Coming and Going

I just got home from my wanderings in the West! This is the first road-trip Elio and I have made! It all started on April 11 when I headed south  down the I-15 to visit family in California.



Shortly after this gas stop, where I reset my trip/mpg averages, I realized that there's something seriously wrong with this particular reading!!! I just WISH I was getting 72mpg!



Since I've *worn out the I-15* over the years I have some favorite sights... Virgin River Gorge is one of them.  Just outside the gorge I saw the happiest thing, but it wasn't a safe photo-op.  I passed a livestock truck hauling pigs.  Out of one of the holes was a little pink piggy ear- flapping in the wind!



And, favorite stops! Vegas used to be the first available In 'n Out Burger! So glad we have it in Utah Valley now.



The kids always loved Monkey Mountain at the top of the Baker grade. (This is what gave me the idea of the coming and going title...)



My first visit was at Spencer's house! I was able to accompany him and Deborah to the LA Temple for their Stake Temple Night.



And the next day I got to see my good friends- Batman and Robin (aka Auntie P and Sonny). Apparently I didn't get the memo that Auntie P's grandson's 1st birthday party was themed. But that's ok... I'm always Wonder Woman!



Sunday was Stake Conference with Spencer and family... happy day.



Monday found me on the road again. I'd noticed that the Joshua trees were blooming when I was headed through Barstow but didn't stop to get a photo until I was headed west out Hwy 138. They say this doesn't happen very often.



Next stop was at Rebekah's. I told her that her job was to make sure I got a photo with my Flynn boys! I can't believe how grown up they all are. Where did my tiny babies go?



But somehow I didn't get photos of Rebekah and I. We had a delightful visit. We went to the Fresno Temple on Wednesday evening. Truly the words from 3 John 1:4 apply to me, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."

Bek and I found this beautiful fountain at some random shopping center in Fresno.



In the original planning stages I hadn't planned to go to the Bay Area but as the time drew close for my trip I knew I just *needed* to include it. I stopped first thing at Roselawn to leave early birthday flowers for Tony. I felt great peace and love for my wonderful first-born and not too many tears.



I had a lovely visit with Sue and family. We all got together for dinner the first night and I was able to meet my newest little grand-niece, Audrey Ella. I was able to have a wonderful visit with all. I'm so grateful for family. Plus Sue and I made a productive shop at Blue Door Antiques where we found some wonderful orphaned quilt blocks. Sue already has hers in various stages of completion! I told her she was the Queen!

Saturday I took I-5 south back to Palmdale. It's been years since I've taken that route. I normally go via Hwy 99. I was interested to see that they've moved Harris Ranch's stock yards away from the freeway. We've driven past there when you can literally see the methane gas hanging in the cow-manure scented air.

This time around I stayed at Auntie P's house but we had Spencer and family over for dinner and delicious strawberry dream cake.



This may very well replace Pig-Pickin' Cake as our family favorite.

Monday we went to the garment district in LA with Deborah and Andrea.  Pauline was the winning shopper this day... all I got was some zippers.

And no trip to So Cal is complete without a trip to Cielito Lindo. It has pretty much replaced Disneyland.  Well, maybe not, but it's a lot cheaper!



And our trip back home from LA- I've always love this series of tunnels that transition to the I-5.



Tuesday was the day of reckoning and time to come home. And here is Monkey Mountain headed north.



So what of this trip? Here are my stats-

• 12 days
• 2287.3 miles that Elio drove (this doesn't count when other people drove us somewhere)
• A combined total of 40 hours driving time
• 27 family and family-by-choice members visited
• Elio- 9 months old
• Joanie- 60.5 years old
• Countless potty stops (oh, for crying out loud!)
• And quite possibly the easiest solo road-trip I've made in the last decade... I think that must be a result of Elio's comfortable ride and awesome family visits.
• One happy Pup and Pap when I returned home!

Strawberry Dream Cake

Last month a friend was looking for a non-cake-mix strawberry cake on Facebook. She found this one but you had to subscribe to the newsletter if you wanted to get the recipe... so I did. Then I posted it on her Facebook post.

That cake just kept haunting my thoughts so when fresh strawberries showed up at Ream's I made this yummy cake, from scratch. It was a HUGE HIT at my house. So much so that a couple of weeks later we all wanted it again, but me? I really didn't want to go to all that scratch-cake trouble so I have created what I call-

Strawberry Dream Cake- Lazy Girl's Version
(This cake uses about 3 pints of strawberries)

Cake
1 white cake mix
3 eggs white
1/4 c oil
1 1/2 cup strawberry puree (about 1 pint of strawberries)

Put strawberries into food processor or blender and puree. I used fresh sweetened strawberries, but you could go with unsweetened or frozen and defrosted strawberries.

Mix ingredients in mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Bake at 350° for 22-28 minutes. Cool completely.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
10 tbs butter, softened
12 oz cream cheese, cold and cut into cubes
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup strawberry pulp

In a food processor or blender puree 1 cup of strawberries. Push through a fine sieve to remove juice. You should end up with about 1/3 cup of pulp. (Reserve juice for a wonderful glass of strawberry milk- yummy!)

In a mixer combine butter and powdered sugar. Cover and beat until it is light and fluffy. Add cubes of cold cream cheese one at a time until combined. Scrape sides. Don’t over mix. Add strawberry pulp.

To Assemble Cake
Slice remaining strawberries and lay on paper towel to absorb some of the juice.

When cakes are cooled, spread 3/4 cup frosting over 1 cake round. Press strawberries in even layer over frosting and cover with additional 3/4 cup frosting (I find it easier to just frost the bottom of the top layer instead of trying to spread frosting across the strawberries). Top with second cake round and spread remaining frosting evenly over top and sides of cake. Garnish with remaining strawberries. Serve. (Cake can be refrigerated for 2 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

Super Lazy-girl’s version

Pour cake batter into 9 x 13 cake pan. Bake at 350° for 25- 30 minutes. Cool cake.
Prepare a half of recipe of frosting, this makes an ample amount to frost the top of a 9 x 13 cake.

Slice remaining strawberries; sweeten if desired. Serve pieces of cake with sliced strawberries or arrange on the top of the cake.

Original Country Cook's Recipe for Scratch Cake

Strawberry Dream Cake

Ingredients CAKE

• 10 ounces frozen whole strawberries (2 cups)
• 3/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
• 6 large egg whites, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups (9 ounces) cake flour
• 1 3/4 cups (12 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened

 

Instructions

• 1. For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line bottoms with parchment, grease parchment, and flour.
• 2. Transfer strawberries to bowl, cover, and microwave until strawberries are soft and have released their juice, about 5 minutes. Place in fine-mesh strainer set over small saucepan. Firmly press fruit dry (juice should measure at least 3/4 cup); reserve strawberry solids. Bring juice to boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until syrupy and reduced to 1/4 cup, 6 to 8 minutes. Whisk milk into juice until combined.
• 3. Whisk strawberry milk, egg whites, and vanilla in bowl. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed until combined. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, and mix until only pea-size pieces remain, about 1 minute. Add half of milk mixture, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low, add remaining milk mixture, and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Give batter final stir by hand.
• 4. Scrape equal amounts of batter into prepared pans and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. Cool cakes in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans, discarding parchment, and cool completely, about 2 hours. (Cooled cakes can be wrapped with plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.)

April Fool's Day

There was a time when I wouldn't have let this day go by without some kind of April Fool's joke... but somehow I just didn't have the oomph to think of anything this year.

The weather has been rainy today, which is much appreciated. In spite of our long, cold, snowy winter we are only at 70% of normal for rain and snow. Ah well, *Fritz* keeps reminding us that we live in the 2nd driest state in the country.

But look at the very lovely non-April Fool's treat I saw today-

My lilacs are ready to burst. I'm hoping for warm open-window days so I can enjoy their heady perfume.

And see what I spied out my kitchen window this morning.

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ 

I looked out the window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree! 

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

Mutton-Head Sort of Day

Bwahaha!

Yes, at this point it is a lamb sort of day. It is 73*. The windows are open and the sound of beagles baying is wafting in through them. (Which contributes to the mutton-head quality of the day!)

But already I see the forecasted storm clouds moving in. But seeing as how we've had six flawless spring days in a row I won't complain!

Anita's Big Adventure

You will remember that Anita came to live with us in December 2011. Anita is a Colorado Blue Spruce (called Fat Albert- which I thought was so rude because Anita is a girl and she's just fluffy!) The original plan was that she was going to be our Christmas tree (which she performed without a flaw) and then take the place of the dying flowering pear tree on the north side of the front yard... but the rub was that said flowering pear decided to live and thrive so Anita was out of luck!

I didn't know what to do. So for the next 15 months Anita lived-

• on the deck
• in the side yard on top of the peach tree stump
• on the front porch decorated as a Christmas tree 
• on the front porch as a naked tree (look out of the way)

But Anita needed a permanent home. And today she finally got one!



The first step was to move her from the front porch to the backyard. She is a little prickly (hey, people called her Fat Albert!) So I yoinked her off the porch into my wheelie-cart (which I'd love to get a twin for!) and wheeled her to her new PERMANENT HOME.



Since this is the first tree I've named I thought she needed a little bit of journaling... after I trimmed off some bottom branches she is 36" wide... (I love how the grass shadows highlight the appropriate number- a little serendipity there!)



And 45" tall. Anita you are so big! I think it will be fun to watch her grow over the coming years.



It was an absolutely perfect lambie March day... look at that sky!






And as long as I was in the backyard...

I decided to tidy up a different peach tree stump (I trimmed fruit trees this week). Sadly this is the second fruit tree I've lost to some kind of bore-beetle.

But because I'd been using all of my Grammie-arm-muscles (aka Relief Society arms) they were sore and weak. I couldn't put enough pressure on the saw to make much progress with my little chain saw. What to do? What to do?

I know!! Use my strong legs! That little saw just went through the rest of the stump like it was butter! There is just no substitute for strength!



Yay little-Joanie! Your short stocky legs paid off again! (Even if they are painfully white!)

Tender Mercies for Jude

"The Lord is good to all:
and his tender mercies are over all his works." Psalms 145:9

Our little Jude was born with a moderate VSD (a hole in his heart). His Hero Mama has worked tirelessly for the last 10 months to help him heal and be strong. I cannot say enough good things about Jessica! She is a wonderful, spiritually guided Mama. I always know that her choices are what is right for her and her family. There is such power in that for me. She has researched and implemented so many techniques and nutritional factors in this sweet little boys life. She is such a dedicate and loving mother. There is NONE better!(period)

Part of that healing process involved open heart surgery this last Tuesday (as in three days ago). There have been much faith and many prayers offered up on Jude's behalf. There are people all over the world praying for this sweet little man: Hong Kong, Jerusalem, Arkansas, California and Illinois to name a few!

Here are Mama and Jude pre-surgery. Can you believe how tiny this little gown is? (all photos are from photo messages from Doug and Jessica) Oh, I do love that little face!



Jude's surgery went smoothly. This is the patching material used to close the hole in his heart. The surgeon said that the hole was about 3/8". I had to make that have relevance to my mind so I did some research. The human heart is about the size of that human's fist. So even though we think that 3/8" is small, compare that to the size of a golf ball!



This ubber-loved little boy is always so happy. This is Jude at less than 48 hours post surgery.



Now for the remainder of the abundant blessings from our Lord! The original projection was that Jude would be in the hospital for 4-6 days...  

Jude is coming home from the hospital TODAY! 

(Yes, that decision was made less than 72 hours after surgery!)

Truly The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his [children]!

Swine-Deer Repellant

Our first year in Springville (this is our 9th spring here), I was delighted to see beautiful tulips in my island planter! I was thrilled! I went out and took photos of them in the evening... AND IT'S A GOOD THING TOO!@$#

The next morning all of the tulip heads were pulled off! Having just moved from So CA I thought, "Punk neighbor kids!" WRONG!! Punk SWINE-DEER! That was the beginning of the battle over the tulips. I tried several repellants, including a very expensive one called Roe-pel! Yeah, they just thought it was a tasty salad dressing.

Our snow just melted this last week so I went out today to see if I had any tulips peaking up through the cold winter ground. I count myself lucky that this is the only clump that have been munched!



But those *svine-deer* (think Col Klink) ravaged my Hens and Chicks! PUNKS!

The good news is that a couple of years ago I found a dandy natural deer repellant AND I'm going to share it with you.

Swine-deer repellant
1/2 c milk
1 egg
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1-2 T dish soap
1-2 T oil

I whisk all of this together and put it in my watering can and fill it up with water (about 1 1/2 gallons) then sprinkle it on and around the plants I want them to leave alone. It has worked so far. You need to re-apply when it rains. The plants seem to like it too.

What a Difference Three Days Make!

I posted a couple of photos back (way back) on the first... I would never have guessed this much snow would be melted just 72 hours later!

I'm just grateful to see some grass... even if it is covered with deer poo!

3/6/13 Edit...
I'm just finishing up my blog book getting it ready to print and ran across this statement from November 10

"It started snowing yesterday morning and didn't stop for the next 24 hours! Those of you who know me will remember that-

I LOVE THE SNOW!

Yes, if there is still snow on the ground in March it might start to wear a little thin but particularly with the first big storm of the season-

I'M JUST LIKE A LITTLE KID!"

And amazingly I've only had one day of *I can't stand this snow any longer!*

Lion-Day

I've always liked to keep track of the *March comes in like a lion- out like a lamb* thing. But it has only been since I started keeping a blog that I've really been able to remember 31 days later what the 1st of March was like!

This year, 2013, is an OFFICIAL LION DAY! All you have to do is look at the sky! But then we can add insult to injury-

A view of the side of my house, looking north (with Maple Mt wreathed in clouds)...



And the front of my house, looking south...



See that berm of snow to the right of my mail box?  That is the pile 15' beyond the mailbox that ate Fernando!  AND IT IS STILL HERE!  We may still have snow in June! Not really, but sometimes it feels that way...

So what of previous years?

2009- Lamb all the way; 62 degrees!
2010- Lamb day as well; high in the 50s!
2011- Lamb day again! Sunny and warm.
2012- A Lion-sort of day! 3" of new snow on top of 12" ( we got most of last winter's snow in March! and we were glad of it.)

Mare's Tail

We had one of those warm winter days today (read- 40*, but it's amazing how warm that feels!) I went on a little walkie at about 4:30 this afternoon. It was one of those lovely windless days! I could feel the sun baking through my charcoal-colored pants... Ah, lovely sun!

I hadn't gone far before the glorious clouds claimed my attention. Mare's tails- I love them.

Not 20 paces further and I NEEDED to capture this tree, I think it is a catalpa tree, hoping for warmer days... just like me!