Of course, daffodils are all in bloom around the end of March and symbolize rebirth.
My Trader Joe's had a bunch of 10 for $1.50. At that price, you can't go wrong and so I bought 2 bunches.
As you can see, they look very spring like sitting on my table.
They don't last long...but for $3 in change, that isn't a terrible waste of money.
Oh and I totally enjoyed them on Easter morning. Much better than an Easter Lily, IMHO.
Recipe By:Grant
"This is a very Scottish dish to be served as a vegetable dish or as an accompaniment to haggis, beef, pork, lamb, or game."
Ingredients
1 pound baking potatoes, peeled and cubed
3/4 pound turnips, peeled and cubed
1/4 pound carrots, peeled and cubed
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, cubed
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Directions
Place the potatoes, turnips, carrots, and salt in a Dutch oven, fill with water to cover the vegetables and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-high and boil the vegetables until tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain and mash the vegetables with a potato masher. Spoon the mashed vegetables into a serving dish, top with cubes of butter and drizzle with cream.
This is angel. I added about a half cup of grated cheddar cheese and baked it in the oven for about 15 minutes, I found another article that actually mentions this exact thing, so I was right on the ball with the addition of the cheese.
Personally, I think it came out outstanding...but Hubby tried a tiny bit of it and thought they came out bland. My son didn't touch it at all. Oh well.
As I mentioned in my Easter post, I finally got my Ukranian eggs finished.
In the case of my first test egg, all I needed to do, was melt and wipe off the wax. Not a big job, but I had not done it.
For my project egg, I was short the final coating of wax and then the dye job in black.
It was beautiful how it was, but I wanted it finished. So I broke down and bought a Psanky kit, to finish it.
Saturday night, just hours before Easter, I sat down at my computer and lit the candle, that signals the beginning of Psanky egg making.
You use the heat of the candle to melt the wax with. Nothing gets done, without the wax.
It was difficult, because I had large areas to wax up. Finally it was done and I mixed the black color.
For whatever reason, these colors are not like regular Easter decorating colors.
The egg finally took the color and after it dried, I started wiping off the wax.
OMG, it came out just great, with the red flower and the green dots and the yellow highlights in the flowers.
Totally a beautiful egg.
I am glad I learned how to do it.
My Water Post For Today.
We are still in a drought, but I thought a photo of a piece of the L.A. River, right by a treatment plant, would be nice to see.
It is one of the only areas of the river that has running water in it, all year long.
I miss this part of the river, which is a few miles from my old work place.
I hope you enjoy.
Happy Easter, to all who celebrate.
Yes, I did manage to get my baking done. It was iffy for a while. I had no flour or sugar and so I was even more delayed than normal.
In good news, I made only one batch of bread and that amount came out just fine.
In other news, remember the Ukranian Egg decorating technique I learned a few weeks ago? Well, I broke down and bought the pysanky kit and it came in time for me to work on my almost finished egg.
As a matter of fact, I am typing with one finger right now. I have to hold the egg under the dye...sigh.
It just finished, yay, I can type again. :-)
Anyway, I have the meat pie and I have a 3 egg Easter Egg Bread, so breakfast for this home is now complete.
I will take a photo of the finished egg, another day.
This is the view from inside Friendly Valley.
We were given access the day that we had a memorial service for my friend, Rita.
Friendly Valley is a retirement community that was begun back in 1963 and is similar to Leisure World (down in Orange County).
It is a planned community, surrounding a golf course, clubhouse, pool, spa and many other places, where activities for seniors are situated.
This view is from the newest area of the community, which was finished in 2004.
Our friends live in this area, which is up on a hill and the vista views are outstanding.
Some of their backyards have this view and others, can see some of it, from their front yard.
Both my Husband and I appreciated the look at an area that we have been blocked from viewing, for 36 years.
It is Good Friday once again. As usual, recipes are over on the side of my blog, for Easter Egg Bread and Pizza Rustica.
The Holy week has been a bit different, for me. I have been going to daily Mass at the Hospital next to my building, for the past 3 weeks.
I don't know if I feel more religious, less religious or something in between, but I do enjoy the change from thinking in terms of shows feeding in and logs that need to have breaks filled.
This past week I missed Palm Sunday at my Church (picture is from a few years ago) and I thought that I would not have a Palm Cross, which I make from the palm they give to me, during the Mass. You can see some of my work, HERE.
That's the way life goes sometimes, I thought.
I went to Mass on Monday at the little chapel and what do I see wedged between 2 chairs in the row in front of me? A Palm! I was so happy.
I started making the cross the way I normally do, braiding two pieces together for the vertical piece of wood. As I was doing this, the Mass began and I don't do it during most of it. I only do it during the homily. At the Chapel's Mass, the homily is only about 5 minutes. That meant I had to change how I was making my cross. So I folded it in half, to make the wood that goes horizontal across the top. So my cross is a hybrid, but it worked for me.
Tuesday's Mass was about the one who would betray Jesus. Setting the stage for Spy Wednesday and the Last Supper. I missed Wednesday's Mass, because I had taken the day off, to bring Makenna to the vet.
Thursday's Mass was The Last Supper. One of the things they do, is the priest washes the feet of the people. It is in a similar fashion, to what Jesus did that night.
We got to the end of the Mass and I was so happy that it looked like no feet washing was going to go on. Suddenly, the priest took off his stole and his vestments and said that he needed each of us to remove a shoe. Ack!
The Mass had already run 5 minutes late and I so ran out of there. I know...chicken. :-)
Friday is a Communion Service and Stations of the Cross. That seems a bit much for a lunch break on a Friday, so I will be skipping it.
Hopefully I will make it to Easter Service on Sunday, to round out the holy season.
It comes around on the Ides of March, Makenna's Birthday (the specific day was chosen by me so it is easy to remember).
This past year we have been having problems with her left eye.
The last time we visited, the vet told us that the cloudiness would always be there, which I spoke of HERE. Well, we all are not real happy with that.
We made the appointment with our normal vet, because we were hoping for a second opinion on the subject of Makenna's "Bionic" eye.
Dr. Tracy has been our vet through 3 cats and we love her.
Recently, she has been dealing with some personal medical challenges and so getting to her, has been difficult.
We were glad we managed to, since she has given us some advice (after she consulted via phone with a cat ophthalmologist). More eye drops, but this time, with Corticosteroid.
It says that it quickly brings down the swelling of the ocular lining (anti-inflammatory), BUT also increases the body's susceptibility to other bacteria by lowering the immune system (immunosuppression).
We shall see if that works for her.
In other news, her treats that keep her right eye from having problems, has been giving her a bit of a loose stool, so the vet changed her L-Lysine to a powder and we were told to mix it into her wet food.
We will see how that goes, since she normally gets her dry stuff in the morning.
Otherwise, shots and a healthy cat.
I have made apple pies several times, in the past few years. They come out good, but there is usually a huge problem with them...the apples cook and take up less space and so there is a large area without anything in it. It makes the pie a bit weird.
I was watching America's Test Kitchen a few weeks ago and they mentioned that the secret of keeping the crust and apples together, is to pre-cook the apples and sugar and spices, before placing it into the pie plate.
How simple and elegant an idea. So I did do exactly that and as a matter of fact, added about a half cup of raisins to the apples and poured the mixture into the pie plate.
It came out great and I thought I would mention this tip, along with the original recipe.
Enjoy.
Apple Pie
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 to 7 apples thinly sliced and peeled
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches) (make yourself, or purchase in a store)
1 tablespoon butter
1 egg white (I sprinkled some water on the crust instead)
Additional sugar to go on the crust, after sprinkling with water or brushing with the egg white.
I cut 7 apples into slices and placed them in water, while doing all this. I then drained them and combined them with the sugar and spices (I used Penzy's Apple Pie Spice).
I bought 2 9" pie crusts at the store and placed the first one in the pie plate. Put the apple and spice mixture in and doted with the butter. Then you cover with the second crust. You need to pinch the two crusts together to seal.
Make 4 or so holes in the top crust to allow steam to escape and place in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes (with the edge of the crust covered with foil). After 25 minutes, take off the foil, turn the pie and cook for another 20 or so minutes. Take the pie out, when the crust browns sufficiently.
Cool and eat. Yum.
Two stories making news in Santa Clarita, have me shaking my head.
The first one has been ongoing for the past few months.
A soccer field that has been in business for over 20 years, is being pushed out of its location by an apartment complex that was built within feet of the field.
To me, people complaining about this soccer field, are the same as people who complain about an airport that has been in the same location for decades.
You knew this going in, so what a you kvetching (Yiddish word for complaining) about?
The residents kept bringing it up at our City Council meetings and the owner of the field, finally decided it was time to go. I personally feel he should have continued to fight this, but he wanted to be a good neighbor and so he relocated.
You can read the entire sad article, HERE.
The second story has been going on for the past 24 hours. It happens to be about 2 blocks from my home.
A foster child was taken from her family and moved to Utah on Monday, because she is 1.6 Native American.
The Foster Parents tried using the media to sway public opinion and for the most part, did so. Unfortunately, Child Services came and took the child to go live with members of her father's family. Supposedly, she will be living with a sister and another sister lives nearby. The child has no knowledge of these siblings.
I get the feeling that this was drawn out, way too long and the results are seriously going to impact the young child.
Sometimes I feel like where I live, is not so Awesometown.
My Water Post For Today.
Being I have been walking around the area at work, I am seeing more of the land around our building.
As I pointed out 2 months ago, the park next to us, Johnny Carson Park, is still closed.
Being I am hoping to see the little stream again when it opens, I thought I would actually showcase another photo that I took back in 2012.
I hope it will look as good as the original one.
If they wait much longer, it will have no water in the stream at all.
I hope you enjoy.
First off, Happy Spring everyone!
After Christmas was over, Wolferman's had this interesting mixing bowl and spatula. It came with a box of buttermilk biscuits, at an outrageously inexpensive price. So I bought it.
I waited until now, to finally make the biscuits. One thing I learned along the way, was that the best way to mix the dough is to do it the French way. Folding the dough in thirds, then moving the dough 1/4 turn and folding again. I did this several times and yes, I could see the streaks of butter and dough and I knew it would come out just right.
Here is a recipe from Southern Cooking, which gives you a start.
Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
1/2 cup cold butter
2 1/4 cups self-rising soft-wheat flour
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
Self-rising soft-wheat flour
2 tablespoons melted butter
Preparation
1. Cut butter with a sharp knife or pastry blender into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Sprinkle butter slices over flour in a large bowl. Toss butter with flour. Cut butter into flour with a pastry blender until crumbly and mixture resembles small peas. Cover and chill 10 minutes. Add buttermilk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.
2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead 3 or 4 times, gradually adding additional flour as needed. With floured hands, press or pat dough into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle (about 9 x 5 inches). Sprinkle top of dough with additional flour. Fold dough over onto itself in 3 sections, starting with 1 short end. (Fold dough rectangle as if folding a letter-size piece of paper.) Repeat entire process 2 more times, beginning with pressing into a 3/4-inch-thick dough rectangle (about 9 x 5 inches).
3. Press or pat dough to 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; cut with a 2-inch round cutter, and place, side by side, on a parchment paper-lined or lightly greased jelly-roll pan. (Dough rounds should touch.) Note: My recipe on the box, said to brush the biscuit tops with milk.
4. Bake at 450° for 13 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; brush with 2 Tbsp. melted butter.
Let's take a break from my posts from this week. No food, no down posts and no produce boxes.
How about we check out this cool rainbow!
We had rain all afternoon about a week ago. I was worried that I would have to walk to the pick up point in the pouring rain.
Amazingly, the rain stopped about an hour before quitting time and so there I was walking in the sun and the clouds...and a rainbow!
I took several photos, during my half mile walk. This one feels like the best.
A rainbow over the Disney Alameda Gate.
That is exactly what Walt would have wanted.
Abundant Harvest Kitchen comes to the rescue again.
I received 3 potatoes, 5 carrots and apples on Saturday.
I had red lentils in the cupboard and while I was looking for them, I found wild rice and decided it would work well, in this rustic dish.
The recipe asks that you blend the vegetables, after they cook, but I decided to stick with rustic.
I added pork, that I had seasoned and fried in a fry pan, first. The addition of the pork, adds so much to the flavor of the soup.
Since I only had regular potatoes, I added some carrot juice, to sweeten up the soup.
It turned out great.
As made it is a great vegetarian lunch or dinner, mine is (of course) not.
Enjoy it either way.
Check out the directions and photos, HERE.
Sweet Potato, Carrot, Apple, and Red Lentil Soup
Author: Carol Peterson
Recipe type: Soup
Prep time:
15 mins
Cook time:
40 mins
Total time:
55 mins
Ingredients
¼ c butter
2 sweet potatoes, peeled, chopped
3 carrots, peeled, chopped
1 apple, peeled, chopped
1 onion, chopped
½ c red lentils
½ tsp minced ginger
½ tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp paprika
4 c vegetable broth
plain yogurt
Instructions
Melt butter in large pot, place chopped sweet potatoes, carrots, apples and onion in pot. Stir and cook until onions are translucent, 10 minutes. Stir the lentils, ginger, black pepper, salt, cumin, chili powder, paprika, and broth into the pot with vegetable mixture. Bring soup to a boil over high heat. Reduce and cover for 30 minutes.
When vegetable are soft, working in batches, pour the soup into a blender. Hold down the lid of the blender and carefully blend using a few quick pulses to get soup moving. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. Can also use an immersion blender.
Bring soup back to a simmer over medium high heat. Add water as needed to thin the soup to your preference.
Serve with yogurt for a garnish.
Happy St. Patrick's Day to all who are Irish...or want to be Irish.
My Vons store just recently opened back up, after the Haggen fiasco.
To say the least, we are very happy.
The first thing I saw, when I walked in, was this lovely St. Patrick's Day display.
The mini loves of Irish Soda Bread, were just so cute to see.
I was just there for some cheese, so I did not buy any...but maybe they will still have them today.
If they are still there, maybe I won't make some of my own and instead try theirs.
A nice way to celebrate.
This is an update of a post I wrote a few weeks ago, on March 2nd. You can see it HERE.
My Friend Nikol, who is an Ides of March baby, got the absolute best birthday gift, this year. Her son, her first born, has been found after a whirlwind day of friends following him and keeping her in the loop, while she tried to get going on getting treatment options.
The police were no help at all and as a matter of fact, they asked Trast if he even wanted to go home with his mother. He is still only 17, yet the rights of the mother were totally ignored.
Bottom line is that he has agreed to treatment and unfortunately, the only place that has room right now, is out of her healthcare network.
This could end up costing upwards of $10 thousand dollars.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up to try to get some money, for treatment.
A few dollars from each of us, would go a long way toward peace of mind for this mother.
You can see it HERE.
Thank you for your help and support.
We got through our last box of produce, minus a few odds and ends, like the Italian spices, that I fully intend to use.
Otherwise, we have apples and I really have to make something with them.
Here is what came in our box this time.
3 Apples
1 bunch of Asparagus
3 Bay Leaves
5 Carrots
1 large head of Cauliflower
5 Lemons
1 head of Romaine Lettuce
3 Minneolas (A type of Orange)
3 Russet Potatoes
1 bunch of Rainbow Chard
4 Turnips
In addition to these things, I took an extra turnip...why not.
We also got some prepared Butter Chicken. Just a taste, but it is excellent and if I ever have a huge amount of extra money, maybe I will purchase it from the AHO Kitchen. :-)
Asparagus, cauliflower, potatoes are gone. On top of the vegetables, I made a soup recipe that came with the box. It came out delicious and will have its own post soon.
See you next time.
My Water Post For Today.
When I took the photo for last week, I was walking back to the car and in an area that had nothing but turtles, I suddenly had several geese.
Maybe they flew in on their way up north?
I wonder if they know the winter season has been mild up in Canada?
No matter, they chose a beautiful area to stop.
I hope you enjoy.
My normal invitation to spend a few hours working on an Icon, came last month.
I have no Icon to work on, at this point and so I usually ignore it.
Due to the fact that Easter is coming, our teacher decided to hold a special class and have it taught by a person who knows how to decorate Eggs, using the Psanky Ukrainian method, with beeswax and dyes.
Being I am into coloring eggs and this totally interested me, I decided to attend. It was free, too.
Win!
The class had us bring 2 eggs, one to practice on and one to do this lovely design on.
I did not get either of my eggs done, because they asked us to stop working on egg number 1, so that we would have enough time for egg number 2.
Well, the 2 hours were not enough, as it ended up and so I am one dye job away from being finished.
Here is a photo of the egg, made by the woman who sat next to me. Nina is Ukrainian (or she attends a church that is Russian Orthodox) and so she is an expert at making these eggs.
This photo is her egg, to give you an idea of how a completed one looks.
Mine has the red dye on it and I still needed to wax the entire star, before the final black dye job, could be done.
Maybe someday...
First off, a very happy birthday to my sister.
Love you sis. :-)
Just before we transitioned from the Vons on Lyons Ave, back to our old "New" Vons on Bouquet Canyon Road, I got into some organic peanut butter.
I found it to be very good and I wanted to buy another one. So I checked out the Vons by us and it did not have any.
This meant that I will have to go the Vons that is 8 miles away, to get my morning Peanut Butter fix.
Since I drove to work on Wednesday, I decided to stop at that Vons on the way home.
I got two of them, so I would be good for a month or so.
We then went to the Grand Opening of our "New" Vons, when I got home. They had good coupons and free stuff and I will be having a very busy weekend, so we got shopping out of the way.
I was happy that I did not have to worry about the Peanut Butter.
So we get to the produce aisle and what do I see, an entire display (including the history of the company) of Torn & Glasser nuts and fruits...including my peanut butter!
In honor of that fact, I bought the one that has cocoa in the peanut butter. I had debated getting it at the other store and didn't, because I was afraid it was weird and I would not like it. I had it for my snack that evening and yes, it is good, by the way.
I know, what a loon. I now own 3 containers of Peanut butter, but I know they will not go to waste.
Every year St. Clare's Catholic Church puts on a Lenten Fish Fry to raise money for many organizations in our community.
We always attend at least once or twice, during the 6 week period.
It makes us feel good and we enjoy their fish.
Here is what it looked like on March 4th.
Their cod fish is crisp and like nothing I have ever tasted.
If you live in Santa Clarita, my family definitely recommends going.
Oh, you can get it with fries, too. :-)
I wrote this post 11 years ago today, back in 2005. I was looking for a post I did in that time period and found this, on Gina in Belgium's Mizar 5.
I decided that since I found it, I would give it a home here on my blog, too. I am especially frustrated that the wayback machine archive only has the first page of her posts, by month and year. If she had many posts that month, they get lost. Well, this one has been found. Yay team.
If you have a good memory, I posted a brief ENTRY with this photo, that I took off a video. It is of my family at the NY World's Fair. Yes, we are eating Eskimo Bars. :-)
Enjoy.
3/10/05
Nigey Lennon wrote an article in her Mizar 5 column “With A Gun” about a tour she took visiting forgotten sites in New York. A recent visit was the New York World’s Fair site. It got me to thinking about that time and that place. I was born and raised in NY and so my perspective reflects that point of view. In 1964 I was a 9 year old girl, taken to that World’s Fair by my family. Obviously, I have a child’s memory of the fair, but the overall feel of the event was unmistakable. As those lyrics of Donald Fagen’s IGY attest to, yes the future looked very bright. The auto makers showed these wonderful modern cars, GE had the Carousel of Progress (which we would later see for decades at Disneyland). Showing off not only where we came from, but where we were headed, going into that “bright” future. I remember being scared as I waited on line to see that exhibit. The building moved around in a circle and it was the only time I ever had that happen. As a matter of fact, it seemed a true “Flag waving” event, at least to this child. Patriotism abounded. Look how wonderful we are and how much we have given the world. Obviously, that naive opinion has drastically been changed by current events and the cynicism of 40 more years under my belt. I’m sure you can understand.
What I remember….
Number one is The Alaska Pavilion!
What the heck are you talking about, I am sure you are thinking and rightly so. Well, at the age of 9 what else would someone remember with such fondness, then an Eskimo Bar on a hot NY day in mid July. My Dad bought those bars and we sat there eating them. We have movie pictures of us out front and yes, we were happy children. OK, enough of that.
Actually, the first memory I have is the monorail. That sleek train of the future, quietly gliding around this large lake (Flushing Meadow Lake?) to the front gate of the fair. If I remember correctly, that was where the Unisphere was situated, with flags around it. I assume there were ticket counters, but of course, I don’t remember such things. I don’t think we rode the Monorail, which may have had to do with a separate fee or something. I remember a tire ferris wheel, was it Goodyear, Uniroyal, Firestone? To this child it was just huge! I remember the NY State Pavilion, those 3 towers, one higher then the next (they ended up in the climatic final scene of “Men in Black”). There was a Port Authority Building that had a heliport at the top. There was a restaurant in the lower part of the building a sort of squat square thing, eventually called Terrace in the Park. My High School had it’s Prom there. The big 3 automakers each had an exhibit. GM, Ford and Chrysler. Ford had their convertible car as the seat for the ride through their exhibit. I remember waiting on line for it. Strange memories I have. I should go onto the Internet and try to find out what was really there. I do believe we went both years. My youngest brother, who was was 2 at the time, was still in the stroller. He has no memories at all, though the last time I visited him he mentioned walking around the grounds, recently. Similar to Nigey, I think.
Nigey Lennon had a few links to information on the Fair and I did manage to see some of it, including a map of the park. Pretty impressive thing. Lots of exhibits from other countries, but I honestly don’t remember them at all. Then again, how much could a family of 6 see in one day, especially with such young children. That probably explains some of why I felt it was such an American Event, we didn’t see all that much. I should try to view our old film of the World’s Fair. That might be interesting, after seeing the map.
Thank you Nigey, for resurrecting some very old memories.
angel
A bit of information, to start off this post. Five Knolls is a current development, in the Saugus and Canyon Country areas of Santa Clarita.
We were driving home after gym class on Saturday, when we suddenly saw this huge sign off in the distance.
It looked like a cheap knock off of the original Hollywoodland sign, that was a marketing ploy, back in the early days of Hollywood.
I hated it, right off the bat. My Husband was a bit more generous.
Well, after reading THIS article in our local paper, I think I win that discussion. :-)
According to the article, the City of Santa Clarita, put its foot down, about the size of the sign and the fact that the developer did not get permission, before erecting the sign.
It should be gone, when we pass that area tomorrow morning.
It couldn't happen fast enough, for me.
We were at Walmart the other day and what should I see? The same top I bought a few weeks ago is now on sale. I wrote about it HERE.
I just mentioned it in passing to my husband and his thought was, why don't you see if you want a different one, than the one you have.
So I went over to the display and chose this one. As you can see, it is more a winter outfit, but winter comes around next year, so now I have 2 new tops to wear.
It is quite a bit different than the one I have. First off, the sleeves are much longer than mine and the jacket does not go down as far as mine does. It is quite short, as a matter of fact. Of course the color is a very light blue this time, too.
All in all, I am pleased with it and for under $10, I consider it a win.
*Not a great photo, but due to the storms and such, the lighting was weird.
My Water Post For Today.
It stormed all Saturday night. Not a lot of rain...but some.
Sunday we wake up to clouds and sun.
A beautiful way to wake up, in my humble opinion.
On the way home from Church, I stopped at Bridgeport and took some photos of the other side of the entry bridge.
I don't think I have walked over here and so I hope you enjoy something a little different.
I personally think it is lovely and serene.
In the modern day, or at least back in 2007, I wrote about the Newhall Pass. You can see what we deal with, road wise, HERE.
Let's set the way back machine to 152 years ago...
152 years ago yesterday Beale's Cut was formally accepted as finished, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
You may ask, so what does that mean?
Beale's Cut was the first roadway that went between the San Fernando Valley and the Santa Clarita Valley. It took years for General Beale to make the cut through the mountain of The Newhall Pass. Adding to the length of time, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors made additional stipulations on the grade of the road. The original grade was much too steep, and General Beale had to have his workers continue to make the cut deeper.
On March 5, 1864, the cut was approved and the tolls were set. Tolls, you might ask. I thought there were no tolls in California?
That is basically true, but being General Beale had a monopoly, he was allowed to charge a toll.
The toll was steep, especially looking at costs today.
From the Los Angeles Star:
"The San Fernando Hill having been completed according to the survey ordered by the Board of Supervisors, the following rates of toll have been established: For a team of twelve animals, $2.75; for a team of ten animals, $2.75; one of eight, $2.50; six, $2; four, $1.75; two, $1.37 1/2; one, 75 cents. Loose animals, cattle etc., 10 cts. each; one man and horse, 25 cents; sheep 4 cts. each; pack animals, 25 cts. each; Mr. Beale has appointed A.P. Robbins as Collector of Tolls."
The members of the Board of Supervisors finally accepting General Beale's road over the San Fernando hill were, "B.D. Wilson, C. Aguilar, J.A. Morris, A. Ellis, P. Sichel (M. Keller.)"
You can read more of the history of Beale's Cut, HERE.
I think I will take the Newhall Pass, as it is now. :-)
Actually, I Mentioned some trees coming out of dormancy about a week ago, but these are the flowers that go along with fruit trees.
They are much more fragile, then sturdy leaves.
Yes, here we are, just barely into March and the trees have given up on El Niño and are blooming away.
Unfortunately for them, the weekend is forecast as rain, rain and rain, as in El Niño weather.
We shall see how that goes for the blossoms on the trees.
For now, enjoy the beauty of spring in Los Angeles.
If you remember correctly, back just over a year ago, I blogged about an Interfaith Chapel I found on the campus of Providence St. Joseph's Hospital.
I photographed it and commented that I would like to attend Mass there, sometime.
It is a year later and I need to get out and walk more.
Being I have no real reason to walk, or destination in mind, I started walking around the hospital campus on Monday and again reacquainted myself with the information that Mass is said at noon each day. It was about 2PM that day and there were several people praying, including one on her prayer mat, in a corner of the room.
I found that comforting, that people were using the space and I decided that I would try to carve an hour out of my day and go to Mass soon.
So Tuesday comes and I was running late, but I made it over, just in time.
It was a small amount of people, maybe 10 or so, but minus the bad audio (seriously, do they want me to give them instructions on how to mic themselves correctly?) it went well and I was back within about 45 minutes.
On Wednesday I came in late and so trying to make it 2 days in a row, was out.
On Thursday, I made the effort and managed to get there about 7 minutes early. Win!
There were even less people that day, maybe 6 or so.
With luck, I will make this a part of my life, at least during the remainder of lent and then see how it goes.
I appreciate a few minutes a day, to pray for those I love and for me, of course.
I was going to make Authentic Chili Rellenos with some hatch chilies I bought back in the Fall. Hatch chilies are only grown in the Hatch Valley in New Mexico. The weather in that area, makes the chilies very wonderful...or so I had heard.
After getting them home, I put them onto the grill and roasted them, to get the skin to come off them and when I washed them, I found out how hot they were.
Way too hot for a mild chili relleno recipe, I thought. So I froze them.
Months later, I finally made a pot of chili, using 2 cans of already prepared chili and adding in some tomato puree, onions, garlic and mushrooms.
At the last minute, I decided to spice up the chili, by using the hatch chilies I had in the freezer.
I wasn't sure if it would be too spicy for my family, but today I asked both of my guys if they had tried the chili and spaghetti I had made. Both of them said it came out good.
Win!
In case you are into Authentic Chili Rellenos, HERE is the recipe I was going to try.
Maybe someday I will try again, with a milder chili.
I have a friend at work.
I mentioned her on THIS post, which is about her recipe for pickles.
Nikol has 3 sons. Her firstborn ran, away at 16. We worked hard and we actually found him and she put him into treatment, to get him off drugs.
It was working, but after 2 weeks, her insurance felt it was enough. Seriously, there is something wrong with our healthcare providers.
So she managed to keep him, until he walked out one day a year ago in January. He has been gone since.
The other day, a photo ended up on National Geographic's Instagram feed. It was Trast!
He is living in Santa Monica and it is the saddest photo you will see, because you can tell the toll that the drugs he is using are taking on him and of course, life on the streets.
The whole situation is not pretty and I feel so bad for my friend.
Something she WROTE last year, basically sums up some of the situation.
The chances that anyone who reads this blog, lives near Santa Monica are remote, at best. If you do and you see him, especially by the 3rd Street Promenade, HERE is the contact information.
My Water Post For Today.
Since I pre-empted my normal Monday water post, I knew I needed something special. I hope you will agree that this photo more than makes up for the delay.
This photo was on my friend Gina's Facebook page, along with many others. The writing was in Dutch, so it was a tough thing to slog through, but the gist of it seems to be construction of a bikeway that will destroy some of the area around this wonderful old mill.
The mill is right next to the Conservatory, called the Heksenstraat, which is in the Jeker district of Maastricht, Netherlands.
I loved the look of the old mill, the colors of the tiles on the roof and, of course, the water that still passes by, all these centuries later.
I hope you enjoy.
