Snow!

Last Saturday we had our first snow storm in a long time. Here are some photos from mid-flurry. It didn't stick around on the ground very long. 

Of course, much of the country is covered in snow right now, but where we live it's rare, so we get more excited about it.

I love how quiet and peaceful it is when it snows. After awhile it turned into rain, and the snow storm was over. 

As I write this post, it started snowing again. Will it stick on the ground until morning? Who knows? Snowcones anyone?

Andrew's Cali Snowcones

Place tumbler outside before snowstorm

Combine and blend:

• three kiwis 

• handful of frozen ollalieberries 

Pour over snow

Add a squeeze of lemon 

Drizzle with agave nectar to taste

Slab day!

Today is the day THIS gets installed in our kitchen.

Suspect on the run in Bonny Doon

About an hour ago Andrew came in asking me to “check the log,” meaning firedispatch.com, since he heard helicopter rotor noise upslope from us that made him think something was going on. He thought it sounded like they were doing a search pattern. I checked the log. Nothing was posted. Simultaneously, two CHP cruisers jammed up the hill, no lights or sirens.

Andrew reported it to our brigade leader. We could smell smoke, but it's burn season, so that's fairly normal. While we were discussing it, another CHP car blew by, and then like a black and white locomotive, two more.

We later learned they’re looking for two suspects with helicopters and bloodhounds. As you can see we're within their pattern.

We'll keep a keen eye out tonight.

The story just got posted on the Sentinel: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_17252400

 

The Art Fence Continues

A few weeks back we started working on another panel in the fence. This is a spot that will probably get made into a gate eventually, but for now, we had a piece of plywood up to keep Mooka in. Not pretty.

Better now that it's becoming the scene down in the meadow, with geese taking shape where we wish there could be real waterfowl waddling around (if it weren't for those dang coyotes, foxes, bobcats, and mountain lions).

Lately Andrew has been concentrating more on making fish (among other things), and hadn't gone back to the geese for awhile.

Today he was in production, painting a number of fish at once, but of course, I was not satisfied. The geese needed attention! So he found a solution: combine them. Talk about multi-tasking.

Art Fence

In the past few months, our mischievous Aussie, Mooka, has discovered a wanderlust within herself. Andrew has been working for years to build a fence around our house and barn, but it was not quite complete.

We made it a long way with grape stakes, but there were some gaps and unfinished spots, soooo... Andrew got busy, tightening up some openings, and finishing the last remaining section. Since we were mostly out of grape stakes, we scrounged. Out of the pile came some big ole' 2x4s and metal roofing from the chicken coops. It's a semi-industrial area, between the barn, the driveway, the well, and propane tank.

So far it has kept Mooka in. But there was still one issue...it was ugly. Perfect! It fit right in.

No—that wouldn't do. Back to work. The blank panels became a barnyard full of geese. And on the back, a garden, blooming in the winter, where none would grow.


For inspiration, we used a painting of geese and ducks by Jean Rose, who was a friend of Andrew's mom, Mary Helen. (Her husband, Jasper Rose, along with Mary Holmes, were among the founding professors at UCSC—Cowell College, where Andrew and I met. I found this link to some photos of them, and a great story, but none of Jean so far.) We love this painting, done in 1976, and it's usually hung in my studio.

Many years ago, in his training as a medic, Andrew was able to assist Jean after an accident near her hillside home, on Ocean St. Extension in Santa Cruz. He always felt a connection with her after that. Plus, her renderings of geese are masterful.

Think of it as a holiday card, without the envelope. It's not done yet, so check back to see our progress. 

Happy New Year!

Wild Azaleas

Today we found a new patch of wild azaleas while working. 

New Brick Walk

When Andrew was a teenager and in his early 20's, he worked as a brickie. He was trained primarily by Doug Diebolt. They worked together at the Cedar Street Gallery (411 Cedar St). where the circular brick courtyard still exists. Then Andrew had the good luck to work from Roy Rydell's designs as a subcontractor for a landscaper named Kermit Carter. Then he landed Manuel Santana as a client, to do concentric circular brick paving at his art studio on Santana Lane in Aptos. 

He also worked at Manuel's restaurant in San Juan Bautista, Jardines de San Juan. For this job there was always a lunch included each day, during which Manny would sketch designs on paper place mats about the afternoon's work. The drawings would be taken a few feet away to the work site, and Manny would draw circles with a stick in the sand Andrew had prepared for the bricks. He considers this one of the high points of his career.

For years, since we tore out the old, rotten archway, our house has lacked a proper entry. There was an old flagstone path lost under the dirt, which had to be removed.  By chance, we had 600 bricks procured for a different project, but with wet weather coming, the front walk took priority. 

The design was created by drawing with sticks in the sand, as Andrew was trained. 5/8 plywood cut into 4 inch strips and laminated together was used as a form that could be curved. The walkway has a gentle slope to conform to the terrain and allow drainage to one side, where a trench was dug, and broken bricks from the job were placed as a french drain. Along the way it rained once or twice, and we got to see the system in action. 

A lot of work went into getting it to this point, where the ground is leveled and almost ready for bricks.

 The last course...

It's done!

This directional marker was set into the old patio, so we saved it and used a compass to reset it. 

Mooka pointing North.

Of course, who could resist adding some baubles and trinkets?

Here Kitty Kitty *update‚mystery solved!*

It's the third day in a row of heatwave, and today is the hottest day yet. I was walking around outside around 10 a.m. and encountered a cat. The cat ran up a tree. He seemed pretty at home up there, so we're leaving him be. 

* Update: Our friend Camille was right—this was probably a bengal cat, and now we know where it must have come from. We finally met our new neighbors in the rental house next door, and learned that there was someone living there for just a few weeks who raised exotic cats.

Ratatouille Season

Andrew is one of those people who needs to eat frequently, OR ELSE. I once asked him how this worked when he was growing up, with three younger siblings in the house. What was his mom, Mary Helen’s, secret for keeping him satiated without being driven insane?

From what he remembers, he and his sisters were raised primarily on a diet of zucchini and other vegetables that she grew in her garden and cooked into ratatouille. And chicken curry. As the season changed, he began to look forward to the end of zucchini and ratatouille, but his hopes were dashed when he realized that all along she had been freezing enough vegetables that they would never be without the ingredients for ratatouille year-round. 

That is what I think about during zucchini season, which is happening now obviously, and I try my very best to use up every darn last zucchini that hits my counter, despite any objections. It’s not easy! As you probably know, when it rains zucchinis, it pours zucchinis! But, it could be worse, like if the deer hadn't decimated my sad attempt at a vegetable garden a couple weeks ago. Now we're only dealing with the CSA box we receive once a week from the Shumei farm, and that seems like more than enough for the two of us. 

So last night I busted out the Le Creuset pot we inherited from Mary Helen, which is the ideal size for ratatouille. I'm convinced this pot holds the memory of countless splendid ratatouilles past, and makes everything taste better, almost like someone other than me cooked it. I don't have a recipe from Mary Helen unfortunately (ahem...Gnome...hint hint), so I've adapted some from the web instead, and I’m thrilled to report that this latest batch earned Andrew’s seal of approval. He even admitted he liked the eggplant in it, which is notable considering that once, while on a boat sailing to Hawaii, he threw the last remaining eggplant overboard because the captain threatened to serve it two nights in a row (mutiny?). 

Thanks to this one dish, I am finally seeing the light at the bottom of the vegetable drawer. If, like me, you are buried under a mountain (or drowning in a sea—choose your metaphor) of zucchinis, eggplants, and tomatoes, you might want to try this Dori-tested, Andrew-approved recipe:

Roasted Vegetable Ratatouille

Ingredients:

~ 2–3 medium zucchinis

~ 2–3 medium Japanese eggplants

1 small onion

2 bell peppers

3 large tomatoes

½ cup red wine

½ cup chicken broth if needed

Herbs d’ Provence (or any variety of herbs of your choice, fresh or dried)

olive oil

Method:

Chop zucchini, eggplant, onion, and peppers into bite-size pieces. Toss them in a roasting pan big enough to spread them out with olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbs. Roast at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Meanwhile boil a pot of water and blanch tomatoes to remove skin.

When the roasting is done, add veggies to a big shallow pot of some sort, turn on medium high heat, add tomatoes, and break up tomatoes with a spoon. Add chicken broth and/or wine gradually till it achieves your desired soupiness. Simmer for about 30 minutes until flavors are blended.

Great with a little parmesan on top, with chicken and rice.

Mardi Gras past

A volunteer at the George Eastman House, who is researching Andrew's grandmother, Clara Louise Ward, found our blog and contacted us. In their collection I found this photo of Clayla (and we're guessing her husband Frank Hawley Ward) in costume. 

Cat Habitat

You will never imagine what has become of the porthole in our bedroom.

For the last few weeks the cat has been expressing her desire to go outside every night, loudly, from 2-4 in the morning. We insist she stay inside at night, safe from coyotes and other predators, but she doesn't know or care about that. It has been a war of wills, resulting in many sleepless nights, which is very unfair considering she's nocturnal.

This situation led to the creation of an enclosed outdoor cat domain. 

The porthole is next to our bed, so if she wakes us up meowing in the middle of the night, shooooomp, out the porthole she goes. She lands on a chair on the front porch, and can climb down to the floor.

It will probably get tinkered with if it helps resolve the problem. Obviously, it’s not a permanent fixture at this point, or the most beautiful thing to look at, but sleep is precious to us. We’re desperate. 

Last night was our first night with it, and for whatever reason, Frieda was completely silent.