Knockouts still undefeated

Brooke's team, The Knockouts, with KO written on their faces won their game last night 6-1. It was a fun, action-packed game to watch under the lights a Barney Schwartz Park. The team lost their streak of not being scored on but responded with a barrage of unanswered goals! This Saturday we go to Templeton to play one of their teams. Go Knockouts!

Trip to the pumpkin patch

Last Sunday we went to pick out pumpkins at our local pumpkin patch. The place is called River K Pumpkin Patch. It is always set up really well with a corn maze and hay rides (real wagon and mules) and fun displays. Many school classes go there for field trips in October. The pumpkins this year are excellent and they are reasonably priced. It was a beautiful sunny day and we saw lots of friends there. The kids and I enjoyed the visit and we picked out monsterous pumpkins to carve out. The whole process of carving pumpkins is rather tedious but we had fun and roasted the seeds in the oven to snack on. Yum!

Blessings!

Redneck Skeet Shooting

I cannot resist a good redneck joke!

FINALLY - Rain!

In the second week of October a storm finally brought rain to our despairingly dry hills. There really was quite a downpour that dumped several inches of rain in one day. Here in my corner of Monterey county there has not been good rainfall for several years and much of our hills are almost bare dirt. The rain was very refreshing.

The rain brought about the beginnings of newly sprouted seeds that had been waiting in the dry earth for water to reach them. It was only 2 days from the rain that a tinge of green could already be seen. It is a joyful thing to see life return again.

The rain also brought about the end for an old sentinel that had been standing alone for many years on a portion of our property. An old carcass of a large oak tree that could no longer stand the heavy winds and rain returned to the earth it sprouted up from probably many, many years ago after a much needed rain. I have often wondered how old it must be and what or who might have past by it during it's long years. I will miss the "old dead oak" because in the time that I have known it, it was the favorite perch for red-tailed hawks. The tall tree's leafless branches were a perfect look-out.

I am hoping for a continued good rainfall going into the winter so in the spring, maybe we will have wildflowers bloom this year.

"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:8

John 11:25 - Jesus said to her,"I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world."

Blessings!

Fallish things

Nothing says "Fall is here" like the leaves turning shades of yellow, orange and brown. We don't have many native trees or shrubs around this area that display pretty fall colors. The predominant tree is the Blue Oak, their leaves just turn brown and drop but not until December or January. We have a few trees and bushes in our yard that were planted by the previous owners that have nice fall color. One of those is a pomegranate bush. It's leaves turn yellow just as the pomegranates are ready to pick in mid-October. I had never made jelly before but decided to try when the bush produced buckets and buckets of fruit. I enjoyed making the jelly but I discovered why jars of pomegranate jelly are always so small. It takes a lot of pomegranates and a lot of work squeezing those pomegranates to get enough juice to make any jelly! Some years the bush has a lot and some years it has almost none, I don't know why. I have put the recipe that I use here, it was given to me by a lady who is really good at all that canning stuff.

Also, in the Fall, just in time for Halloween, the tarantulas appear and are seen all over the place around here. The ones that are out and about are the males searching for females. The females are rarely seen because they stay in burrows. They are interesting spiders and I just give then a wide berth and leave them alone. Then they are gone and not seen again until the next Fall.

Have a happy Fall season!

Blessings!

The late season junior hunt is over and Brooke and Dad had a good time. They worked hard to find a buck for her first hunt but it just didn't work out. They had some exciting chases and almost got a shot at one that would have been a dandy but it just wasn't meant to be this year. On the last morning she was able to get this doe. One shot at 90 yards, very nice. I got to go with them that morning and watched from the truck. It was very exciting and an important day for dad to have our oldest go hunting with him for the first time. Brooke enjoyed the time (except for getting up early) with dad. She enjoyed the target practicing and then finally being successful in her hunt. The truth be told, I am glad she got a doe, I did not really want to be BBQing deer chops from a buck that was in the middle of the rut anyway! The doe will be nice.
I am very proud of her! Yeah Brooke!
The land where they had this hunt is at Fort Hunter Ligget Military Base. They have a very carefully managed wildlife program and year after year have extremely healthy Blacktail deer and Tule elk population. Some of the reasons for the wonderful animal population is the controlled burns that curb overgrowth and encourage growth of nutritious plants and grasses that would otherwise be choked out. The deer also rub in the ash left by a burn and it helps control parasitic insects in their fur. Keeping the buck/doe ratio at the right balance and overall number is critical to a healthy deer population. Too many deer = starvation and sickness. Much of the money collected from license and tag fees paid by hunters goes back to the conservation and preservation of our beautiful natural California habitat. It is true that the best conservation tool is a rifle in the hands of an conciensious and ethical hunter.

Blessings!

Brooke's busy weekend

Brooke's soccer team, the Knockouts, continue their undefeated season winning the game this weekend 2-0. It was a tough, close game; and there were no cobwebs on our goalie this time! I forgot my camera :( every girl on the team played their position well, good job Knockouts!







Brooke had a important date this weekend with Dad. He took her on her first deer hunt. It is a late season Junior hunt. It was Brooke's first trip out with Dad. She aced the hunter safety course and is practicing well on targets (see pics). At 100 yards her shot is an inch high, just right! She is shooting my 25-06 with special reloads just for her made by Dad. It seems to fit her well. Oh, they did not get anything the first trip, they saw some bucks, passed up a small one and chased a big one...a nice weekend for the first time I think! Blessings!