Strawberries Plant City FL & Making Preserves

 

Strawberry Palace on US 60 Plant City, FL. Pick your Own!!  4/10/10

 

Gene picking them - it was easy the plants were loaded 

That is 1 flat = 12 baskets

.

 

This was an unusual growing season because it got to below freezing several times. In order to preserve the plants and fruit the growers watered 24 /7.  The result is huge, flavorful berries.  

Gotta wash them.

 

Cut 'em up

 

Mash 'em

 

Add the sugar and cook them

  

Ladle the preserves into the jars using the canning funnel.   

Finished product.  That full flat made over 12 pints of preserves / sauce. 

Navigating the Alaska Highway, Part 1

Okay, we had been back from the Philippines and Taiwan for 2 weeks, we had rented out our townhomes and sold our belongings, and we had bought Star and Vino.  So we left Trisha and her family in Seattle, visited Jim and his family in Boise, Suzanne and her family in Denver, and Claudine and her family in Calgary, and we are now headed for Jasper National Park, then the famous Alaska Highway, and on to see Cristine in Alaska before we get back down to the lower 48 and Mexico!  This is it!  This is the start of our RV cruising life. 

We have been to Banff before.  After all, it is only about an hour away from Claudine’s home and we have visited Claudine a number of times.  The Canadian Rockies is often called the Alps of North America, much more beautiful than the Rockies in the USA.  Banff is surrounded by alpine peaks eternally covered with snow.  So is the new town of Canmore, fast becoming another tourist destination in the region, second to Banff and picture-perfect Lake Louise a little further ahead.  But we were more interested, this time, in Jasper, deeper into the Canadian Rockies.

We were driving along the Icefields Parkway, reputed to be one of the most scenic highways in the world and all of a sudden it hit us!  The reason it is called that hit us in an instant!  The purple mountain majesties turned into high white spaces.  Huge glaciers that were endlessly interconnected draped the boundless boulders.  This is the Columbia Glacial Fields where you can ride on those huge buses that can ply the ice fields.  We do not know what else lies before us.  If this is any indication, we will be in to some parts of this world we hardly know about.

Jasper National Park is indeed a landmark of beauty.  The lakes were elegant in glacial waters of milky greenish hue.  And there were lakes galore…Medicine Lake, even one called Patricia Lake,… etc.  There were many tourists around.  After all, it was July.  But it felt like you were alone amid the serenity of the lakes and the snow-covered mountains that protected them, in varying hues of blue and purple.  Each photo we took seemed to emerge as another painting!  There is indeed a Master Painter!

We also saw the first wildlife of our cruise…the ubiquitous elk.  Two of them were cavorting by the road and we took endless pictures.  We were on the way to the aerial trams that were supposed to give us even a better view of the unique landscape.  Unfortunately, it was out of order and we were just refunded our tickets.  So we decided to take a trip to Mt. Robson, the highest summit of the Canadian Rockies at over 14,000 ft!

The trip took us to the border of Alberta and British Columbia.  At the border was the sign for the first Intercontinental Divide we would cross…and there would be many more.  I don’t know why.  But the peaks of Mt. Robson evoked a secret admiration in me.  They stood as imposing as the Mt. Rainier’s peak, for example, even as they rested on a base that was already thousands of feet above sea level.

Before we left Jasper, we had already bought the Canadian Pass so we could visit all its national parks.  It cost so much more, however, ($150 for a year) compared to the Senior Pass Bill had for the American counterpart ($10 lifetime).  But, what is that compared to the wondrous feelings they will constantly evoke?  It was cheap! And so we left Jasper a little sad but confident that many more wonders await us.  

As a matter of fact, the trip through northern British Columbia and the Stone Mountains was extra memorable for me because by the winding roads (that would bring up to the Alaska Highway) were my first close encounters with wildlife I had never before seen except perhaps in zoos!  We found a mother and baby bear sitting quietly among the grass, a herd of bisons lying peacefully by the road side (with one of them almost dangerously walking alongside Star), a big moose by a pond on hot springs and a multitude of birds and insects by the raging river we chanced upon following a small arrow sign.  

Indeed when we reached Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway, we could not contain the excitement in our hearts.   Dawson Creek is a small and sleepy town but their bragging rights were all over.  We had a ball taking pics of ourselves at various Mile 0 signs.  We did it…another milestone in our cruising life.  A bonus was at church, I found out that there were about 300 Filipinos living there!

The next town on the Alaska Highway was Fort Nelson, British Columbia.  There we found a museum of the history of the famous highway, how the US and Canada cooperated in its building, and how they separate the maintenance responsibilities at the present time.  Bill and I thought, after navigating the entire length of the highway, that the American portions were better kept than the Canadian part.  The 1,390 mile-long highway has long served the distinct purpose of connecting Alaska to the lower 48, militarily strategic in WWII and economically so now.  But we also think it serves another major purpose:  develop tourism in Canada, especially the vast, underexplored Yukon Territories!  

  

Next Stops:   YUKON TERRITORIES, CANADA: Watson Lake, Whitehorse, and Haines Junction 

The Shitamachi Museum In Ueno

A trip down memory lane with this post, sparked by my previous post and a photo tag. Dedicated specially to EastCoastLife.

I will definitely have a post (or two!) about Shitamachi Museum on our trip in September, but 5 months seems such a long time to wait, so let me indulge you all with some photos we took at the museum in 2006. More info on the museum can be found here.

First off,  how to get to the museum. The museum building is rather nondescript so you might miss it even if you walked right in front of the building.

The fast food restaurant is a McDonald's. The Police Station is a small, one man police box or "koban" at one of the entrance to Ueno Park. Getting there is pretty easy.

Now, I'll just let these photos do the talking. Enjoy!

I'm enjoying putting up these photos and looking at Raimie when he was just 4 years old. My, how time flies.

The Shitamachi Museum is not a big museum and you probably spent about half an hour browsing the two floors of the museum, unless of course you are like us and can't resist checking out every single display and having a blast taking photos.

Entrance fee for adults is a mere 300yen. All the exhibits have both Japanese and English info printout and there's even volunteer guides to guide you around the museum. If you are planning to spend a day in Ueno - why not make a stop at Shitamachi Museum too?

So many parties, so many Rubber Duck Gifts.

 

Cinco de Mayo Fiesta Duck - May 5th

Super Woman for Mother's Day May 9, 2010

Memorial Day BBQ's and 4th of July

 Graduations from Kindergarten, Middle School, High School and College (all levels!)

 And for all the babies created in the fall after all those June weddings. (Both are actually the same size, the photos are different sizes only.

Check out our eBay store for these and many, many other rubber ducks (70+) that are great party favors, gift ties or hostess gifts.

http://stores.ebay.com/Herbs-Crafts-Gifts

Debating the Pros and Cons of the RV Cruising Lifestyle

I must admit there are several stages to RV cruising as a lifestyle: escaping, sightseeing, seeing/relaxing, migrating, nesting. Since Bill and I only met on the road to retirement, we did not experience the first so we jumped right into the second stage and are now on the third (we think). Let me discuss these various stages at a future post, however. Instead let me dwell on a debate that has been raging on my mind since we started this journey.

We have found the following benefits of RV cruising as a lifestyle:

new experiences and activities
new places and sights
being close to nature
new people you meet
a larger view of life
relatively lower levels of stress

And so we decided to move from stage 2 to 3. In only eight months we had traveled 21,000 miles, from Alaska and the Arctic Circle to Mexico and the Tropic of Cancer to Florida and Low Country USA! Because of the new experiences, activities, places, sights and people, we have not been a bit bored. Surprisingly we have developed a non-parochial view of life because we have not been rooted anywhere really. Finally, from the driven lifestyles we had (Bill, keeping a small business alive despite a flagging economy after years of corporate jungle and I, juggling classes at three institutions in a supposed reinvention after years of business pioneering) this crazy adventure was exhilaratingly refreshing.

But we have also found the following disadvantages:

inconsistency in bonds with people: family and friends
inconsistency in involvement with causes
loss of stability
loss of income
preponderance of unfamiliar situations

The very benefits of having something new all the time also gave the lifestyle the loss of stability and the preponderance of unfamiliar situations. This resulted in inconsistencies in bonds with people (both family and friends) or with causes (such as the church) that we used to nurture. Technology has definitely helped (skype, webcam, cell phones, broadband access, laptops, the internet, etc.) but the ‘propinquity’ is also essentially lost. What younger people would find most disturbing, however, is the loss of regular income. For retired people like us, that really is not much of an issue. But the loss certainly has made us more frugal than necessary and budgeting more of a regular to-do.

And what do you do if you enjoy the benefits so much that you want to continue the lifestyle but do not want to suffer the disadvantages? Well, you mitigate them, of course! I have already talked about technology to strengthen communications with loved ones. Work camping is an option to earn enough to sustain the lifestyle (see workamper.com). A payback vacation (like building homes for Katrina victims in New Orleans) is another way to work for causes. And not sweating the small stuff is such a valuable attitude to have when you have to adjust to so many varying situations, people, rules, facilities, availabilities, etc. For old folks like us, that may not be an easy thing to do…but we try.

What do you think? Do you think the pros outweigh the cons? Would you join us in the RV cruising lifestyle? Will you embrace the benefits and mitigate the disadvantages? At what stage will you enter?

Carvel Ice Cream - A blast from childhood in NY

 

When I grew up on Long Island, New York CARVEL was always the best treat. After we moved to New Mexico and went back to visit,  it was one of the things we had to have at least once, even if it was the middle of winter.  There are no Carvel stores in Colorado where we live now,  so when we visit Florida we have to get our ice cream fix

 

This is my favorite swirl of vanilla and chocolate on a cone covered with chocolate sprinkles.  

  

Gene likes his ice cream in a cup, also the soft serve swirl.  They do have regular hard ice cream in several flavors but we get this so rarely, we don't want to miss the chance to have the best and creamist of all soft serve ice creams.  

The flying saucers ice cream sandwiches are another treat that are available in the grocery stores now too, but alas not in Colorado.

Photo Tag And I'm Playing For A Change!

I got tagged by A Z Haida, of Look Again blog which I had been following for a few years now.

Like her, I don't normally do tags but I couldn't resist this one from her. Not when she put it this way :

"I hereby challenge (ehcheh) these 8 to do this tag...
5) Lina (bet it's going to be Japan-related photo)."

I do admit that we have more photos of us in Japan than any other places in Malaysia. My 8th folder is of our photos in Japan during Summer 2006. Almost 4 years ago.

The tag requires me to:

1) Go to your photo files…Select the 8th photo folder.

2) Select the 8th photo in that folder.

3) Post that photo along with the story behind it.

4) Then challenge 8 blogging friends to do the same!

So, here goes! Yosh!

The Story: 

This photo of Raimie was taken in summer 2006. It was Raimie's second trip to Japan and we were there for a week, for the sole purpose of going to Ultraman Festival (Ulfes) in Ikebukuro. Because of that, we just stayed in Tokyo and one of the places we went to, apart from Ulfes was the Shitamachi Museum in Ueno.

Being in the museum was like being transported to the era of Oshin, a woman who lived in the Meiji period. The Japanese drama Oshin was aired on TV in Malaysia when I was in primary school and everyone I know stay glued to the TV screen watching this drama of a strong woman who persevered during hard and tough times. Oshin serves as a symbolic figure for perseverance, showing that a person should never give up - even in the most difficult times.

Anyway, back to Shitamachi Museum. Shitamachi which meant low city; is the name for the low-lying parts of Tokyo. This museum is dedicated to looking at the lives led by millions of  men and women over the years in the area spanning from the early Meiji to late Taisho-eras (1868-1923). The museum has interactive displays which meant you can touch and play with all the exhibits.

An elderly guy who volunteered at the museum taught Raimie how to play the Japanese toys that were on display and before we left the museum he gave Raimie a little koma spinning tops made out of old magazine pages and toothpicks.

Here in the photo, Raimie was happily poking around in the blacksmith's home.

For our trip in Sep 2010, I plan to bring my friend to this museum. Even if you don't care much of the history of lives of Japanese of yesteryears, being in this museum makes good photo op.

I'm passing the baton to 8 others:

1. Cindy of Blank Thoughts. She's expecting her first baby soon. She made Osaka her home but she is back in Malaysia for the time being.
2. Kozue of Oh Tazawako, Where Art Thou? Hardworking to promote Tazawako and its surrounding area, I completely understand if Kozue can't play this tag. :D
3. Shida of shidafzan. A friend of mine since college, we used to be roommates too. She just started blogging  with blogspot, after years of using fotopages. She's one of few people left who still call me by a boy's name.
4. Nick of Anything goes. He blogs because he can!
5. Su of I Lookup As I Walk. A Malaysian, she is currently raising her family in Japan and giving support to her hubby who is pursuing his studies there.
6. Evan's Mom of A Little Boy's Blog.  A proud mom of two sons in Bogor, Indonesia.
7. Yatie of Sawanila. She just gave birth to a beautiful baby.
8. Bengbeng of My Longkang. See great photos and read about his life, Benghui's and the people around him in Sibu.

No pressure though. Have fun!

p.s. It might take me sometime to inform all those listed that they've been tagged.