Through a train window

We live in a beautiful country! Wayne and I had an adventure - we took the train, the California Zephyr, from our neighboring town of Emeryville to Denver and back, where we visited our friends the Dinars for Passover celebration. Whew! 30+ hours each way and, believe it or not, it was fun!

We took hundreds of photos out of the window of the train.

I'm serious, the beauty that went by our window in Colorado and Utah took our breath away. Craggy mountains, snow-covered peaks, wild turkeys, a sparkling Colorado River, elk, green hillsides, bald eagles, pine forests - we couldn't tear ourselves away from the window.

It was comfortable too. We had big seats with lots of legroom. There was a dining car and a bar car, although we brought food and wine onboard with us. Occasionally we wandered down to the Observation Car, with its big windows and swivel seats, but mostly we just sat staring out our window and snapping photos.

Here's the inside of "our" car. See a few more photos here!



More later on our trip on Amtrak. All aboard!!

 

The New 1970s stereo system

Wow, Wayne's really on my good side now. He has found an incredible turntable from the 1970s era (the BEST electronics for playing vinyl) for $25, replaced its stylus (a.k.a. needle...I'm learning new terminology here), researched and found a top-of-the-line pre-amp (who knew you needed a pre-amp as well as an amplifier??) from the same era online for $45, dusted them off, and hooked them all up.

 Now we're finally listening to some of our many hundreds of old record albums. It's fun and the system sounds great!

It wasn't really as easy as it sounds. First we had to clear out the little library, where we keep all our records and CDs and books on shelves, and where the stereo equipment is housed. That's the part I helped with. We had used that little room as an office for awhile, so it was filled with a desk, a filing cabinet, a computer, and lots of paper. We couldn't even get to the music! Once all that stuff got moved out, voila! It was a music room and library again.

Of course then we had to organize the wires and decide which of the three sets of speakers and amplifiers to keep and where to put them. That was a bit of work, but it was well worth it.

Here's the first record we played (one of my favorites). Yay, Jimmy Cliff and reggae!!




And here are some of the rest of the records. We're still working our way through ...

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Baggin' it

Alameda County, where I live, finally decided to do its part to reduce non-compostable garbage and try to save some trees. Effective January 1 this year they outlawed plastic bags in grocery and other stores, and mandated a fee for paper bags, if customers fail to bring their own.

I fully support this action, having seen enough photos of dolphins choking on plastic bags and knowing those bags have a half-life of nearly forever. And I have nice cloth bags that will work fine and, even better, are reusable almost to infinity. Nevertheless, it took weeks for me to remember to bring the bags to the store. At first I had trouble remembering to take them from home, so I put a bunch into the back seat of the car. Then I had trouble remembering to bring them from the car into the store. Drat. I can't tell you how many times I left Trader Joe's with my arms full of milk, orange juice, yogurt, and bananas, clutching a box of dishwasher detergent in my two free fingers. I got tired of it.

Now, almost three months later, I've got it down. This post is in celebration of baggin', and of course the bags that make it possible. . .

A few of the bags I have in my car.

Some wine bags I also have in my car. Who knew I needed FOUR wine bags that hold six bottles each? Oh well!

A few more bags from my traveling life (Cambridge, UK, Maui, Holland America Cruise Lines). And that's not all of them. I guess I have enough bags!







Last week I got a new kind of bag, and are they ever cute! And good for the environment too! These are planting bags, and they're made from recycled plastic bottles. I'm using them to plant potatoes in a plot that's become way too overgrown with roots, and I don't have the time or energy to dig the silly thing up and put new soil in.


Here are the Potato Bags, each filled with dirt and a seed potato (some are Reds and some are Yukon Golds). Not only are they cute as can be, they're sturdy, are supposed to last several years, and let water through for good drainage. I got them from GreenhouseMegastore.com. Gonna be some yummy potatoes...


So, here's to baggin' it!

Too-many-plums tart

Wayne picked up a box of big purple plums at Costco last week, but they weren't quite ripe yet. Suddenly it became clear that when they did get ripe, they'd all be ready at once! Yikes...there must be 15 of them!

I'm not much for making desserts, but I do like something sweet and fruity for breakfast. So I dug through the cookbooks and came up with a blueprint for a simple plum tart. It wasn't bad for a first try. Actually it was just fabulous with a good steaming cup of coffee.

Make a single pie crust, or you could use a frozen one. It's easy to make, though, and flakier:

• Put one cup all-purpose flour in a medium bowl with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix it up with a fork.
• Put an ice cube into 1/2 cup cold water and set it aside till you need it.
• Cut up 6 tablespoons cold butter in little pieces.
• Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry blender until it resembles course meal. Some small pieces of butter should still be visible.
• Add some of the ice water to the flour and butter, mixing with the fork until it just holds together. You probably won't use all the water.

Gather the dough into a rough ball with your hands and wrap it tightly in cling film, pressing it down to flatten it a little. Put it in the refrigerator to rest and chill for 1 hour, or in the freezer for 20 minutes. [It could also be refrigerated overnight (not freezered!!) if you want to eat quicker in the morning. Take it out first thing in the morning, before you do the plums, if you do this.]

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Meanwhile, seed 4 large or 5 medium plums and cut them into slices. It's better if they're not quite ripe. Toss them with a little sugar and whatever else you want...I put in some chopped candied ginger and grated orange peel. You could use raisins or dried cranberries instead.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator or freezer. Put a sheet of parchment down on your rolling surface and discard the cling film. Lightly flour the parchment and the top of the disk of dough. Roll it out until it is fairly thin and more or less circular. Carefully brush off extra flour and transfer the dough-laden parchment to a big cookie sheet.

Pile the plums in the center of the crust, fanning the slices out until you have about 2 inches still free all around the edges. Fold those edges of dough back up over the plums...they'll only come up partway leaving the center beautifully plummy.

Brush the foldover dough with 2 tablespoons melted butter, dripping any remaining over the center plums. Sprinkle all with about 2 tablespoons sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes, or until the tart is lightly browned. Let cool for 10 minutes or so before digging in. This is a perfect time to put the coffee on. Yum!!

Aging outrageously

I had forgotten this poem, and just came across it again while cleaning out a desk drawer. It's from Warning, by Jenny Joseph, and, oh boy, I think it's exactly how I want to be when I grow up!

When I am an old woman

I shall wear purple

With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.

And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves

And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired

And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells

And run my stick along the public railings

And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain

And pick the flowers in other people's gardens

And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat

And eat three pounds of sausages at a go

Or only bread and a pickle for a week

And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry

And pay our rent and not swear in the street

And set a good example for the children.

We will have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?

So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old and start to wear purple.