Picking blackberries with the Howe women :)

Just missing Petra :(  Wish you guys were here!

Sabbath Morning at Death Valley

Barry and I rose early and had worship on a bluff overlooking our campsite.  The morning light set off the distant mountains in such a tranquil way.

Sleepy bunnies :)

Barry taking a walk.

Spring green in the desert!

After everyone awoke and a grand breakfast was had by all (our meals were spectacular!), we headed to Badwater basin, the lowest point in the U.S.

Salt flats at Badwater Basin.

The guys in a canyon we hiked up.

Barry going for a climb.

Salt flats in Death Valley.

Snow Weekend

Just a weekend in the mountains with good friends, yummy food, and lots of snow!

 (Thanks for the awesome gloves, Marty!)

Our epic, greek snowman

Details (and admiring spectators taking pictures of our masterpiece)

Steve and Michelle

The Fortress

Girls ride!

Contemplation

Remembering Sammy

Sammy passed away yesterday evening.  But we are remembering all the life lessons that he taught us.  He was a real friend.

Making a list, Checking it twice!

I'm flying home today!  Here are a few of the items that I'm packing.

The backyard produce includes:

Avocados

Oranges

Lemons

Green and red peppers

Blood oranges

Clementines

Guava fruit

Merry Christmas!

Backyard Color

Early morning sun melts the frost on a rare California autumn leaf!

Savor

"We don't take enough time to enjoy our senses.  

To savor tastes and sounds and textures and light.  

The roughness of corduroy pants, 

the shadows on the floor as the sun shifts, 

the pink in a child's cheeks as he laughs.

This beauty, this unnecessary detail, is a mystery." 

- Emily Wierenga

(From this website, sent to me by this dear friend.  Pictures by me.)

Autumn Abundance

I know that it's winter for many of you, but it's still Autumn here in SoCal.  We have been super than excited to pick our first few tomatoes from our garden.  For those that have hear our gardening woes, you will understand how awesome this is for us!  And for those who haven't, yes - we should have had tomatoes long ago.  But we are just now getting them and for that, we are very thankful!  The other fruits include persimmons and either tangerines, clementines, or tangelos (we can't figure out which they are!)

On friday, I turned 20 pounds of this....

...into four loaves of this!  We're enjoying it immensely!

Resolutions and Molasses Cookies

Yesterday I made molasses cookies.  And I was talking to my brother at the same time.  He asked me if I was going to take any pictures of the cookies and post them on my blog.  I said probably not.  He asked why.

I said, "Because I have so many pictures just sitting around on my hard drive from last spring and this summer and I don't have time to get through all of them so why add more pictures to the pile?"

He said, "You should just post one a day and don't worry about making each post a massive epistle."

I said, "Yeah, you're right."

Here's to more posts but less length.  Not every day, that's a bit much.  Just more often.  We'll see how it goes...

So, without further ado.... Here are some Molasses Cookies to kick off the season of snow and good cheer (unless you live in Loma Linda, in which the snow is missing.  But we have plenty of good cheer!  Barry and I already had a christmas present planning session.  We can't wait!)

Molasses Cookies for Barry

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (try it with half white whole wheat)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened (try it with 6 TBSP of applesauce to replace 6 TBSP of the butter)

1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling cookies

1 large egg (I used 3 Tbsp apple butter instead)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup unsulphured molasses

Directions

1. Whip butter and sugar until light.  (2-3 minutes)  Add vanilla and molasses.  Whip until mixed.

2. Combine all other dry ingredients and mix well.

3.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.  Mix well.

4.  Roll small balls of dough in your hands and then flatten.  Place on cookie sheet.

5.  Sprinkle sugar on top.

6. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.  You want them to still be a little undercooked when they come out of the oven.  They WILL harden as they cool.

Purple Bounty

Lost and Found

Over Christmas, some friends back in Maine told us about a "lost" trail that they used to hike when they lived here about ten years ago.  At that time, it had been closed by the rangers and was no longer on any of the current maps.  Their stories of a beautiful creek, deserted trail, and cool summer weather really drew us in.  But there was one problem, they couldn't remember exactly where it was; all they knew was the general area and the name of the creek. 

Earlier this year (first 3 pictures) we decided to go in search of it.  First, we did some research.  But other than one obscure picture with a GPS coordinate and a google earth map of the area, we didn't come up with much.  We decided to give it a shot anyway; the lure of a lost trail was just too much!  

Once we were in the general area, we were discouraged to discover that there was much more snow than we had anticipated.  This would make lost trail hunting rather difficult!  We set off, wandering far beyond our actual destination and debating liberally about where this illusive trail might begin.  Eventually we heard a rushing creek and began to follow deer trails along the top edge of a very steep ravine.  We finally discovered an unmarked, well-traveled path that led down, down, down to the creek. It was a beautiful spot, and very chilly!  We followed a stomped down trail for a short ways, but then the tracks in the snow gave out.  We were at a loss to know where the trail continued.  After searching around for a while, we concluded that this was definitely a possibility, but we would need to return when there was less snow in order to make sure.  On the way back, we discovered a much more direct and obvious trail that led right back to the car.   We had ignored it on the way in because we thought it was to soon to be what we were looking for.

Last Sabbath we returned to follow the trail further.  And we can now say that we have "found" the "lost" trail!  No, I'm not going to say where it is.  But if you come visit, we'll give you a personal tour!  It's an incredible stream with lots of small waterfalls and beautiful scenery.  The trail was hard to pick out at times due to lack of upkeep and fallen trees but that made it all the more interesting.  We definitely plan to return in the summer when we can enjoy the water more.  Here is a few pictures from our hike.