landed in reno

today we finally made it to our rental house in Reno, Nevada. 

so much has happened in the last few months...

• dream-job offer for A during our 10-day road trip, backpacking CO 1-year anniversary
• accepting that dream-job
• planning our move move
• quitting my job
• visiting Lake Powell for a summer vacation
• packing up the house
• actually moving out
• staying in Greeley
• driving to Reno, then flying back to CO
• staying on Pearl St.
• a wedding in Fairview, Utah
• going home to Page
• a wedding in AZ
• driving to Yosemite
• driving to Reno 
• staying in Carson City
• and now... actually getting to sleep in the same house for 8 months!

and look at what was left in the garden at our new house waiting for us!

genie

watched this TED talk by Elizabeth Gilbert, Your elusive creative genius

my notes:

genie in a bottle
genius in your mind
the elusive creative genius
the creative blast that thunders past you
what do you do when it comes at an inopportune time
very rarely release the genius
time stops
step through a portal
everything aligns
all of a sudden, you are no longer just human
the divine is present
that is god
you do something impossible and magic
ole ole ole
a glimpse of god
then you come back to your human, mortal form
will you ascend to that height again?
how do you get back to that place of divinity?
this divinity is not from you, but was occupying you
a genie in a bottle
released
granting your wish

two days of climbing in maple canyon utah

wedding in central utah

today our dear friends got married at a lovely, quaint, and very down-home ranch wedding. congratulations to D&C, we love you!

living here now

today...

i am grateful for...

a fridge full of fresh veggies

i laughed when...

(need to work on laughing more today)

i was moved by...

this article about an family with an autistic son and how Disney movies helped them all

i heard...

the voice of my dear friend, Kathleen

i indulged by...

making chocolate pudding and eating it with strawberries

i learned...

that moving to Nevada is going to be a lot of work

watermelon rinds

today...

i have wanted to make pickled watermelon rind for about 4 years now. one time, about 4 years ago, i even peeled all the rinds and left them in my mom's fridge, planning to pickle them. they ended up going bad when i never got around to doing the pickling. well, today is finally the day.

first, i sterilized all the jars.

i have a big canning water bath pot that my aunt gave me. i like to wrap a handkerchief around the hand so it is easy to lift off.

then i made the syrup. apple cider vinegar and sugar flavored with cinnamon, lemon rind, and fresh ginger. 

to the syrup, i added just a splash of leftover beet juice from pickling beets the other day. the beet juice should give the watermelon a nicer color, i hope.

the rinds have been soaking in a brine overnight in the fridge. it was a huge amount of work to peel them.

rinds packed tightly in to jars.

then i poured the syrup over the rinds and worked out the air bubbles with a chop stick.

boiled them in the water bath for about 10 minutes.

now we wait. i think i will open the first jar in about a month to taste it.

i based my methods on this recipe:

Martha Stewart's Pickled Watermelon Rind

pennsylvanian-dutch red beet eggs made in nederland

today...

i packed up all my canning supplies and headed up the mountains to nederland. my dear friend, who lives in ned, invited me up to help her make one of her favorite, but strange treats: pennsylvanian-dutch red beet eggs. i have never even tried pickled eggs before, but now i can't wait until they are ready.

we also pickled chard stems, carrots, yellow beans, garlic, onions, and cucumbers. we tried out the citrus & savory brining spice from the local spice shop for these pickles.  

after spending a few hours in the kitchen, it was time to get outside. right from her house we could walk to boulder creek. 

don't eat baneberry. it is extremely poisonous and just two berries could kill!

the late afternoon sun was beautiful through the horsetails.

then we collected berries from a juniper bush. what should i do with these berries once they are dry? supposedly you use just a few to flavor marinades ans sauces.