After a lot of chopping, stirring and canning I had a small collection of the first batch of jam for the summer. Now to just wait a few more weeks for the blackberries to be ripe and then I can perfect my blackberry jam recipes.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Jam Time
Last night officially kicked off the summer jam season since I had a bag of rhubarb in the fridge that needed to be used, more in the freezer and a garden of it ready to harvest. I decided to pick up strawberries on my way home from work and turn them into jam. I tried this recipe last summer and decided it was a winner.
After a lot of chopping, stirring and canning I had a small collection of the first batch of jam for the summer. Now to just wait a few more weeks for the blackberries to be ripe and then I can perfect my blackberry jam recipes.
After a lot of chopping, stirring and canning I had a small collection of the first batch of jam for the summer. Now to just wait a few more weeks for the blackberries to be ripe and then I can perfect my blackberry jam recipes.
Friday, July 13, 2012
10th Anniversary
Today we celebrate 10 wonderful years of marriage! Wow, time has flown by! We've shared so much in the past10 years and I am filled with excitement to see what the years ahead will bring.
Hawaii 2012
We're back! We returned sun kissed and rested after 7 days in Hawaii. The weather was perfect all week and it was so nice to wake up every morning to Hawaiian trade winds, sunny skies and the knowing that there were no plans for the day.
We stayed on the island of Oahu which is first for us since we have never been there other than to go to other islands. Our first stop once we arrived was to get outfitted with out rental car and our condo that we rented for the week. The condo was in a great location, 3 blocks form Waikiki beach which meant beach time was very convenient at any minute. It was also nice having the condo since there was kitchen and we could enjoy a lazy breakfast each morning.
We spent a good portion of our days lounging on the beach and soaking up the rays (while using SPF 110 for me, 15 for Ben). We also took in the sites of Pearl Harbor with tours of the U.S.S. Arizona, U.S.S. Missouri and the U.S.S. Bowman; North Shore; Waimea Valley; Hiking to Diamond Head, exploring the Kaaawa Valley, the Kualoa Ranch, snorkeling, a visit to the Dole Plantation and no visit to Hawaii is complete without a Luau. 
Ben was also a happy camper when it came to his stomach as he was able to find quite a few L&L Drive Inns that served a Loco Moco which is an island favorite consisting of rice, a hamburger patty, fried egg and brown gravy which I think looks horrible but actually tastes good and his favorite drink Aloha iced tea. Add in some Mai Tai's, pineapple, pineapple ice-cream and Kalua pork and we we had full and satisfied tummies.
All in all it was a great trip and a perfect way to celebrate our 10th anniversary a week early.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Baby Hannah
I'm an Aunt!. My sister and her husband welcomed their first child, Hannah Elaine on June 2nd. She made her debut at 12:02am, weighing in at 6 lbs. 4 Oz. 19.75 inches long. Since she is the first grandbaby in the family I'm sure she will be one spoiled little girl.
Monday, June 18, 2012
A Weekend in Pennsylvania
We headed off to West Chester, Pennsylvania for the Memorial Day weekend to visit Ben's Aunt Judi and Uncle Tony. We had been trying to make visit work for quite since our schedules never seemed to align but due to a change in schedules we were able to make it happen finally.
Friday morning after we arrived we headed to Tony's favorite breakfast spot where they have "the Bullotta" on the menu which is a banana pancake with peanut butter for breakfast. After that we got to play tourist in Philadelphia for the afternoon since Ben had never been there before. Tony and Judi figured that we could venture around the city on our own since we were seasoned travelers so they armed us with a map and book and dropped us off for a few hours of exploring. We decided to do the sights including seeing Constitution Hall, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Franklin Square, Penn's Landing and more. We even found a great little bar with a happy hour special to pass the time while waiting to be picked up. Dinner that night was at one of Tony's favorite Italian restaurants. We feasted on pasta, gnocchi, salad and other treats while enjoying a good wine and company.
Saturday we headed out to Lancaster County to visit Amish country. Lancaster County is home to the oldest Amish settlement. One thing you notice right away when you get close to Lancaster County is that the Amish ride in horse and buggy ride down the streets right along the cars. We took a tour of an Amish house and got a chance to see a little bit about how they live while also learning more about their culture.
Sunday we headed out to Valley Forge Winter Encampment historic site to get a taste of this areas rich history with the revolutionary war. We opted to take the trolley tour of the park with a guide so that we could learn more about the camp. The tour stopped at three different areas: an area where they had the houses that the soldiers and their families lived in, at Muhlenberg's Brigade and Washington's Headquarters.
Monday morning we headed to the airport bright and early with Tony since Judi had already left for NY since she had a flight to work (she's a flight attendant for AA). While it was a quick trip we were able to see a lot of things and hope to make it back out to visit them soon.
Friday morning after we arrived we headed to Tony's favorite breakfast spot where they have "the Bullotta" on the menu which is a banana pancake with peanut butter for breakfast. After that we got to play tourist in Philadelphia for the afternoon since Ben had never been there before. Tony and Judi figured that we could venture around the city on our own since we were seasoned travelers so they armed us with a map and book and dropped us off for a few hours of exploring. We decided to do the sights including seeing Constitution Hall, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Franklin Square, Penn's Landing and more. We even found a great little bar with a happy hour special to pass the time while waiting to be picked up. Dinner that night was at one of Tony's favorite Italian restaurants. We feasted on pasta, gnocchi, salad and other treats while enjoying a good wine and company.
Saturday we headed out to Lancaster County to visit Amish country. Lancaster County is home to the oldest Amish settlement. One thing you notice right away when you get close to Lancaster County is that the Amish ride in horse and buggy ride down the streets right along the cars. We took a tour of an Amish house and got a chance to see a little bit about how they live while also learning more about their culture.
Sunday we headed out to Valley Forge Winter Encampment historic site to get a taste of this areas rich history with the revolutionary war. We opted to take the trolley tour of the park with a guide so that we could learn more about the camp. The tour stopped at three different areas: an area where they had the houses that the soldiers and their families lived in, at Muhlenberg's Brigade and Washington's Headquarters.
Monday morning we headed to the airport bright and early with Tony since Judi had already left for NY since she had a flight to work (she's a flight attendant for AA). While it was a quick trip we were able to see a lot of things and hope to make it back out to visit them soon.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Happy 2nd Birthday Loki!
Wishing my sweet birdy boy, Loki a very happy 2nd birthday. While he's not home with us to celebrate his big day I know that he's having a fun day filled with birds down at his trainers place in Eagle Creek, Oregon doing birdy training.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Blue for Two
This past weekend we headed back to Madras, Oregon to the Boyce Corral located in the grasslands for the Oregon Brittany Club's walking field trial to run Odin in Open Gun Dog (OGD) and Loki in Open Derby (OD) for the last time before he turned two on the 18th and would age of out puppy events. The weather for the weekend was in the upper 80's which meant trouble for the dogs since it would hot and scenting conditions would be tough in the heat. Also since it was going to be hot we would be starting super early each day which equals no sleeping in for the people.
Saturday morning Ben was up with Odin in the fourth brace of OGD which meant it was late morning and still a little cool, mere 70's not 90"s yet for the day. They started off strong with Odin making a big cast to the top of the ridgline before he found his first bird which he pointed and held steady. After they worked the bird Odin quickly came onto a wild-flushed bird which proved to be a little too much for him and he chased it. This ended their run at 20 minutes of a 30 minute run but we were pleased with his performance overall.
Ben spent the rest of the day shooting mice and helping bagging birds. It became a past time of everyone to keep track of how many mice Ben and Chris each shot. Unfortunately no one kept an official count but we think it was a couple dozen over the three days.
Sunday was the much anticipated derby run for Loki where we all had our fingers, toes and paws crossed for a solid run and at least one bird find. Ben and I decided it would be good to see the competition so we walked the first two braces to see those four dogs and how they ran before we ran Loki in brace 4. He had a strong run and 2 separate points of which one he held for at least 45 seconds and impressed the judges with. After his run we watched his litter mate run and then waited for placements.
When placements were handed out, we came up victorious in the nick of time and won his derby points by taking first place in the Open Derby and earned an additional 2 points towards his field championship. This also qualifies him to run in Limited stakes when he comes out as a broke dog! We are very proud of what Loki and his trainer Chris Tewes of Double Gun Ranch accomplished this spring trial season.
Saturday morning Ben was up with Odin in the fourth brace of OGD which meant it was late morning and still a little cool, mere 70's not 90"s yet for the day. They started off strong with Odin making a big cast to the top of the ridgline before he found his first bird which he pointed and held steady. After they worked the bird Odin quickly came onto a wild-flushed bird which proved to be a little too much for him and he chased it. This ended their run at 20 minutes of a 30 minute run but we were pleased with his performance overall.
Ben spent the rest of the day shooting mice and helping bagging birds. It became a past time of everyone to keep track of how many mice Ben and Chris each shot. Unfortunately no one kept an official count but we think it was a couple dozen over the three days.
Sunday was the much anticipated derby run for Loki where we all had our fingers, toes and paws crossed for a solid run and at least one bird find. Ben and I decided it would be good to see the competition so we walked the first two braces to see those four dogs and how they ran before we ran Loki in brace 4. He had a strong run and 2 separate points of which one he held for at least 45 seconds and impressed the judges with. After his run we watched his litter mate run and then waited for placements.
When placements were handed out, we came up victorious in the nick of time and won his derby points by taking first place in the Open Derby and earned an additional 2 points towards his field championship. This also qualifies him to run in Limited stakes when he comes out as a broke dog! We are very proud of what Loki and his trainer Chris Tewes of Double Gun Ranch accomplished this spring trial season.
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