Goodbye Peaches, Hello Tri-Tip

    December 19, Thursday.  I received a text from The Millionaire to the effect that our new family member, Lady Moo, was in labor with our newer family member.  Arriving to the pen late due to extenuating circumstances, I saw that Lady Moo was already somewhat advanced in labor.  However, it ironically happened that this was the third Thursday of the month - the day of the horse auction.  I had plans to take Peaches to a nearby arena to run around and take off the "excess energy" before she was hauled off to auction.  I decided I would make it back in time to see the calf being born, as this was Lady Moo's first born and labor was likely to go long.  The Elf was on hand to oversee everything.  (She has trained and cared for Lady Moo from day one, since day one was the day of my accident and I have been disabled since then.  Lady Moo, in return, loves The Elf devotedly.)

    I was wrong.  Before I arrived at the destination, I received a call.  It was a boy, and I had missed it.  Had it been a girl, she would have had a sweet name such as Buttercup, or Marigold.  She might have had a future of providing creamy milk.  Boys, on the other hand, receive names such as Tri-Tip, Brisket, or T-Bone.  Provided he grows healthy and stout, he will be headed to what some cheekily refer to as freezer camp in a year or two.  The Elf had a unique experience, catching Tri-Tip in her arms as he entered the world, and presenting him to his proud mama.

About two hours into the world.

    Meanwhile Peaches went bye-bye later the same day, and will hopefully fulfill her greatest potential - whatever that may be (on a rodeo bucking string perhaps?).  Daddy recalled to mind that many years ago he had purchased a few 2 year old horses from a ranch as a project to break to ride.  As he worked, he demonstrated to me how to tie them and sack them out, get them used to the saddle and then break them to ride.  The biggest horse was a stout, powerful buckskin.  I think we called him Dun.  He kicked my Daddy's you-know-what.  That horse just wouldn't be broke, under any circumstances.  After too many incidents, including broken bones, Daddy offered him to the nearby stockman as a work horse.

    He found out a year or two later, after good-natured inquiry, that Dun had gone on to rodeo notoriety, having become one of the most famous bucking horses ever after being sold to a rodeo string.  Don't give up, Peaches, you'll find your niche.

    Have I prepared for Jesus sufficiently this Advent?  No.  I never have.  As usual I begin with grand intentions, and end with humbling failure.  It's probably the best place for me.  In fact, it is probably not a failure for me to enter into Christmas having failed at what I believe is holiness.  As far as the heavens are from the earth, are my thoughts from God's thoughts, and most likely my plans from God's plans.  Therefore, it is fitting that I should fail according to my plans.  I shall then lay them aside wait on the Lord, and quietly contemplate His birth.  If He wants me to know what to do, He'll show me.

    I wish all of you the best of Christmas, great joy and great peace, and may you find all happiness in the love of God.  I want to thank all my beautiful friends and family for your friendship and continued love for us from a distance.  You are cherished!

 Blooming succulents in the sun room.  A Christmas surprise.

A Short Apology . . .

    Ok.  I removed my previous post (about a "rogue priest")  because it was uncharitable, and while it felt great at first, I realized it was wrong.  And I'm sorry.  I know the priest in question is a missionary priest and has given his life in sacrifice for the poorest of the poor, and is probably very holy.  I cannot detract his priesthood based on a brief encounter.  To speak irreverently of a minister of the Church is against the First Commandment.

    I love the liturgy.  St. Padre Pio said, "It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do so without the Holy Mass."  I pray that the liturgy is celebrated everywhere with the reverence it deserves, and that adherence to its norms as laid out by the Church (which is the Body of Christ, and His mouthpiece) in her wisdom is observed perfectly in every place, and in every heart.

God bless . . .

 

It's a wonderful life...

    The landscape has changed rapidly from what it was the last time I wrote.  Two hard freezes occurred, one at 15 degrees and the other at 19 degrees.  With those, the leaves turned dark and fell rapidly from the trees, leaving the pecan clusters dotting the tree branches.  Most of the outer green skins dried up and popped open, revealing the precious nuts inside.  Harvest will most likely wait until next week, however, since there are a few husks that held fast to their greenness, and refused to yield their fruit to the fresh cold air.

    The cotton harvest has been underway for weeks, as evidenced by the stray cotton lining the highways, and the telltale cotton hanging from the mesquite branches which hang a little too close to the road.  Cotton is harvested and then packed tightly into modules – huge rectangular cubicles weighing about 30,000 pounds each – and covered on top by tarps to protect them from any precipitation that may occur.  They are then transported to the cotton gin which is a co-op of the area farmers, losing bits of the fluffy balls on the road and to the grasping mesquite bushes.  Once at the gin they are placed evenly in a large lot to await the ginning process.  The lot is much too large this year, as production is reduced by 2/3 or more due to the prevailing drought.  The gin cleans the cotton, especially removing the nutrient-rich seeds which are embedded deeply in each cotton ball.  After this, it is sold to be used for all the various products in which it is used.  Please look for 100% cotton clothing and bedding – it is far superior to the manmade (plastic) stuff – and it supports farmers! :D

    We had a beautiful two months of attending weddings, one in California in San Diego, the long-awaited wedding of my niece, and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico, of my cousins.  Both are beautiful places, both beautiful weddings.  In Santa Fe we visited the mysterious Chapel of Loretto where a lone carpenter with simple tools built an exquisite staircase to the choir loft and then disappeared.  The staircase, to this day, defies the knowledge of engineering, and is beautifully handcrafted from a type of spruce that has never been found, one that does not even seem to be in existence.  The presence of God is palpable and powerful in this gorgeous chapel, even though it is no longer owned by the Church.

    Next we made a pilgrimage to Chimayo, NM, the “Lourdes of America”.  I will not tell the story here (you can look it up), but I did collect the healing soil for which Chimayo is famous, and I blessed The Millionaire with it, who quickly and suspiciously backed away from my handful of dirt, as did the two younger ones who were with us.  No matter, I took and decided to bless myself instead, signing myself with it, rubbing it on the back of my neck, my chest, and shoulders.  I couldn’t let it go to waste!

    After Chimayo we drove north to Ft. Collins, CO where we had arranged to purchase a horse trailer – a four-horse stock trailer - just what I wanted!  On the way home, we stopped in Veguita, NM, and picked up a cow.  Yes.  A cow.  A lucky cow, that will be calving sometime in a month or so and then give us milk and all the sweet cream we could ever want!

    The day after arriving home I decided that rascally Peaches had gone too long and was in need of at least 3 rides a week to sustain her.  I saddled up and 20 minutes later found myself incomprehensibly looking up at my brother as I gasped in pain.  I couldn't understand what he was saying.  It eventually dawned on me that he told me he was taking me to the hospital.  I wanted to tell him to wait until the pain subsided, maybe I just had the wind knocked out of me, but I couldn’t talk, so I submitted.

    It was terrible.  But it was also wonderful, grace-filled, a gift from God.  I have six broken ribs and a fractured collar bone, which was set with a brace in surgery.  And now here I sit, recovering, not able to do much physically, but with a broadened prayer life and expanded gratitude in being forced to slow down, to sit, and to “know” that He is God.  How I needed this!  Thanks to the prayers of all my friends in the know, I think I probably already feel much better than I should.  I could begin a list of all the blessings that are brought about by this, but it would double the length of this too-long post already!  I do look back with surprise and wonder when I think about how I blessed myself with the miraculous soil of Chimayo only two days before!  Anyway, here are some updates:

    Hot Rod only has one more week of school, after which she will visit our beloved California and relay in person our well-wishes and love on our friends.  She continues to drive faster than her skill level, especially on the dirt bike which she wrecked a few weeks ago and thanks be to God did not wind up like me.  However, she had to be rescued from under the bike and did sustain a sprained knee and some road rash.

    The Elf has been beautifully training our new cow since I am physically unable to participate.  She has gentled her to the point that the cow comes and rubs on us, and loves being regaled with attention.  She also wrote 40,000 words during National Novel Writing month!  Quite a feat, considering the constraints of time she suffered during the last two weeks of my convalescence.

    Dead Eye is becoming ever more the gentleman, and especially is solicitous of me now that I am compromised.  He opens doors, carries everything in sight, and sympathetically asks after me if he hears me groan.  Don’t get me wrong, he was gallant before the accident, too!  He spent some wonderful time being a grip for the upcoming videos filmed by my brother for . . . THE IVEYS!  Yeah!  New album to be released soon!  He also helped in the filming of a commercial.  His talents are broadening.  Do check out www.theiveysmusic.com and visit their Facebook page.  Watch for the future release of their new videos.  Maybe you'll see a surprise!

    The Millionaire has been my knight and so wonderful to me.  He watches over me with great love and care, seeing that my every need is met, and then some.  He also did the lion's share of driving on our road trip and hasn't complained (too much) about the cow.  In fact, I think he's really grown to like her.

    God is so good, and I haven't evening finished counting my blessings (will I ever?).  I saw this today which is so true:

Whenever you feel guilty, even if it is because you have consciously committed a sin, a serious sin, something you have kept doing many times, never let the devil deceive you by allowing him to discourage you.  My beloved, may every fall . . . always become for us a small step toward a higher degree of perfection.  Maximillian Kolbe 

Delightful Pomegranate Jelly

 

Gudalupe Mountains with alfalfa in the foreground.

    Who says you can’t teach an old dog (me) new tricks?  My mama is experienced at jelling and preserves and all, and so when my brother’s pomegranates were ready, we picked them, seeded them, juiced them, jelled them, and jarred them.  SHHH – I’ll tell you a secret: it’s not that hard!  You need pomegranates, of course, pectin powder such as Sure-Jell, sugar, jars and lids and a canning funnel, and one or two large pots.  For juicing ... well, I will explain what I did for there are many routes you can take, and the items you need will depend on the method you choose.  I'm sure you can use commercially produced pomegranate juice as well.  If you do, let me know how it turns out!

    First, we seeded the fruit.  What I did was cut off the end, and then score the rind in quarters, cutting just deeply enough to get through the rind without slicing through the seeds underneath.

    Then we just pulled them apart and gently removed the seeds into a bowl.  ALERT!  Wear an apron and keep the area clear, it’s a messy job.  We turned the fruit so the seeds were facing away from us as we worked, to help reduce the splattering.  But you’re going to get it no matter what!

Beautiful, ain’t it?  

   These three large bowls are what we ended up with on the second batch (about 5/8 of the total harvest).  We yielded 7 to 9 pints and 29 half pints from this.

    Now comes the part in which you have to make your own decision.  I searched the internet and read what other people do to juice these and spoke with Mama about her experience.  Her maid used to juice them by cutting them in half and using the juicer attachment on the Kitchen-Aid mixer, just like an orange.  I'm sure she strained the juice after.  I didn’t try that, but here are the different methods I tried.  I put the seeds through my Omega juicer which has a worm gear.  It gets a lot of juice but adds bitterness from the seeds, which are crushed in the process.  I pulsed them in a blender just till the seeds yielded juice, and then pressed them into a sieve to squeeze the juice out.  It left too much flesh on the seeds for my taste, and also imparted a little of the bitterness.  I also tried that combined with squeezing them by hand in a fine towel which gave us much more juice.  I tried heating them just until they began releasing the juices, and then squeezed or ran them through a food mill.  Surprisingly, the fresh seeds gave more juice than the heated ones.  I even tried putting them in the Kitchen-Aid mixer with the standard attachment and running it for a while, then through the cloth and the food mill.  I also tried the food mill alone.  I still wasn't all that happy.  Then I came upon the method I preferred best.  Though it’s slightly more labor intensive, all taste testers agreed that it imparted the best flavor and color, and I am thoroughly convinced that the yield was far and above all the other methods.  So here goes:

    Use a fine cotton cloth.  Mine is a flour sack dish towel.  (It will have to be sacrificed, unless you find another use for the stained towel.)  I cut mine in quarters to make it more manageable and because I had helpers who needed towels.  You will also need a heavy-duty type freezer bag, gallon size, a rolling pin, and a container for the juice.  I laid the cloth flat on the counter and put a large handful of seeds on it.

    Next I pulled up the corners and sides so the seeds were contained as if in a pouch, but not too tight, and inserted it into the plastic bag.  I then pounded the seeds with the rolling pin until it felt as if all had been juiced, after which I rolled over it thoroughly to be sure and squeeze out every last drop.

Gettin’ juicy!

    After I was satisfied the seeds had given up all the juice they could, I took the cloth and carefully (so the seeds didn’t come out) wrung it tightly.

    I thought a good test for whether this method yielded well was the dryness of the seeds after wringing.  Daddy agreed, and since he is very wise, I was quite satisfied!  I shook the spent seeds out of the towel over the trash can (give them to your chickens, if you want), and poured the contents of the bag in the container. I did have to replace the bag once when it sprung a small leak, and I ripped one of my pieces of towel, but overall it worked well.  The Millionaire thought it was too much work, but I pointed out that it only happens once a year and once the process is internalized, it becomes well organized and efficient.  Further, the juice can be kept several days in the refrigerator, so the big jobs are divided over a few days.  We seeded fruit one day, juiced them the next, and then made jelly over a couple of days.  It makes the jobs manageable.

    Once you are ready to make jelly, have all the supplies on hand that you need: washed jars and lids, a large pot (I used two, one for the jelly, one for sterilizing jars), spoon, and ladle for cooking, Sure-Jell or your brand of pectin, sugar, a canning funnel, and hot pads and tongs for handling hot jars.  After washing the jars and lids, sterilize the jars in boiling water, completely covered, for five minutes.  Turn off the heat and put the lids (not the rings) and the ladle and funnel in.  Your jars can stay hot in there.

    Now for the fun: measure out your pomegranate juice into the pot and add the Sure-Jell, stirring to thoroughly dissolve.  Only AFTER adding the Sure-Jell will you turn on the heat, bringing the mixture to a full rolling boil.  At that point add your sugar all at once and stir to dissolve.

    Return to a full rolling boil and when it’s reached that point, set the timer for 5 minutes.  I’ll discuss how to determine the set point a little later, but I'm no expert and inexperienced, so you might do better to look it up somewhere else.  I know some instructions say to boil 2 ½ to 3 ½ minutes, but that was not enough.

 

    Once the timer goes off, take it off the heat and skim the foam off of it.

    Then begin filling the jars.  I put a jar on a plate, put the funnel in the top, and ladle the juice into the jar to within ½ inch of the top (as demonstrated by my lovely assistant)  (Her name is Hot Rod).

    If any gets onto the rim or the threads, wipe it off with a clean damp cloth.  Then put the lid on and screw the ring tight.  Set it aside to cool as you continue to fill the rest of your jars.

 

  Regarding the jelling point: Mama showed me how to pick up the spoon and observe how the jelly runs off the spoon and forms the last drop to determine whether it is right.  Holding a large metal spoon, dip it into the boiling jelly and then lift it and pour it off the spoon while holding it horizontally.  When the last of the jelly is running off of it, it will come from both ends of the spoon to meet in the middle and form a final drop.  When the jelly's about ready, the drop will form slowly and appear to be congealing on the spoon.  From what I’ve read, this can be really tricky.  The great thing about this recipe is that the five minute rule worked every time – EXCEPT when I had to use liquid pectin because the store ran out of the Sure-Jell.  DISASTER!  I’ll never do that again.  Just to play it safe, though, I do drop a little bit on a saucer and quickly put it in the freezer.  I begin doing this after about 2 minutes and I can see how the jell is forming.  It’s a good learning experience if nothing else.  My jelly is not as hard as the grape jelly you buy at the store, but it’s spreadable and holds together.

Delicious on a piece of English muffin toast with butter!  The recipe is below.

POMEGRANATE JELLY

5 cups pomegranate juice (or 4 ½ cups plus 1 cup water)

1 package Sure-Jell or 6 tablespoons powdered pectin (I don't recommend liquid pectin)

7 cups sugar

Mix Sure-Jell thoroughly into the juice in a large pot.  Once it is completely dissolved, heat the juice on high, stirring frequently until it comes to a full rolling boil.  Add the sugar all at once and stir well.  Bring back to a full boil.  Once a boil is reached, cook for 5 minutes, then remove from heat.  Working while the jelly is hot, skim the foam off of the surface.  Ladle into sterilized jars to within a half inch of the top rim.  Top with a lid and screw the ring on tightly by hand.  As the jelly cools, you will hear the lids “pop” as they seal.  If you press down on a lid after it is sealed, it will not pop back up because it is vacuum sealed.  Store the jars in a cool dark place.

(For a large batch, I used 10 cups liquid (9 cups juice, 1 cup water), 2 packages Sure-Jell, 14 cups of sugar.)

Autumn arrives in Far West Texas

    Autumn has definitely arrived here in far west Texas.  The nights are getting a bit nippy – by our standards.  Daddy told me that Jack Frost had visited one of the farms and got himself stuck on the windshield, but the foreman had flicked him off with the windshield wipers.  There is one tree turned yellow on my daily drive and the pecan trees are just beginning to appear rusty, but otherwise everything looks status quo.  It won’t be long now before the first hard freeze and pecan harvest will be in full production.  It’s time to have the propane tank filled for our heating needs.

    Life in this neck of the desert is certainly a far cry from our suburban life in California.  For one thing, bugs.  For another, bugs.  I will have to make a future post just to focus on the critters here, complete with the hornworm migration – not for the queasy!  Another thing is the weather.  When we first arrived in June there was probably not a day under 100 degrees for a few weeks.  The change was gradual but now I sit with numb toes and it’s about 70 outside, dipping into the low 40’s at times at night, and was registered as low as 31 a couple of weeks ago.  I know because my cousin’s house is the official weather station for the national weather bureau and he has to record the data every morning.  He lives about 4 football fields’ distance away from me on the canal bank.  The alfalfa is happy, though, and there will be at least one more cutting before overwintering.  Time before last was a disaster, because it rained on the cut hay before it was baled and also on the bales while they were yet in the fields.  There was a total of 6 inches at that time (which will hopefully contribute to an easing of this terrible drought).  At any rate, we thought there was nothing to be done but remove the bales after they dried and dump them in the hills to disintegrate.  However, lo and behold, buyers came and the bales were sold.  Deo gratias!

Buggy windshield

    Hot Rod and I just finished canning lots of pears from my brother’s and the neighbor’s trees.  Now that I have my first canning under my belt, I'm over the anxiety and have penetrated the mystery of canning and preserving.  Best of all, POMEGRANATES!  The yield from my brother’s one pomegranate tree was enough to make about 19 pints and 38 half pints of pomegranate jelly – Oh Joy!  All of us are of one mind on this matter: pomegranate jelly is the best kind, and now that I know how to make it, I am so happy!  I will post a separate tutorial for anyone interested.

    Peaches the horse is getting shaggy – a definite sign of colder weather setting in, but the more refined Keno, while growing a longer coat, remains slick and shiny.  Peaches learned how to lift the latch on her corral gate, so much for that!  She’s spent a total of three nights free grazing from our store of hay and hanging out with Keno.  She has no interest in wandering and exploring, only in eating and social activities!  We fixed that with an extra chain on the latch.  The puppy, Belle, is growing so fast it’s time for a new collar.  We love her laid-back hound personality and sweetness.  When we go for walks she stays right by our heels, running ahead with Campion occasionally and then returning to her faithful post.

 People updates:

• Hot Rod is attending school at El Paso Community College (EPCC).  She made a surprise visit to our beloved old parish in California, Guardian Angel!  Hello Guardian Angel!  Hello Father, and all of our dear, dear friends!!!  She was visiting for a few quick days – and here’s a shout out to Omar, Steven, and Andy!  Howdy!

• The Elf is being a naturalist, feeds the horses faithfully, is experimenting on mice, trapping squirrels for profit, and honing her skills in archery and cooking.

• Dead Eye is also honing his archery aim and cooking.  (By the way, THANK YOU UNCLE FRANK!!!  You have made him a VERY HAPPY young man!!!)  This young man has a memory like an elephant and can argue well enough to make district attorney by the end of the year.  Seriously, though, he's already so much taller than me and becoming an accomplished driver, including manual transmission.  He also bagged lots of dove during the hunting season.  After all, he's Dead Eye.

• The Millionaire loves being retired and hates being idle.  A good combination.  He’s very busy making our lives better and better.  He recently purchased a sea train and moved all our excess furniture and other storage items into it.  If something needs to get done, he’s the man!

    God has been so good to us.  I love my quiet time with Him in the morning – just Him and me.  He’s teaching me about humility.  And all about my faults.  And it’s all good.  Really.  It’s surprising to me how I must continue to fight to be lowered in my own estimation.  Even more surprising is that it should be surprising.  Whatever I am in my head (important) I am not outside of it.  In fact, I do precious little to fulfill my own vocation, much less do I have an impact on the rest of the world country state town.  Several years ago I read a book called Get Us Out of Here.  It is the story of a woman in Europe who had a special charism of praying for souls in purgatory.  Many souls would appear to her for various reasons, and she said that most of them were wearing their everyday work clothes because generally they were in purgatory for not fulfilling the duties of their vocations – housewives, fathers, students, whatever the role.  I told The Millionaire at the time to make sure I'm buried in my work clothes and a plain wood coffin, cause I won’t be needing the fancy stuff where I'm going!  Haha!  But yes, God is so good.  The more He shows me how little I am, the more room He gives me in my heart to love Him.  And it always makes me happier.  As it should.  I hope you’re happy, too.

Howdy from the Tip of Texas!

Howdy from the tip of Texas! 

    I want to tell all my friends in California that I am doing fine.  In fact, I'm doing great!  We are all settled in and life is taking on a routine, and the land here is amazing.  It is full of life, all at a slower, more patient pace.  We miss a few things, but for the most part, we love the space and the freedom we now have, and life is completely different.  We didn't just move to another place, we moved into another dimension, a whole other lifestyle: from city to country, fast to easy, frenetic to relaxed, closed-in to wide-open.  Having lived in California for 29 years, most of my life, I look back now and see that I was never really a "Californian".  I have slipped back into my Texas skin - the original.

 

     As for me, I could not be happier.  I am truly "home".  I enjoyed California and loved the weather, the beaches, the myriad amenities, and more than anything, my friends.  Missing my friends is the one thing that causes sadness and longing.  :'(  It has taken me seemingly forever to get this blog off the ground, but this is my chosen means of keeping you informed of my life.  I HATE facebook.  Don't get me started on that - and many of you know that the only reason I'm on facebook now is because it was necessary to fight an all out war against an evil institution.  Something keeps halting me from deactivating my page (future battles?) but perhaps in time.

    Happiness is being with my parents, my siblings, my cousins, and new friends.  Happiness is a home in the country that is quiet and full of peace.  Happiness is horses.  Happiness is 4-wheeling in the desert.  Happiness is dark nights full of stars, bright nights lit by a full moon, the changing moods of the Guadalupe mountains, pecan orchards, freshly mown hay, toads, trains, and happy, active children.  Happiness is a life that has slowed just enough for me to enjoy special moments with family, and especially with God.  Happiness is God!

    Which brings me to the crux of all things.  There is nothing more wonderful than to wake up and know that my Father loves me!  I sometimes come across the thought: what if Jesus had not called me to Him?  What if I was still living without God?  Blackest of thoughts!  Most desperate of prospects!  Nothing could sadden me more than the thought of life without God.  I am so blessed and so grateful to know, love, and serve the Lord of Lords, the King of Heaven!

    Pictures are sometimes the best storytellers, so here are a few for you: my dear, dear, loved ones whom I miss.  Please subscribe to my blog so I can keep you updated on my life, and I want keep up with you and hear from you!  All my love!

Dead-Eye takes aim at the practice range.

 

The Guadalupe Mountains in Mexico, with the border fence in the foreground.

These mountains are the quintessential background of our beautiful landscape views.

Campion joyfully runs out to meet The Elf and Hot Rod as they arrive.

Dead Eye and The Elf with game wardens at hunter orientation training.

The Elf, Dead Eye, and myself at the beautiful Sierra Blanca ranch after hunter orientation training.

The Elf shoots at clay pigeons at a local shooting contest.  Her team took first!  Yay!  Note the characteristic henna tattoos;-)

 

Dead Eye shows off.

 

 

This is not at all unusual during monsoon season.  The skies are unbelievably dramatic.  Sunrises and sunsets here . . . words cannot describe.

 

The Elf poses with her conquest.

 

Hot Rod on a horse of a different color.

 

The Millionaire shovels . . . uh . . . stuff, away from the horse corrals.

The Millionaire is the love of my life!

 

Hot Rod puts Keno through her paces on the farm.