but I did know where the DMV was. I drove there and asked for information. They, of course, couldn’t tell me WHO owned the license plate number. As mad as I was, that was a good thing.

My husband met me at the DMV, and we drove to the police department where they took my statement, wrote down the information on the card and photographed the damages. When we returned home, I called the witness who’d left the card for me and thanked them. As it turned out, the witness had been sitting in his automobile waiting for his wife who was shopping in Jo-Ann Fabrics. He had seen the whole thing. He’d seen the vehicle assailant leave the liquor store, get in his truck and back into my car. He’d also seen the dollar bill trick!

So, with the information from the witness, the police and insurance company found this hit and run driver. Thank God he does have insurance and his insurance company will be paying for the repairs and providing me with a rental car for the 4-5 days the car is “in the shop”.

So, in one afternoon, I’d seen the worst and the best of mankind, so to speak. My daughter said thankfully I wasn’t IN the car when it happened, and that’s true…

…but the dollar bill still makes me mad.

Filed under: Reflections on June 10th, 2009 | 6 Comments »

My Bucket List…

If you’ve seen the movie The Bucket List with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, you’ll remember these two memorable characters hospitalized with terminal cancer who set out to fulfill their unrealized dreams before they “kick the bucket”. I think each of us has a “list” of experiences we hope to have: amazing places we want to see, people we want to meet, things we want to accomplish, dreams we want to fulfill…all before we “kick the bucket”.

I was born in 1945 so, next year is a “big birthday” for me. Well, okay, December is almost the end of the year, but 2010 will still be a milestone. I can then qualify for the senior discount on most airlines…among other things.

So, I’ve been thinking about MY Bucket List and here’s what I have so far…which means it’s a work in prgress…

1. Build sandcastles on the beach with ALL my granchildren TOGETHER at one time. An ocean front house somewhere on the Atlantic would be great where I have all my family together at one time…*big sigh*

2. Publish my children’s book…

3. Finish my family history and publish it…

4. Return to Peru…

5. See Scotland…especially the highlands and the Isle of Skye…

6. See Ireland…

7. Go to a Robin Mark Concert…

8. Visit Anne Of Green Cables’ Prince Edward Island…

9. Take a train trip across America…just like in North By Northwest…

10. Learn to sculpt…

11. Take an Alaskan cruise..

12. After 45 years, return to the Columbia River Gorge, Multnomah Falls, Mt. Ranier, and the Butchart Gardens…

13. See Niagra Falls and ride the Maid of the Mist…

14. Spend a week in New York City and do it all up right…Broadway…Empire State Building…Statue of Liberty…Ellis Island…

15. See Hawaii…(get in shape first)

16. See the Alps…as much of them as possible…stretching from Austria and Slovenia…through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France

17. Learn to speak Spanish (again)

18. See New England and all the lighthouses along the way…

19. Take a trip across Canada…

20. See the Grand Canyon…

So, what’s on YOUR Bucket List…?

Filed under: Reflections on June 8th, 2009 | 8 Comments »

But these are his favorite…

Over the years, I’ve baked hundreds of desserts for my family…all sorts of desserts. Southern banana pudding (baked with the meringue), lemon meringue pie, German chocolate cake, Mississippi Mud Pie, applesauce cake with caramel icing, blackberry jam cake, Southern pecan pie, fresh coconut cake with pineapple, gooey lemon bars, homemade baked cheese cake…the list goes on and on, but you get the picture.

The funny thing is, these are my younger son’s favorite, of everything, these simple, chocolate no-bake cookies. Go figure…

Actually, this is one of my “go to” recipes when I’m craving chocolate and I need it fast. You can be enjoying this scrumptious fudge-like cookie in about 15 minutes or so, and the recipe is so easy. Nine chances out of ten, you’ll have every single ingredient for these delicious goodies right there in your fridge or pantry! Here are the players…

In medium saucepan, over medium-low heat, melt one stick of margarine. Add 1/2 cup milk. DON’T scald the milk…

Combine together in small bowl: 2 cups sugar and 1/3 cup COCOA (DON’T substitute the chocolate squares for the cocoa, believe me!) Combine the sugar/cocoa mixture in with the butter and milk and stir well.

Keep stirring…the mixture will begin to look very smooth. Don’t go answer the telephone or feed the dog or do anything else…just watch & stir…it doesn’t take long.

Once you see these bubbles…it means, of course, it has reached the boiling point (you should still not be at any higher temperature than medium). At this point you want to put the stove timer on for 2 minutes and 30 seconds and keep on stirring…

When the timer buzzes, remove pan from the burner immediately. Add 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, 1 & 1/2 cups quick oats and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir well.

Stir until you feel the mixture thicken just slightly. Drop by large tablespoons onto sheet of aluminum foil. Let cool. Cookies will harden as they cool. Okay, I confess I usually scrape the pan clean and eat what’s on the spoon long before the cookies have cooled!

Chocolate No-Bake Cookies

1 stick margarine or butter

1/2 cup milk

2 cups sugar

1/3 cup cocoa

1 & 1/2 cups quick oats

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (or crunchy if you prefer)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Filed under: Cooking and Recipes on June 7th, 2009 | 7 Comments »

Drum roll please…

And the winners of my One Year Blogging Anniversary GIVE*AWAY are…

1. ROSIEKINS is the winner of the adorable reborn doll kit, SHANNON, by Cathy Rowland!

2. SPUDDAWG is the winner of the Jan Karon’s Mitford Cookbook and Reader!

3. JEANIE IN THE OZARKS is the winner of the large Isabella’s Journey Tote Bag!

Winners, please email me your name and address to DianneCampbell@patacakebabies.com and I will ship your prizes this week! Congratulations!!!

My thanks to each of you for sharing this blogging journey with me…and for your sweet comments!

By the way, my giveaways are fun to do and almost scientific. First, I type or write the name of each entrant. Then I cut them into equal sizes and roll them up. Then they’re placed into a dish or basket…this time it was the glass top of a cheese keeper. Then my husband does the honors of selecting the winners after he shakes the container a few times…well, that is, after he wakes up from his Sunday afternoon nap. So, see, almost scientific…

Filed under: Giveaways! on June 7th, 2009 | 2 Comments »

Out and about on a Saturday morning…

It was one of those lazy Saturday mornings when we couldn’t decide exactly what we wanted to do. We talked about driving two hours South to historic Jacksonville, Oregon. Hmmm….okay, that was a possibility. Then we discussed Diamond Lake and Crater Lake, both relatively close to one another and about two hours North. Of course, there was always the Pacific Coast, about an hour and 15 minutes west. It was already 11:00 a.m., so we decided we’d need an earlier start to spend the day at any of these nearby places.

In the end, we spend the day out and about our community. We went to several flea markets, checking out the proverbial treasures to be found. There was a neat Saturday morning farmer’s market featuring a nice sounding 4-piece band along with offering fresh produce, home baked goods and a nice variety of handmade items.

I fell in love with some awesome carved wooden bences. The amazing thing about this woodcarver is that his tool of choice is a chain saw, and he was able to achieve such detail with it! There were so many amazing pieces that would be at home anywhere! The artist is Ed Rosemeyer and you may reach them at maryrosemeyer@charter.net

This was a large and comfortable bench with adorable bears on either end! Amazing detail…I love the expression on this bear’s face. I could really see this bench on our mountaintop enjoying the view…

Above is another large, sturdy bench with two tall bears on either end.

The next stop was The Country Lady Quilt Shop. Just yesterday, I had been complaining about the lack of choices of fabric here…well, I hadn’t been to this quilt shop yet! Great quality and ample choices. I came out with a sack full of fabric…for 5 granddaughters’ dresses!

On the way home, we noticed our neighbor had received a haircut! He’s still really cute…

The statues below belong to another neighbor on the way home. He has buffalo in the field and all sorts of other animals. I have no idea what they’re made of…interesting though, huh?!

The golden fields in the photo at the top are located on a farm situated right on the Umpqua River. They have a neat old farmhouse, a couple of barns and fields of this beautiful plant…whatever it is. Remember, I’m a city girl transplanted to Oregon…

I hope you enjoyed being out and about with us on a Saturday morning in Oregon…

Filed under: Life on the Tree Farm on June 6th, 2009 | 6 Comments »

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