Alpine Loop & Cascade Springs

Last week was, well, let's just say... stressful. I was in the final preparation for the Primary Sacrament Meeting presentation (which I'm in charge of), did Grammie-duties three times, bottled spaghetti sauce, forgot and, fortunately remembered, that I needed to come up with the printed program for Sunday's meeting, remembered in the nick of time that I was also getting the popcorn treat for Sunday's reward sharing time, planning and having 3rd Sunday Grammie Dinner, plus lots of other things I'm forgetting like walking, mowing, etc.

So when Monday morning dawned I was READY for a little R and R! I suggested that Gordon and I make the annual Alpine Loop drive (that my Dee-Lor-EE-Ous and I used to make) in his 1990 Reatta convertible... the best way to enjoy that drive!

As we were leaving Gordon hinted that perhaps we should bring Harley, who heretofore has been banned from a ride in the classic car! He was DE-lighted to be included and behaved himself like a very responsible doggy-boy in Poppa's special car.

There are so many happy memories on this drive... most of them with DeLoris, but also a fair-few with Gordon. It is just one of those drives that makes my heart happy.

This was always our first photo-op, looking back down at Sundance.

The colors are more muted this year. Perhaps we were a little too early. Maybe we will have to go again.

Gordon asked if I'd like to take the detour down to Cascade Springs. I always love this sweet place.  The first time I remember visiting here was in August 1981 with Gordon.

As I walked the trail that loops around the three different areas of Cascade Springs I was taken aback by a memory...

This beautiful trail...

used to look like...

This!

PHOTO TAKEN 21 OCTOBER 2005

"On Sept. 23, 2003, a prescribed burn to treat 600 acres of oak woodland near Cascade Springs on the Uinta National Forest went out of control, resulting in a 7,828-acre wildfire that sent smoke into the Salt Lake City-Provo area for a week."

2005 was the year that DeLoris and I started our annual tradition of driving the Alpine Loop together. I loved that first trip so well that Gordon, Buddi and I  repeated it a few days later and revisited Cascade Springs. I was grateful, this year, when I realized that the forest had regrown!

The upper springs always amaze me... all of this water just appears out of nowhere!

As I was looking at the comparison photos I recognized that I had this same shot now, looking down into Cascade Springs...

and 10 years ago.

If you'd like to read more of my adventures from this annual tradition, just click on the Cascade Springs tag below the post.

An Autumnal Explore

Our sweet Kevin (Camille's-kind-of-Kevin) told us he would be working up at the Timber Wolf today and asked if we'd like to come up for lunch. YES! We always love it when Kevin cooks! We dined out on the deck with this beautiful view and the warm September sun adding to our enjoyment.

As we were leaving Gordon asked if I was up for a drive up the canyon. This time we decided to take Right Fork instead of Left Fork. Right Fork almost immediately turns into National Forest land. It was a perfect fall day for a drive!

The aspens have started changing... this isn't the best specimen but beautiful nonetheless.

One of the things that I like best about this drive is all the free-range cattle. The *alpine air* must agree with them because many of them are enormous! Not fat... just BIG! I convinced Gordon to stop and let me take a photo of this cute mama and baby.

However about fifteen minutes later we came upon the KING OF THE MOUNTAIN! Holy-freakin'-cow-BULL! This dude started giving us the stink-eye as soon a we rounded the curve in the road and we didn't even think once about stopping to ask HIM if we could capture his likeness! He will have to remain in my mental photo album.

I had no idea that bovines could give the stink-eye!

Pumpkins!

I'm not sure that fall was always my favorite season but for much of my adult life it has been. I love the cooler daytime temperatures and the crisp nights. I love snuggling in my sweaters. And I love all of the rich fall colors.

The other joy of fall is pumpkins! Each year, as soon as they appear in the markets, I buy some and decorate my front porch. This year I decided to try my hand at growing pumpkins. I wanted some warty pumpkins that I'd seen several years ago but I couldn't find any warty pumpkin seeds. *sigh* What I did find was a package of bright orange pumpkin seeds AND a package of mixed decorative gourd seeds.

I planted them in the back half of my raised garden plot that normally goes unplanted. OMSH do pumpkins/gourds/squash want to take up a lot of room! The pumpkin vines seemed to grow all right but they only set two pumpkins (that I could find), right along the garden fence. The gourds, on the other hand... I had a fair time of it trying to keep them from climbing up my tomato cages and in some cases failed.

So a couple of weeks ago I decided that I'd had enough of losing the War of the Gourds. I'd just mowed and was headed to the green waste dump anyway so I pulled up all of the pumpkin and gourd vines,harvesting as I went, and put them into Fernando's bed. That was when I found a third and fourth pumpkin stowaway!

I have a wire fence that encloses my raised garden area to keep the dog out! Buddi used to EAT MY GREEN TOMATOES! (Tomato-snatchin' dog!) Harley, who isn't interested in eating anything, just loves to charge through on his way to bark at something and knocks off the tomatoes.

I discovered that the pumpkin vine had climbed said wire fence and grown a pumpkin right there... in the fence! I had to get out my wire cutters and snip this little cutie free!

The fourth pumpkin was hiding in the corner, under the grape vines. So the smallest and orangest pumpkins grew in my garden, the two larger ones and the warty guy I bought. But all of these happy little gourds grew right here on my productive 1/4 acre of heaven. (And that is a locally grown and produced grapevine wreath... that means I made it from my grapevines a few years ago.)

Usually I put out my pumpkin display as soon as pumpkins/gourds become available and they stay there until it is time to put up Christmas decorations (read- AFTER Thanksgiving!). By then they are usually a frozen and somewhat squishy mess and all go to the trash. BUT this year I may try bringing in some of my favorites gourds to *dry* and keep them from year to year!

Happy fall!

Snow Day!

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!

I do have one request of Mother Nature though... do  you suppose I could have longer than 24 hours between when I'm mowing the lawn and raking leaves and shoveling snow?

Now I have the ability to read the weather report or listen to *Fritz* and be prepared for this kind of severe mood swing that Utah weather is famous for, but my Japanese Maple didn't get that memo! I went out twice yesterday and knocked the heavy, wet snow off of her still foliated branches. But this is what she was wearing this morning. I shook, pushed and gently removed as much snow as possible and she looks none the worse for wear. (I got to shovel lots of red leaves with the snow)



Unfortunately, not all of my neighbors were as lucky as me... there was the buzz of chain saws cutting up downed limbs as I shoveled the walk.

Now, I'm going to brag about where I live (again)! My neighborhood was teaming with neighbors out helping neighbors clear the 11" of new snow.



We are so blessed to live here with so many kind and caring people. While Craig Pickering was plowing the snow from my driveway Denise spied him out *from up on top* and called my house to tell him she could see Heidi stuck in her driveway! Her message was, "Go right now and help Heidi!"

And not only are they caring... they are very creative...



I caught this out of the corner of my eye and though, how nice, they have a blade for their 4-wheeler... then I noticed it was Samuel... with a shovel.

Yes, it was a happy snow day in my neighborhood!

Indian Summer Gardening

Indian Summer is a phrase I don't hear anymore. Is it now *politically incorrect*? My Mom always referred to these wonderful, warm fall days as Indian Summer. AND I LOVE IT! Tomorrow is forecast to break the record high at 75 degrees. Yes, I can like this...especially since we just had our first snow FIVE DAYS AGO!

Growing up I don't remember the practice of *putting the garden to bed* for the winter but it is a big practice here in my little corner of Utah County. But you know what? When I have a whole island of beautiful alyssum in my yard I just can't bear to cut it off at the ground...(my mums fall into the same category)

Can you blame me? As I've worked in the yard the last few days I am treated to wafts of its heady perfume. I will either cut it off after it freezes or, if we get too much snow, I will just deal with it in the spring when it is dried out.

Of course there are some plants I'm just not willing to do that with... calendula, lamb's ear and hostas fall into that category. If I leave them through the winter I have a nasty, mushy, pulpy mess to deal with! ICK! (This is where said plants reside)

Another of my fall projects was to do something with the darling little *Christmas tree bushes* that grow on either side of the garage. Somehow I've neglected them for too long and they were infringing on the driveway and threatening to put scratches in Elio!

I gave them a trim hoping I could make them tall and thin but the damage was already done from years of not pruning them. So... behold my lollipop bushes! The one on the right of the photo was totally caked with dried mud all down the trunk- the water drains off the roof right above it. Poor little tree.

There is a third bush on the left of the porch that needs to be shaped up as well, but I won't have to be as severe with that one.

My gardening style is usually pretty laid back so it takes quite a bit for me to get crazy and totally take something out. This corner of the house was totally taken over by an enormous bush (actually two bushes) that thought it was a tree... a very UGLY tree... and this happened IN SPITE of lots of pruning. I'm convinced that sometimes the wrong plant just ends up in the wrong place. Look how clean this corner looks now. Come spring I'm going to plant a bush call a burning bush that turns the most luscious bright red in the fall. (Clematis creeping up to my sewing room window)

Next on the list of fall chores was to edge the lawn, lower the mower to 2" and mow, clean the dead leaves, dirt, grass, and crack-weeds (Bet you didn't know that weeds have that addiction, did you?) from the gutters.

And what does one do with all of this green waste? Saturday I borrowed son-Kevin's truck so Harley and I could make two trips to the green-waste dump... but I could see that I wouldn't even scratch the surface in one day. Luckily for me one of my sweet neighbors has a big trailer so it is parked by the gate, on the side of the house, and I am slowly filling it up.

There is just something soul-satisfying to me about working in the yard! I not only love the results, I love the process. There is just such order in the process of clearing the flowerbeds, raking leaves, and mowing the lawn on the diagonal that makes me happy.

Is this hard work? You bet it is! Daily thank my Heavenly Father for the strong and healthy body that allows me to still engage in hard work. What a blessing.

First Snow

We woke up this morning to snow on the pumpkins!



Call me, silly! (SILLY) But I love the changing seasons and I always greet the first snow with excitement! I'm sure I'd feel differently if I lived in Randolph, UT where they got 18" of snow! But we just got a skiff!

Green Tomato Relish

*Fritz* has been predicting COLD weather that moved in today. In anticipation of that event I knew that I needed to put my tomato garden to bed! Saturday was one of those gorgeous, glorious, warm, fall day. I knew that was my window of opportunity. I went out and picked any tomato that was big enough to do anything with regardless of ripeness.

I must have done something right this year in soil prep. Most years I am able to grab hold of the tomato cage and just *yoink* the whole plant out of the ground. There was no *YOINKING* this year! I had to trim off most of the branches and then dig up the root ball! I love this Black Krim Heirloom tomato. Since it is an heirloom tomato I can save seed from this year's crop for next year (or more likely... find the bedding plants next spring- but I will save the seeds!) Look at the root structure on this baby!

Needless to say I had TONS (read- nearly 3 BYU bucketfuls... the new international standard for produce measurements!) of tomatoes- mostly green. Several years ago when I was in the same situation I decided to see if I could substitute green tomatoes for zucchini in my relish recipe. It was wonderful! HA!

This is another one of my ancient recipes. I got this from a friend in Priest River, Idaho in 1974 and apparently didn't have any recipe cards, so being resourceful, I got the cardboard from my latest pair of Albertson's brand panty-hose and make myself a recipe card!

The first step for making relish is to grind, yes, grind- with an old-fashioned hand crank grinder, the tomatoes (or zucchini) and onions. I gives off lots of green tomato *blood* that looks acid green. (Notice the bucket under the grinder to catch the juice... don't for get this important precaution!) The onion juice goes in as well so you can imagine the smell of this juice.

I was looking at all of the poisonous (not really), acid-green juice and mused out loud that there should be a good use for it. Gordon suggested pouring it on the garden to see if it would repel the deer. So we will see if that deters them from eating my ivy this winter. It will either do that or make the ivy grow even faster!

Back to the recipe... add the salt, stir and let it sit over night. The salt draws the juice out of the pulp and makes for a firmer, thicker relish. Next morning drain, rinse with cold water and drain again.  Put this mixture it into a big pot with the remaining ingredients.

You notice this time I have dark red pepper *blood* from the red and green pepper. That just went down the drain.

Stir it all around and let it cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. This really is a mixture that takes good care of itself and doesn't need a lot of tending.

Bottle the cooked relish and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. And since it make just over 7 pints there is always a little left over to taste.

I've been making this for 38 years now and we love it... I will never use any other kind of relish. It's particularly good in tuna-goo-sam'ichs.

Fresh Apple Cake

AKA- More Apple-y Goodness

I've been a bit obsessed with apples this fall! I'm not even sure why... I just know what is! I suppose it could be that I started with apples from my tree about 5-6 weeks ago and have continued with first, gifted-apples from neighbors and then apples from Camille and Kevin's gargantuan apple tree. (OK! No kidding this tree is taller than their house.) I filled 11 BYU buckets with apples and barely scratched the surface.

Anyway, I picked last Monday, a week ago, and since then I've made:

• 10 quarts of applesauce
• 19 quarts of apple pie filling
• 1 apple crisp
• 1 HUGE apple pancake (14" skillet)
• And, dried 10+ gallon ziplock bags full of dried apples! (Roughly the equivalent of  50 pounds of apples)

But, lasterday, 3rd Sunday Family Dinner I wanted to make a special cake that  4 of the 10 (Yes, TEN!) October birthdays in our family (who were here) could eat. Since I needed to make a somewhat healthy version of cake (is there really such a thing?) I thought about my ancient recipe from when I was in 7th grade HomeEc!

(This is the actual page from my 7th grade notebook!)

I think this was my introduction to cream cheese frosting and it's been a love affair ever since. How can you NOT love anything with cream cheese frosting?

In my healthy version I substituted whole wheat flour for white flour and Sucanat for white sugar. And I didn't use nuts... but usually don't in cakes.

Now, are you wondering about all of the number written below the recipe? In 1964 Greenville Jr/Sr high school (student body 200 kids... yep, 7th-12th! 200 kids- sad, but true) had the pioneering idea to have a rotating schedule. But it was far from easy- like the odd-even schedule. Are you ready for this:

We had 7 classes but only 5 class periods a day so we had this easy-to-remember rotating schedule:

• Day 1- 1,2,3,4,5
• Day 2- 6,7,1,2,3
• Day 3- 4,5,6,7,1
• Day 4- 2,3,4,5,6
• Day 5- 7,1,2,3,4
• Day 6- 5,6,7,1,2
• Day 7- 3,4,5,6,7

I'd rather just remember the yummy fresh apple cake!

Timpanogos Wreathed In Clouds

Wednesday morning, on the way to the Temple, I saw that we had received the first snow of the season on Timpanogos!

But not just snow- clouds and it was ethereal!

A Fallish Feel

I just love fall! It wasn't always this way... as a child I loved summer best: no school, my birthday, horseback riding at the creek...

But now...

I LOVE FALL!

As soon as the pumpkins become available I snarf them up and put them on my front porch, uncarved, and they stay there until it is time to put up Christmas decorations. Last year I added some sweet little gourds as well, another happy touch.

This year I was on the look-out for unusual pumpkins; I was hoping for some warty ones... but I found these instead. I love the two mottled pumpkins AND the cornstalks!

So where did I find these wonderful pumpkins? Except for the light one (Wal-Mart) on the right I got all of them from a cute little punkin-patch! It is just some folks selling from their backyard garden (saving money to go to San Diego). They are located at 1025 E 1600 S in Mapleton.

How darling is this! They sell all things fall!

Including this precious little Indian corn.

It's a whole lot of happiness for less than $20.

Serendipitious Meeting

I can't believe that I haven't had the label *serendipity* before now!

Lasterday, up on Squaw Peak, we had just such serendipity! We arrived just minutes after a whole truck load of paragliders. I've seen paragliders often at Point of the Mountain and occasionally from 9th East in Provo... but I've never been up-close-and-personal!



I'm not sure what I expected but I was surprised with the process of launching (they told me they don't *jump*). Everything seems to be contained in a largish duffel bag which they open and re-configure... odd description, but that's the best I can do. It took them the better part of 30 minutes to do this.



After spreading out the wing and re-stuffing everything back into a duffel-bag-now-seat, they strap in and wait for the wind. I think it looks like a turtle's shell. They take everything with them except the vehicle they arrived in.



I turned my back just at the wrong time and missed this guy, the big-kahuna-instructor-guy launch. It was just that quick. Dang!



So I watched this fellow while he waited for the wind to pick up again so he could launch. Gordon pointed out to me that there is a small stake with surveyors tape tied on it that they use as a mini windsock! Clever.

This guy waited for a long time like this, with the wing partly inflated.  Meanwhile Big Kahuna was soaring overhead.



The speed and direction turned just right, paraglider-dude gave several sharp tugs on the strings and the wing started to lift.



Then he turned, started to run, and up he went!



It didn't take long for the others to get their launch.



I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to soar up there in the sky with the birds.

Delicious Colors

I want to lick them!

While up in Provo/Orem today I noticed the beautiful colors on Squaw Peak so when I got home I asked Gordon if he'd like to go on a drive around the Alpine Loop via a side trip to Squaw Peak trail head. The colors were beautiful in spite of the Idaho wildfire's smoke!

TIMPANOGOS SEEN FROM THE SQUAW PEAK ROAD

I LOVE FALL!

It has become my favorite time of year. Not to mention the riot of color- the days are normally consistently warm with cool nights. It seems to be a very predictable season... none of the out-of-control-mood-swings that come with spring!

Gordon and I reveled in this beautiful, perfect, September day! We talked about the luscious colors and how we'd like to capture them... so he did!

We are toying with the idea of painting our front door (which badly needs it) in a wonderful Wasatch Front fall color.

Just look at the palette we have to choose from.