Yesterday Evan received his driver's license. I am still in a bit of shock. How could this happen so quickly. It seem as if it were just a short time ago that I held him, so recently from heaven, through that Christmas eve night. His head covered with bruising, his eyelids dark purple and his eye a deep blood red; the aftermath of a difficult delivery. Yet there he slept, the most beautiful and perfect soul. Our family's Christmas gift, safely from God's arms to ours. Now it is our turn to let him go, to grow up and learn those things that must be learned alone. But not quite alone, because I will always be there reminding him to be careful.
There were tons of oak and other trees providing beautiful cover to keep things comfortable. (It also helped that the temperature was in the mid to upper 60's.) Then there would be these amazing outcroppings of boulders, some intact, others with huge sections cracked off and laying next to its rock of origin. The flora was surprisingly green for this time of year with the sage being wonderfully aromatic.
The Morgan trail dead ends into the Bear trail, so it was easy to find. This is where we were grateful to be heading in a south-westerly direction (thanks Martine's mom!). The trail was steep, rocky to boulder-y, and full of sharp switchbacks. I will admit, going down this trail was a blast! But I would not want to be heading up!
We saw blue jays, and rabbits, and lizards. That's about it. There were warnings for our old friend the mountain lion, and for rattlesnakes, ugh. We did spot a very interesting foot print, I think bear, Martine thinks horse. Maybe it was the Yeti. You just never know what you will run into in the backwoods of Orange County.
A first for us-signing in at the ranger box. Since Martine is a professional, I let her fill in the spaces. She did a very nice job. We were surprised by all the hikers that had put a "?" as their destination. Is there a secret hike spot we don't know about? 
This morning the Institute Director came to observe my seminary class. At least this year I didn't break out in hives. Perhaps not having much advanced notice helped. The kids were great, as always, and the director should be feeling pretty confident in his job security. Hopefully there will be only 1 more visit, and that in the distant future:] Time for a nap.
Yes, felted soap. It does sound weird, but here they are-and they are amazing. They are bars of soap that you wrap wool roving around and then rub, rub, rub, until the wool is nice and snug around the soap, forming a non-slippery, beautiful scrubby thing! They would be perfect for a family activity or achievement day/young women or even cub scouts-just imagine camo covered soap:] Let me know if you need directions. Now, what to do with them?!
No, not this kind of Dutch baby! I'm talking about those delicious, crispy, golden, eggy dutch babies that we make for General Conference morning. They are super easy and the results are impressive. They just might have to become a conference tradition at your home too! Here is the recipe:
CONTACT: Heather Westenhofer, Slow Food Orange County (Click here to RSVP)
2115 W. McFadden Ave., Santa Ana, CA 92704
9/25/10 9.30am-1pm
Building a raised and terraced bed in the Grain Project community garden in Santa Ana and preparing serving and sharing lunch with the group.
There are fun things going on all across the country. I liked the one in Sacramento where you go see a movie about kids in a cooking competition to improve their school lunch menus. The proceeds go to area lunch programs. Here is the web site for more info:info@slowfoods.org (the link wouldn't work}
Maybe I'll see you there! If you want to car pool, give me a jingle.
We went up to Chico for a wonderful visit with Mike and Chelsie this Labor day weekend. We were busy shooting the guns, ( yes, I can hit the clay pigeons!) visiting the farmers market, checking out one of the top 10 quilt shops in the U.S. and Canada (items to be shown off at a later date) walking around Bidwell park and of course, fishing. The fishing trip is where the knee knocking comes in.I like to freeze the watermelon for this recipe, but you don't need to. You can use unfrozen watermelon and throw 6 or 8 ice cubes into the blender instead. Also, the kids love to make melon balls using a melon baller to make the garnish for the drink. You can top with any fruit they like.
Makes 4 servings
4 cups diced watermelon, frozen (freeze fresh watermelon, if possible)
2 tablespoons runny honey
Juice of 2 lemons
Mint leaves and watermelon balls, for garnish
Freeze watermelon for about 6 hours or until it is frozen through. Remove from the freezer and allow to thaw for about 10 minutes.
Mix the honey and the lemon juice together. Place the watermelon and the lemon juice-honey mix in a blender. Puree. If the drink is too thick, add a little water or your favorite juice. Check for sweetness. Add additional honey if needed. Pour into 4 tall glasses and garnish with the mint and watermelon balls.
There have been two hikes this summer by the Trail Ticklers, and that will do for the time being. It is too HOT around here! Earlier in the summer Martine and I hiked the Telegraph Canyon Trail via Rimcrest. Despite our early start the temperature reached at least 100' on the trail, with no trees to provide shade. We did see bobcat and snake tracks, other than that we just tried to finish the hike as quickly as possible! It was so bad that I forgot to take photos to document our plight. Our favorite part of the trip - cold drinks at the Trader Joe's at the bottom of the hill. My suggestion is to do this hike in the snow:]
Today, while doing some work in the back yard, I was stung by a wasp. Yes, I too thought it very rude. It was also quite painful. I am doing much better now, thank you and it made me think that I should post my treatment for a wasp sting, just in case you come across an unfriendly one in your yard.
Last month Martine and I went on an amazing hike in Anaheim Hills called the Weir Canyon Trail Loop. As you drive into well manicured neighborhoods with gigantic homes, it seems impossible that there would actually be a trail where development was 
not evident. But there was the trail head, right where it was supposed to be, and after a short ascent we dropped down into this incredible valley of rolling hills and unbelievable views. The effects of the rain were beautifully evident in the vast array of wildflowers and grasses. Lizards of several varieties were everywhere, really- everywhere! Everything was so pretty that it took us quite a bit of time to complete the first half of the trail, actually, the second half too! While there were no mountain lion tracks, we did meet with a new danger never before seen by a Tickler. As we began our final descent, the trail was quite wide open, with grasses 
along both sides of the trail and a large tree next to the trail about 30 yards from where we were. A very spry hiker quickly, and I will add, a little noisily, passed by us and then the tree. As I watched her go, I noticed a strange cloud emanate from said tree. This darkness spread across the path and sort of hovered there. Martine was ahead of me talking about something important, I'm sure, when I grabbed her arm and pulled her back. I realized we were heading into a swarm of bees. "Oh, please don't be killer bees" ran through my head. Gratefully they stayed where they were, but we very quickly headed back up the hill. I had stopped, but Martine kept increasing her distance from the bees (she is very cautious when she is not breaking a federal law). I joined her at the top (almost) of the hill where we watched and waited and tried to come up with a plan B. When retracing the whole trail seemed like a good option, the bees decided they had seen enough of the world and headed back to their tree. I wish there had been a video of us trying to silently pass that tree. Running made too much noise with our water, compass, snack filled packs, but walking was just too slow! I'm not sure how you would describe our escape from danger, but it did make for a good laugh- at a safe distance. Once again, the Trail Ticklers faced danger, and conquered it. It is good to be a Tickler.
It is Friday evening, seminary is over for the year and I have this glorious chance to lie on the trampoline, read my hike book and look up into the apricot tree at the hummingbirds zip around. Aaaahhh. This is contentment.
Irrefutable proof that the street sweeper was doing donuts in front of my house. This was a red letter day:-)
Saturday morning brought our "Visit to the Market" where we love to see what the farmers and tradespeople have been working on. The Veggies were amazing. Even I was in awe of the beet display. My mom will be ecstatic to hear that I actually liked the yellow beets that we bought and cooked. (I must be growing up:-))
Here are a few photos of our most recent hike in the Cleveland National Forest. It was wonderful to be out on the trails again, after such a rainy weekend winter, but the rain and wait were worth it-the waterfall was unbelievable and unexpected.
