Sunday, August 21, 2011

I think we were one of the last people to get to the potluck/movie/birthday party for Sagehen Field station. The festivities took place in what they call the upper camp. There are cabins there, a large "theater" space, bathrooms, etc. We ate, then Jeff showed a 15 minute clip Fearthen, his wife, did on Sagehen and it's relation to Aldo Leopold and conservation. She did a good job, especially considering she is not a film major. After that movie clip, we had birthday cake. Both my cakes were a hit, but especially the Kirschtorte (who'd a thought?).

After cake, we watched a 74 minute film done by a married couple who work for the Department of Forestry. The film covered most of Aldo Leopold's life (1887-1948). He went to college at Harvard, who had one of the first forestry schools in the country. Leopold worked all over the US but ended up spending most of his time at the University of Wisconsin Madison. He was quite taken with conservation and not leaving a mark on the land but rather keeping it as close to nature as he could. Seems he touched quite a few lives. His 92 year old daughter just died several months ago. Leopold is the main force behind the Sagehen Creek area being a research station where water and streams are studied as well as fish and wildlife. Apparently (and despite all the financial woes the State of California has), Sagehen field station has also received a multi-million dollar donation to expand the field station to use year round (right now it is pretty much inaccessible during the snowy months). Cool, huh?

Saturday was a quiet day. I tried to keep my leg up and elevated to see if I could decrease the swelling. Reading, watching TV, etc. I did manage to make two versions of Italian Almond Cake for us to try Sunday at Jan and Jim's.

Sunday, today, Jordan and I went shopping so I could try a couple of dishes we want to serve at our farm to table dinner. Practice makes
perfect! We tried the Hulsman beef again as well as a piece of flank steak from Whole Foods. We grilled each of the pieces of meat for a lesser amount of time and the Hulsman beef turned out soo much better. Jan also wants to try KT beef as she thinks they are a superior product. I guess we'll see! The roasted corn, avocado, cherry tomato and mozzarella salad turned out well (although I forgot the Orzo). It has a cilantro/lime vinaigrette dressing which is quite tasty. Lots and lots to do for this dinner and little changes keep happening all the time.

Jordan is off for LA tomorrow. It's the first day of class for USC. He has 30 students this term! Hope he can get everything done that needs doing! And hopefully when I get my staples out on Tuesday, Dr Mullins will tell me it's ok to drive! That would be very nice!