Google It! and Other Ramblings

My favorite quilt from 2017 NW Quilting Expo

We’re still working our plan to get the old place spiffed up and ready to list for sale. It seems like yesterday that we bought “the property” and built what has turned out to be our dream house. “Yesterday”, in this case, was 1992. Over the past two months we’ve re-roofed the house and garage (no more blue tarps draped over the skylights) and we’ve painted and re-carpeted our bedroom. Important improvements, but not the kind that are noticeable to anyone except us. The roofing is a darker shade of brown-black, but within a few weeks it was covered with pine needles and oak leaves and looked much the same as the previous roof. We are enjoying the new carpet, but honestly it’s just a clean version of what we’ve lived with for the past two decades.

Speaking of flooring, I do have an interesting story about our wood floor. In preparation for company over the Christmas holiday last year I decided to have the carpet in the basement cleaned. I scheduled the appointment with a nice old guy I’d used in the past and his son, who is learning the business. They hadn’t been in the house five minutes before we had our first mishap. I had left up a pet gate between two of the rooms and the nice old guy took a header when he tried to step over it. In an instant several things went through my mind…Why hadn’t I removed the pet gate? Had I renewed our general liability insurance policy? Would it be enough to cover a permanent disability caused by the head injury? Is this nice old guy going to end up with our house? I was genuinely concerned for the man, but admittedly my thoughts kept returning to the financial repercussions of my stupidity. Within a few hours we had our second mishap of the day. After the carpet and furniture was cleaned, the nice old guy and his son began removing their equipment, including a long hose that fed the water from their van to the downstairs basement. When the final length of hose was removed from the entertainment room, they pointed out a white spot on the floor about 18” long and shaped like a snake. Water had apparently leaked from one of the hoses and either the moisture or chemicals (which they claimed they hadn’t used) had left the white mark in the middle of our beautiful Brazilian cherry wood floor. Confident that once dried the mark would no longer be visible I assured them it was no problem. What else could I say? It felt right and assuaged some of my guilt over the earlier header accident.

The white snake-like mark didn’t eventually dry and disappear. We have lived with it for almost a year now and it is again time to deep-clean and prepare for the holidays. I have considered possible ways to remove the mark, including sanding and refinishing the area and, even more invasive, replacing the dozen damaged boards (a suggestion made by Barron’s Floors in Jackson). Before going forward with such a drastic (and costly) measure, we experienced what I can only describe as a miracle. Verne got on his trusty iPad (the one he didn’t want) and searched on “white spot on wood floor”. He found several YouTube videos made by people who have had similar problems. Apparently, the white spot is caused by moisture trapped under the floor finish. Solutions included drying the spot with a heat gun, hair dryer, or iron. Verne started with a heat gun, which very slightly damaged the finish before the heat gun died. He next used my hair dryer, which resulted in the same results – slight damage to the finish and its eventual demise. Neither were effective. He next tried my iron heated to a high setting and applied over a light-weight cotton towel. We watched as the snake-like mark disappeared. Completely. It was like magic! No sign of it remains. I am convinced that the answer to just about every one of life’s questions can be found by Googling It! Next time we won’t wait a year.

Near the end of September, we did take time off from our work at home to make a trip to Portland for the Annual Northwest Quilting Expo. We’ve made this trip every year since Lauren relocated to Portland to attend law school. It is always inspiring with some years better than others…like the 2014 show when the theme was Portland Bridges. This year featured a quilt artist from Montana. Her applique collage work is original and distinctive with its whimsical use of fabrics and hand-stitching. The final quilting is simple with horizontal and vertical lines. I’ve included a picture of her work below.

2017 NW Quilting Expo

2017 NW Quilting Expo

The next day we attended a harvest festival sponsored by OMSI. (Reminder: That’s where Lauren volunteers and gives a half dozen submarine tours each month.) There were 40 or 50 stalls, including local farmers and artisan food and drink vendors (all offering tasters and demos) and non-profit groups like 4H, Master Gardeners, and Master Food Preservers. A highlight was a family that raises alpacas and had set up a petting area with a half-dozen of their animals. OMG! We (that would be me) came home wanting an alpaca or two. Another item on my bucket list!

Harvest Festival

Alpaca at the Harvest Festival

Black alpaca

Mid-October Lauren came home for a visit that just happened to coincide with Verne’s birthday. Lauren has enthusiastically agreed to help us declutter and organize (based on the KonMari method) in preparation for moving sometime in the next year or two. We had much planned for the weekend, so limited our tidying time to a small part of the house, the laundry room. While it took longer than I expected, the decisions to keep, trash or donate are coming easier as I gain experience in this method of organization. Or, it could be it was easier because I feel no great attachment to old bedding saved for the occasional overnight guest or the dozens of old towels saved to be used as cleaning rags. This common-sense insight really isn’t mine. Marie Kondo’s book recommends beginning with the easy stuff and leaving the hardest, memorabilia and keepsakes, to the end. By then you’ve learned to “let go”.

Besides decluttering the linen closet and laundry room, we had two big goals for the weekend: visit Apple Hill and eat our first apple fritter of the year and make Lauren a costume for a Nike Halloween competition. And, celebrate Verne’s birthday. It took us two trips to Apple Hill to get our fritter. We drove there reasonably early Saturday morning, but not early enough to miss the obscene traffic and the thousands of other people visiting the place. At 10:30 a.m. the normal exits were blocked and traffic on Highway 50 was routed 8 miles past the turnoff for Apple Hill. We agreed the apple fritter would have to wait and drove the hour home. Disappointed! By then it was noon and we’d lost half the day. Lauren and I started making her costume. I told stories of all the clothing I’d made over the years and bragged about being an expert seamstress. By that afternoon I was sweating and swearing as I worked with the fabric we’d chosen: a slinky satin and a stretchy snakeskin fabric. They slipped and puckered and fought. By that evening I’d given up all hopes of producing an artisan piece of clothing.

We woke up very early the following morning determined to repeat our trip to Apple Hill…this time arriving at 7:30 a.m., before Hilltop opened and before the crowds arrived! Success. No people. No lines. The apple fritter was all the better for having waited and made such an effort. We went on to a second favorite stop, Boa Vista, and bought apples and cider and memorialized our trip with pictures in their pumpkin patch. We had it to ourselves. Definitely worth the early hour we’d arrived.

Lauren, Daddy and his apple fritter

Verne with two old witches

 Alone in the Pumpkin Patch

Lauren with Daddy and a Scarecrow

Once home we returned to the Costume from Hell! Time was short and I’d given up all hopes of perfection. My approach would be one of shortcuts and improvisation. Afterall, it was just a costume. A piece of clothing that would probably only be worn for two hours. Once. Another four hours and it was complete with trim, belt, and harness. Did I mention? Her costume is for a Sand Snake Warrior from the show, Game of Thrones. The other members of her work team will be dressing as other characters from the show. Below is a picture of her costume. She’ll be wearing brown leggings and brown knee-high boots with it and will be carrying a whip.

Sand Snake Warrior - Check out the biceps! 

We finished our weekend together by celebrating Verne’s big day with dinner at Taste in Plymouth. There is no better food in Amador County! 

Verne's 76th

October is almost over. It's looking a lot like autumn here with the deck covered with yellow leaves. One final celebration of the month included a Fall Dinner with Vera and Will (married in May 2017) and Maria and Ruben (to be married next month). We had my favorite slow cooker comfort food, Deconstructed Pot Roast, followed by a marmalade cake with whiskey custard sauce. The dessert was my second attempt to come up with a winning finale to our Christmas dinner. I've got to work on the presentation, but the taste was excellent. Here are a couple of pictures...Vera and Will had just come from a 4H Halloween event, thus the interesting attire.

Ruben and Maria

Will and Vera

Working Our Plan, Summer 2017

Amador County Fair, July 2017

Amador County Fair, July 2017

I can’t blame a busy calendar filled with travels and entertainment for not having blogged in three months – just a shortage of inspiration. Outside of two or three trips to Carson City to clean out two storage rooms each the size of a single-car garage filled with documents from Verne’s days at Hayes Engineering and a half day spent at the Amador County Fair (that hardly counts as entertainment), we’ve been homebodies this summer only leaving to grocery shop. 

Billy Goat Gruff, Amador County Fair

For ten years now we’ve had a two-year plan to downsize (do the math and you’ll understand why this has become a family joke), but it’s only been recently that we’ve decided to make moving a priority and started working our plan with a vengeance (that word might be a little strong). At the top of the list is Verne’s barn. Actually, the contents in and around Verne’s barn. As I wrote in my June blog, his last big barn project is the 50 Chevy pickup restoration. I’m pleased to report Verne has made significant progress on the restoration spending a few hours every day working on the old truck. Occasionally I even help when he needs a second set of hands. Mostly, I just keep a watchful eye on him, encourage and take pictures of the progress. 

Had I known the complexity (and expense) of restoring the old basket-case, I would have emphatically supported Verne when he tried to discourage Jeff on the idea. We’re too far into it now to look back, so we just plod forward taking each new problem as it comes. There’s not a single thing on this old truck that doesn’t need some sort of repair or replacement. It had 20-years of hard use on the farm in Washington, has been moved a dozen times over the years, stored outside in less-than favorable conditions for its entire life, and was literally in pieces when this project began. The best part of the truck is the engine as Verne had it restored 30 years ago by a former automotive client when he was working as a CPA in SoCal. As for a current status report, the engine, transmission, radiator and exhaust system have been repaired (if needed), painted and assembled, installed and secured to the chassis. The cab still hangs from the rafters in the barn, but the firewall has been sanded, primed and painted with the body color (blue) this past weekend. The wheels have been primed and painted and will be re-mounted this week. The next job will be to lower the cab onto the chassis, secure it, and at that point the pickup will again be mobile and we can push it in and out of the barn to complete its restoration by next spring. That’s the plan anyway.

Attaching driveshaft

Painting the firewall and rims

This past week I woke up one morning from a nightmare. My heart was racing from the stress of it. I was in a classroom with about a dozen master food preservers. I recognized one person and she angrily told me that I had signed up to teach that morning’s public class, but nobody had agreed to help me with it. One by one each MFP walked out leaving me alone with a pallet of fresh meat (getting warm and spoiling) in the middle of the room. Weird. (Doubly weird because during my involvement with the MFP program I’ve never taught a class on preserving meat.) I don’t need a shrink to interpret my dream. From my training during the spring of 2014 to my last assignment in June 2017 when I was coerced into teaching a fermentation class at the MFP statewide conference in Davis, I have been consumed by all things related to food preservation. It has been a rewarding experience and I’m a better person, in general, for having participated in this volunteer program. But, enough is enough and I decided earlier this summer that it’s time to recharge and refocus my energy, get back to my hobbies that I’ve neglected, and actively work on our plan to downsize. While I resigned from the MFP program July 1st, I haven’t given up food preservation entirely and have still managed to put by several dozen jars of food this summer. Rather than out of obligation and duty to the program, it has been by choice. I’ve had fun experimenting with new flavor combinations and teasing the rigid boundaries set by the MFP program. I believe two new variations of fig jam made with pears, peaches, and white wine and a French prune plum jam with Ruby port will prove to be family (and friends) favorites.

I’ve used some of the extra time I've gained from giving up my volunteer work to reacquaint myself with my sewing machine and have been working on brainless, but satisfying, projects that use up my stash of fabric. Anyone who knows me (and my stash) knows that it will take more than a few small projects to use it up, but every little bit helps! An expensive problem with the electronics on my long-arm quilting machine has kept me out of the cabin and away from quilting all summer. That’s probably okay, because without air conditioning the cabin, my studio, is not a happy place when it’s hot. As of this week the Gammill is repaired and my plan is to begin working on the backlog of quilt tops. Stored in an armoire, some have not seen the light of day in years. Once finished, I’ll have to decide whether or not I should keep the long-arm machine. At this time, I’m not sure how the 10-foot table (an integral part of the long-arm machine) fits into our plan to downsize as it requires a dedicated room with a minimum width of 12-14 feet. A house with a basement? Or a great room? That’s a decision for another day.

Old Cars, Father's Day, and Scott's 50th Birthday

According to the girls, "the Best Daddy they've ever had" - 

note the wooden bow tie Lauren made for him (he wore it most of the weekend)

We started June with a two-day trip to UC Davis where I attended a Master Food Preserver Conference with attendees from all over California. I had looked forward to the event until I was asked to teach a one-hour session on fermentation. The idea of spending two days as a spectator was appealing; the thought of being a presenter at a state-wide event was a different story. While I managed to survive what I found to be a highly stressful experience, it did bring to focus the realization that I need to establish a better balance between my volunteer work for the MFP program and the many callings I have at home, which have been largely neglected since becoming a master food preserver four years ago. Verne spent one of the days I was at the conference at the California Agriculture Museum in Woodland with his brother Keith. For several years now Verne has pointed out the museum as we drive north on the 5 freeway to Portland. Having grown up on a large farm, the equipment was reminiscent of his childhood days living with Sig and Flo Hansen in Clarkston, Washington. The following day they met again, this time in Sacramento to tour an old car museum. Another interest they share.

Since we’re on the subject of old cars, this seems to be an appropriate time to discuss one of the “callings” I mentioned above. We moved to Volcano in 1995 with about a dozen old cars and added a few more to the collection in our early years here. More than once, Verne has correctly described himself as a “collector” of old cars, not a “restorer.” With the exception of one 52 Chevy truck, almost his entire collection has been sold over the past few years and, in most cases, in worse condition than when he acquired them. I’m not being critical, just honest. Anyway, focusing on the positive, here’s a picture of the truck that Verne (with brother Keith’s help) restored a few years ago.

Verne and his restored '52 Chevy truck

Only one other old vehicle remains from Verne’s collection, a 50 Chevy pick-up that was originally purchased for that Washington farm I mentioned. It holds fond memories for both Verne and Keith as they learned to drive it when they were 9 or 10 years old living and helping out at the farm. The memories don’t stop there. When Verne first met Jeff over thirty years ago, Verne asked Jeff to help him restore the old truck and they spent the occasional weekend working on it. Here are a few old pictures of Jeff and Verne working on the truck. Jeff was 13-years old at the time and we were living in SoCal.

1986 - Jeff removing the wood from the bed

1986 - Jeff working on the pick-up with 2-year old Jana

It was Jeff’s idea that we “keep the pick-up in the family” and ship it to him in Connecticut. He has a close friend who restores old cars and thought this would be a great “project” car for him and his three boys, soliciting help from his friend when needed. Thus, the beginning of the project last summer when they visited and spent a hot afternoon power-washing the truck. Shortly after that we learned the truck must be drivable to be shipped on a vehicle transport trailer, the most economical way to get it from California to Connecticut (a 3,000 mile trip). That changed everything and one thing has led to another. I recently decided that the only way this project is going to get done in our lifetime is if Verne and I work as a team and tackle it together. Just like the Great Wall of China, we’ll take it one brick (bolt, in this case) at a time. Here are a few more recent pictures of the ongoing restoration of the '50 Chevy pickup.

2016 - McKenzie Boys with '50 Chevy pick-up after they power washed it

2017 - Truck body removed from chassis and hanging from rafters

June 2017 - Chassis power washed, sand blasted, and freshly painted

June 2017 - freshly painted

Mid-month we took a break from our auto restoration and drove to SoCal to celebrate Father’s Day with the three girls and their families.  Jana and Andy had reservations Friday at a trendy new Italian restaurant in the LA Art District. We started our evening with drinks on the 71^st floor of the tallest building in Los Angeles (until recently), the U.S. Bank Tower. From there we Uber’d to the restaurant, Bestia. The menu changes daily based on the seasonality of locally grown food and everything is served as “small-plates”, including pizzas, pastas, and salads. Great for trying several different choices on the menu and it was especially great for finishing dinner with several different desserts. It was an excellent evening and great beginning to our weekend.

Photo of the four of us in elevator on the way to 71st floor

We started the next day with brunch and cards at the Grand Central Market and were happy to hear that a project is underway to restore the Angels Flight across from the Market. From there we went to a new brewery, Boomtown, where we played more Rummy and learned to play a new card game, Asshole (known by several other names, including Scum). It’s a drinking game, although nobody in our foursome needed to be prompted to drink. Jana, Andy, and Verne love beer and have fun trying the different beers offered by the many artisan breweries in SoCal. We spent that evening with the rest of the family having dinner at one of our favorite chain restaurants, The Old Spaghetti Factory. Quite the contrast to our Italian fare the previous evening, but familiar and good. Kendall, the oldest of our grandkids and only granddaughter, was at leadership camp and unable to join us. However, since our last visit she's gotten her driver's license and (thanks to her daddy who works at the local BMW dealership) sports a brand new mini-cooper.

What cuties (both Kendall and her car)!

Our final June-July 4th road trip was spent in Portland celebrating Scott’s 50^th birthday. Where has the time gone???

A much younger Joyce and 3-year old son, Scott

After picking up Jana and Andy from the airport on our first day we went to OMSI for a special exhibit on Pompeii. Besides several rooms of artifacts, the exhibit included a 4D experience complete with sounds of the volcanic eruption, shaking ground, and simulated smoke from the burning buildings. Exciting way to start our weekend.

OMSI

 Lauren fighting the leopard to save her sissy

We spent the rest of the afternoon at one of Portland’s many breweries playing cards (and what else but drinking beer). Jana was the big Rummy winner and, I have to say, pretty obnoxious as she flaunted her success with arms outstretched jabbing her fists in the air. Sadly, I didn’t get a picture so you’ll have to use your imagination. Andy confirmed what I already knew, win or lose she is insufferable! There was then some mention of her taking after her mother. Hmmm…I’ll leave it at that. We had a great dinner that evening at Nicoletta’s Table in Lake O. Jana and Andy are big foodies and Lauren is always challenged to find extraordinary dining experiences to share with them. Nicoletta’s Table did not disappoint from the tubs of fresh herbs growing outside the restaurant, a beautiful little market where they sell their pasta, sauces, and olive oil, and, consistent with our previous meals there, excellent food beginning with fresh made breads and crackers and ending with an affogato, our all-time favorite Italian dessert (since discovering it at Il Fornaio in Sacramento) made with vanilla ice cream, chocolate, and hot espresso.

Scott and family arrived early on Saturday and our festivities in honor of his birthday began. Over the next few days we played games (all sorts), we took a tour of Bob’s Red Mill (much like our experience back in 2013), enjoyed an amazing birthday celebration dinner at Laurelhurst Market (complete with presents, including “Birthday Bacon” from Laurelhurst’s meat counter), and spent a morning picking berries at one of the many farms in Newburg, a rural community about a half-hour drive from Lauren’s home. We girls also fit in an hour of tea-tasting at Smith Tea, this time concentrating on ice teas since weather had finally heated up to the mid-90’s in Portland. I’ll let the following pictures tell the story.

Birthday Bacon, a gift from Laurelhurst Market to the two birthday boys

Andy, Jana and Lauren at Bob's Red Mill

Family photo shoot after the tour

Scott, Josh and Ini

"Girls" tea-tasting at Smith Tea

Scott and Josh picking berries

Lauren with a bucket of her fave berry, raspberries

Jana with Lauren's bucket of berries, she spent her time eating

berries and taking selfies leaving the picking to the others 

Three great kids!