Rock Polishing

Last blog of the year and my 2010 New Year Resolution is satisified!

In grade school I had a good friend in my grade named Rayla.  My younger brother Eric was the same age as her younger brother, and they were pretty good friends too.  Rayla and her brother got a rock polisher for Christmas one year, and Eric and I were both intrigued and envious.  Despite repeated requests, Santa never did bring us a rock polisher.
Flash forward 30 years or so, and my brother Eric was assigned my daughter F in the annual Christmas name drawing. Of course he knew just what to get her! A rock polisher!
He got a nice big one and sent it to F. He ordered all the grit also, and that came too.  So after she unwrapped the rock polisher we scurried around and found all the rocks we'd collected over the years and put them in the rock polisher. The tumbler is supposed to be 5/8th full when you start.  With all the rocks we had it wasn't even a quarter full!  So we have been collecting rocks on our various excursions over the years and putting them in the tumbler and finally we had enough to run the tumbler this Dec.  F by this time is a junior in college!

 So we went through all the steps listed in the grit package. The first grit was supposed to run for a week. I opened up the tumbler and got a shock!  It looked like liquid cement.

Had our rocks tumbled themselves into oblivion!
But no, underneath it all I found our rocks.  Rinsed them all off and put them back in the tumbler with the next grit size.  The tumbler now was less than half full of rocks!  Another week and we were able to add the pre-polish.

The rocks looked so shiny after rinsing.  I didn't dry them off at this point, so I really don't know how shiny they really were.

We were very excited to add the polish, but I have my doubts about this step in retrospect. The rocks just aren't very shiny. I think the polish got in the fine cracks on some of the rocks.  I have to read up more about this step of the process. At the end the tumbler was only about a quarter full of rocks.  I wish we could remember where all the rocks came from.  Some of them have definite memories associated with them, but others are a mystery.

Dec 24

What am I doing in the days leading up to Christmas?

• Writing, writing, writing. 
• Made two batches of peanut butter bon bons.  The first disappeared so fast (ok I have only myself to blame), that I made another batch, which I hid to make sure they last through Christmas. 
• Raking leaves.  All leaves off the walnuts, but the elm and mulberry still have leaves.
• Christmas shopping- still need to wrap presents.  But shipped the ones that needed to go elsewhere and put cards in the mail. I was disappointed because the box of cards I bought shortchanged me by 4 cards.  So I stopped writing cards when I used them all up even though I hadn't gotten all the way through my list. Maybe can finish up after Christmas.
• Biking- but weather has kept us from biking every day, is more like every other day this past week. The picture is the view yesterday, Mt Tam visible on the right.
• Intensive practice for choral society which ended Dec 19.
•  Am terribly behind in my business accounts- won't that be fun to catch up on!
• OK how do I make these dots go away?

Choral singing is So Demanding! and Rain! in the forecast

Having the usual pre-concert jitters.  We have some really nice music this semester that I really enjoyed learning, namely Haydn's Te Deum and Mozart's Solemn Vespers.  But now it's concert time. Ugh! Squeezed up on the risers again where it's really hard to hear the rest of the section and you can't even hear yourself.  Last night I stood next to some different people and had some different folks behind me.  It's really hard to sing correctly when the people behind you are singing wrong! It totally throws me off.  Plus the person next to me on one side was too slow- nice voice though. Plus there are actually some errors in our music that not everybody has corrected. Plus, you really have to be "on" the entire time, you can't let your mind wander for a second from your part.  On top of that, worrying about maintaining a nice tone, good intonation, blending, and singing impossible Latin syllables at a high rate of speed.  No wonder I'm stressed out!
We are singing with the orchestra, so we have their conductor. It can be really hard to hear them through the choir, and, they aren't perfect about following the conductor either.  We had two practices with the orchestra.  I would have liked another, as I don't feel we are really ready.
Last night the conductor seemed to be in a really jovial mood. No matter how much we screwed up he just kept smiling.  It was a little unnerving, but maybe that's the only way he can cope.
In other big news, nothing!!! but rain in the forecast for days. Let's hope the rain is showery enough that we can still squeeze in our daily bike ride.  I'm addicted to that daily shot of endorphins!

Year of the Bug

Almost to the end of the year.  This is no time to get behind on my blogging!
Had a great day in the field Sunday- my normal blog day.  It was overcast and foggy from here all the way to SF and up Hwy 92 to Skyline, where it really got foggy.  Eventually, as I had been counting on, we broke out of the fog into a beautiful crystal clear blue sky and sunshine.  Our spirits rose perceptibly, everyone got all bouncy and bubbly.  It's been a long time since we worked in the field on a Sunday.  But traffic was nonexistent coming and going, and aside from the day being so darn short it worked out really well.  Plus our experiment turned out really well.

This has been the year of the bug.  First the spotted wing drosophila ruining our cherries, blackberries, and raspberries- that actually started in 2009- then an amazing infestation of stink bugs, which rendered our tomatoes, peppers, and tomatillos inedible.  Lastly, our elm had the worst infestation of elm leaf beetles I can remember in a long, long time.  As a result, there are many elm leaf beetles looking for a place to spend the winter and they seem to think the living room of my house is a possibility.  So within 15 minutes of vacuuming there are again elm leaf beetles creeping across the floor. I took this picture of the elm this morning, and you can see it still has plenty of leaves left on it.  What you can't see is that many of them are still green, so our leaf pickup job is going to continue for a while.
We had one cold snap of frosty mornings, and since then the weather has been mild.  Lows only in the mid 40's.  Lots of rain.  I noticed a cluster of earth stars in the bed outside the kitchen door.

Be careful what you wish for

How's this for a nice gray picture?  It's been mostly gloomy this week and it rained all day today.  Had our first day off biking since Nov 17. Made a nice batch of split pea soup for dinner.  Did some Christmas shopping, at Costco and online. 

Friday we went in to Sac State to see F in scenes from the opera Pelleas at Melisande.  The students did a great job, but thankfully the performance only lasted an hour.  The chairs were uncomfortable and the scenes they did were all recitative (maybe the whole opera is that way) and the piano accompaniment (played by a fantastic pianist) was doing something difference from what the singers were doing. Afterwards went to Letherby's for ice cream, and F and her friends also must have skipped dinner because they all ordered food as well. Oh! My! Goodness! Letherby's was a new experience for me! Talk about ridiculous and excessive amounts of ice cream!  I still have some of my milk shake in the freezer.

Happy Thanksgiving

Finally had a chance to light a fire. That fireplace insert is the greatest thing. Puts out a lot of heat and the flames are fascinating to watch. Plus we finally have the technique down for building a fire in it.  The secret of course is to use soft wood for the initial stage and include small pieces of hard wood that don't have any bark on them.  We don't grow any soft wood of our own, so we use scrap lumber from Ted's woodworking projects.  Once that fire is going it is hard to pull yourself away from it.  Reminds me of that chapter of Wind in the Willows.  I'm like the Badger, sitting back in his chair with his feet up and a hanky over his face.  Not sure what the hanky is about, but I definitely am feeling extra sleepy this time of year.

We went over to friends for Thanksgiving dinner and played with their Wii. It was fun, but not any more fun than playing cards would have been.

F has been here since Tuesday late afternoon, so that has been fun for us. She hounded us to get out the Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving, so the tree has been hauled out of the garage loft and washed and set up in the living room.  All decorated except for the dastardly 12 Days of Christmas ornaments.  Haven't quite mustered up the guts to get them in place, but everything else is up.

In other news, my rear bike tire finally wore to the point that I had to get another one. Replaced it yesterday at odometer reading of 1791 miles.  I bought the replacement tire at my LBS (local bike shop).  The owner warned me I was likely to get a flat when I replaced the tire, since the tube would have vulcanized to the tire.  I assured him I had tires liners.  He said that would lesson the problem.  I told him I would take my chances.  It is true that changing a tire after a flat often leads to another flat, but if he was trying to pressure me into buying a tube it didn't work.  Since replacing the tire I have had to put air in it once, we will see if it the tube holds up okay or not.
update
Replaced that rear tire on Aug 17 2011 at odometer reading of 3938, so I got 2,147 miles on that tire!

All work and no play

You might think that all I've been doing lately is working and biking, and you would be pretty much right.  Have not been working in the yard at all. Have not made a fire in the fireplace. Have been pretty much glued to the computer, trying, trying, trying, to get the writing done that is necessary. Looking forward to Thanksgiving and having a day off.
Today's ride was cool and sunny. Yesterday's ride was cloudy and windy. Before that we had several warm days. Two of these pix taken by Ted.
And in other news, my mother's ulcer is completely healed!!! Yay!

And by the way, am I the only one who dislikes the new blogging interface? with the old interface you could keep typing while Blogger added your photos, but now you have to wait until the photo is uploaded to do any typing.

Everything old is new again

It's nice that a year is so long.  By the time daylight savings time rolled around I had totally forgotten what it was like to have the days end so soon!  It feels like midnight and it's only 7 pm. I forgot that we have to leave for our bikeride by 4 if we don't want to bike home in the dim.  I forgot that now dinner is over by 7, whereas in the summer we often don't even start cooking until 9 pm.  When it comes time to get out the Christmas boxes I will have totally forgotten what light strand goes where.

We saw this gorgeous red shouldered hawk in one of our plots the last time we were in the field.  It is quite tame and I'm pretty sure we saw this same hawk when were were in this plot over a year ago. I happened to see it fly in with a mole it had just caught.  Five hours later Ted and I were back at that spot and it was still on the same branch, still eating the mole.  We got to see it finish its meal. It was still on the branch when we left the area a bit later. 

Also saw this flock of turkeys.  I had been hearing them off and on all day.

Week of Nov 1

 After rain last weekend we had great weather this past week.  I was in the field Monday and Friday, and biked every other day. From the top of the relay station hill we see Mt. Diablo to the south.  I'm very fond of that mountain.
On Friday we were down on the Peninsula.  The sunset was spectacular. From our field site we could see Mt. Diablo to the north. To the west it looked like the cloulds were on fire.
In other news, Dad was in the hospital overnight Thursday.  Turned out he had slipped back into atrial fibrillation, so he will need to get that straightened out. Luckily Eric and Karen were still there, and could help Mother.
F invited us to brunch Saturday.  She had cooked a delicious breakfast with the help of her friend D.  It was the first time I had seen her apartment, and I was glad that she had such comfortable digs to live in.
On Saturday after we returned home I biked up the steep part of the hill to the top in 1-2 for the first time.  Curiously, this was easier than biking up in 1-1. I had the wind to my back.  Tried it again today after rain stopped, and it is definitely the way to go.
Thanks to the recent rains the grass has started to grow again. I noticed the Ribes malvacearum had pushed new buds.

My little companion

Scooter and Lucy were our first cockatiels.  Lucy lived to be about sixteen.  The week after she died we had hung Scooter's cage outside as we often did.  It was Mother's Day, and we were out in the backyard playing badminton.  Suddenly we heard a cockatiel. A little gray female cockatiel flew into our backyard. The reincarnation of Lucy!  She flew to the cage and landed on it. Ted opened the door and she walked in and started eating seeds.  This was actually the third cockatiel we had acquired in this fashion!  And it was by no means the last. Ted and Frances named her Neeble, from Lizard Music by Daniel Pinkwater.
Neeble had obviously been hand raised.  She was very tame and was quite anxious to have us preen her. However, she quickly transferred her interest from us over to Scooter.   Scootie eventually died at the ripe old age of 25, leaving Neeble as our only Cockatiel.  It has taken some time, but she has slowly transferred her affection back over to us, even going so far as to let me preen her.  She has not yet reached that stage with Ted, but I think it's only a matter of time. 

Pomegranate puree recipe

It really is fall. The weather has totally changed the last few days. It's been cloudy and rainy. I traded my shorts and tank top for pedal-pushers and a long-sleeve jersey for the ride up the hill. We put an extra blanket on the bed. Field work continues but mostly we are in the office working on our manuscripts. This fall is being dominated by this effort and we aren't going to Wisconsin in order to meet our deadline. I'm really sad about that. We are collecting walnuts and enjoying our fall harvest of pomegranates.

This year the pomies on the volunteer tree are very tasty and plentiful. The "Wonderful" gets a lot of shade now, and doesn't have many fruit (although they are wonderful).
I made a batch of pomegranate puree today following a method Ted worked out. First, shell up a bunch of seeds (called arils apparently). Instead of eating them, put them in the blender. This is the fruit from 3 pomegranates.
Grind them up (don't add water) and then put them in a pot and cook for a while. Then put them in the foley food mill and grind. This is the kind of amazing part, as you get to see all the seeds, and realize that you normally eat those seeds.
I thought the puree was a little thin, so I cooked it some more to reduce it, before putting it into jars and freezing.

Life is Unpredictable

I've been giving blood off and on since I was eighteen, and yes there is a first time for everything! The phlebotomist didn't get the wrap tight enough and I had just sat down with a pepsi and a chocolate chip cookie when I looked at my arm and yikes! Blood everywhere. After getting mopped up, spray to keep the blood from staining my clothes, and ice, the phlebotomist scurrried to the cabinet and asked me what size I wear. "Are you giving me a T-shirt cause I'm still bleeding?" Apparently so.

SF with Sue

My sister Sue texts me Tuesday evening that they will be in San Francisco this weekend: Could we come in and play with her on Saturday? Of course. I text F, would you care to join us?

F comes home on Friday night and we left Saturday at 8.20 am, only 5 minutes after our planned departure time of 8.15. No traffic on the way in. In fact, I had to circle the Fairmont Hotel as we got there quicker than the 15 minutes we had texted after crossing the bay bridge. Sue wasn't down yet and of course there was no place to park. We did a drive by, almost colliding with a taxi cab, and Sue jumped in the car. I had bought tickets for us all for the post-impressionist exhibit at the de Young museum in Golden Gate Park. We were there and parked in the parking garage by probably about 9.45 am. First thing we did was go up to the observation tower. Luckily Ted knew to do this. The views were fantastic. It was Fleet Week and we could see the ships moving through the Golden Gate.
Our tickets were for the 11.30 slot, so we went outside and wandered around and into the sculpture garden.
Crowds were light, since most folks were at the Fleet Week festivities. I really enjoyed the exhibit. Had lunch at the cafe. Fortified we debated what to do next. Should we head for the water and watch the Blue Angels perform? After much debate, we decided to go to the Academy of Sciences. At 3 we went up on the green roof where we could see at least part of the Blue Angel performance. The weather was gorgeous, and the crowds light. It was a most fun and relaxing day. I could happily go back to either museum because there was so much that we didn't have time for in each one.
We got Sue back to her hotel at 5.30 as planned, and then headed home. That was when we ran into serious traffic. But eventually we made it to the freeway. Got Thai food for dinner here in town. We had already transferred a good deal of cash into the economy of SF. F headed back to Sac and we collapsed into bed at about 9.30.

Return to normalcy

Our lives have been on hold since last Friday, as we put everything else on hold to prepare talks to fill a 3 hour time slot in So Cal on Tues. Caught an 8.50 am flight down south, rented a car, drove for an hour, got lunch at a local taqueria and got to our room with 15 minutes to spare. Then went to the opening reception, drove back to Ted's sister's place and had a takeout dinner and an impromptu gathering of some of Ted's family.
Had a leisurely morning, returned the rental car, got on the plane, flew back up north, got to our car, drove for 45 minutes, and got home in time for lunch (ha ha it was 3.30pm). Planning to go out to the field tomorrow and feeling a little discombobulated now, as I try to get back to whatever I had been doing before this big interrruption.

Best Lemon Frozen Yogurt Recipe

What's a blog without a recipe or two?
F had wanted an ice cream maker after seeing her Aunt Tina's in action, so when she graduated from high school we got her one as a graduation gift. She used it mostly to make frozen yogurt, since ice cream is so high in fat. When she left to go to college, she was living in the dorms and left the ice cream maker behind, and T and I got in the habit of making frozen yogurt. Then her sophomore year she moved into an apartment, and so did her yogurt maker. We promptly bought one for ourselves, and we've used it all summer long.
Here is the recipe we concocted for lemon frozen yogurt. It's basically the same ratio as homemade lemonade, i.e. 1 part lemon to 1 part sugar to 4 parts water.
1. 2 C of plain nonfat yogurt (we like mountain high). Put a coffee filter in a sieve, dump in the yogurt and place over a bowl to drain in the fridge for several hours or overnight. Routinely the yogurt will lose a half or three-quarters of a cup of liquid. Dump the liquid.
2. 1/2 C of cream. Whip to stiff peaks.We use organic cream when we can get it.
3. 1/2 C Meyer lemon juice from the tree in our yard. This is about 2 lemons. Sieve to get rid of the seeds and excess pulp.
4. 1 C of sugar. Mix with the lemon juice.
5. Mix the yogurt and lemon/sugar mixture with the cream.
6. Pull the ice cream freezer out of the freezer and put it in the ice cream maker. Put in the paddle and put on the lid and turn it on.
7. Carefully pour the lemon/ cream/ sugar /yogurt mixture into the ice cream freezer and process 25 minutes or so.
8. Transfer into freezer proof container and promptly freeze.
9. Enjoy sparingly. I calculate about 100 calories per quarter cup!
My current project is to come up with a good recipe for brandy alexander frozen yogurt. My first attempt was good, but not right.

They're back!

Yes!!!!!!!!! The whitecrowned sparrows are back!!!!!!!!!!!
Saw a mixed flock of sparrows under the oak. Checked with the binocs. For sure some adult whitecrowns, maybe some immatures, and a fox sparrow.
The spotted wing drosophila are back too. First noticed them about Sept 19, but I'm less excited about them. Saw some "immatures" in a strawberry and confirmed their presence by setting out the traps again. And btw, apple cider vinegar does not work. Use the yeast sugar water mixture.

Camaraderie of the hill

Having a regular exercise route, if not a regular time, we often see the same people, if only at somewhat irregular intervals. One person who has stood out in my mind is a small slender blond woman. The first time I saw her was last winter. She was in a red shirt (maybe flannel) with the tails out, jeans, tennis shoes, and had a long blond ponytail. I passed her at the cattle gate.
"Woman you aren't going to ride that bike up the hill are you?"

(This from someone who was running down the hill!!!! Anyone who can run up or down that hill is truly remarkable).
As time went on I would see her occasionally. Usually I was riding up and she was running down. I eventually decided she must be about my age, which makes the fact that she was running really crazy. She must not have arthritis.
And whenever we would pass she would say something like "Good Job!", or "Awesome!". I always would respond in kind. I asked Ted if she ever said anything to him, and he indicated he got the same greetings.
Now riding up that hill is hard work. Even walking takes a lot of effort. And a lot of the people I see on that hill are not in great shape. So getting told you are "Awesome!" when you are breathing hard and wondering if you can make it, really gives you a little boost. So after thinking about it for a while, I decided that maybe instead of my usual "Howdy" I should switch my greeting to the people I pass to "Good Job!".
So I've done that. Having become my default greeting on the ride down, I say it to everyone. I'm not sure if the strong 20-somethings who are tearing up the hill on their bikes really appreciate it, but maybe they do.

Over and gone

Remember the refrain from Charlotte's Web? The crickets singing "summer is over and gone, over and gone." ?
Well that's the way it is around here. I've already had my 5 minutes of depression associated with the sinking feeling that comes from recognizing that the days are getting shorter. Now I'm looking forward to all the good things about fall, winter, and spring. The large orb spinner in my garden crept away before I could snap a photo of it, but I love to see them, a sure sign that summer is over. Even if warm temperatures linger, the season is changing.
The shadows are getting long, and the sun is again shining in our windows in the morning and late afternoon.
Today we cooked up a big batch of quinces. And we had our first rain since May 27. It was just a sprinkle really. The warblers and fly catchers are passing through. Haven't seen any white crowned sparrows yet. I am eagerly awaiting them.

The pictures are from recent bike rides. The first one is from last Wednesday. I biked alone since Ted was in So Cal on the rubber chicken circuit.
After all these months of cloudless skies, today's clouds were a novel and welcome sight.

My Pfaff In Style model 1524

F came home last weekend because she needed contacts and her prescription had expired. She also wanted to use my sewing machine.
She was happily sewing along until the $*&#* machine slipped out of time. So she took it into the shop and went back to Sacramento. I picked it up later in the week. Repair cost $10 for a part and $50 for labor!
I find this sewing machine to be very irritating. I paid $650 for it in January 2005. At that time I was in the middle of making new covers for my couch cushions, and my old 1950's era second hand Singer was just too frustrating to use. The bobbin thread would catch constantly.
So I went down to ABS and bought this Pfaff pretty much as an impulse purchase. In many ways this is a really nice machine, and it sews like a dream, but it falls out of timing way too often. I think this is at least the fifth time I've had to bring it into the shop to get the timing repaired, although this is the first time he's replaced a part. So yes, I'm really disappointed in this machine. If I ever buy another machine you can be sure it will not be a Pfaff!
Update Dec 21 2011
Well I lied.  I have bought another Pfaff!!! Mine has been working well since the last repair, even w/ my daughter using it.  And since she had sewing machine on her list....
I looked around at some other models and tried some out and didn't see anything I liked as well as my Pfaff.  Recently I have come to realize I don't actually know yet all the tricks my Pfaff will do.  I need to study up more and play around with it's capabilities.
Anyway, I ended up back at the Sew and Vac and bought an Ambition 1.0.  I might have bought a lower range model, but they didn't have one. Maybe I was influenced by the name. It is a very nice model, much fancier than mine!  I sort of hated to buy an electronic one, but since this is such a nifty machine, I bought it anyway.  I'm looking forward to learning how to use it. ah hem.  I mean, her learning how to use it. Saving this post till after Christmas since she follows my blog.
Update Jan 23 2012
Happily sewing along at a high rate of speed and my bobbin jammed. Back to the Sew and Vac and $40 spent on repair.  When I picked up my machine I was given a lecture on how to oil my machine.  At least once a month.  Talked to F about this, and she told me her machine has torque control!  She had somehow miss-threaded her machine and it stopped automatically and scolded her.  She got rid of the knot, rethreaded the machine and happily resumed sewing.  Don't know what sort of oiling her new machine requires, it didn't come with any oil.  I encouraged her to study the manual for any info on that.   Also I set my pressure foot so I can't sew that fast any more.

Labor Day Weekend Hike

Since we couldn't coordinate Pam and F into the same hike, we went hiking with them seperately. The Brokeoff Mtn hike was already blogged about. Sunday of Labor Day weekend we drove up to the trailhead for the Loch Levan Lake system. We finally left here about 9.30 am and it only took us two hours to get there, even with a quick stop in Loomis at the Raley's.
There were lots of cars at the trailhead, but nonetheless, it didn't really seem that crowded on the trail. Because we got a late start we were passed by a number of people hiking back out. Compared to the hike up Brokeoff Mtn, the trail was much rougher, with lots of rocks and roots to make the the path underfoot more treacherous. We shared our 2 sets of hiking poles among the three of us and I was glad I was not too proud to take two poles and leave Pam and Ted to take one pole each.
We found a nice spot for a late lunch and a snooze at lower Loch Levan Lake, and then hiked up to upper Loch Levan Lake. We passed this silly dog on the trail, it is wearing only three shoes because it has lost the other shoe. We all went swimming when we reached the upper lake. The water was a good temperature for a dip. Ted went way out, but the water was really shallow, at least in the end of the lake that we were on. Started back down the trail at 5 pm and got back to the car about 7.35 pm. We did a quick clothes change and a few stretches and then headed down the mountains. We reached Auburn at about 8.50 pm. Luckily there is a brew house in Old Town Auburn that is open late, so we were able to get dinner. The food was unremarkable, but at that point we weren't complaining. Got home around 11 pm.

A long week for us all

My truly remarkable parents turned 85 in February and March. This past Monday they visited the Dr about intermittent stomach pain my mother had been having. Tests the doc ordered showed she was extremely anemic- hematocrit of 7 (is this really possible?, must be hemoglobin) and extremely low B-12 and I don't know what else re blood chemistry. Also weight loss of 14 pounds since she began taking Aggrenox last March.
Abdominal ultrasound Wednesday found a swollen or inflamed bile duct part of the gall bladder without any obvious stones as a cause. Thursday night found them in the ER Mom having severe abdominal pain. This began a stay in the hospital as docs tried to alleviate Mom's pain, figure out why she was so anemic, and if they should /could operate for gall bladder.
Long story short, they gave her 2 units blood on Friday, which brought her hematocrit? level up to 11.4. The hematologist, whom they were scheduled to talk to on Friday anyway, came by and told them she should stop taking the Aggrenox. Turns out she was taking 3 different NSAIDS.
Barb M spent the night with her both Friday and Sat nights so Dad could go home and sleep more easily. Sat seems to have been spent trying to get her stable.
Iron count had dropped to 9.7 by Sun morning. Sue got there Sun morning. They gave her another unit of blood Sunday. Hemoglobin 11.5. Found occult blood in her stool. But she was feeling much better and they ordered Chinese for dinner. She had two eggrolls and some fried rice. I guess they weren't thinking about how a clogged gall bladder was going to allow her to process all that fat.
Sue spent the night with her in the hospital. Mom was sick as a dog from 2-5 am. Found blood in her vomitus (coffee grounds), so know she is bleeding in stomach. Hemoglobin 10.5 Monday morning. Monday evening she is feeling better again, but back on the liquid diet.
She is delighted as she has been untethered from all hospital equipment. Docs plan upper GI scope for Tues morning and then Dad hopes they can go home. I do too. It has been an emotional week for all of us. Mother is wild to get out of the hospital.
Addendum Tues 9-7.
Upper GI scope showed ulcer in duodenum. Also a bacterial infection from the bleeding.
So... She will go on antibiotics and maybe special diet. Also she is to stop taking her 3 NSAID's for now.
Did procedure at 10 am. Will repeat in 8 weeks. However, her hemoglobin had dropped down to 8.1 today. Plan is to give her another two units of blood and looks like she will not get sprung from hospital today. She is NOT going to like that.
Now the thought is the ulcer accounts for all her pain and the gallbladder is not culprit. Barb will spend the night with her again tonight.
Addendum 2 Sept 8
She managed to bust out of the hospital and got home at 9 pm. Basically the bleeding seems to have stopped. Her hemoglobin levels have been constant since the transfusion. She is so happy to be home, and so is Dad. The meds cultured H. pylori from the ulcer, so they at least have a cuase and plan of treatment. She is on the mend and that is a wonderful thing!

Brokeoff Mountain

Had a great end of summer hike to the summit of Brokeoff Mountain in Lassen Volcanic National Park. I love that park! Frances's friend Doug went with us.

The flowers were gorgeous. The slopes were filled with blooming coyote mint, perfuming the air with minty freshness.
This hike technically broke the day hiking rule, since it was a 6 hour round trip drive and a 5.5 hour hike, but it was well worth it. We also drove up to the Sulfur Works, so got in a little extra sight-seeing.

As luck would have it, we were hiking on the hottest day of the summer, but it was really pleasant on the hike. We started up the trail at noon, and the afternoon winds kicked in to cool us off. The summit is at 9200 ft and I was pleased that I was only a little sore the following day.

We stopped in Red Bluff for dinner. It was 104 when we pulled in at about 7.30.

Favorite location

We've worked in many areas, but the two most spectacular were Point Reyes National Seashore, and the preserves of the Midpennisula Regional Open Space District. We have been working at Russian Ridge lately, and that area is flat out Gorgeous. Enormous canyon live oaks, California bay, and views of forest covered slopes and the ocean.

Beginning to feel fallish

There is definitely something fallish in the air, even though it is only mid August. Saw these two juvenile mourning doves in the garden yesterday. Thought they looked a little nervous. I was happy to finally get a bloom on the tarweed I grew from seed I had saved from one of our field locations. Also, the black phoebe is back in our yard.
The stinkbugs are out of control in the garden this year. I am picking them off by the dozens every time I'm in the garden. I've never seen them so bad. Lots of tomatoes to freeze, I've a big basket of them on my counter, but must get some work done before I can do that. Freezing will be more laborious since I want to cut out at least some of the stinkbug damage.

At the lake

Just got back from a great trip to the lake in northern Wisconsin. Although my brother E went to Italy, the rest of us got together and had a fine time. (Although we really missed him!)
The start of the trip was marked by a power outage and a septic system malfunction. Our dinner was cooked on the grill. Luckily we weren't there for the digging up of the septic system, but there was a related problem with the drain from the north bathroom the next day that we got to fix.
The weather was mostly warm and steamy. We had many great bike rides on the snow mobile trails, many of which ended at Mad Dog Jakes. No wonder I gained two pounds!
Also had fun kayaking, canoeing, and swimming. T and I came across a family of otters on one of our kayak trips. F spent a lot of time fishing, but none of the fishing trips ended with anything we could eat. We had many good nights for star gazing and got to see Northern Lights one night! Not the most fantastic lights ever, but at least recognizable. There was also a fairly substantial lightening storm one night, which was quite fun. We slept on the porch, which means an early wakeup and view of the sunrise. I was sad to leave and look forward to a return trip soon!