TUESDAY TRAVELS

Today's journey takes us to one of the wonders of the world, the Golden Gate Bridge.

(Photo by RyanJWilmot)

The bridge links the city of San Francisco, California to Marin County.

It was begun in 1933 and opened to the public 4 years later.

But I have a surprise for you.

The following pictures were taken in 1935, halfway through the construction.

The views of the construction of the bridge were taken from either Marshall or Baker Beach by my uncle, Zenas Howland Taylor.

He was an accountant for the city water department and along with a group of adventurous friends made his way down the bluff to the beaches where they would swim in the ocean, work on their tans and build constructions from driftwood and whatever else they found.

A sturdy group of young men were these.

But also a bit wacky as they escaped from their workaday world and camped out on the beach on their weekends.

(See. I'm not the first one in my family to go in for those short shorts!)

IN YOUR EASTER BONNET

When I was a young 'un, I had to have my hair flattened down, my ears washed, a tie knotted around my neck in a shirt with a ridiculous collar and taken to church for Easter services.

Why on earth I was smiling through this torturous experience is something I surely don't know to this day.

I don't remember any chocolate bunnies in my youth though there may have been some.

After church finally got out (it was only an hour but in my Presbyterian church with its dour Scottish preacher it seemed to last forever), we came home to a baked ham dinner.

I still like baked ham.

If I ever had a chocolate bunny I haven't had one for many, many years.

But I spotted a real one in our backyard the other day.

I first saw him as I opened the blinds and pulled them back on the slider door in the living room.

I hurried around to my den and opened and slowly pulled the blinds back there and the dumb bunny just sat their, frozen, as I got my camera and took several shots.

Lori Down the Street, hates the bunnies because they eat her plants.

We have only a few herbs in a pot and I don't think the bunnies have found them.

Or they don't like them.

Anyway, I enjoy seeing the bunnies.

And none of them are missing their ears or their butts.

Though I've always thought that they seem about as smart as the damnable mourning doves that hang around, wooing and cooing.

Speaking of which, I wonder how many of you remember the Singing Cowboy, Gene Autry.

NOT TO BE DENIED

After the phenomenal success of her dessert,



SWMBO graciously came into my hole den yesterday morning and requested that I make a loaf of my legendary whole wheat bread.

Knowing, as I do, that the bread machine does 95% of the work, I immediately agreed.

Those dark spots are not rot.

They are dried Craisins (cranberry raisins).

They still migrate to the bottom of the loaf but they're a tasty addition to the bread.

And nothing tastes better than homemade bread, right?

That's what SWMBO would tell you as she saws off the domed top, dabs it with margarine and digs in to the still hot product.

Personal goof: it is a day later now and I just realized I haven't even tasted it yet!

FOODIE ALERT!

When Tom and Lana were here Tom said "I don't know why you don't weigh 300 pounds with all the good food that comes out of your kitchen."

Well, yeah, I can understand that.  Or not.

Anyway, Judy has been back at it again baking a dessert that I found a recipe for in the New York Times.

(I love their food writing though SWMBO has been skeptical of some of their recipes.)

But she decided to try this one after the recipe had been lying around for a month or so.

It's called Lemon-Almond Butter Cake and Regina Schrambling offered a recipe she had adapted from one by Jody Adams, who runs restaurant Rialto in Boston.

SWMBO adapted the recipe further by using pre-made lemon curd from Trader Joe's.

Once she had everything mixed and ready to go into a spring-form pan, she called me in to ask my advice.

The mixture was quite thick and she wondered if she should add some half-and-half to lighten it up a bit.

I saw where the recipe said "scrape the dough into the pan" and said "No, I think it's all right the way it is."

While it was baking she expressed a bit of doubt because the daubs of curd topping the crust seemed to run into the center but I looked up pictures of it on the web and they all looked sort of like that.

So she took it out.

She said it didn't rise very much but later when we tried it, the unanimous opinion was something like "OMG! That's wonderful!"

So here is a link to the recipe.

And here is our finished product.

Under that crisp crust is an almost fudgy interior, rich with lemon flavor.

Thank you Jody. Thank you Regina. Thank you Judy.

It was exquisite!

FRIDAY FUNNIES

TGITFF!

Visitors, a landmark birthday, eating out, more activity than in a thousand years.

Frankly, we're wasted.

So (in case you didn't figure it out) Thank God It's The Friday Funnies!

That was just to make sure you were paying attention.

All right, that's enough hilarity for one Friday.

A special thank you to all of my contributors.

Hey, Gentle Readers, here's my wish for the day.

Have a stupendous weekend of resting up, don't forget to tell us about it and always remember to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty.

(oh, no . . .)

THROWBACK THURSDAY

One way to get rid of some of the past.

Peddler's Pass swap meet back when we were still driving the Blue Streak - a 1986-1/2 Volkswagen Quantum station wagon.

That car lasted us a good many years, through Mexico and back, before it gave up the ghost and was towed away.

I'm beginning to wonder when I'll be towed away.

A New Header

I really liked this photo by my friend Tom Cochrun and thought I'd share it for awhile.

THE SOCIAL RUMBLE

I knew a guy once who used to say "the social rumble isn't restful."

Turns out he was slightly misquoting the originator of that aphorism, Mr. Satchel Paige, who actually said "the social ramble ain't restful."

We've just had a social rumble or ramble that only lasted about a day and a half but, for whatever reason, we were worn out when it ended.

It was fantastic to see longtime friends and we took it pretty easy, just sitting and talking the first afternoon and evening (along with prodigious eating and accompanying sipping.)

And the next full day was spent in an easy auto journey and a picnic (and some sipping) and dinner in a restaurant (and some more sipping.)

Now, Gentle Readers, you might think that we were drinking a lot.

Facts are that while we were consistently hydrated, we didn't consume like we might have in the good old rock and roll days.

No, I don't think any of suffered from any "hard rock" or "rolling stone" hangovers during the visit.

And it was kind of tough to say goodbye as we lingered outside their hotel, recalling just one more story from days gone by.

But it has taken both of us about a full day to get over the lethargy and tiredness that prompted some long naps and early bedtimes.

But, after all, these are the days of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

As the first part of the wise Mr. Paige's quote advises: "Go very light on the vices, such as carrying on in society."

Probably good advice at any age.

TUESDAY TRAVELS

By now, you're probably tired of hearing about our visitors from California.

But, one more time, because it fits into today's theme of Tuesday Travels.

We left home yesterday morning and drove over the mountain through Jerome.

Just before reaching that mountainside hamlet Lana and Judy posed for a photo at an overlook.

Then we drove on, through Old and New Cottonwood to the (not so, anymore) tiny town of Cornville.

Our destination, with these wine-lovers from the Paso Robles appellation, lay to the north along Page Springs Road, into the heart of one piece of Arizona Wine Country.

We stopped at the Page Springs Winery for a tasting, a bottle (thanks, Tom) and a classic French picnic, courtesy of SWMBO.

The winery is one of three in close proximity to each other.

Some of the wine is produced there, some comes from southeastern Arizona.

Tom and I took a bit of a walk down to a lower picnic setting just above Oak Creek.  (sound up)

A pleasant day, sitting in the shade, eating, drinking, gazing over the vineyards.

Pesta Indonesia

That title translated to English means Indonesian feast.

That's what we dined on last night courtesy of my personal chef, SWMBO.

This somewhat fuzzy picture shows the Chicken Satay, Peanut sauce, Curried Bananas and mixed fruits. There was also a dish of quinoa and brown rice.

All of those in attendance proclaimed it, in the Indonesian parlance, "mighty tasty."

Our honored guests from the California coast, Lana and Tom Cochrun.

The sommelier pours.

The chef tucks in.

Good friends, great food and wine, wonderful conversation.

It's hard to believe but this friendship goes back 47 years.

And counting.

WHAT KINDA BIRD IS THAT???!!!

Gentle Readers, you've become accustomed to my interest in the birds of many feathers that visit the bird bath outside my den window.

Recently I had a hawk perch on the edge.

Once awhile back a big black raven did the same.

The Rufous Towhee and the finches and (SWMBO insists) the warblers are regular visitors.

But what to my wondering eyes did appear on this otherwise peaceful Sunday?

A REAL big  and perhaps strange bird.

I know it's a California breed but there also seems to be some Hoosier traits.

Yes, it's my dear old buddy Tom, the good-natured host of  the Light Breezes blog.

He's visiting from his home in California with his lovely wife, Lana, an artist and proprietor of her own blog.

Further photos of these two intrepid travelers will follow.

VISITORS TO "THE POND"

Our birdbath/drinking fountain continues to be an attraction to the many avian residents of the neighborhood.

The other day I caught the Rufous Sided Towhee taking a dip.

A while back a big black raven strutted over and hopped up on the rim and took a drink but I was too slow with the camera to get a shot of him.

But late this week I was in the kitchen when Judy called out to look at the birdbath.

I hurried to my den, took a peek and grabbed the camera to get this photo.

That's no sparrow, Gentle Readers.

That is a Cooper's Hawk.

Posing majestically he stayed for only a few seconds once I had my camera in hand but it was a thrilling few seconds.

Lori Down the Street has had a hawk at her fountain but this was a first for me.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

I suppose I could lead off this week with "Donald Trump is the Republican Party's nominee for President."

But, funny as that is, nobody's laughing.

So, onward.

O.K. Gentle Readers, it's time to hustle along toward your historic fun weekend.

Just remember this one thing: always keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty.