THE STAFF OF LIFE

Recently, our friends Frank and Kathy went on a week-long trip and asked us to watch their cat Winston. Winston is a wonderful cat! He is playful and rolls over for me when I get down on the floor and rub his head, back and tummy. If ever I was to have a cat, Winston would be the kind of cat I would want. Kathy has always had good luck picking cats. Winston is no exception! On their way home they came through Bishop, California. A local favorite in Bishop is Erick Schat's Bakkery--Home of the original Sheepherder bread. (Bakkery is not mis-spelled...it is the way it is on the brochure).

Frank and Kathy brought home three loaves of bread from the "bakkery" for us: an extra sourdough, a 12 grain, and sheepherder bread for which the "bakkery" is famous for. When we got home today with our three loaves I made myself a grilled-cheese on the extra sourdough . I wish you were here to join me because it was just so delicious.

Here's the three loaves fresh from Bishop, California. Below is the brochure for the bread. You can order it on-line and they will ship it to you! I just might have to do that one of these days.
FROM INSIDE THE BROCHURE: "The original Sheepherder Bread (1938) was introduced to the Owens Valley during the California Gold Rush by immigrant Basque sheepherders who missed the bread of their homeland.They shaped loaves of their traditional bread by hand, used stone ovens for baking, and produced the first sheepherder bread. Even today we shape the loaves by hand and bake in the finest European Stone Hearth Ovens. The Original Sheepherder Bread (1938), as well as all other delicious products, are made of only the purest ingredients: Well water from the Sierra, stone ground unbleached flour, and never any chemicals. Just like our bread, our pastries are made with only the finest ingredients. Real butter, grade AA eggs, unbleached flour, cane sugar, and artesian well water. We go to the growers to inspect and purchase our almonds and almond paste, pecans, and walnuts. Please enjoy our high quality delicious products."

Check out their website. Besides bread they offer variety loaves such as banana walnut, blueberry walnut or cranberry walnut as well as rolls, pastries, pound cakes, pullaways, cinnamon loaves, cookies, preserves and honey, Dutch specialties and even such things as peppers, jerky, bread dippers, bread spreads and dips, and candies--even sugar-free gummy bears, peanut brittle, and salt water taffy! I don't think you'd be disappointed, that's for sure!

Thanks Frank and Kathy for the special delivery. I'll think about you every time I take a bite of my wonderful bread for the next week or so. And Winston...convince your Mom and Dad to take another trip so I can come and play with you again. I already miss you.

REMEMBERING A DEAR FRIEND

Two years ago, my dearest friend in all the world passed away. I have missed her deeply for these past two years. I thought that I would tell a bit about her here on my blog since today is the day that she was born. This is a small painting that she gave to me many years ago. She used to love to paint and when she lived in a mobile home park she would teach others what she knew at the club house. I own a few of these paintings, primitive as they are, but love them to pieces because they were made by her, with her hands.Lela was a generous person all of her life and she lived well into her eighties. Her health was bad a few times throughout her life. She had asthma that plagued her and landed her in the hospital many times throughout her long life. She survived breast cancer. She survived lymphoma too. She had a dedication for life that was beyond what most of us would ever expect to be put through but she was determined. She was strong until the end.

I was thinking the other day that sometimes after we lose someone, it is hard to pull their face up in our memory. I need a photo sometimes to remind me exactly how she looked. I think that faces start to fade after awhile. But, I always remember her kindness and her friendship toward me. I can never remember arguing with her about anything, I never remember her saying a harsh word about me ever, and I can honestly say that we were the kind of friends that never forgot about each other. We talked on the phone a minimum of once a week. Sometimes when she couldn't reach her daughter on her cell phone she would call me and we would talk. My only regret is that I didn't make the effort to drive the three-hours to the Bay Area to visit her more. Toward the end of her life B and I would make the trip down to visit her in the care facility she was in. Being the host that she always was, she would offer to serve us something to eat or drink as though she were at home in her own surroundings. I would stop at Trader Joe's and try and pick out things for her that she could enjoy that didn't require refrigeration. Sharing a room in a care facility is not as dignified as most people would care to admit. But, she never apologized for her small living quarters, only the fact that she didn't have enough chairs for us to sit on or that she didn't have the ability to use her beloved kitchen.

Lela loved to cook. She was in her element in her kitchen and she rivaled anyone in this arena. One of her pass times if she couldn't sleep was sitting up looking at cook books. I have a few that she personally signed for me. They are my treasures. And...I also have a few of her recipes still too. I have scanned her recipe for Kosher Dill Pickles, written in her own handwriting, for you to see. Notice the attention to details that she went to in telling me that I had to use "Heinz" vinegar and that the water had to be "distilled". Even the salt had to be "canning" salt. On the back side she gives me permission to "use garlic and peppers to [your]taste" and she gives me a health warning, cautioning me not to "use if they are soft or lose color" and that I "make sure [you] scrub cukes and remove any bad spots."

I loved this woman!! She was always there for me. She never ignored me and always gave me good advice in my life. I didn't always take it but later on I wished I would have! She had a keen sense of humor and she could tell me something I didn't want to hear but it didn't make me like her any less. We shared a love of painting and flowers. She always picked up things for me that had pansies on them because she knew how much that flower meant to me. I have the most beautiful Fitz and Floyd pansy teapot that she gave me once. I was instructed "to never get rid of the box" and I haven't! We both understood chiaroscuro which is important when you are an artist. Without it, there is no dimension, no realism to representational art.

Funny how even though she is no longer here physically she is "still" here. Her handwriting proves that she once walked this earth. This summer, when I make her Kosher Dill Pickles I will once again be transported to her kitchen. Good luck wishes from Lela. Good luck from her to me. She will always be here with me. No one can ever take that away from me.
1 lug fresh picked cucumbers

1 gallon white vinegar (Heinz!)

2 gallons water (distilled)

4 cups salt (canning)

Fresh Dill, garlic, and red dried peppers

Pack in hot sterile jars. Cure for 3 months in cool place.

OLD FRIENDS AND NEW

It's Thursday. We woke up with the sky all filled with clouds and it has been cold all day. It was a good day for making a big pot of soup, sewing on my treadle sewing machine, and talking on the phone.

In the corner of my bedroom I have a board that has many postcards from friends. I love my postcard collection because it reminds me not only of some of the places that I have not been (and some that I have) but also, it reminds me of some of my friends. On the table in front of all these postcards is a photo of a dear friend of mine who passed away a couple of years ago. She is in the photo with her husband and the photo was done when they first fell in love, way before 1950. It is a sort of altar for Lela Mae. There are things there that she has given me and also a photo of me and her together. It reminds me of all the good times I had with her and I miss her to this day.




This is a picture of my bed and over my bed is the wonderful painting that Lynne Hoppe made for me and sent to me as a surprise. I talked about it a few posts back. Such a wonderful surprise and such wonderful art!



You can click on the last photo to see the crow painting close up. Isn't it wonderful? This crow is backed by copper that has been embossed with a design also. I know that it was originally meant to hang outside where the copper would gracefully age and turn a wonderful verdigris color. But...I cannot stand the thought of it being outside getting ruined by all those clouds, rain, and wind. I have moved it twice now since it came to me. For awhile I had it hanging in the bathroom, watching over my claw foot tub. Now, it is over my bed watching over ME! Looking at this CROW every time I am in my bedroom and knowing that it is watching over me when I am sleeping is very reassuring. Thank you, Lynne, for sending him to me. He is working his magic, that's for sure!