Looking Festive

The Edmonds town Christmas tree

We had snow overnight.  I know that's not surprising to many of you, it being December in the Northern Hemisphere and all,  but in the Seattle area snow is rare, especially before Christmas.

 I really don't think snow belongs in town.  In the mountains, yes, maybe even at my cabin, but not in town.

But this particular snow was very well behaved, indeed.  It's already mostly melted.  All the streets are clear just as I have need to go out.  Very nice timing.

I will, grudgingly, admit that it was oh-so-pretty and festive at first light.  I stood at the window, warm and toasty, and enjoyed the snow falling softly and how pretty and festive it all looked.

Except for the fact that it makes it hard to drive, and Seattle area drivers are famous for their lack of snow driving ability, and that when it melts it's all slushy and goop-y and gets in your shoes, and that it is cold.....well, it's quite pretty.   A snowfall makes you appreciate hot drinks and warm fires and cozy houses.  It shows you the architecture of the winter garden.  I can almost like it in this small town.

 From my house to yours, Happy Holidays!

Traditional Christmas Bean Glop

What do you serve for Christmas dinner?  What are your family traditional foods?  I know that some families have the same meal for decades.  It's tradition!  (And why not?)  In my family we have our own, albeit strange, food traditions.  I always serve smoked turkey and honey glazed ham.  I've been doing it for years and years and I can't tell you why.  It's just what I do!

Of course, my husband and son love ham and smoked turkey seems to be a favorite of my daughters.  I guess that's where it started.  I used to do a poached whole salmon, but finally stopped when I realized that I am the only one who truly enjoyed that protein at Christmas time.  I think the salmon was a carry over from my parents.

The other two required elements of our Christmas meal is Bean Glop and Hot German Potato Salad.  They both go well with ham and smoked turkey and again, are huge favorites of my husband.  I don't want to call him a Grinch exactly, but the foods of the holiday season are what gets his interest, not the decorations, music, religious background or even the presents.  It's the food!  Cookies, hams, cakes, turkey, pies, mixed nuts and snacks, candies....all of those things make his eyes shine and his smile wide.

I am sharing the oddest of our Christmas foods with you, Dear Reader.  I know that you will not be making it this holiday season, but trust me, it is equally good at a summer barbecue.  It's easy, it rather cooks itself and it's easy to make it vegetarian friendly by omitting the bacon.  It has a yucky name, for reasons that become apparent when you see a bit pot of it burbling away in your crock pot, but it tastes fine and feeds a crowd.

 BEAN GLOP

This recipe came from my mother, "Pete" Rawlings.  She got it from a good friend of hers, Aileen Reynolds.  Over the years I have tweaked the proportions a bit and spiced it up, but it’s still very similar to the “Bean Glop” Mom used to make back in the 1950s. 

Serves a bunch.

2  15 oz. cans low sodium garbanzo beans

2  26.5 oz.cans low sodium kidney beans

1  15 oz. can pinto beans

1 15 oz. can cannelli beans

2 26.5 oz. cans black beans

1 lb. bacon, diced

4 tart green apples (Granny Smith, Braeburn or Gala); cored, seeded and diced

2 large onions, diced

1 jar Snappy Tom tomato juice or Spicy V-8

brown sugar to taste

Drain all the beans and add to the crock pot.  Add the apples, onions and bacon and mix well.  In a large measuring cup, mix brown sugar* and tomato juice.  Pour over the beans.  The liquid should come up to about 3/4 of the way to  the top of the beans.  

Cook on high in the crock pot with the lid off for 8 to 10 hours.  The liquid will gradually be absorbed and the sauce will thicken.  Stir occasionally.  If the glop seems to be drying out before it’s melded into the proper consistency, add more tomato juice-brown sugar mixture.  When it's done the color of the beans will have darkened and the sauce will have thicken.  It will be a good meld of flavors, rich and earthy.

Freezes well.  

I hope you try it sometime.

Happy Holidays!

Coffee Stop

Photo courtesy of Nola Unger

It's not an every day occurrence that I run into Santa at my local Starbucks.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity for a photo op and a chat.  Apparently I am on the "Nice" list.  You, Dear Reader.....you might want to think about mending your ways!  This is especially true for those of you whose initials are JUS, AUH and DJU.  I'd be a little worried, were I you.  Oh, and CRU and NCU are on the edge, too.  Could go either way.

Just sayin'.....

My Christmas Angel Turns 60

When I was a small girl my mother made me an angel to sit atop our Christmas tree.  My mother had talents a plenty, but crafting was not one of them.  She didn't sew and she didn't paint.  She didn't make things often.  I don't think she was born with the crafting gene.  But that long ago Christmas she made an angel for me.

My angel has been at the tip top of every Christmas tree in my family ever since.  She is, sadly, really looking her age these days.  Her red bow is faded.  She is rather wobbly in the wings.  Her heavy foil dress is dented and the three black sequins that used to indicate buttons down the front have been missing for decades now, although a bit of glue showing where one was once, is there still.  But she still has that big smile and the kind eyes and she sits at the tippy-top of the tree, looking down, blessing us all with her steadfastness and and resolve and her very wonky spirit.

Of all my Christmas ornaments and decorations, this five inch bit of foil and a wooden bead, a bit of tattered ribbon and the love of a mother for a child, is my most treasured belonging.  When I hold my angel in my hand it's like I have my mother back again.  I can feel her love for me.  I can feel the real meaning of Christmas.  My angel embodies Christmas for me and my family.  She is always there.  She guards us all.  She is the keeper of the joy.  

Thanks, Mom.  I miss you.  I love you.  

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Southern Africa Trip---Part Two

We were able to visit a rhino feeding station while we were in Zimbabwe.  It's very sad but true that the poaching of rhino has reached such proportions that armed guards need to be posted to keep the poor animals from being slaughtered for their horns.  Every rhino I have ever seen in Africa was there because it was being guarded.  Unprotected rhinos do not survive.  The market for rhino horn is still huge and a single horn can bring as much as $350,000.  And why, you might ask?  Because it is believed, in Vietnam, that rhino horn can cure cancer and even hangovers.

Really.

In the past, rhino horn had a huge market in China, where it was believed to a tonic for liver ailments, and a cure for a myriad other ailments .  That is no longer a much lauded belief and rhino horn powder is not often to be found in Chinese traditional medicine pharmacies, but in Vietnam, the horn is used for fevers and as a tonic for general wellness.  They might as well be grinding up their own fingernails and toenails and ingesting that powder, as both human nails and rhino horn are composed of keratin (as is hair and animal hooves).

In Africa, many plans to protect the endangered rhinos have been tried.  They cut off their horns as a prophylactic to being poached.  Apparently some game preserves have been giving the rhinos a poison that does not affect the animals but is passed on to humans who ingest the horn.  We were told that it would not kill a human, only make them very sick.  At least, that was the story.  The fact remains that these amazing creatures are in real trouble and might well be made extinct because of superstition and misinformation.

We were lucky to see this many rhinos all together.  In October of 2013 alone it is estimated that over 100 rhinos were poached in South Africa alone!

We also saw many African buffaloes on this trip.  (They used to be called Cape Buffalo, but since they are found all over Africa, the name has been changed to more correctly describe them.)

The African buffalo is very unpredictable and that makes it a very dangerous animal.  They have very bad eyesight.  I wouldn't want to run into one while I was on the ground.  Frankly, being in a stout safari vehicle didn't seem all that much protection from such a large, cranky animal.

This is a waterbuck.  I really like these large antelopes, especially the "bulls eye" on their behinds!

Weaver birds are found all over Africa and I am very fond of them.  Their nests sometimes cover whole trees. 

And here you have Nonie and me, riding an African elephant.  "Our" elephant's name is Tusker and he is a 40-year-old male.  He is huge.  I had heard, incorrectly, that only Asian elephants were ridden, so it was a lot of fun to be able to ride an African elephant, too.  The elephants at this camp were all orphaned and the park rangers, not having deep personal pockets, came up with the idea to train the elephants to provide tourists with an activity and let the elephants earn their own keep.  Apparently is has worked so well that there is sometimes an excess of money and those funds are then donated to the Save the Rhino fund.  It's a win/win.

Besides, it was fun!

I'm Baaaaaccccckkkk!: Africa 2013 Part !

 My latest African adventure started with two very short days in Johannesburg, South Africa.  We stayed at a hotel right on Nelson Mandela Square.  This imposing, 70 foot high statue of Mr Mandela dwarfs the square.  There are lots and lots of shops and restaurants all along the square and a large shopping mall is attached.  It was a busy, busy place with lots of locals shopping, not just tourists.  I had a great meal at one of the little places with outside dining and enjoyed the balmy, sleeveless shirt weather.  South Africa was enjoying spring and I had just come from autumn.  It shakes me up to change seasons like that.

Nonie lends scale to the statue of Nelson Mandela

Archbishop Tutu's home

  We took a tour of Soweto one day while in the Johannesburg area and saw Desmond Tutu's house, above, which is just down the street from the home Nelson Mandela returned to after being released from prison after 27 years.

interior of the Mandela home

 There is a plaque on the wall at the Mandela house that brought tears to my eyes.  It reads:

"'That night, I returned with Winnie to No. 8115 in Orlando West.  It was only then that I knew in my heart that I had left prison.  For me, No. 8115 was the centrepoint of my world, the place marked with an X in my mental geography.'

'Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, on his return to 8115 Orlando West after his release from 27 years of imprisonment on 11 February 1990. '"

We all crave home, that intangible place where our hearts live, where the warmth of family and love surround us.  I can not imagine being kept from my home, not for 27 minutes let alone 27 years.  How did he endure imprisonment for so long and come out the other side with compassion and understanding?  How did he become the man who united South Africa?

It was very moving to see that tiny house, that so very tiny little house, that was the center of his heart for so long.

back yard area of the Mandela home

From Johannesburg we traveled to Victoria Falls, truly one of the wonders of the world!  We were there during the time of the lowest volume of water flowing over the falls.  I can't imagine what it must be like at full flood during the rains.  It is LOUD.  The mist is ever present.  Did I mention it's LOUD?
The local name for the falls is Mosi-Oa-Tunya which translates to The Smoke that Thunders.  Such a perfect name for this geologic wonder.

Did I mention how LOUD the falls are?

We took a helicopter ride on morning to view the Falls from the air.  It was rather a pricey trip but worth every penny.  When you are standing across the gorge, admiring the Falls, you don't really realize how narrow the gorge is.  Niagara Falls is large and beautiful, but the water there does not fall down into a gorge, but rather is out in the open.  Victoria Falls falls into what looks like a slit in the earth from the air.  It surprised me to see that very narrow gorge.

Victoria Falls is categorized as the largest waterfall in the world based on its width, over a mile, and height of 354 feet.  It truly is a marvel of nature!

While we were in the air, the helicopter pilot took us over the Zambian  Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park (Victoria Falls is on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe) where we saw this herd of elephants standing in the shade of a tree to get out of the noon day sun.

 I noticed that from the air, if you sort of squint your eyes, the land rather resembles the hide of a giraffe.  The reddish soil and the darker spots (the trees and shrubs, just barely beginning to show signs of leafing out in the early spring weather) create a pattern similar to that of the local giraffes.

And you would be amazed at how easily the giraffes blend into the underbrush and disappear from view in the landscape.  It amazes me that a creature so tall can become so invisible so quickly.

As we flew over the Zambezi River we could pick out the hippos, clustered together under the water, keeping cool in the heat of the day.  They emerge at dusk and then spend their nights grazing before heading back to the cool of the river after dawn.

Passport Update

Look what arrived by FedEx today!

Visa for Zambia.  $90
Visa for Zimbabwe.  $60

Having your passport in hand.....priceless!!

Whew. 

Prepping for Africa and the Tale of the Errant Passport

cover of my Africa travel journal

 I am leaving on another adventure to Africa on Saturday.  I can finally say, with some degree of confidence, that my passport will arrive tomorrow as I have a tracking number---finally!!!  I had sent my passport off to Washington, D.C. to get some needed visas and it has taken ages.....and caused me much stress and worry.  Now I have a firm confirmation that the passport is in transit, due for delivery tomorrow.  Need I say that this is cutting it a tad close???  Did you know you really can sweat bullets?

I made the travel journal by using techniques I learned from several of Mary Ann Moss' online journal classes.  If you have never checked out Mary Ann's classes, you should.  She is away on her own adventure right now (Amsterdam), but her classes are on sale on her blogsite.  That's right!  Hurry over there, but then come back here.

Please?  Pretty please?

I used a lot of vintage Africa themed ephemera in making up the journal pages

 Nonie is going with me, and she, too, as been anxiously awaiting the return of her errant passport.  Tomorrow will be a big sigh of relief day for both of us.  And don't even go there with that awful comment that is struggling to get out of your throat.  I don't want to hear it!!!  Shame!  WHY would you taunt me that way....fie on thee!  

Our passports will come tomorrow.  The will, I say, they WILL.  (They better....)

lion photo from my trip to Kenya and Tanzania in 2012

 This time we will be going to South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.  There will be lots of animals and birds.  No telling what we will see!

I am so ready for this trip!  New camera.  New long lens.  I'm packed.  I'm ready.

(My passport WILL be here.  It WILL.)

elephant photo from Tanzania, 2012

I am hoping to get lots more photos of birds as I have a project in mind the would incorporate my photos of birds from Africa well.  Keep your fingers crossed for me, please.

die cuts from Tim Holtz, photos from my personal photos from 2012....tricky glueing them in!

 We are going with my alumni association on a small group tour.  One of the tour members is a very lovely lady who hoste,d for the alumni association, the trip I took to China.  I am very much looking forward to sharing another adventure with Rhoda.

corner pocket holds ephemera I plan to incorporate into my journaling

 I won't be able to blog from the places I'll be staying.  I will be back towards the end of October and I will be posting about my trip upon my return.

African designed paper napkin incorporated into the pages of the journal

 Do come by and see how this journal is written in and filled up with goodies from my travels.  I hope to have some new, good animal and bird photos to share, and maybe some stories worth sharing with you.

photo from my 2012 trip

Bye for now!