Category Archives: Photography

Drops and Drips: Water

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Water is essewaterbottlesntial for life.

We all know this; we all carry disposable or reusable bottles of water —  water is a billion dollar industry.

Here in California, the drought is so extensive that restaurants don’t automatically serve water; you have to request it.

There are voluntary water restrictions for lawns and gardens.

Yet there’s water all around us if we only LOOK.

Wasted water.

Dishwashing water, washing machine water; water swirling around our feet in the shower  —  all lost down the drain.

It really frustrates me that there isn’t a easy way to reclaim this “gray water”.

My tugboat man and I are committed to leaving as small a footprint as possible and to be good stewards of this world, yet even for my guy who has a degree in nautical engineering, figuring out how to make a gray water system in our home is not as easy as I assumed.

Our challenge is a tri-level home with the laundry room on the third floor — apparently you can’t just stick a hose out the window — according to hub, it’s more complicated than that.

We, but I really mean HE is designing a functional system, but every single time I see a drop of water down the drain instead of being diverted to the garden, I get very sad!

To honor precious water and its importance to our bodies, check out this series of photos I took at my photography class.

I haven’t liked doing anything this much since I discovered the magic of that little plastic card that meant all the pretty treasures could come home with me!

My son reminded me of our kitty, Bandit, who loved to sit in the sink and drink dripping water. Still miss her so much…

waterdrip6 waterdrip5 waterdrip4waterdrip3waterdrip2Part One, October theme, Healthy Living

 

Not a Sunflower

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And not an artichoke, either.

These are SUNCHOKES.sunchoke1 I wonder what they taste like. Anyone tried them?sunchoke2According to Wikipedia, The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), also called sunroot, sunchoke, earth apple or topinambour, is a species of sunflower native to eastern North America.It is also cultivated widely across the temperate zone for its tuber, which is used as a root vegetable.[2]

I haven’t harvested my tubers yet ‘cos I’m still enjoying the flowers — that’s about all that’s flourishing in my garden during this horrible drought in California — but when I do, I’ll probably roast them with garlic, since we got a HUGE string of garlic from Gilroy, the garlic capital of the world, the last time we drove through central Cali.

Sunchoke Liqueur

Sunchoke Liqueur

Have you ever tried sunchoke liqueur? Maybe best of all, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, over 90% of the Jerusalem artichoke crop is used to produce a spirit called “Topinambur (de)”, “Topi” or “Rossler”.[13] By the end of the 19th-century, Jerusalem artichokes were being used in Baden to make a spirit called “Jerusalem Artichoke Brandy”, “Jerusalem Artichoke”, “Topi”, “Erdäpfler”, “Rossler”, or “Borbel”.

Jerusalem artichoke brandy smells fruity and has a slight nutty-sweet flavour. It is characterised by an intense, pleasing, earthy note. The tubers are washed and dried in an oven before being fermented and distilled. It can be further refined to make “Red Rossler” by adding common tormentil, and other ingredients such as currants, to produce a somewhat bitter and astringent decoction. It is used as digestif, as well as a remedy for diarrhea or abdominal pain.

If you’ve cooked with them, please send me your recipes. Thank you!

 

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YUMMY Old Fashioned ORANGE Meringue Pie

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Sometimes it satisfies a certain nostalgia to crack open my mom’s old Betty Crocker Cookbook and recreate her tried and true favorite recipes.

They may not be TOTALLY the most UBER healthy…but once in while it’s OK to indulge.

This time I had a hankering for an Orange Meringue Pie…a bit of a change from the standard lemon meringue — not that lemons aren’t delicious — but I had a few organic oranges around and wanted to work with that specific and intensely ORANGE flavor.

I served it after a dinner of Chile Rellenos with Guacamole. The citrus was the PERFECT finishing touch to a spicy meal.

First of all, I’m going to be a bossy pants and insist that you spend just a few minutes to create your own baked pie crust. It’s not THAT difficult and is SO much better than store bought. (Recipe below)

orangepie4

Old school juicer. VERY low tech.orangepie1 Work it, work it! Don’t leave it for a minute, keep stirring, continue whisking…orangepie2 …until the mixture thickens and become silky, smooth, and emanates an amazing orange perfume.orangepie3

As soon as the filling is done, quickly turn to your mixer and whip the whites into light peaks of pillowy soft clouds.orangepie5Very stiff peaks is what you’re looking to achieve.
orangepie6

The last few steps are the MOST important. Fill the baked pie shell with the orange filling.
orangepie7 Spread the uncooked meringue over the filling, spreading to completely cover the pie. orangepie8Slide gently into the oven for about five to seven minutes. DON’T leave the kitchen ‘cos a minute too long and your meringue goes from luscious lightly browned goodness to crispy burned in a HEARTBEAT.

LOVELY. Very marshmallow-y.
orangepie9 BEYOND GOOD.

HONEST. 🙂orangepie10

Orange Meringue Pie (thank you, Betty Crocker!)

  • 1 (9 inch) pie crusts, baked
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon orange zest
  • 1 -3 egg white, meringue

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400°.
  2. In saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch.
  3. Combine egg yolks, orange juice and water; stir gradually into sugar/cornstarch mixture in the pan.
  4. Cook stirring constantly over medium heat until mixture thickens and boils.
  5. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly; stir in butter, lemon juice and the peel.
  6. Immediately pour into pre-baked pie shell.
  7. Cover completely with meringue-carefully sealing to the edges.
  8. Bake about 10 minutes or until meringue browns lightly.
  9. Cool on wire rack out of drafts.

BAKED PIE CRUST
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
2-3 tablespoons cold water

Directions

Heat oven to 475ºF. Mix flour and salt in medium bowl. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).

Gather pastry into a ball. Shape into flattened round on lightly floured surface. Wrap flattened round of pastry in plastic wrap and refrigerate about 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable. This allows the shortening to become slightly firm, which helps make the baked pastry more flaky. If refrigerated longer, let pastry soften slightly before rolling.

Roll pastry, using floured rolling pin, into circle 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side.

Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1 inch from rim of pie plate. Fold and roll pastry under, even with plate; flute as desired. Prick bottom and side of pastry thoroughly with fork. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown; cool on wire rack.

Red-Tailed Hawk in Eucalyptus Tree

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I was so lucky to get close to this magnificent creature perched in our backyard eucalyptus tree.

The colors are so vibrant!

haawktree2I’m standing right underneath the branch.

Look at those talons!

It’s like he/she is saying, “I know I’m beautiful, hurry up and get the money shot!”

hawktree1

Keeping a close watch on the squirrels.

hawktree4Eyeballing tugboat man on the deck. Shhhh!hawktree5

How’s my profile? hawktree3

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The Enchanted Mermaid Inn

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Isn’t this perfect?

Of course I embellished it with shells. It’s on metal, that’s why there’s a bit of a glare.

enchantedmermaid

Supermoon: A Study in Black and White

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Looking toward the eastern sky.

Southern California at approximately 9:00 p.m. Saturday, July 12. 

I wish I was a better photog ‘cos the supermoon was white bright and amazing.

Yellowstone Treasures

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My road trip to Yellowstone was life changing.

I often dreamed of seeing the wolves of  Lamar Valley and one day my dream came true.

I’ve never written about my magical journey to Yellowstone because it’s more than a few posts; it’s book-worthy.

I kept a journal of those enchanted 3000 miles —  I was lucky enough to see wolves and foxes and bears and moose and all the animals I love so much and want to help protect and defend against senseless killing.

I will never forget the first moment I spotted a wolf.

I can honestly say that it was a seminal event in my life.

It was so special words cannot do it justice –to glimpse a brief moment in the life of this majestic, breathtakingly beautiful and wrongly vilified animal.

If I close my eyes, I can still see the beauty of another wolf, a black wolf, nonchalantly chewing on the end of a huge log—an AMAZING sight.

It was an overwhelming experience of transcendent joy.

I can’t wait to return to Yellowstone and I will hopefully fulfill another one of my life’s dreams, to hear the song of the wolf.

Unfortunately,  the camera I had at that time didn’t have a powerful enough lens to capture a photo of the wolves we saw, but we came away with a couple of other treasures, an osprey feather and a backbone, possibly of a bison, washed up from Slough Creek to the campsite.

Wonderful memories of a dream come true.

Osprey feather

ospreyBison vertebrae (at least I think it’s bison) 

bisonboneUPDATE: Just found this on Facebook, just HAD to edit post to share:

bisonjoke

Wordless Wednesday: Hidden in Plain Sight

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While watering plants on the deck, I grabbed my Canon Rebel T3i, trying to catch a dazzling, brilliant yellow bird hopping around the branches of our eucalyptus tree.

I snapped a dozen pics.

Most of them were blurry and worthless ‘cos he wouldn’t sit still long enough to get a clear pic. I was so frustrated!

Finally, he turned to the side and I got the money shot! I think it’s a Scott’s Oriole.yellowbirdzoomWait, there’s more!

As I was scrolling through all the other photos before I deleted them, I zoomed in and saw another bird hidden in plain sight.

Can you see it?

hiddenhawk1 A beautiful HAWK!

I think it was a Red-tailed Hawk ‘cos we have a lot of them here in SoCal, but I’m not 100% sure.

Almost invisible, hiding in plain sight, perfectly camouflaged, my naked eyes never saw this beautiful predator perched behind a large branch.closeuphawkThere must be a life lesson in this experience, but I haven’t figured it out yet. The hawk was literally right in front of my face and I didn’t see him (or her).

Linking up with other Wordless Wednesday bloggers:

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Ruby Red Moon Cactus

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I’m in love with this bright red little guy. 

pincushion

The Gymnocalycium cultivar — sometimes called ruby ball cactus or moon cactus — is actually two cacti in one.

A pure red cactus seedling lacks the ability to produce chlorophyll and will die unless it’s grafted onto a green one. The green feeds its mutant mate sugar molecules produced from water and carbon dioxide.

Once established, the two parts grow together so you can’t even see the seam.

I’m going to try and graft the babies on either side of the main ball onto other types of cacti in the garden. Wish me luck!

A Rose of Many Petals #Wordless Wednesday #Photography #Flowers

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Lush, sumptuous, sensuous roses courtesy of my good RN friend whose visit included books on tape (I was unable to read anything for three days thanks to a torn retina and hellish laser surgery).

In full bloom from her garden, their fragrance is  delicate and strong, as every rose should be.

Petals, Illuminated

rose4

Petals, Layered

rose1

Petals Caressing Petals

rose6 Beautiful Curves 

rose7

Full-Blown Roses in a Clear Vaserose5

 

 

#Wordless Wednesday #Photography #Flowers #Roses