avoidance on a sunday afternoon

So what I really need to be doing is piecing the next 36 blocks for my niece Katie's quilt.

But somehow after 12 blocks I got pink and purpled out. So I have so far this weekend: finished and blocked the three hats that were my latest projects, started a new hat in attempts to get my band sizing correct, ordered some new knitting needles, fixed an irrigation valve and replaced a sprinkler head, and now I am blogging.

This quilt has become a college term paper. I was even in the kitchen looking for a snack.

But doesn't my zone look productive?

summer breakfast on the back porch

Solstice is a week away but summer has definitely happened in our backyard. Nothing better than a Saturday breakfast on the back porch.

breakfast remains

Mike made one of his very Scottish Spanish tortillas, accompanied by my Scottish smoothie, and Java Rhumba coffee. Scottish, because we look around at the remains of food from the week, and then compose.

a view into the neighbors

We can barely see the Mike's porch. All of us were enjoying the morning. Including cats.

Gris

Gris-gris finished his morning neighborhood patrol and has settled in for a snooze.

there's no place like home

 

Returning home after eight nights of camping, fishing, canoeing, eating, drinking, yoga, knitting and campfires I always become intensely aware of the joys of home: Gris, the garden, my next door neighbors, seemingly endless hot water, a refrigerator, sushi close by. Camping is a wonderful way to leave behind the complications of our lives and find the essentials. Keeping warm, dry, fed, and as clean as possible become major concerns of the day. Mike and I remain solidly wedded to our tent camping experience, seemingly the last of many of our friends who are heading upward into bigger trailers, with complicated awnings, the need for solar panels, generators, and freezers. We have our ways of avoidance.

cooler management

Above is a photo of my very successful system of keeping ice. Under the towel is an expensive, and worth it, stainless steel Coleman cooler. Keeping a moist towel covering during the day is very effective way to keep it cool. The amusing thing was the first morning at Yellow Creek Mike discovered the towel was frozen. Must have been cold last night we said.

Above illustrates our setup and shows how we meet our basic needs: the tent, clothesline, wash station, table with appropriate table cloth (easy to wipe off, heavy enough to not blow away), our chairs, stove. We manage to pack this all into milk crates and fit everything into the back of the truck.

We spent three nights at Lassen National Park, and then joined our friends at Yellow Creek, a traditional gathering spot the first week in June. We arrived a day earlier than we had told everyone, the lure of hot dog night, and their companionship seemed a better choice than a large impersonal campground.

After hot dog night, a bit of potluck affair, where paper plates are permitted, we all take turns at dinner. These meals have evolved into somewhat elaborate affairs. Below is Frank's turn with pork tenderloin and a lima bean dish, a recipe passed down from his mother and modified by Pat (his wife). The salad, a dish from his daughter included pepitos, Mexican cheese, fresh red onions, and cilantro dressing. There was warm bread ( it was discovered the smoke alarm does work in Kent and Lynn's RV), and ice cream, raspberries and chocolate sauce for dessert.

The following night was our turn, the traditional paella everyone expects from us. Like our camp setup, we are the masters at simplification, paella and salad. Dessert, again simple, halvah and Turkish delight from our local Al Jazeera market.

Mr. Paella

One would think with all these gatherings that we might run out of conversation, but we all seem to gather every morning for coffee at campsite #3. The fishing does not happen in the morning, instead bird watching and wildlife observation.

The days pass quickly and suddenly we are all gathered again for dinner. This time Lynn and Kent's slow cooked chicken and chorizo dish, with couscous, orange salad, beets, asparagus, and pita bread. I'm getting full just writing about it. Dessert was Häagen-Dazs ice cream bars (freezers are handy for some things).

 

Oh my god, we have one more meal to go! We can do this. Bill and Martha prepare leg of lamb, marinated, butterflied and grilled to perfection. Of course with caesar salad, asparagus, and garlic bread. Garlic bread so good I abandoned my gluten avoidance and had several pieces. Cookies by the campfire for dessert.

We watched the moon growing every night.

after dinner, before campfire and dessert

 It was a good trip, but I am glad to be back.