"California dreaming"

 

This is a quick post in case you think I've disappeared!

After a somewhat rough start last Wednesday with flight delays,

changes, and even one missed . . . . . . . . we managed to get on

 board for Seattle, Washington which was not the original plan, and

 after that long five hour plus flight with a cup of water and a packet

 of Biscoff cookies, connected with another two hour flight to our

 destination Sacramento, California! Thankfully our bags arrived, 

always a concern with screwed up journeys, and from then on our

 West Coast visit has been close to perfect . . . . . . but extremely hot.

Mt. Shasta still snow covered from my window seat.

Mt. Shasta from our hotel in Redding, California.

Shasta Lake, California.

California farmland - rice fields, almond, olive and walnut orchards.

Tomorrow we'll be heading home to the East Coast.

More on the journey later.

This morning and another week -

I know I should be doing 'stuff' - such as cleaning, perhaps baking, throw in

 some gardening. . . . . .and writing more posts about Ireland as promised. 

Eventually I'll get around to those things, but meanwhile I'm having a 

lazy start to another summer week of predicted heat with storms and rain, 

usually late in the day, and the outdoors totally inhospitable to me with swarms

 of mosquitoes and other biting little buggers (yes, I swore because they turn

 me into a not nice person). I will not apologize.

I've tried the latest home remedy on dealing with mosquito bites, the hot

spoon! Guess what, it really does seem to work. Immediately after being

bitten (this is if at home close to your kitchen or a bathroom), and the itch

 is felt, you run a spoon under hot water and carefully hold the back of it on

 the bite for a few seconds.

 Be cautious, especially if using on a child, don't want to burn the skin.  

I used this method over the weekend when bitten several times as soon as

I ventured outside. I noticed instant itch relief and the bites didn't swell up into 

the usual red welts. 

As for the garden, it's fast losing the fresh green lustre of spring/early summer. 

The somewhat overgrown plantings, now displaying brown leaf tips, 

dried or shriveled blooms, are melding into masses of fading leaves.

Deer have nibbled, squirrels have gnawed.  It just seems much too soon

for a glorious garden to be changed so drastically, and all mostly due to the

 climate here in the southeast. Perhaps the WELCOME flag should be 

stored - seems all it brings is more biting bugs and hungry animals.

 Sitting here in the dining room I'm surrounded by vases of hydrangeas and yes, 

they are drying up too but, as mentioned in earlier posts, this is on purpose! 

 Some plucked blooms are already 'crisping up' so hopefully I'll have some for

decorating in the autumn/winter months ahead.

My thoughts are with people in California where the earthquakes have occurred

 over the past several days.  Here is an eyewitness description from blog friend 

 Kim at MY FIELD OF DREAMS . Kim tells it like it was sitting in her pasture when

 the larger quake occurred on July 5. How frightening!

My very dear friend Gina in Utah, of the gorgeous blog ART AND ALFALFA , 

who welcomed us to the most beautiful home I've ever visited last summer, is, 

after waiting 25 years, picking the first apricots from her tree. 

Patience has paid off!

I love apricots and actually found a recipe today on another of the

 most beautiful food/photography blogs, Linda Lomelino's CALL ME CUPCAKE ,

for an Apricot Blueberry Galette. Personally, galettes are my favorite pies to 

make - easy, attractive in their rustic beauty, and the fruits are always so tasty.

With plenty to keep one busy at this time of year I will sign off now.

Watering the pots - just in case the rains don't show later today - is needed.

Of course as you well know, it just about always rains after you water!

I'll smother myself in bug repellent and head out into the garden for a brief

time. . . . . . then who knows, bake a galette perhaps?

Dear friends, do have a wonderful week wherever you are.

Eat your greens!

"Thank you California" for providing the entire USA with so many 

special things to eat! Driving back from the north to the Bay Area we

 passed through amazing agricultural landscapes. 

Orchards of fruit trees, olives, and nuts ran for what looked like

miles toward the horizon.

Fields of cabbages, Brussels sprouts, artichokes and more. . . . . . . .

the endless swathes of green fields interspersed with rich brown soil held

 so many healthy foods.

The workers in the fields waved when we stopped to grab a few

photos - even beckoned to us, laughing, to come help pick! They work very hard,

 it must be back-breaking day after day bringing in the fresh produce in its prime.

 We need to think of them and thank them when we shop in comfort for our

 precious vegetables and fruits.

. . . . . . . and look at lucky me!  

A fabulous Birthday gift from my granddaughter who 

knows how much I love my veggies, both to eat and cook.

I am over the moon with this amazing cook book from the 

English chef and leading food authority, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

It contains everything I would ever want to prepare in my own 

little cottage - beautiful simple, colorful, full of vitality, vegetarian

dishes.

Bring on the greens. . . . . and let's eat healthy.

And thank you dear Jasmin for always picking the perfect presents.