A productive holiday: report on the homefront.

The prospector is trying to get the new goat sleeping quarters done before his Pinecrest fishing trip at the end of the month. As you can see the only help he is getting, in the photo, is advice from the goats. This man amazes me. He is 64 years old this year and we've been married for43 years ; and he still astounds me with his ability to get things done. He just makes a plan and goes to work.

I help, sometimes..., I hold things. I hold a 4x4 while he nails. I hold the level while he moves the boards up and down to make them "plumb". (I even know some of the lingo, like "plumb" and "4x4 pressure treated lumber". Wow! I'll bet you're impressed now.) I'm great at giving careful advice in the form of question, like..., "Hon, is there going to be another door on the side that has the storage room on it so we don't have to walk too far to dump the hay in the hay holder?" or " Do you think we need a step up into the the shed, kind of like a porch, for the goats?" or " Wouldn't a flower box look pretty under the ventilation window?" You know, practical things....

Then I get the "Haven't you got anything better to do" look and it's time to move on; at least until he needs another helping hand.

So....,
I went in and made some Strawberry Jam.
This was a new recipe that I found on the internet. The last one I made, even though it was more like strawberry SAUCE, tasted better.
This one doesn't use pectin but you have to cook it to death. I think the fresh flavor of strawberries is missing in this batch. By the time you cook the strawberries, sugar and lemon to 220 degrees F. , at a rolling boil, for more than an hour, it looks like cut up tomato soup and even scorched the bottom of the pan a little.
We taste tested the jam this morning and it's good..., and it's thick. I just like the other batch I did, a while back, better. That was at: tomsdomain.com/recipes/strawberryjam.
His had pectin in it and I don't know why it didn't jell. I'm no expert at jam making. I just follow the directions. But I'm determined to find a perfect recipe: Fresh like Tom's Domain but thicker like Katharine's at : allrecipes.com.

I Just love doing this. I'm getting to be the "Jam and Pesto queen" around here. It's so satisfying, so domestic...., so real. I may try tomato or apple sauce this year.
The basil is growing all over the place in the garden this year so I need to make a batch of Pesto soon. This I know how to do.

But first I will go out and see if the Prospector needs any help. He hasn't asked for any help today. I wonder why?
Maybe he's thinking about my "goat porch" idea and flowerboxes. After all, if we're going to have to look at this little house from the back porch everyday...., it should look *PRETTY*! Don't you think?

MY MOTHER'S HOUSE

This Winding Road

This has been a quiet day. The weather warmed up a bit and the rain has stopped for the second day. I hear no wind, or rain. There are no owls hooting or coyotes howling. Tonight is quiet and all the creatures that live around us are silent.

My husband and I went to town and voted yesterday. It's kind of like going to church. You feel good about doing it and it makes you proud that you live in a country that allows it's citizens freedoms that a lot of people, in other countries, don't have. My vote doesn't always win, but the fact that we are all a part of this process called Democracy is real a fine thing.

After choosing our candidates and propositions, we went to lunch at a new Italian restaurant nearby. I always enjoy eating out. Lunch is best for us. It's not as expensive as dinner and we get home before dark (This is important, as we have very spoiled dogs that don't like to be outside at night. Ya, I know!) We stop and pick up the mail on the highway, then head back down the road that leads home. Sometimes we have to slow down for a squirrel or to let someone pass us . It's a very narrow, one lane road and many times you have to back up to a wide spot to let somebody by. This doesn't happen too often because we don't get much traffic. The road goes down three winding miles to a very large river and an old bridge that crosses into another county. The road is awful . The county only patches potholes and cuts up fallen trees if they are blocking the road. Halfway down this winding road is the entrance to our property. Our road turns and goes up to the top of a hill. The house overlooks a small town across the river and the foothills and river valleys of the Sierra Nevada. We have lived here for ten years, now, and I'm still amazed that I live in such a beautiful place. When we pull up to the garage, we hear the dogs barking, as if we have left them for days. It's only been three hours.

Today was a quiet day. Tonight, as I write this, the dogs are sleeping in the living room, husband is gone (to a meeting), and I am very much where I want to be. Here...now.