A Weekend in Heaven on Earth

This past weekend I was able to visit heaven for a few days...or at least it felt like what I would imagine heaven to be! My father and I have been the fortunate ones to be invited to a quiet and peaceful fishing camp on the Fall River in northern California. It is a 5 plus hour drive and worth every minute.

My father is 84 years old and is mentally sharp now as he was 35 years ago. We spend these 4 days together just chatting about this and that. He is fascinated by geology and we discuss the hillsides as we drive. He tells me about the kinds of rocks, how they were formed, what glaciers will do to rocks, how far rocks fly during a hard volcanic eruption...stuff like that. Now I know where my brother gets his fascination with ...well, everything! My father is a curious man and is not afraid of doing the homework.

I digress...

We left on our long drive on Thursday morning after he got a tour of the greenhouse. Farmer Jeff built it since he last visited here a year ago for our last fishing trip! He also got to see the bee hives, the new sproutlings of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and now eggplant.

We arrived in Fall River just at the precise moment the thunderstorms began. It was quite intense and ...fun! I am not one terribly excited by storms, but I felt safe and secure with my Papa there.

The company was wonderful. The host is married to a sweet, contemplative woman and she, in turn, has many sweet friends, several of which were there. Most of the same people have been fishing together for 20 years and have very established routines and relationships. I won't even go into the fabulous food we ate up there...but as a teaser, we had the BEST scones waiting for us each and every morning, thanks to baker Steve!!!


This is Steve with a turtle he found in the middle of the road and rescued.


We fished, we ate, we talked, we slept, we ate, we read, we ate, we fished...for 2 days...and then packed up to come home again! The fishing was great...I didn't catch any but I got to hold my father's rainbow trout (as I removed the hook and slid it back into the water). Papa sketched one afternoon...I took pictures and cooked. My holiday!



Chicken News:
We lost a Marans hen over the weekend. No sign of distress or illness...just dead on the bottom of the pen. Sigh...

Our little gray Silkie rooster, Madison, is finding his voice and testing his moves on the ladies. He isn't very successful, but at least he is a polite suitor.

The little female Belgian Booted Bantam, Lucretia Borgia, is a sweetheart! She is so tame and friendly. I love to hold her as she looks at me in complete bewilderment...

Something I learned today: one of the top 10 searches on the internet is... How to raise your own chickens! GO CHICKENS!!!