Thursday, February 13, 2014

wintertime loves



We in the arid parts of the West have been exulting in rain the last week or so. It's so comforting and even glorious to wake in the night and hear the rain still coming down. Then to wake in the morning and see it is still falling. We had puddles in the back yard! Thank you, Lord!

Mr. Glad and I do live in northern California, but daughter Pippin lives even farther north in the state, and we drove there early this week for a short visit. Often February is a very snowy month at her place, but this year they've had more dry weather and rain than snow, and even the rain stopped while we were there, so we could get outdoors easily for work and recreation.





One day we made a family project out of pruning old apple trees that Pippin and The Professor are trying to revive from years of neglect. I floated back and forth between lopping branches and swinging the kids.














I would get Scout and Ivy going and then run over to take a picture of the adults on ladders.











Another day we took a short trip to Castle Crags State Park and walked a trail alongside the Sacramento River. Considering the dryness of this year, I was amazed at the thick moss and ferns.




Port Orford Cedars like to grow next to rivers.
  
A pale green, almost white lichen grew on rocks and tree stumps.

yew trees on the riverbank
Grandson in orange jacket


Everything was wet from the recent rains, and many times our feet slipped on the invisible mosses -- or was it algae? -- growing on wooden bridges or river rocks.





Ivy practiced throwing pebbles into the river, and once she got the hang of it she did not want to do anything else. The supply of rocks was endless.

We went to the confluence of Castle Creek (in the foreground below) and the Sacramento River, from which you can get great views of the jagged rocks above, called the Castle Crags. They are high enough that the recent precipitation there was in the form of snow, and some was still unmelted and visible.



My dear husband showed me this large and artsy rock, which you can also see in the photo at the very top of this post, in its original setting. I wanted to take it home. It was a little too heavy for me to carry, so The Professor hauled it back to the car. It came with us on our journey home and is now living by our house. Mr. Glad classified it as a confluitic rock.

Winter days are short enough that at the end of our busy days there was plenty of time for cozy gatherings in the kitchen or by the wood stove. I read many books to the children. Scout's current favorite, which I read about on a blog before Christmas and gave to him, is Bumblebee at Apple Tree Lane, and we read it several times. Ivy likes The Little Fur Family best right now.

We danced to the children's favorite recordings, and also listened to bird calls on the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs CD. After ten minutes of loons and other waterfowl, Ivy must have deduced that those bird songs were some kind of dance music, too, and she started twisting and prancing around.

Hot soup is what you need on a winter's night, so Pippin and I learned how to make French Onion Soup, using the recipe in The New Best Recipe: All-New Edition by Cook's Illustrated Magazine. The secret that the Cook's testers learned is that red onions give the best flavor. Our result was sooo good.

And cookies! Pippin had some dough left in the freezer from her Christmas Peppernuts, the recipe that I concocted a long time ago but haven't made for years. We like our nuts to be nut-sized, so we always cut the frozen dough into little cubes and bake them long enough that they come out crispy. Next Christmas I'll give the recipe.

But for now, since I do love cookies, they make a good ending to my story 
of a wintry family visit that was warm and sweet.



9 comments:

Farm Girl said...

It makes me want to go to Northern Calif so bad. I miss that. as a young adult we always went that way and now we only go to the Southern part.
It sounds like you had such a beautiful time.
Thank you for your secret of using purple onions. I bet it was wonderful.
I hope we get more rain again. We didn't get a drop out of that last storm.
I would love to go to be with rain and wake up with it. Bliss.

Pom Pom said...

The photos you took are gorgeous, so woodsy and warm to me. I'm so happy that you had a lovely visit. Some day, centuries from now, someone will find that rock and wonder how it traveled to your house.

Heather said...

Beautiful pictures! I would love to live near such gorgeousness.

elizabeth said...

how lovely! will look forward DV to learning this recipe! glad you had a nice time with family :)

BajaManna said...

What a great part of the state to have family in! And boy do I relate to the "cozy gatherings by the wood stove"! That's the heart and soul of life in the northern California woods!

Leslie said...

What beautiful scenery with all that bright pretty moss. It has such a peacefulness to it all. I've enjoyed peeking into your wonderful blessings.

M.K. said...

Beautiful photos, GJ. I love the pics from the forest. I hope I pick up on that cookie recipe next Christmas, because the description and last photo look REALLY good. Crispy? Yummm!

Amber said...

Your photos are lovely! I was so glad to get that long rainstorm too. And yes, we are definitely further south than where you were visiting. The Castle Crags look beautiful, we'll have to make a trip up there some time!

Anita said...

Your photos are beautiful!