Girls Weekend

Last weekend Camille and Ana came up to the ranch for a fun girls weekend.  One of my good friends was scheduled to join us but unfortunately got sick (no, not Coronavirus) so she had to cancel.   Brett went off to spend the weekend with his brother.  He spent the weekend boating and enjoying the Arizona sunshine.  Here, the weather was overcast and cold, with a good soaking rain on Saturday.

Camille always spends time with the donkeys when she visits.  She and Ana were a huge help with all the barn chores.

They mucked the side pasture so she got to meet Luek up close and personal.  He is an up close and personal kind of horse.

Luek appears to be ruling the pasture.  He and Lucy are together all the time, with Tex following at a respectful distance.  Luek pushes Lucy and appears to be in charge which is interesting.  Lucy is quite the opinionated drama queen so to see her meekly giving her space to Luek is quite surprising.

Camille and Ana did some wine tasting.

I was the designated driver but I didn’t suffer.  We put together an amazing cheese plate and opened a bottle of champagne for dinner.  I baked a loaf of walnut fig bread which paired perfectly with the cheese.  Sage thought she was one of the girls and tried to join in.

It was too wet to do any hiking so we spent Sunday in front of the fire, reading books and relaxing.  We have a big storm coming in this weekend, with the possibility of snow and quite a bit of rain.  We are currently at 50% of normal for rainfall and the rainy season is almost over so a big storm is a welcome thing.

Barn Cat

We've had Passage, our barn cat, since our early days at Aspen Meadows.

She made the move up here with us and quickly settled into the new barn.

I don't have many photos of her because she is always in motion.

When we first got her, she was quite aloof.  Her mother had been a feral cat (dad most likely too), and she wasn't much interested in human company.  But, after we moved up here she became very affectionate.

She follows me into the garden when I'm working there and complains until I take a break from pruning and hold her.  She will let just about anyone hold her now.

She even sits in Brett's lap.  He swears he hates cats, and she hated people -- go figure.  They adore each other now.

A Dog's Christmas

Kersey had a great Christmas.

Photo by Camille

The house was full of people; and she loves people.  Love, love, LOVES people.

Even better, those people included Camille (above)...

and Kyle.

Aren't these photos awesome?  Ana (Kyle's girlfriend) has portrait setting on her new phone.  So, I had to order one -- look for better photos in the future in this space.

Chopping Wood

After the Christmas gifts were opened, we went off in somewhat separate directions.  I headed to the kitchen, Kyle curled up on the couch with his computer, my dad listened to the Christmas music -- and Camille went outside with Brett to chop wood.

They hauled the log splitter into the pasture with their gloves and protective eye-wear (sunglasses). Brett gave Camille some basic instructions and they went to work.

After a while, Brett put Camille in charge.  She was in her element.

They split a lot of wood.

Brett is still recovering.

Lobster Feed Weekend

This weekend Kyle and Camille came up to visit with their significant others.  The occasion?  Our first annual lobster feed.  Yes, it was such a success that we decided to make it an annual event.

Kyle & Ana picked up Camille & Cody Friday night on their way over from San Francisco.  They arrived just before the pizza place closed.  Saturday, we headed over to Renwood for lunch and wine tasting.

Kyle, Ana, Camille, Cody

Afterward, the kids continued down the wine trail while Brett and I headed to the market to pick up the seafood for dinner.  Brett set up the burner and pot in the garden -- it was far too large to fit on the BBQ.

I layered in artichokes and potatoes, with water, wine and aromatics (lemon, celery, garlic, thyme).

I added in sausages, lobster tails, prawns, mussels and corn.  We had a table set up in the garden (covered with butcher paper), tunes playing, SF sourdough brought over by Kyle and Ana, and wine on ice.

When the mussels had opened, Brett poured it all down the center of the table.

We had no plates, no utensils -- just bibs and fingers and lots of melted butter.  It was amazing.  

Sunday, we headed up into the Sierras with the kayaks.

After a quick dinner of BBQ burgers and watermelon, the kids piled into Kyle's car and headed home.

Shaver Lake 2017

The annual Shaver Lake vacation with my extended family occurred last week and into the weekend.  We have been vacationing there since since Camille was an infant -- so, 23 years.  She was three weeks old the first time we went.  I remember racing down the steps from the deck to the waters edge while she napped under the watchful eye of my mother.  On that same trip, Kyle fell down the stairs and split his chin.  He was an early walker and an active child, but never a cautious one.

Originally, the group included my parents, my sister and her family (three kids) and me and my family.  Over the years, the composition has stayed pretty constant, and we stayed at a small cabin within walking distance (if you don't mind a long steep road) to the lake.  We were only at that first, lakeside cabin, for one year.  Eventually, my younger brother and his daughter started joining us.

Taylor (my brother's daughter), Nick (my sister's oldest), Camille, Justin (my sister's middle child), and Kyle.

I lost my mom to a progressive lung disease (with a name a mile long and no cure), and, as it became more difficult for her to breathe, we switched to lower elevation locations.  But, we never stopped going.  The kids never stopped sleeping outside on the deck; all their sleeping bags lined up in a row; talking late into the night about the stars and satellites.

The candid version: Taylor is smiling sweetly; Nick is checking out Camille's belly button ring; Justin is standing like a stud; and Kyle has been told to get rid of his stick for the picture (probably by Camille).

The kids are now adults, with the exception of my youngest niece who is 14.  The rest of the"kids" range from Camille (23) to Nick (29).  My sister had kids first, closely followed by me, and much later by my brother.  Kyle's girlfriend, Ana, has joined us the last two years.

Kyle and Ana

It was warmer than usual this year but the lake was full and we liked the cabin (the one we used to use wasn't available this year).  We ate too much food and drank wine in the evening on the deck.  We played games.  We went for long walks, swatting the mosquitoes that buzzed around our heads and feasted on our arms and legs.

It was a good trip.  And it is very good to be back home.  Brett took care of the ranch and even installed some more sprinklers in my garden while I was gone.  I love my family but I can only take so much happy, crowded chaos.  I am an introvert, after all.  So it was good to walk through my garden and admire the sprinklers, to stand quietly with Tex, and to drink in the quiet of the night.

Mother-Daughter Weekend 2017: Zion

Camille and I spent this past weekend together in Zion National Park.  The park was on her "bucket list" of places to visit (her previous visit, camping there with us as a small child, didn't count since her memories of that trip are slim).

I knew Camille wanted to hike (and, seriously, what else would you do there) and she wanted to tackle the most famous hikes in the park: Angels Landing and The Narrows.  The Virgin River, which flows through the Narrows, was running fast and full of debris.  The trail was closed (you hike that trail in the river) -- the river was four times higher than the "safe" volume.  Angels Landing was open so I spent the weeks before our trip training -- long walks at lunch and climbing the hills behind our ranch in the evenings.  Lots of yoga for strength and balance.  And prayers that I could handle the steep drop-offs since I am not a fan of heights.

Friday, we arrived in Zion in the early evening.  We dropped our bags and headed into the park.  We managed two hikes before dark: The Emerald Pools and the Kayenta trail.

The sun cast long shadows on the rock, and it was cold in the shade, but it was so beautiful we hardly noticed.

Saturday, we ate a quick breakfast in our room and headed to Angels Landing.

The trail is divided into three sections.

The first section leads to the base of the cliff, and then climbs, on switchbacks carved into the rock, to a narrow canyon about a third of the way up.

I surprised both of us by handling the steep climb, and the drop-offs, fine. The trail was wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side, and I never looked down, over the edge.  We took a couple pictures at the top, before walking through the canyon.

At the end of the canyon, there were more switchbacks.  21 steep, quick switchbacks, carved into the rock, and nick-named "Walter's Wiggles" after the ranger who carved the trail.

I made it to the top, with a short pause at every other turn.  "You doing okay, Mom?"  "Do you need a break?"

At the top of that section, there was a wide area of smooth boulders where people were sitting, eating their lunch, or waiting for their hiking partners to return from the last leg of the trail.

I stayed on the rocks and waited for Camille.  The last section was narrow, with a chain embedded in the rock, along the narrow spine of rock that climbed and crossed to the Landing.  She had to pull herself up, using the chain, in sections.  Most people turned around.  The trail required more upper body strength than leg power.  I saw people returning, wearing leather gloves.

I rested near the warning sign that stated seven people had fallen to their deaths on the trail since 2004.  We looked it up when we got back to our room, 15 people have fallen since the trail was created.  Camille didn't take pictures along the way -- she had promised me that she would not take her hands off the chain.  She hiked the last section with a young couple; the wife had done it before and she took a picture of Camille on the Landing.

Afterward, we hiked next to the Virgin River, to the mouth of the Narrows.

And we both slept like rocks that night.

More Visitors

This past weekend, Camille and her boyfriend, Cody, came up to visit.  We scheduled it so that their plane coming from Southern California landed at about the same time as my flight back home from Las Vegas, where I had been at a meeting for most of last week.  The stars aligned, and my flight landed just 15 minutes before theirs.

Camille was busy with her iPhone everywhere we went and she sent me some of the pictures she took, so I could share them with you.  We did a lot of wine tasting over the weekend, and they helped with chores.

Camille and Cody

Camille and I (at Cooper Vineyards)

We were at Cooper Vineyards for their annual lamb and chicken BBQ.  The food, as always, was plentiful and good.

Camille loving on Finessa.

My favorite picture of Camille on Brett's tractor.  I love the background. 

Camille's favorite picture of herself on the tractor -- because Brett is smiling.

More wine tasting and parties -- Fiesta at David Girard.

Camille goofing off in the vineyard at David Girard.

Camille and Cody had to spend time with the goats. Of course.

I love, love, LOVE this picture she took of Lucy.

The view from the barn, looking towards the boys' pasture.