(Not) Free Falling

My sister was here visiting over the weekend with her boyfriend, who is a climbing enthusiast, as well as a climbing teacher. He happened to have a children's harness and all the equipment for climbing with him, and we happen to live near(ish) a canyon with lots of rocks and cliffs.

This was inevitable.

A couple of children weren't feeling well this day, so only Poppy and the middle boy went. The climbing in this canyon is too advanced for kids, but they could rappel down in some places. So that is what they did.

This started, of course, with lessons in safety equipment, how to tie off the rope at the top, and the proper form. I was reassured by how professional and clearly experienced my sister's boyfriend is, not only with climbing instruction in general, but specifically teaching kids. 

My sister rappelled down first, so that she could hold the rope at the bottom for the kids, and also encourage them from down there. Her boyfriend was at the top, getting them started and instructing them as they went.

Small girl, big rock.

Poppy was initially very nervous, but she made it all the way to the bottom and declared it so much fun after her first attempt that she wanted to do more. Middle son was extremely enthused about it all from the get-go.

They rappelled down the same place twice, and then our personal climbing instructor found an even bigger cliff that we could easily access for rappelling*. 

This one was . . . well.

That's a big cliff.

Nothing daunted, down the boy came.

Starting the descent.

He ran the harness back up for Poppy, and she started down.

Not quite halfway.

Poppy had a problem a bit more than halfway down when she got her hand too close to the metal device on the rope that will stop the rope from moving if you need to brake entirely. She got the skin between her thumb and forefinger caught in the device. All her weight was on the rope, so she couldn't get enough slack to get herself free. My sister had to free-climb** from the bottom up to the ledge closest to Poppy, balance with her knee up to set Poppy higher, and then free Poppy's hand.

Super-aunt saves the day.

Poppy wasn't hurt and continued down. Despite that little mishap, she announced that rappelling was the most fun thing ever and she wanted to go the next day. Her brother agreed. We were busy with other things the next day, however, so they didn't get to go again, but it was fun to watch them try something new (and initially scary) and enjoy it so much.

* Being able to get to the top of the drop safely and back up is just as important as being able to get down it. For obvious reasons of not leaving children in the bottom of an inaccessible canyon.

** If my sister hadn't been able to get to her, Poppy could have also been pulled back up to the top, but as she was closer to the bottom and reachable, this way was faster.

Snapshots: Halloween Lead-up

I forgot to show you my pie weights from when I made Poppy's birthday pecan pie. 

Easier than trying to transfer beans in and out.

I subbed a couple of days at school this week. I was there just after they finished taking the year's pictures. We're such a small school, the high schoolers just take all the photos. They set up a nice little photo scene in the media building. I was pleased to see they included several books from my library.

They should have had each of the kids choose their own books for their photos. I would have loved to see what they picked.

The media building also has all the senior class photos from the past twenty years or so. Again, these are very small groups of seniors, so they all get to choose the setting for their photos. I was very amused by the 2012 class of all boys, who were clearly so over school and ready to be gone.

To the point that they didn't bother with any nice poses and smiling, instead just walking away from the camera. 

Over the years, my sister has brought us quite a few little Halloween decorations, which we put up last weekend. My favorites are the lights.

It's hard to see, but these are a small battery-operated string of purple bats.

There's another battery-operated string around the plants at the left above the couch, and then the ones around the window are ghosts.

Friendly ghosts, of course. And they are actually a nice glowy yellow in real life, but the camera makes the light look very white.

Our village had their Halloween celebration last night. This year, they rented a couple of bounce houses.

Appropriately themed.

Poppy and her friend were the first to get to these, and were bouncing by themselves for about twenty minutes before anyone else showed up. It had rained hard the night before, and those decorative skulls and jack-o-lantern faces apparently had water either on top of them or inside of them, because when the girls started bouncing, water started streaming from those onto the ramps below. Which of course made them incredibly slippery.

Since no one else was there, I just told the girls to keep bouncing and they eventually shook all the water out or off. I then dried it off with a towel I keep in my car so it would be safe for other kids to climb in. Public service!

And last, flowers. These might really be the last flowers.

Tired cosmos.

And this week's altar arrangement, which is mostly leaves with the last sunflowers of the year. And this time I think they really are the last ones. (I keep saying that. One of these weeks, it will be true.)

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Friday Food: Leftovers Everywhere

Friday 

Short version: Enchilada casserole, carrot sticks

Long version: This was made with ground beef and beans, plus corn tortillas, cheese, and enchilada sauce. Basic, but tasty. And a good way to make a lot of food with not a lot of ground beef.

Saturday

Short version: Birthday chicken, fried bread, corn, pecan pie with whipped cream

Long version: This was Poppy's request for her birthday dinner. She wanted chicken drumsticks. I had leg quarters, which I separated into thighs and drumsticks. We had just finished a jar of pickles, so I marinated the chicken in the juice from that jar, and then roasted it with paprika and garlic powder.

Fried bread is just what it sounds like: Bread fried in butter. 

Poppy asked for corn on the cob, but I hadn't been to the store recently enough for that, so I had to make frozen corn instead.

This pecan pie. I made a Classic Kristin Kitchen Mistake and added a tablespoon of vinegar to it instead of a teaspoon. And then I had to add more sugar to offset the vinegar, which made the pie sweeter than usual. Some of the family members liked it this way; some did not.

Sunday

Short version: Cottage pie, carrot slaw, pickles, apple crisp with whipped cream

Long version: We had two additional young men eating with us this night, so I needed to make something that would feed a lot of people. Specifically, a lot of boys, both old and young. Cottage pie does that nicely.

I didn't have any corn left, which I typically use with peas for the vegetable part of the cottage pie. So instead I used some cooked collards and shredded carrot I had in the freezer. They were small enough that the children didn't notice them in there.

The only other vegetable I had on hand was carrots, which I shredded and made a slaw out of with some diced onions. The dressing had a little more mayonnaise than I add to regular coleslaw and a bit more sugar. No celery seed, either.

One of our guests doesn't eat gluten, which is why I used two bags of frozen apple slices to make an apple crisp. The topping was mostly oats and nuts, which was fine, but the apples needed to be pre-cooked before being baked with the topping. They were a bit crunchy.

Monday

Short version: More chicken, leftover rice, pasta, frozen peas, tomato salad

Long version: I had so much chicken marinated that I couldn't fit it all on the pan on Saturday. I had left the extra chicken uncooked in the marinade and baked it this night with some barbecue sauce. I put this to bake in the oven just before I left to pick up Poppy at cheer practice. 

I didn't have enough leftover rice for everyone, so I made some pasta when I got home with just cream cheese, butter, and garlic powder.

Tuesday

Short version: Eclectic leftovers, carrot sticks

Long version: I had four chicken drumsticks left, which I chopped and added to the leftover pasta along with some roasted garlic I had in the freezer, a few tomatoes, and some of the grated asadero cheese from the freezer.

There was also leftover enchilada casserole, and then we had a couple of small catfish fillets from the one A. caught on Saturday that I just panfried with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

Mexican, Italian, and American. Truly, we are a melting pot.

Wednesday

Short version: Leftover cottage pie

Long version: I was subbing this day, for the first time this year, so it was definitely a night for leftovers. I had made a whole other cottage pie in an 8"x8" pan that I re-heated in the oven, as well as a little left from the big one we had on Sunday.

I did not serve a separate vegetable. There were peas AND collards AND carrots in the meat mixture! That's three different vegetables. Good enough.

Thursday

Short version: Outside pizza, salad with vinaigrette

Long version: My sister and her friend arrived this day for a short visit. They drove from Oklahoma in her friend's camper and stopped in the nearest town--90 miles away--to buy pizza for dinner. They got three large pizzas at Pizza Hut, and also came with things to make a salad.

Refrigerator check:

Always lots of milk on Thursdays. Thanks, Sysco.

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

A Canyon Birthday Adventure

Poppy's birthday happened to fall on a Saturday this year, which meant we could celebrate on the day itself in a more satisfying way than happens when the birthday falls on a school day. Especially since, miracle of miracles, there was nothing else going on that day.

Poppy loves to hike. We asked her if she would like us all to go hiking as a family in our (relatively) nearby impressive canyon.

She was of course enthused about the idea, so I packed a picnic lunch, A. packed a fishing pole and bait, we both packed the two dogs into Adventure Van, and away we went.

We hit a bit of a snag at the very beginning of our hike, which requires us to go across the river. The point at which we cross typically has many rocks above water for a dry crossing. This time, there was no way to get across without getting wet. No way for me, anyway. I took one look at this situation and said out loud to A. "I am going to fall in this water."

Well, the boys found one spot a bit further downstream where they jumped about three feet from one rock to another, downward-sloping rock. They tried to convince me that I could do this. I, however, have no delusions about my complete inability to jump even short distances, so I declined.

A. and Poppy crossed at our usual spot by removing their shoes, rolling up their jeans, and wading across. A. offered to carry me across, but I didn't want to consider what a bad scene it would be if he fell while I was on his back, so I declined this, too.

I took off my shoes and waded. And sure enough, I was the only one to fall. Much to my family's amusement. 

I just fell back into a sitting position, and all that got wet was my bottom. I didn't get hurt or anything, so I continued on to the other side and spent the rest of the hike with a soaked seat. Good thing it was a warm day.

Also by the stream were some nasty burs that got stuck in the barefoot children's feet, as well as in the dogs' paws. But once we took care of that, we were all set to hike.

Birthday girl hiking. And some gnarly Russian thistle plants that lined the path.

This trail leads to a very nice shady spot under a cliff that only requires maybe a half mile walk. The river where A. wanted to fish was about a hundred yards further down the path. 

We stopped at the cliff in the shade to eat our lunch. This included Poppy's birthday taste test: Pringle flavors.

Cheddar, sour cream and onion, ranch, and pizza.

The pizza-flavored ones did taste surpisingly very like pizza, but it turns out this is somewhat disconcerting in a Pringle. These were not universally enjoyed. More popular were the ranch and sour cream and onion flavors. I personally liked the ranch best. Pringles are pretty tasteless in the original version, so the addition of flavors is a good one.

We had other food, too, of course.

Biscuits (made that morning because I was running low on bread), tuna salad, and not-pictured cookies and beef jerky.

A. left after lunch to fish. The children elected to stay and climb the cliff. It's one of their favorite things to do.

It looks much bigger in real life.

The older two boys made it all the way to the top there at the right. The younger two were about halfway when A. yelled "Fish on!" and they went scrambling down and away to the river to see the catfish A. caught.

The dogs stayed with me.

In the shade. Smart Jasper.*

The younger kids fished for awhile themselves before we decided it was time to head back. We of course had to cross the river again. I elected to keep my shoes on this time, and had no trouble at all. I guess I just can't balance well on rocks in bare feet.

The slippery algae didn't help, either.

The children, unsurprisingly, wanted to stay in the water for awhile.

And since we were about to go home, I didn't care if they got soaking wet. Which of course they did.

After a thorough soaking, they all piled their wet selves into the van and we headed home for a birthday dinner and presents.

It was a good day. We should do it more often.

* Amazingly, Jasper doesn't smell at all like skunk anymore. I guess maybe the dry climate keeps smells from lingering? I don't know, but I appreciate it.

Snapshots: Highly Domestic

For unknown reasons, I was apparently struck by the Fall Cleaning urge this week. When such an urge strikes, I take advantage.

Thus, I finally took all the haphazardly folded, unorganized, and perpetually falling linens off the high shelf in Poppy's bedroom closet, sorted them, and put them in these under-bed storage things I bought, um, two months ago.

They are now under one of the boys' beds, where they will definitely not fall down.

Later in the week, since I had cleaned out Poppy's closet and her floor was relatively clear, I decided to clean under her bed. She has a bunk bed with a bunch of under-bed storage bags, too, with extra clothing, blankets, etc., so I have to haul everything out to reach the back under there by the wall. She also has a very small, dark room, which makes it hard to work in there. 

I did it anyway, though. There were quite a few small things--socks, pajamas, toys, etc.--that had fallen through the sides of her bed around the walls that I couldn't quite reach with my hand. So I used a rake.

 A different kind of fall raking.

And then I had to commando-crawl all the way under the bed to reach with the vacuum attachment so I could get the thick layer of dust that had accumulated against the walls. 

A reminder of why I don't do this very often. It was no fun. But it's done now!

AND THEN.

Chaos in the living room.

My sister had an extra Oriental rug that she didn't need. She brought it with her when she moved from Florida to Colorado and delivered it to our house like two years ago. You can see that the closer rug in the above photo is totally worn out--that's why it looks sort of white--so the plan was to use my sister's rug to cover over the threadbare rug. 

However, on that side of the living room were a wooden bench, a computer desk, and two bookcases full of books. I was daunted by moving all of that, and so the rug has been sitting in A.'s office all this time, awaiting my inspiration.

On Thursday I had a rare day on which I was not doing laundry or cooking, and it was sort of rainy so I wasn't going outside. Thus, I seized the day.

Our living room is narrow and long, as you can see. And we have too many books, as you can also see by the books piled on the edge of the big bookcase to the left.

This took me about five hours. The new rug had a pretty big hole cut out of it in an awkward place. I knew this ahead of time, although I couldn't visualize exactly where it was on the rug until I had laid it out. In the end, I had to lay the rug horizontally across the room and put the bench against the same wall as the couch to cover the hole. This necessitated rearranging all the furniture in that half of the living room. I still can't decide if I like it better this way, but I'm going to live with it for awhile and see how I feel about it.

In any event, this allowed me to clean everything in the living room. Those bookcases literally never get moved, so it was particularly satisfying to clean behind and under where they had been.

Poppy turned eight years old yesterday, and on Friday we had a pre-birthday tea party with her friend who goes to a different school and has never been to our house. (We mostly see her at church or sporting events.)

Making place cards.

Tea for two. (And me. Mine was the third place set, but I didn't get a place card.)

And last, flowers!

Cosmos on the table.

Randomness on the bookcase.

And for the church altar . . .

I do believe these are the very last sunflowers of the year.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Friday Food: Custom Potatoes

Friday 

Short version: Sausage and potatoes, leftover baked beans, leftover pulled pork, tomato salad

Long version: I had made the sausage and potato skillet with leftover sausage, thinking A. could take it when he went hunting with one boy. They didn't go this day, though, so I just served it for dinner. Those for whom the sausage was too spicy had the leftover pork.

I finally got enough tomatoes for a salad, too. I think the chickens got after the tomatoes, because I didn't have any ripe ones for several days. I managed to scrounge up enough for a small tomato salad this night, though.

With basil.

Brown, brown, RED.

Saturday

Short version: All over the place

Long version: One boy was gone on an FFA trip and ate on the road. 

A. and Poppy were gone on a hiking/fishing excursion and ate at a restaurant. 

I was on my way back from flag football at dinnertime with the sandwich-loving boy, so I stopped at Subway on the way home and got him a 12-inch sub for dinner. I had made myself a cheese omelet before I left that I brought along and ate during the games, plus I ate some of the beef jerky and store-brand Oreos I had brought for the football player.

The eldest son was the only one home. He made himself spaghetti with marinara sauce.

It was quite a day.

Sunday

Short version: Meatloaf, customized potatoes, green salad with vinaigrette, apple crisp with vanilla ice cream

Long version: My family does not agree on the best way to eat potatoes. I have one child who dislikes mashed potatoes entirely. Two children prefer their mashed potatoes to be actually pureed with no lumps. The remaining child likes slightly lumpy mashed potatoes.

I do not usually indulge this ridiculousness, but this time I did take a few pieces of potato out of the pot after I added butter and before I mashed them for the mashed-potato-hater. I then mashed the potatoes with my potato masher. And then, since I had the immersion blender out from pureeing some tomatoes earlier, I removed one portion of these potatoes and pureed the rest.

It really is ridiculous, and I will most likely never do that again, but everyone was happy.

A plate with the pureed potatoes, I believe.

I made the apple crisp with one of my bags of frozen apple slices. It's always worth it to prepare and preserve fruit.

Monday

Short version: Quadruple-chicken fried rice, chocolate chip cookies

Long version: I made chicken stock with a bag of frozen bones, etc. that I wanted to get out of the freezer. I used the stock to cook the rice. Then I used the chicken fat to cook the onions and garlic. The meat I picked off the bones went into the fried rice, as did eggs, of course.

Four kinds of chicken products in one meal. Maybe a record. 

Tuesday

Short version: Soup, leftover fried rice, ice cream

Long version: I made soup with some of the chicken stock, plus the last piece of meatloaf, diced fine, tomatoes, collards, potatoes, carrots, green chile, and sour cream.

I asked all the kids--except the soup hater--if they wanted soup or fried rice, and they all asked for both. Thy will be done, children.

Ice cream because a meal of mostly-vegetable soup and leftovers is always better tolerated with a dessert to follow. Also, Poppy informed me that Windows said it was National Dessert Day. Far be it from us to not celebrate such an important national holiday.

Wednesday

Short version: Pork chops, chicken-y rice, frozen green peas

Long version: I marinated the pork chops--both sirloin and center cut--in soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, and garlic before browning them in a skillet and then baking them to finish cooking them. They were good.

Rice made with the chicken stock and finished off with an entire stick of butter.

Thursday

Short version: Fast sandwiches, a salad, leftovers, concession food

Long version: I had about twenty minutes after the children got home on the bus to get Poppy ready to cheer at the volleyball game. The youngest boy and his friend had flag football practice, conveniently at the same school Poppy was cheering at. They didn't really have time to eat at home, so I made everyone cheese sandwiches to eat in the car. They also all brought money to get food at the concession stand.

I had a salad before they got home with some pork in it, plus feta cheese, leftover peas, pickled onions, and tomatoes.

Pretty.

Those at home had either sandwiches or leftover pork chops.

Refrigerator check:

Lots of eggs and milk.

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

The Sharp-dressed Cowboy

One of the many things I have learned since coming here to cattle country is that cowboys are very particular about their clothing. Not, of course, when they're working. When they're out branding or fencing or rounding up cattle, they wear their old, worn-out jeans and shirts*. But if they're dressing up for church or a school event or even a rodeo?

Then it's Starch Time.

Starch is a very important part of the cowboy's dress clothing. They still wear the same kind of jeans or shirts, they're just in good condition and, most importantly, they are heavily starched and ironed. And I do mean heavily. The laundering happens preferably at an actual laundry, because they don't use the spray starch. They actually dip jeans in a vat of starch before pressing them. This results in a starch so heavy that the jeans will literally stand up on their own and the owners have to "break" the legs of them before they can put them on.

I have listened to half-hour conversations among ranch wives about which laundries use enough starch and get jeans starched enough that they will stay creased properly through four wearings. It's a big thing.

I have never visited any of these laundries, and don't usually worry about starching and ironing our clothes, but my sons do occasionally have to make an effort to meet the proper cowboy standards for their clothing. Most notably for FFA contests.

One son went to a livestock judging competition this past weekend for which his FFA advisor specifically said his clothes should be ironed. He could wear (new) jeans and just a button-down, but they must be ironed.

I knew that meant starched, as well. Said son was busy helping a neighbor round up her cattle the morning he was supposed to leave, so I did his ironing for him. I do not like to iron, at all, but I know how to do it if necessary. Just like a businessman's dress clothes, the sleeves of the shirts and the legs of the jeans should have a visible crease that runs in the center of the seams, which requires folding the clothing carefully before ironing.

We have heavy duty spray starch, which is what I used. I sprayed more starch than I thought I would need and very carefully lined up the creases properly before ironing them in.

This would probably be easier if I had a full-sized ironing board, but I don't want to store one.

Those jeans certainly won't stand up on their own, but at least they had the proper creasing. Even if it only lasted for one wearing.

* ALWAYS long-sleeved button-downs or snap shirts, though. This is entirely a matter of practicality, to keep the sun from absolutely frying their arms and necks when they're out working all day.