The Reveal

I started a bathroom re-do a couple of weeks ago. It's a pleasant enough bathroom but small, measuring a scant 6' x 6'. And because of it's small size it can handle a little drama. Which it was certainly lacking before.
My vision was make it a French boudoir type space and I searched the internet for toile fabric for a window treatment and to cover the glassed tub enclosure. Trouble is all I could find in a black and white toile was a too heavy type of fabric. I wanted something sheer and light. I ended up finding a graphic black and white print of Paris-scapes and landmarks with a toile feel. The crowning piece to replace the old ceiling light fixture was to be a crystal chandelier. But they're expensive, and I really wanted to do this on a budget since we plan on remodeling that are of the house in the not too distant future anyway.

I searched the blessed internet until I found something I liked that was reasonably priced. It was delivered this past Thursday. So the project for the weekend was to install it, well to have my husband install it. So I located the correct circuit breaker to shut off the electricity to my bathroom.

While Will hauled the ladder out of the basement and wrangled the old fixture down I measured the chain for length and prepped the new fixture by threading the wires through the thingy. The house wires were in decent shape and Will wrapped them in some electrical tape for good measure. Now, anyone can tell you I'm damn handy around the house and have an extended collection of my own tools, but anything electrical has always been a mystery to me. But now I got my baby to take care of the puzzling wires. I held while he wrapped wires and put those orange caps on them, screwed the bracket into the ceiling. All was going good when we discovered that he had trimmed the ground wire too short. Rather than remove a couple of links raising the fixture higher than I wanted it to be, he unscrewed the fixture from the bracket and added a length of ground wire and re-did the whole process, because he wanted me to be happy.

Light fixture up and working, and Will off on his maiden ride with the Phoenix, I trimmed up some black and white photographs of Paris found online and framed them, arranged them collage like on the bathroom wall. Project complete.

Ta-da!

Toasty

It was nice to be home this weekend and I'm looking forward to cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I've been preparing the menu for a couple of months already. And today I made the trip to Gelson's to get the birds and herbs, pumpkin, yams, and nuts and such. I've decided to make stuffing from scratch. Chestnut stuffing (if I can find chestnuts). Otherwise it'll be walnut stuffing. Seems easy enough. Bread and herbs, nuts, butter, celery, onion, chicken stock. Tonight I tore about 6 slices of Country Potato Bread into pieces and spread them on a baking sheet and toasted them in a 375 degree oven until golden brown, then let them cool. The Sage, Rosemary and Thyme are hanging out to dry for the seasoning. It smells heavenly.
The bread came out nice and toasty. Results are good so far.

A Beautiful Turn

I couldn't wait to hit the road for Death Valley. I was looking forward to the clean fresh air, the decompression of getting away from the city, not showering for 2 days and wrapping my hair up in a bandana, and basically ruffing it. And that we did. We had running water and flushing toilets at the camp though. But I'm very familiar with pit toilets too. And I've peed my share behind shrubs and in gullies. So when we passed the rockosaurs, we pulled off to the shoulder of the road, hung a u-ey and got out and took some pictures. And so began our adventure. Camp went up easily. The sky was clear and the wind as calm as could be so we settled in for the evening. Of course we brought a boat load of provisions. The necessities...water, wine, beer, steaks, and corned beef hash and eggs, bread, peanut butter and jelly, beef jerky, craisins, baked beans, hot dogs, pork chops, peas... Enough to keep us fortified. Oh yeah, and cream filled oatmeal cookies and milk which we had by the campfire after dinner. Will prepped the coffee for the morning and we stowed the food in the vehicle. But, we left the basket containing the cutlery and condiments (in which I had a baggie of brown sugar for our coffee) and some other paper products on the table.
When we got up and set Will set the pot on the burner to percolate, I noticed the brown sugar baggie was gone. Upon further investigation we discovered coyote prints in the desert dirt tracked up onto the table bench. The coyotes stole our brown sugar! Saturday morning we rose leisurely and had coffee (without sugar) and scrambled eggs and corned beef hash and then hit the road for Titus Canyon. We passed an old mine and stopped at a ghost town. These beautiful shrubs in varying coppery hues were all over.And the sunlight shone golden through the valley.

An old rusted home sitting just below a mine shaft of the ghost town.
Beautiful and dramatic folds and juts of red rock through the magnificent Titus Canyon,
And bluer than the bluest skies ever.

A longhorn sheep pteropglyph carved into the stone.
Back at camp in the late afternoon sun we went for a walk that produced loooong shadows across the wash.
The road through the northern end of Death Valley after breaking camp Sunday morning and heading out by way of...
Crank Shaft Junction, around Last Chance Mountain ...
on our way to Eureka Valley and the Eureka Dunes.
No, we didn't conquer the dunes this time but we did reach the warmth of the sun and had some play time in the sand...
before once again heading out towards home. But not before encountering a surprising little canyon that opened up onto the Eastern Sierra ridge-line. Beauty surrounds us everywhere we turn on this trip. Beauty surrounds everywhere we turn. And when we can turn to each other and rely on each other that is the most beautiful turn of all.

Silver Assembly

My Mother-in-law has some splendid silver pieces. She let me use some of the serving pieces for our garden wedding reception in the backyard. Along with my own collection of silver pieces picked up at thrift stores, it was just the back yard event I envisioned it to be. And while Mother-in-law house/pet sat for us while we were honeymooning in Africa, she even polished a few of my old tarnished pieces.
At first I wasn't sure I liked them all silvery sparkly, but they are truly shining now.I'll have to complete the process with the couple that are left to do. She then bestowed upon me a butter dish, a creamer and sugar holder, an elaborate gravy boat and a tea urn. The other day I rearranged my built-in cabinet in the dining room to make them more of an arranged assemblage on the lower shelf that is backed in mirror.
They are so beautiful. I don't know the story behind her silver, where they came from, how she came to own them. I'll have to ask her one day. Maybe at Thanksgiving. We will of coarse be using the silver pieces this Thanksgiving. That ornate gravy boat is going to be full of gravy and the cake tray will be holding a Pumpkin Goat Cheese Cheesecake.This will be the first Thanksgiving that I haven't traveled home since I moved to Southern California in 1986. I cant' ever remember not making that trip. When I first moved to L. A. at 26 my Mom would pay for my flight to Reno and we'd drive up through Susanville. I've made the trip from Redding to Reno and back through Susanville since I was a little girl visiting my Dad and someone would always comment about the town being mine. We'd head over the mountain through the beautiful and snowy Mt. Lassen State Park and down into Redding with it's fall foliage, around the oldtown center and out to the town of Ono, next to Igo, to Grandma and Grandpa's house on the hill overlooking a green valley. Wild turkeys would fly onto the property every year. Grandpa and I would walk out to the Garage and he'd tell me about his tools. Every year. And I can't remember exactly who it was that gave him the anvil. Must have been his Dad's, and his Dad's Dad before him. He had an anvil. He liked red wine and lots of pepper on his turkey.

Corn Fields & processions

A visit to the Not a Corn Field corn field to partake of whatever was supposed to be going on there, but they must have been running a bit behind. It looked like something was going to happen, just don't know when and no one was in a real hurry to let us know.So off to our next destination, Olvera Street, for the 2nd day of the Day of the Dead procession. Followed by dinner and drinks (mine a Cosmopolitan made with Hornitos Tequila).

Happy Halloween!

After a pumpkin carving fest, an ensemble of Jack O' Lanterns were propped and lit.followed by a trip to The Hallowed Haunting Grounds, which all led up to tonight. Halloween at home waiting for the children to ascend the steps to be greeted by this.

Dia de Muertos

Last night I went to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery's Day of the Dead event with my husband, aka Lucifer. We wondered through the cemetery in darkness, traipsing over grave markers and along plush lawn to get to the event.

It was actually quite beautiful. Out in the grave yard were small orbs of light set upon the gravestones and in the ponds were alter-candle laden floats drifting about.

Once inside we found a food court, craft booths, live music and roads lined with alters. Some very traditional, some very Hollywood.





Most attendees embraced the spirit of the evening and dressed for the occasion in their worthiest of costumes.

Pumpkin Spiced Coffee Weather

Another Saturday. I organized my desk and copied some documents to begin a potential project requiring a city application. It's 7 pages of ill-written instructions, guidelines and information, that provide none of those things. Calling the City RSD is even less helpful. But I can plod through it and hopefully gather all the documents I need to get it processed.


In the meantime my husband and I had breakfast and Pumpkin Spiced coffee and periodically walked outside to check on the weather and the animals. LBC had him some grub on the porch, then with Jiggy in tow he walked to side of the house and rolled in the dirt and lay in the sun.


I filled the water dish in the garden. Our cats as well as LBC and Pico drink from it. Probably the skunks and raccoons too, but I like to have a regular water source for the animals.

Not much else going on today, which is fine by me. We have plans to go to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for their Dia De Muertos event and we'll carve pumpkins this weekend. I'll have to find something skeleton-y for us to wear tonight.

Soggy Sunday Mornin'

While the breakfast potatoes were cooking I grabbed the camera and walked out the back door to see what was happening on this soggy Sunday mornin'. I had noticed that the clump of bulbs were sprouting. These will be glorious pink trumpet lilies.

I noticed my beloved Bink sitting atop the south gate and snapped some rather blurry shots of him as he made himself comfortable. Back inside the kitchen to give the potatoes a shake in the pan I heard Bink's tell-tail "Raaa" which he usually delivers when another of our cats invade his space.

I looked out the back door and found this: Pepper had hopped up onto the gate along side Bink and both were hangin'. Bink's ears are a little on the low side indicating a "get away from or else I'll scratch your eyes out" disposition, but they both held their place on the same gate long enough for me to show my husband the image I captured and for him to set up the Rebel and get an in-focus shot of the two (wildbell.com).

Cocido, a Rustic Mexican Soup

This morning was spent around the house loving the weekend and loving my husband, then I was off to my afternoon salon appointment. Made a quick stop at Walgreen's to pick up a couple of grave stones and some skeleton hands on my way back home.

While my husband went off to run some errands...

I got into the kitchen to start tonight's dinner. This recipe is from the Wednesday Food section of the L. A. Times (10/19/05 page F3). It turned out to be wonderfully simple and full of earthy goodies. Cocido - derived from the Spanish word cocer, meaning to cook or to simmer over low heat - is a rustic, very colorful and hearty beef soup.

1.5 lbs beef shank, cut
1/4 onion cut in wedges
3 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
2 tsp salt
10 pepper corns (I used pepper milled)
2 red potatoes, quartered
1 ear of corn, cut into 1 1/2" pieces
1 large carrot, cut into chunks
16 green beans (I used about a cup)
Oregano, marjoram and thyme to taste
1 zucchini, cut into 1" pieces
Chopped fresh cilantro

Place the beef in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil for 1 minute. Drain, discarding the water and rinse the pot. Return the meat to the pot and add water to cover. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the meat is tender, about 2 hours. Add the potatoes, corn, carrot, green beans, and herbs. Cover and boil gently about 20 minutes. Add zucchini and cook until just tender. Toss in chopped fresh cilantro and garnish with sprigs of cilantro.

While the cocido simmered I made a trip down to the basement to find the pumpkin lights and string them along the railing up the front steps. Now where can the big furry black spider be?

Walking back inside the aroma that filled the house coming from my kitchen was divine.

I also made a variation of Mexican rice to go with it (and spooned it into the broth when I had finished the meet and vegis).

2 cups chicken broth
1 cup rice
3/4 cup crushed tomato
cumin
garlic pepper
crushed red pepper to taste

Bring the chicken broth to a boil and add rice and cumin. Cook until liquid is absorbed then stir in crushed tomato, garlic pepper and red pepper and cook until heated through.

When I spooned the soup out of the pot the beef fell off the bone, it was sooooo tender. The vegis where earthy and the broth was savory. Cocido, mexican rice and a glass of Gallo red.

Demolition and Stray Cats

I finally got a couple of shots of The Ambassador Hotel from my 12th floor office Suite's window today, in between downpours. The demolition is well under way and I'm already lamenting its loss.

As recently as last week there were still two chimneys standing where the bungalows used to be in the lower left corner of the shot.
http://www.wilshirecenter.com/ambassador103.htm
I just hate it when historical buildings can't be saved. I've noticed that they are disassembling the building with great care though. Neat piles of roof tiles and brick and lumber.

I used to look down on the property and watch the feral cats, who at some point decided to make the Embassador thier home, wander around the grounds. There were always several paper plates with dry cat food just inside the chain link fence that borderes the sidewalk on Wilshire Boulevard. Some locals slipping them inside on a regular basis. I remember hearing something about the cats being rounded up before the demolition began and put up for adoption. I'm not sure what kind of pets they would become, being wild and all. I hope they found loving homes. I hope that they were adopted by those who recognized the patience and effort it would require to take them in.

Two of our own cats, Pumpkin and Jiggy were strays. Pumpkin started wandering into my yard about a little over two years ago. He was all big scraggly head on a scrawney body and a limp. At first I tried to discourage him from hanging around. Then I started feeding him. Pretty soon he was waiting for me in the back yard when I got home. He still wouldn't let me near him but he would follow me around in the garden on the weekends and eventually he came closer and closer while I fed him until he let me pet him.

He would finish everything in the bowl of food I'd give him. Like it was his last meal. Then I named him, Pumpkin, because he's orange. Then I'd leave the back door open and try to coax him inside. He didn't even know how to purr, or play. Now he purrs like mad and Jiggy taught him how to play. The first time he played with one of the cat toys on his own was a huge achievement. I watched him and marvelled and told him what a sweety pie he was.

Now he's a part of our family. And I tend to favor him when it comes to dolling out thier breakfast and dinner portions.

Well, we have a new cat that's been coming into the yard. I first saw him just a few weeks ago. He's a cutie. A black cat with white feet and white bands across his legs, a white patch on his chest that runs up his chin to just under his nose. It gives him a kind of crooked, scrunched up look like a Picaso painting. we first refered to him as LBWC (Little Black and White Cat) but have lately been calling him Picasso or Pico or Pica (if he's a she) or Peekaboo. He's missing the tip of his right ear but seems pretty well fed, especially now that he found our yard.

When I first saw him I thought he was just a new cat in the neighborhood and asked, as I always do, be it coyote or dog or cat, "Can we keep 'im?" the usual response from my husband is a subtle rolling of the eyes and a gentle "No, baby, we can't keep him". But I'm thinking that Pico will soon be as snug as a bug in a rug, like Pumpkin here, if I can help it.

Pumpkin Soup

My husband was at the Bicycle Kitchen working on The Phoenix. The day was very Octobery cool and breezy and I love eating for the season. The kitchen is bright and the door is always open onto the back yard and patio where the cats like to hang out and lounge. Shadow will usually curl up on the floor and while I chop and stir and simmer she is at my feet or nearby.

I tear pages out of magazines. Landscape ideas, kitchen ideas, bathroom ideas and plenty of recipe ideas. Last weekend I tore out page 66 for "Colin Cowie's Spectactular Spiced Pumkin Soup" recipe. I made some minor alterations to the recipe as I innevitably do, especially since the magazine recipes are always for parties of 8, never for a party of 2, so I adjust for that. And if it calls for spicy spices I will usually put a pinch more than the recipe calls for 'cause I like it that way. And in this recipe I didn't have any cayenne so I subbed it with PicoPica, my favorite hot sauce.

2 6"-ish pumkins
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 med yellow onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
Pinch ground cayenne pepper (or dash PicoPica Sauce)
1 30-ounce can 100% pumpkin
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
Olive oil

The whole pumkins get topped and scooped of thier seeds and stringy stuff, brushed with olive oil and warmed in the oven (along with the garlic baggettes) and they become the soup bowls. Really easy and they make a very surprising presentation.

In a 4 quart sauce pan melt the butter and add the minced garlic and onion and cook for a few minutes until softened. Add dry spices and stir about 1 minute. Add canned pumpkin and broth, blending well. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add milk and stir until heated through.

While the soup simmered I put the pumkins, thier tops and the garlic baggette in the oven and mixed the salad, set the table and poured the wine.

We had the soup straight up, with a side of spring mix salad and garlic roasted baggette. But the article suggests ladling it over seared scallops or wild mushroom ravioli, or surrounding a broiled salmon. All, YUM! It would also be very good with some croutons thrown in.

Exerpts from Mom

I'm cleaning out my email inbox and I want to save my Mom's "letters". She writes often. More than we speak anymore. We used to talk every Sunday morning. I'd get up and at about 7:00 or 8:00 or so, coffee mug in hand, I'd take the phone to the bay-window seat overlooking my garden and giver her a call. Every Sunday. Rarely did we miss a day. Now that I'm married and she's retired and on the road with Lorne RV-ing full time I'm neve quite sure what time zone she's in and more often than not when I do call I get voice mail.

They are having the time of thier lives. I've exerpted some of the content of her emails to me last month. I'll post more as I go back further in my inbox. But here are a few from September.

Even from a place they don't partucularly like.

09/09/05 4:35 pm Pigeon Forge - "...and what a mess it is. We were going to stay a week but changed our minds. Going to Dollywood, then just going."

I've told Mom about Blog Spot hoping she'll start a blog. I need pictures.

09/13/05 8:50am Hi ya all - "We are in North Carolina near the Smokey Mountains. ...I've seen what I think is the Kudzu Vine and it covers everything. It makes the trees look like giant green mummies....The eagles soar here high in the sky, really something to see."

My Grandma and Grandpa sold thier house in Ono, then moved to Central Valley and sold that house, then Grandpa died and she sold that house and moved to Montana, where my Uncle Jim and Elva live. This is her new house there.














09/17/05 8:19am - Fwd: New House - "Hello, Jeannie, I expect to move into this house in about 4 weeks. Jim and Elva found it for me...Love Momma."

I just love that Mom and Lorne are loving the road and seeing the country. A milestone was reached in N. C.

09/27/05 3:32pm North Carolina - "We drove up into the Smokies and came to the Charokee Indian Reservation. The town of Cherokee is right along the river which is beautiful. Then intermixed with all this beauty is so much hokey Indian stuff...huge casinos, motel after motel, moccasin store, genuine indian made blah blah blah.... I'm still barking like one of the frogs around here, so we ate at DQ outside along the river....Got a little slop over from (hurricane) Rita yesterday but nice today....ps: We've been gone a year."

You know I think about you all the time, Mom. We'll see you at Grandma's in July. Love, Susan and Will.